Enhanced Analgesic Properties and Reduced Ulcerogenic Effect of a Mononuclear Copper(II) Complex with Fenoprofen in Comparison to the Parent Drug: Promising Insights in the Treatment of Chronic Inflammatory Diseases

Analgesic and ulcerogenic properties have been studied for the copper(II) coordination complex of the nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug Fenoprofen and imidazole [Cu(fen)2(im)2] (Cu: copper(II) ion; fen: fenoprofenate anion from Fenoprofen, im: imidazole). A therapeutic dose of 28 mg/kg was tested for [Cu(fen)2(im)2] and 21 mg/kg was employed for Fenoprofen calcium, administered by oral gavage in female mice to compare the therapeutic properties of the new entity. The acetic acid induced writhing test was employed to study visceral pain. The percentage of inhibition in writhing and stretching was 78.9% and 46.2% for the [Cu(fen)2(im)2] and Fenoprofen calcium, respectively. This result indicates that the complex could be more effective in diminishing visceral pain. The formalin test was evaluated to study the impact of the drugs over nociceptive and inflammatory pain. The complex is a more potent analgesic on inflammatory pain than the parent drug. Ulcerogenic effects were evaluated using a model of gastric lesions induced by hypothermic-restraint stress. Fenoprofen calcium salt caused an ulcer index of about 79 mm2 while the one caused by [Cu(fen)2(im)2] was 22 mm2. The complex diminished the development of gastric mucosal ulcers in comparison to the uncomplexed drug. Possible mechanisms of action related to both therapeutic properties have been discussed.Fil: Agotegaray, Mariela Alejandra. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Bahía Blanca. Instituto de Química del Sur. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Química. Instituto de Química del Sur; ArgentinaFil: Gumilar, Fernanda Andrea. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Boeris, Monica. Universidad Nacional de la Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Toso, Ricardo Enrique. Universidad Nacional de la Pampa. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; ArgentinaFil: Minetti, Silvia Alejandra. Universidad Nacional del Sur. Departamento de Biología, Bioquímica y Farmacia; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentin

Effects of extraction pH of chia protein isolates on functional properties

The aim of this work was to study the effect of the extraction pH on the functional properties of chia protein isolates (CPI). Samples were named as CPI10 or CPI12, according to their extraction pH, 10 or 12, respectively. Functional properties were significantly modified by the extraction pH. Color properties revealed that CPI12 presented a lower L* (47.8 ± 0.9 for CPI10 and 30 ± 1 for CPI12). Besides, a higher b* value was obtained for CPI12 (7.0 ± 0.3 for CPI12 and 5.6 ± 0.7 for CPI10), as a result of a higher ash content. CPI12 showed a higher WAC probably due to a higher exposure of polar amino acids (4.4 ± 0.1 g/g and 6.0 ± 0.2 g/g), whereas CPI10 showed a higher ability to bind oil (7.1 ± 0.2 g/g and 6.1 ± 0.2 g/g for CPI10 and CPI12, respectively). CPI10 proved more appropriate as an emulsion stabilizer than CPI12, which could be due to its higher surface hydrophobicity, protein solubility and negative net charge. The d4,3 (μm) was 29.5 ± 0.4 and 20.4 ± 0.3 in emulsions stabilized with CPI12 and CPI10, respectively. Although both isolates underwent heat gelation, they exhibited a weak gel behavior. Overall, CPI10 may be more suitable for the food industry as a meat replacer or extender.Fil: López, Débora Natalia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Departamento de Química y Física. Área Fisicoquímica; ArgentinaFil: Ingrassia, Romina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Departamento de Química y Física. Área Fisicoquímica; ArgentinaFil: Busti, Pablo Andres. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Wagner, Jorge Ricardo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Quilmes; ArgentinaFil: Spelzini, Darío. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; ArgentinaFil: Boeris, Valeria. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires"; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario; Argentin

Poly(amidoamine)s synthesis, characterisation and interaction with BSA

Cationic poly(amidoamine)s (PAAs) were synthesised and characterised by NMR and gel permeation chromatography. Their thermal properties were investigated using thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. Although poly(amidoamine)s have been used as endosomolytic polymers for protein intracellular delivery, the interaction of the polymers with the proteins still need to be investigated. BSA was used as a model protein and complexation with the different poly(amidoamine) s was investigated using gel retardation assays, fluorescence spectroscopy and high sensitivity differential scanning calorimetry. Our results indicate that the thermal stability of BSA was affected upon interaction and complexation with the poly(amidoamine)s, however these interactions did not seem to modify the structure of the protein. Polymer flexibility seemed to favour polymer/protein complexation and promoted thermal stability

Feedback Control of an Exoskeleton for Paraplegics: Toward Robustly Stable Hands-free Dynamic Walking

This manuscript presents control of a high-DOF fully actuated lower-limb exoskeleton for paraplegic individuals. The key novelty is the ability for the user to walk without the use of crutches or other external means of stabilization. We harness the power of modern optimization techniques and supervised machine learning to develop a smooth feedback control policy that provides robust velocity regulation and perturbation rejection. Preliminary evaluation of the stability and robustness of the proposed approach is demonstrated through the Gazebo simulation environment. In addition, preliminary experimental results with (complete) paraplegic individuals are included for the previous version of the controller.Comment: Submitted to IEEE Control System Magazine. This version addresses reviewers' concerns about the robustness of the algorithm and the motivation for using such exoskeleton

The phosphatidylcholine synthase of Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 is responsible for the synthesis of phosphatidylcholine, which acts as a temporary reservoir for Al3+

In Pseudomonas putida A ATCC 12633 cells grown with tetradecyltrimethylammonium bromide and exposed to Al3Cl, phosphatidylcholine (PC) levels increased, which alleviated stress caused by the Al3+. Here we cloned and sequenced a gene from this strain that encodes a phosphatidylcholine synthase (PCS) and characterized a pcs-deficient mutant. In the pcsdeficient mutant, PC could not be detected, whereas the mutant could be successfully complemented and expressed the enzyme, indicating that PC synthesis occurs exclusively via the PCS pathway in this organism. Although under non-stressing growth conditions the pcs-deficient mutant showed growth like that of the wild-type strain, the mutant was much more sensitive when challenged with Al3+, which strongly supports the supposition that PC is involved in the response of P. putida to Al3+ and acts as a temporary reservoir of available ions through the formation of Al3+: PC complexes. © 2012 SGM.Fil: Boeris, Paola Sabrina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Biotecnología Ambiental y Salud - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Biotecnología Ambiental y Salud; ArgentinaFil: Lucchesi, Gloria Ines. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Biotecnología Ambiental y Salud - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Biotecnología Ambiental y Salud; Argentin

Education and democracy: the experience of a participatory action research with upper secondary education teachers in a Piemonte area

This paper aims to present some of the intermediate results of a PhD research on “Teaching Citizenship and the Italian Constitution in a Community of Democratic Practice” which is taking place at the University of Tourin (Department of Educational Sciences). The research has been structured as a research-training, that is a way for the in-service teachers’ training, according to the Decree n. 797/2016. It has been carried out with three groups of upper secondary education teachers in a Piemonte area. It has produced a useful scheme for programming for citizenship skills, a reflection on the importance of the relational climate among teachers and on the features of the school environment that are required to be a Community of democratic Practice. Educazione e democrazia: l’esperienza di una ricerca-formazione con docenti di scuola secondaria di secondo grado in PiemonteIl contributo intende presentare alcuni risultati della ricerca di dottorato dal titolo “L’insegnamento di Cittadinanza e Costituzione in una comunità di pratica democratica”, al momento in corso presso il Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Educazione dell’Università degli Studi di Torino. La ricerca si è strutturata come una ricerca-formazione, costituendo una modalità per la formazione continua dei docenti in servizio secondo le indicazioni del D. M. 797/2016. Essa si è svolta con tre gruppi di docenti delle scuole secondarie di secondo grado del Piemonte e ha prodotto uno schema utile per la programmazione per competenze di cittadinanza, una riflessione sull’importanza del clima relazionale tra i docenti e su quali caratteristiche deve avere l’ambiente scolastico per essere Comunità di Pratica democratica

Physicochemical and mechanical properties of a new cold-set emulsion gel system and the effect of quinoa protein fortification

A new approach for soft and self-sustainable oil-in-water emulsion gel systems (EGs) preparation based on a formulation with olive oil, sodium alginate, citric acid, and calcium chloride, and the combination of high-speed homogenization and gelation induction by glucono-δ-lactone addition is presented. Also, the effect of EG protein fortification by the incorporation of quinoa concentrate (QC) and quinoa flour on the physicochemical and mechanical properties of these EGs upon storage at 4 °C was investigated. Despite soft and self-sustainable EGs (10 g/kg and 20 g/kg alginate, respectively) showed higher oil droplet size increment with total biopolymer concentration, these systems presented remarkable stability during 28 days. All fortified EGs showed higher fluid retention capacity (>99%), L*, a*, and lower b* values. After one day, EGs presented pHs ranging 4.1–4.3, and longer storage times promoted an increased acidity, to a less extent for QC-fortified-EGs. Lipid oxidation degree also increased during storage (from 30 to 150 μmol/L malonaldehyde), with no significant effects upon protein fortification. Protein fortification promoted higher gel strength in all self-sustainable EGs (from 3.5 N to almost 7 N), and especially after 14 days for soft-EGs. These EGs can be used in the food industry as fat replacers to formulate healthier products.Fil: Ingrassia, Romina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas. Departamento de Química y Física. Área Fisicoquímica; ArgentinaFil: Busti, Pablo Andres. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; ArgentinaFil: Boeris, Valeria. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Rosario; Argentina. Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina "Santa María de los Buenos Aires". Facultad de Química e Ingeniería del Rosario. Departamento de Investigación Institucional; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Rosario. Facultad de Ciencias Bioquímicas y Farmacéuticas; Argentin

Il Patto Educativo di Corresponsabilità: uno strumento per educare al Bene Comune nei percorsi di educazione alla cittadinanza

Education for the common good is a priority in the tracks of citizenship education in the italian school. One of the main instruments of these education is the Educational Co-Responsibility Pact, a good training opportunities that supports responsible growth path. The aim of this paper is to provide a pedagogical reflection upon the meaning of this instrument and its basic concepts to avoid the risk of a bureaucratic use