Search results for "stone"
showing 10 items of 1137 documents
Effect of loperamide on jejunal electrolyte and water transport, prostaglandin E 2-induced secretion and intestinal transit time in man
1991
Jejunal perfusion was performed in 12 healthy volunteers to evaluate the dose dependent effects of loperamide on intestinal absorption, stimulated secretion and transit. In 6 volunteers intestinal perfusion of the jejunal segment with isotonic NaCl solution was followed by addition of loperamide in increasing doses (2–8 mg·l−1). The volunteers were pretreated with 1 mg·l−1 prostaglandin E2 (PgE2) in the perfusate before addition of 4 mg·l−1 loperamide. Phenolsulphonphtalein (PSP) boluses (2 ml) were given to measure mean transit time (MTT). Loperamide 2 mg·l−1 converted the minor secretion after perfusion with the standard solution (water −1.45 ml·min−1, Na −0.09 and Cl −0.04 mmol·min−1) to…
Ancient DNA, Strontium isotopes, and osteological analyses shed light on social and kinship organization of the Later Stone Age.
2008
In 2005 four outstanding multiple burials were discovered near Eulau, Germany. The 4,600-year-old graves contained groups of adults and children buried facing each other. Skeletal and artifactual evidence and the simultaneous interment of the individuals suggest the supposed families fell victim to a violent event. In a multidisciplinary approach, archaeological, anthropological, geochemical (radiogenic isotopes), and molecular genetic (ancient DNA) methods were applied to these unique burials. Using autosomal, mitochondrial, and Y-chromosomal markers, we identified genetic kinship among the individuals. A direct child-parent relationship was detected in one burial, providing the oldest mol…
LPS-mediated production of pro/anti-inflammatory cytokines and eicosanoids in whole blood samples: Biological effects of +896A/G TLR4 polymorphism in…
2011
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are the principal mediators of rapid microbial recognition: the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor TLR4 seems to have a paradigmatic role. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TLR4 gene, such as +896A/G, known to attenuate receptor signaling, have been described. The +896A/G SNP is significantly less frequent in patients with myocardial infarction, Alzheimer's disease or prostate cancer, whereas it is overrepresented in centenarians. To clarify and confirm the biological effects of +896A/G SNP and its role in the pathophysiology of age-related diseases and longevity, we assessed the levels of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-10 and eicosanoids (LTB4 and PGE2) in LPS-stimul…
Role of TLR4 polymorphisms in inflammatory responses: implications for unsuccessful aging.
2007
The total burden of infection at various sites may affect the progression of atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease (AD), the risk being modulated by host genotype. The role of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) receptor TLR4 is paradigmatic. It initiates the innate immune response against gram-negative bacteria, and TLR4 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), such as +896A/G, known to attenuate receptor signaling, have been described. This SNP shows a significantly lower frequency in patients affected by myocardial infarction or AD. Thus, people genetically predisposed to developing lower inflammatory activity seem to have less chance of developing cardiovascular disease (CVD) or AD. In the presen…
Rewinding Frankenstein and the body-machine: organ transplantation in the dystopian young adult fiction seriesUnwind
2016
While the separation of body and mind (and the entailing metaphor of the body as a machine) has been a cornerstone of Western medicine for a long time, reactions to organ transplantation among others challenge this clear-cut dichotomy. The limits of the machine-body have been negotiated in science fiction, most canonically in Mary Shelley9s Frankenstein (1818). Since then, Frankenstein9s monster itself has become a motif that permeates both medical and fictional discourses. Neal Shusterman9s contemporary dystology for young adults, Unwind , draws on traditional concepts of the machine-body and the Frankenstein myth. This article follows one of the young protagonists in the series, who is en…
Histone acetylation deficits in lymphoblastoid cell lines from patients with Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome.
2012
Background: Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome (RSTS) is a congenital neurodevelopmental disorder defined by postnatal growth deficiency, characteristic skeletal abnormalities and mental retardation and caused by mutations in the genes encoding for the transcriptional co-activators with intrinsic lysine acetyltransferase (KAT) activity CBP and p300. Previous studies have shown that neuronal histone acetylation is reduced in mouse models of RSTS. Methods: The authors identified different mutations at the CREBBP locus and generated lymphoblastoid cell lines derived from nine patients with RSTS carrying distinct CREBBP mutations that illustrate different grades of the clinical severity in the spectrum …
Translocations Disrupting PHF21A in the Potocki-Shaffer-Syndrome Region Are Associated with Intellectual Disability and Craniofacial Anomalies
2012
Contains fulltext : 110038.pdf (Publisher’s version ) (Closed access) Potocki-Shaffer syndrome (PSS) is a contiguous gene disorder due to the interstitial deletion of band p11.2 of chromosome 11 and is characterized by multiple exostoses, parietal foramina, intellectual disability (ID), and craniofacial anomalies (CFAs). Despite the identification of individual genes responsible for multiple exostoses and parietal foramina in PSS, the identity of the gene(s) associated with the ID and CFA phenotypes has remained elusive. Through characterization of independent subjects with balanced translocations and supportive comparative deletion mapping of PSS subjects, we have uncovered evidence that t…
Evaluation of inflammatory reactions and genotoxic effects after exposure of nasal respiratory epithelia to benzene.
2003
<i>Background:</i> The aim of this study was to identify inflammatory changes as well as genotoxic effects in cultivated human respiratory epithelial cells after in vitro exposure to benzene. <i>Methods:</i> Primary cell cultures of nasal respiratory mucosa were exposed to synthetic air enriched with 5,000 µg/m<sup>3</sup> of benzene at an air/liquid interface over 8 h and then to synthetic air only over the following 24 h. Controls were continuously exposed to synthetic air over 32 h. To detect inflammatory reactions, release of prostaglandin E<sub>2</sub> was quantified using a competitive enzyme immunoassay. The Comet Assay was used to quan…
Biodosimetry Based on γ-H2AX Quantification and Cytogenetics after Partial- and Total-Body Irradiation during Fractionated Radiotherapy
2015
The aim of this current study was to quantitatively describe radiation-induced DNA damage and its distribution in leukocytes of cancer patients after fractionated partial- or total-body radiotherapy. Specifically, the impact of exposed anatomic region and administered dose was investigated in breast and prostate cancer patients receiving partial-body radiotherapy. DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) were quantified by γ-H2AX immunostaining. The frequency of unstable chromosomal aberrations in stimulated lymphocytes was also determined and compared with the frequency of DNA DSBs in the same samples. The frequency of radiation-induced DNA damage was converted into dose, using ex vivo generated ca…
Analysis of Autoantibodies Against Human Retinal Antigens in Sera of Patients with Glaucoma and Ocular Hypertension
2008
The aim of this study was to show that complex antibody patterns against retinal antigens in sera of patients with glaucoma, found in previous studies, are autoantibodies against human antigens.Sera of 179 patients were collected at the Department of Ophthalmology (University of Mainz, Germany): non-glaucomatous control patients (n=45), primary open-angle glaucoma (n=45), ocular hypertension (n=44), and normal tension glaucoma patients (n=45). The sera were tested against Western blots of human retinal antigens. IgG antibody patterns were analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques, and some significant antigens were identified by mass spectrometry.All subjects, even healthy ones, showe…