A highly sensitive atomic force microscope for linear measurements of molecular forces in liquids

We describe a highly improved atomic force microscope for quantitative nanomechanical measurements in liquids. The main feature of this microscope is a modified fiber interferometer mounted on a five axis inertial slider which provides a deflection sensitivity that is significantly better than conventional laser deflection based systems. The measured low noise floor of 572.0 fmHz provides excellent cantilever amplitude resolution. This allows us to operate the instrument far below resonance at extremely small cantilever amplitudes of less than 1 Å. Thus linear measurements of nanomechanical properties of liquid systems can be performed. In particular, we present measurements of solvation forces in confined octamethylcyclotetrasiloxane and water with amplitudes smaller than the size of the respective molecules. In general, the development of the instrument is important in the context of quantitative nanomechanical measurements in liquid environments. © 2005 American Institute of Physics

Urine E-cadherin: A Marker for early detection of kidney injury in diabetic patients.

Diabetic nephropathy (DN) is the main reason for end-stage renal disease. Microalbuminuria as the non-invasive available diagnosis marker lacks specificity and gives high false positive rates. To identify and validate biomarkers for DN, we used in the present study urine samples from four patient groups: diabetes without nephropathy, diabetes with microalbuminuria, diabetes with macroalbuminuria and proteinuria without diabetes. For the longitudinal validation, we recruited 563 diabetic patients and collected 1363 urine samples with the clinical data during a follow-up of 6 years. Comparative urinary proteomics identified four proteins Apolipoprotein A-I (APOA1), Beta-2-microglobulin (B2M), E-cadherin (CDH1) and Lithostathine-1-alpha (REG1A), which differentiated with high statistical strength (p < 0.05) between DN patients and the other groups. Label-free mass spectrometric quantification of the candidates confirmed the discriminatory value of E-cadherin and Lithostathine-1-alpha (p < 0.05). Immunological validation highlighted E-cadherin as the only marker able to differentiate significantly between the different DN stages with an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.85 (95%-CI: [0.72, 0.97]). The analysis of the samples from the longitudinal study confirmed the prognostic value of E-cadherin, the critical increase in urinary E-cadherin level was measured 20 ± 12.5 months before the onset of microalbuminuria and correlated significantly (p < 0.05) with the glomerular filtration rate measured by estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR)

Effect of in vitro gastrointestinal digestion on the total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of wild Mediterranean edible plant extracts

The recent interest in wild edible plants is associated with their health benefits, which are mainly due to their richness in antioxidant compounds, particularly phenolics. Nevertheless, some of these compounds are metabolized after ingestion, being transformed into metabolites frequently with lower antioxidant activity. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the influence of the digestive process on the total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity of extracts from four wild edible plants used in the Mediterranean diet (Beta maritima L., Plantago major L., Oxalis pes-caprae L. and Scolymus hispanicus L.). HPLC-DAD analysis revealed that S. hispanicus is characterized by the presence of caffeoylquinic acids, dicaffeoylquinic acids and flavonol derivatives, P. major by high amounts of verbascoside, B. maritima possesses 2,4-dihydroxybenzoic acid, 5-O-caffeoylquinic acid, quercetin derivatives and kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, and O. pes-caprae extract contains hydroxycinnamic acids and flavone derivatives. Total phenolic contents were determined by Folin-Ciocalteu assay, and antioxidant activity by the ABTS, DPPH, ORAC and FRAP assays. Phenolic contents of P. major and S. hispanicus extracts were not affected by digestion, but they significantly decreased in B. maritima after both phases of digestion process and in O. pes-caprae after the gastric phase. The antioxidant activity results varied with the extract and the method used to evaluate the activity. Results showed that P. major extract has the highest total phenolic contents and antioxidant activity, with considerable values even after digestion, reinforcing the health benefits of this species.European Union (FEDER funds through COMPETE)European Union (EU)European Union (FEDER)European Union (EU)Programa de Cooperacion Interreg V-A Espana - Portugal (POCTEP) 2014-2020 [0377_IBERPHENOL_6_E]project INTERREG - MD. Net: When Brand Meets PeopleFCT Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technolog

Definition of a consensus integrin adhesome and its dynamics during adhesion complex assembly and disassembly

Integrin receptor activation initiates the formation of integrin adhesion complexes (IACs) at the cell membrane that transduce adhesion-dependent signals to control a multitude of cellular functions. Proteomic analyses of isolated IACs have revealed an unanticipated molecular complexity; however, a global view of the consensus composition and dynamics of IACs is currently lacking. Here, we have integrated several IAC proteomes and generated a 2,412-protein integrin adhesome. Analysis of this dataset reveals the functional diversity of proteins in IACs and establishes a consensus adhesome of 60 proteins. The consensus adhesome likely represents a core cell adhesion machinery, centred around four axes comprising ILK-PINCH-kindlin, FAK-paxillin, talin-vinculin and α-actinin-zyxin-VASP, and includes underappreciated IAC components such as Rsu-1 and caldesmon. Proteomic quantification of IAC assembly and disassembly detailed the compositional dynamics of the core cell adhesion machinery. The definition of this consensus view of integrin adhesome components provides a resource for the research community

The pathways of Akhism to the Balkans [Ahiligin Balkanlara geçiş yollari]

In this article, some features in Akhism have been researched supports of the akhs during the establishment of the Ottoman State and passage to the Balkans. Besides, settlement of the Akhism and spreading have been examined in Balkans. Akhism ,which is effective in many areas of society in the middle ages in Anatolia and the Balkans , account for our text. Dervishes have a special location important shareholders in being Turkish land of Anatolia. Conquest of Anatolia and Islamization and during the establishment of the Ottoman State, sufistic life has become one of the most importent issues. The akhs had the duty to carry out the constraction and the reclamation of the country and the propagation of religious propoganda in cities came end settled nail or vacant places to be protected and turned them into avillage, a culturel center During the foundation of the Ottoman, the conquest of Westren Anatolian principals on the Byzantine lands helped to establish Turkish faundations in the border regions. The settlement of Ottomans in Rumeli is important both in terms of Ottoman history and European history If the Turks did not go to Rumelia, The Ottomans would not be the history of the Balkans .The Ottoman Empire would remain a small state like the other Turkmen states. The settlement system they applied in the regions they conquered by the Ottomans was carried out by dervishes and pioneer units. Thay usually do tasks find empty lands, make their own place and dormitory Islam was spread in the Balkans as a result of the resettlement activities of ahis and the dervishes. With another expression, integration with Islam and Turkish culture had been provided. Especially, akhs , who had been in frontier, performed active tasks, in the expansion of the territory, in being a Muslim (entering Islam) and in the establishment of janissary. In Rumelia's Islamization, behavior of the dervish clumps and manners of the akhs are extremely important. In the middle ages, those groups, who are against Christian juristic system and justice mechanism, put into practice a new system of social justice. These organizations, who are along with regular and organized armies or outgoing conquest movements before armies, conveniently located in the districts and conqerred with Islamic moral people living in the region. Ottoman sultans became in close contact with akhs dervishes in conquests in Rumelia (Rumeli). Furthermore, Ottoman sultans, in close contact with akhs dervishes, carried out Islamization- Turkization movements and reconstruction works. Akhism organizations, which up to reached and spread to villages, besides being dominant commercial, had established welfares institutions with earned incomes. On the one hand, while Ottoman State lasted self development, on the other hand, this state provided self settlement with the help of civil and religious organizations

A recovery-type a posteriori error estimator for gradient elasticity

In this paper, an a posteriori error estimator of the recovery type is developed for the gradient elasticity theory of Aifantis. This version of gradient elasticity can be implemented in a staggered way, whereby solution of the classical equations of elasticity is followed by solving a reaction-diffusion equation that introduces the gradient enrichment and removes the singularities. With gradient elasticity, singularities in the stress field can be avoided, which simplifies error estimation. Thus, we develop an error estimator associated with the second step of the staggered algorithm. Stress-gradients are recovered based on the methodology of Zienkiewicz and Zhu, after which a suitable energy norm is discussed. The approach is illustrated with a number of examples that demonstrate its effectiveness

Predictive factors affecting mortality in relaparotomies

Aim: The present study was aimed to analyze the predictive factors for the mortality of relaparatomies. Materials and method: The retrospective study included 236 patients who underwent abdominal surgery and at least one subsequent relaparatomy at Dicle University School of Medicine Department of General Surgery between January 2000 and December 2011. The evaluations included age, gender, accompanying systemic diseases, procedure used in the primary surgery and its condition (emergency/elective), total amount of blood transfusion since the primary surgery, length of time between the primary surgery and relaparatomy, date of the primary surgery, preoperative parameters (albumin, platelet, hemoglobin, leukocyte, and MPV), Glasgow coma score, length of hospital stay, length of stay in intensive care unit, and presence of shock. Results: The patients comprised 165 (69.9%) men and 71 (30.1%) women. The mean age was 55.5±17.22 years (15-89). Early stage relaparatomy (i.e. within the 21 days following the primary surgery) was performed in 231 (97.8%) patients while 5 (2.2%) patients received it in the late stage (i.e. after the 21st day). Mortality rate was 13.8% (32/231) in the early stage and 80.0% (4/5) in the late stage. The patients over 50 years old had a mortality rate of 66.6% (24/36) and the ones below 50 years old had 6.0% (12/200). It can be concluded that the need for a relaparatomy and the risk of mortality could be reduced by a well-arranged primary surgery and efficient time management in handling the postoperative complications. Nevertheless, if needed, relaparatomy could be life-saving when performed at the correct time. Conclusion: The decision whether and when to perform a relaparatomy, preoperative preparation, number of laparatomies, amount of blood transfusion, and the length of period since the primary surgery are important factors for the mortality. © 2016, E-Century Publishing Corporation. All rights reserved

Relationship of helicobacter pylori infection to several malignant and non-malignant gastrointestinal diseases

PubMedID: 9387903The importance of the Helicobacter Pylori infection was investigated as a risk factor for several gastrointestinal diseases. In this study 203 patients with gastric cancer, 61 with peptic ulcus, 60 with gastritis and 100 asymptomatic control subjects were investigated. Serum samples were examined for IgC antibodies to H. pylori by enzyme linked immunoassay - tissue samples were stained for H. pylori by Wartin-Stary technique and by Giemsa for routine histopathology. H. pylori seropositivity was 58.1% in gastric cancer, 54% in peptic ulcus, 63.3% in gastritis and 27% in asymptomatic control group. There was a 10.1% discordance between the serum and tumor determinants in the seropositive group and 11.3% of discordance in the seronegative group. The frequency of H. pylori seropositivity was lowest in cardia tumors (22.7%) and highest in antral tumors (65.5%, p = 0.00002). H. pylori seropositivity was 29% in diffuse type of histology, 35% in mixed type and 79% in the intestinal type (p = 0.00000). In the gastric cancer patients the frequent use of salty food (p = 0.00001, OR = 6.4), excessive salt, pickled food ( p = 0.0000, OR = 24.92) and proteins (p = 0.003, OR = 0.45) were more significant than asymptomatic volunteers. In gastric cancer patients the frequent use of salty and pickled food were relevantly associated with H. pylori infection (p = 0.001). It was concluded that H. pylori infection could play a role in the pathogenesis of non-malignant gastrointestinal diseases which may be the precursor of carcinoma. However, other contributing factors to carcinogenesis must be investigated

Vision-based pavement marking detection – a case study

Pavement markings take responsibility to communicate with road users regarding travel regulations and guidance. Due to their irreplaceable role in ensuring the safety and order on road, it would be beneficial for road agencies to keep an as-is inventory record of the pavement markings on their roads for managerial operations. However, faced with the sheer volume of their responsible assets, manual inspection would be time-consuming and error prone. This study proposes a vision-based method to automatically detect and classify longitudinal markings using videos of road pavement. Not only line markings, audible markings, as a special category, were also identified in the images. The proposed method can achieve an average 0.89 detection accuracy for line markings and 0.82 for audible markings. Limitations and future work are also proposed. This study tests the possibility of utilising visual data to assist road agencies with an informative management of their civil assets