Chronic oxidative stress (OS) and inflammation are implicated in developing and progressing neurodegenerative diseases (NDs). The chronic activation of microglia cells leads to the overproduction of ...several substances, including nitric oxide and reactive oxygen species, which can induce neurodegeneration. Natural compounds have recently been investigated for their potential to protect cells from OS and to improve many disease-related conditions. Cardamonin (CD) is a bioactive compound in many plants, such as
and
The present study examined the effects of CD on LPS-activated BV-2 microglial cells. The cell viability results showed that the increasing concentrations of CD, ranging from 0.78 to 200 µM, induced BV-2 cell cytotoxicity in a dose-response manner. In the nitric oxide assay, CD concentrations of 6.25 to 25 µM reduced the release of nitric oxide in LPS-activated BV-2 cells by 90% compared to those treated with LPS only (
≤ 0.0001). CD (6.25 µM) significantly decreased the cellular production of SOD (3-fold (
≤ 0.05)) and increased the levels of expression of CAT (2.5-fold (
≤ 0.05)) and GSH (2-fold (
≤ 0.05)) in the LPS-activated BV-2 cells. Furthermore, on RT-PCR arrays, CD (6.25 µM) downregulated mRNA expression of CCL5/RANTES (5-fold), NOS2 (2-fold), SLC38A1 (3-fold), TXNIP (2-fold), SOD1 (2-fold), SOD2 (1.5-fold) and upregulated GSS (1.9-fold), GCLC (1.7-fold) and catalase (2.9-fold) expression, indicating CD efficacy in modulating genes involved in OS and inflammation. Furthermore, CD (6.25 µM) increased the expression of nuclear factor erythroid 2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) and lowered the levels of Kelch-like ECH-associated protein 1 (Keap1), indicating that this may be the signaling responsible for the elevation of antioxidant factors. Lastly, the results showed that CD (6.25 µM) modulated genes and proteins associated with the NF-kB signaling, downregulating genes related to excessive neuroinflammation. These results imply that CD may be a potential compound for developing therapeutic and preventive agents in treating neurodegeneration induced by excessive OS and inflammation.
Discovery of diffuse aurora on Mars Schneider, N. M.; Deighan, J. I.; Jain, S. K. ...
Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science),
11/2015, Letnik:
350, Številka:
6261
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Planetary auroras reveal the complex interplay between an atmosphere and the surrounding plasma environment. We report the discovery of low-altitude, diffuse auroras spanning much of Mars' northern ...hemisphere, coincident with a solar energetic particle outburst. The Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph, a remote sensing instrument on the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN) spacecraft, detected auroral emission in virtually all nightside observations for ~5 days, spanning nearly all geographic longitudes. Emission extended down to ~60 kilometer (km) altitude (1 microbar), deeper than confirmed at any other planet. Solar energetic particles were observed up to 200 kilo--electron volts; these particles are capable of penetrating down to the 60 km altitude. Given minimal magnetic fields over most of the planet, Mars is likely to exhibit auroras more globally than Earth.
Summary
The use of cell salvage is recommended when it can be expected to reduce the likelihood of allogeneic (donor) red cell transfusion and/or severe postoperative anaemia. We support and ...encourage a continued increase in the appropriate use of peri‐operative cell salvage and we recommend that it should be available for immediate use 24 h a day in any hospital undertaking surgery where blood loss is a recognised potential complication (other than minor/day case procedures).
High‐spatial resolution textural and geochemical data from thin slip surfaces in exhumed fault zones archive thermal and rheological signatures of past fault slip. A network of minor, glossy, ...iridescent silica fault mirrors (FMs) cut Paleoproterozoic gneiss in the Wasatch fault zone (WFZ), Utah. We report field to nanoscale observations from scanning electron microscopy, electron backscattered diffraction, and transmission electron microscopy with energy‐dispersive X‐ray spectroscopy of a silica FM to infer deformation mechanisms during FM development. The FM volume comprises a ∼40–90 μm‐thick basal layer of sintered, µm‐ to nm‐diameter silica particles with polygonal to anhedral morphologies, pervasive crystalline Ti‐bearing phases containing measurable N, and µm‐ to nm‐scale void spaces. Silica particles lack shape and crystallographic preferred orientation and some are predominantly amorphous with internal crystalline domains. The basal layer is overlain by a ∼10–130 nm‐thick, chemically heterogeneous, amorphous film at the FM interface. Mass balance calculations of Ti in the basal layer and host rock indicate the FM volume can be sourced from the underlying gneiss. Multiple textural and geochemical lines of evidence, including N substitution in Ti‐bearing phases, support temperature rise during deformation, associated amorphization of host gneiss, and creation of the FM volume. During thermal decay, interstitial anatase and titanite fully crystallized, silica textures capture their incipient crystallization, and some residual elements are solidified in the nanofilm. Our results support a mechanism of weakening and re‐strengthening of silica FM during fault slip and, together with data from adjacent hematite FMs, record shallow, ancient microseismicity in the WFZ.
Key Points
Silica fault mirrors comprise a basal layer of variable silica crystallinity and interstitial anatase, with an overlying amorphous nanofilm
Textures and geochemistry support coseismic temperature rise, host gneiss amorphization, and incipient crystallization of fault mirror
Silica fault mirrors likely accommodated shallow, ancient microseismicity in the Wasatch fault damage zone
BACKGROUND: Increasing evidence suggests that post-TB lung disease (PTLD) causes significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of these clinical standards is to provide guidance on the assessment and ...management of PTLD and the implementation of pulmonary rehabilitation (PR).METHODS:
A panel of global experts in the field of TB care and PR was identified; 62 participated in a Delphi process. A 5-point Likert scale was used to score the initial ideas for standards and after several rounds of revision the document was approved (with 100% agreement).RESULTS: Five
clinical standards were defined: Standard 1, to assess patients at the end of TB treatment for PTLD (with adaptation for children and specific settings/situations); Standard 2, to identify patients with PTLD for PR; Standard 3, tailoring the PR programme to patient needs and the local setting;
Standard 4, to evaluate the effectiveness of PR; and Standard 5, to conduct education and counselling. Standard 6 addresses public health aspects of PTLD and outcomes due to PR.CONCLUSION: This is the first consensus-based set of Clinical Standards for PTLD. Our aim is to improve
patient care and quality of life by guiding clinicians, programme managers and public health officers in planning and implementing adequate measures to assess and manage PTLD.
Mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) based-treatments of cartilage injury are promising but impaired by high levels of hypertrophy after chondrogenic induction with several bone morphogenetic protein ...superfamily members (BMPs). As an alternative, this study investigates the chondrogenic induction of MSCs via adenoviral gene-delivery of the transcription factor SOX9 alone or in combination with other inducers, and comparatively explores the levels of hypertrophy and end stage differentiation in a pellet culture system in vitro.
First generation adenoviral vectors encoding SOX9, TGFB1 or IGF1 were used alone or in combination to transduce human bone marrow-derived MSCs at 5 × 10
infectious particles/cell. Thereafter cells were placed in aggregates and maintained for three weeks in chondrogenic medium. Transgene expression was determined at the protein level (ELISA/Western blot), and aggregates were analysed histologically, immunohistochemically, biochemically and by RT-PCR for chondrogenesis and hypertrophy.
SOX9 cDNA was superior to that encoding TGFB1, the typical gold standard, as an inducer of chondrogenesis in primary MSCs as evidenced by improved lacuna formation, proteoglycan and collagen type II staining, increased levels of GAG synthesis, and expression of mRNAs associated with chondrogenesis. Moreover, SOX9 modified aggregates showed a markedly lower tendency to progress towards hypertrophy, as judged by expression of the hypertrophy markers alkaline phosphatase, and collagen type X at the mRNA and protein levels.
Adenoviral SOX9 gene transfer induces chondrogenic differentiation of human primary MSCs in pellet culture more effectively than TGFB1 gene transfer with lower levels of chondrocyte hypertrophy after 3 weeks of in vitro culture. Such technology might enable the formation of more stable hyaline cartilage repair tissues in vivo.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Hyperspectral imaging spectrometers mounted on unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) can capture high spatial and spectral resolution to provide cotton crop nitrogen status for precision agriculture. The aim ...of this research was to explore machine learning use with hyperspectral datacubes over agricultural fields. Hyperspectral imagery was collected over a mature cotton crop, which had high spatial (~5.2 cm) and spectral (5 nm) resolution over the spectral range 475–925 nm that allowed discrimination of individual crop rows and field features as well as a continuous spectral range for calculating derivative spectra. The nominal reflectance and its derivatives clearly highlighted the different treatment blocks and were strongly related to N concentration in leaf and petiole samples, both in traditional vegetation indices (e.g., Vogelman 1, R2 = 0.8) and novel combinations of spectra (R2 = 0.85). The key hyperspectral bands identified were at the red-edge inflection point (695–715 nm). Satellite multispectral was compared against the UAV hyperspectral remote sensing’s performance by testing the ability of Sentinel MSI to predict N concentration using the bands in VIS-NIR spectral region. The Sentinel 2A Green band (B3; mid-point 559.8 nm) explained the same amount of variation in N as the hyperspectral data and more than the Sentinel Red Edge Point 1 (B5; mid-point 704.9 nm) with the lower 10 m resolution Green band reporting an R2 = 0.85, compared with the R2 = 0.78 of downscaled Sentinel Red Edge Point 1 at 5 m. The remaining Sentinel bands explained much lower variation (maximum was NIR at R2 = 0.48). Investigation of the red edge peak region in the first derivative showed strong promise with RIDAmid (R2 = 0.81) being the best index. The machine learning approach narrowed the range of bands required to investigate plant condition over this trial site, greatly improved processing time and reduced processing complexity. While Sentinel performed well in this comparison and would be useful in a broadacre crop production context, the impact of pixel boundaries relative to a region of interest and coarse spatial and temporal resolution impacts its utility in a research capacity.
Ultrawide‐bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors, with bandgaps significantly wider than the 3.4 eV of GaN, represent an exciting and challenging new area of research in semiconductor materials, physics, ...devices, and applications. Because many figures‐of‐merit for device performance scale nonlinearly with bandgap, these semiconductors have long been known to have compelling potential advantages over their narrower‐bandgap cousins in high‐power and RF electronics, as well as in deep‐UV optoelectronics, quantum information, and extreme‐environment applications. Only recently, however, have the UWBG semiconductor materials, such as high Al‐content AlGaN, diamond and Ga2O3, advanced in maturity to the point where realizing some of their tantalizing advantages is a relatively near‐term possibility. In this article, the materials, physics, device and application research opportunities and challenges for advancing their state of the art are surveyed.
Ultrawide‐bandgap (UWBG) semiconductors, with bandgaps significantly wider than the 3.4 eV of GaN, represent an exciting and challenging new area of research in semiconductor materials, physics, devices and applications. This article surveys and presents an enumerated list of the materials, physics, device and associated application research opportunities and challenges important for advancing the state of their science and technology.
We identify molecular nitrogen (N2) emissions in the Martian upper atmosphere using the Imaging Ultraviolet Spectrograph (IUVS) on NASA's Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission. We ...report the first observations of the N2 Lyman‐Birge‐Hopfield (LBH) bands at Mars and confirm the tentative identification of the N2 Vegard‐Kaplan (VK) bands. We retrieve N2 density profiles from the VK limb emissions and compare calculated limb radiances between 90 and 210 km against both observations and predictions from a Mars general circulation model (GCM). Contrary to earlier analyses using other satellite data, we find that N2 abundances exceed GCM results by about a factor of 2 at 130 km but are in agreement at 150 km. The analysis and interpretation are enabled by a linear regression method used to extract components of UV spectra from IUVS limb observations.
Key Points
N2 detected in the upper atmosphere of Mars by IUVS on MAVEN
Tentative identification of N2 Vegard‐Kaplan band emission confirmed
N2 Lyman‐Birge‐Hopfield bands identified on Mars for the first time
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