Contact angle measurements and XPS analysis confirmed the binding. Quantification was determined by radioactivity

using heparin labeled with tritium. The surface exhibited anti factor Xa activity, thus confirming the presence of bounded heparin that kept some biological activity. Finally platelets adhesion showed less platelet adhesion on heparin modified films as well as preserved morphology. (C) 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A: 98A: 80-87, 2011.”
“Nucleotide distributions in genomes is known not to be random, showing the presence of specific motifs, long and short range correlations, periodicities, etc. Particularly, motifs are critical for the recognition by specific proteins affecting chromosome organization, transcription and DNA replication but little is known about the possible functional effects of nucleotide distributions selleck kinase inhibitor on the conformational landscape of DNA, putatively leading to differential selective pressures

throughout evolution. Promoter sequences have a fundamental role in the regulation of gene activity and a vast literature suggests that their conformational landscapes may be a critical factor in gene expression dynamics. On these grounds, with the aim of investigating the putative existence of phylogenetic patterns of promoter base distributions, we analyzed GC/AT ratios along the 1000 nucleotide sequences upstream of TSS in wide sets of promoters belonging to organisms ranging from bacteria

to pluricellular Cell Cycle inhibitor eukaryotes. The data obtained showed very clear phylogenetic trends throughout evolution of promoter sequence base distributions. Particularly, in all cases either GC-rich or AT-rich monotone gradients were observed: the former being present in eukaryotes, the latter in bacteria along with strand biases. Moreover, within eukaryotes. GC-rich gradients increased CA4P in length from unicellular organisms to plants, to vertebrates and, within them, from ancestral to more recent species. Finally, results were thoroughly discussed with particular attention to the possible correlation between nucleotide distribution patterns, evolution, and the putative existence of differential selection pressures, deriving from structural and/or functional constraints, between and within prokaryotes and eukaryotes. (C) 2011 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.”
“We have previously shown that resting energy expenditure (REE) adjusted by fat-free mass (FFM) in male college athletes remains consistent regardless of FFM. The FFM comprises internal organs with high metabolic activity, such as liver and brain, which account for 60 to 80% of REE in adults. The purpose of the present study is to examine the contribution of internal organs to the REE of the FFM fraction among male power athletes. The study included 37 American male college football players.