2,308 results match your criteria: "Karl-Franzens-University of Graz; Universitaetsplatz 2; Department of Biology Zoology; Graz; Austria. gernot.kunz@gmail.com.[Affiliation]"

RuO/graphene nanoribbon composite supported on screen printed electrode with enhanced electrocatalytic performances toward ethanol and NADH biosensing.

Biosens Bioelectron

October 2018

Innovation Center of the Faculty of Chemistry, University of Belgrade, Studentski Trg 12-16, 11000 Belgrade, Serbia; The Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade, POB 522, 11001 Belgrade, Serbia. Electronic address:

In this work, we aimed to propose a newly synthesized composite material with enhanced electrocatalytic properties as a novel screen-printed sensor for the quantification of NADH. Additionally, the surface was modified with alcohol dehydrogenase for the preparation of an amperometric biosensor for analysis of ethanol. Synthesized material was characterized using several microstructural (FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XRD) and electrochemical (CV, EIS) techniques.

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Phosphorylation of different tau sites during progression of Alzheimer's disease.

Acta Neuropathol Commun

June 2018

QPS Austria GmbH, Neuropharmacology, Parkring 12, 8074, Grambach, Austria.

Alzheimer's disease is characterized by accumulation of amyloid plaques and tau aggregates in several cortical brain regions. Tau phosphorylation causes formation of neurofibrillary tangles and neuropil threads. Phosphorylation at tau Ser202/Thr205 is well characterized since labeling of this site is used to assign Braak stage based on occurrence of neurofibrillary tangles.

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Cognitive neuroscience research has begun to explore the mental processes underlying what a belief and what believing are. Recent evidence suggests that believing involves fundamental brain functions that result in meaningful probabilistic representations, called beliefs. When relatively stable, these beliefs allow for guidance of behavior in individuals and social groups.

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Lichen symbioses develop long-living thallus structures even in the harshest environments on Earth. These structures are also habitats for many other microscopic organisms, including other fungi, which vary in their specificity and interaction with the whole symbiotic system. This contribution reviews the recent progress regarding the understanding of the lichen-inhabiting fungi that are achieved by multiphasic approaches (culturing, microscopy, and sequencing).

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Transgenic mouse models are indispensable tools to mimic human diseases and analyze the effectiveness of related new drugs. For a long time amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) research depended on only a few mouse models that exhibit a very strong and early phenotype, e.g.

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Article Synopsis
  • Anemia is prevalent among patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD), leading to serious health issues and complicated treatment, particularly with erythropoiesis stimulating agents (ESA).
  • A mathematical model was created to analyze hemoglobin (Hgb) data from 60 hemodialysis patients, accounting for individual patient factors, and monitored Hgb levels non-invasively.
  • The model successfully predicted the Hgb response to ESA therapy, suggesting it could help tailor personalized anemia treatments and improve understanding of kidney-related anemia dynamics.
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In recent years, the fight against healthcare corruption has intensified. Estimates from the European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network calculate an approximate €56 billion annual loss to Europe as a result of corruption. To promote understanding of the complexity and interconnection of corrupt activities, we aim to present healthcare-related corruption typologies of the European Union and European Healthcare Fraud and Corruption Network.

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Inflammation is characterized by the infiltration of leukocytes from the circulation and into the inflamed area. Leukocytes are guided throughout this process by chemokines. These are basic proteins that interact with leukocytes to initiate their activation and extravasation via chemokine receptors.

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Graphene oxides are promising materials for novel electronic devices or anchoring of the active sites for catalytic applications. Here we focus on understanding the atomic oxygen (AO) binding and mobility on different regions of graphene (Gr) on Ru(0001). Differences in the Gr/Ru lattices result in the superstructure, which offers an array of distinct adsorption sites.

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Aging-related tau astrogliopathy (ARTAG): not only tau phosphorylation in astrocytes.

Brain Pathol

November 2018

Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, CIBERNED (Network Centre of Biomedical Research of Neurodegenerative Diseases), Institute of Health Carlos III, Barcelona, Spain.

Aging-related tau astrogliopathy (ARTAG) is defined by the presence of two types of tau-bearing astrocytes: thorn-shaped astrocytes (TSAs) and granular/fuzzy astrocytes in the brain of old-aged individuals. The present study is focused on TSAs in rare forms of ARTAG with no neuronal tau pathology or restricted to entorhinal and transentorhinal cortices, to avoid bias from associated tauopathies. TSAs show 4Rtau phosphorylation at several specific sites and abnormal tau conformation, but they lack ubiquitin and they are not immunostained with tau-C3 antibodies which recognize truncated tau at Asp421.

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From dipivaloylketene to tetraoxaadamantanes.

Beilstein J Org Chem

January 2018

School of Chemistry and Molecular Biosciences, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland 4072, Australia.

Dipivaloylketene () is obtained by flash vacuum pyrolysis of furan-2,3-dione and dimerizes to 1,3-dioxin-4-one , which is a stable but reactive ketene. The transannular addition and rearrangement of enols formed by the addition of nucleophiles to the ketene function in generates axially chiral 2,6,9-trioxabicyclo[3.3.

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Article Synopsis
  • In silico approaches are emerging as a valuable strategy for enhancing clinical trial designs through realistic simulations that inform on safety, limits of treatments, and cost-efficient planning.
  • A proposed stepwise integration of various validity considerations in virtual clinical trials (VCTs) is outlined, specifically focusing on a model for treating anemia in patients on hemodialysis.
  • Simulations of patient-specific hemoglobin levels over a year showed improved predictive accuracy when compared to real-life data from a large patient cohort, demonstrating the effectiveness of these new strategies in enhancing the validity of VCTs.
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Sustained Formation of Nitroglycerin-Derived Nitric Oxide by Aldehyde Dehydrogenase-2 in Vascular Smooth Muscle without Added Reductants: Implications for the Development of Nitrate Tolerance.

Mol Pharmacol

April 2018

Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Karl-Franzens University (M.O., G.W., A.K., J.T.F., A.S., B.M., A.C.F.G.), and Institute of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, Center of Molecular Medicine, Medical University Graz (E.E., M.W.-W., R.M., W.F.G.), Graz, Austria

According to current views, oxidation of aldehyde dehydrogenase-2 (ALDH2) during glyceryltrinitrate (GTN) biotransformation is essentially involved in vascular nitrate tolerance and explains the dependence of this reaction on added thiols. Using a novel fluorescent intracellular nitric oxide (NO) probe expressed in vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), we observed ALDH2-catalyzed formation of NO from GTN in the presence of exogenously added dithiothreitol (DTT), whereas only a short burst of NO, corresponding to a single turnover of ALDH2, occurred in the absence of DTT. This short burst of NO associated with oxidation of the reactive C302 residue in the active site was followed by formation of low-nanomolar NO, even without added DTT, indicating slow recovery of ALDH2 activity by an endogenous reductant.

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Cytocompatible polysaccharide-based functional scaffolds are potential extracellular matrix candidates for soft and hard tissue engineering. This paper describes a facile approach to design cytocompatible, non-toxic, and multifunctional chitosan-cellulose based hydrogel beads utilising polysaccharide dissolution in sodium hydroxide-urea-water solvent system and coagulation under three different acidic conditions, namely 2 M acetic acid, 2 M hydrochloric acid, and 2 M sulfuric acid. The effect of coagulating medium on the final chemical composition of the hydrogel beads is investigated by spectroscopic techniques (ATR-FTIR, Raman, NMR), and elemental analysis.

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Lichen thalli harbor complex fungal communities (mycobiomes) of species with divergent trophic and ecological strategies. The complexity and diversity of lichen mycobiomes are still largely unknown, despite surveys combining culture-based methods and high-throughput sequencing (HTS). The results of such surveys are strongly influenced by the barcode locus chosen, its sensitivity in discriminating taxa, and the depth to which public sequence repositories cover the phylogenetic spectrum of fungi.

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Cortical thickness has been investigated since the beginning of the 20th century, but we do not know how similar the cortical thickness profiles among humans are. In this study, the local similarity of cortical thickness profiles was investigated using sliding window methods. Here, we show that approximately 5% of the cortical thickness profiles are similarly expressed among humans while 45% of the cortical thickness profiles show a high level of heterogeneity.

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Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third most common cause of cancer related death worldwide. Furthermore, with more than 1.2 million cases registered per year, it constitutes the third most frequent diagnosed cancer entity worldwide.

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Helicobacter pylori-induced oxidative stress in gastric mucosa (GM) is a milieu for the development of chronic gastritis, duodenal peptic ulcer (DPU), gastric cancer, and a number of extragastric diseases. Because our previous study revealed the accumulation of the protein adducts of lipid peroxidation product 4-hydroxynonenal (HNE) in GM, which persists after eradication of H. pylori, the aim of the study was to test whether Amaranth oil supplementation in addition to standard anti-Helicobacter treatment could prevent such accumulation of HNE in GM in H.

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Molecules containing catenated heavy group 14 atoms are known to exhibit the interesting property of σ-bond electron delocalization. While this is well studied for oligo- and polysilanes the current paper addresses the UV-absorption properties of small tin containing oligosilanes in order to evaluate the effects of Sn-Si and Sn-Sn bonds as well as the results of substituent exchange from methyl to phenyl groups. The new stannasilanes were compared to previously investigated oligosilanes of equal chain lengths and substituent pattern.

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The channel Orai1 requires Ca store depletion in the endoplasmic reticulum and an interaction with the Ca sensor STIM1 to mediate Ca signaling. Alterations in Orai1-mediated Ca influx have been linked to several pathological conditions including immunodeficiency, tubular myopathy, and cancer. We screened large-scale cancer genomics data sets for dysfunctional Orai1 mutants.

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Resilience of honeybee colonies via common stomach: A model of self-regulation of foraging.

PLoS One

December 2017

Department of Biological Sciences, East Tennessee State University, Johnson City, TN, United States of America.

We propose a new regulation mechanism based on the idea of the "common stomach" to explain several aspects of the resilience and homeostatic regulation of honeybee colonies. This mechanism exploits shared pools of substances (pollen, nectar, workers, brood) that modulate recruitment, abandonment and allocation patterns at the colony-level and enable bees to perform several survival strategies to cope with difficult circumstances: Lack of proteins leads to reduced feeding of young brood, to early capping of old brood and to regaining of already spent proteins through brood cannibalism. We modeled this system by linear interaction terms and mass-action law.

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We introduce for the first time a paper-based analytical device (PAD) for the non-enzymatic detection of glucose by modifying a screen-printed carbon electrode with cobalt phthalocyanine, graphene and an ionic liquid (CoPc/G/IL/SPCE). The modifying composite was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The disposable devices show excellent conductivity and fast electron transfer kinetics.

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This study evaluated the effects of alpha/theta neurofeedback on Clinical Personality Accentuations in individuals with alcohol use disorder. Twenty-five males were investigated using a pre-test/post-test design with a waiting-list control group. Participants were randomly assigned either to an experimental group ( = 13) receiving 12 sessions of neurofeedback twice a week as a treatment adjunct over a period of 6 weeks, or to a control group ( = 12) receiving treatment as usual.

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The heterospecific calling song can improve conspecific signal detection in a bushcricket species.

Hear Res

November 2017

Institute of Zoology, Karl-Franzens University Graz, Universitätsplatz 2, 8010, Graz, Austria. Electronic address:

In forest clearings of the Malaysian rainforest, chirping and trilling Mecopoda species often live in sympatry. We investigated whether a phenomenon known as stochastic resonance (SR) improved the ability of individuals to detect a low-frequent signal component typical of chirps when members of the heterospecific trilling species were simultaneously active. This phenomenon may explain the fact that the chirping species upholds entrainment to the conspecific song in the presence of the trill.

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