Search results for "techniques"
showing 10 items of 4426 documents
Obesity under full fresh fruit and vegetable access conditions
2021
There is no agreement regarding the role of fresh fruit and vegetables’ affordability, accessibility and availability, or access in general, on obesity rates. In this article we investigated whether access to fresh fruit and vegetables is related to better biometric indicators such as weight and body mass index. Using mediation and matching methods and assuming that farmers and traditional market sellers have easy access to fruit and vegetables, we found that having better access is not associated to a reduction in weight or body mass index. Potential explanations for this result are that better access was not associated with fresh fruit and vegetables’ consumption and fruit and vegetables’…
PCR for the detection of pathogens in neonatal early onset sepsis.
2020
Background A large proportion of neonates are treated for presumed bacterial sepsis with broad spectrum antibiotics even though their blood cultures subsequently show no growth. This study aimed to investigate PCR-based methods to identify pathogens not detected by conventional culture. Methods Whole blood samples of 208 neonates with suspected early onset sepsis were tested using a panel of multiplexed bacterial PCRs targeting Streptococcus pneumoniae, Streptococcus agalactiae (GBS), Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus pyogenes (GAS), Enterobacteriaceae, Enterococcus faecalis, Enterococcus faecium, Ureaplasma parvum, Ureaplasma urealyticum, Mycoplasma hominis and Mycoplasma genitalium, a …
A Review of the Current Knowledge of Thermal Stability of Anthocyanins and Approaches to Their Stabilization to Heat
2021
Anthocyanins are colored valuable biocompounds, of which extraction increases globally, although functional applications are restrained by their limited environmental stability. Temperature is a critical parameter of food industrial processing that impacts on the food matrix, particularly affecting heat-sensitive compounds such as anthocyanins. Due to the notable scientific progress in the field of thermal stability of anthocyanins, an analytical and synthetic integration of published data is required. This review focuses on the molecular mechanisms and the kinetic parameters of anthocyanin degradation during heating, both in extracts and real food matrices. Several kinetic models (Arrheniu…
Establishment of a pulmonary epithelial barrier on biodegradable poly-L-lactic-acid membranes
2019
Development of biocompatible and functional scaffolds for tissue engineering is a major challenge, especially for development of polarised epithelia that are critical structures in tissue homeostasis. Different in vitro models of the lung epithelial barrier have been characterized using non-degradable polyethylene terephthalate membranes which limits their uses for tissue engineering. Although poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) membranes are biodegradable, those prepared via conventional Diffusion Induced Phase Separation (DIPS) lack open-porous geometry and show limited permeability compromising their use for epithelial barrier studies. Here we used PLLA membranes prepared via a modification of the…
Membrane potential of rat calvaria bone cells: dependence on temperature.
1990
The membrane potentials of bone cells derived from calvaria of new born rats was shown to be strongly dependent on temperature. When we lowered the temperature from 36 degrees C to 26 degrees C, cells with spontaneous resting membrane potentials (MP) of -80 to -50 mV depolarized (mean amplitude 8 mV; n = 33), and the membrane resistance increased by approximately 80% (n = 20). The temperature response depended on the actual MP, the reversal potential being in the range of -80 to -90 mV. With the application of ouabain (0.1-1 mmol/liter; n = 12), cells depolarized. Simultaneously, the reversal potential of the temperature response was shifted towards more positive values and approached the a…
Neutralization of interleukin-18 reduces severity in murine colitis and intestinal IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha production.
2001
Interleukin (IL)-18, initially described as interferon (IFN)-gamma-inducing factor, is expressed in the inflamed mucosa of patients with Crohn's disease. To investigate the role of IL-18 in intestinal inflammation, the effect of neutralizing antimurine IL-18 antiserum in dextran sulfate sodium (DSS)-induced colitis in BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice was examined. During a dose response of DSS, levels of colonic IL-18 increased parallel with clinical worsening. With the use of confocal laser microscopy, the increased IL-18 was localized to the intestinal epithelial layer. Anti-IL-18 treatment resulted in a dose-dependent reduction of the severity of colitis in both BALB/c and C57BL/6 mice. Colon sho…
Glutathione content of V79 cells in two- or three-dimensional culture
1997
The cellular glutathione (GSH) content of two- and three-dimensional cell cultures of V79 hamster lung cells has been studied. As previously described, cells in monolayer cultures show a decrease in GSH when they reach the confluent state. Three-dimensional cell cultures (multicell spheroids) allow a smoother transition from the initial proliferating to the nonproliferating status, and they show a central area of necrosis when a certain diameter is reached. Cellular GSH content in spheroids is variable throughout the culturing period: 1) GSH content (expressed per mg protein) is lower in spheroids with central necrotic areas than in smaller spheroids without necrosis, and 2) results expres…
Na+ -dependent neutral amino acid transporters A, ASC, and N of the blood-brain barrier: mechanisms for neutral amino acid removal.
2004
Four Na+-dependent transporters of neutral amino acids (NAA) are known to exist in the abluminal membranes (brain side) of the blood-brain barrier (BBB). This article describes the kinetic characteristics of systems A, ASC, and N that, together with the recently described Na+-dependent system for large NAA (Na+-LNAA), provide a basis for understanding the functional organization of the BBB. The data demonstrate that system A is voltage dependent (3 positive charges accompany each molecule of substrate). Systems ASC and N are not voltage dependent. Each NAA is a putative substrate for at least one system, and several NAA are transported by as many as three. System A transports Pro, Ala, His,…
Synthesis of recombinant atrial natriuretic peptide (rANP) using hybrid fusion protein-phage fr coat/ANP (CP/ANP).
1997
Abstract Baumanis, V., I. Jansone, A. Skangals, I. Mandrika and V. Berzins. Synthesis of recombinant atrial natriuretic peptide (rANP) using hybrid fusion protein-phage fr coat/ANP (CP/ANP). Peptides 18(8) 1229–1235, 1997.—Recombinant atrial natriuretic peptide (rANP) was expressed in and isolated from E. coli. rANP was purified using HPLC. Amino acid analysis, partial sequencing, and molecular mass were determined. Fused protein was used to rise polyclonal antibodies and to develop of immunoenzymatic assays of rANP and CP/ANP. Experiments were designed to study rANP effects on isolated rabbit aortic strips and to examine hypotensive, diuretic, and natriuretic activity, as well as renal cre…
MICROWAVE EFFECTS ON ACETYLCHOLINE-INDUCED CHANNELS IN CULTURED CHICK MYOTUBES
1988
The behavior of cultured myotubes from chick embryos exposed to microwaves has been experimentally analyzed. Recordings of acetylcholine-induced currents have been obtained via patch-clamp techniques using both cell-attached (single-channel current recording) and whole-cell (total current recording) configurations. During the exposure to low-power microwaves the frequency of the ACh-activated single channel openings decreased, while the ACh-induced total current showed a faster falling phase. Channel open time and conductance were not affected by microwave irradiation. It is concluded that the exposure to microwaves increases the rate of desensitization and decreases the channel opening pro…