Water Soluble Pleurotus ostreatus Polysaccharide Down-Regulates the Expression of MMP-2 and MMP-9 in Caco-2 Cells

Many polysaccharides and polysaccharide-protein complexes isolated from mushrooms have immunomodulatory and anti-cancer effects. Our aim was to study the regulatory mechanisms of Caco-2 cell response to water soluble P. ostreatus polysaccharide extract up to 72 hours. Specific enzymatic activities were assessed by kinetic measurements. The reduced glutathione content and the lipid peroxidation level were also analyzed. Protein expression of several heat shock proteins, Bcl-2 and metalloproteinases 2 and 9 were revealed by Western blot. Gelatin zymography assay was used to evaluate the MMP-2 and MMP-9 activities. Until the third day of exposure the total SOD activity decreased continuously by 30%, whereas GST and GR ones diminished by 17% respectively 30.5% compared to control. No significant changes were observed in CAT and G6PDH specific activities as well as in GSH and MDA concentration. After the third day of exposure a significant up-regulation of Hsp60 and Hsp90 expression and a down-regulation of Hsp70 one were registered. Bcl-2 protein levels were down-regulated by 50% in the first day of treatment but increased after 3 days. MMP-2 and 9 secretion in the culture medium was significantly reduced suggesting a diminished ability of invasion of colon cancer cells. Our data revealed that in vitro treatment with P. ostreatus aqueous polysaccharide extract does not induce apoptosis in Caco-2 cell line but it could inhibit the invasion of colon cancer cells through the basement membrane

ANALYTICAL STUDY OF THE STATIC THERMOMECHANICAL STRESSES OF THE ASSEMBLIES WITH OPTIONAL RING FLANGES. ROTATION OF THE FLANGE RING AROUND THE CIRCUMFERENCE OF CENTERS FOR BOLT HOLES

This paper addresses the evaluation of thermal and mechanical stresses that occur in assemblies with flat ring flanges, of optional type. The flange rings are fixed by welding to the wall of the cylindrical body of the vessel, with a constant thickness along its length. Regarding of the above, the compatibility of the deformations of the component elements (radial displacements and rotations) is approached. A linear algebraic system is formed in which both external loads (pressure, temperature) and connecting loads (bending unit moments and unit forces) are present. The present analysis discusses the quantitative, cumulative effect of the deformed gasket and the stiffness of the curved/bent screws on the tightness of the system. The methodology is flexible by introducing selection factors so that the mentioned influences can be easily separated

VARIANTS FOR EVALUATING THE RIGIDITY OF FLAT RING FLANGES

This paper describes an analytical way of comparative evaluation of the stiffnesses developed in assemblies with flat ring flanges, of optional type, welded to the cylindrical body of a pressure vessel. Based on the theory of the compatibility of deformations (radial displacements and rotations), the mathematical expressions necessary for the evaluation of the unitary radial bending moments and the unitary shearing forces of connection are established. With their help, the values of the rotation angles of the rings can be calculated and compared with the admissible ones. The present analysis considers the quantitative effect of the deformed gasket and the stiffness of the curved/bent screws on the tightness of the system. The methodology is flexible by introducing some selection factors, so that the mentioned influences can be easily separated and compared

VARIANTS FOR EVALUATING THE RIGIDITY OF FLAT RING FLANGES

This paper describes an analytical way of comparative evaluation of the stiffnesses developed in assemblies with flat ring flanges, of optional type, welded to the cylindrical body of a pressure vessel. Based on the theory of the compatibility of deformations (radial displacements and rotations), the mathematical expressions necessary for the evaluation of the unitary radial bending moments and the unitary shearing forces of connection are established. With their help, the values of the rotation angles of the rings can be calculated and compared with the admissible ones. The present analysis considers the quantitative effect of the deformed gasket and the stiffness of the curved/bent screws on the tightness of the system. The methodology is flexible by introducing some selection factors, so that the mentioned influences can be easily separated and compared

Evaluarea comparativă a manifestărilor clinico-paracliniceale infecției rotavirale versus varietatea genotipică la sugari

Nicolae Testemitanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Republic of Moldova, Municipal Children’s Clinical Hospital no.1, Chisinau, Republic of Moldova, National Agency for Public Health, Republic of MoldovaIntroduction. RVI (rotavirus infection) is the most common cause of dehydration in infants and young children. The implementation of the sentinel surveillance of RVI in infants from 2008 in the Republic of Moldova demonstrated the high rate of this infection (40.0%), being an argument in recommending the antirotaviral immunization in children within the National Immunization Program. Material and methods. The study enrolled 193 children with acute diarrheal disease, included in the sentinel supervision (2012-2016) and treated in the Unit for Acute Diarrheal Diseases at Children’s Clinical Hospital no. 1. The biological material was examined by serological enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and genotyping, revealed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Results. The rotavirus infection was confirmed in 193 infants, of which 121 children were not vaccinated against RVI, and 72 were immunized. Depending on the genotypes encountered before and after vaccination, it was found that G9P [8], G3P [8], G4P [8] were detected before vaccination, although postvaccine prevailed G2P [4], G4P [8]. In addition, the incidence of RVI is decreasing and the disease evolution is much better. Conclusions. This article reflects the evolution of the genotypic properties of rotaviruses and the clinical-paraclinical particularities of RVI in infants, highlighting the importance of the implementation of antiretroviral immunization in children within the National Immunization Program in the Republic of Moldova.Introducere. IRV (infecţie rotavirală) este cauza cea mai frecventă de deshidratare la sugar şi la copilul mic. Implementarea în Republica Moldova în anul 2008 anul 2008 a supravegherii santinelă a IRV la sugari a relevat o rata înaltă a infecţiei (40,0%), acest fapt servind ca argumentîn recomandarea imunizării antirotavirale a copiilor în cadrul Programului Naţional de Imunizări. Material şi metode. În studiu au fost incluşi 193 de copii sugaricu boală diareică acută, aflați sub supravegherea santinelă în perioada 2012-2016 şi trataţi în Secţia de boli diareice acute a Spitalului Clinic Municipal de Copii nr. 1. Materialul biologic s-a examinat prin metoda reacţiei serologice ELISA, iar evidenţierea genotipurilor a fost efectuată prin reacţia de amplificare genică PCR. Rezultate. Dintre cei 193 de sugari cu infecţie rotavirală, 121 nu au fost vaccinaţi contra IRV, iar 72 – au fost imunizaţi. În funcţie de genotipurile întâlnite până şi după vaccinare, s-a constatat că până la vaccinare au predominat genotipurile G9P [8], G3P [8], G4P [8]. În schimb, postvaccinal au prevalat genotipurile G2P [4], G4P [8], incidenţa IRV fiind în scădere, iar evoluţia bolii – mult mai uşoară. Concluzii. Acest articol reflectă evoluţia proprietăţilor genotipice ale rotavirusurilor şi a particularităţilor clinico-paraclinice ale IRV la sugari, cu oimportanţă majoră în contextual procesului de implementare a imunizării antirotavirale a copiilor în cadrul Programului Naţional de Imunizări din Republica Moldova

Combined miRNA and SERS urine liquid biopsy for the point-of-care diagnosis and molecular stratification of bladder cancer

Background: Bladder cancer (BC) has the highest per-patient cost of all cancer types. Hence, we aim to develop a non-invasive, point-of-care tool for the diagnostic and molecular stratification of patients with BC based on combined microRNAs (miRNAs) and surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) profiling of urine. Methods: Next-generation sequencing of the whole miRNome and SERS profiling were performed on urine samples collected from 15 patients with BC and 16 control subjects (CTRLs). A retrospective cohort (BC = 66 and CTRL = 50) and RT-qPCR were used to confirm the selected differently expressed miRNAs. Diagnostic accuracy was assessed using machine learning algorithms (logistic regression, naive Bayes, and random forest), which were trained to discriminate between BC and CTRL, using as input either miRNAs, SERS, or both. The molecular stratification of BC based on miRNA and SERS profiling was performed to discriminate between high-grade and low-grade tumors and between luminal and basal types. Results: Combining SERS data with three differentially expressed miRNAs (miR-34a-5p, miR-205-3p, miR-210-3p) yielded an Area Under the Curve (AUC) of 0.92 +/- 0.06 in discriminating between BC and CTRL, an accuracy which was superior either to miRNAs (AUC = 0.84 +/- 0.03) or SERS data (AUC = 0.84 +/- 0.05) individually. When evaluating the classification accuracy for luminal and basal BC, the combination of miRNAs and SERS profiling averaged an AUC of 0.95 +/- 0.03 across the three machine learning algorithms, again better than miRNA (AUC = 0.89 +/- 0.04) or SERS (AUC = 0.92 +/- 0.05) individually, although SERS alone performed better in terms of classification accuracy. Conclusion: miRNA profiling synergizes with SERS profiling for point-of-care diagnostic and molecular stratification of BC. By combining the two liquid biopsy methods, a clinically relevant tool that can aid BC patients is envisaged

Constructing checkers from PSL properties

Abstract: Model checking and simulation are the main techniques widely used in hardware verification. The past years trend is to bring together these two verification techniques in order to employ knowledge and tools produced by one to help the other. This paper describes a tool that translates properties written in PSL, a model checking language, into checkers written in languages suitable for simulation. The tool has two main focuses: first, retargetability, and second, simplicity, efficiency and clarity of the resulted checkers. However, its speed is in the same order of magnitude with those of commercial tools already existing on the market

The preliminary cytogenetic investigations in Rana ridibunda Pall. and Rana esculenta L. from the north of Moldavia

The cytogenetic investigations in Rana ridibunda (Pall.) and R. esculenta (L.) species pointed out that the two species have the karyotype formed of 13 pairs of chromosomes (2n = 26). The chromosomes of these species can be divided into two groups: the first group comprises the pairs of large chromosomes 1–5, and the second group is made of the pairs 6–13 of smaller chromosomes

ColFit_FF-PSHG

Code for Fast Fourier Polarization SHG analysis of polarization-resolved second harmonic generation (PSHG) image sets acquired on collagen-rich samples. FIJI macros which compute local entropy, standard deviation, median absolute deviation in square and “circular” windows, with the resulting value corresponding to the center of the window in the new generated image. Example of generated images can be found in PSHG-TISS project. Code used to generate the image set described in 10.1038/s41597-022-01477-

THE ANALYSIS OF CYTOCHROME B SEQUENCES FOR BISON BONASUS (ARTIODACTYLA: BOVIDAE) INDIVIDUALS FROM VÂNĂTORI-NEAMȚ AND NEAGRA-BUCȘANI NATIONAL PARKS

Mitochondrial DNA (mt-DNA) has proven to be a useful tool in molecular phylogenetic studies, because evolutionary relationships can be inferred in depth, between recently divergent groups, populations, species, and even individuals. In this experiment we investigated the genetic variability of Bison bonasus individuals from Vânători Neamț and Neagra Bucșani National Parks, by analyzing cyt b nucleotide sequences. The study allowed us to identify the haplotypes, the nucleotide frequencies, mt-DNA divergence and phylogenetic relationships within studied populations. In this study we observed 3 haplotypes at Vânători Neamț population and 2 haplotypes at Neagra Bucșani population