210 research outputs found
Brak różnic w ekspresji konwertazy proproteinowej 6 u kobiet niepłodnych z endometriozą minimalnego stopnia i u kobiet z niepłodnością idiopatyczną
Abstract Objective: Proprotein convertase 6(PC6) is known to be the key enzyme involved in the transformation of many hormones, cytokines and their receptors into their active forms. Experimental in vitro studies have also proven that lack of PC6 in the endometrium prevents decidualisation. Therefore in our study we have aimed at determining whether infertility in some patients might be attributable to decreased expression of PC6. Material and methods: With the use of RealTime PCR we have studied the expression level of PC6 in receptive phase endometria from 36 idiopathic infertile patients, 26 infertile patients with minimal grade endometriosis and compared those results with fertile, age-matched controls. The endometria were collected 7-9 days after ovulation. Results: There were no statistically significant differences regarding the expression of PC6 in endometria from patients with idiopathic infertility, infertile patients with endometriosis and controls. Conclusions: Since there is no detectable difference in PC6 expression, the decreased expression of PC6 is unlikely to cause infertility.Streszczenie Cel pracy: Konwertaza proproteinowa 6 (PC6) jest kluczowym enzymem biorącym udział w przekształceniu wielu prohormonów, cytokin i ich receptorów w aktywne formy. Badania eksperymentalne in vitro dowiodły, iż brak PC6 uniemożliwia przemianę doczesnową w endometrium. Naszym celem była ocena czy u pacjentek niepłodnych czynnikiem wywołującym niepłodność może być zaburzona ekspresja PC6. Materiał i metoda: Stosujac RT-PCR zbadaliśmy poziom ekspresji PC6 w fazie receptywnej endometrium u 36 kobiet z niepłodnością idiopatyczną, 26 pacjentek z endometriozą minimalną oraz porównaliśmy te wyniki z płodnymi pacjentkami dobranymi pod względem wieku. Endometrium zostało pobrane 7-9 dni po owulacji. Wyniki: Nie stwierdziliśmy statystycznie znamiennych różnic w ekspresji PC6 w endometrium z grupy z niełΠodnością idiopatyczną, niepłodnymi pacjentkami z endometriozą a grupą kontrolną. Wnioski: Wydaje się, że zaburzona ekspresja PC6 nie jest przyczyną niepłodności
Laser-produced plasma EUV source based on tin-rich, thin-layer targets
In this paper a new approach to a laser-produced plasma EUV source based on a tin target is presented. A thin layer of pure tin and composite layers consisting of Sn with Si, SiO and LiF are investigated. The target composed of several thin layers produces less debris than the other targets and provides a conversion efficiency (CE) in the 13.5-nm +/- 1% band at least comparable to the CE for the pure tin slab target. The largest CE was observed for the target composed of a mixture of Sn and LiF, due to the fact that lithium, similarly to tin, is a strong emitter at 13.5 nm
Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm is a potent inducer of phagocyte hyperinflammation
Objective Pseudomonas aeruginosa effectively facilitate resistance to phagocyte killing by biofilm formation. However,b the
cross talk between biofilm components and phagocytes is still unclear. We hypothesize that a biofilm provides a concentrated
extracellular source of LPS, DNA and exopolysaccharides (EPS), which polarize neighbouring phagocytes into an adverse
hyperinflammatory state of activation.
Methods We measured the release of a panel of mediators produced in vitro by murine neutrophils and macrophages exposed
to various biofilm components of P. aeruginosa cultures.
Results We found that conditioned media from a high biofilm-producing strain of P. aeruginosa, PAR5, accumulated high
concentrations of extracellular bacterial LPS, DNA and EPS by 72 h. These conditioned media induced phagocytes to release
a hyperinflammatory pattern of mediators, with enhanced levels of , IL-6, IL12p40,
and NO. Moreover, the
phagocytes also upregulated COX-2 and iNOS with no influence on the expression of arginase-1.
Conclusions Phagocytes exposed to biofilm microenvironment, called by us biofilm-associated neutrophils/macrophages
(BANs/BAMs), display secretory properties similar to that of N1/M1-type phagocytes. These results suggest that in vivo
high concentrations of LPS and DNA, trapped in biofilm by EPS, might convert infiltrating phagocytes into cells responsible
for tissue injury without direct contact with bacteria and phagocytosis
Resonant third harmonic generation of KrF laser in Ar gas
Investigations of emission of harmonics from argon gas jet irradiated by 700 fs, 5 mJ pulses from a KrF laser are presented. Harmonics conversion was optimized by varying the experimental geometry and the nozzle size. For the collection of the harmonic radiation silicon and solar-blind diamond semiconductor detectors equipped with charge preamplifiers were applied. The possibility of using a single-crystal CVD diamond detector for separate measurement of the 3rd harmonic in the presence of a strong pumping radiation was explored. Our experiments show that the earlier suggested 0.7% conversion efficiency can really be obtained, but only in the case when phase matching is optimized with an elongated gas target length corresponding to the length of coherence
Influence of the carrier and composition of active phase on physicochemical and catalytic properties of CuAg/oxide catalysts for selective hydrogenolysis of glycerol
Orbital and physical parameters of eclipsing binaries from the ASAS catalogue – XI. CHIRON investigation of long-period binaries*
We present the results of a spectroscopic campaign on eclipsing binaries with long orbital period (P = 20 − 75 d) carried out with the CHIRON spectrograph. Physical and orbital solutions for seven systems were derived from the V-band, and I-band ASAS, WASP, and TESS photometry, while radial velocities were calculated from high quality optical spectra using a two-dimensional cross-correlation technique. The atmospheric parameters of the stars have been determined from the separated spectra. Most of our targets are composed of evolved stars (sub-giants or red giants) but two systems show components in different phases of evolution and one possible merger. For four binaries the masses and radii of the components were obtained with precision better than . These objects provide very valuable information on stellar evolution
Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilm is a potent inducer of phagocyte hyperinflammation
OBJECTIVE: Pseudomonas aeruginosa effectively facilitate resistance to phagocyte killing by biofilm formation. However, the cross talk between biofilm components and phagocytes is still unclear. We hypothesize that a biofilm provides a concentrated extracellular source of LPS, DNA and exopolysaccharides (EPS), which polarize neighbouring phagocytes into an adverse hyperinflammatory state of activation. METHODS: We measured the release of a panel of mediators produced in vitro by murine neutrophils and macrophages exposed to various biofilm components of P. aeruginosa cultures. RESULTS: We found that conditioned media from a high biofilm-producing strain of P. aeruginosa, PAR5, accumulated high concentrations of extracellular bacterial LPS, DNA and EPS by 72 h. These conditioned media induced phagocytes to release a hyperinflammatory pattern of mediators, with enhanced levels of TNF-α, IL-6, IL12p40, PGE2 and NO. Moreover, the phagocytes also upregulated COX-2 and iNOS with no influence on the expression of arginase-1. CONCLUSIONS: Phagocytes exposed to biofilm microenvironment, called by us biofilm-associated neutrophils/macrophages (BANs/BAMs), display secretory properties similar to that of N1/M1-type phagocytes. These results suggest that in vivo high concentrations of LPS and DNA, trapped in biofilm by EPS, might convert infiltrating phagocytes into cells responsible for tissue injury without direct contact with bacteria and phagocytosis
The Council of Europe's Approach towards Ageism
In this chapter, I examine the degree of interest in ageism among Council of
Europe members, and the degree of interest in its elimination through the Council
of Europe forum. I also examine the interpretation of the concept of ageism by various
Council of Europe institutions. Finally, I explore the Council’s willingness and
ability to eliminate or at least mitigate ageism effect
Catalogue of BRITE-Constellation targets I. Fields 1 to 14 (November 2013 - April 2016)
The BRIght Target Explorer (BRITE) mission collects photometric time series
in two passbands aiming to investigate stellar structure and evolution. Since
their launches in the years 2013 and 2014, the constellation of five BRITE
nano-satellites has observed a total of more than 700 individual bright stars
in 64 fields. Some targets have been observed multiple times. Thus, the total
time base of the data sets acquired for those stars can be as long as nine
years. Our aim is to provide a complete description of ready-to-use BRITE data,
to show the scientific potential of the BRITE-Constellation data by identifying
the most interesting targets, and to demonstrate and encourage how scientists
can use these data in their research. We apply a decorrelation process to the
automatically reduced BRITE-Constellation data to correct for instrumental
effects. We perform a statistical analysis of the light curves obtained for the
300 stars observed in the first 14 fields during the first ~2.5 years of the
mission. We also perform cross-identification with the International Variable
Star Index. We present the data obtained by the BRITE-Constellation mission in
the first 14 fields it observed from November 2013 to April 2016. We also
describe the properties of the data for these fields and the 300 stars observed
in them. Using these data, we detected variability in 64% of the presented
sample of stars. Sixty-four stars or 21.3% of the sample have not yet been
identified as variable in the literature and their data have not been analysed
in detail. They can therefore provide valuable scientific material for further
research. All data are made publicly available through the BRITE Public Data
Archive and the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre.Comment: accepted by Astronomy & Astrophysics, 13 pages main text, 22 pages of
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