Search results for "techniques"
showing 10 items of 4426 documents
Adaptogens in chemobrain (Part I): Plant extracts attenuate cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment – Transcriptome-wide microarray profiles…
2019
Abstract Background Cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments are presumably associated with undesirable effects of chemotherapy on physiological functions of brain cells. Adaptogens are natural compounds or plant extracts increasing an organism's adaptability and survival in stress. They exhibited neuroprotective effects and increased cognitive functions in clinical studies in human beings. Hypothesis We hypothesized that selected adaptogenic plant extracts attenuate or prevent cancer chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairments. Aim We assessed the effects of selected adaptogenic herbal extracts on FEC (fixed combination 5-fluorouracil, epirubicin and cyclophosphamide) induced chang…
Analysis of metabolic and gene expression changes after hydrodynamic DNA injection into mouse liver.
2011
The hydrodynamic injection in mice tail vein of a plasmid (40 mg DNA) bearing the human a1-antitrypsin gene mediates: a) good liver gene transfer resulting in therapeutic plasma levels of human protein (1 mg/ml, approximately) from days 1—10 after injection; b) low liver injury as demonstrated by a poor and transient increase of aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine transaminase (ALT) in mouse plasma; 3) limited expression and metabolic changes in host liver genes and metabolites as evaluated on days 2 and 10 after injection. Groups of three mice were uninjected (control) or hydrodynamically injected with saline or plasmid DNA and then sacrificed on days 2 and 10 after injection. The…
From Microorganism-Based Amperometric Biosensors towards Microbial Fuel Cells
2021
This review focuses on the overview of microbial amperometric biosensors and microbial biofuel cells (MFC) and shows how very similar principles are applied for the design of both types of these bioelectronics-based devices. Most microorganism-based amperometric biosensors show poor specificity, but this drawback can be exploited in the design of microbial biofuel cells because this enables them to consume wider range of chemical fuels. The efficiency of the charge transfer is among the most challenging and critical issues during the development of any kind of biofuel cell. In most cases, particular redox mediators and nanomaterials are applied for the facilitation of charge transfer from a…
Automatic Biological Cell Counting Using a Modified Gradient Hough Transform
2017
AbstractWe present a computational method for pseudo-circular object detection and quantitative characterization in digital images, using the gradient accumulation matrix as a basic tool. This Gradient Accumulation Transform (GAT) was first introduced in 1992 by Kierkegaard and recently used by Kaytanli & Valentine. In the present article, we modify the approach by using the phase coding studied by Cicconet, and by adding a “local contributor list” (LCL) as well as a “used contributor matrix” (UCM), which allow for accurate peak detection and exploitation. These changes help make the GAT algorithm a robust and precise method to automatically detect pseudo-circular objects in a microscop…
Post-mortem microbiology in sudden death: sampling protocols proposed in different clinical settings
2019
Abstract Background Autopsies, including minimally invasive autopsies, are a powerful tool for determination of the cause of death. When a patient dies from an infection, microbiology is crucial to identify the causative organism. Post-mortem microbiology (PMM) aims to detect unexpected infections causing sudden deaths; confirm clinically suspected but unproven infection; evaluate the efficacy of antimicrobial therapy; identify emergent pathogens; and recognize medical errors. Additionally, the analysis of the thanatomicrobiome may help to estimate the post-mortem interval. Aims The aim was to provide advice in the collection of PMM samples and to propose sampling guidelines for microbiolog…
Identification of cryptic Candida species by MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry, not all MALDI-TOF systems are the same: focus on the C. parapsilosis specie…
2016
Data about the performance of MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry against cryptic Candida species are limited. According to our findings within the C. parapsilosis species complex, microbiologists should be aware that the choice of the instrument is critical for accurate species identification due to the risk of misidentification in the clinical setting.
In vitro fungicidal activities of echinocandins against Candida metapsilosis, C. orthopsilosis, and C. parapsilosis evaluated by time-kill studies.
2010
ABSTRACT Anidulafungin, micafungin, and caspofungin in vitro activities against Candida metapsilosis , C. orthopsilosis , and C. parapsilosis were evaluated by MICs and time-kill methods. All echinocandins showed lower MICs (mean MICs, 0.05 to 0.71 mg/liter) and the highest killing rates (−0.06 to −0.05 CFU/ml/h) for C. metapsilosis and C. orthopsilosis rather than for C. parapsilosis (mean MICs, 0.59 to 1.68 mg/liter). Micafungin and anidulafungin killing rates were greater than those determined for caspofungin. None of the echinocandins had fungicidal activity against C. parapsilosis .
Determination of mycotoxins produced by Fusarium isolates from banana fruits by capillary gas chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatograp…
1997
A method of analysis for trichothecenes (nivalenol, deoxynivalenol, 3- and 15-acetyldeoxynivalenol, diacetoxyscirpenol, neosolaniol, T-2 tetraol, T-2 and HT-2 toxins), zearalenone and zearalenols, and another method for determination of fumonisin B1 are described and applied to cultures of Fusarium isolated from bananas. Both methods were adapted from different techniques of extraction, clean-up and determination of these mycotoxins. The first method involves extraction with methanol-1% aqueous sodium chloride, clean-up of extracts by partition with hexane and dichloromethane, additional solid reversed-phase clean-up and analysis of two eluates by both high-performance liquid chromatography…
Validation of a predictive model for the growth of Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum on grape berries.
2010
The objective of this study was to develop and to validate a model for predicting the combined effect of temperature and a(w) on the radial growth rate, mu, of Botrytis cinerea and Penicillium expansum on grape berries. The proposed strategy was based on the gamma-concept developed previously [Zwietering, M.H., Wijtzes, T., de Wit, J.C., van't Riet, K. 1992. A decision support system for prediction of the microbial spoilage in foods. Journal of Food Protection. 12, 973-979]: mu=mu(opt).gamma(T).gamma(a(w)), where the gamma functions were cardinal models with inflection (CMI), mu(opt) the radial growth rate on grape berries. Firstly, the cardinal temperatures and a(w)'s were estimated indepe…
Microbial communities of the Mediterranean rocky shore: ecology and biotechnological potential of the sea‐land transition
2019
Microbial communities from harsh environments hold great promise as sources of biotechnologically relevant strains and compounds. In the present work, we have characterized the microorganisms from the supralittoral and splash zone in three different rocky locations of the Western Mediterranean coast, a tough environment characterized by high levels of irradiation and large temperature and salinity fluctuations. We have retrieved a complete view of the ecology and functional aspects of these communities and assessed the biotechnological potential of the cultivable microorganisms. All three locations displayed very similar taxonomic profiles, with the genus Rubrobacter and the families Xenoco…