Do electrospray mass spectra of surfactants mirror their aggregation state in solution?

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Dairy production of "Saanen" goats based on meteorological variables and future climate scenarios.

Abstract: This study aimed to modeling and bioclimatic zoning of "Saanen" goat milk production in northeastern Brazil. Data were obtained from a 14-year dairy control program for 246 ?Saanen? goat matrices. Dairy production meteorological influence and mathematical modeling were assessed through statistical analyses such as Pearson?s correlation matrix and path analysis. Bioclimatic zoning for current and future scenarios, with climate changes, were delineated using inverse-square distance (ISD) and spherical model (kriging) interpolations. Results showed maximum air temperature to contribute substantially to goat dairy production; therefore, its modeling was based thereon. Current and future dairy production maps highlighted Maranhão and Piauí as regions of limited ?Saanen? milk production. Furthermore, we should emphasize that temperature rises in further scenarios may have significant impact on the potential of dairy farming for the region under study

Peripheral giant cell granuloma: immunohistochemical analysis of different markers. Study of three cases

El granuloma periférico de células gigantes (GPCG) es una lesión de tejido blando no neoplásica ocasionada por una reacción hiperplásica a consecuencia de un traumatismo o inflamación. Es una lesión reactiva del tejido blando que se desarrolla exclusivamente en la cavidad oral y con una ligera predilección en el sexo femenino. La localización habitual de GPCG es en la región de los premolares y la mucosa de la cresta alveolar edéntula. Se presentan tres casos con GPCG (dos hombres y una mujer) con una edad comprendida entre los 25 y 35 años. Todos los pacientes se trataron con resección quirúrgica y ninguno sufrió recidivas. Con el propósito de determinar el posible origen de las células estromales mononucleares y de las células gigantes multinucleares, las muestras de cada caso se estudiaron mediante inmunohistoquímica (marcadores CD-68, CD-34 y α-1 antitripsina) con el fin de evaluar la expresión del linaje endotelial y del linaje monocito/macrófago. Los resultados inmunohistoquímicos mostraron una marcada positividad difusa de CD-68 en las células estromales mononucleares y en las células gigantes multinucleadas. Estas últimas resultaron ser inmunonegativas para CD-34 y sólo puntualmente positivas para α-1 antitripsina. Estos resultados sugieren que las cιlulas gigantes multinucleares poseen un fenotipo osteoclαstico, proviniendo del linaje monocito/macrσfago, y que no derivan del linaje de las células endoteliales de los capilares. Se establece la importancia de un exhaustivo diagnóstico y de una exéresis quirúrgica completa de la lesión (curetaje óseo) con el propósito de evitar la reabsorción del diente y hueso adyacente

Complex Coacervates between a Lactose-Modified Chitosan and Hyaluronic Acid as Radical-Scavenging Drug Carriers

Complex coacervation of two oppositely charged polysaccharides, namely a lactose-modified chitosan (CTL) and hyaluronan (HA), was investigated in this study. Coacervates of the two polysaccharides were prepared by drop-by-drop injection of HA into CTL. Transmittance and dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements in combination with TEM analyses demonstrated the formation of spheroidal colloids in the nano-/microsize range showing good homogeneity. Strikingly, the presence of 150 mM supporting NaCl did not hamper the colloid formation. Stability studies on selected formulations demonstrated that HA/CTL coacervates were stable up to 3 weeks at 37 \ub0C and behaved as pH-responsive colloids since transition from entangled to disentangled chains was attained for a proper pH range. The possibility of freeze-drying the coacervates for storage purposes and the ability of encapsulating selected payloads were investigated as well, for two values of the fraction of the lactitol side-chain substitution (FL). Finally, biological tests using human neutrophils were undertaken at acidic pH value (pH = 6.0): under such experimental conditions, akin to those frequently occurring in the inflammatory microenvironment, coacervates scavenged reactive oxygen species (ROS) generated by these cells in basal conditions. Given the well documented bioactivity of CTL with respect to chitosan toward cartilage regeneration, these findings point to a possible application of HA/CTL-based colloids as scavenging and bioactive carriers for the delivery of therapeutic molecules at confined inflamed sites such as knee joints

First assessment of plasticizers in marine coastal litter-feeder fauna in the mediterranean sea

Micro and nanoplastics are harmful to marine life due to their high level of fragmentation and resistance to degradation. Over the past two decades, marine coastal sediment has shown an increasing amount of microplastics being a sort of trap for debris wastes or chemicals. In such an environment some species may be successful candidates to be used as monitors of environmental and health hazards and can be considered a mirror of threats of natural habitats. Such species play a key role in the food web of littoral systems since they are litter-feeders, and are prey for fishes or higher trophic level species. A preliminary investigation was conducted on five species of small-sized amphipod crustaceans, with the aim to understand if such an animal group may reflect the risk to ecosystems health in the central Mediterranean area, recently investigated for seawater and fish contamination. This study intended to gather data related to the accumulation of plasticizers in such coast dwelling fauna. In order to detect the possible presence of xenobiotics in amphipods, six analytes were scored (phthalic acid esters and non-phthalate plasticizers), identified and quantified by the gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC-MS) method. The results showed that among all the monitored contaminants, DEP and DiBP represented the most abundant compounds in the selected amphipods. The amphipod crustaceans analyzed were a good tool to detect and monitor plasticizers, and further studies of these invertebrates will help in developing a more comprehensive knowledge of chemicals spreading over a geographical area. The results are herein presented as a starting point to develop baseline data of plasticizer pollution in the Mediterranean Sea

COUPLING ELECTROCHEMISTRY TO ELECTROSPRAY: A NOVEL PREPARATION OF GOLD NANOSTRUCTURES

nanoparticles on ITO (Indium tin oxide) coated glass using the electrospray (ESI) method Method:The starting point of this study is that the ESI/MS spectrum (Figure 1) of an ethanolic solution of HAuCl 4 shows a reduction process of Au (III) strongly dependent on the Cone Voltage (CV) values (20, 80, 150 V), affording to the ion at m/z 197 (Au+). Further, the decrease of the abundance of this ion at the highest cone voltage suggests the subsequent its reduction with the formation of Au 0 . Figure 1: ESI/MS spectra of an ethanolic solution of HAuCl4 at various cone voltages: Conclusion: Such experimental evidence leads us to use electrospray technique as a preparative tool to obtain the formation and deposition of gold nanoparticles in a single step. In fact, using a home-made electrospray apparatus, we sprayed an ethanolic solution of HAuCl4, forming a very thin aerosol that has been uniformly deposited on ITO coated glass. Then, the deposit by SEM, UV-Vis, Optical-Microscopy and XPS has been characterized4,5. In particular, SEM micrographs show rod-like structures, while XPS spectra show that the deposited nanoparticles contain about 23% of Au0

Enhancement of cytosine arabinoside-induced apoptosis in human myeloblastic leukemia cells by NFkB/Rel- specific decoy oligodeoxynucleotides

The activity of NF-kB/Rel nuclear factors is known to inhibit apoptosis in various cell types. We investigated whether the subtraction of NF-kB/Rel activity influenced the response of 11 AML (M1, M2 and M4) patients’ cells to AraC. To this end we used a phosphorothioate double-stranded decoy oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) carrying the NF-kB/Rel- consensus sequence. Cell incubation with this ODN, but not its mutated (scrambled) form used as a control, resulted in abating the NF-kB/Rel nuclear levels in these cells, as verified by electrophoretic mobility shift assay (EMSA) of cells’ nuclear extracts. We incubated the leukemic cells with AraC (32 or 1 mM), in either the absence or presence of the decoy or the scrambled ODN, and analyzed cell apoptosis. The spontaneous cell apoptosis detectable in the absence of AraC (,25%) was not modulated by the oligonucleotide presence in cell cultures. On the other hand, in 10 of the 11 samples tested, the decoy kB, but not the scrambled ODN significantly (P ,0.01 in a Student’s t test) enhanced cell apoptotic response to AraC. Such an effect was particularly remarkable at low AraC doses (1 mM). These findings indicate that NF-kB/Rel activity influences response to AraC in human primary myeloblastic cells, and suggests that the inhibition of NF-kB/Rel factors can improve the effect of chemotherapy in AM

A nonlinear Lagrangian particle model for grains assemblies including grain relative rotations

International audienceWe formulate a discrete Lagrangian model for a set of interacting grains, which is purely elastic. The considered degrees of freedom for each grain include placement of barycenter and rotation. Further, we limit the study to the case of planar systems. A representative grain radius is introduced to express the deformation energy to be associated to relative displacements and rotations of interacting grains. We distinguish inter‐grains elongation/compression energy from inter‐grains shear and rotations energies, and we consider an exact finite kinematics in which grain rotations are independent of grain displacements. The equilibrium configurations of the grain assembly are calculated by minimization of deformation energy for selected imposed displacements and rotations at the boundaries. Behaviours of grain assemblies arranged in regular patterns, without and with defects, and similar mechanical properties are simulated. The values of shear, rotation, and compression elastic moduli are varied to investigate the shapes and thicknesses of the layers where deformation energy, relative displacement, and rotations are concentrated. It is found that these concentration bands are close to the boundaries and in correspondence of grain voids. The obtained results question the possibility of introducing a first gradient continuum models for granular media and justify the development of both numerical and theoretical methods for including frictional, plasticity, and damage phenomena in the proposed model

Desempenho produtivo de ovinos alimentados com dietas contendo níveis crescentes de feno de erva sal (Atriplex nummularia Lindl.).

Avaliaram-se os efeitos de dietas com diferentes níveis do feno de erva sal (Atriplex nummularia Lindl.) sobre os consumos de matéria seca (MS), proteína bruta (PB), fibra em detergente neutro (FDN) e carboidratos totais (CHO) e, ainda, sobre o ganho de peso diário e a conversão alimentar da MS em ovinos. Utilizaram-se 20 carneiros naturalizados, com peso vivo médio inicial de 23,0 kg, submetidos a um delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado e alimentados em gaiolas para metabolismo com piso ripado. Foram avaliadas cinco dietas contendo diferentes níveis de feno de erva sal (38,30; 52,55; 64,57; 74,85 e 83,72%) associado à melancia forrageira (Citrulus lanatus cv. citroides) e a raspa de mandioca (Manihot esculenta Crantz), enriquecida com 5% de uréia. A adição do feno de erva sal nas dietas não alterou a média do consumo diário da MS, PB e CHO, expressos em g/dia, %PV e g/kg0,75/dia, respectivamente. O consumo de FDN aumentou linearmente em %PV e g/kg0,75/dia. A eficiência de conversão alimentar da MS diminuiu linearmente, em função dos percentuais de volumoso utilizado. Os ganhos de peso vivo aos 21, 28, 35 e 42 dias sofreram redução linear com a elevação dos níveis de feno nas dietas. As médias diárias de ganho de peso vivo obtido pelos carneiros, ao longo do período de engorda, revelaram um bom potencial forrageiro do feno de erva sal combinado em quaisquer das proporções estudadas com melancia forrageira e com raspa de mandioc