774 research outputs found
Toll-like receptor-4 signaling pathway in aorta aging and diseases: "its double nature"
Recent advances in the field of innate immunity have revealed a complex role of innate immune signaling pathways in both tissue homeostasis and disease. Among them, the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR-4) pathways has been linked to various pathophysiological conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases (CVDs). This has been interrogated by developing multiple laboratory tools that have shown in animal models and clinical conditions, the involvement of the TLR-4 signaling pathway in the pathophysiology of different CVDs, such as atherosclerosis, ischemic heart disease, heart failure, ischemia-reperfusion injury and aorta aneurysm. Among these, aorta aneurysm, a very complex pathological condition with uncertain etiology and fatal complications (i.e. dissection and rupture), has been associated with the occurrence of high risk cardiovascular conditions, including thrombosis and embolism. In this review, we discuss the possible role of TLR-4signaling pathway in the development of aorta aneurysm, considering the emerging evidence from ongoing investigations. Our message is that emphasizing the role of TLR-4signaling pathway in aorta aneurysm may serve as a starting point for future studies, leading to a better understanding of the pathophysiological basis and perhaps the effective treatment of this difficult human disease
Health management in aquaculture
A textbook on diseases of cultured warmwater fish and shrimps in the Philippines. Eleven chapters cover essential information on the basic principles of disease causation, major diseases of cultured fish and crustaceans, particularly shrimps, and methods of prevention and control. Emphasis is made on major diseases that occur in the Philippines and other countries in the Asian region. Included also are topics on harmful algae, immunology and molecular biological diagnostic techniques.1st Ed
Age and Cytokine Gene Variants Modulate the Immunogenicity and Protective Effect of SARS-CoV-2 mRNA-Based Vaccination
: The introduction of anti-SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in late 2020 substantially changed the pandemic picture, inducing effective protection in the population. However, individual variability was observed with different levels of cellular response and neutralizing antibodies. We report data on the impact of age, gender, and 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of cytokine genes on the anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG titers measured 31 and 105 days after administration of the second dose of BNT162b2 vaccine to 122 healthy subjects from the health care staff of the Palermo University Hospital, Italy. The higher titers at 31 days were measured in the younger subjects and in subjects bearing T-positive genotypes of IL-1R1 rs2234650 or the GG homozygous genotype of IL-6 rs1800795 SNP. T-positive genotypes are also significantly more common in subjects with higher titers at day 105. In addition, in this group of subjects, the frequency of the CT genotype of IL-4 rs2243250 is higher among those vaccinated with higher titers. Moreover, these SNPs and TNFA rs1800629 are differently distributed in a group of subjects that were found infected by SARS-CoV-2 at day 105 of evaluation. Finally, subjects that were found to be infected by SARS-CoV-2 at day 105 were significantly older than the uninfected subjects. Taken together, these data seem to suggest that age and polymorphisms of key cytokines, which regulate inflammation and humoral immune response, might influence the magnitude of the antibody response to vaccination with BNT162B2, prompting speculation about the possible benefit of a genetic background-based assessment of a personalized approach to the anti-COVID vaccination schedule
Are Endothelial Progenitor Cells the Real Solution for Cardiovascular Diseases? Focus on Controversies and Perspectives
Advanced knowledge in the field of stem cell biology and their ability to provide a cue for counteracting several diseases are
leading numerous researchers to focus their attention on \u201cregenerative medicine\u201d as possible solutions for cardiovascular diseases
(CVDs). However, the lack of consistent evidence in this arena has hampered the clinical application. The same condition affects
the research on endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), creating more confusion than comprehension. In this review, this aspect is
discussed with particular emphasis. In particular, we describe biology and physiology of EPCs, outline their clinical relevance as
both new predictive, diagnostic, and prognostic CVD biomarkers and therapeutic agents, discuss advantages, disadvantages, and
conflicting data about their use as possible solutions for vascular impairment and clinical applications, and finally underline a very
crucial aspect of EPCs \u201ccharacterization and definition,\u201d which seems to be the real cause of large heterogeneity existing in literature
data on this topic
Hong-Ou-Mandel interference between independent III-V on silicon waveguide integrated lasers
The versatility of silicon photonic integrated circuits has led to a
widespread usage of this platform for quantum information based applications,
including Quantum Key Distribution (QKD). However, the integration of simple
high repetition rate photon sources is yet to be achieved. The use of
weak-coherent pulses (WCPs) could represent a viable solution. For example,
Measurement Device Independent QKD (MDI-QKD) envisions the use of WCPs to
distill a secret key immune to detector side channel attacks at large
distances. Thus, the integration of III-V lasers on silicon waveguides is an
interesting prospect for quantum photonics. Here, we report the experimental
observation of Hong-Ou-Mandel interference with 46\pm 2% visibility between
WCPs generated by two independent III-V on silicon waveguide integrated lasers.
This quantum interference effect is at the heart of many applications,
including MDI-QKD. Our work represents a substantial first step towards an
implementation of MDI-QKD fully integrated in silicon, and could be beneficial
for other applications such as standard QKD and novel quantum communication
protocols.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Measuring random force noise for LISA aboard the LISA Pathfinder mission
The LTP (LISA Testflight Package), to be flown aboard the ESA / NASA LISA
Pathfinder mission, aims to demonstrate drag-free control for LISA test masses
with acceleration noise below 30 fm/s^2/Hz^1/2 from 1-30 mHz. This paper
describes the LTP measurement of random, position independent forces acting on
the test masses. In addition to putting an overall upper limit for all source
of random force noise, LTP will measure the conversion of several key
disturbances into acceleration noise and thus allow a more detailed
characterization of the drag-free performance to be expected for LISA.Comment: 7 pages, 3 figures. To be published in Classical and Quantum Gravity
with the proceedings of the 2003 Amaldi Meetin
Artificial co-drivers as a universal enabling technology for future intelligent vehicles and transportation systems
This position paper introduces the concept of artificial “co-drivers” as an enabling technology for future intelligent transportation systems. In Sections I and II, the design principles of co-drivers are introduced and framed within general human–robot interactions. Several contributing theories and technologies are reviewed, specifically those relating to relevant cognitive architectures, human-like sensory-motor strategies, and the emulation theory of cognition. In Sections III and IV, we present the co-driver developed for the EU project interactIVe as an example instantiation of this notion, demonstrating how it conforms to the given guidelines. We also present substantive experimental results and clarify the limitations and performance of the current implementation. In Sections IV and V, we analyze the impact of the co-driver technology. In particular, we identify a range of application fields, showing how it constitutes a universal enabling technology for both smart vehicles and cooperative systems, and naturally sets out a program for future research
In-vitro effect of fungicides on hyphal growth and sporogenesis of Lagenidium sp. isolated from Penaeus monodon larvae and Scylla serrata eggs
The sensitivity of Lagenidium, isolated from Penaeus monodon, Scylla serrata , to 34 antimycotics was determined. Effects on the development of vesicles, zoospores and mycelial growth were evaluated. Although mycoidal levels of the chemicals tested will be ideal for lethal treatment on control of the fungus, the high dose required may be lethal to the host, thus the use of mycostatic concentrations is more practical. Treatments of rearing water containing larvae, adult shrimps or crabs should be done only after preliminary tolerance experiments using at least the mycostatic dose prove to be safe for the hosts. Mycocidal doses can be used for determining disinfection doses of equipment and facilities used in rearing procedures as well as for destroying batches of infected larvae
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