Nitrifying biofilters are used in aquaria and aquaculture systems to prevent accumulation of ammonia by promoting rapid conversion to nitrate via nitrite. Ammonia-oxidizing archaea (AOA), as opposed to ammonia-oxidizing bacteria (AOB), were recently identified as the dominant ammonia oxidizers in most freshwater aquaria. This study investigated biofilms from fixed-bed aquarium biofilters to ass...

PURPOSE The aim of this study was to assess the potential detrimental effects of the operating room environment on exposed healthy articular cartilage and to evaluate tissue hydration treatment strategies for preserving chondrocyte viability and extracellular matrix composition in this environment. METHODS With institutional Animal Care and Use Committee approval, femoral and tibial condyles ...

Background: Vein graft failure due to neointimal hyperplasia remains an important and unresolved complication of cardiovascular surgery. microRNA-21 (miR-21) plays a major role in regulating vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) proliferation and phenotype transformation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to determine whether adenovirus-mediated miR-21 sponge gene therapy was able to inhibit neo...

Cold-water coral reefs are known to locally enhance the diversity of deep-sea fauna as well as of microbes. Sponges are among the most diverse faunal groups in these ecosystems, and many of them host large abundances of microbes in their tissues. In this study, twelve sponge species from three cold-water coral reefs off Norway were investigated for the relationship between sponge phylogenetic c...

Mat of mycelia of Phanerochaete chrysosporium were immobilized on loofa-sponge discs, as an inert support, to obtain a suitable biosorbent .Mean amount of immobilized P.chrysosporium on loofa-sponge was 376 mgg of dry loofa-sponge. In this study immobilized P.chrysosporium and naked loofa-sponge discs were used as biosorbent to remove Pb (II) and Cd (II) from aqueous solution .At kinetic study ...

A combination of approaches was used to examine the bacterial communities associated with 2 deep-water Scleritoderma spp. sponges. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis analysis of partial 16S rRNA genes extracted from sponge tissue was used to determine the structure of the sponge-associated bacterial community. Cultivation studies using a variety of marine-based media and medium additions w...

OBJECTIVE Arterial stenosis is a major obstacle for subsequent interventional procedures. We hypothesized that the stenosis is caused by gelatin sponge embolization and performed an experimental study in a rabbit renal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS A total of 24 rabbits were embolized with porcine gelatin sponge particles injected into the renal arteries. Four rabbits were sacrificed on 1 day,...

BACKGROUND In recent years there has been a global increase in reports of disease affecting marine sponges. While disease outbreaks have the potential to seriously impact on the survival of sponge populations, the ecology of the marine environment and the health of associated invertebrates, our understanding of sponge disease is extremely limited. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS A collagenolyt...

BACKGROUND Natural products are considered a rich source of new chemical structures that may lead to the therapeutic agents in all major disease areas. About 50% of the drugs introduced in the market in the last 20 years were natural products/derivatives or natural products mimics, which clearly shows the influence of natural products in drug discovery. RESULTS In an effort to further support...