A New Methodology for Selecting CT Scanning Parameters Depending on the Density of Materials.

The CT (computed tomography) scanner has been used for many years now not only for medical measurements but also in many industries, for example, in defectoscopy for measuring sheet thickness and checking the joining of materials, as well as for measuring the geometry of individual components. This type of scanner is a good complement to coordinate contact and non-contact measurements for intra-structural measurements and inaccessible places. The variety of materials, however, makes it very difficult to select individual CT parameters.

Mechanosensing and the Hippo Pathway in Microglia: A Potential Link to Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis?

The activation of microglia, the inflammatory cells of the central nervous system (CNS), has been linked to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. How microglia sense the changing brain environment, in order to respond appropriately, is still being elucidated. Microglia are able to sense and respond to the mechanical properties of their microenvironment, and the physical and molecular pathways underlying this mechanosensing/mechanotransduction in microglia have recently been investigated.

Dysfunctional Mechanotransduction through the YAP/TAZ/Hippo Pathway as a Feature of Chronic Disease.

In order to ascertain their external environment, cells and tissues have the capability to sense and process a variety of stresses, including stretching and compression forces. These mechanical forces, as experienced by cells and tissues, are then converted into biochemical signals within the cell, leading to a number of cellular mechanisms being activated, including proliferation, differentiation and migration. If the conversion of mechanical cues into biochemical signals is perturbed in any way, then this can be potentially implicated in chronic disease development and processes such as neurological disorders, cancer and obesity.

Impact of liver fat on the differential partitioning of hepatic triacylglycerol into VLDL subclasses on high and low sugar diets.

Dietary sugars are linked to the development of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) and dyslipidaemia, but it is unknown if NAFLD itself influences the effects of sugars on plasma lipoproteins. To study this further, men with NAFLD ( = 11) and low liver fat 'controls' ( = 14) were fed two iso-energetic diets, high or low in sugars (26% or 6% total energy) for 12 weeks, in a randomised, cross-over design. Fasting plasma lipid and lipoprotein kinetics were measured after each diet by stable isotope trace-labelling.

A novel method for measuring intestinal and hepatic triacylglycerol kinetics.

This study aimed to 1) develop a method that completely separated hepatic (VLDL1, VLDL2) and intestinal [chylomicron (CM)] lipoproteins and 2) use the method to measure triacylglycerol (TAG) kinetics in these lipoproteins in the fed and fasting state in healthy subjects, using intravenous [²H₅]glycerol as the tracer. An immunoaffinity method that completely separated hepatic and intestinal particles using sequential binding to three antibodies to apolipoprotein B-100 (apoB-100) was established and validated. Six healthy volunteers were studied in a fasted and continuous feeding study (study 1).