Zusammenfassung Dieser Beitrag der Zeitschrift Gruppe. Interaktion. Organisation. (GIO) rückt das arbeitsplatznahe, auf kollegial-kooperativem Lernen basierende Personalentwicklungskonzept professionellen Lerngemeinschaften (PLGen) in den Mittelpunkt, bislang vor allem für die Professionalitätsentwicklung von Lehrkräften Schulen erprobt und seiner Wirksamkeit erforscht worden ist. Auch wenn sic...

Multipotent cell types are rapidly becoming key components in a variety of tissue engineering schemes, and mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are emerging as an important tool in bone tissue regeneration. Although several soluble signals influencing osteogenic differentiation of MSCs in vitro are well-characterized, relatively little is known about the influence of substrate signals. This study was ...

The regulation of cerebrovascular permeability is critical for normal brain homeostasis, and the "breakdown" of the blood-brain barrier (BBB) is associated with the development of vasogenic edema and intracranial hypertension in a number of neurological disorders. In this study we demonstrate that an increase in endogenous tissue-type plasminogen activator (tPA) activity in the perivascular tis...

The treatment of patients with hematopoietic progenitor and stem cells (HPSCs) to reconstitute hematopoiesis after myeloablative therapy or to repair ischemia after myocardial infarction has significantly improved clinical outcomes. Successful blood or bone marrow transplants require a sufficient number of HPSCs capable of homing to the injured site to regenerate tissue. Granulocyte-colony stim...

Plg (plasminogen), a member of the serine protease superfamily, is a key component constituting the fibrinolytic system, and its evolutionary origin remains unknown during the course of animal evolution. In the present study, we isolated a cDNA, designated BbPlgl, encoding a kringle-containing protease with plasminogen-like activity from the basal chordate Branchiostoma belcheri. The deduced pr...

INTRODUCTION Pulsatile hyperglycaemia resulting in oxidative stress may play an important role in the development of macrovascular complications. We investigated the effects of sustained vs. pulsatile hyperglycaemia in insulin resistant rats on markers of oxidative stress, enzyme expression and glucose metabolism in liver and aorta. We hypothesized that liver's ability to regulate the glucose h...

Models of dynamical systems based on predictive state representations (PSRs) are defined strictly in terms of observable quantities, in contrast with traditional models (such as Hidden Markov Models) that use latent variables or statespace representations. In addition, PSRs have an effectively infinite memory, allowing them to model some systems that finite memory-based models cannot. Thus far,...

We developed a new porous scaffold made from a synthetic polymer, poly(DL-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLG), and evaluated its use in the repair of cartilage. Osteochondral defects made on the femoral trochlear of rabbits were treated by transplantation of the PLG scaffold, examined histologically and compared with an untreated control group. Fibrous tissue was initially organised in an arcade array ...

In order to quantify the amount of ligands or poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) on each vector, here we developed a system in which poly-L-glutamic acid (PLG) was used as surface modification loading backbone, to which one PEG (MW 5000, 10000, 20000) or epidermal growth factor (EGF) was linked. The PLG conjugates can electro-statically adsorb upon DNA/ polycation complex with positive charge, and, th...

Hematopoietic stem cells within the bone marrow exist in a quiescent state. They can differentiate and proliferate in response to hematopoietic stress (e.g., myelosuppression), thereby ensuring a well-regulated supply of mature and immature hematopoietic cells within the circulation. However, little is known about how this stress response is coordinated. Here, we show that plasminogen (Plg), a ...