MORAXELLA OSLOENSIS MEDIATED SYNTHESIS OF TIO2 NANOPARTICLES

Objective: The main idea behind the present investigation is to explore the ability of Moraxella osloensis to reduce Titanium dioxide to nanosizes in a facile manner.Methods: The bacterium was grown in nutrient broth for 24 hr. The culture supernant was used for the bioreduction process. The synthesized nanoparticles were characterised by instrumental analyses namely FTIR, SEM and XRD. Toxicity of the nanoparticles was tested against HaCaT and Hep2 cell lines.Results: Moraxella osloensis with the dye degrading ability was found to be capable of reducing bulk Titanium dioxide to nanostructure. These biogenic TiO2 nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) were in the size range of 60–150 nm with the average size of 72 nm. The particles were found to irregularly shaped and uniformly dispersed with less aggregation. In addition, XRD analysis indicated the presence of titanium beta. FTIR confirmed the involvement of proteins in the bioreduction and stabilization. Nano TiO2 was found to be more toxic against HaCaT and Hep2 cell lines than its bulk counterpart.Conclusion: Moraxella osloensis successfully synthesised TiO2 NPs in environmentally safe and cost effective method in an extracellular fashion.Keywords: Moraxella osloensis, Biogenesis, TiO2 NP, Characterization, Cytotoxicit

Towards high-temperature coherence-enhanced transport in heterostructures of a few atomic layers

The possibility to exploit quantum coherence to strongly enhance the efficiency of charge transport in solid state devices working at ambient conditions would pave the way to disruptive technological applications. In this work, we tackle the problem of the quantum transport of photogenerated electronic excitations subject to dephasing and on-site Coulomb interactions. We show that the transport to a continuum of states representing metallic collectors can be optimized by exploiting the "superradiance" phenomena. We demonstrate that this is a coherent effect which is robust against dephasing and electron-electron interactions in a parameters range that is compatible with actual implementation in few-monolayer transition-metal-oxide (TMO) heterostructures

Adhesion Deregulation in Acute Myeloid Leukaemia

Cell adhesion is a process through which cells interact with and attach to neighboring cells or matrix using specialized surface cell adhesion molecules (AMs). Adhesion plays an important role in normal haematopoiesis and in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). AML blasts express many of the AMs identified on normal haematopoietic precursors. Differential expression of AMs between normal haematopoietic cells and leukaemic blasts has been documented to a variable extent, likely reflecting the heterogeneity of the disease. AMs govern a variety of processes within the bone marrow (BM), such as migration, homing, and quiescence. AML blasts home to the BM, as the AM-mediated interaction with the niche protects them from chemotherapeutic agents. On the contrary, they detach from the niches and move from the BM into the peripheral blood to colonize other sites, i.e., the spleen and liver, possibly in a process that is reminiscent of epithelial-to-mesenchymal-transition in metastatic solid cancers. The expression of AMs has a prognostic impact and there are ongoing efforts to therapeutically target adhesion in the fight against leukaemia

SISTEMI DI ACCUMULO DI IDROGENO AD IDRURI DI MAGNESIO: VERIFICA SPERIMENTALE DEGLI EFFETTI DI SCALA

CESI RICERCA ha in corso un programma di ricerca per valutare le potenzialità di sistemi di accumulo di idrogenobasati su idruri di magnesio in applicazioni stazionarie. L’attività è effettuata con la collaborazione del GruppoIdrogeno dell’Università di Padova e con Venezia Tecnologie. A partire da materiali sviluppati da UNIPD e VETEC,CESI RICERCA ha progettato, realizzato e sperimentato serbatoi di accumulo di capacità diversa al fine di valutare leprestazioni del sistema in termini di capacità totale di accumulo, cinetica di absorbimento e desorbimento di idrogenoed analizzare l’eventuale degrado a valle di cicli di carica e scarica di idrogeno. In particolare, per valutare gli effettidi scala (scale-up), che sono della massima importanza in applicazioni industriali, CESI RICERCA ha progettatoe sperimentato in differenti condizioni operative un sistema di accumulo contenente 0.5 kg di idruro di magnesio.La sperimentazione sull’accumulatore ha riguardato l’attivazione delle polveri e l’esecuzione di una serie di ciclidi absorbimento e desorbimento di idrogeno; i dati sperimentali sono stati confrontati con risultati di laboratorio.L’accumulatore ha presentato una capacità massima di accumulo di idrogeno in peso del 5.35%; gli effetti di scalasono stati evidenziati da una cinetica più lenta, da sensibili effetti termici locali e da un degrado delle prestazionidopo alcuni cicli di carica e scarica di idrogeno. Al fine di identificare le cause del degrado delle prestazioni, sono stateeffettuate ulteriori attività sperimentali su accumulatori di taglia ridotta (circa 30 grammi di polvere) sviluppandoe testando nuove configurazioni degli accumulatori tali da minimizzare gli effetti negativi legati allo scale-up delsistema

Post-sigh sleep apneas in mice: Systematic review and data-driven definition

Sleep apneas can be categorized as post-sigh (prevailing in non-rapid eye movement sleep) or spontaneous (prevailing in rapid eye movement sleep) according to whether or not they are preceded by an augmented breath (sigh). Notably, the occurrence of these apnea subtypes changes differently in hypoxic/hypercapnic environments and in some genetic diseases, highlighting the importance of an objective discrimination. We aim to: (a) systematically review the literature comparing the criteria used in categorizing mouse sleep apneas; and (b) provide data-driven criteria for this categorization, with the final goal of reducing experimental variability in future studies. Twenty-two wild-type mice, instrumented with electroencephalographic/electromyographic electrodes, were placed inside a whole-body plethysmographic chamber to quantify sleep apneas and sighs. Wake\u2013sleep states were scored on 4-s epochs based on electroencephalographic/electromyographic signals. Literature revision showed that highly different criteria were used for post-sigh apnea definition, the intervals for apnea occurrence after sigh ranging from 1 breath up to 20 s. In our data, the apnea occurrence rate during non-rapid eye movement sleep was significantly higher than that calculated before the sigh only in the 1st and 2nd 4-s epochs following a sigh. These data suggest that, in mice, apneas should be categorized as post-sigh only if they start within 8 s from a sigh; the choice of shorter or longer time windows might underestimate or slightly overestimate their occurrence rate, respectively

Synthetic Analogue Of The Natural Product Piperlongumine As A Potent Inhibitor Of Breast Cancer Cell Line Migration

Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Piperlongumine is a natural amide alkaloid isolated from several species of Piper and is described in the literature as selectively cytotoxic to several cancer cell lines. Inhibiting cell migration has gained considerable interest as an approach for discovering antimetastatic agents because this process is fundamental to metastasis. Piperlongumine, selected from cell-based assay screening of NuBBE Database, inhibited the migration of MDA-MB-231 breast cancer cells with an EC50 of 3.0 +/- 1.0 mu M by the Boyden chamber assay. A series of five analogous compounds based on the structure of piperlongumine were designed, synthesized and evaluated in cell migration and cytotoxicity assays. The analogue designed by molecular simplification ((E)-N-acryloyl-3-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl) acrylamide) was the most active of the series, with an EC50 of 1.5 +/- 1 mu M. Additionally, this compound was selectively cytotoxic, with a selectivity index (SI) of 4.4.283475484State of Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP, Fundacao de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado de Sao Paulo) [2013/07600-3]Biota-FAPESP [2003/02176-7]SISBIOTA-CNPq-FAPESP [2010/52327-5]Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico (CNPq)Sao Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) [2010/17329-7, 2010/06741-4, 2007/56140-4]Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP

Case Report: Heterozygous Germline Variant in EIF6 Additional to Biallelic SBDS Pathogenic Variants in a Patient With Ribosomopathy Shwachman–Diamond Syndrome

Background: Shwachman-Diamond syndrome (SDS) is a rare autosomal recessive ribosomopathy mainly characterized by exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, skeletal alterations, neutropenia, and a relevant risk of hematological transformation. At least 90% of SDS patients have pathogenic variants in SBDS, the first gene associated with the disease with very low allelic heterogeneity; three variants, derived from events of genetic conversion between SBDS and its pseudogene, SBDSP1, provided the alleles observed in about 62% of SDS patients.Methods: We performed a reanalysis of the available WES files of a group of SDS patients with biallelic SBDS pathogenic variants, studying the results by next bioinformatic and protein structural analysis. Parallelly, careful clinical attention was given to the patient focused in this study.Results: We found and confirmed in one SDS patient a germline heterozygous missense variant (c.100T>C; p.Phe34Leu) in the EIF6 gene. This variant, inherited from his mother, has a very low frequency, and it is predicted as pathogenic, according to several in silico prediction tools. The protein structural analysis also envisages the variant could reduce the binding to the nascent 60S ribosomal.Conclusion: This study focused on the hypothesis that the EIF6 germline variant mimics the effect of somatic deletions of chromosome 20, always including the locus of this gene, and similarly may rescue the ribosomal stress and ribosomal dysfunction due to SBDS mutations. It is likely that this rescue may contribute to the stable and not severe hematological status of the proband, but a definite answer on the role of this EIF6 variant can be obtained only by adding a functional layer of evidence. In the future, these results are likely to be useful for selected cases in personalized medicine and therapy

Determination of fatty acids ethyl esters in virgin olive oils: proposals to enhance the EU official method

Fatty acids ethyl esters (FAEEs) are markers for virgin olive oils obtained from olives of poor quality or not adequately stored before being processed. FAEEs can also be considered as indirect markers in detecting the illegal treatment of soft deodorization that can be applied to slightly defective olive oils, as they are difficult to be removed from the oils at the conditions reached during this technological process. The official FAEEs determination (EU Reg. 61/2011) suffers some drawbacks in terms of amount of solvents and long time of analysis, linked with the preparative procedure to isolate these compounds. The aim of this work is to study the application of an HPLC-UV as a rapid alternative approach to the traditional liquid chromatography applied in the preparative phase. After the set up of the most appropriate working conditions (eg. mobile phase, flow, injection volume), some validation parameters (eg. precision, accuracy, LOD and LOQ, recovery) have been evaluated, in order to check the effectiveness of the proposed method. Moreover, considering the GC-FID step, the use of a PTV (programmed temperature vaporizer) injector as an alternative of the on-column one was evaluated. This work is developed in the context of the project OLEUM \u201cAdvanced solutions for assuring authenticity and quality of olive oil at global scale\u201c, funded by the European Commission within the Horizon 2020 Programme (2014\u20132020, GA no. 635690). The information expressed in this abstract reflects the authors\u2019 views; the EC is not liable for the information contained therein

Benign intratesticular schwannoma: A rare finding.

Schwannoma is a peripheral nerve tumour, occasionally located in the genitourinary tract. We described an extremely rare case of intratesticular neurinoma in a 79-year-old patient