Heart Failure and PAHs,OHPAHs, and Trace Elements Levels in Human Serum: Results from a Preliminary Pilot Study in Greek Population and the Possible Impact of Air Pollution

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) have been associated with environmental pollutants. The scope of this study is to assess any potential relation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), their hydroxylated derivatives, and trace elements with heart failure via their direct determination in human serum of Greek citizens residing in different areas. Therefore, we analyzed 131 samples including cases (heart failure patients) and controls (healthy donors), and the respective demographic data were collected. Significantly higher concentrations (p < 0.05) were observed in cases’ serum regarding most of the examined PAHs and their derivatives with phenanthrene, fluorene, and fluoranthene being the most abundant (median of >50 μg L⁻¹). Among the examined trace elements, As, Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, and Pb were measured at statistically higher concentrations (p < 0.05) in cases’ samples, with only Cr being significantly higher in controls. The potential impact of environmental factors such as smoking and area of residence has been evaluated. Specific PAHs and trace elements could be possibly related with heart failure development. Atmospheric degradation and smoking habit appeared to have a significant impact on the analytes’ serum concentrations. PCA–logistic regression analysis could possibly reveal common mechanisms among the analytes enhancing the hypothesis that they may pose a significant risk for CVD development.     

Fe(II) Spin Crossover/Polymer Hybrid Materials: Investigation of the SCO Behavior via Temperature-Dependent Raman Spectroscopy,Physicochemical Characterization and Migration Release Study

Polymeric composites constitute an appealing class of materials with applications in various fields. Spin crossover (SCO) coordination complexes are switchable materials with potential use in data storage and sensors. Their incorporation into polymers can be considered an effective method for their wider practical application. In this study, Fe(II) SCO/polylactic acid hybrid polymeric composites have been prepared by film casting. The mononuclear coordination complex [Fe{N(CN)₂}₂(abpt)₂] was incorporated into polylactic acid. The morphological, structural and thermoanalytical characterization of the composite films were performed via scanning electron microscopy (SEM), attenuated total reflectance (ATR/FTIR), Raman spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). In addition, the migration release study (MRS) of the SCO compound from the polymeric matrix into the food simulant 50% v/v water/ethanol solution was also examined via UV/Vis absorption. Of particular interest was the investigation of the SCO behavior of the coordination complex after its incorporation into the polymer matrix; it was accomplished by temperature-dependent micro-Raman spectroscopy. The described attempt could be considered a preparatory step toward the development of SCO-based temperature sensors integrated into food packaging materials.     

Synthesis of a Novel Chitosan/Basil Oil Blend and Development of Novel Low Density Poly Ethylene/Chitosan/Basil Oil Active Packaging Films Following a Melt-Extrusion Process for Enhancing Chicken Breast Fillets Shelf-Life

An innovative process for the adsorption of the hydrophobic Basil-Oil (BO) into the hydrophilic food byproduct chitosan (CS) and the development of an advanced low-density polyethylene/chitosan/basil-oil (LDPE/CS_BO) active packaging film was investigated in this work. The idea of this study was the use of the BO as both a bioactive agent and a compatibilizer. The CS was modified to a CS_BO hydrophobic blend via a green evaporation/adsorption process. This blend was incorporated directly in the LDPE to produce films with advanced properties. All the obtained composite films exhibited improved packaging properties. The film with 10% CS_BO content exhibited the best packaging properties, i.e., 33.0% higher tensile stress, 31.0% higher water barrier, 54.3% higher oxygen barrier, and 12.3% higher antioxidant activity values compared to the corresponding values of the LDPE films. The lipid oxidation values of chicken breast fillets which were packaged under vacuum using this film were measured after seven and after fourteen days of storage. These values were found to be lower by around 41% and 45%, respectively, compared with the corresponding lipid oxidation values of pure LDPE film.     

Synthesis of 2D Germanane (GeH): a New,Fast, and Facile Approach

Germanane (GeH), a germanium analogue of graphane, has recently attracted considerable interest because its remarkable combination of properties makes it an extremely suitable candidate to be used as 2D material for field effect devices, photovoltaics, and photocatalysis. Up to now, the synthesis of GeH has been conducted by substituting Ca by H in a β‐CaGe₂ layered Zintl phase through topochemical deintercalation in aqueous HCl. This reaction is generally slow and takes place over 6 to 14 days. The new and facile protocol presented here allows to synthesize GeH at room temperature in a significantly shorter time (a few minutes), which renders this method highly attractive for technological applications. The GeH produced with this method is highly pure and has a band gap (E_g) close to 1.4 eV, a lower value than that reported for germanane synthesized using HCl, which is promising for incorporation of GeH in solar cells.     

Operational risk: Emerging markets,sectors and measurement

The role of decision support systems in mitigating operational risks in firms is well established. However, there is a lack of investment in decision support systems in emerging markets, even though inadequate operational risk management is a key cause of discouraging external investment. This has also been exacerbated by insufficient understanding of operational risk in emerging markets, which can be attributed to past operational risk measurement techniques, limited studies on emerging markets and inadequate data.     

A New Approach for the Photosynthetic Antenna–Reaction Center Complex with a Model Organized Around an s‐Triazine Linker

Two new artificial mimics of the photosynthetic antenna‐reaction center complex have been designed and synthesized (BDP‐H₂P‐C₆₀ and BDP‐ZnP‐C₆₀). The resulting electron‐donor/acceptor conjugates contain a porphyrin (either in its free‐base form (H₂P) or as Zn‐metalated complex (ZnP)), a boron dipyrrin (BDP), and a fulleropyrrolidine possessing, as substituent of the pyrrolidine nitrogen, an ethylene glycol chain terminating in an amino group C₆₀‐X‐NH₂ (X=spacer). In both cases, the three different components were connected by s‐triazine through stepwise substitution reactions of cyanuric chloride. In addition to the facile synthesis, the star‐type arrangement of the three photo‐ and redox‐active components around the central s‐triazine unit permits direct interaction between one another, in contrast to reported examples in which the three components are arranged in a linear fashion. The energy‐ and electron‐transfer properties of the resulting electron‐donor/acceptor conjugates were investigated by using UV/Vis absorption and emission spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and femtosecond transient absorption spectroscopy. Comparison of the absorption spectra and cyclic voltammograms of BDP‐H₂P‐C₆₀ and BDP‐ZnP‐C₆₀ with those of BDP‐H₂P, BDP‐ZnP and BDP‐C₆₀, which were used as references, showed that the spectroscopic and electrochemical properties of the individual constituents are basically retained, although some appreciable shifts in terms of absorption indicate some interactions in the ground state. Fluorescence lifetime measurements and transient absorption experiments helped to elucidate the antenna function of BDP, which upon selective excitation undergoes a rapid and efficient energy transfer from BDP to H₂P or ZnP. This is then followed by an electron transfer to C₆₀, yielding the formation of the singlet charge‐separated states, namely BDP‐H₂P ^.+‐ C₆₀ ^.? and BDP‐ZnP ^.+‐ C₆₀ ^{. ?}. As such, the sequence of energy transfer and electron transfer in the present models mimics the events of natural photosynthesis.     

A Bioorthogonal Small‐Molecule‐Switch System for Controlling Protein Function in Live Cells

Chemically induced dimerization (CID) has proven to be a powerful tool for modulating protein interactions. However, the traditional dimerizer rapamycin has limitations in certain in vivo applications because of its slow reversibility and its affinity for endogenous proteins. Described herein is a bioorthogonal system for rapidly reversible CID. A novel dimerizer with synthetic ligand of FKBP′ (SLF′) linked to trimethoprim (TMP). The SLF′ moiety binds to the F36V mutant of FK506‐binding protein (FKBP) and the TMP moiety binds to E. coli dihydrofolate reductase (eDHFR). SLF′‐TMP‐induced heterodimerization of FKBP(F36V) and eDHFR with a dissociation constant of 0.12 μM . Addition of TMP alone was sufficient to rapidly disrupt this heterodimerization. Two examples are presented to demonstrate that this system is an invaluable tool, which can be widely used to rapidly and reversibly control protein function in vivo.     

Topological mixing in -spaces

If is a proper -space and a non-elementary discrete group of isometries acting properly discontinuously on it is shown that the geodesic flow on the quotient space is topologically mixing, provided that the generalized Busemann function has zeros on the boundary and the non-wandering set of the flow equals the whole quotient space of geodesics (the latter being redundant when is compact). Applications include the proof of topological mixing for (A) compact negatively curved polyhedra, (B) compact quotients of proper geodesically complete -spaces by a one-ended group of isometries and (C) finite -dimensional ideal polyhedra.