Effect of acute increases in filtered HCO3- on renal hydrogen transporters: II. H(+)-ATPase

Adaptive increases in renal bicarbonate reabsorption occur in response to acute increases in filtered bicarbonate (FLHCO3). In a previous study, we showed that an increase in FLHCO3 induced by plasma volume expansion increased the Vmax for Na+/H+ exchange activity in renal cortical brush border membrane vesicles (BBMV), providing a potential mechanism for the adaptive increase in HCO3- reabsorption. The present studies were undertaken to determine whether the increase in FLHCO3 induced by plasma expansion also stimulates the other major H+ transporter in cortical BBMV, the H(+)-ATPase. H(+)-ATPase activity was assessed in BBMV obtained from hydropenic and plasma expanded Munich-Wistar rats, using a NADH-linked ATPase assay. H(+)-ATPase activity was measured as the ouabain and oligomycin-insensitive, bafilomycin A1-sensitive component of total ATPase activity. Acute plasma expansion doubled single nephron FLHCO3, and this change was associated with a 64% increase in the Vmax for H(+)-ATPase activity, with no change in apparent Km. The Vmax for H(+)-ATPase activity correlated directly with whole kidney GFR and FLHCO3 (r = 0.68 and 0.72, respectively), and with single nephron GFR and FLHCO3 (r = 0.76 and 0.80, respectively). Thus, the mechanism for the adaptive increase in proximal tubular HCO3- reabsorption that occurs in response to acute increases in FLHCO3 appears to be related to increased activity of both H(+)-ATPase and Na+/H+ exchange in the apical membrane of the proximal tubule epithelium.     

Maturation ponds, rock filters and reedbeds in the UK: statistical analysis of winter performance.

Wastewater treatment technologies suitable for serving large populations are generally reliable and reasonably cost-effective, yet they are almost always financially inappropriate for small communities (< 2,000 p.e.). Comparative cost data suggests that waste stabilization ponds should be an attractive option for small communities, yet perceptions relating to land costs, climate and effluent quality have limited their application in the UK. This paper details typical UK land costs, climate and winter performance data for a pilot-scale waste stabilization pond with various upgrading technologies: system A, two tertiary maturation ponds in series; B, two tertiary maturation ponds in series followed by a reed bed channel; C, a control rock filter; D, an aerated rock filter; and E, a constructed wetland. System D was found to perform best, closely followed by system B.     

The combined use of ultrasound and densitometry in the prediction of vertebral fracture

Measurement of ultrasonographic parameters provides information concerning not only bone density but also bone architecture. We investigated the usefulness of ultrasonographic parameters and bone mineral density for evaluating the probability of vertebral fracture. 397 postmenopausal women (59.1 +/- 6.0 years) with (n = 178) or without (n = 219) atraumatic vertebral fractures were studied. In all women, bone mineral density (BMD) of the lumbar spine was evaluated by dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) and speed of sound (SOS); broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) and Stiffness in the calcaneus were evaluated by an Achilles unit (Lunar Corporation). Ultrasonographic parameters and BMD were compared by examining the magnitude of the odds ratios, to determine which produces the highest estimate of the probability of odds of fracture, and by examining widths of the respective confidence intervals (CI) to show which estimate of odd ratio is the most precise. The relative risk of vertebral fracture, after adjusting for potential confounders, was 3.5 (CI 2.6-4.8) for BUA; 4.5 (CI 3.2-6.2) for SOS; 5.8 (CI 4.0-8.4) for Stiffness and 7.5 (CI 4.8-11.5) for BMD. Ultrasound (US) parameters were still significant independent predictors of vertebral fracture, even after adjusting for BMD. The relative risk of fracture for a simultaneous decrease by 1 SD of BMD and by 1 SD of each ultrasound parameter was 17.3 (CI 9.4-39.6) for BMD and SOS; 18.3 (CI 8.4-30.6) for BMD and BUA and 22.1 (CI 8.9-52.7) for BMD and Stiffness. Our data suggest that US and BMD provide complementary information which can be combined to improve estimates of vertebral fracture risk.     

Reliability Analysis Applied on Land Subsidence Effects of Groundwater Remediation: Probabilistic vs. Deterministic Approach

The quantification of soil variability is one of the most important aspects in the geo-engineering context. The uncertainty analysis is the main part of the reliability assessment for which a quantitative evaluation was performed in this study. The Reliability Index and the Probability of Failure using the First-Order Reliability Method (FORM) represents both, an effective method which is easy to implement at the same time. This work analyzes possible effects of compaction induced into the aquifer of the Scarlino Plain, caused by the extension of the hydraulic barrier for groundwater remediation. The currently implemented vertical barrier is composed of 12 wells which reach the depth of 10 m. The improvement of the project involves the construction of a further 40 clusters, each consisting of a doublet which intercepts different depths (10 and 18 m). The models of the subsoil stratigraphy and of the groundwater were built using a numerical model. The groundwater flow and the piezometric surface in the current configuration of the barrier were studied and the project configuration was evaluated. Using the Aquitard drainage model, the land subsidence was estimated to calculate the maximum admissible displacement related to exhibited goods, the so called territorial vulnerability. The evaluation analysis was performed using a traditional deterministic approach, followed by a reliability method based on probabilistic models. Finally, the respective results were reported in a soil mapping with overlapping layers.     

Oxidation and Fracture Strength of High-Purity Reaction-Bonded Silicon Nitride

Reaction-bonded Si₃N₄ (RBSN) made from high-purity Si powder is unusually resistant to degradation caused by exposures to air for up to 50 h at temperatures up to 1400°C. The weight gain during oxidation of this SiH₄-originating RBSN is approximately 10 times less than conventional RBSN. Contrary to normally observed strength degradations, room-temperature strengths of this high-purity, oxidized RBSN (avg = 435 MPa, max. = 668 MPa) remained at their unusually high, as-processed levels after 1000° and 1400°C oxidizing exposures. Fracture toughness values were unaffected by oxidation ( K _IC= 2.3 to 2.4 MPa · m^1/2). This superior oxidation resistance results from the high purity and the small diameter pore channels (0.01 to 0.06 μm) achieved in this SiH₄-originating RBSN.     

CMMN evaluation: the modelers’ perceptions of the main notation elements

Software and Systems Modeling - Case Management Model and Notation (CMMN) has been introduced as a graphical modeling language targeting the modeling of human-centric processes. Despite its growing...     

Cell-protection mechanism through autophagy in HGFs/<Emphasis Type="Italic">S. mitis</Emphasis> co-culture treated with Chitlac-nAg

Silver-based products have been proven to be effective in retarding and preventing bacterial growth since ancient times. In the field of restorative dentistry, the use of silver ions/nanoparticles has been explored to counteract bacterial infections, as silver can destroy bacterial cell walls by reacting with membrane proteins. However, it is also cytotoxic towards eukaryotic cells, which are capable of internalizing nanoparticles. In this work, we investigated the biological effects of Chitlac-nAg, a colloidal system based on a modified chitosan (Chitlac), administered for 24–48?h to a co-culture of primary human gingival fibroblasts and Streptococcus mitis in the presence of saliva, developed to mimic the microenvironment of the oral cavity. We sought to determine its efficiency to combat oral hygiene-related diseases without affecting eukaryotic cells. Cytotoxicity, reactive oxygen species production, apoptosis induction, nanoparticles uptake, and lysosome and autophagosome metabolism were evaluated. In vitro results show that Chitlac-nAg does not exert cytotoxic effects on human gingival fibroblasts, which seem to survive through a homoeostasis mechanism involving autophagy. That suggests that the novel biomaterial Chitlac-nAg could be a promising tool in the field of dentistry.     

Qualitative Temporal Reasoning Can Improve on Temporal Annotation Quality: How and Why

The analysis of time helps in extracting knowledge from web contents. In order to analyze massive amounts of data, current natural language processing systems rely mainly on supervised approaches: machine learning algorithms that learn how to classify data based on corpora, annotated with the TimeML mark-up language or one of its derivatives. The quality of annotation data, thus, affects the performances of such systems. Quality can be improved by reasoning on temporal annotations. This article takes such a view. After a review of the strictly necessary background, it focuses on and discusses open issues in the area of quality of temporal annotations: inconsistency and incompleteness of annotations. Then it proposes a semantic reasoning approach as solution for improving on their quality, viz., the SOA-based Qualitative Temporal Reasoner for reasoning about temporal annotations, which leverages on existing theories and tools for qualitative reasoning. The article presents the design of the reasoner and its two main reasoning services: consistency checking for tackling inconsistency, and deduction for addressing incompleteness on demand. Afterward, the paper presents an experimental evaluation of the reasoner, sustaining why the chosen semantic reasoning approach can help improve on quality of annotations. The experiment assesses the reasoner’s performances on two different corpora and from several perspectives, e.g., the effectiveness of consistency checking in terms of the number of inconsistent documents found, and of deduction in terms of the number of annotations added. It concludes with discussion of the results of the evaluation and possible routes for future work.     

Curcumin antifungal and antioxidant activities are increased in the presence of ascorbic acid

The objective of this study was to evaluate the antifungal and antioxidant activities of curcumin, ascorbic acid and the mixture of these two compounds. For the antifungal assay, the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC) were determined using Candida strains (ATCC and clinical isolates). Curcumin alone inhibited growth of Candida albicans yeast cells, whereas ascorbic acid did not present effects. However, when the mixture of ascorbic acid and curcumin was assayed to determine the association of the two compounds, the curcumin MIC decreased 5- to 10-fold. In the antioxidant assays, the sum of the alone activities of curcumin and ascorbic acid were lower than the activity of the two-compound mixture. This study highlights the importance of the association between two common antioxidants in foods, to improve the antifungal and antioxidant activities of curcumin (in vitro), and can be applied to Candida spp. infection and diseases associated with oxidative stress.