Gene polymorphism of interleukin 1 and 8 in chronic gastritis patients infected with Helicobacter pylori

Background: Epidemiological investigations have indicated that Helicobacter pylori induces inflammation in the gastric mucosa regulated by several interleukins. the genes IL1B and IL8 are suggested as key factors in determining the risk of gastritis. the aim of this paper was to evaluate the association of gene polymorphism of interleukin-1 and interleukin-8 with chronic gastrits in H. pylori infected patients. A total of 60 patients underwent endoscopic procedure. Biopsy samples were collected for urease test, histopathological and molecular exams. the DNA of theses samples was extracted for detection of H. pylori and analysis of the genes mentioned above. Patients with gastritis had a higher frequency of H. pylori-positive samples.Results: H. pylori was detected in 30/60 patients (50%) by PCR. As for polymorphism of interleukin 8 (-251) gene we observed a statistical difference when analyzed TA (p = 0.039) and TT (p = 0.047) genotypes. in the IL1B31 there was a statistical difference in TT (p = 0.01) genotype and in the IL1B-511 there wasn't any statistical difference.Conclusion: Our results suggest a strong correlation between the presence of chronic gastritis and infection by H. pylori and that IL1B-31TT and IL8-251TT genotypes appear to act as protective factors against H. pylori infection while IL8-251TA genotype may comprise a risk factor for infection with this bacterium.Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP)Marilia Medical SchoolMarilia Med Sch FAMEMA, FAMEMA Blood Ctr, Dept Genet, Marilia, SP, BrazilSacred Heart Univ USC, Bauru, SP, BrazilMarilia Med Sch FAMEMA, Dept Digest Syst Surg, Marilia, SP, BrazilFed Univ São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Morphol, São Paulo, BrazilMarilia Med Sch FAMEMA, Dept Radiotherapy & Oncol, Marilia, SP, BrazilFAMEMA, Hemoctr, Genet Lab, BR-17519050 São Paulo, BrazilFed Univ São Paulo UNIFESP, Dept Morphol, São Paulo, BrazilFAPESP: 0915857-9Web of Scienc

3D microstructure of magnesium potassium phosphate ceramics from X-ray tomography: new insights into the reaction mechanisms

Magnesium potassium phosphate ceramics are chemically bonded ceramics employed as biomaterials, in nuclear waste encapsulation and for concrete repair. The microstructure dictates material performance and depends on the raw mix composition. Synchrotron X-ray computed microtomography was employed to describe the 3D microstructure and its time evolution during hardening and gain insights into the reaction mechanisms. Any excess water with respect to the stoichiometry of the reaction brought about an increase in porosity, but, notably, a reduction in the average pore size. Crystals filled the water ‘pockets’ in the ceramic volume by growing larger, although less densely packed, increasing the complexity of the pore shape. Platelet over elongated crystal habit was favoured. Such a change in shape is likely related to a change in reaction mechanism, as crystallization from a gel-like amorphous precursor is hindered and progressively substituted by a through-solution mechanism. It is proposed that the time evolution of the microstructure is dictated by the balance between crystallization from amorphous precursor, prevailing in relatively ‘dense’ systems (with stoichiometric water or in low excess), and water segregation, prevailing at higher water contents. The former mechanism was shown to produce an increase in porosity with time, because of the density mismatch between the amorphous and the crystalline phase

Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase/AKT pathway regulates the endoplasmic reticulum to Golgi traffic of ceramide in glioma cells : a link between lipid signaling pathways involved in the control of cell survival

Different lines of evidence indicate that both aberrant activation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-OH kinase (PI3K)/Akt survival pathway and down-regulation of the death mediator ceramide play a critical role in the aggressive behavior, apoptosis resistance, and adverse clinical outcome of glioblastoma multiforme. Furthermore, the inhibition of the PI3K/Akt pathway and the up-regulation of ceramide have been found functional to the activity of many cytotoxic treatments against glioma cell lines and glioblastomas as well. A reciprocal control between PI3K/Akt and ceramide signaling in glioma cell survival/death is suggested by data demonstrating a protective role of PI3K/Akt on ceramide-induced cell death in glial cells. In this study we investigated the role of the PI3K/Akt pathway in the regulation of the ceramide metabolism in C6 glioma cells, a cell line in which the PI3K/Akt pathway is constitutively activated. Metabolic experiments performed with different radioactive metabolic precursors of sphingolipids and microscopy studies with fluorescent ceramides demonstrated that the chemical inhibition of PI3K and the transfection with a dominant negative Akt strongly inhibited ceramide utilization for the biosynthesis of complex sphingolipids by controlling the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to Golgi vesicular transport of ceramide. These findings constitute the first evidence for a PI3K/Akt-dependent regulation of vesicle-mediated movements of ceramide in the ER-Golgi district. Moreover, the findings also suggest the activation of the PI3K/Akt pathway as crucial to coordinate the biosynthesis of membrane complex sphingolipids with cell proliferation and growth and/or to maintain low ceramide levels, especially as concerns those treatments that promote ceramide biosynthesis in the ER

eRAPID electronic patient self-Reporting of Adverse-events: Patient Information and aDvice: a pilot study protocol in pelvic radiotherapy.

Background: An estimated 17,000 patients are treated annually in the UK with radical radiotherapy (RT) for pelvic cancer. New treatment approaches in RT have increased survivorship and changed the subjective toxicity profile for patients who experience acute and long-term pelvic-related adverse events (AE). Multi-disciplinary follow-up creates difficulty for monitoring and responding to these events during treatment and beyond. Originally developed for use in systemic oncology therapy eRAPID (electronic patient self-Reporting of Adverse-events: Patient Information and aDvice) is an online system for patients to report AEs from home. eRAPID enables patient data to be integrated into the electronic patient records for use in clinical practice, provides patient management advice for mild and moderate AE and advice to contact the hospital for severe AE. The system has now been developed for pelvic RT patients, and we aim to test the intervention in a pilot study with staff and patients to inform a future randomised controlled trial (RCT). Methods: Eligible patients are those attending St James's University hospital cancer centre and The Christie Hospital Manchester undergoing pelvic radiotherapy+/-chemotherapy/hormonotherapy for prostate, lower gastrointestinal and gynaecological cancers. A prospective 1:1 randomised (intervention or usual care) parallel group design with repeated measures and mixed methods will be employed. We aim to recruit 168 patients following recommendations for sample size estimates for pilot studies. Participants using eRAPID will report AE (at least weekly) from home weekly for 6 weeks and 6 weeks post-treatment (12-week total) then at 18 and 24 weeks. Hospital staff will review eRAPID reports and use information during consultations. Notifications will be sent to the relevant clinical team when severe symptoms are reported. We will measure patient-reported outcomes using validated questionnaires (Functional Assessment in Cancer Therapy Scale-General (FACT-G), European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer Core Quality of Life questionnaire (EORTC-QLQ-C30), process of care impact (hospital records of patient contacts and admissions) and economic variables (EQ5D-5L, patient use of resources)). Staff and patient experiences will be explored via semi-structured interviews. Discussion: The objectives are to establish feasibility, recruitment, integrity of the system and attrition rates, determine effect sizes and aid selection of the primary outcome measure for a future RCT. We will also refine the intervention by exploring staff and patient views. The overall goal of this complex intervention is to improve the safe delivery of cancer treatments, enhance patient care and standardise documentation of AE within the clinical datasets. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02747264

Microstructural characterization of dental zinc phosphate cements using combined small angle neutron scattering and microfocus X-ray computed tomography

Objective To characterize the microstructure of two zinc phosphate cement formulations in order to investigate the role of liquid/solid ratio and composition of powder component, on the developed porosity and, consequently, on compressive strength. Methods X-ray powder diffraction with the Rietveld method was used to study the phase composition of zinc oxide powder and cements. Powder component and cement microstructure were investigated with scanning electron microscopy. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and microfocus X-ray computed tomography (XmCT) were together employed to characterize porosity and microstructure of dental cements. Compressive strength tests were performed to evaluate their mechanical performance. Results The beneficial effects obtained by the addition of Al, Mg and B to modulate powder reactivity were mitigated by the crystallization of a Zn aluminate phase not involved in the cement setting reaction. Both cements showed spherical pores with a bimodal distribution at the micro/nano-scale. Pores, containing a low density gel-like phase, developed through segregation of liquid during setting. Increasing liquid/solid ratio from 0.378 to 0.571, increased both SANS and XmCT-derived specific surface area (by 56% and 22%, respectively), porosity (XmCT-derived porosity increased from 3.8% to 5.2%), the relative fraction of large pores ≥50 μm, decreased compressive strength from 50 ± 3 MPa to 39 ± 3 MPa, and favored microstructural and compositional inhomogeneities. Significance Explain aspects of powder design affecting the setting reaction and, in turn, cement performance, to help in optimizing cement formulation. The mechanism behind development of porosity and specific surface area explains mechanical performance, and processes such as erosion and fluoride release/uptake

Angular and Current-Target Correlations in Deep Inelastic Scattering at HERA

Correlations between charged particles in deep inelastic ep scattering have been studied in the Breit frame with the ZEUS detector at HERA using an integrated luminosity of 6.4 pb-1. Short-range correlations are analysed in terms of the angular separation between current-region particles within a cone centred around the virtual photon axis. Long-range correlations between the current and target regions have also been measured. The data support predictions for the scaling behaviour of the angular correlations at high Q2 and for anti-correlations between the current and target regions over a large range in Q2 and in the Bjorken scaling variable x. Analytic QCD calculations and Monte Carlo models correctly describe the trends of the data at high Q2, but show quantitative discrepancies. The data show differences between the correlations in deep inelastic scattering and e+e- annihilation.Comment: 26 pages including 10 figures (submitted to Eur. J. Phys. C

Measurement of event shapes in deep inelastic scattering at HERA

Inclusive event-shape variables have been measured in the current region of the Breit frame for neutral current deep inelastic ep scattering using an integrated luminosity of 45.0 pb^-1 collected with the ZEUS detector at HERA. The variables studied included thrust, jet broadening and invariant jet mass. The kinematic range covered was 10 < Q^2 < 20,480 GeV^2 and 6.10^-4 < x < 0.6, where Q^2 is the virtuality of the exchanged boson and x is the Bjorken variable. The Q dependence of the shape variables has been used in conjunction with NLO perturbative calculations and the Dokshitzer-Webber non-perturbative corrections (`power corrections') to investigate the validity of this approach.Comment: 7+25 pages, 6 figure

Synthetic calcium carbonate improves the effectiveness of treatments with nanolime to contrast decay in highly porous limestone

Three synthetized polymorphs of calcium carbonate have been tested in combination with the suspension of nanolime particles as potential consolidating agents for contrasting stone decay and overcome some of the limitations of nanolime agents when applied to substrates with large porosity. The modifications induced in the pore network of the Maastricht limestone were analyzed with microscopy and in a non-invasive fashion with small angle neutron scattering and synchrotron radiation micro-computed tomography. A reduction in porosity and pore accessibility at the micrometric scale was detected with the latter technique, and ascribed to the improved pore-filling capacity of the consolidation agent containing CaCO3 particles. These were found to be effectively bound to the carbonated nanolime, strengthening the pore-matrix microstructure. Penetration depth and positive effect on porosity were found to depend on the particle size and shape. Absence of significant changes in the fractal nature of the pore surface at the nanoscale, was interpreted as indication of the negligible contribution of nanolime-based materials in the consolidation of stones with large porosity. However, the results indicate that in such cases, their effectiveness may be enhanced when used in combination with CaCO3 particles, owing to the synergic effect of chemical/structural compatibility and particle size distribution

Fieldtrips and Virtual Tours as Geotourism Resources: Examples from the Sesia Val Grande UNESCO Global Geopark (NW Italy)

In the 20th anniversary year of the European Geopark Network, and 5 years on from the receipt of the UNESCO label for the geoparks, this research focuses on geotourism contents and solutions within one of the most recently designated geoparks, admitted for membership in 2013: the Sesia Val Grande UNESCO Global Geopark (Western Italian Alps). The main aim of this paper is to corroborate the use of fieldtrips and virtual tours as resources for geotourism. The analysis is developed according to: i) geodiversity and geoheritage of the geopark territory; ii) different approaches for planning fieldtrip and virtual tours. The lists of 18 geotrails, 68 geosites and 13 off-site geoheritage elements (e.g., museums, geolabs) are provided. Then, seven trails were selected as a mirror of the geodiversity and as container of on-site and off-site geoheritage within the geopark. They were described to highlight the different approaches that were implemented for their valorization. Most of the geotrails are equipped with panels, and supported by the presence of thematic laboratories or sections in museums. A multidisciplinary approach (e.g., history, ecology) is applied to some geotrails, and a few of them are translated into virtual tours. The variety of geosciences contents of the geopark territory is hence viewed as richness, in term of high geodiversity, but also in term of diversification for its valorization