Metabolism of biodiesel-derived glycerol in probiotic Lactobacillus strains.

Three probiotic Lactobacillus strains, Lactobacillus acidophilus, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Lactobacillus delbrueckii, were tested for their ability to assimilate and metabolize glycerol. Biodiesel-derived glycerol was used as the main carbon and energy source in batch microaerobic growth. Here, we show that the tested strains were able to assimilate glycerol, consuming between 38 and 48 % in approximately 24 h.

The proteome response to amyloid protein expression in vivo.

Protein misfolding disorders such as Alzheimer, Parkinson and transthyretin amyloidosis are characterized by the formation of protein amyloid deposits. Although the nature and location of the aggregated proteins varies between different diseases, they all share similar molecular pathways of protein unfolding, aggregation and amyloid deposition. Most effects of these proteins are likely to occur at the proteome level, a virtually unexplored reality.

Increased serum levels of soluble tumor necrosis factor receptor-2 (sTNFR2) in patients with active toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis.

This study aimed to investigate the serum levels of the cytokine TNF-α and its soluble receptors (sTNFR1 and sTNFR2) in patients with toxoplasmosis retinochoroiditis (TR) and controls. 37 patients with TR and 30 subjects with positive serology for toxoplasmosis but without history and signs of uveitis were included in this study. Serum concentrations of TNF-α, sTNFR1, and sTNFR2 were determined by ELISA.

Applications of Tandem Mass Spectrometry (LC-MSMS) in estimating the post-mortem interval using the biochemistry of the vitreous humour.

It is widely accepted that the quantification of potassium concentrations ([K+]) and hypoxanthine ([Hx]) in the vitreous humour is useful in estimating the time of death within a recent time interval. Despite all the advances made in this area, it is well recognized that difficulties in calibration, validation and the use of different methodologies and instrumentation from different laboratories may lead to obtaining different concentrations from the same sample. The extraction of the vitreous humour itself should also be carried out with a precise technique, taking care during the procedure to avoid causing any vascular injury that might lead to haematic contamination.

Multimode interference tapered fiber refractive index sensors.

Real-time monitoring of the fabrication process of tapering down a multimode-interference-based fiber structure is presented. The device is composed of a pure silica multimode fiber (MMF) with an initial 125 μm diameter spliced between two single-mode fibers. The process allows a thin MMF with adjustable parameters to obtain a high signal transmittance, arising from constructive interference among the guided modes at the output end of the MMF.

The glyoxalase pathway in protozoan parasites.

The glyoxalase system is the main catabolic route for methylglyoxal, a non-enzymatic glycolytic byproduct with toxic and mutagenic effects. This pathway includes two enzymes, glyoxalase I and glyoxalase II, which convert methylglyoxal to d-lactate by using glutathione as a catalytic cofactor. In protozoan parasites the glyoxalase system shows marked deviations from this model.

Wildland smoke exposure values and exhaled breath indicators in firefighters.

Smoke from forest fires contains significant amounts of gaseous and particulate pollutants. Firefighters exposed to wildland fire smoke can suffer from several acute and chronic adverse health effects. Consequently, exposure data are of vital importance for the establishment of cause/effect relationships between exposure to smoke and firefighter health effects.

Ultrahigh-sensitivity temperature fiber sensor based on multimode interference.

The proposed sensing device relies on the self-imaging effect that occurs in a pure silica multimode fiber (coreless MMF) section of a single-mode-multimode-single-mode (SMS)-based fiber structure. The influence of the coreless-MMF diameter on the external refractive index (RI) variation permitted the sensing head with the lowest MMF diameter (i.e.

Iminoboronates: a new strategy for reversible protein modification.

Protein modification has entered the limelight of chemical and biological sciences, since, by appending small molecules into proteins surfaces, fundamental biological and biophysical processes may be studied and even modulated in a physiological context. Herein we present a new strategy to modify the lysine's ε-amino group and the protein's N-terminal, based on the formation of stable iminoboronates in aqueous media. This functionality enables the stable and complete modification of these amine groups, which can be reversible upon the addition of fructose, dopamine, or glutathione.

α-Synuclein aggregation in the saliva of familial transthyretin amyloidosis: a potential biomarker.

Familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is an autosomal dominant disease characterized by the formation of transthyretin (TTR) amyloid deposits. This crippling and fatal disease is associated with point mutations in TTR, a protein mainly produced in the liver. Hence, liver transplantation is the only treatment capable of halting disease progression.

Broadband dispersion compensation using inner cladding modes in photonic crystal fibers.

A photonic crystal fiber is optimized for chromatic dispersion compensation by using inner cladding modes. To this end, a photonic-oriented version of the downhill-simplex algorithm is employed. The numerical results show a dispersion profile that accurately compensates the targeted dispersion curve, as well as its dispersion slope.

Optimization of time-course experiments for kinetic model discrimination.

Systems biology relies heavily on the construction of quantitative models of biochemical networks. These models must have predictive power to help unveiling the underlying molecular mechanisms of cellular physiology, but it is also paramount that they are consistent with the data resulting from key experiments. Often, it is possible to find several models that describe the data equally well, but provide significantly different quantitative predictions regarding particular variables of the network.

Ergonomics in projects of oil platforms in a change context.

The context of oil platform design is changing in order to increase competitiveness and be prepared for difficult operations, mainly in fields more distant from the coast, like pre-salt. The currently preceding context is marked by projects guidelines designed to reduce projects and operation costs, including an important reducing in the number of people on board. The main objective of this research is to verify and discuss if the experience of use in platforms designed in a previous context, in which the people on board is practically twice, can contribute and/or can be transferred to new projects.

Capsular complexes of nonpolar guests with octa amine host detected in the gas phase.

Nanocapsules, made up of the deep cavitand octa amine and several guests, were prepared in aqueous acidic solution and were found to be stable in the gas phase as detected by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (ESI-MS). The observed gas phase host-guest complexes contained five positive charges and were associated with several acid molecules (HCl or HBr).

The relative amounts of plasma transthyretin forms in familial transthyretin amyloidosis: a quantitative analysis by Fourier transform ion-cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry.

Familial transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is a fatal autosomal dominant disease characterized by the formation of amyloid fibers, mainly composed of transthyretin (TTR). Protein aggregation and amyloid fiber formation are considered concentration dependent processes and since most ATTR patients are heterozygous it is crucial to determine the ratio between mutant and non-mutant TTR forms in human plasma. Using a high resolution mass spectrometry based approach we determined the ratio of TTR forms in ATTR patients, V30M mutation carriers, symptomatic and asymptomatic ones, as well as ATTR patients that received a wild type cadaveric liver transplant.

Beyond genetic factors in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy: protein glycation and the loss of fibrinogen's chaperone activity.

Familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) is a systemic conformational disease characterized by extracellular amyloid fibril formation from plasma transthyretin (TTR). This is a crippling, fatal disease for which liver transplantation is the only effective therapy. More than 80 TTR point mutations are associated with amyloidotic diseases and the most widely accepted disease model relates TTR tetramer instability with TTR point mutations.

Enlightening the molecular basis of trypanothione specificity in trypanosomatids: mutagenesis of Leishmania infantum glyoxalase II.

Leishmania infantum glyoxalase II shows absolute specificity towards its trypanothione thioester substrate. In the previous work, we performed a comparative analysis of glyoxalase II structures determined by X-ray crystallography which revealed that Tyr291 and Cys294, absent in the human homologue, are essential for substrate binding. To validate this trypanothione specificity hypothesis we produced a mutant L.

Trypanosoma cruzi in the chicken model: Chagas-like heart disease in the absence of parasitism.

Background: The administration of anti-trypanosome nitroderivatives curtails Trypanosoma cruzi infection in Chagas disease patients, but does not prevent destructive lesions in the heart. This observation suggests that an effective treatment for the disease requires understanding its pathogenesis.

Methodology/principal Findings: To understand the origin of clinical manifestations of the heart disease we used a chicken model system in which infection can be initiated in the egg, but parasite persistence is precluded.

[Immunology of the toxoplasmic retinochoroiditis].

Toxoplasma gondii infection is an important cause of ocular disease in both immunocompromised and immunocompetent subjects. The pathogenesis of retinochoroidal lesion associated with this infection is not fully understood. In this review, the role of the immune system in the control of Toxoplasma infection, especially in the eye, is discussed.

A non-invasive method based on saliva to characterize transthyretin in familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy patients using FT-ICR high-resolution MS.

Purpose: To identify, characterize and perform a relative quantification of human transthyretin (TTR) variants in human saliva.

Experimental Design: Serum and saliva samples were collected from healthy and familial amyloidotic polyneuropathy (FAP) patients, proteins separated by SDS-PAGE, TTR bands excised, in-gel digested and analyzed by MALDI-FTICR.

Results: We identified and performed a relative quantification of mutated and native TTR forms in human saliva, based on FTICR-MS.

Recent patents on eggshell: shell and membrane applications.

The chicken eggshell and its membranes are an inexpensive and abundant waste material which exhibit interesting characteristics for many potential applications. The eggshell is formed mainly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3) and is used widely as an animal feed, lime (Ca(OH)2) substitute or a fertilizer. Moreover, the associated eggshell membranes have a high content of bioactive components, as well as properties of moisture retention and biodegradability which have potential use for clinical, cosmetic, nutraceutical and nanotechnology applications.

Portuguese Journal of Pulmonology: year-in-review 2009.

The Portuguese Journal of Pulmonology is progressively achieving an important status in Portuguese medical literature. The present editors thought it would be an enriching task to revise the main topics published during 2009. The invited members of the Editorial Board covered and commented the most relevant articles and gave us an important picture of the quality of the science it was published in Portuguese Pulmonology.

Re and Tc tricarbonyl complexes: from the suppression of NO biosynthesis in macrophages to in vivo targeting of inducible nitric oxide synthase.

The in vivo molecular imaging of nitric oxide synthase (NOS), the enzyme responsible for the catalytic oxidation of l-arginine to citrulline and nitric oxide (NO), by noninvasive modalities could provide valuable insights into NO/NOS-related diseases. Aiming at the design of innovative (⁹⁹m)Tc(I) complexes for targeting inducible NOS (iNOS) in vivo by SPECT imaging, herein we describe a set of novel (⁹⁹m)Tc(CO)₃ complexes (2-5) and the corresponding rhenium surrogates (2a-5a) containing the NOS inhibitor N(ω)-nitro-l-arginine. The latter is linked through its α-NH₂ or α-COOH group and an alkyl spacer of variable length to the metal center.