162 research outputs found
Food bioactive compounds and emerging techniques for their extraction: Polyphenols as a case study
Experimental studies have provided convincing evidence that food bioactive compounds (FBCs) have a positive biological impact on human health, exerting protective effects against noncommunicable diseases (NCD) including cancer and cardiovascular (CVDs), metabolic, and neurodegenerative disorders (NDDs). These benefits have been associated with the presence of secondary metabolites, namely polyphenols, glucosinolates, carotenoids, terpenoids, alkaloids, saponins, vitamins, and fibres, among others, derived from their antioxidant, antiatherogenic, anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antithrombotic, cardioprotective, and vasodilator properties. Polyphenols as one of the most abundant classes of bioactive compounds present in plant-based foods emerge as a promising approach for the development of efficacious preventive agents against NCDs with reduced side effects. The aim of this review is to present comprehensive and deep insights into the potential of polyphenols, from their chemical structure classification and biosynthesis to preventive effects on NCDs, namely cancer, CVDs, and NDDS. The challenge of polyphenols bioavailability and bioaccessibility will be explored in addition to useful industrial and environmental applications. Advanced and emerging extraction techniques will be highlighted and the high-resolution analytical techniques used for FBCs characterization, identification, and quantification will be considered.FCT (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia) through the CQM Base Fund-UIDB/00674/
2020, the Programmatic Fund- UIDP/00674/2020, and the PhD fellowship SFRH/BD/116895/2016
granted to João Gonçalves. Madeira 14–20 Program, project PROEQUIPRAM-Reforço do Investimento
em Equipamentos e Infraestruturas Científicas RAM (M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000008), ARDITIAgência
Regional para o Desenvolvimento da Investigação Tecnologia e Inovação through the project
M1420-01-0145-FEDER-000005-Centro de Química da Madeira-CQM+ (Madeira 14–20 Program)
and Project M1420-09-5369-FSE-000001 for the Post-Doctoral fellowship granted to JAMP. Núcleo
Regional da Madeira da Liga Portuguesa Contra o Cancro (NRM-LPCC) for the professional internship
granted to Joselin Aguiar. FCT for financial support by national funds FCT/MCTES to CIMO
(UIDB/00690/2020). National funding by FCT, P.I., through the institutional scientific employment
program-contract for L. Barros, and B.R. Albuquerque research grant (SFRH/BD/136370/2018).
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) through the Regional Operational Program North
2020, within the scope of the project Mobilizador Norte-01-0247-FEDER-024479: ValorNatural®.
FEDER-Interreg España-Portugal programme for financial support through the project 0377_Iberphenol_
6_E and TRANSCoLAB 0612_TRANS_CO_LAB_2_P. R.C.G. Corrêa is a research grant recipient
of Cesumar Institute of Science Technology and Innovation (ICETI).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Enhancing Network Slicing Architectures with Machine Learning, Security, Sustainability and Experimental Networks Integration
Network Slicing (NS) is an essential technique extensively used in 5G
networks computing strategies, mobile edge computing, mobile cloud computing,
and verticals like the Internet of Vehicles and industrial IoT, among others.
NS is foreseen as one of the leading enablers for 6G futuristic and highly
demanding applications since it allows the optimization and customization of
scarce and disputed resources among dynamic, demanding clients with highly
distinct application requirements. Various standardization organizations, like
3GPP's proposal for new generation networks and state-of-the-art 5G/6G research
projects, are proposing new NS architectures. However, new NS architectures
have to deal with an extensive range of requirements that inherently result in
having NS architecture proposals typically fulfilling the needs of specific
sets of domains with commonalities. The Slicing Future Internet Infrastructures
(SFI2) architecture proposal explores the gap resulting from the diversity of
NS architectures target domains by proposing a new NS reference architecture
with a defined focus on integrating experimental networks and enhancing the NS
architecture with Machine Learning (ML) native optimizations, energy-efficient
slicing, and slicing-tailored security functionalities. The SFI2 architectural
main contribution includes the utilization of the slice-as-a-service paradigm
for end-to-end orchestration of resources across multi-domains and
multi-technology experimental networks. In addition, the SFI2 reference
architecture instantiations will enhance the multi-domain and multi-technology
integrated experimental network deployment with native ML optimization,
energy-efficient aware slicing, and slicing-tailored security functionalities
for the practical domain.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure
On the Electromagnetic Response of Charged Bosons Coupled to a Chern-Simons Gauge Field: A Path Integral Approach
We analyze the electromagnetic response of a system of charged bosons coupled
to a Chern-Simons gauge field. Path integral techniques are used to obtain an
effective action for the particle density of the system dressed with quantum
fluctuations of the CS gauge field. From the action thus obtained we compute
the U(1) current of the theory for an arbitrary electromagnetic external field.
For the particular case of a homogeneous external magnetic field, we show that
the quantization of the transverse conductivity is exact, even in the presence
of an arbitrary impurity distribution. The relevance of edge states in this
context is analyzed. The propagator of density fluctuations is computed, and an
effective action for the matter density in the presence of a vortex excitation
is suggested.Comment: LaTex file, 27 pages, no figure
Apoptosis rate and transcriptional response of pancreatic islets exposed to the PPAR gamma agonist Pioglitazone
To explore the molecular pathways underlying thiazolidinediones effects on pancreatic islets in conditions mimicking normo- and hyperglycemia, apoptosis rate and transcriptional response to Pioglitazone at both physiological and supraphysiological glucose concentrations were evaluated. Adult rat islets were cultured at physiological (5.6 mM) and supraphysiological (23 mM) glucose concentrations in presence of 10 μM Pioglitazone or vehicle. RNA expression profiling was evaluated with the PancChip 13k cDNA microarray after 24-h, and expression results for some selected genes were validated by qRT-PCR. The effects of Pioglitazone were investigated regarding apoptosis rate after 24-, 48- and 72-h. At 5.6 mM glucose, 101 genes were modulated by Pioglitazone, while 1,235 genes were affected at 23 mM glucose. Gene networks related to lipid metabolism were identified as altered by Pioglitazone at both glucose concentrations. At 23 mM glucose, cell cycle and cell death pathways were significantly regulated as well. At 5.6 mM glucose, Pioglitazone elicited a transient reduction in islets apoptosis rate while at 23 mM, Bcl2 expression was reduced and apoptosis rate was increased by Pioglitazone. Our data demonstrate that the effect of Pioglitazone on gene expression profile and apoptosis rate depends on the glucose concentration. The modulation of genes related to cell death and the increased apoptosis rate observed at supraphysiological glucose concentration raise concerns about Pioglitazone’s direct effects in conditions of hyperglycemia and reinforce the necessity of additional studies designed to evaluate TZDs effects on the preservation of β-cell function in situations where glucotoxicity might be more relevant than lipotoxicity.This work was supported by grants from NIDDK (UO1 DK 56947; P30 DK 19525) and from FAPESP (04/018165, 04/014670 and 04/107974). The authors are grateful to Takeda Chemicals Industries (Japan) for supplying pioglitazone hydrochloride pure substance.This work was supported by grants from NIDDK (UO1 DK 56947; P30 DK 19525) and from FAPESP (04/01816-5, 04/01467-0 and 04/10797-4). The authors are grateful to Takeda Chemicals Industries (Japan) for supplying pioglitazone hydrochloride pure substance
Anthocyanins standards (cyanidin-3-O-glucoside and cyanidin-3-O-rutinoside) isolation from freeze-dried açaí (Euterpe oleraceae Mart.) by HPLC
Immunosensor for pancreatic cancer based on electrospun nanofibers coated with carbon nanotubes or gold nanoparticles
We report the fabrication of immunosensors based on nanostructured mats of electrospun nanofibers of polyamide 6 and poly(allylamine hydrochloride) coated either with multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) or gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), whose three-dimensional structure was suitable for the immobilization of anti-CA19-9 antibodies to detect the pancreatic cancer biomarker CA19-9. Using impedance spectroscopy, the sensing platform was able to detect CA19-9 with a detection limit of 1.84 and 1.57 U mL-1 for the nanostructured architectures containing MWCNTs and AuNPs, respectively. The high sensitivity achieved can be attributed to the irreversible adsorption between antibodies and antigens, as confirmed with polarization-modulated infrared reflection absorption spectroscopy. The adsorption mechanism was typical Langmuir-Freundlich processes. The high sensitivity and selectivity of the immunosensors were also explored in tests with blood serum from patients with distinct concentrations of CA19-9, for which the impedance spectra data were processed with a multidimensional projection technique. The robustness of the immunosensors in dealing with patient samples without suffering interference from analytes present in biological fluids is promising for a simple, effective diagnosis of pancreatic cancer at early stages.This work was supported by FAPESP (Grant 2013/14262-7),
CNPq, and CAPES (Brazil). D.S.C. also thanks FAPESP
(Grant 2014/16789-5), Embrapa−Rede Agronano, and MCTI
SisNano for financial support.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Africanized honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are more efficient at removing worker brood artificially infested with the parasitic mite Varroa jacobsoni Oudemans than are Italian bees or Italian/Africanized hybrids
Association of genetic variants in the promoter region of genes encoding p22phox (CYBA) and glutamate cysteine ligase catalytic subunit (GCLC) and renal disease in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Oxidative stress is recognized as a major pathogenic factor of cellular damage caused by hyperglycemia. NOX/NADPH oxidases generate reactive oxygen species and NOX1, NOX2 and NOX4 isoforms are expressed in kidney and require association with subunit p22phox (encoded by the <it>CYBA </it>gene). Increased expression of p22phox was described in animal models of diabetic nephropathy. In the opposite direction, glutathione is one of the main endogenous antioxidants whose plasmatic concentrations were reported to be reduced in diabetes patients. The aim of the present investigation was to test whether functional single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in genes involved in the generation of NADPH-dependent O<sub>2</sub><sup>•- </sup>(-675 T → A in <it>CYBA</it>, unregistered) and in glutathione metabolism (-129 C → T in <it>GCLC </it>[rs17883901] and -65 T → C in <it>GPX3 </it>[rs8177412]) confer susceptibility to renal disease in type 1 diabetes patients.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>401 patients were sorted into two groups according to the presence (n = 104) or absence (n = 196) of overt diabetic nephropathy or according to glomerular filtration rate (GFR) estimated by Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation: ≥ 60 mL (n = 265) or < 60 mL/min/1.73 m<sup>2 </sup>(n = 136) and were genotyped.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>No differences were found in the frequency of genotypes between diabetic and non-diabetic subjects. The frequency of GFR < 60 mL/min was significantly lower in the group of patients carrying <it>CYBA </it>genotypes T/A+A/A (18.7%) than in the group carrying the T/T genotype (35.3%) (P = 0.0143) and the frequency of GFR < 60 mL/min was significantly higher in the group of patients carrying <it>GCLC </it>genotypes C/T+T/T (47.1%) than in the group carrying the C/C genotype (31.1%) (<it>p </it>= 0.0082). Logistic regression analysis identified the presence of at least one A allele of the <it>CYBA </it>SNP as an independent protection factor against decreased GFR (OR = 0.38, CI95% 0.14-0.88, <it>p </it>= 0.0354) and the presence of at least one T allele of the <it>GCLC </it>rs17883901 SNP as an independent risk factor for decreased GFR (OR = 2.40, CI95% 1.27-4.56, <it>p </it>= 0.0068).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The functional SNPs <it>CYBA </it>-675 T → A and <it>GCLC </it>rs17883901, probably associated with cellular redox imbalances, modulate the risk for renal disease in the studied population of type 1 diabetes patients and require validation in additional cohorts.</p
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