546 research outputs found

    Water Quality of Cayuga Lake 1991-1998

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    Cayuga and Seneca Lakes represent a major water resource of central New York State of considerable economic, recreational and aesthetic value. Maintenance of water quality, prevention of further deterioration of water quality and restoration of a lake’s health are major concerns of the public. Monitoring the water quality of Cayuga Lake has continued periodically from the early 1900\u27s to the present. This report reviews data collected by the Seneca County Soil and Water Conservation District during the 1991- 1998 period from the north end of Cayuga Lake. The water quality data presented are the result of a new strategy to continually monitor Cayuga Lake. Monitoring, as performed, provides the important function of documenting gradual improvements that may result from restoration efforts and remedial action plans. Similarly, monitoring provides evidence of deterioration of water quality and thus the opportunity for a management response and notification of the public of such changes. By considering nutrient and chlorophyll a concentrations and water clarity measurements, we review the current data from Cayuga Lake using the previous historical measurements of the lake

    Natural History of the Porcine Bioprosthetic Heart Valve

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    The porcine bioprosthesis has been the prosthetic valve of choice at Henry Ford Hospital since October 1971. By 1979, 23 cases of degeneration had been seen, and the rate seven years after implantation was 16%. Now, with a ten-year follow-up, there are 41 degenerated valves. After seven years, the percent free of degeneration is 88%, (SE of 2% [standard error]); at eight years, 82% (SE of 2.9%,); at nine years, 80% (SE of 3.4%); and at ten years, the percent free of degeneration is 69% (SE of 6.5%,). There was no difference in degeneration between men and women, between aortic or mitral position, or between the valves which were or were not rinsed in antibiotics. The incidence of degeneration was significantly greater in patients under 35 years of age. Contrary to our expectations, the number of valves removed for degeneration has not increased linearly, although the number at risk has continued to rise. In 1977, we removed four valves for degeneration; in 1978, eight valves; in 1979, 77 valves; in 1980, five valves; and in 1981, ten valves. The duration of implantation for degenerated valves has increased from 56 months (SD [standard deviation] of 11 months) in 1977-78 to 77 months (SD of 19 months) in 1981. Analysis of cohorts from 1972,1973, 1974, all now followed for seven years, reveals that at seven years the percent free of degeneration for 1972 is 88% (SE of 4.4%,); for 1973, 83% (SE of 4.8%); and for 1974, 95% (SE of 2.6%). Although a difference is suggested, it is not yet statistically significant (p = .48) due to the small number of valves degenerating. The incidence of porcine bioprosthetic degeneration appears to be decreasing, possibly because valves manufactured later in the series are more durable

    A Full Pharmacological Analysis of the Three Turkey β-Adrenoceptors and Comparison with the Human β-Adrenoceptors

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    There are three turkey β-adrenoceptors: the original turkey β-adrenoceptor from erythrocytes (tβtrunc, for which the X-ray crystal structure has recently been determined), tβ3C and tβ4C-receptors. This study examined the similarities and differences between these avian receptors and mammalian receptors with regards to binding characteristics and functional high and low affinity agonist conformations.Stable cell lines were constructed with each of the turkey β-adrenoceptors and 3H-CGP12177 whole cell binding, CRE-SPAP production and (3)H-cAMP accumulation assays performed. It was confirmed that the three turkey β-adrenoceptors are distinct from each other in terms of amino acid sequence and binding characteristics. The greatest similarity of any of the turkey β-adrenoceptors to human β-adrenoceptors is between the turkey β3C-receptor and the human β2-adrenoceptor. There are pharmacologically distinct differences between the binding of ligands for the tβtrunc and tβ4C and the human β-adrenoceptors (e.g. with CGP20712A and ICI118551). The tβtrunc and tβ4C-adrenoceptors appear to exist in at least two different agonist conformations in a similar manner to that seen at both the human and rat β1-adrenoceptor and human β3-adrenoceptors. The tβ3C-receptor, similar to the human β2-adrenoceptor, does not, at least so far, appear to exist in more than one agonist conformation.There are several similarities, but also several important differences, between the recently crystallised turkey β-adrenoceptor and the human β-adrenoceptors. These findings are important for those the field of drug discovery using the recently structural information from crystallised receptors to aid drug design. Furthermore, comparison of the amino-acid sequence for the turkey and human adrenoceptors may therefore shed more light on the residues involved in the existence of the secondary β-adrenoceptor conformation

    Investigation of Cellular and Molecular Responses to Pulsed Focused Ultrasound in a Mouse Model

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    Continuous focused ultrasound (cFUS) has been widely used for thermal ablation of tissues, relying on continuous exposures to generate temperatures necessary to induce coagulative necrosis. Pulsed FUS (pFUS) employs non-continuous exposures that lower the rate of energy deposition and allow cooling to occur between pulses, thereby minimizing thermal effects and emphasizing effects created by non-thermal mechanisms of FUS (i.e., acoustic radiation forces and acoustic cavitation). pFUS has shown promise for a variety of applications including drug and nanoparticle delivery; however, little is understood about the effects these exposures have on tissue, especially with regard to cellular pro-homing factors (growth factors, cytokines, and cell adhesion molecules). We examined changes in murine hamstring muscle following pFUS or cFUS and demonstrate that pFUS, unlike cFUS, has little effect on the histological integrity of muscle and does not induce cell death. Infiltration of macrophages was observed 3 and 8 days following pFUS or cFUS exposures. pFUS increased expression of several cytokines (e.g., IL-1α, IL-1β, TNFα, INFγ, MIP-1α, MCP-1, and GMCSF) creating a local cytokine gradient on days 0 and 1 post-pFUS that returns to baseline levels by day 3 post-pFUS. pFUS exposures induced upregulation of other signaling molecules (e.g., VEGF, FGF, PlGF, HGF, and SDF-1α) and cell adhesion molecules (e.g., ICAM-1 and VCAM-1) on muscle vasculature. The observed molecular changes in muscle following pFUS may be utilized to target cellular therapies by increasing homing to areas of pathology

    An illustrated key to male Actinote from Southeastern Brazil (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae)

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    Discovery of directional and nondirectional pioneer transcription factors by modeling DNase profile magnitude and shape

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    We describe protein interaction quantitation (PIQ), a computational method for modeling the magnitude and shape of genome-wide DNase I hypersensitivity profiles to identify transcription factor (TF) binding sites. Through the use of machine-learning techniques, PIQ identified binding sites for >700 TFs from one DNase I hypersensitivity analysis followed by sequencing (DNase-seq) experiment with accuracy comparable to that of chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by sequencing (ChIP-seq). We applied PIQ to analyze DNase-seq data from mouse embryonic stem cells differentiating into prepancreatic and intestinal endoderm. We identified 120 and experimentally validated eight 'pioneer' TF families that dynamically open chromatin. Four pioneer TF families only opened chromatin in one direction from their motifs. Furthermore, we identified 'settler' TFs whose genomic binding is principally governed by proximity to open chromatin. Our results support a model of hierarchical TF binding in which directional and nondirectional pioneer activity shapes the chromatin landscape for population by settler TFs.National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Common Fund 5UL1DE019581)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Common Fund RL1DE019021)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Common Fund 5TL1EB008540)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1U01HG007037)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 5P01NS055923

    Activation of PPARγ in Myeloid Cells Promotes Lung Cancer Progression and Metastasis

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    Activation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor-γ (PPARγ) inhibits growth of cancer cells including non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Clinically, use of thiazolidinediones, which are pharmacological activators of PPARγ is associated with a lower risk of developing lung cancer. However, the role of this pathway in lung cancer metastasis has not been examined well. The systemic effect of pioglitazone was examined in two models of lung cancer metastasis in immune-competent mice. In an orthotopic model, murine lung cancer cells implanted into the lungs of syngeneic mice metastasized to the liver and brain. As a second model, cancer cells injected subcutaneously metastasized to the lung. In both models systemic administration of pioglitazone increased the rate of metastasis. Examination of tissues from the orthotopic model demonstrated increased numbers of arginase I-positive macrophages in tumors from pioglitazone-treated animals. In co-culture experiments of cancer cells with bone marrow-derived macrophages, pioglitazone promoted arginase I expression in macrophages and this was dependent on the expression of PPARγ in the macrophages. To assess the contribution of PPARγ in macrophages to cancer progression, experiments were performed in bone marrow-transplanted animals receiving bone marrow from Lys-M-Cre+/PPARγflox/flox mice, in which PPARγ is deleted specifically in myeloid cells (PPARγ-Macneg), or control PPARγflox/flox mice. In both models, mice receiving PPARγ-Macneg bone marrow had a marked decrease in secondary tumors which was not significantly altered by treatment with pioglitazone. This was associated with decreased numbers of arginase I-positive cells in the lung. These data support a model in which activation of PPARγ may have opposing effects on tumor progression, with anti-tumorigenic effects on cancer cells, but pro-tumorigenic effects on cells of the microenvironment, specifically myeloid cells
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