1,722,918 research outputs found
A multi-biomarker analysis of the antioxidant efficacy of Parkinson's disease therapy
No full textSubstantial evidences suggest that reactive oxygen species participate in the normal aging process and in cancer and neurodegenerative age-related diseases. Parkinson's disease (PD), one of the most common oxidative stress-associated pathology in aging people, is treated with a standard pharmacological protocol consisting in a combined therapy L-dopa plus an inhibitor of dopa-decarboxylase, such as carbidopa. The therapy is well validated for the ability to restoring dopaminergic neurotransmission in PD patients, while L-dopa and carbidopa ability in modulating oxidative stress is currently under discussion. Our aim was to evaluate the impact of L-dopa and carbidopa on several biomarkers of exogenously-induced oxidative stress to validate the overall antioxidant effectiveness of the therapy. For this purpose we used peripheral blood lymphocytes from healthy donors treated in vitro with L-dopa and carbidopa and then challenged by different concentrations of H2O2. Glutathione (GSH, GSSG, GSH/GSSG), malondialdehyde (TBARs), protein carbonyls as well as DNA damage (8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2′-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) and micronuclei (MN)), modulation was evaluated. Our results show that L-dopa, but not carbidopa, decreases the markers of lipid and protein oxidation and increases the total content of glutathione. Both L-dopa and carbidopa (alone or in combination) are able to counteract the formation of 8-oxodG and to reduce H2O2-induced micronuclei. © 2017 Elsevier Lt
Evaluation of Levodopa and Carbidopa Antioxidant Activity in Normal Human Lymphocytes In Vitro: Implication for Oxidative Stress in Parkinsonメs Disease
No full textThe main pathochemical hallmark of Parkinsonメs disease (PD) is the loss of dopamine in the striatum of the brain, and the oral administration of levodopa (l-dopa) is a treatment that partially restores the dopaminergic transmission. In vitro assays have demonstrated both toxic and protective effects of l-dopa on dopaminergic cells, while in vivo studies have not provided any convincing data. The peripheral metabolic pathways significantly decrease the amount of l-dopa reaching the brain; therefore, all of the current commercial formulations require an association with an inhibitor of dopa-decarboxylase, such as carbidopa. However, the dosage and the actual effectiveness of carbidopa have not yet been well defined. PD patients exhibit a reduced efficiency of the endogenous antioxidant system, and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) represent a dopaminergic system for use as a cellular model to study the pharmacological treatments of neurodegenerative disorders in addition to analysing the systemic oxidative stress. According to our previous studies demonstrating a protective effect of both l-dopa and carbidopa on neuroblastoma cells in vitro, we used the PBLs of healthy donors to evaluate the modulation of DNA damage by different concentrations of l-dopa and carbidopa in the presence of oxidative stress that was exogenously induced by H2O2. We utilised a TAS assay to evaluate the in vitro direct scavenging activity of l-dopa and carbidopa and analysed the expression of genes that were involved in cellular oxidative metabolism. Our data demonstrate the antioxidant capacity of l-dopa and carbidopa and their ability to protect DNA against oxidative-induced damage that derives from different mechanisms of action
Generalized Assignment for Multirobot Systems via Distributed Branch-and-Price
Full text linkIn this article, we consider a network of agents that has to self-assign a set of tasks while respecting resource constraints. One possible formulation is the generalized assignment problem, where the goal is to find a maximum payoff while satisfying capability constraints. We propose a purely distributed branch-and-price algorithm to solve this problem in a cooperative fashion. Inspired by classical (centralized) branch-and-price schemes, in the proposed algorithm, each agent locally solves small linear programs, generates columns by solving simple knapsack problems, and communicates to its neighbors a fixed number of basic columns. We prove finite-time convergence of the algorithm to an optimal solution of the problem. Then, we apply the proposed scheme to a generalized assignment scenario, in which a team of robots has to serve a set of tasks. We implement the proposed algorithm in a Robot Operating System testbed and provide experiments for a team of heterogeneous robots solving the assignment problem
Capitolo 1 (Una visione d'insieme delle cellule e delle metodologie sperimentali per il loro studio) de: LA CELLULA "Un approccio molecolare" II edizione italiana sulla IV inglese
No full text“La rinascita della canapa” un patrimonio del nostro territorio.
No full textPerché ogni pianta (nel bene o nel male) ci appare “miracolosa”? radici nella storia dell’umanità, uso medico, tessile, carta, alimentare, cosmetico, plastica, energi
Corruption, Mafia Power and Italian Soccer
No full textWhilst corruption and organized crime have been widely researched, they have not yet been specifically linked to sport. Corruption, Mafia Power and Italian Soccer offers an original insight into this new research area. Adopting a psycho-social approach based mainly on Pierre Bourdieu's praxeology, the book demonstrates that corruption and the mafia presence in Italian soccer reflect the Italian socio-political and economic system itself.
Supported by interviews with security agency officials, anticorruption organisations and antimafia organisations, and analysing empirical data obtained from a case study of 'Operation Dirty Soccer', this important study explains why mafia groups are involved in soccer, what the links are to political corruption and what might be done to control the problem. It also examines the mechanisms that make it possible for mafia groups and affiliates to enter the football industry and discusses how mafia groups exploit and corrupt Italian football.
This is important reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers and academics working in the areas of sociology, criminology, policing, anthropology, the sociology of sport, sport deviance, sport management and organised crime. It is also a valuable resource for practitioners in the football industry
Necrosis inducing cDNAs form Phytophthora infestans identified using high throughput functional expression assays
No full textVitreous shrinkage and posterior vitreous detachment
No full textVitreous undergoes a progressive separation into a gel-like phase and a liquid phase with aging.
This liquefaction process is very slow and results from a structural change in the network of colla-
gen fibrils which are the main constituent of the vitreous gel [2]. The fibrils coalesce into bundles
and let the liquid vitreous free to separate from them. The vitreous is bounded by a thin collagen
cortex [4] which is initially bonded posteriorly to the internal limiting lamina of the retina (ILL).
The fibril remodeling gives rise to tractions on the boundary which makes the cortex detach, while
the liquefied vitreous flows outside the detached cortex. This process is called posterior vitreous
detachment (PVD) ([3], [1]). A complete harmless detachment may be hampered by small areas of
focal adhesion where a strong traction may cause retinal tears triggering retinal detachment.
In this work the vitreous gel is assumed to be made of a homogenous and isotropic solid un-
dergoing a shrinking process described by a uniform spherical contraction at constant velocity. The
cortex is kept inside the vitreous chamber by a field of repulsive forces and its adhesion to the ILL
is described by a field of adhesive forces. Both force fields are constitutively defined by a surface
potential on the boundary. A non uniform adhesion gives rise to different detachment patterns which
look very similar to those observed in reality. The shrinkage is assumed to be slow enough that there
is no interaction between the flow of the liquefied vitreous and the remaining collagen fibril network.
Even the inertial and gravity forces are neglected. Numerical simulations have been performed on
a two-dimensional model, although the mechanical model has been defined in a three dimensional
setting. The simulations are illustrated by movies showing the evolution of the detachment and by
graphs showing the evolution of the elastic energy and of the adhesion energy
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