Allantoin improves histopathological evaluations in a rat model of gastritis

Purpose Gastritis is found to be one of the most common gastrointestinal diseases worldwide. However, current therapeutic agents cause side effects, interaction, and recurrence. Allantoin has anti-inflammatory and wound healing properties. In this study, the therapeutic effect of allantoin has been assessed on the histopathological indices and gastric mucosal barrier of male rats. Methods Male rats were equally divided into control, ethanol-induced gastritis, and allantoin groups. The therapeutic groups consisted of gastritis plus 12.5 mg/kg allantoin, gastritis plus 25 mg/kg allantoin, and gastritis plus 50 mg/kg allantoin groups. After 5 days of allantoin administration, the rats were sacrificed and a part of their gastric tissue was maintained at −70 °C for prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and non-protein sulfhydryl (NP-SH) measurements. Another part was stained with hematoxylin and eosin and Masson’s trichrome. Results We found that Allantoin increased parietal and mucosal cell counts and mucosal thickness after gastritis induction. In addition, the number of leukocytes and vessels decreased in both of the mucosal and the submucosal layers. Allatoin improved gastric ulcer in all treatment groups. Gastric levels of PGE2 and NP-SH increased after allantoin treatment. Conclusion This study indicated that allantoin had a considerable effect on gastritis treatment, which seems to result from the reinforcement of gastric mucosal barrier

Giving Families a Voice for Equitable Healthy Food Access in the Wake of Online Grocery Shopping

Understanding the views of families from low-income backgrounds about inequities in healthy food access and grocery purchase is critical to food access policies. This study explored perspectives of families eligible for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) on healthy food access in physical and online grocery environments. The qualitative design used purposive sampling of 44 primary household food purchasers with children (aged ≤ 8), between November 2020–March 2021, through 11 online focus groups and 5 in-depth interviews. Grounded theory was used to identify community-level perceived inequities, including influences of COVID-19 pandemic, SNAP and online grocery services. The most salient perceived causes of inequitable food access were neighborhood resource deficiencies and public transportation limitations. Rural communities, people with disabilities, older adults, racially and ethnically diverse groups were perceived to be disproportionately impacted by food inequities, which were exacerbated by the pandemic. The ability to use SNAP benefits to buy foods online facilitated healthy food access. Delivery fees and lack of control over food selection were barriers. Barriers to healthy food access aggravated by SNAP included social stigma, inability to acquire cooked meals, and inadequate amount of monthly funds. Findings provide a foundation for policy redesign to promote equitable healthy food systems

Effect of Cu on Amorphization of a TiNi Alloy during HPT and Shape Memory Effect after Post‐Deformation Annealing.

A ternary TiNiCu memory alloy was subjected to high‐pressure torsion (HPT) followed by post‐deformation annealing (PDA) to study the effect of Cu (5 at%) on amorphization after HPT processing and also the microstructural evolution and shape memory effect (SME) after PDA. The results show that even after 20 revolutions the ternary alloy contains nanocrystalline areas and the microstructure is not fully amorphous. An easier martensite to austenite transformation and minor remaining austenite in the ternary alloy are responsible for suppressing amorphization. PDA at 673 K provides nanocrystalline microstructures containing an R‐phase with a minor martensitic B19' phase in the ternary alloy. The SME of this alloy after PDA is not as satisfactory as for the binary alloy processed through similar conditions because of the existence of a high volume fraction of the R‐phase. Nevertheless, the total recovered strain of the ternary alloy after PDA for 30 min has a maximum value of 6.5%

Conserved and divergent arms of the antiviral response in the duplicated genomes of salmonid fishes

Funding Information: This work was funded by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under grant agreement No 817923 (AQUAFAANG), by ANR (ANR-21-CE35-0019, LipofishVac), by the Eranet ICRAD-Nucnanofish (ANR_13001498 and BBSRC_ICRAD BB/V019902/1), by the BBSRC Institutional strategic programme award (BBS/E/D/20002174) and by institutional grants from INRAE. We thank Drs Hugues Roest Crollius, Camille Berthelot, Alexandra Louis and Elise Parey for sharing synteny-based corrected data produced by SCORPiOs, and Louis du Pasquier for insightful discussions.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Shape memory characteristics of a nanocrystalline TiNi alloy processed by HPT followed by post-deformation annealing

A martensitic TiNi shape memory alloy was processed by high-pressure torsion (HPT) for 1.5, 10 and 20 turns followed by post-deformation annealing (PDA) at 673 and 773 K for various times in order to study the microstructural evolution during annealing and the shape memory effect (SME). Processing by HPT followed by the optimum PDA leads to an appropriate microstructure for the occurrence of a superior SME which is attributed to the strengthening of the martensitic matrix and grain refinement. A fully martensitic structure (B19’ phase) with a very small grain size is ideal for the optimum SME. The results indicate that the nanocrystalline microstructures after PDA contain a martensitic B19’ phase together with an R-phase and this latter phase diminishes the SME. Applying a higher annealing temperature or longer annealing time may remove the R-phase but also reduce the SME due to grain growth and the consequent decrease in the strength of the material. The results show the optimum procedure is a short-term anneal for 10 min at 673 K or only 1.5 min at 773 K after 1.5 turns of HPT processing to produce a maximum recovered strain of ~8.4% which shows more than 50% improvement compared with the solution-annealed condition

Micromechanical Properties of Injection-Molded Starch–Wood Particle Composites

The micromechanical properties of injection molded starch–wood particle composites were investigated as a function of particle content and humidity conditions. The composite materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction methods. The microhardness of the composites was shown to increase notably with the concentration of the wood particles. In addition,creep behavior under the indenter and temperature dependence were evaluated in terms of the independent contribution of the starch matrix and the wood microparticles to the hardness value. The influence of drying time on the density and weight uptake of the injection-molded composites was highlighted. The results revealed the role of the mechanism of water evaporation, showing that the dependence of water uptake and temperature was greater for the starch–wood composites than for the pure starch sample. Experiments performed during the drying process at 70°C indicated that the wood in the starch composites did not prevent water loss from the samples.Peer reviewe

Severe plastic deformation for producing superfunctional ultrafine-grained and heterostructured materials: An interdisciplinary review

Ultrafine-grained and heterostructured materials are currently of high interest due to their superior mechanical and functional properties. Severe plastic deformation (SPD) is one of the most effective methods to produce such materials with unique microstructure-property relationships. In this review paper, after summarizing the recent progress in developing various SPD methods for processing bulk, surface and powder of materials, the main structural and microstructural features of SPD-processed materials are explained including lattice defects, grain boundaries and phase transformations. The properties and potential applications of SPD-processed materials are then reviewed in detail including tensile properties, creep, superplasticity, hydrogen embrittlement resistance, electrical conductivity, magnetic properties, optical properties, solar energy harvesting, photocatalysis, electrocatalysis, hydrolysis, hydrogen storage, hydrogen production, CO2 conversion, corrosion resistance and biocompatibility. It is shown that achieving such properties is not limited to pure metals and conventional metallic alloys, and a wide range of materials are currently processed by SPD, including high-entropy alloys, glasses, semiconductors, ceramics and polymers. It is particularly emphasized that SPD has moved from a simple metal processing tool to a powerful means for the discovery and synthesis of new superfunctional metallic and nonmetallic materials. The article ends by declaring that the borders of SPD have been extended from materials science and it has become an interdisciplinary tool to address scientific questions such as the mechanisms of geological and astronomical phenomena and the origin of life

Investigating the Effect of Saffron Petal Extract on Antioxidant Activity and Inflammatory Markers in Hypercholesterolemic Rats

Introduction: High-cholesterol diet is one of the major causes of cardiovascular disease leading to the death of millions of people annually. One of the ways to prevent this risk is the use of chemical drugs, but herbal compounds at controlled levels have less adverse effects than chemical compounds. In the present study, we investigated the effect of hydroalcoholic extract of a saffron petal on malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) enzymes, inflammatory markers and lipid profile and compared it with lovastatin in hypercholesterolemic rats. Materials and Methods: Thirty adult Wistar rats were randomly divided into 6 equal groups (n = 5). Group 1 (sham) received a normal diet and Group 2 (control) received only a high-cholesterol diet (2). Group 3 to 6 were treated with a high-cholesterol diet (2) in the first 4 weeks and 100, 200, and 300 mg/kg of saffron petal extract and 10 mg/kg of lovastatin, respectively, in the second 4 weeks. At the end of the study, the level of activity of antioxidant enzymes and the level of lipid profile and inflammatory markers were measured. Results: The mean plasma MDA level, SOD enzyme activity of red blood cell, lipid profile and inflammatory markers were significantly increased in the control group (high-cholesterol diet) compared to the sham group (P <0.001). However, these cases in the other groups treated with hydroalcoholic extract of the saffron petal (groups 3, 4 and 5) and lovastatin drug (group 6) showed a significant decrease (minimum significant difference, P <0.05), despite receiving high-cholesterol diet (p<0.05) compared to the control group. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that a non-toxic dose o f saffron petal extract has an effective role in preventing cardiovascular diseases by reducing the risk factors associated with these diseases

A NOVEL STRATEGY FOR CORRECTION OF LIPID PROFILES VIA MATRICARIA CHAMOMILLA L

Statins which are most useful in reducing blood fat have a chemical combination and present various side effects. Identifying some plants with positive effects on reducing blood fat can be a great alternative to these chemical drugs. The current study has been carried out to compare the effects of hydroalcoholic extract of Matricaria chamomilla on the serum lipid profile in hypercholesterolemic rats. Twenty-five male Wistar Rats, ranging in weight from 150 to 180 grams, were assigned to five groups: the control group received an ordinary dietary regimen, the sham group was fed on a high cholesterol (2) dietary regimen, experimental groups 1, 2 and 3 were given an ordinary nutrition plus chamomilla extract and Lovastatin dosages equal to 0.55 mg/ml, 1.1 mg/ml and 10 mg/kg were also, respectively, administered. Blood samples were taken on the first and the last days of the study period. To determine the blood's lipid profile and the serum cholesterol concentration, LDL-c, HDL-c and TG were measured and the results obtained for the groups were compared. The data were analyzed in SPSS 16 software. The results of the current research paper indicated that the treatment with 1.1 mg/ml chamomile hydroalcoholic extract and 10 mg/kg lovastatin significantly reduced (P<0.001) the total serum cholesterol concentration, LDL-c and TG in experimental hypercholesterolemic groups 2 and 3 as compared to the Sham Group. Also, it was found causing a significant increase in serum HDL-c in experimental hypercholesterolemic groups 2 and 3 in contrast to the Sham Group (P<0.001 and P<0.05, respectively). The mean weight scores of the Sham group and experimental group 1 were demonstrative of a significant increase in respect to control group (P<0.001 and P<0.01, respectively). The present study showed that the use of chamomile extract in hypercholesterolemic rats can bring about clearly discernible hypocholesterolemic effects and cause considerable and desirable effects on the serum lipid profile