The anti-inflammatory peptide Catestatin blocks chemotaxis

Increased levels of the anti-inflammatory peptide Catestatin (CST), a cleavage product of the pro-hormone chromogranin A, correlate with less severe outcomes in hypertension, colitis, and diabetes. However, it is unknown how CST reduces the infiltration of monocytes and macrophages (Mϕs) in inflamed tissues. Here, it is reported that CST blocks leukocyte migration toward inflammatory chemokines. By in vitro and in vivo migration assays, it is shown that although CST itself is chemotactic, it blocks migration of monocytes and neutrophils to inflammatory attracting factor CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2). Moreover, it directs CX3CR1+ Mϕs away from pancreatic islets. These findings suggest that the anti-inflammatory actions of CST are partly caused by its regulation of chemotaxis

Artificial Neural Network Modeling of Hot-air Drying Kinetics of Mango Kernel

Large quantities of mango seeds are generated as waste during extraction of mango pulp. The mango kernels are nutritionally rich and can be used as food in the form of flour and starch. Present study was undertaken to investigate the effect of blanching and convective drying air temperature of 50, 60 and 70°C on drying characteristics of mango kernel in splitted and shredded form. The drying characteristics of prepared samples were studied in terms of moisture ratio, drying time, and effective moisture diffusivity. The colour  parameters (‘L’, ‘a', ‘b’) of dried samples, were also estimated separately. Drying kinetics (moisture ratio vs drying time) of mango kernels modelled using three transfer functions (Tansig, Logsig and Purelin) of Artificial Neural Network (ANN). A reduction in the total drying time was observed with decrease in size of kernel but with rise in drying air temperature. The splitted and shredded kernels took about 450 to 840 min and 210 to 600 min respectively to be dried to final moisture content of 9 ± 1% (d.b.). Blanching did not show any significant influence on drying time. The drying process of mango kernels for all the conditions was observed to follow the falling rate. Modeling of drying kinetics of mango kernels was carried out using experimental results through artificial neural network. Results showed that the developed ANN model using logsig transfer function could predict the moisture ratio with high coefficient of determination (R2 = 0.99) and low root mean square error (0.01) within the range of tested operating conditions. The established ANN model can be used for online prediction of moisture content of splitted and shredded mango kernels during hot air drying process which has relevance to the food and pharmaceutical industry to produce dried mango kernels at desired moisture content

Ideas and Perspectives: A Strategic Assessment of Methane and Nitrous Oxide Measurements In the Marine Environment

In the current era of rapid climate change, accurate characterization of climate-relevant gas dynamics-namely production, consumption, and net emissions-is required for all biomes, especially those ecosystems most susceptible to the impact of change. Marine environments include regions that act as net sources or sinks for numerous climateactive trace gases including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O). The temporal and spatial distributions of CH4 and N2O are controlled by the interaction of complex biogeochemical and physical processes. To evaluate and quantify how these mechanisms affect marine CH4 and N2O cycling requires a combination of traditional scientific disciplines including oceanography, microbiology, and numerical modeling. Fundamental to these efforts is ensuring that the datasets produced by independent scientists are comparable and interoperable. Equally critical is transparent communication within the research community about the technical improvements required to increase our collective understanding of marine CH4 and N2O. A workshop sponsored by Ocean Carbon and Biogeochemistry (OCB) was organized to enhance dialogue and collaborations pertaining to marine CH4 and N2O. Here, we summarize the outcomes from the workshop to describe the challenges and opportunities for near-future CH4 and N2O research in the marine environment

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The anti-inflammatory peptide Catestatin blocks chemotaxis

Increased levels of the anti-inflammatory peptide Catestatin (CST), a cleavage product of the pro-hormone chromogranin A, correlate with less severe outcomes in hypertension, colitis, and diabetes. However, it is unknown how CST reduces the infiltration of monocytes and macrophages (M phi s) in inflamed tissues. Here, it is reported that CST blocks leukocyte migration toward inflammatory chemokines. By in vitro and in vivo migration assays, it is shown that although CST itself is chemotactic, it blocks migration of monocytes and neutrophils to inflammatory attracting factor CC-chemokine ligand 2 (CCL2) and C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 2 (CXCL2). Moreover, it directs CX(3)CR1(+) M phi s away from pancreatic islets. These findings suggest that the anti-inflammatory actions of CST are partly caused by its regulation of chemotaxis

Metastable Al\u2013Si\u2013Ni alloys for additive manufacturing: Structural stability and energy release during heating

Rapid solidification with high cooling rates of metal alloys determines both the improvement of mechanical properties, due to the finishing of the structure, as well as obtaining metastable structures in the form of supersaturated or amorphous/nano solid solutions, which could potentially confer the material outstanding properties. It is of particular interest to use the energies released during the heating stage for these materials, due to the potentially lower input energy required to melt/fuse these materials. This phenomenon could add to the development and diversification of additive manufacturing technologies. The paper presents results concerning the structural development and phase transformation of metastable structures from Al\u2013Si\u2013Ni-based alloys, obtained by melt spinning and atomization techniques. It was observed that the structural transformations occurring during the heating process, starting from metastable structures, generate significant amounts of energy. This is of practical importance in the use of metallic powders in additive manufacturing technology, due to potentially reduced energy input