The effect of two isoforms of platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), PDGF-AA and PDGF-BB, was tested on dissociated cell cultures of ventral mesencephalon from rat and human embryos. PDGF-BB but not PDGF-AA reduced the progressive loss of tyrosine hydroxylase- (TH)-positive neurons in rat and human cell cultures. The mean number of TH-positive cells in the PDGF-BB-treated rat culture was 64% and 1

RhoH is a small GTPase expressed only in the hematopoietic system. With the use of mice with targeted disruption of the RhoH gene, we demonstrated that RhoH is crucial for thymocyte maturation during DN3 to DN4 transition and during positive selection. Furthermore, the differentiation and expansion of DN3 and DN4 thymocytes in vitro were severely impaired. These defects corresponded to defective T

Clinical data are presented on a 30-year-old male with normal early development (4-5 years) but subsequent progressive impairment of psychomotor functions. He has marked kyphoscoliosis and talipes calcaneo-valgus. The organs appear normal and the patient can walk unaided and feed himself although he does not recognize his parents. He has normal fundi oculi. Biochemical data show an absence of muco

Digital holography has some desirable properties for refractometry of microscopic objects since it gives phase and amplitude information of an object in all depths of focus from one set of exposures. We show that the amplitude part of the image can be used to observe how the Becke lines move between different depths of focus and hence determine whether an object has a higher or a lower index of re

This paper describes a method to digitize high-resolution physical properties of annually laminated lake sediments. We modified a water-acetone epoxy exchange method in order to preserve all the fine structural details that varved sequences provide. By applying sediment microstratigraphical investigations (X-ray radiography, SEM) and semi-automatic image analysis, we were able to establish detaile

1. With the aim to assess the combined and separate effects of waterfowl and fish on submerged vegetation and macroinvertebrates, we performed a replicated selective exclosure study in a shallow, eutrophic lake in southern Sweden. Our results are presented together with a literature review of the effects of fish and waterfowl on macroinvertebrates and submerged vegetation. 2. Based on our experime

BACKGROUND: In ecologic studies, group-level rather than individual-level exposure data are used. When using group-level exposure data, established by sufficiently large samples of individual exposure assessments, the bias of the effect estimate due to sampling errors or random assessment errors at the individual-level is generally negligible. In contrast, systematic assessment errors may produce

An amperometric method was applied for real-time monitoring of intracellular redox enzyme activity. Baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) cells were immobilized on platinum microband electrodes and mediated anodic currents were measured. The currents were observed in the absence and in the presence of glucose as a source of reducing equivalents, NADH and NADPH. 2-Methyl-1,4-naphthoquinone (mena

Rabbit tibialis anterior (TA) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles are used extensively in studies of stimulation-induced fibre type transformation, but the proportions and sizes of the 2 main fibre types, and the way in which they are distributed within the muscles, have never been described in any detail. In this study, transverse sections were processed by enzyme histochemical and immuno

The stellar initial mass function at high redshift is an important defining property of the first stellar systems to form and may also play a role in various dark matter problems. We here determine the faint stellar luminosity function in an apparently dark-matter-dominated external galaxy in which the stars formed at high redshift. The Ursa Minor dwarf spheroidal galaxy is a system with a particu

BACKGROUND: Associations between allergen challenge-induced sites of epithelial damage and the distribution of leucocytes and extravasated plasma remain unexplored. OBJECTIVE: To study neutrophils, eosinophils, and fibrinogen at allergen challenge-induced patchy epithelial damage-restitution sites in guinea-pig trachea. METHODS: After local challenge tracheal tissue (cryo sections and whole-mounts

Neural stem and progenitor cells hold the promise to be used in cell-based therapies to treat both acute and degenerative neurological diseases. To date, most research has been focused on the use of in vitro propagated stem cells used as a source of cells in cell replacement therapies. However, mobilization of endogenous neural stem cells to generate a specific differentiated cell type offers an a

The phase behavior and phase structure of the mixed lecithin/DDAB system in water are studied by SAXS, H-2 NMR, cryo-TEM, and optical polarization microscopy methods. Macroscopically, the triangular phase diagram is dominated by one lamellar liquid crystalline region. SAXS data in combination with 2H NMR detect the presence of two different lamellar phases. The collapsed lamellar phase originated

gG antibodies against pneumococcal surface protein A, family 1 (PspAl) and family 2 (PspA2), protein C (PspC), and protein Hic were investigated in 41 patients with invasive pneumococcal disease. Pre-existing antibody levels against the four pneumococcal proteins were not significantly different from those found in 40 patients with non-pneumococcal bacteremia or 80 healthy controls. However, durin