Method of synthesizing metal doped diamond-like carbon films

A method of synthesizing metal doped carbon films by placing a substrate in a chamber with a selected amount of a metalorganic compound. An electron cyclotron resonance is applied to the chamber in order to vaporize the metalorganic compound. The resonance is applied to the chamber until a metal doped carbon film is formed. The metalorganic compound is preferably selected from the group consisting of an organic salt of ruthenium, palladium, gold or platinum

Gestação em cadelas : novos conceitos na ultrassonografia

Orientadora : Profª Drª Tilde Rodrigues FroesDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do Paraná, Setor de Ciências Agrárias, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Ciências Veterinárias. Defesa: Curitiba, 31/03/2015Inclui referênciasÁrea de concentração : Ciências veterináriasResumo: A presente pesquisa buscou contribuir com informações sobre avaliação ultrassonográfica pré-natal no terço final da gestação em cadelas, particularmente às características fetais que devem ser ponderadas rotineiramente pelo médico veterinário imaginologista nesse período. Para tanto, o trabalho foi subdividido em três capítulos independentes. No primeiro capítulo o enfoque da pesquisa foi avaliar e descrever as acelerações e desacelerações transitórias na frequência cardíaca fetal, acompanhadas pela ultrassonografia e provocadas pelas contrações uterinas; à semelhança do que ocorre em fetos humanos, proporcionando o planejamento da cesariana. Esse trabalho demonstrou que tais oscilações na frequência cardíaca fetal pré-parto acontecem em fetos caninos e devem ser utilizadas para prever com precisão o momento do parto iminente. Em cães a identificação do sexo fetal pode estar relacionada ao fator econômico, no entanto, para os proprietários esse fato pode estar correlacionado a questões emocionais. Por esse motivo, o segundo capítulo discorre sobre a descrição do método que determina o sexo fetal canino intrauterino pelo exame ultrassonográfico, indicando a melhor idade gestacional e definindo a acurácia do exame ultrassonográfico para esse fim, de acordo com o tamanho da ninhada. O terceiro capítulo refere-se ao acompanhamento na visualização das alças intestinais fetais pelo exame ultrassonográfico, pois acreditamos que com a evolução dos aparelhos de ultrassonografia agora com alta resolução, esse órgão é observado antes da idade gestacional descrita previamente na literatura. Descrevemos nesse capítulo o desenvolvimento ultrassonográfico das alças intestinais fetais, relacionada a idade gestacional, associado a avaliação da presença de peristaltismo intestinal e se essa característica tem importância no planejamento da cesariana. Conseguimos provar que a visualização do peristaltismo intestinal fetal não deve ser utilizada como parâmetro ultrassonográfico único para programar uma cesariana. Portanto, apresento três estudos inéditos cujos achados e conclusões são de grande importância para a reprodução e o diagnóstico por imagem veterinário. Palavras-chaves: cão, gestação, ultrassonografia fetal, sexagem fetal, ultrassonografia intestinal fetal, maturação fetalAbstract: The main of this research was to contribute with information about prenatal evaluation at the end of gestation in dogs, particularly the foetal characteristics that should be considered routinely by veterinary radiologist in this period. Therefore, the study was divided into three independent chapters. In the first chapter, the focus of the research was to assess and describe the transient accelerations and decelerations in the foetal heart rate monitored by ultrasound and caused by uterine contractions; similar to what occurs in the human foetus, providing planning caesarean section. In dogs, identification of foetal sex could be related to economic factor, however, for owners this fact probably is correlated to emotional issues. For this reason, the second chapter discusses description of method that determines foetal sex canine intrauterine by ultrasonography, indicating the best gestational age and setting accuracy of ultrasonography for this purpose, according to size of litter. The third chapter deals with visualization of foetal bowel by ultrasonography, because we believe that, with evolution of ultrasound equipment with high resolution, this organ is observed before the gestational age previously described in literature. Herein we describe the development of ultrasound foetal bowel, related to gestational age, combined with evaluation of the presence of intestinal peristalsis and if its importance in planning of caesarean section. We managed to prove that visualization of fetal intestinal peristalsis should not be used alone as sufficient ultrasound parameter to schedule a caesarean section. Therefore, present three unpublished studies whose findings and conclusions are great importance for the veterinary reproduction. Keywords: dog, pregnancy, foetal ultrasound, foetal sex determination, foetal intestinal ultrasound, foetal maturatio

Performance of hunting statistics as spatiotemporal density indices of moose (Alces alces) in Norway

Wildlife managers are often asking for reliable information of population density across larger spatial scales. In this study, we examined the spatiotemporal relationships between moose density as estimated by cohort analysis and the density indices (1) harvest density (HD; hunter kills per km2), (2) moose seen per unit effort (SPUE), seen moose density (SMD; seen moose per km2), and density of moosevehicle accidents (MVA density; e.g., traffic kills per km2) in 16 areas in Norway with 13–42 years of data. HD showed a close positive relationship with moose density both within and between regions. However, the temporal variation in HD was best explained as a delayed reflection of moose density and tended to overestimate its growth and decline. Conversely, SMD and SPUE were unable to predict the spatial variation in moose density with high precision, though both indices were relatively precise temporal reflectors of moose density. However, the SPUE tended to underestimate population growth, probably because of a decrease in searching efficiency with increasing moose density. Compared to the other indices, MVA density performed poor as an index of moose density within regions, and not at all among regions, but may, because of its independent source of data, be used to cross-check population trends suggested by other indices. Our study shows that the temporal trends in moose density can be surveyed over large areas by the use of cheap indices based on data collected by hunters and local managers, and supports the general assumption that the number of moose killed per km2 provides a precise and isometric index of the variation in moose density at the spatial scale of our study. cohort analysis; isometric index; management; monitoring; population reconstruction; precision; saturation; seen per unit effort (SPUE).Performance of hunting statistics as spatiotemporal density indices of moose (Alces alces) in NorwaypublishedVersio

Hypotaurine is an Energy-Saving Hepatoprotective Compound against Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury of the Rat Liver

Metabolome analyses assisted by capillary electrophoresis-mass spectrometry (CE-MS) have allowed us to systematically grasp changes in small molecular metabolites under disease conditions. We applied CE-MS to mine out biomarkers in hepatic ischemia-reperfusion. Rat livers were exposed to ischemia by clamping of the portal inlet followed by reperfusion. Metabolomic profiling revealed that l contents of taurine in liver and plasma were significantly increased. Of interest is an elevation of hypotaurine, collectively suggesting significance of hypotaurine/taurine in post-ischemic responses. Considering the anti-oxidative capacity of hypotaurine, we examined if supplementation of the compound or its precursor amino acids could affect hepatocellular viability and contents of taurine in liver and plasma. Administration of hypotaurine, N-acetylcysteine or methionine upon reperfusion comparablly attenuated the post-ischemic hepatocellular injury but with different metabolomic profiling among groups: rats treated with methionine or N-acetylcysteine but not those treated with hypotaurine, exhibited significant elevation of hepatic lactate generation without notable recovery of the energy charge. Furthermore, the group treated with hypotaurine exhibited elevation of the plasma taurine, suggesting that the exogenously administered compound was utilized as an antioxidant. These results suggest that taurine serves as a surrogate marker for ischemia-reperfusion indicating effectiveness of hypotaurine as an energy-saving hepatoprotective amino acid

Neuroprotective activation of astrocytes by methylmercury exposure in the inferior colliculus

Methylmercury (MeHg) is well known to induce auditory disorders such as dysarthria. When we performed a global analysis on the brains of mice exposed to MeHg by magnetic resonance imaging, an increase in the T1 signal in the inferior colliculus (IC), which is localized in the auditory pathway, was observed. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the pathophysiology and auditory dysfunction induced by MeHg, focusing on the IC. Measurement of the auditory brainstem response revealed increases in latency and decreases in threshold in the IC of mice exposed to MeHg for 4 weeks compared with vehicle mice. Incoordination in MeHg-exposed mice was noted after 6 weeks of exposure, indicating that IC dysfunction occurs earlier than incoordination. There was no change in the number of neurons or microglial activity, while the expression of glial fibrillary acidic protein, a marker for astrocytic activity, was elevated in the IC of MeHg-exposed mice after 4 weeks of exposure, indicating that astrogliosis occurs in the IC. Suppression of astrogliosis by treatment with fluorocitrate exacerbated the latency and threshold in the IC evaluated by the auditory brainstem response. Therefore, astrocytes in the IC are considered to play a protective role in the auditory pathway. Astrocytes exposed to MeHg increased the expression of brain-derived neurotrophic factor in the IC, suggesting that astrocytic brain-derived neurotrophic factor is a potent protectant in the IC. This study showed that astrogliosis in the IC could be an adaptive response to MeHg toxicity. The overall toxicity of MeHg might be determined on the basis of the balance between MeHg-mediated injury to neurons and protective responses from astrocytes.This work was partly supported by a KAKENHI grant from the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, grant numbers 15KK0024 and 17H04714 to Y.I. and 17K00569 to T.Y. This work was also financially supported in part by Tokushima Bunri University. This manuscript has been reviewed by a professional language editing service (American Journal Experts)

Regional heritability mapping identifies several novel loci (STAT4, ULK4, and KCNH5) for primary biliary cholangitis in the Japanese population

原発性胆汁性胆管炎の新たな遺伝要因を同定 --ヒト全ゲノム領域へのRHM法による世界初の成果--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-04-09.While the advent of GWAS more than a decade ago has ushered in remarkable advances in our understanding of complex traits, the limitations of single-SNP analysis have also led to the development of several other approaches. Simulation studies have shown that the regional heritability mapping (RHM) method, which makes use of multiple adjacent SNPs jointly to estimate the genetic effect of a given region of the genome, generally has higher detection power than single-SNP GWAS. However, thus far its use has been mostly limited to agricultural settings, and its potential for the discovery of new genes in human diseases is yet to be fully exploited. In this study, by applying the RHM method to primary biliary cholangitis (PBC) in the Japanese population, we identified three novel loci (STAT4, ULK4, and KCNH5) at the genome-wide significance level, two of which (ULK4 and KCNH5) have not been found associated with PBC in any population previously. Notably, these genes could not be detected by using conventional single-SNP GWAS, highlighting the potential of the RHM method for the detection of new susceptibility loci in human diseases. These findings thereby provide strong empirical evidence that RHM is an effective and practical complementary approach to GWAS in this context. Also, liver tissue mRNA microarray analysis revealed higher gene expression levels in ULK4 in PBC patients (P < 0.01). Lastly, we estimated the common SNP heritability of PBC in the Japanese population (0.210 ± 0.026)

Development of the salt-reduction and efficacy-maintenance program in Indonesia

We conducted a randomized, controlled trial to examine the effects of a salt-reduction and efficacy-maintenance program on the improvement and maintenance of self-care and self-efficacy in reducing the salt intake of older people with high blood pressure. A total of 51 participants with hypertension/prehypertension in Indonesia were randomly assigned to a control group or one of two intervention groups: salt-reduction training or salt-reduction and efficacy-maintenance. The salt-reduction and efficacy-maintenance group received educational training and a maintenance meeting; the participants\u27 knowledge, attitudes, self-care practices, and self-efficacy significantly improved after training and were maintained after the maintenance meeting. Participants in the salt-reduction training group showed significant effects for the same variables; however, their food salt concentrations rebounded after the maintenance meeting. No significant improvement was found in the control group. The salt-reduction and efficacy-maintenance group participants reported positive effects of salt reduction and different practices based on who prepared their meals. The salt-reduction and efficacy-maintenance group program was effective in improving and maintaining knowledge, attitudes, and self-efficacy of salt-reduction practices and could be applied with community-dwelling older people with high blood pressure. © 2016 John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.Embargor Period 12 month

Synchronous neuroendocrine tumors in both the pancreas and ileum: A case report

AbstractIntroductionAlthough it is well-known that in multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1 (MEN 1) disease, multiple endocrine lesions frequently occur, synchronous or metachronous neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) in non-MEN 1 patients are extremely rare.Presentation of caseAn asymptomatic 72-year-old woman with an ileal NET was referred to our hospital. Abdominal computed tomography revealed another circular tumor within the pancreatic head. She was classified as a non-MEN 1 patient. An operative procedure was performed with a preoperative diagnosis of synchronous NET, which was confirmed by pathological examination.DiscussionBoth morphologic and immunophenotypic findings were different between in the ileum and pancreas. Therefore, it was reasonable to consider that both tumors were primary tumors. The synchronous occurrence of these tumors is unusual, and it may be considered as a chance occurrence.ConclusionWe here report the first case of synchronous pancreatic NET and ileal NET in a non-MEN 1 patient

Immune State Conversion of the Mesenteric Lymph Node in a Mouse Breast Cancer Model

Secondary lymphoid tissues, such as the spleen and lymph nodes (LNs), contribute to breast cancer development and metastasis in both anti- and pro-tumoral directions. Although secondary lymphoid tissues have been extensively studied, very little is known about the immune conversion in mesenteric LNs (mLNs) during breast cancer development. Here, we demonstrate inflammatory immune conversion of mLNs in a metastatic 4T1 breast cancer model. Splenic T cells were significantly decreased and continuously suppressed IFN-gamma production during tumor development, while myeloid-derived suppressor cells (MDSCs) were dramatically enriched. However, T cell numbers in the mLN did not decrease, and the MDSCs only moderately increased. T cells in the mLN exhibited conversion from a pro-inflammatory state with high IFN-gamma expression to an anti-inflammatory state with high expression of IL-4 and IL-10 in early- to late-stages of breast cancer development. Interestingly, increased migration of CD103(+)CD11b(+) dendritic cells (DCs) into the mLN, along with increased (1 -> 3)-beta-D-glucan levels in serum, was observed even in late-stage breast cancer. This suggests that CD103(+)CD11b(+) DCs could prime cancer-reactive T cells. Together, the data indicate that the mLN is an important lymphoid tissue contributing to breast cancer development