Antimicrobial effects of fruit and flower anthocyanins

• Our research suggest that anthocyanins are promising anti-bacterial agents • The antimicrobial effects are highly dependent on the source of the anthocyanin-extract • Rose-anthocyanins appear to posses the strongest anti-bacterial effects • Gram-positive strains appear to be more sensitive compared to gram-negative strains • Future research efforts should focus on different anthocyanin entitie

An accounting and financial history of the said railroad line of "The small belt" in Paris (1853-2014) : approach by the theories of the decision

La ligne de Petite Ceinture de Paris est un ancien chemin de fer à double voie de 32 kilomètres de longueur (hors raccordements) qui faisait le tour de Paris à l’intérieur des boulevards des Maréchaux. Ouverte par tronçons de 1852 à 1869, elle est d’abord exclusivement consacrée au trafic de marchandises avant d’être ouverte au trafic de voyageurs, à l’exception de la ligne d’Auteuil, à l’inverse directement ouverte aux voyageurs en 1854 et seulement en 1867 pour les marchandises. Désertée par les Parisiens en raison de la concurrence croissante du métropolitain à partir de 1900, la ligne est, pour l’essentiel de son parcours, fermée au trafic de voyageurs le dimanche 22 juillet 1934, hormis la ligne d’Auteuil, restée ouverte jusqu’en 1985. Le trafic de marchandises a également disparu depuis le début des années 1990, et la ligne est aujourd’hui en grande partie abandonnée et amputée d’une partie de sa longueur. Une portion de la ligne d’Auteuil a toutefois été intégrée en 1988 à la ligne C du RER. De nombreuses gares ont été détruites dont Montsouris. La gare de Passy a été conservée en étant transformée en restaurant. Des gares ont été converties comme la gare de Charonne. Restée à l’abandon depuis 1993, la Petite Ceinture a fait l’objet d’une première phase de concertation en 2013 afin d’en esquisser l’avenir. Notre travail de recherche s’inscrit au coeur de ce débat du devenir de la Petite Ceinture de Paris. Il vise à démontrer l’importance de cette emprise ferroviaire depuis sa création en 1852 jusqu’à sa fermeture en 1934 pour le service de voyageurs. Nous proposons une analyse comparative de la situation de la gestion comptable et financière depuis 1854 à 1934 pour déterminer les différents résultats d’exploitation réalisés afin d’évaluer la performance financière de la ligne. Notre démarche consiste à comprendre pourquoi des hommes intelligents, en possession de tous leurs moyens, ont-ils pu prendre la décision d’interrompre volontairement l’activité de la ligne Petite Ceinture. Quels sont les conséquences de la mise en jachère de très long terme de cette plate-forme ferroviaire ? Quels sont les manques à gagner de cette mise en sommeil ? Peu de recherches se sont basées sur cette démarche, et notre travail de recherche était d’étudier les différentes approches de la décision fondées sur les théories de la décision rationnelle de Simon, de Cyert et de March et sur les théories de la décision absurde de Christian Morel. Après confrontation de ces différentes approches, nous avons tiré comme résultat pour échapper à la non décision, l’application de la théorie de la métarègle de la fiabilité.The Line Little Belt is a former Paris railway line double track 32 kilometers in length (excluding connections) who went around Paris within the boulevards of the Marshals. Opened by sections 1852 to 1869, it is first devoted exclusively to freight traffic before being opened for passenger traffic, with the exception of the Auteuil line, unlike directly open to travelers in 1854 and only in 1867 for goods. Deserted by Parisians because of growing competition from the Metropolitan in 1900, the line is, for most of his career, closed to passenger traffic Sunday, July 22, 1934, except the Auteuil line remained open until in 1985. Freight traffic has disappeared since the early 1990s, and the line is now largely abandoned and missing a portion of its length. A portion of the Auteuil line, however, was built in 1988 to the RER C line. Many stations were destroyed including Montsouris. Passy Station has been preserved by being converted into a restaurant. Stations were converted as station Charonne. Remained abandoned since 1993, the Little Belt has been the subject of a first phase of consultation in 2013 in order to sketch the future. Our research is at the heart of the debate about the future of the Little Belt Paris. It aims to demonstrate the importance of the railway line since its inception in 1852 until it closed in 1934 for passenger service. We provide a comparative analysis of the situation of the accounting and financial management from 1854 to 1934 to determine the different results of operations conducted to evaluate the financial performance of the line. Our approach is to understand why intelligent men, in possession of all their resources, they have taken the decision to voluntarily stop the activity of theLittle Belt line. What are the consequences of setting aside of the very long term of this railway platform? What are theshortfalls of this Sleep? Little research has been based on this approach, and our research was to study the differentapproaches to the decision based on the theories of rational decision of Simon of Cyert and March and the absurd theories of decision Christian More l . After comparison of these different approaches, we have learned as a result to escape the non-decision, applying the theory of meta-rule of the reliability

Structural surface changes and inflammatory responses against alginate-based microcapsules after exposure to human peritoneal fluid

Microencapsulation of cells is a promising approach to prevent rejection in the absence of immunosuppression. Clinical application, however, is hampered by insufficient insight in factors influencing biocompatibility of the capsules in humans. In the present study we exposed alginate-based capsules prepared of different types of alginate to human peritoneal fluid. Subsequently we studied the physicochemical changes of the capsule's surface by applying micro-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy. We did test alginate-beads and alginate-poly-L-lysine capsules prepared of different types of alginate. In all tested capsule formulations we found adsorption of components from human peritoneal fluid and clear physicochemical changes of the surface. These changes were alginate-dependent. The adsorption had no significant effects on the permselective properties of the capsule but we found a strong increase of TNFα production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells when exposed to alginate-beads treated with human peritoneal fluid. This elevated responsiveness was not observed with alginate-PLL capsules. The results show that alginate-based capsule surfaces always undergo physicochemical changes of the surface when exposed to human peritoneal fluid. This adsorption may lead to enhancement of the inflammatory responses against the microcapsules. Our result implicate that biocompatibility measurements should not only been done with freshly prepared capsules but also with capsules that have been exposed to fluid from the implantation site in order to predict the in vivo responses. Copyright © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc

Rat Pancreatic beta Cells and Cytomegalovirus Infection

Objectives: Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has been suggested to accelerate beta-cell destruction and thereby to contribute to new-onset diabetes and failure of islet allografts in both humans and rodents. Surprisingly, direct CMV infection of beta cells has received only minor attention. Therefore, we investigated the susceptibility of rat beta cells for rat CMV (RCMV) infection and the direct effects on the regulation of immune cell-activating ligands. Methods: Primary rat beta cells, the rat beta-cell line Rin-m5F, and fibroblasts were RCMV-infected in vitro. The viral gene and protein expression levels were determined as a measure for RCMV susceptibility. Gene expression levels of intracellular adhesion molecule 1, lymphocyte function associated antigen 3, rat major histocompatibility complex region A, rat major histocompatibility complex region E, toll like receptor 2, and clustered domain 14 were determined as a measure for cellular immunogenicity. Results: We demonstrate that beta cells are susceptible for RCMV infection but allow only low levels of viral gene expression. In contrast, infected fibroblasts demonstrated productive viral infection and formation of viral progeny. After RCMV infection, beta-cell immunogenicity was markedly increased, as demonstrated by the increased cellular expression of immune cell-activating ligands. Conclusions: Direct beta-cell infection by RCMV and subsequent low-grade viral gene expression may lead to increased immunogenicity of native or transplanted beta cells in vivo. An infection-induced enhanced beta-cell recognizability may have important consequences for beta-cell survival and the development of diabetes or rejection of islet grafts

The role of alloresponsive Ly49⁺ NK cells in rat islet allograft failure in the presence and absence of cytomegalovirus

There are still many factors to discover to explain the low success rates of islet allografts. In this study we demonstrate that specific subpopulations of alloreactive NK-cells may be involved in failure of islet allografts. By performing allotransplantation in rats (n = 13) we observed peripheral expansion and infiltration of alloreactive Ly49i2⁺ NK cells in the grafts. An effective strategy in rats to enhance the expansion of Ly49i2⁺ NK cells is performing a rat cytomegalovirus infection (n = 6). Cytomegalovirus infection was associated with an early expansion of the Ly49i2⁺ NK cells and accelerated islet graft failure. The Ly49i2⁺ NK are both alloreactive and involved in virus clearance. The expansion of this subpopulation could not be blocked by ciclosporine A immunosuppression. Also alloreactive KLRH1⁺ NK-cells infiltrated the grafts, but non?alloreactive NKR-P1B⁺ cells were not observed in the islet allografts. Perforin staining of the infiltrating NK cells demonstrated the cytotoxic capacity of these cells. Our data suggest a role for this NK subpopulation in rat islet allograft destruction

Book review: James Muldoon, "empire and order: the concept of empire 800-1800"

<p>Probiotic bacteria harbor effector molecules that confer health benefits, but also adaptation factors that enable them to persist in the gastrointestinal tract of the consumer. To study these adaptation factors, an antibiotic-resistant derivative of the probiotic model organism Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1 was repeatedly exposed to the mouse digestive tract by three consecutive rounds of (re) feeding of the longest persisting colonies. This exposure to the murine intestine allowed the isolation of intestine-adapted derivatives of the original strain that displayed prolonged digestive tract residence time. Re-sequencing of the genomes of these adapted derivatives revealed single nucleotide polymorphisms as well as a single nucleotide insertion in comparison with the genome of the original WCFS1 strain. Detailed in silico analysis of the identified genomic modifications pinpointed that alterations in the coding regions of genes encoding cell envelope associated functions and energy metabolism appeared to be beneficial for the gastrointestinal tract survival of L. plantarum WCFS1. This work demonstrates the feasibility of experimental evolution for the enhancement of the gastrointestinal residence time of probiotic strains, while full-genome resequencing of the adapted isolates provided clues towards the bacterial functions involved. Enhanced gastrointestinal residence is industrially relevant because it enhances the efficacy of the delivery of viable probiotics in situ.</p>