456 research outputs found
A focus on Gozo
Until recently the characteristic bare round towers of old windmills,
together with the steeples and domes of our churches, were prominent
features of the landscape of the Maltese Islands. The type of
windmills which have survived in Malta were introduced during the
time of the Order of St John of Jerusalem (Lanfranco 1993: 60). They
were usually sited slightly away from the village they served, on high or
open ground, unobstructed by other buildings in order to make the most
efficient use of the wind. In towns they were built on the highest part of
the bastions to catch the mildest breeze for smooth operational performance
and no building in their vicinity was permitted to rise more than
one storey high (NAM, PW 1826).
Windmills could not be operated in a high wind because this would cause
great damage to the mechanism as well as to the structure of the
windmill itself. On many occasions serious damage was caused to
windmills by gales and electric storms and in some cases lives were lost.
At the other extreme, on calm days, windmills were powerless. Millers
would wait eagerly for days on end for a favourable wind. But when it
came, a few sharp blasts into the "bronja" from the roof of the windmill,
meant that the miller was summoning his clients to bring the corn to be
turned into flour. The "bronja" is the triton-shell, better known as the
trumpet-shell of which there are two species "Charania lampas" c. 50 cm.
and "Charania variegata" c. 35 cm. Both are now very rare in our waters.
Their pointed end or "calcarella" as it is known in conchology, was
broken off and when blown in a trumpet-like fashion from the roof of the
windmill, they produced a sound that echoed all over the village.peer-reviewe
RNA-seq transcriptome analysis reveals long terminal repeat retrotransposon modulation in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells after in vivo lipopolysaccharide injection
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) and mammalian apparent long terminal repeat (LTR) retrotransposons (MaLRs) are retroviral sequences that integrated into germ line cells millions of years ago. Transcripts of these LTR retrotransposons are present in several tissues, and their expression is modulated in pathological conditions, although their function remains often far from being understood. Here, we focused on the HERV/MaLR expression and modulation in a scenario of immune system activation. We used a public data set of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) RNA-Seq from 15 healthy participants to a clinical trial before and after exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), for which we established an RNA-Seq workflow for the identification of expressed and modulated cellular genes and LTR retrotransposon elements. IMPORTANCE We described the HERV and MaLR transcriptome in PBMCs, finding that about 8.4% of the LTR retrotransposon loci were expressed and identifying the betaretrovirus-like HERVs as those with the highest percentage of expressed loci. We found 4,607 HERV and MaLR loci that were modulated as a result of in vivo stimulation with LPS. The HERV-H group showed the highest number of differentially expressed most intact proviruses. We characterized the HERV and MaLR loci as differentially expressed, checking their genomic context of insertion and observing a general colocalization with genes that are involved and modulated in the immune response, as a consequence of LPS stimulation. The analyses of HERV and MaLR expression and modulation show that these LTR retrotransposons are expressed in PBMCs and regulated in inflammatory settings. The similar regulation of HERVs/MaLRs and genes after LPS stimulation suggests possible interactions of LTR retrotransposons and the immune host response
Thrombospondin modulates melanoma--platelet interactions and melanoma tumour cell growth in vivo.
In this study we have investigated the role of thrombospondin (TSP) as a possible ligand playing a key role in human M3Da. melanoma cell interaction with platelets and in tumour growth. TSP is secreted (80 +/- 6 ng TSP 10(-6) cells) and bound to the surface of M3Da. cells via receptors different from CD36, as shown by biosynthetic labelling and immunofluorescence studies. The levels of TSP binding to M3Da. cells evaluated by binding studies, using an anti-TSP monoclonal antibody (MAb) (LYP8), shows 367,000 +/- 58,000 (mean +/- s.d.) LYP8 binding sites per cell with a dissociation constant (Kd) of 67 nM. TSP binding to M3Da. cells shows 400,000 +/- 50,000 TSP binding sites per cell with a Kd of 10 nM. The capacity of anti-TSP MAb (LYP8) to inhibit M3Da.-platelet interactions was followed on an aggregometer and evaluated by electron microscopy studies. The biological role of TSP binding to M3Da. cells was investigated by implanting subcutaneously the M3Da. cell line in nude mice and following the size and time of in vivo tumour growth. Reducing the availability or the functional level of TSP by using an anti-TSP MAb (LYP8) resulted in a significant decrease in platelet aggregates interacting with M3Da. melanoma cells. Using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, purified alpha nu beta 3 was shown to bind TSP. Moreover, LYP8-coated M3Da. cells showed a reduced capacity to form tumours in vivo. M3Da. cells were observed to attach and spread on human platelet TSP-coated plastic wells. This attachment by M3Da. cells was inhibited in a similar way by LYP8 and an anti-alpha nu beta 3 MAb (LYP18). The results obtained in this study show that TSP secreted and bound to the surface of a human melanoma cell line (M3Da.) acts as a link between aggregated platelets and the M3Da. cell surface. Moreover, these results shows that TSP can modulate tumour growth in vivo. Reagents such as MAbs directed against TSP and peptides derived from TSP could not only be used as a new therapeutic approach in the control of tumour metastasis of melanoma, but may also contribute to elucidation of the role of TSP in cancer biology
Consumer perception of the community pharmacist and community pharmacy services in Malta
Objectives: We aimed to determine the perception of Maltese consumers of the community pharmacist and of the services offered from community pharmacies. Method: A self-administered questionnaire was developed and psychometrically evaluated. Fifty community pharmacies were chosen by stratified random sampling and the questionnaire was distributed to 500 consumers, 10 from each pharmacy, selected by convenience sampling. Descriptive statistics were undertaken. Key findings: The majority of the consumers were very or fairly satisfied with various pharmacist characteristics, such as pharmacist efficiency when dealing with requests (95%), provision of instructions on how to take medications (94%), pharmacist discretion (91%), professional pharmacist–consumer relationship (90%), provision of explanations on how medications work (86%) and pharmacist knowledge and ability to answer questions (81%). They were least satisfied with the privacy in the pharmacy (69%). Consumers were in favour of the evolution of pharmacist professional services, namely the community pharmacist liaising with primary and secondary care-based physicians (91%), provision of diagnostic testing (87%) and extended opening hours (83%). Conclusions: Maltese consumers have a positive overall perception of community pharmacists and of the services offered from community pharmacies. They were in favour of the development of extended professional services.peer-reviewe
Lil....
Ä abra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Biki ta’ Omm ta’ Dun Karm – Ras il-Pellegrin ta’ Manwel Agius – L-Aħħar Tislima ta’ Ä użè Galea – Lil Ibni Herman-Baruch ta’ Karmenu Vassallo – Flus ir-Regħba Ħajja Qasira ta’ P. P. Saydon – Frak ta’ R. M. B. – Id-Dolliegħa u l-Qargħa ta’ R. M. B. – Il-Barrakka ta’ Katrin ta’ P. Pawl Tabone – Ħniena! ta’ Fran. Camilleri – Lil.... ta’ M. Agius.N/
Evidence for ubiquitous carbon grain destruction in hot protostellar envelopes
Earth is deficient in carbon and nitrogen by up to orders of
magnitude compared with the Sun. Destruction of (carbon- and nitrogen-rich)
refractory organics in the high-temperature planet forming regions could
explain this deficiency. Assuming a refractory cometary composition for these
grains, their destruction enhances nitrogen-containing oxygen-poor molecules in
the hot gas (K) after the initial formation and sublimation of
these molecules from oxygen-rich ices in the warm gas (K). Using
observations of high-mass protostars with ALMA, we find that
oxygen-containing molecules (CHOH and HNCO) systematically show no
enhancement in their hot component. In contrast, nitrogen-containing,
oxygen-poor molecules (CHCN and CHCN) systematically show an
enhancement of a factor in their hot component, pointing to
additional production of these molecules in the hot gas. Assuming only thermal
excitation conditions, we interpret these results as a signature of destruction
of refractory organics, consistent with the cometary composition. This
destruction implies a higher C/O and N/O in the hot gas than the warm gas,
while, the exact values of these ratios depend on the fraction of grains that
are effectively destroyed. This fraction can be found by future chemical models
that constrain C/O and N/O from the abundances of minor carbon, nitrogen and
oxygen carriers presented here.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ Letter
Impact of millennial-scale oceanic variability on the Greenland ice-sheet evolution throughout the last glacial period
Temperature reconstructions from Greenland ice-sheet (GrIS) ice
cores indicate the occurrence of more than 20 abrupt warmings during the
last glacial period (LGP) known as Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events. Although
their ultimate cause is still debated, evidence from both proxy data and
modelling studies robustly links these to reorganisations of the Atlantic
Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). During the LGP, the GrIS expanded
as far as the continental shelf break and was thus more directly exposed to
oceanic changes than in the present. Therefore oceanic temperature
fluctuations on millennial timescales could have had a non-negligible impact
on the GrIS. Here we assess the effect of millennial-scale oceanic
variability on the GrIS evolution from the last interglacial to the present
day. To do so, we use a three-dimensional hybrid ice-sheet–shelf model forced
by subsurface oceanic temperature fluctuations, assumed to increase during
D-O stadials and decrease during D-O interstadials. Since in our model the
atmospheric forcing follows orbital variations only, the increase in total
melting at millennial timescales is a direct result of an increase in basal
melting. We show that the GrIS evolution during the LGP could have been
strongly influenced by oceanic changes on millennial timescales, leading to
oceanically induced ice-volume contributions above 1 m sea level equivalent (SLE). Also, our results
suggest that the increased flux of GrIS icebergs as inferred from North
Atlantic proxy records could have been triggered, or intensified, by peaks in
melting at the base of the ice shelves resulting from increasing subsurface
oceanic temperatures during D-O stadials. Several regions across the GrIS
could thus have been responsible for ice mass discharge during D-O events,
opening the possibility of a non-negligible role of the GrIS in oceanic
reorganisations throughout the LGP.</p
Suldat
Ä abra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Sursum Corda! ta’ R. M. B. – Tal-Qali ta’ Ä użè Ellul – Tfajla ta’ Dun Karm – Meta mort Għawdex bid-dawra ta’ Ä . Cassar-Pullicino – Il-Maqdes tal-Mulej ta’ A. Buttigieg – Il-Barrakka ta’ Katrin ta’ P. Pawl Tabone – Ä lieÄ¡el ta’ Mary Meylak – Is-Suldat ta’ Ä użè Chetcuti.N/
- …