Involvement of long non-coding RNAs in beta cell failure at the onset of type 1 diabetes in NOD mice.

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Exposure of pancreatic beta cells to cytokines released by islet-infiltrating immune cells induces alterations in gene expression, leading to impaired insulin secretion and apoptosis in the initial phases of type 1 diabetes. Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a new class of transcripts participating in the development of many diseases. As little is known about their role in insulin-secreting cells, this study aimed to evaluate their contribution to beta cell dysfunction. METHODS: The expression of lncRNAs was determined by microarray in the MIN6 beta cell line exposed to proinflammatory cytokines. The changes induced by cytokines were further assessed by real-time PCR in islets of control and NOD mice. The involvement of selected lncRNAs modified by cytokines was assessed after their overexpression in MIN6 cells and primary islet cells. RESULTS: MIN6 cells were found to express a large number of lncRNAs, many of which were modified by cytokine treatment. The changes in the level of selected lncRNAs were confirmed in mouse islets and an increase in these lncRNAs was also seen in prediabetic NOD mice. Overexpression of these lncRNAs in MIN6 and mouse islet cells, either alone or in combination with cytokines, favoured beta cell apoptosis without affecting insulin production or secretion. Furthermore, overexpression of lncRNA-1 promoted nuclear translocation of nuclear factor of κ light polypeptide gene enhancer in B cells 1 (NF-κB). CONCLUSIONS/INTERPRETATION: Our study shows that lncRNAs are modulated during the development of type 1 diabetes in NOD mice, and that their overexpression sensitises beta cells to apoptosis, probably contributing to their failure during the initial phases of the disease

Análise in silico de genes envolvidos no transporte de nitrato, amônio e uréia em cafeeiro.

O nitrogênio (N) é o nutriente mais requerido pelo cafeeiro, sendo adquirido principalmente pelas raízes. As formas de N mais abundantes em solos agrícolas são nitrato (NO3-) e amônio (NH4+), enquanto que a uréia [CO(NH)2 O nitrato (NO] é a principal forma de N utilizada na adubação do cafeeiro. Devido a participação significativa da adubação nitrogenada nos custos de produção do café, é de interesse a identificação de genes envolvidos na absorção radicular e translocação de nitrogênio no cafeeiro, visando uma otimização da eficiência do uso do nitrogênio pela cultura. Neste trabalho foram encontradas etiquetas de sequências expressas (ESTs) no banco de dados do Projeto Genoma Café relacionadas ao transporte das formas mais relevantes na aquisição do N. O número de contigs/singlets para as diferentes famílias de transportadores decresceu na ordem: nitrato (NRT) > amônio (AMT) > uréia (DUR3). A maior expressão e diversidade de transportadores de nitrato refletem a importância desta forma de N na nutrição e fisiologia do cafeeiro, assim como na maioria das outras espécies de plantas

Efficient Anodically Grown WO3 for Photoelectrochemical Water Splitting

Abstract The potentiostatic anodization of metallic tungsten has been investigated in different solvent/electrolyte compositions with the aim of improving the photoelectrochemical performances of the tungsten oxide layer. Among the explored electrolytes, the anodization in the NMF/H2O/NH4F solvent mixture was found to produce the most efficient WO3 photoanodes, which, combining spectral sensitivity, high electrochemically active surface and improved charge transfer kinetics, outperform, under simulated solar illumination, most of the reported nanocrystalline substrates produced by anodization in aqueous electrolytes and by sol gel methods. While the preparation of the photoelectrodes is a slow process at room temperature (20 °C), it could be greatly accelerated (x 10) by carrying out the anodization at 40-50 °C, thus proving to be a fast and convenient approach to the production of high performing WO3 photoactive substrates directly connected to a metal electron collector

Biphoton compression in standard optical fiber: exact numerical calculation

Generation of two-photon wavepackets, produced by spontaneous parametric down conversion in crystals with linearly chirped quasi-phase matching grating, is analyzed. Although being spectrally broad, two-photon wavepackets produced this way are not Fourier transform limited. In the paper we discuss the temporal compression of the wavepackets, exploiting the insertion of a standard optical fiber in the path of one of the two photons. The effect is analyzed by means of full numerical calculation and the exact dispersion dependencies in both the crystal and the fiber are considered. The study opens the way to the practical realization of this idea.Comment: 10 pages, 16 figure

Experimental estimation of entanglement at the quantum limit

Entanglement is the central resource of quantum information processing and the precise characterization of entangled states is a crucial issue for the development of quantum technologies. This leads to the necessity of a precise, experimental feasible measure of entanglement. Nevertheless, such measurements are limited both from experimental uncertainties and intrinsic quantum bounds. Here we present an experiment where the amount of entanglement of a family of two-qubit mixed photon states is estimated with the ultimate precision allowed by quantum mechanics.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure

Centrally-located pulmonary hamartoma diagnosed in a 16-year-old boy presenting with chronic chest pain: a case report

Pulmonary hamartomas are the most common benign tumors of the lung. They are usually diagnosed incidentally while evaluating for other conditions. These tumors have been shown to be uncommon below the age of 25 years. We report a case of a 16-year-old male who presented with chronic chest pain and was histologically confirmed to have pulmonary hamartoma. The tumor was successfully resected. This is the first case of hamartoma to be reported in our country, and the atypical age at presentation together with the tumor’s position makes it more unique. In conclusion, although very rare, pulmonary hamartomas can occur in young age with the central location. Clinically, the presentation is usually non-specific and the diagnosis is mostly incidental while investigating other conditions. There is a need to increase awareness among clinicians on hamartomas to improve early treatment for this rare disease in the adolescents

In vivo imaging of murine endocrine islets of Langerhans with extended-focus optical coherence microscopy

Aims/hypothesis: Structural and functional imaging of the islets of Langerhans and the insulin-secreting beta cells represents a significant challenge and a long-lasting objective in diabetes research. In vivo microscopy offers a valuable insight into beta cell function but has severe limitations regarding sample labelling, imaging speed and depth, and was primarily performed on isolated islets lacking native innervations and vascularisation. This article introduces extended-focus optical coherence microscopy (xfOCM) to image murine pancreatic islets in their natural environment in situ, i.e. in vivo and in a label-free condition. Methods: Ex vivo measurements on excised pancreases were performed and validated by standard immunohistochemistry to investigate the structures that can be observed with xfOCM. The influence of streptozotocin on the signature of the islets was investigated in a second step. Finally, xfOCM was applied to make measurements of the murine pancreas in situ and in vivo. Results: xfOCM circumvents the fundamental physical limit that trades lateral resolution for depth of field, and achieves fast volumetric imaging with high resolution in all three dimensions. It allows label-free visualisation of pancreatic lobules, ducts, blood vessels and individual islets of Langerhans ex vivo and in vivo, and detects streptozotocin-induced islet destruction. Conclusions/interpretation: Our results demonstrate the potential value of xfOCM in high-resolution in vivo studies to assess islet structure and function in animal models of diabetes, aiming towards its use in longitudinal studies of diabetes progression and islet transplant

Stability Analysis for Autonomous Dynamical Switched Systems through Nonconventional Lyapunov Functions

The stability of autonomous dynamical switched systems is analyzed by means of multiple Lyapunov functions. The stability theorems given in this paper have finite number of conditions to check. It is shown that linear functions can be used as Lyapunov functions. An example of an exponentially asymptotically stable switched system formed by four unstable systems is also given