Global increases in coral disease prevalence have been linked to ocean warming through changes in coral‐associated bacterial communities, pathogen virulence and immune system function. However, the ...interactive effects of temperature and pathogens on the coral holobiont are poorly understood. Here, we assessed three compartments of the holobiont (host, Symbiodinium and bacterial community) of the coral Montipora aequituberculata challenged with the pathogen Vibrio coralliilyticus and the commensal bacterium Oceanospirillales sp. under ambient (27°C) and elevated (29.5 and 32°C) seawater temperatures. Few visual signs of bleaching and disease development were apparent in any of the treatments, but responses were detected in the holobiont compartments. V. coralliilyticus acted synergistically and negatively impacted the photochemical efficiency of Symbiodinium at 32°C, while Oceanospirillales had no significant effect on photosynthetic efficiency. The coral, however, exhibited a minor response to the bacterial challenges, with the response towards V. coralliilyticus being significantly more pronounced, and involving the prophenoloxidase‐activating system and multiple immune system‐related genes. Elevated seawater temperatures did not induce shifts in the coral‐associated bacterial community, but caused significant gene expression modulation in both Symbiodinium and the coral host. While Symbiodinium exhibited an antiviral response and upregulated stress response genes, M. aequituberculata showed regulation of genes involved in stress and innate immune response processes, including immune and cytokine receptor signalling, the complement system, immune cell activation and phagocytosis, as well as molecular chaperones. These observations show that M. aequituberculata is capable of maintaining a stable bacterial community under elevated seawater temperatures and thereby contributes to preventing disease development.
A review of research and development of Lu3Al5O12 (LuAG)-based single crystal scintillators is presented. Crystals of this type have been prepared by the micro-pulling down method at the initial ...stage of material screening and by Czochralski or Bridgman methods to obtain higher quality and larger size single crystals afterward. Several different activators, namely Ce3+, Pr3+, Yb3+ and Sc3+ have been reported in the literature and such doped LuAG single crystals have been extensively studied to understand a number of issues, including: the scintillation mechanism, underlying energy transfer and trapping processes including the nature and role of material defects involved in the scintillation process and their relation to manufacturing technology. Significant improvements in the understanding of aluminum garnet scintillators lead to the discovery of multicomponent garnet single crystal scintillators in 2011, which are described. These materials gave rise to new class of ultraefficient complex oxide scintillators, the light yield of which considerably exceeds the values achieved for the best Ce-doped orthosilicate scintillators.
Lupeol exhibits anti-inflammatory effects; unfortunately it shows low water solubility. An alternative to overcome this is the development of nanomaterials. Several methods for nanomaterial ...production are available. One of them is emulsification/solvent-evaporation. The objective of the present work was to evaluate physical properties, transport and in vitro modulator effects on NF-κB of poly (lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with lupeol. Nanonutraceuticals were prepared with 16% (w/v) of lupeol. Size distribution and morphology were measured by particle size analyzer and TEM. In vitro release of lupeol was studied by three different models: Higuchi, Siepmann & Peppas, and Power law. Transport of nanonutraceutical was studied in a Caco-2 cell model and by GC–MS. Modulator effect on NK-κB was studied by western blot analysis. Nanonutraceuticals were 10% larger than the nanoparticles without lupeol (372 vs 337 nm) and presented a broader size distribution (0.28 vs 0.22). TEM results displayed spherical structures with a broader size distribution. Entrapment efficiency of lupeol was 64.54% and it in vitro release data fitted well to the Power law and Higuchi equation (R > 0.84–0.84). Strong regulation of NF-κB of nanonutraceutical was observed. It was not observed any transport across the Caco-2 cell model at the different experimental conditions.
•In vitro release of lupeol adjust to Power law and Higuchi equation.•Strong regulation of NF-κB of nanonutraceutical was observed.•It was not observed any transport of lupeol across the Caco-2 cell model.
This work presents our latest achievements in the development of advanced composite scintillators for simultaneous registration of α-particles and γ-quanta in mixed ionizing fluxes based on single ...crystalline films (SCFs) of Tb
3
Al
3
O
12
: Ce (TbAG : Ce) garnet and Gd
3
Al
2.5
Ga
2.5
O
12
: Ce (GAGG : Ce) single crystal (SC) substrates using the liquid phase epitaxy (LPE) growth method from a melt-solution based on a PbO-B
2
O
3
flux. The separation of the signals from the SCF and SC components of such composite scintillators can be realized by means of registration of the difference in the scintillation decay times of SCF and substrate scintillators and can be achieved at a large
K
=
t
(SCF)/
t
(SC) ratio, which is usually above 2. The TbAG : Ce SCFs exhibit relatively fast scintillation response under α-particle excitation with decay times of
t
1/e
= 344-380 ns and
t
1/100
= 3130-3770 ns. Meanwhile, the scintillation response of TbAG : Ce SCFs under α-particle excitation is significantly slower in the 500-4000 ns range than that of the GAGG : Ce crystals with decay times of
t
1/e
= 270-280 ns and
t
1/20
= 1280-1300 ns. We have found that for TbAG : Ce/GAGG : Ce composite scintillators, the optimal
K
ratio changes from 2.0 to 3.0 at the registration of scintillations with shaping times of 700-4000 ns. For this reason, TbAG : Ce/GAGG : Ce composite scintillators possess the best scintillation properties among all known LPE grown analogues for simultaneous registration of α-particles and γ-quanta in mixed fluxes.
The composite scintillators based on the single crystalline films of TbAG : Ce garnet and GAGG : Ce crystal substrates was developed using the LPE growth method for simultaneous registration of α-particles and γ-quanta in mixed ionizing fluxes.
There are no recent population-based data on the prevalence of hearing loss in older adults using standard audiometric testing. The population-based Epidemiology of Hearing Loss Study was designed to ...measure the prevalence of hearing loss in adults aged 48-92 years, residing in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. Hearing thresholds were measured with standardized protocols using pure-tone air- and bone-conduction audiometry in sound-treated booths. The examination also included an otoscopic evaluation, screening tympanogram, and a questionnaire on hearing-related medical history, noise exposure, other potential risk factors, and self-perceived hearing handicap. Of the 4,541 eligible people, 3,753 (82.6%) participated in the hearing study (1993-1995). The average age of participants was 65.8 years, and 57.7% were women. The prevalence of hearing loss was 45.9%. The odds of hearing loss increased with age (odds ratio (OR) = 1.88 for 5 years, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.80-1.97) and were greater for men than women (OR = 4.42, 95% CI 3.73-5.24). The male excess of hearing loss remained statistically significant after adjusting for age, education, noise exposure, and occupation (OR = 3.65). These results demonstrate that hearing loss is a very common problem affecting older adults. Epidemiologic studies are needed to understand the genetic, environmental, and sex-related determinants of age-related hearing loss and to identify potential intervention strategies.
► Infusions from leaves of Quercus laeta and Q. grisea displayed higher radical scavenging activity. ► Infusions from Q. grisea and Q. obtusata were more efficient in preventing the formation of ...hydroxyl radicals. ► Infusions from Q. resinosa showed a broader antimicrobial spectrum. ► Q. resinosa leaves infusions showed antitopoisomerase activity.
Leaves from four species of white oaks (Quercus resinosa, Quercus laeta, Quercus grisea, and Quercus obtusata) were investigated for the evaluation and comparison of their antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-topoisomerase, and anti-proliferative activities. DPPH and hydroxyl radical scavenging capacities were tested in vitro. Results indicated that aqueous extracts from leaves of Quercus laeta and Q. grisea displayed higher radical scavenging activity, while extracts from Q. grisea and Q. obtusata were more efficient in inhibiting the degradation of deoxyribose, preventing the formation of hydroxyl radicals. Polar extracts showed different degrees of antimicrobial activity, presenting Q. resinosa leaves a broader spectrum. In the anti-topoisomerase assay only Q. resinosa leaves infusions showed activity. The investigation indicates that the biological activity of aqueous extracts from oak leaves promises a more rational and effective application of this resource in the near future.
We investigate and compare optical absorption, luminescence and scintillation properties of Pr-doped Y3Al5O12, Lu3Al5O12, Y2SiO5 and Lu2SiO5 single crystals. The processes determining the kinetics of ...the fast Pr3+ 5d-4f radiative transition are described. Among the studied host materials, only Lu3Al5O12 presents neither any 5d1-4f luminescence state nonradiative quenching nor Pr3+ ionization at room temperature. We evaluate the figure of merit of all materials for application as scintillators. The most promising system appears to be Lu3Al5O12 : Pr, since it combines an elevated density of 6.67 g cm-3, a fast scintillation response dominated by a 21 ns decay time and a spectrally corrected light yield about 160% with respect to that of Bi4Ge3O12 (BGO).
Alpha and gamma spectroscopy (pulse height spectra and scintillation decay time profiles) were used to study scintillating properties of composite scintillators systems consisting of single ...crystalline films (SCF) and single crystal (SC) substrate plates. α-particles of 241Am of energy 5.4857 MeV and γ-quanta of 137Cs of energy 661.66 keV are used as excitation sources of SCFs or SC substrates, respectively. As SC substrates mainly LuAG:Pr single crystal plates are used and these plates are characterized by light yield (LY) between 10-21 × 103 ph/MeV, Energy Resolution (ER) ~5% at 661.66 keV and good proportionality. LuAG:Ce, Lu2-xGdTbxAG:Ce and Lu3-xTbxAG:Ce SCFs at x = 0.15–2.285 were prepared by LPE method onto LuAG:Pr substrates and investigated. LY of LuAG:Ce SCF under α-particles excitation is about of 60% than that of LuAG:Pr SC substrate. The LY of Lu3-x TbxAG:Ce SCFs depend nonlinearly on Tb3+ concentration in the 0.15–2.285 range and changed from 60-62% to 106–109%, respectively, in comparison with LY of LuAG:Pr SC substrate. Detailed scintillation decay time profiles have shown that there are differences between the decay curves of composite scintillators under α-particles and γ-quanta excitations. Such differences are characterized using the tα/tγ ratio between the time of scintillation decay to 1/e, 0.1, 0,05 and 0.02 levels under α-particles excitation (tα) and γ-quanta excitation (tγ). From all studied types of composite scintillators, based on the LuAG:Pr substrates, the highest value of tα/tγ ratio can be reached for Lu3-xTbxAG:Ce SCF/LuAG:Pr SC substrate composite scintillators at Tb content x = 2.15–2.275, where this ratio is equal to 4.2–6.2 at scintillation decay level of 0.1.
•Pulsed height spectra under α- and γ-rays were used to study scintillating properties.•α-particles of 241Am allow to excite only single crystalline films as LuAG:Ce and LuAG:Ce,Tb.•Ratio of tα/tγ scintillation decay intensities should be the highest for new prepared Lu3-xTbxAG:Ce garnets.•Composite scintillators can to resolve various of parts ionizing radiation components as α-particles, ions or γ-quanta.
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the leading cause of irreversible vision loss among the elderly.
This study aimed to determine the association between dietary patterns and food groups (used ...to make them) with the 18-year incidence of AMD.
ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities) participants who showed change in AMD lesions between retinal photographs taken at visit 3 and visit 5 were graded side by side to determine incident AMD (any=144; early=117; late=27). A 66-line item food frequency questionnaire, administered at visit 1 and visit 3, was used to identify 29 food groups. Principal component analysis was used to derive dietary patterns from average food group servings. Logistic regression was used to estimate ORs and 95% CIs for incident AMD (any, early and late) by tertiles of dietary pattern scores, adjusted for age, race, education, total calories and smoking status. P-trend was estimated using continuous scores.
Western (unhealthy) and Prudent (healthy) dietary patterns were identified. No significant associations were observed between either dietary pattern and incident any or incident early AMD. However, a threefold higher incidence of late AMD was observed among participants with a Western pattern score above, as compared with below, the median (OR=3.44 (95% CI 1.33 to 8.87), p-trend=0.014). The risk of developing late AMD was decreased, but not statistically significant, among participants with a Prudent pattern score above, as compared with below, the median (OR=0.51 (95% CI 0.22 to 1.18), p-trend=0.054).
Diet patterns were not significantly associated with incident any or incident early AMD. However, consumption of a Western pattern diet may be a risk factor for development of late AMD.
Associations between antioxidants and zinc and the 5-year incidence of early, age-related maculopathy (ARM) were investigated in a population-based cohort of middle-aged and older adults ...participating in the Beaver Dam Eye Study in Beaver Dam, Wisconsin. A food-frequency questionnaire was administered at baseline (1988–1990) to collect dietary information for that time period and a period of time 10 years earlier (1978–1980) from a 50 percent random sample of persons participating in this study. The incidence of the specific lesions of larger drusen (>125 μ) and pigmentary abnormalities and the incidence of any ARM were assessed by masked grading of stereoscopic color fundus photographs in 1,709 persons who participated in 5-year follow-up eye examinations. Significant, but modest, inverse associations (p < 0.05) were observed between intakes of pro-vitamin A carotenoids and dietary vitamin E and the incidence of large drusen and between zinc and the incidence of pigmentary abnormalities. No significant inverse associations were found between antioxidant or zinc intake and the incidence of overall early ARM. If ARM, which is characterized by a broad spectrum of lesions, involves a number of different underlying pathophysiologic processes, then associations between specific antioxidants and the incidence of distinct macular lesions may be biologically important. However, because there were too few incident late ARM cases in this cohort, the authors were unable to assess whether antioxidant intake is associated with the progression of early ARM to late-stage macular degeneration. Clinical trials and longer-term prospective studies are needed to elucidate further the impact of antioxidants and zinc on the development and progression of ARM. Am J Epidemiol 1998;148:204–14.
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