Factors affecting the retention efficiency and physicochemical properties of spray dried lipid nanoparticles loaded with lippia sidoides essential oil

Essential oils (EOs) are widely used in various industrial sectors but can present several instability problems when exposed to environmental factors. Encapsulation technologies are effective solutions to improve EOs properties and stability. Currently, the encapsulation in lipid nanoparticles has received significant attention, due to the several recognized advantages over conventional systems. The study aimed to investigate the influence of the lipid matrix composition and spray-drying process on the physicochemical properties of the lipid-based nanoparticles loaded with Lippia sidoides EO and their retention efficiency for the oil. The obtained spray-dried products were characterized by determination of flow properties (Carr Index: from 25.0% to 47.93%, and Hausner ratio: from 1.25 to 1.38), moisture (from 3.78% to 5.20%), water activity (<0.5), and powder morphology. Zeta potential, mean particle size and polydispersity index, of the redispersed dried product, fell between 25.9 mV and 30.9 mV, 525.3 nm and 1143 nm, and 0.425 and 0.652, respectively; showing slight differences with the results obtained prior to spray-drying (from 16.4 mV to 31.6 mV; 147 nm to 1531 nm; and 0.459 to 0.729). Thymol retention in the dried products was significantly lower than the values determined for the liquid formulations and was affected by the drying of nanoparticles.I.B. acknowledges CAPES (Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior) for the financial support (88887.368385/2019-00). E.B.S. acknowledges the Portuguese Science and Technology Foundation (FCT) for the funded projects M-ERA-NET/0004/2015 (PAIRED) and UIDB/04469/2020 (strategic fund). WPO acknowledges the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) for the financial support (Grant N. 2018/26069-0 and 2011/10333-1).info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

The Fading Optical Counterpart of GRB~970228, Six Months and One Year Later

We report on observations of the fading optical counterpart of the gamma-ray burst GRB 970228, made with the Hubble Space Telescope STIS CCD approximately six months after outburst and with the HST/NICMOS and Keck/NIRC approximately one year after outburst. The unresolved counterpart is detected by STIS at V=28.0 +/- 0.25, consistent with a continued power-law decline with exponent -1.14 +/- 0.05. The counterpart is located within, but near the edge of, a faint extended source with diameter ~0."8 and integrated magnitude V=25.8 +/- 0.25. A reanalysis of HST and NTT observations performed shortly after the burst shows no evidence of proper motion of the point source or fading of the extended emission. Only the extended source is visible in the NICMOS images with a magnitude of H=23.3 +/- 0.1. The Keck observations find K = 22.8 +/- 0.3. Several distinct and independent means of deriving the foreground extinction in the direction of GRB 970228 all agree with A_V = 0.75 +/- 0.2. After adjusting for Galactic extinction, we find that the size of the observed extended emission is consistent with that of galaxies of comparable magnitude found in the Hubble Deep Field (HDF) and other deep HST images. Only 2% of the sky is covered by galaxies of similar or greater surface brightness; therefore the extended source is almost certainly the host galaxy. Additionally, we find that the extinction-corrected V - H and V - K colors of the host are as blue as any galaxy of comparable or brighter magnitude in the HDF. Taken in concert with recent observations of GRB 970508, GRB 971214, and GRB 980703 our work suggests that all four GRBs with spectroscopic identification or deep multicolor broad-band imaging of the host lie in rapidly star-forming galaxies.Comment: 24 pages, Latex, 4 PostScript figures, to appear in the May 10 issue of The Astrophysical Journal (Note: displayed abstract is abridged

Oceanic eddy‑induced modifications to air–sea heat and CO2 fluxes in the Brazil‑Malvinas Confluence

Sea surface temperature (SST) anomalies caused by a warm core eddy (WCE) in the Southwestern Atlantic Ocean (SWA) rendered a crucial influence on modifying the marine atmospheric boundary layer (MABL). During the first cruise to support the Antarctic Modeling and Observation System (ATMOS) project, a WCE that was shed from the Brazil Current was sampled. Apart from traditional meteorological measurements, we used the Eddy Covariance method to directly measure the ocean–atmosphere sensible heat, latent heat, momentum, and carbon dioxide ( CO2) fluxes. The mechanisms of pressure adjustment and vertical mixing that can make the MABL unstable were both identified. The WCE also acted to increase the surface winds and heat fluxes from the ocean to the atmosphere. Oceanic regions at middle and high latitudes are expected to absorb atmospheric CO2, and are thereby considered as sinks, due to their cold waters. Instead, the presence of this WCE in midlatitudes, surrounded by predominantly cold waters, caused the ocean to locally act as a CO2 source. The contribution to the atmosphere was estimated as 0.3 ± 0.04 mmol m− 2 day− 1, averaged over the sampling period. The CO2 transfer velocity coefficient (K) was determined using a quadratic fit and showed an adequate representation of ocean–atmosphere fluxes. The ocean–atmosphere CO2, momentum, and heat fluxes were each closely correlated with the SST. The increase of SST inside the WCE clearly resulted in larger magnitudes of all of the ocean–atmosphere fluxes studied here. This study adds to our understanding of how oceanic mesoscale structures, such as this WCE, affect the overlying atmosphere

Bibliotherapy Storybook Construction: A Creative Interpretation Based on Children\u27s Goals, Wants, and Hindrances

The difficulty to continue education in the Philippines, especially in the case of children, more often than not results from lack of motivation amid poverty. This problem brought the reason for this study — to create a way to spark motivation to continue education through a bibliotherapy storybook. Data were collected among twelve respondents, ages 6-12, through questionnaires describing their goals, wants, and hindrances, using coloring materials. Through thematic analysis, results show that most of the respondents were inclined to choose social service occupations that will help provide housing for their family. However, a considerable number of them expressed fear of not being able to finish school. The results were utilized to undertake a creative interpretation, completing the production process from narrative components to digital artwork. The created bibliotherapy storybook, Ang Paligsahan ng Hari sa Kastilyo, was then validated by eight experts and received an exemplary rating as a qualified material for bibliotherapy. This study successfully provided a method on how to construct a bibliotherapy storybook from one\u27s perspective. Hence, further studies may be conducted to test the created bibliotherapy for its motivational effects from the user\u27s perspective

Investigaciones en ciencias humanas y sociales : del ABC disciplinar a la reflexión metodológica

Diversidad de objetos, variedad de enfoques, prácticas disciplinares y multidisciplinares, y ejemplos de ejecución de proyectos de investigación y desarrollo son los rasgos distintivos de los siete capítulos que integran esta obra. En ellos se recoge el material desplegado en los Seminarios-Talleres de Metodología de la Investigación en Humanidades que se realizaron en el marco de las V Jornadas de Investigación de la Facultad de Filosofía y Letras de la Universidad Nacional de Cuyo en setiembre de 2004: estudios sobre procesos sociales, cuestiones educativas, geográficas, históricas, lingüísticas y literarias. Algunos capítulos han mantenido el estilo y formato característicos del contexto de los seminarios-talleres, a veces con ligeras modificaciones; otros han sido enteramente reescritos para la convocatoria de esta publicación. Este libro refleja entonces abordajes disciplinares y pluridisciplinares diversos a problemáticas igualmente variadas. Por tratarse de propuestas orientadas a y/o basadas en seminarios-talleres, está claro que los autores involucrados no pueden abarcar todos los aspectos de los objetos de estudio respectivos. Sin embargo, la idea es al menos brindar algún punto de vista sobre el estadio de desarrollo de algunas de las investigaciones actualmente en ejecución en nuestra Facultad

Antimicrobial Photodynamic Therapy: Study of Bacterial Recovery Viability and Potential Development of Resistance after Treatment

Antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) has emerged in the clinical field as a potential alternative to antibiotics to treat microbial infections. No cases of microbial viability recovery or any resistance mechanisms against it are yet known. 5,10,15-tris(1-Methylpyridinium-4-yl)-20-(pentafluorophenyl)-porphyrin triiodide (Tri-Py+-Me-PF) was used as photosensitizer. Vibrio fischeri and recombinant Escherichia coli were the studied bacteria. To determine the bacterial recovery after treatment, Tri-Py+-Me-PF (5.0 μM) was added to bacterial suspensions and the samples were irradiated with white light (40 W m−2) for 270 minutes. Then, the samples were protected from light, aliquots collected at different intervals and the bioluminescence measured. To assess the development of resistance after treatment, bacterial suspensions were exposed to white light (25 minutes), in presence of 5.0 μM of Tri-Py+-Me-PF (99.99% of inactivation) and plated. After the first irradiation period, surviving colonies were collected from the plate and resuspended in PBS. Then, an identical protocol was used and repeated ten times for each bacterium. The results suggest that aPDT using Tri-Py+-Me-PF represents a promising approach to efficiently destroy bacteria since after a single treatment these microorganisms do not recover their viability and after ten generations of partially photosensitized cells neither of the bacteria develop resistance to the photodynamic process

Effect of synbiotic supplementation in children and adolescents with cystic fibrosis: a randomized controlled clinical trial

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES:Cystic fibrosis (CF) is characterized by excessive activation of immune processes. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of synbiotic supplementation on the inflammatory response in children/adolescents with CF. SUBJECTS/METHODS:A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical-trial was conducted with control group (CG, n = 17), placebo-CF-group (PCFG, n = 19), synbiotic CF-group (SCFG, n = 22), PCFG negative (n = 8) and positive (n = 11) bacteriology, and SCFG negative (n = 12) and positive (n = 10) bacteriology. Markers of lung function (FEV1), nutritional status [body mass index-for age (BMI/A), height-for-age (H/A), weight-for-age (W/A), upper-arm fat area (UFA), upper-arm muscle area (UMA), body fat (%BF)], and inflammation [interleukin (IL)-12, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), IL-10, IL-6, IL-1β, IL-8, myeloperoxidase (MPO), nitric oxide metabolites (NOx)] were evaluated before and after 90-day of supplementation with a synbiotic. RESULTS:No significance difference was found between the baseline and end evaluations of FEV1 and nutricional status markers. A significant interaction (time vs. group) was found for IL-12 (p = 0.010) and myeloperoxidase (p = 0.036) between PCFG and SCFG, however, the difference was not maintained after assessing the groups individually. NOx diminished significantly after supplementation in the SCFG (p = 0.030). In the SCFG with positive bacteriology, reductions were found in IL-6 (p = 0.033) and IL-8 (p = 0.009) after supplementation. CONCLUSIONS: Synbiotic supplementation shown promise at diminishing the pro-inflammatory markers IL-6, IL-8 in the SCFG with positive bacteriology and NOx in the SCFG in children/adolescents with CF

Supplement: "Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914" (2016, ApJL, 826, L13)

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands

Phage Therapy and Photodynamic Therapy: Low Environmental Impact Approaches to Inactivate Microorganisms in Fish Farming Plants

Owing to the increasing importance of aquaculture to compensate for the progressive worldwide reduction of natural fish and to the fact that several fish farming plants often suffer from heavy financial losses due to the development of infections caused by microbial pathogens, including multidrug resistant bacteria, more environmentally-friendly strategies to control fish infections are urgently needed to make the aquaculture industry more sustainable. The aim of this review is to briefly present the typical fish farming diseases and their threats and discuss the present state of chemotherapy to inactivate microorganisms in fish farming plants as well as to examine the new environmentally friendly approaches to control fish infection namely phage therapy and photodynamic antimicrobial therapy

The International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce (INPST) and the power of Twitter networking exemplified through #INPST hashtag analysis

Background: The development of digital technologies and the evolution of open innovation approaches have enabled the creation of diverse virtual organizations and enterprises coordinating their activities primarily online. The open innovation platform titled "International Natural Product Sciences Taskforce" (INPST) was established in 2018, to bring together in collaborative environment individuals and organizations interested in natural product scientific research, and to empower their interactions by using digital communication tools. Methods: In this work, we present a general overview of INPST activities and showcase the specific use of Twitter as a powerful networking tool that was used to host a one-week "2021 INPST Twitter Networking Event" (spanning from 31st May 2021 to 6th June 2021) based on the application of the Twitter hashtag #INPST. Results and Conclusion: The use of this hashtag during the networking event period was analyzed with Symplur Signals (https://www.symplur.com/), revealing a total of 6,036 tweets, shared by 686 users, which generated a total of 65,004,773 impressions (views of the respective tweets). This networking event's achieved high visibility and participation rate showcases a convincing example of how this social media platform can be used as a highly effective tool to host virtual Twitter-based international biomedical research events