Search results for "lcsh:Biotechnology"
showing 10 items of 126 documents
Tailoring the Interface of Biomaterials to Design Effective Scaffolds
2018
Tissue engineering (TE) is a multidisciplinary science, which including principles from material science, biology and medicine aims to develop biological substitutes to restore damaged tissues and organs. A major challenge in TE is the choice of suitable biomaterial to fabricate a scaffold that mimics native extracellular matrix guiding resident stem cells to regenerate the functional tissue. Ideally, the biomaterial should be tailored in order that the final scaffold would be (i) biodegradable to be gradually replaced by regenerating new tissue, (ii) mechanically similar to the tissue to regenerate, (iii) porous to allow cell growth as nutrient, oxygen and waste transport and (iv) bioactiv…
Age-Related Adaptations of Lower Limb Intersegmental Coordination During Walking
2019
Lower-limb intersegmental coordination is a complex component of human walking. Aging may result in impairments of motor control and coordination contributing to the decline in mobility inducing loss of autonomy. Investigating intersegmental coordination could therefore provide insights into age-related changes in neuromuscular control of gait. However, it is unknown whether the age-related declines in gait performance relates to intersegmental coordination. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of aging on the coordination of lower limb kinematics and kinetics during walking at a conformable speed. We then assessed the body kinematics and kinetics from gait analyses of 84 volunt…
Evaluation of the antibacterial power and biocompatibility of zinc oxide nanorods decorated graphene nanoplatelets: New perspectives for antibiodeter…
2017
Background Nanotechnologies are currently revolutionizing the world around us, improving the quality of our lives thanks to a multitude of applications in several areas including the environmental preservation, with the biodeterioration phenomenon representing one of the major concerns. Results In this study, an innovative nanomaterial consisting of graphene nanoplatelets decorated by zinc oxide nanorods (ZNGs) was tested for the ability to inhibit two different pathogens belonging to bacterial genera frequently associated with nosocomial infections as well as biodeterioration phenomenon: the Gram-positive Staphylococcus aureus and the Gram-negative Pseudomonas aeruginosa. A time- and dose-…
Production of Adenosine by Ectonucleotidases: A Key Factor in Tumor Immunoescape
2012
It is now well known that tumor immunosurveillance contributes to the control of cancer growth. Many mechanisms can be used by cancer cells to avoid the antitumor immune response. One such mechanism relies on the capacity of cancer cells or more generally of the tumor microenvironment to generate adenosine, a major molecule involved in antitumor T cell response suppression. Adenosine is generated by the dephosphorylation of extracellular ATP released by dying tumor cells. The conversion of ATP into adenosine is mediated by ectonucleotidase molecules, namely, CD73 and CD39. These molecules are frequently expressed in the tumor bed by a wide range of cells including tumor cells, regulatory T …
Chicken adaptive response to low energy diet: main role of the hypothalamic lipid metabolism revealed by a phenotypic and multi-tissue transcriptomic…
2019
AbstractBackgroundProduction conditions of layer chicken can vary in terms of temperature or diet energy content compared to the controlled environment where pure-bred selection is undertaken. The aim of this study was to better understand the long-term effects of a 15%-energy depleted diet on egg-production, energy homeostasis and metabolism via a multi-tissue transcriptomic analysis. Study was designed to compare effects of the nutritional intervention in two layer chicken lines divergently selected for residual feed intake.ResultsChicken adapted to the diet in terms of production by significantly increasing their feed intake and decreasing their body weight and body fat composition, whil…
Multimodal Device for Real-Time Monitoring of Skin Oxygen Saturation and Microcirculation Function
2019
The present study introduces a recently developed compact hybrid device for real-time monitoring of skin oxygen saturation and temperature distribution. The prototype involves a snapshot hyperspectral camera, multi-wavelength illuminator, thermal camera, and built-in computer with custom-developed software. To validate this device in-vivo we performed upper arm vascular occlusion on eight healthy volunteers. Palm skin oxygen saturation maps were analyzed in real-time using k-means segmentation algorithm and two-layer optical diffuse model. The prototype system demonstrated a satisfying performance of skin hyperspectral measurements in the spectral range of 507&ndash
Reliability of genomic variants across different next-generation sequencing platforms and bioinformatic processing pipelines
2021
Abstract Background Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) is the fundament of various studies, providing insights into questions from biology and medicine. Nevertheless, integrating data from different experimental backgrounds can introduce strong biases. In order to methodically investigate the magnitude of systematic errors in single nucleotide variant calls, we performed a cross-sectional observational study on a genomic cohort of 99 subjects each sequenced via (i) Illumina HiSeq X, (ii) Illumina HiSeq, and (iii) Complete Genomics and processed with the respective bioinformatic pipeline. We also repeated variant calling for the Illumina cohorts with GATK, which allowed us to investigate the e…
JAK3/STAT5/6 Pathway Alterations Are Associated with Immune Deviation in CD8+ T Cells in Renal Cell Carcinoma Patients
2010
To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying altered T cell response in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) patients, we compared autologous and allogeneic CD8(+) T cell responses against RCC line from RCC patients and their HLA-matched donors, using mixed lymphocyte/tumor cell cultures (MLTCs). In addition, we analyzed the expression of molecules associated with cell cycle regulation. Autologous MLTC responder CD8(+) T cells showed cytotoxic activity against RCC cell lines; however the analysis of the distribution of CD8(+) T-cell subsets revealed that allogenic counterparts mediate superior antitumor efficacy. In RCC patients, a decreased proliferative response to tumor, associated with defe…
Hair Mercury Levels Detection in Fishermen from Sicily (Italy) by ICP-MS Method after Microwave-Assisted Digestion
2015
A number of ninety-six hair samples from Sicilian fishermen were examined for total mercury detection by an Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) method. The mercury levels obtained were compared with mercury levels of 96 hair samples from a control group, in order to assess potential exposure to heavy metals of Sicilian fishermen due to fish consumption and closeness to industrial activities. Furthermore, the mercury levels obtained from hair samples were sorted by sampling area in order to verify the possible risks linked to the different locations. The overall mean concentration in the hair of the population of fishermen was6.45±7.03 μg g−1, with a highest value in a fish…
In silico and in vitro comparative analysis to select, validate and test SNPs for human identification.
2007
Abstract Background The recent advances in human genetics have recently provided new insights into phenotypic variation and genome variability. Current forensic DNA techniques involve the search for genetic similarities and differences between biological samples. Consequently the selection of ideal genomic biomarkers for human identification is crucial in order to ensure the highest stability and reproducibility of results. Results In the present study, we selected and validated 24 SNPs which are useful in human identification in 1,040 unrelated samples originating from three different populations (Italian, Benin Gulf and Mongolian). A Rigorous in silico selection of these markers provided …