Normal pregnancy is associated with reduced blood pressure (BP) and decreased pressor response to vasoconstrictors, even though the renin-angiotensin system is upregulated. Angiotensin II (ANG II) activates both angiotensin type 1 receptors (AT(1)Rs) and angiotensin type 2 receptors (AT(2)Rs). Although the role of the AT(1)R in vascular contraction is well documented, the role of the AT(2)R in ...

A continuous mass population model with local competition is constructed where every emigrant colonizes an unpopulated island. The population founded by an emigrant is modeled as excursion from zero of an one-dimensional diffusion. With this excursion measure, we construct a process which we call Virgin Island Model. A necessary and sufficient condition for extinction of the total population is...

Introduction Every day we face a multitude of risks. Some we have experienced before; some we have not. Some we have contemplated; others have never crossed our mind. In this essay, we define four types of risk based on these two dimensions: whether or not they have occurred and whether or not we have contemplated them. These four classes of risks are shown in Figure 1. Individual and societal ...

The quality of olive oils is sensorially tested by accurate and well established methods. It enables the classification of the pressed oils into the classes of extra virgin oil, virgin oil and lampant oil. Nonetheless, it would be convenient to have analytical methods for screening oils or supporting sensorial analysis using a reliable independent approach based on exploitation of mass spectrom...

Pregnancy impairs baroreflex gain, but the mechanism is incompletely understood. To test the hypothesis that reductions in brain insulin contribute, we determined whether pregnant rats exhibit lower cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) insulin concentrations and whether intracerebroventricular infusion of insulin normalizes gain of baroreflex control of heart rate in conscious pregnant rats. CSF insulin w...

In ‘‘A Robust Transformation Procedure,’’ Martin and Vanberg (2007, hereafter MV) propose a new method for rescaling the raw virgin text scores produced by the ‘‘Wordscores’’ procedure of Laver, Benoit, and Garry (2003, hereafter LBG). Their alternative method addresses two deficiencies they argue exist with the transformation of virgin text scores proposed by LBG: First, that the LBG transform...

High-field 31P NMR (202.2 MHz) spectroscopy was applied to the analysis of 59 samples from three grades of olive oils, 34 extra virgin olive oils from various regions of Greece, and from different olive varieties, namely, 13 samples of refined olive oils and 12 samples of lampante olive oils. Classification of the three grades of olive oils was achieved by two multivariate statistical methods a...

Baiano A., Terracone C., Viggiani I., Del Nobile M.A. (2014): Changes produced in extra-virgin olive oils from cv. Coratina during a prolonged storage treatment. Czech J. Food Sci., 32: 1–9. Extra-virgin oil is obtained from olive fruits only by mechanical means. The quality of extra-virgin olive oils is affected mainly by hydrolytic and oxidative reactions. For this reason, the commercial shel...

As the Mediterranean diet (and particularly olive oil) has been associated with bone health, we investigated the impact of extra virgin oil as a source of polyphenols on bone metabolism. In that purpose sham-operated (SH) or ovariectomized (OVX) mice were subjected to refined or virgin olive oil. Two supplementary OVX groups were given either refined or virgin olive oil fortified with vitamin D...

BACKGROUND & AIMS In this study we report the effects of sunflower, virgin olive and fish oils on the lipid profile and antioxidant defence system in liver mitochondria from rabbits with experimental atherosclerosis. METHOD An atherogenic control group were fed for 50 days on a diet containing 3% lard and 1.3% cholesterol. Four groups were fed for an additional period of 30 days with a diet e...