Search results for "etica."
showing 10 items of 13546 documents
Interferon-Beta Therapy of Multiple Sclerosis Patients Improves the Responsiveness of T Cells for Immune Suppression by Regulatory T Cells
2015
Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an inflammatory autoimmune disease characterized by imbalanced immune regulatory networks, and MS patient-derived T effector cells are inefficiently suppressed through regulatory T cells (Treg), a phenomenon known as Treg resistance. In the current study we investigated T cell function in MS patients before and after interferon-beta therapy. We compared cytokine profile, responsiveness for Treg-mediated suppression ex vivo and evaluated reactivity of T cells in vivo using a humanized mouse model. We found that CD4+ and CD8+ T cells of therapy-naive MS patients were resistant to Treg-mediated suppression. Treg resistance is associated with an augmented IL-6 product…
Retinoblastoma epidemiology: Does the evidence matter?
2007
It has been proposed that retinoblastoma is 'caused' by two sequential mutations affecting the RB1 gene, but this is a rather outdated view of cancer aetiology that does not take into account a large amount of new acquisitions such as chromosomal and epigenetic alterations. Retinoblastoma remains probably the only cancer in which the rather simplistic 'two hit' mutational model is still considered of value, although cancer is known to be associated with genomic and microsatellite instability, defects of the DNA mismatch repair system, alterations of DNA methylation and hystone acethylation/deacethylation, and aneuploidy. Moreover, as it is shown herein, the predictions made by the 'two hit'…
Cross-Cultural Comparison of American and Finnish College Students' Exercise Behavior Using Transtheoretical Model Constructs
2004
Although the benefits of exercise are well documented, an international problem of physical inactivity exists. More research, especially theory based, has been recommended. One promising approach for studying exercise behavior is that proposed in the Transtheoretical Model (TTM) of behavior change. This model, however, has received minimal cross-cultural attention and, relative to the current study, measurement instruments have only recently been translated into the Finnish language. The purpose of this study was to assess American and Finnish college students' exercise behaviors on the basis of TTM. Participants were American (n = 169) and Finnish (n = 168) college students who completed l…
Visual simulation through different intraocular lenses using adaptive optics: Effect of tilt and decentration
2011
Purpose To analyze visual quality differences between intraocular lenses (IOLs) and assess the impact of IOL decentration and tilt on visual quality. Setting University of Valencia, Valencia, Spain. Design Cohort study. Methods The crx1 adaptive optics visual simulator was used to simulate the wavefront aberration pattern of 2 commercially available aspheric aberration-correcting IOLs (Acrysof IQ SN60WF and Tecnis ZA9003) and 2 spherical IOLs (Akreos Adapt and Triplato) in 5 situations: centered, decentered 0.2 mm and 0.4 mm, and tilted 2 degrees and 4 degrees. Monocular distance visual acuity at 100%, 50%, and 10% contrast and the depth of focus were measured. Results Ten eyes of 10 patien…
Nucleoplasmic bridges and acrocentric chromosome associations as early markers of exposure to low levels of ionising radiation in occupationally expo…
2014
Ionising radiation, with the contribution of telomere shortening, induces DNA double-strand breaks that result in chromosome end fusion, nucleoplasmic bridges (NPBs) and chromosome aberrations (ChAbs) as well as dicentric chromosomes. In order to investigate the chromosomal damage induced by occupational ionising radiation at low exposure levels, and to find early markers of health hazard, peripheral lymphocytes of occupationally exposed hospital workers were cytogenetically analysed. Results showed a significant difference in the frequency of ChAbs in exposed subjects relative to controls. A significant number of NPBs between nuclei of binucleated cultured lymphocytes from exposed subjects…
Knockdown of NANOG Reduces Cell Proliferation and Induces G0/G1 Cell Cycle Arrest in Human Adipose Stem Cells
2019
The core components of regenerative medicine are stem cells with high self-renewal and tissue regeneration potentials. Adult stem cells can be obtained from many organs and tissues. NANOG, SOX2 and OCT4 represent the core regulatory network that suppresses differentiation-associated genes, maintaining the pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells. The roles of NANOG in maintaining self-renewal and undifferentiated status of adult stem cells are still not perfectly established. In this study we define the effects of downregulation of NANOG in maintaining self-renewal and undifferentiated state in mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from subcutaneous adipose tissue (hASCs). hASCs were expanded…
Noise estimation from averaged diffusion weighted images: Can unbiased quantitative decay parameters assist cancer evaluation?
2013
Purpose Multiexponential decay parameters are estimated from diffusion-weighted-imaging that generally have inherently low signal-to-noise ratio and non-normal noise distributions, especially at high b-values. Conventional nonlinear regression algorithms assume normally distributed noise, introducing bias into the calculated decay parameters and potentially affecting their ability to classify tumors. This study aims to accurately estimate noise of averaged diffusion-weighted-imaging, to correct the noise induced bias, and to assess the effect upon cancer classification. Methods A new adaptation of the median-absolute-deviation technique in the wavelet-domain, using a closed form approximati…
Modeling of Human Posturokinetic Movements by a Linear Feedback System: Relations among Feedback Coefficients
2002
This study describes a method of modeling human trunk and whole body backward bending and suggests a possible neural control strategy. The hypothesis was that the control system can be modeled as a linear feedback system, in which the torque acting at a given joint is a function of the state variables (angular positions and angular velocities). The linear system enabled representation of the feedback system by a gain matrix. The matrix was computed from the kinematics recorded by a movement analysis system and from the joint torques calculated by inverse dynamics. To validate the control model, a comparison was made between the angular kinematics yielded by the model and the experimental d…
Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis and Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato detected in the blood of Norwegian patients with erythema migrans
2017
The most common tick-borne human disease in Norway is Lyme borreliosis. Ticks in Norway also harbour less known disease-causing agents such as Candidatus Neoehrlichia mikurensis, Borrelia miyamotoi and Rickettsia helvetica. However, human infections caused by these pathogens have never been described in Norway. The main aims of the study were to evaluate the contribution of several tick-borne bacterial agents, other than Borrelia burgdorferi sensu lato, to zoonotic diseases in Norway and to determine their clinical pictures. Blood samples from 70 symptomatic tick-bitten adults from the Agder counties in southern Norway were screened for seven tick-borne pathogens by using a commercial multi…
Mutation spectrum and clinical investigation of achromatopsia patients with mutations in the GNAT2 gene
2019
Achromatopsia (ACHM) is a hereditary cone photoreceptor disorder characterized by the inability to discriminate colors, nystagmus, photophobia, and low-visual acuity. Six genes have been associated with this rare autosomal recessively inherited disease, including the GNAT2 gene encoding the catalytic α-subunit of the G-protein transducin which is expressed in the cone photoreceptor outer segment. Out of a cohort of 1,116 independent families diagnosed with a primary clinical diagnosis of ACHM, we identified 23 patients with ACHM from 19 independent families with likely causative mutations in GNAT2, representing 1.7% of our large ACHM cohort. In total 22 different potentially disease-causing…