This study evaluated the effect of bone morphogenetic proteins 2 (BMP2) and 4 (BMP2) on follicle development and mRNA expression for GDF9, Cyclin B1, BMPR1A, BMPR1B, BMPRII, FSHR and SMAD1 in bovine ...secondary follicles cultured in vitro. Isolated secondary follicles were cultured for 18 days in TCM199+ medium alone or supplemented with BMP2 (10 ng/mL), BMP4 (100 ng/mL) or combination of both BMP2 and 4. Real-time PCR was used to analyze mRNA levels in fresh and cultured follicles. After 18 days of culture, follicles cultured with BMP2 alone or with BMP4 alone had larger diameters when compared to control (P < .05). In addition, all treatments promoted antrum formation and maintained a high viability rate through the growing period. The presence of BMP2, BMP4 or both together did not influence mRNA expression for the tested genes. However, the in vitro culture induces down-regulation for mRNA expression of BMPR1A. In conclusion, the addition of BMP2 or BMP4 alone in cultured medium promotes follicular growth and antrum formation in bovine follicles after 18 days of in vitro culture.
•BMP2 and BMP4 increase follicular diameter after 18 days of in vitro culture.•The interaction of BMP2 and BMP4 proteins did not increase follicular diameter.•BMP2 and BMP4 do not influence the relative mRNA expression for GDF9, Cyclin B1, BMPIA, BMPRIB, BMPRII, FSHR and SMAD1 genes.•In vitro culture induces a down-regulation for mRNA expression of BMPR1A.
Constraints on the Higgs boson self-coupling are set by combining double-Higgs boson analyses in the bb¯bb¯, bb¯τ+τ− and bb¯γγ decay channels with single-Higgs boson analyses targeting the γγ, ZZ⁎, ...WW⁎, τ+τ− and bb¯ decay channels. The data used in these analyses were recorded by the ATLAS detector at the LHC in proton–proton collisions at s=13 TeV and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 126–139 fb−1. The combination of the double-Higgs analyses sets an upper limit of μHH<2.4 at 95% confidence level on the double-Higgs production cross-section normalised to its Standard Model prediction. Combining the single-Higgs and double-Higgs analyses, with the assumption that new physics affects only the Higgs boson self-coupling (λHHH), values outside the interval −0.4<κλ=(λHHH/λHHHSM)<6.3 are excluded at 95% confidence level. The combined single-Higgs and double-Higgs analyses provide results with fewer assumptions, by adding in the fit more coupling modifiers introduced to account for the Higgs boson interactions with the other Standard Model particles. In this relaxed scenario, the constraint becomes −1.4<κλ<6.1 at 95% CL.
A search for the pair-production of vector-like quarks optimized for decays into a Z boson and a third-generation Standard Model quark is presented, using the full Run 2 dataset corresponding to ...139fb−1 of pp collisions at s=13TeV, collected in 2015–2018 with the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider. The targeted final state is characterized by the presence of a Z boson with high transverse momentum, reconstructed from a pair of same-flavour leptons with opposite-sign charges, as well as by the presence of b-tagged jets and high-transverse-momentum large-radius jets reconstructed from calibrated smaller-radius jets. Events with exactly two or at least three leptons are used, which are further categorized by the presence of boosted W, Z, and Higgs bosons and top quarks. The categorization is performed using a neural-network-based boosted object tagger to enhance the sensitivity to signal relative to the background. No significant excess above the background expectation is observed and exclusion limits at 95% confidence level are set on the masses of the vector-like partners T and B of the top and bottom quarks, respectively. The limits depend on the branching ratio configurations and, in the case of 100% branching ratio for T→Zt and 100% branching ratio for B→Zb, this search sets the most stringent limits to date, allowing mT>1.60TeV and mB>1.42TeV, respectively.
This study aimed to analyze the cerebellum of rats submitted to an experimental focal cerebral ischemia, by middle cerebral artery occlusion for 90 minutes, followed by reperfusion for 48 hours, ...associated with an alcoholism model.
Fifty adult Wistar rats were used, subdivided into five experimental groups: control group (C): animals submitted to anesthesia only; sham group (S): animals submitted to complete simulation of the surgical procedure; ischemic group (I): animals submitted to focal cerebral ischemia for 90 minutes followed by reperfusion for 48 hours; alcoholic group (A): animals that received daily absolute ethanol diluted 20% in water for four weeks; and, ischemic and alcoholic group (I + A): animals receiving the same treatment as group A and, after four weeks, submitted to focal cerebral ischemia for 90 minutes, followed by reperfusion for 48 hours. The cerebellum samples were collected and immunohistochemical analysis of Caspase-9 protein and serum analysis by RT-PCR of microRNAs miR-21, miR-126 and miR155 were performed.
The expression of Caspase-9 was higher in groups I, A and I + A. In the microRNAs analyses, miR-126 was higher in groups A and I + A, miR-155 was higher in groups I and I + A.
We conclude that apoptosis occurs in the cerebellar cortex, even if it is distant from the ischemic focus, and that microRNAs 126 and 155 show a correlation with cellular apoptosis in ischemic rats and those submitted to the chronic alcohol model.
Summary
Background Synthetic skin analogues or living allogeneic or autologous cells are used as dressings for the care of skin wounds, as well as temporary or permanent substitutes for damaged ...epithelia.
Objectives To evaluate if keratinocyte growth on a swine pericardium substrate mimics the natural epithelial layers compared with cultures on allogeneic dermis, which is accepted as having appropriate physical and chemical properties for growth and differentiation.
Methods Keratinocytes were cultured on a swine pericardium substrate and allogeneic dermis, either submerged or at the air–liquid interface. At 7, 14 and 21 days postseeding the cultures were evaluated by light microscopy after both haematoxylin and eosin staining and immunohistochemistry.
Results Cell–substrate interactions led to growth, stratification and differentiation of cells, with the definition of epithelial layers. The submerged system showed a continuous growth rise on both composites, but this was more prominent with the swine pericardium substrate. An increase in the number of layers at the air–liquid interface with the dermis composites, in contrast to the submerged cultures, occurred only from days 7 to 14. The pattern of keratinocyte growth on swine pericardium substrate was much better in the submerged than in the air–liquid interface cultures.
Conclusions The results indicate that swine pericardium is a better substrate than allogeneic dermis for keratinocyte cultures in submerged but not in air–liquid interface cultures. Swine pericardium as a substrate opens one more possibility for skin restoration after trauma or burns.
Abstract
Introduction
Patients hospitalized for acute heart failure (HF) are at increased risk of death in the early post-discharge period, so-called the "vulnerable period" (1). Post-discharge ...treatment strategies can help improve outcomes, but the role of the patient's level of education on this regard is unclear.
Purpose
To analyse the association between level of education and 180-day mortality after discharge from acute HF hospitalization.
Methods
We performed a prospective cohort study of patients who were discharged alive following hospitalization for acute HF in 26 hospitals in Brazil from February 2016 and September 2021. Patients were classified according to the International Standard Classification of Education 2011 into four groups: Less than Basic, Basic, Intermediate and Advanced. We analysed all-cause mortality in the 180 days following hospital discharge using Cox regression.
Results
We evaluated 2724 patients (mean age 61±15 years; 42% women) hospitalized for acute HF, who were divided according to education level: less than basic (n = 280, 10%), basic (n = 1503, 55%), intermediate (n = 716, 26%) and advanced (n = 225, 8%). Patients with lower education levels were older (68±12 vs 62±14 vs 56±16 vs 58±15 years, p-for-trend<0.001), more frequently women (47% vs 43% vs 40% vs 37%, p-for-trend = 0.005) and non-whites (77% vs 66% vs 65% vs 53%, p-for-trend<0.001), compared with those with higher education levels. At discharge, a prescription of both angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors /angiotensin receptor blockers, beta-blocker and mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (41% vs 45% vs 49% vs 53%, p-for-trend = 0.001), vaccine counselling (52% vs 50% vs 55% vs 62%, p-for-trend = 0.002) and weigh management counselling (72% vs 69% vs 72% vs 81%, p-for-trend = 0.007) were less frequently provided for patients with lower education. Education level was inversely associated with the risk of death in the follow-up period (Hazard ratio (HR) 0.71, 95%CI 0.61 – 0.84, p = <0.001; Figure). This association remained significant after adjusting for baseline characteristics (age, sex, race, left-ventricle ejection fraction, previous HF, HF aetiology, cardiac resynchronization therapy/implantable cardiac defibrillator use, chronic kidney disease and income) and prescription of disease-modifying drugs, vaccine and weight management counselling at discharge (adjusted HR 0.78, 95% CI 0.64 – 0.95, p = 0.011).
Conclusion
In this large cohort of patients discharged after hospitalization for acute HF, lower education levels were independently associated with higher mortality rates in the vulnerable period.
The CP properties of the coupling between the Higgs boson and the top quark are investigated using 139 fb−1 of proton–proton collision data recorded by the ATLAS experiment at the LHC at a ...centre-of-mass energy of s=13 TeV. The CP structure of the top quark–Higgs boson Yukawa coupling is probed in events with a Higgs boson decaying into a pair of b-quarks and produced in association with either a pair of top quarks, tt¯H, or a single top quark, tH. Events containing one or two electrons or muons are used for the measurement. Multivariate techniques are used to select regions enriched in tt¯H and tH events, where dedicated CP-sensitive observables are exploited. In an extension of the Standard Model (SM) with a CP-odd admixture in the top–Higgs Yukawa coupling, the mixing angle between CP-even and CP-odd couplings is measured to be α=11−73∘∘+52∘, compatible with the SM prediction corresponding to α=0.
Searches for new resonances are performed using an unsupervised anomaly-detection technique. Events with at least one electron or muon are selected from 140 fb-1 of pp collisions at $\sqrt{s}$ =13 ...TeV recorded by ATLAS at the Large Hadron Collider. The approach involves training an autoencoder on data, and subsequently defining anomalous regions based on the reconstruction loss of the decoder. Studies focus on nine invariant mass spectra that contain pairs of objects consisting of one light jet or b jet and either one lepton (e,μ), photon, or second light jet or b jet in the anomalous regions. No significant deviations from the background hypotheses are observed. Limits on contributions from generic Gaussian signals with various widths of the resonance mass are obtained for nine invariant masses in the anomalous regions.
Searches for the exclusive decays of the Higgs boson to an ω meson and a photon or a K⁎ meson and a photon can probe flavour-conserving and flavour-violating Higgs boson couplings to light quarks, ...respectively. Searches for these decays, along with the analogous Z boson decay to an ω meson and a photon, are performed with a pp collision data sample corresponding to integrated luminosities of up to 134 fb−1 collected at s=13 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. The obtained 95% confidence-level upper limits on the respective branching fractions are B(H→ωγ)<5.5×10−4, B(H→K⁎γ)<2.2×10−4 and B(Z→ωγ)<3.9×10−6. The limits for H→ωγ and Z→ωγ are 370 times and 140 times the Standard Model expected values, respectively. The result for Z→ωγ corresponds to a two-orders-of-magnitude improvement over the limit obtained by the DELPHI experiment at LEP.
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