PURPOSE To evaluate the role of nerve growth factor (NGF) in remodeling processes of vernal keratoconjunctivitis (VKC). VKC is a chronic inflammatory disorder of the conjunctiva and is characterized by marked tissue remodeling. NGF, a pleiotrophic factor with documented profibrogenic activities, is produced by inflammatory and structural cells populating the VKC conjunctiva and is increased in ...

Radiotherapy (RT) is a common cancer treatment but often results in an unintended injury to overlying skin and contributes impaired wound healing. Skin fibroblasts (FBs) play critical roles repair. We investigated the long-term effects of RT on FB functions understand better pathological mechanisms adverse reactions RT. collected tissue biopsies from non-irradiated (RT-) irradiated (RT+) breast...

Objectives Pyocyanin is a blue-greenish redox-active pigment, produced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa, with a wide range of biological and biotechnological applications. Pyocyanin biosynthesis is regulated by the quorum-sensing (QS) system in which the expression of QS genes and QS-controlled virulence genes may be affected by serum as a complex medium. In the current study, effects of adult bovine ...

BACKGROUND Subjects with abnormal metabolic conditions had increased risk for cardiovascular disease. We investigated the role of abnormal metabolic conditions on arterial stiffness in healthy subjects with no drug treatment. METHODS A total 601 subjects (age 48.7 ± 11.8 years, male 46.2 %, hypertension 19.1 %) were enrolled. Major cardiovascular risk factors, metabolic conditions and paramet...

The frequency-response masking (FRM) technique was introduced as a means of generating linear-phase FIR filters with narrow transition band and low arithmetic complexity. This paper proposes an approach for synthesizingmodulatedmaximally decimated FIR filter banks (FBs) utilizing the FRM technique. A new tailored class of FRM filters is introduced and used for synthesizing nonlinear-phase analy...

BACKGROUND This study aimed to evaluate the accuracy of emergency nurse practitioner (NP)-performed point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) for the detection of soft tissue foreign bodies (FBs). METHODS Following a 2-h training session, ten NPs were assessed on their ability to detect various FBs in an experimental model. FBs (wood, metal and plastic) were inserted randomly into eight experimental m...

The multipotency and anti-inflammatory effects of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) make them attractive for cell therapy in regenerative medicine. A large number of MSCs is required for efficient therapy owing to the low homing efficiency of MSCs to target sites. Furthermore, owing to limitations in obtaining sufficient amounts of MSCs, in vitro expansion of MSCs that preserves their differentiati...

Tenon's fibroblasts (TFs), widely employed as in vitro model for many ophthalmological studies, are routinely cultured with FBS. Platelet Lysate (PL), a hemoderivate enriched with growth factors and cytokines has been largely tested in several clinical applications and as substitute of FBS in culture. Here, we investigate whether PL can exert biological effects on TF populations similarly to ot...

The present study was aimed at determining whether insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) is a component of fetal bovine serum (FBS) that enables porcine cumulus cells to expand in response to FSH in vitro. Cumulus-oocyte complexes (COC) obtained from 4- to 6-mm follicles of prepubertal gilts were cultured at 39 degrees C for 24 h in media that contained human recombinant IGF-1 (50 ng/ml), FBS (1...

Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 (Title IX), enacted to protect individuals from discrimination based on gender in educational programs, is enforced by the Office for Civil Rights, In regard to collegiate sport, the enactment of Title IX has resulted in increased opportunities; however, sport organizations frequently fail to meet compliance with proportionality. The purpose of t...