Studies on Urolithiasis Chapter 1 : A Study on Urinary Colloid

The author ascertained the following upon exami n ing urinary colloids in accordance to the Yamazoe method. 1. The am ount of protective colloids was less in urinary calculus patients in comparison to normal healthy persons. 2. Upon oral admini s tration of glycerin to urinary calaulus patients a marked increase in the protective action was perceived, the most effective period being from five to six hours. 3. The increase in protective action by glycerin is attributed to its stimulating colloids in the process of excretion or it may be due to excretion of matters which increase the protective action. 4. The favorable effect of glycerin in the improvement of the urinary colloids in urinary calculus patients must be regarded as a noteworthy preventive of urinary calculus

Studies on Urinary Mucoprotein in Urological Disease, with Special Reference to Urolithiasis I. Mucoprotein, Hexose, Hexosamine, Glucuronic Acid and Protective Colloids in Urine of Patients with Urolithiasis and Other Urological Diseases

1) Protective urinary colloids in urolithiasis ge n erally showed an increased activity while the urinary mucoprotein a decrease in some cases of the renal calculi and an increase in the ureteral and vesical calculi. The two substances, which are influenced by nature and property of the urine, showed high levels in such cases as pyuria, hematuria and proteinuria. The mutual relation of urinary mucoprotein and protective urinary colloids could not generally be seen, although in some cases they both showed a marked increase. 2) Effects of administered Various drugs on urinary mucoprote i n and protective urinary colloids were studied. Hyaluronidase, Stronger Neominophagen C, vitamin D2, polyvinylpyrrolidon and glucuronic acid produced an increase of these two substances. 3) In most cases of urolithiasis urinary hexose and hexosami n e generally showed an increase and were esp. pronounced in amounts of these protein-bound components. Glucuronic acid excreted in urine also showed a pronounced increase, but varied in individual cases. 4) Removal of the calculus produced a decrease of urinary mucoprotein and prote c tive urinary colloids in majority of the cases, whereas a decrease of urinary protein-bound hexosamine and a slight increase of urinary hexose occured and glucuronic acid showed an indefinite behavior. It is thought that these substances studied above were influenced by surgical operation, general physical condition, etc. 5) In general the mutual relation between urinary mucoprotein and its protein-bound polysaccharides could not be established, although some showed parallel relatio n. Ratio of protein-bound hexose to hexosamine in normal urine was comparatively constant, while it fluctuated in urine of urolithiasis. 6) Malignant tum o r of the urinary bladder showed a marked increase of these substances. From the results of these investigations, it may be pointed out that protective urinary colloids, urinary mucoprotein and urinary polysaccharides in urine of the urolithiasis, compared with that of normal urine, have shown a fair difference. However, it will still require further investigations, to accknowledge whether these substances may or may not have a special importance as to the pathogenesis of calculus formation

Crocin loaded nano-emulsions: Factors affecting emulsion properties in spontaneous emulsification

Spontaneous emulsification may be used for encapsulating bioactive compounds in food and pharmaceutical industry. It has several advantages over high energy and other low energy methods including, protecting sensitive compounds against severe conditions of high energy method and its ability to minimize surfactant, removal of cosurfactant and thermal stability compared with other low energy methods. In this study, we examined possibility of encapsulating highly soluble crocin in W/O micro-emulsions using spontaneous method which further could be used for making double emulsions. Nonionic surfactants of Span 80 and polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR) were used for making micro-emulsions that showed the high potential of PGPR for spontaneous method. Surfactant to water ratio (SWR) was evaluated to find the highest amount of aqueous phase which can be dispersed in organic phase. Droplet size decreased by increasing SWR toward the SWR = 100 which had the smallest droplet size and then increased at higher levels of surfactant. By increasing SWR, shear viscosity increased which showed the high effect of PGPR on rheological properties. This study shows in addition to W/O micro-emulsions, spontaneous method could be used for preparing stable O/W micro-emulsions. © 2015 Elsevier B.V

Protein adsorption onto Fe3O4 nanoparticles with opposite surface charge and its impact on cell uptake

Nanoparticles (NPs) engineered for biomedical applications are meant to be in contact with protein-rich physiological fluids. These proteins are usually adsorbed onto the NP surface, forming a swaddling layer called protein corona that influences cell internalization. We present a study on protein adsorption onto different magnetic NPs (MNPs) when immersed in cell culture medium, and how these changes affect the cellular uptake. Two colloids with magnetite cores of 25 nm, same hydrodynamic size and opposite surface charge were in situ coated with (a) positive polyethyleneimine (PEI-MNPs) and (b) negative poly(acrylic acid) (PAA-MNPs). After few minutes of incubation in cell culture medium the wrapping of the MNPs by protein adsorption resulted in a 5-fold size increase. After 24 h of incubation large MNP-protein aggregates with hydrodynamic sizes 1500 to 3000 nm (PAA-MNPs and PEI-MNPs respectively) were observed. Each cluster contained an estimated number of magnetic cores between 450 and 1000, indicating the formation of large aggregates with a "plum pudding" structure of MNPs embedded into a protein network of negative surface charge irrespective of the MNP_core charge. We demonstrated that PEI-MNPs are incorporated in much larger amounts than the PAA-MNPs units. Quantitative analysis showed that SH-SY5Y cells can incorporate 100 per cent of the added PEI-MNPs up to about 100 pg per cell, whereas for PAA-MNPs the uptake was less than 50 percent. The final cellular distribution showed also notable differences regarding partial attachment to the cell membrane. These results highlight the need to characterize the final properties of MNPs after protein adsorption in biological media, and demonstrate the impact of these properties on the internalization mechanisms in neural cells.Comment: 32 pages, 10 figure

Synergism of Saccharum officinarum and Ananas comosus extract additives on the quality of electroplated zinc on mild steel.

Synergism of Saccharum officinarum (sugarcane) and Ananas comosus (pineapple) extract additives on the quality of electroplated zinc on mild steel in acid chloride solution was investigated experimentally at ambient temperature (*28 �C). The experiments were performed at different plating times (15 and 18 min), additive concentrations (2, 2.5, 3 ml/50 ml of acid chloride solution), pH 5, temperature (27–30 �C), current (0.08 A), and voltage (13 V DC) conditions. Zinc electroplating on mild steel was performed using a DC-supply. The surface of the plated steel was examined with scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive spectroscopy for surface elemental composition analysis. Different surface characteristics were obtained depending upon the concentration of the additive and the plating time. The corrosion resistance of the plated surface was determined by a gravimetric method. Micro-structural morphology of the plated surface indicated a good quality electroplating that was better than either the sugarcane or pineapple extracts alone. The electroplating process was sensitive to changes in additive concentration and plating time. Any variation in the plating parameter produced an entirely new and different surface crystal morphology

Deepening inside the pictorial layers of Etruscan sarcophagus of Hasti Afunei: An innovative micro-sampling technique for Raman/SERS analyses

The Hasti Afunei sarcophagus is a large Etruscan urn, made up of two chalky alabaster monoliths. Dated from the last quarter of the third century BC, it was found in 1826 in the small town of Chiusi (Tuscany- Il Colle place) by a landowner, Pietro Bonci Casuccini, who made it part of his private collection. The noble owner’s collection was sold in 1865 to the Royal Museum of Palermo (today under the name of Antonino Salinas Regional Archaeological Museum), where it is still displayed. The sarcophagus is characterized by a complex iconography that is meticulously illustrated through an excellent sculptural technique, despite having subjected to anthropic degradation and numerous restorative actions during the last century. During the restoration campaign carried out between 2016 and 2017, a targeted diagnostic campaign was carried out to identify the constituent materials of the artefact, the pigments employed and the executive technique, in order to get an overall picture of conservation status and conservative criticalities. In particular, this last intervention has allowed the use of the innovative micro-sampling technique, patented by the Cultural Heritage research group of Sapienza, in order to identify the employee of lake pigments through SERS analyses. Together with this analysis, Raman and NMR technique have completed the information requested by restorers, for what concerns the wax employed as protective layers, and allowed to rebuild the conservation history of the sarcophagus. In fact, together with the identification of red ocher and yellow ocher, carbon black, Egyptian blue and madder lake, pigments compatible with the historical period of the work, modern pigments (probably green Paris, chrome orange, barium yellow, blue phtalocyanine) have been recognized, attributable with not documented intervention during the eighteenth and twentieth centuries. © 2019 by the authors