OXIDATIVE CHANGES OF LIPIDS, PROTEINS AND ANTIOXIDANTS IN YOGURT DURING THE SHELF LIFE

Background: Oxidation processes in milk and yogurt during the shelf life can result in an alteration of protein and lipid constituents. Therefore, the antioxidant properties of yogurt in standard conditions of preservation were evaluated. Results: Total phenols, free radical scavenger activity, degree of lipid peroxidation and protein oxidation were determined in plain and skim yogurts with or without fruit puree. After production, plain, skim, plain berries and skim berries yogurts were compared during the shelf life up to 9 weeks. All types of yogurts revealed a basal antioxidant activity that was higher when a fruit puree was present but gradually decreased during the shelf life. However, after five-eight weeks, antioxidant activity increased again. Both in plain and berries yogurts lipid peroxidation increased until the seventh week of shelf life and after decreased, while protein oxidation of all yogurts was similar either in the absence or presence of berries and increased during shelf life. Conclusion: During the shelf life, a different behavior between lipid and protein oxidation takes place and the presence of berries determines a protection only against lipid peroxidation

A 5 and 10-Year Follow-Up on Intradiscal Ozone Injection for Disc Herniation:

Introduction Disc herniation is the most common cause for spinal surgery and many clinicians employ epidural steroid injections with limited success. Intradiscal injection of ozone gas has been used as an alternative to epidural steroids and surgical discectomy. Early results are positive but long-term data are limited. Patients and Methods A total of 108 patients with confirmed contiguous disc herniation were treated with intradiscal injection of ozone in 2002 to 2003. Around 107 patients were available for telephone follow-up at 5 years; 60 patients were available for a similar telephone follow-up at 10 years. Patients were asked to describe their clinical outcome since the injection. Surgical events were documented. MRI images were reviewed to assess the reduction in disc herniation at 6 months. Results MRI films demonstrated a consistent reduction in the size of the disc herniation. A total of 79% of patients had a reduction in herniation volume and the average reduction was 56%. There were 19 patients that ultimately had surgery and 12 of them occurred in the first 6 months after injection. One of these 12 was due to surgery at another level. Two surgeries involved an interspinous spacer indicated by stenosis or DDD. All other surgeries were discectomies. Of the patients that avoided surgery 82% were improved at 5 years and 88% were improved at 10 years. Other than subsequent surgeries, no spine-related complications were experienced. Conclusion We conclude that ozone is safe and effective in approximately 75% of patients with disc herniation and the benefit is maintained through 10 years. This is a retrospective review and randomized trials are needed. Clinical Relevance: Intradiscal ozone injection may enable patients to address their pain without multiple epidural injections and surgery. The benefit of ozone is durable and does not preclude future surgical options. The risk reward profile for this treatment is favorable

Mitochondrial Thioredoxin System as a Modulator of Cyclophilin D Redox State

The mitochondrial thioredoxin system (NADPH, thioredoxin reductase, thioredoxin) is a major redox regulator. Here we have investigated the redox correlation between this system and the mitochondrial enzyme cyclophilin D. The peptidyl prolyl cis-trans isomerase activity of cyclophilin D was stimulated by the thioredoxin system, while it was decreased by cyclosporin A and the thioredoxin reductase inhibitor auranofin. The redox state of cyclophilin D, thioredoxin 1 and 2 and peroxiredoxin 3 was measured in isolated rat heart mitochondria and in tumor cell lines (CEM-R and HeLa) by redox Western blot analysis upon inhibition of thioredoxin reductase with auranofin, arsenic trioxide, 1-chloro-2,4-dinitrobenzene or after treatment with hydrogen peroxide. A concomitant oxidation of thioredoxin, peroxiredoxin and cyclophilin D was observed, suggesting a redox communication between the thioredoxin system and cyclophilin. This correlation was further confirmed by i) co-immunoprecipitation assay of cyclophilin D with thioredoxin 2 and peroxiredoxin 3, ii) molecular modeling and iii) depleting thioredoxin reductase by siRNA. We conclude that the mitochondrial thioredoxin system controls the redox state of cyclophilin D which, in turn, may act as a regulator of several processes including ROS production and pro-apoptotic factors release

Desenvolvimento e validação de métodos analíticos para determinação de prasugrel em comprimidos revestidos

A ativação e agregação plaquetária desempenham papel central na fisiopatologia das síndromes coronarianas agudas (SCA) e complicações após intervenções coronárias percutâneas (ICP). O tratamento padrão indicado para a prevenção de eventos trombóticos é constituído de uma terapia antiplaquetária dupla, sendo a associação de ácido acetilsalicílico (AAS) e clopidogrel a mais comum. O cloridrato de prasugrel, um fármaco tienopiridínico de terceira geração, foi aprovado em 2009 pelo Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) e pelo European Medicine Agency (EMEA) e liberado para uso clínico com o nome comercial de Effient® como alternativa para pacientes inadequadamente protegidos pelo clopidogrel. Poucos relatos sobre a determinação quantitativa e estudos de estabilidade deste fármaco encontram-se disponíveis na literatura. Neste estudo, a caracterização da substância química de referência (SQR) de prasugrel foi realizada previamente por espectrometria no infravermelho (IV), ressonância magnética nuclear de hidrogênio (RMN 1H) e carbono (RMN 13C), análise térmica por calorimetria exploratória diferencial (DSC) e determinação da faixa de fusão pelo método capilar. Em seguida, métodos analíticos foram desenvolvidos para a determinação qualitativa e quantitativa de prasugrel em comprimidos revestidos, tais como espectrofotometria na região do ultravioleta (UV), cromatografia líquida de alta eficiência (CLAE) e eletroforese capilar (EC). Os parâmetros especificidade, linearidade, precisão, exatidão e robustez foram avaliados conforme os guias disponíveis. Além disso, desenvolveu-se e validou-se um método de dissolução de prasugrel em comprimidos. A identificação dos principais produtos de degradação formados em condições alcalinas e térmicas foi realizada por cromatografia líquida acoplada a espectrometria de massas (CL-EM), onde as possíveis estruturas moleculares foram propostas. Desse modo, os métodos desenvolvidos e validados contribuem para assegurar eficácia, segurança e qualidade de produtos farmacêuticos contendo este fármaco.The platelet activation and aggregation play a central role in the pathophysiology of acute coronary syndromes (ACS) and complications after percutaneous coronary interventions (PCI). The standard therapy for the prevention of new thrombotic events is constituted of dual antiplatelet therapy, and the most common association is acetylsalicylic acid (ASA) and clopidogrel. Prasugrel hydrochloride, a third-generation thienopyridine, was approved in 2009 by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and European Medicine Agency (EMEA) and approved for clinical use with the commercial name Effient® as alternative for patients inadequately protected by clopidogrel. Few reports of quantitative determination and stability studies of this drug are available in the literature. In this study, the characterization of the reference substance of prasugrel was performed by infrared spectrometry (IR), nuclear magnetic resonance of hydrogen (NMR 1H) and carbon (NMR 13C), thermal analysis by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and determination of the melting range by capillary method. Posteriorly, analytical methods were developed for the qualitative and quantitative determination of prasugrel in coated tablets, such as, spectrophotometry in the ultraviolet region (UV), high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and capillary electrophoresis (CE). The parameters specificity, linearity, precision, accuracy and robustness were evaluated according to the guidelines available. Besides, a dissolution method for prasugrel in tablets was developed and validated. The identification of the main products of degradation formed under alkaline and thermal conditions were performed by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS), where the possible structures were proposed. Then, the methods developed and validated contribute to assure the efficacy, safety and quality of pharmaceutical products containing this drug

The air gap effect on the fire resistance of composite slab with steel deck

The fire resistance of composite slabs with steel deck may be defined by experimental tests or using simple calculation methods available in standards, such as EN1994-1-2. The composite slab is made by a concrete topping cast on the top surface of a steel deck, presenting a combination of two different materials (steel and concrete). This work presents the results and the validation of a two dimensional finite element model, used for comparison with experimental results developed by the authors. Results are also compared with the simple calculation method of EN1994-1-2, which seems to be unsafe. The numerical model considers perfect contact between materials, but investigates the effect of the air gap between the concrete slab and the steel deck. The existence of the air gap is usually justified by different expansion coefficients and by the thermal bowing caused by the thermal gradient across the thickness, which leads to the separation of both materials during experimental tests.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Entanglement generation in (1+1)D(1+1)D QED scattering processes

We study real-time meson-meson scattering processes in $(1+1)$-dimensional QED by means of Tensor Networks. We prepare initial meson wave packets with given momentum and position introducing an approximation based on the free fermions model. Then, we compute the dynamics of two initially separated colliding mesons, observing a rich phenomenology as the interaction strength and the initial states are varied in the weak and intermediate coupling regimes. Finally, we consider elastic collisions and measure some scattering amplitudes as well as the entanglement generated by the process. Remarkably, we identify two different regimes for the asymptotic entanglement between the outgoing mesons: it is perturbatively small below a threshold coupling, past which its growth as a function of the coupling abruptly accelerates.Comment: 21 pages, 15 figure

Fire resistance of composite slabs with steel deck: from experiments to numerical simulation

This work investigates the thermal insulation behaviour of composite slabs with steel deck under standard fire test conditions. This composite slab consists of a concrete topping cast on the top of a steel deck. The concrete is usually reinforced with a steel mesh on the top and may also be reinforced using individual rebars. The steel deck also acts as reinforcement and may be directly exposed to fire conditions. This composite solution is widely used in every type of buildings which require fire resistance, in accordance to regulations and standards. The fire rating of this type of elements is determined by standard fire tests. Two samples were tested using standard fire conditions ISO834 to evaluate the Integrity (E) and insulation (I). The scope of this investigation concerns the fire rating for insulation (I). Numerical thermal simulation was also developed using Matlab PDE toolbox and ANSYS to compare the results and to find out the thermal effects of standard fire exposure. The results are also compared with the simplified method proposed by Eurocode 4-part 1.2, which seems to be unsafe.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio