Analytical Rheology of Honey: A State-of-the-Art Review.

Honey has been used as a nutraceutical product since ancient times due to its nutritional and medicinal properties. Honey rheology influences its organoleptic properties and is relevant for processing and quality control. This review summarizes the rheological behaviour of honeys of different botanical source(s) and geographical locations that has been described in the literature, focusing on the relation between rheological parameters, honey composition (moisture, water activity, sugar content, presence of colloidal matter) and experimental conditions (temperature, time, stress, shear rate).

Discoloration of Historical Plastic Objects: New Insight into the Degradation of -Naphthol Pigment Lakes.

Light is a determining factor in the discoloration of plastics, and photodegradation processes can affect the molecular structures of both the polymer and colorants. Limited studies focused on the discoloration of heritage plastics in conservation science. This work investigated the discoloration of red historical polyethylene (PE) objects colored with PR 48:2 and PR 53:1.

Behind Brain Metastases Formation: Cellular and Molecular Alterations and Blood-Brain Barrier Disruption.

Breast cancer (BC) brain metastases is a life-threatening condition to which accounts the poor understanding of BC cells' (BCCs) extravasation into the brain, precluding the development of preventive strategies. Thus, we aimed to unravel the players involved in the interaction between BCCs and blood-brain barrier (BBB) endothelial cells underlying BBB alterations and the transendothelial migration of malignant cells. We used brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs) as a BBB in vitro model, under conditions mimicking shear stress to improve in vivo-like BBB features.

Enhanced Accumulation of Betulinic Acid in Transgenic Hairy Roots of Senna obtusifolia Growing in the Sprinkle Bioreactor and Evaluation of Their Biological Properties in Various Biological Models.

Betulinic acid, which is found in transgenic roots of Senna obtusifolia (L.) H.S.

Oral insulin delivery: utopia, currently possible or a near reality?

Diabetes is still one of the main diseases worldwide due to its high incidence, prevalence and, unfortunately, very high mortality. Type 1 diabetes (and in some other types) is generally controlled by exogenous insulin. Several attempts of oral insulin administration to humans have been done so far.

Urine biomonitoring of glyphosate in children: Exposure and risk assessment.

The use of glyphosate has been increasing over the years, making it one of the most consumed herbicides in the world. Although children are considered a vulnerable population, only four previous published studies determined glyphosate in the urine of non-occupationally exposed children. The paucity of epidemiological data and biomonitoring surveys are considered major gaps, that hinder the implementation of science driven policies in the protection of public health.

In-depth phenolic characterization of iron gall inks by deconstructing representative Iberian recipes.

Iron-gall ink is one of the most important inks in the history of western civilization. The deep black colour results from Fe complexes with phenolic compounds available in gall extracts. Unfortunately, it induces the degradation of both ink and support over time.

Biophysical impact of sphingosine and other abnormal lipid accumulation in Niemann-Pick disease type C cell models.

Niemann-Pick disease type C (NPC) is a complex and rare pathology, which is mainly associated to mutations in the NPC1 gene. This disease is phenotypically characterized by the abnormal accumulation of multiple lipid species in the acidic compartments of the cell. Due to the complexity of stored material, a clear molecular mechanism explaining NPC pathophysiology is still not established.

Integrated in Silico and Experimental Approach towards the Design of a Novel Recombinant Protein Containing an Anti-HER2 scFv.

Biological therapies, such as recombinant proteins, are nowadays amongst the most promising approaches towards precision medicine. One of the most innovative methodologies currently available aimed at improving the production yield of recombinant proteins with minimization of costs relies on the combination of in silico studies to predict and deepen the understanding of the modified proteins with an experimental approach. The work described herein aims at the design and production of a biomimetic vector containing the single-chain variable domain fragment (scFv) of an anti-HER2 antibody fragment as a targeting motif fused with HIV gp41.

Understanding Carrier Performance in Low-Dose Dry Powder Inhalation: An In VitroIn Silico Approach.

The use of physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) models to support drug product development has become increasingly popular. The in vitro characterization of the materials of the formulation provides valuable descriptors for the in silico prediction of the drug's pharmacokinetic profile. Thus, the application of an in vitroin silico framework can be decisive towards the prediction of the in vivo performance of a new medicine.

A Step Forward in Breast Cancer Research: From a Natural-Like Experimental Model to a Preliminary Photothermal Approach.

Breast cancer is one of the most frequently diagnosed malignancies and common causes of cancer death in women. Recent studies suggest that environmental exposures to certain chemicals, such as 7,12-Dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA), a chemical present in tobacco, may increase the risk of developing breast cancer later in life. The first-line treatments for breast cancer (surgery, chemotherapy or a combination of both) are generally invasive and frequently associated with severe side effects and high comorbidity.

Author Correction: Genomic epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil.

An amendment to this paper has been published and can be accessed via a link at the top of the paper.

Biomolecules and Electrochemical Tools in Chronic Non-Communicable Disease Surveillance: A Systematic Review.

Over recent three decades, the electrochemical techniques have become widely used in biological identification and detection, because it presents optimum features for efficient and sensitive molecular detection of organic compounds, being able to trace quantities with a minimum of reagents and sample manipulation. Given these special features, electrochemical techniques are regularly exploited in disease diagnosis and monitoring. Specifically, amperometric electrochemical analysis has proven to be quite suitable for the detection of physiological biomarkers in monitoring health conditions, as well as toward the control of reactive oxygen species released in the course of oxidative burst during inflammatory events.

Metabolism of N-ethylhexedrone and buphedrone: An in vivo study in mice using HPLC-MS/MS.

N-ethylhexedrone (NEH) and buphedrone (BUPH) are synthetic drugs structurally related to natural cathinone. These synthetic cathinones (SC) are members of the heterogenous family of new psychoactive substances (NPS), which have caused major concern in scientific and forensic communities over the past years, due to their widespread consume. Thus, there is a constant need for monitoring the use of these new substances and gather knowledge on their metabolism and excretion profiles, in order to try to identify markers of NPS consumption.

Polymer Selection for Hot-Melt Extrusion Coupled to Fused Deposition Modelling in Pharmaceutics.

Three-dimensional (3D) printing offers the greatest potential to revolutionize the future of pharmaceutical manufacturing by overcoming challenges of conventional pharmaceutical operations and focusing design and production of dosage forms on the patient's needs. Of the many technologies available, fusion deposition modelling (FDM) is considered of the lowest cost and higher reproducibility and accessibility, offering clear advantages in drug delivery. FDM requires in-house production of filaments of drug-containing thermoplastic polymers by hot-melt extrusion (HME), and the prospect of connecting the two technologies has been under investigation.

Genomic epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis in Santa Catarina, Southern Brazil.

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb), the pathogen responsible for tuberculosis (TB) poses as the major cause of death among infectious diseases. The knowledge about the molecular diversity of M.

Magnetic Precipitation: A New Platform for Protein Purification.

One of the trends in downstream processing comprises the use of "anything-but-chromatography" methods to overcome the current downfalls of standard packed-bed chromatography. Precipitation and magnetic separation are two techniques already proven to accomplish protein purification from complex media, yet never used in synergy. With the aim to capture antibodies directly from crude extracts, a new approach combining precipitation and magnetic separation is developed and named as affinity magnetic precipitation.

Assessment of the Potential Skin Application of Benth.

Benth. has widespread ethnobotanical use in African folk medicine for its medicinal properties in skin conditions. In this study, two different basic formulations containing extracts were prepared, one in an organic solvent and the other using water.

Nanomedicine to target multidrug resistant tumors.

Nanomedicine employs nanotechnologies to develop innovative applications, and more specifically nano-objects in the field of human health, through exploitation of the physical, chemical and biological properties of materials at the nanoscale. The use of nanovehicles capable of transporting and releasing the active therapeutic payload into target cells, particularly in the case of cancer or inflammatory diseases, can also enhance diagnosis. Therefore, nanomedicines improve the benefit/risk ratio of drugs by increasing their bioavailability, selectivity, and efficacy in the target tissue, while reducing the necessary doses and hence diminishing untoward toxicity to healthy tissues.

Pulmonary Administration: Strengthening the Value of Therapeutic Proximity.

In recent years inhaled systems have shown momentum as patient-personalized therapies emerge. A significant improvement in terms of therapeutic efficacy and/or reduction adverse systemic effects is anticipated from their use owing these systems regional accumulation. Nevertheless, whatever safety and efficacy evidence required for inhaled formulations regulatory approval, it still poses an additional hurdle to gaining market access.

Imaging probes for non-invasive tumoral detection and functional monitoring of cancer multidrug resistance.

Several cationic radiotracers originally developed as myocardial perfusion agents have shown potential for both early detection of cancer and non-invasive monitoring of multiple drug resistance (MDR) by single photon emission computed tomography. We have introduced two cationic complexes, Tc-DMEOP [di-methoxy-tris-pyrazolyl-Tc-(CO)] and Tc-TMEOP [tri-methoxy-tris-pyrazolyl-Tc-(CO)], which showed excellent preclinical results as cardiac imaging probes, namely a persistent heart uptake with rapid blood and liver clearance. This study aimed at the evaluation of their usefulness for tumoral detection and functional assessment of MDR.

Synthetic antibody discovery against native antigens by CRISPR/Cas9-library generation and endoplasmic reticulum screening.

Despite the significant advances of antibodies as therapeutic agents, there is still much room for improvement concerning the discovery of these macromolecules. Here, we present a new synthetic cell-based strategy that takes advantage of eukaryotic cell biology to produce highly diverse antibody libraries and, simultaneously, link them to a high-throughput selection mechanism, replicating B cell diversification mechanisms. The interference of site-specific recognition by CRISPR/Cas9 with error-prone DNA repair mechanisms was explored for the generation of diversity, in a cell population containing a gene for a light chain antibody fragment.

Insights on the Formulation of Recombinant Proteins.

Recombinant proteins are large and complex molecules, whose therapeutic activity highly depends on their structure. Formulation of biopharmaceuticals aims at stabilizing protein conformation, promoting its efficacy, and preventing safety concerns, such as immunogenicity. Currently, the rational design of formulations is possible due to the availability of several techniques for molecule characterization and an array of both well-known and new excipients.