In pursuit of negative Fukui functions: examples where the highest occupied molecular orbital fails to dominate the chemical reactivity

In our quest to explore molecules with chemically significant regions where the Fukui function is negative, we explored reactions where the frontier orbital that indicates the sites for electrophilic attack is not the highest occupied molecular orbital. The highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) controls the location of the regions where the Fukui function is negative, supporting the postulate that negative values of the Fukui function are associated with orbital relaxation effects and nodal surfaces of the frontier orbitals. Significant negative values for the condensed Fukui function, however, were not observed.

Are drought-resistance promoting bacteria cross-compatible with different plant models?

The association between plant and plant growth promoting bacteria (PGPB) contributes to the successful thriving of plants in extreme environments featured by water shortage. We have recently shown that, with respect to the non-cultivated desert soil, the rhizosphere of pepper plants cultivated under desert farming hosts PGPB communities that are endowed with a large portfolio of PGP traits. Pepper plants exposed to bacterial isolates from plants cultivated under desert farming exhibited a higher tolerance to water shortage, compared with untreated control. This promotion was mediated by a larger root system (up to 40%), stimulated by the bacteria, that enhanced plant ability to uptake water from dry soil. We provide initial evidence that the nature of the interaction can have a limited level of specificity and that PGPB isolates may determine resistance to water stress in plants others than the one of the original isolation. It is apparent that, in relation to plant resistance to water stress, a feature of primary evolutionary importance for all plants, a cross-compatibility between PGPB and different plant models exists at least on a short-term.     

Comparative Cardiac Toxicity of Anthracyclines In Vitro and In Vivo in the Mouse

Purpose

The antineoplastic efficacy of anthracyclines is limited by their cardiac toxicity. In this study, we evaluated the toxicity of doxorubicin, non-pegylated liposomal-delivered doxorubicin, and epirubicin in HL-1 adult cardiomyocytes in culture as well as in the mouse in vivo.

Methods

The cardiomyocytes were incubated with the three anthracyclines (1 µM) to assess reactive oxygen generation, DNA damage and apoptotic cell death. CF-1 mice (10/group) received doxorubicin, epirubicin or non-pegylated liposomal-doxorubicin (10 mg/kg) and cardiac function was monitored by Doppler echocardiography to measure left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF), heart rate (HR) and cardiac output (CO) both prior to and 10 days after drug treatment.

Results

In HL-1 cells, non-pegylated liposomal-doxorubicin generated significantly less reactive oxygen species (ROS), as well as less DNA damage and apoptosis activation when compared with doxorubicin and epirubicin. Cultured breast tumor cells showed similar sensitivity to the three anthracyclines. In the healthy mouse, non-pegylated liposomal doxorubicin showed a minimal and non-significant decrease in LVEF with no change in HR or CO, compared to doxorubicin and epirubicin.

Conclusion

This study provides evidence for reduced cardiac toxicity of non-pegylated-liposomal doxorubicin characterized by attenuation of ROS generation, DNA damage and apoptosis in comparison to epirubicin and doxorubicin.     

Disability Affects the 6-Minute Walking Distance in Obese Subjects (BMI>40 kg/m2)

Introduction

In obese subjects, the relative reduction of the skeletal muscle strength, the reduced cardio-pulmonary capacity and tolerance to effort, the higher metabolic costs and, therefore, the increased inefficiency of gait together with the increased prevalence of co-morbid conditions might interfere with walking. Performance tests, such as the six-minute walking test (6MWT), can unveil the limitations in cardio-respiratory and motor functions underlying the obesity-related disability. Therefore the aims of the present study were: to explore the determinants of the 6-minute walking distance (6MWD) and to investigate the predictors of interruption of the walk test in obese subjects.

Methods

Obese patients [body mass index (BMI)>40 kg/m²] were recruited from January 2009 to December 2011. Anthropometry, body composition, specific questionnaire for Obesity-related Disabilities (TSD-OC test), fitness status and 6MWT data were evaluated. The correlation between the 6MWD and the potential independent variables (anthropometric parameters, body composition, muscle strength, flexibility and disability) were analysed. The variables which were singularly correlated with the response variable were included in a multivariated regression model. Finally, the correlation between nutritional and functional parameters and test interruption was investigated.

Results

354 subjects (87 males, mean age 48.5±14 years, 267 females, mean age 49.8±15 years) were enrolled in the study. Age, weight, height, BMI, fat mass and fat free mass indexes, handgrip strength and disability were significantly correlated with the 6MWD and considered in the multivariate analysis. The determination coefficient of the regression analysis ranged from 0.21 to 0.47 for the different models. Body weight, BMI, waist circumference, TSD-OC test score and flexibility were found to be predictors of the 6MWT interruption.

Discussion

The present study demonstrated the impact of disability in obese subjects, together with age, anthropometric data, body composition and strength, on the 6-minute walking distance.     

Application of CO2 carbon stable isotope analysis to ant trophic ecology

Stable isotope analysis of animal tissues is commonly used to infer diet and trophic position. However, it requires destructive sampling. The analysis of carbon isotopes from exhaled CO₂ is non-invasive and can provide useful ecological information because isotopic CO₂ signatures can reflect the diet and metabolism of an animal. However, this methodology has rarely been used on invertebrates and never on social insects. Here, we first tested whether this method reflects differences in δ¹³C-CO₂ between workers of the Mediterranean ant Crematogaster scutellaris (Olivier) (Hymenoptera: Formicidae, Crematogastrini) fed with sugar from beet (C3; Beta vulgaris L., Amaranthaceae) or cane (C4; Saccharum officinarum L., Poaceae). We found that a significant difference can be obtained after 24 h. Consequently, we used this technique on wild co-occurring ant species with different feeding preferences to assess their reliance on C3 or C4 sources. For this purpose, we sampled workers of C. scutellaris, the invasive garden ant Lasius neglectus (van Loon et al.) (Lasiini), and the harvester ant Messor capitatus (Latreille) (Stenammini). No significant differences in their carbon isotopic signatures were recorded, suggesting that in our study site no niche partitioning occurs based on the carbon pathway, with all species sharing similar resources. However, further analysis revealed that M. capitatus, a seed-eating ant, can be regarded as a C3 specialist, whereas L. neglectus and C. scutellaris are generalists that rely on both C3 and C4 pathways, though with a preference for the former. Our results show that this methodology can be applied even to small animals such as ants and can provide useful information on the diets of generalist omnivores.     

Flow cytometry and live confocal analysis for the evaluation of the uptake and intracellular distribution of FITC-ODN into HaCaT cells

In this study, the mechanism of the internalization and the cellular distribution of 59 fluorescein conjugated PS-ODN (FITC-ODN) after transfection with different mixed lipidic vesicles/oligo complexes (lipoplexes) have been investigated. Mixed lipidic vesicles were prepared with one of the most used cationic lipid (DOTAP) and different amounts of a cholic acid (UDCA) to release the oligo into HaCaT cells. Using flow cytometry, the cellular uptake of the oligo was studied with and without different inhibitors able to block selectively the different pathways involved in the internalization mechanism. The intracellular distribution of the oligo was analyzed by confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM), treating the cells with the lipoplexes and directly observing without any fixing procedure. To better carry out the colocalization studies, fluorescent-labeled markers, specific for the different cellular compartments, were coincubated with 59 fluorescein-conjugated 29-mer phosphorotioate oligonucleotide (FITC-ODN). The different lipidic vesicles affect the internalization mechanism of FITC-ODN. After using the inhibitors, the uptake of complexes involved a different internalization mechanism. The live CLSM analysis demonstrated that, after 1 hour from the complex incubation, the oligo was transferred into cells and localized into the endosomes; after 24 hours, the oligo was intracellularly localized close to the nuclear structure in a punctuate pattern. However, the results from fusion experiments showed also a binding of a quite low amount of oligo with the cell membranes.     

The multidisciplinary therapy in binge eating disorder is able to influence the interdaily stability and sleep quality?

ABSTRACT

We have recently shown that rest-activity circadian rhythm significantly differed in women with Binge Eating Disorder (BED) compared to the Ctrl group. In details, patients with BED exhibited significantly reduced levels of MESOR and Amplitude with respect to the Ctrl group. In addition, in this previous study, the results of the actigraphic sleep monitoring provided no evidence of differences in sleep parameters between the two groups. We expanded the original sample obtaining a total of 28 volunteered women, 14 BED women, and 14 Ctrl. We recorded in all 28 participants a 5-day actigraphic monitoring to detect the rhythmometric parameters, interdaily stability, intradaily variability, L5, M10, and sleep parameters. During the study, BED’s women group kept an individual multidisciplinary therapy lasting five weekly days, from Monday to Friday, consisting in cognitive-behavioral therapy and nutritional program, administered in outpatient care from 8:00 a.m. at 5:00 p.m. The combination of both our previous and current study supports the conclusion that the sleep quality of the BED group is significantly better compared to Ctrl. The non-parametric indexes showed how interdaily stability, significantly correlated to sleep efficiency, was higher in BED group compared to the Ctrl group, indicating a better synchronization of rest-activity circadian rhythm. In conclusion, the maintenance of a regular lifestyle, such as imposed by the multidisciplinary therapy, is important to avoid alterations in the sleep-wake cycle, particularly in patients with eating disorders.