Melatonin reduces TNF-a induced expression of MAdCAM-1 via inhibition of NF-kB.

BACKGROUND: Endothelial MAdCAM-1 (mucosal addressin cell adhesion molecule-1) expression is associated with the oxidant-dependent induction and progress of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). Melatonin, a relatively safe, potent antioxidant, has shown efficacy in several chronic injury models may limit MAdCAM-1 expression and therefore have a therapeutic use in IBD. METHODS: We examined how different doses of melatonin reduced endothelial MAdCAM-1 induced by TNF-a in an in vitro model of lymphatic endothelium. Endothelial monolayers were pretreated with melatonin prior to, and during an exposure, to TNF-a (1 ng/ml, 24 h), and MAdCAM-1 expression measured by immunoblotting. RESULTS: MAdCAM-1 was induced by TNF-a. Melatonin at concentrations over 100 μm (10(-4) M) significantly attenuated MAdCAM-1 expression and was maximal at 1 mM. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that melatonin may exert therapeutic activity in IBD through its ability to inhibit NF-kB dependent induction of MAdCAM-1

The ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger

The ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger uses reduced-granularity information from all the ATLAS calorimeters to search for high transverse-energy electrons, photons, tau leptons and jets, as well as high missing and total transverse energy. The calorimeter trigger electronics has a fixed latency of about 1 microsecond, using programmable custom-built digital electronics. This paper describes the Calorimeter Trigger hardware, as installed in the ATLAS electronics cavern

A study of multi-jet events at the CERN I3p collider and a search for double patton scattering UA2 Collaboration Bern-Cambridge-CERN-Dortmund-Heidelberg-Melbourne-Milano-Orsay (LAL)-Pavia- Perugia-Pisa-Saclay (CEN)

A study of events containing at least four high transverse momentum jets and a search for double parton scattering (DPS) have been performed using data collected with the UA2 detector at the CERN lbp Collider (x/s= 630 GeV). The results are in good agreement with leading order QCD calculations. A value of at~Ps < 0.82 nb at 95% confidence level (CL) is obtained for the DPS cross section

MORPHOMETRIC EVIDENCE THAT THE TOTAL NUMBER OF SYNAPSES ON PURKINJE NEURONS OF OLD F344 RATS IS REDUCED AFTER LONG-TERM ETHANOL TREATMENT AND RESTORED TO CONTROL LEVELS AFTER RECOVERY

Abstract — Clinical symptoms of alcohol abuse may be confused with symptoms of age-related neuropathologies in human patients. It is important, therefore, to determine the relationships between alcohol abuse and changes in brain structures in well-controlled studies of ageing subjects. Currently there is little well-documented information of this type available. The purpose of this study was to determine whether long-term ethanol treatment during ageing would lead to reductions in synaptic input to cerebellar Purkinjc neurons (PN) of old F344 rats that; (1) were more severe than those attributable to ageing alone; (2) might be responsible for an ethanol-related deletion of dendritic segments of PN in old F344 rats shown previously in this laboratory. The total number of synapses per PN dendritic arbor was determined after ethanol treatment of old F344 rats for 40 weeks between 12 and 22 months of age and in similarly treated rats given a subsequent 20-week period of recovery between 22 and 27 months of age. Groups of age-matched rats fed a chow diet and water and rats pair-fed an isocaloric liquid diet lacking ethanol served as controls. The volume of the molecular layer per PN arbor and the numerical density of synapses in the molecular layer was determined from light microscopic preparations of a fixed volume of the cerebellar cortex. Photographic montages of the ultrastructure of the molecular layer of the cerebellum were also prepared from each rat for measurements of synaptic numerical densities. From th