Aggregators have emerged as crucial tools for the coordination of distributed, controllable loads. To be used effectively, an aggregator must able to communicate available flexibility loads they control, known aggregate a system operator. However, most existing measures often are slow-timescale estimations and much less attention has been paid real-time between In this paper, we consider solvin...

Suppression of immune response by mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) is well documented. However, their regulatory effects on immune cells, especially regulatory dendritic cells, are not fully understood. We have identified a novel Sca-1(+)Lin(-)CD117(-) MSC population isolated from mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF) that suppressed lymphocyte proliferation in vitro. Moreover, the Sca-1(+)Lin...

We assessed the mechanisms of resistance to macrolide-lincosamide-streptogramin B (MLS(B)) antibiotics and related antibiotics in erythromycin-resistant viridans group streptococci (n = 164) and Gemella spp. (n = 28). The macrolide resistance phenotype was predominant (59.38%); all isolates with this phenotype carried the mef(A) or mef(E) gene, with mef(E) being predominant (95.36%). The erm(B)...

This study was performed to evaluate the effects of fibroblast co-culture on in vitro maturation (IVM) of prepubertal mouse preantral follicles. The intact preantral follicles were obtained from the ovaries of 12-14 day old mice and these were cultured individually in α-minimal essential medium (α-MEM) supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum (FBS), 100 mIU/Ml recombinant follicle stimulating ho...

The serine/threonine kinases, Akt1/PKBα, Akt2/PKBβ, Akt3/PKBγ, have been implicated in preventing cells from undergoing apoptosis. Although several small molecule inhibitors of Akt have been reported to induce apoptosis in cancer cells, these inhibitors may have additional targets. In the current study, we used an Akt3 small interfering RNA (Akt3 siRNA) to analyze apoptosis induction in Akt1 an...

Seventy-six Neisseria gonorrhoeae isolates, isolated between 1940 and 1987, and seven Neisseria meningitidis isolates, isolated between 1963 and 1987, were screened for the presence of acquired mef(A), erm(B), erm(C), and erm(F) genes by using DNA-DNA hybridization, PCR analysis, and sequencing. The mef(A), erm(B), and erm(F) genes were all identified in a 1955 N. gonorrhoeae isolate, while the...

To investigate the determinants of maximal expiratory flow (MEF) with aging, 17 younger (7 men and 10 women, 39 +/- 4 yr, mean +/- SD) and 19 older (11 men and 8 women, 69 +/- 3 yr) subjects with normal pulmonary function were studied. For further comparison, we also studied 10 middle-aged men with normal lung function (54 +/- 6 yr) and 15 middle-aged men (54 +/- 7 yr) with mild chronic airflow...

The inconsistency of efficiency in murine embryonic stem cell (ESC) production might be associated with the differences in preparation and cryopreservation of the feeder cell layer. As the cryopreservation of mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) declined the quality of MEF as feeder cell layer, an effective protocol should be determined to produce murine ESC on frozen-thawed feeder cell layer as ef...

Bcl-2 proteins are major regulators of cellular responses to intrinsic and extrinsic apoptotic stimuli. Among them, overexpression of the antiapoptotic protein Bcl-x(L) modulates intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis and organelle-specific apoptotic signaling pathways. However, the specific activities of Bcl-x(L) at mitochondria and the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) have not been fully defined. To furt...

In this study, the distribution of macrolide resistance mechanisms was determined for isolates of Streptococcus pneumoniae and Streptococcus pyogenes obtained from the PROTEKT 1999-2000 study (a global, longitudinal study of the antibacterial susceptibility of bacterial pathogens associated with community-acquired lower respiratory tract infections). The global macrolide resistance mechanism di...