Search results for "ICON"
showing 10 items of 3539 documents
Bioactive potential of silica coatings and its effect on the adhesion of proteins to titanium implants
2018
There is an ever-increasing need to develop dental implants with ideal characteristics to achieve specific and desired biological response in the scope of improve the healing process post-implantation. Following that premise, enhancing and optimizing titanium implants through superficial treatments, like silica sol-gel hybrid coatings, are regarded as a route of future research in this area. These coatings change the physicochemical properties of the implant, ultimately affecting its biological characteristics. Sandblasted acid-etched titanium (SAE-Ti) and a silica hybrid sol-gel coating (35M35G30T) applied onto the Ti substrate were examined. The results of in vitro and in vivo tests and t…
Improvement of In Vivo Expression of Genes Delivered by Self-Amplifying RNA Using Vaccinia Virus Immune Evasion Proteins.
2017
Among nucleic acid–based delivery platforms, self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) vectors are of increasing interest for applications such as transient expression of recombinant proteins and vaccination. saRNA is safe and, due to its capability to amplify intracellularly, high protein levels can be produced from even minute amounts of transfected templates. However, it is an obstacle to full exploitation of this platform that saRNA induces a strong innate host immune response. In transfected cells, pattern recognition receptors sense double-stranded RNA intermediates and via activation of protein kinase R (PKR) and interferon signaling initiate host defense measures including a translational shutdow…
Comparative Performance of Linear Multielectrode Probes and Single-Tip Electrodes for Intracortical Microstimulation and Single-Neuron Recording in M…
2017
Intracortical microstimulation (ICMS) is one of the most widely employed techniques for providing causal evidence of the relationship between neuronal activity and specific motor, perceptual, or even cognitive functions. In recent years, several new types of linear multielectrode silicon probes have been developed, allowing researchers to sample neuronal activity at different depths along the same cortical site simultaneously and with high spatial precision. Nevertheless, silicon multielectrode probes have been rarely employed for ICMS studies and, more importantly, it is unknown whether and to what extent they can be used for combined recording and stimulation experiments. Here, we address…
Apnea events in neonatal age: A case report and literature review.
2019
Abstract Background Among the most common autonomic signs visible in preterm neonates, apnea can represent the first sign of several neurologic and non-neurologic disorders, and seizure is a relatively infrequent cause. Herein authors present a case of neonatal autonomic apnea, discussing the polygraphic video-EEG features of this pathological entity and the differential diagnosis with central apnea and autonomic apnea. Case report A female preterm Caucasian infant (29 + 4 weeks' gestational age (GA)), first twin of a twin pregnancy, at birth was intubated and surfactant administration was performed. She was ventilated via invasive ventilation for three days, with subsequent weaning with no…
Repurposing of the Antiepileptic Drug Levetiracetam to Restrain Neuroendocrine Prostate Cancer and Inhibit Mast Cell Support to Adenocarcinoma
2021
A relevant fraction of castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPC) evolve into fatal neuroendocrine (NEPC) tumors in resistance to androgen deprivation and/or inhibitors of androgen receptor pathway. Therefore, effective drugs against both CRPC and NEPC are needed. We have previously described a dual role of mast cells (MCs) in prostate cancer, being capable to promote adenocarcinoma but also to restrain NEPC. This finding suggests that a molecule targeting both MCs and NEPC cells could be effective against prostate cancer. Using an in silico drug repurposing approach, here we identify the antiepileptic drug levetiracetam as a potential candidate for this purpose. We found that the protein…
Improved electroless platinum contacts on CdZnTe X- and γ-rays detectors
2020
AbstractPlatinum is a promising candidate for the realization of blocking electrical contacts on cadmium-zinc-telluride (CdZnTe or CZT) radiation detectors. However, the poor mechanical adhesion of this metal often shortens the lifetime of the final device. In this work, a simple and effective procedure to obtain robust platinum contacts by electroless deposition is presented. Microscopical analysis revealed the final thickness and composition of the contact layer and its adhesion to the bulk crystal. The blocking nature of the Pt-CdZnTe junction, essential to obtain low noise devices, was confirmed by current–voltage measurements. The planar Pt-CdZnTe-Pt detectors showed good room temperat…
Out-of-plane orientation of luminescent excitons in two-dimensional indium selenide.
2019
Van der Waals materials offer a wide range of atomic layers with unique properties that can be easily combined to engineer novel electronic and photonic devices. A missing ingredient of the van der Waals platform is a two-dimensional crystal with naturally occurring out-of-plane luminescent dipole orientation. Here we measure the far-field photoluminescence intensity distribution of bulk InSe and two-dimensional InSe, WSe2 and MoSe2. We demonstrate, with the support of ab-initio calculations, that layered InSe flakes sustain luminescent excitons with an intrinsic out-of-plane orientation, in contrast with the in-plane orientation of dipoles we find in two-dimensional WSe2 and MoSe2 at room-…
In vitro activity of anidulafungin in combination with amphotericin B or voriconazole against biofilms of five Candida species
2016
Objectives: To evaluate the in vitro activity of anidulafungin combined with amphotericin B or voriconazole against Candida spp. biofilms. Methods: Four Candida albicans, four Candida tropicalis, four Candida glabrata, two Candida parapsilosis and two Candida orthopsilosis blood isolates were tested by the microdilution chequerboard method combined with the XTT metabolic assay. Biofilm MIC was defined as the lowest concentration producing 50% metabolic inhibition with respect to control (BMIC50). Concentrations in the combinations ranged from 1/8xBMIC(50) to 4xBMIC(50) found for each antifungal tested alone. Results: Anidulafungin plus amphotericin B acted synergistically against C. albican…
Sample Preservation, DNA or RNA Extraction and Data Analysis for High-Throughput Phytoplankton Community Sequencing
2017
Phytoplankton is the basis for aquatic food webs and mirrors the water quality. Conventionally, phytoplankton analysis has been done using time consuming and partly subjective microscopic observations, but next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies provide promising potential for rapid automated examination of environmental samples. Because many phytoplankton species have tough cell walls, methods for cell lysis and DNA or RNA isolation need to be efficient to allow unbiased nucleic acid retrieval. Here, we analyzed how two phytoplankton preservation methods, three commercial DNA extraction kits and their improvements, three RNA extraction methods, and two data analysis procedures affect…
Highly heterogeneous mutation rates in the hepatitis C virus genome.
2016
Spontaneous mutations are the ultimate source of genetic variation and have a prominent role in evolution. RNA viruses such as hepatitis C virus (HCV) have extremely high mutation rates, but these rates have been inferred from a minute fraction of genome sites, limiting our view of how RNA viruses create diversity. Here, by applying high-fidelity ultradeep sequencing to a modified replicon system, we scored >15,000 spontaneous mutations, encompassing more than 90% of the HCV genome. This revealed >1,000-fold differences in mutability across genome sites, with extreme variations even between adjacent nucleotides. We identify base composition, the presence of high- and low-mutation clusters a…