Search Results (5)

In recent years, significant progress has been made in understanding the biological and molecular pathways that regulate the effects of ischemia–reperfusion (I/R) injuries. However, despite these developments, various pharmacological agents are still being tested to either protect against or mitigate the damage caused by the IR’s harmful consequences. JWH133 is a CB2R-selective agonist and belongs to the class of Δ8-tetrahydrocannabinol. The present study aimed to determine the in vivo effect of JWH-133 on uterine IR injury via the TLR4/NF-κB, pathway. Female Wistar albino rats (n = 40) were randomly divided into five groups. Three different doses of JWH-133 (0.2, 1, and 5 mg/kg) were administered to the rats. RNA was isolated from uterine tissue samples, and gene expression was measured by RT-PCR using specific primers. The interaction energies and binding affinities of JWH-133 with IL-1β, IL-6, NF-κB, TLR-4, and TNF-α were calculated through molecular docking analysis. The expression analysis revealed that JWH-133 administration significantly reduced the expression levels of IL-1β, IL-6, NF-κB, TLR-4, and TNF-α (p < 0.05). Notably, in the 1 mg/kg JWH-133 group, all of the gene expression levels decreased significantly (p < 0.05). The molecular docking results showed that JWH-133 formed hydrogen bonds with GLU64 of IL-1β, SER226 of IL-6, and SER62 of TNF-α. This study highlights the molecular binding affinity of JWH-133 and its potential effects on inflammation in IR injury. These results pave the way for future research on its potential as a therapeutic target. Full article

In this study, the thermal performance of the parabolic trough collector (PTC) has been addressed under Ouagadougou climate conditions. Thus, after developing a model, the effect of mass flow on PTC performance showed that the Jatropha curcas oil (JCO) temperature difference increases when the mass flow rate ($\dot{m}$) decreases while the thermal efficiency (${\eta }_{th}$) increases. For $\dot{m}$ of 1 kg s⁻¹, a collector length of 46.8 m or collection area of 230 m² is required to obtain an outlet temperature of 210 °C with an average ${\eta }_{th}$ of 82.69%. This paper can support the decision for a demonstration plant implementation regarding JCO use in the CSP plant. Full article

For decentralized power generation in West Africa, gas from a small biomass gasification unit can be used as the main fuel in a dual-fuel engine with diesel as the pilot fuel. To study the combustion in this type of engine (Lister Petter), experiments were conducted with a surrogate gas composed of liquefied petroleum gas and nitrogen (LPGN2), the energy context of which is similar to that of syngas. The tests were conducted at different loads and for different diesel substitution rates. The combustion analysis showed that the LPGN2 mixture had an overall behaviour similar to neat diesel, while the pressure peaks were lower in dual-fuel mode. The results also indicated a longer ignition delay and a pronounced diffusive combustion phase leading to a lower indicated mean effective pressure with gas. The fuel efficiencies remained low in both mono- and dual-fuel operation. The relative instability of the combustion in dual-fuel mode gave rise to an increase in the coefficient of variation (COV_IMEP). Compared to neat diesel, the engine running at low loads in dual-fuel mode showed higher emission levels of CO, a slight reduction of 2.5% of CO₂ and a substantial decrease of 73% for nitrogen oxides. Full article

Dongba script is one of the very few pictographic writing systems still surviving in the world. The script evolved over time, and this is reflected by the correspondence between its written symbols and the related spoken language. During my fieldwork, I witnessed occasionally when Dongba glyphs have been analysed to write down IPA symbols based on Latin alphabet. This is an innovative application of Dongba pictographs, through the use of traditional scriptures and vernacular documents. This study provides insights into processes of adaptation in situations of contact between the Dongba pictographic writing system and the International Phonetic Alphabet and aims to shed light on structural issues pertaining to the phonological units of the Naxi language. According to the present research, Dongba glyphs can identify initials quite efficiently, yet they are not efficient in distinguishing rhymes and tones. At the same time, a phonemic chart written in Dongba glyphs shows to be a valuable tool to double-check the phonemic system. Moreover, some sound changes of Ruke Naxi are attested and assessed in this note. Full article

Cancer cell lines allow the identification of clinically relevant alterations and the prediction of drug response. However, sequencing data for hepatobiliary cancer cell lines in general, and particularly gallbladder cancer (GBC), are sparse. Here, we apply RNA sequencing to characterize 10 GBC, eight hepatocellular carcinoma, and five cholangiocarcinoma (CCA) cell lines. RNA extraction, quality control, library preparation, sequencing, and pre-processing of sequencing data were implemented using state-of-the-art techniques. Public data from the MSK-IMPACT database and a large cohort of Japanese biliary tract cancer patients were used to illustrate the usage of the released data. The total number of exonic mutations varied from 7207 for the cell line NOZ to 9760 for HuCCT1. Researchers planning experiments that require TP53 mutations could use the cell lines NOZ, OCUG-1, SNU308, or YoMi. Mz-Cha-1 showed mutations in ATM, SNU308 presented SMAD4 mutations, and the only investigated cell line that showed ARID1A mutations was GB-d1. SNU478 was the cell line with the global gene expression pattern most similar to GBC, intrahepatic CCA, and extrahepatic CCA. EGFR, KMT2D, and KMT2C generally presented a higher expression in the investigated cell lines than in Japanese primary GBC tumors. We provide the scientific community with detailed mutation and gene expression data, together with three showcase applications, with the aim of facilitating the design of future in vitro cell culture assays for research on hepatobiliary cancer. Full article