How Far Are We from Prescribing Fasting as Anticancer Medicine?

(1) Background: the present review provides a comprehensive and up-to date overview of the potential exploitation of fasting as an anticancer strategy. The rationale for this concept is that fasting elicits a differential stress response in the setting of unfavorable conditions, empowering the survival of normal cells, while killing cancer cells. (2) Methods: the present narrative review presents the basic aspects of the hormonal, molecular, and cellular response to fasting, focusing on the interrelationship of fasting with oxidative stress. It also presents nonclinical and clinical evidence concerning the implementation of fasting as adjuvant to chemotherapy, highlighting current challenges and future perspectives. (3) Results: there is ample nonclinical evidence indicating that fasting can mitigate the toxicity of chemotherapy and/or increase the efficacy of chemotherapy. The relevant clinical research is encouraging, albeit still in its infancy. The path forward for implementing fasting in oncology is a personalized approach, entailing counteraction of current challenges, including: (i) patient selection; (ii) fasting patterns; (iii) timeline of fasting and refeeding; (iv) validation of biomarkers for assessment of fasting; and (v) establishment of protocols for patients’ monitoring. (4) Conclusion: prescribing fasting as anticancer medicine may not be far away if large randomized clinical trials consolidate its safety and efficacy.     

Morpholine As a Scaffold in Medicinal Chemistry: An Update on Synthetic Strategies

Morpholine is a frequently used heterocycle in medicinal chemistry and a privileged structural component of bioactive molecules. This is mainly due to its contribution to a plethora of biological activities as well as to an improved pharmacokinetic profile of such bioactive molecules. The synthesis of morpholines is a subject of much study due to their biological and pharmacological importance, with the last such review being published in 2013. Here, an overview of the main approaches toward morpholine synthesis or functionalization is presented, emphasizing on novel work which has not been reviewed so far. This review is an update on synthetic strategies leading to easily accessible libraries of bioactives which are of interest for drug discovery projects.     

Integrated Water Management Approach for Adaptation to Climate Change in Highly Water Stressed Basins

Water Resources Management - Adaptation aims at increasing the resilience of natural and human systems to current and future impacts of climate change. The main objective of the current research is...     

Interlayer bonding between thermoplastic composites and metals by in-situ polymerization technique

Fiber-metal laminates (FMLs) offer the superior characteristics of polymer composites (i.e., light weight, high strength and stiffness) with the ductility and fracture strength of metals. The bond strength between the two dissimilar materials, composite and metal, dictates the properties and performance of the FMLs. The bonding becomes more critical when the polymer matrix is thermoplastic and hydrophobic in nature. This work employed a novel bonding technique between thermoplastic composites and a metal layer using six different combinations of organic coatings. The flexural, and interlaminar shear strength of the thermoplastic fiber metal laminates (TP-FMLs) were examined to investigate the bond strengths in the different cases along with fracture characteristics revealed from the tested samples using scanning electron microscopy. The viscoelastic performance of the fabricated TP-FMLs were also investigated using the dynamic mechanical thermal analysis method.     

Improving through-thickness conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer using carbon nanotube/polyethylenimine at the interlaminar region

The through-thickness conductivity of carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP) composite was increased by incorporating multiwalled carbon nanotubes in the interlaminar region. Carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were dispersed in a polyethylenimine (PEI) binder, which was then coated onto the carbon fiber fabric. Standard vacuum-assisted resin infusion process was applied to fabricate the composite laminates. This modification technique aims to enhance the electrical conductivity in through-thickness direction for the purpose of nondestructive testing, damage detection, and electromagnetic interference shielding. CNT concentrations ranging from 0 to 0.75 wt% were used and compared to pristine CFRP samples (reference). The through-thickness conductivity of the CFRP exhibited an improvement of up to 781% by adopting this technique. However, the dispersion of CNT in PEI led to a viscosity increase and poor wetting properties which resulted in the formation of voids/defects, poor adhesion (as shown in scanning electron micrographs) and the deterioration of the mechanical properties as manifested by interlaminar shear strength and dynamic mechanical analysis measurements.     

Structure and thermoelectric properties of higher manganese silicides synthesized by pack cementation

Higher manganese silicides (HMS) are promising alternative materials for middle to high temperature thermoelectric applications as a low-cost, non-toxic and highly stable p-type leg. Many of the preparation methods that have been reported previously require long-time and energy consuming processes, as well as expensive equipment, and often do not result in a material of sufficient quality. In this study, the simple, cost-effective and eco-friendly technique of pack cementation is applied. HMS powders synthesized at different experimental conditions are studied and compared considering their structure, composition, short-term thermal stability in air and thermoelectric properties. X-ray diffraction analysis, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, thermogravimetry and thermoelectric measurements (in terms of Seebeck coefficient, electrical and thermal conductivity) were employed for the characterization of the material and evaluation of its performance. All samples were identified as HMS and only some negligible traces of MnSi were detected. They moderately oxidize when heated non-isothermally under air atmosphere up to 1473 K, while the presence of HMS remains dominant even at such high temperatures. Their thermoelectric properties were remarkable for an undoped material, with a maximum figure of merit (ZT) of 0.47 at 777 K. Pack cementation appeared to have a great potential as the synthesis route of high-efficiency HMS.     

Graphite Oxide and Aromatic Amines: Size Matters

Experimental and theoretical studies are performed in order to illuminate, for first time, the intercalation mechanism of polycyclic aromatic molecules into graphite oxide. Two representative molecules of this family, aniline and naphthalene amine are investigated. After intercalation, aniline molecules prefer to covalently connect to the graphene oxide matrix via chemical grafting, while napthalene amine molecules bind with the graphene oxide surface through π–π interactions. The presence of intercalated aromatic molecules between the graphene oxide layers is demonstrated by X‐ray diffraction, while the type of interaction between graphene oxide and polycyclic organic molecules is elucidated by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Combined quantum mechanical and molecular mechanical calculations describe the intercalation mechanism and the aniline grafting, rationalizing the experimental data. The present work opens new perspectives for the interaction of various aromatic molecules with graphite oxide and the so‐called “intercalation chemistry”.     

Spontaneous Oleofoams from Water-in-Oil Emulsions

Spontaneously foaming oil systems have been formulated from water-in-oil emulsions by the controlled release and entrapment of gas in emulsified water droplets contained within the oil. The cascade of events leading to their formation is as follows: Two Span 60-emulsified populations of water droplets, one containing Na₂CO₃, the other 10% HCl and caseinate, were mixed in miglyol oil; the controlled coalescence of Na₂CO₃ droplets with the HCl ones served as a microreactor for the pH reduction and the subsequent release of CO₂ from Na₂CO₃; these gas microbubbles were arrested by sodium caseinate, stabilizing a microfoam within the water droplets; these droplets expanded under the rising gas pressure, spontaneously transforming the surrounding oil into a foamy oleogel containing water droplets.