Structural and functional analysis of the Oct-6 Schwann cell enhancer

A defining feature in the biology of higher vertebrates is their extended and complex nervous system that allows them to rapidly integrate and process environmental information, control body posture, regulate homeostasis of their internal organs and develop complex behaviour. The principal cell types that make up the nervous system are the neuron and glial cell. Neurons exist in a wide range of different shapes but are generally built up of a soma, containing the nucleus, its dendritic arborisation and its single axon

Application of a Home Energy Management System for Incentive-Based Demand Response Program Implementation

This paper presents an experimental real-time implementation of an incentive-based demand response program with hardware demonstration of a home energy management system. This system controls the electricity consumption of a residential electricity customer. For this purpose, the real consumption and generation profiles of a typical Portuguese household equipped with a home-scale photovoltaic system are employed. These profiles are simulated by the real-time digital simulator using real hardware resources. In the case studies, three different scenarios are simulated for a period of 24 hours with the consideration of the demand response programs and a 2 kW photovoltaic system. Different pricing scenarios are considered and the performance of the home energy management system is evaluated under each scenario. The focus is given to demonstrate how a home-scale photovoltaic system, and demand response programs, especially load-shifting scenario, can be cost-effective in the daily electricity costs of the residential customers.This work has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794 (project DREAM-GO) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Therapeutic Effect of Sodium Selenite and Zinc Sulphate as Supplementary with Meglumine Antimoniate( Glucantime®) Against Cutaneous Leishmaniasis In BALB/C Mice

Background: Successful therapy of leishmaniasis depends on effective cellular immune response. We evaluated the effectiveness of sodium selenite and zinc sulphate as known immunomodulator materials, in combination with Glucantime® in treatment of cutaneous leishmaniasis lesions resulting from Leishmania ma­jor in susceptible animal model.Methods: Thirty three female mice weighing 18-20 g at the age of 7-8 week infected with L. major were randomly divided into 3 groups: group1: treated by sodium selenite (0.35 mg/kg for 30 days), group2: treated by zinc sulphate (2 mg/kg for 30 days) and group3: treated by distilled water (0.01 ml/gr body weight for 30 days) as control. All groups received Glucantime® as a standard anti- leishmanial agent (60 mg/kg, ip) for 14 days. To assess the results of treatment measurement of lesions size and parasitological tests were done weekly.Results: The lesion sizes increased continuously in sodium selenite group .Although, in zinc group did not in­crease compared to baseline But with considering the time- group interaction there was no significant difference between zinc and control group during this study. There was no difference between lesion sizes and Leishmanial loads in the interventional and control groups, respectively.Conclusion: Sodium selenite and zinc sulphate at mentioned doses and duration of treatment did not show any treatment effect on cutaneous leishmaniasis caused by L. major in BALB/c mice. Increasing the dose of supplements and considering the follow up period after treatment can help more certain conclusion

Physiological responses and phytoremediation ability of Eastern Coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) for crude oil contaminated soil

One of the most important anthropogenic pollution types in countries with oil production is soil and water contamination by petroleum. Phytoremediation is an emerging green technology for cleaning up polluted soil. A greenhouse experiment was conducted to study the effect of oil-contaminated soil on Echinacea purpurea with four concentrations of crude oil - contaminated soil: control = 0, 0.5% = 5000, 1% = 10000, and 2% = 20000 mg kg-1. Morphological and physiological traits were evaluated after 90 days. Gas chromatography determined the removal rate percentage of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in the soil. The results show that this plant has potential for removing TPHs, up to 45.5% at 1% crude oil contamination, while the removal rate by natural attenuation is only 32%. Data from morphological and flowering indices including shoot and root fresh weights, shoot and root dry weights, flower stem length, flower longevity, flower anthocyanin, and visual stress symptoms show significant differences within treatments. Based on the results, E. purpurea can tolerate crude oil concentrations in soil equal to or greater than 5000 and 10000 mg kg-1 (0.5% and 1% w/w). However, flowering was not observed at treatments of 1% and 2% crude oil contamination. As crude oil concentration increased, physiological parameters such as total chlorophyll, protein, and antioxidant capacity significantly decreased, while other parameters including leaf anthocyanin, electrolyte leakage, malondialdehyde, proline, and total carbohydrate all increased. Overall, E. purpurea is a widely - spread species that can be effectively used for phytoremediation of ≤10000 mg kg1 crude oil contaminated soil

Virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance in uropathogenic escherichia coli strains isolated from cystitis and pyelonephritis

Background/aim: The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of virulence genes as well as patterns of antibiotic resistance in cystitis and pyelonephritis uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) isolates. Materials and methods: Two hundred UPEC isolates were collected from hospitalized patients with pyelonephritis (n = 50) and cystitis (n = 150) in Shafa Hospital in Iran. Antimicrobial susceptibility and ESBL production were determined with confirmatory tests. Polymerase chain reaction assay was performed to determine the prevalence of virulence genes in UPEC strains. Results: Of a total 200 UPEC isolates, the highest and lowest resistance rates to antibiotics were for cephalexin (74) and nitrofurantoin (9), respectively. Of these isolates, 72 (36) and 128 (64) strains were ESBL-positive and ESBL-negative, respectively. The frequency of fimH, papC, and hly was 64, 38, and 12, respectively. The most commonly identified virulence gene in ESBL-positive and ESBL-negative strains was fimH 46 (23) and 86 (43), respectively. The hlyA gene was more prevalent among patients with pyelonephritis than cystitis. Conclusion: The frequency of virulence genes was not significantly different between pyelonephritis and cystitis UPEC strains in the studied patients, but the prevalence rates of hlyA and papC genes were higher among UPEC strains isolated from inpatients compared to outpatients; hence, they could be considered as useful targets for prophylactic interventions. © TUBİTAK

Lípidos hepáticos y séricos en ratas Wistar alimentadas con nuevos lípidos estructurados que contienen ácido linoleico conjugado y ácido linolénico conjugado

Conjugated linoleic acid (CLA) and conjugated linolenic acid (CLnA) have been known to have several health-promoting effects. The aim of this study was to introduce a novel structured lipid (SL) including both CLA and CLnA (cis9, trans11, cis13-18:3, punicic acid) into one triacylglycerol (TAG) molecule through enzymatic interesterification and investigate its effect on body weight, liver and serum lipids in Wistar rats. CLA oil, pomegranate seed oil (as a rich source of CLnA) and soybean oil (as a negative control) were applied as other experimental oils. The rats were fed the oils at 1500 mg/kg body weight per day via oral gavage for 45 days. Gas chromatography analysis showed that SL included CLnA and CLA in roughly equal concentrations. The in vivo study revealed that SL had the greatest effect on the reduction in liver lipid weight (4.65 g/100g of liver) and liver TAG (13.28 mg/g) compared to soybean oil (8.7 g/100g and 18.8 mg/g, respectively). High density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) in the serum of rats which were fed CLA oil significantly (p < 0.05) increased (from 0.95 to 1.14 mmol/l). Pomegranate seed oil reduced low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and total cholesterol (about 40% and 24% reduction, respectively). A remarkable TAG reduction (p < 0.05) was observed in all treated rats.Se sabe que el ácido linoleico conjugado (CLA) y el ácido linolénico conjugado (CLnA) tienen varios efectos positivos para la salud. El objetivo de este estudio fue producir un nuevo lípido estructurado (SL) que incluye tanto CLA como CLnA (cis9, trans11, cis13-18:3, ácido púnico) en una molécula de triacilglicerol (TAG) a través de la interesterificación enzimática e investigar su efecto en el cuerpo, peso, lípidos hepáticos y séricos en ratas Wistar. El aceite de CLA, el aceite de semilla de granada (como una fuente rica de CLnA) y el aceite de soja (como control negativo) se aplicaron como otros aceites experimentales. Las ratas fueron alimentadas con los aceites a razón de 1500 mg/kg de peso corporal por día mediante sonda oral durante 45 días. El análisis por cromatografía de gases mostró que SL incluía CLnA y CLA en una concentración aproximadamente igual. El estudio in vivo reveló que SL tuvo el mayor efecto sobre la reducción del peso de lípidos hepáticos (4,65 g/100 g de hígado) y TAG hepático (13,28 mg/g) en comparación con el aceite de soja (8,7 g/100 g and 18,8 mg/g, respectivamente). El colesterol de lipoproteínas de alta densidad (HDL-C) en suero de ratas que fueron alimentadas con aceite de CLA significativamente (p < 0.05) aumentó (de 0.95 a 1.14 mmol/l) y el aceite de semilla de granada podría reducir el colesterol de lipoproteínas de baja densidad (LDL-C) y colesterol total (aproximadamente 40% y 24% de reducción, respectivamente). Se observó una notable reducción de TAG (p < 0.05) en todas las ratas tratadas

Long-Term Smart Grid Planning Under Uncertainty Considering Reliability Indexes

The electricity sector is fast moving towards a new era of clean generation devices dispersed along the network. On one hand, this will largely contribute to achieve the multi-national environment goals agreed via political means. On the other hand, network operators face new complexities and challenges regarding network planning due to the large uncertainties associated with renewable generation and electric vehicles integration. In addition, due to new technologies such as combined heat and power (CHP), the district heat demand is considered in the long-term planning problem. The 13-bus medium voltage network is evaluated considering the possibility of CHP units but also without. Results demonstrate that CHP, together with heat-only boiler units, can supply the district heat demand and contribute to network reliability. They can also reduce the expected energy not supplied and the power losses cost, avoiding the need to invest in new power lines for the considered lifetime project.This work has received funding from the EU's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 641794 (project DREAM-GO) and from FEDER Funds through COMPETE program and from National Funds through FCT under the project UID/EEA/00760/2013. Bruno Canizes is supported by FCT Funds through SFRH/BD/110678/2015 PhD scholarship and M. Ali Fotouhi Ghazvini is supported by FCT Funds through SFRH/BD/94688/2013 PhD scholarship.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio