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In vitro experiments have demonstrated that polyphenols exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. The present study was designed to test whether dealcoholized red (DRW) and white (DWW) wines can decrease the oxidative stress associated with inflammation in vivo. Rats were fed for 15??d either a control diet or one supplemented with DRW or DWW. Finally, a granuloma was induced by subcutaneous administration of carrageenan. Although DRW showed higher antioxidant activity in vitro than DWW, both wines decreased the number of cells recruited into the granuloma pouch. Malondialdehyde decreased in plasma and inflammatory exudate from rats fed with DRW- and DWW-rich diets. Moreover, the concentration of NO increased in exudate, which correlates with the increase in the citrulline:arginine ratio. Polymorphonuclear leucocytes from the inflammatory exudate of rats fed dealcoholized wines showed decreased superoxide anion (O2??????) production and increased NO production ex vivo. This change in NO production resulted from increased expression and activity of inducible NO synthase (EC 1.14.13.39). Moreover, the up regulation of cyclo-oxygenase-2 (EC 1.14.99.1) protein expression observed in rats fed the DRW-rich diet was not related to a direct effect of NO. The present results indicate that the non-alcoholic compounds of wines not only improve antioxidant status in an inflammatory situation, but also limit cell infiltration, possibly through a decrease in O2?????? and an increase in NO production. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Žákovské otázky bývají vedle učitelských otázek v pedagogické komunikaci opomíjeny. Tato teoreticko-empirická studie si klade za cíl popsat žákovskou otázku jako možný aspekt k tvorbě žákovského autoregulovaného učení. Text je členěn do tří částí. V úvodní části textu se pokusíme zpřístupnit poznatky k pojmu pedagogická komunikace a výuková komunikace. Budeme se orientovat na tu část v edukaci, kde žák svou otázkou zaujímá pozici identifikujícího neznámá místa a situace, kterým se snaží porozumět. Pokusíme se vysvětlit pojem autoregulované učení žáka mladšího školního věku. Ve druhé části budeme prezentovat pilotáž výzkumu, ve kterém poukážeme na fakt, že pokud učitel zvolí vhodnou pedagogickou komunikaci, může vytvořit prostor pro žákovské otázky. Ty mohou pomoci žákovi být autoregulující ve svém učení. Na závěr studie se pozornost přesouvá na žákovskou otázku jako na základní lidskou schopnost, která je produktem myšlení žáka mladšího školního věku a může být prostředkem k proniknutí do žákovy autoregulace učení.

The growing need for processing natural lipophilic and often volatile substances such as thymol, a promising candidate for topical treatment of intestinal mucosa, led us to the utilization of solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (ss-NMR) spectroscopy for the rational design of enteric pellets with a thymol self-emulsifying system (SES). The SES (triacylglycerol, Labrasol®, and propylene glycol) provided a stable o/w emulsion with particle size between 1 and 7 µm. The ex vivo experiment confirmed the SES mucosal permeation and thymol delivery to enterocytes. Pellets W90 (MCC, Neusilin®US2, chitosan) were prepared using distilled water (90 g) by the M1−M3 extrusion/spheronisation methods varying in steps number and/or cumulative time. The pellets (705−740 µm) showed mostly comparable properties—zero friability, low intraparticular porosity (0−0.71%), and relatively high density (1.43−1.45%). They exhibited similar thymol release for 6 h (burst effect in 15th min ca. 60%), but its content increased (30−39.6 mg/g) with a shorter process time. The M3-W90 fluid-bed coated pellets (Eudragit®L) prevented undesirable thymol release in stomach conditions (<10% for 3 h). A detailed, ss-NMR investigation revealed structural differences across samples prepared by M1−M3 methods concerning system stability and internal interactions. The suggested formulation and methodology are promising for other lipophilic volatiles in treating intestinal diseases.

The remarkably diverse affinity of alginate (ALG) macromolecules for polyvalent metal ions makes cross-linked alginate gels an outstanding biomaterial. Surprisingly, however, very little is known about their interactions and structural transformations in physiological environments. To bridge this gap, we prepared a set of ALG gels cross-linked by various ions and monitored their structural changes at different media simulating gastric and intestinal fluids and cellular environments. For these studies, we used multinuclear solid-state NMR (ss-NMR) spectroscopy, which revealed a range of competitive ion-exchange and interconversion reactions, the rate of which strongly depended on the nature of the cross-linking metal ions. Depending on the environment, ALG chains adopted different forms, such as acidic (hydro)gels stabilized by strong hydrogen bonds, and/or weakly cross-linked Na/H-gels. Simultaneously, the exchanged polyvalent ions extensively interacted with the environment even forming in some cases insoluble phosphate microdomains directly deposited in the ALG bead matrix. The extent of the transformations and incorporation of secondary phases into the alginate beads followed the size and electronegativity of the cross-linking ions. Overall, the applied combination of various macroscopic and biological tests with multinuclear ss-NMR revealed a complex pathway of alginate beads transformations in physiological environments.

Alginate gels are an outstanding biomaterial widely applicable in tissue engineering, medicine, and pharmacy for cell transplantation, wound healing and efficient bioactive agent delivery, respectively. This contribution provides new and comprehensive insight into the atomic-resolution structure and dynamics of polyvalent ion-cross-linked alginate gels in microbead formulations. By applying various advanced solid-state NMR (ssNMR) spectroscopy techniques, we verified the homogeneous distribution of the cross-linking ions in the alginate gels and the high degree of ion exchange. We also established that the two-component character of the alginate gels arises from the concentration fluctuations of residual water molecules that are preferentially localized along polymer chains containing abundant mannuronic acid (M) residues. These hydrated M-rich blocks tend to self-aggregate into subnanometer domains. The resulting coexistence of two types of alginate chains differing in segmental dynamics was revealed by 1 H- 13 C dipolar profile analysis, which indicated that the average fluctuation angles of the stiff and mobile alginate segments were about 5-9° or 30°, respectively. Next, the 13 C CP/MAS NMR spectra indicated that the alginate polymer microstructure was strongly dependent on the type of cross-linking ion. The polymer chain regularity was determined to systematically decrease as the cross-linking ion radius decreased. Consistent with the 1 H- 1 H correlation spectra, regular structures were found for the gels cross-linked by relatively large alkaline earth cations (Ba 2+ , Sr 2+ , or Ca 2+ ), whereas the alginate chains cross-linked by bivalent transition metal ions (Zn 2+ ) and trivalent metal cations (Al 3+ ) exhibited significant irregularities. Notably, however, the observed disordering of the alginate chains was exclusively attributed to the M residues, whereas the structurally well-defined gels all contained guluronic acid (G) residues. Therefore, a key role of the units in M-rich blocks as mediators promoting the self-assembly of alginate chains was experimentally confirmed. Finally, combining 2D 27 Al 3Q/MAS NMR spectroscopy with density functional theory (DFT) calculations provided previously unreported insight into the structure of the Al 3+ cross-linking centers. Notably, even with a low residual amount of water, these cross-linking units adopt exclusively 6-fold octahedral coordination and exhibit significant motion, which considerably reduces quadrupolar coupling constants. Thus, the experimental strategy presented in this study provides a new perspective on cross-linked alginate structure and dynamics for which high-quality diffraction data at the atomic resolution level are inherently unavailable.

Luminol-, isoluminol- or lucigenin-enhanced chemiluminescence (CL) was used to measure the production of reactive oxygen species by rat blood leukocytes. Opsonized zymosan (OZ), phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), calcium ionophore A23187 (Ca-I) or N-formyl-Met-Leu-Phe (fMLP) were used as activators. The CL signal of isolated blood leukocytes decreased in rank order of luminol > isoluminol > lucigenin. The kinetic profiles of luminol- and isoluminol-enhanced CL were similar upon stimulation by each activator tested. The remarkably higher luminol and isoluminol CL responses were obtained after OZ stimulation when compared with other activators. However, when lucigenin was used, the PMA- and OZ-stimulated CL were comparable. The presence of plasma increased OZ-activated CL because of the enhanced phagocytosis of OZ. This was demonstrated by determining the phagocytosis of the fluorescent OZ using a flow cytometer. In contrast, the presence of plasma decreased PMA-activated CL, due to the antioxidant properties of plasma as determined by the CL method. As far as whole blood is concerned, only OZ activated luminol-enhanced CL was reliable. Blood volumes over 5 microL decreased CL activity due to the scavenging ability of erythrocytes. The results suggest that 0.5 microL whole blood is sufficient for routine luminol-enhanced CL analysis of whole blood oxidative burst in rats., (Copyright 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.)