Pathophysiology of Asthma and Chronic Obstuctive Pulmonary Disease (COPD)

“Asthma is a disease characterized by an increased responsiveness of the trachea and bronchi to various stimuli and manifested by a widespread narrowing of the airways that changes in severity either spontaneously or in response to therapy.” The airway narrowing is the end result of some combination of bronchial muscle contraction, tissue inflammation, mucosal edema, and luminal occlusion by cellular debris and thickened secretions. During the last decade, basic and applied research has shed light on the physiology of the above changes and has led to breakthroughs in therapy and the more rational use of older and newer therapeutic agents, both separately and together

Turbulence driven particle transport in Texas Helimak

We analyze the turbulence driven particle transport in Texas Helimak (K. W. Gentle and Huang He, Plasma Sci. and Technology, 10, 284 (2008)), a toroidal plasma device with one-dimensional equilibrium with magnetic curvature and shear. Alterations on the radial electric field, through an external voltage bias, change spectral plasma characteristics inducing a dominant frequency for negative bias values and a broad band frequency spectrum for positive bias values. For negative biased plasma discharges, the transport is high where the waves propagate with phase velocities near the plasma flow velocity, an indication that the transport is strongly affected by a wave particle resonant interaction. On the other hand, for positive bias the plasma has a reversed shear flow and we observe that the transport is almost zero in the shearless radial region, an evidence of a transport barrier in this region.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figure

Who has a better auditory gaydar? Sexual orientation categorization by heterosexual and lesbian, gay and bisexual people

Lesbian, gay and bisexual (LGB) people are supposed to be better at gaydar than heterosexual. Across two studies we examined auditory gaydar performed by LGB and heterosexual listeners. In Study 1 participants (n = 127) listened to male and female speakers (n = 10) and judged their sexual orientation on a binary choice (gay/lesbian vs. heterosexual). In Study 2, participants (n = 192) judged speakers’ (n = 31) sexual orientation on a Kinsey-like scale (1 = exclusively heterosexual, 7 = exclusively gay/lesbian). Results showed gaydar judgments differences in relative terms that did not indicate an overall gaydar accuracy. Moreover, LGB participants were not better at gaydar than heterosexual participants but rather showed a shift in criterion when making auditory gaydar judgments, namely they report a weaker straight categorization bias. Overall, these findings contribute to the understanding of sexual orientation categorization among heterosexual majority and LGB minority groups.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Trial by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and semi-quantitative spectral analysis of restoration interface -dentin previously demineralized and restored with glass ionomer

El propósito del trabajo de investigación, fue desarrollar un ensayo de complejidad aceptable para estudios en el ámbito universitario, a fin de observar el grado de penetrabilidad de la restauración con ionómero vítreo de esmalte desmineralizado y a la vez, constatar la presencia de metales y no metales debidos a la restauración que pueden justificar el poder remineralizante otorgado a los ionómeros vítreos. Se utilizaron especímenes de terceros molares retenidos sanos. Se sometieron a un protocolo de desmineralización y posterior obturación con un ionómero vítreo autocurable. Se los preparó para MEB y posterior análisis semicuantitativo químico por espectroscopía por dispersión de rayos X. Se observa un enriquecimiento en masa de flúor en los canales de dentina que incrementan la probabilidad de una posterior remineralización en un elemento dentario vivo.The purpose of the research was to develop a test of acceptable complexity for studies in universities, in order to observe the penetration degree of the restoration with glass ionomer of demineralized enamel and, simultaneously, verify the presence of metals and non-metals due to restoration that can justify the remineralizing power granted to glass ionomers. Specimens of healthy third molars were used and subjected to a demineralization protocol and subsequent filling with a self-curable glass ionomer. They were prepared for a SEM and subsequent semiquantitative chemical analysis by X-ray scattering spectroscopy. A massive enrichment of fluoride in dentin channels is observed, which increases the likelihood of further living tooth remineralization.Fil: Fasoli, L. C.. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de OdontologíaFil: Conti Viejo, María Noelia. Universidad Nacional de Cuyo. Facultad de Odontologí

First insights into the urinary metabolome of captive giraffes by proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy

The urine from 35 giraffes was studied by untargeted1H-NMR, with the purpose of obtaining, for the first time, a fingerprint of its metabolome. The metabolome, as downstream of the transcriptome and proteome, has been considered as the most representative approach to monitor the relationships between animal physiological features and environment. Thirty-nine molecules were unambiguously quantified, able to give information about diet, proteins digestion, energy generation, and gut-microbial co-metabolism. The samples collected allowed study of the effects of age and sex on the giraffe urinary metabolome. In addition, preliminary information about how sampling procedure and pregnancy could affect a giraffe\u2019s urinary metabolome was obtained. Such work could trigger the setting up of methods to non-invasively study the health status of giraffes, which is utterly needed, considering that anesthetic-related complications make their immobilization a very risky practice

Effects of unloading and positive inotropic interventions on left ventricular function in asymptomatic patients with chronic severe aortic insufficiency.

The effect of an unloading (nifedipine, 20 mg sublingually) and of a combined unloading and positive inotropic intervention (nifedipine plus digoxin, 0.5 mg intravenously) on left ventricular performance was assessed in 48 patients with chronic severe aortic insufficiency. The left ventricular pump function-myocardial contractility relation (ejection fraction, EF vs. peak arterial pressure to end-systolic volume ratio, PAP/ESV), and the pump function-afterload relation (EF vs. mean systolic wall stress, MWS) were constructed by means of quantitative M-mode and two-dimensional echocardiography. In patients with normal control pump function (n = 14), nifedipine markedly decreased MWS, moving the patients to a new, more advantageous EF-MWS relation. In the 34 patients with abnormal pump function, the myocardial contractility level was the mean factor conditioning the response to pharmacological intervention. Patients with a value of PAP/ESV greater than 2.5 (n = 22) had normalization of EF after nifedipine and were upgraded to a more advantageous outlook for left ventricular mechanics EF-MWS and EF-PAP/ESV relations. Of the 12 patients without normalization of EF after nifedipine, only the 4 patients with PAP/ESV greater than 2 had normalization of pump function indices after combined administration of nifedipine and digoxin

Biguanide-, imine-, and guanidine-based networks as catalysts for transesterification of vegetable oil

Polycationic systems based on poly(hexamethylene biguanide) (PHMBG), branched polyethyleneimine (PEI) and poly(N-vinylguanidine) (PVG) have been evaluated as heterogeneous catalysts for the transesterification of sunflower oil by methanol. Insoluble networks are synthesized via cross-linking of PHMBG by either 4,4′-methylenebis(N,N-diglycidylaniline) or polyisocyanate prepolymer, PEI with sebacoyl chloride, and PVG with 1,4-butanediol diglycidyl ether. PHMBG and its cross-linked networks appeared to be remarkably efficient catalysts, enabling 80–100% triglyceride conversion within 0.5 h at 70 °C. PEI-based networks catalyzed triglyceride transesterification with rates 8- to 12-fold slower than their PHMBG-based counterparts. The PVG-based networks, which were devoid of hydrophobic moieties, appeared to be inefficient catalysts due to limited accessibility of the basic guanidine groups to reactants. The PHMBG networks were shown to be recyclable by a simple centrifugal filtration. After 15 cycles of recovery and reuse, only 10–15% decline in performance was observed.National Center for Research Resources (Puerto Rico) (Grant P20 RR016470)National Center for Research Resources (Puerto Rico) (Grant S06 GM-08216)National Center for Research Resources (Puerto Rico) (Grant GM-08102

Innovative bioplastics from polypeptides of Hermetia illucens

The environmentally sustainable waste management, together with waste valorization, is one of the actual challenges pursued by the European Commission. UE policies are thus contributing in the frameworks of circular economy by promoting the extraction of high quality materials from wastes. At the European level, the generation of municipal solid waste (MSW) is estimated to be 500 kg per capita, of which 70% (discarded food, yard trimmings, paper and wood) is represented by the so-called organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). In this scenario, organic waste valorization is gaining major relevance within circular economy models, with bioconversion mediated from insects being one possible and effective answer to the problem. The project RICH (Turning Rubbish Into biobased materials: a sustainable CHain for the full valorization of organic waste) aims to develop an innovative and integrated circular economy chain, which, starting from the biotransformation of the organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW), allows the targeted production of biobased materials with high technological value, such as bioplastics and other advanced protein-based materials. In the present study, proteins and polypeptides were extracted from larvae and pupae of Hermetia illucens, also known as Black Soldier Fly. The extraction efficiency from both stages was assessed. Crude extracts were characterized by means of proteomics techniques such as BCA, SDS-PAGE, and LC-MS analyses. State of art materials were prepared, investigating the correlation with the molecular structure through physical techniques (FTIR, Contact Angle, TGA). Results clearly points out a correlation between film-forming ability and the chosen larval stage, with extracts from Larvae at the 6th instar leading to the best results. A correlation with polypeptide chain length is proposed