Matarsko podolje, in SW Slovenia, is a karstic surface with many dolines, which appear between the flysch-composed Brkini hills in the NE and Mt. Slavnik in the SW. We have analyzed dolines to find ...the morphometric parameters of the depth, area, volume, and circularity index and also calculated the doline density and pitting index. All parameters were also calculated separately for individual lithological units to explain the variations of the calculated values among these groups. Morphometry was performed in GIS environment on a 1 × 1 m digital elevation model with bare earth obtained by lidar. The results show a high density of dolines (94 dolines/km
2
) and also a high pitting index (
R
p
= 8.27) compared to other studies. There are some significant differences between the measured values in individual lithologies, as the depths, areas, and volumes are largest in dolomitic beds (other beds include various types of limestones and carbonate breccia). The median values of depth, area, and volume are 2.98 m, 541 m
2
, and 690 m
3
. The circularity index is also lowest in dolomite beds and Kozina limestones; however, the differences are not so pronounced as for areas and volumes. Dolines’ longer axes are parallel to the directions of major structural elements; however, more detailed mapping should be done to confirm the influence of faults and fracture zones on the doline geometry.
Ice hockey is considered one of the most competitive sports, and it requires physical and mental preparation to perform appropriately under the pressure of a competitive environment. The present ...study aims to investigate the impact of competitive sports on executive functions such as emotion regulation, inhibitory control, working memory, and competitive attitudes among near-elite ice hockey players. Near-elite athletes have been gathered (N = 67) from the four Hungarian Ice-Hockey Academies. Our results indicated a small positive association between Canadian points and maladaptive emotion regulation and a slight positive correlation between maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation and false alarms of the N-back task. The result revealed a significant difference between National and Non-National Team members in maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation regarding hypercompetitive attitude. The result of linear regression revealed that maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation significantly predicts false alarms, indicating that the maladaptive cognitive emotion regulation explains 10% of the variance. In conclusion, we highlight the role of the environment, which affects executive functions and competitive attitudes alongside sports performance. Although the findings were mainly correlational, we can conclude that the nature of competitive ice hockey expects certain behavior for the players indifferent of the situation that could lead to emotion suppression, rumi-nation and other maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. We can also conclude that inadequate emotion regulation might be related to the overstimulation of players, characterized by a hypersensitive state to stimuli. We suggest that practitioners ensure the development of adequate competitive attitudes of players to enable long-term physical and psychological benefits.
Lipotoxicity in the liver Veronika Zámbó Laura Simon-Szabó Péter Szelényi va Kereszturi Gábor Bánhegyi Miklós Csala
World journal of hepatology,
10/2013, Volume:
5, Issue:
10
Journal Article
Open access
Obesity due to excessive food intake and the lack of physical activity is becoming one of the most serious public health problems of the 21stcentury. With the increasing prevalence of obesity, ...non-alcoholic fatty liver disease is also emerging as a pandemic. While previously this pathophysiological condition was mainly attributed to triglyceride accumulation in hepatocytes,recent data show that the development of oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, cell death, inflammation and fibrosis are mostly due to accumulation of fatty acids,and the altered composition of membrane phospholipids. In fact, triglyceride accumulation might play a protective role, and the higher toxicity of saturated or trans fatty acids seems to be the consequence of a blockade in triglyceride synthesis. Increased membrane saturation can profoundly disturb cellular homeostasis by impairing the function of membrane receptors,channels and transporters. However, it also inducesendoplasmic reticulum stress via novel sensing mechanisms of the organelle’s stress receptors. The triggered signaling pathways in turn largely contribute to the development of insulin resistance and apoptosis. These findings have substantiated the lipotoxic liver injury hypothesis for the pathomechanism of hepatosteatosis.This minireview focuses on the metabolic and redox aspects of lipotoxicity and lipoapoptosis, with special regards on the involvement of endoplasmic reticulum stress responses.
Although the role of the T(H)1 and T(H)17 subsets of helper T cells as disease mediators in autoimmune neuroinflammation remains a subject of some debate, none of their signature cytokines are ...essential for disease development. Here we report that interleukin 23 (IL-23) and the transcription factor RORγt drove expression of the cytokine GM-CSF in helper T cells, whereas IL-12, interferon-γ (IFN-γ) and IL-27 acted as negative regulators. Autoreactive helper T cells specifically lacking GM-CSF failed to initiate neuroinflammation despite expression of IL-17A or IFN-γ, whereas GM-CSF secretion by Ifng(-/-)Il17a(-/-) helper T cells was sufficient to induce experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE). During the disease effector phase, GM-CSF sustained neuroinflammation via myeloid cells that infiltrated the central nervous system. Thus, in contrast to all other known helper T cell-derived cytokines, GM-CSF serves a nonredundant function in the initiation of autoimmune inflammation regardless of helper T cell polarization.
Progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) is a 4R-tauopathy predominated by subcortical pathology in neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendroglia associated with various clinical phenotypes. In the present ...international study, we addressed the question of whether or not sequential distribution patterns can be recognized for PSP pathology. We evaluated heat maps and distribution patterns of neuronal, astroglial, and oligodendroglial tau pathologies and their combinations in different clinical subtypes of PSP in postmortem brains. We used conditional probability and logistic regression to model the sequential distribution of tau pathologies across different brain regions. Tau pathology uniformly predominates in the neurons of the pallido-nigro-luysian axis in different clinical subtypes. However, clinical subtypes are distinguished not only by total tau load but rather cell-type (neuronal versus glial) specific vulnerability patterns of brain regions suggesting distinct dynamics or circuit-specific segregation of propagation of tau pathologies. For Richardson syndrome (
n
= 81) we recognize six sequential steps of involvement of brain regions by the combination of cellular tau pathologies. This is translated to six stages for the practical neuropathological diagnosis by the evaluation of the subthalamic nucleus, globus pallidus, striatum, cerebellum with dentate nucleus, and frontal and occipital cortices. This system can be applied to further clinical subtypes by emphasizing whether they show caudal (cerebellum/dentate nucleus) or rostral (cortical) predominant, or both types of pattern. Defining cell-specific stages of tau pathology helps to identify preclinical or early-stage cases for the better understanding of early pathogenic events, has implications for understanding the clinical subtype-specific dynamics of disease-propagation, and informs tau-neuroimaging on distribution patterns.
Abstract Current limitations of exogenous scaffolds or extracellular matrix based materials have underlined the need for alternative tissue-engineering solutions. Scaffolds may elicit adverse host ...responses and interfere with direct cell–cell interaction, as well as assembly and alignment of cell-produced ECM. Thus, fabrication techniques for production of scaffold-free engineered tissue constructs have recently emerged. Here we report on a fully biological self-assembly approach, which we implement through a rapid prototyping bioprinting method for scaffold-free small diameter vascular reconstruction. Various vascular cell types, including smooth muscle cells and fibroblasts, were aggregated into discrete units, either multicellular spheroids or cylinders of controllable diameter (300–500 μm). These were printed layer-by-layer concomitantly with agarose rods, used here as a molding template. The post-printing fusion of the discrete units resulted in single- and double-layered small diameter vascular tubes (OD ranging from 0.9 to 2.5 mm). A unique aspect of the method is the ability to engineer vessels of distinct shapes and hierarchical trees that combine tubes of distinct diameters. The technique is quick and easily scalable.
This paper summarizes information about breast MRI to be provided to women and referring physicians. After listing contraindications, procedure details are described, stressing the need for correct ...scheduling and not moving during the examination. The structured report including BI-RADS® categories and further actions after a breast MRI examination are discussed. Breast MRI is a very sensitive modality, significantly improving screening in high-risk women. It also has a role in clinical diagnosis, problem solving, and staging, impacting on patient management. However, it is not a perfect test, and occasionally breast cancers can be missed. Therefore, clinical and other imaging findings (from mammography/ultrasound) should also be considered. Conversely, MRI may detect lesions not visible on other imaging modalities turning out to be benign (false positives). These risks should be discussed with women before a breast MRI is requested/performed. Because breast MRI drawbacks depend upon the indication for the examination, basic information for the most important breast MRI indications is presented. Seventeen notes and five frequently asked questions formulated for use as direct communication to women are provided. The text was reviewed by
Europa Donna–The European Breast Cancer Coalition
to ensure that it can be easily understood by women undergoing MRI.
Key Points
•
Information on breast MRI concerns advantages/disadvantages and preparation to the examination
•
Claustrophobia, implantable devices, allergic predisposition, and renal function should be checked
•
Before menopause, scheduling on day 7–14 of the cycle is preferred
•
During the examination, it is highly important that the patient keeps still
•
Availability of prior examinations improves accuracy of breast MRI interpretation
PDF
