Abstract The dye degradation efficacy of the cold plasma pencil jet is presented in the present investigation. Air plasma is produced in the cylindrical coaxial dielectric barrier discharge configuration. Electrical characterization of plasma is performed and the plasma species are identified using optical emission spectroscopy. For the dye degradation study using air plasma, six different types of dyes (erythrosine, metanil yellow, sudan I, crystal violet, rhodamine B, and Indigo) are chosen. The degradation of dyes is analyzed using UV visible spectroscopy, total organic carbon, and chemical oxygen demand. The results showed complete degradation of all the dyes in UV visible analysis with minimum time for indigo (3 minutes) and maximum time for erythrosine (45 minutes). Moreover, erythrosine (k = 1.08 mg L-1 min-1) and sudan I (k= 3.46 mg L-1 min-1) follows zero-order degradation kinetic and metanil yellow (k = 0.094 min-1), crystal violet (k = 0.25 min-1), rhodamine B (k = 0.17 min-1), Indigo (k = 0.81 min-1) follows first-order degradation kinetics. Also, substantial enhancement in mineralization and reduction in chemical oxygen demand of all the dyes occurs after plasma treatment. The toxicity of plasma degraded dye solution toward freshwater algae species (Chlorella Sorokiniana and Chlorella Pyrenoidosa) are significantly low compared to virgin dyes solutions. The study reveals that pencil plasma jet substantially degrade dyes as well as converts the dyes solutions non-toxic.
Uterine fibroids are smooth muscle tumors originating from myometrium of females between 30-50 years of age. The presence of fibroids does not lead to mortality, but it may be the cause of serious morbidity as well as greatly affect the quality of life of the affected females. Leiomyomas are the most significant pathological condition of females of child-bearing age group globally, still the options for treatment are limited. Homoeopathy addresses this problem as it is a safer, nonsurgical curative mode of treatment for females affected from uterine fibroids.
The Duodenal–jejunal bypass sleeve (EndoBarrier Gastrointestinal Liner) is an endoscopically and fluoroscopically inserted implant designed to aid weight loss, treat type II diabetes mellitus and improve the cardiovascular risk profile of subjects. We aimed to trial this device in a cohort of patients to assess efficacy.
Methods
We implanted the EndoBarrier bypass sleeve into 57 patients from January 2011 to December 2012. The EndoBarrier is an impermeable fluoropolymer sleeve that is reversibly fixated to the duodenal bulb and extends 80cm into the small bowel, usually terminating in the proximal jejunum. It is implanted in the GI tract endoscopically to create a barrier between food and the wall of the intestine and to delay the mixing of digestive enzymes with food. It alters the activation of hormonal signals that originate in the intestine, thus mimicking the effects of a Roux-en-Y gastric bypass procedure without surgery.
Results
Results showed weight loss in all patients, as well as lowering of blood sugar levels. Only 1 early device removal (due migration) occurred. There were no major postoperative side effects.
Conclusion
Results confirm that the device reduces blood sugar levels and triggers weight loss. This non-permanent device implanted and removed endoscopically, controlled blood sugar and weight loss without the trauma of surgery. Clinical trials to date, involving more than 300 patients, have demonstrated significant weight loss and diabetes improvement with the Endobarrier. However, since this is a new procedure and due to the lack of data, it is not yet known if weight loss and diabetes benefits will persist.
ABSTRACT Unique hallmarks of human neocortical development include slower rates of neurogenesis and the establishment of an extracellular matrix-rich, outer-subventricular zone that supports basal neural progenitor cell expansion. How gene regulatory networks have evolved to support these human-specific neurodevelopmental features is poorly understood. Mining single cell data from cerebral organoids and human fetal cortices, we found that NEUROG2 expression is enriched in basal neural progenitor cells. To identify and purify NEUROG2 -expressing cells and trace their short-term lineage, we engineered two NEUROG2-mCherry knock-in human embryonic stem cell lines to produce cerebral organoids. Transcriptomic profiling of mCherry-high organoid cells revealed elevated expression of PPP1R17 , associated with a fast-evolving human-accelerated regulatory region, oligodendrocyte precursor cell and extracellular matrix-associated gene transcripts. Conversely, only neurogenic gene transcripts were enriched in mCherry-high cortical cells from Neurog2:mCherry knock-in mice. Finally, we show that Neurog2 is sufficient to induce Ppp1r17 , which slows human neural progenitor cell division, and Col13a1 , an extracellular matrix gene, in P19 cells. NEUROG2 thus regulates a human neurodevelopmental gene regulatory program implicated in supporting a pro-proliferative basal progenitor cell niche and tempering the neurogenic pace. SUMMARY STATEMENT Transcriptomic analyses of NEUROG2-mCherry knock-in human embryonic stem cell-derived cerebral organoids reveal a link between NEUROG2 and extracellular matrix remodeling during human cortical development.
ADVERTISEMENT RETURN TO ISSUEPREVArticleNEXTUrinary excretion and DNA binding of coal tar components in B6C3F1 mice following ingestionEric H. Weyand, Yun Wu, Shruti Patel, Barbara B. Taylor, and David M. MauroCite this: Chem. Res. Toxicol. 1991, 4, 4, 466–473Publication Date (Print):July 1, 1991Publication History Published online1 May 2002Published inissue 1 July 1991https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/tx00022a011https://doi.org/10.1021/tx00022a011research-articleACS PublicationsRequest reuse permissionsArticle Views98Altmetric-Citations34LEARN ABOUT THESE METRICSArticle Views are the COUNTER-compliant sum of full text article downloads since November 2008 (both PDF and HTML) across all institutions and individuals. These metrics are regularly updated to reflect usage leading up to the last few days.Citations are the number of other articles citing this article, calculated by Crossref and updated daily. Find more information about Crossref citation counts.The Altmetric Attention Score is a quantitative measure of the attention that a research article has received online. Clicking on the donut icon will load a page at altmetric.com with additional details about the score and the social media presence for the given article. Find more information on the Altmetric Attention Score and how the score is calculated. Share Add toView InAdd Full Text with ReferenceAdd Description ExportRISCitationCitation and abstractCitation and referencesMore Options Share onFacebookTwitterWechatLinked InRedditEmail Other access optionsGet e-Alertsclose Get e-Alerts
<p>The capacity of an oocyte to mature during ovarian follicular development is a key process in reproductive biology. Bidirectional communication between mammalian oocytes and their associated follicular somatic cells (cumulus-cells) is essential for oocyte maturation. Historically, studies examining the control of ovarian follicular development focused mainly on the endocrine (external) signalling but recently intraovarian (paracrine) regulation has also been shown to be important. In addition, signalling via gap junctions between follicular cells had also been crucial for oocyte maturation and follicular development. In antral follicles, gap junction activity between the oocyte and adjacent cumulus cells first increase during follicular growth and shortly before ovulation they decrease as the oocyte resumes meiosis once more before ovulation. The range of factors that modulate gap junction activity of oocyte-cumulus cell complexes (COC) is largely unknown. The aims of these studies were to develop an assay to assess the rate of transfer of low molecular weight materials from cumulus cells to the oocyte via gap junctions. The first objective was to validate a bioassay by which to test the effects of hormones, second messengers, and growth factors on gap junction activity in rat cumulus-oocyte complexes. In this study, COCs were collected from antral follicles of untreated post-pubertal Sprague Dawley rats. Gap junction activity was measured in the presence or absence of different treatments using the fluorescence dye, Calcein-AM and in the presence of a phosphodiesterase type 3 inhibitor (PDE3) milrinone. Transfer of the calcein dye from cumulus cells into the oocyte was measured at various times using CRAIC fluorescence system. The results showed that removal of the COCs from their follicular environments disrupted the gap junction activity which recovered over time in culture media. COC were sensitive to changes in pH concentration and gap junction activity could be blocked with 8 ocatnol-1 but not carbenoxolone. Treating rat COCs with dibutyryl cAMP or agents that maintained or increased intracellular cAMP levels like milrinone or forskolin were unable to modulate gap junction activity. Further, the combined effect of the oocyte-derived growth factors: growth differentiating factor 9 (GDF9) with bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) was also unable to modulate the rate of calcein dye transfer from cumulus cells to the oocyte. Ovarian steroids such as oestradiol and testosterone by themselves were unable to modulate the gap junction activity of rat COC but the combined treatment of testosterone plus forskolin or testosterone plus forskolin plus insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) increased the rate of dye transfer from cumulus cells to the oocyte. In conclusion, a fluorescence dye transfer assay was developed to measure the effects of different treatments on gap junction activity in rat COC. Under in vitro conditions, it was established that the combination of steroid and cAMP stimulators or a steroid, cAMP stimulator with IGF1 but not these reagents individually could enhance the recovery of gap junction function in rat COC. The outcomes of these experiments may help to provide new insights into developing suitable in vitro conditions, for the in vitro maturation of mammalian oocytes. Also, the newly developed assay may serve as a useful in vitro model to evaluate the effects of hormones, nutritional supplements and other factors on COC functions.</p>
<p>The capacity of an oocyte to mature during ovarian follicular development is a key process in reproductive biology. Bidirectional communication between mammalian oocytes and their associated follicular somatic cells (cumulus-cells) is essential for oocyte maturation. Historically, studies examining the control of ovarian follicular development focused mainly on the endocrine (external) signalling but recently intraovarian (paracrine) regulation has also been shown to be important. In addition, signalling via gap junctions between follicular cells had also been crucial for oocyte maturation and follicular development. In antral follicles, gap junction activity between the oocyte and adjacent cumulus cells first increase during follicular growth and shortly before ovulation they decrease as the oocyte resumes meiosis once more before ovulation. The range of factors that modulate gap junction activity of oocyte-cumulus cell complexes (COC) is largely unknown. The aims of these studies were to develop an assay to assess the rate of transfer of low molecular weight materials from cumulus cells to the oocyte via gap junctions. The first objective was to validate a bioassay by which to test the effects of hormones, second messengers, and growth factors on gap junction activity in rat cumulus-oocyte complexes. In this study, COCs were collected from antral follicles of untreated post-pubertal Sprague Dawley rats. Gap junction activity was measured in the presence or absence of different treatments using the fluorescence dye, Calcein-AM and in the presence of a phosphodiesterase type 3 inhibitor (PDE3) milrinone. Transfer of the calcein dye from cumulus cells into the oocyte was measured at various times using CRAIC fluorescence system. The results showed that removal of the COCs from their follicular environments disrupted the gap junction activity which recovered over time in culture media. COC were sensitive to changes in pH concentration and gap junction activity could be blocked with 8 ocatnol-1 but not carbenoxolone. Treating rat COCs with dibutyryl cAMP or agents that maintained or increased intracellular cAMP levels like milrinone or forskolin were unable to modulate gap junction activity. Further, the combined effect of the oocyte-derived growth factors: growth differentiating factor 9 (GDF9) with bone morphogenetic protein 15 (BMP15) was also unable to modulate the rate of calcein dye transfer from cumulus cells to the oocyte. Ovarian steroids such as oestradiol and testosterone by themselves were unable to modulate the gap junction activity of rat COC but the combined treatment of testosterone plus forskolin or testosterone plus forskolin plus insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1) increased the rate of dye transfer from cumulus cells to the oocyte. In conclusion, a fluorescence dye transfer assay was developed to measure the effects of different treatments on gap junction activity in rat COC. Under in vitro conditions, it was established that the combination of steroid and cAMP stimulators or a steroid, cAMP stimulator with IGF1 but not these reagents individually could enhance the recovery of gap junction function in rat COC. The outcomes of these experiments may help to provide new insights into developing suitable in vitro conditions, for the in vitro maturation of mammalian oocytes. Also, the newly developed assay may serve as a useful in vitro model to evaluate the effects of hormones, nutritional supplements and other factors on COC functions.</p>
Background The use of statins following intracranial hemorrhage (ICH) is disputed. Prior studies have found inconsistent effects of statins on the risk of subsequent ICH and other outcome measures. Moreover, many previous studies do not distinguish between post‐ICH statin treatment in patients resuming previous statin therapy versus initiation in statin‐naïve patients. This meta‐analysis consolidates the evidence surrounding the use of therapies following ICH, with a focus on mortality in these two subgroups. Methods A comprehensive search of MEDLINE, EMBASE, and The Cochrane Library was conducted up to 2024 to identify studies on statin initiation or resumption versus no statin use in intracerebral/intraparenchymal hemorrhage patients, yielding 8 studies meeting inclusion/exclusion criteria. The protocol was registered with PROSPERO, and data were analyzed using a Pairwise Meta Analysis on R, applying common and random effects models with heterogeneity assessed via I² statistics. Mortality outcomes were categorized into “short‐term” (≤90 days) and “long‐term” (>90 days to 1 year) mortality. Results Mortality events occurred in 2946 out of 9501 patients (31.0%) in the control group, 123 out of 2248 patients (5.5%) in the statin initiation group, and 787 out of 3944 patients (20.0%) in the statin resumption group. For the ≤90 days timeframe, the random effects model showed a significant reduction in mortality with statin initiation, with a relative risk (RR) of 0.15 (95% CI [0.081; 0.26], p < 0.0001), and with statin resumption, the RR was 0.32 (95% CI [0.18; 0.55], p < 0.0001). Heterogeneity was high, with an I² of 84.3%. For the >90 days up to 1 year timeframe, statin initiation was associated with a reduction in mortality, with an RR of 0.39 (95% CI [0.29; 0.53], p < 0.0001). Statin resumption also showed a reduction in mortality, with an RR of 0.65 (95% CI [0.46; 0.92], p = 0.0145). Heterogeneity was moderate, with an I² of 41.7%. Conclusion Statin therapy following ICH, whether through initiation or resumption, is associated with a significant reduction in mortality both within 90 days and beyond 90 days up to one year. Interestingly, statin initiation showed a stronger effect compared to resumption. These findings support the continuation or initiation of statins in the acute phases of ICH management regardless of previous statin use.
