Adsorption and incorporation of the zinc oxide nanoparticles in seeds of corn: germination performance and antimicrobial protection

The treatments of the seeds are important procedures applied by the agronomical area to improve the culture yield. From these procedures the micronutrients are available for the seeds before and during the germination stages. One high challenge is make efficient these treatment processes and to ensure the adsorption and the incorporation of these micronutrients in the seeds and to improve its performance in the germination phase. In this work studies explored the optimization of the incorporation process and the characteristics of the zinc oxide clusters adsorbed on the surface of the seed. The results were associated with the agronomic responses during the germinations stages of the seeds of corn. The seeds were treated in suspensions containing different concentrations of nanoparticles of zinc oxide and during different treatment times. The adsorptions in the corn surface and the absorption of the nanoparticles for the inner of the seeds were studied together with its antibacterial characteristics and correlated with the germinations indicators. The results showed that is possible to incorporate nanoparticles of zinc oxide in inner of the seeds of corn and improve the germinations indicators. Antibacterial protection was aggregated on the seeds of corn. It´s possible to incorporate 0.280 mg of zinc oxide nanoparticle per seed mass in inner of seeds with the optimal treatment conditions with nanoparticle concentration of 50 mg/L in the suspension and with treatment time of 180 minutes. With the optimal treatment concentration the normal plant percentage increase of 2.70% in relationship to the seeds not treated

Design and baseline characteristics of the finerenone in reducing cardiovascular mortality and morbidity in diabetic kidney disease trial

Background: Among people with diabetes, those with kidney disease have exceptionally high rates of cardiovascular (CV) morbidity and mortality and progression of their underlying kidney disease. Finerenone is a novel, nonsteroidal, selective mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist that has shown to reduce albuminuria in type 2 diabetes (T2D) patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) while revealing only a low risk of hyperkalemia. However, the effect of finerenone on CV and renal outcomes has not yet been investigated in long-term trials. Patients and Methods: The Finerenone in Reducing CV Mortality and Morbidity in Diabetic Kidney Disease (FIGARO-DKD) trial aims to assess the efficacy and safety of finerenone compared to placebo at reducing clinically important CV and renal outcomes in T2D patients with CKD. FIGARO-DKD is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, parallel-group, event-driven trial running in 47 countries with an expected duration of approximately 6 years. FIGARO-DKD randomized 7,437 patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate >= 25 mL/min/1.73 m(2) and albuminuria (urinary albumin-to-creatinine ratio >= 30 to <= 5,000 mg/g). The study has at least 90% power to detect a 20% reduction in the risk of the primary outcome (overall two-sided significance level alpha = 0.05), the composite of time to first occurrence of CV death, nonfatal myocardial infarction, nonfatal stroke, or hospitalization for heart failure. Conclusions: FIGARO-DKD will determine whether an optimally treated cohort of T2D patients with CKD at high risk of CV and renal events will experience cardiorenal benefits with the addition of finerenone to their treatment regimen. Trial Registration: EudraCT number: 2015-000950-39; ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02545049