•We compared data obtained by qPCR and m-qPCR techniques in in vitro and subgingival plaque samples.•m-qPCR detected comparable amounts of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis when compared to ...qPCR.•We validated the m-qPCR for the simultaneous detection of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis in clinical samples.•It is needed to optimise this m-qPCR assay for the identification of other key periodontal pathogens.
To validate a multiplex qPCR (m-qPCR) assay for the simultaneous identification and quantification of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis in subgingival samples.
In vitro samples: DNA combinations of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis in similar or different concentrations were prepared. qPCR and m-qPCR were performed using the same primers and hydrolysis probes specific for 16SrRNA genes. Results were analyzed using intra-class (ICCs) and Lin’s correlation coefficients (r) based on quantification cycle (Cq) values. Subgingival plaque samples: a cross-sectional study analyzing subgingival plaque samples harvested from periodontally-healthy and chronic periodontitis patients. Samples were processed by either qPCR or m-qPCR targeting both bacteria. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and Lińs correlation coefficients (r) were calculated using CFU/mL as primary outcome.
In vitro samples: m-qPCR yielded a good reproducibility (coefficients of variation around 1% and ICCs > 0.99) for both bacterial species. m-qPCR achieved detection limits and specificity similar to qPCR. An excellent concordance (r = 0.99) was observed between m-qPCR and qPCR for A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis without statistical significant differences between both methods Subgingival plaque samples: a high sensitivity (above 80%) and specificity (100%) was obtained with the m-qPCR for both bacteria. The m-qPCR yielded a good concordance in Cq values, showing a good level of agreement between qPCR and m-qPCR.
The tested m-qPCR method was successful in the simultaneous quantification of A. actinomycetemcomitans and P. gingivalis, with a high degree of sensitivity and specificity on subgingival plaque samples.
Vitamin A metabolism: an update D'Ambrosio, Diana N; Clugston, Robin D; Blaner, William S
Nutrients,
01/2011, Letnik:
3, Številka:
1
Journal Article, Book Review
Recenzirano
Odprti dostop
Retinoids are required for maintaining many essential physiological processes in the body, including normal growth and development, normal vision, a healthy immune system, normal reproduction, and ...healthy skin and barrier functions. In excess of 500 genes are thought to be regulated by retinoic acid. 11-cis-retinal serves as the visual chromophore in vision. The body must acquire retinoid from the diet in order to maintain these essential physiological processes. Retinoid metabolism is complex and involves many different retinoid forms, including retinyl esters, retinol, retinal, retinoic acid and oxidized and conjugated metabolites of both retinol and retinoic acid. In addition, retinoid metabolism involves many carrier proteins and enzymes that are specific to retinoid metabolism, as well as other proteins which may be involved in mediating also triglyceride and/or cholesterol metabolism. This review will focus on recent advances for understanding retinoid metabolism that have taken place in the last ten to fifteen years.
Improving the detection efficiency in nuclear emulsion trackers Alexandrov, A.; Bozza, C.; Buonaura, A. ...
Nuclear instruments & methods in physics research. Section A, Accelerators, spectrometers, detectors and associated equipment,
03/2015, Letnik:
776
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Nuclear emulsion films are a tracking device with unique space resolution. Their use in nowadays large-scale experiments relies on the availability of automated microscope operating at very high ...speed. In this paper we describe the features and the latest improvements of the European Scanning System, a last-generation automated microscope for emulsion scanning. In particular, we present a new method for the recovery of tracking inefficiencies. Stacks of double coated emulsion films have been exposed to a 10GeV/c pion beam. Efficiencies as high as 98% have been achieved for minimum ionising particle tracks perpendicular to the emulsion films and of 93% for tracks with tan(θ)≃0.8.
Hepatic stellate cell (HSC) lipid droplets are specialized organelles for the storage of retinoid, accounting for 50-60% of all retinoid present in the body. When HSCs activate, retinyl ester levels ...progressively decrease and the lipid droplets are lost. The objective of this study was to determine if the HSC population in a healthy, uninjured liver demonstrates heterogeneity in its capacity for retinoid and lipid storage in lipid droplets. To this end, we utilized two methods of HSC isolation, which leverage distinct properties of these cells, including their vitamin A content and collagen expression. HSCs were isolated either from wild type (WT) mice in the C57BL/6 genetic background by flotation in a Nycodenz density gradient, followed by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) based on vitamin A autofluorescence, or from collagen-green fluorescent protein (GFP) mice by FACS based on GFP expression from a GFP transgene driven by the collagen I promoter. We show that GFP-HSCs have: (i) increased expression of typical markers of HSC activation; (ii) decreased retinyl ester levels, accompanied by reduced expression of the enzyme needed for hepatic retinyl ester synthesis (LRAT); (iii) decreased triglyceride levels; (iv) increased expression of genes associated with lipid catabolism; and (v) an increase in expression of the retinoid-catabolizing cytochrome, CYP2S1.
Our observations suggest that the HSC population in a healthy, uninjured liver is heterogeneous. One subset of the total HSC population, which expresses early markers of HSC activation, may be "primed" and ready for rapid response to acute liver injury.
We discuss the consequences of the quantum uncertainty on the spectrum of the electron emitted by the beta-processes of a tritium atom bound to a graphene sheet. We analyze quantitatively the issue ...recently raised by Cheipesh, Cheianov, and Boyarsky Phys. Rev. D 104, 116004 (2021), and discuss the relevant timescales and the degrees of freedom that can contribute to the intrinsic spread in the electron energy. We perform careful calculations of the potential between tritium and graphene with different coverages and geometries. With this at hand, we propose possible avenues to mitigate the effect of the quantum uncertainty.
The 40 amino acid residues peptide MciZ (
M
other
C
ell
I
nhibitor of Fts
Z
) represents a promising antibacterial agent as it is an effective inhibitor of bacterial cell division, Z-ring formation ...and localization. However, its efficacy is limited to Gram-positive bacteria as MciZ is unable to penetrate into Gram-negative organisms. In this study, we report the synthesis of plasmonic silver chloride nanoparticles stabilized by MciZ (NP/MciZ). NP/MciZ were synthesized using a fast and green route under blue light irradiation. Electron microscopy showed that NP/MciZ were enveloped by a peptide layer responsible for colloidal stability. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that silver chloride nanoparticles were crystalline in nature with small proportion of metallic silver. NP/MciZ showed a dose-dependent cytotoxicity against mammalian VERO cells. However, NP/MciZ exhibited remarkable antibacterial activity against Gram-positive bacterium
B. megaterium
comparable to MciZ. Furthermore, NP/MciZ showed similar antimicrobial activity against the Gram-negative bacterium
E. coli
and the yeast
C. albicans
. The photochemically-generated NP/MciZ presented here is a new organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterial and has potential for biomedical or other applications.
A
bstract
The OPERA neutrino experiment at the underground Gran Sasso Laboratory has measured the velocity of neutrinos from the CERN CNGS beam over a baseline of about 730 km. The measurement is ...based on data taken by OPERA in the years 2009, 2010 and 2011. Dedicated upgrades of the CNGS timing system and of the OPERA detector, as well as a high precision geodesy campaign for the measurement of the neutrino baseline, allowed reaching comparable systematic and statistical accuracies.
An arrival time of CNGS muon neutrinos with respect to the one computed assuming the speed of light in vacuum of
was measured corresponding to a relative difference of the muon neutrino velocity with respect to the speed of light
. The above result, obtained by comparing the time distributions of neutrino interactions and of protons hitting the CNGS target in 10.5
μ
s long extractions, was confirmed by a test performed at the end of 2011 using a short bunch beam allowing to measure the neutrino time of flight at the single interaction level.
Nuclear emulsion is a perfect choice for a detector for directional DM search because of its high density and excellent position accuracy. The minimal detectable track length of a recoil nucleus in ...emulsion is required to be at least 100nm, making the resolution of conventional optical microscopes insufficient to resolve them. Here we report about the R&D on a super-resolution optical microscope to be used in future directional DM search experiments with nuclear emulsion as a detector media. The microscope will be fully automatic, will use novel image acquisition and analysis techniques, will achieve the spatial resolution of the order of few tens of nm and will be capable of reconstructing recoil tracks with the length of at least 100nm with high angular resolution.
We present a detailed description of the electromagnetic filter for the PTOLEMY project to directly detect the Cosmic Neutrino Background (CNB). Starting with an initial estimate for the orbital ...magnetic moment, the higher-order drift process of E×B is configured to balance the gradient-B drift motion of the electron in such a way as to guide the trajectory into the standing voltage potential along the mid-plane of the filter. As a function of drift distance along the length of the filter, the filter zooms in with exponentially increasing precision on the transverse velocity component of the electron kinetic energy. This yields a linear dimension for the total filter length that is exceptionally compact compared to previous techniques for electromagnetic filtering. The parallel velocity component of the electron kinetic energy oscillates in an electrostatic harmonic trap as the electron drifts along the length of the filter. An analysis of the phase-space volume conservation validates the expected behavior of the filter from the adiabatic invariance of the orbital magnetic moment and energy conservation following Liouville’s theorem for Hamiltonian systems.
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