<p style="text-align: justify;">Shape memory alloys are of great commercial importance from biomedical applications to smart materials. The electrochemical behavior of Cu-Al-Zn alloy in phosphate buffer without and in the presence of amino acid was investigated. Electrochemical researches were performed in a traditional three-electrode system by means of the Tafel extrapolation method. The results showed that the presence of amino acid leads to a decrease in the corrosion rate and the density (values) of the corrosion current, which indicates that the tested inhibitor is efficient.</p>

Multiple studies have shown the importance of adequate nutrition for animals and humans and its effect on overall health. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of different nutritional regimes on the intestinal health of rats by evaluating different morphological and morphometric characteristics of small intestines, with the emphasis on the villus height:crypt depth ratio (V:C). For the experimental study, 24 clinically healthy adult Wistar rats were used. The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: the control group (group A) was fed with conventional food, the second group (group B) with bakery products, and the third group (group C) with meat products. Samples of the duodenum and jejunum were collected for detailed morphological and morphometric analysis. A significant increase in the duodenal villi height was reported in group B (661.59 µm) and C (602.83 µm) compared to the control group (475.34 µm). The crypt depth values in the jejunum were significantly higher in group B (191.41µm) and C (246.23 µm) compared with the control (145.14 µm). The jejunal V:C ratio was significantly lower in groups B and C. The study showed significant morphological changes in the intestinal parameters in rats fed predominantly with meat and bakery products. These findings could be applicable in both veterinary and human medicine, underlining the significance of consumed food on gut health.

<p>Zeolite 13X is one of the best adsorbents among zeolites and one of the most commercially available zeolites.&nbsp; This paper investigates the influence of several process parameters on the properties of 13X zeolite, including crystallization temperature, crystallization duration and Si/Al molar ratio in the starting reaction mixture. The quality of the obtained powders was examined in detail through a series of analytical and instrumental methods, presented in the paper. Water and CO₂ adsorption capacities were determined as key quality parameters of 13X zeolite, and additional characterization was performed by determining material granulometry, specific surface area (BET analysis), crystallinity (X-ray diffraction method) as well and SEM analysis. The obtained results indicate a clear dependence between the examined process parameters of the system and the characteristics of the synthesized materials, thus enabling the selection of optimal conditions for the synthesis of 13X zeolite.</p>

For efficient production planning, it is necessary to know the power consumption of a particular woodworking operation in advance. In the past, many power measurement tests have been carried out based on a large number of different combinations of technological parameters. However, in this paper, the effects of technological parameters and wood properties on the power magnitude of peripheral milling are analysed using experimental design methods, where the effects of the different factors can be tested with a much smaller number of combinations. Therefore, a central composite experimental design was used to plan the experiments. Three different tree species with different densities were milled with three different numbers of cutting knives and three depths of cut at constant feeding speed and rotational velocity. For each milling combination, the power was measured continuously and then the average power was calculated. Based on the measurements, a suitable model was determined that allowed the magnitude of the cutting power to be determined for each combination of technological parameters and wood species tested. The model proved to be suitable, as the deviations between the measured and modelled power values are minimal.

Dapsone is a sulfone used in treating inflammatory skin conditions. Despite its widespread dermatological use, the pharmacological actions of dapsone remain poorly understood. Here, we examined how different aspects of neutrophil functions are affected by dapsone. Peripheral blood neutrophils from healthy donors were stimulated with phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate (PMA), N-formyl-L-methionyl-L-leucyl-L-phenylalanine (fMLP), or calcium ionophore (CaI) or primed with cytokines prior to stimulation, in the presence of different concentrations of dapsone (from 10 to 50 µg/mL), followed by analyses of their survival, phenotype, and functional properties. We found that dapsone at the concentration of 50 μg/mL induced a significant neutrophil apoptotic rate during 6 h and 18 h, while other concentrations were well tolerated compared to control non-treated cells. However, dapsone significantly decreased the induced oxidative burst of neutrophils at all non-cytotoxic concentrations. Additionally, dapsone showed a dose-dependent suppression of NETosis in activated neutrophils. The production of IL-8 by dapsone-treated neutrophils was decreased under both stimulated (fMLP) and primed (TNF-α/fMLP) conditions. Moreover, dapsone inhibited the expression of CD11b/CD18, CD66, and CD89 and reversed or significantly mitigated the downregulation of CD16, CD32, CD181, CD88, and CD62L on neutrophils after priming and fMLP stimulation. In conclusion, our results indicate the complexity of dapsone actions on neutrophil functions, extending previous knowledge on the suppression of oxidative burst and IL-8 production upon neutrophils’ activation. Suppressed NETosis and modulation of marker expression associated with different neutrophil functions under inflammatory conditions are new findings, not recognized previously.