Impact of Sugar on Vision

Sugar forms an integral part of the human body, and contributes to normal body function. However, sugar in high quantities can be detrimental to the body especially to the eye. In the normal concentration, sugar in the form of glucose is found in the aqueous humour, and tears, and serves to provide nourishment to the avascular cornea, and lens respectively. Sugar at this stage may also be used to determine the post mortem interval of a cadaver. However, when in excess as may be seen in patients with diabetes, sugar can cause oxidative stress to the cornea, lens, and retina resulting in cornea oedema, cataract, retinal aneurysm which can contribute significantly to the prevalence of low vision, and vision impairment.

Normal concentration of oral fluid procalcitonin and concentration in periodontitis

Objective. To study the procalcitonin concentration (PCC) in the oral fluid of healthy persons and patients with periodontitis. Materials and methods. The procalcitonin concentration was studied in the oral cavity of 42 patients with periodontitis (main group) and 25 patients with sanitized oral cavity (comparison group). Results. The result medians in the comparison group by 1.658 times exceeded the median in the main group (р = 0,004315) and made up for the main group 114 (64; 144) pg/ml and for the comparison group 189 (117; 485) pg/ml. No differences in the oral fluid PCC concentration between men and women (p = 0,052) were revealed. There was not observed the dependence of the PCC content in the saliva on the age of the examined persons (R = 0.208). Conclusions. The decrease in the oral fluid PCC concentration can be induced by the decrease in the bacterial load due to preliminary sanation of the oral cavity and dilution of the saliva as a result of activation of exudation and salivation processes in periodontium tissue inflammation.

Mechanisms for log normal concentration distributions in the environment

Log normal-like concentration distributions are ubiquitously observed in the environment. However, the mechanistic origins are not well understood. In this paper, we show that first order exponential kinetics onsets log-normal concentration distributions, under certain assumptions. Given the ubiquity of exponential kinetics, e.g., source and sink processes, this model suggests an explanation for the frequent observation in the environment, and elsewhere. We compare this model to other mechanisms affecting concentration distributions, e.g., source mixing. Finally, we discuss possible implications for data analysis and modelling, e.g., log-normal rates and fluxes.

High Concentration of Glucose Increases Reactive Oxygen Species Generation and Apoptosis Induced by Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Pathway in Rabbit Corneal Epithelial Cells

Objective. To investigate the effect of high concentration of glucose on reactive oxygen species (ROS) production in rabbit corneal epithelial cells (RECEs) and explore whether the increased ROS initiates the apoptosis process of RECEs through oxidative stress and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress pathway. Methods. RECEs were treated by different concentrations of glucose for a while, and then the production of ROS was detected by flow cytometry. The expressions of PERK, p-PERK, Akt, p-Akt, and CHOP were determined by western blot, and the cell viability was measured by Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8). Flow cytometry was used to detect the early apoptosis rate. Meanwhile, the effects of N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), an active oxygen inhibitor, on the experimental results were observed. Results. Compared with the normal glucose concentration group, the fluorescence intensity of ROS in the high concentration (1 mM glucose) of glucose group was significantly increased (P<0.05). NAC-inhibited ROS production was induced by high concentration of glucose (P<0.05).Western blot demonstrated that the expressions of the p-PERK and CHOP increased significantly (P<0.05), the p-Akt expression decreased (P<0.05), and the PERK and Akt expressions did not change significantly in the high concentration of glucose group compared to the normal concentration group. CCK-8 results revealed that compared with the normal concentration of glucose group, the cell activity of the high concentration of glucose group decreased. For the cells in the high concentration of glucose group, the cell survival rate of NAC-treated cells was higher than that of untreated (P<0.05). The flow cytometry results indicated that the early apoptosis rate of the cells in the high concentration of glucose group increased in contrast with that in the normal concentration of glucose group (P<0.05). Treating the cells in the high concentration of glucose group with NAC could reduce the cell apoptosis resulted from high glucose (P<0.05). Conclusions. High concentration of glucose may induce the formation of ROS which leads to oxidative stress and ER stress in RECEs and even leads to cell apoptosis. The reactive oxygen inhibitor, NAC, can play a protective character in the high concentration of glucose environment. These results might provide theoretical basis for the study of the diabetes-related dry eye.

Epizootiologic survey of selenium and vitamin E concentrations in dairy cows of Thessaioniki’s county

The purpose of this research was the study of selenium (Se) and vitamin E (vit. E) concentrations in dairy cows blood within the region of Thessaloniki. The survey included 65 dairy cow farms in the region of Thessaloniki from which samples of blood were collected from 10 female adult animals from every farm. Out of the total 650 cows examined in the 65 farms, 40% presented deficient concentration of Se in blood (<0,08 μg/ml), 29% marginally deficient concentration (0,08-0,12 μg/ml) and only 31% normal concentration (>0,12 μg/ml). Regarding vit. E, only 4%, out of the 650 cows examined, had deficient concentration in the blood plasma (<2 μg/ml). It was concluded from the above that, in the region of Thessaloniki, a significant percentage of the dairy cows run the risk of Se deficiency diseases. On the contrary, the case of vit. E deficiency, should be regarded as improbable for these animals.

Epizootiologic survey of selenium and vitamin E concentrations in cattle to be slaughtered in Thessaloniki

The purpose of this survey was the study of selenium (Se) and vitamin E (vit. E) concentrations in cattle to be slaughtered in the area of Thessaloniki. For this purpose, research samples of blood and liver were collected from 205 cattle brought to different slaughter-houses of Thessaloniki. Out of the 205 cattle to be slaughtered, 78% presented deficient concentration of Se in liver (0,110-0,600 μg/g DM), 17% marginally deficient concentration(0,601-0,900 μg/g DM) and only 5% normal concentration (0,901-1,512 μg/g DM). Regarding vit. E, only 5% out of the 205 cattle to be slaughtered presented deficient concentration in liver (<5 μg/g WW). It is concluded from the above that, in Thessaloniki, a significant percentage of cattle run the risk of Se deficiency diseases. On the contrary, the case of vit. E deficiency, should be regarded as improbable for these animals.

Superconcentrated aqueous electrolyte to enhance energy density for advanced supercapacitors

We here report a superconcentrated potassium acetate (KAC) solution (75[Formula: see text]wt.%, K : H2O [Formula: see text] 1 : 1.8, called as “water-in-salt”) as an aqueous electrolyte to improve the working voltage and increasing capacitance in enhancing the energy density of the active carbon-based aqueous supercapacitor. The stability potential window of the superconcentrated electrolyte realizes an AC//AC symmetric supercapacitor with operating voltage of 2.0 V and excellent cyclic performance. Meanwhile, the energy density of such supercapacitor achieves about twice as high as that of the supercapacitor using normal concentration of electrolyte.