Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are a promising source for cell replacement therapies. Parkinson's disease is one of the candidate diseases for the cell replacement therapy since the motor manifestations of the disease are associated with the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta. Stromal cell-derived inducing activity (SDIA) is the most commonly used method for the

Within the literature on innovation systems, there are a growing number of scholars emphasizing the importance of differentiated knowledge bases underlying innovation activities. The existing work on knowledge bases is largely grounded on in-depth case studies; while surprisingly little effort has been done so far to operationalize the concept in a more systematic manner. In this article, an attem

Evaluation of: Akada J, Kamei S, Ito A et al. A new type of protein chip to detect hepatocellular carcinoma-related autoimmune antibodies in the sera of hepatitis C virus-positive patients. Proteome Sci. 11(1), 33 (2013). Unlocking the proteome and delivering biomarkers to the clinic will be critical for early and improved diagnosis and prognosis. Conventional protein microarrays have evolved as a

BackgroundThe vast array and quantity of longitudinal samples collected in The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young study present a series of challenges in terms of quality control procedures and data validity. To address this, pilot studies have been conducted to standardize and enhance both biospecimen collection and sample obtainment in terms of autoantibody collection, stool sam

The biological hierarchy of genes, cells, organisms and societies is a fundamental reality in the living world. This hierarchy of entities did not arise ex nihilo at the origin of life, but rather has been serially generated by a succession of critical events known as evolutionary transitions in individuality' (ETIs). Given the sequential nature of ETIs, it is natural to look for candidates to for

Rate-ratio asymptotic analysis is carried out to elucidate the influence of nitrous oxide on the structure and critical conditions for extinction of nonpremixed methane flames. Steady, axisymmetric, laminar flow of two counterflowing streams toward a stagnation plane is considered. One stream is made up of a mixture of methane and nitrogen. The other stream is a mixture of oxygen, nitrous oxide, a

It is not known if grassy margins contribute to the conservation of biodiversity if situated along organically managed cereal fields as the contrast in environmental conditions between fields and margins may be too small in absence of pesticide applications. Communities of spiders, ground beetles, true bugs and aphids were sampled in 2years along transects from the centre of organically managed ce

Negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) alters wound edge microvascular blood flow. Some preclinical data suggest that cycling between low and high negative pressure may be more beneficial than continuous NPWT. The purpose of this in vivo study was to compare the effect of intermittent negative pressure (cycled either from 0 to -75 or to -125 mm Hg) and variable negative pressure (cycled from -10 t

Research conducted over the last 50 years has produced discoveries on the importance of glucose control for reducing the risk of diabetic complications, the pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes, the development and validation of mechanistic glucose-lowering targets, and the preclinical and clinical development of individual drugs. This science established the different drug classes that are clinical

Natural disturbance dynamics, such as fire, have a fundamental control on forest composition and structure. Knowledge of fire history and the dominant drivers of fire are becoming increasingly important for conservation and management practice. Temporal and spatial variability in biomass burning is examined here using 170 charcoal and 15 fire scar records collated throughout Fennoscandia and Denma

To improve gas turbine performance, the operating temperature has been increased continuously. However, the heat transferred to the turbine blade is substantially increased as the turbine inlet temperature is increased. Cooling methods are, therefore, much needed for the turbine blades to ensure long durability and safe operation. The blade tip region is exposed to hot gas flow, and is difficult t

BACKGROUND: The 2011 European Society of Cardiology guidelines state that acute coronary syndrome (ACS) may be excluded with a rapid 3 h high-sensitivity troponin T (HsTnT) sampling protocol. We aimed to evaluate the diagnostic and prognostic performance of HsTnT in patients with chest pain admitted with possible ACS in routine care. METHODS: A total of 773 consecutive patients admitted for in-hos

Neutron ray-tracing simulations have been done in order to study the interplay between an elliptically shaped guide end with two double focusing monochromators - pyrolytic graphite PG002 and bent Si111. The primary aim of these calculations has been the optimisation of the neutron optics of the new cold triple-axis spectrometer ThALES, the successor of the IN14 spectrometer at the Institut Laue-La

Abstract The benefit of exercise for breast cancer-treated women is well documented. However, studies of cardiovascular fitness training for women with breast cancer-related arm lymphedema are rare. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of intensive pole walking on arm lymphedema in women treated for breast cancer. Thirty-five women with unilateral lymphedema were included and t

BackgroundIncidence of condyloma, or genital warts (GW), is the earliest possible disease outcome to measure when assessing the effectiveness of human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination strategies. Efficacy trials that follow prespecified inclusion and exclusion criteria may not be fully generalizable to real-life HPV vaccination programs, which target a broader segment of the population. We assesse

The negative effect of agricultural intensification on bumblebee populations is thought to partly be caused by loss of food plants, for example because of increased field size and concomitant loss of non-crop field borders and their nectar and pollen plants. Earlier studies have focused on how loss of foraging resources affects colony growth and thereby abundance of workers and sexual reproduction

A series of unsymmetrical PCN pincer ligands (1-(3-((di-tert-butylphosphino)methyl)phenyl)-N,N-dialkyl-methanamine) were cyclometalated with palladium to generate a series of new PCN supported Pd(II) chloro complexes, (PCN)PdCl (4-6), where alkyl = methyl, ethyl, and n-propyl, which were fully characterized by NMR spectroscopy and X-ray crystallography. The N,N-dimethyl complex 4 reacts with methy

Increased renal artery contractility leads to renal vasospasm and ischaemia as well as kidney damage. This study was designed to examine the hypothesis that organ culture of renal arteries induces transcriptional up-regulation of endothelin type A (ETA) and type B2 (ETB2) receptors in the smooth muscle cells via activation of nuclear factor-kappaB (NF-B) and subsequently increases renal artery con

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Improved data and methods are needed for modeling disease progression in Alzheimer's disease (AD) for economic evaluation of treatments. The aim is to estimate prediction models for long-term AD progression and subsequently economic outcomes. METHODS: Three-year follow-up data on 435 patients treated with the cholinesterase inhibitor donepezil in clinical practise were analyzed.