Platelet-derived growth factor-B (PDGFB) is necessary for normal cardiovascular development, but the relative importance of different cellular sources of PDGFB has not been established. Using Cre-lox techniques, we show here that genetic ablation of Pdgfb in endothelial cells leads to impaired recruitment of pericytes to blood vessels. The endothelium-restricted Pdgfb knockout mutants also develop

A car-borne NaI(TI) spectrometric system was used together with a Cs-137 source to obtain realistic data in the search for unshielded and semi-shielded orphan sources. The potassium-stripped counts (PSC) method was used to estimate the influence by the shielding on the detection ability. A reduction of about 5% in the critical distance was obtained for the semi-shielded source. A curve fitting met

BACKGROUND: TNFalpha may contribute to the pathophysiology of airway inflammation. For example, we have recently shown that nasal administration of TNFalpha produces late phase co-appearance of granulocyte and plasma exudation markers on the mucosal surface. The objective of the present study was to examine indices of granulocyte presence and activity in response to intranasal TNFalpha challenge.

The V3 region of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 envelope protein gp120 constitutes a potential neutralization target, but the oligosaccharide of one conserved N-glycosylation site in this region protects it from neutralizing antibodies. Here, we determined whether N-linked glycans of other gp120 domains were also involved in protection of V3 neutralization epitopes. Two molecular clones o

Two different ethyl(hydroxyethyl) cellulose (EHEC) samples were characterized by size-exclusion chromatography (SEC) with multiangle light scattering (MALS) detection and high-performance anion-exchange chromatography (HPAEC) with pulsed amperometric detection (PAD). The aim of the study was to investigate the molar mass distribution and the heterogeneity of the substituent distribution, factors t

Background/Aims: To build and analyze regression models predicting (1) the long-term cognitive outcome in donepezil-treated patients with Alzheimer's disease, and (2) the short-term (6 months) cognitive impact of treatment depending on cognitive severity at baseline. Methods: The Swedish Alzheimer Treatment Study (SATS) is an open-label, non-randomized, 3-year, multicentre study in a routine clini

We analyze symmetries of spin transport in two-terminal quantum waveguide structures with Rashba spin-orbit coupling and magnetic field modulations. Constraints, imposed by the device structure, on the spin polarization of the transmitted electron beam from the waveguide devices are derived. The results are expected to provide accuracy tests for experimental measurements and numerical calculations

Modern electronic medical implants have reached a high degree of complexity. This has increased the demands on the communication link with the implant, both regarding the bandwidth and the communication distance. A medical communication system at RF frequencies has been standardised, the Medical Implant Communication System (MICS), which use a frequency allocation of 402 - 405 MHz. This frequency

Many bird species demonstrate a variable mating system, with some males being monogamously mated and other males able to attract more than one mate. This variation in avian mating systems is often explained in terms of potential costs of sharing breeding partners and compensation for such costs. However, whenever there is a difference in the optimal mating system for males and females, a sexual co

Antagonism of voltage-dependent K+ (Kv) currents in pancreatic {beta}-cells may contribute to the ability of glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) to stimulate insulin secretion. The mechanism and signaling pathway regulating these currents in rat {beta}-cells were investigated using the GLP-1 receptor agonist exendin 4. Inhibition of Kv currents resulted from a 20-mV leftward shift in the voltage depen

Abstract in UndeterminedEmpirical results show that frequently the meaning of expressions used by students in expressing their understanding of subject matter does not correspond to the meaning of those expressions in the subject matter theory that the students are expected to learn. There is also often a lack of identity of meaning between the same students' use of the same expression from one us

The story I shall recount started in 1969, when I was given the opportunity to join the Department of Clinical Chemistry at the University Hospital in Malmo. I had just finished medical school at the university in the neighboring town of Lund. Parallel to pursuing my medical studies I had spent some time in the Department of Biochemistry. I did not know much about biochemistry, but it was enough f

Here, we investigated the effect of calpain inhibitors on apoptosis in organotypic adult spinal cord slices from mice. An increase in calpain I immunoreactivity was found in the nuclei of motor neurons from slices cultured for 30 min. After 4 h, the immunopositive motor neurons exhibited apoptotic changes including nuclear and chromatin condensation. Eight hours after excision, most motor neurons

The evaluation of chondroid lesions requires full integration of clinical, radiographic, and pathological data; tumour typing is often a challenge for the diagnostic pathologist. Although a variety of chromosomal abnormalities have been documented in chondroid lesions, the potential usefulness of cytogenetic analysis remains unclear. This study has critically reviewed and analysed 117 karyotyped s

We present a simple black box that takes a priority queue Q which supports find-min, insert, and delete in x-time at most t. Here x-time may be worst-case, expected, or amortized. The black-box transforms Q into a priority queue Q* that supports find-min in constant time, insert in constant x-time, and delete in x-time O(t). Moreover, if Q supports dec-key in constant time, then so does Q*.

Neural stem cells may present an ideal route for gene therapy as well as offer new possibilities for the replacement of neurons lost to injury or disease. However, it has proved difficult to express ectopic genes in stem cells. We report methods to introduce genes into adult neural stem cells using viral and nonviral vectors in vitro and in vivo. Adenoviral and VSV-G-pseudotyped retroviral vectors

Emission source functions are extracted from correlation functions constructed from charged pions produced at midrapidity in Au+Au collisions at s(NN)=200 GeV. The source parameters extracted from these functions at low k(T) give first indications of a long tail for the pion emission source. The source extension cannot be explained solely by simple kinematic considerations. The possible role of a

We present the first systematic investigation of shifts in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) shielding constant due to hydrogen bonding using either the series of wave function based methods, Hartree-Fock (HF), second-order Moller-Plesset perturbation theory (MP2), Coupled Cluster Singles and Doubles (CCSD) and CCSD extended with an approximate description of triples (CCSD(T)), or Density Funct

Some patients with colonic diverticula suffer recurrent abdominal pain and exhibit visceral hypersensitivity, though the mechanism is unclear. Prior diverticulitis increases the risk of being symptomatic while experimental colitis in animals increases expression of neuropeptides within the enteric nervous system (ENS) which may mediate visceral hypersensitivity. Our aim was to determine the expres