Photocatalytic Treatment of Air: How to dealwith the problem of TiO2 deactivation

n this study photocatalytic oxidation of toluene, used as model VOCs in the gas phase on different types of Ti-based catalytic materials was investigated. The objective of this work was to find out additional information regarding activity and stability of catalyst during photocatalytic treatment of the polluted air. Two designs of the photoreactor were used: classical type of an annular reactor and annular reactor with recirculation. All measurements were performed at room temperature, atmospheric pressure and at constant initial toluene concentration, relative humidity and total flow rate of the reaction mixture. Some experiments were carried out with catalysts thermally treated on different temperatures (350–450 °C). It was found out that thermal treatment of deactivated photocatalyst at higher temperature is efficient method of TiO2 reactivation. According to results presented in this paper problem of catalyst deactivation can be partially solved by using annular reactor with recirculation of one part of reaction mixture entering the reactor

The Total Synthesis of Glycolipids from Streptococcus pneumoniae and a Re-evaluation of Their Immunological Activity**

Invariant natural killer (iNK) T cells, Type I iNKTs, are responsible for the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines which induce a systemic immune response. They are distinctive in possessing an semi-invariant T-cell receptor that recognizes glycolipid antigens presented by CD1d, a protein closely related to the class I major histocompatibility complex, conserved across multiple mammalian species in a class of proteins well-renowned for their high degree of polymorphism. This receptor\u27s first potent identified antigen is the α-galactosylceramide, KRN7000, a synthetic glycosphingolipid closely related to those isolated from bacteria that were found on a Japanese marine sponge. A corresponding terrestrial antigen remained unidentified until two specific diacylglycerol-containing glycolipids, reported to activate iNKT cells, were isolated from Streptococcus pneumoniae. We report the total synthesis and immunological re-evaluation of these two glycolipids. The compounds are unable to meaningfully activate iNKT cells. Computational modelling shows that these ligands, while being capable of interacting with the CD1d receptor, create a different surface for the binary complex that makes formation of the ternary complex with the iNKT T-cell receptor difficult. Together these results suggest that the reported activity might have been due to an impurity in the original isolated sample and highlights the importance of taking care when reporting biological activity from isolated natural products

MIR376A is a regulator of starvation-induced autophagy

Background: Autophagy is a vesicular trafficking process responsible for the degradation of long-lived, misfolded or abnormal proteins, as well as damaged or surplus organelles. Abnormalities of the autophagic activity may result in the accumulation of protein aggregates, organelle dysfunction, and autophagy disorders were associated with various diseases. Hence, mechanisms of autophagy regulation are under exploration. Methods: Over-expression of hsa-miR-376a1 (shortly MIR376A) was performed to evaluate its effects on autophagy. Autophagy-related targets of the miRNA were predicted using Microcosm Targets and MIRanda bioinformatics tools and experimentally validated. Endogenous miRNA was blocked using antagomirs and the effects on target expression and autophagy were analyzed. Luciferase tests were performed to confirm that 3’ UTR sequences in target genes were functional. Differential expression of MIR376A and the related MIR376B was compared using TaqMan quantitative PCR. Results: Here, we demonstrated that, a microRNA (miRNA) from the DlkI/Gtl2 gene cluster, MIR376A, played an important role in autophagy regulation. We showed that, amino acid and serum starvation-induced autophagy was blocked by MIR376A overexpression in MCF-7 and Huh-7 cells. MIR376A shared the same seed sequence and had overlapping targets with MIR376B, and similarly blocked the expression of key autophagy proteins ATG4C and BECN1 (Beclin 1). Indeed, 3’ UTR sequences in the mRNA of these autophagy proteins were responsive to MIR376A in luciferase assays. Antagomir tests showed that, endogenous MIR376A was participating to the control of ATG4C and BECN1 transcript and protein levels. Moreover, blockage of endogenous MIR376A accelerated starvation-induced autophagic activity. Interestingly, MIR376A and MIR376B levels were increased with different kinetics in response to starvation stress and tissue-specific level differences were also observed, pointing out to an overlapping but miRNA-specific biological role. Conclusions: Our findings underline the importance of miRNAs encoded by the DlkI/Gtl2 gene cluster in stress-response control mechanisms, and introduce MIR376A as a new regulator of autophagy

Domain Specific Languages for Managing Feature Models: Advances and Challenges

International audienceManaging multiple and complex feature models is a tedious and error-prone activity in software product line engineering. Despite many advances in formal methods and analysis techniques, the supporting tools and APIs are not easily usable together, nor unified. In this paper, we report on the development and evolution of the Familiar Domain-Specific Language (DSL). Its toolset is dedicated to the large scale management of feature models through a good support for separating concerns, composing feature models and scripting manipulations. We overview various applications of Familiar and discuss both advantages and identified drawbacks. We then devise salient challenges to improve such DSL support in the near future

Stenosis and Aneurysm of Coronary Arteries in A Patient with Behcet’s Disease

Coronary artery disease is extremely rare in patients with Behçet’s disease. We report the case of a patient with a history of Behçet’s disease who was admitted in our hospital with instable angina pectoris. The patient’s electrocardiogram was normal. Coronary angiography revealed aneurysm of the distal right coronary artery with a tight stenosis of the proximal part of the posterolateral branch. These two conditions were initially treated with immunosuppressive treatment. Three years later coronary angiography showed a total occlusion of the right coronary artery treated with medical therapy. More than fourteen cases of coronary involvement were reported in the literature but the etiopathogeny and the treatment are yet unknow

Effects of dietary plant-derived phytonutrients on the genome-wide profiles and coccidiosis resistance in the broiler chickens

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The present study was conducted to investigate the effects of dietary plant-derived phytonutrients, carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde and Capsicum oleoresin, on the translational regulation of genes associated with immunology, physiology and metabolism using high-throughput microarray analysis and <it>in vivo</it> disease challenge model of avian coccidiosis.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, we used nutrigenomics technology to investigate the molecular and genetic mechanisms of dietary modulation of host innate immunity and metabolism by three phytonutrients. To validate their immunomodulatory effects in a disease model, young broiler chickens fed a standard diet supplemented with three phytochemicals (carvacrol, cinnamaldehyde, and Capsicum oleoresin) from one day post-hatch were orally challenged with <it>E. acervulina</it>. The body weight gain and fecal oocyst production were used to evaluate coccidiosis disease parameters.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Analysis of global gene expression profiles of intestinal tissues from phytonutrient-fed birds indicated that Capsicum oleoresin induced the most gene changes compared to the control group where many of these genes were associated with those of metabolism and immunity. The most reliable network induced by dietary cinnamaldehyde treatment was related with the functions of antigen presentation, humoral immune response, and inflammatory disease. Furthermore, dietary supplementation with these phytonutrients significantly protected broiler chickens against live coccidiosis challenge infection based on body weight and parasite fecundity.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>The results of this study provide clear evidence to support the idea that plant-derived phytochemicals possess immune-enhancing properties in chickens and these new findings create a new possibility to develop effective drug-free alternative strategies for disease control for poultry infectious diseases.</p

AAV2-Mediated Combined Subretinal Delivery of IFN-α and IL-4 Reduces the Severity of Experimental Autoimmune Uveoretinitis

We previously showed that adeno-associated virus 2 (AAV2) mediated subretinal delivery of human interferon-alpha (IFN-α) could effectively inhibit experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU). In this study we investigated whether subretinal injection of both AVV2.IFN-α and AAV2.IL-4 had a stronger inhibition on EAU activity. B10RIII mice were subretinally injected with AAV2.IFN-α alone (1.5×107 vg), AAV2.IL-4 alone (3.55×107 vg), and AAV2.IFN-α combined with AAV2.IL-4. PBS, AAV2 vector encoding green fluorescent protein (AAV2.GFP) (5×107 vg) was subretinally injected as a control. IFN-α and IL-4 were effectively expressed in the eyes from three weeks to three months following subretinal injection of AAV2 vectors either alone or following combined administration and significantly attenuated EAU activity clinically and histopathologically. AAV2.IL-4 showed a better therapeutic effect as compared to AAV2.IFN-α. The combination of AAV2.IL-4 and AAV2.IFN-α was not significantly different as compared to AAV2.IL-4 alone. There was no difference concerning DTH (delayed-type hypersensitivity) reaction, lymphocyte proliferation and IL-17 production among the investigated treatment groups, suggesting that local retinal gene delivery did not affect the systemic immune response