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The extracellular heat shock proteins (eHsp) family act as molecular chaperones regulating folding, transporting protein and are associated with immune modulation in different physiological and pathological processes. They have been localized in different gestational tissues and their concentration in amniotic fluid and serum has been determined. In the present study, we proposed to determine the concentration of eHsp‐60, ‐70, IL‐1β and TNFα in the serum of pregnant patients with 34 weeks of gestation with and without clinical evidences of preeclampsia (PE). Our results indicate significant increase of these markers in patients with PE with respect to healthy pregnant patients without active labor. Finally, the concentration of eHsp‐60 and ‐70 correlated positively with the hepatic dysfunction markers uric acid, lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (GOT) glutamic pyruvic transaminase (GPT), and inflammatory IL‐1β and TNFα response. In conclusion, our results demonstrate a strong associated between Hsp and marker of hepatic dysfunction.

Background Morphological features are the most common criteria used to select human embryos for transfer to a receptive uterine cavity. However, such characteristics are not valid for embryos in cellular arrest. Even aneuploid embryos can have normal morphology, and some euploid embryos have aberrant morphology. The aim of this study was to quantify the expression profile of hsa-miR-21-3 p , -24-1-5 p , -191-5 p , and -372-5 p in culture media on day 5 of in vitro embryo development, and compare the profiles of two groups of media classified by outcome: successful (n = 25) or unsuccessful (n = 25) implantation pregnancy. Methods Fifty patients were accepted in the Department of Reproductive Biology of a Hospital in México City, based on the Institutional inclusion criteria for in vitro fertilization. Embryos were transferred to the women on day 5 of cultivation, and the culture media were collected. RNA was isolated from each culture medium with TRIzol reagent, and microRNA (miRNA) expression was detected through RT-PCR with specific primers. Expression bands were quantified by reading optical density. Results There was a 5.2-fold greater expression of hsa-miR-191-5 p in the pregnancy-related culture media ( p  ≤ 0.001) and a 1.6-fold greater level of hsa-miR-24-1-5 p ( p  = 0.043) in the media corresponding to non-pregnant women. No significant difference existed between the two groups hsa-miR-21-3 p ( p  = 0.38) or hsa-miR-372-5 p ( p  = 0.41). Conclusions Regarding adequate in vitro embryo development, hsa-miR-191-5 p could possibly represent a positive biomarker, while has-miR-24-1-5 p may indicate poor prognosis. This former miRNA modulates IGF2BP-1 and IGF2R, associated with the implantation window. On the other hand, hsa-miR-24-1-5 p may be related to a poor prognosis of human embryo development.

Background Escherichia coli ( E. coli ) is one of the main bacteria associated with preterm premature rupture of membranes by increasing pro -matrix metalloproteinase 9 ( pro MMP-9) and degradation of type IV collagen in human feto-maternal interface (HFMi). pro MMP-9 is regulated by progesterone (P4) but it is unclear whether P4 inhibits pro MMP in human maternal decidual (MDec). This study aimed to determine a role of P4 on pro MMP-2 and − 9 and type IV collagen induced by E. coli infection in MDec. Methods Nine HFMi were mounted in a Transwell system. MDec was stimulated with P4 or E. coli for 3-, 6-, or 24-hours. pro MMP-2, -9 and type IV collagen were assessed. Results Gelatin zymography revealed an increase in pro MMP-9 after 3, 6, and 24 h of stimulating MDec with E. coli . Using immunofluorescence, it was confirmed the increase in the HFMi tissue and a reduction on the amount of type IV collagen leading to the separation of fetal amniochorion and MDEc. The degradative activity of proMMP-9 was reduced by 20% by coincubation with P4. Conclusions P4 modulates the activity of pro MMP-9 induced by E. coli stimulation but it was unable to completely reverse the degradation of type IV collagen in human MDec tissue.

We propose a standard hybridizable discontinuous Galerkin (HDG) method to solve a classic problem in fluids mechanics: Darcy’s law. This model describes the behavior of a fluid trough a porous medium and it is relevant to the flow patterns on the macro scale. Here we present the theoretical results of existence and uniqueness of the weak and discontinuous solution of the second order elliptic equation, as well as the predicted convergence order of the HDG method. We highlight the use and implementation of Dubiner polynomial basis functions that allow us to develop a general and efficient high order numerical approximation. We also show some numerical examples that validate the theoretical results.

The phytopathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea, which causes gray mold disease, has become a limiting factor on agricultural production. B. cinerea field control is made mainly using chemical fungicides, which has led to the spreading of resistant populations of this fungus. Thus, the quest of new fungicides molecules has been focused on synthesis of natural product-inspired compounds. The main aim of this work is to synthesize prenylated phenol derivatives and to assess their potential application as antifungal agents with minimal phytotoxic effects. Thus, new prenylphenols (4, 5, and 7) have been obtained by microwave irradiation with yields ranging from 2.4% to 42.9%, whereas compounds 8 and 9 were synthesized with yields of 25.6% and 54.1%, respectively. The effect of different concentrations of these compounds on B. cinerea spore germination, and their phytotoxic effect on tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) seed germination and root growth, were evaluated. Obtained results indicate that biological activities of all tested compounds are concentration-dependent. Interestingly, compound 7 exhibits the highest antifungal activity against B. cinerea spores (IC50 < 50 µg/mL) with minimal phytotoxicity on tomato seed germination and root growth. In contrast, compounds 2 and 3 are active against spores (IC50 = 461 and 325 µg/mL, respectively) but, at the same time, their phytotoxicity is important at the highest concentrations. These results indicated that the presence of hydroxyl and methyl substituents on the aromatic ring of these compounds induces variations in biological activities, and compound 7 could be a promising candidate as a sporicidal agent.

Flavanones (–)-(2 S )-5,4’-dihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone (1) and (–)-(2 S )-5,3’,4’-trihydroxy-7-methoxyflavanone (2) were isolated from the extracts of Calceolaria thyrsiflora Graham, an endemic perennial small shrub growing in the central zone of Chile. The absolute configuration of these compounds was resolved by optical rotation experiments and in silico calculations. Three analogs (3, 4, and 5) were synthesized to do structure-activity relationships with the biological assays studied. Biological tests revealed that only flavanone 2 exhibited a moderate inhibitory activity against the methicillin-resistant strain S . aureus MRSA 97-77 (MIC value of 50 µg/ml). In addition, flavanone 2 showed a potent, selective, and competitive inhibition of 5-hLOX, which supports the traditional use of this plant as an anti-inflammatory in diseases of the respiratory tract. Also, 2 exhibited cytotoxic and selective effects against B16-F10 (8.07 ± 1.61 µM) but 4.6- and 17-fold lesser activity than etoposide and taxol.

We present a procedure to generate bipartite grids for simply connected domains in 2-D and 3-D, of prescribed size and controlled regularity elements. The mesh elements K of the triangulation satisfy ςK < C, where ςK is the regularity and C is a constant depending on the shape parameters of the initial mesh. Bipartite grids permit a well-posed mixed-mixed variational formulation of problems, such as the porous media flow equation and other linear physical phenomena, as well as Galerkin-type discontinuous relaxations.

The synthesis of twenty six prenylated phenols derivatives is reported. These compounds were obtained under mild conditions via Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution (EAS) coupling reactions between phenol derivatives containing electron-donor subtituents and 3-methyl-2-buten-1-ol using BF3×OEt2. Dialkylations were also produced with this method. The formation of a chroman ring by intramolecular cyclization between a sp2 carbon from the prenyl group with the hydroxyl substituent in the ortho position occurred with some phenols. All the synthesized compounds were evaluated as antioxidants according to a DPPH radical scavenging activity assay. IC50 values of five synthesized compounds indicated they were as good antioxidants as Trolox™.

In this paper, a possibilistic disjunctive logic programming approach for modeling uncertain, incomplete, and inconsistent information is defined. This approach introduces the use of possibilistic disjunctive clauses, which are able to capture incomplete information and states of a knowledge base at the same time. By considering a possibilistic logic program as a possibilistic logic theory, a construction of a possibilistic logic programming semantic based on answer sets and the proof theory of possibilistic logic is defined. It shows that this possibilistic semantics for disjunctive logic programs can be characterized by a fixed-point operator. It is also shown that the suggested possibilistic semantics can be computed by a resolution algorithm and the consideration of optimal refutations from a possibilistic logic theory. In order to manage inconsistent possibilistic logic programs, a preference criterion between inconsistent possibilistic models is defined. In addition, the approach of cuts for restoring consistency of an inconsistent possibilistic knowledge base is adopted. The approach is illustrated in a medical scenario.

Two new compounds 2β-acetoxy-15-phenyl-(22,25-acetoxy)-ent-labda-8(17), 13(E)-diene (9) and 2β-hydroxy-15-phenyl-(22,24,26-trimethoxy)-ent-labda-8(17),13(E)-diene (10) have been prepared by an Electrophilic Aromatic Substitution (EAS) reaction between diterpenyl allylic alcohols and 1,4-hydroquinone or 1,3,5-trimethoxybenzene using BF3.Et2O as a catalyst. These compounds, along with a series of natural ent-labdanes 3-8, have been evaluated for their in vitro cytotoxic activities against cultured human cancer cells of PC-3 and DU-145 human prostate cancer, MCF-7 and MDA-MB-231 breast carcinoma and dermal human fibroblasts (DHF). Some compounds displayed inhibition at µM IC50 values.