Search results for "Micro"

Role of Biological Sex in the Cardiovascular-Gut Microbiome Axis

2022

There has been a recent, unprecedented interest in the role of gut microbiota in host health and disease. Technological advances have dramatically expanded our knowledge of the gut microbiome. Increasing evidence has indicated a strong link between gut microbiota and the development of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). In the present article, we discuss the contribution of gut microbiota in the development and progression of CVD. We further discuss how the gut microbiome may differ between the sexes and how it may be influenced by sex hormones. We put forward that regulation of microbial composition and function by sex might lead to sex-biased disease susceptibility, thereby offering a mechani…

Microchimerism in multiple sclerosis: The association between sex of offspring and MRI features in women with multiple sclerosis

2023

AimsDuring pregnancy, fetal cells can migrate to the mother via blood circulation. A percentage of these cells survive in maternal tissues for decades generating a population of fetal microchimeric cells (fMCs), whose biological role is unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the sex of offspring, an indirect marker of fMCs, and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) features in women with multiple sclerosis (MS).MethodsWe recruited 26 nulliparous MS patients (NPp), 20 patients with at least one male son (XYp), and 8 patients with only daughters (XXp). Each patient underwent brain MR scan to acquire 3D-T2w FLAIR FatSat and 3D-T1w FSPGR/TFE. Lesion Segmentation To…

Microchimerism and multiple sclerosis: a study on the impact of the sex of offspring on clinical, radiological, and paraclinical features of maternal…

2023

Background. Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a chronic autoimmune disorder characterised by inflammation and neurodegeneration and representing one of the most common causes of neurologic disability among young adults. Over the last 40 years, several authors have confirmed the existence of fetal cells in maternal blood and their pregnancy-related origin, demonstrating that pregnancy may establish a long-term, low-grade chimeric state in women. The biological and clinical significance of fetal microchimeric cells (fMCs) in maternal health is largely unknown, although a role in autoimmune diseases have been hypothesised. Aims. The overarching aim of my PhD dissertation was to investigate the role o…

Genetic variability of the blue and red shrimp Aristeus antennatus in the Western Mediterranean Sea inferred by DNA microsatellite loci

2012

Genetic variation at eight microsatellite loci was studied in nine populations of the blue and red shrimp Aristeus antennatus to investigate whether distinct stocks are present in the Western Mediterranean Sea. A high level of gene flow and no evidence of genetic partitioning were discovered. No significant variation was found (FST = 0.00673, P-value = 0.067) even when shrimps from exploited and those from deep-water unexploited grounds were compared. No evidence of reduction or expansion of population size in the recent past was found, as indicated by the bottleneck and interlocus g-tests. Our results are consistent with previous studies using mitochondrial gene methods and allozymes, indi…

Inhibition of denitrification and N2O emission by urine-derived benzoic and hippuric acid

2006

Abstract Hippuric acid (HA) in cattle urine acts as a natural inhibitor of soil N2O emissions. As HA concentration varies with diet, we determined critical HA levels. We also tested the hypothesis that the inhibition occurs because the HA breakdown product benzoic acid (BA) inhibits denitrification rates. During a 64-day incubation, we quantified emissions from artificial urine varying in HA, BA and glycine (Gly) concentrations, added to a sandy pasture soil. Increasing HA concentration from 0.4 to 5.6 mmol kg−1 soil significantly decreased the average N2O flux by 54%. At 3.9 mmol kg−1 soil, denitrification levels were 50% reduced for BA as compared to Gly. We conclude that HA inhibits both…

Inulin Derivatives Obtained Via Enhanced Microwave Synthesis for Nucleic Acid Based Drug Delivery

2015

A new class of therapeutic agents with a high potential for the treatment of different socially relevant human diseases is represented by Nucleic Acid Based Drugs (NABD), including small interfering RNAs (siRNA), decoy oligodeoxynucleotides (decoy ODN) and antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs). Although NABD can be engineered to be specifically directed against virtually any target, their susceptibility to nuclease degradation and the difficulty of delivery into target tissues severely limit their use in clinical practice and require the development of an appropriate nanostructured delivery system. For delivery of NABD, Inulin (Inu), a natural, water soluble and biocompatible polysaccharide, wa…

Wpływ dodatku bioaktywnych mikrocząstek srebra na właściwości użytkowe tynków mineralnych

2013

Aktywność mikroorganizmów, a przede wszystkim bakterii i grzybów w istotny sposób wpływa na swoiste cechy i wartość użytkową materiałów budowlanych. Jest to rodzaj korozji biologicznej, stanowiącej szczególny przypadek korozji chemicznej, która powoduje obniżenie lub utratę właściwości użytkowych materiału. Oprócz korozji biologicznej, grzyby mogą również stwarzać zagrożenie dla zdrowia użytkowników zasiedlonych obiektów. Ich toksyczne oddziaływanie na zdrowie ludzi i zwierząt uważa się za znacznie groźniejsze w skutkach od biokorozji materiałów. Stosowane obecnie środki biobójcze w postaci biocydów i nanocząstek srebra również mogą stanowić zagrożenie. W prezentowanej pracy przedstawiono w…

Pulicaria glutinosa Extract: A Toolbox to Synthesize Highly Reduced Graphene Oxide-Silver Nanocomposites

2015

A green, one-step approach for the preparation of graphene/Ag nanocomposites (PE-HRG-Ag) via simultaneous reduction of both graphene oxide (GRO) and silver ions using Pulicaria glutinosa plant extract (PE) as reducing agent is reported. The plant extract functionalizes the surfaces of highly reduced graphene oxide (HRG) which helps in conjugating the Ag NPs to HRG. Increasing amounts of Ag precursor enhanced the density of Ag nanoparticles (NPs) on HRG. The preparation of PE-HRG-Ag nanocomposite is monitored by using ultraviolet-visible (UV-Vis) spectroscopy, powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX). The as-prepared PE-HRG-Ag nanocomposities display excellent surfac…

Popolazioni microbiche del corpo umano. Microbioti e Uomo: un rapporto intenso tra microrganismi ed esseri umani

2011

Computationally Efficient Innovative Techniques for the Design-Oriented Simulation of Free-Running and Driven Microwave Oscillators

2014

Analysis techniques for injection-locked oscillators/amplifiers (ILO) can be broadly divided into two classes. To the first class belong methods with a strong and rigorous theoretical basis, that can be applied to rather general circuits/systems but which are very cumbersome and/or time-consuming to apply. To the second class belong methods which are very simple and fast to apply, but either lack of validity/accuracy or are applicable only to very simple or particular cases. In this thesis, a novel method is proposed which aims at combining the rigorousness and broad applicability characterizing the first class of analysis techniques above cited with the simplicity and computational efficie…