We present the first dynamical determination of the binary parameters of an eclipsing SW Sextantis star in the 3–4 h orbital period range during a low state. We obtained time-resolved optical ...spectroscopy and photometry of HS 0220+0603 during its 2004–2005 low-brightness state, as revealed in the combined Small & Moderate Aperture Research Telescope System, IAC80 and M1 Group long-term optical light curve. The optical spectra taken during primary eclipse reveal a secondary star spectral type of M5.5 ± 0.5 as derived from molecular band-head indices. The spectra also provide the first detection of a DAB white dwarf in a cataclysmic variable. By modelling its optical spectrum we estimate a white dwarf temperature of 30 000 ± 5000 K. By combining the results of modelling the white dwarf eclipse from ULTRACAM light curves with those obtained by simultaneously fitting the emission- and absorption-line radial velocity curves and I-band ellipsoidal light curves, we measure the stellar masses to be M
1 = 0.87 ± 0.09 M⊙ and M
2 = 0.47 ± 0.05 M⊙ for the white dwarf and the M dwarf, respectively, and an inclination of the orbital plane of i ≈ 79°. A radius of 0.0103 ± 0.0007 R⊙ is obtained for the white dwarf. The secondary star in HS 0220+0603 is likely too cool and undersized for its mass.
Helicobacter pylori is a gram-negative bacterium that is present in over half of the world's population. The colonization of the stomach́s gastric mucosa by H. pylori is related to the onset of ...chronic gastritis, peptic ulcer, and cancer. The estimated deaths from gastric cancer caused by this bacterial infection are in the 15,000–150,000 range. Current treatment for controlling the colonization of H. pylori includes the administration of two to four antibiotics and a gastric ATPase proton pump inhibitor. Nevertheless, the bacterium has shown increased resistance to antibiotics. Despite an extensive list of attempts to develop a vaccine, no approved vaccine against H. pylori is available. Recombinant viruses are a novel alternative for the control of primary pathogenic agents. In this work, we employed a baculovirus that carries a Thp1 transgene coding for nine H. pylori epitopes, some from the literature, and others were selected in silico from the sequence of H. pylori proteins (carbonic anhydrase, urease B subunit, gamma-glutamyl transpeptidase, Lpp20, Cag7, and CagL). We verified the expression of this hybrid multiepitopic protein in HeLa cells. Mice were inoculated with the recombinant baculovirus Bac-Thp1 using various administration routes: intranasal, intragastric, intramuscular, and a combination of intranasal and intragastric. We identified a strong adjuvant-independent IgG-antibody response in the serum of recombinant baculovirus-Thp1 inoculated mice, which was specific for a strain of H. pylori isolated from a human patient. The bacterium-specific IgG-antibodies were present in sera 125 days after the first vaccine administration. Also, H. pylori-specific IgA-antibodies were found in feces at 82 days after the first inoculation. A baculovirus-based vaccine for H. pylori is promising for controlling this pathogen in humans.
The present paper explores the utilisation of dopants to increase the critical temperature of Carbon Dioxide (sCO2) as a solution towards maintaining the high thermal efficiencies of sCO2 cycles even ...when ambient temperatures compromise their feasibility. To this end, the impact of adopting CO2-based mixtures on the performance of power blocks representative of Concentrated Solar Power plants is explored, considering two possible dopants: hexafluorobenzene (C6F6) and titanium tetrachloride (TiCl4). The analysis is applied to a well-known cycle -Recuperated Rankine- and a less common layout -Precompression-. The latter is found capable of fully exploiting the interesting features of these non-conventional working fluids, enabling thermal efficiencies up to 2.3% higher than the simple recuperative configuration. Different scenarios for maximum cycle pressure (250–300 bar), turbine inlet temperature (550–700 °C) and working fluid composition (10–25% molar fraction of dopant) are considered. The results in this work show that CO2-blends with 15–25%(v) of the cited dopants enable efficiencies well in excess of 50% for minimum cycle temperatures as high as 50 °C. To verify this potential gain, the most representative pure sCO2 cycles have been optimised at two minimum cycle temperatures (32 °C and 50°C), proving the superiority of the proposed blended technology in high ambient temperature applications.
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•CO2 blends enable thermal efficiencies higher than 50% at high ambient temperatures.•For a given layout, sCO2 blends enable 4–5 pp higher efficiency than pure sCO2 cycles.•Precompression is the most interesting layout to better exploit CO2– C6F6 blends.•The composition of the best-performing blend depends on ambient temperature.•Cycle layout and dopant composition/fraction are independent optimisation variables.
Osteoarthritis (OA) is the gradual loss of articular cartilage and involves several tissues, such as the synovial membrane, meniscus, ligaments, and adipose tissue known as Hoffa fat pad. There are ...largely unexplored factors that lead to OA development, such as the impact of exposure to heavy metals like cadmium (Cd) on the viability of cells in the knee joint tissue. The objective of this report was to identify the cell type with the highest susceptibility to Cd toxicity with respect to cell viability and death. Our findings showed that a concentration as low as 3 μM cadmium chloride for 12 h affects the viability of synovial cells, and a concentration of 10 μM affects Hoffa cells. Our results suggest that Cd can affect the viability of synovial and chondral cells primarily. In contrast, Hoffa cells were less susceptible, likely because Cd favors the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines before triggering their death as part of its damage mechanism at the articular level.
Growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) has a crucial role in growth hormone (GH) secretion, but little is known about its production by adipocytes and its involvement in adipocyte metabolism.
To ...determine whether GHRH and its receptor (GHRH-R) are present in human adipocytes and to study their levels in obesity. Also, to analyze the effects of GHRH on human adipocyte differentiation and lipolysis.
GHRH/GHRH-R and GH/GH-R mRNA expression levels were analyzed in human mature adipocytes from non-obese and morbidly obese subjects. Human mesenchymal stem cells (HMSC) were differentiated to adipocytes with GHRH (10
-10
M). Adipocyte differentiation, lipolysis and gene expression were measured and the effect of GH-R silencing was determined.
Mature adipocytes from morbidly obese subjects showed a higher expression of GHRH and GH-R, and a lower expression of GHRH-R and GH than non-obese subjects (P<0.05). A total of 10
-10
M GHRH induced an inhibition of lipid accumulation and PPAR-γ expression (P<0.05), and an increase in glycerol release and HSL expression (P<0.05) in human differentiated adipocytes. A total of 10
-10
M GHRH decreased GHRH-R expression in human differentiated adipocytes (P<0.05). A total of 10
-10
M GHRH increased GH and GH-R expression in human differentiated adipocytes (P<0.05). The effects of GHRH at 10
M on adipocyte differentiation and lipolysis were blocked when GH-R expression was silenced.
GHRH and GHRH-R are expressed in human adipocytes and are negatively associated. GHRH at low doses may exert an anti-obesity effect by inhibiting HMSC differentiation in adipocytes and by increasing adipocyte lipolysis in an autocrine or paracrine pathway. These effects are mediated by GH and GH-R.
The effects of different environmental salinities (0, 12, 40, and 55 ppt) on
pepsinogen 2
(
pga2
),
trypsinogen 2
(
try2
),
chymotrypsinogen
(
ctr
), and
pancreatic alpha-amylase
(
amy2a
) gene ...expression, and on the total activities of their corresponding enzymes, were assessed in
Chelon labrosus
juveniles, after their corresponding full-complementary DNA sequences were cloned. Furthermore, the quantitative effect of different salinities on the hydrolysis of feed protein by fish digestive enzymes was evaluated using an in vitro system. Relative
pga2
expression levels were significantly higher in animals maintained at 12 ppt, while a significantly higher gene expression level for
ctr
and
try2
was observed at 40 ppt.
amy2a
gene expression showed its maximum level at 40 ppt and the lowest at 55 ppt. A significant reduction in the activity of amylase with the increase in salinity was observed, whereas the maximum activity for alkaline proteases was observed in individuals maintained at 40 ppt. A negative effect of high salinity on the action of proteases was confirmed by the in vitro assay, indicating a decreased efficiency in the digestive function in
C. labrosus
when maintained at high environmental salinities. Nevertheless, individuals can live under different environmental salinities, even though gene expression is different and the enzymatic activities are not maintained at the highest studied salinity. Therefore, compensatory mechanisms should be in place. Results are discussed on the light of the importance as a new species for aquaculture.
In this work, gold nanoparticles with three different sizes (13.7, 39.4, and 76.7 nm) were prepared using a simple aqueous method with gallic acid as the reducing and stabilizing agent, the different ...sizes were obtained varying some experimental parameters as the pH of the reaction and the amount of the gallic acid. The prepared nanoparticles were characterized using X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and UV–Vis spectroscopy. Samples were identified as elemental gold and present spherical morphology, a narrow size distribution and good stabilization according to TEM and DLS results. The antibacterial activity of this gallic acid stabilized gold nanoparticles against
S. mutans
(the etiologic agent of dental caries) was assessed using a microdilution method obtaining a minimum inhibitory concentration of 12.31, 12.31, and 49.25 μg/mL for 13.7, 39.4, and 76.7 nm gold nanoparticles, respectively. The antibacterial assay showed that gold nanoparticles prepared in this work present a bactericide activity by a synergistic action with gallic acid. The MIC found for this nanoparticles are much lower than those reported for mixtures of gold nanoparticles and antibiotics.
In euryhaline teleosts, the hypothalamus-pituitary-thyroid and hypothalamus-pituitary-interrenal axes (HPT and HPI, respectively) are regulated in response to environmental stimuli such as salinity ...changes. However, the molecular players participating in this physiological process in the gilthead seabream (
Sparus aurata
), a species of high value for aquaculture, are still not identified and/or fully characterized in terms of gene expression regulation. In this sense, this study identifies and isolates the
thyrotropin-releasing hormone
(
trh
) mRNA sequence from
S. aurata
, encoding prepro-Trh, the putative factor initiating the HPT cascade. In addition, the regulation of
trh
expression and of key brain genes in the HPI axis, i.e.,
corticotrophin-releasing hormone
(
crh
) and
corticotrophin-releasing hormone
-
binding protein
(
crhbp
), was studied when the osmoregulatory status of
S. aurata
was challenged by exposure to different salinities. The deduced amino acid structure of
trh
showed 65–81% identity with its teleostean orthologs. Analysis of the tissue distribution of gene expression showed that
trh
mRNA is, though ubiquitously expressed, mainly found in brain. Subsequently, regulation of gene expression of
trh
,
crh
, and
crhbp
was characterized in fish acclimated to 5-, 15-, 40-, and 55-ppt salinities. In this regard, the brain gene expression pattern of
trh
mRNA was similar to that found for the
crh
gene, showing an upregulation of gene expression in seabream acclimated to the highest salinity tested. Conversely,
crhbp
did not change in any of the groups tested. Our results suggest that Trh and Crh play an important role in the acclimation of
S. aurata
to hypersaline environments.
Bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) are actively involved in ossification, and BMP-2 participates throughout the entire process. Gene therapy for bone regeneration using adenovirus-expressing BMPs has ...been successful in small mammals, but it has not been satisfactory in large mammals.
We generated a 3-component implant (3C graft) comprising autologous mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), ex vivo transduced with an adenovirus vector-expressing BMP-2 and embedded in a demineralized human bone matrix (DBM).
In vitro studies demonstrated vector-induced osteogenesis; osteoblast population and mineralization of the extracellular matrix were greater in the vector-transduced cultures than in the controls (nontransduced MSCs stimulated with osteogenic media were used as positive controls, and nontransduced MSCs served as a negative control). The 3-component grafts were used to fill osteotomies created by bone distraction surgery in mongrel dogs. Control groups comprised dogs with bone distraction alone and dogs with nontransduced MSC grafts. The radiography follow-up, performed 10 weeks after distraction, demonstrated a remarkable reduction in the consolidation period compared with controls. Postmortem mandibles submitted for anatomic and histologic analyses showed improved remodeling and bone maturation in the 3C-grafted dogs. Inflammatory infiltrates were not observed in any of the treated areas, and no liver toxicity was detected.
We demonstrated acceleration of osteogenesis in a dog model for bone distraction by using an implant of BMP-2 modified MSCs. These results are helpful for future clinical trials of mandible bone distraction.
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a respiratory tract infection caused by a newly emergent coronavirus, that was first recognized in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. Currently, the World Health ...Organization (WHO) has defined the infection as a global pandemic and there is a health and social emergency for the management of this new infection. While most people with COVID-19 develop only mild or uncomplicated illness, approximately 14% develop severe disease that requires hospitalization and oxygen support, and 5% require admission to an intensive care unit. In severe cases, COVID-19 can be complicated by the acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and septic shock, and multiorgan failure. This consensus document has been prepared on evidence-informed guidelines developed by a multidisciplinary panel of health care providers from four Spanish scientific societies (Spanish Society of Intensive Care Medicine SEMICYUC, Spanish Society of Pulmonologists SEPAR, Spanish Society of Emergency SEMES, Spanish Society of Anesthesiology, Reanimation, and Pain SEDAR) with experience in the clinical management of patients with COVID-19 and other viral infections, including SARS, as well as sepsis and ARDS. The document provides clinical recommendations for the noninvasive respiratory support (noninvasive ventilation, high flow oxygen therapy with nasal cannula) in any patient with suspected or confirmed presentation of COVID-19 with acute respiratory failure. This consensus guidance should serve as a foundation for optimized supportive care to ensure the best possible chance for survival and to allow for reliable comparison of investigational therapeutic interventions as part of randomized controlled trials.
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