Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Bacterial Cellulose for the Production of Nanocrystals for the Food Packaging Industry

Bacterial cellulose nanocrystals (BCNCs) obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis have been loaded in pullulan biopolymer for use as nanoparticles in the generation of high-oxygen barrier coatings intended for food packaging applications. Bacterial cellulose (BC) produced by Komagataeibacter sucrofermentans was hydrolyzed by two different enzymatic treatments, i.e., using endo-1,4-\u3b2-glucanases (EGs) from Thermobifida halotolerans and cellulase from Trichoderma reesei. The hydrolytic activity was compared by means of turbidity experiments over a period of 145 h, whereas BCNCs in their final state were compared, in terms of size and morphology, by atomic force microscopy (AFM) and dynamic light scattering (DLS). Though both treatments led to particles of similar size, a greater amount of nano-sized particles ( 48250 nm) were observed in the system that also included cellulase enzymes. Unexpectedly, transmission electron microscopy (TEM) revealed that cellulose nanoparticles were round-shaped and made of 4-5 short (150-180 nm) piled whiskers. Pullulan/BCNCs nanocomposite coatings allowed an increase in the overall oxygen barrier performance, of more than two and one orders of magnitude ( 480.7 mL\ub7m-2\ub724 h-1), of pure polyethylene terephthalate (PET) ( 48120 mL\ub7m-2\ub724 h-1) as well as pullulan/coated PET ( 486 mL\ub7m-2\ub724 h-1), with no significant difference between treatments (hydrolysis mediated by EGs or with the addition of cellulase). BCNCs obtained by enzymatic hydrolysis have the potential to generate high oxygen barrier coatings for the food packaging industry

Sustainable and affordable prefabricated construction: Developing a natural, recycled, and recyclable mobile home

Outdoor tourism is a form of outdoor holiday that is growing rapidly today, and that stands out from other forms of tourism for its immediate relationship with the landscape which becomes for the tourist the main attraction of the holiday intended as a break from ordinary urban life. Outdoor tourism today represents a growing percentage in the tourism sector, in which mobile homes are the real players. Despite the considerable use of this product in open-air accommodations located in relevant landscapes, there is still no sensitivity in the constructive approach and in the choice of materials in terms of sustainability. In the open-air tourism sector, the lack of ecological sensitivity results from two levels of application: one regarding the whole settlement and the public spaces of outdoor accommodations and one regarding the mobile unit from the design to the production process. This paper will provide some practical strategies to introduce the ecological theme in the mobile home for the tourism sector. The research aims to analyze the production system of mobile homes in order to introduce alternative materials within the existing assembly line. The research demonstrates the possibility of a product being sustainable both economically and environmentally, healthy, and well-integrated with landscape by adopting an approach that makes it possible to use the same assembly line currently in use

Cumulative radiation exposure during thoracic endovascular aneurysm repair and subsequent follow-up

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Setting the photoelectron clock through molecular alignment

The interaction of strong laser fields with matter intrinsically provides a powerful tool for imaging transient dynamics with an extremely high spatiotemporal resolution. Here, we study strong-field ionisation of laser-aligned molecules, and show a full real-time picture of the photoelectron dynamics in the combined action of the laser field and the molecular interaction. We demonstrate that the molecule has a dramatic impact on the overall strong-field dynamics: it sets the clock for the emission of electrons with a given rescattering kinetic energy. This result represents a benchmark for the seminal statements of molecular-frame strong-field physics and has strong impact on the interpretation of self-diffraction experiments. Furthermore, the resulting encoding of the time-energy relation in molecular-frame photoelectron momentum distributions shows the way of probing the molecular potential in real-time, and accessing a deeper understanding of electron transport during strong-field interactions

Plasma and PBMC miRNA profile in sexually HIV-1 exposed seronegative individuals

Background: MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small 20- to 24-nt non-coding RNAs involved in the post-transcriptional regulation of gene expression which play important defensive roles in several viral infections. Global expression profiles of cellular miRNAs have identified alterations of specific miRNAs post-HIV-1 infection both in vitro and in different patient cohorts suggesting potential roles for miRNA in pathogenesis and disease progression. We therefore decided to verify if natural resistance to HIV-1 infection observed in seronegative individuals repeatedly exposed to HIV-1 (HESN) through unprotected sexual intercourse could be secondary to a different expression of their miRNA profile. Methods: Expression levels of 25 miRNAs selected according to their proven anti-HIV-1 properties were analyzed in plasma, basal PBMC and in in vitro HIV-1 infected macrophages isolated from 30 HESN, 30 HIV seropositive subjects (HIV + ) and 30 healthy controls (HC).Results: In plasma the expression of mir-155, mir-382, mir-28 and mir-198 was significantly augmented in both HIV + and HESN compared to HC probably as a consequence of viral exposure. Conversely the expression of mir-223 and mir-150 in plasma was significantly increased only in HESN and this result was also confirmed in basal PBMC suggesting a protective effect for these miRNAs in resistance to HIV-1 infection. Furthermore, the expression of mir-150 was significantly increased in HESN macrophages following HIV-1 infection. Conclusions: mir-223 and mir-150 can target the 3\ua2UTR of HIV-1 transcripts, and they have already been identified as anti-HIV-1 miRNAs. The higher expression of these miRNA in HESN samples could therefore represent a key protection mechanism against HIV infection

TLR Activation Pathways in HIV-1-Exposed Seronegative Individuals

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Plasma exosome profile in st-elevation myocardial infarction patients with and without out-of-hospital cardiac arrest

The identification of new biomarkers allowing an early and more accurate characterization of patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) is still needed, and exosomes represent an attractive diagnostic tool in this context. However, the characterization of their protein cargo in relation to cardiovascular clinical manifestation is still lacking. To this end, 35 STEMI patients (17 experiencing resuscitated out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA-STEMI) and 18 uncomplicated) and 32 patients with chronic coronary syndrome (CCS) were enrolled. Plasma exosomes were characterized by the nanoparticle tracking analysis and Western blotting. Exosomes from STEMI patients displayed a higher concentration and size and a greater expression of platelet (GPIIb) and vascular endothelial (VE-cadherin) markers, but a similar amount of cardiac troponin compared to CCS. In addition, a difference in exosome expression of acute-phase proteins (ceruloplasmin, transthyretin and fibronectin) between STEMI and CCS patients was found. GPIIb and brain-associated marker PLP1 accurately discriminated between OHCA and uncomplicated STEMI. In conclusion, the exosome profile of STEMI patients has peculiar features that differentiate it from that of CCS patients, reflecting the pathophysiological mechanisms involved in STEMI. Additionally, the exosome expression of brain-and platelet-specific markers might allow the identification of patients experiencing ischemic brain injury in STEMI

Thiazolides elicit anti-viral innate immunity and reduce HIV replication

Nitazoxanide (Alinia (R), NTZ) and tizoxanide (TIZ), its active circulating metabolite, belong to a class of agents known as thiazolides (TZD) endowed with broad anti-infective activities. TIZ and RM-4848, the active metabolite of RM-5038, were shown to stimulate innate immunity in vitro. Because natural resistance to HIV-1 infection in HIV-exposed seronegative (HESN) individuals is suggested to be associated with strong innate immune responses, we verified whether TIZ and RM-4848 could reduce the in vitro infectiousness of HIV-1. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) from 20 healthy donors were infected in vitro with HIV-1(BaL) in the presence/absence of TIZ or RM4848. HIV-1 p24 were measured at different timepoints. The immunomodulatory abilities of TZD were evaluated by the expression of type I IFN pathway genes and the production of cytokines and chemokines. TZD drastically inhibited in vitro HIV-1 replication (>87%). This was associated with the activation of innate immune responses and with the up-regulation of several interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), including those involved in cholesterol pathway, particularly the cholesterol-25 hydroxylase (CH25H). TZD inhibition of HIV-1 replication in vitro could be due to their ability to stimulate potent and multifaceted antiviral immune responses. These data warrant the exploration of TZD as preventive/therapeutic agent in HIV infection

Attosecond streaking metrology with isolated nanotargets

The development of attosecond metrology has enabled time-resolved studies on atoms, molecules, and (nanostructured) solids. Despite a wealth of theoretical work, attosecond experiments on isolated nanotargets, such as nanoparticles, clusters, and droplets have been lacking. Only recently, attosecond streaking metrology could be extended to isolated silica nanospheres, enabling real-time measurements of the inelastic scattering time in dielectric materials. Here, we revisit these experiments and describe the single-shot analysis of velocity-map images, which permits to evaluate the recorded number of electrons. Modeling of the recorded electron histograms allows deriving the irradiated nanoparticle statistics. Theoretically, we analyze the influence of the nanoparticle size on the field-induced delay, which is one of the terms contributing to the measured streaking delay. The obtained new insight into attosecond streaking experiments on nanoparticles is expected to guide wider implementation of the approach on other types of nanoparticles, clusters, and droplets