Search results for "Digest"
showing 10 items of 3038 documents
A new gene superfamily of pathogen-response (repat) genes in Lepidoptera: Classification and expression analysis
2012
Repat (REsponse to PAThogens) genes were first identified in the midgut of Spodoptera exigua (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in response to Bacillus thuringiensis and baculovirus exposure. Since then, additional repat gene homologs have been identified in different studies. In this study the comprehensive larval transcriptome from S. exigua was analyzed for the presence of novel repat-homolog sequences. These analyses revealed the presence of at least 46 repat genes in S. exigua, establishing a new gene superfamily in this species. Phylogenetic analysis and studies of conserved motifs in these hypothetical proteins have allowed their classification in two main classes, αREPAT and βREPAT. Studies o…
Neutralization of interleukin-18 reduces severity in murine colitis and intestinal IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production.
2001
Interleukin (IL)-18, initially described as interferon (IFN)-gamma-inducing factor, is expressed in the inflamed mucosa of patients with Crohn's disease. To investigate the role of IL-18 in intestinal inflammation, the effect of neutralizing antimurine IL-18 antiserum in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice was examined. During a dose response of DSS, levels of colonic IL-18 increased parallel with clinical worsening. With the use of confocal laser microscopy, the increased IL-18 was localized to the intestinal epithelial layer. Anti-IL-18 treatment resulted in a dose-dependent reduction of the severity of colitis in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Colon sho…
Paratransgenic manipulation of a tsetse microRNA alters the physiological homeostasis of the fly’s midgut environment
2021
Tsetse flies are vectors of parasitic African trypanosomes, the etiological agents of human and animal African trypanosomoses. Current disease control methods include fly-repelling pesticides, fly trapping, and chemotherapeutic treatment of infected people and animals. Inhibiting tsetse’s ability to transmit trypanosomes by strengthening the fly’s natural barriers can serve as an alternative approach to reduce disease. The peritrophic matrix (PM) is a chitinous and proteinaceous barrier that lines the insect midgut and serves as a protective barrier that inhibits infection with pathogens. African trypanosomes must cross tsetse’s PM in order to establish an infection in the fly, and PM struc…
Bifunctional dentifrice: Amorphous polyphosphate a regeneratively active sealant with potent anti- Streptococcus mutans activity
2017
Abstract Objective In this study we demonstrate that inorganic polyphosphate (polyP) exhibits a dual protective effect on teeth: it elicits a strong antibacterial effect against the cariogenic bacterium Streptococcus mutans and, in form of amorphous calcium polyP microparticles (size of 100–400 nm), it efficiently reseals cracks/fissures in the tooth enamel and dentin. Methods Three different formulations of amorphous polyP microparticles (Ca-polyP, Zn-polyP and Sr-polyP) were prepared. Results Among the different polyP microparticles tested, the Ca-polyP microparticles, as a component of a newly developed formulation of a dentifrice, turned out to be most effective in inhibiting growth of …
Subliminal fear priming potentiates negative facial reactions to food pictures in women with anorexia nervosa.
2010
BackgroundTo investigate hedonic reactivity and the influence of unconscious emotional processes on the low sensitivity to positive reinforcement of food in anorexia nervosa (AN).MethodAN and healthy women were exposed to palatable food pictures just after a subliminal exposure to facial expressions (happy, disgust, fear and neutral faces), either while fasting or after a standardized meal (hungerversussatiety). Both implicit [facial electromyographic (EMG) activity from zygomatic and corrugator muscles, skin conductance, heart rate, and videotaped facial behavior] and explicit (self-reported pleasure and desire) measures of affective processes were recorded.ResultsIn contrast to healthy wo…
Methane and leachate pollutant emission potential from various fractions of municipal solid waste (MSW): effects of source separation and aerobic tre…
2002
The effects of source-separation of putrescibles as well as aerobic pre-treatment and landfill aeration on the pollutant emission potential of methane and leachate pollutants were studied in the fresh (PFMSW) and composted (CPFMSW) source-separated putrescible fraction of municipal solid waste, and in the grey waste, and in lysimeter landfilled grey waste and ten-year-old unsorted MSW from our landfill lysimeter study. After 0, 23 and 51 days, an aerobic lysimeter experiment, an elution test and biochemical methane potential (BMP) test was done on samples. PFMSW had high methane (CH4) potential (410 m3CH4 t-1TS) as well as a high amount of ammonium-nitrogen (3.6 kg NH4-N) was eluted, where…
Carbon and nitrogen stabile isotope ratio and heavy metals in Leccinum aurantiacum in a hybrid aspen plantation in agricultural land
2020
Edible mycorrhizal fungi can be harvested in the fourth year after establishment of a hybrid aspen plantation in previous agricultural land at hemiboreal conditions. It is important to understand the role of fungi in element cycling at the ecosystem level as well as the amounts of elements, including heavy metals, that are accumulated in fruitbodies of edible fungi in the context of food safety. Therefore we evaluated the carbon and nitrogen stable isotope ratio and content of heavy metals (Cr, Pb, Mn, Ni, Cd, Cu and Zn) in Leccinum aurantiacum (Bull.) Gray in a juvenile hybrid aspen (Populus tremuloides Michx. × Populus tremula L.) plantation in agricultural land initially fertilised with …
Excess free energy of nanoparticles in a polymer brush
2008
Abstract We present an efficient method for direct determination of the excess free energy Δ F of a nanoparticle inserted into a polymer brush. In contrast to Widom's insertion method, the present approach can be efficiently implemented by Monte Carlo or Molecular Dynamics methods also in a dense environment. In the present investigation the method is used to determine the free energy penalty Δ F ( R , D ) for placing a spherical particle with an arbitrary radius R at different positions D between the grafting plane and the brush surface. Deep inside the brush, or for dense brushes, one finds Δ F ∝ R 3 whereas for shallow nanoclusions Δ F ∝ R 2 , regardless of the particle interaction (…
BIOADHESIVE PROPERTIES OF A POLYAMINOACIDIC HYDROGEL: EVALUATION BY ATR FT-IR SPECTROSCOPY
2005
The bioadhesive properties of a novel chemical hydrogel based on a polymer of protein-like structure, have been investigated by using ATR FT-IR spectroscopy. In particular, the copolymer PHG obtained by partial derivatization of PHEA with GMA was chemically crosslinked by UV irradiation at 313 nm. Crosslinked PHG was treated with water to obtain a swelled sample, named PHG-UV gel, that was brought into contact with a phosphate buffer/citric acid solution at pH 7.0 in the absence or in the presence of mucin at various concentrations (0.01, 0.1 and 1 wt.-%). Preliminary dynamic swelling studies have evidenced the occurrence of an interaction between the PHG-UV gel and the glycoprotein. This r…
Diffusion in concentrated colloidal suspensions and glasses
1998
The well established analogy between colloidal suspensions and atomic fluids has been extended to the glass transition problem in the past few years. Colloids have become the ideal test case for checking glass transition theories; this was due to the possibility of modeling hard spheres with colloidal dispersions. Significant progress has also been made in instrumentation, especially in the development of light-scattering techniques allowing moderately turbid and nonergodic samples to be analyzed. Mode coupling theory has become a paradigm not only for the glass transition, but also for the understanding of dynamics in highly concentrated colloidal dispersions where crystallization is suppr…