Chronic stress affects brain areas involved in learning and emotional responses. These alterations have been related with the development of cognitive deficits in major depression. Moreover, stress induces deleterious actions on the epithalamic pineal organ, a gland involved in a wide range of physiological functions. The aim of this study was to investigate whether the stress effects on the pi...

Our objective was to determine the changes in expression of collagen types I and III in the capsule of a rat knee contracture model. The unilateral knee joints of adult male rats were rigidly immobilized at 150 degrees of flexion using a rigid plastic plate and screws for 3 days, 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 weeks (immobilized group). Sham-operated animals had holes drilled in the femur and tibia with sc...

We report on the study of immobilization DNA probes onto quartz crystal oscillators by self-assembly technique to form variety types of mono- and multi-layered sensing films towards the realization of DNA diagnostic devices. A 18-mer DNA probe complementary to the site of genetic beta-thalassaemia mutations was immobilized on the electrodes of QCM by covalent bonding or electrostatic adsorption...

Living cells of the lux-based bioluminescent bioreporter Pseudomonas putida TVA8 were encapsulated in a silica hydrogel attached to the distal wider end of a tapered quartz fiber. Bioluminescence of immobilized cells was induced with toluene at high (26.5 mg/L) and low (5.3 mg/L) concentrations. Initial bioluminescence maxima were achieved after >12 h. One week after immobilization, a biofilm-l...

Epsilon-poly-L-lysine (epsilon-PL), produced by Streptomyces or Kitasatospora strains, is a homo-poly-amino acid of Llysine, which is used as a safe food preservative. The present study investigates the combined use of cell immobilization and in situ adsorption (ISA) to produce epsilon-PL in shaken flasks. Loofah sponge-immobilized Streptomyces ahygroscopicus GIM8 produced slightly more epsilon...