Search results for "549"
showing 10 items of 376 documents
Phenols content and 2-D electrophoresis protein pattern: a promising tool to monitor Posidonia meadows health state
2007
Abstract Background The endemic seagrass Posidonia oceanica (L.) Delile colonizes soft bottoms producing highly productive meadows that play a crucial role in coastal ecosystems dynamics. Human activities and natural events are responsible for a widespread meadows regression; to date the identification of "diagnostic" tools to monitor conservation status is a critical issue. In this study the feasibility of a novel tool to evaluate ecological impacts on Posidonia meadows has been tested. Quantification of a putative stress indicator, i.e. phenols content, has been coupled to 2-D electrophoretic protein analysis of rhizome samples. Results The overall expression pattern from Posidonia rhizom…
Piclamilast inhibits the pro-apoptotic and anti-proliferative responses of A549 cells exposed to H(2)O(2) via mechanisms involving AP-1 activation.
2012
Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the pathogenesis of many inflammatory diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). They can alter the expression of genes involved in cellular damage by activating transcription factors, including the NF-κB and the activator protein 1 (AP-1). Phosphodiesterase type 4 (PDE4) inhibitors have anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects, as described in in vivo and in vitro COPD models. This study analysed the effects of piclamilast, a selective PDE4 inhibitor, on modulating the global gene expression profile in A549 cells exposed to H(2)O(2).Changes in gene expression were analysed using high-density Affymetrix microarrays and valid…
Jacqueline Woodson’s narrative style in The Other Side: An African American picture book for children
2012
The Other Side (2001) is a children’s story with multicultural characters and themes that can be regarded as an aesthetic exploration of the human experience in the process of the acquisition of knowledge. Following the Black Arts Movement, Jacqueline Woodson’s work portrays many of the issues that are present in the real world but seldom appear in children’s literature, such as racial division or interracial relationships. Using the metaphor of a fence, this African American author reveals issues of loneliness and friendship, inclusion and exclusion, and the overcoming of prejudice and segregation through the wisdom of Clover and Annie, an African American and a white girl, who become frie…
Modulation of endotoxin-induced neutrophil transendothelial migration by alveolar epithelium in a defined bilayer model.
2006
Within the alveolus, epithelial cells, due to their close association with endothelial cells, can potentially influence endothelial cell responsiveness during inflammation and their interaction with leukocytes. To investigate this, three lung epithelial cell lines (A549, Calu-3, or NCI-H441) were grown with endothelium on opposing surfaces of Transwell filters and the formation and stability of bilayers was rigorously evaluated. All epithelial lines disrupted endothelial monolayer formation on filters with 3- or 5-microm pores by breaching the filter, and this occurred regardless of seeding density, matrix composition, or duration of culture. Endothelial disruption was not detectable by ele…
Metabolism and bioactivation of toxicants in the lung. The in vitro cellular approach.
2005
Lung is a target organ for the toxicity of inhalated compounds. The respiratory tract is frequently exposed to elevated concentrations of these compounds and become the primary target site for toxicity. Occupational, accidental or prolonged exposure to a great variety of chemicals may result in acute or delayed injury to cells of the respiratory tract. Nevertheless, lung has a significant capability of biotransforming such compounds with the aim of reducing its potential toxicity. In some instances, the biotransformation of a given compound can result in the generation of more reactive, and frequently more toxic, metabolites. Indeed, lung tissue is known to activate pro-carcinogens (i.e. po…
Bioaerosols in the Amazon rain forest: temporal variations and vertical profiles of Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea
2021
The Amazon rain forest plays a major role in global hydrological cycling, and biogenic aerosols are likely to influence the formation of clouds and precipitation. Information about the sources and altitude profiles of primary biological aerosol particles, however, is sparse. We used fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), a molecular biological staining technique largely unexplored in aerosol research, to investigate the sources and spatiotemporal distribution of Amazonian bioaerosols on the domain level. We found wet season bioaerosol number concentrations in the range of 1–5 × 105 m−3 accounting for > 70 % of the coarse mode aerosol. Eukaryotic and bacterial particles predominated, …
Social-ecological trends: managing the vulnerability of coastal fishing communities
2019
The loss of biodiversity, including the collapse of fish stocks, affects the vulnerability of social-ecological systems (SESs) and threatens local livelihoods. Incorporating community-centered indicators and SES drivers and exposures of change into coastal management can help anticipate and mitigate human and/or coastal vulnerability. We have proposed a new index to measure the social-ecological vulnerability of coastal fishing communities (Index of Coastal Vulnerability [ICV]) based on species, ecosystem, and social indicators. The ICV varies from 0 (no vulnerability) to 1 (very high vulnerability) and is composed of 3 components: species vulnerability, i.e., fish biological traits; ecosys…
A methodology for the sustainability assessment of agri-food systems: an application to the Slow Food Presidia project
2014
New and alternative models for agri-food production and consumption have brought up questions regarding the effects they have on local development processes in terms of the economic exploitation of rural areas as well as environmental, cultural, and social factors. The agri-food system proposed by the Slow Food (SF) Presidia Project, which focuses on farm-to-market systems for local, high-quality, sustainable products, can respond to the new and emerging needs of both rural and urban populaces via several approaches in addition to food production itself. However, evaluating these parameters is challenging. The aim of this study was to develop an indicator-based tool to monitor the sustainab…
Glycine-functionalized copper(ii) hydroxide nanoparticles with high intrinsic superoxide dismutase activity
2017
Superoxide dismutases (SOD) are a group of enzymes that catalyze the dismutation of superoxide (O2−) radicals into molecular oxygen (O2) and H2O2 as a first line of defense against oxidative stress. Here, we show that glycine-functionalized copper(II) hydroxide nanoparticles (Gly-Cu(OH)2 NPs) are functional SOD mimics, whereas bulk Cu(OH)2 is insoluble in water and catalytically inactive. In contrast, Gly-Cu(OH)2 NPs form water-dispersible mesocrystals with a SOD-like activity that is larger than that of their natural CuZn enzyme counterpart. Based on this finding, we devised an application where Gly-Cu(OH)2 NPs were incorporated into cigarette filters. Cigarette smoke contains high concent…
Estudi comparatiu de l’atenuació pragmàtica en la llengua catalana: converses col·loquials prototípiques-converses col·loquials perifèriques
2017
A comparative study on pragmatic mitigation in a corpus of colloquial conversations in Catalan has been conducted in this work. Its aim objective is to study mitigation in a contrastive way, that is to say, to examine the usage contrast of this pragmatic strategy amongst prototypical colloquial conversations and peripheral colloquial conversations. For this purpose, it was believed appropriate to previously explain conversational genre and colloquial register, that is to say, colloquial conversation and its characteristics. In order to conduct thus study, one’s own corpus has been complied (recorded and transcribed) consisting of five colloquial conversations: two prototypical ones and thre…