Microstructured Lipid Carriers (MLC) Based on N-Acetylcysteine and Chitosan Preventing Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilm

The aim of this work was the development of microstructured lipid carriers (MLC) based on chitosan (CH) and containing N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a mucolytic and antioxidant agent, to inhibit the formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm. MLC were prepared using the high shear homogenization technique. The MLC were characterized for morphology, particle size, Z potential, encapsulation efficiency and drug release. The antioxidant properties of NAC-loaded microstructured carriers were evaluated through an in vitro spectrophotometer assay. Finally, the activity of NAC-CH-MLC on biofilm production by Pseudomonas aeruginosa was also evaluated. Results obtained from this study highlighted that the use of chitosan into the inner aqueous phase permitted to obtain microstructured particles with a narrow size range and with good encapsulation efficiency. NAC-loaded MLC showed higher antioxidant activity than the free molecule, demonstrating how encapsulation increases the antioxidant effect of the molecule. Furthermore, the reduction of biofilm growth resulted extremely high with MLC being 64.74% ± 6.2% and 83.74% ± 9.95%, respectively, at 0.5 mg/mL and 2 mg/mL. In conclusion, this work represents a favorable technological strategy against diseases in which bacterial biofilm is relevant, such as cystic fibrosis.     

Sense induction in folksonomies: a review

Folksonomies, often known as tagging systems, such as the ones used on the popular Delicious or Flickr websites, use a very simple Knowledge Organisation System. Users have thus been quick to adopt this system and create extensive annotations on the Web. However, because of the simplicity of the folksonomy model, the semantics of the tags used is not explicit and can only be inferred from their context of use. This is a barrier for the automatic use of such Knowledge Organisation Systems by computers and new techniques have been developed to extract the semantic of the tags. In this article we discuss the drawbacks of some of these approaches and propose a generalization of the different approaches to detect new senses of terms in a folksonomy. Another weak point of the current state of the art in the field is the lack of formal evaluation methodology; we thus propose a novel evaluation framework. We introduce a dataset and evaluation methodology that enable the comparison of results between different approaches to sense induction in folksonomies. Finally we discuss the performances of different approaches to the task of homonymous/polysemous tag detection and synonymous identification.     

Bit error ratio assessment capability of bit interleaved parity in presence of error bursts

The bit interleaved parity codes (BIP) recommended for the synchronous digital hierarchy (SDH) are applied to error monitoring functions. The performance of these codes in terms of the BER assessment capability is analysed in the presence of error bursts.<>     

Influence of age on enzyme activities of pyrimidine metabolism in the chicken heart

We and others found that cardioprotection is acquired not only soon after, but also 24 h after ischemic preconditioning in canine and rabbit myocardial infarction models (second window of protection). However, a second window phenomenon against myocardial infarction was dependent on species limitations and has not been observed in porcine hearts. In this study, we examined whether the "second window of protection" against myocardial infarction is observed in the rat heart. In the ischemic preconditioning (IP) group, the left main coronary artery (LCA) of rats was occluded four times for 3 min. each separated by reperfusion for 10 min. After 0, 3, and 24 h, the rats were subjected to a 20-min LCA occlusion followed by 48-h reperfusion. At 0 and 24 h after IP, infarct size and the incidence of ventricular fibrillation (VF) during ischemia were significantly reduced compared with corresponding sham-operated groups without preconditioning. After 3 h of IP, there were no differences either in the incidence of VF during ischemia or in infarct size. Manganese superoxide dismutase (Mn-SOD) content in ischemic (LCA) region of myocardium significantly increased as compared with that of sham-operated rats 24 h after IP. Treatment with N-2-mercaptopropionyl glycine, an antioxidant and a hydroxyl radical scavenger, during IP abolished the early-phase (0 h after IP) and late-phase (24 h after IP) cardioprotection and the corresponding late increase in Mn-SOD content. These results indicate that a "second window of protection" against myocardial infarction also exists in rat hearts and the induction of an intrinsic scavenger, Mn-SOD, via free radical production during IP may be important in the second window of protection.     

Encapsulation of the Dinuclear Trithiolato-Bridged Arene Ruthenium Complex Diruthenium-1 in an Apoferritin Nanocage: Structure and Cytotoxicity

The effects of encapsulating the cytotoxic dinuclear trithiolato-bridged arene ruthenium complex [(η⁶-p-MeC₆H₄iPr)₂Ru₂(μ₂-S-p-C₆H₄tBu)₃]Cl (DiRu-1) within the apoferritin (AFt) nanocage were investigated. The DiRu-1-AFt nanocarrier was characterized by UV/Vis spectroscopy, ICP-MS, CD and X-ray crystallography. In contrast to previously reported Au- and Pt-based drug-loaded AFt carriers, we found no evidence of direct interactions between DiRu-1 and AFt. DiRu-1-AFt is cytotoxic toward immortalized murine BALB/c-3T3 fibroblasts transformed with SV40 virus (SVT2) and human epidermoid carcinoma A431 malignant cells, and exhibits moderate selectivity for these cancer cells over normal BALB/c-3T3 cells. DiRu-1-AFt triggers the production of reactive oxygen species, depolarization of mitochondrial membrane potential, and induces cell death via p53-mediated apoptosis. Comparison between our data and previous results suggests that the presence of specific interactions between a metal-based drug and AFt within the protein cage is not essential for drug encapsulation.     

Compact flashlamp-based fluorescence imager for use under ambient-light conditions

A low-power, lightweight, multiwavelength fluorescence imager based on the use of a compact xenon flashlamp, bandpass filters, gated charge-coupled device camera, and digital image processing was developed for use on an autonomous rover vehicle. The imager discriminates against ambient light by use of microsecond excitation pulses along with synchronized camera operation to limit the time period in which ambient-light photocounts are accumulated, and digital image subtraction to remove background counts. In a 10 cm square field of view, weak fluorescence, equivalent to 0.05 pmol fluorescein/mm(2), can be quantified against a white-light background equivalent to shaded sunlight. For application in autonomous search for organisms in extreme environments such as in situ desert rock or soil, the instrument was equipped with a set of fluorescence excitation filters (380, 450, 545, and 600 nm) and emission filters (460, 510, 620, and 740 nm) suitable for detection of chlorophyll, applied stains for protein, DNA, lipid and carbohydrate, and autofluorescence. True-color images were obtained through red-green-blue imaging filters (630, 535, and 470 nm) used with white-light flashes. Automated focusing on ground features was based on the R-band image and was carried out prior to fluorescence image acquisition.     

Investigation on key properties controlling early-age stress development of blended cement concrete

Age dependent mechanical and kinetic properties including Young's modulus, early-age creep, autogeneous and thermal deformations, and heat of hydration were investigated for concrete made of blended cements. These are among the key properties that control the early-age cracking behavior in hydrating concrete members. Among the main goals of the investigation were to provide the experimental data and to study the effect of adding mineral additives such as fly ash (FA), ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBF), and silica fume (SF) on the aforementioned properties. The age-dependent behavior of Young's modulus, creep compliance, and autogeneous shrinkage as functions of heat of hydration were modeled. We emphasized on mathematical modeling the viscoelastic properties of concrete. The equations obtained can be used as inputs needed to calculate the early-age stress development in concrete members.     

Probiotics as Potential Biological Immunomodulators in the Management of Oral Lichen Planus: What’s New?

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a T cell-mediated chronic inflammatory disorder with multifactorial aetiology and malignant transformation potential. Despite the treatments so far identified, new tailored and safe specific measures are needed. Recently, human microbiota imbalance has been linked to several immune-mediated diseases, opening new therapeutic perspectives for probiotics; besides their ability to directly interact with the host microbiota, they also display a strain-specific immune-modulatory effect. Thus, this non-systematic review aims to elucidate the molecular pathways underlying probiotic activity, mainly those of Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria and their metabolites in OLP pathogenesis and malignant transformation, focusing on the most recent in vitro and in vivo research evidence. Findings related to their activity in other immune-mediated diseases are here included, suggesting a probiotic translational use in OLP. Probiotics show immune-modulatory and microbiota-balancing activities; they protect the host from pathogens, hamper an excessive effector T cell response, reduce nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-kB) signalling and basal keratinocytes abnormal apoptosis, shifting the mucosal response towards the production of anti-inflammatory cytokines, thus preventing uncontrolled damage. Therefore, probiotics could be a highly encouraging prevention and immunotherapeutic approach for a safer and more sustainable OLP management.