The importance of NFκB1 rs4648068 and RUNX2 rs7771980 polymorphisms in bone metabolism of postmenopausal Polish women

Objectives: Osteoporosis is a multifactorial disease that causes a loss of bone density. However, genetic factors play an increasingly important role in its development. To thoroughly understand the molecular mechanisms, polymorphic variants of genes candidate for osteoporosis are still being sought. The aim of our study was to investigate the influence of NFκB1 gene rs4648068 (A>G) and RUNX2 gene rs7771980 (-1025T>C) polymorphisms on the risk of osteoporosis.Material and methods: A group of 675 postmenopausal Caucasian women (109 women with osteopenia, 333 with osteoporosis and 233 with normal T-score) were examined. The bone mineral density (BMD) at the lumbar spine (L1-L4) was measured by dual energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The analysis of NFκB1 and RUNX2 polymorphisms was performed using real-time PCR method.Results: Analysis of NFκB1 gene rs4648068 polymorphism showed that the GG genotype was slightly more frequent in the study groups compared to the control group. In the osteoporosis group, patients with the G allele in the genotype have lower bone mineral density values. For the RUNX2 rs7771980 polymorphism, in women with osteopenia we observed an increased incidence of TC heterozygotes compared to the control group (29.40% vs 24.90%, p > 0.05), and in women with osteoporosis, the TT genotype was more common (78.70% vs 73.80%, p > 0.05). No correlation was observed between the genotypes and the clinical parameters.Conclusions: The analysis showed no significant relationship between the genotypic distribution and the individual clinical parameters. However, it is suggested an association between the rs4648068 polymorphism of the NFκB1 gene and an increased risk of developing osteoporosis

Biobased Thermoplastic Elastomers: Structure-Property Relationship of Poly(hexamethylene 2,5-furanodicarboxylate)-Block-Poly(tetrahydrofuran) Copolymers Prepared by Melt Polycondensation

A series of poly(hexamethylene 2,5-furanodicarboxylate)-block-poly(tetrahydrofuran) (PHF-b-F-pTHF) copolymers were synthesized using a two-stage procedure, employing transesterification and polycondensation. The content of pTHF flexible segments varied from 25 to 75 wt.%. 1H nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and Fourier transformed infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analyses were applied to confirm the molecular structure of the materials. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), dynamic mechanical measurements (DMTA), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) allowed characterizing the supramolecular structure of the synthesized copolymers. SEM analysis was applied to show the differences in the block copolymers’ morphologies concerning their chemical structure. The influence of the number of flexible segments in the copolymers on the phase transition temperatures, thermal properties, as well as the thermo-oxidative and thermal stability was analyzed. TGA analysis, along with tensile tests (static and cyclic), confirmed the utilitarian performance of the synthesized bio-based materials. It was found that an increase in the amount of pTHF caused the increase of both number-average and weight-average molecular weights and intrinsic viscosities, and at the same time causing the shift of the values of phase transition temperatures toward lower ones. Besides, PHF-b-F-pTHF containing 75 wt.% of F-pTHF units was proved to be a promising thermoplastic shape memory polymer (SMP) with a switching temperature of 20 °C

Recycling of Carbon Fiber Reinforced Composite Polymers—Review—Part 2: Recovery and Application of Recycled Carbon Fibers

The paper presents some examples of new technological solutions for the recovery and re-use of recycled carbon fiber in automotive and railway industries, as well as in aviation and wind turbine constructions. The new technologies of fiber recovery that are described can enable the mass-scale use of recycled carbon fiber in the future

Poly(butylene terephthalate)/polylactic acid based copolyesters and blends: miscibility-structure-property relationship

22 pags., 12 figs., 5 tabs.A series of aliphatic-aromatic copolyesters based on poly(butylene terephthalate) (PBT) and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) have been synthesized by means of a novel reactive blending procedure coupled with polycondensation in melt. The obtained copolymers were further compared with PBT and PLA homopolymers and PBT/PLA non-compatibilized physical blends in order to investigate the effect of transesterification reactions on the structural, morphological, thermal and mechanical performance. Properties of the obtained materials have been found strictly dependent on the preparation process and blend/copolymer composition. The PBT/PLA physical blends appeared as highly crystalline, phase separated systems that exhibit brittle behavior. On the other hand, the applied method of reactive blending enhanced interfacial adhesion and promoted the arrangement of PBT and PLA in blocks of different lengths. Although the PBT-b-PLA copolyesters were found to be miscible in amorphous phase, the phase separation that has arisen from PBT crystalline domains occurs. Along with an increase in PLA weight fraction in copolymers, the length of aromatic sequences decreased which in turn resulted in shifting the values of melting temperatures (T) toward lower ones and decreased the degree of crystallinity (x). Moreover, PBT-b-PLA copolymer with 30 wt% of PLA units has been demonstrated as a promising thermoplastic shape memory polymer (SMP) with a switching temperature of 35°C.This work was financially supported by the West Pomeranian University of Technology, Start-Up Deans Grant for Young Scientists

Thermal characterization of polymer composites with nanocrystalline maghemite

Samples of multiblock poly(ether-ester) copolymer doped with magnetic γFe2O3 nanoparticles (at small concentrations of 0.1 wt. % and 0.3 wt. %) have been investigated by DSC method to study the melting and crystallization behavior. Two forms of magnetic γFe2O 3 nanoparticle filler were used: solid-state grains and a suspension of γFe2O3 with palmitic acid in toluene. Application of the solid filler caused formation of agglomerates of size of about 20 μm while in the suspension form separate nanoparticles were in the range 10-20 run. The thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of composites was analyzed by conventional TGA analysis. The DSC results showed that crystallization and, to a smaller extent, melting, were considerably affected by the introduction of magnetic nanoparticles. The main influence is a shift in the crystallisation temperature up to 20 °C and melting/glass transition shift up to 6 °C. Thermogravimetric analysis showed significant enhancement of thermal and thermo-oxidative stability of the composites with respect to pure PEE. The dependence of thermal parameters on the concentration of magnetic filler has shown that the largest agglomerates produced the biggest change in all thermal parameters