Search results for "Organic Compounds"
showing 10 items of 271 documents
The desert gerbil Psammomys obesus as a model for metformin-sensitive nutritional type 2 diabetes to protect hepatocellular metabolic damage: Impact …
2017
Introduction While metformin (MET) is the most widely prescribed antidiabetic drug worldwide, its beneficial effects in Psammomys obesus (P. obesus), a rodent model that mimics most of the metabolic features of human diabetes, have not been explored thoroughly. Here, we sought to investigate whether MET might improve insulin sensitivity, glucose homeostasis, lipid profile as well as cellular redox and energy balance in P. obesus maintained on a high energy diet (HED). Materials and methods P. obesus gerbils were randomly assigned to receive either a natural diet (ND) consisting of halophytic plants (control group) or a HED (diabetic group) for a period of 24 weeks. MET (50 mg/kg per os) was…
Using NMR in saliva to identify possible biomarkers of glioblastoma and chronic periodontitis
2018
Nowadays there is increasing interest in identifying-and using-metabolites that can be employed as biomarkers for diagnosing, treating and monitoring diseases. Saliva and NMR have been widely used for this purpose as they are fast and inexpensive methods. This case-control study aimed to find biomarkers that could be related to glioblastoma (GBL) and periodontal disease (PD) and studied a possible association between GBL and periodontal status. The participants numbered 130, of whom 10 were diagnosed with GBL and were assigned to the cases group, while the remaining 120 did not present any pathology and were assigned to the control group. On one hand, significantly increased (p < 0.05) meta…
Volatile Drosophila cuticular pheromones are affected by social but not sexual experience.
2012
International audience; Recognition of conspecifics and mates is based on a variety of sensory cues that are specific to the species, sex and social status of each individual. The courtship and mating activity of Drosophila melanogaster flies is thought to depend on the olfactory perception of a male-specific volatile pheromone, cis-vaccenyl acetate (cVA), and the gustatory perception of cuticular hydrocarbons (CHs), some of which are sexually dimorphic. Using two complementary sampling methods (headspace Solid Phase Micro-Extraction [SPME] and solvent extraction) coupled with GC-MS analysis, we measured the dispersion of pheromonal CHs in the air and on the substrate around the fly. We als…
Honeybees produce millimolar concentrations of non-neuronal acetylcholine for breeding: possible adverse effects of neonicotinoids
2016
The worldwide use of neonicotinoid pesticides has caused concern on account of their involvement in the decline of bee populations, which are key pollinators in most ecosystems. Here we describe a role of non-neuronal acetylcholine (ACh) for breeding of Apis mellifera carnica and a so far unknown effect of neonicotinoids on non-target insects. Royal jelly or larval food are produced by the hypopharyngeal gland of nursing bees and contain unusually high ACh concentrations (4–8 mM). ACh is extremely well conserved in royal jelly or brood food because of the acidic pH of 4.0. This condition protects ACh from degradation thus ensuring delivery of intact ACh to larvae. Raising the pH to ≥5.5 and…
Evidence for pleural epithelial-mesenchymal transition in murine compensatory lung growth
2017
In many mammals, including rodents and humans, removal of one lung results in the compensatory growth of the remaining lung; however, the mechanism of compensatory lung growth is unknown. Here, we investigated the changes in morphology and phenotype of pleural cells after pneumonectomy. Between days 1 and 3 after pneumonectomy, cells expressing α-smooth muscle actin (SMA), a cytoplasmic marker of myofibroblasts, were significantly increased in the pleura compared to surgical controls (p < .01). Scanning electron microscopy of the pleural surface 3 days post-pneumonectomy demonstrated regions of the pleura with morphologic features consistent with epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT); nam…
The influence of smoking status on exhaled breath profiles in asthma and COPD patients
2021
Breath analysis using eNose technology can be used to discriminate between asthma and COPD patients, but it remains unclear whether results are influenced by smoking status. We aim to study whether eNose can discriminate between ever- vs. never-smokers and smoking <
Can't simply roll it out: Evaluating a real-world virtual reality intervention to reduce driving under the influence.
2020
Driving under the influence (DUI) increases the risk of crashes. Emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), represent potentially powerful and attractive tools for the prevention of risky behaviours, such as DUI. Therefore, they are embraced in prevention efforts with VR interventions primed to grow in popularity in near future. However, little is known about the actual effectiveness of such DUI-targeting VR interventions. To help fill the knowledge gap, this study explored the effects of one VR intervention as delivered in the real world. Using pre and post test design, including an intervention group (n = 98) and a control group (n = 39), the intervention evaluation examined you…
An investigation of the diagnostic, predictive, and prognostic impacts of three colonic biopsy grading systems for acute graft versus host disease.
2021
Acute graft versus host disease (aGvHD) is an important, life-threatening complication after allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (alloHSCT). To investigate the value of multiple simultaneous colon biopsies in improving diagnostic accuracy in patients with aGvHD, we retrospectively analyzed 157 patients after alloHSCT. The biopsies were evaluated individually using three established histological grading systems (Lerner, Sale, and Melson). The maximum, minimum, median, and mean histological aGvHD grades were calculated for each patient, and the results were correlated with the Glucksberg grade of clinical manifestation of GvHD, steroid therapy status, and outcome. We found that…
Monitoring training and recovery responses with heart rate measures during standardized warm-up in elite badminton players.
2020
\(\bf Purpose\) To investigate short-term training and recovery-related effects on heart rate during a standardized submaximal running test. \(\bf Methods\) Ten elite badminton players (7 females and 3 males) were monitored during a 12-week training period in preparation for the World Championships. Exercise heart rate (HRex) and perceived exertion were measured in response to a 5-min submaximal shuttle-run test during the morning session warm-up. This test was repeatedly performed on Mondays after 1–2 days of pronounced recovery (‘recovered’ state; reference condition) and on Fridays following 4 consecutive days of training (‘strained’ state). In addition, the serum concentration of creati…
Physical and cognitive doping in university students using the unrelated question model (UQM): Assessing the influence of the probability of receivin…
2018
Study objectives: In order to increase the value of randomized response techniques (RRTs) as tools for studying sensitive issues, the present study investigated whether the prevalence estimate for a sensitive item π̂$_{s}$ assessed with the unrelated questionnaire method (UQM) is influenced by changing the probability of receiving the sensitive question p. Material and methods: A short paper-and-pencil questionnaire was distributed to 1.243 university students assessing the 12-month prevalence of physical and cognitive doping using two versions of the UQM with different probabilities for receiving the sensitive question (p ≈ 1/3 and p ≈ 2/3). Likelihood ratio tests were used to assess wheth…