Search results for "alternative"
showing 10 items of 1466 documents
The Complement System: Activation and Control
1985
One of the hallmarks of immunology has been analysis and characterization of the C system in biological fluids. It is composed of 11 proteins of the “classical” pathway:1 C1q, C1r, C1s, C4, C2, C3, C5, C6, C7, C8, and C9. There are three proteins of the “alternative” pathway (IUIS-WHO Nomenclature Committee 1981) B, D, and P. Finally, there are four control proteins: C1 inhibitor (Cl¯ INH) and C4b binding protein (C4b-bp) for the classical pathway, I (C3b inactivator or C3b INA) and H (β1 or C3b INA accelerator) for the alternative pathway, and anaphylatoxin inactivator. Due to the dramatic advances in protein chemistry, these 19 distinct serum proteins have been highly purified and charact…
Road Thermal Collector for Building Heating in South Europe: Numerical Modeling and Design of an Experimental Set-Up
2022
The combination/integration of renewable energy and storage systems appears to have significant potential, achieving high-energy results with lower costs and emissions. One way to cover the thermal needs of a building is through solar energy and its seasonal storage in the ground. The SMARTEP project aims to create an experimental area that provides for the construction of a road solar thermal collector directly connected to a seasonal low-temperature geothermal storage with vertical boreholes. The storage can be connected to a ground-to-water heat pump for building acclimatization. This system will meet the requirements of visual impact and reduction of the occupied area. Nevertheless, sev…
贝叶斯因子及其在JASP中的实现
2018
Statistical inference plays a critical role in modern scientific research, however, the dominant method for statistical inference in science, null hypothesis significance testing (NHST), is often misunderstood and misused, which leads to unreproducible findings. To address this issue, researchers propose to adopt the Bayes factor as an alternative to NHST. The Bayes factor is a principled Bayesian tool for model selection and hypothesis testing, and can be interpreted as the strength for both the null hypothesis H0 and the alternative hypothesis H1 based on the current data. Compared to NHST, the Bayes factor has the following advantages: it quantifies the evidence that the data provide for…
POLITICS, ACTIVISM AND TROLLING ON THE RUSSIAN INTERNET
2020
In the years that have passed since the social media powered protest movement of 2011-2012, the Russian government has dramatically expanded its restrictions on the Internet, while simultaneously consolidating its grip on traditional media. The Internet, which long provided a space for alternative media and free speech to blossom, is becoming increasingly restricted by a growing corpus of legislation and expanding state surveillance. With legally ill-defined prohibitions on, e.g., offending the feelings of religious believers, propagating 'non-traditional family values' and disseminating 'extremism' in place, online freedom of speech in Russia is at threat. Meanwhile, the Russian state cont…
Intragenic G-quadruplex structure formed in the human CD133 and its biological and translational relevance.
2016
Cancer stem cells (CSCs) have been identified in several solid malignancies and are now emerging as a plausible target for drug discovery. Beside the questionable existence of CSCs specific markers, the expression of CD133 was reported to be responsible for conferring CSC aggressiveness. Here, we identified two G-rich sequences localized within the introns 3 and 7 of the CD133 gene able to form G-quadruplex (G4) structures, bound and stabilized by small molecules. We further showed that treatment of patient-derived colon CSCs with G4-interacting agents triggers alternative splicing that dramatically impairs the expression of CD133. Interestingly, this is strongly associated with a loss of C…
A review of the biological and pharmacological activities of saponins.
1996
Summary This paper reviews the important biological and pharmacological activities of saponins reported over the last few years. These include cancer-related activity, as well as antiphlogistic and antiallergic, immunomodulating, antihepatotoxic, antiviral, hypoglycemic, antifungal and molluscicidal activities. The action of saponins on the cardiovascular, central nervous, and endocrine systems and other miscellaneous effects are also discussed.
The second component of human complement: Detection of two hemolytic forms in plasma by pH Variation
1988
The second component of human complement (C2) in pseudoglobulin prepared from normal plasma eluted as a single peak at high conductivity (30 mS) and pH 4.5 from the cationic exchangers S-Sepharose or Mono S in the Fast Protein Liquid Chromatography (FPLC) System. The C2 was stable at pH 4.5 and 0 degrees C if enzyme inhibitors were used and the pH was raised to 6.0 after elution from the columns. After rechromatography on Mono S in the FPLC System at the median isoelectric point of 5.5 or pH 6.0, the C2 eluted as two distinct hemolytic forms: the first peaked at 16 mS, the second at 30 mS. The two forms of C2 did not correlate with the allotypic variant of C2 in individual, normal human pla…
Characterisation of Diarylheptanoid- and Flavonoid-type Phenolics in Corylus avellana L. Leaves and Bark by HPLC/DAD-ESI/MS
2013
Introduction The leaves of Corylus avellana L. (common hazel, Betulaceae), a plant with a wide distribution in Europe, have been used in folk medicine for various diseases, but phytochemical exploration of C. avellana is still incomplete. To the best of our knowledge there is no previous report concerning diarylheptanoids in C. avellana, although these compounds show a frequent occurrence among Betulaceae plants. Objective To improve existing online chromatographic methods for the investigation of the phenolic compounds in C. avellana leaves and bark, focusing on diarylheptanoid-type molecules. Methods Dried and powdered leaves and bark of C. avellana were extracted with increasing polarity…
The Anaphylatoxic Peptide C3a of Guinea Pig Complement
1978
Abstract Highly purified guinea pig C3a was obtained after specific cleavage of isolated C3 by the alternative pathway enzyme VF-B in a one step procedure. It turned out to be a low molecular weight peptide with basic character (M.W. 9500; isoelectric point above 9.4). C3a represents an antigenetic determinant of its own in the native C3 molecule, different from the B determinant. Guinea pig C3a is resistant to 100°C for 10 minutes. Its smooth muscle contracting activity can be destroyed by trypsin and carboxypeptidase B. These findings indicate that guinea pig C3a is quite similar to human C3a.
LC-NMR applied to the characterisation of cardiac glycosides from three micropropagatedIsoplexisspecies
2002
Species of the genus Isoplexis are of particular interest with respect to the biochemical pathway leading to the cardenolides. It is important to determine whether or not 5β-configured compounds, typically produced by Digitalis species and used in medicine, are present together with their respective α-isomers in Isoplexis spp. Structure elucidation by LC-NMR of the products isolated from in vitro regenerated Isoplexis canariensis, I. chalcantha and I. isabelliana was carried out, and similarities were observed among the products of the three species, including the presence of digitoxigenin-type cardenolides in I. canariensis and xysmalogenin and canarigenin derivatives in I. chalcantha neve…