Decreased Innate Migration of Pro-Inflammatory M1 Macrophages through the Mesothelial Membrane Is Affected by Ceramide Kinase and Ceramide 1-P

The retrograde flow of endometrial tissues deposited into the peritoneal cavity occurs in women during menstruation. Classically (M1) or alternatively (M2) activated macrophages partake in the removal of regurgitated menstrual tissue. The failure of macrophage egress from the peritoneal cavity through the mesothelium leads to chronic inflammation in endometriosis. To study the migration differences of macrophage phenotypes across mesothelial cells, an in vitro model of macrophage egress across a peritoneal mesothelial cell monolayer membrane was developed. M1 macrophages were more sessile, emigrating 2.9-fold less than M2 macrophages. The M1 macrophages displayed a pro-inflammatory cytokine signature, including IL-1α, IL-1β, TNF-α, TNF-β, and IL-12p70. Mass spectrometry sphingolipidomics revealed decreased levels of ceramide-1-phosphate (C1P), an inducer of migration in M1 macrophages, which correlated with its poor migration behavior. C1P is generated by ceramide kinase (CERK) from ceramide, and blocking C1P synthesis via the action of NVP231, a specific CERK chemical inhibitor, prohibited the emigration of M1 and M2 macrophages up to 6.7-fold. Incubation with exogenously added C1P rescued this effect. These results suggest that M1 macrophages are less mobile and have higher retention in the peritoneum due to lower C1P levels, which contributes to an altered peritoneal environment in endometriosis by generating a predominant pro-inflammatory cytokine environment

IInfluence of Mg/CTAB ratio on the structural, physicochemical properties and catalytic activity of amorphous mesoporous magnesium silicate catalysts

This study investigated the physicochemical and catalytic properties of mesoporous magnesium silicate catalysts prepared at various Mg/CTAB ratio (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00). The XPS analysis detected a mixture of enstatite and magnesium carbonate species when the Mg/CTAB ratio was 0.25, and 0.50. A mixture of forsterite and magnesium carbonate species were detected when the Mg/CTAB ratio was 0.75 whereas for Mg/CTAB ratio of 1.00, enstatite and magnesium metasilicate species were detected. Catalyst with Mg/CTAB ratio of 1.00 indicated the highest catalytic activity in the oxidation of styrene. Its styrene conversion rate was 59.0% with 69.2% of styrene oxide (StO) selectivity. The H2O2 molecules were activated regio-specifically by the magnesium species to prevent rapid self-decomposition while promoting selective interaction with styrene. All the parameters that influence the styrene conversion and product selectivity were evaluated by using Analysis of variance (ANOVA) with Tukey’s test. Based on the ANOVA analysis, it showed that reaction time (h), Mg/CTAB ratio, styrene/H2O2 ratio, catalyst loading (mg) and temperature (°C) effects the styrene conversion and product selectivity (StO), significantly (p< 0.05). The oxidation of styrene was well fitted to the pseudo-first-order model. The activation energy, Ea of catalyzed styrene epoxidation reaction was calculated to be 27.7 kJmol-1. The catalysts can be reused several times without any significant loss in its activity and selectivity. The results from this study will be useful in designing and developing low cost, high activity catalysts from alkaline earth metals

Synthesis and characterization of bubble wrap-like hollow barium silicate–carbonate nanospheres for the epoxidation of styrene

Novel porous bubble wrap-like hollow barium silicate–carbonate nanospheres were successfully prepared at a barium/CTAB molar ratio of 0.75 and 1.00. The average pore size, BET surface area and total pore volume of the most catalytically active catalyst in the epoxidation of styrene, 1.00BaMST were 5.0 nm, 42 m2 g−1 and 0.0771 cm3 g−1, respectively. The styrene epoxidation reaction was carried out using H2O2 as an oxidant. Barium silicate and carbonate groups detected on the catalyst’s surface are proposed to activate the H2O2 and selectively oxidize the styrene to styrene oxide. The 1.00BaMST achieved 63.3% of styrene conversion and 77.8% of epoxide selectivity at mild conditions (3 h, 60 ◦C). The reaction energy barrier was calculated to be 17.3 kJ mol−1

The LHCb upgrade I

The LHCb upgrade represents a major change of the experiment. The detectors have been almost completely renewed to allow running at an instantaneous luminosity five times larger than that of the previous running periods. Readout of all detectors into an all-software trigger is central to the new design, facilitating the reconstruction of events at the maximum LHC interaction rate, and their selection in real time. The experiment's tracking system has been completely upgraded with a new pixel vertex detector, a silicon tracker upstream of the dipole magnet and three scintillating fibre tracking stations downstream of the magnet. The whole photon detection system of the RICH detectors has been renewed and the readout electronics of the calorimeter and muon systems have been fully overhauled. The first stage of the all-software trigger is implemented on a GPU farm. The output of the trigger provides a combination of totally reconstructed physics objects, such as tracks and vertices, ready for final analysis, and of entire events which need further offline reprocessing. This scheme required a complete revision of the computing model and rewriting of the experiment's software

Effect Of Alkaline Earth Metal Cations Incorporation On The Self-Assembly Of Mesoporous Silica: Physicochemical Study And Catalysis Of Styrene

Three series of alkaline earth metal (magnesium, calcium and barium) mesoporous silicate catalysts were prepared via direct one-pot synthesis by varying the metal to surface directing agent (CTAB) molar ratio (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00) Characterization results indicate that the physicochemical properties of the resulting catalysts depend on the size of the alkaline earth metal cations and metal/CTAB molar ratios. The incorporation of the alkaline earth metals in the silica framework disrupted the arrangement of pore channels and increased pore size compared to parent silica (MST). The alkaline earth metal species on the catalyst's surface varies according to the metal/CTAB molar ratio. Liquid phase epoxidation of styrene in the presence of prepared alkaline earth metal catalysts have produced styrene oxide (StO) as the major product and benzaldehyde (PhCHO) and phenylacetaldehyde (PA) as the minor products. In general, the highest catalytic activity was observed at a metal/CTAB ratio of 1.00. Mesoporous 1.00CaMST performed the best by achieving the highest styrene conversion (66.9%) and StO selectivity (79.2%) at mild temperature (60 °C) and a lower catalyst loading (100 mg). The activation energy of 1.00CaMST (10.9 kJ mol-1) is also found to be lower than 1.00MgMST (27.7 kJ mol-1) and 1.00BaMST (17.3kJ mol-1). The reactions were found to fit better to the pseudo-first order kinetic model. The mechanism of the catalysed reaction was proposed based on the type of alkaline earth metal surface active sites

Consumer's perception of price when they shop online

Our research seeks to discover the impact of price on consumer's behaviour, the attributes of successful vendors as well as the types of products/services sellable in an online context. Our research sought to be a reference to online retailers or potential online retailers in formulating their pricing strategies

EMT-type zeolite nanocrystals synthesized from rice husk

International audienceNanosized EMT-type zeolite crystals with a diameter of 15 nm are synthesized from a precursor suspension free of organic template using rice husk ashes (RHA) as a silica source. The crystallization process of the EMT-type zeolite is accomplished within 28 h at 28 °C. The fully crystalline EMT-type zeolite nanoparticles have equilateral hexagonal shape, Si/Al ratio of 1.28 and high crystalline yield of 75%

EMT-type zeolite nanocrystals synthesized from rice husk

International audienc