Illicit drugs and their trafficking require worldwide efforts in investigation, detection, and control. Colorimetric tests are often applied to identify drugs. Cocaine has some well-known adulterants ...that can provide a false positive response. Cucurbit6uril (CB6) has been suggested as a potential detector for cocaine and other illicit drugs. This work uses in silico methods to evaluate the use of CB6 to detect cocaine and these interfering substances. More specifically, this work analyzes different possibilities of CB6 complexation with cocaine, lidocaine, caffeine, and procaine and compares the results achieved for cocaine and its adulterants. Different methodologies were employed: quantum chemistry was investigated through DFT B3LYP/TZVP (density functional theory-Becke, three-parameter, Lee-Yang-Parr with triple zeta valence plus polarization basis set) and the semi-empirical methods Austin model 1 (AM1), parametric methods 3, 6, and 7 (PM3, PM6, PM7), and Recife model 1 (RM1). We used these methodologies intending to compare the reasonability and reproducibility of the results in the gas phase condition. Solvent influence was studied by molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. Results showed that CB6 does not bind to these substances, as judged from the positive values of binding free energy obtained with all methods. DFT and MD were the most reliable methods whereas semiempirical ones were not reproductible in describing these systems. Results also showed that interactions are not specific, so CB6 does not provide a good response for cocaine detection.
Radiation proctitis affects 1-20% of cancer patients undergoing radiation exposure due to pelvic malignancies, including prostate, gynecological and rectum cancers. The patients manifest rectal ...discomfort, pain, discharge, and bleeding. Notably, the efficacy of prophylactic measures remains controversial due to the lack of adequate animal models that mimic this condition.
The present study then aimed to develop a murine model of high-dose-rate (HDR) brachytherapy-induced proctitis.
C57BL/6 male mice were subjected to HDR (radiation source: iridium-192 Ir-192) through a cylindrical propylene tube inserted 2 cm far from the anal verge into the rectum. The animals received radiation doses once a day for three consecutive days (fractions of 9.5 Grays Gy), 3.0 mm far from the applicator surface. The sham group received only the applicator with no radiation source. The survival rate was recorded, and a colonoscopy was performed to confirm the tissue lesion development. Following euthanasia, samples of the rectum were collected for histopathology, cytokines dosage (IL-6 and KC), and immunohistochemical analysis (TNF-α and COX-2).
HDR significantly reduced animals' survival ten days post first radiation exposure (14% survival vs. 100% in the non-irradiated group). Day seven was then used for further investigation. Mice exposed to radiation presented with rectum injury confirmed by colonoscopy and histopathology (
< 0.05 vs. the control group). The tissue damage was accompanied by an inflammatory response, marked by increased KC and IL-6 tissue levels, and immunostaining for TNF-α and COX-2 (
< 0.05 vs. control group).
We established a novel animal model of actinic proctitis induced by HDR brachytherapy, marked by inflammatory damage and low animal mortality.
The α-Klotho is an anti-aging protein that, when overexpressed, extends the life span in humans and mice. It has an anti-inflammatory and protective action on renal cells by inhibiting NF-κB ...activation and production of inflammatory cytokines in response to TNF-α. Furthermore, studies have shown the neuroprotective effect of α-Klotho against neuroinflammation on different conditions, such as aging, animal models of neurodegenerative diseases, and ischemic brain injury. This work aimed to evaluate the effects of α-Klotho protein on primary glial cell culture against the proinflammatory challenge with LPS and how this could interfere with neuronal health. Cortical mixed glial cells and purified astrocytes were pretreated with α- α-Klotho and stimulated with LPS followed by TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6, IFN-γ levels, and NF-κB activity analysis. Conditioned medium from cortical mixed glia culture treated with LPS (glia conditioned medium (GCM) was used to induce neuronal death of primary cortical neuronal culture and evaluate if GCM-KL (medium from glia culture pretreated α-Klotho followed by LPS stimulation) or GCM + LPS in the presence of KL can reverse the effect. LPS treatment in glial cells induced an increase in proinflammatory mediators such as TNF-α, IL-1β, IL-6, and IFN-γ, and activation of astrocyte NF-κB. GCM treated-cortical neuronal culture induced a concentration-dependent neuronal death. Pretreatment with α-Klotho decreased TNF-α and IL-6 production, reverted NF-κB activation, and decreased neuronal death induced by GCM. In addition, KL incubation together with GCM + LPS completely reverts the neuronal toxicity induced by low concentration of GCM-LPS. These data suggest an anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effect of α-Klotho protein in the CNS. This work demonstrated the therapeutic potential of α-Klotho in pathological processes which involves a neuroinflammatory component.
In this communication, we describe a simple one-pot approach to exfoliate and functionalize MoS2 (f-MoS2) via liquid-phase exfoliation (LPE) starting from bulk MoS2 dispersed in styrene/N-methyl ...pyrrolidone (NMP) solution using azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN) as a radical initiator. The colloidal stability of f-MoS2 is achieved due to an in situ radical polymerization of styrene and functionalization on the edge sites of MoS2. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed the presence of 8.23 wt% of functionalized MoS2. The f-MoS2 was then incorporated in polystyrene (PS) matrix at different loadings (15 wt%, 30 wt% and 60 wt%) by a solution-based process using toluene as solvent. The f-MoS2/PS nanocomposites exhibited a good polymer/nanofiller interfacial interaction and promoted significant thermal stabilization in PS increasing, in our best case, the T-5% and T-50% temperatures by 91 °C and 15 °C, respectively, compared to neat PS. When increasing the f-MoS2 loading, we also noticed a dramatic decrease on the glass transition temperature (Tg) of the f-MoS2/PS nanocomposites, which has a direct correlation on its mechanical properties. As f-MoS2 loading increases the Young's modulus decreases, compared to neat PS. However, at 60 wt% f-MoS2 loading, the nanocomposite showed basically the same Young's modulus of neat PS and the strain at break increased more than a 150%, which indicates a significant load transfer between the polymer-nanofiller interface. Therefore, the f-MoS2 is a potential candidate to overcome the brittleness of PS. In addition, this simple one-pot approach opens pathways for new developments of functionalized MoS2.
Display omitted
-A simple one-pot method to exfoliate, functionalize and polymerize organo-functionalized MoS2 (f-MoS2).-Enhanced thermal stability of f-MoS2/PS nanocomposites as a function of f-MoS2 loading.-f-MoS2 as a nanofiller to overcome the brittleness of polystyrene films.
Extracellular matrix homeostasis is strictly maintained by a coordinated balance between the expression of metalloproteinases (MMPs) and their inhibitors. The purpose of this study was to investigate ...whether the expression of MMP-9, MMP-2 and its specific inhibitors, are expressed in a reproducible, specific pattern and if the profiles are related to prognosis in Bladder Cancer (BC).
MMP-9, MMP-2 and its specific inhibitors expression levels were analyzed by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) in fresh-frozen malignant tissue collected from 40 patients with BC submitted to transurethral resection of bladder. The control group consisted of normal bladder tissue from five patients who had undergone retropubic prostatectomy to treat benign prostatic hyperplasia.
MMP-9 was overexpressed in 59.0 % of patients, and MMP-2, TIMP-1, TIMP-2, MMP-14, RECK and IL-8 was underexpressed in most of the patients. Regarding prognostic parameters we observed that high-grade tumors exhibited significantly higher levels of MMP-9 and IL-8 (p = 0.012, p = 0.003). Invasive tumors (pT1-pT2) had higher expression levels of MMP-9 than superficial tumors (pTa) (p = 0.026). The same was noted for IL-8 that was more expressed by invasive tumors (p = 0.015, p = 0.048). Most importantly tumor recurrence was related with higher levels of both MMP-9 (p = 0.003) and IL-8 (p = 0.005).
We have demonstrated that the overexpression of MMP-9 and higher expression of IL-8 are related to unfavorable prognostic factors of urothelial bladder cancer and tumor recurrence and may be useful in the follow up of the patients.
Evaluate the efficacy and effects of releasing the muscles of subluxated hips of patients with SCZ.
This is a retrospective study with 29 patients with subluxation of the hip, corresponding to 55 ...hips operated in a public hospital in Recife, Brazil. Preoperative femoral head migration (PM) percentages were evaluated and compared with 6- and 12-month postoperative results.
Twenty-nine patients were eligible, representing 55 hips evaluated. 19 were female (65.5%), with a mean age of 31.45 months (ranging from 23 to 42 years). 19 patients were GMFCS level V (65.5%), 34.5% were level IV, and 20 of the 29 patients (69%) had no complications. The PM had an absolute reduction of 11.6% (GMFCS IV) and 13.31% (GMFCS V) in the first six months. After 12 months, there was a regression of MP of 7.14% (GMFCS V) and 11.25% (GMFCS IV) compared to preoperative values, with no significant statistical difference among MP values presented between 6 and 12 months after surgery.
The surgery was effective in PM regression during the analyzed period and presented a low complication rate.
This study compared the performance of seven gap-filling methods in daily streamflow and precipitation data and assessed the maximum number of gap days on which the methods perform well. Random ...(occurring randomly in the data series) and sequential (consecutive days with missing record) gaps were considered. Results show that the type of gaps affects the performance of the methods for gap-filling streamflow and precipitation data. Concerning random gaps, the best methods for streamflow were autoregressive integrate moving average and spline interpolation. For precipitation, the best methods were inverse distance weighting and linear regression (LR). Regarding sequential gaps, LR and multiple regression perform well in gap-filling up to 60 consecutive days in streamflow series. The other methods perform well up to 15 consecutive gap days. For precipitation series, the methods performed well up to seven consecutive missing days. For longer gaps (15, 30, 45 and 60 days), the methods performed poorly.
Patients with acute decompensation of pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) and chronic thromboembolic pulmonary hypertension (CTEPH) admitted to intensive care unit (ICU) have high in-hospital ...mortality. We hypothesized that pulmonary hypertension (PH) severity, measured by a simplified version of European Society of Cardiology/European Respiratory Society (ESC/ERS) risk assessment, and the severity of organ dysfunction upon ICU admission, measured by sequential organ failure assessment score (SOFA) were associated with in-hospital mortality in decompensated patients with PAH and CTEPH. We also described clinical and laboratory variables during ICU stay.
Observational study including adults with decompensated PAH or CTEPH with unplanned ICU admission between 2014 and 2019. Multivariate logistic regression models were used to evaluate the association of ESC/ERS risk assessment and SOFA score with in-hospital mortality. ESC/ERS risk assessment and SOFA score were included in a decision tree to predict in-hospital mortality.
73 patients were included. In-hospital mortality was 41.1%. ESC/ERS high-risk group (adjusted odds ratio = 95.52) and SOFA score (adjusted odds ratio = 1.80) were associated with in-hospital mortality. The decision tree identified four groups with in-hospital mortality between 8.1% and 100%. Nonsurvivors had a lower central venous oxygen saturation, higher arterial lactate and higher brain natriuretic peptide in the end of first week in the ICU.
High-risk on a simplified version of ERS/ESC risk assessment and SOFA score upon ICU admission are associate with in-hospital mortality. A decision tree based on ESC/ERS risk assessment and SOFA score identifies four groups with in-hospital mortality between 8.1% and 100%.
•In-hospital mortality is 41% in patients with decompensated pulmonary hypertension.•ESC/ERS risk assessment and SOFA predict hospital mortality in decompensated PH.•A decision tree based on PH risk assessment and SOFA can predict hospital mortality.•The decision tree identified patients with high hospital mortality at ICU admission.
Worldwide, buildings are responsible for almost 30% of energy consumption, and those buildings that intensively use refrigeration systems, such as supermarkets and grocery stores, are also among the ...most energy-intensive consumers. Refrigeration devices, either commercial or residential, are responsible for a significant part of net emissions. Based on careful measurements, it is possible to reduce energy consumption in these devices by up to 15% only by improving the fault detection and diagnosis techniques. Thus, improving maintenance programs has become a crucial area in energy management in recent years. Nowadays, the market has experienced a hike after smart systems and new network interfaces applied to smart buildings that have allowed previously isolated devices to become smart devices, interacting with control algorithms smartly and, to some extent, autonomously. Here, we propose a reinforcement learning framework to develop a maintenance policy for mechanical compression refrigeration devices. Firstly, a test bench is built in which each component is assigned to be individually repairable and individually degradable in parallel and interconnected processes. Then, the degradation of the components is combined to formulate the system degradation, and the optimal maintenance policy is modeled via Markov decision processes and solved by a reinforcement learning algorithm. The agent-proposed maintenance program if compared to corrective maintenance, managed to reduce energy use and emissions by around 6% while avoiding shortfalls, as well as about the preventive program, where the agent managed to accomplish the same level of energy efficiency while reducing the maintenance costs by 31% and the time under maintenance in 10%. It was found that the reinforcement learning frameworks applied to maintenance have a series of challenges but are innovative and can show promising results compared to traditional maintenance techniques, such as preventive and corrective ones.
•Several frameworks of Condition Based Maintenance had been proposed for freezers. In this paper, we present Reinforcement Learning as an alternative tool.•Hidden Markov Models and Markov Decision Processes were implemented to model degradation schemes in parallel and competing processes.•The Double Deep Q-Learn algorithm is used to solve the problem of maintenance scheduling for freezers.•Reinforcement Learning applied to maintenance schedule can reduce emissions, and maintenance costs and increase the availability of refrigeration devices.
Summary
This study evaluated the correlation between the chemical composition of red wines and the sensory perception of the products. The visual, gustatory and flavour attributes of eight samples of ...tropical red wines were characterised by semi‐trained panellists using the check‐all‐that‐apply methodology. Titratable and volatile acidity, pH, contents of ethanol, total polyphenols and anthocyanins, and the chromatic parameters of the red wine samples were determined. The analysis of the correlations between visual attributes and sensory perception indicated that the evaluation of the wine colour attributes can predict other sensory characteristics related to aromas and flavours. This enabled the wine tasters to distinguish subtle variations in the visual attributes of the product. The results of this study indicated that panellists who underwent short‐term training can sensorially perceive the influence of physicochemical variables on wine quality. Additionally, the correlation analysis enabled the identification of production adjustments and the understanding of the consumer perception of a complex product.
The influence of chemical variables on sensory evaluation of tropical red wines by semi‐trained painellists.
PDF
