Fish Oil Decreases C-Reactive Protein/Albumin Ratio Improving Nutritional Prognosis and Plasma Fatty Acid Profile in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Previous studies have shown that n‐3 polyunsaturated fatty acids n‐3 (n‐3 PUFA) have several anticancer effects, especially attributed to their ability to modulate a variety of genomic and immune responses. In this context, this randomized, prospective, controlled clinical trial was conducted in order to check whether supplementation of 2 g/day of fish oil for 9 weeks alters the production of inflammatory markers, the plasma fatty acid profile and the nutritional status in patients with colorectal cancer (CRC). Eleven adults with CRC in chemotherapy were randomized into two groups: (a) supplemented (SG) daily with 2 g/day of encapsulated fish oil [providing 600 mg/day of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) + docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)] for 9 weeks (n = 6), and (b) control (CG) (n = 5). All outcomes were evaluated on the day before the first chemotherapy session and 9 weeks later. Plasma TNF‐α, IL‐1β, IL‐10 and IL‐17A, the pro/anti‐inflammatory balance (ratio TNF‐α/IL‐10 and IL‐1β/IL10) and serum albumin, showed no significant changes between times and study groups (p > 0.05). C‐reactive protein (CRP) and the CRP/albumin ratio showed opposite behavior in groups, significantly reducing their values in SG (p < 0.05). Plasma proportions of EPA and DHA increased 1.8 and 1.4 times, respectively, while the ARA reduced approximately 0.6 times with the supplementation (9 weeks vs baseline, p < 0.05). Patients from SG gained 1.2 kg (median) while the CG lost ?0.5 kg (median) during the 9 weeks of chemotherapy (p = 0.72). These results demonstrate that 2 g/day of fish oil for 9 weeks of chemotherapy improves CRP values, CRP/albumin status, plasma fatty acid profile and potentially prevents weight loss during treatment.     

Measuring Residual Stresses in Vamas International Calibration Block with the Stress Diffractometer of Ir-8 Reactor

Russian Journal of Nondestructive Testing - The results of measuring residual strains/stresses in the VAMAS international calibration block with the STRESS neutron diffractometer installed in the...     

The crystallization behavior of amorphous Fe–Sn–B ribbons

Amorphous Fe_(95?x)Sn₅B_x ribbons (x = 15, 17, 20) were prepared for the first time by planar-flow casting. Their thermodynamic stability and kinetics of crystallization were studied by differential thermal analysis, differential scanning calorimetry and magnetometry (thermobalance with permanent magnet). Formation of crystalline phases and their morphology were analyzed by X-ray diffraction and transmission electron microscopy. The results indicate the existence of critical composition for the transformation kinetics. The relation between the magnetic state of the material and the kinetics of crystallization was analyzed.     

Residual stress determination in a thick ferritic steel weld plate using neutron diffraction

The distribution of residual stresses was determined through the thickness of a 50-mm thick ferritic steel weld plate using (110) and/or (211) diffraction peaks. We proposed a two-peak combined methodology, which uses (110) and (211) peaks designed to have neutron wavelengths of 2.39 and 1.55 Å, respectively, in order to locate the neutron cross-section at each local minimum. The result shows that the available penetration path length can be maximized by (110) diffraction for the transmission geometry and (211) diffraction for the reflection geometry of the plate specimen. Furthermore, the stress components by the two peaks were similar to the results of the conventional one-peak measurement due to the same diffraction elastic constants between the (110) and (211) peaks in the bcc ferritic steel. Such appropriately combined two-peak method can significantly enhance the deep penetration capability for the determination of residual stresses in an extra thick steel plate specimen.     

Relation among anthropometric measures and the blood pressure values in Brazilian students

The evaluation of blood pressure and anthropometric measurements is important for evaluating the health of children and teenagers, since cardiovascular abnormalities are becoming more and more common in this population. The objective of this study was to analyze the correlation between anthropometric measurements and arterial pressure taking gender, age and the practice of physical activities into consideration. A cross sectional study was carried out in a school in the city of Fortaleza, Ceará, Brazil, in a sample of 122 students of 6-18 years of age. Data was collected on a specific form and included sociodemographic data, anthropometric evaluation, measurement of arterial pressure and the practice of physical activity. Three measurements were taken of each anthropometric variable and arterial pressure, and the respective means were calculated. Data were processed and analyzed using the SPSS software program, version 13.0. Significance was established at 5% (p < 0.05). A correlation was identified between arterial pressure and tricipital skinfold thickness. No statistically significant differences were found between the mean anthropometric measurements and the presence of high blood pressure. A correlation was found between body mass index and abdominal and subscapular skinfold thickness and between body mass index and waist and hip circumference. Physical activity had no effect on anthropometric measurements. Females had a higher mean tricipital and abdominal skinfold thickness than males. This study confirms the influence of the variables of gender and age on the anthropometric measurements evaluated. In particular, tricipital skinfold thickness was correlated with systolic arterial pressure.     

Effect of selection for growth rate on the ageing of myofibrils, meat texture properties and the muscle proteolytic potential of m. longissimus in rabbits

The effect of selection for growth rate on the degradation of the myofibrillar proteins and on meat texture properties of rabbit longissimus muscle at two ageing times (1 and 7 days) was studied as well as its effect on the proteolytic potential of the muscle. Two groups of contemporary animals (20 rabbits per group), one selected for growth rate (S) for 14 generations and the other unselected control group (C) were compared. The control group was formed from the offspring of the embryos belonging to the 7th generation and was compared with selected animals belonging to 21st generation. Myofibrillar protein degradation was studied by SDS-PAGE electrophoresis (12.5% and 4-15% polyacrylamide gels) followed by densitometric analysis of the pherograms. Texture properties were evaluated by Warner-Bratzler (WB) test and Texture profile analysis (TPA). The activities of proteolytic enzymes calpains and cathepsins and of their inhibitors were determined in the muscle at 24h. Densitometric analysis of the pherograms of samples aged 7 days showed an extra 30kDa band and the disappearance of a band with higher molecular weight than the myosin heavy chain with respect to samples aged 24h in both groups of rabbits. TPA results showed that cohesiveness was significantly lower in meat at 7 days than at 24h (P<0.0001), whereas springiness and chewiness presented a clear tendency to be lower at 7 days than at 24h (P=0.0646 and P=0.0764, respectively). Regarding the genetic type, S animals presented higher hardness and chewiness than C rabbits. Shear firmness (WB test) was significantly (P<0.0001) higher for S group, whereas no significant differences in shear force and area were found. No significant effect (P>0.05) of ageing time was detected using WB test. Selection for growth rate did not affect the activities of proteolytic enzymes or their inhibitors.     

Trifluoromethylated Proline Surrogates as Part of “Pro–Pro” Turn-Inducing Templates

Proline is often found as a turn inducer in peptide or protein domains. Exploitation of its restricted conformational freedom led to the development of the d -Pro-l -Pro (corresponding to (R)-Pro–(S)-Pro) segment as a “templating” unit, frequently used in the design of β-hairpin peptidomimetics, in which conformational stability is, however, inherently linked to the cis–trans isomerization of the prolyl amide bonds. In this context, the stereoelectronic properties of the CF₃ group can aid in conformational control. Herein, the impact of α-trifluoromethylated proline analogues is examined for the design of enhanced β-turn inducers. A theoretical conformational study permitted the dipeptide (R)-Pro–(R)-TfmOxa (TfmOxa: 2-trifluoromethyloxazolidine-2-carboxylic acid) to be selected as a template with an increased trans–cis rotational energy barrier. NMR spectroscopic analysis of the Ac-(R)-Pro–(R)-TfmOxa–(S)-Val-OtBu β-turn model, obtained through an original synthetic pathway, validated the prevalence of a major trans–trans conformer and indicated the presence of an internal hydrogen bond. Altogether, it was shown that the (R)-Pro–(R)-TfmOxa template fulfilled all crucial β-turn-inducer criteria.