Improvement of polyuria, bladder sensation and bladder capacity following renal transplantation

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.ArticleInternational Journal of Urology. 13(5): 616-618 (2006)journal articl

Alveolar soft-part sarcoma of the retroperitoneum

The definitive version is available at www.blackwell-synergy.com.ArticleInternational Journal of Urology. 13(10): 1355-1357 (2006)journal articl

Padrões espaciais de sistemas agroflorestais com cultivo de cacau em Tomé-Açu, Nordeste paraense.

A crescente demanda por informações sobre a dinâmica de uso das terras e da atividade agrícola na Amazônia, exige um esforço para que novos estudos sejam realizados. Este trabalho teve por objetivo propor uma metodologia para o mapeamento de pequenos cultivos de cacau, bem como discutir as relações espaciais dos mesmos no contexto do município de Tomé-Açu, Estado do Pará. Para isso, foi construída uma base de dados na plataforma QGIS, destinada à manipulação e à análise de dados georreferenciados. O mapeamento dos cultivos de cacau considerou mosaico de imagens PlanetScope, bandas 1, 2 e 3, ano de 2017, com resolução espacial de 3 m. As imagens foram classificadas por análise visual preliminar, considerando padrões espaciais e espectrais. O produto obtido foi refinado posteriormente a partir de mapeamentos participativos com atores locais. Verificou-se que as áreas com cacau se concentram em propriedades de até 50 ha, valor este relativo ao módulo fiscal definido para a área de estudo. Foram registrados quase 4 mil hectares de cultivos de cacau no ano de 2017. Os plantios de cacau estão concentrados próximos à malha viária, em áreas agrícolas consolidadas, distantes das frentes pioneiras de expansão agrícola

Trajetórias de uso e cobertura da terra nas microrregiões de Marabá, Paragominas e Tucuruí, sudeste paraense (2004 - 2014).

O processo de ocupação na região do Sudeste Paraense inicia no final do século XIX e desde de então, o uso e cobertura da terra tem passado por transformações profundas. Avaliou-se um conjunto de municípios das microrregiões Paragominas, Tucuruí e Marabá, do Sudeste Paraense a partir de matrizes TerraClass de uso e cobertura da terra, compreendendo os anos de 2004, 2010 e 2014, sendo propostas trajetórias a partir da intersecção dos dados entre os anos selecionados. A manutenção da cobertura florestal foi a trajetória com maior poder discriminante entre os municípios, seguida de outras trajetórias associadas a pecuária ou vegetação secundária. A microrregião Tucuruí apresentou a maior homogeneidade entre os seus municípios, enquanto que as outras denotaram segmentaçã

EuFe2_2As2_2 under high pressure: an antiferromagnetic bulk superconductor

We report the ac magnetic susceptibility $\chi_{ac}$ and resistivity $\rho$ measurements of EuFe$_2$As$_2$ under high pressure $P$. By observing nearly 100% superconducting shielding and zero resistivity at $P$ = 28 kbar, we establish that $P$-induced superconductivity occurs at $T_c \sim$~30 K in EuFe$_2$As$_2$. $\rho$ shows an anomalous nearly linear temperature dependence from room temperature down to $T_c$ at the same $P$. $\chi_{ac}$ indicates that an antiferromagnetic order of Eu$^{2+}$ moments with $T_N \sim$~20 K persists in the superconducting phase. The temperature dependence of the upper critical field is also determined.Comment: To appear in J. Phys. Soc. Jpn., Vol. 78 No.

Serum galectin-9 levels are elevated in the patients with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease

Background: Galectin-9 (Gal-9) induces apoptosis in activated T helper 1 (T(H)1) cells as a ligand for T cell immunoglobulin mucin-3 (Tim-3). Gal-9 also inhibits the G1 phase cell cycle arrest and hypertrophy in db/db mice, the hallmark of early diabetic nephropathy, by reversing the high glucose-induced up-regulation of cyclin dependent kinase inhibitors such as p27(Kip1) and p21(Cip1). Methods: We investigated the serum levels of Gal-9 in the patients with type 2 diabetes and various stages of chronic kidney disease (CKD) (n = 182). Results: Serum Gal-9 levels in the patients with type 2 diabetes were 131.9 +/- 105.4 pg/ml and Log(10)Gal-9 levels significantly and positively correlated with age (r = 0.227, p = 0.002), creatinine (r = 0.175, p = 0.018), urea nitrogen (r = 0.162, p = 0.028) and osmotic pressure (r = 0.187, p = 0.014) and negatively correlated with estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) (r = -0.188, p = 0.011). Log(10)Gal-9 levels increased along with the progression of GFR categories of G1 to G4, and they were statistically significant by Jonckheere-Terpstra test (p = 0.012). Log(10)Gal-9 levels remained similar levels in albuminuria stages of A1 to A3. Conclusion: The elevation of serum Gal-9 in the patients with type 2 diabetes is closely linked to GFR and they may be related to the alteration of the immune response and inflammation of the patients with type 2 diabetes and CKD

Engineering the surface properties of a human monoclonal antibody prevents self-association and rapid clearance in vivo

Uncontrolled self-association is a major challenge in the exploitation of proteins as therapeutics. Here we describe the development of a structural proteomics approach to identify the amino acids responsible for aberrant self-association of monoclonal antibodies and the design of a variant with reduced aggregation and increased serum persistence in vivo. We show that the human monoclonal antibody, MEDI1912, selected against nerve growth factor binds with picomolar affinity, but undergoes reversible self-association and has a poor pharmacokinetic profile in both rat and cynomolgus monkeys. Using hydrogen/deuterium exchange and cross-linking-mass spectrometry we map the residues responsible for self-association of MEDI1912 and show that disruption of the self-interaction interface by three mutations enhances its biophysical properties and serum persistence, whilst maintaining high affinity and potency. Immunohistochemistry suggests that this is achieved via reduction of non-specific tissue binding. The strategy developed represents a powerful and generic approach to improve the properties of therapeutic proteins

11β-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase-1 Is a Novel Regulator of Skin Homeostasis and a Candidate Target for Promoting Tissue Repair

11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase 1 (11β-HSD1) catalyzes the interconversion of cortisone and cortisol within the endoplasmic reticulum. 11β-HSD1 is expressed widely, most notably in the liver, adipose tissue, and central nervous system. It has been studied intensely over the last 10 years because its activity is reported to be increased in visceral adipose tissue of obese people. Epidermal keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts also express 11β-HSD1. However, the function of the enzymatic activity 11β-HSD1 in skin is not known. We found that 11β-HSD1 was expressed in human and murine epidermis, and this expression increased as keratinocytes differentiate. The expression of 11β-HSD1 by normal human epidermal keratinocytes (NHEKs) was increased by starvation or calcium-induced differentiation in vitro. A selective inhibitor of 11β-HSD1 promoted proliferation of NHEKs and normal human dermal fibroblasts, but did not alter the differentiation of NHEKs. Topical application of selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitor to the dorsal skin of hairless mice caused proliferation of keratinocytes. Taken together, these data suggest that 11β-HSD1 is involved in tissue remodeling of the skin. This hypothesis was further supported by the observation that topical application of the selective 11β-HSD1 inhibitor enhanced cutaneous wound healing in C57BL/6 mice and ob/ob mice. Collectively, we conclude that 11β-HSD1 is negatively regulating the proliferation of keratinocytes and fibroblasts, and cutaneous wound healing. Hence, 11β-HSD1 might maintain skin homeostasis by regulating the proliferation of keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts. Thus 11β-HSD1 is a novel candidate target for the design of skin disease treatments

Spherical surface models with directors

A triangulated spherical surface model is numerically studied, and it is shown that the model undergoes phase transitions between the smooth phase and the collapsed phase. The model is defined by using a director field, which is assumed to have an interaction with a normal of the surface. The interaction between the directors and the surface maintains the surface shape. The director field is not defined within the two-dimensional differential geometry, and this is in sharp contrast to the conventional surface models, where the surface shape is maintained only by the curvature energies. We also show that the interaction makes the Nambu-Goto model well-defined, where the bond potential is given by the area of triangles; the Nambu-Goto model is well-known as an ill-defined one even when the conventional two-dimensional bending energy is included in the Hamiltonian.Comment: 18 pages, 13 figure