Kirkebymose1164

Parkinson's disease is a neurodegenerative disorder that affects the central nervous system and is mainly characterized by the loss of dopaminergic neurons and pro-oxidant mechanisms. Eugenol has been widely studied due to its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities, making it a promising neuroprotective agent. This study aimed to investigate the effects of eugenol and its combined action with levodopa in the 6-hydroxydopamine-induced Parkinson's disease model. Wistar rats were subjected to intrastriatal injection of 6-hydroxydopamine (21 µg) and then treated with eugenol (0.1, 1, or 10 mg/kg), levodopa (25 mg/kg) or their combination (eugenol 10 mg/kg + levodopa 12.5 mg/kg) orally for 14 days. On the 14th day, the animals were subjected to behavioural tests, and after euthanization and dissection of the brain areas, neurochemical analyses were performed. The results showed that eugenol reduced the oxidative stress and behavioural disturbances induced by 6-hydroxydopamine. The eugenol and levodopa combination was more effective in some behavioural parameters and body weight gain in addition to promoting an increase in reduced glutathione levels compared to levodopa alone. Thus, the neuroprotective activity of eugenol was observed against motor and neurochemical disorders. Additionally, the eugenol and levodopa combination was promising when compared to conventional treatment. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.Recently, the use of hybrid double network (DN) hydrogels has become prominent due to their enhanced mechanical properties, which has opened the door for new applications of these soft materials. Only a few of these gels have demonstrated both injectable and moldable capabilities. In this work, we report the mechanical properties, gauge factor (GF) values and demonstrate both the injectability and moldability of a gelatin/polyacrylamide DN hydrogel. We optimized several parameters, such as, gelatin to polyacrylamide ratio, reactant concentrations and metal ion concentration, to produce a gelatin/polyacrylamide hydrogel with superior mechanical properties. HSP (HSP90) inhibitor The highest water content gel was capable of withstanding strains of 5000% before failure. These gels were facilely injected into molds where they effectively changed shape and maintained similar properties prior to remolding. When 20 mM calcium was doped into a similar gel, a tensile strength of 1.71 MPa was achieved. Aside from improving the mechanical properties of the gels, both Ca2+ and Mg2+ also improved their conductivity, so they were tested for use as strain sensors. The sensitivity of the hydrogel strain sensors were measured using the GF. For the 20 mM Ca2+ hydrogel, these GF values ranged from 1.63 to 6.85 for strains of 100% to 2100% respectively. Additionally, the sensors showed good stability over continuous cyclic stretching, demonstrating their long term reliability for strain sensing. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.AIMS Laboratory measures of haemoconcentration correlate with invasive haemodynamics and clinical outcomes in hospitalized heart failure (HF) patients. We aimed to determine the association between haemoconcentration and haemodynamic measures in ambulatory HF patients with implantable pulmonary arterial pressure (PAP) sensors. METHODS AND RESULTS We reviewed ambulatory HF patients (n = 23) managed at the Brigham and Women's Hospital with implantable PAP sensors (CardioMEMS™, Abbott, Atlanta, GA, USA) who had sufficient data for serial haemodynamic-haemoconcentration correlation. The primary measures of interest were the absolute changes in haemoglobin and diastolic PAP at follow-up compared to baseline values (obtained at implantation). In 23 patients (median age 64 years, 57% with HF with preserved ejection fraction), 518 paired laboratory-haemodynamic measurements were evaluated. At a median follow-up of 27 (interquartile range 13-42) months, 17 (74%) patients had at least one hospitalization (59 total hospitalizations including 30 HF hospitalizations). For the population as a whole, diastolic PAP was negatively correlated with haemoglobin level (r = -0.09, P = 0.053). This negative correlation was more apparent when changes in haemoglobin and diastolic PAP were evaluated at the time of HF hospitalization compared to baseline values (r = -0.40, P = 0.029). The mean rise in diastolic PAP of 3.6 mmHg at HF hospitalization corresponded to a numerical decline of 0.6 g/dL in haemoglobin (P = 0.20). CONCLUSION Change in haemoglobin was correlated with change in diastolic PAP in ambulatory HF patients, especially at the time of HF hospitalization. These findings support the potential for investigation into the role of ambulatory monitoring of haemoglobin as an inexpensive, non-invasive tool to guide de-congestion strategies and potentially prevent HF hospitalizations. © 2020 European Society of Cardiology.Global warming challenges aggregate demand to develop an efficient catalytic system for the reduce CO2, which significantly contributes to the control of climate change. Herein, as-synthesized bismuth oxide decorated graphene oxide (Bi2O3@GO) has been used as an electro/thermal catalyst for CO2 reduction. Bi2O3@GO was found to be uniformly distributed and confirmed by scanning electron and transmission electron microscopic analysis. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) exhibits the Bi2O3 has the β-phase with 23.4 m2/g BET surface area. Significantly, the D and G bands from Raman spectroscopic analysis and their intensity (ID/IG) ratio have been revealed the increment in defective sites on GO after the surface decoration. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopic (XPS) analysis clearly shows signals for Bi, C and O, along with their oxidation states. The ultra-low onset potential (-0.534 V vs. RHE) for the reduction of CO2 on Bi2O3@GO has been achieved. Furthermore, potential dependent (-0.534, -0.734 and -0.934 vs. RHE) bulk electrolysis of CO2 to formate provides Faradaic efficiencies (FE) of ~ 39.72, ~ 61.48 and ~83.00% respectively. Additionally, the time-dependent electrolysis at a poteintial of -0.934 vs. RHE for 3 and 5h observed FEs are ~ 84.20% and ~ 87.17% respectively. This catalyst was also used for the thermal reduction of CO2 to formate. It shows that the thermal reduction provides a path for the industrial applications as this catalyst converts a large amount of CO2 to formate (10 mM). © 2020 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.