Vortex-Mixing Microfluidic Fabrication of Micafungin-Loaded Magnetite-Salicylic Acid-Silica Nanocomposite with Sustained-Release Capacity.

Iron oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using a vortex microfluidic system and subsequently functionalized with a primary shell of salicylic acid, recognized for its ability to increase the stability and biocompatibility of coated materials. In the second stage, the vortex platform was placed in a magnetic field to facilitate the growth and development of a porous silica shell. The selected drug for this study was micafungin, an antifungal agent well regarded for its effectiveness in combating fungal infections and identified as a priority compound by the World Health Organization (WHO).

A new species of Pseudorientalia (Gastropoda: Hydrobiidae) from midwestern Trkiye with notes on Pseudorientalia natolica (Kster, 1853).

The members of the genus Pseudorientalia Radoman, 1983 are small hydrobiid species with characteristic features of the penis and female genitalia. The type locality of the genus is the southern Marmara region, northwestern Trkiye. In this study, sampling was carried out in the upper Sakarya River Basin, western-middle Anatolia to obtain hydrobiid specimens, which yielded a new Pseudorientalia.

The Contribution of the Locus Coeruleus-Noradrenaline System Degeneration during the Progression of Alzheimer's Disease.

Alzheimer's disease (AD), which is characterized by extracellular accumulation of amyloid-beta peptide and intracellular aggregation of hyperphosphorylated tau, is the most common form of dementia. Memory loss, cognitive decline and disorientation are the ultimate consequences of neuronal death, synapse loss and neuroinflammation in AD. In general, there are many brain regions affected but neuronal loss in the locus coeruleus (LC) is one of the earliest indicators of neurodegeneration in AD.

Nanoparticles for Antimicrobial Agents Delivery-An Up-to-Date Review.

Infectious diseases constitute an increasing threat to public health and medical systems worldwide. Particularly, the emergence of multidrug-resistant pathogens has left the pharmaceutical arsenal unarmed to fight against such severe microbial infections. Thus, the context has called for a paradigm shift in managing bacterial, fungal, viral, and parasitic infections, leading to the collision of medicine with nanotechnology.

Microglia jointly degrade fibrillar alpha-synuclein cargo by distribution through tunneling nanotubes.

Microglia are the CNS resident immune cells that react to misfolded proteins through pattern recognition receptor ligation and activation of inflammatory pathways. Here, we studied how microglia handle and cope with α-synuclein (α-syn) fibrils and their clearance. We found that microglia exposed to α-syn establish a cellular network through the formation of F-actin-dependent intercellular connections, which transfer α-syn from overloaded microglia to neighboring naive microglia where the α-syn cargo got rapidly and effectively degraded.

Systemic inflammation impairs microglial Aβ clearance through NLRP3 inflammasome.

Alzheimer's disease is the most prevalent type of dementia and is caused by the deposition of extracellular amyloid-beta and abnormal tau phosphorylation. Neuroinflammation has emerged as an additional pathological component. Microglia, representing the brain's major innate immune cells, play an important role during Alzheimer's.

An ultra sensitive fluorescent nanosensor for detection of ionic copper.

A stable and ultra sensitive nano-scale fluorescent chemo-sensor for trace amounts of Cu(2+) was proposed. The Cu(2+) selective fluoroionophore 2-{[(2-aminophenyl)imino]methyl}-4,6-di-tert-butylphenol (DMK-7) was encapsulated in polymeric ethyl cellulose. The sensing membranes were fabricated in form of nanofibers and thin films.

Characterization of the secretome of human tooth germ stem cells (hTGSCs) reveals neuro-protection by fine-tuning micro-environment.

Bone-marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) demonstrate neuro-protective effects in several disease models. By producing growth-factors, cytokines and chemokines, they promote survival of neurons in damaged brain areas. Alternative MSC sources, such as human tooth germ stem cells (hTGSCs), have been investigated for their neuro-protective properties.

[Effects of folic acid on cerebrovascular and cancer risks].

Homocysteine increase is associated with an elevated risk of cerebro-vascular (CV) disease as well as osteoporosis, dementia and depression. However, most secondary prevention trials did not show any CV benefit to decrease homocysteine levels through folate administration, with the possible exception of stroke. Reasons for these failures are analysed.

Differentiation and neuro-protective properties of immortalized human tooth germ stem cells.

Stem cells are considered to be promising therapeutic options in many neuro-degenerative diseases and injuries to the central nervous system, including brain ischemia and spinal cord trauma. Apart from the gold standard embryonic and mesenchymal origin, human tooth germ stem cells (hTGSCs) have also been shown to enjoy the characteristics of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and the ability to differentiate into adipo-, chondro-, osteo- and neuro-genic cells, suggesting that they might serve as potential alternatives in the cellular therapy of various maladies. Immortalization of stem cells may be useful to avoid senescence of stem cells and to increase their proliferation potential without altering their natural characteristics.

DNA adducts in human placenta exposed to ambient environment and passive cigarette smoke during pregnancy.

Background: The risk of human diseases and abnormal development under the relatively reduced toxic environmental exposure conditions of passive cigarette smoke and urban pollution is emerging as significant. To assess the genotoxic potential of such exposure, we analyzed the DNA adducts of polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH), a proven marker of genotoxicity, in human placental DNA samples of pregnancies monitored for passive cigarette smoke exposure.

Methods: Maternal exposure to active and passive cigarette smoke was evaluated by verbal disclosure and urinary nicotine and cotinine measurements.

Development of ionized hypomagnesemia is associated with higher mortality rates.

Objective: Previous studies have shown a wide variation in the prevalence of total serum hypomagnesemia in intensive are unit (ICU) patients and in associated mortality rates. As the ionized part of magnesium is the active portion, we sought to define the prevalence of ionized hypomagnesemia in critically ill patients and to evaluate its relationship with organ dysfunction, length of stay, and mortality.

Design: Prospective observational study.

Predictive value of microalbuminuria in medical ICU patients: results of a pilot study.

Study Objectives: To evaluate the predictive value of microalbuminuria in the development of acute respiratory failure (ARF) and multiple organ failure (MOF) in ICU patients.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: A 31-bed, mixed medicosurgical ICU in a university hospital.

Enzymic activities in two populations of purified rat islet beta-cells.

In terms of glucose sensing by pancreatic islet beta-cells, emphasis is currently placed on both the role of glucokinase, with negligible activity of low-Km hexokinase(s), and the prevalence of the oxidative over non-oxidative modality of glycolysis, a situation tentatively attributed, in part at least, to a low activity of lactate dehydrogenase. Conflicting information is available, however, on the activity of both low-Km hexokinase(s) and lactate dehydrogenase in purified beta-cell homogenates. This issue was reinvestigated, therefore, in two populations of purified rat islet beta-cells selected on the basis of their low (betaL) or high (betaH) content in reduced pyridine nucleotides.

A method for the large-scale cloning of nuclear proteins and nuclear targeting sequences on a functional basis.

We describe here a selection strategy allowing the cloning of sequences that contain a functional nuclear targeting signal. Our method relies on the use of green fluorescent protein fusion proteins to identify nuclear targeting sequences. Transfected cells expressing nuclear protein fusions were isolated on the basis of their nuclear fluorescence using flow cytometry and the transfected DNAs were recovered after bacterial transformation with total DNA from pools of sorted cells.

Differences in the time course of the metabolic response of B and non-B pancreatic islet cells to D-glucose and metabolized or non-metabolized hexose esters.

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Procalcitonin used as a marker of infection in the intensive care unit.

Objective: To determine the value of procalcitonin (ProCT) as a marker of infection in critically ill patients.

Design: Prospective, observational study.

Setting: Medicosurgical department of intensive care (31 beds).

Galphaolf identification by RT-PCR in purified normal pancreatic B cells and in islets from rat models of non-insulin-dependent diabetes.

Recent reports using immunohistochemistry have shown that Galphaolf which shares 88% homology with Galphas was expressed in pancreatic islets. To test the specificity of the expression of this G protein isotype in rat islet cells, B and non-B cells were separated by flow cytometry. The expression of Galphaolf and adenylyl cyclases (AC) of types II, III, V, and VI was evaluated by reverse-transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).

Insulinotropic action of beta-L-glucose pentaacetate.

The metabolism of beta-L-glucose pentaacetate and its interference with the catabolism of L-[U-14C]glutamine, [U-14C]palmitate, D-[U-14C]glucose, and D-[5-3H]glucose were examined in rat pancreatic islets. Likewise, attention was paid to the effects of this ester on the biosynthesis of islet peptides, the release of insulin from incubated or perifused islets, the functional behavior of individual B cells examined in a reverse hemolytic plaque assay of insulin secretion, adenylate cyclase activity in a membrane-enriched islet subcellular fraction, cAMP production by intact islets, tritiated inositol phosphate production by islets preincubated with myo-[2-3H]inositol, islet cell intracellular pH, 86Rb and 45Ca efflux from prelabeled perifused islets, and electrical activity in single isolated B cells. The results of these experiments were interpreted to indicate that the insulinotropic action of beta-L-glucose pentaacetate is not attributable to any nutritional value of the ester but, instead, appears to result from a direct effect of the ester itself on a yet unidentified receptor system, resulting in a decrease in K+ conductance, plasma membrane depolarization, and induction of electrical activity.

Improved viability and metabolic behavior of hepatocytes after liver storage in the presence of a succinic acid ester.

Background: Selected esters of succinic acid were recently proposed as novel nutrients to support ATP generation in cells endangered by an imbalance between the formation and breakdown of this adenine nucleotide. In the present study, a new ester, glycerol-1,2,3-trimethylsuccinate, was examined for its potential beneficial effect in the procedures preceding liver transplantation.

Methods: The viability and metabolic behavior of hepatocytes were examined after perfusion and storage of rat livers for 20 hr at 4 degrees C with a Belzer UW-CSS solution in the absence or presence or 2 mM glycerol-1,2,3-trimethylsuccinate.

Importance of ionized magnesium measurement for monitoring of citrate-anticoagulated plateletpheresis.

Background: The infusion of citrate during apheresis may affect the levels of ionized magnesium in the blood. Hypomagnesemia and concomitant hypocalcemia could influence the parathormone response and could be responsible for some of the symptoms observed during apheresis.

Study Design And Methods: The study reports measurement of ionized magnesium by the new ion-selective electrode technique in response to citrate infusion in 15 donors undergoing continuous flow high-yield plateletpheresis.

Pancreatic islet B-cell individual variability rather than subpopulation heterogeneity.

Isolated rat pancreatic islet B-cells loaded with the Ca2(+)-sensitive fluorochrome Fluo-3 were examined by single-step flow cytometry at increasing concentrations of D-glucose (1.0 to 20.0 mM).

Pancreatic islet response to dicarboxylic acid esters in rats with type 2 diabetes: enzymatic, metabolic and secretory aspects.

This study aimed to compare the metabolic and secretory responses of pancreatic islets from animals with non-insulin-dependent diabetes to D-glucose with the effects of the methyl esters of succinic acid (SME) and glutamic acid (GME). The insulin secretory response to D-glucose was impaired in islets from rats with diabetes which was either inherited (Goto-Kakizaki (GK) rats) or acquired (streptozotocin-treated (STZ) rats). This coincided with a preferential alteration of oxidative relative to total glycolysis in intact islets and a selective defect of FAD-linked mitochondrial glycerophosphate dehydrogenase (m-GDH) in islet homogenates.