Syrian hamster dermal cell immortalization is not enhanced by power line frequency electromagnetic field exposure

Several epidemiological studies have suggested associations between exposure to residential power line frequency electromagnetic fields and childhood leukaemia, and between occupational exposure and adult leukaemia. A variety of in vitro studies have provided limited supporting evidence for the role of such exposures in cancer induction in the form of acknowledged cellular end points, such as enhanced mutation rate and cell proliferation, though the former is seen only with extremely high flux density exposure or with co-exposure to ionizing radiation. However, in vitro experiments on a scale large enough to detect rare cancer-initiating events, such as primary cell immortalization following residential level exposures, have not thus far been reported. In this study, large cultures of primary Syrian hamster dermal cells were continuously exposed to power line frequency electromagnetic fields of 10 100 and 1000 μT for 60 h, with and without prior exposure to a threshold (1.5 Gy), or sub-threshold (0.5 Gy), immortalizing dose of ionizing radiation. Electromagnetic field exposure alone did not immortalize these cells at a detectable frequency (≥ 1 × 10−7); furthermore, such exposure did not enhance the frequency of ionizing radiation-induced immortalization. © 1999 Cancer Research Campaig

Soil seed bank of the invasive Robinia pseudoacacia in planted Pinus nigra stands

Pinus nigra and Robinia pseudoacacia are exotic trees used for afforestation in Hungary. Pinus nigra was non-invasive, however R. pseudoacacia escaped from cultivation and invaded several vegetation types including pine plantations. It has recently been planned to cut P. nigra plantations and replace them by native tree stands, especially in nature reserves. The scattered presence of R. pseudoacacia specimens in pine stands might place constraints on planned tree replacement because of their vegetative resprouting and recolonization from an established seed bank. The aim of this study was to investigate the soil seed bank under the canopy of solitary R. pseudoacacia specimens found in P. nigra plantations. Altogether 250 soil samples were collected from the 0–6 and 6–12 cm soil layers under solitary Robinia trees of varying ages (with basal areas between 62.4 and 1089.3 cm2). Seeds were separated by sieving then scarified and germinated. Seed bank density ranged between 640 and 2285 seedsm–2 with an average distribution of 82.7% and 17.3% in the upper and lower soil layer, respectively. Total density of the seed bank and also the seed bank ratio of the lower soil layer increased with tree age. The accumulated seed bank of R. pseudoacacia should be considered in the careful planning of tree replacement operations in Pinus nigra stands

Charting the NF-κB Pathway Interactome Map

Inflammation is part of a complex physiological response to harmful stimuli and pathogenic stress. The five components of the Nuclear Factor κB (NF-κB) family are prominent mediators of inflammation, acting as key transcriptional regulators of hundreds of genes. Several signaling pathways activated by diverse stimuli converge on NF-κB activation, resulting in a regulatory system characterized by high complexity. It is increasingly recognized that the number of components that impinges upon phenotypic outcomes of signal transduction pathways may be higher than those taken into consideration from canonical pathway representations. Scope of the present analysis is to provide a wider, systemic picture of the NF-κB signaling system. Data from different sources such as literature, functional enrichment web resources, protein-protein interaction and pathway databases have been gathered, curated, integrated and analyzed in order to reconstruct a single, comprehensive picture of the proteins that interact with, and participate to the NF-κB activation system. Such a reconstruction shows that the NF-κB interactome is substantially different in quantity and quality of components with respect to canonical representations. The analysis highlights that several neglected but topologically central proteins may play a role in the activation of NF-κB mediated responses. Moreover the interactome structure fits with the characteristics of a bow tie architecture. This interactome is intended as an open network resource available for further development, refinement and analysis

Relatório de estágio em farmácia comunitária

Relatório de estágio realizado no âmbito do Mestrado Integrado em Ciências Farmacêuticas, apresentado à Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Coimbr

NanoTrust, 4. Zwischenbericht (Jänner 2010)

Dieser vierte Zwischenbericht präsentiert die im Berichtszeitraum Juli 2009 bis Jänner 2010 erbrachten Leistungen und Ergebnisse und ist an den Auftraggeber (BMVIT) gerichtet.Das Projekt NanoTrust hat sich im Laufe der vergangenen sieben Monate plangemäß weiterentwickelt. Im Berichtszeitraum wurden drei weitere NanoTrust-Dossiers veröffentlicht, drei weitere stehen kurz vor der Publikation. Die Literaturdatenbank ist auf mittlerweile 2.100 Einträge angewachsen. Das NanoTrust-Team hat im Herbst mehrere gut besuchte Veranstaltungen organisiert: eine Abendveranstaltung im Rahmen der Nano09, die 3. Herbsttagung, einen OECD-Roundtable sowie eine Session auf der NANOtech in Malaysia. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt der Aktivitäten lag auf der Fortsetzung des Forschungsprojekt „NanoPol“ zum Dreiländervergleich (Deutschland, Schweiz, Österreich) der „Nano-Politiken“. Schließlich war das Team auf zahlreichen in- und ausländischen Veranstaltungen und vertiefte wichtige Kontakte zu internationalen und nationalen Projekten und Akteuren, so etwa zu DaNa, dem Nachfolgeprojekt von NanoCare

NanoTrust, 3. Zwischenbericht (Juli 2009)

Dieser dritte Zwischenbericht präsentiert die im Berichtszeitraum Februar 2009 bis Juni 2009 erbrachten Leistungen und Ergebnisse und ist an den Auftraggeber (BMVIT) gerichtet. Das Projekt NanoTrust hat sich im Laufe der vergangenen fünf Monate plangemäß weiterentwickelt. Im Berichtszeitraum wurden vier weitere NanoTrust-Dossiers veröffentlicht, weitere sind in Vorbereitung. Die Literaturdatenbank ist auf mittlerweile 1.400 Einträge angewachsen. Das NanoTrust-Team hat im Februar eine gut besuchte Session im Rahmen der Viennano’09 organisiert. Ein weiterer Schwerpunkt der Aktivitäten lag in der zeitaufwändigen aktiven Teilnahme an der Vorbereitung der sogenannten Nano-Informations-Plattform (NIP) und des Österreichischen Nano-Aktionsplans (NAP). Darüber hinaus fand im Berichtszeitraum der erste von zwei von NanoTrust mitorganisierten wissenschaftlichen Autorenworkshops zum Vergleich der Nanopolitik der deutschsprachigen Länder statt. Schließlich war das Team auf zahlreichen in- und ausländischen Veranstaltungen und knüpfte mehrere wichtige Kontakte zu internationalen und nationalen Projekten und Akteuren