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The tribological behaviour, hardness and microstructural characteristics of vacuum and cryogenically treated AISI H11 steel at varied soaking temperature (−154 and −184 °C) for specific time period...

This article aims to study the friction and wear behavior of Ti3Al2.5V alloy sliding against EN-31 steel under dry condition using a multi-tribotester. The effect of variation in load and sliding velocity on wear rate, average coefficient of friction, and contact temperature has been studied and analysis of wear debris has been carried out. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS) were employed to study the morphology of the wear tracks and deduce microchemical information at the elemental level of worn samples, respectively. Results reveal that the wear rate of Ti-3Al-2.5V increases with increasing sliding velocity and increasing normal load with few exceptions. The average coefficient of friction decreases as the normal load increases with exceptions at some loads. SEM micrographs of worn samples obtained at different loads and sliding velocities show the formation of wear tracks on the surface due to ploughing and flaking of the matrix. The main mechanis...

Cryogenic treatment (CT) of materials has shown significant improvement in their properties. Various advantages like increase in wear resistance, reduced residual stresses, increase in hardness, fa...

Iron is generally considered harmful as an element in Al foundry alloys due to its adverse effect on the mechanical properties, and the same is attributed to formation of brittle Fe-rich intermetallic compounds formed with combination of different alloying elements present in the alloy, e.g., Al5FeSi (β phase). The present article describes the results of an experimental work to study the effect of Fe on microstructure and hardness of Al-12Si-1Cu-0.1Mg alloy. Microstructure characterization was performed by using image analyzer, scanning electron microscope (SEM), and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). It was found that increase in wt% of Fe leads to significant increase in area fraction and aspect ratio of Fe-rich intermetallics and decrease in Al–Si eutectic area fraction. Hardness remains steady up to 0.6 wt% Fe at 86 Hv, and increases significantly afterwards to 105 Hv. Secondary as well as Primary dendritic arms spacing reduces significantly with an increase in Fe content. Increase in porosity was ...

The mechanism of mucosal injury in Giardia lamblia-infected animals and humans is not well understood, although the role of gut macrophages in killing the trophozoites is well known. It is speculated, however, that macrophage products have a role in tissue injury and inflammatory response during infection, as in other inflammatory diseases. Therefore, in the present study an attempt was made to examine the mechanism involved in enterocyte damage during giardiasis. This was achieved using co-culture of enterocytes and gut macrophages obtained from infected BALB/c mice. The extent of tissue damage was assessed by measuring the marker enzyme of enterocyte damage, lactate dehydrogenase. To investigate the role of the various proteases and free oxygen radicals released by activated macrophages on enterocyte damage, inhibitors of various proteases and free oxygen radicals were used. Superoxide radical and certain proteases were found to have important roles in bringing about enterocyte damage during this infection in mice. Parasite load, lactate dehydrogenase release, and extent of lipid peroxidation were more pronounced in mice infected with symptomatic strains than in asymptomatic ones. The theory of inflammatory cell-mediated enterocyte damage in Giardia lamblia infection is proposed.

Namrata Anand,1 Rupinder K Kanwar,2 Mohan Lal Dubey,1 R K Vahishta,3 Rakesh Sehgal,1,* Anita K Verma,4 Jagat R Kanwar2,*1Department of Medical Parasitology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, India; 2Nanomedicine Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biomedical Research, School of Medicine, Molecular and Medical Research Strategic Research Centre, Faculty of Health, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC, Australia; 3Department of Histopathology, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, 4Nanobiotech Laboratory, Department of Zoology, Kirorimal College, University of Delhi, Delhi, India*These authors contributed equally to this workBackground: Lactoferrin is a natural multifunctional protein known to have antitumor, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory activity. Apart from its antimicrobial effects, lactoferrin is known to boost the immune response by enhancing antioxidants. Lactoferrin exists in various forms depending on its iron saturation. The present study was done to observe the effect of lactoferrin, isolated from bovine and buffalo colostrum, on red blood cells (RBCs) and macrophages (human monocytic cell line-derived macrophages THP1 cells).Methods: Lactoferrin obtained from both species and in different iron saturation forms were used in the present study, and treatment of host cells were given with different forms of lactoferrin at different concentrations. These treated host cells were used for various studies, including morphometric analysis, viability by MTT assay, survivin gene expression, production of reactive oxygen species, phagocytic properties, invasion assay, and Toll-like receptor-4, Toll-like receptor-9, and MDR1 expression, to investigate the interaction between lactoferrin and host cells and the possible mechanism of action with regard to parasitic infections.Results: The mechanism of interaction between host cells and lactoferrin have shown various aspects of gene expression and cellular activity depending on the degree of iron saturation of lactoferrin. A significant increase (P0.05) change in percentage viability in the different groups of host cells treated, and no downregulation of survivin gene expression was found at 48hours post-incubation. Upregulation of the Toll-like receptor and downregulation of the P-gp gene confirmed the immunomodulatory potential of lactoferrin protein.Conclusion: The present study details the interaction between lactoferrin and parasite host cells, ie, RBCs and macrophages, using various cellular processes and expression studies. The study reveals the possible mechanism of action against various intracellular pathogens such as Toxoplasma, Plasmodium, Leishmania, Trypanosoma, and Mycobacterium. The presence of iron in lactoferrin plays an important role in enhancing the various activities taking place inside these cells. This work provides a lot of information about targeting lactoferrin against many parasitic infections which can rule out the exact pathways for inhibition of diseases caused by intracellular microbes mainly targeting RBCs and macrophages for their survival. Therefore, this initial study can serve as a baseline for further evaluation of the mechanism of action of lactoferrin against parasitic diseases, which is not fully understood to date.Keywords: lactoferrin, phagocytosis, cytotoxicity, morphometric analysis