Information on the digestive system of the reptiles is based on relatively few studies on some of the now present 7500 reptilian species. Yet, the gap between our understanding of the major similarities and / or differences between the mammalian and reptilian digestive system does not seem satisfiable. The aim of the current study was to investigate the morphological structure of one of the mos...

Ubiquitous, large diameter pores have not previously been adequately demonstrated to occur in leaf cuticles. Here we show conclusively that such structures occur in Eidothea zoexylocarya, a rainforest tree species of Proteaceae restricted to the Australian Wet Tropics. The pores are abundant, large-diameter apertures (∼1 μm), that extend perpendicularly most of the way through the cuticle from ...

In 1960, Reid described a method of quantitating the bronchial mucous gland hypertrophy that occurs in chronic bronchitis. She expressed the bronchial mucous gland size as a ratio of the bronchial mucous gland thickness to the thickness of the bronchial wall, as measured from the epithelial basement membrane to the inner perichondrium. This ratio was increased in chronic bronchitis, and there w...

The majority of cytological studies concern the influence of glucocorticosteroids on cells involved in creating and sustaining inflammation, such as eosinophils or neutrophils. Much less attention is devoted to epithelial cells. It should also be noticed that glucocorticosteroid drugs administered nasally for local action can significantly change the cytological image of the nasal mucous membra...

UNLABELLED Nasal polyposis affects about 1 to 4% of the population. Polyps develop in oedematous and inflammated mucous membrane. In spite of the intensive research the pathomechanism of their development is not fully understood. The majority of the theories concerning the development of nasal polyps emphasize the role of the inflammatory process causing the rupture of the epithelium and the ba...

OBJECTIVE This study aimed to develop a physiologically based pharmacokinetic model for acetone and to predict the kinetic behaviour of acetone in the human body with that model. METHODS The model consists of eight tissue groups in which acetone can be distributed: the mucous layer of the inhaled air tract, the mucous layer of the exhaled air tract, a compartment for gas exchange (alveolus of...

Several authors have previously demonstrated that the number of the skin mucous cells of fish is affected by many stressors. In the present study, two experiments were conducted in order to examine the effects of two common environmental conditions on the morphology of skin of sea bass and particularly on the number and diameter of skin mucous cells. In the first experiment, two groups of sea b...

Studies using the alphavirus Semliki Forest virus have indicated that the viral E1 fusion protein forms two types of pore: fusion pores and ion-permeable pores. The formation of ion-permeable pores has not been generally accepted, partly because it was not evident how the protein might form these different pores. Here it is proposed that the choice of the target membrane determines whether a fu...

Pore formation of cellular membranes is an ancient mechanism of bacterial pathogenesis that allows efficient damaging of target cells. Several mechanisms have been described, however, relatively little is known about the assembly and properties of pores. Listeriolysin O (LLO) is a pH-regulated cholesterol-dependent cytolysin from the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, which forms tr...

Introduction: Mucous retention cysts are a subtype of intracordal vocal cysts that may occur spontaneously or may be associated with poor vocal hygiene, and which require optimal treatment. The objective of this study was to present a new laser-assisted microsurgery technique for treating intracordal mucous retention cysts and to describe the final outcomes.   Materials and Methods: In this pro...