Micro- and Nanofibrillated Cellulose from Annual Plant-Sourced Fibers: Comparison between Enzymatic Hydrolysis and Mechanical Refining.

The current trends in micro-/nanofibers offer a new and unmissable chance for the recovery of cellulose from non-woody crops. This work assesses a technically feasible approach for the production of micro- and nanofibrillated cellulose (MNFC) from jute, sisal and hemp, involving refining and enzymatic hydrolysis as pretreatments. Regarding the latter, only slight enhancements of nanofibrillation, transparency and specific surface area were recorded when increasing the dose of endoglucanases from 80 to 240 mg/kg. This supports the idea that highly ordered cellulose structures near the fiber wall are resistant to hydrolysis and hinder the diffusion of glucanases. Mechanical MNFC displayed the highest aspect ratio, up to 228 for hemp. Increasing the number of homogenization cycles increased the apparent viscosity in most cases, up to 0.14 Pa·s at 100 s-1 (1 wt.% consistency). A shear-thinning behavior, more marked for MNFC from jute and sisal, was evidenced in all cases. We conclude that, since both the raw material and the pretreatment play a major role, the unique characteristics of non-woody MNFC, either mechanical or enzymatically pretreated (low dose), make it worth considering for large-scale processes.

Risk of recurrence of non-metastatic breast cancer in women under 40 years: a population-registry cancer study in a European country.

UNLABELLED: Breast cancer in young patients is relatively uncommon. There is no consensus about the impact of young age on prognosis. The aim of this study was to analyze the effect of young age over the risk of recurrence of breast cancer using a population-registry cancer database in Spain. A retrospective study case-control type was designed. A total of 1,210 patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria. A cutoff at 40 years was used to define two groups of patients: group A, ≤40 years (n = 111); and group B, >40 years (n = 1,099). Younger women showed a higher rate of undifferentiated tumors; a higher percentage of positive lymph nodes; lower rate of positivity of estrogen receptor, higher rate of nonconservative surgery and higher proportion of adjuvant therapies. The risk of recurrence was higher for women ≤40 years: HR =2.59 (95% CI: 1.60-4.18). CONCLUSION: Breast cancer diagnosed at a young age (≤40 years) is correlated with higher recurrence rates.

Analgesic effect of leaf extract from Ageratina glabrata in the hot plate test

Ageratina glabrata (Kunth) R.M. King & H. Rob., Asteraceae (syn. Eupatorium glabratum Kunth) is widely distributed throughout Mexico and popularly known as "chamizo blanco" and "hierba del golpe" for its traditional use as external analgesic remedy. Though glabrata species has been chemically studied, there are no experimentally asserted reports about possible analgesic effects which can be inferred from its genus Ageratina. To fill the gap, we evaluated A. glabrata extracts in an animal model of nociception exploiting thermal stimuli. NMR and mass analyses identified a new thymol derivative, 10-benzoiloxy-6,8,9-trihydroxy-thymol isobutyrate (1), which was computationally converted into a ring-closed structure to explain interaction with the COX-2 enzyme in a ligand-receptor docking study. The resulting docked pose is in line with reported crystal complexes of COX-2 with chromene ligands. Based on the present results of dichloromethane extracts from its dried leaves, it is safe to utter that the plant possesses analgesic effects in animal tests which are mediated through inhibition of COX-2 enzyme.