Hydrogen sulfide formation in experimental model of acute pancreatitis

Acute pancreatitis (AP) is a disease defined as acute or chronic inflammatory process of the pancreas characterized by premature activation of digestive enzymes within the pancreatic acinar cells and causing pancreatic auto-digestion. In mammalian tissues, H2S is synthesized endogenously from L-cysteine in regulated enzymatic pathways catalyzed by pyridoxal phosphate-dependent enzymes: cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS), gammacystathionase (CTH) and cysteine aminotransferase (CAT) coupled with 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (MPST). In the mitochondria, hydrogen sulfide is oxidized to sulfite, which is then converted to thiosulfate (a sulfane sulfur-containing compound) by thiosulfate sulfurtransferase (rhodanese; TST). Activity and expression of CBS, CTH, MPST, and TST have been determined in vivo in pancreas of the control rats, rats with acute pancreatitis and a sham group. Levels of low-molecular sulfur compounds, such as the reduced and oxidized glutathione, cysteine, cystine and cystathionine, were also determined. This study revealed a significant role of MPST in H2S metabolism in the pancreas. Stress caused by the surgery (sham group) and AP cause a decrease in H2S production associated with a decrease in MPST activity and expression. Markedly higher level of cysteine in the AP pancreas may be caused by a reduced rate of cysteine consumption in a reaction catalyzed by MPST, but it can also be a sign of proteolytic processes occurring in the changed tissu

Ti2AlC and Ti3SiC2 MAX phase foams: processing, porosity characterization and connection between processing parameters and porosity

Proceeding of: World PM2016 Congress Proceedings. New materials and applications, biomedical applicationsMAX phases Ti2AlC and Ti3SiC2 foams with controlled porosity and pore size were produced using the space holder method. The foams were processed using water-leachable crystalline carbohydrate as space holder that involves: mixing, cold isostatic pressing, dissolution and sintering. Three combinations of volume percentage (20%-60%) and size distribution (250-1000 mum) of space holder were introduced during mixing. The foams were characterized and compared with the material without space holder. The characterization included: morphology (overall, open and closed porosity by Archimedes method) and gas permeability. Foams with porosity up to about 60 vol% and pore size distribution ranging from about 250 to 1000 mum were produced. Experimental porosity was compared to the theoretical expected porosity. The results show a bimodal porosity that can be customized by the sintering and the space holder. This study connects the processing parameters to the porosity created and allows control of porosity and pore size to produce tailor-made properties.The authors would like to thank the funding provided for this research by the Regional Government of Madrid- Dir. Gral. Universidades e Investigación, through the project S2013/MIT-2862 (MULTIMAT-CHALLENGE-CM), and by Spanish Government through Ramón y Cajal contract RYC-2014-15014 and the project MAT2012/38650-C02-0

How activists and target organizations collaborate in the face of emerging contingencies:setbacks and inaction: constraining or enablers of change?

In this paper, we attempt to examine the sources of agency of target organizations when engaged in collective change processes organized by activists concerned with environmental issues and sustainable development in the eastern part of the Netherlands. In combining social movement and institutional entrepreneurship literature, we examine why and how target organizations engage in collective action, change their practices, and adopt new ones in the pursuit of solving a common issue with the help of activists. We found that motivations and intentions to contribute to collective action were instrumental in the beginning of their participation. However, as the project evolves, intentions changed through a reorientation of existing practices and positions in the collective change process of target organizations. This shift was caused by inaction and other setbacks where target organizations and activists were exposed. These changes in turn, set in new practice development and organizational forms necessary to continue collective change. With these findings, we contribute to an understanding of network mobilization by showing the emergent and dynamic character of collective change and especially indicate setbacks and inaction as both constraining and necessary condition for change

Tuning the charge flow between Marcus regimes in an organic thin-film device

Marcus’s theory of electron transfer, initially formulated six decades ago for redox reactionsin solution, is now of great importance for very diverse scientific communities. The molecularscale tunability of electronic properties renders organic semiconductor materials in principlean ideal platform to test this theory. However, the demonstration of charge transfer indifferent Marcus regions requires a precise control over the driving force acting on the chargecarriers. Here, we make use of a three-terminal hot-electron molecular transistor, which letsus access unconventional transport regimes. Thanks to the control of the injection energy ofhot carriers in the molecular thinfilm we induce an effective negative differential resistancestate that is a direct consequence of the Marcus Inverted Region

Deletion of Mcpip1 in Mcpip1fl/flAlbCreMcpip1^{fl/fl}Alb^{Cre} mice recapitulates the phenotype of human primary biliary cholangitis

Primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) is an autoimmune disease characterized by progressive destruction of the intrahepatic bile ducts. The immunopathology of PBC involves excessive inflammation; therefore, negative regulators of inflammatory response, such as Monocyte Chemoattractant Protein-1-Induced Protein-1 (MCPIP1) may play important roles in the development of PBC. The aim of this work was to verify whether Mcpip1 expression protects against development of PBC. Genetic deletion of Zc3h12a was used to characterize the role of Mcpip1 in the pathogenesis of PBC in 6–52-week-old mice. We found that Mcpip1 deficiency in the liver (Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre) recapitulates most of the features of human PBC, in contrast to mice with Mcpip1 deficiency in myeloid cells (Mcpip1fl/flLysMCre mice), which present with robust myeloid cell-driven systemic inflammation. In Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre livers, intrahepatic bile ducts displayed proliferative changes with inflammatory infiltration, bile duct destruction, and fibrosis leading to cholestasis. In plasma, increased concentrations of IgG, IgM, and AMA autoantibodies (anti-PDC-E2) were detected. Interestingly, the phenotype of Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre mice was robust in 6-week-old, but milder in 12–24-week-old mice. Hepatic transcriptome analysis of 6-week-old and 24-week-old Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre mice showed 812 and 8 differentially expressed genes, respectively, compared with age-matched control mice, and revealed a distinct set of genes compared to those previously associated with development of PBC. In conclusion, Mcpip1fl/flAlbCre mice display early postnatal phenotype that recapitulates most of the features of human PBC

The High-Acceptance Dielectron Spectrometer HADES

HADES is a versatile magnetic spectrometer aimed at studying dielectron production in pion, proton and heavy-ion induced collisions. Its main features include a ring imaging gas Cherenkov detector for electron-hadron discrimination, a tracking system consisting of a set of 6 superconducting coils producing a toroidal field and drift chambers and a multiplicity and electron trigger array for additional electron-hadron discrimination and event characterization. A two-stage trigger system enhances events containing electrons. The physics program is focused on the investigation of hadron properties in nuclei and in the hot and dense hadronic matter. The detector system is characterized by an 85% azimuthal coverage over a polar angle interval from 18 to 85 degree, a single electron efficiency of 50% and a vector meson mass resolution of 2.5%. Identification of pions, kaons and protons is achieved combining time-of-flight and energy loss measurements over a large momentum range. This paper describes the main features and the performance of the detector system

Labile Soil Carbon Inputs Mediate the Soil Microbial Community Composition and Plant Residue Decomposition Rates

• Root carbon (C) inputs may regulate decomposition rates in soil, and in this study we ask: how do labile C inputs regulate decomposition of plant residues, and soil microbial communities? • In a 14 d laboratory incubation, we added C compounds often found in root exudates in seven different concentrations (0, 0.7, 1.4, 3.6, 7.2, 14.4 and 21.7 mg C g soil) to soils amended with and without 13C-labeled plant residue. We measured CO2 respiration and shifts in relative fungal and bacterial rRNA gene copy numbers using quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR). • Increased labile C input enhanced total C respiration, but only addition of C at low concentrations (0.7 mg C g-1) stimulated plant residue decomposition (+2%). Intermediate concentrations (1.4, 3.6 mg C g-1) had no impact on plant residue decomposition, while greater concentrations of C (\u3e 7.2 mg C g-1) reduced decomposition -50%). Concurrently, high exudate concentrations (\u3e 3.6 mg C g-1) increased fungal and bacterial gene copy numbers, whereas low exudate concentrations (\u3c 3.6 mg C g-1) increased metabolic activity rather than gene copy numbers. • These results underscore that labile soil C inputs can regulate decomposition of more recalcitrant soil C by controlling the activity and relative abundance of fungi and bacteria

Emissions of methane from northern peatlands : a review of management impacts and implications for future management options

This work was funded in part by the GHG-Europe project (EU grant agreement number: 244122) Greenhouse gases Europe projectPeer reviewedPublisher PD