Urinary N-Acetyl-Beta-D-Glucosaminidase Activity in Rat Experimental Ischemic and Toxic Models of Acute Kidney Injury

The identification of a suitable prevention method which facilitates limiting the deleterious effects of acute kidney injuries is highly required. In order to identify a proper treatment for acute kidney injuries, a suitable experimental model that replicates the structural, metabolic and inflammatory lesions that occur in the natural acute injured kidney is highly necessary. Intense urinary NAG activity can be found in a variety of renal disease such as toxic nephropathies, ischemic renal injury following cardiac surgery or renal transplantation but also in glomerular disease especially in diabetic nephropathy. Rises in urinary NAG enzyme activity strongly suggests tubular cell damage and support NAG enzyme as a biomarker of renal tubular injury. The aim of this paper is to obtain a stable in vivo acute kidney injury experimental model, in Wistar, rats and to evaluate the urinary activity of N-acetyl-β-D-glucosaminidase (NAG) enzyme, blood levels of urea and creatinine and microstructural renal alterations induced by ischemia/reperfusion injury respectively gentamicin nephrotoxicity. For this purpose we have used a rat experimental model. Adult male Wistar rats weighing 250-300 g were randomly divided into 3 groups with 8 rats in each group. Group 1 served as a model for the renal ischemia/reperfusion injury experiment, group 2 served for toxic kidney injury experimental model and group 3 served as control group. All individuals in both groups 1 and 2 presented marked elevations in blood urea and creatinine at the moment of euthanasia (day 3 for group 1 and day 9 for group 2) compared to the control group where biochemical values remained within normal limits. Urine analysis of both group 1 and 2 showed marked urinary NAG index activity which suggests acute tubular injury, suggestion confirmed by histological evaluation of the renal parenchyma sampled from this subject

Studies on the Female Body. Etudes sur le corps de la femme. Estudios sobre el cuerpo de la mujer

This volume represents an interdisciplinary research on the topic of female bodies published as result of a partnership between the Departments of Romanian at the Universities of Turku (Finland) and Granada (Spain), and the Institute of Romanian Language in Bucharest (Romania).</p

Graphical Programming Tools for Electrical Engineering Higher Education

As the engineering education and computer technologies for industry merge, the opportunities for teaching and learning will also expand. In such context, a large number of academic courses that teach electrical engineering concepts have incorporated the graphical programming as educational tool for student use. The current paper discuses some of the most popular graphical programming packages, identifies two alternative solutions and shows how the virtual instrumentation approach pioneered by LabVIEW may enhance the electrical engineering curricula

The Tribological Behaviour Of Ceramic Material

The actual material wear process is influenced by a set of specific factors, such as: their filling, the used speed and lubricant, the amount of material, hardness. Aim of study: is to determine the wear coefficient of the ceramic materials. Material and method: we made disks with a radius of 2.5 cm and a 2 mm thickness, out of 2 types of ceramic restoration materials we found on the market: INLINE and HERA CERAM, on which we measured the friction coefficient and the amount of material used. The experiment was carried out using a CALOWER friction meter. The sliding speed is constant in time (about 150 r.p.m.) and acts on a variable sliding distance, between 3255 and 16277 mm, (corresponding to about 35000 mastication cycles, on a 0.5mm long occlusion). A force of 0.35N acts on the material samples. Results: the amount of material used increases with the filling increase for the whole sliding length, the number of rotations and friction length.The rate of transferred material decreases with the increase of the amount of certain constituents used, the material thus having better abrasion wear strength. Conclusions: the stress occurring on the contact surfaces is extremely interesting and enables us to understand their wear behavior

The Influences of Chemical Composition Upon the Hardness and Stability of Prothetic Restoration Materials

The aim of the study was the – reducing and complex character upon the hardness of Ni-Cr alloy covered with ceramics. Matherial and method: ed into sterilized containers with artificial saliva (sterilized by autoclaving for 30 min., 1 atm) in saliva-alloy weight ratio: 15 / 1. The second solution is used electrolyte-matrix synthetic artificial saliva in the pH range 2-8, in the presence of oxalate and tartrate ions with oxidation-reduction and complex character, the ionic strength of 35-45 mmol / L. pH corrections were done with NaHCO3, CH3COONa and HCl, while the ionic strength correction was performed with buffer TISAB (Total Ionic Strength Buffer Adjudment) composed of NaCl and CH3COOH CH3COONa. Samples were collected every 15 days electrolyte and alloy elements concentration was determined by spectrometry with atomic absorption with flame (Faas type Perkin Elmer 3300) and potentiometers with SMEI (ion-selective membrane electrode-type pH-Ion-Meter OP-202-RADELKIS). Results: Micro hardness variation is visible (in cross section) depending on the layer studied. In the Plate, the average micro hardness values is quite small (285.8 GPa for a variation of micro hardness between 288-321 GPa), but as we approach the ceramic layer micro hardness gradually increases (reaching values about 987 GPa). Aluminium is currently heavily corroded due to higher electronegativity values of Cu (Cu = 1.8, Al = 1.5) and more positive standard potential of Cu (Cu 0.33 V, Al = -1.66 V). Tin is passive at pH 2-4, and at pH = 8. Nickel is turn passive at pH = 7 and dissolve at a pH = 2-6. Molybdenum is active at pH 2-4. Iron and cobalt are active at pH 2-4 and at pH = 9 passive. All these chemical reactions alter the surface quality of the alloy, with increasing surface roughness and finally compromise-to-end the resistance of restorative material. Increasing the concentration of silicon (where the ceramic material is used) increases the rate of galvanic corrosion due to the effect of Si. Conclusions: A restorative material used for the purpose of micro hardness and resistance varies depending on the type of electrolyte is introduced

Novel Bio-Based Materials: From Castor Oil to Epoxy Resins for Engineering Applications

The paper presents the synthesis and thermal behavior of novel epoxy resins prepared from epoxidized castor oil in the presence of or without trimethylolpropane triglycidyl ether (TMP) crosslinked with 3-hexahydro-4-methylphtalic anhydride (MHHPA) and their comparison with a petroleum-based epoxy resin (MHHPA and TMP). Epoxidized castor oil (ECO) was obtained via in situ epoxidation of castor oil with peroxyacetic acid. The chemical structures of castor oil (CO), ECO, and epoxy matrix were confirmed using FT-IR and 1H-NMR spectroscopy. The morphological and thermal behavior of the resulting products have been investigated. Compared to petroleum-based resins, castor oil-based ones have a lower Tg. Anyway, the introduction of TMP increases the Tg of the resins containing ECO. The morphological behavior is not significantly influenced by using ECO or by adding TMP in the synthesis of resins. The dielectric properties of epoxy resins have been analyzed as a function of frequency (1 kHz–1 MHz) and temperature (−50 to 200 °C). The water absorption test showed that as Tg increased, the percent mass of water ingress decreased

Computer Tomography Assessment Of Alveolar Ridge Modifications In Elderly Patients

This study aims to assessing how useful are the dental CT scans in the investigation of mandible alveolar ridge modification for diagnosis purposes and whether the jawbone density is correlated or not with the number of teeth lost. Materials and method: We analyzed 15 CT scans, made with the dental-CT software, belonging to some patients who wanted dental implants or dental treatments and to a control group formed by 10 patients who had undertaken an emergency cranial CT scan for severe head trauma, and a jawbone reconstruction using the Dental CT software. There have been performed symmetrical jawbone measurements on both the left and right sides. Results: The collected data show major differences regarding the mandible alveolar ridge height depending on the sex and age of the patient. The following have been noticed: symmetrical changes to the cortical bone density on the right-left side of the menton hole, to the cortical bone thickness around the menton hole, to the mandible cortical bone density at gonion, to the cortical bone thickness at the gonion. Conclusion: The hereby study confirms the efficiency of the dental computed tomography in the analysis of the mandible alveolar ridge and the density of mandible bone

Maternal Body Mass Index Trends and Weight Gain in Singleton Pregnancies at the Time of Fetal Anatomic Survey: Changes in the Last Decade and New Trends in the Modern Era

(1) Background: the worldwide impact of overweight and obesity is rising, increasingly resembling an epidemic (a price we have to pay for our new way of living). (2) Methods: our study aims to evaluate the temporal trends and patterns of singleton pregnant women’s BMI (body mass index) in our region during a 12-year time frame between 2010 and 2021. (3) Results: We noticed a statistically significant difference between the BMIs of nulliparous and multiparous women and a significantly increased pregestational BMI in women with previous ART (assisted reproductive technology) procedures. Smoking pregnant women had a higher second trimester weight gain, regardless of parity. Women with folic acid supplementation alone had a higher BMI than those with folic acid and multivitamin intake. The weight of both nulliparous and multiparous women with chronic hypertension was statistically significantly higher in all three timeframes. Global weight gain did not reveal any statistically significant changes concerning women with pregestational diabetes, regardless of parity and the pregnancy trimester. (4) Conclusions: our article describes the trends in obesity and overweight in our middle-income country, in which this pathology is continuously growing, negatively influencing our reproductive-aged women and future generations

Synthesis and Characterization of a New Thermoreversible Polyurethane Network

A new polyurethane network was synthesized by the Diels–Alder cross-linking reaction of a polyurethane to bisfuryl monomer. Attenuated total reflectance in conjunction with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR) spectra of the network showed the disappearance of the absorption bands of maleimide and the appearance of new bands attributed to furan-maleimide cycloadduct. Chemical shifts characteristic to the cycloadduct appeared in the proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra. ATR-FTIR and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) demonstrated the thermal reversibility of the material by the reproduction of the retro-Diels–Alder and Diels–Alder processes upon heating and cooling. Global kinetic nonisothermal decomposition parameters in nitrogen were determined by the Flynn-Wall-Ozawa method. A three successive stage thermal decomposition mechanism depicted by <i>n</i> order reaction model for each stage was proposed. The validity of the chosen kinetic model and the values of the kinetic parameters of the individual decomposition stages were determined by the multivariate nonlinear regression method