Acquired resistance to Mycobacterium leprae, the etiologic agent of leprosy, crucially depends on cellular immune mechanisms. In addition to interleukin-mediated helper functions, killer mechanisms seem to be involved. This study addresses the question of how M. leprae render mononuclear phagocytes and Schwann cells, its natural targets, susceptible or resistant to killer cells. Killer activiti...

The inner hair cells (IHCs) are the transducers of the cochlea; they convert mechanical vibrations to neural activity. When the IHCs and/or neurons are nonfunctioning over a certain region of the cochlea, this is referred to as a dead region. A dead region can be defined in terms of the characteristic frequencies of the IHCs and/or neurons immediately adjacent to the dead region. Dead regions c...

This study investigated the effects of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) on dental pulp stromal cells (DPCs). Cultures of DPCs expressed GDNF as well as its receptors, GFR1 and RET. Addition of recombinant GDNF to cultures in serumcontaining medium did not significantly affect DPC growth; however, GNDF dosedependently increased viable cell number under serum-free culture condi...

All adults have stem cells in their body that can act like embryonic stem cells when given an appropriate stimulus. When VEGF is given, the bone marrow is stimulated to release stem cells, which grow new coronary arteries and also replenish damaged or dead cardiomyocytes. Transplanting autologous bone marrow stem cells into coronary arteries reduced infarct size, improved the prognosis followin...

Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is caused by a BCR-ABL chromosome translocation in a primitive hematopoietic stem cell. The number of hematopoietic stem cells in the body is thus a major factor in CML risk. Evidence suggests that the number of hematopoietic stem cells in the body is only loosely regulated, having a broad "dead-band" of physiologically acceptable values. The existence of a dead-b...

introduction: the aim of this investigation was to study the developmental potential of human fragmented embryos to blastocyst stage and to evaluate thedeveloped blastocysts in the term of size, cellularity, the type of inner cell mass(icm), trophoetoderm (te) and the number of dead cells. material and methods: four to eight cell fragmented human embryos wereobtained from the embryology lab of ...

Corrosion inhibition of SAE 1018 steel by Pseudomonas fragi and Escherichia coli biofilms has been evaluated using batch cultures in rich medium (LB) and seawater-mimicking medium (VNSS) at 23 degrees C and 30 degrees C with or without daily medium replenishment. Biofilm components have been stained simultaneously for polysaccharide (calcofluor) and live and dead cells (Live/Dead Baclit viabili...

background: magnetic nanoparticles in a variable magnetic field are able to produce heat. this heat (42-45°c) has more selective effect on fast dividing cancer cells than normal tissues. methods: in this work magnetite nanoparticles have been prepared via co-precipitation and phase identification was performed by powder x-ray diffraction (xrd). magnetic parameters of the prepared nanoparticles ...