The Role of Paracrine and Autocrine Signaling in the Early Phase of Adipogenic Differentiation of Adipose-derived Stem Cells.

INTRODUCTION: High cell density is known to enhance adipogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells, suggesting secretion of signaling factors or cell-contact-mediated signaling. By employing microfluidic biochip technology, we have been able to separate these two processes and study the secretion pathways. METHODS AND RESULTS: Adipogenic differentiation of human adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs) cultured in a microfluidic system was investigated under perfusion conditions with an adipogenic medium or an adipogenic medium supplemented with supernatant from differentiating ASCs (conditioned medium). Conditioned medium increased adipogenic differentiation compared to adipogenic medium with respect to accumulation of lipid-filled vacuoles and gene expression of key adipogenic markers (C/EBPα, C/EBPβ, C/EBPδ, PPARγ, LPL and adiponectin). The positive effects of conditioned medium were observed early in the differentiation process. CONCLUSIONS: Using different cell densities and microfluidic perfusion cell cultures to suppress the effects of cell-released factors, we have demonstrated the significant role played by auto- or paracrine signaling in adipocyte differentiation. The cell-released factor(s) were shown to act in the recruitment phase of the differentiation process

Structure of bryozoan communities in an Antarctic glacial fjord (Admiralty Bay, South Shetlands)

Bryozoans are among the most important groups of the Southern Ocean benthic macrofauna, both in terms of species richness and abundance. However, there is a considerable lack of ecological research focused on their distribution patterns and species richness on smaller scale, especially in the soft bottom habitats of Antarctic glacial fjords. The aim of this study was to describe those patterns in the Admiralty Bay. Forty-nine Van Veen grab samples were collected at the depth range from 15 to 265 m, in the summer season of 1979/1980, at three sites distributed along the main axis of the fjord. Among 53 identified species of bryozoans, 32 were recorded in the Admiralty Bay for the first time. The most common and abundant species were Himantozoum antarcticum, Inversiula nutrix and Nematoflustra flagellata. Genera such as Arachnopusia, Cellarinella and Osthimosia were the most speciose taxa. It was demonstrated that depth was important for the distribution of the bryozoans. More than half of the recorded species were found only below 70 m. An influence of glacial disturbance was reflected in the dominance structure of colony growth-forms. The inner region of the fjord was dominated almost entirely by encrusting species, while the diversity of bryozoan growth-forms in less disturbed areas was much higher. In those sites the highest percentage of branched, tuft like species represented by buguliform and flustriform zoaria was observed.The study was supported by a grant of Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education No. 51/N-IPY/2007/0 as well as Census of Antarctic Marine Life Project. Krzysztof Pabis was also partially supported by University of Lodz internal funds. This research was also supported by the Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute during the realization of the project numbered 40.2900.0903.18.0 titled “Bryozoan assemblage of Admiralty Bay—richness, diversity and abundance.” Urszula Hara is deeply grateful to Leszek Giro (Micro-area Analyses Laboratory at the Polish Geological Institute-National Research Institute, Warsaw), for providing SEM assistance during the project. We also want to thank two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions that helped us improve this article. Thanks are also due to Magdalena Błażewicz-Paszkowycz for language correction and polishing the final version of the manuscript

Perfil social das gestantes em unidades de saúde da família do município de Teresópolis Pregnants' social profile in family health unities from the county of Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro

Estudo descritivo de mulheres gestantes, com o objetivo de caracterizar as mulheres em relação às condições sociais e à assistência à gestação. As observações pertencem a um estudo transversal, a partir de uma amostra de 69 gestantes, inscritas nas unidades de saúde da família de Beira Linha, Araras e Rosário, residentes em Teresópolis (RJ). A análise comparativa entre gestantes adolescentes x não adolescentes considerou o teste exato de Fisher para mensurar possíveis significâncias estatísticas. No período considerado, 31,9% eram mães adolescentes. Entre essas, 72,7% estavam em sua primeira gestação, e 31,9% das não adolescentes encontravam-se nessa situação (p-valor < 0,01). O papel da família na orientação quanto ao sexo é mais marcante entre as gestantes adolescentes (59,1%) do que entre as não adolescentes (25,5%) (p-valor <0,01). Cerca de 70% das mulheres engravidaram do primeiro parceiro sexual, apesar de não ter planejado a gravidez, e de 25% estar utilizando algum método contraceptivo. Embora a mãe das gestantes adolescentes possuam, em média, um número superior de filhos, quando comparadas às mães das gestantes não adolescentes, essa tendência não se repetiu entre suas filhas, o que pode estar relacionado a melhores condições sociais observadas na população estudada.<br>Descriptive study of pregnants, aiming the characterization of women in relation to social condition and pregnancy assistance. The observations are part of a transversal study, considering a sample of 69 pregnants, registered in the Family Health Unities of Beira Linha, Araras and Rosário, residing in the county of Teresópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The comparative analysis among adolescent and non-adolescent pregnants considered the exact test of Fisher to measure statistical significance. In the considered period, 31,9% were found adolescent mothers. Among then, 72,7% were in their first gestation, and 31,9 % from the non-adolescent mothers were found in this situation (p-value< 0,01). The family role in the sexual orientation is stronger among adolescent pregnants (59,1%) than among the non-adolescent ones (25,5%) (p-value < 0,01). Near 70% of the women got pregnant from their first sexual partner, although pregnancy have not been planned before, and 25% of them were making use of a king of contraceptive method. Although the adolescent pregnants' mothers have an average of a superior number of children, when compared to the non-adolescent pregnants' mothers, this tendency was not followed by their daugthers, and this maybe related to better social conditions, observed in the researched population

Decreased Toxicity of Bacillus thuringiensis subsp. israelensis to Mosquito Larvae after Contact with Leaf Litter

International audienc

Rivaroxaban with or without aspirin in stable cardiovascular disease

BACKGROUND: We evaluated whether rivaroxaban alone or in combination with aspirin would be more effective than aspirin alone for secondary cardiovascular prevention. METHODS: In this double-blind trial, we randomly assigned 27,395 participants with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease to receive rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin (100 mg once daily), rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily), or aspirin (100 mg once daily). The primary outcome was a composite of cardiovascular death, stroke, or myocardial infarction. The study was stopped for superiority of the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group after a mean follow-up of 23 months. RESULTS: The primary outcome occurred in fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group than in the aspirin-alone group (379 patients [4.1%] vs. 496 patients [5.4%]; hazard ratio, 0.76; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.66 to 0.86; P<0.001; z=−4.126), but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group (288 patients [3.1%] vs. 170 patients [1.9%]; hazard ratio, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.40 to 2.05; P<0.001). There was no significant difference in intracranial or fatal bleeding between these two groups. There were 313 deaths (3.4%) in the rivaroxaban-plus-aspirin group as compared with 378 (4.1%) in the aspirin-alone group (hazard ratio, 0.82; 95% CI, 0.71 to 0.96; P=0.01; threshold P value for significance, 0.0025). The primary outcome did not occur in significantly fewer patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group than in the aspirin-alone group, but major bleeding events occurred in more patients in the rivaroxaban-alone group. CONCLUSIONS: Among patients with stable atherosclerotic vascular disease, those assigned to rivaroxaban (2.5 mg twice daily) plus aspirin had better cardiovascular outcomes and more major bleeding events than those assigned to aspirin alone. Rivaroxaban (5 mg twice daily) alone did not result in better cardiovascular outcomes than aspirin alone and resulted in more major bleeding events