We aim to evaluate the action of transcutaneous laser in the initial wound healing process. The use of low-level laser therapy (LLLT) has proven to be effective on inflammatory modulation and wound ...healing. The trial was performed on five groups of rats, through a dorsal incision. All groups received treatment on auricular artery. Groups 1 and 3 were treated with transcutaneous LLLT over a period of 15 min. Groups 2 and 4 received one and two inactive laser applications (placebo), respectively. Group 5 was the control one. Blood samples were collected 2 h after the last application of LLLT so that cytokine levels could be measured by ELISA. Tissue fragments were harvested for morphometric, histomorphometric, and RT-qPCR analyses. The morphometric analysis revealed a greater decrease in the wounded area in G1 when compared with G2, whereas in G3, the improvement in the area was greater when compared with G4. Finally, the histomorphometric analysis showed that G1 was the group closer to G5 in terms of collagen fiber count. G2 and G4 had higher amounts of collagen fibers than G5 while G3 had a lower quantity. The use of the transcutaneous LLLT in the current study influenced the wound healing process.
The production and use of fossil fuels and nonrenewable electricity creates many forms of environmental degradation. To reduce degradation, this research suggests an energy strategy based on energy ...end-use analysis and regional geography. Energy end-use analysis and regional geography are used to match renewable energy resources with site-specific, end-use needs. Fieldwork conducted within Centre County, Pennsylvania, demonstrates that small-scale solar, wind, and micro-hydropower resources could displace a proportion of household electricity use. Such an approach meets energy end-use needs, while conserving fossil fuels and reducing environmental degradation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
BFBNIB, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Necrotizing autoimmune myopathy is characterized by predominant muscle fiber necrosis and regeneration with little or no inflammation. We describe a 58-year-old woman with previous breast cancer and ...statin use who complained of rapidly progressive weakness of lower limbs without pain, making walking, running and climbing stairs difficult. The creatine kinase level was 2,843 U/L, and muscle biopsy showed a dystrophic pattern. The genetic test for muscular dystrophies was negative and for anti-3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase was positive. Intravenous immunoglobulin was administered, which showed mild improvement. Unfortunately, she took a step and collapsed to the floor, which led to the fracture of right femur delaying her improvement. The diagnosis of necrotizing autoimmune myopathy is sometimes delayed due to the atypical pathologic findings on muscle biopsy. As the disease is a severe condition, prompt recognition can lead to a successful outcome. We advise to consider this entity as a differential diagnosis among muscular dystrophies.
A common problem that arises in adaptive filtering, autoregressive modeling, or linear prediction is the selection of an appropriate order for the underlying linear parametric model. We address this ...problem for linear prediction, but instead of fixing a specific model order, we develop a sequential prediction algorithm whose sequentially accumulated average squared prediction error for any bounded individual sequence is as good as the performance attainable by the best sequential linear predictor of order less than some M. This predictor is found by transforming linear prediction into a problem analogous to the sequential probability assignment problem from universal coding theory. The resulting universal predictor uses essentially a performance-weighted average of all predictors for model orders less than M. Efficient lattice filters are used to generate the predictions of all the models recursively, resulting in a complexity of the universal algorithm that is no larger than that of the largest model order. Examples of prediction performance are provided for autoregressive and speech data as well as an example of adaptive data equalization.
Duchenne muscular dystrophy is the most frequent lethal genetic disease. Several clinical trials have established both the beneficial effect of steroids in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and the ...well-known risk of side effects associated with their daily use. For many years it has been known that steroids associated with ambulation loss lead to obesity and also damage the bone structure resulting in the bone density reduction and increased incidence of bone fractures and fat embolism syndrome, an underdiagnosed complication after fractures. Fat embolism syndrome is characterized by consciousness disturbance, respiratory failure and skin rashes. The use of steroids in Duchenne muscular dystrophy may result in vertebral fractures, even without previous trauma. Approximately 25% of patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a long bone fracture, and 1% to 22% of fractures have a chance to develop fat embolism syndrome. As the patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have progressive cardiac and respiratory muscle dysfunction, the fat embolism may be unnoticed clinically and may result in increased risk of death and major complications. Different treatments and prevention measures of fat embolism have been proposed; however, so far, there is no efficient therapy. The prevention, early diagnosis and adequate symptomatic treatment are of paramount importance. The fat embolism syndrome should always be considered in patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy presenting with fractures, or an unexplained and sudden worsening of respiratory and cardiac symptoms.
The purification of pp60c-src has been hampered by the low levels of protein it represents in most cells and its tendency
to undergo proteolysis during purification. The discovery that the platelet ...expresses unusually high levels of pp60c-src has
made large-scale purification from a normal source feasible. We have developed a method for the purification of intact pp60c-src
to near homogeneity from human platelets and have determined the enzymatic properties of this purified protein in vitro. Rapid,
high yield purification of pp60c-src from isolated platelet membranes was achieved in a two-step protocol involving sequential
chromatography on an anti-pp60c-src immunoaffinity matrix and phenyl-Sepharose. This protocol yielded 0.5 mg of pp60c-src
from 30 units of platelets. Using enolase as an exogenous substrate, the specific activity of the enzyme was 25 nmol P.min-1.mg-1.
The Km for MnATP2- for enolase phosphorylation (2.2 microM) was higher than for the autophosphorylation of pp60c-src (0.6
microM). Maximal enzyme activity required either Mn2+ or Mg2+, and both ATP and GTP could be utilized as the phosphate donor.
Evidence is shown which indicate that the autophophorylation of pp60c-src in vitro occurs through an intramolecular mechanism
and that this reaction is reversible.
Diabetes mellitus (DM) stands out as one of the chronic diseases with the highest morbidity and mortality rates worldwide. Among the many complications of DM, diabetic retinopathy (DR) is one of the ...causes of blindness in patients aged between 20 and 64 years. At least 90% of the new cases showed to have the retinal structure and function restored when proper treatment was provided.
To evaluate the efficacy of the antiangiogenic bevacizumab in the treatment of DR according not only to the clinical laboratory parameters for glycated hemoglobin (HbA1C) and capillary glycemia but also to the ophthalmological parameters for optical coherence tomography (OCT) and best-corrected visual acuity (BCVA).
A total of 11 individuals were included and followed up for 12 months after 3 administrations of bevacizumab.
Upon associating the ophthalmological and laboratory variables throughout the treatment, no significant alterations could be seen regarding the analyzed variables. However, it was observed that HbA1c values and the total leukocyte count negatively interfered with the treatment response.
The current study showed that HbA1c values and the amount of leukocytes negatively interfere with the therapeutic response. Therefore, laboratory analyses of these parameters are recommended for diabetic patients undergoing the above-mentioned treatment.
Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) is amongst the leading causes of death worldwide. As inflammatory markers, cytokines can predict outcomes, if interpreted together with clinical data and scoring ...systems such as CURB-65, CRB, and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation II (APACHE II). The aim of this study was to determine the impact of inflammatory biomarkers on the early mortality of hospitalized CAP patients. Twenty-seven CAP patients needing hospitalization were enrolled for the study and samples of interleukin-1 (IL-1) and interleukin-6 (IL-6), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF- alpha), C-reactive protein (CRP), and homocystein were collected at the time of admission (day 1) as well as on the seventh day of the treatment. There was a significant reduction in the levels of IL-6 between the first and the second collections. Median IL-6 values decreased from 24 pg/mL (day 1) to 8 pg/mL (day 7) (P = 0.016). The median levels of TNF-alpha were higher in patients: i) with acute kidney injury (AKI) (P = 0.045), ii) requiring mechanical ventilation (P = 0.040), iii) with short hospital stays (P = 0.009), iv) admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) (P = 0.040), v) who died early (P = 0.003), and vi) with worse CRB scores (P = 0.013). In summary, IL-6 and TNF-alpha levels were associated with early mortality of CAP patients. Longer admission levels demonstrated greater likelihood of early death and overall mortality, necessity of mechanical ventilation, and AKI. Key words: Community acquired pneumonia; Interleukin-6; Tumor necrosis factor a; Sepsis
Protease activities in the haemolymph and fat body in a bloodsucking
insect, Rhodnius prolixus, infected with Trypanosoma rangeli, were
investigated. After SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis ...containing
gelatin as substrate, analysis of zymograms performed on samples of
different tissues of controls and insects inoculated or orally infected
with short or long epimastigotes of T. rangeli, demonstrated distinct
patterns of protease activities: (i) proteases were detected in the
haemolymph of insects which were fed on, or inoculated with, short
epimastigotes of T. rangeli (39 kDa and 33 kDa, respectively), but they
were not observed in the fat body taken from these insects; (ii)
protease was also presented in the fat bodies derived from naive
insects or controls inoculated with sterile phosphate-saline buffer (49
kDa), but it was not detected in the haemolymph of these insects; (iii)
no protease activity was observed in both haemolymph and fat bodies
taken from insects inoculated with, or fed on, long epimastigotes of T.
rangeli. Furthermore, in short epimastigotes of T. rangeli extracts,
three bands of the protease activities with apparent molecular weights
of 297, 198 and 95 kDa were detected while long epimastigotes
preparation presented only two bands of protease activities with
molecular weights of 297 and 198 kDa. The proteases from the insect
infected with T. rangeli and controls belong to the class of either
metalloproteases or metal-activated enzymes since they are inhibited by
1,10-phenanthroline. The significance of these proteases in the insects
infected with short epimastigotes of T. rangeli is discussed in
relation to the success of the establishment of infection of these
parasites in its vector, R. prolixus.
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![IL-6 and TNF-[alpha] serum ...](http://api.summon.serialssolutions.com/2.0.0/image/issn/XR4PS5YY4K/0100-879X/small "IL-6 and TNF-[alpha] serum levels are associated with early death in community-acquired pneumonia patients.(interleukin 6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha)")
