Antioxidant and Pro-Oxidant Capacities as Mechanisms of Photoprotection of Olive Polyphenols on UVA-Damaged Human Keratinocytes

A wide variety of polyphenols are reported to have considerable antioxidant and skin photoprotective effects, although the mechanisms of action are not fully known. Environmentally friendly and inexpensive sources of natural bioactive compounds, such as olive mill wastewater (OMWW), the by-product of olive-oil processing, can be considered an economic source of bioactive polyphenols, with a range of biological activities, useful as chemotherapeutic or cosmeceutical agents. Green strategies, such as the process based on membrane technologies, allow to recover active polyphenols from this complex matrix. This study aims to evaluate the antioxidant, pro-oxidant, and photoprotective effects, including the underlying action mechanism(s), of the ultra-filtered (UF) OMWW fractions, in order to substantiate their use as natural cosmeceutical ingredient. Six chemically characterized UF-OMWW fractions, from Italian and Greek olive cultivar processing, were investigated for their antioxidant activities, measured by Trolox Equivalent Antioxidant Capacity (TEAC), LDL oxidation inhibition, and ROS-quenching ability in UVA-irradiated HEKa (Human Epidermal Keratinocytes adult) cultures. The photoprotective properties of UF-OMWW were assayed as a pro-oxidant-mediated pro-apoptotic effect on the UVA-damaged HEKa cells, which can be potentially involved in the carcinogenesis process. All the UF-OMWW fractions exerted an effective antioxidant activity in vitro and in cells when administered together with UV-radiation on HEKa. A pro-oxidative and pro-apoptotic effect on the UVA-damaged HEKa cells were observed, suggesting some protective actions of polyphenol fraction on keratinocyte cell cultures.     

Minimum distance of orthogonal line-Grassmann codes in even characteristic

In this paper we determine the minimum distance of orthogonal line-Grassmann codes for q even. The case q odd was solved in [3]. For $n\ne 3$ we also determine their second smallest distance. Furthermore, we show that for q even all minimum weight codewords are equivalent and that the symplectic line-Grassmann codes are proper subcodes of codimension 2n of the orthogonal ones.     

Practical powerful wavelet packet tests for second-order stationarity

Methods designed for second-order stationary time series can be misleading when applied to nonstationary series, often resulting in inaccurate models and poor forecasts. Hence, testing time series stationarity is important especially with the advent of the ‘data revolution’ and the recent explosion in the number of nonstationary time series analysis tools. Most existing stationarity tests rely on a single basis. We propose new tests that use nondecimated basis libraries which permit discovery of a wider range of nonstationary behaviours, with greater power whilst preserving acceptable statistical size. Our tests work with a wide range of time series including those whose marginal distributions possess heavy tails. We provide freeware R software that implements our tests and a range of graphical tools to identify the location and duration of nonstationarities. Theoretical and simulated power calculations show the superiority of our wavelet packet approach in a number of important situations and, hence, we suggest that the new tests are useful additions to the analyst's toolbox.     

Maslov complex germ and high-frequency Gaussian beams for cold plasma in a toroidal domain

Asymptotic vector solutions describing, in the linear approximation, the passage of high-frequency Gaussian beams through an electroneutral plasma occupying a toroidal domain T (modeling a tokamak chamber) are constructed in a fairly effective form by using the Maslov complex germ theory. The particle density and the magnetic field in T are assumed to be given. Based on Radon transforms, the reconstruction of the particle density and the magnetic field from measurements of the characteristics of Gaussian beams after their passage through T is discussed.     

Reference distribution functions for magnetically confined plasmas from the minimum entropy production theorem and the MaxEnt principle,subject to the scale-invariant restrictions

We derive the expression of the reference distribution function for magnetically confined plasmas far from the thermodynamic equilibrium. The local equilibrium state is fixed by imposing the minimum entropy production theorem and the maximum entropy (MaxEnt) principle, subject to scale invariance restrictions. After a short time, the plasma reaches a state close to the local equilibrium. This state is referred to as the reference state. The aim of this Letter is to determine the reference distribution function (RDF) when the local equilibrium state is defined by the above mentioned principles. We prove that the RDF is the stationary solution of a generic family of stochastic processes corresponding to an universal Landau-type equation with white parametric noise. As an example of application, we consider a simple, fully ionized, magnetically confined plasmas, with auxiliary Ohmic heating. The free parameters are linked to the transport coefficients of the magnetically confined plasmas, by the kinetic theory.     

The modified electronic mass approach for the adiabatic corrections in H2

A theory of the modified (distance dependent) electronic mass effect for two-electron diatomic molecules is presented. The modified electronic mass correction is compared with the diagonal Born-Oppenheimer correction to the potential energy curves of H₂, suggesting that the adiabatic correction is almost exactly accounted for by this effect.     

On the existence of solutions for nonlinear impulsive periodic viable problems

In this paper we prove the existence of periodic solutions for nonlinear impulsive viable problems monitored by differential inclusions of the type x′(t)∈F(t,x(t))+G(t,x(t)). Our existence theorems extend, in a broad sense, some propositions proved in [10] and improve a result due to Hristova-Bainov in [13].     

Mass spectrometry and combinatorial chemistry: a short outline.

The rapid evolution of combinatorial chemistry in recent years has led to a dramatic improvement in synthetic capabilities. The goal is to accelerate the discovery of molecules showing affinity against a target, such as an enzyme or a receptor, through the simultaneous synthesis of a great number of structurally diverse compounds. This is done by generating combinatorial libraries containing as many as hundreds or thousands of compounds. The need to test all these compounds led to the development of high-throughput screening (HTS) techniques, and also high-throughput analytical techniques capable of assessing the occurrence, structure and purity of the products. In order to be applied effectively to the characterization of combinatorial libraries, an analytical technique must be adequately sensitive (to analyse samples which are typically produced in nanomole amounts or less), fast, affordable and easy to automate (to minimize analysis time and operator intervention). Although no method alone can meet all the analytical challenges underlying this task, the recent progress in mass spectrometric (MS) instrumentation renders this technique an essential tool for scientists working in this area. We describe here relevant aspects of the use of MS in combinatorial technologies, such as current methods of characterization, purification and screening of libraries. Some examples from our laboratory deal with the analysis of pooled oligomeric libraries containing n x 324(n = 1, 2) compounds, using both on-line high-performance liquid chromatography/MS with an ion trap mass spectrometer, and direct infusion into a triple quadrupole instrument. In the first approach, MS and product ion MS/MS with automatic selection of the precursor were performed in one run, allowing library confirmation and structural elucidation of unexpected by-products. The second approach used MS scans to characterize the entire library and also precursor ion and neutral loss scans to detect selectively components with given structural characteristics.