Chronic stress impairment of prefrontal cortex energy metabolism is related to gender and can not be ameliorated by antidepresant fluoxetine

The activity of cytochrome c oxidase correlates with neuronal functional activity and is considered as an ideal marker for examining the effects of antidepressant treatment on brain metabolism. We investigated gender specific effects of antidepressant fluoxetine on cytochrome c oxidase activity in the mitochondria of prefrontal cortex (PFC) of chronically isolated female and male Wistar rats. Our results showed that chronic psychosocial isolation (CPSI) increased cytochrome c oxidase activity in female PFC, while in males, this activity was decreased. Fluoxetine treatment did not normalize cytochrome c oxidase activity in either CPSI females or CPSI males. Our data suggest that the pattern of PFC energy metabolism impairment by CPSI is related to gender, but that fluoxetine treatment was unable to ameliorate these defects.Physical chemistry 2012 : 11th international conference on fundamental and applied aspects of physical chemistry; Belgrade (Serbia); 24-28 September 201

New Strategies For Development Of Highly Selective Materials For Carbon Dioxide Capturective materials for carbon dioxide capture

Selective separation of CO2 is a field of intensive research due to emerging emissions from fire coaled and natural gas power plants. In the focus of development efforts is a design of regenerable CO2 capture material where adsorption technologies and advanced solid adsorbents are again in the centre of interest. Short screening of composite zeolite/activated carbon material in the terms of its selectivity for CO2 towards water is presented in this research. Adsorption rate of CO2 and H2O is determined and analysed at two different temperatures and equilibrium pressure of 3.5 kPa which corresponds to flue gases contents. The results imply the water should be removed from treated gas before CO2 separation and capture. Design of advanced materials can be facilitated by implementation of DFT calculations. A preview of DFT analysed materials with higher affinity for CO2 than for water adsorption is presented within this research. It underscores the possibility of defining future strategies for the design of novel carbon dioxide capture materials more resistant to water compared to currently used zeolites.29th International Conference Ecological Truth and Environmental Research – EcoTER’22" Sokobanja, June 21-24, 2022

Is It Possible to Restrain OER on Simple Carbon Electrodes to Efficiently Electrooxidize Organic Pollutants?

This paper presents a comparative analysis of three carbon-based electrodes: bare multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT), SnO2/MWCNT, and PbO2/graphene-nanoribbons (PbO2/GNR) composites, as anodes for the electrooxidative degradation of Rhodamine B as a model organic pollutant. Anodic electrooxidation of Rhodamine B was performed on all three electrodes, and the decolorization efficiency was found to increase in the order MWCNT < PbO2/GNR < SnO2/MWCNT. The electrodes were characterized by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and linear sweep voltammetry (LSV). It was proposed that, in the 0.1 M Na2SO4 applied as electrolyte, observed decolorization mainly occurs in the interaction of Rhodamine B with OH radical adsorbed on the anode. Finally, the obtained results were complemented with Density Functional Theory (DFT) calculations of OH-radical interaction with appropriate model surfaces: graphene(0001), SnO2(001), and PbO2(001). It was found that the stabilization of adsorbed OH-radical on metal oxide spots (SnO2 or PbO2) compared to carbon is responsible for the improved efficiency of composites in the degradation of Rhodamine B. The observed ability of metal oxides to improve the electrooxidative potential of carbon towards organic compounds can be useful in the future design of appropriate anodes

Chronic psychosocial isolation alters hsp70/gr and hsp90/gr ratios in response to novel acute stress in rat hypothalamus

It is known that chronic psychosocial isolation (CPSI) exerts maladaptive effect on the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis activity. Since the hypothalamus (HT) is a major driver of the HPA axis activity and since glucocorticoid receptor protein (GR) mediates HPA axis negative feedback particularly in this structure, we studied the effect of CPSI by following the expression of GR and its chaperones hsp70 and hsp90 in HT. Our results showed that the ratios of HSPs/GR set by the CPSI were altered in response to a novel acute stress, which indicated negative CPSI influence on GR functions in HT

Food Waste (Beetroot and Apple Pomace) as Sorbent for Lead from Aqueous Solutions—Alternative to Landfill Disposal

This article presents studies, whose main goal was to minimize food waste. To achieve this goal, it is necessary to expand the scope of their application, for example, for the purification of polluted water from heavy metals. Millions of tons of waste from the fruit and vegetable industry, including pomace of apples and beetroots, are thrown into landfills, posing a danger to the environment. In order to solve the problems with the disposal of these wastes, the authors investigated their sorption potential for the removal of lead from wastewater. The sorbents, dried apple (AP), and beetroots (BR) pomaces were characterized by various methods (study of composition, zeta potential, FTIR-ATR, and SEM-EDX). Various models of sorption kinetics and sorption isotherms were analyzed. Kinetical studies under optimal conditions showed that the sorption process occurs through complexation and ion exchange and the determining stage limiting the rate of sorption is the diffusion of lead ions in the sorbent. The maximum sorption capacity was 31.7 and 79.8 mg/g for AP and BR, respectively. The thermodynamic data revealed the spontaneous sorption of lead ions by sorbents. The temperature rise contributes to the sorption increase by the AP sorbent, while for the BR sorbent, the opposite effect is observed. The obtained results showed that apple and beetroots pomaces can serve as effective renewable materials for the preparation of sorbents, contributing to the solution of complex environmental problems

Fluoxetine decreases the level of nuclear glucocorticoid receptor in wistar rat hippocampus under chronic stress

Dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis has been implicated in the pathophysiology of depression and stress disorders. Glucocorticoids, key regulators of stress response, have diverse effects on cellular processes in the hippocampus. Beside non genomic pathways, glucocorticoids effects are mediated through activation of the glucocorticoid receptor (GR), a ligand activated transcriptional factor that belongs to the nuclear hormone receptor superfamily. We analysed the GR protein level both, in the cytoplasmic and nuclear compartments in Wistar rat hippocampus, exposed to 3 week social isolation stress upon chronic fluoxetine treatment. Under chronic stress, corticosterone level was decreased compared to the control and treatment with fluoxetine did not change its level significantly in stressed animals. At the molecular level, fluoxetine significantly decreased the level of nuclear GR protein in the brain hippocampus of the chronically stressed rats. Fluoxetine reversed the nuclear level of GR disrupted by chronic psychosocial isolation (CPSI), but it failed to normalize HPA axis activity

Comparative assessment of fish diversity indices in protected Vlasina Reservoir and unprotected Gruža Reservoir

The species diversity indices, namely the Shannon Index (H), Reciprocal Simpson's Index (1/D), Fisher's Alpha Diversity Index (A), and Pielou's Evenness Index (J), were calculated for both the protected Vlasina Reservoir and the unprotected Gruža Reservoir. A total of 15 fish species were identified in the Vlasina Reservoir during the investigation period from 2003 to 2022, while the Gruža Reservoir revealed 10 fish species within the period from 2013 to 2021. The obtained values of the H, 1/D, and A indices, were not considerably high, sometimes even lower than expected, showing a slight increase in recent years for both reservoirs. In Vlasina Reservoir, the J Index was in a range from 0.2488 to 0.3348, while in Gruža Reservoir it varied from 0.1834 to 0.3832, indicating the low homogeneity in terms of well-balanced fish assemblage structure. Moreover, an increasing trend in recent years has been observed, which favors the dominance of some fish species against the balanced fish structure. Our results provide valuable information about fish diversity and evenness in the investigated areas under high anthropogenic threats, considering the importance of both reservoirs in Serbia.Publishe

Hepatoprotective Effect of Mixture of Dipropyl Polysulfides in Concanavalin A-Induced Hepatitis

The main biologically active components of plants belonging to the genus Allium, responsible for their biological activities, including anti-inflammatory, antioxidant and immunomodulatory, are organosulfur compounds. The aim of this study was to synthetize the mixture of dipropyl polysulfides (DPPS) and to test their biological activity in acute hepatitis. C57BL/6 mice were administered orally with DPPS 6 h before intravenous injection of Concanavalin A (ConA). Liver inflammation, necrosis and hepatocytes apoptosis were determined by histological analyses. Cytokines in liver tissue were determined by ELISA, expression of adhesive molecules and enzymes by RT PCR, while liver mononuclear cells were analyzed by flow cytometry. DPPS pretreatment significantly attenuated liver inflammation and injury, as evidenced by biochemical and histopathological observations. In DPPS-pretreated mice, messenger RNA levels of adhesion molecules and NADPH oxidase complex were significantly reduced, while the expression of SOD enzymes was enhanced. DPPS pretreatment decreased protein level of inflammatory cytokines and increased percentage of T regulatory cells in the livers of ConA mice. DPPS showed hepatoprotective effects in ConA-induced hepatitis, characterized by attenuation of inflammation and affection of Th17/Treg balance in favor of T regulatory cells and implicating potential therapeutic usage of DPPS mixture in inflammatory liver diseases

Fluoxetine decreases glutathione reductase in erythrocytes of chronically isolated wistar rats

Alterations in the antioxidative defense parameters upon chronic stress are considered critical for pathophysiology of stress related psychiatric disorders and their status in blood serves as biomarker for effects of pharmacological treatments. We investigated the modulation of erythrocyte antioxidant enzymes (AOEs): superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and glutathione reductase (GLR) protein expression and activity in Wistar male rats subjected to chronic psychosocial isolation and/or treated with fluoxetine. Chronically isolated animals exhibited decreased levels of plasma corticoserone (CORT). AOEs status was not altered either by chronic social isolation or by fluoxetine. The only exception was GLR, whose level and activity were both markedly reduced by fluoxetine. Our study indicates that fluoxetine treatment of chronically isolated male Wistar rats, leads to significant reduction in the level and activity of GLR in the erythrocytes

Charged-particle multiplicities in pp interactions at root s=900 GeV measured with the ATLAS detector at the LHC ATLAS Collaboration

The first measurements from proton-proton collisions recorded with the ATLAS detector at the LHC are presented. Data were collected in December 2009 using a minimum-bias trigger during collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 900 GeV. The charged-particle multiplicity, its dependence on transverse momentum and pseudorapidity, and the relationship between mean transverse momentum and charged-particle multiplicity are measured for events with at least one charged particle in the kinematic range vertical bar eta vertical bar LT 2.5 and p(T) GT 500 MeV. The measurements are compared to Monte Carlo models of proton-proton collisions and to results from other experiments at the same centre-of-mass energy. The charged-particle multiplicity per event and unit of pseudorapidity eta = 0 is measured to be 1.333 +/- 0.003(stat.) +/- 0.040(syst.), which is 5-15% higher than the Monte Carlo models predict. 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V