Viable suspended hepatocytes were prepared from surgical biopsy specimens of pig and human liver by digestion with collagenase. Initial perfusion of the tissue through cannulated blood vessels with 0.5 mM EGTA followed by 0.2% collagenase gave the best results. 20−870 × 106 cells of which 60–95 % excluded trypan blue were obtained from 5–30 g pig liver pieces, while results with human liver specim

We hypothesize that cerebral ischemia leads to enhanced expression of endothelin (ET), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), and angiotensin II (ANG II) receptors in the vascular smooth muscle cells. Our aim is to correlate the upregulation of cerebrovascular receptors and the underlying molecular mechanisms with the reduction in regional and global cerebral blood flow (CBF) after subarachnoid hemorrhage (S

Within the primitive model of electrolytes, partitioning the system free energy into contributions from entropy and energy requires an explicit description of the temperature dependence of the dielectric constant epsilonr. Taking this into account, the authors find that the ion-ion correlation attraction between like charged macroions is governed by entropy and not energy as often argued. The auth

We examined the attractiveness of a natural headspace sample of [i]Platanthera bifolia[/i blossoms, synthetic blends and Single compounds to the silver Y moth, Autographa gamma, in a flight tunnel. The synthetic blend consisted of previously identified electrophysiologically active compounds from P. bifolia: benzyl benzoate, benzyl salicylate, cinnamyl alcohol, lilac aldehydes, methyl benzoate and

Components of the urokinase plasminogen activator (u-PA) system are involved in the metastatic process, and have accordingly been associated with clinical outcome in a variety of malignant tumours. We investigated the prognostic importance of u-PA and plasminogen activator inhibitor type 1 (PAI-1) in endometrial cancer, analysed with luminometric immunoassay (LIA) and enzyme-linked immunosorbent a

We examine the phase diagram of a Bose-Einstein condensate of atoms, interacting with an attractive pseudopotential, in a quadratic-plus-quartic potential trap rotating at a given rate. Investigating the behavior of the gas as a function of interaction strength and rotational frequency of the trap, we find that the phase diagram has three distinct phases: one with vortex excitation, one with cente

A new standardized lipolysis approach is presented where the focus is on the initial rate of lipolysis. An advantage is that data obtained in this way reflect degradation before growing amounts of lipolysis products retard the process. The method can be used to rank different lipase substrates. In particular, the method can be used to obtain information about the susceptibility to degradation of v

The first excited 2(+) state of the unstable isotope Sn-110 has been studied in safe Coulomb excitation at 2.82 MeV/u using the MINIBALL array at the REX-ISOLDE post accelerator at CERN. This is the first measurement of the reduced transition probability of this state using this method for a neutron deficient Sn isotope. The strength of the approach lies in the excellent peak-to-background ratio t

Background: Collagenous colitis is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease accompanied mainly by nonbloody diarrhea. The objectives of treatment are to alleviate the symptoms and minimize the deleterious effects on health-related quality of life (HRQOL). There is still no generally accepted clinical definition of remission or relapse. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of bowel sympt

Chemokine signaling has been implicated in directing colonization of the fetal thymus by hematopoietic precursors. However, the patterns of expression of the chemokine receptors responsible for directing thymic colonization by the earliest thymic migrants remain unknown. We have identified heterogeneity within the earliest thymus seeding cells based on chemokine receptor expression. By analyzing t

The aggregation behavior of an amphiphilic supramolecular system, with potential application as a tumor-specific magnetic resonance imaging contrast agent, has been studied in detail by dynamic light scattering, small-angle neutron scattering and cryotransmission electron microscopy. The system was constituted of mixed aggregates formed by an anionic unimer containing the DTPAGlu, a chelating agen

Conflicting results have been reported of the long-term effects of treatment with inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) on bone. The objective of this study was to compare ICS users and non-users regarding bone mineral density (BMD) in a large population. A total of 65 225 adults participated in a cross-sectional study in the Nord-Trondelag Health Study 1995-1997. Those reporting asthma or asthma-related

The scope of this work is a new methodology to correct conventional near-infrared (NIR) data for scattering effects. The technique aims at measuring the absorption coefficient of the samples rather than the total attenuation measured in conventional NIR spectroscopy. The main advantage of this is that the absorption coefficient is independent of the path length of the light inside the sample and t

It is possible that the low levels of production of exopolysaccharides (EPSs) by lactic acid bacteria could be improved by altering the levels of enzymes in the central metabolism that influence the production of precursor nucleotide sugars. To test this hypothesis, we identified and cloned the galU gene, which codes for UDP glucose pyrophosphorylase (GalU) in Streptococcus thermophilus LY03. Homo

OBJECTIVES: To standardise the colorimetric assay based on 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) for the rapid detection of rifampicin-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis in clinical practice and to evaluate the assay on a collection of 92 clinical isolates. DESIGN: The Bactec method was used as the reference method. Rifampicin was used for the susceptibility testing

Unexpected outcomes in breast cancer demand a refinement of prognostic criteria. This study therefore investigated the prognostic relevance of cyclin expression in a cohort of 332 T1-T2 NO infiltrating ductal carcinomas with long-term follow-up (median 99 months). By univariate analysis, tumour size, histopathological grade, hormone receptor content, cyclin E, cyclin B, and the Ki-S5 (Ki-67) index

Long-term training of breath-hold diving reduces the hypercapnic ventilatory response (HCVR), an index of the CO(2) sensitivity. The aim of the present study was to elucidate whether also short-term apnea training (repeating apneas with short intervals) reduces the HCVR, thereby being one contributing factor explaining the progressively increasing breath-holding time (BHT) with repetition of apnea

High-order harmonic generation in gases by use of femtosecond lasers is a source of ultrashort pulses in the extreme-ultraviolet (XUV). For many applications it is necessary to select radiation of only one specific harmonic order without affecting the duration of the ultrashort pulse. A three-grating monochromator that meets this demand has been designed and modeled by ray tracing as well as by wa