Resident mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) are involved in angiogenesis during thymus regeneration. We have previously shown that MSCs can be isolated from enzymatically digested human neonatal and infant thymus tissue that is normally discarded during pediatric cardiac surgical procedures. In this paper, we demonstrate that thymus MSCs can also be isolated by explant culture of discarded thymus...

The ability of thymus to restore the immune deficiency produced by neonatal thymectomy in mice decreases with the delay of treatment after thymectomy (1). Eventually a state is reached when thymus grafts become ineffective, especially when the animals develop the postthymectomy-wasting syndrome (2, 3). These results were interpreted as indicating that a population of cells in the host, capable ...

Value at Risk (VaR) has emerged in recent years as a standard tool to measure and control the risk of trading portfolios. Yet, existing theoretical analyses of the optimal behavior of a trader subject to VaR limits have produced a negative view of VaR as a risk-control tool. In particular, VaR limits have been found to induce increased risk exposure in some states and an increased probability o...

BACKGROUND The variable antigen P. falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein-1 (PfEMP1) is a major virulence factor in malaria. A large number of var genes encode PfEMP1, and we hypothesized that a restricted PfEMP1 repertoire determines clinical disease presentation. We conducted a case-control study in Papua New Guinea and analyzed transcribed var genes in naturally infected children. METHODS...

Exercise [2.1.5] Let > 0 and pick K = K( ) finite such that if k ≥ K then r(k) ≤ . Applying the Cauchy-Schwarz inequality for Xi −EXi and Xj −EXj we have that Cov(Xi, Xj) ≤ [Var(Xi)Var(Xj)] ≤ r(0) <∞ for all i, j. Thus, breaking the double sum in Var(Sn) = ∑n i,j=1 Cov(Xi, Xj) into {(i, j) : |i − j| < K} and {(i, j) : |i− j| ≥ K} gives the bound Var(Sn) ≤ 2Knr(0) + n . Dividing by n we see that...

Value-at-risk (VaR) has become the standard criterion for assessing risk in the financial industry. Given the widespread usage of VaR, it becomes increasingly important to study the effects of VaR-based risk management on the prices of stocks and options. We solve a continuous-time asset pricing model, based on Lucas (1978) and Basak and Shapiro (2001), to investigate these effects. We find tha...

The importance of a gene's natural chromatin environment for its normal expression is poignantly illustrated when a change in chromosome position results in variable gene repression, such as is observed in position effect variegation (PEV) when the Drosophila melanogaster white (omega) gene is juxtaposed with heterochromatin. The Enhancer of variegation 3-9 [E(var)3-9] gene was one of over a hu...

OBJECTIVE The genus Thymus L. is a cushion plant that was previously used for the treatment of bronchitis and rheumatism. The present investigation was carried out to study the effects of root, shoot, leaf and seed extracts of five Thymus species and subspecies on peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) toxicity and HIV-1 replication. MATERIALS AND METHODS In this experimental study, the a...

The nature of the cells that seed the thymus of an irradiated recipient after intravenous (IV) transfer of bone marrow (BM) cells was investigated using 2 approaches. First, direct entry of a small number of donor BM cells into the thymus was tracked using a Ly-5 marker. Second, secondary IV transfer of the seeded thymus cells into a secondary recipient was used as an assay for precursor activi...

Thymus vulgaris has gained tremendous popularity as an ornamental, culinary herb and its use in phytotherapy is well established and supported in the literature. The objective of this study was to explore possible interactions between selected molecules within Thymus vulgaris essential oil (TvEO) to gain a better understanding of how this complex essential oil exerts its antimicrobial activity....