Antioxidant Effects of Sheep Whey Protein on Endothelial Cells

Excessive production of reactive oxygen species (ROS) may cause endothelial dysfunction and consequently vascular disease. In the present study, the possible protective effects of sheep whey protein (SWP) from tert-butyl hydroperoxide- (tBHP-) induced oxidative stress in endothelial cells (EA.hy926) were assessed using oxidative stress biomarkers. These oxidative stress biomarkers were glutathione (GSH) and ROS levels determined by flow cytometry. Moreover, thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS), protein carbonyls (CARB), and oxidized glutathione (GSSG) were determined spectrophotometrically. The results showed that SWP at 0.78, 1.56, 3.12, and 6.24 mg of protein mL−1 increased GSH up to 141%, while it decreased GSSG to 46.7%, ROS to 58.5%, TBARS to 52.5%, and CARB to 49.0%. In conclusion, the present study demonstrated for the first time that SWP protected endothelial cells from oxidative stress. Thus, SWP may be used for developing food supplements or biofunctional foods to attenuate vascular disturbances associated with oxidative stress

Mental Retardation and Parenting Stress

Backround: The presence, upbringing and looking after of a mentally retarded child in the family, can become a threat to the mental health of its parents and is the main predisposing factor of stress for the parents.Aim: The purpose of this systematic review is (a) to document the contemporary research bibliography related to the stress of parents with mentally retarded children, (b) to aggregate the factors and secondary parameters based on the contemporary research related to the influence of the (child’s) mental retardation on the parents and (c) to show an intercultural aspect regarding the presence of stress to parents with mentally retarded children.Methods: Systematic review of research articles published in scientific journals included in the international academic databases HEAL-LING, SAGE, ELSEVIER, WILSON, SCIENCEDIRECT, MEDLINE, PUBMED, PsycINFO, Cochrane, EMBASE, SCIRUS and CINAHL having as search criteria and key words the terms («parental stress and mental retardation» [MeSH], «parenting stress and persons with special needs» [MeSH], «mental retardation and family problems» [MeSH], «stress and parents» [MeSH], «parenting and stress» [MeSH], «mental delay and parents» [MeSH], «developmental disabilities and family stress» [MeSH], «intellectual handicap and parenting» [MeSH], «maternal stress and child with disabilities» [MeSH]).Discussion: The review has proven that all forms of mental retardation have an important -from a statistic point of viewimpacton the parents’ mental health. Anxiety, stress and depression are common symptoms mentioned by the parents.Additionally, there are individual variables such as the husband-wife relationship, the parents’ approach to their child’s disability, the parental strategies used in order to cope with the daily life of the child’s disability and the behavioural problems of their child, all of which contribute to the increase of the level of parental stress.Conclusion: Finally, this review indicates that there is a same level of seriousness of the symptoms and impact of the disability on the parents in counties with different cultures (West – East). However, at the same time, there is a different approach in terms of social support provided to the parents and their everyday stress

Extracts from the Mediterranean Food Plants Carthamus lanatus, Cichorium intybus, and Cichorium spinosum Enhanced GSH Levels and Increased Nrf2 Expression in Human Endothelial Cells

The Mediterranean diet is considered to prevent several diseases. In the present study, the antioxidant properties of six extracts from Mediterranean plant foods were assessed. The extracts’ chemical composition analysis showed that the total polyphenolic content ranged from 56 to 408 GAE mg/g dw of extract. The major polyphenols identified in the extracts were quercetin,luteolin, caftaric acid, caffeoylquinic acid isomers, and cichoric acid. The extracts showed in vitro high scavenging potencyagainst ABTS•+and O2•−radicals and reducing power activity. Also, the extracts inhibited peroxyl radical-induced cleavage ofDNA plasmids. The three most potent extracts, Cichorium intybus, Carthamus lanatus, and Cichorium spinosum, inhibited OH•-induced mutations in Salmonella typhimurium TA102 cells. Moreover, C. intybus ,C. lanatus, and C. spinosum extracts increased the antioxidant molecule glutathione (GSH) by 33.4, 21.5, and 10.5% at 50μg/ml, respectively, in human endothelialEA.hy926 cells.C. intybusextract was also shown to induce in endothelial cells the transcriptional expression of Nrf2 (the majortranscription factor of antioxidant genes), as well as of antioxidant genes GCLC, GSR, NQO1, and HMOX1. In conclusion, theresults suggested that extracts from edible plants may prevent diseases associated especially with endothelium damag

Explainable AI-based identification of contributing factors to the mood state change in children and adolescents with pre-existing psychiatric disorders in the context of COVID-19-related lockdowns in Greece

The COVID-19 pandemic and its accompanying restrictions have significantly impacted people’s lives globally. There is an increasing interest in examining the influence of this unprecedented situation on our mental well-being, with less attention towards the impact of the elongation of COVID-19-related measures on youth with a pre-existing psychiatric/developmental disorder. The majority of studies focus on individuals, such as students, adults, and youths, among others, with little attention being given to the elongation of COVID-19-related measures and their impact on a special group of individuals, such as children and adolescents with diagnosed developmental and psychiatric disorders. In addition, most of these studies adopt statistical methodologies to identify pair-wise relationships among factors, an approach that limits the ability to understand and interpret the impact of various factors. In response, this study aims to adopt an explainable machine learning approach to identify factors that explain the deterioration or amelioration of mood state in a youth clinical sample. The purpose of this study is to identify and interpret the impact of the greatest contributing features of mood state changes on the prediction output via an explainable machine learning pipeline. Among all the machine learning classifiers, the Random Forest model achieved the highest effectiveness, with 76% best AUC-ROC Score and 13 features. The explainability analysis showed that stress or positive changes derived from the imposing restrictions and COVID-19 pandemic are the top two factors that could affect mood state

Grapting of polymers from carbon nanotubes

By using a simple three step process different types of polymers were synthesized from carbon nanotubes surface resulting in nanomaterials with well defined molecular characteristics and interesting properties. Initially four different precursor initiators able to initiate atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), ring opening polymerization (ROP), anionic and titanium mediated coordination polymerization were synthesized, as confirmed by 1H-NMR. These initiators were covalently attached on carbon nanotubes through a [4 + 2] Diels-Alder cycloadittion reaction. Raman spectroscopy verified the existence of these molecules on the multi walled nanotubes (MWNTs) surface while FTIR was used to determine their structure. The initiators chemically attached on CNTs were used for the synthesis of PEO and PS, PMMA homopolymers using anionic polymerization and ATRP. The kinetics of the ROP of ε- caprolactone and coordination polymerization of L-lactide was studied in details using SEC and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA). MWNT-g-(PEO) and MWNT–g-(PCL) were used for the synthesis of diblock copolymers through combination of different polymerization techniques. The combination of anionic and ROP was applied for the synthesis of nanomaterials that can form micelles in water, as verified from atomic force microscopy (AFM) and Dynamic Light Scattering (DLS) experiments. A different combination of polymerization techniques that of ROP and ATRP resulted in CNTs grafted with polymers whose aggregation behavior changes according to the pH of the solution. The same combination was used for the synthesis of a miktoarm copolymers from a CNT surface as seen from size exclusion chromatography (SEC) and 1H-NMR results. The successful synthesis of MWNT-g-(PS-b-PDMS) and MWNT-g-(PS-b-PEO) through anionic polymerization verified the living nature of this type of polymerization even from a CNT surface. An one-step approach based on simultaneous polymerizations proceeding via different mechanisms was used for the growth of binary polymer brushes from the surface CNTs. The surface initiated binary polymers that were grown from CNTs have different solubilities and could be localized at the interface between two selective solvents or at the interface between two blocks in polymer blends. Thus, these materials should serve as stimuli-responsive Janus MWNTs.Χρησιμοποιώντας μια απλή διαδικασία τριών σταδίων παρασκευάστηκαν διαφορετικά πολυμερή από νανοσωλήνες άνθρακα με καλά καθορισμένα μοριακά χαρακτηριστικά και ενδιαφέρουσες ιδιότητες. Αρχικά παρασκευάστηκαν τέσσερεις πρόδρομοι απαρχητές ικανοί να εκκινήσουν ανιοντικό, ριζικό πολυμερισμό μεταφοράς ατόμου (ATRP), πολυμερισμό διάνοιξης δακτυλίου (ROP) και πολυμερισμό σύμπλεξης με σύμπλοκο τιτανίου, όπως επιβεβαιώθηκε από 1HNMR. Οι απαρχητές αυτοί προσκολλήθηκαν ομοιοπολικά στην επιφάνεια νανοσωλήνων μέσω μιας αντίδρασης [4 + 2] Diels-Alder κυκλοπροσθήκης. Η φασματοσκοπία Raman απόδειξε την ύπαρξη των ενώσεων αυτών στην επιφάνεια των νανοσωλήνων που ταυτοποιήθηκαν με φασματοσκοπία FTIR. Οι υποκατεστημένοι με απαρχητές νανοσωλήνες χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για την σύνθεση ομοπολυμερών PEO και PS, PMMA με τις τεχνικές του ανιοντικού και ATRP αντίστοιχα. Αναλυτικά και με την βοήθεια των τεχνικών χρωματογραφίας αποκλεισμού μεγεθών (SEC) και θερμοσταθ,ικής ανάλυσης (TGΑ) μελετήθηκαν οι κινητικές των ROP της ε-καπρολακτόνης και πολυμερισμού σύμπλεξης του L-λακτιδίου από την επιφάνεια νανοσωλήνων. Τα νανοσύνθετα υλικά MWNT-g- (PEO) και MWNT–g-(PCL) χρησιμοποιήθηκαν για την σύνθεση γραμμικών δισυσταδικών συμπολυμερών με συνδυασμούς διαφορετικών μεθόδων πολυμερισμού. Ο συνδυασμός ανιοντικού και ROP χρησιμοποιήθηκε για την σύνθεση νανοσύνθετων υλικών που έχουν την δυνατότητα να σχηματίζουν σφαιρικές δομές (μικκύλια) σε υδατικά διαλύματα, όπως επιβεβαιώθηκε από πειράματα με μικροσκοπίας ατομικής δύναμης (AFM) και δυναμικής σκέδασης φωτός (DLS). Με συνδυασμό των ROP και ATRP παρασκευάστηκαν νανοσωλήνες με πολυμερή των οποίων η συμπεριφορά σε υδατικό διάλυμα αλλάζει ανάλογα με το pH. Η επιτυχής σύνθεση των MWNT-g-(PS-b-PDMS) και MWNT-g-(PS-b-PEO) με ανιοντικό πολυμερισμό επιβεβαίωσε την ζωντανή φύση του ανιοντικού πολυμερισμού από επιφάνεια νανοσωλήνων. Από υποκατεστημένους νανοσωλήνες άνθρακα πολλαπλών τοιχωμάτων (MWNTs) με δύο διαφορετικούς απαρχητές και με ταυτόχρονους ATRP και ROP πολυμερισμούς παρασκευάστηκαν νανοσωλήνες με διαφορετικά πολυμερή προσκολλημένα επάνω τους. Τα νανοσύνθετα αυτά υλικά όταν διαλυθούν παρουσιάζουν την ικανότητα να στρέφουν τις πολυμερικές πολυμερικές αλυσίδες προς συγκεκριμένη κατεύθυνση ανάλογα με τον διαλύτη. Εικόνες από ηλεκτρονική μικροσκοπία διαπερατότητας (TEM) και AFM επιβεβαίωσαν την ύπαρξη στρώματος πολυμερούς στην επιφάνεια των νανοσωλήνων

Surface-Initiated Titanium-Mediated Coordination Polymerization from Catalyst-Functionalized Single and Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes

Single (SWNTs) and multiwalled (MWNTs) carbon nanotubes were functionalized with a titanium alkoxide catalyst through a Diels-Alder cycloaddition reaction. The catalyst-functionalized carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were used for the surface initiated titanium-mediated coordination polymerizations of L-lactide (L-LA), ε-caprolactone (ε-CL) and n-hexyl isocyanate (HIC) employing the “grafting from” technique. 1H NMR, IR and Raman spectra showed that the precursor catalyst was successfully synthesized and covalently attached on the CNTs surface. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) revealed that the grafted poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) content could be controlled with time. The final polymer-grafted CNTs were readily dissolved in organic solvents as compared to the insoluble pristine and catalyst-functionalized CNTs. The presence of thick layers of polymers around the CNTs was observed through transmission electron microscopy (TEM). Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) proved that the glass transition (Tg) and melting (Tm) temperatures of the PLLA are affected by the presence of the CNTs, while PLLA α-helix conformation remains intact, as revealed by the circular dichroism (CD) spectra

Development and Validation of a Kit to Measure Drink Antioxidant Capacity Using a Novel Colorimeter

Measuring the antioxidant capacity of foods is essential, as a means of quality control to ensure that the final product reaching the consumer will be of high standards. Despite the already existing assays with which the antioxidant activity is estimated, new, faster and low cost methods are always sought. Therefore, we have developed a novel colorimeter and combined it with a slightly modified DPPH assay, thus creating a kit that can assess the antioxidant capacity of liquids (e.g., different types of coffee, beer, wine, juices) in a quite fast and low cost manner. The accuracy of the colorimeter was ensured by comparing it to a fully validated Hitachi U-1900 spectrophotometer, and a coefficient was calculated to eliminate the observed differences. In addition, a new, user friendly software was developed, in order to render the procedure as easy as possible, while allowing a central monitoring of the obtained results. Overall, a novel kit was developed, with which the antioxidant activity of liquids can be measured, firstly to ensure their quality and secondly to assess the amount of antioxidants consumed with the respective food