Plasma fibronectin is probably the major nonimmune particulate opsonin in blood and is cross-linked to fibrin during the final stage of blood coagulation. Fibronectin also occurs in an insoluble form in basement membranes especially those underlying endothelial cells and in loose connective tissue. Fibronectin was demonstrated in cultured human endothelial cells and in the surrounding extracell...

Free fatty acids (FFAs) play important physiological roles in many tissues as an energy source and as signaling molecules in various cellular processes. Elevated levels of circulating FFAs are associated with obesity, dyslipidemia, and diabetes. Here we show that GPR84, a previously orphan G protein-coupled receptor, functions as a receptor for medium-chain FFAs with carbon chain lengths of 9-1...

conclusions we believe that the sh state in chf patients may be associated with the impaired pattern of circulating emps, with the predominantly increased number of apoptotic-derived microparticles. background subclinical hypothyroidism (sh) is diagnosed biochemically by the presence of normal serum free thyroxine concentration, in conjunction with an elevated serum thyroid-stimulating hormone ...

Existing research on Smallto Medium-sized Manufacturers (SMMs) pays scant attention to factors affecting their growth in the contact of paradigms of competition and, particularly, segments of the supply chain in which they operate. This work adopts a supply chain perspective to propose a business definition and model for the process of the SMMs understanding of, responding to, andinf1uencing cu...

The reliability of the Mycobacteria Growth Indicator Tube (MGIT) 960 system for rapid detection of mycobacteria in clinical specimens was evaluated and compared to the radiometric method (BACTEC 460TB) and to mycobacterial culture on Lowenstein-Jensen (LJ) medium. Clinical specimens (n = 590) were tested without selection. A total of 121 (20.5%) isolates of mycobacteria were recovered; 98 (81.0...

Factors secreted by macrophages contribute to whole body insulin resistance, acting in part on adipose tissue. Muscle is the major tissue for glucose disposal, but how macrophage-derived factors impact skeletal muscle glucose uptake is unknown, or whether the macrophage environment influences this response. We hypothesized that conditioned medium from macrophages pretreated with palmitate or LP...

materials and methods the expression of gp73 was investigated in 88 cancerous and self-control non-cancerous tissues using tissue microarrays with immunohisto- chemistry and was confirmed by western blotting. circulating gp73 levels were detected in the sera of 281 patients with liver diseases using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. results the levels of circulating gp73 expression in the hcc ...

Parallel connection of inverter modules is a solution to increase reliability, efficiency and redundancy of inverters in Micro-Grid system. Proper load sharing among parallel inverters is a key point. The circulating current among the inverters can greatly reduce the efficiency or even cause instability of the system. In this paper, a control strategy for improving the load sharing performance ...

Reproductive efficiency in dairy cattle has been decreased over the last 5 decades despite significant gains in genetic selection, improved reproductive technologies and nutritional care. In high-yielding dairy cattle, the negative energy balance (NEB) during the first week post-partum adversely affects ovarian activity, mainly follicle growth and steroidogenesis. Circulating levels of non-este...

Pheochromocytomas (PCCs) are rare neuroendocrine tumors. The current diagnostic tools are based on biochemistry and histopathology results, but heterogeneity of diagnostic markers, signs and symptoms of PCCs bring a lot of difficulties for these two current methods. Unfortunately microscopic understanding of PCCs is not adequate for its confident prognosis and management. There are data linking...