Discovery of common chemical exposures across three continents using silicone wristbands.

To assess differences and trends in personal chemical exposure, volunteers from 14 communities in Africa (Senegal, South Africa), North America (United States (U.S.)) and South America (Peru) wore 262 silicone wristbands.

Silicone wristbands detect individuals' pesticide exposures in West Africa.

We detected between 2 and 10 pesticides per person with novel sampling devices worn by 35 participants who were actively engaged in farming in Diender, Senegal. Participants were recruited to wear silicone wristbands for each of two separate periods of up to 5 days. Pesticide exposure profiles were highly individualized with only limited associations with demographic data.

Influence of vine vigor on grape (Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Pinot Noir) anthocyanins. 2. Anthocyanins and pigmented polymers in wine.

The relationships between grapevine (Vitis vinifera) vigor variation and resulting wine anthocyanin concentration and composition and pigmented polymer formation were investigated. The study was conducted in a commercial vineyard consisting of the same clone, rootstock, age, and vineyard management practices. Vine vigor parameters were used to designate vigor zones within two vineyard sites (A and B) to produce research wines (2003 and 2004) and conduct a model extraction experiment (2004 only) to investigate the vine-fruit-wine continuum.

Influence of vine vigor on grape (Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Pinot Noir) anthocyanins. 1. Anthocyanin concentration and composition in fruit.

The relationships between grapevine (Vitis vinifera) vigor variation and resulting fruit anthocyanin accumulation and composition were investigated. The study was conducted in a commercial vineyard consisting of the same clone, rootstock, age, and vineyard management practices. The experimental design involved assigning vigor zones in two vineyard sites based upon differences in vine growth.

Influence of vine vigor on grape (Vitis vinifera L. Cv. Pinot Noir) and wine proanthocyanidins.

The relationships between variations in grapevine (Vitis vinifera L. cv. Pinot noir) growth and resulting fruit and wine phenolic composition were investigated.

Tissue engineering of white adipose tissue using hyaluronic acid-based scaffolds. I: in vitro differentiation of human adipocyte precursor cells on scaffolds.

Background And Aim Of The Study: Reconstruction of soft tissue defects is a challenge in plastic surgery and there is clinical need for adequate solutions. Aim of this study was to develop a biohybrid construct consisting of hyaluronic acid-based scaffolds and human adipocyte precursor cells as a soft tissue filler.

Methods: Human adipocyte precursor cells were obtained by collagenase digestion of adipose tissue samples and seeded on hyaluronic acid-based spongy scaffolds of various degrees of esterification and pore size using different techniques.

Effect of BMI and age on adipose tissue cellularity and differentiation capacity in women.

Objective: To study the relation between body mass index (BMI) and age on the one hand and total number of human (pre-) adipocytes and preadipocyte differentiation capacity on the other hand.

Subjects: In total, 189 women undergoing surgical mammary reduction, age range 16-73 y, BMI range 19.7-39.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha stimulates lipolysis in differentiated human adipocytes through activation of extracellular signal-related kinase and elevation of intracellular cAMP.

Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) stimulates lipolysis in human adipocytes. However, the mechanisms regulating this process are largely unknown. We demonstrate that TNF-alpha increases lipolysis in differentiated human adipocytes by activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase kinase (MEK), extracellular signal-related kinase (ERK), and elevation of intracellular cAMP.

Calorie restriction increases light-dependent photoreceptor cell loss in the neural retina of fischer 344 rats.

We investigated the effect of > or = 8 months of 40% caloric restriction (CR) on photoreceptor cell loss in 12, 18, and 24 month-old Fischer 344 rats (N = 154). Rats were reared at the NIA Biomarkers Program, National Center for Toxicological Research. Photoreceptor cell density, assessed histologically, declined with age in both the CR-fed and ad lib (AL)-fed cohorts (P < 0.

Calorie restriction modulates age-dependent changes in the retinas of Brown Norway rats.

The present study examined the effect of a 40% reduction in caloric intake (CR) versus ad libitum (AL) feeding on retinal aging. CR- and AL-fed Brown Norway (BN) rats were obtained at 12, 24 and 30 months of age from the National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR). Age-dependent declines in outer nuclear layer (ONL=photoreceptor) cell densities, ONL height, inner nuclear layer (INL) cell densities, and thicknesses of the inner retina and whole retina were quantified in thick sections at six loci across the circumference of the sensory retina (four peripheral, two central).