High capacitance carbon-based xerogel film produced without critical drying

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 93(19):193112 (2008) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2976684 .ArticleAPPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 93(19):193112 (2008)journal articl

High capacitance carbon-based xerogel film produced without critical drying

This article may be downloaded for personal use only. Any other use requires prior permission of the author and the American Institute of Physics. The following article appeared in APPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 93(19):193112 (2008) and may be found at https://doi.org/10.1063/1.2976684 .ArticleAPPLIED PHYSICS LETTERS. 93(19):193112 (2008)journal articl

Effect of Curcuma longa and Ocimum sanctum on myocardial apoptosis in experimentally induced myocardial ischemic-reperfusion injury

BACKGROUND: In the present investigation, the effect of Curcuma longa (Cl) and Ocimum sanctum (Os) on myocardial apoptosis and cardiac function was studied in an ischemia and reperfusion (I-R) model of myocardial injury. METHODS: Wistar albino rats were divided into four groups and orally fed saline once daily (sham, control IR) or Cl (100 mg/kg; Cl-IR) or Os (75 mg/kg; Os-IR) respectively for 1 month. On the 31(st )day, in the rats of the control IR, Cl-IR and Os-IR groups LAD occlusion was undertaken for 45 min, and reperfusion was allowed for 1 h. The hemodynamic parameters{mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), left ventricular end-diastolic pressure (LVEDP), left ventricular peak positive (+) LVdP/dt (rate of pressure development) and negative (-) LVdP/dt (rate of pressure decline)} were monitored at pre-set points throughout the experimental duration and subsequently, the animals were sacrificed for immunohistopathological (Bax, Bcl-2 protein expression & TUNEL positivity) and histopathological studies. RESULTS: Chronic treatment with Cl significantly reduced TUNEL positivity (p < 0.05), Bax protein (p < 0.001) and upregulated Bcl-2 (p < 0.001) expression in comparison to control IR group. In addition, Cl demonstrated mitigating effects on several myocardial injury induced hemodynamic {(+)LVdP/dt, (-) LVdP/dt & LVEDP} and histopathological perturbations. Chronic Os treatment resulted in modest modulation of the hemodynamic alterations (MAP, LVEDP) but failed to demonstrate any significant antiapoptotic effects and prevent the histopathological alterations as compared to control IR group. CONCLUSION: In the present study, significant cardioprotection and functional recovery demonstrated by Cl may be attributed to its anti-apoptotic property. In contrast to Os, Cl may attenuate cell death due to apoptosis and prevent the impairment of cardiac performance

The RNA Binding Protein Csx1 Promotes Sexual Differentiation in Schizosaccharomyces pombe

Sexual differentiation is a highly regulated process in the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe and is triggered by nutrient depletion, mainly nitrogen source

Autoimmune diseases and pregnancy: analysis of a series of cases

BACKGROUND: An autoimmune disease is characterized by tissue damage, caused by self-reactivity of different effector mechanisms of the immune system, namely antibodies and T cells. All autoimmune diseases, to some extent, have implications for fertility and obstetrics. Currently, due to available treatments and specialised care for pregnant women with autoimmune disease, the prognosis for both mother and child has improved significantly. However these pregnancies are always high risk. The purpose of this study is to analyse the fertility/pregnancy process of women with systemic and organ-specific autoimmune diseases and assess pathological and treatment implications. METHODS: The authors performed an analysis of the clinical records and relevant obstetric history of five patients representing five distinct autoimmune pathological scenarios, selected from Autoimmune Disease Consultation at the Hospital of Braga, and reviewed the literature. RESULTS: The five clinical cases are the following: Case 1-28 years old with systemic lupus erythematosus, and clinical remission of the disease, under medication with hydroxychloroquine, prednisolone and acetylsalicylic acid, with incomplete miscarriage at 7 weeks of gestation without signs of thrombosis. Case 2-44 years old with history of two late miscarriages, a single preterm delivery (33 weeks) and multiple thrombotic events over the years, was diagnosed with antiphospholipid syndrome after acute myocardial infarction. Case 3-31 years old with polymyositis, treated with azathioprine for 3 years with complete remission of the disease, took the informed decision to get pregnant after medical consultation and full weaning from azathioprine, and gave birth to a healthy term new-born. Case 4-38 years old pregnant woman developed Behcet's syndrome during the final 15 weeks of gestation and with disease exacerbation after delivery. Case 5-36 years old with autoimmune thyroiditis diagnosed during her first pregnancy, with difficult control over the thyroid function over the years and first trimester miscarriage, suffered a second miscarriage despite clinical stability and antibody regression. CONCLUSIONS: As described in literature, the authors found a strong association between autoimmune disease and obstetric complications, especially with systemic lupus erythematosus, antiphospholipid syndrome and autoimmune thyroiditis

Photopatterned antibodies for selective cell attachment

We present a phototriggerable system that allows for the spatiotemporal controlled attachment of selected cell types to a biomaterial using immobilized antibodies that specifically target individual cell phenotypes.o-Nitrobenzyl caged biotin was used to functionalize chitosan membranes and mediate site-specific coupling of streptavidin and biotinylated antibodies after light activation. The ability of this system to capture and immobilize specific cells on a surface was tested using endothelial-specific biotinylated antibodies and nonspecific ones as controls. Homogeneous patterned monolayers of human umbilical vein endothelial cells were obtained on CD31-functionalized surfaces. This is a simple and generic approach that is applicable to other ligands, materials, and cell types and shows the flexibility of caged ligands to trigger and control the interaction between cells and biomaterials.We thank Martina Knecht (MPIP) for help with the synthesis of caged biotin and Dr. Ron Unger and Prof. C. J. Kirkpatrick (University Clinic Mainz, RepairLab) for providing HUVECs. C.A.C. acknowledges funding support from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (fellowship SFRH/BD/61390/2009) and from the International Max-Planck Research School in Mainz. The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) under grant agreement no. REGPOT-CT2012-316331-POLARIS

Marked alveolar apoptosis/proliferation imbalance in end-stage emphysema

BACKGROUND: Apoptosis has recently been proposed to contribute to the pathogenesis of emphysema. METHODS: In order to establish if cell fate plays a role even in end-stage disease we studied 16 lungs (9 smoking-associated and 7 α1antitrypsin (AAT)-deficiency emphysema) from patients who had undergone lung transplantations. Six unused donor lungs served as controls. Apoptosis was evaluated by TUNEL analysis, single-stranded DNA laddering, electron microscopy and cell proliferation by an immunohistochemical method (MIB1). The role of the transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1 pathway was also investigated and correlated with epithelial cell turnover and with the severity of inflammatory cell infiltrate. RESULTS: The apoptotic index (AI) was significantly higher in emphysematous lungs compared to the control group (p ≤ 0.01), particularly if only lungs with AAT-deficiency emphysema were considered (p ≤ 0.01 vs p = 0.09). The proliferation index was similar in patients and controls (1.9 ± 2.2 vs 1.7 ± 1.1). An increased number of T lymphocytes was observed in AAT-deficiency lungs than smoking-related cases (p ≤ 0.05). TGF-β1 expression in the alveolar wall was higher in patients with smoking-associated emphysema than in cases with AAT-deficiency emphysema (p ≤ 0.05). A positive correlation between TGF-βRII and AI was observed only in the control group (p ≤ 0.005, r(2 )= 0.8). A negative correlation was found between the TGF-β pathway (particularly TGF-βRII) and T lymphocytes infiltrate in smoking-related cases (p ≤ 0.05, r(2 )= 0.99) CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest that apoptosis of alveolar epithelial cells plays an important role even in end-stage emphysema particularly in AAT-deficiency disease. The TGFβ-1 pathway does not seem to directly influence epithelial turnover in end-stage disease. Inflammatory cytokine different from TGF-β1 may differently orchestrate cell fate in AAT and smoking-related emphysema types

The Frequency-dependent Damping of Slow Magnetoacoustic Waves in a Sunspot Umbral Atmosphere

High spatial and temporal resolution images of a sunspot, obtained simultaneously in multiple optical and UV wavelengths, are employed to study the propagation and damping characteristics of slow magnetoacoustic waves up to transition region heights. Power spectra are generated from intensity oscillations in sunspot umbra, across multiple atmospheric heights, for frequencies up to a few hundred mHz. It is observed that the power spectra display a power-law dependence over the entire frequency range, with a significant enhancement around 5.5 mHz found for the chromospheric channels. The phase-difference spectra reveal a cutoff frequency near 3 mHz, up to which the oscillations are evanescent, while those with higher frequencies propagate upwards. The power-law index appears to increase with atmospheric height. Also, shorter damping lengths are observed for oscillations with higher frequencies suggesting frequency-dependent damping. Using the relative amplitudes of the 5.5 mHz (3 minute) oscillations, we estimate the energy flux at different heights, which seems to decay gradually from the photosphere, in agreement with recent numerical simulations. Furthermore, a comparison of power spectra across the umbral radius highlights an enhancement of high-frequency waves near the umbral center, which does not seem to be related to magnetic field inclination angle effects

DNA G-quadruplexes in the human genome: detection, functions and therapeutic potential.

Single-stranded guanine-rich DNA sequences can fold into four-stranded DNA structures called G-quadruplexes (G4s) that arise from the self-stacking of two or more guanine quartets. There has been considerable recent progress in the detection and mapping of G4 structures in the human genome and in biologically relevant contexts. These advancements, many of which align with predictions made previously in computational studies, provide important new insights into the functions of G4 structures in, for example, the regulation of transcription and genome stability, and uncover their potential relevance for cancer therapy.The Balasubramanian laboratory is core-funded by Cancer Research UK (C14303/A17197) and further supported by a Cancer Research UK programme grant (C9681/A18618). S.B. is a Wellcome Trust Senior Investigator (099232/Z/12/Z)

Loss of Hairless Confers Susceptibility to UVB-Induced Tumorigenesis via Disruption of NF-kappaB Signaling

In order to model squamous cell carcinoma development in vivo, researchers have long preferred hairless mouse models such as SKH-1 mice that have traditionally been classified as ‘wild-type’ mice irrespective of the genetic factors underlying their hairless phenotype. The work presented here shows that mutations in the Hairless (Hr) gene not only result in the hairless phenotype of the SKH-1 and Hr−/− mouse lines but also cause aberrant activation of NFκB and its downstream effectors. We show that in the epidermis, Hr is an early UVB response gene that regulates NFκB activation and thereby controls cellular responses to irradiation. Therefore, when Hr expression is decreased in Hr mutant animals there is a corresponding increase in NFκB activity that is augmented by UVB irradiation. This constitutive activation of NFκB in the Hr mutant epidermis leads to the stimulation a large variety of downstream effectors including the cell cycle regulators cyclin D1 and cyclin E, the anti-apoptosis protein Bcl-2, and the pro-inflammatory protein Cox-2. Therefore, Hr loss results in a state of uncontrolled epidermal proliferation that promotes tumor development, and Hr mutant mice should no longer be considered merely hairless 'wild-type' mice. Instead, Hr is a crucial UVB response gene and its loss creates a permissive environment that potentiates increased tumorigenesis