1,893 research outputs found
Heat shock proteins and the cellular response to osmotic stress
In antidiuresis, the intrarenal distribution of HSP25/27, alpha beta -crystallin, HSP72, OSP94 and HSP110 corresponds to the osmotic gradient between cortex and papilla: low amounts in the cortex and high values in the inner medulla and papilla. In addition, medullary HSP72 levels change appropriately with the diuretic state. Studies on MUCK cells suggest that, in the renal medulla in vivo, stressors, such as NaCl and low pH, may act in concert to induce HSP72 expression. Urea, added to the medium at high concentrations (600 mM), causes the majority of MUCK cells to die. Prior exposure of these cells to hypertonic media (NaCl addition), a maneuver that induces HSP72, protects the cells against the deleterious effects of high urea concentrations. Inhibition of HSP72 expression by stable antisense transfection or SB203580 treatment abolishes the beneficial effects of prior hypertonic stress. Conversely, overexpression of HSP72 under isotonic conditions by a dexamethasone-driven vector confers substantial resistance against subsequent exposure to high urea concentrations. Taken together these results suggest that also in the renal inner medulla, NaCl-induced enhancement of HSP72 expression may help counteract the detrimental effects of high urea concentrations. Copyright (C) 2000 S. Karger AG Basel
SOME ASPECTS OF GEORADIO LOCATION IN MINERAL RESOURCES SURVEYING ENERGY
Study the possibility of developing the technical and technological
justification of georadio location of minerals according the quantity and quality
characteristics of the concrete deposits
European surveillance of infections in cancer patients - ESIC
Major advances in cancer therapy result from development of multidrug chemotherapy regimens. Besides death from tumor progression, infections are currently one of the major causes of mortality and morbidity. Because of the risk of complications and mortality, the treatment for febrile neutropenia is admission to hospital and administration of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Response rates of initial antimicrobial treatment vary considerably (40-92%). Due to the heterogeneity of populations in randomized studies, comparison of efficacy and identification of risk factors is limited. This is the main reason why the European Society of Biomodulation and Chemotherapy (ESBiC) is conducting a surveillance study that concentrates more on the evaluation of risk factors than on the therapeutic outcome of prospective randomized antimicrobial regimens: European Surveillance of Infections in Cancer Patients (ESIC). The present contribution is to determine which cancer patients are at low risk for fever, and can benefit from first-line treatment with treatment options such as monotherapy as well as on an outpatient basis
NFAT5 Contributes to Osmolality-Induced MCP-1 Expression in Mesothelial Cells
Increased expression of the C-C chemokine monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in mesothelial cells in response to high glucose concentrations and/or high osmolality plays a crucial role in the development of peritoneal fibrosis during continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Recent studies suggest that in kidney cells osmolality-induced MCP-1 upregulation is mediated by the osmosensitive transcription factor, nuclear factor of activated T cells 5 (NFAT5). The present study addressed the question of whether activation of NFAT5 by hyperosmolality, as present in PD fluids, contributes to MCP-1 expression in the mesothelial cell line Met5A. Hyperosmolality, induced by addition of glucose, NaCl, or mannitol to the growth medium, increased NFAT5 activity and stimulated MCP-1 expression in Met5A cells. siRNA-mediated knockdown of NFAT5 attenuated osmolality-induced MCP-1 upregulation substantially. Hyperosmolality also induced activation of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB). Accordingly, pharmacological inhibition of NF-κB significantly decreased osmolality-induced MCP-1 expression. Taken together, these results indicate that high osmolalities activate the transcription factor NFAT5 in mesothelial cells. NFAT5 in turn upregulates MCP-1, likely in combination with NF-κB, and thus may participate in the development of peritoneal fibrosis during CAPD
Microcomputer-based artificial vision support system for real-time image processing for camera-driven visual prostheses
It is difficult to predict exactly what blind subjects with
camera-driven visual prostheses (e.g., retinal implants) can perceive.
Thus, it is prudent to offer them a wide variety of image processing
filters and the capability to engage these filters repeatedly in any userdefined
order to enhance their visual perception. To attain true portability,
we employ a commercial off-the-shelf battery-powered general
purpose Linux microprocessor platform to create the
microcomputer-based artificial vision support system (µAVS^2) for
real-time image processing. Truly standalone, µAVS^2 is smaller than a
deck of playing cards, lightweight, fast, and equipped with USB, RS-
232 and Ethernet interfaces. Image processing filters on µAVS^2 operate
in a user-defined linear sequential-loop fashion, resulting in vastly
reduced memory and CPU requirements during execution. µAVS^2
imports raw video frames from a USB or IP camera, performs image
processing, and issues the processed data over an outbound Internet
TCP/IP or RS-232 connection to the visual prosthesis system. Hence,
µAVS^2 affords users of current and future visual prostheses independent
mobility and the capability to customize the visual perception
generated. Additionally, µAVS^2 can easily be reconfigured for other
prosthetic systems. Testing of µAVS^2 with actual retinal implant carriers
is envisioned in the near future
Metabolic labeling of plant cell cultures with K(15)NO(3 )as a tool for quantitative analysis of proteins and metabolites
Strategies for robust quantitative comparison between different biological samples are of high importance in experiments that address biological questions beyond the establishment of protein lists. Here, we propose the use of (15)N-KNO(3 )as the only nitrogen source in Arabidopsis cell cultures in order to achieve a metabolically fully labeled cell population. Proteins from such metabolically labeled culture are distinguishable from unlabeled protein populations by a characteristic mass shift that depends on the amino acid composition of the tryptic peptide analyzed. In addition, the metabolically labeled cell extracts are also suitable for comparative quantitative analysis of nitrogen-containing cellular metabolic complement. Protein extracts from unlabeled and from standardized (15)N-labeled cells were combined into one sample for joined analytical processing. This has the advantage of (i) reduced experimental variability and (ii) immediate relative quantitation at the level of single extracted peptide and metabolite spectra. Together ease and accuracy of relative quantitation for profiling experiments is substantially improved. The metabolic labeling strategy has been validated by mixtures of protein extracts and metabolite extracts from the same cell cultures in known ratios of labeled to unlabeled extracts (1:1, 1:4, and 4:1). We conclude that saturating metabolic (15)N-labeling provides a robust and affordable integrative strategy to answer questions in quantitative proteomics and nitrogen focused metabolomics
Temperatures of Fragment Kinetic Energy Spectra
Multifragmentation reactions without large compression in the initial state
(proton-induced reactions, reverse-kinematics, projectile fragmentation) are
examined, and it is verified quantitatively that the high temperatures obtained
from fragment kinetic energy spectra and lower temperatures obtained from
observables such as level population or isotope ratios can be understood in a
common framework.Comment: LaTeX, 7 pages, 2 figures available from autho
Multiplicity of Nearby Free-floating Ultra-cool Dwarfs: a HST-WFPC2 search for companions
We present HST/WFPC2 observations of a sample of 134 ultra-cool objects
(spectral types later than M7) coming from the DENIS, 2MASS and SDSS surveys,
with distances estimated to range from 7 pc to 105 pc. Fifteen new ultra-cool
binary candidates are reported here. Eleven known binaries are confirmed and
orbital motion is detected in some of them. We estimate that the closest binary
systems in this sample have periods between 5 and 20 years, and thus dynamical
masses will be derived in the near future. For the calculation of binary
frequency we restrict ourselves to systems with distances less than 20 pc.
After correction of the binaries bias, we find a ratio of visual binaries (at
the HST limit of detection) of around 10%, and that ~15% of the 26 objects
within 20 parsecs are binary systems with separations between 1 and 8 A.U. The
observed frequency of ultra-cool binaries is similar than that of binaries with
G-type primaries in the separation range from 2.1 A.U. to 140 A.U. There is
also a clear deficit of ultra-cool binaries with separations greater than 15
A.U., and a possible tendency for the binaries to have mass ratios near unity.
Most systems have indeed visual and near-infrared brightness ratios between 1
and 0.3. We discuss our results in the framework of current scenarios for the
formation and evolution of free-floating brown dwarfs.Comment: 67 pages, 14 figures, Accepted for publication in AJ, September 2003.
First submission to AJ: august 2002, 5 submission
Self-intersection local times of random walks: Exponential moments in subcritical dimensions
Fix , not necessarily integer, with . We study the -fold
self-intersection local time of a simple random walk on the lattice up
to time . This is the -norm of the vector of the walker's local times,
. We derive precise logarithmic asymptotics of the expectation of
for scales that are bounded from
above, possibly tending to zero. The speed is identified in terms of mixed
powers of and , and the precise rate is characterized in terms of
a variational formula, which is in close connection to the {\it
Gagliardo-Nirenberg inequality}. As a corollary, we obtain a large-deviation
principle for for deviation functions satisfying
t r_t\gg\E[\|\ell_t\|_p]. Informally, it turns out that the random walk
homogeneously squeezes in a -dependent box with diameter of order to produce the required amount of self-intersections. Our main tool is
an upper bound for the joint density of the local times of the walk.Comment: 15 pages. To appear in Probability Theory and Related Fields. The
final publication is available at springerlink.co
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