Search results for "slate"

Effects of polymorphisms of the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) gene on free estradiol and bone mineral density.

2009

Polymorphisms of the sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) gene are associated with differences in SHBG levels, influencing the risk for breast cancer and polycystic ovarian syndrome, but no association has been reported for osteoporosis in postmenopausal women.To determine the effect of G to A substitution in the 5'UTR (rs1799941) and the Asp356Asn (rs6259) polymorphisms of the SHBG gene on bone mineral density (BMD).This is a cross-sectional study in a university-based research center from May, 2002 to December, 2007. A total of two hundred and thirteen healthy postmenopausal Caucasian womenor = 1 year from last menstrual period participated to this study. Serum estradiol by ultrasensitive …

Murine bone marrow-derived mast cells as potent producers of IL-9: costimulatory function of IL-10 and kit ligand in the presence of IL-1.

2000

Abstract Recently, the Th2-type cytokine IL-9 was identified by genetic mapping analyses as a key mediator that determines the susceptibility to asthma. This has been further supported by data from IL-9-transgenic mice in which the overexpression of IL-9 in the lung causes airway inflammation, mast cell hyperplasia, and bronchial hyperresponsiveness. In an accompanying paper, we demonstrate that murine bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMC) after stimulation with either ionomycin, a combination of ionomycin and IL-1, or via IgE-Ag complexes and IL-1 are very potent producers of IL-9. Herein we show that a dramatic increase of IL-9 production is observed when BMMC activated with ionomycin/IL-…

Derepressing muscleblind expression by miRNA sponges ameliorates myotonic dystrophy-like phenotypes in Drosophila

2016

AbstractMyotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) originates from alleles of the DMPK gene with hundreds of extra CTG repeats in the 3′ untranslated region (3′ UTR). CUG repeat RNAs accumulate in foci that sequester Muscleblind-like (MBNL) proteins away from their functional target transcripts. Endogenous upregulation of MBNL proteins is, thus, a potential therapeutic approach to DM1. Here we identify two miRNAs, dme-miR-277 and dme-miR-304, that differentially regulate muscleblind RNA isoforms in miRNA sensor constructs. We also show that their sequestration by sponge constructs derepresses endogenous muscleblind not only in a wild type background but also in a DM1 Drosophila model expressing non-co…

Molecular Effects of the CTG Repeats in Mutant Dystrophia Myotonica Protein Kinase Gene

2008

Myotonic Dystrophy type 1 (DM1) is a multi-system disorder characterized by muscle wasting, myotonia, cardiac conduction defects, cataracts, and neuropsychological dysfunction. DM1 is caused by expansion of a CTG repeat in the 3 untranslated region (UTR) of the Dystrophia Myotonica Protein Kinase (DMPK) gene. A body of work demonstrates that DMPK mRNAs containing abnormally expanded CUG repeats are toxic to several cell types. A core mechanism underlying symptoms of DM1 is that mutant DMPK RNA interferes with the developmentally regulated alternative splicing of defined pre-mRNAs. Expanded CUG repeats fold into ds(CUG) hairpins that sequester nuclear proteins including human Muscleblind-lik…

A specific operative protocol set up during the restoration of the Grammichele slate slab

2009

This work deals with the conservation of a slate slab, representing the map of Grammichele, a small town in the hinterland of South Eastern Sicily. The slab was engraved and painted in 1693, just after the tremendous earthquake that distroyed most of the towns in that area. The conservation process is illustrated through three steps: i) archive research; ii) physical chemical analysis of constitutive materials and degradation products; iii) planning and carrying out of the restoration and conservation operations.

On the asymptotic behaviour of gaussian spherical integrals

1983

Abelian Integrals: From the Tangential 16th Hilbert Problem to the Spherical Pendulum

2016

In this chapter we deal with abelian integrals. They play a key role in the infinitesimal version of the 16th Hilbert problem. Recall that 16th Hilbert problem and its ramifications is one of the principal research subject of Christiane Rousseau and of the first author. We recall briefly the definition and explain the role of abelian integrals in 16th Hilbert problem. We also give a simple well-known proof of a property of abelian integrals. The reason for presenting it here is that it serves as a model for more complicated and more original treatment of abelian integrals in the study of Hamiltonian monodromy of fully integrable systems, which is the main subject of this chapter. We treat i…

Absolute quantification of noncoding RNA by microscale thermophoresis

2019

Abstract Accurate quantification of the copy numbers of noncoding RNA has recently emerged as an urgent problem, with impact on fields such as RNA modification research, tissue differentiation, and others. Herein, we present a hybridization‐based approach that uses microscale thermophoresis (MST) as a very fast and highly precise readout to quantify, for example, single tRNA species with a turnaround time of about one hour. We developed MST to quantify the effect of tRNA toxins and of heat stress and RNA modification on single tRNA species. A comparative analysis also revealed significant differences to RNA‐Seq‐based quantification approaches, strongly suggesting a bias due to tRNA modifica…