Phagocytosis of particles by polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) 1 is accompanied by a burst of oxidative metabolic changes. These include increased oxygen consumption (1), hexose monophosphate shunt (HMS) activity (1), and hydrogen peroxide (H202) (2) and superoxide (02-) (3) production. Despite intensive investigation the mechanism by which this oxidative metabolism is stimulated during phagoc...

Composition of processes for virtual enterprises is a significant issue. Although the flexible architecture provided by holonic manufacturing system (HMS) paves the way for adaptive composition of virtual enterprise processes, it also poses challenges in planning processes for virtual enterprises. The challenges are due, in part, to the loosely coupled structure of holons and also to the comple...

AIMS GATA3 is a zinc-finger transcription factor that is important for trophoblast differentiation. GATA3 is sensitive for urothelial and breast carcinomas, but the specificity is low. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of GATA3 in trophoblast-related tissues and neoplasia. METHODS AND RESULTS GATA3 immunohistochemistry was performed on 33 placentas, one atypical placenta...

Using whole cell patch-clamp recording in a rat brain stem slice preparation, we found that gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) and glycine act as cotransmitters to hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs). Focal application of GABA and glycine onto a single HM revealed that GABAA and glycine receptors are present on the same neuron. To demonstrate that HMs receive both GABAergic and glycinergic synaptic input...

We have developed a single-compartment, electrophysiological, hypoglossal motoneuron (HM) model based primarily on experimental data from neonatal rat HMs. The model is able to reproduce the fine features of the HM action potential: the fast afterhyperpolarization, the afterdepolarization, and the medium-duration afterhyperpolarization (mAHP). The model also reproduces the repetitive firing pro...

The introduction of CIM (Computer Integrated Manufacturing) systems in the 1980s, aiming at integrating automatic workstations into fully automated factories, was not successful. The root causes of this failure were that the subsystems to be integrated were not suitably designed for easy integration into a larger system. This situation stimulated the authors to embark on a research programme on...

Molecular targeted therapies are based upon drugs acting on tumors by interfering with specific targets involved in growth and spread of cancer. Many targeted therapies were approved by Food and Drug Administration as standard treatment, others were introduced into preclinical or clinical studies on hematological malignancies (HMs). The development of drug-resistance in some HMs and the lack of...

BACKGROUND The genetic basis of postzygotic isolation is a central puzzle in evolutionary biology. Evolutionary forces causing hybrid sterility or inviability act on the responsible genes while they still are polymorphic, thus we have to study these traits as they arise, before isolation is complete. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS Isofemale strains of D. mojavensis vary significantly in their...

Coupling chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) with recently developed massively parallel sequencing technologies has enabled genome-wide detection of protein-DNA interactions with unprecedented sensitivity and specificity. This new technology, ChIP-Seq, presents opportunities for in-depth analysis of transcription regulation. In this study, we explore the value of using ChIP-Seq data to better ...

Mechanical signals of both low and high intensity are inhibitory to fat and anabolic to bone in vivo, and have been shown to directly affect mesenchymal stem cell pools from which fat and bone precursors emerge. To identify an idealized mechanical regimen which can regulate MSC fate, low intensity vibration (LIV; <10 microstrain, 90 Hz) and high magnitude strain (HMS; 20,000 microstrain, 0.17 H...