Growth factor receptors in human hematopoietic progenitor cells have become the focus of intense interest, because they may provide tools for the monitoring, enrichment, and expansion of stem cells. We have shown earlier that the Tie receptor tyrosine kinase is expressed in erythroid and megakaryoblastic human leukemia cell lines, in the blood islands of the yolk sac, and in endothelial cells s...

BACKGROUND Gastro-entero-pancreatic/neuroendocrine (NET) tumors are highly vascularized neoplasms. However, our knowledge concerning circulating levels of the angiogenic factors in NET patients still remains insufficient. METHODS The aim of this study was to measure plasma concentrations of VEGF, angiopoietin 1 (Ang-1), angiopoietin 2 (Ang-2), soluble Tie-2, endostatin, osteopontin (OPN) and ...

Excessive load demand with reliability in power availability, demands for interconnection of large number of generating units over existing tie lines. Due to sudden change in demand, the power transfer over existing tie lines working close to their thermal limits results in low frequency power oscillations. Thus, in modern power systems the study of mitigation of these frequency oscillations is...

This paper presents the performance-based optimization of strut-and-tie models in reinforced concrete beam-column connections. The performance-based optimization (PBO) technique is employed to investigate optimal strut-and-tie models in reinforced concrete beam-column connections. Developing strut-and-tie models in reinforced concrete beam-column connections is treated as a topology optimizatio...

BACKGROUND About 3% of infants are born with a tongue-tie which may lead to breastfeeding problems such as ineffective latch, painful attachment or poor weight gain. The Hazelbaker Assessment Tool for Lingual Frenulum Function (HATLFF) has been developed to give a quantitative assessment of the tongue-tie and recommendation about frenotomy (release of the frenulum). The aim of this study was to...

By performing an in-depth analysis of one high profile example, this article aims to help breastfeeding support professionals understand the methodological flaws that characterize recent studies claiming to show the efficacy of frenotomy for the diagnoses of posterior tongue-tie and upper lip-tie. The example study does not address definitional confusion or control for the effects of the passag...

Intracellular protein concentration is an essential cell characteristic, which manifests itself through the refractive index. The latter can be measured from two or more mutually defocused brightfield images analyzed using the TIE (transport-of-intensity equation). In practice, however, TIE does not always achieve quantitatively accurate results on biological cells. Therefore, we have developed...

Skin grafting is a common operative method widely used in the field of plastic, reconstructive, and aesthetic surgery. However, we offer five suggestions to reduce complications and surgical invasiveness. Our tips are as follows. (1) Skin grafts should be harvested on the basis of a swimsuit with high-cut leg openings. (2) A drum dermatome is still useful when a split-thickness skin graft is ne...