Statistically sound comparison of standardized and simulation methods for oil spill source identification in real spill scenarios.

The comparison of oil patterns of a spill (Sp) and suspected spill source (SS) samples is based on ratios between correlated GC-MS signals of oil-discriminating compounds, i.e., diagnostic ratios (DR).

Impact of umbilical cord mesenchymal stromal/stem cell secretome and cord blood serum in prostate cancer progression.

Prostate cancer (PCa) is the second most common malignancy in men, and the fifth leading cause of death worldwide. Mesenchymal stromal/stem cells (MSC) have been identified in PCa, although contradictory effects in malignant transformation and tumor progression have been described. Since umbilical cord (UC) MSC and cord blood serum (CBS) are rich in numerous growth and anti-inflammatory factors, UC-MSC secretome and CBS are able to modulate tumor cell proliferation and survival as well as immunity and angiogenesis.

Glycolytic Inhibitors Potentiated the Activity of Paclitaxel and Their Nanoencapsulation Increased Their Delivery in a Lung Cancer Model.

Antiglycolytic agents inhibit cell metabolism and modify the tumor's microenvironment, affecting chemotherapy resistance mechanisms. In this work, we studied the effect of the glycolytic inhibitors 3-bromopyruvate (3BP), dichloroacetate (DCA) and 2-deoxyglucose (2DG) on cancer cell properties and on the multidrug resistance phenotype, using lung cancer cells as a model. All compounds led to the loss of cell viability, with different effects on the cell metabolism, migration and proliferation, depending on the drug and cell line assayed.

Optimisation of the uncertainty of oil spill identification from replicate comparative analyses: Comparison of standardised and novel identification methods.

Oil spill identifications involve the comparison of oil fingerprints between the oil spill and suspected oil sources, defined by ratios between the abundances of oil-discriminating compounds, Diagnostic Ratios (DR). The normalised Nordtest and EN 15522-2 methodologies use Student's t statistic (S-t) or a maximum relative difference (SC) to compare mean DR from replicate sample analysis. While the S-t method assumes the normality of DR distribution, the SC method is based on controlled DR dispersion.

Enhanced 3T3-L1 Differentiation into Adipocytes by Pioglitazone Pharmacological Activation of Peroxisome Proliferator Activated Receptor-Gamma (PPAR-γ).

Despite the primary function of pioglitazone in antidiabetic treatment, this drug is a potent inducer of PPAR-γ, a crucial receptor that is involved in adipocyte differentiation. In this work, we propose an optimized methodology to enhance the differentiation of 3T3-L1 fibroblasts into adipocytes. This process is crucial for adipocyte secretome release, which is fundamental for understanding the molecular mechanisms that are involved in obesity for in vitro studies.

Cannabidiol and Terpene Formulation Reducing SARS-CoV-2 Infectivity Tackling a Therapeutic Strategy.

Unlabelled: In late 2019, COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan, China. Currently, it is an ongoing global health threat stressing the need for therapeutic compounds. Linking the virus life cycle and its interaction with cell receptors and internal cellular machinery is key to developing therapies based on the control of infectivity and inflammation.

Development and validation of statistically sound criteria for the match of unweathered GC-MS fingerprints in oil spill forensics.

The investigation of an oil spill's origin frequently relies on determining the equivalence of oil component patterns in samples from the contaminated environment and suspected oil source. This comparison benefits if based on the ratio of the abundance of unweathered characteristic components of the oil product, Diagnostic Ratios, DR. Replicate determinations of DR from one sample are used to set limits for the second sample's DR.