Search results for "techniques"
showing 10 items of 4426 documents
Una lettura urbana su Balestrate. Realtà intermedia e nuove possibili centralità
2014
This work was developed at the “R-Lab” project, a workshop that was experimentally promoted by the University of Palermo (teachers, students and researchers) during the academic years 2010-11 and 2011-12. Workshop participants collected and elaborated analysis and proposals in an interdisciplinary and multi-level way (PhD, degree thesis, co-financed research) with lessons, seminars and applied research. Prof. F. Maggio coordinated the section that was titled “Analysis of the smaller towns in Sicily”, and we worked with him within an agreement that was signed with the local administration of Balestrate, a small coastal town in the northwestern Sicily. Our work focuses on some issues of the t…
Immagine urbana e qualità dello spazio nel rilievo tridimensionale di due borgate storiche palermitane
2014
Lo sviluppo dei software di rappresentazione digitale ha comportato una significativa evo- luzione dei modelli rappresentativi, aprendo contemporaneamente la strada a nuove que- stioni di natura non soltanto operativa, ma anche sostanziale. L’assenza di scala di riduzione, la tridimensionalità in “real time”, l’immersività e l’interattività dello spazio virtuale sono infatti ben più di semplici novità strumentali: si pongono come nuovi codici, introducono una visibilità simultanea e onnicomprensiva, definiscono il modello che si viene a elaborare come un “alter” dello spazio indagato, autonomo e parallelo alla realtà stessa, ben più insomma del ruolo di “model- lo” del reale al quale la rap…
Olive oil intake and cancer risk: A systematic review and meta-analysis
2022
Background Research evidence has established the beneficial effects of diet in cancer prevention; various epidemiological studies have suggested that olive oil component could play a role in decreasing cancer risk. This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to investigate the association between olive oil consumption, cancer risk and prognosis. Methods A systematic search was conducted in PubMed, EMBASE and Google Scholar databases (end-of-search: May 10, 2020). Pooled relative risk (RR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CIs) were estimated with random-effects (DerSimonian-Laird) models. Subgroup analyses, sensitivity analyses and meta-regression analysis were also performed. Results 45…
Valpromide is a poor inhibitor of the cytosolic epoxide hydrolase
1989
The effect of the antiepileptics valpromide and sodium valproate on the cytosolic epoxide hydrolase was studied in human fetal liver, kidneys and adrenals and from human adult liver and kidneys. Trans-stilbene oxide was used as substrate. Valpromide (10 mM) lowered the activity of the epoxide hydrolase to one half of the control in all organs studied. Sodium valproate (10 mM) was less powerful as an inhibitor than valpromide; however, it exerted a significant inhibition in all tissues studied.
Ex vivo study of bacterial coronal leakage in indirect pulp treatment
2012
Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate, ex vivo, bacterial coronal leakage with different antimicrobial agents applied to the dentine for indirect pulp treatment (IPT). Study Design: Sixty extracted teeth were prepared and randomly distributed into 5 groups (n=10): Group 1: no antimicrobial dentine treatment; group 2: 1% chlorhexidine (CHX)+1% thymol varnish (Cervitec®); group 3: 2 % CHX solution; group 4: 40% CHX varnish (EC40™) and group 5: Clearfil™ Protect Bond (CPB). Ten teeth served as controls. The teeth were restored using a resin-modified glass ionomer cement (GIC) and then mounted in a two-chamber device. The coronal access was exposed to Streptococcus mutans for 45 days…
Dexamethasone Inhibits the Pro-Angiogenic Potential of Primary Human Myoblasts
2021
Tissue regeneration depends on the complex processes of angiogenesis, inflammation and wound healing. Regarding muscle tissue, glucocorticoids (GCs) inhibit pro-inflammatory signalling and angiogenesis and lead to muscle atrophy. Our hypothesis is that the synthetic GC dexamethasone (dex) impairs angiogenesis leading to muscle atrophy or inhibited muscle regeneration. Therefore, this study aims to elucidate the effect of dexamethasone on HUVECs under different conditions in mono- and co-culture with myoblasts to evaluate growth behavior and dex impact with regard to muscle atrophy and muscle regeneration. Viability assays, qPCR, immunofluorescence as well as ELISAs were performed on HUVECs,…
A critical role for VEGF and VEGFR2 in NMDA receptor synaptic function and fear-related behavior
2016
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is known to be required for the action of antidepressant therapies but its impact on brain synaptic function is poorly characterized. Using a combination of electrophysiological, single-molecule imaging and conditional transgenic approaches, we identified the molecular basis of the VEGF effect on synaptic transmission and plasticity. VEGF increases the postsynaptic responses mediated by the N-methyl-D-aspartate type of glutamate receptors (GluNRs) in hippocampal neurons. This is concurrent with the formation of new synapses and with the synaptic recruitment of GluNR expressing the GluN2B subunit (GluNR-2B). VEGF induces a rapid redistribution of Glu…
Liver specific overexpression of platelet-derived growth factor-B accelerates liver cancer development in chemically induced liver carcinogenesis
2010
A genetic basis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been well-established and major signaling pathways, such as p53, Wnt-signaling, transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) and Ras pathways, have been identified to be essential to HCC development. Lately, the family of platelet-derived growth factors (PDGFs) has shifted to the center of interest. We have reported on spontaneously developing liver fibrosis in PDGF-B transgenic mice. Since HCC rarely occurs in healthy liver, but dramatically increases at the cirrhosis stage of which liver fibrosis is a preliminary stage, we investigated liver cancer development in chemically induced liver carcinogenesis in these mice. HCC induction was performe…
Direct and long-term detection of gene doping in conventional blood samples
2010
The misuse of somatic gene therapy for the purpose of enhancing athletic performance is perceived as a coming threat to the world of sports and categorized as 'gene doping'. This article describes a direct detection approach for gene doping that gives a clear yes-or-no answer based on the presence or absence of transgenic DNA in peripheral blood samples. By exploiting a priming strategy to specifically amplify intronless DNA sequences, we developed PCR protocols allowing the detection of very small amounts of transgenic DNA in genomic DNA samples to screen for six prime candidate genes. Our detection strategy was verified in a mouse model, giving positive signals from minute amounts (20 μl)…
The impact of tumor nitric oxide production on VEGFA expression and tumor growth in a zebrafish rat glioma xenograft model.
2015
International audience; To investigate the effect of nitric oxide on tumor development, we established a rat tumor xenograft model in zebrafish embryos. The injected tumor cells formed masses in which nitric oxide production could be detected by the use of the cell-permeant DAF-FM-DA (diaminofluorophore 4-amino-5-methylamino-2'-7'-difluorofluorescein diacetate) and DAR-4M-AM (diaminorhodamine-4M). This method revealed that nitric oxide production could be co-localized with the tumor xenograft in 46% of the embryos. In 85% of these embryos, tumors were vascularized and blood vessels were observed on day 4 post injection. Furthermore, we demonstrated by qRT-PCR that the transplanted glioma ce…