Resorcylidene Aminoguanidine (RAG) Improves Cardiac Mitochondrial Bioenergetics Impaired by Hyperglycaemia in a Model of Experimental Diabetes

Diabetes is associated with a mitochondrial dysfunction. Hyperglycaemia is also clearly recognized as the primary culprit in the pathogenesis of cardiac complications. In response to glycation and oxidative stress, cardiac mitochondria undergo cumulative alterations, often leading to heart deterioration. There is a continuous search for innovative treatment strategies for protecting the heart mitochondria from the destructive impact of diabetes. Aminoguanidine derivatives have been successfully used in animal model studies on the treatment of experimental diabetes, as well as the diabetes-driven dysfunctions of peripheral tissues and cells. Considerable attention has been paid particularly to β-resorcylidene aminoguanidine (RAG), often shown as the efficient anti-glycation and anti-oxidant agent in both animal studies and in vitro experiments. The aim of the present study was to test the hypothesis that RAG improves oxidative phosphorylation and electron transport capacity in mitochondria impaired by hyperglycaemia. Diabetes mellitus was induced in Wistar rats by a single intraperitoneal injection of streptozotocin (70 mg/kg body weight). Heart mitochondria were isolated from healthy rats and rats with streptozotocin-diabetes. Mitochondrial respiratory capacity was measured by high resolution respirometry with the OROBOROS Oxygraph-2k according to experimental protocol including respiratory substrates and inhibitors. The results revealed that RAG protects the heart against diabetes-associated injury by improving the mitochondrial bioenergetics, thus suggesting a possible novel pharmacological strategy for cardioprotection

Selective photocatalytic benzene hydroxylation to phenol using surface- modified Cu2O supported on graphene

[EN] The photocatalytic activity for benzene hydroxylation to phenol by hydrogen peroxide has been evaluated using a series of photocatalysts based on defective graphene. The series includes defective graphene containing or not Au and Cu2O nanoparticles. The latter exhibits the highest activity, but a very low phenol yield as a consequence of the occurrence of a large degree of mineralization. A considerable increase in phenol selectivity was achieved by modifying the surface of the Cu2O nanoparticles supported on defective graphene with long-chain alkanethiols. Under the optimal conditions using an octanethiol-modified Cu2O-graphene photocatalyst, a selectivity to phenol of about 64% at 30% benzene conversion was achieved. This remarkable selectivity was proposed to derive from the larger hydrophobicity of the alkanethiol-modified Cu2O-graphene photocatalyst that favors the preferential benzene adsorption versus adsorption of phenol and hydroxybenzenes.J. H. thanks the Chinese Scholarship Council for a graduate scholarship. Financial support by the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Severo Ochoa, CTQ2015-69653-CO2-R1 and Grapas) and Generalitat Valenciana (Prometeo 2017-083) is gratefully acknowledged. This work was also supported by NSFC (21872031, U1705251) and 973 Program (2014CB239303) of P. R. China.He, J.; Zhang, M.; Primo Arnau, AM.; García Gómez, H.; Li, Z. (2018). Selective photocatalytic benzene hydroxylation to phenol using surface- modified Cu2O supported on graphene. Journal of Materials Chemistry A. 6(40):19782-19787. https://doi.org/10.1039/c8ta07095dS1978219787640Xiang, Q., Yu, J., & Jaroniec, M. (2012). Graphene-based semiconductor photocatalysts. Chem. Soc. Rev., 41(2), 782-796. doi:10.1039/c1cs15172jZhang, N., Zhang, Y., & Xu, Y.-J. (2012). Recent progress on graphene-based photocatalysts: current status and future perspectives. 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Antibody Inhibition of a Viral Type 1 Interferon Decoy Receptor Cures a Viral Disease by Restoring Interferon Signaling in the Liver

Type 1 interferons (T1-IFNs) play a major role in antiviral defense, but when or how they protect during infections that spread through the lympho-hematogenous route is not known. Orthopoxviruses, including those that produce smallpox and mousepox, spread lympho-hematogenously. They also encode a decoy receptor for T1-IFN, the T1-IFN binding protein (T1-IFNbp), which is essential for virulence. We demonstrate that during mousepox, T1-IFNs protect the liver locally rather than systemically, and that the T1-IFNbp attaches to uninfected cells surrounding infected foci in the liver and the spleen to impair their ability to receive T1-IFN signaling, thus facilitating virus spread. Remarkably, this process can be reversed and mousepox cured late in infection by treating with antibodies that block the biological function of the T1-IFNbp. Thus, our findings provide insights on how T1-IFNs function and are evaded during a viral infection in vivo, and unveil a novel mechanism for antibody-mediated antiviral therapy

Rheological Characteristics of Thermoplastic Polymers after Degradation

Selected rheological properties of thermoplastic polymer materials before and after exposure in different environments were evaluated by Frequency sweep test, which monitors changes in viscoelastic properties of polymers with respect to their molecular structure and their behavior in thermoplastic processes. Samples of tested material were subjected in UV radiation, moist soil with higher concentration of chlorides and solution of n-hexane for exact period. Degradation process resulted in changes of complex dynamic viscosity, storage and loss modulus, changes in molar mass and its distribution

Amorphous materials in the production of new implants

Amorphous materials based on magnesium are new materials for potential biomedical application, especially for new implants, as they bear resemblance to titanium implants. Mg66Zn30Ca4 alloy has specific properties, especially mechanical and corrosive, therefore, it has biomedical application as its properties are better than that of other materials. The following paper describes amorphous alloy based on magnesium, properties and shows how to produce amorphous samples of Mg66Zn30Ca4

Rheological Properties of Acrylic Bone Cement Smartset HV

The rheological behaviour of polymethylmethacrylate bone cement SmartSet® HV prepared by hand and vacuum mixing was characterized using an oscillatory rheometer. Complex viscosity, damping factor, loss and storage modulus were measured by dynamic mechanical thermal analysis (DMTA) after several periods of ageing as a function of temperature for a range of 22-70 °C. Time-dependent changes of measured parameters were observed which were partially influenced by the cement preparation method

Corrosion Properties of Various Copper Pipes Joints

The paper presents the experimental results of various Cu pipes joint corrosion behavior. Joining of copper pipes used for liquid media transport can be made as demountable and fixed joints. The object is to study corrosion resistance of the joints created by soft soldering, hard soldering and fitting. Corrosion properties were investigated by long-term experiment in two identical experimental devices in stagnant and flowing conditions. The experimental environment was water solution of the 3% NaCl, temperature was kept 20° C for 16 hours and 8 hours 80° C per day. In one of the devices for 8 hours the experimental solution was flowing by the input speed 0.27m.s -1. In the second one no flow was applied. Evaluation of the joints corrosion attacks was performed visually, by light and scanning electron microscopy