BACKGROUND Receptor tyrosine kinases that include vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGFR)-1, VEGFR-2, and Tie-2 regulate cardiovascular development and physiological and pathological angiogenesis. We were interested in the phenotypic and functional characterization of peripheral blood cells expressing these receptors and their therapeutic potential in vascular injury. METHODS AND RESULTS V...

Tie-strength has been in the focus of social science research for decades, yet the use of measurement tools or scales has been relatively scarce. The aim of this study was to fill the gap and provide a tool that is able to provide a quantitative and continuous measure of tie strength in social networks. The focus was on virtual communities because the fast expansion of Internet use and the cons...

PURPOSE The angiopoietin (Ang) system plays an important role in vascular stabilization and pathologic neovascularization. The hypothesis for the study was that, in addition to modulating endothelial cell behavior, the angiopoietin/Tie-2 system also regulates the pericyte apoptosis and/or the vessel maturation associated with diabetic retinopathy. METHODS Tie-2 expression in cultured retinal ...

BACKGROUND Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a lethal disease that is associated with characteristic histological abnormalities of the lung vasculature and defects of angiopoetin-1 (ANG-1), TIE-2 and bone morphogenetic protein receptor (BMPR)-related signalling. We hypothesized that if these signalling defects cause PH generically, they will be readily identifiable perinatally in congenital diaphr...

After skin grafting, to prevent hematoma or seroma collection at the graft site, a tie-over dressing has been commonly used. However, although the conventional tie-over dressing by suture is a useful method for securing a graft site, refixation is difficult when repeated tie-over dressing is needed. Therefore, we recommend a redoable tie-over dressing technique with multiple loops threads and c...

Arguably, release of tongue tie is the oldest surgical procedure and it is perhaps older than circumcision. According to the Old Testament, the Lord released the tied tongue of Moses and made him speak well [1]. Tongue-tie is pedantically known as ankyloglossia inferior minor. Simplicity of its treatment has earned this malady several etiological attributions such as difficulty of speech and br...

Arrays of subwavelength dipole bow-tie apertures are designed and characterized at terahertz frequencies. For an incident terahertz field perpendicular to the longer axis of the bow tie, a strong resonance enhancement, line narrowing, and a nonmonotonic frequency shift were observed with increasing length of the tapered bow-tie arms. Such characteristic behaviors primarily originate from locali...

Due to the scarcity of rational models for predicting the strength of RC beam-column sandwich joints, a modified simplified softened strut-and-tie model suggests a more rational calculation method for the effective compressive strength and the height of the joint concrete based on the simplified softened strut-and-tie. The shear strength of existing tested 15 sandwich interior joints is calcula...

Although Knowledge has grown to occupy a major role in the discussion on firm performance, we currently know little about the micro-processes involved in search and transfer of knowledge. Drawing on extensive fieldwork in a large, multinational professional service firm, we identify a frequent phenomenon in which employees successfully extend ties to unacquainted others, bypassing direct and in...

As noted by theorists such as Blau, Durkheim, Mayhew, and others, interaction opportunity is a fundamental determinant of social structure. One of the most empirically well established factors influencing interaction opportunity is that of physical distance. The strength of this effect in modern societies, however, has been called into question because of technological advances (the so-called d...