645 research outputs found
Effect of Kramecyne on the Inflammatory Response in Lipopolysaccharide-Stimulated Peritoneal Macrophages
Kramecyne is a new peroxide, it was isolated from Krameria cytisoides, methanol extract, and this plant was mostly found in North and South America. This compound showed potent anti-inflammatory activity; however, the mechanisms by which this compound exerts its anti-inflammatory effect are not well understood. In this study, we examined the effects of kramecyne on inflammatory responses in mouse lipopolysaccharide- (LPS-) induced peritoneal macrophages. Our findings indicate that kramecyne inhibits LPS-induced production of tumor necrosis factor (TNF-α) and interleukin- (IL-) 6. During the inflammatory process, levels of cyclooxygenase- (COX-) 2, nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), and nitric oxide (NO) increased in mouse peritoneal macrophages; however, kramecyne suppressed them significantly. These results provide novel insights into the anti-inflammatory actions and support its potential use in the treatment of inflammatory diseases
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Comparative Study of Contact Repulsion in Control and Mutant Macrophages Using a Novel Interaction Detection
In this paper, a novel method for interaction detection is presented to compare the contact dynamics of macrophages in the Drosophila embryo. The study is carried out by a framework called macrosight, which analyses the movement and interaction of migrating macrophages. The framework incorporates a segmentation and tracking algorithm into analysing the motion characteristics of cells after contact. In this particular study, the interactions between cells is characterised in the case of control embryos and Shot mutants, a candidate protein that is hypothesised to regulate contact dynamics between migrating cells. Statistical significance between control and mutant cells was found when comparing the direction of motion after contact in specific conditions. Such discoveries provide insights for future developments in combining biological experiments with computational analysis
Exploration of the treatment of fish-canning industry effluents by aqueous-phase reforming using Pt/C catalysts
In the current work, an exploratory study on the application of catalytic aqueous phase reforming (APR) to the treatment of fish-canning wastewater was performed for the first time. Pt/C (3%, w) catalysts were supported on different commercial carbon supports (two activated carbons and a carbon black) and tested in the APR of tuna-cooking wastewater. The effect of the supports and the reaction systems (batch vs. semi-continuous) on the performance of the catalysts was tested. The stability of the catalysts upon 3 successive reuse cycles was checked. TOC and COD removal ranged within 45-60%, which was ascribed to adsorption on the supports, hydrothermal carbonization and APR. The percentage of valuable gases (H2 and alkanes) reached up to 18% of the gas production showing the potential of APR for the valorization and treatment of wastewater. The production of gases is affected by the high chloride, acetate and phosphate concentrations, which may provoke catalyst deactivation. The use of a catalyst with a basic support significantly increased the production of gases and the H2 percentage in the gas fraction. Gas production was higher in semi-continuous compared to batch operation, maybe because the withdrawn gas displaces the reaction towards the products. The percentage of alkanes in the gas phase decreased upon successive catalyst reuse cycles at the expense of H2, which is probably due to sintering of Pt nanoparticles with the corresponding decrease of the number of low-coordinated Pt sites promoting methanation reactionsThe authors greatly appreciate financial support from Spanish MINECO (CTQ2015-65491-R). A. S. Oliveira thanks the Spanish MINECO for a research grant (BES-2016-077244
Algebraic-matrix calculation of vibrational levels of triatomic molecules
We introduce an accurate and efficient algebraic technique for the
computation of the vibrational spectra of triatomic molecules, of both linear
and bent equilibrium geometry. The full three-dimensional potential energy
surface (PES), which can be based on entirely {\it ab initio} data, is
parameterized as a product Morse-cosine expansion, expressed in bond-angle
internal coordinates, and includes explicit interactions among the local modes.
We describe the stretching degrees of freedom in the framework of a Morse-type
expansion on a suitable algebraic basis, which provides exact analytical
expressions for the elements of a sparse Hamiltonian matrix. Likewise, we use a
cosine power expansion on a spherical harmonics basis for the bending degree of
freedom. The resulting matrix representation in the product space is very
sparse and vibrational levels and eigenfunctions can be obtained by efficient
diagonalization techniques. We apply this method to carbonyl sulfide OCS,
hydrogen cyanide HCN, water HO, and nitrogen dioxide NO. When we base
our calculations on high-quality PESs tuned to the experimental data, the
computed spectra are in very good agreement with the observed band origins.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figures, containg additional supporting information in
epaps.ps (results in tables, which are useful but not too important for the
paper
Group Approach to the Quantization of the P\"oschl-Teller dynamics
The quantum dynamics of a particle in the Modified P\"oschl-Teller potential
is derived from the group by applying a Group Approach to
Quantization (GAQ). The explicit form of the Hamiltonian as well as the ladder
operators is found in the enveloping algebra of this basic symmetry group. The
present algorithm provides a physical realization of the non-unitary,
finite-dimensional, irreducible representations of the group. The
non-unitarity manifests itself in that only half of the states are
normalizable, in contrast with the representations of SU(2) where all the
states are physical.Comment: 17 pages, LaTe
The consecutive disparity of precipitation in conterminous Spain
Precipitation irregularity constitutes a constraint for natural systems and socio-economic activities, particularly in water-scarce environments. Standard variability statistics such as the standard deviation, variance, and coefficient of variation do not consider the chronological order of these values. In Climatology, however, the temporal order of meteorological events is a relevant factor that can affect natural and socio-economic systems. In order to evaluate the disparity between consecutive values in precipitation series, we applied the Consecutive Disparity Index (D) to the monthly grid with the highest spatial resolution (10×10 km) existing in Peninsular Spain for the period December 1915–November 2015. Monthly, seasonal, and annual D values show an increase from north to southwest, especially in July and August. The D values for the month-to-month correlative series and for monthly mean precipitation reveal a relatively similar pattern. In the latter case, however, the low values are recorded towards southern Spain, following some mountain ranges in the Centre-East of the territory. Monthly, seasonal, and annual precipitation values are also negatively correlated with the corresponding D values. © 2021, The Author(s)
Seasonal temperature trends on the Spanish mainland: A secular study (1916–2015)
Trends in seasonal mean values of maximum and minimum temperature are analysed in the Spanish mainland from the new MOTEDAS_century database. This new data set has been developed combining the digitalized archives from the Spanish Meteorological Agency (AEMET) with information retrieved from Annual Books published by the former Meteorological Agency dating back to 1916, and covers the period 1916–2015. In all four seasons, mean seasonal temperature of maximum (Tmax) and minimum (Tmin) increased. The raising occurred in two main pulses separated by a first pause around the middle of the 20th century, but differed among seasons and also between maximum and minimum temperature. Analysis of the percentage of land affected by significant trends in maximum temperature reveals two increasing phases in spring and summer for Tmax, and in spring, summer, and autumn for Tmin. However, winter Tmax only rose during the recent decades, and autumn Tmax in the first decades. Negative significant trends were found in extended areas in spring Tmax, and in spring, autumn, and summer Tmin, confirming the first pause around the 1940's–1960's. Trends of seasonal mean values of Tmax and Tmin are not significant for at least the last 25–35 years of the study period, depending on the season. The areas under significant positive trend are usually more extended for Tmin than Tmax at any season and period. Areas with significant trend expand and contract in time according to two spatial gradients: south-east to north-west (east-west) for Tmax, and west to east for Tmin. We hypothesize a relationship between atmospheric prevalent advection and relief as triggering factors to understand spatial and temporal differences in seasonal temperatures at regional scale during the 20th century in the Iberian Peninsula
Ghrelin-AMPK Signaling Mediates the Neuroprotective Effects of Calorie Restriction in Parkinson's Disease
Jacqeline Bayliss, Romana Stark, Moyra Lemus, Vanessa Santos, Aiysha Thompson, Daniel Rees, Sandra Galic, John Elsworth, Bruce Kemp, Jeffrey Davies, and Zane Andrew
AproximaciĂłn a la presencia de SPD y microorganismos en agua embotellada
Poca informaciĂłn existe en la literatura acerca de la calidad quĂmica referente a subproductos de desinfecciĂłn (SPD) y su relaciĂłn con la microbiologĂa del agua embotellada. Por tanto, se evaluĂł el contenido de trihalometanos (THM) y de ácidos haloacĂ©ticos (AHA) como principales SPD en siete marcas de agua embotellada del mercado colombiano, al igual que la presencia de indicadores microbiolĂłgicos, enterobacterias, aerobios mesĂłfilos, hongos y levaduras. Los resultados mostraron valores máximos de 135 y 140 mg/l de THM y AHA totales, asĂ como incumplimiento del 28% de la norma propuesta por la FDA. Se encontrĂł la presencia de alguno de los indicadores microbiolĂłgicos en el 69% de las muestras e incumplimiento de la norma colombiana de agua potable en el 30%. La relaciĂłn entre la cantidad de SPD y la calidad microbiolĂłgica fue diversa, observándose un escenario recomendable de baja concentraciĂłn de SPD y microorganismos en dos de las marcas evaluadas. Finalmente, se requiere mayor informaciĂłn para analizar el efecto de la presencia de levaduras como indicador de cambios organolĂ©pticos en el agua y su posible relaciĂłn con la proliferaciĂłn de otro tipo de microorganismos
The major upgrade of the MAGIC telescopes, Part II: A performance study using observations of the Crab Nebula
MAGIC is a system of two Imaging Atmospheric Cherenkov Telescopes located in
the Canary island of La Palma, Spain. During summer 2011 and 2012 it underwent
a series of upgrades, involving the exchange of the MAGIC-I camera and its
trigger system, as well as the upgrade of the readout system of both
telescopes. We use observations of the Crab Nebula taken at low and medium
zenith angles to assess the key performance parameters of the MAGIC stereo
system. For low zenith angle observations, the standard trigger threshold of
the MAGIC telescopes is ~50GeV. The integral sensitivity for point-like sources
with Crab Nebula-like spectrum above 220GeV is (0.66+/-0.03)% of Crab Nebula
flux in 50 h of observations. The angular resolution, defined as the sigma of a
2-dimensional Gaussian distribution, at those energies is < 0.07 degree, while
the energy resolution is 16%. We also re-evaluate the effect of the systematic
uncertainty on the data taken with the MAGIC telescopes after the upgrade. We
estimate that the systematic uncertainties can be divided in the following
components: < 15% in energy scale, 11-18% in flux normalization and +/-0.15 for
the energy spectrum power-law slope.Comment: 21 pages, 25 figures, accepted for publication in Astroparticle
Physic
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