Vertical profiles of atmospheric mercury concentration determined with a lidar and point monitor systems in the mineralized region of Mt. Amiata (Italy) are reported. Measurements were performed over a large flat area, without arboreal and herbaceous vegetation, constituting a roasted cinnabar deposit which still contains about two parts per thousand of mercury. The determinations carried out with

Numerous publications have described the importance of Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) signaling in the specification of hematopoietic tissue in developing embryos. Here we investigate the full role of canonical BMP signaling in both adult and fetal liver hematopoiesis using conditional knockout strategies, since conventional disruption of components of the BMP signaling pathway result in early d

Pharmaceutical formulations can be designed as Multiple Unit Systems, such as Roxiam CR, studied in this work. The dose is administrated as a capsule, which contains about 100 individual pellets, which in turn contain the active drug remoxipride. Experimental data for a large number of single pellets can be obtained by studying the release using microtitre plates. This makes it possible to study t

Grouping of genes into clusters according to their expression levels is important for deriving biological information, e.g., on gene functions based on microarray and other related analyses. The paper introduces the selection of the number of clusters based on the minimum description length (MDL) principle for the selection of the number of clusters in gene expression data. The main feature of the

BACKGROUND:: Endotoxemia is well known to be associated with an excessive host response to bacteria or microbial compounds, resulting in systemic inflammation and organ injury. The aim of the present study was to examine the effects of simvastatin on endotoxemic liver injury. METHODS:: Male C57BL/6J mice were challenged intraperitoneally with 0.5 mg/kg Escherichia coli-lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and

Background aims Human mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) are promising candidates for cell therapy because of their intriguing properties (high proliferation and differentiation capacity, microenvironmental function and immune modulation). However, MSC are heterogeneous and a better understanding of the heterogeneity of the cells that form the MSC cultures is critical. Methods Human MSC were generate

OBJECTIVES :Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is used in the manufacture of polyurethane and is a potent inducer of diseases of the airways. In this study, 2,4- and 2,6-toluenediamine in hydrolyzed urine and plasma were evaluated as biomarkers of exposure to 2,4- and 2,6-TDI, respectively. METHODS: For 81 exposed workers from nine different plants, the personal 8-hour time-weighted-average exposure to TD

DNA methylation is an important epigenetic modification that regulates several genes crucial for tumor development. To identify epigenetically regulated genes in bladder cancer, we performed genome wide expression analyses of eight-bladder cancer cell lines treated with the demethylating agents 5-aza-2'-cytidine and zebularine. To identify methylated C-residues, we sequenced cloned DNA fragments f

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) stimulates proliferation and migration in ovarian cancer cells, and high tumor expression of the EGF system correlates with poor prognosis. Epidermal growth factor upregulates urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) on the cell surface via 3 distinct mechanisms: rapid mobilization of uPAR from detergent-resistant domains, increased mRNA, and decreased degradat

Objective: Characteristic capillary abnormalities occur early in systemic sclerosis (SSc). Our aim was to study the longitudinal development of capillary density in SSc patients. Methods: Forty-eight consecutive patients with SSc fulfilling a follow-up of at least 8 years were retrospectively analysed for capillary loss over the observation period. Eleven had diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc) and 37 l

A virtual reality (VR) experiment with 96 participants was carried out to provide recommendations on the design of flashing lights at emergency exit portals for road tunnel emergency evacuation. The experiment was carried out in a Cave Automatic Virtual Environment laboratory. A set of variables was investigated, namely (1) colour of flashing lights, (2) flashing rate, (3) type of light source, (4

The most unfavourable orientation of a straight crack of given length is investigated, assuming mode I growth. It is shown that this orientation is not always the one perpendicular to the largest principal stress. If the smallest in-plane principal stress is compressive and its magnitude more than about one third of the largest (tensile) in-plane stress, then some other orientations are more unfav

Histopathological classification of lung cancer is of central importance in the diagnostic routine and guides therapy in the majority of patients. The 4(th) edition of the WHO classification was recently published and includes changes to the diagnostic procedure of non-small cell carcinomas (NSCC) with more emphasis on immunohistochemical (IHC) staining.

It is generally accepted that structural and functional quantitative imaging of individual islets would be beneficial to elucidate the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. We here introduce functional optical coherence imaging (FOCI) for fast, label-free monitoring of beta cell destruction and associated alterations of islet vascularisation.

Polyamines are important for cell growth and proliferation and they are formed from arginine and ornithine via arginase and ornithine decarboxylase (ODC). Arginine may alternatively be metabolised to NO via NO synthase. Here we study if vascular smooth muscle cell proliferation can be reversed by polyamine synthesis inhibitors and investigate their mechanism of action. Cell proliferation was asses

Pyruvate is included in the energy production of the heart muscle and is metabolized into lactate, alanine, and CO(2) in equilibrium with HCO(3) (-). The aim of this study was to evaluate the feasibility of using (13)C hyperpolarization enhanced MRI to monitor pyruvate metabolism in the heart during an ischemic episode. The left circumflex artery of pigs (4 months, male, 29-34 kg) was occluded for