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International audience; Polyester (PET) was pre-activated by atmospheric air plasma and coated by various inorganic oxide nanoparticles (MOx) such as titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), and silicon oxide (SiO2), using poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and chitosan (CT) as binders. The resulting PET-PVDF-MOx-CT composites were thermally compressed and then characterized by scanning electron microscopy, Fourier infrared spectroscopy, thermal gravimetric analysis, and flame retardancy (FR) ability tests. PET modifications resulted in more thermally stable and less harmful composites with weaker hazardous gas release. This was explained in terms of structure compaction that blocks pyrolysis gas emissions. CT incorporation was found to reduce the material susceptibility to oxidation. This judicious procedure also allowed improving flame retardancy ability, by lengthening the combustion delay and slowing the flame propagation. Chitosan also turned out to contribute to a possible synergy with the other polymers present in the synthesized materials. These results provide valuable data that allow understanding the FR phenomena and envisaging low-cost high FR materials from biodegradable raw materials.

This study was designed to examine the chemical composition and anticholinesterase inhibitory activity of the essential oil of Pseuduvaria macrophylla (Oliv.) Merr. (Annonaceae) from Malaysia. The essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation and fully analyzed by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The analysis led to the identification of thirty-four chemical components that represented 87.7 ± 0.5% of the total oil. The essential oil was found to be rich in germacrene D (21.1 ± 0.4%), bicyclogermacrene (10.5 ± 0.5%), δ-cadinene (5.6 ± 0.2%), α-copaene (5.1 ± 0.3%), and α-cadinol (5.0 ± 0.3%). Anticholinesterase activity was evaluated using Ellman method. The essential oil showed weak inhibitory activity against acetylcholinesterase (I%: 32.5%) and butyrylcholinesterase (I%: 35.4%) assays. Our findings demonstrate that the essential oil could be very useful for the characterization, pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications of the essential oil from Pseuduvaria macrophylla.

In this work, a sensor yarn based on a natural sisal yarn containing a non-electro-conductive core impregnated with PVA polymer and coated by PEDOT:PSS polymer as an electro-conductive sheath was investigated. The main objectives include the development of this new sensor yarn as a first step. Then, we look towards the insertion of this sensor yarn into different woven structures followed by the monitoring of the mechanical behaviour of composite materials made with these fibrous reinforcements. The combined effect of the structural geometry and the number of PEDOT:PSS coating layers on the properties of the sensor yarns was investigated. It was found that the number of PEDOT:PSS coating layers could strongly influence the electromechanical behaviours of the sensor yarns. Different methods of characterization were employed on strain-sensor yarns with two and four coating layers of PEDOT:PSS. The piezo-resistive strain-sensor properties of these selected coating layers were evaluated. Cyclic stretching-releasing tests were also performed to investigate the dynamic strain-sensing behavior. The obtained results indicated that gauge factor values can be extracted in three strain regions for two and four coating layers, respectively. Moreover, these strain-sensor yarns showed accurate and stable sensor responses under cyclic conditions. Furthers works are in progress to investigate the mechanism behind these first results of these sisal fibre-based sensors.

Alcohol intoxication is usually associated with drowning, falls, overdoses, fires, occupational accidents, physical and sexual abusements, domestic violence and traffic accidents. Therefore, alcohol considered an important factor for the explanation of the occurrence of many types of injuries. For many purposes such as forensic, it is important to establish a detection method to ensure whether the subject or the patient have consumed alcohol at a level that would be the reason for the accidents or injuries occur. Therefore, in this work, a simple, rapid and low-cost method was developed and validated for the detection of the alcohol in saliva as a function of blood alcohol concentration (BAC). The method is based on fabricated a biosensor consisted of chromium oxide nanoparticles deposited on filter paper. The validation of the biosensor was tested on 50 participants which categories into two selected groups (1 and 2). Group 1 consisted of 20 subjects from an organized party (no alcohol), they usually consumed three to four drinks as an average per week while Group 2 consisted of 30 subjects from an organized party the local bar (alcohol group), usually consumed two to three drinks per day. The results of the present study have shown that 95% of group 1 demonstrated positive results with variable colour intensities of the BAC in comparison to the 80% only of subjects from group 2. The present study has approved that the fabricated biosensor can effectively detect 0.02% or more of BAC which can be a useful test for many purposes such as medical, forensic, research and workplace.

In the present study, analysis of heavy metal and radon concentrations in ten water samples collected from the Khasa River in Kirkuk City, NE Iraq, was investigated. The measurement of the concentrations was carried out by the ICP-MS technique for heavy metal and RAD7 technique for radon. The average concentration values of the heavy metals in the unit parts per billion in the samples are in the following order: Cu (17.72) Cd (0.1). Hazard quotient and hazard index were used to assess the non-carcinogenic health risk for exposure to heavy metals through ingestion and dermal. The results showed that there is no potential for non-carcinogenic health risk of exposure to heavy metals by ingestion and dermal. Radon concentrations varied from the lowest of 0.035 Bq/L to the highest of 0.359 Bq/L. The annual effected dose of radon was measured for both children and adults, where the annual effected dose average was 0.002893 mSv/year for children and 0.002048 mSv/year for adults, and these values are below the prescribed dose limit of 0.1 mSv/year by the World Health Organization.

In many situations like car accidents, troubles and crime scenes we need to know if someone is drunk. This research includes rapid test to detect the alcohol drinking for those that not exhibit any signs of drunk like ataxia and vomiting, and to detect the beverage containing alcohols. The study included 30 volunteers of alcoholics and five types of beverages (Whisky, vodka, beer, wine and barbican). The sampling includes random quantity of sputum and 2 ml of blood from the volunteers. The sputum and beverages are examined by qualitative method depending on the change of dichromate solution color which is saturated and dried up on a filter paper piece in polyethylene container ready for use. If the color changes from yellow to blue-green this means that the sample contains alcohol and the result is positive, and if the color of dichromate dose not changed the result is negative and the sample dose not contains alcohol. The blood samples were examined by the measuring of GGT enzyme to confirm alcohol drinking. All of the sputum samples showed positive results by changing the color of dichromate. All of the beverages except barbican showed positive results this means that these beverages contain alcohol while barbican not. The values of GGT for volunteers were higher than the normal values which confirm the test of sputum.

International audience; This work reports the design and functionalization of new composite-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) fibers with high anti UV radiation. Polyethylene terephthalate fibrous nonwovens were coated by materials oxides (MOx) like titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO) and silicon dioxide (SiO2). Chitosan (CT) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) polymers were used to ensure the good surface compatibility of the resulting composite PET-PVDF-MOx-CT. These composites were fully characterized and the chemical coatings, surface modification, physical and thermal properties were investigated. Incorporation of materials oxides resulted in the formation of strong cross-linked chitosan network. The developed modification on PET nonwovens allows to highly reducing the UV radiation with an excellent blocking rate and a good UV protection factor (80.5–113.4). An outline mechanism is proposed for the UV protection. This was explained by the surface compatibly and the interfacial bonding occurred in the matrix. Regarding to the above results, the current work developed a facile process for the production of advanced materials based nonwovens with excellent UV blocking.

Two new β-carboline alkaloids, daibucarbolines D (1) and E (2) and one new sesquiterpene dilactone, pseudovillosine (3), together with five known compounds, taraxerone, taraxerol, pseudoneoliacine, daibucarboline A and linderaggrine A were isolated from the stems of Neolitsea kedahensis (Lauraceae). The structures were confirmed through extensive spectroscopic analysis, while the relative configuration of compound (3) was determined by a single crystal X-ray diffraction.

The study was conducted to determine the effect of adding water-soluble chitosan on some hematological and biochemical traits in the quail during rearing for meat production, twenty-seven male quail at nine weeks of age were randomly assigned to three treatments with three replicates, it was treated with chitosan for 28 days, according to the following concentrations, the first treatment (control treatment), the second and third treatments, water-soluble chitosan was added at a concentration of 0.2 and 0.3 g/L, respectively. The results showed that there were no significant differences among treatments in RBC, PCV, Hb, MCV, MCH, glucose concentration and AST and ALT enzymatic activity, while there were significantly increased WBC in both experimentsin addition treatments compared to the control treatment. The adding of the water-soluble chitosan at a concentration of 0.2 and 0.3 g/L resulted in a significant decrease in the concentration of cholesterol and triglycerides, while the adding 0.3 g/Lled to a significant increase (P≤ 0.05) in the total protein concentration, albumin and Globulin compared with the control group. We conclude from this research that the adding of water-soluble chitosan at a concentration of 0.3 g/L has the potential to improve productive performance and enhance bird health.

Na+ excretion by the kidney varies according to dietary Na+ intake. We undertook a systematic study on the effects of dietary salt intake on glomerular filtration rate (GFR) and tubular Na+ reabsorption. We examined the renal adaptive response in mice subjected to 7 days of a low sodium diet (LSD) containing 0.01% Na+, a normal sodium diet (NSD) containing 0.18% Na+, as well as a moderately high sodium diet (HSD) containing 1.25% Na+. As expected, LSD did not alter measured GFR and increased the abundance of total and cell-surface NHE3, NKCC2, NCC, α-ENaC, and cleaved γ-ENaC compared to NSD. Mathematical modelling predicted that tubular Na+ reabsorption increased in the proximal tubule but decreased in the distal nephron because of diminished Na+ delivery. This prediction was confirmed by the natriuretic response to diuretics targeting the thick ascending limb, the distal convoluted tubule or the collecting system. On the other hand, HSD did not alter measured GFR but decreased the abundance of the aforementioned transporters compared to NSD. Mathematical modelling predicted that tubular Na+ reabsorption decreased in the proximal tubule but increased in distal segments with lower transport efficiency with respect to O2 consumption. This prediction was confirmed by the natriuretic response to diuretics. The activity of the metabolic sensor AMPK was related to the changes in tubular Na+ reabsorption. Our data show that fractional Na+ reabsorption is distributed differently according to dietary Na+ intake and induces changes in tubular O2 consumption and sodium transport efficiency. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved

International audience; In this work, polyester fiber (PET) were functionalized by oxides (Ox) like titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO) and silicon dioxide (SiO2), using polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) as binder to obtain a PET-PVDF-Ox material. Chitosan polymer (CT) was further grafted as coating layer to improve the surface compatibility, resulting in the PET-PVDF-Ox-CT composite. The obtained products were thermally pressed and fully characterized. The chemical coatings, physical and thermal properties were investigated. It was found that coated PET nonwoven is highly hydrophobic materials with good diffusion resistance. Incorporation of TiO2, ZnO and SiO2 resulted in the formation of strong cross-linked CT network, producing improved dripping resistance of PET nonwoven. In addition, the modification steps allowed increasing significantly the mechanical resistance. This was explained in terms of improved surface compatibly and interfacial bonding occurred in the matrix. Moreover, soil release tests confirmed the high durability against washing for PET-PVDF-Ox-CT composite. This work allowed developing a facile process for the fabrication of new composite based nonwovens with satisfactory durability and high mechanical resistance.

Summary: The cellular responses induced by mitochondrial dysfunction remain elusive. Intrigued by the lack of almost any glomerular phenotype in patients with profound renal ischemia, we comprehensively investigated the primary sources of energy of glomerular podocytes. Combining functional measurements of oxygen consumption rates, glomerular metabolite analysis, and determination of mitochondrial density of podocytes in vivo, we demonstrate that anaerobic glycolysis and fermentation of glucose to lactate represent the key energy source of podocytes. Under physiological conditions, we could detect neither a developmental nor late-onset pathological phenotype in podocytes with impaired mitochondrial biogenesis machinery, defective mitochondrial fusion-fission apparatus, or reduced mtDNA stability and transcription caused by podocyte-specific deletion of Pgc-1α, Drp1, or Tfam, respectively. Anaerobic glycolysis represents the predominant metabolic pathway of podocytes. These findings offer a strategy to therapeutically interfere with the enhanced podocyte metabolism in various progressive kidney diseases, such as diabetic nephropathy or focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS). : Glomerular podocytes form the third and most outer layer of the kidney filtration barrier responsible for restricting the passage of proteins into the urine. Brinkkoetter et al. show that podocyte metabolism primarily relies on anaerobic glycolysis and the fermentation of glucose to lactate. Keywords: glomerular filtration barrier, podocytes, anaerobic glycolysis, metabolomics

It has been shown that viral particles such as herpes simplex virus-1 and cytomegalovirus show renal clearance despite their large size (155–240 nm). Interestingly, one of the common characteristics of these viruses is their glycoprotein rich viral envelope. Since, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) share similarities with oligosaccharide chains in the glycoproteins, we hypothesize that modification of nanoparticles (NPs) surface with naturally found GAGs could alter NP clearance characteristics by mimicking physicochemical aspects of viral glycoprotein envelope. We demonstrate that polymeric NP bearing surfaces enriched with dermatan sulfate, chondroitin sulfate, heparin sulfate, and hyaluronic acid undergo rapid renal clearance (74% of injected dose as early as 2 h) while showing reduced liver accumulation. Ultra-structural analyses suggest that the excretion of intact NPs occurs via proximal tubule secretion, but not via glomerular filtration. Finally, we demonstrate that our bioinspired NPs are able to accumulate within the epithelial tumor microenvironment despite their efficient renal clearance. Our system provides a framework to address renal toxicity associated with repeated dosing of NP and a platform to elaborate on plausible mechanism of renal clearance of virus particle.

Phytochemicals and anti-inflammatory activity were investigated in the leaves of Pellacalyx saccardianus from the Rhizophoraceae family. The powdered leaves were extracted using methanol in a soxhlet extractor. Purification of the methanol extract yielded two new compounds, (3S)(6R)-3-(4′-hydroxybenzyl)-6-(6″-hydroxyphenethyl)-2,2-dimethyl-piperidin-4-one and 1,2-O-(1-methylethylidene)fucoside, together with six known compounds, β-amyrin palmitate, squalene, 24-ethylcholesta-5,22,25-trien-3β-ol, 5R-hydroxy-1,7-bis(5-hydroxyphenyl)heptan-3-one, 1,7-bis(4-hydroxyphenyl)hept-4-en-3-one and methyl-l-fucoside. An anti-inflammatory assay using COX-2 revealed that β-amyrin palmitate possessed the highest inhibitory effect (96.8%) at the lowest concentration (0.01 μM), which was higher than that of the positive controls, resveratrol (90.2%, 0.01 μM) and indomethacin (79.20%, 100 μM). This is the first report on the isolation of phytochemicals from the leaves of P. saccardianus and their anti-inflammatory activity.

Podocytes are highly specialized epithelial cells essentially required to establish and maintain the kidney filtration barrier. Due to their complex cellular architecture these cells rely on an elaborated cytoskeletal apparatus providing plasticity as well as adaptive adhesion properties to withstand significant physical filtration forces. However, our knowledge about podocyte specific components of the cytoskeletal machinery is still incomplete. Employing cross-analysis of various quantitative omics-data sets we identify the WD40-domain containing protein CORO2B as a podocyte enriched protein. Furthermore, we demonstrate the distinct localization pattern of CORO2B to the ventral actin cytoskeleton serving as a physical linkage module to cell-matrix adhesion sites. Analysis of a novel Coro2b knockout mouse revealed that CORO2B modulates stress response of podocytes in an experimental nephropathy model. Using quantitative focal adhesome proteomics we identify the recruitment of CFL1 via CORO2B to focal adhesions as an underlying mechanism. Thus, we describe CORO2B as a novel podocyte enriched protein influencing cytoskeletal plasticity and stress adaptation.

A digital electromechanical system (DES) is an innovative system for in situ measurement of soil dry bulk density (ρb) based on microwave drying of automatically collected core samples. This paper determines the effectiveness of DES for measuring soil ρb in a silty clay soil under solarisation conditions. The experimental design consisted of 2 by 2 m plots arranged in a split-plot design with systematic plot arrangement, and three replicates were made. Three different treatments were used, namely, the tillage system, mulching system (the plastic type used × fertiliser added) and soil depth. The parameters investigated included soil ρ b , moisture content (µ) and evaporated soil moisture (EMC), which were all measured using DES. Results demonstrated that ρ b could be accurately measured using DES under different experimental conditions, and the accuracy was affected by the three different treatments studied. Although accurate results were obtained with DES, the highest systematic error was found for plots with single sheet transparent cover × without fertiliser under mouldboard plough followed by a spring disk system. EMC was strongly dependent on the mulching, tillage systems, and soil depth, which were directly related to the initial µ and the water holding capacity of the soil, having a significant role in determining the mean microwave drying time. The results indicated that ρ b changed with tillage system and mulching type and increased with soil depth. Thus, it is recommended to use the innovative DES to measure ρb and µ under solarisation practice with different tillage systems and mulching types and for different soil depths.

Aliskiren, a direct renin inhibitor, is a novel antihypertensive drug. To study whether aliskiren can reverse chronic kidney disease, we administered it to renin transgenic mice, a strain characterized by elevated blood pressure and a slow decline of renal function, mimicking well the progression of hypertensive chronic kidney disease. Ten-month-old transgenic mice were treated either with aliskiren or placebo for 28 days. Age-matched wild-type mice treated or not with aliskiren were considered as normotensive controls. Aliskiren reduced blood pressure to wild-type levels from as early as day 14. Proteinuria and cardiac hypertrophy and fibrosis were also normalized. Renal interstitial fibrosis and inflammation were significantly ameliorated in aliskiren-treated mice (shown by the decrease of proinflammatory and profibrotic markers), and the phenotypes of tubular epithelial cells and podocytes were restored as evidenced by the reappearance of cellular proteins characteristic of normal phenotype of these cells. Profibrotic p38 and Erk mitogen-activated protein kinases were highly activated in placebo-treated transgenic animals. Aliskiren treatment cancelled this activation. This nephroprotection was not attributed to the antihypertensive activity of aliskiren, because blood pressure normalization after treatment with hydralazine failed to induce the regression of renal fibrosis. Direct inhibition of renin can restore renal function and structure in aged hypertensive animals with existing proteinuria. This finding suggests that, in addition to antihypertensive action, aliskiren can be also used to treat chronic kidney disease.

A new alkaloid, pellacalyxin was isolated from the leaves of Pellacalyx saccardianus of Rhizophoraceae family. Pellacalyxin was analyzed using nuclear Overhauser spectroscopy (NOESY) nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technique to determine the absolute configuration. The analysis of absolute configuration of pellacalyxin was supported by X-ray crystallography. 1H-1H NOESY NMR spectroscopy exhibited that pellacalyxin possesses two chiral centers (3S) and (6R).

Dynamic light scattering (DLS) measurements were performed to study the binding of anionic surfactant alpha olefin sulfonate (AOS) to gelatin chains at various NaCl concentrations at 30 degrees C in aqueous sodium phosphate buffer (pH = 6.8) solutions. The surfactant concentration was varied from 0 to 80 mM and the NaCl concentrations chosen were 0.025, 0.05, and 0.1 M. AOS exhibited electrostatic binding to the positively charged sites of the polypeptide chain resulting in considerable reduction in its hydrodynamic radius up to critical micellar concentration (cmc = 8 mM for no salt, 0.01 and 0.025 M, and 5 mM for 0.05 M and 2 mM for 0.1 M solutions). The correlation function revealed the presence of two types of structures above cmc; namely the micelles of AOS and gelatin-AOS micelle complexes. The micellar radii (Rm), the effective gelatin-surfactant complex radii (Rc), have been determined as a function of salt concentration. No critical aggregation concentration (cac) was observed. The inter-gelatin-surfactant complex (kD1) and inter-micellar interactions (kD2), were determined by fitting the concentration dependence of Rm and Rc to a virial expansion in reduced concentration (c - cmc), which are compared. While kD1 showed strong ionic strength dependence, kD2 remained invariant of the same. The protein to surfactant binding ratio was found to be smaller than normal. Results have been discussed within the framework of the necklace-bead model of polymer-surfactant interactions.