The routine pruning and cutting of fruit trees provides a considerable amount of biowaste each year. This lignocellulosic biomass, mainly in the form of branches, trunks, rootstocks, and leaves, is a potential high-quality fuel, yet often is treated as waste. The results of a feasibility study on biochar production by pyrolysis of residues from orchard pruning were presented. Three types of biomass waste were selected as raw materials and were obtained from the most common fruit trees in Poland: apple (AP), pear (PR), and plum (PL) tree prunings. Two heating rates and three final pyrolysis temperatures were applied. For the slow (SP) and fast pyrolysis (FP) processes, the heating rates were 15 °C/min and 100 °C/min, respectively. The samples were heated from 25 °C up to 400, 500, and 600 °C. Chemical analyses of the raw materials were conducted, and the pyrolysis product yields were determined. A significant rise of higher heating value (HHV) was observed for the solid pyrolysis products, from approximately 23.45 MJ/kg for raw materials up to approximately 29.52 MJ/kg for pyrolysis products at 400 °C, and 30.53 MJ/kg for pyrolysis products at 600 °C. Higher carbon content was observed for materials obtained by fast pyrolysis conducted at higher temperatures.

Purpose. Bacterial infections are one of the major causes of human eye disease. Because the bacterial endotoxin lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is known to cause cytotoxicity through oxidative stress and an earlier study has shown that aldose reductase (AR) mediates oxidative stress signals, the purpose of this study was to investigate the anti-inflammatory effects of AR inhibition on LPS-induced activation of NF-κB–dependent signals in human lens epithelial cells (HLECs). methods. Growth-arrested HLECs were cultured without or with AR inhibitors or transfected with an AR small interfering (si)RNA. Subsequently, the cells were stimulated with LPS (1-10 μg/mL) for 24 hours. The cell viability was assessed by cell counts and MTT assay, and apoptosis was measured by nucleosomal degradation. Electrophoretic mobility gel shift assays were performed to determine the activation of NF-κB and AP1. The levels of nitric oxide, MMP-2, MMP-9, Cox-2, and TNF-α were measured by using specific ELISA kits. Western blot analysis was performed to determine the cleavage of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) and the activation of PKC and mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK). results. Bacterial LPS caused apoptosis of HLECs. Inhibition of AR by two structurally unrelated inhibitors, sorbinil and tolrestat, or ablation by AR siRNA prevented the LPS-induced apoptosis, activation of caspase-3 and cleavage of PARP protein. Inhibition of AR in HLECs also prevented the LPS-induced activation of redox-sensitive transcription factors such as NF-κB and AP1 and their downstream signals that lead to expression of Cox-2, MMP-2, MMP-9, and TNF-α proteins. In addition, inhibition of AR prevented LPS-induced activation of protein kinases upstream to NF-κB activation such as PKC and MAPK in HLECs. conclusions. The results indicate that AR mediates the bacterial endotoxin signaling that could damage HLECs by regulating the signals that activate the redox-sensitive transcription factor NF-κB and cause inflammation. Thus, inhibition of AR could be a therapeutic target for Gram-negative bacterial infection–induced visual complications.

This paper investigated the impact of twin-screw extrusion parameters on the properties of brewers’ spent grain. The chemical structure, antioxidant activity, particle size, and color properties, as well as the emission of volatile organic compounds during extrusion, were investigated. The main compounds detected in the air during modifications were terpenes and terpenoids, such as α-pinene, camphene, 3-carene, limonene, or terpinene. They could be considered as a potential threat to human health and the environment. Changes in the chemical structure, antioxidant activity, and color of materials after modification indicated the Maillard reactions during extrusion, which resulted in the generation of melanoidins, especially at higher temperatures. This should be considered an exciting feature of this treatment method because modified brewers’ spent grain may improve the thermooxidative stability of polymer materials. Moreover, the impact of the brewers’ spent grain particle size on color and browning index used to determine the melanoidins content was investigated. The presented results show that proper adjustment of extrusion parameters enables the preparation of brewers’ spent grain with the desired appearance and chemical properties, which could maximize the efficiency of the modification process.