Levels Of Constituents Research Articles

Cytotoxicity and Genotoxicity of E-Cigarette Generated Aerosols Containing Diverse Flavoring Products and Nicotine in Oral Epithelial Cell Lines.

Electronic cigarettes are the most commonly used nicotine containing product among teenagers. The oral epithelium is the first site of exposure and our recent work revealed considerable diversity among e-liquids for composition and level of chemical constituents that impact nicotine deposition in a human oral-trachea cast and affect the formation of reactive carbonyls. Here, we evaluate the dose response for cytotoxicity and genotoxicity of e-cigarette-generated aerosols from 10 diverse flavored e-liquid products with and without nicotine compared with unflavored in 3 immortalized oral epithelial cell lines. Three e-liquids, Blue Pucker, Love Potion, and Jamestown caused ≥20% cell toxicity assessed by the neutral red uptake assay. Nine products induced significant levels of oxidative stress up to 2.4-fold quantified by the ROS-Glo assay in at least 1 cell line, with dose response seen for Love Potion with and without nicotine across all cell lines. Lipid peroxidation detected by the thiobarbituric acid reactive substances assay was less common among products; however, dose response increases up to 12-fold were seen for individual cell lines. Micronuclei formation indicative of genotoxicity was increased up to 5-fold for some products. Blue Pucker was the most genotoxic e-liquid, inducing micronuclei across all cell lines irrespective of nicotine status. A potency score derived from all assays identified Blue Pucker and Love Potion as the most hazardous e-liquids. These in vitro acute exposure studies provide new insight about the potential for some flavored vaping products to induce significant levels of oxidative stress and genotoxicity.

Constituency map of the alternative for Germany (AfD) vote in 2017: analysing characteristic differences via multiple correspondence analysis

ABSTRACT The Alternative for Germany (AfD) party achieved a striking success in the 2017 German federal election. Using structural constituency data, this article explores in which constituencies the AfD gained more votes and why. As it transformed from a single-issue, anti-Euro party with populist tendencies into a right-wing populist party, the AfD refined its position and focus. I argue that at the constituency level, the AfD vote was linked to the issue of immigration and the anti-establishment trend. The demands voiced by AfD voters can be linked to certain political and socioeconomic characteristics of their constituencies which made them susceptible to the AfD’s right-wing populist rhetoric. Applying the statistical technique of multiple correspondence analysis (MCA), I examine the relationship between these characteristics and the AfD vote share at the constituency level. The AfD was likely to win more votes in constituencies characterised by an anti-establishment trend and anti-immigrant/refugee sentiment, the latter of which was linked not to the actual immigration rate, but rather to a combination of a low level of education and a high level of macroeconomic development.

Johannesburg Drift: Variations of the Uncanny in Ivan Vladislavić’s The Exploded View

This article focuses on some of the major scenes of the uncanny in Ivan Vladislavić’s The Exploded View. It identifies, describes, and connects the multiple registers of the uncanny operative in The Exploded View. It considers these multiple registers of the uncanny as parts of an overarching aesthetic framework discernible in the novel. This aesthetic framework, what we could call Vladislavić’s aesthetic of the uncanny, is discussed with a focus on three constituent and dynamic levels of activity: the formal level (textual repetition), the psychosocial level (“the political uncanny” and psychogeography), and the historical level. The article ultimately makes a case for using the aforementioned levels of the uncanny as productive frames for reading Vladislavić’s novel.

Durational Patterns of Recurrent Multiword Combinations in Mandarin Spontaneous Speech Production.

This study examined the prosodic realization of recurrent multiword combinations (RMC) in Mandarin spontaneous speech production and asked (a) whether speakers produce RMCs differently compared to novel combinations, and (b) how the RMC durational patterns are connected to its distributional properties and constituent structures. RMCs were first defined based on their distributional criteria in a large representative corpus, and a subset of these RMCs used in a phone-aligned spontaneous speech corpus were identified for the analyses of the relationship between their duration on one end and their distributional statistics (RMC frequency and lexical associations in two directions) and constituent structures (projected constituent level and boundary) on the other. The results suggest that Mandarin speakers are sensitive to the multifaceted multiword distributional properties, which are mediated by the constituent structures of RMCs. We discuss how these distinct durational patterns contribute to our understanding of the pragmatic and interactional role of multiword units in language processing and development.

Monitoring alpha-synuclein oligomerization and aggregation using bimolecular fluorescence complementation assays: What you see is not always what you get.

Bimolecular fluorescence complementation (BiFC) was introduced a decade ago as a method to monitor alpha‐synuclein (α‐syn) oligomerization in intact cells. Since then, several α‐syn BiFC cellular assays and animal models have been developed based on the assumption that an increase in the fluorescent signal correlates with increased α‐syn oligomerization or aggregation. Despite the increasing use of these assays and models in mechanistic studies, target validation and drug screening, there have been no reports that (1) validate the extent to which the BiFC fluorescent signal correlates with α‐syn oligomerization at the biochemical level; (2) provide a structural characterization of the oligomers and aggregates formed by the BiFC. To address this knowledge gap, we first analysed the expression level and oligomerization properties of the individual constituents of α‐syn‐Venus, one of the most commonly used BiFC systems, in HEK‐293 & SH‐SY5Y cells from three different laboratories using multiple biochemical approaches and techniques. Next, we investigated the biochemical and aggregation properties of α‐syn upon co‐expression of both BiFC fragments. Our results show that (1) the C‐terminal‐Venus fused to α‐syn (α‐syn‐Vc) is present in much lower abundance than its counterpart with N‐terminal‐Venus fused to α‐syn (Vn‐α‐syn); (2) Vn‐α‐syn exhibits a high propensity to form oligomers and higher‐order aggregates; and (3) the expression of either or both fragments does not result in the formation of α‐syn fibrils or cellular inclusions. Furthermore, our results suggest that only a small fraction of Vn‐α‐syn is involved in the formation of the fluorescent BiFC complex and that some of the fluorescent signal may arise from the association or entrapment of α‐syn‐Vc in Vn‐α‐syn aggregates. The fact that the N‐terminal fragment exists predominantly in an aggregated state also indicates that one must exercise caution when using this system to investigate α‐syn oligomerization in cells or in vivo. Altogether, our results suggest that cellular and animal models of oligomerization, aggregation and cell‐to‐cell transmission based on the α‐syn BiFC systems should be thoroughly characterized at the biochemical level to ensure that they reproduce the process of interest and measure what they are intended to measure.

Microvascular dysfunction in COVID-19: the MYSTIC study

RationalePre-clinical and autopsy studies have fueled the hypothesis that a dysregulated vascular endothelium might play a central role in the pathogenesis of ARDS and multi-organ failure in COVID-19.ObjectivesTo comprehensively characterize and quantify microvascular alterations in patients with COVID-19.MethodsHospitalized adult patients with moderate-to-severe or critical COVID-19 (n = 23) were enrolled non-consecutively in this prospective, observational, cross-sectional, multi-center study. Fifteen healthy volunteers served as controls. All participants underwent intravital microscopy by sidestream dark field imaging to quantify vascular density, red blood cell velocity (VRBC), and glycocalyx dimensions (perfused boundary region, PBR) in sublingual microvessels. Circulating levels of endothelial and glycocalyx-associated markers were measured by multiplex proximity extension assay and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Measurements and main resultsCOVID-19 patients showed an up to 90% reduction in vascular density, almost exclusively limited to small capillaries (diameter 4–6 µm), and also significant reductions of VRBC. Especially, patients on mechanical ventilation showed severe glycocalyx damage as indicated by higher PBR values (i.e., thinner glycocalyx) and increased blood levels of shed glycocalyx constituents. Several markers of endothelial dysfunction were increased and correlated with disease severity in COVID-19. PBR (AUC 0.75, p = 0.01), ADAMTS13 (von Willebrand factor-cleaving protease; AUC 0.74, p = 0.02), and vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A; AUC 0.73, p = 0.04) showed the best discriminatory ability to predict 60-day in-hospital mortality.ConclusionsOur data clearly show severe alterations of the microcirculation and the endothelial glycocalyx in patients with COVID-19. Future therapeutic approaches should consider the importance of systemic vascular involvement in COVID-19.

Smoke Chemistry, In Vitro Cytotoxicity, and Genotoxicity Demonstrates Enhanced Toxicity of Cigarillos Compared With Cigarettes

There has been limited toxicity testing of cigarillos, including comparison to cigarettes. This study compared the smoke chemistry and the cytotoxic and genotoxic potential of 10 conventional cigarettes and 10 cigarillos based on the greatest market share. Whole smoke and total particulate matter (TPM) were generated using the Canadian Intense and International Organization for Standardization puffing protocols. Tobacco-specific nitrosamines, carbonyls, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons were measured using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. TPM smoke extracts were used for the in vitro assays. Cytotoxicity was assessed in human bronchial epithelial continuously cultured cell line cells using the neutral red uptake assay. Genotoxic potential was assessed using the micronucleus (human lung adenocarcinoma continuously cultured cell line cells), Ames, and thymidine kinase assays. TPM from all cigarillos tested was more cytotoxic than cigarettes. Micronucleus formation was significantly greater for cigarillos compared with cigarettes at the highest dose of TPM, with or without rat liver S9 fraction. In the Ames test +S9, both tobacco products exhibited significant dose-dependent increases in mutation frequency, indicating metabolic activation is required for genotoxicity. In the thymidine kinase assay +S9, cigarillos showed a significantly enhanced mutation frequency although both tobacco products were positive. The levels of all measured polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, tobacco-specific nitrosamines, and carbonyls (except acrolein) were significantly greater in cigarillos than cigarettes. The Canadian Intense puffing protocol demonstrated increased smoke constituent levels compared with International Organization for Standardization. Even though the gas vapor phase was not tested, the results of this study showed that under the tested conditions the investigated cigarillos showed greater toxicity than comparator cigarettes. This study found that there is significantly greater toxicity in the tested U.S. marketed cigarillos than cigarettes for tobacco constituent levels, cytotoxicity, and genotoxicity. These findings are important for understanding the human health toxicity from the use of cigarillos relative to cigarettes and for building upon knowledge regarding harm from cigarillos to inform risk mitigation strategies.

#Personal vs #Party: A comparative study of candidates’ new media campaigning in Japan and the United Kingdom

AbstractThis paper examines how new media is affecting candidate personal vote seeking behaviour, at the constituency level by comparing data from general elections in two countries with different styles of campaigning – party-centred campaigning in the United Kingdom (2015 & 2017) and candidate-centred campaigning Japan (2014 & 2017). By utilising both content analysis of candidates’ use of new media platforms and in-person interviews with candidates, this study gives a deep description of how individual candidates are using online campaigning and to what degree they are pursuing a personal, rather than party vote. This study confirms that that Japanese candidates use new media to run more candidate centred campaigns, replicating traditional campaign styles, but also finds that other factors, namely candidates’ levels of experience and the strength of the national party, play a role in how candidates utilise new media. Now more so than ever, candidates are relying on personal image promotion as a major element of their campaigns.

Phenolic Compounds Content and Genetic Diversity at Population Level across the Natural Distribution Range of Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi, Ericaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula.

Bearberry (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi) is a medicinal plant traditionally employed for the treatment of urinary tract infections due to high contents of arbutin (hydroquinone β-D-glucoside), which is now mainly used as a natural skin-whitening agent in cosmetics. Bearberry has also been proposed as a natural antioxidant additive due to the high contents of phenolic compounds in leaves. We studied the variation on phenolic compounds in 42 wild populations of bearberry, aiming to elucidate if intrinsic biological, climatic, and/or geographic factors affect phenolic contents across its natural distribution in the Iberian Peninsula. Bearberry leaves were collected during autumn over a three-year period (2014–2016) in populations across a latitude and altitude gradient. Methanolic extracts showed a wide range of variation in total phenols content, and different phenolic profiles regarding arbutin (levels of this major constituent varied from 87 to 232 mg/g dr wt), but also catechin and myricetin contents, which were affected by geographic and climatic factors. Moderate levels of variation on genome size—assessed by flow cytometry—and on two plastid DNA regions were also detected among populations. Genetic and cytogenetic differentiation of populations was weakly but significantly associated to phytochemical diversity. Elite bearberry genotypes with higher antioxidant capacity were subsequently identified.

The exploration of the dispersal of British military families in England following the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010.

Strictly relying on publicly available data, this study depicts and quantifies the spatial pattern of England’s military families with dependent children. England’s Service Pupil Premium for the financial years between 2011 and 2019 is used as a proxy variable to estimate the density of service children at the parliamentary constituency level. Methodologically, the approach allows an assessment of spatial movements of a population or a cohort. The results inform policy makers by providing evidence-based findings about the location of England’s military families and how the distribution has changed between 2011 and 2019. The results show empirical evidence supporting the hypothesis that, at a macro scale, beyond commuting distance, England’s military families are becoming increasingly dispersed. We argue that the findings unveil spatial dynamics that have practical issues of housing, employment, and education regarding military families.

Future foods: Is it possible to design a healthier and more sustainable food supply?

AbstractThere is increasing concern about the negative impact of the modern food system on the health of both us and our planet. As the global population continues to increase, we need to feed everyone without irreparably harming the environment. Moreover, the food produced should be affordable, convenient, safe, nutritious and sustainable. This article reviews some of the recent technological advances being employed to design foods to improve their healthiness and sustainability. In particular, emphasis is placed on how processed foods can be redesigned to make them healthier by altering the nature and structural organisation of their constituents to modulate the way they behave inside our bodies. This includes reducing the levels of undesirable food constituents, such as saturated fat, salt and sugar, as well as incorporating health‐promoting ingredients such as vitamins, minerals, bioactive compounds, prebiotics and probiotics. Moreover, foods are being designed to be masticated and digested more slowly or to release their constituents at particular locations along our gastrointestinal tract, which may help to fight obesity and diabetes by reducing appetite. A focus will also be placed on some of the new technologies being developed to create alternatives to animal products, such as meat, milk and egg, which should reduce the amount of meat consumed and alleviate some of its negative impacts on our environment.

Hormonal Profile Study of Bangladeshi Crossbred Dairy Cows in Relation to Repeat Breeding

The repeat breeding condition affects both the fertility of cows and the economy of farmers and the nation. Normal levels of various biochemical constituents are indispensable for the normal functioning of various body systems of animals, including the reproductive system. The hormonal profile is an indicator of the reproductive status and aids in the prognosis and restoration of animal fertility. The present study explores the implication of four hormones (luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin and prolactin) on the normal cycle breeding process of Bangladeshi normal cyclic cows and repeat breeder dairy cows. Among four hormones, the levels of luteinizing hormone and prolactin were significantly different between the normal cyclic cows and repeat breeder cows. The assessment of hormonal profile aids in ameliorating the repeat breeding conditions of the dairy cows. The findings of the present study could be applied in overcoming repeat breeding problems in dairy cows and thus, economic loss could be lessened.

Hormonal Profile Study of Bangladeshi Crossbred Dairy Cows in Relation to Repeat Breeding

The repeat breeding condition affects both the fertility of cows and the economy of farmers and the nation. Normal levels of various biochemical constituents are indispensable for the normal functioning of various body systems of animals, including the reproductive system. The hormonal profile is an indicator of the reproductive status and aids in the prognosis and restoration of animal fertility. The present study explores the implication of four hormones (luteinizing hormone, follicle-stimulating hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin and prolactin) on the normal cycle breeding process of Bangladeshi normal cyclic cows and repeat breeder dairy cows. Among four hormones, the levels of luteinizing hormone and prolactin were significantly different between the normal cyclic cows and repeat breeder cows. The assessment of hormonal profile aids in ameliorating the repeat breeding conditions of the dairy cows. The findings of the present study could be applied in overcoming repeat breeding problems in dairy cows and thus, economic loss could be lessened.

Active matter: Quantifying the departure from equilibrium.

Active matter systems are driven out of equilibrium at the level of individual constituents. One widely studied class are systems of athermal particles that move under the combined influence of interparticle interactions and self-propulsions, with the latter evolving according to the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck stochastic process. Intuitively, these so-called active Ornstein-Uhlenbeck particle (AOUP) systems are farther from equilibrium for longer self-propulsion persistence times. Quantitatively, this is confirmed by the increasing equal-time velocity correlations (which are trivial in equilibrium) and by the increasing violation of the Einstein relation between the self-diffusion and mobility coefficients. In contrast, the entropy production rate, calculated from the ratio of the probabilities of the position space trajectory and its time-reversed counterpart, has a nonmonotonic dependence on the persistence time. Thus, it does not properly quantify the departure of AOUP systems from equilibrium.

ALLEVIATION OF SALINITY STRESS THROUGH MAGNETIC WATER AND NANO ZINC AND MAGNESIUM TREATMENT OF LEMONGRASS PLANT (Cymbopogen citratus L.)

The effect of magnetic water compared with saline water , nano-Mg at 100 and 200 ppm and nano-Zn at 50 and 100 ppm treatments and their combinations on lemongrass plants (Cymbopogen citratus L.) was studied during 2018/2019 and 2019/2020.Vegetative growth parameters including plant height, number of tillers/ plant, leaf area, herb fresh and dry weights were greatly affected by both studied factors. Magnetic water treatments recorded the highest values of all vegetative growth parameters compared with saline water. However, all nanoparticles of Mg and Zn treatments were superior than control in promoting vegetative growth parameters and the treatments of 100 ppm nano-Zn and 200 ppm nano-Mg recorded the maximum values of vegetative growth parameters. The combined treatments showed that the highest values of vegetative growth measurements were obtained in plants irrigated with magnetic water and sprayed with 100 ppm nano-Zn, in both cuts In 1st and 2ndseasons.N, P, K and Mg contents were significantly higher in lemongrass plants irrigated with magnetic water than those irrigated with saline water. Moreover, the treatments of 100 ppm nano-Zn exhibited the highest significant values of N, P, K, whereas 100 and 200 ppm of nano-Mg treatments were superior in recording the highest values of Mg content, in the two seasons. The combination treatments of lemongrass plants irrigated with magnetic water and sprayed with 100 ppm nano-Zn or 200 ppm nano-Mg produced the richest values of N, P and K% D.W., whereas, the treatments of magnetic water combined with 100 or 200 ppm of nano-Mg produced the best Mg content.A great effect of magnetic water irrigation on increasing Fe and Zn contents than saline water treatments. The treatments of 50 and 100 ppm of nano-Zn were more effective than control and other treatments in maximizing Fe and Zn levels. The combined treatments of lemongrass plants irrigated with magnetic water and sprayed with 100 ppm of nano-Zn exhibited the highest values of Fe and Zn% D.W. in most cases. Additionally, total chlorophyll greatly increased in lemongrass plants irrigated with magnetic water than those irrigated with saline water, whereas the treatment of 200 ppm nano-Mg increased it than others. Interaction effect showed that, plants irrigated with magnetic water and sprayed with nano-Mg at 200 ppm exhibited the highest values of total chlorophyll.Proline and glycine betaine contents were greatly decreased with magnetic water treatment compared with saline water. Meanwhile, all applied treatments were effective in decreasing the levels of both constituents than control, which considered a good indicator to alleviation of water salinity stress on lemongrass plants through magnetic water and nanoparticles of Mg and Zn applications. Finally, volatile oil %, was greatly increased in lemongrass plants irrigated with magnetic water, especially the treatment of nano-Zn at 100 ppm as compared of others in this respect in both cuts and the two studied seasons. The interaction between the two studied factors was significant which means that both factors act together in improving volatile oil content in lemongrass herb

Groundwater pollution: Occurrence, detection, and remediation of organic and inorganic pollutants

Groundwater pollution is a result of natural and anthropogenic activities. While the elevated levels of various inorganic constituents could be attributed to natural processes, such as geological weathering and aquifer characteristics, many times, anthropogenic activities also substantially pollute the groundwater. On the contrary, the occurrence of organic pollutants is primarily due to various anthropogenic activities. Extensive groundwater mining, the hydraulic connection between groundwater and other surface water bodies, and leaking underground buried infrastructure also contribute to groundwater pollution. Water resources are scarce commodities, and preserving groundwater quality is of critical concern. This paper documents instances of groundwater quality impact during the year 2019 due to both natural and anthropogenic activities throughout the world. PRACTITIONER POINTS: Groundwater pollution problems reported during the year 2019 are reviewed and documented. Occurrence of organic, inorganic, and microbial pollutants in groundwater is reported. Remediation technologies for selected inorganic pollutants are reviewed and documented.

Potency of Combining Eucalyptus camaldulensis subsp. camaldulensis with Low-Dose Cisplatin in A549 Human Lung Adenocarcinomas and MCF-7 Breast Adenocarcinoma.

Background: Lung and breast cancers are common in the world and represent major public health problems. Systemic chemotherapy is an effective way to prolong survival but it is associated with side effects. Plants are used as traditional treatments for many types of cancers, mostly in combination with chemotherapy. We investigated the antitumor effect of ethanolic (EE) and aqueous (AE) extracts of Eucalyptus camaldulensis on human alveolar adenocarcinoma basal epithelial cells (A549) and breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7) and checked the synergistic effect of the combination with low-dose cisplatin (CDDP). Methods: AE and EE were characterized for their secondary metabolites including content of phenol and antioxidant activity of both extracts. Cell viability was tested by the neutral red assay and MTT. Combinations of extract with low-dose CDDP on A549, MCF-7 cells, and normal cells peripheral blood mononuclear cells was used to study cell viability. Results: AE contains higher level of active constituents than EE. Higher antioxidant activity was observed in AE. Both extracts showed cytotoxic activity on A549 and MCF-7 cells. Moreover, combining E. camaldulensis with low-dose CDDP increases significantly the cell death of treated cells in comparison to those treated with CDDP alone. Conclusions: Our results highlight a new therapeutic concept that combines Eucalyptus camaldulensis with low-dose CDDP to treat lung and breast adenocarcinoma.

Bioaccumulation of heavy metals, antioxidants, and metabolic enzymes in the crab Scylla serrata from different regions of Tuticorin, Southeast Coast of India

The present study was performed to analyze the bioaccumulation of heavy metals, biochemical constituents, antioxidants, and metabolic enzymes in the crab Scylla serrata from different regions of Tuticorin, Southeast Coast of India. The study area consists of Threspuram and Harbour Beach which were polluted environments due to the discharge of industrial effluents and domestic sewage into them. Punnakayal, which is a low-polluted environment where the in-situ culture of S. serrata is carried out by local fish farmers, was selected as well. The results revealed that the level of heavy metals, biochemical constituents, antioxidants, and metabolic enzymes were significantly high in the crabs collected from Threspuram and Harbour Beach compared to the crabs collected from Punnakayal. This study indicates that crabs from polluted environments have significant heavy metals bioaccumulation which leads to elevated antioxidants and metabolic enzyme levels. This implies that the crabs are under oxidative and metabolic stress.

Two Contrasting Constituencies in the Heart of England

AbstractThis article compares two parliamentary constituencies in Warwickshire: one which might be expected to be Conservative but is held by Labour, and the other, a Labour seat for over fifty years, but now held by the Conservatives. Constituency level analyses permit a more fine‐grained analysis of electoral trends, taking account of demographic factors otherwise being overlooked. Labour needs to be able to appeal to the aspirational voters moving into Nuneaton.

Cobbler, Stick to Your Last? Social Democrats’ Electoral Returns from Labour Market Policy

AbstractIn this article, we examine how labour market policy interventions, notably short-time work (STW), affect voting behaviour in times of electoral downturn. We use the 2009 German general elections as an example. This is a particularly interesting case because the grand coalition of Christian democrats (CDU/CSU) and social democrats (SPD) was up for re-election against the backdrop of a major recession following the 2007/08 financial crisis and extensively used STW policies to counteract rising unemployment. Interestingly, STW policy and unemployment vary considerably between regions. We exploit this variance to create a unique dataset that combines regional information on STW policy and unemployment in 299 German electoral constituencies with individual data from the post-election survey. Our results show that especially the SPD profited from high STW rates at constituency level on election day, but this policy was insufficient to preclude the major losses social democrats suffered during the election. More generally, our results indicate that classic labour market policy can generate electoral support for social democratic parties, even as a “junior partner” in a grand coalition. Nevertheless, it remains unclear whether such support is sufficient for electoral victories.