8,213 research outputs found
Confocal laser scanning microscope, raman microscopy and western blotting to evaluate inflammatory response after myocardial infarction
Cardiac muscle necrosis is associated with inflammatory cascade that clears the infarct from dead
cells and matrix debris, and then replaces the damaged tissue with scar, through three overlapping phases: the
inflammatory phase, the proliferative phase and the maturation phase.
Western blotting, laser confocal microscopy, Raman microscopy are valuable tools for studying the inflammatory
response following myocardial infarction both humoral and cellular phase, allowing the identification and
semiquantitative analysis of proteins produced during the inflammatory cascade activation and the topographical distribution
and expression of proteins and cells involved in myocardial inflammation. Confocal laser scanning microscopy
(CLSM) is a relatively new technique for microscopic imaging, that allows greater resolution, optical sectioning of the
sample and three-dimensional reconstruction of the same sample. Western blotting used to detect the presence of a specific
protein with antibody-antigen interaction in the midst of a complex protein mixture extracted from cells, produced
semi-quantitative data quite easy to interpret. Confocal Raman microscopy combines the three-dimensional optical resolution
of confocal microscopy and the sensitivity to molecular vibrations, which characterizes Raman spectroscopy.
The combined use of western blotting and confocal microscope allows detecting the presence of proteins in the sample
and trying to observe the exact location within the tissue, or the topographical distribution of the same. Once demonstrated
the presence of proteins (cytokines, chemokines, etc.) is important to know the topographical distribution, obtaining in this
way additional information regarding the extension of the inflammatory process in function of the time stayed from the
time of myocardial infarction. These methods may be useful to study and define the expression of a wide range of inflammatory
mediators at several different timepoints providing a more detailed analysis of the time course of the infarct
Calculating the power residue symbol and ibeta: Applications of computing the group structure of the principal units of a p-adic number field completion
In the recent PhD thesis of Bouw, an algorithm is examined that computes the group structure of the principal units of a p-adic number field completion. In the same thesis, this algorithm is used to compute Hilbert norm residue symbols. In the present paper, we will demonstrate two other applications. The first application is the computation of an important invariant of number field completions, called ibeta. The algorithm that computes ibeta is deterministic and runs in polynomial time. The second application
Exact ground state for a class of matrix Hamiltonian models: quantum phase transition and universality in the thermodynamic limit
By using a recently proposed probabilistic approach, we determine the exact
ground state of a class of matrix Hamiltonian models characterized by the fact
that in the thermodynamic limit the multiplicities of the potential values
assumed by the system during its evolution are distributed according to a
multinomial probability density. The class includes i) the uniformly fully
connected models, namely a collection of states all connected with equal
hopping coefficients and in the presence of a potential operator with arbitrary
levels and degeneracies, and ii) the random potential systems, in which the
hopping operator is generic and arbitrary potential levels are assigned
randomly to the states with arbitrary probabilities. For this class of models
we find a universal thermodynamic limit characterized only by the levels of the
potential, rescaled by the ground-state energy of the system for zero
potential, and by the corresponding degeneracies (probabilities). If the
degeneracy (probability) of the lowest potential level tends to zero, the
ground state of the system undergoes a quantum phase transition between a
normal phase and a frozen phase with zero hopping energy. In the frozen phase
the ground state condensates into the subspace spanned by the states of the
system associated with the lowest potential level.Comment: 31 pages, 13 figure
Analytical probabilistic approach to the ground state of lattice quantum systems: exact results in terms of a cumulant expansion
We present a large deviation analysis of a recently proposed probabilistic
approach to the study of the ground-state properties of lattice quantum
systems. The ground-state energy, as well as the correlation functions in the
ground state, are exactly determined as a series expansion in the cumulants of
the multiplicities of the potential and hopping energies assumed by the system
during its long-time evolution. Once these cumulants are known, even at a
finite order, our approach provides the ground state analytically as a function
of the Hamiltonian parameters. A scenario of possible applications of this
analyticity property is discussed.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure
Aesthetic satisfaction in lip and palate clefts: a comparative study between secondary and tertiary bone grafting
Lip and palate cleft represent one of the most frequently occurring congenital deformity, which includes dental anomalies, such as variation in tooth number and position. In case of hypodontia implant-prosthetic rehabilitation offers significant advantages in terms of function, aesthetics and quality of life and bone graft is usually needed. Secondary bone grafting, generally performed in the mixed dentition phase (years 8-11) seems to be the most successful method to allow for rehabilitation. It's often necessary to perform a tertiary bone grafting in adult age in order to achieve better bone quantity and quality before implant placement. Aim of this retrospective study was to evaluate the aesthetic perception that patients had of themselves comparing dental implants placed in tertiary grafted alveolar cleft sites with a previous secondary grafting to only secondary grafting. Between 2009 and 2012, fourteen alveolar cleft were treated with implant rehabilitation and eleven of them received tertiary bone grafting six months prior to implant placement. All patients were questioned to give a score from 1 to 10 their aesthetic satisfaction of their smile before and after implant rehabilitation and during pre-surgery provisional rehabilitation. At the end of their prosthesis rehabilitation patients who received tertiary bone grafting resulted more satisfied than those who had secondary bone grafting only (9.5 vs 8)
How PI3K-derived lipids control cell division
To succeed in cell division, intense cytoskeletal and membrane remodeling are required to allow accurate chromosome segregation and cytoplasm partitioning. Spatial restriction of the actin dynamics and vesicle trafficking define the cell symmetry and equivalent membrane scission events, respectively. Protein complexes coordinating mitosis are recruited to membrane microdomains characterized by the presence of the phosphatidylinositol lipid members (PtdIns), like PtdIns(3,4,5)P3, PtdIns(4,5)P2 and PtdIns(3)P. These PtdIns represent a minor component of cell membranes, defining membrane domain identity, ultimately controlling cytoskeleton and membrane dynamics during mitosis. The coordinated presence of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 at the cell poles and PtdIns(4,5)P2 at the cleavage furrow controls the polarity of the actin cytoskeleton leading to symmetrical cell division. In the endosomal compartment, the trafficking of PtdIns(3)P positive vesicles allows the recruitment of the protein machinery required for the abscission
Inflationary Perturbations in Palatini Generalised Gravity
We examine the generation of primordial perturbations during an inflationary
epoch in generalised theories of gravity when the equations of motion are
derived using the Palatini variational principle. Both f(R) and Scalar-Tensor
theories are considered and we compare our results with those obtained under
the conventional metric formalism. Non-linear generalisations of the action
lead to different theories under the two variational choices and we obtain
distinct results for scalar and tensor spectral indices and their ratio. We
find the following general result; inflation driven solely by f(R)
modifications alone do not result in suitable curvature perturbations whilst
Scalar-Tensor theories generate nearly scalar invariant curvature perturbations
but no tensor modes.Comment: 9 page
Localised prostate cancer and hemophilia A (AHA): Case report and management of the disease.
Acquired Hemophilia A (AHA) is a rare bleeding diathesis characterized by the development of autoantibodies against factor VIII (FVIII). About half of the cases are idiopathic and the other half are associated with autoimmune diseases, postpartum problems, infections, inflammatory bowel disease, drugs, lymphoproliferative disorders or solid tumors . AHA is associated with malignancies in 7-15% of cases. We report a case of AHA in a 65 year old patient with prostatic carcinoma, who underwent retropubic radical prostatectomy (RP)
Oral contraceptives combined with interferon β in multiple sclerosis
Objective: To test the effect of oral contraceptives (OCs) in combination with interferon b (IFN-b)
on disease activity in patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis (RRMS).
Methods: One hundred fifty women with RRMS were randomized in a 1:1:1 ratio to receive IFNb-1a
subcutaneously (SC) only (group 1), IFN-b-1a SC plus ethinylstradiol 20 mg and desogestrel
150 mg (group 2), or IFN-b-1a SC plus ethinylestradiol 40 mg and desogestrel 125 mg (group 3).
The primary endpoint was the cumulative number of combined unique active (CUA) lesions on
brain MRI at week 96. Secondary endpoints included MRI and clinical and safety measures.
Results: The estimated number of cumulative CUA lesions at week 96 was 0.98 (95% confidence
interval [CI] 0.81–1.14) in group 1, 0.84 (95% CI 0.66–1.02) in group 2, and 0.72 (95% CI
0.53–0.91) in group 3, with a decrease of 14.1% (p 5 0.24) and 26.5% (p 5 0.04) when comparing
group 1 with groups 2 and 3, respectively. The number of patients with no gadoliniumenhancing
lesions was greater in group 3 than in group 1 (p 5 0.03). No significant differences
were detected in other secondary endpoints. IFN-b or OC discontinuations were equally distributed
across groups.
Conclusions: Our results translate the observations derived from experimental models to patients,
supporting the anti-inflammatory effects of OCs with high-dose estrogens, and suggest possible
directions for future research
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