3,252 research outputs found
Restoration of oligodendrocyte pools in a mouse model of chronic cerebral hypoperfusion
Chronic cerebral hypoperfusion, a sustained modest reduction in cerebral blood flow, is associated with damage to myelinated axons and cognitive decline with ageing. Oligodendrocytes (the myelin producing cells) and their precursor cells (OPCs) may be vulnerable to the effects of hypoperfusion and in some forms of injury OPCs have the potential to respond and repair damage by increased proliferation and differentiation. Using a mouse model of cerebral hypoperfusion we have characterised the acute and long term responses of oligodendrocytes and OPCs to hypoperfusion in the corpus callosum. Following 3 days of hypoperfusion, numbers of OPCs and mature oligodendrocytes were significantly decreased compared to controls. However following 1 month of hypoperfusion, the OPC pool was restored and increased numbers of oligodendrocytes were observed. Assessment of proliferation using PCNA showed no significant differences between groups at either time point but showed reduced numbers of proliferating oligodendroglia at 3 days consistent with the loss of OPCs. Cumulative BrdU labelling experiments revealed higher numbers of proliferating cells in hypoperfused animals compared to controls and showed a proportion of these newly generated cells had differentiated into oligodendrocytes in a subset of animals. Expression of GPR17, a receptor important for the regulation of OPC differentiation following injury, was decreased following short term hypoperfusion. Despite changes to oligodendrocyte numbers there were no changes to the myelin sheath as revealed by ultrastructural assessment and fluoromyelin however axon-glial integrity was disrupted after both 3 days and 1 month hypoperfusion. Taken together, our results demonstrate the initial vulnerability of oligodendroglial pools to modest reductions in blood flow and highlight the regenerative capacity of these cells
Severe Acute Kidney Injury and Double Tubulopathy Due to Dual Toxicity Caused by Combination Antiretroviral Therapy.
info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Cellular Variant of Focal Segmental Glomerulosclerosis Treated with Plasma Exchange
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is the most common primary glomerular disease in nephrotic patients in the United States,
frequently leading to end stage renal disease (ESRD). The cellular variant is a rare form of FSGS commonly associated with poor outcome.
We report a case of cellular variant FSGS with progressive kidney dysfunction successfully treated with plasma exchange (PE). A 49-year-old
Caucasian female presented with two days of ankle edema and hypertension. Laboratory findings showed serum creatinine (SCr) 1.6 mg/dL,
urine albumin/creatinine ratio (uACR) 2.8 g/g, haematuria 3+ and no immunological abnormalities. Kidney biopsy revealed a cellular FSGS
variant with segmental endocapillary proliferation on light microscopic, negative immunofluorescence and widespread foot process effacement
by electronic microscopic. Prednisolone 1 mg/Kg was started. Four days later the SCr worsened (3.6 mg/dL) and the patient became severely
nephrotic with uACR of6.8g/g, quickly attaining a maximum of 24.6 g/g in a short time and albumin of 2.15g/dL. Pulsed methyl prednisolone
was started. Despite a 10 course of steroids, no clinical improvement was observed. Considering the rapidly worsening renal function and
severe nephrotic syndrome, PE was begun in association with mycophenolate mofetil and tacrolimus. Kidney function recovered after one week.
Complete remission was achieved at 3rd week and remains in complete remission at 27 months follow-up. Prolonged remission is a challenge in
primary FSGS. PE associated with combined immunosuppression was effective in the present case. The short and long-term effects of plasma
exchange in primary FSGS should be evaluated in prospective studies.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
Kidney biopsy in Lupus Nephritis: still essential in clinical practice
Renal involvement in Systemic Lupus Erythematous is common and its management remains a daily challenge
for clinical providers. Percutaneous kidney biopsy remains the gold standard for diagnosis of lupus nephritis.
More recently, we have seen the role of the biopsy being challenged, considering the widespread use of corticosteroids and mycophenolate mofetil for all forms of lupus nephritis. We present a review of published evidence
regarding first and repeat kidney biopsies for patients with lupus nephritis. Based on the available literature, we
recommend a kidney biopsy to guide treatment and determine prognosis and we also suggest an algorithm for kidney rebiopsy in lupus nephritis.info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio
New active antioxidant multilayer food packaging films containing Algerian Sage and Bay leaves extracts and their application for oxidative stability of fried potatoes
The antioxidant activity of Sage leaf (SL) and Bay leaf (BL) extracts was studied. Both plants were extracted using water and ethanol at different concentration, and the antioxidant activity was measured by ABTS [2, 2'-azinobis-(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid)] radical cation scavenging and reducing power (RP) methods. In both cases 60% and 80% ethanolic extracts of Sage and Bay leaves showed the highest activity and were incorporated into multilayer films. The initial concentration for 60% ethanolic extracts of Sage and Bay leaves to scavenge 50% of free radical ABTS were 5.67 ± 0.26 µg × mL-1 and 18.68 ± 0.16 µg × mL-1 respectively, whereas for 80% ethanolic extracts the concentrations were 7.96 ± 0.02 and 14.65 ± 0.59 µg × mL-1 respectively. The initial concentrations of ethanolic 60% extracts of Sage and Bay leaves to allow absorbance 0.5 for reducing power were 35.38 ± 0.19 µg × mL-1 and 91.43 ± 2.84 µg × mL-1 respectively, while for 80% ethanolic extracts of Bay and Sage leaves were 46.01 ± 1.21 µg × mL-1 and 85.47 ± 0.9 µg × mL-1 respectively. Then, the multilayer films were exposed to a gas stream enriched with free radicals to evaluate the free radicals scavenging. The new packaging with 60% ethanolic Sage extract exhibited the highest activity with low percentage of hydroxylation (69.64 ± 6.86%) followed by that with 80% ethanolic extract for both Bay (85.49 ± 5.3%) and Sage (87.09 ± 3.93%) leaves extracts. The ability of two active packaging built with 60% ethanolic Sage extract and 80% ethanolic Bay extract to inhibit lipid oxidation of fried potatoes was studied by measuring secondary lipid oxidation products using thiobarituric acid reactive substances (TBARS). Significant lower value of Malondialdehyde (MDA) was obtained for fried potatoes stored in active packaging built with ethanolic 60% extract of Sage and 80% ethanolic extract of Bay leaves (0.342 ± 0.01 and 0.392 ± 0.02 µg MDA × g-1 respectively) at 40 °C for 20 days compared to the control (0.568 ± 0.03 µg MDA × g-1). Lipid oxidation decreased 40% and 31% for packaging with 60% Sage and 80% Bay ethanolic extracts respectively. The UPLC–MS–QTOF analysis of Sage and Bay leaves extracts revealed the presence of phenolic acids, tannins, flavonoids, and terpenoids. Migration tests from active materials demonstrated the absence of migration
Polarized Line Formation in Multi-Dimensional Media.III. Hanle Effect with Partial Frequency Redistribution
In the previous two papers, namely, \citet{anuknn11} and \citet{anuetal11} we
solved the polarized radiative transfer (RT) equation in multi-dimensional
(multi-D) geometries, with partial frequency redistribution (PRD) as the
scattering mechanism. We assumed Rayleigh scattering as the only source of
linear polarization () in both these papers. In this paper we extend
these previous works to include the effect of weak oriented magnetic fields
(Hanle effect) on line scattering. We generalize the technique of Stokes vector
decomposition in terms of the irreducible spherical tensors ,
developed in \citet{anuknn11}, to the case of RT with Hanle effect. A fast
iterative method of solution (based on the Stabilized Preconditioned
Bi-Conjugate-Gradient technique), developed in \citet{anuetal11}, is now
generalized to the case of RT in magnetized three-dimensional media. We use the
efficient short-characteristics formal solution method for multi-D media,
generalized appropriately to the present context. The main results of this
paper are the following: (1) A comparison of emergent profiles
formed in one-dimensional (1D) media, with the corresponding emergent,
spatially averaged profiles formed in multi-D media, shows that in the
spatially resolved structures, the assumption of 1D may lead to large errors in
linear polarization, especially in the line wings. (2) The multi-D RT in
semi-infinite non-magnetic media causes a strong spatial variation of the
emergent profiles, which is more pronounced in the line wings. (3)
The presence of a weak magnetic field modifies the spatial variation of the
emergent profiles in the line core, by producing significant
changes in their magnitudes.Comment: 31 pages, 14 figures, Submitted to ApJ, Under revie
Efficacy of Corncob and Rice Husk Biochar as Liming Agent and Phosphorus Source for Growth of Soybean in Two Acid Soils
Soil acidity, unavailability and high cost of conventional liming materials are major constraints to soybean production in the Western Region of Ghana. Research has shown that biochar produced from agricultural waste has high concentration of basic cations and available P that could be exploited for use as liming material and/or P source. However, the biochar type that will provide an ideal soil pH and P availability for soybean production in acid soils has received little attention. Therefore, for this study, two acid soils namely; Ankasa Series (Typic Hapludox) and Tikobo Series (Typic Hapludult) were amended with corncob and rice husk biochar types charred at 500 and 700 oC at a rate of 80 tons/ha in a pot experiment in a screen house to ascertain the efficacy of the biochar types as agricultural lime and P sources for soybean growth. The Ca equivalent of the biochar types from CaCO3 was amended to the soils to serve as realistic control. The soils were arranged in a completely randomized design in a screen house to allow for pH equilibration. After pH equilibration, inoculated soybean seeds were sown at stake. Nitrogen was applied at rates of 0 kg/ha and 10 kg/ha. Phosphorus from TSP was applied at 0 and biochar P equivalent to the non-biochar-amended soils. Extra 30 kg P/ha from TSP was applied to some of the biochar amended soils to ascertain if any, the combined effect of synthetic and biochar P on soybean growth. At flower initiation, the crops were harvested, root volume and P uptake determined. Amended with rice husk biochar charred at 700 oC, the shoot P uptake was 1.3 times more in both the Typic Hapludox and the Typic Hapludult than the same soils amended with conventional lime with equivalent biochar P from the synthetic source
Low-lying magnetic loops in the solar internetwork
The aim of this work is to study the structure of the magnetic field vector
in the internetwork and search for the presence of small-scale loops. We invert
1.56 micron spectropolarimetric observations of internetwork regions at disc
centre by applying the SIR code. This allows us to recover the atmospheric
parameters that play a role in the formation of these spectral lines. We are
mainly interested in the structure of the magnetic field vector. We find that
many opposite polarity elements of the internetwork are connected by short
(2-6''), low-lying (photospheric) loops. These loops connect at least the 10-20
% of the internetwork flux visible in our data. Also we have some evidence that
points towards a dynamic scenario which can be produced by the emergence of
internetwork magnetic flux.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A letter
Visualization of anatomical structures in the fetlock region of the horse using cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) in comparison with conventional multidetector computed tomography (MDCT)
Use of Corn Cob and Rice Husk Biochar as Liming Materials in Acid Soils
Most soils in Ghana are acid with those of the Evergreen Rain Forest belt having Al toxicities. Unavailability, high cost and poor grade of conventional liming materials have led to poor yields of food crops grown on these acid soils. Preliminary works on biochar produced from agricultural waste in Ghana have shown that some types have high concentration of basic cations and contain CaCO3, an active ingredient in conventional lime. Biochar could, therefore, be exploited for use as liming material. However, the biochar type that would be ideal for use as liming material in acid soils of Ghana has received little attention. Two typical acid soils viz., Typic Hapludox and Typic Hapludult were thus amended with corn cob and rice husk charred at 500 and 700 oC at a rate of 80 Mg/ha in a screen house experiment to evaluate their respective efficacies as substitutes for conventional agricultural lime. The Ca equivalent of the biochar types from CaCO3, the conventional lime, was amended to the soils to serve as realistic controls. The amended soils, in addition to their un-amended counterparts, were all kept at 80% field capacity in a completely randomized design in the screen house to allow for pH equilibration amidst weekly pH and bi-weekly exchangeable Al, Ca and Mg monitoring. Results showed that corn cob charred at 500 oC was able to raise pH from 4.2 to 5.2 in Hapludox and from 4.9 to 6.2 (an optimum pH for most food crops) in Hapludult within a six-week incubation period. All the biochar types reduced Al concentration from 0.4 cmolc /kg to undetectable levels in the Hapludult. The element was reduced from 1.3 cmolc /kg to 0.45 cmolc /kg in the rice husk and corn cob charred at 700 oC amended Hapludox
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