Elevated serum neutrophil elastase is related to prehypertension and airflow limitation in obese women

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Neutrophil elastase level/activity is elevated in a variety of diseases such as atherosclerosis, systolic hypertension and obstructive pulmonary disease. It is unknown whether obese individuals with prehypertension also have elevated neutrophil elastase, and if so, whether it has a deleterious effect on pulmonary function. Objectives: To determine neutrophil elastase levels in obese prehypertensive women and investigate correlations with pulmonary function tests.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Thirty obese prehypertensive women were compared with 30 obese normotensive subjects and 30 healthy controls. The study groups were matched for age. Measurements: The following were determined: body mass index, waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profile, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, serum neutrophil elastase, and pulmonary function tests including forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV₁), forced vital capacity (FVC) and FEV₁/FVC ratio.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Serum neutrophil elastase concentration was significantly higher in both prehypertensive (405.8 ± 111.6 ng/ml) and normotensive (336.5 ± 81.5 ng/ml) obese women than in control non-obese women (243.9 ± 23.9 ng/ml); the level was significantly higher in the prehypertensive than the normotensive obese women. FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC ratio in both prehypertensive and normotensive obese women were significantly lower than in normal controls, but there was no statistically significant difference between the prehypertensive and normotensive obese women. In prehypertensive obese women, there were significant positive correlations between neutrophil elastase and body mass index, waist circumference, systolic blood pressure, diastolic blood pressure, total cholesterol, triglyceride, low density lipoprotein cholesterol, high sensitivity C-reactive protein and negative correlations with high density lipoprotein cholesterol, FEV1, FVC and FEV1/FVC.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Neutrophil elastase concentration is elevated in obese prehypertensive women along with an increase in high sensitivity C-reactive protein which may account for dyslipidemia and airflow dysfunction in the present study population.</p

Designed Metal-ATCUN Derivatives: Redox- and Non-redox-Based Applications Relevant for Chemistry, Biology, and Medicine

UID/QUI/50006/2019The designed "ATCUN'' motif (amino-terminal copper and nickel binding site) is a replica of naturally occurring ATCUN site found in many proteins/peptides, and an attractive platform for multiple applications, which include nucleases, proteases, spectroscopic probes, imaging, and small molecule activation. ATCUN motifs are engineered at periphery by conjugation to recombinant proteins, peptides, fluorophores, or recognition domains through chemically or genetically, fulfilling the needs of various biological relevance and a wide range of practical usages. This chemistry has witnessed significant growth over the last few decades and several interesting ATCUN derivatives have been described. The redox role of the ATCUN moieties is also an important aspect to be considered. The redox potential of designed M-ATCUN derivatives is modulated by judicious choice of amino acid (including stereochemistry, charge, and position) that ultimately leads to the catalytic efficiency. In this context, a wide range of M-ATCUN derivatives have been designed purposefully for various redox- and non-redox-based applications, including spectroscopic probes, target-based catalytic metallodrugs, inhibition of amyloid-beta toxicity, and telomere shortening, enzyme inactivation, biomolecules stitching or modification, next-generation antibiotic, and small molecule activation.publishersversionpublishe

Review of current research on chitosan as a raw material in three-dimensional printing technology in biomedical applications

Three-dimensional (3D) biomaterial manufacturing strategies show an extraordinary driving force for the development of innovative solutions in the biomedical sector, including drug delivery systems, disease modelling and tissue and organ engineering. Due to its remarkable and promising biological and structural properties, chitosan has been widely studied for decades in several potential applications in the biomedical field. However, tools in the form of 3D printers have created new possibilities for the production of chitosan models, implants and scaffolds for cell cultures that are much more precise than existing ones. The article presents current achievements related to the possibility of using chitosan to create new materials for 3D printing in the form of chitosan bioinks, filaments, resins and powders dedicated for bioprinting, fused deposition modelling, stereolithography/digital light processing and selective laser sintering methods, respectively

Karta wyników jako instrument progresywnego rozwoju przedsiębiorstw

Wyszomirski A., Chruściel T. J., Mania R. Scorecard as an instrument of progressive development of enterprise

Rumors, False Flags, and Digital Vigilantes: Misinformation on Twitter after the 2013 Boston Marathon Bombing

The Boston Marathon bombing story unfolded on every possible carrier of information available in the spring of 2013, including Twitter. As information spread, it was filled with rumors (unsubstantiated information), and many of these rumors contained misinformation. Earlier studies have suggested that crowdsourced information flows can correct misinformation, and our research investigates this proposition. This exploratory research examines three rumors, later demonstrated to be false, that circulated on Twitter in the aftermath of the bombings. Our findings suggest that corrections to the misinformation emerge but are muted compared with the propagation of the misinformation. The similarities and differences we observe in the patterns of the misinformation and corrections contained within the stream over the days that followed the attacks suggest directions for possible research strategies to automatically detect misinformation.publishedye

Interfacial Reactions in the Bonding Zones of Explosively Welded Tantalum to Stainless Steel Sheets

The microstructure of the interfacial layers of explosively welded Ta/stainlesssteel (SS) and Ta/Cu/SS composites is investigated by X-ray synchrotron radiation,scanning (SEM), and transmission (TEM) electron microscopies. SEManalyses show that all interfaces between joined sheets undergo wave-shapeddeformation with the solidified melt regions situated preferentially in the wavevortexes and at the wave crests. These reaction regions show a nonuniformdistribution of phases in terms of chemical composition with elements belongingto both neighboring sheets. According to TEM analyses and synchrotron X-raymeasurements, the solidified melt regions between Ta and SS predominantlyconsist of brittle, amorphous, or nanocrystalline phases that are not observed inequilibrium phase diagrams. The microstructure of the solidified melt near theTa/Cu interface is dominated by Cu and Ta nanoparticles and small dendrites,typically less than 100 nm in diameter, whereas nanosized crystalline phases withcomplex chemical compositions are identified near the Cu/SS interface

Crystal Lattice Rotations Induced by Shear Banding in fcc Metals Deformed at High Strain Rates

In this paper, the microstructural and texture changes in polycrystalline CuZn30 alloy, copper, and AA1050 aluminium alloy have been studied to describe the crystal lattice rotation during shear bands formation. The hat-shaped specimens were deformed using a drop-hammer at the strain rate of 560 s-1. Microstructure evolution was investigated using optical microscopy, whereas texture changes were examined with the use of a scanning electron microscope equipped with the EBSD facility. The microstructural observations were correlated with nanohardness measurements to evaluate the mechanical properties of the sheared regions. The analyses demonstrate the gradual nature of the shear banding process, which can be described as a mechanism of the bands nucleation and then successive growth rather than as an abrupt instability. It was found that regardless of the initial orientation of the grains inside the sheared region, a well-defined tendency of the crystal lattice rotation is observed. This rotation mechanism leads to the formation of specific texture components of the sheared region, different from the one observed in a weakly or non-deformed matrix. During the process of rotation, one of the {111} planes in each grain of the sheared region ‘tends’ to overlap with the plane of maximum shear stresses and one of the or directions align with the shear direction. This allows slip propagation through the boundaries between adjacent grains without apparent change in the shear direction. Finally, in order to trace the rotation path, transforming the matrix texture components into shear band, rotation axis and angles were identified

A Novel Method of Endotoxins Removal from Chitosan Hydrogel as a Potential Bioink Component Obtained by CO₂ Saturation

The article presents a new approach in the purification of chitosan (CS) hydrogel in order to remove a significant amount of endotoxins without changing its molecular weight and viscosity. Two variants of the method used to purify CS hydrogels from endotoxins were investigated using the PyroGene rFC Enzymatic Cascade assay kit. The effect of the CS purification method was assessed in terms of changes in the dynamic viscosity of its hydrogels, the molecular weight of the polymer, microbiological purity after refrigerated storage and cytotoxicity against L929 cells based on the ISO 10993-5:2009(E) standard. The proposed purification method 1 (M1) allows for the removal of significant amounts of endotoxins: 87.9–97.6% in relation to their initial concentration in the CS hydrogel without affecting the solution viscosity. Moreover, the final solutions were sterile and microbiologically stable during storage. The M1 purification method did not change the morphology of the L929 cells