Search results for "EPA"
showing 10 items of 8995 documents
Stagewise pseudo-value regression for time-varying effects on the cumulative incidence
2015
In a competing risks setting, the cumulative incidence of an event of interest describes the absolute risk for this event as a function of time. For regression analysis, one can either choose to model all competing events by separate cause-specific hazard models or directly model the association between covariates and the cumulative incidence of one of the events. With a suitable link function, direct regression models allow for a straightforward interpretation of covariate effects on the cumulative incidence. In practice, where data can be right-censored, these regression models are implemented using a pseudo-value approach. For a grid of time points, the possibly unobserved binary event s…
AFS: identification and quantification of species composition by metagenomic sequencing
2017
Abstract Summary DNA-based methods to detect and quantify taxon composition in biological materials are often based on species-specific polymerase chain reaction, limited to detecting species targeted by the assay. Next-generation sequencing overcomes this drawback by untargeted shotgun sequencing of whole metagenomes at affordable cost. Here we present AFS, a software pipeline for quantification of species composition in food. AFS uses metagenomic shotgun sequencing and sequence read counting to infer species proportions. Using Illumina data from a reference sausage comprising four species, we reveal that AFS is independent of the sequencing assay and library preparation protocol. Cost-sav…
Insulin resistance and hyperandrogenism drive steatosis and fibrosis risk in young females with PCOS
2017
Background and aims Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) recognize obesity and insulin resistance (IR) as common pathogenic background. We assessed 1) whether PCOS is a risk factor for steatosis, and 2) the impact, in PCOS patients, of IR and hyperandrogenism on steatosis and fibrosis. Methods We considered 202 consecutive Italian PCOS nondiabetic patients and 101 age-matched controls. PCOS was diagnosed applying the Rotterdam diagnostic criteria. Steatosis was diagnosed if hepatic steatosis index (HSI) >36, while fibrosis by using the FIB-4 score. As surrogate estimate of insulin sensitivity we considered the insulin sensitivity index (ISI). Free an…
GABAergic System in Action: Connection to Gastrointestinal Stress-related Disorders.
2017
Background: Currently, treatment of stress-related gastrointestinal disorders, such as inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) and irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), is mainly symptomatic since there is no drug on the market that solves effectively diverse disease symptoms and comorbid states. Thus, recently GABA receptors have been identified within gastrointestinal system and it has been recognized that among various GABAergic drugs some of them influence gastrointestinal stress-related diseases. Firstly, benzodiazepines have been investigated due to their diverse effects: neuroimmunomodulatory, relief of visceral pain and anxiolytic action. Conclusion: The present review brings findings on the exp…
MET/HGF Co-Targeting in Pancreatic Cancer: A Tool to Provide Insight into the Tumor/Stroma Crosstalk
2018
The ‘onco-receptor’ MET (Hepatocyte Growth Factor Receptor) is involved in the activation of the invasive growth program that is essential during embryonic development and critical for wound healing and organ regeneration during adult life. When aberrantly activated, MET and its stroma-secreted ligand HGF (Hepatocyte Growth Factor) concur to tumor onset, progression, and metastasis in solid tumors, thus representing a relevant target for cancer precision medicine. In the vast majority of tumors, wild-type MET behaves as a ‘stress-response’ gene, and relies on ligand stimulation to sustain cancer cell ‘scattering’, invasion, and protection form apoptosis. …
Comparison of Two Solid-Phase Extraction (SPE) Methods for the Identification and Quantification of Porcine Retinal Protein Markers by LC-MS/MS
2018
Proper sample preparation protocols represent a critical step for liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS)-based proteomic study designs and influence the speed, performance and automation of high-throughput data acquisition. The main objective of this study was to compare two commercial solid-phase extraction (SPE)-based sample preparation protocols (comprising SOLAµ
Guidelines for the use of flow cytometry and cell sorting in immunological studies
2017
The marriage between immunology and cytometry is one of the most stable and productive in the recent history of science. A rapid search in PubMed shows that, as of July 2017, using “flow cytometry immunology” as a search term yields more than 68 000 articles, the first of which, interestingly, is not about lymphocytes. It might be stated that, after a short engagement, the exchange of the wedding rings between immunology and cytometry officially occurred when the idea to link fluorochromes to monoclonal antibodies came about. After this, recognizing different types of cells became relatively easy and feasible not only by using a simple fluorescence microscope, but also by a complex and some…
Validated HPLC-UV detection method for the simultaneous determination of ceftolozane and tazobactam in human plasma
2018
Aim: A simple, rapid, economical and sensitive HPLC-UV method was developed for the simultaneous quantification of ceftolozane and tazobactam in plasma samples. Methodology: After deproteinization followed by a liquid–liquid back-extraction, the compounds were separated on a C18 column (150 mm × 4.6 mm, 5 μm) with UV-visible detection at 220 nm. The mobile phase consisted of acetonitrile and potassium dihydrogenphosphate buffer at pH 3.0 (8:92, v/v), delivered isocratically at a flow rate of 1.0 ml/min and at a column oven temperature of 30°C. Cefepime was used as an internal standard. Results: Linearity was achieved in the concentration range of 0.50–100.00 μg/ml for ceftolozane and 0.25–…
Rett Syndrome Mutant Neural Cells Lacks MeCP2 Immunoreactive Bands.
2016
Dysfunctions of MeCP2 protein lead to various neurological disorders such as Rett syndrome and Autism. The exact functions of MeCP2 protein is still far from clear. At a molecular level, there exist contradictory data. MeCP2 protein is considered a single immunoreactive band around 75 kDa by western-blot analysis but several reports have revealed the existence of multiple MeCP2 immunoreactive bands above and below the level where MeCP2 is expected. MeCP2 immunoreactive bands have been interpreted in different ways. Some researchers suggest that multiple MeCP2 immunoreactive bands are unidentified proteins that cross-react with the MeCP2 antibody or degradation product of MeCP2, while others…
Three-Dimensional Spheroid Primary Human Hepatocytes in Monoculture and Coculture with Nonparenchymal Cells
2018
Recent advances in the development of various culture platforms are promising for achieving more physiologically relevant in vitro hepatic models using primary human hepatocytes (PHHs). Previous studies have shown the value of PHHs three-dimensional (3D) spheroid models, cultured in low cell number (1330-2000 cells/3D spheroid), to study long-term liver function as well as pharmacological drug effects and toxicity. In this study, we report that only plateable PHHs aggregate and form compact 3D spheroids with a success rate of 79%, and 96% reproducibility. Out of 3D spheroid forming PHH lots, 65% were considered stable (<50% ATP decrease) over the subsequent 14 days of culture, with reproduc…