Search results for "Tropic"

Le pressioni antropiche sulle coste: note introduttive

2009

Functional characterization of two melanocortin (MC) receptors in lamprey showing orthology to the MC1 and MC4 receptor subtypes

2007

Abstract Background The melanocortin (MC) receptors have a key role in regulating body weight and pigmentation. They belong to the rhodopsin family of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs). The purpose of this study was to identify ancestral MC receptors in agnathan, river lamprey. Results We report cloning of two MC receptors from river lamprey. The lamprey receptors, designated MCa and MCb, showed orthology to the MC1 and MC4 receptor subtypes, respectively. The molecular clock analysis suggested that lamprey MC receptor genes were not duplicated recently and diverged from each other more than 400 MYR ago. Expression and pharmacological characterization showed that the lamprey MCa receptor …

Sialotranscriptomics of the argasid tick ornithodoros moubata along the trophogonic cycle

2021

32 páginas, 8 tablas, 6 figuras

Extracellular vesicles from parasitic helminths contain specific excretory/secretory proteins and are internalized in intestinal host cells.

2012

The study of host-parasite interactions has increased considerably in the last decades, with many studies focusing on the identification of parasite molecules (i.e. surface or excretory/secretory proteins (ESP)) as potential targets for new specific treatments and/or diagnostic tools. In parallel, in the last few years there have been significant advances in the field of extracellular vesicles research. Among these vesicles, exosomes of endocytic origin, with a characteristic size ranging from 30-100 nm, carry several atypical secreted proteins in different organisms, including parasitic protozoa. Here, we present experimental evidence for the existence of exosome-like vesicles in parasitic…

Proteomics of foodborne trematodes

2011

Abstract Food-borne trematodiases are among the most neglected tropical diseases, not only in terms of research funding, but also in the public media. The Trematoda class contains several species identified as the causal agents of these diseases whose biological cycle, geographical distribution and epidemiology have been well characterised. The diagnosis of these diseases is based on parasitological techniques and only a limited number of drugs are currently available for treatments, most of which are unspecific. Therefore, in-depth studies to identify new and specific targets for both effective diagnosis and treatments are urgently needed. Currently, little molecular information is availab…

Psychotropic drugs and driving: prevalence and types

2013

Background Some psychotropic medications (e.g., benzodiazepines, sedative antidepressants, etc.) may impair cognitive and psychomotor functions and, therefore, endanger traffic safety (Ravera, Br J Clin Pharmacol, 72(3):505–513, 2011). They affect detection, registration, and information processing, problem solving, and decision-making processes, and they also affect emotional and social aspects. The objective of this research was to clarify three closely related issues that are significant for traffic safety: the prevalence of psychotropic drugs on driving, the most frequently used psychotropic drugs to treat depression, anxiety, insomnia, or any tranquilizers (whether it is a medical pres…

Column switching and high-performance liquid chromatography in the analysis of amitriptyline, nortriptyline and hydroxylated metabolites in human pla…

1992

A column-switching system for the direct injection of plasma or serum samples, followed by isocratic high-performance liquid chromatography and ultraviolet detection, is described for the simultaneous quantitation of the tricyclic antidepressant amitriptyline, its demethylated metabolite nortriptyline and the E- and Z-isomers of 10-hydroxyamitriptyline and 10-hydroxynortriptyline. The method included adsorption of amitriptyline and metabolites on a reversed-phase C8 clean-up column (10 microns; 20 mm x 4.6 mm I.D.), washing of unwanted material to waste and, after on-line column-switching, separation on a cyanopropyl analytical column (5 microns; 250 mm x 4.6 mm I.D.). The compounds of inte…

Ion mobility spectrometry and high resolution mass-spectrometry as methodologies for rapid identification of the last generation of new psychoactive …

2018

A new drug trafficking trend has been observed in the last years by the introduction in the black market of new psychoactive substances (NPS) in order to difficult competent authority controls. In this study, ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) and high-resolution mass-spectrometry (HRMS) were proposed as vanguard and rearguard methodologies for the rapid identification of the last generation of NPS in seizures. The combined use of IMS and HRMS has been evaluated through the analysis of 24 NPS seized from 2016 to 2018 in Valencia (Spain) to demonstrate the utility of this approach. The characteristic reduced mobility (K0) values for seized NPS were determined and mass-mobility relationships wer…

Psychopharmacological Drugs as Represented in the Press: Results of Systematic Analysis of Newspapers and Popular Magazines

1996

The representation of mental diseases and psychopharmacological drugs in the media, especially in the press, is thought to be of great impact on people's opinions on the subject. During the course of one year, all articles about psychopharmacological drugs and cardiac drugs published in nineteen German newspapers were collected. All statements, together with related aspects, reasons for prescription, individual details of the patient, effects and side-effects, were registered and classified according to a key. The results show that, in contrast to 13% of the articles about cardiac drugs, half of the reports about psychopharmacological drugs deal primarily with the problems of side-effects a…

Role of geometry and anisotropic diffusion for modelling PO2 profiles in working red muscle

1990

A 3-dimensional analytical model of O2 diffusion in heavily working muscle is proposed which considers anisotropic, myoglobin (Mb)-facilitated O2 diffusion inside the muscle fiber and a carrier-free layer separating erythrocytes and fiber. The model is used to study the effects of some commonly applied simplifying assumptions (reduced dimensionality, neglected anisotropy) on the resulting PO2 distributions: (1) In order not to underestimate PO2 drops near erythrocytes, modelling O2 transport in 3 dimensions is important. (2) For a capillary-to-fiber ratio of 1, the results from the 2-dimensional version of the present model and from a Krogh-type model which incorporates a carrier-free layer…