Role of metformin in experimentally-induced inflammatory bowel disease

En el presente trabajo, se ha estudiado la metformina, un derivado del antidiabético biguanida, para evaluar su efecto sobre una enfermedad inflamatoria intestinal inducida experimentalmente. Para inducir la enfermedad se utilizaron dos métodos: ácido 2, 4-dinitro-bencenosulfónico (DNBS) y ácido acético en ratas. El tratamiento con metformina (200 mg/kg, bid, vía oral) y ácido 5-aminosalicílico (5-ASA, estándar 100 mg/kg, vía intrarrectal) durante tres días permitió prevenir de forma significativa la pérdida de peso corporal (14,16±0,63; 9,8±0,51, p<0,05) y reducir el índice de daño macroscópico (1,33±0,45; 1,12±0,24, p<0,01), respectivamente en comparación con el grupo de control tratado con DNBS (6,66± 0,23). En ambos modelos se midieron igualmente otros parámetros: cambios de peso del colon, malondialdehido (MDA), mieloperoxidasa (MPO), superóxido dismutasa (SOD), óxido nítrico (NO) y degranulación de mastocitos. El tratamiento con metformina redujo significativamente los cambios de peso del colon, el índice de daño macroscópico, la peroxidación lipídica, el óxido nítrico (NO) y la degranulación de mastocitos en ambos modelos, sugiriendo una reducción significativa de la severidad de la inflamación en ratas.In the present study, metformin, a biguanide derivative of antidiabetic was studied for evaluating its effect against experimentally- induced infl ammatory bowel disease. The disease was induced by two methods: 2, 4 dinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (DNBS) and acetic acid in rats. Treatment with metformin (200mg/kg, bid, orally) and 5-aminosalicylic acid (5-ASA, standard 100mg/kg, intrarectally), for three days showed signifi cant prevention in body weight loss (14.16±0.63; 9.8±0.51, p<0.05) and reduction in macroscopic damage score (1.33± 0.45; 1.12± 0.24, p<0.01) respectively when compared with the DNBS treated control group (6.66± 0.23). Other parameters —colon weight changes, malondialdehyde (MDA), myeloperoxidase (MPO), super oxide dismutase(SOD), nitric oxide (NO) and mast cell degranulation— were also measured in both the models. Metformin treatment signifi cantly reduced colon weight changes, macroscopic damage score, lipid peroxidation, nitric oxide (NO) and mast cell degranulation levels in both the models suggesting signifi cant reduction in the severity of inflammation in rats

Bottom Trawling - A Potential threat to the Ecology and benthic communities of Gulf of Mannar

It is now widely appreciated that an important aspect of protecting fish stocks is the conservation of the habitats and animal communities on which those stocks depend. Over the years, fish catching techniques and devices have undergone remarkable variations, every time improving their efficiency. Trawl net exploits fish and other organisms from the bottom of the seas

Alteration of the Nakhlite Lava Pile: was water on the surface, seeping down, or at depth, percolating up? Evidence (such as it is) from carbonates

We present carbon and oxygen isotope data on carbonates in five nakhlites and use the results to interpret the martian weathering processes

Oscillation dynamics of embolic microspheres in flows with red blood cell suspensions

Dynamic nature of particle motion in blood flow is an important determinant of embolization based cancer therapy. Yet, the manner in which the presence of high volume fraction of red blood cells influences the particle dynamics remains unknown. Here, by investigating the motions of embolic microspheres in pressure-driven flows of red blood cell suspensions through capillaries, we illustrate unique oscillatory trends in particle trajectories, which are not observable in Newtonian fluid flows. Our investigation reveals that such oscillatory behavior essentially manifests when three simultaneous conditions, namely, the Reynolds number beyond a threshold limit, degree of confinement beyond a critical limit, and high hematocrit level, are fulfilled simultaneously. Given that these conditions are extremely relevant to fluid dynamics of blood or polymer flow, the observations reported here bear significant implications on embolization based cancer treatment as well as for complex multiphase fluidics involving particle

The Apollo Virtual Microscope Collection: Lunar Mineralogy and Petrology of Apollo 11, 12, 14, 15 and 16 Rocks

We report on the new Virtual Microscopes on Apollo 16 lunar samples in our Apollo Virtual Microscope collection

The Advantage of Increased Resolution in the Study of Quasar Absorption Systems

We compare a new R = 120,000 spectrum of PG1634+706 (z_QSO = 1.337,m_V = 14.9) obtained with the HDS instrument on Subaru to a R = 45, 000 spectrum obtained previously with HIRES/Keck. In the strong MgII system at z = 0.9902 and the multiple cloud, weak MgII system at z = 1.0414, we find that at the higher resolution, additional components are resolved in a blended profile. We find that two single-cloud weak MgII absorbers were already resolved at R = 45,000, to have b = 2 - 4 km/s. The narrowest line that we measure in the R = 120, 000 spectrum is a component of the Galactic NaI absorption, with b = 0.90+/-0.20 km/s. We discuss expectations of similarly narrow lines in various applications, including studies of DLAs, the MgI phases of strong MgII absorbers, and high velocity clouds. By applying Voigt profile fitting to synthetic lines, we compare the consistency with which line profile parameters can be accurately recovered at R = 45,000 and R = 120,000. We estimate the improvement gained from superhigh resolution in resolving narrowly separated velocity components in absorption profiles. We also explore the influence of isotope line shifts and hyperfine splitting in measurements of line profile parameters, and the spectral resolution needed to identify these effects. Super high resolution spectra of quasars, which will be routinely possible with 20-meter class telescopes, will lead to greater sensitivity for absorption line surveys, and to determination of more accurate physical conditions for cold phases of gas in various environments.Comment: To appear in AJ. Paper with better resolution images available at http://www.astro.psu.edu/users/anand/superhigh.AJ.pd

Six questions on the construction of ontologies in biomedicine

(Report assembled for the Workshop of the AMIA Working Group on Formal Biomedical Knowledge Representation in connection with AMIA Symposium, Washington DC, 2005.) Best practices in ontology building for biomedicine have been frequently discussed in recent years. However there is a range of seemingly disparate views represented by experts in the field. These views not only reflect the different uses to which ontologies are put, but also the experiences and disciplinary background of these experts themselves. We asked six questions related to biomedical ontologies to what we believe is a representative sample of ontologists in the biomedical field and came to a number conclusions which we believe can help provide an insight into the practical problems which ontology builders face today

Driving performance via exploration in changing environments: Evidence from Formula One racing

Until recently, scholars have customarily lumped multiple dimensions of environmental change into single constructs, and usually ascertained that the more the context changes, the more value firms derive from higher levels of exploration. In sync with more recent studies focusing on specific dimensions of change, in this paper we borrow theoretical elements from systems theory to examine the possibility that the reward to developing innovative product components may itself be eroded by implicit and yet burgeoning costs to fit the new component technology into existing architectures, thereby dampening system performance. Specifically, we theoretically assess how varying magnitudes of industry regulatory changes affect the optimum level of firm exploration, and propose—counter-intuitively vis-à-vis past literature—that the more radical (i.e., competence-destroying), as opposed to incremental (i.e., competence-enhancing) these changes are, the more the optimum intensity of firm exploration recedes. Based on quantitative as well as qualitative empirical analyses from the Formula One racing industry, we precisely trace the observed performance outcomes back to the underlying logic of our theory, stressing that impaired capabilities to integrate the new component in the architecture re-design, as well as time-based cognitive limitations both operate to inhibit the otherwise positive relationship between firm exploration and performance. In the end, we offer new insights to theory and practice