Search results for "plants"
showing 10 items of 1914 documents
HUMAN SAFETY PERFORMANCE IN HIGH RELIABILITY ORGANIZATIONS: THE CASE OF THE NUCLEAR INDUSTRY
2018
Over the last few decades, the study of safety in high reliability organizations has not paid enough attention to the human role and its contribution to a reliable operation. Therefore, the literature about human safety performance is scarce and disjointed. The present paper integrates the existing knowledge on workers’ safety performance in high risk industries, specifically in the nuclear industry. In order to do this, we provide a literature review in which the concept of “safety performance” is clarified, and at the same time, we present the most recent research studies and models on this concept.
Activation of AMPK by medicinal plants and natural products: Its role in type 2 diabetes mellitus
2019
Type-2 Diabetes (T2D) is a metabolic disease characterized by permanent hyperglycemia, whose development can be prevented or delayed by using therapeutic agents and implementing lifestyle changes. Some therapeutic alternatives include regulation of glycemia through modulation of different mediators and enzymes, such as AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a highly relevant cellular energy sensor for metabolic homeostasis regulation, with particular relevance in the modulation of liver and muscle insulin sensitivity. This makes it a potential therapeutic target for antidiabetic drugs. In fact, some of them are standard drugs used for treatment of T2D, such as biguanides and thiazoli-dindione…
Cytotoxicity of 35 medicinal plants from Sudan towards sensitive and multidrug-resistant cancer cells
2015
Abstract Background Cancer is a complex disease with multiple genetic and epigenetic alterations. Since decades, the hallmark of cancer therapy is chemotherapy. Cytotoxic drugs erase rapidly dividing cells without sufficient differentiation between normal and cancerous cells resulting in severe side effects in normal tissues. Recently, strategies for cancer treatment focused on targeting specific proteins involved in tumor growth and progression. The present study was designed to investigate the cytotoxicity of 65 crude extracts from 35 Sudanese medicinal plants towards various cancer cell lines expressing molecular mechanisms of resistance towards classical chemotherapeutics (two ATP-bindi…
Pharmacogenomic Characterization of Cytotoxic Compounds from Salvia officinalis in Cancer Cells.
2015
Salvia officinalis is used as a dietary supplement with diverse medicinal activity (e.g. antidiabetic and antiatherosclerotic effects). The plant also exerts profound cytotoxicity toward cancer cells. Here, we investigated possible modes of action to explain its activity toward drug-resistant tumor cells. Log10IC50 values of two constituents of S. officinalis (ursolic acid, pomolic acid) were correlated to the expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters (P-glycoprotein/ABCB1/MDR1, MRP1/ABCC1, BCRP/ABCG2) and epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) or mutations in RAS oncogenes and the tumor suppressor gene TP53 of the NCI panel of cell lines. Gene expression profiles predicting se…
Accuracy combining different brands of implants and abutments
2013
Objective: To evaluate the vertical misfit between different brands of dental implants and prosthetic abutments, with or without mechanical torque, and to study their possible combination. Study design: Five different brands of implant were used in the study: Biofit (Castemaggiore, Italy), Bioner S.A. (Barcelona, Spain), 3i Biomet (Palm Beach, U.S.A.), BTI (Alava, Spain) and Nobel Biocare (Göteborg, Sweden), with standard 4.1 mm heads and external hexagons, and their respective machined prosthetic abutments. The implant-to- abutment fit/misfit was evaluated at four points (vestibular, lingual/palatine, mesial and distal) between implants and abutments of the same brand and different brands,…
Putrescine accumulation in Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic lines enhances tolerance to dehydration and freezing stress
2011
Polyamines have been globally associated to plant responses to abiotic stress. Particularly, putrescine has been related to a better response to cold and dehydration stresses. It is known that this polyamine is involved in cold tolerance, since Arabidopsis thaliana plants mutated in the key enzyme responsible for putrescine synthesis (arginine decarboxilase, ADC; EC 4.1.1.19) are more sensitive than the wild type to this stress. Although it is speculated that the over-expression of ADC genes may confer tolerance, this is hampered by pleiotropic effects arising from the constitutive expression of enzymes from the polyamine metabolism. Here, we present our work using A. thaliana transgenic pl…
Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated genetic transformation of the cardenolide-producing plant Digitalis minor L.
2003
A repeatable transformation system has been established for Digitalis minor using Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Leaf explants from 30-day-old seedlings were inoculated with either EHA105 (carrying the nptII and gusA genes) or AGL1 (with the bar and gusA genes) strains. Among the tested factors influencing T-DNA transfer to plants, the EHA105 strain and the addition of acetosyringone to the co-culture medium increased transformation. The highest transformation efficiency (8.4%) was obtained when freshly isolated explants, soaked in a bacterial suspension with an OD 550 of 0.9, were subcultured on selection medium after a 4-day co-culture with the bacteria. Evidence of stable transgene integrati…
Regeneration of herbicide-tolerant black locust transgenic plants by SAAT
2003
A protocol based on SAAT (sonication-assisted Agrobacterium-mediated transformation) has been developed to obtain herbicide-resistant transgenic black locust (Robinia pseudoacacia L.) plants. Cotyledon explants were co-cultivated with Agrobacterium AGL1 strain carrying the pTAB16 plasmid (bar and gusA genes). The effects of bacterial concentration (OD550 of 0.3, 0.6, 0.8) and method of infection (sonication vs immersion) on bacterial delivery were determined by assaying cotyledons for transient beta-glucuronidase expression 3 days after infection. SAAT increases transient expression efficiency especially at an OD550 of 0.6. After determining bacterial concentration and infection method, oth…
Application of the General Model "Biological Nutrient Removal Model No.1" to upgrade two full-scale WWTPs
2012
In this paper, two practical case studies for upgrading two wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) using the general model BNRM1 (Biological Nutrient Removal Model No. 1) are presented. In the first case study, the Tarragona WWTP was upgraded by reducing the phosphorus load to the anaerobic digester in order to minimize the precipitation problems. Phosphorus load reduction was accomplished by mixing the primary sludge and the secondary sludge and by elutriating the mixed sludge. In the second case study, the Alcantarilla WWTP, the nutrient removal was enhanced by maintaining a relatively low dissolved oxygen concentration in Stage A to maintain the acidogenic bacteria activity. The VFA produce…
Topical anti-inflammatory activity of some Asian medicinal plants used in dermatological disorders.
2001
The topical anti-inflammatory activity of extracts from Cassia angustifolia, Rheum palmatum, Coptis chinensis, Phellodendron amurense and Scutellaria baicalensis, plants used in traditional East Asian medicine against different skin disorders, was studied. Though in different degree, all the extracts significantly inhibited the edema induced by 12-O-tetradecanoylphorbol-13-acetate (TPA), in both single or multiple application, oxazolone, and arachidonic acid (AA). None of the extracts inhibited in vitro the activity of phospholipase A(2) (PLA(2)) from Naja naja.