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Experimental studies of chronic noise exposure in modern urban life testified about oxidative stress due to the corresponding hormones effects leading to accumulation of reactive oxygen species and endothelial dysfunction. This study aims to evaluate the protective effect of α2-adrenoblockers to modulate oxidative stress and corticosterone levels due to chronic noise exposure. To achieve this, we examined the effects of beditin (2-aminothiozolyl-1,4-benzodioxane) and mesedin (2-(2-methyl-amino-thiozolyl)-1,4-benzodioxane hydrochloride), along with changes in corticosterone, Ca2 + content, and morphological alterations in various tissues under noise-induced stress. Beyond this, detection of immune-reactivity and proliferation of Galarmin-containing cells in adrenals, and isolation of the total fractions of superoxide-producing associate from the rat liver under noise exposure and the beditin and mesedin actions on them were pertinent. Experiments were provided on the albino female rats divided into four groups: (1) control, (2) noise-exposed, (3) noise-exposed and beditin-injected (2 mg/kg, i.p.), and (4) noise-exposed and mesedin-injected (10 mg/kg, i.p.) animals. The noise exposure was of 91 dBA noise on 60 days with a daily duration of 8 h. For the first time, the total fractions of superoxide-containing associates were separated from the cell membranes of the rat liver tissue under the chronic noise stress conditions and the regulative effects of the α2-adrenoblockers. Increased 45Ca2+ and decreased corticosterone levels in the mentioned tissues, as well as dystrophic changes, were observed under the chronic noise exposure. Prominently, α2-adrenoblockers showed antioxidant effects, modulating pathological shifts of the noise-induced stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maze tasks, originally developed in animal research, have become a popular method for studying human cognition, particularly with the advent of virtual reality. However, these experiments frequently rely on simplified environments and tasks, which may not accurately reflect the complexity of real-world situations. Our pilot study aims to transfer a multi-alternative maze with a complex task structure, previously demonstrated to be useful in studying animal cognition, to studying human spatial cognition. The challenges to be resolved at this stage included developing a virtual maze and selecting an appropriate instruction that will elicit processes similar to those observed in animal models. A virtual maze was developed, and two types of instructions were provided to the participants: (1) to collect coins; (2) to interact with the maze in order to draw its structure after the game. The results indicate that a more structured instruction with a clear attainable goal (“collect”) prompted more in-depth exploration and engagement with the key elements of the maze, eliciting processes similar to those of animals. While the maze demonstrates promise as a tool for comparative studies, it also has the potential to uncover different aspects of human cognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bentonite is often considered as buffer material for deep geological radioactive waste repositories. To support decision making and safety assessment of radioactive waste repositories, international agencies and research institutions proposed the implementation of monitoring programmes. While the overall concepts of such monitoring programmes have been largely developed, the selection of key observations parameters, such as temperature, pressure and water content, and the technical implementation are still under development. The direct measurement of such parameters requires the placement of sensors inside a repository, which can significantly affect its safety functions and only provides information at the typically sparse sensor locations. Geophysical tomography can help gaining valuable insights into the state of the repository non-invasively by providing images of the distribution of geophysical parameters from measurements that are purely taken from the outside. However, the extracted geophysical parameters are often difficult to interpret and the geophysical tomography problem is non-unique, meaning that there exist multiple models that explain the data equally well. Here, we demonstrate that this non-uniqueness can be significantly reduced by simultaneously employing multiple geophysical methods in a joint tomography scheme. We simultaneously invert seismic and ground penetrating radar (GPR) traveltimes and amplitudes by imposing structural similarity constraints on the tomographic velocity and attenuation images. The resulting, estimated geophysical parameter maps show a strongly improved correlation when compared to results obtained from individual inversions, which in turn facilitates the establishment of constitutive relationships between the geophysical parameters (seismic and GPR velocity and attenuation) with the water content, as key parameter for the evaluation of the state of a radioactive waste repository. Using data from the full-scale emplacement (FE) experiment, we employ a supervised machine-learning model that enables the translation of the tomographic velocity and attenuation images obtained in bentonite to an image of the distribution of the water content inside the repository, where the machine learning model is trained using direct point measurements of the water content at sparse locations inside the tomographic plane. Due to the lack of direct water content sensors in the FE experiment, we use neutron log data (which are directly linked to water content) to train the machine learning model. Ultimately, this enables us to extrapolate the sparse neutron log data to a spatially cohesive distribution inside the repository corresponding to a visualization of the spatial distribution of water content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/Objectives: Conventional live oral poliovirus vaccines (OPVs) effectively prevent poliomyelitis. These vaccines are derived from three attenuated Sabin strains of poliovirus, which can revert within the first week of replication to a neurovirulent phenotype, leading to sporadic cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) among vaccinees and their contacts. A novel OPV2 vaccine (nOPV2) with enhanced genetic stability was developed recently; type 1 and type 3 nOPV strains were engineered using the nOPV2 genome as a backbone by replacing the capsid precursor polyprotein (P1) with that of Sabin strains type 1 and type 3, respectively. The nOPV vaccines have a high degree of sequence homology with the parental Sabin 2 genome, and some manufacturing facilities produce and store both Sabin OPV and nOPV. Therefore, detecting Sabin virus contaminations in nOPV lots is crucial. Methods: This study describes the development of pan quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (panRT-PCR) and multiplex one-step RT-PCR (mosRT-PCR) assays for the straightforward detection and identification of contaminating Sabin viruses when present in significantly higher amounts of nOPV strains. Results: The two assays exhibit high specificity, reproducibility, and sensitivity to detect 0.0001% and 0.00001% of Sabin viruses in nOPV, respectively. Additionally, an analysis of 12 trivalent nOPV formulation lots using both methods confirmed that the nOPV lots were free from Sabin virus contamination. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the RT-PCR assays are sensitive and specific. These assays are relevant for quality control and lot release of nOPV vaccines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveTo investigate the sex differences in the efficacy of renal denervation (RDN) in patients with resistant hypertension (RHT) concerning the size of abdominal fat depots, changes in biomarkers of sympathetic activity, and renal function.Materials and methods24 men (56.5 ± 7.8 years) and 33 women (59.5 ± 8.4 years) with RHT were enrolled in the study and underwent RDN. 24-h ambulatory blood pressure (BP) [systolic/diastolic (SBP/DBP)], serum creatinine (with eGFR calculation), serum adipocytokines (leptin, adiponectin, resistin), serum metanephrines and normetanephrines were measured baseline and 12 months after RDN. The size of subcutaneous, visceral, and perirenal adipose tissue (SAT, VAT, and PRAT) was assessed using MRI.ResultsAfter RDN, BP decreased, leptin increased, and adiponectin, resistin, and metanephrine levels did not change in both sexes. There was a decrease in normetanephrine levels in women and a similar trend in men. In men, the eGFR did not change. In women, the eGFR remained unchanged only in those with chronic kidney disease (CKD) (n = 10) and decreased in the absence of CKD (n = 23) from 79.7 ± 14.1 to 72.1 ± 12.0 ml/min/1.73 m2 (p = 0.011). Men had larger visceral fat depots, and women had larger subcutaneous fat depots. After RDN, the size of adipose tissue in men remained unchanged, and in women, the PRAT thickness decreased from 2.36 ± 1.23 to 2.10 ± 1.17 cm (p = 0.002). Lowering BP in women was associated with increased leptin levels after RDN (r = −0.47 for SBP, r = −0.48 for DBP). Dependence of BP reduction on baseline eGFR was observed in men only [r = 0.44 for SBP, r = 0.48 for pulse pressure (PP)]. Additionally, in men, the decrease in SBP and PP depended on VAT areas (r = −0.44 and r = −0.58, respectively). In women, the SBP reduction showed an inverse correlation between baseline weight (r = −0.35) and waist circumference (r = −0.38).ConclusionsThe magnitude of the antihypertensive effect of RDN depends on signs of visceral obesity and, in men, also on the presence of CKD. Renoprotective effects of RDN in men are obtained regardless of the initial kidney function, while in women, it was observed only in individuals with CKD. Additional beneficial effects of RDN in women include a decrease in normetanephrine levels and a reduction in PRAT size.

Background/Objectives: Conventional live oral poliovirus vaccines (OPVs) effectively prevent poliomyelitis. These vaccines are derived from three attenuated Sabin strains of poliovirus, which can revert within the first week of replication to a neurovirulent phenotype, leading to sporadic cases of vaccine-associated paralytic poliomyelitis (VAPP) among vaccinees and their contacts. A novel OPV2 vaccine (nOPV2) with enhanced genetic stability was developed recently; type 1 and type 3 nOPV strains were engineered using the nOPV2 genome as a backbone by replacing the capsid precursor polyprotein (P1) with that of Sabin strains type 1 and type 3, respectively. The nOPV vaccines have a high degree of sequence homology with the parental Sabin 2 genome, and some manufacturing facilities produce and store both Sabin OPV and nOPV. Therefore, detecting Sabin virus contaminations in nOPV lots is crucial. Methods: This study describes the development of pan quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (panRT-PCR) and multiplex one-step RT-PCR (mosRT-PCR) assays for the straightforward detection and identification of contaminating Sabin viruses when present in significantly higher amounts of nOPV strains. Results: The two assays exhibit high specificity, reproducibility, and sensitivity to detect 0.0001% and 0.00001% of Sabin viruses in nOPV, respectively. Additionally, an analysis of 12 trivalent nOPV formulation lots using both methods confirmed that the nOPV lots were free from Sabin virus contamination. Conclusions: The results demonstrated that the RT-PCR assays are sensitive and specific. These assays are relevant for quality control and lot release of nOPV vaccines.