Investigation of the magnetic field effect upon interpolymeric complexes formation based on bovine serum albumin and poly(aspartic acid).

The study presents a novel strategy for obtaining highly ordered interpolymeric complexes based on a protein, bovine serum albumin and a synthetic polymer, poly(aspartic acid). In this approach, experimental tests were carried out in the presence of a magnetic field of different intensities, namely 0.11 T and 0.3 T produced by permanent magnets. The influence of the magnetic force on the complexation process and the resulted self-assembled structures were studied by means of FTIR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, DLS, SEM microscopy and in vitro assay. The changes in the FTIR spectra acquired after 24 h of exposure were connected with conformational changes in the secondary structure and increased interactions between polymers, particularly when a higher intensity field was used. Due to a large anisotropy of magnetic susceptibility characteristic to both proteins and polypeptides, the magnetic field generated ordered assemblies consisting in globular structures of nanometric dimensions. This assembly strategy using magnets, along with remote manipulation capability can provide a versatile, contact-free, and inexpensive tool to create new, complex materials with tailorable characteristics.

[Ginkgo biloba extract (EGb 761) as an antioxidant factor of exogenous origin]. / Cercetari privind extractul de Ginkgo biloba (EGb 761) ca factor antioxidant de natura exogena.

Extracted from Ginkgo biloba leaves, the EGb 761 has a great number of therapeutical properties and anti-stress effects, for example the antioxidant one. We estimated in our experiment the influence of a chronic treatment with EGb 761 on the concentration of the main product of lipidic degradation--malondialdehyde (MDA), in cerebral cortex, in diencephalon, thymus and gastric mucosa. The experiment was performed on Wistar rats, male, young. The MDA estimation was performed by the spectrocalorimetry. We have determined that the stress raised the MDA concentration in all examined structures with approximately 100% and 80% of animals manifested stress ulcer. The treatment with EGb 761 before a stress inhibits the post-stress growth of MDA concentration and the process of stress ulcer formation.

[Cancer of the cervix uteri in young people]. / Cancerul colului uterin la tinere.

The age-group distribution, risk factors, histopathological aspects, diagnosis, treatment and prognosis of 111 diagnosed and/or treated cervical carcinomas in women aged up to 40 years out of 478 cases with the same diagnosis were reviewed. It is considered that the incidence of 23.2% in this series is situated at the extreme of the high frequencies reported in the literature. Nineteen per cent of the cases were diagnosed in stages O and Ia, a well organize program for early detection being required. In our series, the 5-year survival rate was 73.3%. This finding, although in a small series of cases, supports the opinion that age has no influence upon the prognosis of this disease.