Exploring BPA alternatives - Environmental levels and toxicity review.

Bisphenol A alternatives are manufactured as potentially less harmful substitutes of bisphenol A (BPA) that offer similar functionality. These alternatives are already in the market, entering the environment and thus raising ecological concerns. However, it can be expected that levels of BPA alternatives will dominate in the future, they are limited information on their environmental safety.

Circulating levels of proglucagon-derived peptides are differentially regulated by the glucagon-like peptide-1 agonist liraglutide and the centrally acting naltrexone/bupropion and can predict future weight loss and metabolic improvements: A 6-month long interventional study.

Aim: To investigate the changes of circulating levels of all proglucagon-derived peptides (PGDPs) in individuals with overweight or obesity receiving liraglutide (3 mg) or naltrexone/bupropion (32/360 mg), and to explore the association between induced changes in postprandial PGDP levels and body composition, as well as metabolic variables, after 3 and 6 months on treatment.

Materials And Methods: Seventeen patients with obesity or with overweight and co-morbidities, but without diabetes, were assigned to receive once-daily oral naltrexone/bupropion 32/360 mg (n = 8) or once-daily subcutaneous liraglutide 3 mg (n = 9). Participants were assessed before treatment initiation and after 3 and 6 months on treatment.

Priorities and Challenges in Methodology for Human Health Risk Assessment from Combined Exposure to Multiple Chemicals.

This paper reviews key elements in the assessment of human health effects from combined exposure to multiple chemicals taking into consideration current knowledge and challenges to identify areas where scientific advancement is mostly needed and proposes a decision-making scheme on the basis of existing methods and tools. The assumption of dose addition and estimation of the hazard index (HI) is considered as a starting point in component-based risk assessments. When, based on the generic HI approach, an unacceptable risk is identified, more specific risk assessment options may be implemented sequentially or in parallel depending on problem formulation, characteristics of the chemical group under assessment, exposure levels, data availability and resources.

Recreating the extracellular matrix: novel 3D cell culture platforms in cancer research.

Cancer initiation and progression heavily rely on microenvironmental cues derived from various components of the niche including the extracellular matrix (ECM). ECM is a complex macromolecular network that governs cell functionality. Although the two-dimensional (2D) cell culture systems provide useful information at the molecular level and preclinical testing, they could not accurately represent the in vivo matrix microenvironmental architecture.

Structural and Thermal Characterization of Protein Isolates from Australian Lupin Varieties as Affected by Processing Conditions.

Proteins from the full and defatted flours of cv Jurien and cv Murringo were prepared using alkaline extraction and iso-electric precipitation. Isolates were either freeze dried or spray dried or pasteurized at 75 ± 3 °C/5 min before freeze-drying. Various structural properties were investigated to elucidate the varietal and processing-induced effect on molecular and secondary structure.