The electron density resolution is 1000 times higher for synchrotron-radiation phase-contrast CT imaging than conventional X-ray absorption imaging in light elements, with which high-resolution X-ray imaging of biological soft tissue can be achieved. In the present study, we used phase-contrast X-ray CT to investigate human resected esophagus and esophageal carcinoma specimens. This technology ...

Bronchograms were made in eight men, chosen on clinical grounds as representative of three grades of severity in a series of 67 male bronchitis studied prospectively over a period of 10 years, with the object of ascertaining the anatomical condition at the end of this period. In the stationary group the bronchograms showed only a mild mucous reaction, and peripheral filling was generally good. ...

Incorporation of [nH]threonine and [3H]glucose by the mucous and serous cells of the human bronchial submucosal gland has been studied over 8 h using, for the first time, in vitro pulse labeling and electron microscope autoradiography. In assessing the autoradiographs, two methods were compared, the circle analysis and the recently described hypothetical grain analysis. Preliminary studies show...

Some 30 lectins in combination with glycosidase digestion and immunohistochemistry with 5 antibodies directed against antigens of the ABO and Lewis blood group systems were used to analyse the distribution and synthesis of glycoconjugates in the epithelium of the large airways in man. Both mucous gland cells and goblet cells were labelled by 12 of 30 lectins and by the antibodies, dependent on ...

Exposure of pulmonary airways to environmental toxins and allergens may cause proliferation of airway epithelial cells and mucous cell metaplasia (MCM); however, it is unclear to what extent proliferating cells differentiate into mucus-storing cells and contribute to MCM. Our previous studies demonstrated that Bcl-2, an inhibitor of apoptosis with cell cycle regulatory functions, is expressed i...

Retinoid-deficient cultures of airway epithelial cells undergo squamous differentiation. Treatment of such cultures with retinoic acid (RA) leads to restoration of the mucous phenotype. The purpose of our study was to characterize the cellular and molecular changes following RA treatment of retinoid-deficient human tracheobronchial epithelial cell cultures. Of particular interest was to determi...

the present study was carried out to characterize the cervical mucus (cm) collected when inseminating holstein cows and to relate the secretion pattern with pregnancy. the mucus was collected from mid-cervix of 64 cows with spontaneus estrus (se) and induced estrus (ie). the quantity, pattern and consistency of the mucus, ph, arborization patterns and the sperm motility were observed. the level...