Spermidine Associated to Non-Surgical Treatment of Periodontal Disease: Split Mouth Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Objectives. Spermidine is an endogenous polyamine whose increase induces the autocrine remodeling into targeted cells. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the adjunctive beneficial effects of the local delivery of spermidine to periodontal non-surgical therapy on reduction of periodontal pocket. Methods. In this split mouth, blind, randomized controlled clinical trial, 20 patients with severe chronic generalized periodontal disease scheduled for cause related non-surgical periodontal treatment were enrolled. In three quadrants for each patients, three experimental teeth with probing pocket depth (PPD) 65 6mm were selected and randomly assigned to one of the following treatments: scaling and root planning (SRP)+ spermidine gel (spermidine + alginate) (group a), SRP+ placebo gel (only alginate) (positive control, group b) or SRP (negative control, group c). PPD at baseline, 3 and 6 months after treatment was assessed. Descriptive and inferential statistics was done. Results. After periodontal treatment, a reduction of PPD was observed in all sites. No differences emerged between groups at each time point. In all groups, a significant PPD reduction was observed at T1 and T2 compared to baseline (p<0.05 and p<0.001). PPD reduction from T1 to T2 was significant only in group a (p<0.001). Conclusions. After non-surgical treatment, local delivery of spermidine may induce prolonged improvement of clinical outcome

A One-Dimensional Model for Turbulent Mixing in the Benthic Biolayer of Stream and Coastal Sediments

In this paper, we develop and validate a rigorous modeling framework, based on Duhamel’s Theorem, for the unsteady one-dimensional vertical transport of a solute across a flat sediment-water interface (SWI) and through the benthic biolayer of a turbulent stream. The modeling framework is novel in capturing the two-way coupling between evolving solute concentrations above and below the SWI and in allowing for a depth-varying diffusivity. Three diffusivity profiles within the sediment (constant, exponentially decaying, and a hybrid model) are evaluated against an extensive set of previously published laboratory measurements of turbulent mass transfer across the SWI. The exponential diffusivity profile best represents experimental observations and its reference diffusivity scales with the permeability Reynolds Number, a dimensionless measure of turbulence at the SWI. The depth over which the turbulence-enhanced diffusivity decays is of the order of centimeters and comparable to the thickness of the benthic biolayer. Thus, turbulent mixing across the SWI may serve as a universal transport mechanism, supplying the nutrient and energy fluxes needed to sustain microbial growth, and nutrient processing, in the benthic biolayer of stream and coastal sediments

Different extraction methods of biologically active components from propolis: a preliminary study

Abstract Background Propolis is widely used in apitherapy, preparations, and food and beverage additives. Various extraction techniques were applied in the extraction of the biologically active constituents of poplar type propolis in order to compare their efficiency. The methods employed were: traditional maceration extraction, ultrasound extraction (UE), and microwave assisted extraction (MAE). Results The total amounts of extracted phenolics and flavonoids were determined, and the effectiveness of the methods compared. MAE was very rapid but led to the extraction of a large amount of non-phenolic and non-flavonoid material. UE gave the highest percentage of extracted phenolics. Conclusion Compared to the maceration extraction, MAE and UE methods provided high extraction yield, requiring short timeframes and less labour. UE was shown to be the most efficient method based on yield, extraction time and selectivity.</p

Effects of seagrasses and algae of the Caulerpa family on hydrodynamics and particle-trapping rates

The widespread decline of seagrass beds within the Mediterranean often results in the replacement of seagrasses by opportunistic green algae of the Caulerpa family. Because Caulerpa beds have a different height, stiffness and density compared to seagrasses, these changes in habitat type modify the interaction of the seafloor with hydrodynamics, influencing key processes such as sediment resuspension and particle trapping. Here, we compare the effects on hydrodynamics and particle trapping of Caulerpa taxifolia, C. racemosa, and C. prolifera with the Mediterranean seagrasses Cymodocea nodosa and Posidonia oceanica. All macrophyte canopies reduced near-bed volumetric flow rates compared to bare sediment, vertical profiles of turbulent kinetic energy revealed peak values around the top of the canopies, and maximum values of Reynolds stress increased by a factor of between 1.4 (C. nodosa) and 324.1 (P. oceanica) when vegetation was present. All canopies enhanced particle retention rates compared to bare sediment. The experimental C. prolifera canopy was the most effective at particle retention (m2 habitat); however, C. racemosa had the largest particle retention capacity per structure surface area. Hence, in terms of enhancing particle trapping and reducing hydrodynamic forces at the sediment surface, Caulerpa beds provided a similar or enhanced function compared to P.oceanica and C. nodosa. However, strong seasonality in the leaf area index of C. racemosa and C. taxifolia within the Mediterranean, combined with a weak rhizome structure, suggests that sediments maybe unprotected during winter storms, when most erosion occurs. Hence, replacement of seagrass beds with Caulerpa is likely to have a major influence on annual sediment dynamics at ecosystem scales.This research was funded by the European Network of Excellence ‘‘Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Function’’ (MarBEF); FP6, EC contract no. 505446 and a grant from the Fundacio ´n BBVA. EPM was supported by a European Union Marie Curie host fellowship for transfer of knowledge, MTKD-CT-2004-509254, the Spanish national project EVAMARIA (CTM2005-00395/MAR) and the regional government of Andalusia project FUNDIV(P07-RNM-2516)

Growth of nanowire arrays from micron-feature templates

Here, we present a two-step annealing procedure to imprint nanofeatures on SiO2 starting from metallic microfeatures. The first annealing transforms the microfeatures into gold nanoparticles and the second imprints these nanoparticles into the SiO2 layer with nanometric control. The resulting nanohole arrays show a high ensemble uniformity. As a potential application, the nanohole mask is used as a selective mask for the Ga self-assisted growth of GaAs nanowires (NWs). Thus, for the first time, a successful implementation of nano-self-imprinting that links high-throughput microlithography with bottom-up NW growth is shown. The beneficial hole morphology of the SiO2 mask promotes high Ga droplet contact angles with the silicon substrate and the formation of single droplets in the mask holes. This droplet predeposition configuration enables a high vertical yield of NWs. Thus, this article describes a new protocol to grow NW devices that combines simultaneously nanosized holes and parallel processing

Carbohydrate metabolism genes and pathways in insects: insights from the honey bee genome

Carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes may have particularly interesting roles in the honey bee, Apis mellifera, because this social insect has an extremely carbohydrate-rich diet, and nutrition plays important roles in caste determination and socially mediated behavioural plasticity. We annotated a total of 174 genes encoding carbohydrate-metabolizing enzymes and 28 genes encoding lipid-metabolizing enzymes, based on orthology to their counterparts in the fly, Drosophila melanogaster, and the mosquito, Anopheles gambiae. We found that the number of genes for carbohydrate metabolism appears to be more evolutionarily labile than for lipid metabolism. In particular, we identified striking changes in gene number or genomic organization for genes encoding glycolytic enzymes, cellulase, glucose oxidase and glucose dehydrogenases, glucose-methanol-choline (GMC) oxidoreductases, fucosyltransferases, and lysozymes