Search results for " Smooth"

Effects of Ca2+ entry blockers on CaCl2-, KCl- and noradrenaline-induced contractions of goat cerebral arteries

1990

Abstract The effects of three Ca 2+ entry blockers, nicardipine, nimodipine and verapamil, on CaCl 2 -, KCl- and noradrenaline-induced contractions were examined in isolated goat middle cerebral artery. The relationship between the effects of Ca 2+ entry blockers and the extracellular Ca 2+ dependence of the contractions was also examined. In ‘nominally’ Ca 2+ -free medium, addition of CaCl 2 induced concentration-dependent contractions of previously depolarized arteries. Withdrawal of Ca 2+ from the extracellular medium caused strong inhibition of the KCl- and noradrenaline-induced arterial contractions. Addition of EGTA to the Ca 2+ -free medium almost abolished the noradrenaline-response…

Effects of ouabain on human bronchial muscle in vitro

2003

The effects of ouabain, an inhibitor of the plasmalemmal Na(+)/K(+)-ATPase activity, were examined in human isolated bronchus. Ouabain produced concentration-dependent contraction with -logEC(50)=7.16+/-0.11 and maximal effect of 67+/-4% of the response to acetylcholine (1 mM). Ouabain (10 microM)-induced contraction was epithelium-independent and was not depressed by inhibitors of cyclooxygenase and lipoxygenase, antagonists of muscarinic, histamine H(1)-receptors and alpha-adrenoceptors, or neuronal Na(+) channel blockade. The inhibition of ouabain contraction in tissues bathed in K(+)-free medium, and the inhibition by ouabain of the K(+)-induced relaxation confirm that the contractile a…

Involvement of PKC and NF-κB in Nitric Oxide Induced Apoptosis in Human Coronary Artery Smooth Muscle Cells

2001

Apoptosis of vascular smooth muscle cells is critically involved in progression of atherosclerosis and may prevent intimal hyperplasia in restenosis and vascular remodeling. Nitric oxide (NO) is known to induce apoptosis, but the signaling pathways still remain unclear. We investigated p53 accumulation, protein kinase C (PKC) activation and nuclear transcription factor (NF-kappaB) binding activity as possible signaling mechanisms of NO-induced apoptosis. Apoptosis was induced dose-dependently with the NO-donors sodiumnitroprusside (SNP: 232+/-48%) and SIN-1 (241+/-90% of actinomycin D induced apoptosis; means +/- SEM, *por =0.05 vs. control) in HSMC. Inhibition of PKC significantly attenuat…

Smooth crack-free targets for nuclear applications produced by molecular plating

2013

The production process of smooth and crack-free targets by means of constant current electrolysis in organic media, commonly known as molecular plating, was optimized. Using a Nd salt, i.e., [Nd(NO3)(3)center dot 6H(2)O], as model electrolyte several constant current density electrolysis experiments were carried out to investigate the effects of different parameters, namely the plating solvent (isopropanol and isobutanol mixed together, pyridine, and N,N-dimethylformamide), the electrolyte concentration (0.11, 0.22, 0.44 mM), the applied current density (0.17, 0.3, 0.7, and 1.3 mA/cm(2)), and the surface roughness of the deposition substrates (12 and 24 nm). Different environments (air and …

A normalized iterative Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics method

2020

Abstract In this paper we investigate on a normalized iterative approach to improve the Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) estimate of a function. The method iterates on the residuals of an initial SPH approximation to obtain a more accurate solution. The iterative strategy preserves the matrix-free nature of the method, does not require changes on the kernel function and it is not affected by disordered data distribution. The iterative refinement is further improved by ensuring linear approximation order to the starting iterative values. We analyze the accuracy and the convergence of the method with the standard and normalized formulation giving evidence of the enhancements obtained wit…

Adaptive P-splines via L1-type penalty in generalized additive models

2022

Unmasking epithelial-mesenchymal transition in a breast cancer primary culture: a study report

2012

Abstract Background Immortalized cancer cell lines are now well-established procedures in biomedicine for a more complete understanding of cellular processes in cancer. However, they are more useful in preparation of fresh tumour tissue, in order to obtain cancer cells with highly preserved individual tumour properties. In the present study we report an analytical investigation on a breast cancer primary cell culture isolated from a surgical specimen obtained from a patient with an infiltrating ductal carcinoma. The objective of the research was to reveal unrecognized aspects of neoplastic cells, typical of the tumour from where the cells were derived, but masked in fixed tissue sections, i…

Nitric oxide synthase in the enteric nervous system of the guinea-pig: a quantitative description

1994

The distribution and abundance of nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-containing neurons and their terminals in the gastrointestinal tract of the guinea-pig were examined in detail using NADPH diaphorase histochemistry and NOS immunohistochemistry. NOS-containing cell bodies were found in the myenteric plexus throughout the gastrointestinal tract and in the submucous plexus of the stomach, colon and rectum. NOS-containing neurons comprised between 12% (in the duodenum) and 54% (in the esophagus) of total myenteric neurons. In the ileum, NOS neurons represented 19% of total myenteric neurons. Most of the NOS neurons throughout the gastrointestinal tract possessed lamellar dendrites and a single axon…

Neonatal form of nemaline myopathy, muscle immaturity, and a microvascular injury.

1990

An infant with a neonatal form of nemaline myopathy showed ultrastructural features of muscle immaturity. Immaturity was characterized by an abnormal presence of myotubes, as well as cells in clusters within a common basement membrane and a great number of satellite cells adhering to very small muscle fibers. In addition, degenerative changes and a severe microvascular lesion were observed. The pathologic findings in the muscle of this patient were those of neonatal nemaline myopathy complicating severe microvascular injury, possibly induced by an unknown toxic agent. ( J Child Neurol 1990;5:122-126).

Current understanding of somatic stem cells in leiomyoma formation.

2014

Objective To provide a detailed summary of current scientific knowledge of somatic stem cells (SSCs) in murine and human myometrium and their putative implication in leiomyoma formation, as well as to establish new therapeutic options. Design Pubmed and Scholar One manuscripts were used to identify the most relevant studies on SSCs and their implications in human myometrium and leiomyomas. Setting University research laboratory–affiliated infertility clinic. Patient(s) Not applicable. Intervention(s) Not applicable. Main Outcome Measure(s) Not applicable. Result(s) Despite numerous publications on SSCs, it was not until 2007 that scientific evidence based on the use of 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridi…