Pigment gallstones, which are much less frequent than cholesterol stones, are classified descriptively as "black" or "brown". They are composed mostly of calcium hydrogen bilirubinate, Ca(HUCB)(2), which is polymerized and oxidized in "black" stones but remains unpolymerized in "brown" stones. Black stones form in sterile gallbladder bile but brown stones form secondary to stasis and anaerobic ...

The roots/rhizomes of Cimicifuga racemosa L. (Nutt.) (black cohosh) have traditionally been used to treat menopausal symptoms through an unknown mechanism of action. In an effort to determine if black cohosh had additional health benefits, methanol extracts were investigated for their potential to scavenge reactive oxygen species and to protect against menadione-induced DNA damage. These extrac...

Ultrafine particles have been shown to induce pro-inflammatory effects both in vivo and in vitro. Increased expression of pro-inflammatory genes probably requires the activation of specific transcription factors such as nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) via a number of possible pathways including Ca2+ and reactive oxygen species. The fluorescent dye fura 2, was used to measure cytosolic Ca2+ i...

The initial transgressive phase at the Leg 144 Guyots is characterized by a typical association of sedimentary facies (from bottom to top): in situ weathered volcanic rocks; variegated clays, partly pyritic; gray clay, pyritic, homogeneous, or mottled; black clay, peaty, laminated, or bioturbated; and marine argillaceous limestone. Site 877 at Wodejebato Guyot represents the typical development...

In this paper we present the Reactor Pattern to enable the modelling of processes that consume inputs and produce outputs under specific environmental conditions and on being triggered by certain events. Reactor pattern is a content ontology design pattern and is especially targeted towards modelling reactive processes with a “black box” view of the process.

The anisotropic thermal conductivity of passivated black phosphorus (BP), a reactive two-dimensional material with strong in-plane anisotropy, is ascertained. The room-temperature thermal conductivity for three crystalline axes of exfoliated BP is measured by time-domain thermo-reflectance. The thermal conductivity along the zigzag direction is ≈2.5 times higher than that of the armchair direct...

Background. Limited data exist regarding endothelin-1 (ET-1), a vasoactive contributor in vascular tone, in a population subjected to early vascular deterioration. We compared ET-1 levels and explored its association with markers of arterial stiffness in black and white South Africans. Methodology. This cross-sectional substudy included 195 black (men: n = 99; women: n = 95) and 197 white (men:...

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES Oxidative stress is closely related with inflammation and development of many diseases. Black soybean seed coat contains high amount of anthocyanins, which are well-known for free radical scavenging activities. This study investigated inflammatory response and action mechanism of black soybean anthocyanins with regard to antioxidant activity in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-sti...

In applications where abstract models of reactive systems are to be inferred, one important challenge is that the behavior of such systems can be inherently nondeterministic. To cope with this challenge, we developed an algorithm to infer nondeterministic computation models in the form of Mealy machines. We introduce our approach and provide extensive experimental results to assess its potentia...