Publications by authors named "W R L Cairns"
Article Synopsis
- The Global Mercury Observation System (GMOS) started as a five-year initiative to monitor atmospheric mercury and evolved into a major program supporting global mercury observation efforts under the Minamata Convention.
- The network consists of 28 ground-based monitoring stations that provide comprehensive data on mercury levels across various latitudes, from the Arctic to the Antarctic.
- Analysis of mercury data from 2011 to 2020 revealed a significant north-south gradient in mercury concentrations, with notable seasonal variations and decreasing trends in certain remote areas.
A low level of Neurotrophins (NTs), their Tyrosine Kinase Receptors (Trks), Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors (VEGFs) and their receptors, mainly VEGFR1 and VEGFR2, characterizes AD brains. The use of NTs and VEGFs as drugs presents different issues due to their low permeability of the blood-brain barrier, the poor pharmacokinetic profile, and the relevant side effects. To overcome these issues, different functional and structural NT mimics have been employed.
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- Neurotrophins, important for the central nervous system development and functioning, face challenges in drug application due to instability and side effects.
- This study focuses on a cyclic peptide, c-NGF(1-14), which mimics the neurotrophic growth factor and demonstrates a stable conformation that interacts effectively with the NGF receptor TrkA.
- c-NGF(1-14) promotes PC12 cell differentiation and enhances biological activities when bound to copper, ultimately activating key signaling pathways that lead to the release of beneficial growth factors like BDNF and VEGF.
The Arctic region is threatened by contamination deriving from both long-range pollution and local human activities. Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons (PAHs) are environmental tracers of emission, transport and deposition processes. A first campaign has been conducted at Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, from October 2018 to May 2019, monitoring weekly concentrations of PAHs in Arctic surface snow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFDuring the East Antarctic International Ice Sheet Traverse (Eaiist, december 2019), in an unexplored part of the East Antarctic Plateau, snow samples were collected to expand our knowledge of the latitudinal variability of iodine, bromine and sodium as well as their relation in connection with emission processes and photochemical activation in this unexplored area. A total of 32 surface (0-5 cm) and 32 bulk (average of 1 m depth) samples were taken and analysed by Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS). Our results show that there is no relevant latitudinal trend for bromine and sodium.
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