The aim of this study is to investigate if using tobacco products (including snuff, smoking tobacco and dual-using) associates with periodontal health, education level and mortality in a Swedish cohort, hypothesizing that tobacco products affect periodontal health, associate with lower education and increase the risk of death. Study cohort of 1080 subjects aged 31-40 years (528 men, 552 women) was clinically examined and interviewed in 1985 and followed for mortality until 2015. Subjects were classified into two groups "tobacco users" and "non-users". Associations between periodontal health parameters, tobacco products, education level and age of death were analysed. SPSS was used for analyses. Tobacco products, as well as education level associated, with poor periodontal health. Tobacco users and lower education was linked to higher plaque-, calculus- and gingival-index scores than non-users ( 0.001). They also had significantly higher prevalence of deep periodontal pockets (≥5 mm) ( 0.001 and 0.010, respectively), missing teeth ( 0.010 and 0.003, respectively) and lower education level ( < 0.001) compared with non-users. However, tobacco product users did not die significantly earlier than non-users. Tobacco products had a negative impact on periodontal health. Tobacco product users were less educated. However, using tobacco products may not cause premature death.Tobacco products had a negative impact on periodontal health. Tobacco product users were less educated. However, using tobacco products may not cause premature death.(1) Background Psoriasis is a multifactorial chronic inflammatory disorder of the skin, with significant morbidity, characterized by hyperproliferation of the epidermis. Even though psoriasis' etiology is not fully understood, it is believed to be multifactorial, with numerous key components. (2) Methods In order to cast light on the complex molecular interactions in psoriasis vulgaris at both protein-protein interactions and transcriptomics levels, we studied a set of microarray gene expression analyses consisting of 170 paired lesional and non-lesional samples. Afterwards, a network analysis was conducted on the protein-protein interaction network of differentially expressed genes based on micro- and macro-level network metrics at a systemic level standpoint. (3) Results We found 17 top communicative genes, all of which were experimentally proven to be pivotal in psoriasis, which were identified in two modules, namely the cell cycle and immune system. Intra- and inter-gene interaction subnetworks from the top communicative genes might provide further insight into the corresponding characteristic interactions. (4) Conclusions Potential gene combinations for therapeutic/diagnostics purposes were identified. Moreover, our proposed workflow could be of interest to a broader range of future biological network analysis studies.Melanoma is the most common cancer in young adults, with a constantly increasing incidence. Metastatic melanoma is a very aggressive cancer with a 5-year survival rate of about 22-25%. This is, in most cases, due to a lack of therapies which are effective on the long term. Hence, it is crucial to find new therapeutic agents to increase patient survival. Toad venoms are a rich source of potentially pharmaceutically active compounds and studies have highlighted their possible effect on cancer cells. We focused on the venoms of two different toad species Bufo bufo and Rhinella marina. We screened the venom crude extracts, the fractions from crude extracts and isolated biomolecules by studying their antiproliferative properties on melanoma cells aiming to determine the compound or the combination of compounds with the highest antiproliferative effect. CFT8634 mw Our results indicated strong antiproliferative capacities of toad venoms on melanoma cells. We found that these effects were mainly due to bufadienolides that are cardiotonic steroids potentially acting on the Na+/K+ ATPase pump which is overexpressed in melanoma. Finally, our results indicated that bufalin alone was the most interesting compound among the isolated bufadienolides because it had the highest antiproliferative activity on melanoma cells.This study aimed to compare the effects of high intensity ultrasound (HIU) applied at various amplitudes (20~40%) and for different durations (1~10 min) on the physiochemical and structural properties of goat milk β-lactoglobulin. No significant change was observed in the protein electrophoretic patterns by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Deconvolution and second derivative of the Fourier transform infrared spectra (FTIR) showed that the percentage of β-sheet of goat milk β-lactoglobulin was significantly decreased while those of α-helix and random coils increased after HIU treatment The surface hydrophobicity index and intrinsic fluorescence intensity of samples was enhanced and increased with increasing HIU amplitude or time. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) results exhibited that HIU treatments improved the thermal stability of goat milk β-lactoglobulin. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) of samples showed that the goat milk β-lactoglobulin microstructure had changed and it contained larger aggregates when compared with the untreated goat milk β-lactoglobulin sample. Data suggested that HIU treatments resulted in secondary and tertiary structural changes of goat milk β-lactoglobulin and improved its thermal stability.The thermal and fire behaviors of a high-performance polymeric material-polyether ether ketone (PEEK) was investigated. The TG plots of PEEK under different oxygen concentrations revealed that the initial step of thermal decomposition does not greatly depend on the oxygen level. However, oxygen concentration plays a major role in the subsequent decomposition steps. In order to understand the thermal decomposition mechanism of PEEK several methods were employed, i.e., pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) coupled with a Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FTIR). It was observed that the initial decomposition step of the material may lead to the release of noncombustible gases and the formation of a highly crosslinked graphite-like carbonaceous structure. Moreover, during the mass loss cone calorimetry test, PEEK has shown excellent charring and fire resistance when it is subjected to an incident heat flux of 50 kW/m². Based on the fire behavior and the identification of pyrolysis gases evolved during the decomposition of PEEK, the enhanced fire resistance of PEEK was assigned to the dilution of the flammable decomposition gases as well as the formation of a protective graphite-like charred structure during its decomposition.