Circulating Exosomal Mir21 And Mir320 In Obstructive Sleep Apnea

Rational. Epidemiological studies indicate that there may be an association between obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Some pro-inflammatory miRs (miR-21, miR320) critical for the immune response or hypoxia are often overexpressed in cancers and atherosclerosis. Aim. To examine the expression of miR-21& miR320 in circulating exosomes from patients with OSA. Methods: From a Sleep Unit and in the frame of a long-term longitudinal cohort study we selected 65 non-smokers OSA patients (apnea-hypopnea index -AHI- 30 events/ti) and 26 age, gender and BMI-matched controls (AHI 0.85 mm. Plasma-derived exosomes were isolated by precipitation using miRCURY, , , Exosome Isolation Kit. Exosomes were characterized by transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering assay and Western Blot analysis using CD63 and HSP70. Exosome total RNA was obtained using miRCURY"* RNA isolation kit. miR-21 -5p and miR-320-3p were analysed by real time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) using miRCURY LNA~ technology..

Myosporidium merluccius n. g., n. sp. Infecting Muscle of Commercial Hake (Merluccius sp.) from Fisheries near Namibia

A new species of Microsporidia classified to a new genus was observed in the trunk muscle of commercial hake (Merluccius capensis/paradoxus complex) from Namibian fisheries. Macroscopic examination revealed thin and dark filaments inserted among muscle fibers. Inside the filaments were many sporophorous vesicles with about 30–50 spores per vesicle. The shape of the spore was pyriform and the extruded polar filament was of moderate length (up to 4.29 mm, n512). This new species of Microsporidia is described using macrophotography, microphotography, staining, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM), as well as molecular methods. Its 16S rRNA was found to be similar to that of Microsporidium prosopium Kent et al., 1999, while both sequences were quite different from 16S rRNA sequences known for other Microsporidia. Nevertheless, this new species is separated morphologically from M. prosopium by the presence of 11–12 anisofilar coils and the formation of the xenoma at the site of infection. Type specie

Evaluation of Fluorescent Confocal Microscopy for Intraoperative Analysis of Prostate Biopsy Cores

The use of fluorescent confocal microscopy allows fast and easy preparation of biopsy cores for intraoperative analysis. We observed strong concordance with traditional analysis in our study. The role of this technique is yet to be established

Experimental verification of memristor-based material implication NAND operation

Memristors are being considered as promising devices for highly dense memory systems as well as the potential basis of new computational paradigms. In this scenario, and in relation with data processing, one of the more specific and differential logic functions is the material implication logic also named as IMPLY logic. Many papers have been published in this framework but few of them are related with experimental works using real memristor devices. In the paper authors show the verification of the IMPLY function by using Ni/HfO2/Si manufactured devices and laboratory measurements. The proper behavior of the IMPLY structure (2 memristors) has been shown. The paper also verifies the proper operation of a two-step IMPLY-based NAND gate implementation, showing the electrical behavior of the circuit in a cycling operation. A new procedure to implement a NAND gate that requires only one step is experimentally shown as well

The infrared Hourglass cluster in M8

A detailed study of the Hourglass Nebula in the M8 star forming region is presented. The study is mainly based on recent subarcsec-resolution JHKs images taken at Las Campanas Observatory and complemented with archival HST images and longslit spectroscopy retrieved from the ESO Archive Facility. Using the new numerical code CHORIZOS, we estimate the distance to the earliest stars in the region to be 1.25 kpc. Infrared photometry of all the sources detected in the field is given. From analysis of the JHKs colour-colour diagrams, we find that an important fraction of these sources exhibit significant infrared excess. These objects are candidates to be low- and intermediate-mass pre-main sequence stars. Based on HST observations, the spatial distribution of gas, dust and stars in the region is analyzed. The morphological analysis of these images also reveals a rich variety of structures related to star formation (proplyds, jets, bow shocks), similar to those observed in M16 and M42, along with the detection of the first four Herbig-Haro objects in the region. Furthermore, a longslit spectrum obtained with NTT confirms the identification of one of them (HH 870) in the core of the Hourglass nebula, providing the first direct evidence of active star formation by accretion in M8.Comment: 22 pages, 15 figures, 3 tables, submitted to MNRAS. A preprint with high-resolution figures is available at http://www.dfuls.cl/~rbarba/arias_hourglass.pd

From favorable atomic configurations to supershell structures: a new interpretation of conductance histograms

Title: From favorable atomic configurations to supershell structures: a new interpretation of conductance histograms Authors: A. Hasmy (IVIC), E. Medina (IVIC), P.A. Serena (CSIC,IVIC) Comments: 7 pages, 3 figures, cond-mat.anwar.10825 Subj-class: Soft Condensed MatterComment: 7 pages, 3 figuresSubject: fput HMS.tex HMS-FIG1.ps HMS-FIG2.ps HMS-FIG3.p

Stiff monatomic gold wires with a spinning zigzag geometry

Using first principles density functional calculations, gold monatomic wires are found to exhibit a zigzag shape which remains under tension, becoming linear just before breaking. At room temperature they are found to spin, what explains the extremely long apparent interatomic distances shown by electron microscopy.The zigzag structure is stable if the tension is relieved, the wire holding its chainlike shape even as a free-standing cluster. This unexpected metallic-wire stiffness stems from the transverse quantization in the wire, as shown in a simple free electron model.Comment: 4 pages, latex, 5 figures, submitted to PR

Activity of Antibiotics and Potential Antibiofilm Agents against Biofilm-Producing Mycobacterium avium- intracellulare Complex Causing Chronic Pulmonary Infections

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause lung infections in patients with underlying pulmonary diseases (PD). The Mycobacteriumavium-intracellulare complex (MAC) is the most frequently involved NTM. The MAC-PD treatment is based on the administration of several antibiotics for long periods of time. Nonetheless, treatment outcomes remain very poor. Among the factors involved is the ability of MAC isolates to form biofilm. The aim of the study was to assess the in vitro activity of different antibiotics and potential antibiofilm agents (PAAs) against MAC biofilm. Four antibiotics and six PAAs, alone and/or in combination, were tested against planktonic forms of 11 MAC clinical isolates. Biofilm was produced after 4 weeks of incubation and analyzed with the crystal violet assay. The antibiotics and PAAs were tested by measuring the absorbance (minimum biofilm inhibition concentrations, MBICs) and by performing subcultures (minimum biofilm eradication concentrations, MBECs). The clarithromycin/amikacin and clarithromycin/ethambutol combinations were synergistic, decreasing the MBECs values compared to the individual antibiotics. The amikacin/moxifloxacin combination showed indifference. The MBIC values decreased significantly when PAAs were added to the antibiotic combinations. These results suggest that antibiotic combinations should be further studied to establish their antibiofilm activity. Moreover, PAAs could act against the biofilm matrix, facilitating the activity of antibiotics