Search

This paper discusses activities and results of the REBAF project: a two-year Italian regional research project focused on the energy conversion of biomass residues from river, canals and basins maintenance activities. Innovative pathways for the exploitation of grass and woodsy biomasses were investigated. Gasification and pyrolysis are the key technologies for biomass conversion into energy. Woodsy biomass was tested as fuel in a small scale commercial gasification power plants that produce heat and power using a IC engine. A valuable by-product of the process was biochar. This was tested as soil improver in giant reed crop parcels and a sensible increase of dry biomass production was achieved in comparison with control parcels. The grass residues obtained from canals maintenance were carbonized in lab-scale pyrolyzer at a temperature of about 450 °C through the hot exhaust of the engine fueled by the gasifier. The pyrolysis gases were used directly in the gasifier in substitution of the gasifying agent. The residual carbon afterward the pyrolysis process was used as filler in cements, plasters and polyurethane panels increasing performance of these building materials., Proceedings of the 27th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, 27-30 May 2019, Lisbon, Portugal, pp. 50-56

Drypetes klainei Pierre ex Pax is used in Cameroon by Baka people in the wound healing process and for the treatment of burns. In a previous paper we demonstrated the ability of both water (WE) and defatted methanol (DME) extracts to accelerate scratch wound closure in fibroblast cultures, thus validating the traditional use of D. klainey stem bark in the treatment of skin lesions. In this work we carried out a bioassay-guided fractionation of the most active DME, which exhibited in vitro efficacy in accelerating wound healing process, in order to isolate and identify the compound/s responsible for the assessed biological activity. HPLC was used for the metabolite profiling of DME and fractions (analytical) and for the isolation of the bioactive compound (semi-preparative). MS analyses and NMR spectroscopy were used for identifying the isolated compound. The abilities of treatments in accelerating wound healing were studied on murine fibroblasts in terms of cell viability and cell migration (scratch wound-healing assay). The results obtained allowed to unambiguously identify the isolated bioactive compound as nigracin, a known phenolic glycoside firstly isolated and characterized from bark and leaves of Populus nigra in 1967. However, this is the first time that nigracin is identified in the Drypetes genus and that a wound healing activity is demonstrated for this molecule. Specifically, we demonstrated that nigracin significantly stimulates fibroblast growth and improves cell motility and wound closure of fibroblast monolayer in a dose-dependent manner, without any toxicity at the concentrations tested, and is still active at very low doses. This makes the molecule particularly attractive as a possible candidate for developing new therapeutic options for wound care.

Acute liver failure is a rare but catastrophic condition which can progress rapidly to multi-organ failure. Studies investigating the onset of individual organ injury such as the liver, kidneys and brain during the evolution of acute liver failure, are lacking. MicroRNAs are short, non-coding strands of RNA that are released into the circulation following tissue injury. In this study, we have characterised the release of both global microRNA and specific microRNA species into the plasma using a porcine model of acetaminophen-induced acute liver failure. Pigs were induced to acute liver failure with oral acetaminophen over 19h±2h and death occurred 13h±3h thereafter. Global microRNA concentrations increased 4h prior to acute liver failure in plasma (P

Thymosin ?1 (T?1) is a naturally occurring thymic peptide used worldwide in clinical trials for the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer. The immunomodulatory activity of T?1 on innate immunity effector cells has been extensively described, but its mechanism of action is not completely understood. We report that T?1-exposed human monocyte-derived macrophages (MDMs) assume the typical activated morphology also exhibited by lipopolysaccharide-activated MDMs, but show a comparatively higher ability of internalizing fluorescent beads and zymosan particles. T?1 exposure also promptly and dramatically stimulates MDM phagocytosis and killing of Aspergillus niger conidia starting as soon as 30 min after challenge. The effect is dose dependent and early coupled to low transcription of the proinflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor ? and interleukin-6 and unmodified Toll-like receptor expression. The T?1-stimulated phagocytosis is strictly dependent on the integrity of the microtubule network and protein kinase C activity and occurs by a variation in the classic zipper model, with recruitment of vinculin and actin at the phagosome exhibiting a punctate distribution. These findings indicate that, in human mature MDMs, T?1 implements pathogen internalization and killing via the stimulation of the complement receptor-mediated phagocytosis. Our observations document that T?1 is an early and potent activator of innate immunity and reinforce the concept of its pleiotropy.