Pleiotropic effects of erythropoietin. Influence of erythropoietin on processes of mesenchymal stem cells differentiation

The article notes that рuman recombinant erythropoietin is characterised as a factor which stimulates differentiation and proliferation of erythroid precursor cells, and as a tissue protective factor. Erythropoietin is one of the most perspective humoral agents which are involved in the preconditioning phenomeno

Effect of multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells secretome on imiquimod-induced psoriasis in rats

Multipotent mesenchymal stromal cells secretome contains a range of anti-inflammatory factors and can be used for the treatment of psoriasi

The combined effects of a long-term experimental drought and an extreme drought on the use of plant-water sources in a Mediterranean forest

Vegetation in water-limited ecosystems relies strongly on access to deep water reserves to withstand dry periods. Most of these ecosystems have shallow soils over deep groundwater reserves. Understanding the functioning and functional plasticity of species-specific root systems and the patterns of or differences in the use of water sources under more frequent or intense droughts is therefore necessary to properly predict the responses of seasonally dry ecosystems to future climate. We used stable isotopes to investigate the seasonal patterns of water uptake by a sclerophyll forest on sloped terrain with shallow soils. We assessed the effect of a long-term experimental drought (12 years) and the added impact of an extreme natural drought that produced widespread tree mortality and crown defoliation. The dominant species, Quercus ilex, Arbutus unedo and Phillyrea latifolia, all have dimorphic root systems enabling them to access different water sources in space and time. The plants extracted water mainly from the soil in the cold and wet seasons but increased their use of groundwater during the summer drought. Interestingly, the plants subjected to the long-term experimental drought shifted water uptake toward deeper (10-35 cm) soil layers during the wet season and reduced groundwater uptake in summer, indicating plasticity in the functional distribution of fine roots that dampened the effect of our experimental drought over the long term. An extreme drought in 2011, however, further reduced the contribution of deep soil layers and groundwater to transpiration, which resulted in greater crown defoliation in the drought-affected plants. The present study suggests that extreme droughts aggravate moderate but persistent drier conditions (simulated by our manipulation) and may lead to the depletion of water from groundwater reservoirs and weathered bedrock, threatening the preservation of these Mediterranean ecosystems in their current structures and composition

The dynamics of clinical, electroencephalographic, hemodynamic indexes among the patients after the intergrated treatment

The dynamics of clinical electroencephalographic (EEG) and hemodynamic in-dexes according to the data of transcranial doppleography (TCD) after the treatment in a month with including of cavinton and mexidol among 66 patients with temporal epilepsy (ТЕ) with rare (I) and frequent (II) attacks at the age of 30,5+9,3 years was studied. The raise of the aspmetry coefficient of blood circulation middle velocity in middle (MBA),front (FBA) and backbone (BA) brain arteries with prevalence among the patients of the second group-on BA and BBA (p<0,05) among patients with temple epilepsy was established. After the combined therapy the complete control over the attacks was achieved among 58,8% and 31,3% patients, the reduction of the attack number more than 75% is observed among 35,2% and 46,9% patients with temple epilepsy of the first and the second group on BBA and BA (p<0,05). According to the data EEG the raise of alpha-activity and the reduction of paroxysmal activity (p<0,05) is recorded, however the index of paroxysmal activity among the patients in the second group remained increased (p<0,05).The normalization of brain circulation aspm etry index among the patients of the first group is revealed; the aspmetry index on BBA and BA (p<0,05) among patients of the second group was being kept. The revealed positive dynamics of studied index among patients with ТЕ motivates including vessel and antioxidant therapy in epilepsy treatment.Изучена динамика клинических, электроэнцефалографических (ЭЗГ) и ге-модинамических показателей по данным транскраниальной допплерографии (ТКД) через месяц после лечения с включением кавинтона и мексидола у 66 больных височной эпилепсией (ВЗ) с редкими (I) и частыми (II группа) припадками в возрасте 30,5 ± 9,3 лет. У пациентов ВЭ установлено повышение коэффициента асимметрии средней скорости кровотока по средней (СМА), передней (ПМА) и позвоночной (ПА) мозговым артериям с преобладанием у больных II группы - по ПА и ЗМА (р< 0,05). После комплексной терапии полный контроль над припадками достигнут у 58,8% и 31,3%, сокращение числа приступов более чем на 75% - у 35,2% и 46,9% пациентов ВЭ I и II групп соответственно (р<0,05). По данным ЭЗГ зарегистрировано увеличение альфа-активности и снижения пароксизмальной активности (р<0,05), однако у больных II группы индекс пароксизмальной активности оставался повышенным (р<0,05). У пациентов I группы выявлена нормализация показателей асимметрии мозгового кровотока, у пациентов II группы сохранялась асимметрия показателей по ЗМА и ПА (р<0,05). Выявленная положительная динамика изученных показателей у больных ВЭ обосновывает включение со-судистой и антиоксидантной терапии в лечение эпилепсии

Phosphorylation controls autoinhibition of cytoplasmic linker protein-170

Author Posting. © American Society for Cell Biology, 2010. This article is posted here by permission of American Society for Cell Biology for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Molecular Biology of the Cell 21 (2010): 2661-2673, doi:10.1091/mbc.E09-12-1036.Cytoplasmic linker protein (CLIP)-170 is a microtubule (MT) plus-end-tracking protein that regulates MT dynamics and links MT plus ends to different intracellular structures. We have shown previously that intramolecular association between the N and C termini results in autoinhibition of CLIP-170, thus altering its binding to MTs and the dynactin subunit p150Glued (J. Cell Biol. 2004: 166, 1003–1014). In this study, we demonstrate that conformational changes in CLIP-170 are regulated by phosphorylation that enhances the affinity between the N- and C-terminal domains. By using site-directed mutagenesis and phosphoproteomic analysis, we mapped the phosphorylation sites in the third serine-rich region of CLIP-170. A phosphorylation-deficient mutant of CLIP-170 displays an "open" conformation and a higher binding affinity for growing MT ends and p150Glued as compared with nonmutated protein, whereas a phosphomimetic mutant confined to the "folded back" conformation shows decreased MT association and does not interact with p150Glued. We conclude that phosphorylation regulates CLIP-170 conformational changes resulting in its autoinhibition.This work was supported by National Institutes of Health grant GM-25062 (to G.G.B.); Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research grants (to A. A. and N. G.); a Cancer Genomics Centre grant (to J.v.H.); and Presidential Program of Russian Academy of Sciences and RFBP grant 05-04-4915 (to E.S.N.)

The N-P-K soil nutrient balance of portuguese cropland in the 1950s: the transition from organic to chemical fertilization

Agricultural nutrient balances have been receiving increasing attention in both historical and nutrient management research. The main objectives of this study were to further develop balance methodologies and to carry out a comprehensive assessment of the functioning and nutrient cycling of 1950s agroecosystems in Portugal. Additionally, the main implications for the history of agriculture in Portugal were discussed from the standpoint of soil fertility. We used a mass balance approach that comprises virtually all nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) inputs and outputs from cropland topsoil for average conditions in the period 1951–56. We found a consistent deficit in N, both for nationwide (−2.1 kg.ha−1.yr−1) and arable crops (−1.6 kg.ha−1.yr−1) estimates, that was rectified in the turn to the 1960 decade. P and K were, in contrast, accumulating in the soil (4.2–4.6 kg.ha−1.yr−1 and 1.0–3.0 kg.ha−1.yr−1, respectively). We observed that the 1950s is the very moment of inflection from an agriculture fertilized predominantly through reused N in biomass (livestock excretions plus marine, plant and human waste sources) to one where chemical fertilizers prevailed. It is suggested that N deficiency played an important role in this transitioninfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

A LIBRATION MODEL FOR ENCELADUS BASED ON GEODETIC CONTROL POINT NETWORK ANALYSIS

A new global control point network was derived for Enceladus, based on Cassini and Voyager-2 image data. Cassini images were taken from 2005 to 2014, for Voyager we have only one flyby in the middle of 1981. We have derived 3D Cartesian coordinates for 1128 control points as well as improved pointing data for 12 Voyager and 193 Cassini images in the Enceladus-fixed coordinate system. The point accuracies vary from 55 m to 2900 m (average point accuracy &ndash; 221 m). From tracking of the control points we detect a librational motion described by a model which includes 3 different periods and amplitudes (Rambaux et al., 2011). We determine the amplitudes for each term. Our new control point network has a higher number of point measurements and a higher accuracy than previous data (Giese et al., 2014)

SPECIAL SOFTWARE FOR PLANETARY IMAGE PROCESSING AND RESEARCH

The special modules of photogrammetric processing of remote sensing data that provide the opportunity to effectively organize and optimize the planetary studies were developed. As basic application the commercial software package PHOTOMOD™ is used. Special modules were created to perform various types of data processing: calculation of preliminary navigation parameters, calculation of shape parameters of celestial body, global view image orthorectification, estimation of Sun illumination and Earth visibilities from planetary surface. For photogrammetric processing the different types of data have been used, including images of the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Phobos, Galilean satellites and Enceladus obtained by frame or push-broom cameras. We used modern planetary data and images that were taken over the years, shooting from orbit flight path with various illumination and resolution as well as obtained by planetary rovers from surface. Planetary data image processing is a complex task, and as usual it can take from few months to years. We present our efficient pipeline procedure that provides the possibilities to obtain different data products and supports a long way from planetary images to celestial body maps. The obtained data &ndash; new three-dimensional control point networks, elevation models, orthomosaics &ndash; provided accurate maps production: a new Phobos atlas (Karachevtseva et al., 2015) and various thematic maps that derived from studies of planetary surface (Karachevtseva et al., 2016a)

Reserves for improving the efficiency of petrochemical production on the basis of “Industry 4.0”

One of the current problems in the industrial complex is the issue of resource saving and energy efficiency, which is confirmed by the relevant government programs, strategies, regulatory documents. The solution of the problem of increasing the efficiency of the organization of production systems requires the definition and development of the necessary mechanisms, in particular, by automating production processes. The article analyses the key trends in the development of the concept of “industry 4.0” in the petrochemical industry. The factors influencing efficiency of the organization of production systems are revealed. The main directions promoting development and improvement of the organization of production are defined. It considers the basic tools of process improvements, process automation, petrochemical plants: work on the system of just-in-time, 5S system of rationalization of the workplace, different information systems, particularly ERP systems, CALS-technologies. Advantages of automation of production processes at the enterprises of petrochemical complex are defined