tissue-cultured common reed: Topics by WorldWideScience.org

Sample records for tissue-cultured common reed

Optimizing in vitro large scale production of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) by liquid medium culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cavallaro, Valeria; Patanè, Cristina; Cosentino, Salvatore L.; Di Silvestro, Isabella; Copani, Venera

2014-01-01

Tissue culture methods offer the potential for large-scale propagation of giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a promising crop for energy biomass. In previous trials, giant reed resulted particularly suitable to in vitro culture. In this paper, with the final goal of enhancing the efficiency of in vitro production process and reducing costs, the influence of four different culture media (agar or gellan-gum solidified medium, liquid medium into a temporary immersion system-RITA ® or in a stationary state) on in vitro shoot proliferation of giant reed was evaluated. Giant reed exhibited a particular sensitivity to gelling agents during the phase of secondary shoot formation. Gellan gum, as compared to agar, improved the efficiency of in vitro culture giving more shoots with higher mean fresh and dry weight. Moreover, the cultivation of this species into a liquid medium under temporary immersion conditions or in a stationary state, was comparatively as effective as and cheaper than that into a gellan gum medium. Increasing 6-benzylaminopurine (BA) up to 4 mg l −1 also resulted in a further enhancement of secondary shoot proliferation. The good adaptability of this species to liquid medium and the high multiplication rates observed indicate the possibility to obtain from a single node at least 1200 plantlets every six multiplication cycles (about 6 months), a number 100 fold higher than that obtained yearly per plant by the conventional methods of vegetative multiplication. In open field, micropropagated plantlets guaranteed a higher number of survived plants, secondary stems and above ground biomass as compared to rhizome ones. - Highlights: • In vitro propagation offers the potential for large-scale propagation of giant reed. • The success of an in vitro protocol depends on the rate and mode of shoot proliferation. • Substituting liquid media to solid ones may decrease propagation costs in Arundo donax. • Giant reed showed good proliferation rates in
An exploration of common reed (Phragmites australis bioenergy potential in North America

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R. Vaičekonytė

2014-10-01

Full Text Available In North America, reed (Phragmites australis is typically considered to be a weed although it provides important ecosystem services. Small, sparse, patchy or mixed reedbeds are more suitable as habitat for many species than extensive dense reedbeds, whose habitat functions can be enhanced by the selective removal of biomass. We propose that above-ground reed biomass could be harvested for bioenergy, at the same time improving habitat for biodiversity by thinning or fragmenting the more extensive reedbeds. Biofuel pellets manufactured from reeds harvested at Montréal (Canada had moisture content 6.4 %, energy content 16.9 kJ g-1 (dry mass, ash content 3.44 %, and chloride content 1962 ppm. Thus, reed as a material for fuel pellet manufacture is similar to switchgrass (Panicum virgatum, which is commonly cultivated for that purpose and requires higher inputs than harvested wild reed. We discuss these findings in the context of environmental considerations and conclude that the bioenergy potential of reed could most expediently be realised in North America by combining material harvested from the widespread spontaneously occurring reedbeds with organic waste from other sources to create mixed biofuels. However, reeds with high levels of chlorine, sulphur or metals should not be burned to avoid air pollution or equipment damage unless these problems are mitigated by means of appropriate season of harvest, equipment, combustion regime, or use of a mixed feedstock.
Isolation, cloning, and characterization of a partial novel aro A gene in common reed (Phragmites australis).

Science.gov (United States)

Taravat, Elham; Zebarjadi, Alireza; Kahrizi, Danial; Yari, Kheirollah

2015-05-01

Among the essential amino acids, phenylalanine, tryptophan, and tyrosine are aromatic amino acids which are synthesized by the shikimate pathway in plants and bacteria. Herbicide glyphosate can inhibit the biosynthesis of these amino acids. So, identification of the gene tolerant to glyphosate is very important. It has been shown that the common reed or Phragmites australis Cav. (Poaceae) is relatively tolerant to glyphosate. The aim of the current research is identification, cloning, sequencing, and registering of partial aro A gene of the common reed P. australis. The partial aro A gene of common reed (P. australis) was cloned in Escherichia coli and the amino acid sequence was identified/determined for the first time. This is the first report for isolation, cloning, and sequencing of a part of aro A gene from the common reed. A 670 bp fragment including two introns (86 bp and 289 bp) was obtained. The open reading frame (ORF) region in part of gene was encoded for 98 amino acids. Alignment showed high similarity among this region with Zea mays (L.) (Poaceae) (94.6%), Eleusine indica L. Gaertn (Poaceae) (94.2%), and Zoysia japonica Steud. (Poaceae) (94.2%). The alignment of amino acid sequence of the investigated part of the gene showed a homology with aro A from several other plants. This conserved region forms the enzyme active site. The alignment results of nucleotide and amino acid residues with related sequences showed that there are some differences among them. The relative glyphosate tolerance in the common reed may be related to these differences.
The Protective Properties of Common Reed Plantations on Shores of the Lower Volga Region

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Solodovnikov Denis Anatolyevich

2014-12-01

Full Text Available The abrasion processing of shores is a pressing problem of large water basins of the Lower Volga region and other Russian regions. About 3 km2 of shoreland is annually lost in the zone of the Volgograd water basin as a result of this process. The existing methods of shores protection are connected with the creation of concrete structures having a high level of erosion resistance. They are extremely expensive and in most cases they are not affordable for rural municipalities suffering from abrasion. The authors offer cheap and environmentally friendly way of protecting the shores of large water basins from abrasion. The method is based on the plantation of a common reed strip on a water basin’s shallow. The biological characteristics of common reed as the main component of shore protection structures are described. The terms and milestones of the work in the conditions of the Volgograd water basin are developed. The main result of applying our methodology is the complete cessation of abrasion processing of the shore at the corresponding piece of land. The authors overview the positive qualities of reed plantations, their biocenotic, barrier and waterproof role in on-shore ecosystems. The application of the described method will allow saving for the national economy dozens of hectares of valuable shore lands annually, in particular, irrigated cropland, settlement lands, infrastructure. In addition to the direct benefits associated with the conservation of land resources, the intensity of adverse processes associated with erosion of shores (water basin muddying, deterioration of sanitary qualities of water will decrease. Due to the wide geographic spread of common reed described in the present work, the technology of shores stabilization can be applied at almost all lowland water basins of Russia.
Biology, Management and Utilization of Common Reed Pharagnites australis.

Science.gov (United States)

1987-02-01

Vrije Universiteit Waterways Experiment Staticn Department of Ecology and Ecotoxicology Environmental Laboratory P.O. Box 7161 P.O. Box 631 1007 MC...Madelijn van der Werff Vrije Universiteit Department of Ecology and Ecotoxicology Amsterdam and John W. Simmers and Stratford H. Kay Waterways...lowing and cutting 67 5.2.4. Active regulation of the water table 68 5.5. Nature conservation 68 5.4. Reed cultivation 69 Z.4. 1. Reed harvest 69 6
Resistance strategies of Phragmites australis (common reed to Pb pollution in flood and drought conditions

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Na Zhang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Resistance strategies of clonal organs, and parent and offspring shoots of Phragmites australis (common reed to heavy metal pollution in soils are not well known. To clarify the tolerance or resistance strategies in reeds, we conducted a pot experiment with five levels of Pb concentration (0∼4,500 mg kg−1 in flood and drought conditions. Lead toxicity had no inhibitory effect on the number of offspring shoots in flood environment; however, biomass accumulation, and photosynthetic and clonal growth parameters were inhibited in both water environment. At each treatment of Pb concentration, offspring shoots had greater biomass and higher photosynthesis indicators than parent shoots. The lowest Pb allocation was found in rhizomes. More of the Pb transported to above-ground parts tended to accumulate in parent shoots rather than in offspring shoots. Biomass and photosynthesis of offspring shoots, rhizome length, and the number of buds, rhizomes and offspring shoots in the flooded treatment were significantly greater than those in the drought treatment. Our results indicated that the tolerance strategies used by reeds, including higher biomass accumulation and photosynthesis in offspring shoots, low allocation of Pb in rhizomes and offspring shoots, and stable clonal growth, maintained the stability of population propagation and productivity, improving the resistance of reeds to Pb pollution in flood environment. However, the resistance or tolerance was significantly reduced by the synergistic effect of Pb and drought, which significantly inhibited biomass accumulation, photosynthesis, and clonal growth of reeds.
Indexes of the common reed's seed vitality from water-bodies of the Chernobyl exclusive zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yavnuk, A.A.; Shevtsova, N.L.; Gudkov, D.I.; Levchenko, Ya.I.

2010-01-01

Investigation of the common reed's seed vitality (vegetation of 2009) from flood-plain water-bodies with different level of radionuclide contamination was carried out. Decrease in indexes of seed's vitality and abnormalities in seed dynamic sprouting was noticed. Dose-response relationship of germination, germinating force, survival rate of seeds of plants was determined. (authors)
Quality indicators for woodwind reed material

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Glave, Stefan; Pallon, Jan; Bornman, Chris; Bjoern, Lars Olof; Wallen, Rita; Raastam, Jacob; Kristiansson, Per; Elfman, Mikael; Malmqvist, Klas

1999-01-01

For the generation of sound, some woodwind musical instruments, e.g. oboe, bassoon, clarinet and saxophone, are provided with mouthpieces made from reeds. These reeds are the culms of Arundo donax, a tall, cane-like perennial grass. A general problem is that the material is of varying quality, yet externally differences cannot be observed. Hence, large proportions of the prepared reeds are unusable. One hypothesis is that the changes in quality are correlated with differences in the chemical and anatomical structure of the tissue. Therefore, a comparison of superior and inferior mouthpieces, used by professional musicians, was undertaken to determinate potential indicators of quality. Nuclear microprobe analysis of reeds was carried out and complemented by scanning electron and light microscopy. The elemental levels of Si, P, S, Cl, K and Ca were compared between good and poor mouthpieces using appropriate statistical tests. No statistically significant differences could be identified. Microscopical observations showed that partial occlusion of vessels by tylose formation was associated with material deemed unusable
Purification performances of common reed beds based on the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SARAH

2013-11-30

Nov 30, 2013 ... advantages, the reed bed is a solution to Beninese purification problems. Since technical service agent of ... Journal of Applied Biosciences 71:5682– 5691. ISSN 1997–5902 ..... 15N/14N ratios. Journal of Hydrology, vol. 199,.
Ecosystem Service Value for the Common Reed Wetlands in the Liaohe Delta, Northeast China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ye, Siyuan; Laws, Edward A.; Costanza, Robert

2016-01-01

The largest reed field in the world, with an area of 1000 km2 in 1953, is located in the Liaohe Delta, which lies in the five-point-in-a-line economic strategic zone of northeastern China. However, the area of reeds has declined dramatically in recent years to accommodate oil field infrastructure...
Structural and mechanical design of tissue interfaces in the giant reed Arundo donax.

Science.gov (United States)

Rüggeberg, Markus; Burgert, Ingo; Speck, Thomas

2010-03-06

The culms of the giant reed Arundo donax represent slender tube-like structures. Several nodes along the culm, a ring of sclerenchymatous fibres in the periphery of the culm wall and numerous isolated vascular bundles enclosed by fibre rings in the culm wall function as stiffening elements. The bundles are embedded in lignified parenchyma. Micromechanical analysis indicated differences in stiffness between the individual tissues of more than one order of magnitude. In case of abrupt transitions in stiffness at the interfaces, stress discontinuities arise under dynamic loads. This eventually leads to critical shear stresses at cell ends, and culm failure may be initiated at these points. Pronounced mechanical differences between individual tissues can be compromised by gradual transitions at their interfaces. Ultrastructural and spectroscopic investigations with high spatial resolution revealed a gradual transition of cell parameters (cell wall area fraction and cell length). However, cell wall parameters (cellulose microfibril angle and lignin content) showed abrupt transitions or remained almost constant across the interfaces between various tissues. The design principles found at the interfaces between tissues in the culm walls of A. donax are discussed as an adaptation strategy to mechanical loads at different levels of hierarchy.
Saving reed lands by giving economic value to reed

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F.W. Croon

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Discussions about the need for renewable energy, the need for nature conservation, the need to double the world’s food production to eliminate hunger, the need to reduce carbon dioxide emission, and the wish to reduce dependency on dwindling oil resources, show that these issues are intimately related and sometimes mutually exclusive. The use of food crops for the production of renewable fuels has resulted in the energy vs. food debate; the use of scarce land and fresh water for the dedicated production of biomass conflicts with food production and nature conservation; the collection of harvest residues and forest wastes as biomass to produce renewable fuels is complex and leaves a CO2 footprint. The several species of reed that grow naturally in deltas, river plains etc. can provide large amounts of biomass but are hardly mentioned in the debates. Harvesting reed does not threaten the nature and the natural functions of reed lands, which are carbon neutral or carbon dioxide sinks. Reed production does not need extensive infrastructure or complex cultivation and does not compete with food production for land and fresh water. Reed lands in many places are under threat of reclamation for economic activities and urbanisation. This trend can be countered if reed is seen to have a proven economic value. In this article I argue that giving a sustainable economic value to reed lands can only be realised if the exploitation is recognised as being environmentally acceptable, commercially feasible and a source of economic gains for all stakeholders. Commercial feasibility can be achieved under present economic conditions only if a reliable supply of considerable volumes of reed at a limited price can be guaranteed.
Assemblage of filamentous fungi associated with aculeate hymenopteran brood in reed galls.

Science.gov (United States)

Heneberg, Petr; Bizos, Jiří; Čmoková, Adéla; Kolařík, Miroslav; Astapenková, Alena; Bogusch, Petr

2016-01-01

Monotypic stands of common reed and the reed-gall-associated insect assemblages are distributed worldwide. However, fungi associated with these assemblages have not been characterized in detail. Here we examined 5200 individuals (12 species) of immature aculeate hymenopterans or their parasitoids collected at 34 sampling sites in Central Europe. We noticed fungal outgrowth on exoskeletons of 83 (1.60%) larvae and pupae. The most common host was eudominant Pemphredon fabricii. However, the less abundant aculeate hymenopteran reed gall inquilines were infected at higher prevalence, these included Trypoxylon deceptorium, Trypoxylon minus, Hoplitis leucomelana and Hylaeus moricei (all considered new host records). We identified three fungal species, Penicillium buchwaldii (72% of cases), Aspergillus pseudoglaucus (22%) and Penicillium quebecense (6%). When multibrooded nests were affected, only a part of individuals was infected in 62% of cases. The sampling site-specific infection rate reached up to 13%, thus fungal infections should be considered an important variable driving the abundance of gall inquilines. Infections of generalist host species were more frequent than those of reed gall specialists, suggesting that suboptimal conditions decreased the immunocompetence of non-specialized species, which only occasionally nest in reed galls and feed in reed beds. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Spectral discrimination of giant reed (Arundo donax L.): A seasonal study in riparian areas

Science.gov (United States)

Fernandes, Maria Rosário; Aguiar, Francisca C.; Silva, João M. N.; Ferreira, Maria Teresa; Pereira, José M. C.

2013-06-01

The giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is amongst the one hundred worst invasive alien species of the world, and it is responsible for biodiversity loss and failure of ecosystem functions in riparian habitats. In this work, field spectroradiometry was used to assess the spectral separability of the giant reed from the adjacent vegetation and from the common reed, a native similar species. The study was conducted at different phenological periods and also for the giant reed stands regenerated after mechanical cutting (giant reed_RAC). A hierarchical procedure using Kruskal-Wallis test followed by Classification and Regression Trees (CART) was used to select the minimum number of optimal bands that discriminate the giant reed from the adjacent vegetation. A new approach was used to identify sets of wavelengths - wavezones - that maximize the spectral separability beyond the minimum number of optimal bands. Jeffries Matusita and Bhattacharya distance were used to evaluate the spectral separability using the minimum optimal bands and in three simulated satellite images, namely Landsat, IKONOS and SPOT. Giant reed was spectrally separable from the adjacent vegetation, both at the vegetative and the senescent period, exception made to the common reed at the vegetative period. The red edge region was repeatedly selected, although the visible region was also important to separate the giant reed from the herbaceous vegetation and the mid infrared region to the discrimination from the woody vegetation. The highest separability was obtained for the giant reed_RAC stands, due to its highly homogeneous, dense and dark-green stands. Results are discussed by relating the phenological, morphological and structural features of the giant reed stands and the adjacent vegetation with their optical traits. Weaknesses and strengths of the giant reed spectral discrimination are highlighted and implications of imagery selection for mapping purposes are argued based on present results.
Gastric tissue biopsy and culture

Science.gov (United States)

... symptoms may include: Loss of appetite or weight loss Nausea and vomiting Pain in the upper part of the belly Black stools Vomiting blood or coffee ground-like material A gastric tissue biopsy and culture can help detect: Cancer Infections, most commonly Helicobacter ...
Long-term ionizing radiation impact on seed progeny of common reed in water bodies of the Chernobyl exclusive zone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shevtsova, N.L.; Yavnyuk, A.A.; Gudkov, D.Yi.

2012-01-01

Results of the investigation of common reed's (Phragmites australis (Trin) Ex. Steud.) biological characteristics under conditions of long-term ionizing radiation impact are represented. Indices of seeds' vitality and disorders are analyzed. Low vitality indices, significant ontogenesis disorders, and high percent of abnormalities of germs are determined in water bodies, where littoral plants receive the absorbed dose in a low-dose range of 1-12 cGy year -1 .
ALL THAT "PHRAG": BRINGING ENGINEERING, WETLAND ECOLOGY, ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE, AND LANDSCAPE ECOLOGY TO BEAR ON THE QUESTION OF COMMON REED IN GREAT LAKES COASTAL WETLANDS

Science.gov (United States)

Coastal wetlands are among the most fragmented and disturbed ecosystems and the Great Lakes are no exception. One possible result is the observed increase in the presence and dominance of invasive and other opportunistic plant species, such as the common reed (Phragmites australi...
Plant Tissue Culture

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

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Plant tissue culture is a technique of culturing plant cells, tissues and organs on ... working methods (Box 2) and discovery of the need for B vita- mins and auxins for ... Kotte (Germany) reported some success with growing isolated root tips.
Differences in breeding bird assemblages related to reed canary grass cover cover and forest structure on the Upper Mississippi River

Science.gov (United States)

Kirsch, Eileen M.; Gray, Brian R.

2017-01-01

Floodplain forest of the Upper Mississippi River provides habitat for an abundant and diverse breeding bird community. However, reed canary grass Phalaris arundinacea invasion is a serious threat to the future condition of this forest. Reed canary grass is a well-known aggressive invader of wetland systems in the northern tier states of the conterminous United States. Aided by altered flow regimes and nutrient inputs from agriculture, reed canary grass has formed dense stands in canopy gaps and forest edges, retarding tree regeneration. We sampled vegetation and breeding birds in Upper Mississippi River floodplain forest edge and interior areas to 1) measure reed canary grass cover and 2) evaluate whether the breeding bird assemblage responded to differences in reed canary grass cover. Reed canary grass was found far into forest interiors, and its cover was similar between interior and edge sites. Bird assemblages differed between areas with more or less reed canary grass cover (.53% cover breakpoint). Common yellowthroat Geothlypis trichas, black-capped chickadee Parus atricapillus, and rose-breasted grosbeak Pheucticus ludovicianus were more common and American redstart Setophaga ruticilla, great crested flycatcher Myiarchus crinitus, and Baltimore oriole Icterus galbula were less common in sites with more reed canary grass cover. Bird diversity and abundance were similar between sites with different reed canary grass cover. A stronger divergence in bird assemblages was associated with ground cover ,15%, resulting from prolonged spring flooding. These sites hosted more prothonotary warbler Protonotaria citrea, but they had reduced bird abundance and diversity compared to other sites. Our results indicate that frequently flooded sites may be important for prothonotary warblers and that bird assemblages shift in response to reed canary grass invasion.
"ON ALGEBRAIC DECODING OF Q-ARY REED-MULLER AND PRODUCT REED-SOLOMON CODES"

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

SANTHI, NANDAKISHORE [Los Alamos National Laboratory

2007-01-22

We consider a list decoding algorithm recently proposed by Pellikaan-Wu for q-ary Reed-Muller codes RM{sub q}({ell}, m, n) of length n {le} q{sup m} when {ell} {le} q. A simple and easily accessible correctness proof is given which shows that this algorithm achieves a relative error-correction radius of {tau} {le} (1-{radical}{ell}q{sup m-1}/n). This is an improvement over the proof using one-point Algebraic-Geometric decoding method given in. The described algorithm can be adapted to decode product Reed-Solomon codes. We then propose a new low complexity recursive aJgebraic decoding algorithm for product Reed-Solomon codes and Reed-Muller codes. This algorithm achieves a relative error correction radius of {tau} {le} {Pi}{sub i=1}{sup m} (1 - {radical}k{sub i}/q). This algorithm is then proved to outperform the Pellikaan-Wu algorithm in both complexity and error correction radius over a wide range of code rates.

Seasonal changes in metal accumulation and distribution in the organs of Phragmites australis (common reed from Lake Skadar, Montenegro

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Kastratović Vlatko

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Due to its ability to accumulate metals, availability throughout the year and its large biomass, Phragmites australis (common reed is suitable for biomonitoring studies for the evaluation of load level of water ecosystem with trace metals. The heavy metals concentration in P.australis tissue can be several ten to several thousand times higher than those in the surrounding water. In this study we examined the content of heavy metals (Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn, Sr and V in sediment, water and different organs of Phragmites australis collected from Lake Skadar, Montenegro, during different seasons of the year 2011. The highest concentrations of Sr were found in the leaves, while the other studied metals showed their highest concentrations in the roots. Thus, P. australis is considered a root bioaccumulation species. For most metals the concentration in roots and stems increases over time until the end of the growing season, and then decreases, while the concentration in leaves increases even after the growing season of the plant. If P. australis is used for phytoremediation purposes, then it should be harvested after the growing season because then the concentration of metals in the aboveground parts is maximal.
Simulation of Single Reed Instruments Oscillations Based on Modal Decomposition of Bore and Reed Dynamics

OpenAIRE

Silva, Fabrice; Debut, Vincent; Kergomard, Jean; Vergez, Christophe; Deblevid, Aude; Guillemain, Philippe

2007-01-01

This paper investigates the sound production in a system made of a bore coupled with a reed valve. Extending previous work (Debut, 2004), the input impedance of the bore is projected on the modes of the air column. The acoustic pressure is therefore calculated as the sum of modal components. The airrrﬂow blown into the bore is modulated by reed motion, assuming the reed to be a single degree of freedom oscillator. Calculation of self-sustained oscillations controlled by time-varyi...
Double-reed exhaust valve engine

Science.gov (United States)

Bennett, Charles L.

2015-06-30

An engine based on a reciprocating piston engine that extracts work from pressurized working fluid. The engine includes a double reed outlet valve for controlling the flow of low-pressure working fluid out of the engine. The double reed provides a stronger force resisting closure of the outlet valve than the force tending to open the outlet valve. The double reed valve enables engine operation at relatively higher torque and lower efficiency at low speed, with lower torque, but higher efficiency at high speed.
Reeds diesel engine troubleshooting handbook

CERN Document Server

Pickthall, Barry

2013-01-01

Most diesel engines will develop a problem at some point in their lives, but armed with the right knowledge a skipper needn't worry. The Reeds Diesel Engine Troubleshooting Handbook is a compact, pocket-sized guide to finding solutions to all of the most common engine problems, and many of the less common ones too. The perfect format for quick reference on board, this book will help skippers fix troublesome engines themselves, avoiding costly engineer fees if the problem is simple to sort out, or enabling an emergency patch-up for a more serious problem until they can get back to port. Each to
Bioaccumulation of metals in reeds collected from an acid mine drainage contaminated site in winter and spring.

Science.gov (United States)

Guo, Lin; Cutright, Teresa J

2016-01-01

Wetland plants such as Phragmites australis has been used to treat acid mine drainage (AMD) contaminated soil which is a serious environmental issue worldwide. This project investigated metal plaque content(s) and metal uptake in reeds grown in an AMD field in winter and spring. The results indicated that the level of Fe plaque was much higher than Mn and Al plaque as the soil contained more Fe than Al and Mn. The amounts of Mn and Al plaque formed on reeds in spring were not significantly different from that in winter (p > .05). However, more Fe plaque was formed on reeds collected in spring. The concentrations of metals in underground organs were positively related to the metal levels in soils. More Mn and Al transferred to the aboveground tissues of reeds during the spring while the Fe levels in reeds did not significantly vary with seasons. Roots and rhizomes were the main organs for Fe sequestration (16.3 ± 4.15 mg/g in roots in spring) while most Al was sequestered in the shoots of reeds (2.05 ± 0.09 mg/g in shoots in spring). Further research may be needed to enhance the translocation of metals in reeds and increase the phytoremediation efficiency.
Large-scale management of common reed, Phragmites australis, for paper production: A case study from the Liaohe Delta, China

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brix, Hans; Ye, Siyuan; Laws, Edward A.

2014-01-01

The largest Phragmites reed field in the world, with a historical area of approximately 1000 km2, is located in the Liaohe Delta in northeastern China. The Phragmites wetlands are extensively managed to maximize the production of reed biomass for the paper industry. Based on satellite remote sens...
Plant tissue culture techniques

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Rolf Dieter Illg

1991-01-01

Full Text Available Plant cell and tissue culture in a simple fashion refers to techniques which utilize either single plant cells, groups of unorganized cells (callus or organized tissues or organs put in culture, under controlled sterile conditions.
Aerodynamic excitation and sound production of blown-closed free reeds without acoustic coupling: The example of the accordion reed

Science.gov (United States)

Ricot, Denis; Caussé, René; Misdariis, Nicolas

2005-04-01

The accordion reed is an example of a blown-closed free reed. Unlike most oscillating valves in wind musical instruments, self-sustained oscillations occur without acoustic coupling. Flow visualizations and measurements in water show that the flow can be supposed incompressible and potential. A model is developed and the solution is calculated in the time domain. The excitation force is found to be associated with the inertial load of the unsteady flow through the reed gaps. Inertial effect leads to velocity fluctuations in the reed opening and then to an unsteady Bernoulli force. A pressure component generated by the local reciprocal air movement around the reed is added to the modeled aerodynamic excitation pressure. Since the model is two-dimensional, only qualitative comparisons with air flow measurements are possible. The agreement between the simulated pressure waveforms and measured pressure in the very near-field of the reed is reasonable. In addition, an aeroacoustic model using the permeable Ffowcs Williams-Hawkings integral method is presented. The integral expressions of the far-field acoustic pressure are also computed in the time domain. In agreement with experimental data, the sound is found to be dominated by the dipolar source associated by the strong momentum fluctuations of the flow through the reed gaps. .
21 CFR 876.5885 - Tissue culture media for human ex vivo tissue and cell culture processing applications.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Tissue culture media for human ex vivo tissue and cell culture processing applications. 876.5885 Section 876.5885 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG... DEVICES Therapeutic Devices § 876.5885 Tissue culture media for human ex vivo tissue and cell culture...
Interaction between host T cells and Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin lymphomas

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Poppema, S; van den Berg, Anke

2000-01-01

Recent studies provide evidence that Reed-Sternberg (R-S) cells produce factors that may explain the characteristic inflammatory infiltrate in the affected tissues of Hodgkin lymphoma. The various chemokines and cytokines that are produced lead to a preferential influx of Th2-type T cells and
Vectorization of Reed Solomon decoding and mapping on the EVP

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kumar, A.; Berkel, van C.H.

2008-01-01

Reed Solomon (RS) codes are used in a variety of (wireless) communication systems. Although commonly implemented in dedicated hardware, this paper explores the mapping of high-throughput RS decoding on vector DSPs. The four modules of such a decoder, viz. Syndrome Computation, Key Equation Solver,
Retrieving aboveground biomass of wetland Phragmites australis (common reed) using a combination of airborne discrete-return LiDAR and hyperspectral data

Science.gov (United States)

Luo, Shezhou; Wang, Cheng; Xi, Xiaohuan; Pan, Feifei; Qian, Mingjie; Peng, Dailiang; Nie, Sheng; Qin, Haiming; Lin, Yi

2017-06-01

Wetland biomass is essential for monitoring the stability and productivity of wetland ecosystems. Conventional field methods to measure or estimate wetland biomass are accurate and reliable, but expensive, time consuming and labor intensive. This research explored the potential for estimating wetland reed biomass using a combination of airborne discrete-return Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) and hyperspectral data. To derive the optimal predictor variables of reed biomass, a range of LiDAR and hyperspectral metrics at different spatial scales were regressed against the field-observed biomasses. The results showed that the LiDAR-derived H_p99 (99th percentile of the LiDAR height) and hyperspectral-calculated modified soil-adjusted vegetation index (MSAVI) were the best metrics for estimating reed biomass using the single regression model. Although the LiDAR data yielded a higher estimation accuracy compared to the hyperspectral data, the combination of LiDAR and hyperspectral data produced a more accurate prediction model for reed biomass (R2 = 0.648, RMSE = 167.546 g/m2, RMSEr = 20.71%) than LiDAR data alone. Thus, combining LiDAR data with hyperspectral data has a great potential for improving the accuracy of aboveground biomass estimation.
Biodiversity of Van Reeds, Eastern Turkey

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Özdemir Adızel

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In this study, it is aimed to determine the vertebrate fauna and flora species diversity of Van Reeds. For this purpose, studies were conducted between 2014 and 2017 and 1 fish, 3 frog, 6 reptilian, 185 bird, and 5 mammal species, 200 fauna species and 79 flora species in total, were determined in the study area. Van Reeds is an important breeding, feeding, and wintering feature especially for birds. Reeds, which has various biodiversity, is exposed to intense pressure and destruction. The main threats in the study area are construction, filling, hunting, drainage, and pollution.
Ecology and physiology of reed. A literature study for evaluation of reed as an energy source

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjoerndahl, G.; Egneus, H.

1980-04-01

The potentials of reed as an energy source are evaluated. The following subjects are discussed: The structure and life-cycle of reed; Primary production and photosynthesis; important environmental factors for the production; Genetic variation; Competition, succession and parasitism; Human influence like cultivation, harvesting a.o. An extensive list of referencer is given.
Rotation Impact of Reed Switch

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Park, Yun Bum; Lee, Jae Seon; Kim, Jong Wook; Han, Eun Sil; Park, Hee June

2016-01-01

A CRDM (Control Rod Drive Mechanism) is an electromagnetic device which drives a control rod assembly linearly to regulate the reactivity of a nuclear core. A RPIS (Rod Position Indication System) is used as a position indicator of a control rod assembly for a CRDM of a nuclear reactor, SMART. A highly accurate RPIS for SMART is required because the reactivity of a nuclear core for a small modular reactor is more sensitive than the commercial ones. In this study, the effect of positioning direction of the reeds in a reed switch for the CRDM RPIS has been studied using the electromagnetic FE analysis. It is found that the positioning direction of the reeds slightly but not significantly affects the formation of attraction. Analysis results will be used as the basis on estimated accuracy of full RPIS system.
Rotation Impact of Reed Switch

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Park, Yun Bum; Lee, Jae Seon; Kim, Jong Wook [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Han, Eun Sil [Taesung S and E, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Park, Hee June [Woojin Inc., Hwaseong (Korea, Republic of)

2016-10-15

A CRDM (Control Rod Drive Mechanism) is an electromagnetic device which drives a control rod assembly linearly to regulate the reactivity of a nuclear core. A RPIS (Rod Position Indication System) is used as a position indicator of a control rod assembly for a CRDM of a nuclear reactor, SMART. A highly accurate RPIS for SMART is required because the reactivity of a nuclear core for a small modular reactor is more sensitive than the commercial ones. In this study, the effect of positioning direction of the reeds in a reed switch for the CRDM RPIS has been studied using the electromagnetic FE analysis. It is found that the positioning direction of the reeds slightly but not significantly affects the formation of attraction. Analysis results will be used as the basis on estimated accuracy of full RPIS system.
Microfluidic 3D cell culture: potential application for tissue-based bioassays

Science.gov (United States)

Li, XiuJun (James); Valadez, Alejandra V.; Zuo, Peng; Nie, Zhihong

2014-01-01

Current fundamental investigations of human biology and the development of therapeutic drugs, commonly rely on two-dimensional (2D) monolayer cell culture systems. However, 2D cell culture systems do not accurately recapitulate the structure, function, physiology of living tissues, as well as highly complex and dynamic three-dimensional (3D) environments in vivo. The microfluidic technology can provide micro-scale complex structures and well-controlled parameters to mimic the in vivo environment of cells. The combination of microfluidic technology with 3D cell culture offers great potential for in vivo-like tissue-based applications, such as the emerging organ-on-a-chip system. This article will review recent advances in microfluidic technology for 3D cell culture and their biological applications. PMID:22793034
Reed as a gasification fuel: a comparison with woody fuels

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

S. Link

2013-10-01

Full Text Available Reed and coniferous wood can be used for energy production via thermochemical conversion, for instance by gasification. The rate-determining step of the gasification process is the reaction between the char and the gaseous environment in the gasifier, whose rate depends on variables such as pressure, temperature, particle size, mineral matter content, porosity, etc. It is known that reactivity can be improved by increasing the temperature, but on the other hand the temperature achieved in the reactor is limited due to the ash fusion characteristics. Usually, the availability of reed as a fuel is locally modest and, therefore, it must be blended with other fuels such as wood. Blending of fuels brings together several problems relating to ash behaviour, i.e. ash fusion issues. Because there is no correlation between the ash fusion characteristics of biomass blends and their individual components, it is essential to carry out prior laboratory-scale ash fusion tests on the blends. This study compares the reactivity of reed and coniferous wood, and the ash fusion characteristics of blends of reed and coniferous wood ashes. When compared with Douglas fir and reed chars, pine pellets have the highest reactivity. Reed char exhibits the lowest reactivity and, therefore, it is advantageous to gasify reed alone at higher gasification temperatures because the ash fusion temperatures of reed are higher than those of woody fuels. The ash produced by reed and wood blends can melt at lower temperatures than ash from both reed and wood gasified separately. Due to this circumstance the gasification temperature should be chosen carefully when gasification of blends is carried out.
Use of biological indexes of the common reed (Phragmites australis) seed progeny in the environmental safety of radioactive contaminated water bodies

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Yavnyuk, A. [National Aviation University, Kiev (Ukraine); Shevtsova, N.; Gudkov, D. [Institute of Hydrobiology of the National Academy of Sciences, Kiev (Ukraine)

2014-07-01

Environmental protection requires effective monitoring system of radionuclide contamination and radiobiological effects as well as development of their prevention and minimizing measures for humans and biota. There is a majority of conventional techniques for living organisms' habitat quality assessment. One of the most widespread, convenient and accessible ones, is the seed progeny analysis, for example of conifers, cereals and wild herbaceous plants. Availability of vitality, growth, mutability indexes and abnormalities of vascular plant germs for environment quality express assessment was discussed in numerous publications. However, this point is studied insufficiently concerning aquatic vascular plants, forming communities playing significant role in radionuclides distribution in contaminated water bodies. Common reed (Phragmites australis (Trin) Ex. Steud) is a widespread species mostly dominating in air-aquatic vascular plant communities of freshwater bodies; it is a first-order {sup 137}Cs and {sup 90}Sr accumulating species. To assess the common reed germs growth indexes availability, seeds were sampled in polygon water bodies of different radionuclide contamination levels and 0.7-22 mcGy h{sup -1} total absorbed dose range, within the Chernobyl Exclusion Zone. In water bodies with background level of radionuclide contamination, for comparison, total absorbed dose varied in range of 0.03-0.3 mcGy h{sup -1}. Series of seeds germination experiments was carried out in laboratory conditions. Complex of germs indexes was investigated, conditionally divided into three groups: (1) Vitality indexes. In course of experiment series, vitality was assessed via germinating energy, germinating ability indexes, germination period (first and last germ appearance) and survivability study; (2) Growth indexes. Root and leaf length, occurrence of plant groups with different vegetative organs length were determined for germs growth speed assessment; (3) Teratological
Uptake of radionuclides by a common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.) grown in the vicinity of the former uranium mine at Zirovski vrh

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Cerne, Marko, E-mail: marko.cerne@ijs.s [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Smodis, Borut, E-mail: borut.smodis@ijs.s [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia); Strok, Marko, E-mail: marko.strok@ijs.s [Jozef Stefan Institute, Jamova cesta 39, SI-1000 Ljubljana (Slovenia)

2011-04-15

From uranium mining areas, in particular, the radionuclides are usually discharged to the environment during the mining and milling process. At the former uranium mine Zirovski vrh, Slovenia, mine waste and mill tailings were deposited at the Jazbec site and the Borst site, respectively. Plants grown in soils contaminated with the seepage waters from tailings may represent radiological concern if radionuclides from the uranium decay chain are transferred into the food chain. Uranium is usually accumulated in the roots and translocated to the shoots in limited amounts. Uranium plant accumulators are usually plants from Brassicaceae and Poaceae families. A common reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steud.), a tall perennial grass, growing in a wetland habitats, accumulates metals in the above-ground parts. It may be used for phytoremediation of uranium-contaminated soils, because of high biomass production and high metal-accumulation potential. Preliminary results of radionuclide contents measured in such plants, growing on the deposit tailings are presented. A common reed, that was grown on the Borst tailings pile accumulated 8.6 {+-} 8 mBq/g dry weight (d.w.) and 2.4 {+-} 2 mBq/g dry weight (d.w.) of {sup 238}U in leaves and stems, respectively. In the paper, activity concentrations of other nuclides, i.e. {sup 226}Ra, {sup 210}Pb and {sup 40}K are also shown and discussed.

Reed beds may facilitate transfer of tributyltin from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems through insect vectors in the Archipelago Sea, SW Finland.

Science.gov (United States)

Lilley, Thomas M; Meierjohann, Axel; Ruokolainen, Lasse; Peltonen, Jani; Vesterinen, Eero; Kronberg, Leif; Nikinmaa, Mikko

2012-08-01

Due to their adsorptive behavior, organotin compounds (OTCs), such as tributyltin (TBT), are accumulated in aquatic sediments. They resist biodegradation and, despite a ban in 2008, are a potential source for future exposure. Sediment OTCs have mostly been measured from sites of known high concentrations such as ports, shipping lanes, and marine dredging waste sites. The possible flow of OTCs from marine to terrestrial ecosystems, however, has not been studied. In the present study, the authors assessed whether sediments in common reed beds (Phragmites australis) accumulate TBT and whether chironomid (Diptera: Chironomidae) communities developing in reed-bed sediments act as vectors in the transfer of TBT from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems in the Airisto channel, Archipelago Sea. The authors also investigated whether distance from the only known source and depth and TBT concentration of the adjacent shipping lane affect reed-bed concentrations. Thirty-six sites along the Airisto channel were sampled at 2-km intervals with triplicate samples from reed beds and the adjacent shipping lane for sediment and seven reed-bed sites for chironomids, and these were analyzed with an solid phase extraction liquid chromatography tamdem mass spectrometry method. The closer to the source the sample site was, the higher the measured TBT concentrations were; and the deeper the shipping lane, the lower the concentration of TBT in reed-bed sediments. The chironomid TBT concentrations correlated with reed-bed sediment TBT concentrations and showed evidence of accumulation. Therefore, TBT may be transferred, through the food web, from aquatic to terrestrial ecosystems relatively close to a source through ecosystem boundaries, such as common reed beds, which are areas of high insect biomass production in the Archipelago Sea. Copyright © 2012 SETAC.
Pacemaker reed switch behavior in 0.5, 1.5, and 3.0 Tesla magnetic resonance imaging units: are reed switches always closed in strong magnetic fields?

Science.gov (United States)

Luechinger, Roger; Duru, Firat; Zeijlemaker, Volkert A; Scheidegger, Markus B; Boesiger, Peter; Candinas, Reto

2002-10-01

MRI is established as an important diagnostic tool in medicine. However, the presence of a cardiac pacemaker is usually regarded as a contraindication for MRI due to safety reasons. The aim of this study was to investigate the state of a pacemaker reed switch in different orientations and positions in the main magnetic field of 0.5-, 1.5-, and 3.0-T MRI scanners. Reed switches used in current pacemakers and ICDs were tested in 0.5-, 1.5-, and 3.0-T MRI scanners. The closure of isolated reed switches was evaluated for different orientations and positions relative to the main magnetic field. The field strengths to close and open the reed switch and the orientation dependency of the closed state inside the main magnetic field were investigated. The measurements were repeated using two intact pacemakers to evaluate the potential influence of the other magnetic components, like the battery. If the reed switches were oriented parallel to the magnetic fields, they closed at 1.0 +/- 0.2 mT and opened at 0.7 +/- 0.2 mT. Two different reed switch behaviors were observed at different magnetic field strengths. In low magnetic fields ( 200 mT), the reed switches opened in 50% of all tested orientations. No difference between the three scanners could be demonstrated. The reed switches showed the same behavior whether they were isolated or an integral part of the pacemakers. The reed switch in a pacemaker or an ICD does not necessarily remain closed in strong magnetic fields at 0.5, 1.5, or 3.0 T and the state of the reed switch may not be predictable with certainty in clinical situations.
Effects of reed cutting on density and breeding success of reed warbler Acrocephalus scirpacaeus and sedge warbler A. schoenobaenus

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Graveland, J.

1999-01-01

The management of reedbeds for birds is often a controversial issue in discussions between conservationists, reed harvesters and managers. At the same time, data on the density and nesting success of birds in cut and uncut reed are scarce. This paper presents the results of a study on the density
The plant tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crocomo, O.J.; Sharp, W.R.

1973-01-01

Progress in the field of plant tissue culture at the Plant Biochemistry Sector, Centro de Energia na Agricultura (CENA), Piracicaba, S.P., Brazil, pertains to the simplification of development in 'Phaseolus vulgaris' by dividing the organism into its component organs, tissues, and cells and the maintenance of these components on defined culture media 'in vitro'. This achievement has set the stage for probing the basis for the stability of the differentiated states and/or the reentry of mature differentiated cells into the mitotic cell cycle and their subsequent redifferentiation. Data from such studies at the cytological and biochemical level have been invaluable in the elucidation of the control mechanisms responsible for expression of the cellular phenotype. Unlimited possibilities exist for the application of tissue culture in the vegetative propagation of 'Phaseolus' and other important cultivars in providing genocopies or a large scale and/or readily obtaining plantlets from haploid cell lines or from protoplast (wall-less cells) hybridization products following genetic manipulation. These tools are being applied in this laboratory for the development and selection of high protein synthesizing 'Phaseolus' cultivars
Reed Warbler Hosts Fine-Tune their Defenses to Track Three Decades of Cuckoo Decline

Science.gov (United States)

Thorogood, Rose; Davies, Nicholas B

2013-01-01

Interactions between avian hosts and brood parasites can provide a model for how animals adapt to a changing world. Reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus) hosts employ costly defenses to combat parasitism by common cuckoos (Cuculus canorus). During the past three decades cuckoos have declined markedly across England, reducing parasitism at our study site (Wicken Fen) from 24% of reed warbler nests in 1985 to 1% in 2012. Here we show with experiments that host mobbing and egg rejection defenses have tracked this decline in local parasitism risk: the proportion of reed warbler pairs mobbing adult cuckoos (assessed by responses to cuckoo mounts and models) has declined from 90% to 38%, and the proportion rejecting nonmimetic cuckoo eggs (assessed by responses to model eggs) has declined from 61% to 11%. This is despite no change in response to other nest enemies or mimetic model eggs. Individual variation in both defenses is predicted by parasitism risk during the host’s egg-laying period. Furthermore, the response of our study population to temporal variation in parasitism risk can also explain spatial variation in egg rejection behavior in other populations across Europe. We suggest that spatial and temporal variation in parasitism risk has led to the evolution of plasticity in reed warbler defenses. PMID:24299407
Laboratory Workflow Analysis of Culture of Periprosthetic Tissues in Blood Culture Bottles.

Science.gov (United States)

Peel, Trisha N; Sedarski, John A; Dylla, Brenda L; Shannon, Samantha K; Amirahmadi, Fazlollaah; Hughes, John G; Cheng, Allen C; Patel, Robin

2017-09-01

Culture of periprosthetic tissue specimens in blood culture bottles is more sensitive than conventional techniques, but the impact on laboratory workflow has yet to be addressed. Herein, we examined the impact of culture of periprosthetic tissues in blood culture bottles on laboratory workflow and cost. The workflow was process mapped, decision tree models were constructed using probabilities of positive and negative cultures drawn from our published study (T. N. Peel, B. L. Dylla, J. G. Hughes, D. T. Lynch, K. E. Greenwood-Quaintance, A. C. Cheng, J. N. Mandrekar, and R. Patel, mBio 7:e01776-15, 2016, https://doi.org/10.1128/mBio.01776-15), and the processing times and resource costs from the laboratory staff time viewpoint were used to compare periprosthetic tissues culture processes using conventional techniques with culture in blood culture bottles. Sensitivity analysis was performed using various rates of positive cultures. Annualized labor savings were estimated based on salary costs from the U.S. Labor Bureau for Laboratory staff. The model demonstrated a 60.1% reduction in mean total staff time with the adoption of tissue inoculation into blood culture bottles compared to conventional techniques (mean ± standard deviation, 30.7 ± 27.6 versus 77.0 ± 35.3 h per month, respectively; P < 0.001). The estimated annualized labor cost savings of culture using blood culture bottles was $10,876.83 (±$337.16). Sensitivity analysis was performed using various rates of culture positivity (5 to 50%). Culture in blood culture bottles was cost-effective, based on the estimated labor cost savings of $2,132.71 for each percent increase in test accuracy. In conclusion, culture of periprosthetic tissue in blood culture bottles is not only more accurate than but is also cost-saving compared to conventional culture methods. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.
Reeds as potential sources of alcohol

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lodh, A B; Rao, P R

1964-01-01

Five species of reeds, Erianthus ravennae, Saccharum munja S. procerum, Phragmites communis, and Neyraudia reynaudiana yielded 25.02, 19.5, 24.11, 26.1, and 21.6% reducing sugars, repectively., when digested with 1% H/sub 2/SO/sub 4/ under 15lb/square inch for 3 hours. Fermentable sugars from hydrolyzates of the above reeds were 70.0, 34.5, 65.0, 28.0, and 67.5% respectively. This source can become important only in case of an acute demand for fermentation alcohol.
One-way quantum repeaters with quantum Reed-Solomon codes

Science.gov (United States)

Muralidharan, Sreraman; Zou, Chang-Ling; Li, Linshu; Jiang, Liang

2018-05-01

We show that quantum Reed-Solomon codes constructed from classical Reed-Solomon codes can approach the capacity on the quantum erasure channel of d -level systems for large dimension d . We study the performance of one-way quantum repeaters with these codes and obtain a significant improvement in key generation rate compared to previously investigated encoding schemes with quantum parity codes and quantum polynomial codes. We also compare the three generations of quantum repeaters using quantum Reed-Solomon codes and identify parameter regimes where each generation performs the best.
Larvae and Nests of Aculeate Hymenoptera (Hymenoptera: Aculeata) Nesting in Reed Galls Induced by Lipara spp. (Diptera: Chloropidae) with a Review of Species Recorded. Part II.

Science.gov (United States)

Astapenková, Alena; Heneberg, Petr; Bogusch, Petr

2017-01-01

The ability of aculeate Hymenoptera to utilize wetlands is poorly understood, and descriptions of their nests and developmental stages are largely absent. Here we present results based on our survey of hymenopterans using galls induced by Lipara spp. flies on common reed Phragmites australis in the years 2015-2016. We studied 20,704 galls, of which 9,446 were longitudinally cut and the brood from them reared in the laboratory, while the remaining 11,258 galls reared in rearing bags also in laboratory conditions. We recorded eight species that were previously not known to nest in reed galls: cuckoo wasps Chrysis rutilans and Trichrysis pumilionis, solitary wasps Stenodynerus chevrieranus and Stenodynerus clypeopictus, and bees Pseudoanthidium tenellum, Stelis punctulatissima, Hylaeus communis and Hylaeus confusus. Forty five species of Hymenoptera: Aculeata are known to be associated with reed galls, of which 36 make their nests there, and the other are six parasitoids of the family Chrysididae and three cuckoo bees of the genus Stelis. Of these species, Pemphredon fabricii and in southern Europe also Heriades rubicola are very common in reed galls, followed by Hylaeus pectoralis and two species of the genus Trypoxylon. We also found new host-parasite associations: Chrysis angustula in nests of Pemphredon fabricii, Chrysis rutilans in nests of Stenodynerus clypeopictus, Trichrysis pumilionis in nests of Trypoxylon deceptorium, and Stelis breviuscula in nests of Heriades rubicola. We provide new descriptions of the nests of seven species nesting in reed galls and morphology of mature larvae of eight species nesting in reed galls and two parasitoids and one nest cleptoparasite. The larvae are usually very similar to those of related species but possess characteristics that make them easy to distinguish from related species. Our results show that common reeds are not only expansive and harmful, but very important for many insect species associated with habitats
Progress in planta transformation without tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gu Yunhong; Chinese Academy of Sciences, Hefei; Qin Guangyong; Huo Yuping; Yu Zengliang

2004-01-01

With the development of planta genetic engineering, more emphases have been laid on convenient and high efficient genetic transformation methods. And transformation without tissue culture is a prospective direction of it. In this paper, traditional transformation methods and the methods of non-tissue culture were summarized. With the exploration and application of Arabidopsis transformation mechanism, with the use of ion beam-mediated transformation invented by Chinese scientists and the development of other transformation methods, transformation methods without tissue culture and planta genetic engineering could be improved rapidly. (authors)
Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Short, W.; Sullivan, P.; Mai, T.; Mowers, M.; Uriarte, C.; Blair, N.; Heimiller, D.; Martinez, A.

2011-12-01

The Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) is a deterministic optimization model of the deployment of electric power generation technologies and transmission infrastructure throughout the contiguous United States into the future. The model, developed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory's Strategic Energy Analysis Center, is designed to analyze the critical energy issues in the electric sector, especially with respect to potential energy policies, such as clean energy and renewable energy standards or carbon restrictions. ReEDS provides a detailed treatment of electricity-generating and electrical storage technologies and specifically addresses a variety of issues related to renewable energy technologies, including accessibility and cost of transmission, regional quality of renewable resources, seasonal and diurnal generation profiles, variability of wind and solar power, and the influence of variability on the reliability of the electrical grid. ReEDS addresses these issues through a highly discretized regional structure, explicit statistical treatment of the variability in wind and solar output over time, and consideration of ancillary services' requirements and costs.
Effect of lunar materials on plant tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Walkinshaw, C. H.; Venketeswaran, S.; Baur, P. S.; Croley, T. E.; Scholes, V. E.; Weete, J. D.; Halliwell, R. S.; Hall, R. H.

1973-01-01

Lunar material collected during the Apollo 11, 12, 14, and 15 missions has been used to treat 12 species of higher plant tissue cultures. Biochemical and morphological studies have been conducted on several of these species. Tobacco tissue cultures treated with 0.22 g of lunar material exhibited increased greening more complex chloroplasts, less cytoplasmic vacuolation and greater vesiculation. Pine tissue cultures reacted to treatment by an increased deposition of tannin-like materials. The percentage of dry weight and soluble protein was increased in cultures treated with either lunar or terrestrial rock materials.
Dorothy Reed and Hodgkin's disease: a reflection after a century

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zwitter, Matjaz; Cohen, Joel R.; Barrett, Ann; Robinton, Elizabeth D.

2002-01-01

It has now been 100 years since Dorothy Reed, at the age of 28, wrote her paper on Hodgkin's disease. Her biography reveals the difficult lives of women entering the hitherto male-dominated field of medicine, let alone medical research. Her historic paper on Hodgkin's disease is remarkable for its brilliant observations and concise scientific reasoning. Nevertheless, she was told that as a woman she could not hope for a career as an academic pathologist. After marriage to Charles Elwood Mendenhall, Professor of Physics at the University of Wisconsin and after giving birth to four children, the second part of her career began. Motivated by the loss of her firstborn, she began a study of infant mortality, an interest that lasted throughout her career. In 1926, Mendenhall undertook a survey comparing infant and maternal mortality rates in Denmark and the United States. This influential study concluded that American mortality rates were higher because of unnecessary interference in the natural process of childbirth and recommended the education of midwives follow the Danish model. In 1937, her efforts were rewarded when Madison, WI received recognition for having the lowest infant mortality of any city in the United States. Reading Reed's paper on Hodgkin's disease, we see that her observations go far beyond a description of a specific cell. Her presentation of macroscopic and microscopic features is remarkable for the distinction between 'young' and 'old' growths: Reed saw Hodgkin's disease as a process, rather than the spreading of a cancer. She was the first to note that those most commonly affected are boys or young adults, especially those whose general health before the disease had been excellent. She was also the first to note anergy to tuberculin. Dorothy Reed defined Hodgkin's disease in relation to tuberculosis, described its pathologic features, and offered comments on its pathogenesis, epidemiology, and immunology that still deserve to be discussed
Engine Cycle Analysis of Air Breathing Microwave Rocket with Reed Valves

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Fukunari, Masafumi; Komatsu, Reiji; Yamaguchi, Toshikazu; Komurasaki, Kimiya; Arakawa, Yoshihiro; Katsurayama, Hiroshi

2011-01-01

The Microwave Rocket is a candidate for a low cost launcher system. Pulsed plasma generated by a high power millimeter wave beam drives a blast wave, and a vehicle acquires impulsive thrust by exhausting the blast wave. The thrust generation process of the Microwave Rocket is similar to a pulse detonation engine. In order to enhance the performance of its air refreshment, the air-breathing mechanism using reed valves is under development. Ambient air is taken to the thruster through reed valves. Reed valves are closed while the inside pressure is high enough. After the time when the shock wave exhausts at the open end, an expansion wave is driven and propagates to the thrust-wall. The reed valve is opened by the negative gauge pressure induced by the expansion wave and its reflection wave. In these processes, the pressure oscillation is important parameter. In this paper, the pressure oscillation in the thruster was calculated by CFD combined with the flux through from reed valves, which is estimated analytically. As a result, the air-breathing performance is evaluated using Partial Filling Rate (PFR), the ratio of thruster length to diameter L/D, and ratio of opening area of reed valves to superficial area α. An engine cycle and predicted thrust was explained.
Smallholder adoption and economic impacts of tissue culture ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study was conducted with an objective of determining the correlates of adoption of tissue culture banana technology and its impacts on household incomes in Kenya. The results show that while some households have opted not to adopt tissue culture banana biotechnology, almost all the adopters are growing tissue ...
Walnut tissue culture: research and field applications

Science.gov (United States)

2004-01-01

Vitrotech Biotecnologia Vegetal began researching propagating Juglans regia (English walnut) and various Juglans hybrids by tissue culture in 1993 and has operated on a commercial scale since 1996. Since this time, more than one and a half million walnuts of different species have been propagated and field planted. Tissue cultured...
Biotransformations with plant tissue cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Carew, D P; Bainbridge, T

1976-01-01

Suspension cultures of Catharanthus roseus, Apocynum cannabinum and Conium maculatum were examined for their capacity to transform aniline, anisole, acetanilide, benzoic acid and coumarin. None of the cultures transformed acetanilide but each produced acetanilide when fed aniline. All three cultures converted benzoic acid to its para-hydroxy derivative. Coumarin was selectively hydroxylated at the 7-position by Catharanthus and Conium and anisole was O-demethylated only by older Catharanthus tissue.
Enzymatic Saccharification and Ethanol Fermentation of Reed Pretreated with Liquid Hot Water

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jie Lu

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Reed is a widespread-growing, inexpensive, and readily available lignocellulosic material source in northeast China. The objective of this study is to evaluate the liquid hot water (LHW pretreatment efficiency of reed based on the enzymatic digestibility and ethanol fermentability of water-insoluble solids (WISs from reed after the LHW pretreatment. Several variables in the LHW pretreatment and enzymatic hydrolysis process were optimized. The conversion of glucan to glucose and glucose concentrations are considered as response variables in different conditions. The optimum conditions for the LHW pretreatment of reed area temperature of 180°C for 20min and a solid-to-liquid ratio of 1 : 10. These optimum conditions for the LHW pretreatment of reed resulted in a cellulose conversion rate of 82.59% in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis at 50°C for 72 h with a cellulase loading of 30 filter paper unit per gram of oven-dried WIS. Increasing the pretreatment temperature resulted in a higher enzymatic digestibility of the WIS from reed. Separate hydrolysis and fermentation of WIS showed that the conversion of glucan to ethanol reached 99.5% of the theoretical yield. The LHW pretreatment of reed is a suitable method to acquire a high recovery of fermentable sugars and high ethanol conversion yield.
The conditions for use of reed canary grass briquettes and chopped reed canary grass in small heating plants; Foerutsaettningar foer anvaendning av roerflensbriketter och hackad roerflen i mindre vaermecentraler

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paulrud, Susanne; Davidsson, Kent; Holmgren, Magnus A. (Swedish National Testing and Research Inst., Boraas (Sweden)); Hedman, Henry; Oehman, Rikard; Leffler, Joel (ETC, Piteaa (Sweden))

2010-09-15

The aim of this study was to test fuel blends of briquettes and chopped reed canary grass in three existing heating plants (50 kW - 500 kW) and elucidate the requirements for good performance and low emissions. In addition, the study investigated production of reed canary grass briquettes using a Polish screw press developed for straw. Some tests with a bale shredder were also undertaken. The screw press technique is of interest for reed canary grass because it is a simple technique, easy to handle, developed for small scale production, and for straw. The test with reed canary grass in this study showed that the technique worked well but that further adjustments and a longer test period are needed in order to achieve higher bulk density and mechanical strength. The test with chopped reed canary grass shows that a system with a forage harvester is slightly more effective than baling and cutting in a bale shredder. The study concluded that few existing heating plants of size 50 kW-1 MW that currently use wood fuels will be able to use reed canary grass without adjustment, conversion or replacement of the combustion equipment. Reed canary grass has 15-20 times higher ash content than wood briquettes and 2-3 times higher ash content than forest residue; the combustion equipment must be able to handle these properties. The boiler must be equipped with a continuously operating ashing system and it must be possible to move the ash bed mechanically. There is a risk of high content of unburned matter if the residence time in the boiler is too short, due to the structure and low bulk density of the reed canary grass ash. Using a blend of wood briquettes and reed canary briquettes results in lower ash content, but also affects the ash chemistry and tends to lower the initial ash fusion temperature compared to using 100 % reed canary grass. Blending chopped reed canary grass and wood chips in an existing small scale heating plant also requires measures to achieve an even fuel
Oscillation thresholds for "striking outwards" reeds coupled to a resonator

OpenAIRE

Silva , Fabrice; Kergomard , Jean; Vergez , Christophe

2007-01-01

International audience; This paper considers a "striking outwards" reed coupled to a resonator. This expression, due to Helmholtz, is not discussed here : it corresponds to the most common model of a lip-type valve, when the valve is assumed to be a one degree of freedom oscillator. The presented work is an extension of the works done by Wilson and Beavers (1974), Tarnopolsky (2000). The range of the playing frequencies is investigated. The first results are analytical : when no losses are pr...

Tissue culture as a plant production technique for horticultural crops ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Over 100 years ago, Haberlandt envisioned the concept of plant tissue culture and provided the groundwork for the cultivation of plant cells, tissues and organs in culture. Initially plant tissue cultures arose as a research tool and focused on attempts to culture and study the development of small, isolated cells and segments ...
Application of Hanging Drop Technique for Kidney Tissue Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Shaohui; Wang, Ximing; Boone, Jasmine; Wie, Jin; Yip, Kay-Pong; Zhang, Jie; Wang, Lei; Liu, Ruisheng

2017-01-01

The hanging drop technique is a well-established method used in culture of animal tissues. However, this method has not been used in adult kidney tissue culture yet. This study was to explore the feasibility of using this technique for culturing adult kidney cortex to study the time course of RNA viability in the tubules and vasculature, as well as the tissue structural integrity. In each Petri dish with the plate covered with sterile buffer, a section of mouse renal cortex was cultured within a drop of DMEM culture medium on the inner surface of the lip facing downward. The tissue were then harvested at each specific time points for Real-time PCR analysis and histological studies. The results showed that the mRNA level of most Na+ related transporters and cotransporters were stably maintained within 6 hours in culture, and that the mRNA level of most receptors found in the vasculature and glomeruli were stably maintained for up to 9 days in culture. Paraffin sections of the cultured renal cortex indicated that the tubules began to lose tubular integrity after 6 hours, but the glomeruli and vasculatures were still recognizable up to 9 days in culture. We concluded that adult kidney tissue culture by hanging drop method can be used to study gene expressions in vasculature and glomeruli. © 2017 The Author(s). Published by S. Karger AG, Basel.
Application of Hanging Drop Technique for Kidney Tissue Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shaohui Wang

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Background/Aims: The hanging drop technique is a well-established method used in culture of animal tissues. However, this method has not been used in adult kidney tissue culture yet. This study was to explore the feasibility of using this technique for culturing adult kidney cortex to study the time course of RNA viability in the tubules and vasculature, as well as the tissue structural integrity. Methods: In each Petri dish with the plate covered with sterile buffer, a section of mouse renal cortex was cultured within a drop of DMEM culture medium on the inner surface of the lip facing downward. The tissue were then harvested at each specific time points for Real-time PCR analysis and histological studies. Results: The results showed that the mRNA level of most Na+ related transporters and cotransporters were stably maintained within 6 hours in culture, and that the mRNA level of most receptors found in the vasculature and glomeruli were stably maintained for up to 9 days in culture. Paraffin sections of the cultured renal cortex indicated that the tubules began to lose tubular integrity after 6 hours, but the glomeruli and vasculatures were still recognizable up to 9 days in culture. Conclusions: We concluded that adult kidney tissue culture by hanging drop method can be used to study gene expressions in vasculature and glomeruli.
Common Ground Between Three Cultures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gloria Dunnivan

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The Triwizard program with Israel brought together students from three different communities: an Israeli Arab school, an Israeli Jewish school, and an American public school with few Jews and even fewer Muslims. The two Israeli groups met in Israel to find common ground and overcome their differences through dialogue and understanding. They communicated with the American school via technology such as video-conferencing, Skype, and emails. The program culminated with a visit to the U.S. The goal of the program was to embark upon a process that would bring about intercultural awareness and acceptance at the subjective level, guiding all involved to develop empathy and an insider's view of the other's culture. It was an attempt to have a group of Israeli high school students and a group of Arab Israeli students who had a fearful, distrustful perception of each other find common ground and become friends. TriWizard was designed to have participants begin a dialogue about issues, beliefs, and emotions based on the premise that cross-cultural training strategies that are effective in changing knowledge are those that engage the emotions, and actively develop empathy and an insider's views of another culture focused on what they have in common. Participants learned that they could become friends despite their cultural differences.
The use of animal tissues alongside human tissue: Cultural and ethical considerations.

Science.gov (United States)

Kaw, Anu; Jones, D Gareth; Zhang, Ming

2016-01-01

Teaching and research facilities often use cadaveric material alongside animal tissues, although there appear to be differences in the way we handle, treat, and dispose of human cadaveric material compared to animal tissue. This study sought to analyze cultural and ethical considerations and provides policy recommendations on the use of animal tissues alongside human tissue. The status of human and animal remains and the respect because of human and animal tissues were compared and analyzed from ethical, legal, and cultural perspectives. The use of animal organs and tissues is carried out within the context of understanding human anatomy and function. Consequently, the interests of human donors are to be pre-eminent in any policies that are enunciated, so that if any donors find the presence of animal remains unacceptable, the latter should not be employed. The major differences appear to lie in differences in our perceptions of their respective intrinsic and instrumental values. Animals are considered to have lesser intrinsic value and greater instrumental value than humans. These differences stem from the role played by culture and ethical considerations, and are manifested in the resulting legal frameworks. In light of this discussion, six policy recommendations are proposed, encompassing the nature of consent, respect for animal tissues as well as human remains, and appropriate separation of both sets of tissues in preparation and display. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Advances in tissue engineering through stem cell-based co-culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Paschos, Nikolaos K; Brown, Wendy E; Eswaramoorthy, Rajalakshmanan; Hu, Jerry C; Athanasiou, Kyriacos A

2015-05-01

Stem cells are the future in tissue engineering and regeneration. In a co-culture, stem cells not only provide a target cell source with multipotent differentiation capacity, but can also act as assisting cells that promote tissue homeostasis, metabolism, growth and repair. Their incorporation into co-culture systems seems to be important in the creation of complex tissues or organs. In this review, critical aspects of stem cell use in co-culture systems are discussed. Direct and indirect co-culture methodologies used in tissue engineering are described, along with various characteristics of cellular interactions in these systems. Direct cell-cell contact, cell-extracellular matrix interaction and signalling via soluble factors are presented. The advantages of stem cell co-culture strategies and their applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine are portrayed through specific examples for several tissues, including orthopaedic soft tissues, bone, heart, vasculature, lung, kidney, liver and nerve. A concise review of the progress and the lessons learned are provided, with a focus on recent developments and their implications. It is hoped that knowledge developed from one tissue can be translated to other tissues. Finally, we address challenges in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine that can potentially be overcome via employing strategies for stem cell co-culture use. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Is shared male assistance with antiparasitic nest defence costly in the polygynous great reed warbler?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Požgayová, Milica; Procházka, Petr; Honza, Marcel

2013-01-01

Roč. 85, č. 3 (2013), s. 615-621 ISSN 0003-3472 R&D Projects: GA AV ČR IAA600930605; GA AV ČR IAA600930903 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : great reed warbler * aggressive behaviour * brood parasitism * common cuckoo * mating status Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 3.068, year: 2013
Fast Reed-Solomon Decoder

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, K. Y.

1986-01-01

High-speed decoder intended for use with Reed-Solomon (RS) codes of long code length and high error-correcting capability. Design based on algorithm that includes high-radix Fermat transform procedure, which is most efficient for high speeds. RS code in question has code-word length of 256 symbols, of which 224 are information symbols and 32 are redundant.
Study on tissue culture for Gelidium seedling

Science.gov (United States)

Pei, Lu-Qing; Luo, Qi-Jun; Fei, Zhi-Qing; Ma, Bin

1996-06-01

As seedling culture is a crucial factor for successful cultivation of Gelidium, the authors researched tissue culture technology for producing seedlings. The morphogeny and experimental ecology were observed and studied fully in 2 5 mm isolated tissue fragments. Regeneration, appearance of branching creepers and attaching structure and new erect seedlings production and development were studied. Fragments were sown on bamboo slice and vinylon rope. The seedlings were cultured 20 30 days indoor, then cultured in the sea, where the density of erect seedlings was 3 19 seedlings/cm2, growth rate was 3.84% day. The frond arising from seedlings directly was up to 10 cm per year. The ecological conditions for regenerated seedlings are similar to the natural ones. The regenerated seedlings are suitable for raft culture in various sea areas.
An introduction to constructed wetlands (reed beds) sustainable low cost wastewater treatment plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahmad, M.I.

2005-01-01

because it is essentially simple, cheap and sustainable. Because they achieve a natural balance, well designed reed bed systems will more or less look after themselves. They do not need much power, they do not need any chemicals, they need very little maintenance, and the water leaving such a system can be very clean - certainly clean enough to pass the National Water Quality Standards. A well designed reed bed system needs both aquatic plants and special water movement. The main plants used is still the Common reed (Pragmatism karaka - Nari), Cattail (Typha australis - Dab) and Vetiver grass (Khus). Almost all these aquatic plants are available in natural wetlands, along rivers, canals, water courses, and water logged areas in Pakistan. The constructed wetlands (Reed Beds) utilize horizontal flow system, vertical flow system or combination of both. The horizontal system includes 'free water surface (FWS)' wetlands and 'vegetated submerged bed (VSB)' wetlands. The vertical system invariably uses VSB system. The required land area depends on the wastewater flow. However, in the rural setting, the horizontal system requires about 1.0 square meter / person (or population equivalent in case of an industry) and the vertical system even less than that. A working reed bed system can be designed as a public area like a park with water cascades, bridges, shallow pools with fish, and small islands for birds. There is no smell. no flies. no noise, no chemicals. and no machines. The only regular maintenance work is harvesting the reeds once a year and occasional weeding (without poisons) There is potential for the combination of reed beds with a methane process in which the bulk of sludge is removed by settlement and fed to a methane digester to produce energy, and the supernatant is then cleaned with reed beds. This may becomes a practical solution for systems in urban areas. In flat areas like large towns can be split up into segments, each served by a separate reed bed system
Oxygen and tissue culture affect placental gene expression.

Science.gov (United States)

Brew, O; Sullivan, M H F

2017-07-01

Placental explant culture is an important model for studying placental development and functions. We investigated the differences in placental gene expression in response to tissue culture, atmospheric and physiologic oxygen concentrations. Placental explants were collected from normal term (38-39 weeks of gestation) placentae with no previous uterine contractile activity. Placental transcriptomic expressions were evaluated with GeneChip ® Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 arrays (Affymetrix). We uncovered sub-sets of genes that regulate response to stress, induction of apoptosis programmed cell death, mis-regulation of cell growth, proliferation, cell morphogenesis, tissue viability, and protection from apoptosis in cultured placental explants. We also identified a sub-set of genes with highly unstable pattern of expression after exposure to tissue culture. Tissue culture irrespective of oxygen concentration induced dichotomous increase in significant gene expression and increased enrichment of significant pathways and transcription factor targets (TFTs) including HIF1A. The effect was exacerbated by culture at atmospheric oxygen concentration, where further up-regulation of TFTs including PPARA, CEBPD, HOXA9 and down-regulated TFTs such as JUND/FOS suggest intrinsic heightened key biological and metabolic mechanisms such as glucose use, lipid biosynthesis, protein metabolism; apoptosis, inflammatory responses; and diminished trophoblast proliferation, differentiation, invasion, regeneration, and viability. These findings demonstrate that gene expression patterns differ between pre-culture and cultured explants, and the gene expression of explants cultured at atmospheric oxygen concentration favours stressed, pro-inflammatory and increased apoptotic transcriptomic response. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Effects of ionizing radiation on plant tissue cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hell, K.G.

1978-01-01

A short review is done of the biological effects of ionizing radiations on plant tissues kept in culture, from the work of Gladys King, in 1949, with X-ray irradiated tobacco. The role of plant hormones is discussed in the processes of growth inhibition and growth restoration of irradiated tissues, as well as morphogenesis. Radioresistance of cells kept in culture and the use of ionizing radiations as mutagens are also commented. Some aspects of the biological effects of ionizing radiations that need to be investigated are discussed, and the problem of genome instability of plant tissues kept in culture is pointed out. (M.A.) [pt
Balanced Reed-Solomon codes for all parameters

KAUST Repository

Halbawi, Wael; Liu, Zihan; Hassibi, Babak

2016-01-01

We construct balanced and sparsest generator matrices for cyclic Reed-Solomon codes with any length n and dimension k. By sparsest, we mean that each row has the least possible number of nonzeros, while balanced means that the number of nonzeros in any two columns differs by at most one. Codes allowing such encoding schemes are useful in distributed settings where computational load-balancing is critical. The problem was first studied by Dau et al. who showed, using probabilistic arguments, that there always exists an MDS code over a sufficiently large field such that its generator matrix is both sparsest and balanced. Motivated by the need for an explicit construction with efficient decoding, the authors of the current paper showed that the generator matrix of a cyclic Reed-Solomon code of length n and dimension k can always be transformed to one that is both sparsest and balanced, when n and k are such that k/n (n-k+1) is an integer. In this paper, we lift this condition and construct balanced and sparsest generator matrices for cyclic Reed-Solomon codes for any set of parameters.
Balanced Reed-Solomon codes for all parameters

KAUST Repository

Halbawi, Wael

2016-10-27

We construct balanced and sparsest generator matrices for cyclic Reed-Solomon codes with any length n and dimension k. By sparsest, we mean that each row has the least possible number of nonzeros, while balanced means that the number of nonzeros in any two columns differs by at most one. Codes allowing such encoding schemes are useful in distributed settings where computational load-balancing is critical. The problem was first studied by Dau et al. who showed, using probabilistic arguments, that there always exists an MDS code over a sufficiently large field such that its generator matrix is both sparsest and balanced. Motivated by the need for an explicit construction with efficient decoding, the authors of the current paper showed that the generator matrix of a cyclic Reed-Solomon code of length n and dimension k can always be transformed to one that is both sparsest and balanced, when n and k are such that k/n (n-k+1) is an integer. In this paper, we lift this condition and construct balanced and sparsest generator matrices for cyclic Reed-Solomon codes for any set of parameters.
Development library of finite elements for computer-aided design system of reed sensors

Science.gov (United States)

Kozlov, A. S.; Shmakov, N. A.; Tkalich, V. L.; Labkovskaia, R. I.; Kalinkina, M. E.; Pirozhnikova, O. I.

2018-05-01

The article is devoted to the development of a modern highly reliable element base of devices for security and fire alarm systems, in particular, to the improvement of the quality of contact cores (reed and membrane) of reed sensors. Modeling of elastic sensitive elements uses quadrangular elements of plates and shells, considered in the system of curvilinear orthogonal coordinates. The developed mathematical models and the formed finite element library are designed for systems of automated design of reed switch detectors to create competitive devices alarms. The finite element library is used for the automated system production of reed switch detectors both in series production and in the implementation of individual orders.
Characterization of cytoskeletal and junctional proteins expressed by cells cultured from human arachnoid granulation tissue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mehta Bhavya C

2005-10-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background The arachnoid granulations (AGs are projections of the arachnoid membrane into the dural venous sinuses. They function, along with the extracranial lymphatics, to circulate the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF to the systemic venous circulation. Disruption of normal CSF dynamics may result in increased intracranial pressures causing many problems including headaches and visual loss, as in idiopathic intracranial hypertension and hydrocephalus. To study the role of AGs in CSF egress, we have grown cells from human AG tissue in vitro and have characterized their expression of those cytoskeletal and junctional proteins that may function in the regulation of CSF outflow. Methods Human AG tissue was obtained at autopsy, and explanted to cell culture dishes coated with fibronectin. Typically, cells migrated from the explanted tissue after 7–10 days in vitro. Second or third passage cells were seeded onto fibronectin-coated coverslips at confluent densities and grown to confluency for 7–10 days. Arachnoidal cells were tested using immunocytochemical methods for the expression of several common cytoskeletal and junctional proteins. Second and third passage cultures were also labeled with the common endothelial markers CD-31 or VE-cadherin (CD144 and their expression was quantified using flow cytometry analysis. Results Confluent cultures of arachnoidal cells expressed the intermediate filament protein vimentin. Cytokeratin intermediate filaments were expressed variably in a subpopulation of cells. The cultures also expressed the junctional proteins connexin43, desmoplakin 1 and 2, E-cadherin, and zonula occludens-1. Flow cytometry analysis indicated that second and third passage cultures failed to express the endothelial cell markers CD31 or VE-cadherin in significant quantities, thereby showing that these cultures did not consist of endothelial cells from the venous sinus wall. Conclusion To our knowledge, this is the first report of
A STUDY OF RECOVERING A REED ECOSYSTEM USING POROUS CONCRETE IN THE LAKE BIWA SHORE

Science.gov (United States)

Takeda, Naho; Kato, Hayato; Okamoto, Takahisa; Kojima, Takayuki

In this study, reed planting tests were carried out at the Biyo-center, an experiment station on the Lake Biwa shore, in order to evaluate the feasibility of a planting method with porous concrete (PoC method). Reed planting tests with coconut-fiber mats (mat method), which were generally used around Lake Biwa, were simultaneously carried out to compare with the PoC method. The reeds planted by the PoC method grew better than the ones planted by the mat method, and the number of reeds which were washed away by waves was smaller than that planted by the mat method. The result of the observation of reeds planted in the PoC showed plant maturation, and reeds could ta ke root into the PoC without interference with the voids of the PoC. As a result, it was shown that the reed planting tests with the PoC method was simple and effective, so it would become in harmony with the environment around Lake Biwa.
Young Children's Understanding of Cultural Common Ground

Science.gov (United States)

Liebal, Kristin; Carpenter, Malinda; Tomasello, Michael

2013-01-01

Human social interaction depends on individuals identifying the common ground they have with others, based both on personally shared experiences and on cultural common ground that all members of the group share. We introduced 3- and 5-year-old children to a culturally well-known object and a novel object. An experimenter then entered and asked,…
Position indicating systems and reed contact unit assemblies for such systems

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Foxworthy, M.K.

1980-01-01

Specifications are given for a position indicating system for determining the position of a movable member inside a sealed container such as the position of a control rod in a nuclear reactor. The system comprises a magnetic flux producing member mounted to the movable member so as to move with it, a series of magnetic reed contact units mounted along the outside of the sealed container to be individually actuated by the flux producer as the movable member moves within the sealed container to indicate the position of this member. Each of the reed contact units is connected to a source of alternating electric current to produce a magnetic flux field to minimize the flux differential between the actuated and unactuated reed contact positions. A second aspect of the invention provides for a low operating flux differential reed contact unit assembly for a position indicating system such that it is actuated by the magnetic member at one magnetic flux level and deactivated at a second level. There is a source of alternating current connected to a coil surrounding the reed contact unit so as to produce an alternating magnetic flux with amplitude less than the difference between the two levels. Variations are given, also diagrams and benefits. (U.K.)
Reed-Solomon error-correction as a software patch mechanism.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Pendley, Kevin D. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2013-11-01

This report explores how error-correction data generated by a Reed-Solomon code may be used as a mechanism to apply changes to an existing installed codebase. Using the Reed-Solomon code to generate error-correction data for a changed or updated codebase will allow the error-correction data to be applied to an existing codebase to both validate and introduce changes or updates from some upstream source to the existing installed codebase.

Prevention of pink-pigmented methylotrophic bacteria (Methylohacterium mesophilicum) contamination of plant tissue cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Chanprame, S; Todd, J J; Widholm, J M

1996-12-01

Pink-pigmented facultative methylotrophic bacteria (PPFMs) have been found on the surfaces of leaves of most plants tested. We found PPFMs on the leaf surfaces of all 40 plants (38 species) tested and on soybean pods by pressing onto AMS medium with methanol as the sole carbon source. The abundance ranged from 0.5 colony forming unit (cfu) /cm(2) to 69.4 cfu/cm(2) on the leaf surfaces. PPFMs were found in homogenized leaf tissues of only 4 of the species after surface disinfestation with 1.05% sodium hypochlorite and were rarely found in cultures initiated from surface disinfested Datura innoxia leaves or inside surface disinfested soybean pods. Of 20 antibiotics tested for PPFM growth inhibition, rifampicin was the most effective and of seven others which also inhibited PPFM growth, cefotaxime should be the most useful due to the expected low plant cell toxicity. These antibiotics could be used in concert with common surface sterilization procedures to prevent the introduction or to eliminate PPFM bacteria in tissue cultures. Thus, while PPFMs are present on the surfaces of most plant tissues, surface disinfestation alone can effectively remove them so that uncontaminated tissue cultures can be initiated in most cases.
77 FR 43369 - Lexisnexis, a Subsidiary of Reed Elsevier Customer Service Department and Fulfillment Department...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-07-24

..., a Subsidiary of Reed Elsevier Customer Service Department and Fulfillment Department, Including On... Including Remote Workers in New York Reporting to Miamisburg, OH; Lexisnexis, a Subsidiary of Reed Elsevier... subsidiary of Reed Elsevier, Inc., Customer Service Department and Fulfillment Department, including on-site...
[Chromosome variability in the tissue culture of rare Gentiana species].

Science.gov (United States)

Tvardovs'ka, M O; Strashniuk, N M; Mel'nyk, V M; Adonin, V I; Kunakh, V A

2008-01-01

Cytogenetic analysis of plants and tissue culture of Gentiana lutea, G. punctata, G. acaulis has been carried out. Culturing in vitro was found to result in the changes of chromosome number in the calluses of the species involved. Species specificity for variation of the cultured cell genomes was shown. Contribution of the original plant genotypes to the cytogenetic structure of the tissue culture was established. Gentiana callus tissues (except for in vitro culture of G. punctata, derived from plant of Breskul'ska population) were found to exhibit modal class with the cells of diploid and nearly diploid chromosome sets.
One way quantum repeaters with quantum Reed-Solomon codes

OpenAIRE

Muralidharan, Sreraman; Zou, Chang-Ling; Li, Linshu; Jiang, Liang

2018-01-01

We show that quantum Reed-Solomon codes constructed from classical Reed-Solomon codes can approach the capacity on the quantum erasure channel of $d$-level systems for large dimension $d$. We study the performance of one-way quantum repeaters with these codes and obtain a significant improvement in key generation rate compared to previously investigated encoding schemes with quantum parity codes and quantum polynomial codes. We also compare the three generation of quantum repeaters using quan...
Metabolic aspects of growth in HU-treated crown-gall tissue cultures. I. Nicotiana tabacum

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aldona Rennert

2015-01-01

Full Text Available An influence of hydroxyurea (HU on the growth, DNA and RNA contents and protein synthesis in the tobacco tumour tissue culture was studied in comparison with a homologous callus tissue. In conformity with expectations considerable decrease of DNA level in both tissues is a primary effect of HU activity. This results in the growth inhibition and in the secondary metabolic effects; these effects depend not only on the concentration of inhibitor but also on the age of tissue. In spite of some common features the character of these changes shows a distinct differentiation depending on the tissue type. TMs points to specific modifications of the biochemical regulation of growth in a tumour.
Application of Tissue Culture and Transformation Techniques in Model Species Brachypodium distachyon.

Science.gov (United States)

Sogutmaz Ozdemir, Bahar; Budak, Hikmet

2018-01-01

Brachypodium distachyon has recently emerged as a model plant species for the grass family (Poaceae) that includes major cereal crops and forage grasses. One of the important traits of a model species is its capacity to be transformed and ease of growing both in tissue culture and in greenhouse conditions. Hence, plant transformation technology is crucial for improvements in agricultural studies, both for the study of new genes and in the production of new transgenic plant species. In this chapter, we review an efficient tissue culture and two different transformation systems for Brachypodium using most commonly preferred gene transfer techniques in plant species, microprojectile bombardment method (biolistics) and Agrobacterium-mediated transformation.In plant transformation studies, frequently used explant materials are immature embryos due to their higher transformation efficiencies and regeneration capacity. However, mature embryos are available throughout the year in contrast to immature embryos. We explain a tissue culture protocol for Brachypodium using mature embryos with the selected inbred lines from our collection. Embryogenic calluses obtained from mature embryos are used to transform Brachypodium with both plant transformation techniques that are revised according to previously studied protocols applied in the grasses, such as applying vacuum infiltration, different wounding effects, modification in inoculation and cocultivation steps or optimization of bombardment parameters.
System for the Reduction of Substances in Reject Water from Reed-Bed Sludge Mineralization Plants

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

2004-01-01

The invention is a system for the reduction of substances in reject water from reed-bed sludge mineralization plants (also referred to as sludge dewatering reed-beds). The systems utilizes the composition of substances in reject water from reed-beds and that of sludge to reduce substance mass from...... the reject water via recirculation into a mixed reactor and back onto the reed-beds. The mixed rector consists of a container in which sludge (that is typically loaded directly on to reed-beds) is mixed with recirculated reject water from reed-beds. The sludge mixture has a definable hydraulic retention time...... of by sending it back to the head of a wastewater treatment plant. The system has proven to reduce the mass of nitrogen, COD, and water in the reject water, and can possibly reduce phosphorus and other substances. The overall effect is a reduction in the substance recycle within a wastewater treatment plant...
Ecology and physiology of reed. A literature study for evaluation of reed as an energy source. Vassens Ekologi och Fysiologi. Litteraturstudie foer Bedoerfrung au Vass som Energiraavaren

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bjoerndahl, G.; Egnens, H.

1980-01-01

The potentials of reed as an energy source are evaluated. The following subjects are discussed: The structure and life-cycle of reed; Primary production and photosynthesis; Important environmental factors for the production; Genetic variation; Competition, succession and parasitism; Human influence like cultivation, harvesting, etc. An extensive list of references is given.
Variations on metabolic activities of legume tissues through radiation in tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Batra, Amla

1977-01-01

Cell cultures from Arachis hypogaea L. cultivated in a modified medium developed by Murashige and Skoog (1962) showed vigorous qrowth after radiation treatment. Investigations on the effect of various sugars on the chlorophyll formation and growth of the irradiated tissues showed that sucrose was superior to maltose, glucose or fructose as a carbon source. Lactose and mannitol supported growth and development of chlorophyll to a less degree. On prolonging the cultures on a sugar free medium, the tissues failed to regain either growth or chlorophyll content. (author)
Variations on metabolic activities of legume tissues through radiation in tissue culture

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Batra, A [Rajasthan Univ., Jaipur (India). Dept. of Botany

1977-12-01

Cell cultures from Arachis hypogaea L. cultivated in a modified medium developed by Murashige and Skoog (1962) showed vigorous qrowth after radiation treatment. Investigations on the effect of various sugars on the chlorophyll formation and growth of the irradiated tissues showed that sucrose was superior to maltose, glucose or fructose as a carbon source. Lactose and mannitol supported growth and development of chlorophyll to a less degree. On prolonging the cultures on a sugar free medium, the tissues failed to regain either growth or chlorophyll content.
Co-culture systems-based strategies for articular cartilage tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yu; Guo, Weimin; Wang, Mingjie; Hao, Chunxiang; Lu, Liang; Gao, Shuang; Zhang, Xueliang; Li, Xu; Chen, Mingxue; Li, Penghao; Jiang, Peng; Lu, Shibi; Liu, Shuyun; Guo, Quanyi

2018-03-01

Cartilage engineering facilitates repair and regeneration of damaged cartilage using engineered tissue that restores the functional properties of the impaired joint. The seed cells used most frequently in tissue engineering, are chondrocytes and mesenchymal stem cells. Seed cells activity plays a key role in the regeneration of functional cartilage tissue. However, seed cells undergo undesirable changes after in vitro processing procedures, such as degeneration of cartilage cells and induced hypertrophy of mesenchymal stem cells, which hinder cartilage tissue engineering. Compared to monoculture, which does not mimic the in vivo cellular environment, co-culture technology provides a more realistic microenvironment in terms of various physical, chemical, and biological factors. Co-culture technology is used in cartilage tissue engineering to overcome obstacles related to the degeneration of seed cells, and shows promise for cartilage regeneration and repair. In this review, we focus first on existing co-culture systems for cartilage tissue engineering and related fields, and discuss the conditions and mechanisms thereof. This is followed by methods for optimizing seed cell co-culture conditions to generate functional neo-cartilage tissue, which will lead to a new era in cartilage tissue engineering. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Improved Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infection by Culturing Periprosthetic Tissue Specimens in Blood Culture Bottles

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Trisha N. Peel

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Despite known low sensitivity, culture of periprosthetic tissue specimens on agars and in broths is routine. Culture of periprosthetic tissue samples in blood culture bottles (BCBs is potentially more convenient, but it has been evaluated in a limited way and has not been widely adopted. The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of inoculation of periprosthetic tissue specimens into blood culture bottles with standard agar and thioglycolate broth culture, applying Bayesian latent class modeling (LCM in addition to applying the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA criteria for prosthetic joint infection. This prospective cohort study was conducted over a 9-month period (August 2013 to April 2014 at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, and included all consecutive patients undergoing revision arthroplasty. Overall, 369 subjects were studied; 117 (32% met IDSA criteria for prosthetic joint infection, and 82% had late chronic infection. Applying LCM, inoculation of tissues into BCBs was associated with a 47% improvement in sensitivity compared to the sensitivity of conventional agar and broth cultures (92.1 versus 62.6%, respectively; this magnitude of change was similar when IDSA criteria were applied (60.7 versus 44.4%, respectively; P = 0.003. The time to microorganism detection was shorter with BCBs than with standard media (P < 0.0001, with aerobic and anaerobic BCBs yielding positive results within a median of 21 and 23 h, respectively. Results of our study demonstrate that the semiautomated method of periprosthetic tissue culture in blood culture bottles is more sensitive than and as specific as agar and thioglycolate broth cultures and yields results faster.
The vibrating reed frequency meter : digital investigation of an early cochlear model

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bell, Andrew; Wit, Hero P.

2015-01-01

The vibrating reed frequency meter, originally employed by Bekesy and later by Wilson as a cochlear model, uses a set of tuned reeds to represent the cochlea's graded bank of resonant elements and an elastic band threaded between them to provide nearest-neighbour coupling. Here the system,
Versatile electrochemial sensor for tissue culturing and sample handling

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bakmand, Tanya; Kwasny, Dorota; Al Atraktchi, Fatima Al-Zahraa

2014-01-01

Culturing of organtypic brain tissues is a routine procedure in neural research. The visual inspection of the medium is the only way of determining the state of the tissue. At the end of culturing, post-processing techniques such as HPLC can be used to measure the concentration of the secreted...
Epigenetics in plant tissue culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smulders, M.J.M.; Klerk, de G.J.M.

2011-01-01

Plants produced vegetatively in tissue culture may differ from the plants from which they have been derived. Two major classes of off-types occur: genetic ones and epigenetic ones. This review is about epigenetic aberrations. We discuss recent studies that have uncovered epigenetic modifications at
77 FR 26321 - Reed College, Reed Research Nuclear Reactor, Renewed Facility Operating License No. R-112

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-03

... Nuclear Reactor, Renewed Facility Operating License No. R-112 AGENCY: Nuclear Regulatory Commission... Commission (NRC or the Commission) has issued renewed Facility Operating License No. R- 112, held by Reed... License No. R-112 will expire 20 years from its date of issuance. The renewed facility operating license...
Noncontact modal analysis of a pipe organ reed using airborne ultrasound stimulated vibrometry

Science.gov (United States)

Huber, Thomas M.; Fatemi, Mostafa; Kinnick, Randall R.; Greenleaf, James F.

2004-05-01

The goal of this experiment was to excite and measure, in a noncontact manner, the vibrational modes of the reed from a reed organ pipe. To perform ultrasound stimulated excitation, two ultrasound beams in air of different frequencies were directed at the reed; the audio-range beat frequency between these ultrasound beams induced vibrations. The resulting vibrational deflection shapes were measured with a scanning vibrometer. The modes of any relatively small object can be studied in air using this technique. For a 36 mm by 7 mm clamped brass reed cantilever, displacements and velocites of 5 μ and 4 mm/s could be imparted at the fundamental frequency of 145 Hz. Using the same ultrasound transducer, excitation across the entire range of audio frequencies was obtained, which was not possible using audio excitation with a speaker. Since the beam was focused on the reed, ultrasound stimulated excitation eliminated background effects observed during mechanical shaker excitation, such as vibrations of clamps and supports. We will discuss the results obtained using single, dual, and confocal ultrasound transducers in AM and unmodulated CW modes, along with results obtained using a mechanical shaker and audio excitation using a speaker.
Classification and Monitoring of Reed Belts Using Dual-Polarimetric TerraSAR-X Time Series

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Iris Heine

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Synthetic aperture radar polarimetry (PolSAR and polarimetric decomposition techniques have proven to be useful tools for wetland mapping. In this study we classify reed belts and monitor their phenological changes at a natural lake in northeastern Germany using dual-co-polarized (HH, VV TerraSAR-X time series. The time series comprises 19 images, acquired between August 2014 and May 2015, in ascending and descending orbit. We calculated different polarimetric indices using the HH and VV intensities, the dual-polarimetric coherency matrix including dominant and mean alpha scattering angles, and entropy and anisotropy (normalized eigenvalue difference as well as combinations of entropy and anisotropy for the analysis of the scattering scenarios. The image classifications were performed with the random forest classifier and validated with high-resolution digital orthophotos. The time series analysis of the reed belts revealed significant seasonal changes for the double-bounce–sensitive parameters (intensity ratio HH/VV and intensity difference HH-VV, the co-polarimetric coherence phase and the dominant and mean alpha scattering angles and in the dual-polarimetric coherence (amplitude, anisotropy, entropy, and anisotropy-entropy combinations; whereas in summer dense leaves cause volume scattering, in winter, after leaves have fallen, the reed stems cause predominately double-bounce scattering. Our study showed that the five most important parameters for the classification of reed are the intensity difference HH-VV, the mean alpha scattering angle, intensity ratio HH/VV, and the coherence (phase. Due to the better separation of reed and other vegetation (deciduous forest, coniferous forest, meadow, winter acquisitions are preferred for the mapping of reed. Multi-temporal stacks of winter images performed better than summer ones. The combination of ascending and descending images also improved the result as it reduces the influence of the sensor
Culture methods of allograft musculoskeletal tissue samples in Australian bacteriology laboratories.

Science.gov (United States)

Varettas, Kerry

2013-12-01

Samples of allograft musculoskeletal tissue are cultured by bacteriology laboratories to determine the presence of bacteria and fungi. In Australia, this testing is performed by 6 TGA-licensed clinical bacteriology laboratories with samples received from 10 tissue banks. Culture methods of swab and tissue samples employ a combination of solid agar and/or broth media to enhance micro-organism growth and maximise recovery. All six Australian laboratories receive Amies transport swabs and, except for one laboratory, a corresponding biopsy sample for testing. Three of the 6 laboratories culture at least one allograft sample directly onto solid agar. Only one laboratory did not use a broth culture for any sample received. An international literature review found that a similar combination of musculoskeletal tissue samples were cultured onto solid agar and/or broth media. Although variations of allograft musculoskeletal tissue samples, culture media and methods are used in Australian and international bacteriology laboratories, validation studies and method evaluations have challenged and supported their use in recovering fungi and aerobic and anaerobic bacteria.
Metabolic Profile of Pancreatic Acinar and Islet Tissue in Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Suszynski, Thomas M.; Mueller, Kathryn; Gruessner, Angelika C.; Papas, Klearchos K.

2016-01-01

The amount and condition of exocrine impurities may affect the quality of islet preparations especially during culture. In this study, the objective was to determine the oxygen demandand viability of islet and acinar tissue post-isolation and whether they change disproportionately while in culture. We compare the OCR normalized to DNA (OCR/DNA, a measure of fractional viability in units nmol/min/mg DNA), and percent change in OCR and DNA recoveries between adult porcine islet and acinar tissue from the same preparation (paired) over a 6-9 days of standard culture. Paired comparisons were done to quantify differences in OCR/DNA between islet and acinar tissue from the same preparation, at specified time points during culture; the mean (± standard error) OCR/DNA was 74.0 (±11.7) units higher for acinar (vs. islet) tissue on the day of isolation (n=16, p<0.0001), but 25.7 (±9.4) units lower after 1 day (n=8, p=0.03), 56.6 (±11.5) units lower after 2 days (n=12, p=0.0004), and 65.9 (±28.7) units lower after 8 days (n=4, p=0.2) in culture. DNA and OCR recoveries decreased at different rates for acinar versus islet tissue over 6-9 days in culture (n=6). DNA recovery decreased to 24±7% for acinar and 75±8% for islets (p=0.002). Similarly, OCR recovery decreased to 16±3% for acinar and remained virtually constant for islets (p=0.005). Differences in the metabolic profile of acinarand islet tissue should be considered when culturing impure islet preparations. OCR-based measurements may help optimize pre-IT culture protocols. PMID:25131082

Adaptation of a Commonly Used, Chemically Defined Medium for Human Embryonic Stem Cells to Stable Isotope Labeling with Amino Acids in Cell Culture

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Liberski, A. R.; Al-Noubi, M. N.; Rahman, Z. H.

2013-01-01

Metabolic labeling with stable isotopes is a prominent technique for comparative quantitative proteomics, and stable isotope labeling with amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) is the most commonly used approach. SILAC is, however, traditionally limited to simple tissue culture regimens and only ra...
Hardware/Software Co-design Applied to Reed-Solomon Decoding for the DMB Standard

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dam, A.C.; Lammertink, M.G.J.; Rovers, K.C.; Slagman, J.; Wellink, A.M.; Rauwerda, G.K.; Smit, Gerardus Johannes Maria

2006-01-01

This paper addresses the implementation of Reed- Solomon decoding for battery-powered wireless devices. The scope of this paper is constrained by the Digital Media Broadcasting (DMB). The most critical element of the Reed-Solomon algorithm is implemented on two different reconfigurable hardware
Revision washout decreases implant capsule tissue culture positivity: a multicenter study.

Science.gov (United States)

Henry, Gerard D; Carson, Culley C; Wilson, Steven K; Wiygul, Jeremy; Tornehl, Chris; Cleves, Mario A; Simmons, Caroline J; Donatucci, Craig F

2008-01-01

Positive cultures, visible biofilm and confocal micrography confirm bacterial presence on clinically uninfected inflatable penile prostheses at revision surgery. Salvage irrigation has been proved to rescue patients with clinically infected inflatable penile prostheses. Similar washout at revision for noninfectious reasons significantly lowers subsequent infection rates. We investigated a larger series of patients for positive culture rates and evaluated implant capsule tissue culture rates before and after revision washout. At 4 institutions a total of 148 patients with inflatable penile prostheses underwent revision surgery for noninfectious reasons between June 2001 and September 2005. Swab cultures of the fluid around the pump and visible biofilm were obtained. Also, in 65 patients a wedge of tissue from the capsule that forms around the pump was cultured. After implant removal revision washout of the implant spaces was performed and a second wedge of tissue was cultured. Of the 148 patients 97 (66%) had positive bacterial swab cultures of the fluid around the pump or biofilm. A total of 124 isolates were cultured. Of the 65 implant capsule tissue cultures obtained before washout 28 (43%) were positive for bacteria, while 16 (25%) obtained after revision washout were positive. Positive cultures and visible bacterial biofilm are present on clinically uninfected inflatable penile prostheses at revision surgery in most patients. Revision washout appears to decrease the bacterial load on implant capsule tissue at revision surgery of inflatable penile prostheses for noninfectious reasons.
Analisa Kinerja Pengkodean Kanal Type Reed Solomon Coding pada Kualitas Transmisi Citra

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Baharuddin

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Dalam sistem telekomunikasi, data multimedia berupa audio, citra, dan video ditransmisikan ke penerima melalui sebuah kanal komunikasi. Pada sistem telekomunikasi yang menggunakan kanal komunikasi wireless, selain pengaruh redaman, gangguan yang paling dominan adalah noise dan fading. Fading dan noise dikanal akan menurunkan kinerja sistem telekomunikasi digital karena dapat menyebabkan terjadinya kesalahan pendeteksian sinyal, sehingga terjadi perubahan bit atau simbol pada sisi penerima. Dengan menerapkan teknik pengkodean kanal tipe Reed Solomon Code pada sisi pengirim dan penerima, maka dapat ditingkatkan kinerja dari sistem komunikasi digital tersebut. Melalui simulasi dalam penelitian ini, telah dianalisa pengaruh penerapan teknik pengkodean kanal Reed Solomon Code pada sistem yang dipengaruhi noise Additive White Gaussian Noise (AWGN dan fading Rayleigh. Besarnya pengaruh penggunaan dari teknik pengkodean kanal Reed Solomon Code dapat diketahui melalui analisa Bit Error Rate (BER dan Peak Signal to Noise Ratio (PSNR. Hasil simulasi dari penelitian ini menunjukkan bahwa adanya peningkatan perbaikan sistem dipenerima rata-rata 5dB bila dibandingkan dengan tanpa menggunakan teknik pengkodean kanal Reed Solomon Code.
Research on Noise Reduction of Reed Valves of a Hermetic Refrigerator Compressor

Science.gov (United States)

He, Zhilong; Chen, Qian; Li, Dantong; Wang, Ju; Xia, Pu; Wang, Tao

2017-08-01

The noise level of the refrigerator compressor has received more and more attention in recent years. As the key component of a compressor, reed valve is its main noise source. In this paper, a new noise reduction technology of coating on reed valve surface is proposed and verified by experiments. Firstly, the reed valves were coated, and their surface characteristics were checked. Then, the refrigerator compressor p-V diagram test was carried out to investigate the influence of doped diamond-like carbon (DLC) coating on power consumption. Finally, the noise test rig for the refrigerator compressor was set up. Based on the standard test method, noise spectrum was measured in a semi-anechoic room under standard working condition. Research results showed that the compressor noise was significantly reduced by 1.8dB (A) after coating. Moreover, the effect of aerodynamic noise reduction at suction side is better than that at discharge side. However, the influence of the film thickness on noise reduction value is little. The COP was reduced by 0.6% as compared to the compressor with uncoated reed valves.
TCUP: A novel hAT transposon active in maize tissue culture

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Alan eSmith

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Transposable elements are capable of inducing heritable de novo genetic variation. The sequences capable of reactivation, and environmental factors that induce mobilization, remain poorly defined even in well-studied genomes such as maize. We treated maize tissue culture with the demethylating agent 5-aza-2-deoxcytidine and examined long-term tissue culture lines to discover silenced transposable elements that have the potential to induce heritable genetic variation. Through these screens we have identified a novel low copy number hAT transposon, Tissue Culture Up-Regulated (TCUP, which is transcribed at high levels in long-term maize Black Mexican Sweet (BMS tissue culture and up-regulated in response to treatment with 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine. Analysis of the TIGR Maize Gene Index revealed that this element is the most frequently represented EST from the BMS cell culture library and is not represented in other tissue libraries, which is the basis for its name. A full-length sequence was assembled in inbred B73 that contains the putative functional motifs required for autonomous movement of a hAT transposon. Transposon display detected movement of TCUP in two long-term tissue cultured cell lines of the genotype Hi-II AxB and BMS. This research implicates TCUP as a transposon that is capable of reactivation and which may also be particularly sensitive to the stress of the tissue culture environment. Our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that epigenetic alterations potentiate genomic responses to stress during clonal propagation of plants.
The autologus graft of epithelial tissue culture

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Minaee B

1999-08-01

Full Text Available With the intention of research about culture and autologus graft of epithelial tissue we used 4 french Albino Rabbits with an average age of 2 months. After reproduction on the support in EMEM (Eagle's Minimum Essential Medium we used this for graft after 4 weeks. This region which grafted total replaced. After fixation of this sample and passing them through various process, histological sections were prepared. These sections were stained with H & E and masson's trichrome and studied by light microscope. We succeeded in graft. We hope in the near future by using the method of epithelium tissue culture improving to treat burned patients.
The Reed Elsevier stock price gap

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamp, B.

1995-01-01

This is the report of a limited study on the structural stock price differences between Reed and Elsevier. The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of the problem area and to formulate and discuss several hypotheses regarding the causes of this gap. The research was performed by
[Research progress of co-culture system for constructing vascularized tissue engineered bone].

Science.gov (United States)

Fu, Weili; Xiang, Zhou

2014-02-01

To review the research progress of the co-culture system for constructing vascularized tissue engineered bone. The recent literature concerning the co-culture system for constructing vascularized tissue engineered bone was reviewed, including the selection of osteogenic and endothelial lineages, the design and surface modification of scaffolds, the models and dimensions of the co-culture system, the mechanism, the culture conditions, and their application progress. The construction of vascularized tissue engineered bone is the prerequisite for their survival and further clinical application in vivo. Mesenchymal stem cells (owning the excellent osteogenic potential) and endothelial progenitor cells (capable of directional differentiation into endothelial cell) are considered as attractive cell types for the co-culture system to construct vascularized tissue engineered bone. The culture conditions need to be further optimized. Furthermore, how to achieve the clinical goals of minimal invasion and autologous transplantation also need to be further studied. The strategy of the co-culture system for constructing vascularized tissue engineered bone would have a very broad prospects for clinical application in future.
Improved Diagnosis of Prosthetic Joint Infection by Culturing Periprosthetic Tissue Specimens in Blood Culture Bottles.

Science.gov (United States)

Peel, Trisha N; Dylla, Brenda L; Hughes, John G; Lynch, David T; Greenwood-Quaintance, Kerryl E; Cheng, Allen C; Mandrekar, Jayawant N; Patel, Robin

2016-01-05

Despite known low sensitivity, culture of periprosthetic tissue specimens on agars and in broths is routine. Culture of periprosthetic tissue samples in blood culture bottles (BCBs) is potentially more convenient, but it has been evaluated in a limited way and has not been widely adopted. The aim of this study was to compare the sensitivity and specificity of inoculation of periprosthetic tissue specimens into blood culture bottles with standard agar and thioglycolate broth culture, applying Bayesian latent class modeling (LCM) in addition to applying the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) criteria for prosthetic joint infection. This prospective cohort study was conducted over a 9-month period (August 2013 to April 2014) at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, and included all consecutive patients undergoing revision arthroplasty. Overall, 369 subjects were studied; 117 (32%) met IDSA criteria for prosthetic joint infection, and 82% had late chronic infection. Applying LCM, inoculation of tissues into BCBs was associated with a 47% improvement in sensitivity compared to the sensitivity of conventional agar and broth cultures (92.1 versus 62.6%, respectively); this magnitude of change was similar when IDSA criteria were applied (60.7 versus 44.4%, respectively; P = 0.003). The time to microorganism detection was shorter with BCBs than with standard media (P Prosthetic joint infections are a devastating complication of arthroplasty surgery. Despite this, current microbiological techniques to detect and diagnose infections are imperfect. This study examined a new approach to diagnosing infections, through the inoculation of tissue samples from around the prosthetic joint into blood culture bottles. This study demonstrated that, compared to current laboratory practices, this new technique increased the detection of infection. These findings are important for patient care to allow timely and accurate diagnosis of infection. Copyright © 2016 Peel et al.
Leaf Composition of American Bur-Reed (Sparganium americanum Nutt.) to Determine Pesticide Mitigation Capability.

Science.gov (United States)

Alsharekh, Anfal; Swatzell, Lucinda J; Moore, Matthew T

2018-04-01

American bur-reed (Sparganium americanum Nutt.), a common aquatic plant in the middle and eastern United States and Canada, is often located in water-retaining drainage areas. The purpose of this study was to determine the leaf composition of S. americanum, paying attention to the cuticular waxes and the epidermis, and its ability to sorb pesticides. S. americanum leaves (n = 100) were collected in both early (June) and late (August) summer. Transverse sections of S. americanum were stained and studied with brightfield and fluorescence microscopy to estimate the structural and chemical nature of the leaf tissues cross sections. Mean total lipid content in early summer leaf samples (1.47 ± 0.83 mg mL -1 ) was significantly greater (alpha 0.05) than late summer leaves (0.15 ± 0.36 mg mL -1 ). In vitro analysis of epidermal peel permeability exposed to atrazine and malathion determined little to no sorption by the plant. Therefore, the structure of S. americanum leaves suggest this species does not have the capacity of sorbing these pesticides from runoff water.
Tumor tissue slice cultures as a platform for analyzing tissue-penetration and biological activities of nanoparticles.

Science.gov (United States)

Merz, Lea; Höbel, Sabrina; Kallendrusch, Sonja; Ewe, Alexander; Bechmann, Ingo; Franke, Heike; Merz, Felicitas; Aigner, Achim

2017-03-01

The success of therapeutic nanoparticles depends, among others, on their ability to penetrate a tissue for actually reaching the target cells, and their efficient cellular uptake in the context of intact tissue and stroma. Various nanoparticle modifications have been implemented for altering physicochemical and biological properties. Their analysis, however, so far mainly relies on cell culture experiments which only poorly reflect the in vivo situation, or is based on in vivo experiments that are often complicated by whole-body pharmacokinetics and are rather tedious especially when analyzing larger nanoparticle sets. For the more precise analysis of nanoparticle properties at their desired site of action, efficient ex vivo systems closely mimicking in vivo tissue properties are needed. In this paper, we describe the setup of organotypic tumor tissue slice cultures for the analysis of tissue-penetrating properties and biological activities of nanoparticles. As a model system, we employ 350μm thick slice cultures from different tumor xenograft tissues, and analyze modified or non-modified polyethylenimine (PEI) complexes as well as their lipopolyplex derivatives for siRNA delivery. The described conditions for tissue slice preparation and culture ensure excellent tissue preservation for at least 14days, thus allowing for prolonged experimentation and analysis. When using fluorescently labeled siRNA for complex visualization, fluorescence microscopy of cryo-sectioned tissue slices reveals different degrees of nanoparticle tissue penetration, dependent on their surface charge. More importantly, the determination of siRNA-mediated knockdown efficacies of an endogenous target gene, the oncogenic survival factor Survivin, reveals the possibility to accurately assess biological nanoparticle activities in situ, i.e. in living cells in their original environment. Taken together, we establish tumor (xenograft) tissue slices for the accurate and facile ex vivo assessment of
Arrangement of permanent magnet and reed switches for control rod position indicator of SMART CEDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, J. Y.; Kim, J. I.; Kim, J. H.; Hur, H.; Jang, M. H.

2001-01-01

The reliability and accuracy of the information on control rod position are very important to the reactor safety and the design of the core protection system. A survey on the RSPT(Reed Switch Position Transmitter) type control rod position indication system and its actual implementation in the exiting nuclear power plants in Korea was performed first. The control rod position indicator having the high performance for SMART was developed on the basis of RSPT technology identified through the survey. The arrangement of permanent magnet and reed switches is the most important procedure in the design of control rod position indication. In this study, the characteristics of permanent magnet and reed switches are introduced and the calculation method for arrangement of permanent magnet and reed switch is presented
Metabolomics reveals the heterogeneous secretome of two entomopathogenic fungi to ex vivo cultured insect tissues.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charissa de Bekker

Full Text Available Fungal entomopathogens rely on cellular heterogeneity during the different stages of insect host infection. Their pathogenicity is exhibited through the secretion of secondary metabolites, which implies that the infection life history of this group of environmentally important fungi can be revealed using metabolomics. Here metabolomic analysis in combination with ex vivo insect tissue culturing shows that two generalist isolates of the genus Metarhizium and Beauveria, commonly used as biological pesticides, employ significantly different arrays of secondary metabolites during infectious and saprophytic growth. It also reveals that both fungi exhibit tissue specific strategies by a distinguishable metabolite secretion on the insect tissues tested in this study. In addition to showing the important heterogeneous nature of these two entomopathogens, this study also resulted in the discovery of several novel destruxins and beauverolides that have not been described before, most likely because previous surveys did not use insect tissues as a culturing system. While Beauveria secreted these cyclic depsipeptides when encountering live insect tissues, Metarhizium employed them primarily on dead tissue. This implies that, while these fungi employ comparable strategies when it comes to entomopathogenesis, there are most certainly significant differences at the molecular level that deserve to be studied.
Gastrointestinal Epithelial Organoid Cultures from Postsurgical Tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Soojung; Yoo, Jongman

2017-08-17

An organoid is a cellular structure three-dimensionally (3D) cultured from self-organizing stem cells in vitro, which has a cell population, architectures, and organ specific functions like the originating organs. Recent advances in the 3D culture of isolated intestinal crypts or gastric glands have enabled the generation of human gastrointestinal epithelial organoids. Gastrointestinal organoids recapitulate the human in vivo physiology because of all the intestinal epithelial cell types that differentiated and proliferated from tissue resident stem cells. Thus far, gastrointestinal organoids have been extensively used for generating gastrointestinal disease models. This protocol describes the method of isolating a gland or crypt using stomach or colon tissue after surgery and establishing them into gastroids or colonoids.
Tissue culture of surgically prepared temporalis fascia.

Science.gov (United States)

Walby, A P; Kerr, A G; Nevin, N C; Woods, G

1982-10-01

Temporalis fascia which is used to graft the tympanic membrane has been shown to be viable in tissue culture by a previous pilot study. This present study reports the effect on the viability of the fascia by scraping loose connective tissue from it and allowing it to dry. Pieces of fascia from 30 patients were each divided in 4 and prepared to give explants, fresh, fresh and scraped, dried, and dried and scraped. The fascia grew from 17 patients when cultured fresh, 5 when fresh and scraped, 1 when dried, and none when dried and scraped. These results are significantly different and show that the fascia is devitilized when prepared by the normal method for use in tympanoplasty.
Assisted phytoextraction of heavy metals: compost and Trichoderma effects on giant reed (Arundo donax L. uptake and soil N-cycle microflora

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nunzio Fiorentino

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Little information is available as to the real effectiveness of the phytoextraction remediation technique, since laboratory experiments are still the most common way in which this is measured. Given this, an experiment on a cadmium-polluted soil was carried out in open field conditions in Southern Italy with the aim of assessing the growth and the phytoextraction potential of giant reed (Arundo donax L. Compost fertilisation and Trichoderma harzianum A6 inoculations were used to verify the possibility of increasing the metal uptake of the crop. Biomass yield of giant reed in the first growth season (average 12.8 Mg ha–1 was not affected by the Cd concentration in the soil and this increased significantly with compost fertilisation (13.8 Mg ha–1. Both compost fertilisation and T. harzianum inoculation increased cadmium uptake and translocation in leaves. Nitrifying bacteria was shown to be a useful tool to biomonitor soil quality. These results proved the suitability of the giant reed for assisted-phytoremedation with the use of compost fertilisation and T. harzianum.
Shoot cuttings propagation of giant reed (Arundo donax L.) in water and moist soil: The path forward?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ceotto, Enrico; Di Candilo, Mario [C.R.A. - Centro di Ricerca per le Colture Industriali, Via di Corticella 133, 40128 Bologna (Italy)

2010-11-15

Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is a perennial rhizomatous grass that can be regarded as an ideal crop for bioenergy production, owing to several intrinsic characteristics. Despite to the promising yield results obtained in many plot experiments, the cultivation of giant reed at field scale is still a challenge. Owing to the floral sterility of the species, rhizome propagation has been predominantly used to establish field plots experiments, although this method is unpractical and monetarily expensive. Giant reed is a hydrophytic plant that typically spread in riparian systems by flood-mediated fragmentation and dispersal of vegetative propagules. Since giant reed propagation is strictly dependent on temporary abundance of water, this plant characteristic might be exploited for fostering the diffusion of giant reed as a bioenergy field crop. The objectives of this paper were: i) to disseminate some techniques for shoot cutting propagation of giant reed in water and in moist soil; ii) to address the critical points that remain to be solved for a widespread diffusion of this species as a bioenergy field crop. (author)
Mary Jane Hogue (1883-1962): A pioneer in human brain tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Zottoli, Steven J; Seyfarth, Ernst-August

2018-05-16

The ability to maintain human brain explants in tissue culture was a critical step in the use of these cells for the study of central nervous system disorders. Ross G. Harrison (1870-1959) was the first to successfully maintain frog medullary tissue in culture in 1907, but it took another 38 years before successful culture of human brain tissue was accomplished. One of the pioneers in this achievement was Mary Jane Hogue (1883-1962). Hogue was born into a Quaker family in 1883 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, and received her undergraduate degree from Goucher College in Baltimore, Maryland. Research with the developmental biologist Theodor Boveri (1862-1915) in Würzburg, Germany, resulted in her Ph.D. (1909). Hogue transitioned from studying protozoa to the culture of human brain tissue in the 1940s and 1950s, when she was one of the first to culture cells from human fetal, infant, and adult brain explants. We review Hogue's pioneering contributions to the study of human brain cells in culture, her putative identification of progenitor neuroblast and/or glioblast cells, and her use of the cultures to study the cytopathogenic effects of poliovirus. We also put Hogue's work in perspective by discussing how other women pioneers in tissue culture influenced Hogue and her research.
Establishment of primary keratinocyte culture from horse tissue biopsates

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jernej OGOREVC

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Primary cell lines established from skin tissue can be used in immunological, proteomic and genomic studies as in vitro skin models. The goal of our study was to establish a primary keratinocyte cell culture from tissue biopsates of two horses. The primary keratinocyte cell culture was obtained by mechanical and enzymatic dissociation and with explant culture method. The result was a heterogeneous primary culture comprised of keratinocytes and fibroblasts. To distinguish epithelial and mesenchymal cells immunofluorescent characterisation was performed, using antibodies against cytokeratin 14 and vimentin. We successfully at attained a primary cell line of keratinocytes, which could potentially be used to study equine skin diseases, as an animal model for human diseases, and for cosmetic and therapeutic product testing.

Media Compositions for Three-Dimensional Mammalian Tissue Growth under Microgravity Culture Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Goodwin, Thomas J. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

Normal mammalian tissue and the culturing process has been developed for the three groups of organ, structural and blood tissue.The cells are grown in vitro under microgravity culture conditions and form three dimensional cells aggregates with normal cell function. The microgravity culture conditions may be microgravity or simulated microgravity created in a horizontal rotating wall culture vessel.
Media Compositions for Three Dimensional Mammalian Tissue Growth Under Microgravity Culture Conditions

Science.gov (United States)

Goodwin, Thomas J. (Inventor)

1998-01-01

Normal mammalian tissue and the culturing process has been developed for the three groups of organ, structural and blood tissue. The cells are grown in vitro under microgravity culture conditions and form three dimensional cells aggregates with normal cell function. The microgravity culture conditions may be microgravity or simulated microgravity created in a horizontal rotating wall culture vessel.
Host plant development, water level and water parameters shape Phragmites australis-associated oomycete communities and determine reed pathogen dynamics in a large lake.

Science.gov (United States)

Wielgoss, Anna; Nechwatal, Jan; Bogs, Carolin; Mendgen, Kurt

2009-08-01

In a 3-year-study, we analysed the population dynamics of the reed pathogen Pythium phragmitis and other reed-associated oomycetes colonizing fresh and dried reed leaves in the littoral zone of a large lake. Oomycete communities derived from internal transcribed spacer clone libraries were clearly differentiated according to substrate and seasonal influences. In fresh leaves, diverse communities consisting of P. phragmitis and other reed-associated pathogens were generally dominant. Pythium phragmitis populations peaked in spring with the emergence of young reed shoots, and in autumn after extreme flooding events. In summer it decreased with falling water levels, changing water chemistry and rising temperatures. Another Pythium species was also highly abundant in fresh leaves throughout the year and might represent a new, as-yet uncultured reed pathogen. In dried leaves, reed pathogens were rarely detected, whereas saprophytic species occurred abundantly during all seasons. Saprophyte communities were less diverse, less temperature sensitive and independent of reed development. In general, our results provide evidence for the occurrence of highly specialized sets of reed-associated oomycetes in a natural reed ecosystem. Quantitative analyses (clone abundances and quantitative real-time PCR) revealed that the reed pathogen P. phragmitis is particularly affected by changing water levels, water chemistry and the stage of reed development.
Micro fluidic System for Culturing and Monitoring of Neuronal Cells and Tissue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bakmand, Tanya; Waagepetersen, Helle S.

The aim of this Ph.D. project was to combine experience within cell and tissue culturing, electrochemistry and microfabrication in order to develop an in vivo-like fluidic culturing platform, challenging the traditional culturing methods. The first goal was to develope a fluidic system for cultur...... with mass production. The last part of this thesis also includes perspectives on how to expand the latest designed device to facilitate culturing of tissue and co-culturing of cells....
Reed Watkins: A Passion for Plume Moths

Science.gov (United States)

Reed Watkins has curated the nationl Pterophordiae or plume moth collection at the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, for the past 13 years. He has decreased the number of specimens of unsorted and unidentified material and has expanded the collection from 3 to 6 cabinets....
Attaching Copper Wires to Magnetic-Reed-Switch Leads

Science.gov (United States)

Kamila, Rudolf

1987-01-01

Bonding method reliably joins copper wires to short iron-alloy leads from glass-encased dry magnetic-reed switch without disturbing integrity of glass-to-metal seal. Joint resistant to high temperatures and has low electrical resistance.
Ex vivo culture of patient tissue & examination of gene delivery.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Rajendran, Simon

2012-01-31

This video describes the use of patient tissue as an ex vivo model for the study of gene delivery. Fresh patient tissue obtained at the time of surgery is sliced and maintained in culture. The ex vivo model system allows for the physical delivery of genes into intact patient tissue and gene expression is analysed by bioluminescence imaging using the IVIS detection system. The bioluminescent detection system demonstrates rapid and accurate quantification of gene expression within individual slices without the need for tissue sacrifice. This slice tissue culture system may be used in a variety of tissue types including normal and malignant tissue and allows us to study the effects of the heterogeneous nature of intact tissue and the high degree of variability between individual patients. This model system could be used in certain situations as an alternative to animal models and as a complementary preclinical mode prior to entering clinical trial.
Yield improvement strategies for the production of secondary metabolites in plant tissue culture: silymarin from Silybum marianum tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

AbouZid, S

2014-01-01

Plant cell culture can be a potential source for the production of important secondary metabolites. This technology bears many advantages over conventional agricultural methods. The main problem to arrive at a cost-effective process is the low productivity. This is mainly due to lack of differentiation in the cultured cells. Many approaches have been used to maximise the yield of secondary metabolites produced by cultured plant cells. Among these approaches: choosing a plant with a high biosynthetic capacity, obtaining efficient cell line for growth and production of metabolite of interest, manipulating culture conditions, elicitation, metabolic engineering and organ culture. This article gives an overview of the various approaches used to maximise the production of pharmaceutically important secondary metabolites in plant cell cultures. Examples of using these different approaches are shown for the production of silymarin from Silybum marianum tissue culture.
Pretreatment of Reed by Wet Oxidation and Subsequent Utilization of the Pretreated Fibers for Ethanol Production

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Szijarto, Nora; Kádár, Zsófia; Varga, Eniko

2009-01-01

lignocelluloses usually do. In the present study, wet oxidation was investigated as the pretreatment method to enhance the enzymatic digestibility of reed cellulose to soluble sugars and thus improve the convertibility of reed to ethanol. The most effective treatment increased the digestibility of reed cellulose...... of cellulose to glucose was 82.4%. Simultaneous saccharification and fermentation of pretreated solids resulted in a final ethanol concentration as high as 8.7 g/L, yielding 73% of the theoretical....
Islands in a desert : breeding ecology of the African Reed Warbler Acrocephalus baeticatus in Namibia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eising, CM; Komdeur, J; Buys, J; Reemer, M; Richardson, DS; Richardson, David S.

The continental African Reed Warbler Acrocephalus baeticatus, like its relative the Seychelles Warbler Acrocephalus sechellensis, breeds in isolated patches. We studied the mating system of the African Reed Warbler to see whether this species, like the Seychelles Warbler, shows co-operative
Gravity Drainage of Activated Sludge on Reed Beds

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Morten Lykkegaard; Dominiak, Dominik Marek; Keiding, Kristian

and operation of reed beds and the efficiencies are often lower than predicted. One reason is that the sludge quality varies from plant to plant and even within plants from time to time. No good method exists for measuring the sludge quality with respect to drainage characteristics. A new experimental method...... has therefore been developed to measure relevant quality parameters: specific cake resistance, settling velocity and cake compressibility. It has been found that activated sludge form highly compressible cake even at the low compressive pressures obtained during drainage. Numerical simulation shows......Activated sludge is a by-product from waste water treatment plants, and the water content in the sludge is high (> 90%). Among several methods to remove the water, sludge drying reed beds are often used to dewater the sludge by drainage. There is, however, no well-defined criterion for design...
Tissue culture of ornamental cacti

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugenio Pérez-Molphe-Balch

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Cacti species are plants that are well adapted to growing in arid and semiarid regions where the main problem is water availability. Cacti have developed a series of adaptations to cope with water scarcity, such as reduced leaf surface via morphological modifications including spines, cereous cuticles, extended root systems and stem tissue modifications to increase water storage, and crassulacean acid metabolism to reduce transpiration and water loss. Furthermore, seeds of these plants very often exhibit dormancy, a phenomenon that helps to prevent germination when the availability of water is reduced. In general, cactus species exhibit a low growth rate that makes their rapid propagation difficult. Cacti are much appreciated as ornamental plants due to their great variety and diversity of forms and their beautiful short-life flowers; however, due to difficulties in propagating them rapidly to meet market demand, they are very often over-collected in their natural habitats, which leads to numerous species being threatened, endangered or becoming extinct. Therefore, plant tissue culture techniques may facilitate their propagation over a shorter time period than conventional techniques used for commercial purposes; or may help to recover populations of endangered or threatened species for their re-introduction in the wild; or may also be of value to the preservation and conservation of the genetic resources of this important family. Herein we present the state-of-the-art of tissue culture techniques used for ornamental cacti and selected suggestions for solving a number of the problems faced by members of the Cactaceae family.
Exploring plant tissue culture in Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal: in vitro propagation and secondary metabolite production.

Science.gov (United States)

Shasmita; Rai, Manoj K; Naik, Soumendra K

2017-12-26

Withania somnifera (L.) Dunal (family: Solanaceae), commonly known as "Indian Ginseng", is a medicinally and industrially important plant of the Indian subcontinent and other warmer parts of the world. The plant has multi-use medicinal potential and has been listed among 36 important cultivated medicinal plants of India that are in high demand for trade due to its pharmaceutical uses. The medicinal importance of this plant is mainly due to the presence of different types of steroidal lactones- withanolides in the roots and leaves. Owing to low seed viability and poor germination, the conventional propagation of W. somnifera falls short to cater its commercial demands particularly for secondary metabolite production. Therefore, there is a great need to develop different biotechnological approaches through tissue and organ culture for seasonal independent production of plants in large scale which will provide sufficient raw materials of uniform quality for pharmaceutical purposes. During past years, a number of in vitro plant regeneration protocols via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis and in vitro conservation through synthetic seed based encapsulation technology have been developed for W. somnifera. Several attempts have also been made to standardize the protocol of secondary metabolite production via tissue/organ cultures, cell suspension cultures, and Agrobacterium rhizogenes-mediated transformed hairy root cultures. Employment of plant tissue culture based techniques would provide means for rapid propagation and conservation of this plant species and also provide scope for enhanced production of different bioactive secondary metabolites. The present review provides a comprehensive report on research activities conducted in the area of tissue culture and secondary metabolite production in W. somnifera during the past years. It also discusses the unexplored areas which might be taken into consideration for future research so that the medicinal properties and
21 CFR 864.2240 - Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Cell and tissue culture supplies and equipment. 864.2240 Section 864.2240 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture Products...
Antiandrogenic actions of medroxyprogesterone acetate on epithelial cells within normal human breast tissues cultured ex vivo.

Science.gov (United States)

Ochnik, Aleksandra M; Moore, Nicole L; Jankovic-Karasoulos, Tanja; Bianco-Miotto, Tina; Ryan, Natalie K; Thomas, Mervyn R; Birrell, Stephen N; Butler, Lisa M; Tilley, Wayne D; Hickey, Theresa E

2014-01-01

Medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA), a component of combined estrogen-progestin therapy (EPT), has been associated with increased breast cancer risk in EPT users. MPA can bind to the androgen receptor (AR), and AR signaling inhibits cell growth in breast tissues. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the potential of MPA to disrupt AR signaling in an ex vivo culture model of normal human breast tissue. Histologically normal breast tissues from women undergoing breast surgical operation were cultured in the presence or in the absence of the native AR ligand 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), MPA, or the AR antagonist bicalutamide. Ki67, bromodeoxyuridine, B-cell CLL/lymphoma 2 (BCL2), AR, estrogen receptor α, and progesterone receptor were detected by immunohistochemistry. DHT inhibited the proliferation of breast epithelial cells in an AR-dependent manner within tissues from postmenopausal women, and MPA significantly antagonized this androgenic effect. These hormonal responses were not commonly observed in cultured tissues from premenopausal women. In tissues from postmenopausal women, DHT either induced or repressed BCL2 expression, and the antiandrogenic effect of MPA on BCL2 was variable. MPA significantly opposed the positive effect of DHT on AR stabilization, but these hormones had no significant effect on estrogen receptor α or progesterone receptor levels. In a subset of postmenopausal women, MPA exerts an antiandrogenic effect on breast epithelial cells that is associated with increased proliferation and destabilization of AR protein. This activity may contribute mechanistically to the increased risk of breast cancer in women taking MPA-containing EPT.
Biomaterials in co-culture systems: towards optimizing tissue integration and cell signaling within scaffolds.

Science.gov (United States)

Battiston, Kyle G; Cheung, Jane W C; Jain, Devika; Santerre, J Paul

2014-05-01

Most natural tissues consist of multi-cellular systems made up of two or more cell types. However, some of these tissues may not regenerate themselves following tissue injury or disease without some form of intervention, such as from the use of tissue engineered constructs. Recent studies have increasingly used co-cultures in tissue engineering applications as these systems better model the natural tissues, both physically and biologically. This review aims to identify the challenges of using co-culture systems and to highlight different approaches with respect to the use of biomaterials in the use of such systems. The application of co-culture systems to stimulate a desired biological response and examples of studies within particular tissue engineering disciplines are summarized. A description of different analytical co-culture systems is also discussed and the role of biomaterials in the future of co-culture research are elaborated on. Understanding the complex cell-cell and cell-biomaterial interactions involved in co-culture systems will ultimately lead the field towards biomaterial concepts and designs with specific biochemical, electrical, and mechanical characteristics that are tailored towards the needs of distinct co-culture systems. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The mechanical spectra of deposited materials by a composite reed vibration method

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ying, X.N.; Zhang, L.; Yuan, Y.H.

2010-01-01

Recently a composite reed vibration method has been designed to measure the mechanical spectra (complex Young's modulus) of materials from liquid to solid state. The mechanical spectra of materials can be obtained from a composite system consisting of a substrate reed and of materials deposited on it. In this report, two sets of formulas to calculate the mechanical spectra of deposited materials are further analyzed. The proof is given for the previous named 'approximate formulas' (labeled as Formula II). Then the composite reed vibration method can be safely used as an extension of the mechanical spectrum method of the thin solid film. At the same time, some comments are made on previous analytical formulas (labeled as Formula I). At last, more experiments with a small amount of deposited materials are performed. It is found that smaller quantity is more favorable to achieve the intrinsic mechanical spectra of deposited materials.
Fate of xenobiotic compounds and plants activity in reed bed sludge treatment

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Xijuan; Pauli, Udo; Rehfus, Stefan

different plants: bulrush (Typha), reed (Phragmites australis) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) were planted into 12 containers with a size of 1m Х 1m X 1m which were builded with 20cm gravel and 50cm sludge to study the plants activity in sludge degradation process, 4 containers were left...
Ammonia Fiber Expansion Pretreatment and Enzymatic Hydrolysis on Two Different Growth Stages of Reed Canarygrass

Science.gov (United States)

Bradshaw, Tamika C.; Alizadeh, Hasan; Teymouri, Farzaneh; Balan, Venkatesh; Dale, Bruce E.

Plant materials from the vegetative growth stage of reed canarygrass and the seed stage of reed canarygrass are pretreated by ammonia fiber expansion (AFEX) and enzymatically hydrolyzed using 15 filter paper units (FPU) cellulase/g glucan to evaluate glucose and xylose yields. Percent conversions of glucose and xylose, effects of temperature and ammonia loading, and hydrolysis profiles are analyzed to determine the most effective AFEX treatment condition for each of the selected materials. The controls used in this study were untreated samples of each biomass material. All pretreatment conditions tested enhanced enzyme digestibility and improved sugar conversions for reed canarygrass compared with their untreated counterparts. Based on 168 h hydrolysis results using 15 FPU Spezyme CP cellulase/g glucan the most effective AFEX treatment conditions were determined as: vegetative growth stage of reed canarygrass—100°C, 60% moisture content, 1.2∶1 kg ammonia/kg of dry matter (86% glucose and 78% xylose) and seed stage of reed canarygrass—100°C, 60% moisture content, 0.8∶1 kg ammonia/kg of dry matter (89% glucose and 81% xylose). Supplementation by commercial Multifect 720 xylanase along with cellulase further increased both glucose and xylose yields by 10-12% at the most effective AFEX conditions.
Space communication system for compressed data with a concatenated Reed-Solomon-Viterbi coding channel

Science.gov (United States)

Rice, R. F.; Hilbert, E. E. (Inventor)

1976-01-01

A space communication system incorporating a concatenated Reed Solomon Viterbi coding channel is discussed for transmitting compressed and uncompressed data from a spacecraft to a data processing center on Earth. Imaging (and other) data are first compressed into source blocks which are then coded by a Reed Solomon coder and interleaver, followed by a convolutional encoder. The received data is first decoded by a Viterbi decoder, followed by a Reed Solomon decoder and deinterleaver. The output of the latter is then decompressed, based on the compression criteria used in compressing the data in the spacecraft. The decompressed data is processed to reconstruct an approximation of the original data-producing condition or images.

ADVANCES IN CLOG STATE MONITORING FOR USE IN AUTOMATED REED BED INSTALLATIONS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Theodore HUGHES-RILEY

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Constructed wetlands are a popular form of waste-water treatment that have proliferated across Europe and the rest of the world in recent years as an environmentally conscious form of waste water treatment. The ability to monitor the conditions in the bed and control input factors such as heating and aeration may extend the lifetime of the reed bed substantially beyond the ten year lifetime normally reached. The Autonomous Reed Bed Installation (ARBI project is an EU FP7 initiative to develop a reed bed with automated control over input parameters based on readings taken from embedded sensors. Automated remedial action may improve bed treatment efficiency, and prolong the life of the bed and avoiding the need to refurbish the bed, which is both time consuming and costly. One critical parameter to observe is the clog state of the reed bed, as this can severely impact on the efficiency of water treatment to the point of the bed becoming non-operable. Magnetic resonance (MR sensors can be a powerful tool in determining clogging levels, and has previously been explored in the literature. This work is based on a conference paper (2nd International Conference "Water resources and wetlands", 2014 and details magnetic sensors suitable for long-term embedding into a constructed wetland. Unlike previous studies this work examines a probe embedded into a wetland.
NRC [Nuclear Regulatory Commission] staff evaluation of the General Electric Company Nuclear Reactor Study (''Reed Report'')

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1987-07-01

In 1975, the General Electric Company (GE) published a Nuclear Reactor Study, also referred to as ''the Reed Report,'' an internal product-improvement study. GE considered the document ''proprietary'' and thus, under the regulations of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), exempt from mandatory public disclosure. Nonetheless, members of the NRC staff reviewed the document in 1976 and determined that it did not raise any significant new safety issues. The staff also reached the same conclusion in subsequent reviews. However, in response to recent inquiries about the report, the staff reevaluated the Reed Report from a 1987 perspective. This re-evaluation, documented in this staff report, concluded that: (1) there are no issues raised in the Reed Report that support a need to curtail the operation of any GE boiling water reactor (BWR); (2) there are no new safety issues raised in the Reed Report of which the staff was unaware; and (3) although certain issues addressed by the Reed Report are still being studied by the NRC and the industry, there is no basis for suspending licensing and operation of GE BWR plants while these issues are being resolved
Propagation of Aquilaria malaccensis seedlings through tissue culture techniques

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salahbiah Abdul Majid; Zaiton Ahmad; Mohd Rafaie Abdul Salam; Nurhayati Irwan; Affrida Abu Hassan; Rusli Ibrahim

2010-01-01

Aquilaria malaccensis or karas is the principal source of gaharu resin, which is used in many cultures for incense, perfumes and traditional medicines. The species is mainly propagated conventionally through seeds, cuttings and graftings. Propagation by seeds is usually a reliable method for other forest species, but for karas, this technique is inadequate to meet the current demand of seedling supplies. This is principally due to its low seed viability, low germination rate, delayed rooting of seedlings, long life-cycle and rare seed production. Tissue culture has several advantages over conventional propagation, especially for obtaining large number of uniform and high-yielding plantlets or clones. This paper presents the current progress on mass-propagation of Aquilaria malaccensis seedlings through tissue culture technique at Nuclear Malaysia. (author)
Bridging the gap between cell culture and live tissue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefan Przyborski

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Traditional in vitro two-dimensional (2-D culture systems only partly imitate the physiological and biochemical features of cells in their original tissue. In vivo, in organs and tissues, cells are surrounded by a three-dimensional (3-D organization of supporting matrix and neighbouring cells, and a gradient of chemical and mechanical signals. Furthermore, the presence of blood flow and mechanical movement provides a dynamic environment (Jong et al., 2011. In contrast, traditional in vitro culture, carried out on 2-D plastic or glass substrates, typically provides a static environment, which, however is the base of the present understanding of many biological processes, tissue homeostasis as well as disease. It is clear that this is not an exact representation of what is happening in vivo and the microenvironment provided by in vitro cell culture models are significantly different and can cause deviations in cell response and behaviour from those distinctive of in vivo tissues. In order to translate the present basic knowledge in cell control, cell repair and regeneration from the laboratory bench to the clinical application, we need a better understanding of the cell and tissue interactions. This implies a detailed comprehension of the natural tissue environment, with its organization and local signals, in order to more closely mimic what happens in vivo, developing more physiological models for efficient in vitro systems. In particular, it is imperative to understand the role of the environmental cues which can be mainly divided into those of a chemical and mechanical nature.
Fluid-Structure Interaction of a Reed Type Valve Subjected to Piston Displacement

OpenAIRE

Estruch, Olga; Lehmkuhl, Oriol; Rigola, Joaquim; Pérez-Segarra, Carles David

2014-01-01

In the field of reciprocating compressors, the developing of reed type valves is a challenging task. The understanding of the fluid flow behaviour through the valve reed is essential to improve the valve design. Hence, this work attempts the dynamic simulation of this fluid-structure interaction (FSI) problem, taking into account valve movement due to piston displacement. In this work attends the in-house implemented CFD&HT and moving mesh coupled code TermoFluids [1]. The CFD&HT solver consi...
Analysis of magnetic field and hysteresis of reed switches for control rod position indicator of SMART CEDM

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yoo, J. W.; Kim, J. H.; Heo, H.; Kim, J. I.; Jang, M. H.

2002-01-01

The reliability and accuracy of the information on control rod position are very important to the reactor safety and the design of the core protection system. A survey on the RSPT(Reed Switch Position Transmitter) type control rod position indication system and its actual implementation in the exiting nuclear power plants in Korea was performed first. The control rod position indicator having the high performance for SMART was developed on the basis of RSPT technology identified through the survey. The hysteresis of reed switches is one of the important factors in a repeat accuracy of control rod position indication. In this study, the hysteresis of reed switches is introduced and the design method using the magnetic analysis of reed switches in presented
Culture-Independent Identification of Mycobacterium avium Subspecies paratuberculosis in Ovine Tissues: Comparison with Bacterial Culture and Histopathological Lesions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamal R. Acharya

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Johne’s disease is a chronic debilitating enteropathy of ruminants caused by Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (MAP. Current abattoir surveillance programs detect disease via examination of gross lesions and confirmation by histopathological and/or tissue culture, which is time-consuming and has relatively low sensitivity. This study aimed to investigate whether a high-throughput quantitative PCR (qPCR test is a viable alternative for tissue testing. Intestine and mesenteric lymph nodes were sourced from sheep experimentally infected with MAP and the DNA extracted using a protocol developed for tissues, comprised enzymatic digestion of the tissue homogenate, chemical and mechanical lysis, and magnetic bead-based DNA purification. The extracted DNA was tested by adapting a previously validated qPCR for fecal samples, and the results were compared with culture and histopathology results of the corresponding tissues. The MAP tissue qPCR confirmed infection in the majority of sheep with gross lesions on postmortem (37/38. Likewise, almost all tissue culture (61/64 or histopathology (52/58 positives were detected with good to moderate agreement (Cohen’s kappa statistic and no significant difference to the reference tests (McNemar’s Chi-square test. Higher MAP DNA quantities corresponded to animals with more severe histopathology (odds ratio: 1.82; 95% confidence interval: 1.60, 2.07. Culture-independent strain typing on tissue DNA was successfully performed. This MAP tissue qPCR method had a sensitivity equivalent to the reference tests and is thus a viable replacement for gross- and histopathological examination of tissue samples in abattoirs. In addition, the test could be validated for testing tissue samples intended for human consumption.
The role of activated charcoal in plant tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Thomas, T Dennis

2008-01-01

Activated charcoal has a very fine network of pores with large inner surface area on which many substances can be adsorbed. Activated charcoal is often used in tissue culture to improve cell growth and development. It plays a critical role in micropropagation, orchid seed germination, somatic embryogenesis, anther culture, synthetic seed production, protoplast culture, rooting, stem elongation, bulb formation etc. The promotary effects of AC on morphogenesis may be mainly due to its irreversible adsorption of inhibitory compounds in the culture medium and substancially decreasing the toxic metabolites, phenolic exudation and brown exudate accumulation. In addition to this activated charcoal is involved in a number of stimulatory and inhibitory activities including the release of substances naturally present in AC which promote growth, alteration and darkening of culture media, and adsorption of vitamins, metal ions and plant growth regulators, including abscisic acid and gaseous ethylene. The effect of AC on growth regulator uptake is still unclear but some workers believe that AC may gradually release certain adsorbed products, such as nutrients and growth regulators which become available to plants. This review focuses on the various roles of activated charcoal in plant tissue culture and the recent developments in this area.
Mathematical modelling of tissue formation in chondrocyte filter cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Catt, C J; Schuurman, W; Sengers, B G; van Weeren, P R; Dhert, W J A; Please, C P; Malda, J

2011-12-17

In the field of cartilage tissue engineering, filter cultures are a frequently used three-dimensional differentiation model. However, understanding of the governing processes of in vitro growth and development of tissue in these models is limited. Therefore, this study aimed to further characterise these processes by means of an approach combining both experimental and applied mathematical methods. A mathematical model was constructed, consisting of partial differential equations predicting the distribution of cells and glycosaminoglycans (GAGs), as well as the overall thickness of the tissue. Experimental data was collected to allow comparison with the predictions of the simulation and refinement of the initial models. Healthy mature equine chondrocytes were expanded and subsequently seeded on collagen-coated filters and cultured for up to 7 weeks. Resulting samples were characterised biochemically, as well as histologically. The simulations showed a good representation of the experimentally obtained cell and matrix distribution within the cultures. The mathematical results indicate that the experimental GAG and cell distribution is critically dependent on the rate at which the cell differentiation process takes place, which has important implications for interpreting experimental results. This study demonstrates that large regions of the tissue are inactive in terms of proliferation and growth of the layer. In particular, this would imply that higher seeding densities will not significantly affect the growth rate. A simple mathematical model was developed to predict the observed experimental data and enable interpretation of the principal underlying mechanisms controlling growth-related changes in tissue composition.
A study on flow distribution for integrated hybrid actuator by analysis of reed valve

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Woo, Jang Mi; Kang, Seung Hwan; Ko, Han Seo [Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon (Korea, Republic of); Goo, Nam Seo; Li, Yong Zhe [Konkuk University, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

Many studies have been conducted recently on an integrated hybrid actuator due to the increasing need for unmanned aircraft and guided weapons. In this study, flow distribution was analyzed for a reed valve which was used for flow regulation to improve the performance of the actuator. By using a Fluid structural interaction (FSI) technique with Computational fluid dynamics (CFD) having a moving mesh, numerical analysis was performed according to the thickness, shape and driving frequency of the reed valve. From the calculated results, the maximum performance of the reed valve was found at the valve thickness of 0.15 mm and the driving frequency of 250 Hz for a no-load state. The optimum thickness and shape for the valve for each driving frequency were also realized.
Production of immunoglobulins in gingival tissue explant cultures from juvenile periodontitis patients

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hall, E.R.; Falkler, W.A. Jr.; Suzuki, J.B.

1990-01-01

B lymphocytes and plasma cells are histologically observed in granulomatous periodontal tissues of juvenile periodontitis (JP) patients. Local immune processes may participate in protective or immunopathologic roles in the pathogenesis of this disease. An in vitro explant culture system was utilized to demonstrate the production of immunoglobulins by diseased JP tissues. Immunodiffusion studies using goat anti-human gamma, alpha, or mu chain serum revealed IgG to be the major immunoglobulin present in 92% of the day 1 supernatant fluids (SF) of the 47 JP gingival tissue explant cultures. IgA was present in 15% of the SF; however, no IgM was detected. Staph Protein A isolated 14C-labeled IgG from the SF, when allowed to react with goat anti-human gamma chain serum, formed lines of precipitation. Positive autoradiographs confirmed the biosynthesis of IgG by the explant cultures. The in vitro gingival tissue explant culture system described provides a useful model for the study of localized immunoglobulins produced by diseased tissues of JP patients
Production of immunoglobulins in gingival tissue explant cultures from juvenile periodontitis patients

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Hall, E.R.; Falkler, W.A. Jr.; Suzuki, J.B. (Univ. of Maryland Dental School, Baltimore (USA))

1990-10-01

B lymphocytes and plasma cells are histologically observed in granulomatous periodontal tissues of juvenile periodontitis (JP) patients. Local immune processes may participate in protective or immunopathologic roles in the pathogenesis of this disease. An in vitro explant culture system was utilized to demonstrate the production of immunoglobulins by diseased JP tissues. Immunodiffusion studies using goat anti-human gamma, alpha, or mu chain serum revealed IgG to be the major immunoglobulin present in 92% of the day 1 supernatant fluids (SF) of the 47 JP gingival tissue explant cultures. IgA was present in 15% of the SF; however, no IgM was detected. Staph Protein A isolated 14C-labeled IgG from the SF, when allowed to react with goat anti-human gamma chain serum, formed lines of precipitation. Positive autoradiographs confirmed the biosynthesis of IgG by the explant cultures. The in vitro gingival tissue explant culture system described provides a useful model for the study of localized immunoglobulins produced by diseased tissues of JP patients.
Low cost options for tissue culture technology in developing countries. Proceedings of a technical meeting

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-02-01

low cost options, and increasing plant survival after propagation, bioreactors, and outreach of material to the growers and farmers in developing countries. Bioreactors in plant propagation can produce millions of plants and may cut down the cost of plant production, which is yet not commonly used in developing countries. However, in the near future it could be well integrated into large scale commercial micropropagation in both developed and developing countries. In all cases, such options must be integrated without reducing the efficiency of plant propagation and compromising the plant quality. This TECDOC was prepared on the basis of contributions made by the participants in the Technical Meeting on Low Cost Tissue Culture Technology for Developing Countries, Vienna, 26-30 August 2002. This publication should be of great value to plant propagators, managers of tissue culture laboratories, scientists, organizations contemplating the establishment of new laboratories, and ongoing commercial concerns, all of whom may wish to incorporate low cost options into their day-to-day operations. Also, it would greatly serve plant propagation enterprises in developing countries with scarce funds and poor infrastructure for sustainable food production. Many of the options described can also be integrated in tissue culture laboratories that use mutation induction to develop new mutant varieties of both vegetatively and seed propagated plants, and for rapid release of the selected mutants.
Low cost options for tissue culture technology in developing countries. Proceedings of a technical meeting

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-02-01

low cost options, and increasing plant survival after propagation, bioreactors, and outreach of material to the growers and farmers in developing countries. Bioreactors in plant propagation can produce millions of plants and may cut down the cost of plant production, which is yet not commonly used in developing countries. However, in the near future it could be well integrated into large scale commercial micropropagation in both developed and developing countries. In all cases, such options must be integrated without reducing the efficiency of plant propagation and compromising the plant quality. This TECDOC was prepared on the basis of contributions made by the participants in the Technical Meeting on Low Cost Tissue Culture Technology for Developing Countries, Vienna, 26-30 August 2002. This publication should be of great value to plant propagators, managers of tissue culture laboratories, scientists, organizations contemplating the establishment of new laboratories, and ongoing commercial concerns, all of whom may wish to incorporate low cost options into their day-to-day operations. Also, it would greatly serve plant propagation enterprises in developing countries with scarce funds and poor infrastructure for sustainable food production. Many of the options described can also be integrated in tissue culture laboratories that use mutation induction to develop new mutant varieties of both vegetatively and seed propagated plants, and for rapid release of the selected mutants
Cultural commons and cultural evolution

OpenAIRE

Bravo, Giangiacomo

2010-01-01

Culture evolves following a process that is akin to biological evolution, although with some significant differences. At the same time culture has often a collective good value for human groups. This paper studies culture in an evolutionary perspective, with a focus on the implications of group definition for the coexistence of different cultures. A model of cultural evolution is presented where agents interacts in an artificial environment. The belonging to a specific memetic group is a majo...
Low technology tissue culture materials for initiation and ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Low technology tissue culture materials for initiation and multiplication of banana plants. ... African Crop Science Journal ... locally available macronutrients, micronutrients, sugar, equipment and facility reduced the cost of consumable material
Human meniscal proteoglycan metabolism in long-term tissue culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verbruggen, G.; Verdonk, R.; Veys, E. M.; van Daele, P.; de Smet, P.; van den Abbeele, K.; Claus, B.; Baeten, D.

1996-01-01

For the purpose of human meniscal allografting, menisci have been maintained viable in in vitro culture. The influence of long-term tissue culture on the extracellular matrix metabolism of the meniscus has been studied. Fetal calf serum (FCS) was used as a supplement for the growth factors necessary
Decoding Reed-Solomon Codes beyond half the minimum distance

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Høholdt, Tom; Nielsen, Rasmus Refslund

1999-01-01

We describe an efficient implementation of M.Sudan"s algorithm for decoding Reed-Solomon codes beyond half the minimum distance. Furthermore we calculate an upper bound of the probabilty of getting more than one codeword as output...
Renal cell carcinoma primary cultures maintain genomic and phenotypic profile of parental tumor tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cifola, Ingrid; Magni, Fulvio; Signorini, Stefano; Battaglia, Cristina; Perego, Roberto A; Bianchi, Cristina; Mangano, Eleonora; Bombelli, Silvia; Frascati, Fabio; Fasoli, Ester; Ferrero, Stefano; Di Stefano, Vitalba; Zipeto, Maria A

2011-01-01

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by recurrent copy number alterations (CNAs) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH), which may have potential diagnostic and prognostic applications. Here, we explored whether ccRCC primary cultures, established from surgical tumor specimens, maintain the DNA profile of parental tumor tissues allowing a more confident CNAs and LOH discrimination with respect to the original tissues. We established a collection of 9 phenotypically well-characterized ccRCC primary cell cultures. Using the Affymetrix SNP array technology, we performed the genome-wide copy number (CN) profiling of both cultures and corresponding tumor tissues. Global concordance for each culture/tissue pair was assayed evaluating the correlations between whole-genome CN profiles and SNP allelic calls. CN analysis was performed using the two CNAG v3.0 and Partek software, and comparing results returned by two different algorithms (Hidden Markov Model and Genomic Segmentation). A very good overlap between the CNAs of each culture and corresponding tissue was observed. The finding, reinforced by high whole-genome CN correlations and SNP call concordances, provided evidence that each culture was derived from its corresponding tissue and maintained the genomic alterations of parental tumor. In addition, primary culture DNA profile remained stable for at least 3 weeks, till to third passage. These cultures showed a greater cell homogeneity and enrichment in tumor component than original tissues, thus enabling a better discrimination of CNAs and LOH. Especially for hemizygous deletions, primary cultures presented more evident CN losses, typically accompanied by LOH; differently, in original tissues the intensity of these deletions was weaken by normal cell contamination and LOH calls were missed. ccRCC primary cultures are a reliable in vitro model, well-reproducing original tumor genetics and phenotype, potentially useful for future functional approaches
Substituted Indoleacetic Acids Tested in Tissue Cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Engvild, Kjeld Christensen

1978-01-01

Monochloro substituted IAA inhibited shoot induction in tobacco tissue cultures about as much as IAA. Dichloro substituted IAA inhibited shoot formation less. Other substituted IAA except 5-fluoro- and 5-bromoindole-3-acetic acid were less active than IAA. Callus growth was quite variable...

In vitro incorporation of tritiated thymidine by the Sternberg-Reed cells in Hodgkin disease

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Marinello, M; Tkachenko, G; Gavilondo, J; Baeza, B [National Institute of Oncology and Radiology, Havana (Cuba)

1975-01-01

A new DNA synthesis by the Sternberg-Reed cells in Hodgkin disease was studied using tritiated thymidine and autoradiography. The results show that after incubation pulses of 30 and 60 minutes, cells with lobulated nucleus, binucleated and trinucleated cells identifiable to the diagnostic Sternberg-Reed cells could undergo a new DNA synthesis. This points to a more dynamic interpretation of this type of cell.
Integrated Canada-U.S. Power Sector Modeling with the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Martinez, A.; Eurek, K.; Mai, T.; Perry, A.

2013-02-01

The electric power system in North America is linked between the United States and Canada. Canada has historically been a net exporter of electricity to the United States. The extent to which this remains true will depend on the future evolution of power markets, technology deployment, and policies. To evaluate these and related questions, we modify the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model to include an explicit representation of the grid-connected power system in Canada to the continental United States. ReEDS is unique among long-term capacity expansion models for its high spatial resolution and statistical treatment of the impact of variable renewable generation on capacity planning and dispatch. These unique traits are extended to new Canadian regions. We present example scenario results using the fully integrated Canada-U.S. version of ReEDS to demonstrate model capabilities. The newly developed, integrated Canada-U.S. ReEDS model can be used to analyze the dynamics of electricity transfers and other grid services between the two countries under different scenarios.
Efficient Round-Trip Time Optimization for Replica-Exchange Enveloping Distribution Sampling (RE-EDS).

Science.gov (United States)

Sidler, Dominik; Cristòfol-Clough, Michael; Riniker, Sereina

2017-06-13

Replica-exchange enveloping distribution sampling (RE-EDS) allows the efficient estimation of free-energy differences between multiple end-states from a single molecular dynamics (MD) simulation. In EDS, a reference state is sampled, which can be tuned by two types of parameters, i.e., smoothness parameters(s) and energy offsets, such that all end-states are sufficiently sampled. However, the choice of these parameters is not trivial. Replica exchange (RE) or parallel tempering is a widely applied technique to enhance sampling. By combining EDS with the RE technique, the parameter choice problem could be simplified and the challenge shifted toward an optimal distribution of the replicas in the smoothness-parameter space. The choice of a certain replica distribution can alter the sampling efficiency significantly. In this work, global round-trip time optimization (GRTO) algorithms are tested for the use in RE-EDS simulations. In addition, a local round-trip time optimization (LRTO) algorithm is proposed for systems with slowly adapting environments, where a reliable estimate for the round-trip time is challenging to obtain. The optimization algorithms were applied to RE-EDS simulations of a system of nine small-molecule inhibitors of phenylethanolamine N-methyltransferase (PNMT). The energy offsets were determined using our recently proposed parallel energy-offset (PEOE) estimation scheme. While the multistate GRTO algorithm yielded the best replica distribution for the ligands in water, the multistate LRTO algorithm was found to be the method of choice for the ligands in complex with PNMT. With this, the 36 alchemical free-energy differences between the nine ligands were calculated successfully from a single RE-EDS simulation 10 ns in length. Thus, RE-EDS presents an efficient method for the estimation of relative binding free energies.
21 CFR 864.2220 - Synthetic cell and tissue culture media and components.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 21 Food and Drugs 8 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Synthetic cell and tissue culture media and components. 864.2220 Section 864.2220 Food and Drugs FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION, DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES (CONTINUED) MEDICAL DEVICES HEMATOLOGY AND PATHOLOGY DEVICES Cell And Tissue Culture...
Removal of personal care compounds from sewage sludge in reed bed container (lysimeter) studies--effects of macrophytes.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xijuan; Pauly, Udo; Rehfus, Stefan; Bester, Kai

2009-10-15

Sludge reed beds have been used for dewatering (draining and evapotranspiration) and mineralisation of sludge in Europe since 1988. Although reed beds are considered as a low cost and low contamination method in reducing volume, breaking down organic matter and increasing the density of sludge, it is not yet clear whether this enhanced biological treatment is suitable for degradation of organic micro-pollutants such as personal care products. Within this project the effect of biological sludge treatment in a reed bed on reducing the concentrations of the fragrances HHCB, AHTN, OTNE was studied as on the bactericide Triclosan. Additionally, the capacity of different macrophytes species to affect the treatment process was examined. Three different macrophyte species were compared: bulrush (Typha latifolia), reed (Phragmites australis) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea). They were planted into containers (lysimeters) with a size of 1 m x 1 m x 1 m which were filled with 20 cm gravel at the bottom and 50 cm sludge on top, into which the macrophytes were planted. During the twelve months experiment reduction of 20-30% for HHCB and AHTN, 70% for Triclosan and 70% for OTNE were determined under environmental conditions. The reduction is most likely due to degradation, since volatilization, uptake into plants and leaching are insignificant. No difference between the containers with different macrophyte species or the unplanted containers was observed. Considering the usual operation time of 10 years for reed beds, an assessment was made for the whole life time.
Evaluation of Green-LiDAR Data for Mapping Extent, Density and Height of Aquatic Reed Beds at Lake Chiemsee, Bavaria—Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nicolás Corti Meneses

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Aquatic reed is an important indicator for the ecological assessment of freshwater lakes. Monitoring is essential to document its expansion or deterioration and decline. The applicability of Green-LiDAR data for the status assessment of aquatic reed beds of Bavarian freshwater lakes was investigated. The study focused on mapping diagnostic structural parameters of aquatic reed beds by exploring 3D data provided by the Green-LiDAR system. Field observations were conducted over 14 different areas of interest along 152 cross-sections. The data indicated the morphologic and phenologic traits of aquatic reed, which were used for validation purposes. For the automatic classification of aquatic reed bed spatial extent, density and height, a rule-based algorithm was developed. LiDAR data allowed for the delimitating of the aquatic reed frontline, as well as shoreline, and therefore an accurate quantification of extents (Hausdorff distance = 5.74 m and RMSE of cross-sections length 0.69 m. The overall accuracy measured for aquatic reed bed density compared to the simultaneously recorded aerial imagery was 96% with a Kappa coefficient of 0.91 and 72% (Kappa = 0.5 compared to field measurements. Digital Surface Models (DSM, calculated from point clouds, similarly showed a high level of agreement in derived heights of flat surfaces (RMSE = 0.1 m and showed an adequate agreement of aquatic reed heights with evenly distributed errors (RMSE = 0.8 m. Compared to field measurements, aerial laser scanning delivered valuable information with no disturbance of the habitat. Analysing data with our classification procedure improved the efficiency, reproducibility, and accuracy of the quantification and monitoring of aquatic reed beds.
Development of the reed bed in Matsalu wetland, Estonia: responses to neotectonic land uplift, sea level changes and human influences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mats Meriste

2015-05-01

Full Text Available We studied reed bed development in Matsalu wetland and the Kasari River delta, Estonia, since the late 18th century using historical schemes, topographical maps and aerial photographs. Our aim was to understand the mechanisms controlling reed distribution in Matsalu wetland, the largest coastal wetland of the eastern Baltic Sea occupying an area of about 25 km2. Natural development of the reed bed in Matsalu Bay and the Kasari delta is mainly controlled by shoreline displacement due to post-glacial neotectonic land uplift. The dredging of the Kasari delta in the 1920s–1930s caused a rapid seaward migration of reed bed communities due to the dispersal of fragmented rhizomes on the shallow sea bottom and along the canal banks reaching Matsalu Bay, while the landward parts of the former wetland were occupied by meadow communities. The expansion of the reed bed started in between the 1951s and 1970s and a maximum extent of 27 km2 was gained by the late 1970s at the peak of eutrophication. In the last decades the reed bed development has been influenced by sea level rise and increased intensity of cyclonic activity in the Baltic Sea, which has caused the deterioration of the reed bed that was weakened by eutrophication due to nutrient inflow from agricultural landscapes mainly in the 1960s–1980s.
Tissue culture and associated biotechnological interventions for the improvement of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.): a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Nguyen, Quang Thien; Bandupriya, H D Dharshani; López-Villalobos, Arturo; Sisunandar, S; Foale, Mike; Adkins, Steve W

2015-11-01

The present review discusses not only advances in coconut tissue culture and associated biotechnological interventions but also future research directions toward the resilience of this important palm crop. Coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) is commonly known as the 'tree of life'. Every component of the palm can be used to produce items of value and many can be converted into industrial products. Coconut cultivation faces a number of acute problems that reduce its productivity and competitiveness. These problems include various biotic and abiotic challenges as well as an unstable market for its traditional oil-based products. Around 10 million small-holder farmers cultivate coconut palms worldwide on c. 12 million hectares of land, and many more people own a few coconut palms that contribute to their livelihoods. Inefficiency in the production of seedlings for replanting remains an issue; however, tissue culture and other biotechnological interventions are expected to provide pragmatic solutions. Over the past 60 years, much research has been directed towards developing and improving protocols for (i) embryo culture; (ii) clonal propagation via somatic embryogenesis; (iii) homozygote production via anther culture; (iv) germplasm conservation via cryopreservation; and (v) genetic transformation. Recently other advances have revealed possible new ways to improve these protocols. Although effective embryo culture and cryopreservation are now possible, the limited frequency of conversion of somatic embryos to ex vitro seedlings still prevents the large-scale clonal propagation of coconut. This review illustrates how our knowledge of tissue culture and associated biotechnological interventions in coconut has so far developed. Further improvement of protocols and their application to a wider range of germplasm will continue to open up new horizons for the collection, conservation, breeding and productivity of coconut.
Renal cell carcinoma primary cultures maintain genomic and phenotypic profile of parental tumor tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Cifola, Ingrid; Bianchi, Cristina; Mangano, Eleonora; Bombelli, Silvia; Frascati, Fabio; Fasoli, Ester; Ferrero, Stefano; Di Stefano, Vitalba; Zipeto, Maria A; Magni, Fulvio; Signorini, Stefano; Battaglia, Cristina; Perego, Roberto A

2011-06-13

Clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is characterized by recurrent copy number alterations (CNAs) and loss of heterozygosity (LOH), which may have potential diagnostic and prognostic applications. Here, we explored whether ccRCC primary cultures, established from surgical tumor specimens, maintain the DNA profile of parental tumor tissues allowing a more confident CNAs and LOH discrimination with respect to the original tissues. We established a collection of 9 phenotypically well-characterized ccRCC primary cell cultures. Using the Affymetrix SNP array technology, we performed the genome-wide copy number (CN) profiling of both cultures and corresponding tumor tissues. Global concordance for each culture/tissue pair was assayed evaluating the correlations between whole-genome CN profiles and SNP allelic calls. CN analysis was performed using the two CNAG v3.0 and Partek software, and comparing results returned by two different algorithms (Hidden Markov Model and Genomic Segmentation). A very good overlap between the CNAs of each culture and corresponding tissue was observed. The finding, reinforced by high whole-genome CN correlations and SNP call concordances, provided evidence that each culture was derived from its corresponding tissue and maintained the genomic alterations of parental tumor. In addition, primary culture DNA profile remained stable for at least 3 weeks, till to third passage. These cultures showed a greater cell homogeneity and enrichment in tumor component than original tissues, thus enabling a better discrimination of CNAs and LOH. Especially for hemizygous deletions, primary cultures presented more evident CN losses, typically accompanied by LOH; differently, in original tissues the intensity of these deletions was weaken by normal cell contamination and LOH calls were missed. ccRCC primary cultures are a reliable in vitro model, well-reproducing original tumor genetics and phenotype, potentially useful for future functional approaches
Addressing the instability of DNA nanostructures in tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Hahn, Jaeseung; Wickham, Shelley F J; Shih, William M; Perrault, Steven D

2014-09-23

DNA nanotechnology is an advanced technique that could contribute diagnostic, therapeutic, and biomedical research devices to nanomedicine. Although such devices are often developed and demonstrated using in vitro tissue culture models, these conditions may not be compatible with DNA nanostructure integrity and function. The purpose of this study was to characterize the sensitivity of 3D DNA nanostructures produced via the origami method to the in vitro tissue culture environment and identify solutions to prevent loss of nanostructure integrity. We examined whether the physiological cation concentrations of cell culture medium and the nucleases present in fetal bovine serum (FBS) used as a medium supplement result in denaturation and digestion, respectively. DNA nanostructure denaturation due to cation depletion was design- and time-dependent, with one of four tested designs remaining intact after 24 h at 37 °C. Adjustment of medium by addition of MgSO4 prevented denaturation. Digestion of nanostructures by FBS nucleases in Mg(2+)-adjusted medium did not appear design-dependent and became significant within 24 h and when medium was supplemented with greater than 5% FBS. We estimated that medium supplemented with 10% FBS contains greater than 256 U/L equivalent of DNase I activity in digestion of DNA nanostructures. Heat inactivation at 75 °C and inclusion of actin protein in medium inactivated and inhibited nuclease activity, respectively. We examined the impact of medium adjustments on cell growth, viability, and phenotype. Adjustment of Mg(2+) to 6 mM did not appear to have a detrimental impact on cells. Heat inactivation was found to be incompatible with in vitro tissue culture, whereas inclusion of actin had no observable effect on growth and viability. In two in vitro assays, immune cell activation and nanoparticle endocytosis, we show that using conditions compatible with cell phenotype and nanostructure integrity is critical for obtaining reliable
Developing safety culture-rocket science or common sense?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahn, J.A.

1998-01-01

Despite evidence of significant management contributions to the causes of major accidents, recent events at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in the US and Ontario Hydro in Canada might lead one to conclude that the significance of safety culture, and the role of management in developing and maintaining an appropriate safety culture, is either not being understood or not being taken serious as integral to the safe operation of some complex, high-reliability operations. It is the purpose of this paper to address four aspects of management that are particularly important to safety culture, and to illustrate how development of an appropriate safety culture is more a matter of common sense than rocket science
Developing safety culture-rocket science or common sense?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mahn, J.A.

1998-08-01

Despite evidence of significant management contributions to the causes of major accidents, recent events at Millstone Nuclear Power Station in the US and Ontario Hydro in Canada might lead one to conclude that the significance of safety culture, and the role of management in developing and maintaining an appropriate safety culture, is either not being understood or not being taken serious as integral to the safe operation of some complex, high-reliability operations. It is the purpose of this paper to address four aspects of management that are particularly important to safety culture, and to illustrate how development of an appropriate safety culture is more a matter of common sense than rocket science.
Breast Cancer and Estrogen Biosynthesis in Adipose Tissue

Science.gov (United States)

1998-10-01

article must therefore be hereby marked " advertisement " in accordance with 18 U.S.C. Section 1734 solely to indicate this fact. $ These two authors...activity in adipose tissue from breast quadrants: a link with tumor site. Br. Mcd . J. 296, 741 743. [12] Reed. M.J.. Topping, L., Coldham, N.G...Burkitt HG, Daniels VG. 1987 Connective tissue. In: Functional histology. A text and colour atlas, 2nd ed. Edinburgh, UK: Churchill Living- stone
The basic design and requirement for plant tissue culture laboratory in MINT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Azraf Azman; Rosli Darmawan; Rusli Ibrahim; Mohd Nazir Basiran; Azhar Mohamad; Mohamed Najli Mohamed Yasin; Shuhaimi Shamsuddin

2005-01-01

The production of multiple species plantlets involves a relatively complex process and it is a highly specialized operation. Tissue culture technology is rapidly becoming a commercialized method for propagating new cultivars, rare species and difficult-to-propagate plant. Not only are skills and knowledge essential but the laboratory itself also plays an important role to ensure the successful growth of the plantlets. To produce quality plantlets, plant tissue culture laboratories should fulfill the basic requirements. The laboratory should have proper building and layout which comprise of media preparation and washing room, sterilization or autoclave room, transfer room and culture or growth room. The scope of this paper is to compare these fundamental requirements with the plant tissue culture laboratory in MINT. All the basic needs and differences will be discussed and the proposal for corrective actions will be presented. (Author)
Mouse embryonic stem cell culture for generation of three-dimensional retinal and cortical tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Eiraku, Mototsugu; Sasai, Yoshiki

2011-12-15

Generation of compound tissues with complex structures is a major challenge in cell biology. In this article, we describe a protocol for mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC) culture for in vitro generation of three-dimensional retinal tissue, comparing it with the culture protocol for cortical tissue generation. Dissociated ESCs are reaggregated in a 96-well plate with reduced cell-plate adhesion and cultured as floating aggregates. Retinal epithelium is efficiently generated when ESC aggregates are cultured in serum-free medium containing extracellular matrix proteins, spontaneously forming hemispherical vesicles and then progressively transforming into a shape reminiscent of the embryonic optic cup in 9-10 d. In long-term culture, the ESC-derived optic cup generates a fully stratified retinal tissue consisting of all major neural retinal components. In contrast, the cortical differentiation culture can be started without exogenous extracellular matrix proteins, and it generates stratified cortical epithelia consisting of four distinct layers in 13 d.
Mapping of reed in shallow bays. SFR-Site Forsmark

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Stroemgren, Maarten; Lindgren, Fredrik (Umeaa Univ. (Sweden))

2011-03-15

The regolith-lake development model (RLDM) describes the development of shallow bays to lakes and the infilling of lakes in the Forsmark area during an interglacial. The sensitivity analysis has shown the need for an update of the infill procedure in the RLDM. Data from the mapping of reed in shallow bays in the Forsmark area will be used to improve the infill procedure of an updated RLDM. The field work was performed in August 26-31, 2010. The mapping of reed was done in 124 points. In these points, coordinates and water depth were mapped using an echo sounder and a DGPS. Quaternary deposits and the thickness of soft sediments were mapped using an earth probe. Measurement points were delivered in ESRI shape format with coordinates in RT90 2.5 gon W and altitudes in the RHB70 system for storage in SKB's GIS data base
Estimation of the in vitro eye irritating and inflammatory potential of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dust by using reconstituted human corneal epithelium tissue cultures

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Cao, Yi; Arenholt-Bindslev, Dorthe; Kjærgaard, Søren K

2015-01-01

CONTEXT: Eye irritation is a common complaint in indoor environment, but the causes have still not been identified among the multiple exposures in house environments. To identify the potential environmental factors responsible for eye irritation and study the possible mechanisms, an in vitro model...... AND CONCLUSION: LPS and dust showed in vitro eye irritating and inflammatory potential, and cytokines/chemokines like IL-1β and IL-8 may be involved in the mechanisms of eye irritation. The HCE tissue culture may be used as an in vitro model to study environmental exposure induced eye irritation and inflammation....... for eye irritation is suggested. MATERIALS AND METHODS: In this study, reconstituted human corneal epithelium (HCE) tissue cultures were used to study the eye irritating and inflammatory potential of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dust. HCE tissue cultures were exposed to a range of concentrations of LPS...
Structure and component alteration of rabbit Achilles tendon in tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Hosaka, Yoshinao; Ueda, Hiromi; Yamasaki, Tadatsugu; Suzuki, Daisuke; Matsuda, Naoya; Takehana, Kazushige

2005-12-01

The aim of this study was to investigate alterations of cultured tendon tissues to determine whether tissue culture is a useful method for biological analyses of the tendon. Tendon tissues for tissue culture were isolated from Achilles tendons of rabbits. The tendon segments were placed one segment per well and incubated in growth medium consisting of Dullbecco's modified Eagle's medium supplemented with 5% fetal bovine serum at 37 degrees C in a humidified atmosphere with 5% CO(2) for various periods. The alignment of collagen fibrils was preserved for 48 h, but tendon structure has disintegrated at 96 h. Alcian blue staining and gelatine zymography revealed that proteoglycan markedly diminished and that matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) activity was upregulated sharply at 72 and 96 h. The ratio of collagen fibrils with large diameter had increased and the mean diameter and mass average diameter value had reached maximum at 48 h. The values then decreased and mean diameters at 72 and 96 h were significantly different from that at 48 h. At 96 h, the ratio of collagen fibrils with small diameters had increased and collagen fibrils with large diameters had disappeared. These findings indicate that structural alteration is possible to be induced by disintegration of collagen fibrils and disappearance of glycosaminoglycans from extracellular matrix (ECM), subsequent of upregulation of MMPs activity. Although the study period is limited, the tissue culture method is available for investigating cell-ECM interaction in tendons.
Formation of common cultural competence in country studies ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

... in country studies classes (based on Turkish language teaching practice) ... the acquisition of common cultural competence in foreign language education. ... analysis of methodological frameworks offered by Russian and foreign specialists.
Reed-Solomon Codes and the Deep Hole Problem

Science.gov (United States)

Keti, Matt

In many types of modern communication, a message is transmitted over a noisy medium. When this is done, there is a chance that the message will be corrupted. An error-correcting code adds redundant information to the message which allows the receiver to detect and correct errors accrued during the transmission. We will study the famous Reed-Solomon code (found in QR codes, compact discs, deep space probes,ldots) and investigate the limits of its error-correcting capacity. It can be shown that understanding this is related to understanding the "deep hole" problem, which is a question of determining when a received message has, in a sense, incurred the worst possible corruption. We partially resolve this in its traditional context, when the code is based on the finite field F q or Fq*, as well as new contexts, when it is based on a subgroup of F q* or the image of a Dickson polynomial. This is a new and important problem that could give insight on the true error-correcting potential of the Reed-Solomon code.

Continuous fermentation and in-situ reed separation of butyric acid for higher sugar consumption rate and productivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baroi, George Nabin; Skiadas, Ioannis; Westermann, Peter

that disconnection of the REED system resulted to much lower (48 and 83% for glucose and xylose, respectively) sugars consumption rates and consequently lower butyric acid production rates. It was also noticeable that continuous operation, even without the REED system, resulted to higher glucose consumption rates...
Three-dimensional hydrogel cell culture systems for modeling neural tissue

Science.gov (United States)

Frampton, John

Two-dimensional (2-D) neural cell culture systems have served as physiological models for understanding the cellular and molecular events that underlie responses to physical and chemical stimuli, control sensory and motor function, and lead to the development of neurological diseases. However, the development of three-dimensional (3-D) cell culture systems will be essential for the advancement of experimental research in a variety of fields including tissue engineering, chemical transport and delivery, cell growth, and cell-cell communication. In 3-D cell culture, cells are provided with an environment similar to tissue, in which they are surrounded on all sides by other cells, structural molecules and adhesion ligands. Cells grown in 3-D culture systems display morphologies and functions more similar to those observed in vivo, and can be cultured in such a way as to recapitulate the structural organization and biological properties of tissue. This thesis describes a hydrogel-based culture system, capable of supporting the growth and function of several neural cell types in 3-D. Alginate hydrogels were characterized in terms of their biomechanical and biochemical properties and were functionalized by covalent attachment of whole proteins and peptide epitopes. Methods were developed for rapid cross-linking of alginate hydrogels, thus permitting the incorporation of cells into 3-D scaffolds without adversely affecting cell viability or function. A variety of neural cell types were tested including astrocytes, microglia, and neurons. Cells remained viable and functional for longer than two weeks in culture and displayed process outgrowth in 3-D. Cell constructs were created that varied in cell density, type and organization, providing experimental flexibility for studying cell interactions and behavior. In one set of experiments, 3-D glial-endothelial cell co-cultures were used to model blood-brain barrier (BBB) structure and function. This co-culture system was
The fast decoding of Reed-Solomon codes using high-radix fermat theoretic transforms

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, K. Y.; Reed, I. S.; Truong, T. K.

1976-01-01

Fourier-like transforms over GF(F sub n), where F sub n = 2(2n) + 1 is a Fermat prime, are applied in decoding Reed-Solomon codes. It is shown that such transforms can be computed using high-radix fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithms requiring considerably fewer multiplications than the more usual radix 2 FFT algorithm. A special 256-symbol, 16-symbol-error-correcting, Reed-Solomon (RS) code for space communication-link applications can be encoded and decoded using this high-radix FFT algorithm over GF(F sub 3).
Smallholder adoption and economic impacts of tissue culture ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PRECIOUS

2009-12-01

Dec 1, 2009 ... ISSN 1684–5315 © 2009 Academic Journals. Full Length ... Key words: Biotechnology, adoption, tissue culture bananas, Kenya. INTRODUCTION ... Recent studies about the agronomic and economic impacts of biotech- ..... accused scientist for 'playing God', others have supported biotechnologies.
The vibrating reed frequency meter: digital investigation of an early cochlear model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrew Bell

2015-10-01

Full Text Available The vibrating reed frequency meter, originally employed by Békésy and later by Wilson as a cochlear model, uses a set of tuned reeds to represent the cochlea’s graded bank of resonant elements and an elastic band threaded between them to provide nearest-neighbour coupling. Here the system, constructed of 21 reeds progressively tuned from 45 to 55 Hz, is simulated numerically as an elastically coupled bank of passive harmonic oscillators driven simultaneously by an external sinusoidal force. To uncover more detail, simulations were extended to 201 oscillators covering the range 1–2 kHz. Calculations mirror the results reported by Wilson and show expected characteristics such as traveling waves, phase plateaus, and a response with a broad peak at a forcing frequency just above the natural frequency. The system also displays additional fine-grain features that resemble those which have only recently been recognised in the cochlea. Thus, detailed analysis brings to light a secondary peak beyond the main peak, a set of closely spaced low-amplitude ripples, rapid rotation of phase as the driving frequency is swept, frequency plateaus, clustering, and waxing and waning of impulse responses. Further investigation shows that each reed’s vibrations are strongly localised, with small energy flow along the chain. The distinctive set of equally spaced ripples is an inherent feature which is found to be largely independent of boundary conditions. Although the vibrating reed model is functionally different to the standard transmission line, its cochlea-like properties make it an intriguing local oscillator model whose relevance to cochlear mechanics needs further investigation.
A comparative study of three tissue-cultured Dendrobium species and their wild correspondences by headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry combined with chemometric methods.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Nai-Dong; You, Tao; Li, Jun; Bai, Li-Tao; Hao, Jing-Wen; Xu, Xiao-Yuan

2016-10-01

Plant tissue culture technique is widely used in the conservation and utilization of rare and endangered medicinal plants and it is crucial for tissue culture stocks to obtain the ability to produce similar bioactive components as their wild correspondences. In this paper, a headspace gas chromatography-mass spectrometry method combined with chemometric methods was applied to analyze and evaluate the volatile compounds in tissue-cultured and wild Dendrobium huoshanense Cheng and Tang, Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo and Dendrobium moniliforme (Linn.) Sw. In total, 63 volatile compounds were separated, with 53 being identified from the three Dendrobium spp. Different provenances of Dendrobiums had characteristic chemicals and showed remarkable quantity discrepancy of common compositions. The similarity evaluation disclosed that the accumulation of volatile compounds in Dendrobium samples might be affected by their provenance. Principal component analysis showed that the first three components explained 85.9% of data variance, demonstrating a good discrimination between samples. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry techniques, combined with chemometrics, might be an effective strategy for identifying the species and their provenance, especially in the assessment of tissue-cultured Dendrobium quality for use in raw herbal medicines. Copyright © 2016. Published by Elsevier B.V.
Clonal multiplication of Cymbidiums through tissue culture of the shoot meristem

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wimber, Donald E.

1963-09-01

The propagation of clonal varieties of some orchids is at times exasperatingly slow and occasionally an almost futile effort. Clonal multiplication is generally confined to dlvidlng mature plants and to starting plants from pseudobulbs. There is, of course, the specialized technique for obtaining Phalaenopsis plantlets from the aseptic culture of inflorescence nodes, but this is basically the same thing as propagating plants from pseudobulbs. In certain cases it is highly desirable to rapidly multiply certain clones of orchids. Awarded varieties could thereby be dispersed with great rapidity where now it may take decades for some clones to became fairly common. Commercial flower production would be very much enhanced if certain desirable clones could be multiplied ad infinitum within a short time. Orchid flower production could then be placed more on a par with many of the other cut flowers and the clonal peculiarities of some fo the current hybrids could be pampered instead of ignored. This paper describes a tissue culture method for the rapid propagation of Cymbidium clones.
Using aerial photography for mapping giant reed infestations along the Texas-Mexico portion of the Rio Grande.

Science.gov (United States)

Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) is an invasive weed throughout the southern half of the United States with the densest stands growing along the coastal rivers of southern California and the Rio Grande in Texas. The objective of this study was to use aerial photography to map giant reed infestations and...
77 FR 19362 - Environmental Assessment and Finding of No Significant Impact for License Renewal for the Reed...

Science.gov (United States)

2012-03-30

... serves about 1,300 students. The Reed Research Reactor is housed in a section of the Psychology Building constructed specifically for that purpose. The section of the Psychology building housing the Reed Research... encompasses the entire Psychology Building and all areas 76 meters (250 feet) from the center of the reactor...
Mouse pancreas tissue slice culture facilitates long-term studies of exocrine and endocrine cell physiology in situ.

Science.gov (United States)

Marciniak, Anja; Selck, Claudia; Friedrich, Betty; Speier, Stephan

2013-01-01

Studies on pancreatic cell physiology rely on the investigation of exocrine and endocrine cells in vitro. Particularly, in the case of the exocrine tissue these studies have suffered from a reduced functional viability of acinar cells in culture. As a result not only investigations on dispersed acinar cells and isolated acini were limited in their potential, but also prolonged studies on pancreatic exocrine and endocrine cells in an intact pancreatic tissue environment were unfeasible. To overcome these limitations, we aimed to establish a pancreas tissue slice culture platform to allow long-term studies on exocrine and endocrine cells in the intact pancreatic environment. Mouse pancreas tissue slice morphology was assessed to determine optimal long-term culture settings for intact pancreatic tissue. Utilizing optimized culture conditions, cell specificity and function of exocrine acinar cells and endocrine beta cells were characterized over a culture period of 7 days. We found pancreas tissue slices cultured under optimized conditions to have intact tissue specific morphology for the entire culture period. Amylase positive intact acini were present at all time points of culture and acinar cells displayed a typical strong cell polarity. Amylase release from pancreas tissue slices decreased during culture, but maintained the characteristic bell-shaped dose-response curve to increasing caerulein concentrations and a ca. 4-fold maximal over basal release. Additionally, endocrine beta cell viability and function was well preserved until the end of the observation period. Our results show that the tissue slice culture platform provides unprecedented maintenance of pancreatic tissue specific morphology and function over a culture period for at least 4 days and in part even up to 1 week. This analytical advancement now allows mid -to long-term studies on the cell biology of pancreatic disorder pathogenesis and therapy in an intact surrounding in situ.
Mouse pancreas tissue slice culture facilitates long-term studies of exocrine and endocrine cell physiology in situ.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anja Marciniak

Full Text Available Studies on pancreatic cell physiology rely on the investigation of exocrine and endocrine cells in vitro. Particularly, in the case of the exocrine tissue these studies have suffered from a reduced functional viability of acinar cells in culture. As a result not only investigations on dispersed acinar cells and isolated acini were limited in their potential, but also prolonged studies on pancreatic exocrine and endocrine cells in an intact pancreatic tissue environment were unfeasible. To overcome these limitations, we aimed to establish a pancreas tissue slice culture platform to allow long-term studies on exocrine and endocrine cells in the intact pancreatic environment. Mouse pancreas tissue slice morphology was assessed to determine optimal long-term culture settings for intact pancreatic tissue. Utilizing optimized culture conditions, cell specificity and function of exocrine acinar cells and endocrine beta cells were characterized over a culture period of 7 days. We found pancreas tissue slices cultured under optimized conditions to have intact tissue specific morphology for the entire culture period. Amylase positive intact acini were present at all time points of culture and acinar cells displayed a typical strong cell polarity. Amylase release from pancreas tissue slices decreased during culture, but maintained the characteristic bell-shaped dose-response curve to increasing caerulein concentrations and a ca. 4-fold maximal over basal release. Additionally, endocrine beta cell viability and function was well preserved until the end of the observation period. Our results show that the tissue slice culture platform provides unprecedented maintenance of pancreatic tissue specific morphology and function over a culture period for at least 4 days and in part even up to 1 week. This analytical advancement now allows mid -to long-term studies on the cell biology of pancreatic disorder pathogenesis and therapy in an intact surrounding in situ.
Culture of three-dimensional tissue model and its application in bystander-effect research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wu Ruqun; Xu An; Wu Lijun; Hu Burong

2012-01-01

Compared with the cultured monolayer (2D) cells, three-dimensional (3D) tissue could be more similar to the environment in vivo including the physical support, chemical factors, cell-cell and cell-matrix interaction and so on. With the development of three-dimensional cell culture techniques (TDCC), 3D tissue is widely used in the areas of bystander effect research. This review focuses on introducing the TDCC method and its application in bystander-effect research. First, the development process of 3D tissue culture method was introduced. Secondly, the induction of radiation induced bystander effects both in 2D cell and 3D tissue and its mechanisms were reviewed. Finally, because heavy ion (carbon ion beam) has been developed as a useful tool to cure solid cancer, and the 3D tissue model is an ideal material to study the damages on body after being irradiated and to understand the underlying mechanisms, future study about heavy ion radiation inducing bystander effect in 3D tissue was discussed. (authors)
Demonstration of the economic feasibility of plant tissue culture for jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) and Euphorbia spp

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sluis, C.

1980-09-01

The economic feasibility of plant tissue culture was demonstrated as applied to two plants: jojoba (Simmondsia chinensis) and Euphorbia spp. The gopher weed (Euphorbia lathyris) was selected as the species of Euphorbia to research due to the interest in this plant as a potential source of hydrocarbon-like compounds. High yield female selections of jojoba were chosen from native stands and were researched to determine the economic feasibility of mass producing these plants via a tissue culture micropropagation program. The female jojoba selection was successfully mass produced through tissue culture. Modifications in initiation techniques, as well as in multiplication media and rooting parameters, were necessary to apply the tissue culture system, which had been developed for juvenile seedling tissue, to mature jojobas. Since prior attempts at transfer of tissue cultured plantlets were unsuccessful, transfer research was a major part of the project and has resulted in a system for transfer of rooted jojoba plantlets to soil. Euphorbia lathyris was successfully cultured using shoot tip cultures. Media and procedures were established for culture initiation, multiplication of shoots, callus induction and growth, and root initiation. Well-developed root systems were not attained and root initiation percentages should be increased if the system is to become commercially feasible.
Mass spectrometric characterization of elements and molecules in cell cultures and tissues

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Arlinghaus, H.F.; Kriegeskotte, C.; Fartmann, M.; Wittig, A.; Sauerwein, W.; Lipinsky, D.

2006-01-01

Time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (ToF-SIMS) and laser post-ionization secondary neutral mass spectrometry (laser-SNMS) have been used to image and quantify targeted compounds, intrinsic elements and molecules with subcellular resolution in single cells of both cell cultures and tissues. Special preparation procedures for analyzing cell cultures and tissue materials were developed. Cancer cells type MeWo, incubated with boronated compounds, were sandwiched between two substrates, cryofixed, freeze-fractured and freeze-dried. Also, after injection with boronated compounds, different types of mouse tissues were extracted, prepared on a special specimen carrier and plunged with high velocity into LN 2 -cooled propane for cryofixation. After trimming, these tissue blocks were freeze-dried. The measurements of the K/Na ratio demonstrated that for both cell cultures and tissue materials the special preparation techniques used were appropriate for preserving the chemical and structural integrity of the living cell. The boron images show inter- and intracellular boron signals with different intensities. Molecular images show distinct features partly correlated with the cell structure. A comparison between laser-SNMS and ToF-SIMS showed that especially laser-SNMS is particularly well-suited for identifying specific cell structures and imaging ultratrace element concentrations in tissues
Die-back of Phragmites australis in European wetlands: an overview of the European Research Programme on Reed Die-Back and Progression (1993-1994)

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Van der Putten, W.H.

1997-01-01

Reed (Phragmites australis (Cav.) Trin. ex Steudel) is one of the dominant plant species in European land-water ecotones. During the past decades reed belts have died back, especially in central and eastern Europe. The aim of the European Research Programme on Reed Die-back and Progression (EUREED),
Identification of Stevioside Using Tissue Culture-Derived Stevia (Stevia rebaudiana) Leaves

Science.gov (United States)

Karim, Md. Ziaul; Uesugi, Daisuke; Nakayama, Noriyuki; Hossain, M. Monzur; Ishihara, Kohji; Hamada, Hiroki

2015-01-01

Stevioside is a natural sweetener from Stevia leaf, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It helps to reduce blood sugar levels dramatically and thus can be of benefit to diabetic people. Tissue culture is a very potential modern technology that can be used in large-scale disease-free stevia production throughout the year. We successfully produced stevia plant through in vitro culture for identification of stevioside in this experiment. The present study describes a potential method for identification of stevioside from tissue culture-derived stevia leaf. Stevioside in the sample was identified using HPLC by measuring the retention time. The percentage of stevioside content in the leaf samples was found to be 9.6%. This identification method can be used for commercial production and industrialization of stevia through in vitro culture across the world. PMID:28008268
Creation of Principally New Generation of Switching Technique Elements (Reed Switches) with Nanostructured Contact Surfaces

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karabanov S M; Zeltser I A; Maizels R M; Moos E N; Arushanov K A, E-mail: zeltseria@rmcip.ru [Russia, Ryazan, 390027, Novaya Str., 51B, Ryazan Metal Ceramics Instrumentation Plant JSC (Russian Federation)

2011-04-01

The cycle of activities of the creation of principally new generation of reed switches with nanostructured contact surfaces was implemented. Experimental justification of the opportunity of reed switches creation with modified contact surface was given (instead of precious metals-based galvanic coating). Principally new technological process of modification of magnetically operated contacts contacting surfaces was developed, based on the usage of the ion-plasma methods of nanolayers and nanostructures forming having specified contact features.
An Exemplary High School Literary Magazine: "The Thinking Reed."

Science.gov (United States)

Holbrook, Hilary Taylor, Comp.

One of a series of 20 literary magazine profiles written to help faculty advisors wishing to start or improve their publication, this profile provides information on staffing and production of "The Thinking Reed," the magazine published by Bethlehem Central High School, Delmar, New York. The introduction describes the literary magazine…
Reed Reactor Facility final report, September 1, 1995--August 31, 1996

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This report covers the period from September 1, 1995 to August 31, 1996. This report is intended to fulfill several purposes including the reporting requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the US Department of Energy, and the Oregon Department of Energy. Highlights of the last year include: student participation in the program is very high; the facility continues its success in obtaining donated equipment from the Portland General Electric, US Department of Energy, and other sources; the facility is developing more paid work; progress is being made in a collaborative project with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on isotope production for medical purposes. There were over 1,500 individual visits to the Reactor Facility during the year. Most were students in classes at Reed College or area universities, colleges, and high schools. Including tours and research conducted at the facility, the Reed Reactor Facility contributed to the educational programs of six colleges and universities in addition to eighteen pre-college groups. During the year, the reactor was operated almost three hundred separate times. The total energy production was over 23 MW-hours. The reactor staff consists of a Director, an Associated Director, a contract Health Physicist, and approximately twenty Reed College undergraduate students as hourly employees. All radiation exposures to individuals during this year were well below 5% of the federal limits
Reed Reactor Facility final report, September 1, 1995--August 31, 1996

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-09-01

This report covers the period from September 1, 1995 to August 31, 1996. This report is intended to fulfill several purposes including the reporting requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the US Department of Energy, and the Oregon Department of Energy. Highlights of the last year include: student participation in the program is very high; the facility continues its success in obtaining donated equipment from the Portland General Electric, US Department of Energy, and other sources; the facility is developing more paid work; progress is being made in a collaborative project with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory on isotope production for medical purposes. There were over 1,500 individual visits to the Reactor Facility during the year. Most were students in classes at Reed College or area universities, colleges, and high schools. Including tours and research conducted at the facility, the Reed Reactor Facility contributed to the educational programs of six colleges and universities in addition to eighteen pre-college groups. During the year, the reactor was operated almost three hundred separate times. The total energy production was over 23 MW-hours. The reactor staff consists of a Director, an Associated Director, a contract Health Physicist, and approximately twenty Reed College undergraduate students as hourly employees. All radiation exposures to individuals during this year were well below 5% of the federal limits.

Generic Reed Solomon Encorder

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrus Mursanto

2006-11-01

Full Text Available Reed Solomon (RS codes is a mechanism to detect and correct burst of errors in data transmission and storage systems. It provides a solid introduction to foundation mathematical concept of Galois Field algebra and its application. With the development of digital hardware technology, the RS concepts were brought into reality, i.e. the implementation of RS codec chips. This paper presents the development steps of a generic RS encoder using VHDL. The encoder is able to handle generic width of data, variable length of information, number of error as well as variable form of primitive polynomial and generator polynomial used in the system. The design has been implemented for FPGA chip Xilinx XC3S200-5FT256 and has a better performance than commercially available equivalent encoder.
Banana Musa tissue culture plants enhanced by endophytic fungi

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Mo

Merging biotechnology with biological control: Banana Musa tissue culture plants enhanced by endophytic .... While working in the laminar flow cabinet, sterile filter papers were placed in ..... University of Bonn, Bonn, Germany. Niere, B., 2001.
Research progress in plant mutation by combining ion beam irradiations and tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zhou Linbin; Li Wenjian; Qu Ying; Li Ping

2007-01-01

About a new mutation breeding method which combines plant tissue culture technique with heavy ion beam irradiations were discussed in this paper with the principles, operation steps, molecular mechanisms, etc. The mutation method developed a few advantages coming from plant tissue culture, which can produce offspring by asexual ways. Meanwhile, using this method, the study of biological effects of high energy particles with different linear energy transfer values on plant tissues or cells can be explored and optimized in theory or practice. (authors)
HYPOLIPIDEMIC EFFECT OF ARGLABIN IN HEPATOMA TISSUE CULTURE

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A. V. Ratkin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available Objective. Investigation of hypolipidemic effect of sesquiterpene γ-lactone Arglabin in hepatoma tissue culture (HTC.Materials and methods. In this study we’ve evaluated the effect of sesquiterpene γ-lactone Arglabin and gemfibrozil (reference drug on the lipid content in the hepatoma tissue culture (HTC which were incubated with a fat emulsion “Lipofundin” by fluorescent method with vital dye Nile Red. The cell viability was investigated using the MTT-test and staining by Trypan blue.Results. Cultivation of cell cultures of rat’s hepatoma cell line HTC with Arglabin and gemfibrozil in concentrations from 10 to 50 μmol and from 0.25 to 0.5 mmol, respectively, had no cytotoxic effect. HTC cell viability did not change compared with the corresponding rate in the control culture. Experimental hyperlipidemia in hepatoma culture was induced by the addition in the incubation medium of fat emulsion “Lipofundin” in a final concentration of 0.05 %. The fluorescence intensity of Nile Red in the cells was increased 4-fold (p < 0.05, which indicates a significant accumulation of lipids in the cytosol of cells. In these steady-state Arglabin and gemfibrozil at concentrations 75–100 μM and 0.25–1.0 mM, respectively, reduced the content of lipid in cells. Conclusion. In the model of hyperlipidemia induced by lipofundin, sesquiterpene γ-lactone Arglabin prevents the accumulation of lipids in the HTC cell line, as evidenced by a decrease in Nile Red fluorescence. However hypolipidemic effect of Arglabin is associated with cytotoxic effects, which is typical for anticancer drugs.
Four not six: Revealing culturally common facial expressions of emotion.

Science.gov (United States)

Jack, Rachael E; Sun, Wei; Delis, Ioannis; Garrod, Oliver G B; Schyns, Philippe G

2016-06-01

As a highly social species, humans generate complex facial expressions to communicate a diverse range of emotions. Since Darwin's work, identifying among these complex patterns which are common across cultures and which are culture-specific has remained a central question in psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and more recently machine vision and social robotics. Classic approaches to addressing this question typically tested the cross-cultural recognition of theoretically motivated facial expressions representing 6 emotions, and reported universality. Yet, variable recognition accuracy across cultures suggests a narrower cross-cultural communication supported by sets of simpler expressive patterns embedded in more complex facial expressions. We explore this hypothesis by modeling the facial expressions of over 60 emotions across 2 cultures, and segregating out the latent expressive patterns. Using a multidisciplinary approach, we first map the conceptual organization of a broad spectrum of emotion words by building semantic networks in 2 cultures. For each emotion word in each culture, we then model and validate its corresponding dynamic facial expression, producing over 60 culturally valid facial expression models. We then apply to the pooled models a multivariate data reduction technique, revealing 4 latent and culturally common facial expression patterns that each communicates specific combinations of valence, arousal, and dominance. We then reveal the face movements that accentuate each latent expressive pattern to create complex facial expressions. Our data questions the widely held view that 6 facial expression patterns are universal, instead suggesting 4 latent expressive patterns with direct implications for emotion communication, social psychology, cognitive neuroscience, and social robotics. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).
Human colon tissue in organ culture: calcium and multi-mineral-induced mucosal differentiation.

Science.gov (United States)

Dame, Michael K; Veerapaneni, Indiradevi; Bhagavathula, Narasimharao; Naik, Madhav; Varani, James

2011-01-01

We have recently shown that a multi-mineral extract from the marine red algae, Lithothamnion calcareum, suppresses colon polyp formation and inflammation in mice. In the present study, we used intact human colon tissue in organ culture to compare responses initiated by Ca(2+) supplementation versus the multi-mineral extract. Normal human colon tissue was treated for 2 d in culture with various concentrations of calcium or the mineral-rich extract. The tissue was then prepared for histology/immunohistochemistry, and the culture supernatants were assayed for levels of type I procollagen and type I collagen. At higher Ca(2+) concentrations or with the mineral-rich extract, proliferation of epithelial cells at the base and walls of the mucosal crypts was suppressed, as visualized by reduced Ki67 staining. E-cadherin, a marker of differentiation, was more strongly expressed at the upper third of the crypt and at the luminal surface. Treatment with Ca(2+) or with the multi-mineral extract influenced collagen turnover, with decreased procollagen and increased type I collagen. These data suggest that calcium or mineral-rich extract has the capacity to (1) promote differentiation in human colon tissue in organ culture and (2) modulate stromal function as assessed by increased levels of type I collagen. Taken together, these data suggest that human colon tissue in organ culture (supporting in vivo finding in mice) will provide a valuable model for the preclinical assessment of agents that regulate growth and differentiation in the colonic mucosa.
Mathematics and Literature: Educators' Perspectives on Utilizing a Reformative Approach to Bridge Two Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Nesmith, Suzanne J.

2008-01-01

The existence of two distinct cultures within our society, the arts and the sciences, was introduced by physicist C. P. Snow in his 1959 Reed Lecture at Cambridge University and was further illuminated by Snow in "The Two Cultures, a Second Look" (1964). Lamenting the existence of the cultural chasm while also fearing a widening of the…
Mapping giant reed (Arundo donax) infestations along the Texas-Mexico portion of the Rio Grande using aerial photography

Science.gov (United States)

Giant reed is an invasive weed throughout the southern half of the United States with the densest stands growing along the coastal rivers of southern California and the Rio Grande in Texas. The objective of this study was to use aerial photography to map giant reed infestations and estimate infested...
[Comparative study on alkaloids of tissue-culture seedling and wild plant of Dendrobium huoshanense ].

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Nai-dong; Gao, Feng; Lin, Xin; Jin, Hui

2014-06-01

To compare the composition and content of alkaloid of Dendrobium huoshanense tissue-culture seedling and wild plant. A comparative evaluation on the quality was carried out by HPLC and TLC methods including the composition and the content of alkaloids. Remarkable variation existed in the two kinds of Dendrobium huoshanense. For the tissue-culture plant, only two alkaloids were checked out by both HPLC and TLC while four alkaloids were observed in the wild plant. The alkaloid content of tissue-culture seedling and wild plant was(0. 29 ± 0. 11)%o and(0. 43 ± 0. 15) %o,respectively. Distinguished difference is observed in both composition and content of alkaloids from the annual shoots of different provenances of Dendrobium huoshanense. It suggested that the quality of tissue-culture seedling of Dendrobium huoshanense might be inconsistent with the wild plant. Furthermore, the established alkaloids-knock-out HPLC method would provide a new research tool on quality control of Chinese medicinal materials which contain unknown alkaloids.
Effects of CO 2 concentration and moisture content of sugar-free media on the tissue-cultured plantlets in a large growth chamber

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Y. H.; Lin, C.; Zhou, W.; Li, Y.; Chen, B.; Chen, G. Q.

2009-01-01

The dynamic fluctuations of CO 2 concentration in the tissue culture growth chamber after transplantation of petunia, chrysanthemum and tomato plantlets were recorded with a real-time control system to determine the critical CO 2 concentration levels of 35 μl l -1 at which CO 2 enrichment is needed. The experimental data showed that the tissue-cultured plantlets of petunia, chrysanthemum and tomato had the same CO 2 concentration dynamics. The results indicated that CO 2 enrichment was proper on the second day after transplantation. Petunia plantlets were used to conduct experiments under PPFD of 80 μmol m -2 s -1, and CO 2 concentrations of 350 ± 50 μl l -1, 650 ± 50 μl l -1 and 950 ± 50 μl l -1 as well as medium moisture contents of 60%, 70% and 80%, with the result that plantlets grew better under CO 2 concentration of 650 ± 50 μl l -1 than under the other two concentrations with all the different media water contents. Three media water contents under the same CO 2 concentration produced plantlets with the same quality. The impacts of CO 2 concentrations on plantlets are more important than those of the media water contents. Sugar-free tissue culture, as compared with the conventional culture, showed that CO 2 enrichment to 350 ± 50 μl l -1 can promote the growth of the cultured plantlets. Sugar-free tissue culture produced healthy plantlets with thick roots, almost equivalent to the common plantlets.
Plasmid-dependent attachment of Agrobacterium tumefaciens to plant tissue culture cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Matthysse, A G; Wyman, P M; Holmes, K V

1978-11-01

Kinetic, microscopic, and biochemical studies show that virulent Ti (tumor inducing)-plasmid-containing strains of Agrobacterium attach to normal tobacco and carrot tissue culture cells. Kinetic studies showed that virulent strains of A. tumefaciens attach to the plant tissue culture cells in increasing numbers during the first 1 to 2 h of incubation of the bacteria with the plant cells. Five Ti-plasmid-containing virulent Agrobacterium strains showed greater attachment to tobacco cells than did five avirulent strains. Light and scanning electron microscopic observations confirmed that virulent strains showed little attachment. Bacterial attachment was blocked by prior incubation of the plant cells with lipopolysaccharide extracted from A. tumefaciens, but not from A. radiobacter, suggesting that bacterial lipopolysaccharide is one of the components involved in the attachment process. At least one other bacterial product may be required for attachment in tissue culture because the virulent A. tumefaciens NT1, which lacks the Ti plasmid, does not itself attach to tobacco cells, but its lipopolysaccharide does inhibit the attachment of virulent strains.
Influence of postmortem time on the outcome of blood cultures among cadaveric tissue donors.

Science.gov (United States)

Saegeman, V; Verhaegen, J; Lismont, D; Verduyckt, B; De Rijdt, T; Ectors, N

2009-02-01

Tissue banks provide tissues of human cadaver donors for transplantation. The maximal time limit for tissue retrieval has been set at 24 h postmortem. This study aimed at evaluating the evidence for this limit from a microbiological point of view. The delay of growth in postmortem blood cultures, the identification of the species isolated and clinical/environmental factors were investigated among 100 potential tissue donors. No significant difference was found in the rate of donors with grown blood cultures within (25/65=38%) compared with after (24/65=37%) 24 h of death. Coagulase-negative staphylococci and gastro-intestinal microorganisms were isolated within and after 24 h of death. Two factors--antimicrobial therapy and "delay before body cooling"--were significantly inversely related with donors' blood culture results. From a microbiological point of view, there is no evidence for avoiding tissue retrieval among donors after 24 h of death.
A method for establishing human primary gastric epithelial cell culture from fresh surgical gastric tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Aziz, Faisal; Yang, Xuesong; Wen, Qingping; Yan, Qiu

2015-08-01

At present, biopsy specimens, cancer cell lines and tissues obtained by gastric surgery are used in the study and analysis of gastric cancer, including the molecular mechanisms and proteomics. However, fibroblasts and other tissue components may interfere with these techniques. Therefore, the present study aimed to develop a procedure for the isolation of viable human gastric epithelial cells from gastric surgical tissues. A method was developed to culture human gastric epithelial cells using fresh, surgically excised tissues and was evaluated using immunocytochemistry, periodic acid-Schiff (PAS) staining and cell viability assays. Low cell growth was observed surrounding the gastric tissue on the seventh day of tissue explant culture. Cell growth subsequently increased, and at 12 days post-explant a high number of pure epithelial cells were detected. The gastric cancer cells exhibited rapid growth with a doubling time of 13-52 h, as compared to normal cells, which had a doubling time of 20-53 h. Immunocytochemical analyses of primary gastric cells revealed positive staining for cytokeratin 18 and 19, which indicated that the culture was comprised of pure epithelial cells and contained no fibroblasts. Furthermore, PAS staining demonstrated that the cultured gastric cells produced neutral mucin. Granulin and carbohydrate antigen 724 staining confirmed the purity of gastric cancer and normal cells in culture. This method of cell culture indicated that the gastric cells in primary culture consisted of mucin-secreting gastric epithelial cells, which may be useful for the study of gastric infection with Helicobacter pylori and gastric cancer.
Disrupting the Education Monopoly: A Conversation with Reed Hastings

Science.gov (United States)

Jacobs, Joanne

2015-01-01

This article features an interview with Netflix CEO, Reed Hastings. In this interview, Hastings relates that he told the "Wall Street Journal" in 2008 that he started looking at education--trying to figure out why our education is lagging when our technology is increasing at great rates and there's great innovation in so many other areas…
Identification of Stevioside Using Tissue Culture-Derived Stevia () Leaves

OpenAIRE

Ziaul Karim Md.; Daisuke Uesugi; Noriyuki Nakayama; M. Monzur Hossain; Kohji Ishihara; Hiroki Hamada

2015-01-01

Stevioside is a natural sweetener from Stevia leaf, which is 300 times sweeter than sugar. It helps to reduce blood sugar levels dramatically and thus can be of benefit to diabetic people. Tissue culture is a very potential modern technology that can be used in large-scale disease-free stevia production throughout the year. We successfully produced stevia plant through in vitro culture for identification of stevioside in this experiment. The present study describes a potential method for iden...
Migration assay on primary culture isolated from patient's primary breast cancer tissue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ED Yuliana

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Background: Migration is an essential component of breast cancer metastasis, which studyhas been concentrated on culture of established breast cancer cell lines that do not accuratelyrepresent the sophistication and heterogeneity of patient's breast cancer. An attempt toperform migration assay using Boyden Chamber Assay (BCA on primary culture originatingfrom patient's breast cancer tissue was developed to accommodate upcoming study of breastcancer migration in lndonesian patients.Methods: Pathologically proven primary breast cancer tissue samples were obtained fromCiptomangunkusumo Hospital during core (n=4 and incisional (n=3 biopsies of stage llAup to stage lllA breast cancer patients. Following biopsy, the breast cancer tissue samplesunderwent processings to isolate the cancer cells. These cancer cells were -then resuspendedwithin Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM ahd cultured in 12-well plate. The growthof primary culture were observed and compared between the core biopsy and the incisionalbiopsy specimens. Optimization of BCA method was later performed to investigate themigration of the breast cancer primary culture towards different experirnental conditions, whichwere control, Fetal Bovine Serum (FBS, and Stromal Derived Factor-l (SDF-1. Two differentnumber of breast cancer cells were tested for the optimization of the BCA, which were 1 x 105and3x105cells.Results: None of the culture performed on core biopsy specimens grew, while one out ofthree incisional biopsy specimens grew until confluence. The one primary culture that grewwas later assesed using BCA to assess its migration index towards different experimentalconditions. Using 1 x 10s breast cancer cells in the BCA , the result of the absorbance level ofmigrated cells showed that the migration towards SDF-1 (0.529 nearly doubled the migrationtowards controlmedium (0.239 and FBS (0.209. Meanwhile, the absorbance levelwas simiiarbetween the control medium (1.050, FBS (1 .103
Upgrated fuel from reed canary grass

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Oravainen, H. [VTT Energy, Jyvaeskylae (Finland)

1997-12-01

Results described in this presentation are from a large EU-project - Development of a new crop production system based on delayed harvesting and system for its combined processing to chemical pulp and biofuel powder. This is a project to develop the use of Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris Arundinaceae) both for pulp industry and energy production. The main contractor of the project is Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (coordinator), task coordinators are United Milling Systems A/S from Denmark, and Jaakko Poeyry Oy and VTT Energy from Finland In addition, there are partners from several countries participating in the project
Long term effects of ash fertilization of reed canary grass; Laangtidseffekter av askgoedsling vid roerflensodling

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palmborg, Cecilia; Lindvall, Eva

2011-03-15

Reed canary grass (RCG) is a bio-energy crop with large potential. It is a 1.5 . 2.5 m tall grass that is harvested in spring when it is grown as a fuel. At spring harvest it yields 3 . 10 ton field dried material per ha and year. One disadvantage when reed canary grass is used as a fuel is the high ash content, 5-10 %. This means that large quantities of ash have to be deposited which is expensive, about 1000 SEK/ton. However, since reed canary grass ash contains reasonable amounts of plant nutrients like phosphorous (P), potassium (K) and magnesium (Mg) it could be recycled as fertilizer in agriculture. The ash can be used without any pretreatment since, in agriculture, plant availability is desirable. The aim of this project, was to evaluate a field experiment, where ash was used as a fertilizer in reed canary grass. The experiment was established at the SLU research station in Umea, Sweden in the spring 2002. Three different fertilizer treatments were applied: Treatment A was fertilized with an ash produced by combustion of RCG together with municipal wastes (paper, plastic, leather), treatment B, an ash from combustion of RCG, and for treatment C commercial fertilizers were used. In total, 100 kg ha-1 of nitrogen (N), 15 kg ha-1 of phosphorous (P) and 80 kg ha-1 of potassium (K), were applied each year in all treatments. The amount of ash in treatment A and B was calculated from the chemical analysis of the ashes to be equal to the required amount of P, while K and N were supplied also by commercial fertilizers. [Table 1. Composition of the ashes] Literature study: There is a lack of knowledge about fertilization with reed canary grass ash, since few experiments have been conducted. The composition of reed canary grass is dependent of harvest date and the soil substrate. The amount of ash and the amount of harmful substances such as potassium and chloride generally decreases over winter, giving an increased fuel quality from spring harvest compared to autumn
Studying the Genetics of Resistance to CyHV-3 Disease Using Introgression from Feral to Cultured Common Carp Strains

Science.gov (United States)

Tadmor-Levi, Roni; Asoulin, Efrat; Hulata, Gideon; David, Lior

2017-01-01

Sustainability and further development of aquaculture production are constantly challenged by outbreaks of fish diseases, which are difficult to prevent or control. Developing fish strains that are genetically resistant to a disease is a cost-effective and a sustainable solution to address this challenge. To do so, heritable genetic variation in disease resistance should be identified and combined together with other desirable production traits. Aquaculture of common carp has suffered substantial losses from the infectious disease caused by the cyprinid herpes virus type 3 (CyHV-3) virus and the global spread of outbreaks indicates that many cultured strains are susceptible. In this research, CyHV-3 resistance from the feral strain “Amur Sassan” was successfully introgressed into two susceptible cultured strains up to the first backcross (BC1) generation. Variation in resistance of families from F1 and BC1 generations was significantly greater compared to that among families of any of the susceptible parental lines, a good starting point for a family selection program. Considerable additive genetic variation was found for CyHV-3 resistance. This phenotype was transferable between generations with contributions to resistance from both the resistant feral and the susceptible cultured strains. Reduced scale coverage (mirror phenotype) is desirable and common in cultured strains, but so far, cultured mirror carp strains were found to be susceptible. Here, using BC1 families ranging from susceptible to resistant, no differences in resistance levels between fully scaled and mirror full-sib groups were found, indicating that CyHV-3 resistance was successfully combined with the desirable mirror phenotype. In addition, the CyHV-3 viral load in tissues throughout the infection of susceptible and resistant fish was followed. Although resistant fish get infected, viral loads in tissues of these fish are significantly lesser than in those of susceptible fish, allowing them
Usefulness of fibroblast culture for testing of cattle tissues polluted with heavy metals

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Weglarz, L.; Drozdz, M.Wa.; Wardas, M.; Kula, B.; Pawlaczyk-Szpilowa, M.

1990-01-01

Cattle tissues (liver, kidney, brain, and lung) that had been polluted with heavy metals were tested for their ability to alter fibroblast culture growth, cellular protein and DNA content, and fibroblast DNA synthesis. At 72 hr of incubation a significant increase in cellular DNA and [14C]thymidine incorporation was noted in the primary cultures as well as in the subcultures compared to controls. Fibroblast cultures also displayed growth inhibition and reduction in protein content. The measurement of basic biochemical parameters of the fibroblast culture may represent a sensitive means of assessing rapidly the activity of heavy metals deposited in the tissues of cattle as a result of their grazing on polluted soil

Total mercury and mercury species in birds and fish in an aquatic ecosystem in the Czech Republic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Houserova, Pavlina; Kuban, Vlastimil; Kracmar, Stanislav; Sitko, Jilji

2007-01-01

Total mercury and mercury species (methylmercury-MeHg, inorganic mercury - Hg 2+ ) were determined in the aquatic ecosystem Zahlinice (Czech Republic). Four tissues (muscle, intestines, liver and kidney) of three bird species - cormorant, great crested grebe and Eurasian buzzard, muscle tissues of common carp, grass carp, northern pike, goldfish, common tench, perch and rudd, aquatic plants (reed mace and common reed), sediments and water were analysed. Relative contents of MeHg (of total Hg) were in the range from 71% to 94% and from 15% up to 62% in the muscle and intestines and in liver, respectively, for all birds. Statistically significant differences were found between contents of MeHg in liver tissues of young and adult cormorant populations (F 4.6 = 56.71, P -5 ). Relative contents of MeHg in muscle tissues of fishes were in the range from 65.1% to 87.9% of total Hg. - The distribution of the mercury species among the organs of the individual birds is discussed
Project on production of mutants by irradiation of in vitro cultured tissues of coconut and banana and their mass propagation by the tissue culture technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzman, E.V. de

1975-01-01

Fruit pulp tissue, ovary segments with or without ovules and sections from shoot tips of banana were used for studies on growth stimulating or morphogenetic effects of irradiation. Irradiation at 0.1-1.0 kR tended to induce faster callus growth in the otherwise slow-growing cultures. The physical condition and composition of the culture media especially with respect to growth regulators were studied, as were techniques to overcome discoloration of explants, the best choice of plant tissue for explant, and radiation effects on growth and morphogenesis. Due to the difficulty of callus induction with coconut, only the effects of irradiation on embryos cultured in vitro were studied. They were irradiated at various stages of development, i.e. during the early and final stage of liquid culture, and several days after transfer to a solid medium. Adverse effects of irradiation became evident only during the subsequent growth in solid, during the latter stage of which morphological changes were observed. Whereas irradiation of the liquid as well as solid media up to 50 kR had no adverse effect; survival and development became adversely affected at a dose of 1 kR
Substrate specific hydrolysis of aromatic and aromatic-aliphatic esters in orchid tissue cultures

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agnieszka Mironowicz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available We found that tissue cultures of higher plants were able, similarly as microorganisms, to transform low-molecular-weight chemical compounds. In tissue cultures of orchids (Cymbidium 'Saint Pierre' and Dendrobium phalaenopsis acetates of phenols and aromatic-aliphatic alcohols were hydrolyzed, whereas methyl esters of aromatic and aromatic-aliphatic acids did not undergo this reaction. Acetates of racemic aromatic-aliphatic alcohols were hydrolyzed with distinct enantiospecificity.
An investigation of the possibility of mercury phytoremediation from Bandar ImamChlor-alkali plants' wastewater using Phragmites australis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tayebi, L.; Hamidian, A.H.; Danehkar, A.; Poorbagher, H.

2016-01-01

The Petrochemical industry is the most important and most widely active industries in the country. Due to the variety and complexity of industrial products, it also produces a wild range of pollutants. Mercury waste disposal from Chlor-alkali units is one of the fundamental problems of this industry. Various studies have shown that Phytoremediation system for removal of mercury from aqueous solutions is very efficient and, in some cases up to 95% of mercury has been removed from the solution. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the ability of common reed (Phragmites australis) in the removal of mercury from the Chlor-alkali effluent in Bandar Imam Petrochemical. Plant samples Harvested from Shadegan wetland were cultured hydroponically in plastic aquariums. Effluent samples which were taken from Chlor-alkali plants were added to the culture medium. An aquarium containing wastewater, water and nutrients was considered as control. Mercury concentrations in water and plant at 1, 3, 5 and 7 days were measured by Varian Spectra 220 Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy. The results showed that Time has a direct effect on mercury up taking by common reed. The common Reed absorption average was 2657.25 ppm within 7 days, that shows a high capacity of mercury absorption from Chlor-alkali plant effluents. Also In the study period, 96.25% of mercury were removed from common reed aquarium effulgent water.
Self-Condensation Culture Enables Vascularization of Tissue Fragments for Efficient Therapeutic Transplantation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoshinobu Takahashi

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Summary: Clinical transplantation of tissue fragments, including islets, faces a critical challenge because of a lack of effective strategies that ensure efficient engraftment through the timely integration of vascular networks. We recently developed a complex organoid engineering method by “self-condensation” culture based on mesenchymal cell-dependent contraction, thereby enabling dissociated heterotypic lineages including endothelial cells to self-organize in a spatiotemporal manner. Here, we report the successful adaptation of this method for generating complex tissues from diverse tissue fragments derived from various organs, including pancreatic islets. The self-condensation of human and mouse islets with endothelial cells not only promoted functionalization in culture but also massively improved post-transplant engraftment. Therapeutically, fulminant diabetic mice were more efficiently treated by a vascularized islet transplant compared with the conventional approach. Given the general limitations of post-transplant vascularization associated with 3D tissue-based therapy, our approach offers a promising means of enhancing efficacy in the context of therapeutic tissue transplantation. : Takahashi et al. report on generating vascularized islet tissue from humans and mice. After transplantation, vascularized islets significantly improve survival of diabetic mice, demonstrating the quick normalization of blood glucose compared with conventional islet transplantation. Keywords: tissue engineering, tissue-based therapy, vascularization, islet transplantation, organoid
Monitoring Dynamic Interactions between Breast Cancer Cells and Human Bone Tissue in a Co-Culture Model

Science.gov (United States)

Contag, Christopher H.; Lie, Wen-Rong; Bammer, Marie C.; Hardy, Jonathan W.; Schmidt, Tobi L.; Maloney, William J.; King, Bonnie L.

2015-01-01

Purpose Bone is a preferential site of breast cancer metastasis and models are needed to study this process at the level of the microenvironment. We have used bioluminescence imaging (BLI) and multiplex biomarker immunoassays to monitor dynamic breast cancer cell behaviors in co-culture with human bone tissue. Procedures Femur tissue fragments harvested from hip replacement surgeries were co-cultured with luciferase-positive MDA-MB-231-fLuc cells. BLI was performed to quantify breast cell division and track migration relative to bone tissue. Breast cell colonization of bone tissues was assessed with immunohistochemistry. Biomarkers in co-culture supernatants were profiled with MILLIPLEX® immunoassays. Results BLI demonstrated increased MDA-MB-231-fLuc proliferation (pbones, and revealed breast cell migration toward bone. Immunohistochemistry illustrated MDA-MB-231-fLuc colonization of bone, and MILLIPLEX® profiles of culture supernatants suggested breast/bone crosstalk. Conclusions Breast cell behaviors that facilitate metastasis occur reproducibly in human bone tissue co-cultures and can be monitored and quantified using BLI and multiplex immunoassays. PMID:24008275
Air exposure induced characteristics of dry eye in conjunctival tissue culture.

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Hui Lin

Full Text Available There are several animal models illustrating dry eye pathophysiology. Current study would like to establish an ex vivo tissue culture model for characterizing dry eye. Human conjunctival explants were cultured under airlift or submerged conditions for up to 2 weeks, and only airlifted conjunctival cultures underwent increased epithelial stratification. Starting on day 4, the suprabasal cells displayed decreased K19 expression whereas K10 keratin became evident in airlift group. Pax6 nuclear expression attenuated already at 2 days, while its perinuclear and cytoplasmic expression gradually increased. MUC5AC and MUC19 expression dramatically decreased whereas the full thickness MUC4 and MUC16 expression pattern disappeared soon after initiating the airlift condition. Real time PCR showed K16, K10 and MUC16 gene up-regulated while K19, MUC5AC, MUC19 and MUC4 down-regulated on day 8 and day 14. On day 2 was the appearance of apoptotic epithelial and stromal cells appeared. The Wnt signaling pathway was transiently activated from day 2 to day 10. The inflammatory mediators IL-1β, TNF-α, and MMP-9 were detected in the conditioned media after 6 to 8 days. In conclusion, airlifted conjunctival tissue cultures demonstrated Wnt signaling pathway activation, coupled with squamous metaplasia, mucin pattern alteration, apoptosis and upregulation of proinflammatory cytokine expression. These changes mimic the pathohistological alterations described in dry eye. This correspondence suggests that insight into the pathophysiology of dry eye may be aided through the use of airlifted conjunctival tissue cultures.
Reeds as indicators of nutrient enrichment in a small temporarily ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Nutrient (NH4 and SRP) concentrations decreased from the bank towards the main estuary channel, suggesting that nutrients introduced into the estuary in groundwater and surface runoff were taken up by the fringe of reeds. The roots, rhizomes, stems and leaves of Phragmites at the site with the greatest Phragmites ...
Power decoding Reed-Solomon codes up to the Johnson radius

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rosenkilde, Johan Sebastian Heesemann

2018-01-01

Power decoding, or "decoding using virtual interleaving" is a technique for decoding Reed-Solomon codes up to the Sudan radius. Since the method's inception, it has been an open question if it is possible to use this approach to decode up to the Johnson radius - the decoding radius of the Guruswami...
Pathogen and biological contamination management in plant tissue culture: phytopathogens, vitro pathogens, and vitro pests.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassells, Alan C

2012-01-01

The ability to establish and grow plant cell, organ, and tissue cultures has been widely exploited for basic and applied research, and for the commercial production of plants (micro-propagation). Regardless of whether the application is for research or commerce, it is essential that the cultures be established in vitro free of biological contamination and be maintained as aseptic cultures during manipulation, growth, and storage. The risks from microbial contamination are spurious experimental results due to the effects of latent contaminants or losses of valuable experimental or commercial cultures. Much of the emphasis in culture contamination management historically focussed on the elimination of phytopathogens and the maintenance of cultures free from laboratory contamination by environmental bacteria, fungi (collectively referred to as "vitro pathogens", i.e. pathogens or environmental micro-organisms which cause culture losses), and micro-arthropods ("vitro pests"). Microbial contamination of plant tissue cultures is due to the high nutrient availability in the almost universally used Murashige and Skoog (Physiol Plant 15:473-497, 1962) basal medium or variants of it. In recent years, it has been shown that many plants, especially perennials, are at least locally endophytically colonized intercellularly by bacteria. The latter, and intracellular pathogenic bacteria and viruses/viroids, may pass latently into culture and be spread horizontally and vertically in cultures. Growth of some potentially cultivable endophytes may be suppressed by the high salt and sugar content of the Murashige and Skoog basal medium and suboptimal temperatures for their growth in plant tissue growth rooms. The management of contamination in tissue culture involves three stages: disease screening (syn. disease indexing) of the stock plants with disease and endophyte elimination where detected; establishment and pathogen and contaminant screening of established initial cultures
Selection of seed lots of Pinus taeda L. for tissue culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diego Pascoal Golle

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to identify the fungi genera associated with three Pinus taeda L. seed lots and to assess the sanitary and physiological quality of these lots for use as selection criteria for tissue culture and evaluate the in vitro establishment of explants from seminal origin in different nutritive media. It was possible to discriminate the lots on the sanitary and physiological quality, as well as to establish in vitro plants of Pinus taeda from cotyledonary nodes obtained from aseptic seed germination of a selected lot by the sanitary and physiological quality higher. The nutritive media MS, ½ MS and WPM were equally suitable for this purpose. For the sanitary analysis the fungal genera Fusarium, Penicillium and Trichoderma were those of the highest sensitivity. For the physiological evaluation were important the variables: abnormal seedlings, strong normal seedlings; length, fresh and dry weight of strong normal seedlings. The analyzes were favorable to choose lots of seeds for in vitro culture and all culture media were adequate for the establishment of this species in tissue culture.
Transcriptomic comparisons between cultured human adipose tissue-derived pericytes and mesenchymal stromal cells

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lindolfo da Silva Meirelles

2016-03-01

Full Text Available Mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs, sometimes called mesenchymal stem cells, are cultured cells able to give rise to mature mesenchymal cells such as adipocytes, osteoblasts, and chondrocytes, and to secrete a wide range of trophic and immunomodulatory molecules. Evidence indicates that pericytes, cells that surround and maintain physical connections with endothelial cells in blood vessels, can give rise to MSCs (da Silva Meirelles et al., 2008 [1]; Caplan and Correa, 2011 [2]. We have compared the transcriptomes of highly purified, human adipose tissue pericytes subjected to culture-expansion in pericyte medium or MSC medium, with that of human adipose tissue MSCs isolated with traditional methods to test the hypothesis that their transcriptomes are similar (da Silva Meirelles et al., 2015 [3]. Here, we provide further information and analyses of microarray data from three pericyte populations cultured in pericyte medium, three pericyte populations cultured in MSC medium, and three adipose tissue MSC populations deposited in the Gene Expression Omnibus under accession number GSE67747. Keywords: Mesenchymal stromal cells, Mesenchymal stem cells, Pericytes, Microarrays
Frozen and fresh ovarian tissue require different culture media to promote in vitro development of bovine preantral follicles.

Science.gov (United States)

Castro, Simone Vieira; Carvalho, Adeline Andrade; Silva, Cleidson Manoel Gomes; Santos, Francielli Weber; Campello, Cláudio Cabral; de Figueiredo, José Ricardo; Rodrigues, Ana Paula Ribeiro

2014-10-01

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficiency of different media in the in vitro culture of bovine preantral follicles that were used either fresh or following slow freezing treatment. Frozen and fresh noncultured or cultured ovarian fragments were processed for histological, viability, and cell proliferation analyses. For cryopreservation, a solution containing 1.5 M ethylene glycol was frozen in a programmable biological freezer. After thawing, a portion of the samples was destined for frozen controls. The remainder were cultured in vitro for 5 days in three media: α-MEM, McCoy, or M199. Samples from these culture media were collected on days 1 and 5 for quantification of reactive oxygen species (ROS) and for hormonal assays. In fresh-cultured tissues, the percentage of morphologically normal follicles was significantly higher when cultured in M199 compared to that in the other media. In frozen-cultured tissues, McCoy medium was significantly superior to the other media, and was the only treatment that helped in maintaining the viability similar to fresh and frozen controls. Upon quantification of the nucleolus organizer region, we observed greater proliferation of granulosa cells in the frozen-cultured tissues with McCoy medium, and lesser proliferation in fresh-cultured tissues only with α-MEM. In frozen-cultured tissues, ROS levels were highest at day 1 and progressively reduced during culture, independent of the media used. In conclusion, under the conditions used in this study, the M199 and McCoy media are recommended for the culture of follicles derived from fresh and frozen ovarian tissues, respectively.
Cross-cultural perspectives on physician and lay models of the common cold.

Science.gov (United States)

Baer, Roberta D; Weller, Susan C; de Alba García, Javier García; Rocha, Ana L Salcedo

2008-06-01

We compare physicians and laypeople within and across cultures, focusing on similarities and differences across samples, to determine whether cultural differences or lay-professional differences have a greater effect on explanatory models of the common cold. Data on explanatory models for the common cold were collected from physicians and laypeople in South Texas and Guadalajara, Mexico. Structured interview materials were developed on the basis of open-ended interviews with samples of lay informants at each locale. A structured questionnaire was used to collect information from each sample on causes, symptoms, and treatments for the common cold. Consensus analysis was used to estimate the cultural beliefs for each sample. Instead of systematic differences between samples based on nationality or level of professional training, all four samples largely shared a single-explanatory model of the common cold, with some differences on subthemes, such as the role of hot and cold forces in the etiology of the common cold. An evaluation of our findings indicates that, although there has been conjecture about whether cultural or lay-professional differences are of greater importance in understanding variation in explanatory models of disease and illness, systematic data collected on community and professional beliefs indicate that such differences may be a function of the specific illness. Further generalizations about lay-professional differences need to be based on detailed data for a variety of illnesses, to discern patterns that may be present. Finally, a systematic approach indicates that agreement across individual explanatory models is sufficient to allow for a community-level explanatory model of the common cold.
On locality of Generalized Reed-Muller codes over the broadcast erasure channel

KAUST Repository

Alloum, Amira; Lin, Sian Jheng; Al-Naffouri, Tareq Y.

2016-01-01

, and more specifically at the application layer where Rateless, LDPC, Reed Slomon codes and network coding schemes have been extensively studied, optimized and standardized in the past. Beyond reusing, extending or adapting existing application layer packet
Paraskeva pühastest ja reede kultusest Satserinna kiriklikus traditsioonis / Kai Kuusing

Index Scriptorium Estoniae

Kuusing, Kai

2005-01-01

Saatse kirikust pärit Paraskeva pühaste (ikoonide) ikonograafia- ja hagiograafiaalasest materjalist ning Paraskeva kultusega seotud kahest erinevast traditsioonist Saatse kirikus - Ikonioni Paraskeva mälestuspäeva ja Eelija reede pühitsemisest
Key-equations for list decoding of Reed-Solomon codes and how to solve them

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Beelen, Peter; Brander, Kristian

2010-01-01

A Reed-Solomon code of length n can be list decoded using the well-known Guruswami-Sudan algorithm. By a result of Alekhnovich (2005) the interpolation part in this algorithm can be done in complexity O(s^4l^4nlog^2nloglogn), where l denotes the designed list size and s the multiplicity parameter....... The parameters l and s are sometimes considered to be constants in the complexity analysis, but for high rate Reed-Solomon codes, their values can be very large. In this paper we will combine ideas from Alekhnovich (2005) and the concept of key equations to get an algorithm that has complexity O(sl^4nlog^2...
[18S-25S rDNA variation in tissue culture of some Gentiana L. species].

Science.gov (United States)

Mel'nyk, V M; Andrieiev, I O; Spiridonova, K V; Strashniuk, N M; Kunakh, V A

2007-01-01

18S-25S rDNA of intact plants and tissue cultures of G. acaulis, G. punctata and G. lutea have been investigated by using blot-hybridization. The decrease of rDNA amount was found in the callus cultures as compared with the plants. In contrast to other species, G. lutea showed intragenome heterogeneity of rRNA genes as well as qualitative rDNA changes in tissue culture, in particular appearance of altered repeats. The relationship between the peculiarities of rRNA gene structure and their rearrangements in in vitro culture was suggested.
Macroporous Hydrogel Scaffolds for Three-Dimensional Cell Culture and Tissue Engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Fan, Changjiang; Wang, Dong-An

2017-10-01

Hydrogels have been promising candidate scaffolds for cell delivery and tissue engineering due to their tissue-like physical properties and capability for homogeneous cell loading. However, the encapsulated cells are generally entrapped and constrained in the submicron- or nanosized gel networks, seriously limiting cell growth and tissue formation. Meanwhile, the spatially confined settlement inhibits attachment and spreading of anchorage-dependent cells, leading to their apoptosis. In recent years, macroporous hydrogels have attracted increasing attention in use as cell delivery vehicles and tissue engineering scaffolds. The introduction of macropores within gel scaffolds not only improves their permeability for better nutrient transport but also creates space/interface for cell adhesion, proliferation, and extracellular matrix deposition. Herein, we will first review the development of macroporous gel scaffolds and outline the impact of macropores on cell behaviors. In the first part, the advantages and challenges of hydrogels as three-dimensional (3D) cell culture scaffolds will be described. In the second part, the fabrication of various macroporous hydrogels will be presented. Third, the enhancement of cell activities within macroporous gel scaffolds will be discussed. Finally, several crucial factors that are envisaged to propel the improvement of macroporous gel scaffolds are proposed for 3D cell culture and tissue engineering.
Cell-surface glycoproteins of human sarcomas: differential expression in normal and malignant tissues and cultured cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rettig, W.F.; Garin-Chesa, P.; Beresford, H.R.; Oettgen, H.F.; Melamed, M.R.; Old, L.J.

1988-01-01

Normal differentiation and malignant transformation of human cells are characterized by specific changes in surface antigen phenotype. In the present study, the authors have defined six cell-surface antigens of human sarcomas and normal mesenchymal cells, by using mixed hemadsorption assays and immunochemical methods for the analysis of cultured cells and immunohistochemical staining for the analysis of normal tissues and > 200 tumor specimens. Differential patterns of F19, F24, G171, G253, S5, and Thy-1 antigen expression were found to characterize (i) subsets of cultured sarcoma cell lines, (ii) cultured fibroblasts derived from various organs, (iii) normal resting and activated mesenchymal tissues, and (iv) sarcoma and nonmesenchymal tumor tissues. These results provide a basic surface antigenic map for cultured mesenchymal cells and mesenchymal tissues and permit the classification of human sarcomas according to their antigenic phenotypes

Responses to playback of different subspecies songs in the Reed Bunting (Emberiza s. schoeniclus)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Matessi, Giuliano; Dabelsteen, Torben; Pilastro, A.

2000-01-01

Populations of Reed Buntings Emberiza schoeniclus in the western Palearctic are classified in two major subspecies groups according to morphology: northern migratory schoeniclus and Mediterranean resident intermedia. Songs of the two groups differ mainly in complexity and syllable structure......, with intermedia songs being more complex. We explored the possibilities of song as a subspecies isolating mechanism by testing if male schoeniclus Reed Buntings reacted differently to field playbacks of songs from their own subspecies group, from the foreign subspecies group and from a control species...
Pre-irradiation of tissue culture flasks leads to diminished stem and progenitor cell production in long-term bone marrow cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rooney, P.; Wright, E.G.

1993-01-01

Empty plastic tissue culture flasks were exposed to X-irradiation doses of 0.3-10.0 Gy, prior to the establishment of long-term bone marrow cultures. During the course of a 10 week culture period, all irradiated plastic flasks exhibited a dramatic decrease in the number of both haemopoietic stem cells and myeloid progenitor cells, in the non-adherent layer, when compared with controls. This decrease was not due to a decrease in the number of non-adherent cells produced. Histological examination of non-adherent cells showed an increase in mature granulocytic cells with few blast cells. Morphologically, the adherent layers of irradiated flasks demonstrated a delay in appearance or absence of fat cell production. X-irradiation of glass tissue culture flasks had no deleterious effect. (author)
Lemongrass-Incorporated Tissue Conditioner Against Candida albicans Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Amornvit, Pokpong; Srithavaj, Theerathavaj

2014-01-01

Background: Tissue conditioner is applied popularly with dental prosthesis during wound healing process but it becomes a reservoir of oral microbiota, especially Candida species after long-term usage. Several antifungal drugs have been mixed with this material to control fungal level. In this study, lemongrass essential oil was added into COE-COMFORT tissue conditioner before being determined for anti-Candida efficacy. Materials and Methods: Lemongrass (Cymbopogon citratus) essential oil was primarily determined for antifungal activity against C. albicans American type culture collection (ATCC) 10231 and MIC (minimum inhibitory concentration) value by agar disk diffusion and broth microdilution methods, respectively. COE-COMFORT tissue conditioner was prepared as recommended by the manufacturer after a fixed volume of the oil at its MIC or higher concentrations were mixed thoroughly in its liquid part. Antifungal efficacy of the tissue conditioner with/without herb was finally analyzed. Results: Lemongrass essential oil displayed potent antifungal activity against C. albicans ATCC 10231and its MIC value was 0.06% (v/v). Dissimilarly, the tissue conditioner containing the oil at MIC level did not cease the growth of the tested fungus. Both reference and clinical isolates of C. albicans were completely inhibited after exposed to the tissue conditioner containing at least 0.25% (v/v) of the oil (approximately 4-time MIC). The tissue conditioner without herb or with nystatin was employed as negative or positive control, respectively. Conclusion: COE-COMFORT tissue conditioner supplemented with lemongrass essential oil obviously demonstrated another desirable property as in vitro anti-Candida efficacy to minimize the risk of getting Candidal infection. PMID:25177638
Production of virus-free orchid Cymbidium aloifolium (L.) Sw. by various tissue culture techniques.

Science.gov (United States)

Pradhan, Shreeti; Regmi, Tripti; Ranjit, Mukunda; Pant, Bijaya

2016-10-01

Orchids are affected by many viruses resulting in poor growth, yield and quality, and an overall decline in population. Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV) is one of the common orchid viruses found in Cymbidium species but it infects different orchid genera. In this study Cymbidium aloifolium was propagated in vitro using MS medium at different strength (1.0, ½, and ¼) with or without 0.5 mg/l BAP (6-benzylaminopurine) and 0.5 mg/l NAA (Naphthalene acetic acid). To provide disease-free planting material, source plant for in vitro propagation needs to be screened for pathogenic viruses. In the present study, in vivo -grown source (mother) plants and tissue culture-derived plants of C. aloifolium were tested for CymMV virus using Double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA). All the tissue cultured plants were found to be 100% virus-free whereas the in vivo grown source plants were highly affected by CymMV virus (83.33%). The virus-free in vitro plantlets were multiplied in large scale and then acclimatized on earthen pot containing a mixture of cocopeat, litter and clay in the ratio of 3:2:1. Eighty five percent of acclimatized plantlets survived making this method an efficient mass production system for high quality virus-free C. aloifolium for commercial floriculture and germplasm preservation.
Production of virus-free orchid Cymbidium aloifolium (L. Sw. by various tissue culture techniques

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shreeti Pradhan

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Orchids are affected by many viruses resulting in poor growth, yield and quality, and an overall decline in population. Cymbidium mosaic virus (CymMV is one of the common orchid viruses found in Cymbidium species but it infects different orchid genera. In this study Cymbidium aloifolium was propagated in vitro using MS medium at different strength (1.0, ½, and ¼ with or without 0.5 mg/l BAP (6-benzylaminopurine and 0.5 mg/l NAA (Naphthalene acetic acid. To provide disease-free planting material, source plant for in vitro propagation needs to be screened for pathogenic viruses. In the present study, in vivo-grown source (mother plants and tissue culture-derived plants of C. aloifolium were tested for CymMV virus using Double antibody sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (DAS-ELISA. All the tissue cultured plants were found to be 100% virus-free whereas the in vivo grown source plants were highly affected by CymMV virus (83.33%. The virus-free in vitro plantlets were multiplied in large scale and then acclimatized on earthen pot containing a mixture of cocopeat, litter and clay in the ratio of 3:2:1. Eighty five percent of acclimatized plantlets survived making this method an efficient mass production system for high quality virus-free C. aloifolium for commercial floriculture and germplasm preservation. Keywords: Biological sciences, Plant biology
On locality of Generalized Reed-Muller codes over the broadcast erasure channel

KAUST Repository

Alloum, Amira

2016-07-28

One to Many communications are expected to be among the killer applications for the currently discussed 5G standard. The usage of coding mechanisms is impacting broadcasting standard quality, as coding is involved at several levels of the stack, and more specifically at the application layer where Rateless, LDPC, Reed Slomon codes and network coding schemes have been extensively studied, optimized and standardized in the past. Beyond reusing, extending or adapting existing application layer packet coding mechanisms based on previous schemes and designed for the foregoing LTE or other broadcasting standards; our purpose is to investigate the use of Generalized Reed Muller codes and the value of their locality property in their progressive decoding for Broadcast/Multicast communication schemes with real time video delivery. Our results are meant to bring insight into the use of locally decodable codes in Broadcasting. © 2016 IEEE.
Determination of seven bisphenol analogues in reed and Callitrichaceae by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry.

Science.gov (United States)

Lu, Libin; Yang, Yunjia; Zhang, Jing; Shao, Bing

2014-03-15

An analytical procedure was developed to simultaneously determine bisphenol S, bisphenol F, bisphenol B, bisphenol A, bisphenol AF, tetrachlorobisphenol A, and tetrabromobisphenol A in reed and Callitrichaceae. Homogenized samples were extracted with acetonitrile and purified using an ENVI™-Carb cartridge followed by an NH2 cartridge. The analytes were separated and quantified by ultra performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS). The recoveries at three fortified levels in reed and Callitrichaceae were 57-108% and 68-106%, respectively, with relative standard deviations of no more than 15% (n=6). The method limits of quantification and detection for the seven bisphenol analogues were 0.005-0.500μg/kg and 0.002-0.150μg/kg, respectively. This method was used to analyze the seven compounds in ten reed and Callitrichaceae samples collected from Zhejiang, China. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Effects of Apollo 12 lunar material on lipid levels of tobacco tissue and slash pine cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Weete, J. D.

1972-01-01

Investigations of the lipid components of pine tissues (Pinus elloitii) are discussed, emphasizing fatty acids and steroids. The response by slash pine tissue cultures to growth in contact with Apollo lunar soil, earth basalt, and Iowa soil is studied. Tissue cultures of tobacco grown for 12 weeks in contact with lunar material from Apollo 12 flight contained 21 to 35 percent more total pigment than control tissues. No differences were noted in the fresh or dry weight of the experimental and control samples.
Chemical evaluation of strawberry plants produced by tissue culturing of gamma irradiated seedlings

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Maraei, R.W.

2007-01-01

studies were conducted to evaluate the influence of gamma irradiation as a supplementary factor precedes tissue culture application on strawberry seedlings (c.v.Rosa Linda). the strawberry seedling were irradiated using 8 doses of co 60 gamma rays 50.75.100.125 ,150,250, 350 and 500 gray. tissue culture technique was applied on irradiated and unirradiated strawberry seedling. different characteristics of plantlets, plant and fruit of strawberry produced from the double treatment (irradiation followed by tissue culture) were studied as well as the early, total and exportable fruit yields. data indicated that, low radiation doses 50,75 and 100 gray increased all morphological and chemical characteristics of the plantlets, plant and fruit of strawberry, whereas radiation doses higher than 100 gray decreased them significantly. moreover 350 and gray were lethal doses. radiation dose 50 gray increased the survival percentage and the length of plantlets by 1.5% and 50% respectively more than the unirradiated treatment in all multiplication stages
Studies on the reaction in tissue culture of tomato genotypes under biotic stress

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ewa Hanus-Fajerska

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Plant regeneration in vitro from virus-infected somatic tomato (Lycopersicon sp. tissue was performed. Regeneration experiments were started after the determination of virus presence, using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, in leaves used as a source of explants. Leaf explants infected with selected strains of tomato mosaic Tobamovirus or cucumber mosaic Cucumovirus respectively, were cultured on a standarised MS agar medium to induce adventitious shoots, which were afterwards excised, rooted in vitro and cultured to plants. Explants were also screened for their ability to produce callus. Diverse effects of viral infection, ranging from stimulation to inhibition of callus formation and of morphogenesis rate, were observed. The health condition of the tissue proved to affect regeneration potential of Lycopersicon esculentum, whereas wild accesions did not react in that case so distinctly. In cultivated tomato was encountered the decline in competence to reproduce shoots adventitiously in infected tissue. There was also relationship between donor plant health condition and adventitious root formation in regenerated shoots. Experiments with short-term cultures of L. esculenum reveled also that a certain number of shoots regenerated from diseased tissue can be virus-free.
Early successional stages of reed Phragmites australis vegetations and its importance for the Bearded Reedling Panurus biarmicus in Oostvaardersplassen, The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beemster, Nico; Troost, Els; Platteeuw, Maarten

2010-01-01

A study on Bearded Reed ling Panurus biarmicus feeding habits in combination with a sample-wise breeding bird survey of the marshland zones of the Dutch wetland Oostvaardersplassen shows clear-cut spatial differences in densities and habitat use. The more mature stands of Reed Phragmites australis
Simple and high yielding method for preparing tissue specific extracellular matrix coatings for cell culture.

Science.gov (United States)

DeQuach, Jessica A; Mezzano, Valeria; Miglani, Amar; Lange, Stephan; Keller, Gordon M; Sheikh, Farah; Christman, Karen L

2010-09-27

The native extracellular matrix (ECM) consists of a highly complex, tissue-specific network of proteins and polysaccharides, which help regulate many cellular functions. Despite the complex nature of the ECM, in vitro cell-based studies traditionally assess cell behavior on single ECM component substrates, which do not adequately mimic the in vivo extracellular milieu. We present a simple approach for developing naturally derived ECM coatings for cell culture that provide important tissue-specific cues unlike traditional cell culture coatings, thereby enabling the maturation of committed C2C12 skeletal myoblast progenitors and human embryonic stem cells differentiated into cardiomyocytes. Here we show that natural muscle-specific coatings can (i) be derived from decellularized, solubilized adult porcine muscle, (ii) contain a complex mixture of ECM components including polysaccharides, (iii) adsorb onto tissue culture plastic and (iv) promote cell maturation of committed muscle progenitor and stem cells. This versatile method can create tissue-specific ECM coatings, which offer a promising platform for cell culture to more closely mimic the mature in vivo ECM microenvironment.
Culture of equine fibroblast-like synoviocytes on synthetic tissue scaffolds towards meniscal tissue engineering: a preliminary cell-seeding study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer J. Warnock

2014-04-01

Full Text Available Introduction. Tissue engineering is a new methodology for addressing meniscal injury or loss. Synovium may be an ideal source of cells for in vitro meniscal fibrocartilage formation, however, favorable in vitro culture conditions for synovium must be established in order to achieve this goal. The objective of this study was to determine cellularity, cell distribution, and extracellular matrix (ECM formation of equine fibroblast-like synoviocytes (FLS cultured on synthetic scaffolds, for potential application in synovium-based meniscal tissue engineering. Scaffolds included open-cell poly-L-lactic acid (OPLA sponges and polyglycolic acid (PGA scaffolds cultured in static and dynamic culture conditions, and PGA scaffolds coated in poly-L-lactic (PLLA in dynamic culture conditions.Materials and Methods. Equine FLS were seeded on OPLA and PGA scaffolds, and cultured in a static environment or in a rotating bioreactor for 12 days. Equine FLS were also seeded on PGA scaffolds coated in 2% or 4% PLLA and cultured in a rotating bioreactor for 14 and 21 days. Three scaffolds from each group were fixed, sectioned and stained with Masson’s Trichrome, Safranin-O, and Hematoxylin and Eosin, and cell numbers and distribution were analyzed using computer image analysis. Three PGA and OPLA scaffolds from each culture condition were also analyzed for extracellular matrix (ECM production via dimethylmethylene blue (sulfated glycosaminoglycan assay and hydroxyproline (collagen assay. PLLA coated PGA scaffolds were analyzed using double stranded DNA quantification as areflection of cellularity and confocal laser microscopy in a fluorescent cell viability assay.Results. The highest cellularity occurred in PGA constructs cultured in a rotating bioreactor, which also had a mean sulfated glycosaminoglycan content of 22.3 µg per scaffold. PGA constructs cultured in static conditions had the lowest cellularity. Cells had difficulty adhering to OPLA and the PLLA
Apollo 12 lunar material - Effects on lipid levels of tobacco tissue cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Weete, J. D.; Walkinshaw, C. H.; Laseter, J. L.

1972-01-01

Tobacco tissue cultures grown in contact with lunar material from Apollo 12, for a 12-week period, resulted in fluctuations of both the relative and absolute concentrations of endogenous sterols and fatty acids. The experimental tissues contained higher concentrations of sterols than the controls did. The ratio of campesterol to stigmasterol was greater than 1 in control tissues, but less than 1 in the experimental tissues after 3 weeks. High relative concentrations (17.1 to 22.2 per cent) of an unidentified compound or compounds were found only in control tissues that were 3 to 9 weeks of age.
Co-culture with infrapatellar fat pad differentially stimulates proteoglycan synthesis and accumulation in cartilage and meniscus tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Nishimuta, James F; Bendernagel, Monica F; Levenston, Marc E

2017-09-01

Although osteoarthritis is widely viewed as a disease of the whole joint, relatively few studies have focused on interactions among joint tissues in joint homeostasis and degeneration. In particular, few studies have examined the effects of the infrapatellar fat pad (IFP) on cartilaginous tissues. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that co-culture with healthy IFP would induce degradation of cartilage and meniscus tissues. Bovine articular cartilage, meniscus, and IFP were cultured isolated or as cartilage-fat or meniscus-fat co-cultures for up to 14 days. Conditioned media were assayed for sulfated glycosaminoglycan (sGAG) content, nitrite content, and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity, and explants were assayed for sGAG and DNA contents. Co-cultures exhibited increased cumulative sGAG release and sGAG release rates for both cartilage and meniscus, and the cartilage (but not meniscus) exhibited a substantial synergistic effect of co-culture (sGAG release in co-culture was significantly greater than the summed release from isolated cartilage and fat). Fat co-culture did not significantly alter the sGAG content of either cartilage or meniscus explants, indicating that IFP co-culture stimulated net sGAG production by cartilage. Nitrite release was increased relative to isolated tissue controls in co-cultured meniscus, but not the cartilage, with no synergistic effect of co-culture. Interestingly, MMP-2 production was decreased by co-culture for both cartilage and meniscus. This study demonstrates that healthy IFP may modulate joint homeostasis by stimulating sGAG production in cartilage. Counter to our hypothesis, healthy IFP did not promote degradation of either cartilage or meniscus tissues.
Domestically Produced TV-Drama and Cultural Commons

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

From, Unni

2005-01-01

The Chapter elaborates empirically some of the aspects and means by which drama can occasion an articulation of cultural commons. Further, it explores explanations why audiences might retain a national perspective as a dominating frame of interpretation even though universal or late-modern interp......-modern interpretation frames would be equally relevant. I argue that institutional policy and politically regulations of media in general, combined with press material and a flow of news articles, chronicles, reviews, interviews and portraits , may establish a dominating paradigm....
Distribution of phospholipase C isozymes in various rat tissues and cultured cells

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Suh, P.G.; Ryu, S.H.; Choi, W.C.; Lee, K.Y.; Rhee, S.G.

1987-01-01

Monoclonal antibodies prepared against PLC-I or PLC-II enzyme did not cross-react with the other. Using a pair of antibodies which recognizes 2 different antigenic sites on the same molecule, radioimmunoassays were developed for the quantitation of PLC-I and PLC-II in homogenates of various tissues and cultured cells, prepared by homogenization in a 2 M KCl buffer. The contents of PLC enzymes were measured in 19 rat tissues, in human platelets and in 17 cultured cells. Results indicate that the concentration of PLC-I and PLC-II is very high in brain, PLC-I is localized mainly in brain and partly in seminal vesicles, PLC-II is found in most tissues and cells. PLC-I is highly localized even in brain: 5 different neuroblastoma did not contain PLC-I while 2 glioma and 1 astrocytoma contained significant amounts
Idealized digital models for conical reed instruments, with focus on the internal pressure waveform.

Science.gov (United States)

Kergomard, J; Guillemain, P; Silva, F; Karkar, S

2016-02-01

Two models for the generation of self-oscillations of reed conical woodwinds are presented. The models use the fewest parameters (of either the resonator or the exciter), whose influence can be quickly explored. The formulation extends iterated maps obtained for lossless cylindrical pipes without reed dynamics. It uses spherical wave variables in idealized resonators, with one parameter more than for cylinders: the missing length of the cone. The mouthpiece volume equals that of the missing part of the cone, and is implemented as either a cylindrical pipe (first model) or a lumped element (second model). Only the first model adds a length parameter for the mouthpiece and leads to the solving of an implicit equation. For the second model, any shape of nonlinear characteristic can be directly considered. The complex characteristic impedance for spherical waves requires sampling times smaller than a round trip in the resonator. The convergence of the two models is shown when the length of the cylindrical mouthpiece tends to zero. The waveform is in semi-quantitative agreement with experiment. It is concluded that the oscillations of the positive episode of the mouthpiece pressure are related to the length of the missing part, not to the reed dynamics.
Glioma tissue obtained by modern ultrasonic aspiration with a simple sterile suction trap for primary cell culture and pathological evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schroeteler, Juliane; Reeker, Ralf; Suero Molina, Eric; Brokinkel, Benjamin; Holling, Markus; Grauer, Oliver M; Senner, Volker; Stummer, Walter; Ewelt, Christian

2014-01-01

Ultrasonic aspiration is widely used in the resection of brain tumors. Nevertheless, tumor tissue fragments obtained by ultrasonic aspiration are usually discarded. In this study, we demonstrate that these fragments are possible sources of material for histopathological study and tissue culture and compare their microscopic features and viability in tissue culture of cavitron ultrasonic surgical aspirator tissue fragments. Brain tumor tissue collected by ultrasonic aspiration (CUSA EXcel®; Integra Radionics Inc.) in a simple sterile suction trap during resection was processed for primary cell culture. Cell viability and immunohistological markers were measured by the WST-1 test, microscopy and immunofluorescent evaluation. Six gliomas are presented to demonstrate that these tissue fragments show good preservation of histological detail and tissue viability in culture. Utilization of this material may facilitate pathological interpretation by providing a more representative sample of tumor histology as well as an adequate and sterile biosource of material for tissue culture studies.
Microbial Biofilms and Breast Tissue Expanders

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melissa J. Karau

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We previously developed and validated a vortexing-sonication technique for detection of biofilm bacteria on the surface of explanted prosthetic joints. Herein, we evaluated this technique for diagnosis of infected breast tissue expanders and used it to assess colonization of breast tissue expanders. From April 2008 to December 2011, we studied 328 breast tissue expanders at Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA. Of seven clinically infected breast tissue expanders, six (85.7% had positive cultures, one of which grew Propionibacterium species. Fifty-two of 321 breast tissue expanders (16.2%, 95% CI, 12.3–20.7% without clinical evidence of infection also had positive cultures, 45 growing Propionibacterium species and ten coagulase-negative staphylococci. While vortexing-sonication can detect clinically infected breast tissue expanders, 16 percent of breast tissue expanders appear to be asymptomatically colonized with normal skin flora, most commonly, Propionibacterium species.

How-To-Do-It: Using Cauliflower to Demonstrate Plant Tissue Culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Haldeman, Janice H.; Ellis, Jane P.

1988-01-01

Presents techniques used for disinfestation of plant material, preparation of equipment and media, and laboratory procedures for tissue culture using cauliflower. Details methods for preparing solutions and plant propagation by cloning. (CW)
Invertebrate populations in miscanthus (Miscanthusxgiganteus) and reed canary-grass (Phalaris arundinacea) fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Semere, T.; Slater, F.M. [Llysdinam Field Centre, School of Biosciences, Cardiff University, Newbridge-on-Wye, Llandrindod Wells, Powys, LD1 6NB (United Kingdom)

2007-01-15

Monitoring of invertebrates at four field sites in Herefordshire, England, growing miscanthus and reed canary-grass was carried out in 2002, 2003 and 2004 to investigate the ecological impact of these crops on ground beetles, butterflies and arboreal invertebrates. Ground beetles were sampled by pitfall trapping; and arboreal invertebrates by sweep netting and stem beating. The Centre for Ecology and Hydrology's Butterflies Monitoring Scheme methodology was used to record butterflies. The effects of the biomass crops on invertebrates were indirect, through the use of weeds as food resources and habitat. The greater diversity of weed flora within miscanthus fields than within reed canary-grass fields had a greater positive effect on invertebrates. Ground beetles, butterflies and arboreal invertebrates were more abundant and diverse in the most floristically diverse miscanthus fields. The difference in crop architecture and development between miscanthus and reed canary-grass was reflected in their differences in crop height and ground cover early on in the season. However, most of the difference in arthropod abundance between the two crops was attributed to the difference in the agronomic practice of growing the crops such as plant density, and the effect of this on weed growth. Since perennial rhizomatous grasses require a single initial planting and related tillage, and also no major chemical inputs; and because the crops are harvested in the spring and the land is not disturbed by cultivation every year, the fields were used as over-wintering sites for invertebrates suggesting immediate benefits to biodiversity. (author)
Total mercury and mercury species in birds and fish in an aquatic ecosystem in the Czech Republic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Houserova, Pavlina [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, Zemedelska 1, CZ-613 00 Brno (Czech Republic); Kuban, Vlastimil [Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, Zemedelska 1, CZ-613 00 Brno (Czech Republic)]. E-mail: kuban@mendelu.cz; Kracmar, Stanislav [Department of Animal Nutrition, Mendel University of Agriculture and Forestry, Zemedelska 1, CZ-613 00 Brno (Czech Republic); Sitko, Jilji [Commenius Museum, Moravian Ornithological Station, Horni nam. 1, Prerov CZ-751 52 (Czech Republic)

2007-01-15

Total mercury and mercury species (methylmercury-MeHg, inorganic mercury - Hg{sup 2+}) were determined in the aquatic ecosystem Zahlinice (Czech Republic). Four tissues (muscle, intestines, liver and kidney) of three bird species - cormorant, great crested grebe and Eurasian buzzard, muscle tissues of common carp, grass carp, northern pike, goldfish, common tench, perch and rudd, aquatic plants (reed mace and common reed), sediments and water were analysed. Relative contents of MeHg (of total Hg) were in the range from 71% to 94% and from 15% up to 62% in the muscle and intestines and in liver, respectively, for all birds. Statistically significant differences were found between contents of MeHg in liver tissues of young and adult cormorant populations (F {sub 4.6} = 56.71, P < 10{sup -5}). Relative contents of MeHg in muscle tissues of fishes were in the range from 65.1% to 87.9% of total Hg. - The distribution of the mercury species among the organs of the individual birds is discussed.
Ishmael Reed and the Politics of Aesthetics, or Shake Hands and Come Out Conjuring

Science.gov (United States)

Fontenot, Chester J.

1978-01-01

Discusses the ways in which Ishmael Reed uses black American folklore, black American language, traditional African religion, and African myths as poetic materials from which he develops artistic forms. (GW)
Long-term culture of human liver tissue with advanced hepatic functions.

Science.gov (United States)

Ng, Soon Seng; Xiong, Anming; Nguyen, Khanh; Masek, Marilyn; No, Da Yoon; Elazar, Menashe; Shteyer, Eyal; Winters, Mark A; Voedisch, Amy; Shaw, Kate; Rashid, Sheikh Tamir; Frank, Curtis W; Cho, Nam Joon; Glenn, Jeffrey S

2017-06-02

A major challenge for studying authentic liver cell function and cell replacement therapies is that primary human hepatocytes rapidly lose their advanced function in conventional, 2-dimensional culture platforms. Here, we describe the fabrication of 3-dimensional hexagonally arrayed lobular human liver tissues inspired by the liver's natural architecture. The engineered liver tissues exhibit key features of advanced differentiation, such as human-specific cytochrome P450-mediated drug metabolism and the ability to support efficient infection with patient-derived inoculums of hepatitis C virus. The tissues permit the assessment of antiviral agents and maintain their advanced functions for over 5 months in culture. This extended functionality enabled the prediction of a fatal human-specific hepatotoxicity caused by fialuridine (FIAU), which had escaped detection by preclinical models and short-term clinical studies. The results obtained with the engineered human liver tissue in this study provide proof-of-concept determination of human-specific drug metabolism, demonstrate the ability to support infection with human hepatitis virus derived from an infected patient and subsequent antiviral drug testing against said infection, and facilitate detection of human-specific drug hepatotoxicity associated with late-onset liver failure. Looking forward, the scalability and biocompatibility of the scaffold are also ideal for future cell replacement therapeutic strategies.
Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics in Molecular Diagnostics: Discovery of Cancer Biomarkers Using Tissue Culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Debasish Paul

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Accurate diagnosis and proper monitoring of cancer patients remain a key obstacle for successful cancer treatment and prevention. Therein comes the need for biomarker discovery, which is crucial to the current oncological and other clinical practices having the potential to impact the diagnosis and prognosis. In fact, most of the biomarkers have been discovered utilizing the proteomics-based approaches. Although high-throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches like SILAC, 2D-DIGE, and iTRAQ are filling up the pitfalls of the conventional techniques, still serum proteomics importunately poses hurdle in overcoming a wide range of protein concentrations, and also the availability of patient tissue samples is a limitation for the biomarker discovery. Thus, researchers have looked for alternatives, and profiling of candidate biomarkers through tissue culture of tumor cell lines comes up as a promising option. It is a rich source of tumor cell-derived proteins, thereby, representing a wide array of potential biomarkers. Interestingly, most of the clinical biomarkers in use today (CA 125, CA 15.3, CA 19.9, and PSA were discovered through tissue culture-based system and tissue extracts. This paper tries to emphasize the tissue culture-based discovery of candidate biomarkers through various mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches.
Mass Spectrometry-Based Proteomics in Molecular Diagnostics: Discovery of Cancer Biomarkers Using Tissue Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Debasish; Kumar, Avinash; Gajbhiye, Akshada; Santra, Manas K.; Srikanth, Rapole

2013-01-01

Accurate diagnosis and proper monitoring of cancer patients remain a key obstacle for successful cancer treatment and prevention. Therein comes the need for biomarker discovery, which is crucial to the current oncological and other clinical practices having the potential to impact the diagnosis and prognosis. In fact, most of the biomarkers have been discovered utilizing the proteomics-based approaches. Although high-throughput mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches like SILAC, 2D-DIGE, and iTRAQ are filling up the pitfalls of the conventional techniques, still serum proteomics importunately poses hurdle in overcoming a wide range of protein concentrations, and also the availability of patient tissue samples is a limitation for the biomarker discovery. Thus, researchers have looked for alternatives, and profiling of candidate biomarkers through tissue culture of tumor cell lines comes up as a promising option. It is a rich source of tumor cell-derived proteins, thereby, representing a wide array of potential biomarkers. Interestingly, most of the clinical biomarkers in use today (CA 125, CA 15.3, CA 19.9, and PSA) were discovered through tissue culture-based system and tissue extracts. This paper tries to emphasize the tissue culture-based discovery of candidate biomarkers through various mass spectrometry-based proteomic approaches. PMID:23586059
General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit Based High-Rate Rice Decompression and Reed-Solomon Decoding

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Loughry, Thomas A. [Sandia National Lab. (SNL-NM), Albuquerque, NM (United States)

2015-02-01

As the volume of data acquired by space-based sensors increases, mission data compression/decompression and forward error correction code processing performance must likewise scale. This competency development effort was explored using the General Purpose Graphics Processing Unit (GPGPU) to accomplish high-rate Rice Decompression and high-rate Reed-Solomon (RS) decoding at the satellite mission ground station. Each algorithm was implemented and benchmarked on a single GPGPU. Distributed processing across one to four GPGPUs was also investigated. The results show that the GPGPU has considerable potential for performing satellite communication Data Signal Processing, with three times or better performance improvements and up to ten times reduction in cost over custom hardware, at least in the case of Rice Decompression and Reed-Solomon Decoding.
Three-dimensional spheroid culture targeting versatile tissue bioassays using a PDMS-based hanging drop array.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuo, Ching-Te; Wang, Jong-Yueh; Lin, Yu-Fen; Wo, Andrew M; Chen, Benjamin P C; Lee, Hsinyu

2017-06-29

Biomaterial-based tissue culture platforms have emerged as useful tools to mimic in vivo physiological microenvironments in experimental cell biology and clinical studies. We describe herein a three-dimensional (3D) tissue culture platform using a polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-based hanging drop array (PDMS-HDA) methodology. Multicellular spheroids can be achieved within 24 h and further boosted by incorporating collagen fibrils in PDMS-HDA. In addition, the spheroids generated from different human tumor cells exhibited distinct sensitivities toward drug chemotherapeutic agents and radiation as compared with two-dimensional (2D) cultures that often lack in vivo-like biological insights. We also demonstrated that multicellular spheroids may enable key hallmarks of tissue-based bioassays, including drug screening, tumor dissemination, cell co-culture, and tumor invasion. Taken together, these results offer new opportunities not only to achieve the active control of 3D multicellular spheroids on demand, but also to establish a rapid and cost-effective platform to study anti-cancer therapeutics and tumor microenvironments.
Cryptic species of sharp-nosed reed frogs in the Hyperolius nasutus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The sharp-nosed reed frog is widespread in Africa. Although currently recognized as one species, suggestions have been made that more than one species might exist. We analysed 237 calls of 69 males from 19 localities in the western to southern parts of Africa. Calls fall into three groups, which we recognize as cryptic ...
Parallel Subspace Subcodes of Reed-Solomon Codes for Magnetic Recording Channels

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Han

2010-01-01

Read channel architectures based on a single low-density parity-check (LDPC) code are being considered for the next generation of hard disk drives. However, LDPC-only solutions suffer from the error floor problem, which may compromise reliability, if not handled properly. Concatenated architectures using an LDPC code plus a Reed-Solomon (RS) code…
A Method to Preclude Moisture Condensation in Plated Tissue Cultures

Science.gov (United States)

Alex M. Diner

1992-01-01

Excessive condensate normally accumulates in in vitro-illuminated petri dishes containing plant tissue cultures, causing avariety of problems. A dark-colored rubber net-mesh placed over the petri dishes prevented such condensation, even when charcoal-supplemented media are used under high light intensity in a growth chamber.
Cost-effective nutrient sources for tissue culture of cassava ( Manihot ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Application of tissue culture technology is constrained by high costs making seedlings unaffordable. The objective of this study was to evaluate the possibility of using locally available fertilizers as alternative nutrient sources for cassava micropropagation. A Low Cost Medium (LCM) whereby the conventional sources of four ...
Optimizing reed canary grass cropping to increase profitability. Field studies of plant varieties, intercropping with legumes and barley, fertilization and soil compaction; Optimering av odlingsaatgaerder i roerflen foer oekad loensamhet. Faeltstudier av sorter, samodling med baljvaexter och korn, goedsling samt markpackning

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palmborg, Cecilia; Lindvall, Eva (Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Umeaa (Sweden). Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden)

2010-05-15

Reed Canary Grass is a promising crop for biofuel production. For reed canary grass the first year is an establishment year when the small biomass is not harvested. The second year the biomass is usually cut in late autumn but the harvest (removal of the biomass from the field) is delayed until spring. This technique has resulted in lower costs and increases in fuel quality through lower ash contents, including lower contents of chlorine, sodium and potassium. However costs for production are still high, especially establishment costs, fertilization costs and harvesting costs. The aim of this project was to test ways to cut costs per MWh by increased yields, and decreased establishment costs. The methods used have been variety trials to develop more productive plant material, intercropping with nitrogen fixing legumes to reduce the nitrogen demand of the crop, fertilization with waste material (sewage sludge, reed canary grass ash or poultry manure) and harvest at frozen ground as a strategy to reduce soil compaction and harvest damages on the crop. Reed canary grass grown as a fuel has so far been grown as a mono culture. However, when it is been grown for forage, or as a biogas crop, intercropping with legumes has been successful in some studies. In addition to NPK-fertilizers sewage sludge, ash from combustion of reed canary grass and poultry manure was used. An economic calculation showed that the establishment costs (the first two growing seasons) can be lowered by intercropping with red clover. However it is also involves more risks, related to weeds, and cannot be recommended on fallow soil with a large seed bank of weeds. A ten year old reed canary grass ley was used for the experiment. Two 25 m wide strips were harvested with a mower on November 19 2008 when the top soil was frozen. The harvested material was chopped and removed from the field the following day. The following spring, May 19 2009, the remaining reed canary grass on the field was cut with a
Effects of bleaching wastewater irrigation on soil quality of constructed reed wetlands

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Cheng Ding

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Constructed reed wetland microcosms (CRWs in a lab of east China have been irrigated with bleaching wastewater per month for a reed growth season. The soil physicochemical properties, enzyme activities (i.e. urease, invertase, polyphenol oxidase, alkaline phosphatase and cellulase and soil microbial diversity were assayed before and after the exposure experiment. Compared to the river water irrigated controls (CKs, bleaching wastewater application has no marked influence on soil pH, but significantly increased soil Na+, total halogen and absorbable organic halogen (AOX contents, which induced the increasing of soil electrical conductivity. Furthermore, soil enzyme activities displayed significant variation (except for polyphenol oxidase. Bleaching wastewater irrigation decreased Sorenson’s pairwise similarity coefficient (Cs, which indicated the changes of the structure of bacterial and fungal communities. However, only the diversity of bacterial community was inhibited and has no effect on the diversity of fungal community, as evidenced by the calculated Shannon–Wiener index (H.
The effect of plant growth regulators on optimization of tissue culture ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

USER

2010-04-05

Apr 5, 2010 ... ISSN 1684–5315 © 2010 Academic Journals ... tissue culture system in Malaysian upland rice ... Scientists believe that using new cultivars which have potential ..... providing the financial support and to Firouzeh Ashjazadeh ...
Anaerobic Cultures from Preserved Tissues of Baby Mammoth

Science.gov (United States)

Pikuta, Elena V.; Hoover, Richard B.; Fisher, Daniel

2011-01-01

Microbiological analysis of several cold-preserved tissue samples from the Siberian baby mammoth known as Lyuba revealed a number of culturable bacterial strains that were grown on anaerobic media at 4 C. Lactic acid produced by LAB (lactic acid bacteria) group, usually by members of the genera Carnobacterium and Lactosphera, appears to be a wonderful preservative that prevents other bacteria from over-dominating a system. Permafrost and lactic acid preserved the body of this one-month old baby mammoth and kept it in exceptionally good condition, resulting in this mammoth being the most complete such specimen ever recovered. The diversity of novel anaerobic isolates was expressed on morphological, physiological and phylogenetic levels. Here we discuss the specifics of the isolation of new strains, differentiation from trivial contamination, and preliminary results for the characterization of cultures.
The gene expression profile of non-cultured, highly purified human adipose tissue pericytes: Transcriptomic evidence that pericytes are stem cells in human adipose tissue

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Silva Meirelles, Lindolfo da, E-mail: lindolfomeirelles@gmail.com [Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CEPID/FAPESP), Regional Center for Hemotherapy of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Rua Tenente Catão Roxo 2501, 14051-140 Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brazil); Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering, PPGBioSaúde, Lutheran University of Brazil, Av. Farroupilha 8001, 92425-900 Canoas, RS (Brazil); Deus Wagatsuma, Virgínia Mara de; Malta, Tathiane Maistro; Bonini Palma, Patrícia Viana [Center for Cell-Based Therapy (CEPID/FAPESP), Regional Center for Hemotherapy of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Rua Tenente Catão Roxo 2501, 14051-140 Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brazil); Araújo, Amélia Goes; Panepucci, Rodrigo Alexandre [Laboratory of Large-Scale Functional Biology (LLSFBio), Regional Center for Hemotherapy of Ribeirão Preto, University of São Paulo, Rua Tenente Catão Roxo 2501, 14051-140 Ribeirão Preto, SP (Brazil); and others

2016-12-10

Pericytes (PCs) are a subset of perivascular cells that can give rise to mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) when culture-expanded, and are postulated to give rise to MSC-like cells during tissue repair in vivo. PCs have been suggested to behave as stem cells (SCs) in situ in animal models, although evidence for this role in humans is lacking. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomes of highly purified, non-cultured adipose tissue (AT)-derived PCs (ATPCs) to detect gene expression changes that occur as they acquire MSC characteristics in vitro, and evaluated the hypothesis that human ATPCs exhibit a gene expression profile compatible with an AT SC phenotype. The results showed ATPCs are non-proliferative and express genes characteristic not only of PCs, but also of AT stem/progenitor cells. Additional analyses defined a gene expression signature for ATPCs, and revealed putative novel ATPC markers. Almost all AT stem/progenitor cell genes differentially expressed by ATPCs were not expressed by ATMSCs or culture-expanded ATPCs. Genes expressed by ATMSCs but not by ATPCs were also identified. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that PCs are SCs in vascularized tissues, highlight gene expression changes they undergo as they assume an MSC phenotype, and provide new insights into PC biology. - Highlights: • Non-cultured adipose tissue-derived human pericytes (ncATPCs) exhibit a distinctive gene expression signature. • ncATPCs express key adipose tissue stem cell genes previously described in vivo in mice. • ncATPCs express message for anti-proliferative and antiangiogenic molecules. • Most ncATPC-specific transcripts are absent in culture-expanded pericytes or ATMSCs • Gene expression changes ncATPCs undergo as they acquire a cultured ATMSC phenotype are pointed out.
The gene expression profile of non-cultured, highly purified human adipose tissue pericytes: Transcriptomic evidence that pericytes are stem cells in human adipose tissue

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Silva Meirelles, Lindolfo da; Deus Wagatsuma, Virgínia Mara de; Malta, Tathiane Maistro; Bonini Palma, Patrícia Viana; Araújo, Amélia Goes; Panepucci, Rodrigo Alexandre

2016-01-01

Pericytes (PCs) are a subset of perivascular cells that can give rise to mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) when culture-expanded, and are postulated to give rise to MSC-like cells during tissue repair in vivo. PCs have been suggested to behave as stem cells (SCs) in situ in animal models, although evidence for this role in humans is lacking. Here, we analyzed the transcriptomes of highly purified, non-cultured adipose tissue (AT)-derived PCs (ATPCs) to detect gene expression changes that occur as they acquire MSC characteristics in vitro, and evaluated the hypothesis that human ATPCs exhibit a gene expression profile compatible with an AT SC phenotype. The results showed ATPCs are non-proliferative and express genes characteristic not only of PCs, but also of AT stem/progenitor cells. Additional analyses defined a gene expression signature for ATPCs, and revealed putative novel ATPC markers. Almost all AT stem/progenitor cell genes differentially expressed by ATPCs were not expressed by ATMSCs or culture-expanded ATPCs. Genes expressed by ATMSCs but not by ATPCs were also identified. These findings strengthen the hypothesis that PCs are SCs in vascularized tissues, highlight gene expression changes they undergo as they assume an MSC phenotype, and provide new insights into PC biology. - Highlights: • Non-cultured adipose tissue-derived human pericytes (ncATPCs) exhibit a distinctive gene expression signature. • ncATPCs express key adipose tissue stem cell genes previously described in vivo in mice. • ncATPCs express message for anti-proliferative and antiangiogenic molecules. • Most ncATPC-specific transcripts are absent in culture-expanded pericytes or ATMSCs • Gene expression changes ncATPCs undergo as they acquire a cultured ATMSC phenotype are pointed out.
Gathering Stones: The Problems of Modern Cultural and Activity Research

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Reed M.,

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Cultural-Historical Psychology 2017. Vol. 13, no. 1, 4–22 doi:10.17759/chp.2017130101 ISSN: 1816-5435 / 2224-8935 (online Gathering Stones: The Problems of Modern Cultural and Activity Research 28 Reed M., Ph.D., Senior Lecturer in Education, University of Bristol, Graduate School of Education, Bristol, Great Britain , Malcolm.Reed@bristol.ac.uk Download PDF-fulltext (306 kbFull Text in Russian (PDF, 306 kbPrintRUIn Russian Abstract This paper explores the verbal image of ‘gathering stones’ in order to appreciate the continuing relevance of Vygotsky to the tradition of inquiry that has been inspired by his example and his work. It considers how our tradition is built on the ancient and critical activity of problematization. The meaning and inner value of tradition is explored in relation to problems we address now and have addressed historically, in particular in relation to the problem of an ascendant version of enculturation. The argument ends with a reflection on the difficulties we still face in addressing educational needs.

Dilute oxalic acid pretreatment for biorefining giant reed (Arundo donax L.)

Science.gov (United States)

Danilo Scordia; Salvatore L. Cosentino; Jae-Won Lee; Thomas W. Jeffries

2011-01-01

Biomass pretreatment is essential to overcome recalcitrance of lignocellulose for ethanol production. In the present study we pretreated giant reed (Arundo donax L.), a perennial, rhizomatous lignocellulosic grass with dilute oxalic acid. The effects of temperature (170-190 ºC), acid loading (2-10% w/w) and reaction time (15-40 min) were handled as a single...
In vitro differentiation of rat spermatogonia into round spermatids in tissue culture.

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Reda, A; Hou, M; Winton, T R; Chapin, R E; Söder, O; Stukenborg, J-B

2016-09-01

Do the organ culture conditions, previously defined for in vitro murine male germ cell differentiation, also result in differentiation of rat spermatogonia into post-meiotic germ cells exhibiting specific markers for haploid germ cells? We demonstrated the differentiation of rat spermatogonia into post-meiotic cells in vitro, with emphasis on exhibiting, protein markers described for round spermatids. Full spermatogenesis in vitro from immature germ cells using an organ culture technique in mice was first reported 5 years ago. However, no studies reporting the differentiation of rat spermatogonia into post-meiotic germ cells exhibiting the characteristic protein expression profile or into functional sperm have been reported. Organ culture of testicular fragments of 5 days postpartum (dpp) neonatal rats was performed for up to 52 days. Evaluation of microscopic morphology, testosterone levels, mRNA and protein expression as measured by RT-qPCR and immunostaining were conducted to monitor germ cell differentiation in vitro. Potential effects of melatonin, Glutamax® medium, retinoic acid and the presence of epidydimal fat tissue on the spermatogenic process were evaluated. A minimum of three biological replicates were performed for all experiments presented in this study. One-way ANOVA, ANOVA on ranks and student's t-test were applied to perform the statistical analysis. Male germ cells, present in testicular tissue pieces grown from 5 dpp rats, exhibited positive protein expression for Acrosin and Crem (cAMP (cyclic adenosine mono phosphate) response element modulator) after 52 days of culture in vitro. Intra-testicular testosterone production could be observed after 3 days of culture, while when epididymal fat tissue was added, spontaneous contractility of cultured seminiferous tubules could be observed after 21 days. However, no supportive effect of the supplementation with any factor or the co-culturing with epididymal fat tissue on germ cell differentiation in
Tissue-Specific Fatty Acids Response to Different Diets in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio L.)

Science.gov (United States)

Böhm, Markus; Schultz, Sebastian; Koussoroplis, Apostolos-Manuel; Kainz, Martin J.

2014-01-01

Fish depend on dietary fatty acids (FA) to support their physiological condition and health. Exploring the FA distribution in common carp (Cyprinus carpio), one of the world's most consumed freshwater fish, is important to understand how and where FA of different sources are allocated. We investigated diet effects on the composition of polar and neutral lipid fatty acids (PLFA and NLFA, respectively) in eight different tissues (dorsal and ventral muscle, heart, kidney, intestine, eyes, liver and adipose tissue) of common carp. Two-year old carp were exposed to three diet sources (i.e., zooplankton, zooplankton plus supplementary feeds containing vegetable, VO, or fish oil, FO) with different FA composition. The PLFA and NLFA response was clearly tissue-specific after 210 days of feeding on different diets. PLFA were generally rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated FA and only marginally influenced by dietary FA, whereas the NLFA composition strongly reflected dietary FA profiles. However, the NLFA composition in carp tissues varied considerably at low NLFA mass ratios, suggesting that carp is able to regulate the NLFA composition and thus FA quality in its tissues when NLFA contents are low. Finally, this study shows that FO were 3X more retained than VO as NLFA particularly in muscle tissues, indicating that higher nutritional quality feeds are selectively allocated into tissues and thus available for human consumption. PMID:24733499
Tissue-specific fatty acids response to different diets in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Böhm, Markus; Schultz, Sebastian; Koussoroplis, Apostolos-Manuel; Kainz, Martin J

2014-01-01

Fish depend on dietary fatty acids (FA) to support their physiological condition and health. Exploring the FA distribution in common carp (Cyprinus carpio), one of the world's most consumed freshwater fish, is important to understand how and where FA of different sources are allocated. We investigated diet effects on the composition of polar and neutral lipid fatty acids (PLFA and NLFA, respectively) in eight different tissues (dorsal and ventral muscle, heart, kidney, intestine, eyes, liver and adipose tissue) of common carp. Two-year old carp were exposed to three diet sources (i.e., zooplankton, zooplankton plus supplementary feeds containing vegetable, VO, or fish oil, FO) with different FA composition. The PLFA and NLFA response was clearly tissue-specific after 210 days of feeding on different diets. PLFA were generally rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated FA and only marginally influenced by dietary FA, whereas the NLFA composition strongly reflected dietary FA profiles. However, the NLFA composition in carp tissues varied considerably at low NLFA mass ratios, suggesting that carp is able to regulate the NLFA composition and thus FA quality in its tissues when NLFA contents are low. Finally, this study shows that FO were 3X more retained than VO as NLFA particularly in muscle tissues, indicating that higher nutritional quality feeds are selectively allocated into tissues and thus available for human consumption.
Tissue-specific fatty acids response to different diets in common carp (Cyprinus carpio L..

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Markus Böhm

Full Text Available Fish depend on dietary fatty acids (FA to support their physiological condition and health. Exploring the FA distribution in common carp (Cyprinus carpio, one of the world's most consumed freshwater fish, is important to understand how and where FA of different sources are allocated. We investigated diet effects on the composition of polar and neutral lipid fatty acids (PLFA and NLFA, respectively in eight different tissues (dorsal and ventral muscle, heart, kidney, intestine, eyes, liver and adipose tissue of common carp. Two-year old carp were exposed to three diet sources (i.e., zooplankton, zooplankton plus supplementary feeds containing vegetable, VO, or fish oil, FO with different FA composition. The PLFA and NLFA response was clearly tissue-specific after 210 days of feeding on different diets. PLFA were generally rich in omega-3 polyunsaturated FA and only marginally influenced by dietary FA, whereas the NLFA composition strongly reflected dietary FA profiles. However, the NLFA composition in carp tissues varied considerably at low NLFA mass ratios, suggesting that carp is able to regulate the NLFA composition and thus FA quality in its tissues when NLFA contents are low. Finally, this study shows that FO were 3X more retained than VO as NLFA particularly in muscle tissues, indicating that higher nutritional quality feeds are selectively allocated into tissues and thus available for human consumption.
Use of gel zymography to examine matrix metalloproteinase (gelatinase) expression in brain tissue or in primary glial cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Frankowski, Harald; Gu, Yu-Huan; Heo, Ji Hoe; Milner, Richard; Del Zoppo, Gregory J

2012-01-01

Glia synthesize, package, and secrete several species of matrix proteases, including the gelatinases (pro-)MMP-2 and (pro-)MMP-9. In appropriate settings (e.g., experimental ischemia), these MMPs can be assayed from cerebral tissues or from astrocytes and microglia in culture by enzymatic substrate-dependent assays and by gelatin-based zymography. We describe the methodologies for the sensitive quantitative development of the inactive and active forms of both MMP-2 and MMP-9 from tissues and cells, by means of lysis of the collagen substrate in collagen-impregnated gel electropheresis by the zymogen and active gelatinases. These methodologies are a refinement of those used commonly, with instructions to increase sensitivity. Serious and often overlooked issues regarding sources of sample contamination and elements confounding the MMP band development and their interpretation are discussed.
Withania somnifera: Advances and Implementation of Molecular and Tissue Culture Techniques to Enhance Its Application

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Vibha Pandey

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Withania somnifera, commonly known as Ashwagandha an important medicinal plant largely used in Ayurvedic and indigenous medicine for over 3,000 years. Being a medicinal plant, dried powder, crude extract as well as purified metabolies of the plant has shown promising therapeutic properties. Withanolides are the principal metabolites, responsible for the medicinal properties of the plant. Availability and amount of particular withanolides differ with tissue type and chemotype and its importance leads to identification characterization of several genes/ enzymes related to withanolide biosynthetic pathway. The modulation in withanolides can be achieved by controlling the environmental conditions like, different tissue culture techniques, altered media compositions, use of elicitors, etc. Among all the in vitro techniques, hairy root culture proved its importance at industrial scale, which also gets benefits due to more accumulation (amount and number of withanolides in roots tissues of W. somnifera. Use of media compostion and elicitors further enhances the amount of withanolides in hairy roots. Another important modern day technique used for accumulation of desired secondary metabolites is modulating the gene expression by altering environmental conditions (use of different media composition, elicitors, etc. or through genetic enginnering. Knowing the significance of the gene and the key enzymatic step of the pathway, modulation in withanolide contents can be achieved upto required amount in therapeutic industry. To accomplish maximum productivity through genetic enginnering different means of Withania transformation methods have been developed to obtain maximum transformation efficiency. These standardized transformation procedues have been used to overexpress/silence desired gene in W. somnifera to understand the outcome and succeed with enhanced metabolic production for the ultimate benefit of human race.
Past and Present Resource Disputes in the South China Sea: The Case of Reed Bank

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Micah S. Muscolino

2013-09-01

Full Text Available In 2012, tensions flared between China and the Philippines over plans to drill for oil in the Reed Bank, a disputed shoal in the South China Sea, rekindling fears about the possibility of military conflict over the area’s energy resources. This article shows that international controversy centering on the Reed Bank’s hydrocarbon reserves initially emerged during the oil crisis of the 1970s, when the pursuit of energy resources transformed the islets into a hotly contested area. As in recent years, oil exploration by multinational corporations in conjunction with the Philippines catalyzed international disputes. Vigorous protests from China and other nations that lay claim to territories in the South China Sea prompted the Philippines to assert its own jurisdictional claims. The territorial dispute pushed claimants to the brink of military confrontation in the 1970s, yet armed conflict failed to materialize. By examining the initial round of tensions surrounding oil exploration at Reed Bank, this article situates the current international competition for the South China Sea’s energy resources in historical perspective. Analyzing past disputes and their ultimate resolution offers insights into the dynamics of present tensions, while making it possible to critically engage with arguments predicting future “resource wars” in the South China Sea.
[Effective productions of plant secondary metabolites having antitumor activity by plant cell and tissue cultures].

Science.gov (United States)

Taniguchi, Shoko

2005-06-01

Methods for the effective production of plant secondary metabolites with antitumor activity using plant cell and tissue cultures were developed. The factors in tannin productivity were investigated using culture strains producing different types of hydrolyzable tannins, i.e., gallotannins (mixture of galloylglucoses), ellagi-, and dehydroellagitannins. Production of ellagi- and dehydroellagitannins was affected by the concentrations and ratio of nitrogen sources in the medium. The formation of oligomeric ellagitannins in shoots of Oenothera tetraptera was correlated with the differentiation of tissues. Cultured cells of Eriobotrya japonica producing ursane- and oleanane-type triterpenes with antitumor activities were also established.
Giant reed (Arundo donax L. for biogas production: land use saving and nitrogen utilisation efficiency compared with arable crops

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Federico Dragoni

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Aiming to improve the sustainability of biogas supply chains, the research for alternative feedstocks is a key issue and giant reed (Arundo donax L. is a promising no-food crop to be used in anaerobic digestion. In fact, giant reed is a perennial species characterised by low nutrient requirements and is able to provide promising biogas yields. Its suitability for anaerobic digestion is influenced by harvest time, since plant characteristics vary noticeably along the season. Moreover, ensiling is a storage technique that can assure a good preservation of the biomass over time, but also influence the methane yields. Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the suitability for biogas production of giant reed silage, according to different cutting regimes, and to evaluate the efficiency in saving land and nitrogen for fuelling biogas plants, in comparison with maize and two sorghum varieties. Methane yields per hectare (Nm3 CH4 ha–1 were determined by multiplying the biochemical methane potential of each substrate by the aboveground biomass of the corresponding crop. The land use coefficient (LU, namely the land needed to fuel one kW power (ha kWe–1, was calculated from the estimated methane yields per hectare. Finally, nitrogen utilisation efficiency (NUtE, which is the ratio between the estimated methane yield and the nitrogen uptake per hectare (Nm3 CH4 kgN–1, was determined for each crop species and according to the harvest time and frequency of giant reed. Overall, a good suitability for ensiling was observed in giant reed. When harvested in September, the crop yielded about 9900 Nm3 CH4 ha–1, while in double harvest systems biomethane was about 12,000 Nm3 CH4 ha–1, +35% and +70% than maize and sorghum respectively. Moreover, giant reed under double harvest management was the most land-conservative option, as LU was about 0.22 ha kWe–1, while in annual crops it was about 0.35 ha kWe–1. The higher NUtE was observed in single
Tissue culture-induced alteration in cytosine methylation in new rice ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Zizania DNA introgression could induce a large number of genetic and epigenetic changes of the new rice recombinant inbred lines genome. In this present study, we employed inter-simple sequence repeat (ISSR) to further study the genetic and epigenetic changes that are induced by tissue culture. Changes induced by ...
Cells in human postmortem brain tissue slices remain alive for several weeks in culture

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verwer, Ronald W. H.; Hermens, Wim T. J. M. C.; Dijkhuizen, PaulaA; ter Brake, Olivier; Baker, Robert E.; Salehi, Ahmad; Sluiter, Arja A.; Kok, Marloes J. M.; Muller, Linda J.; Verhaagen, Joost; Swaab, Dick F.

2002-01-01

Animal models for human neurological and psychiatric diseases only partially mimic the underlying pathogenic processes. Therefore, we investigated the potential use of cultured postmortem brain tissue from adult neurological patients and controls. The present study shows that human brain tissue
Citrus tissue culture employing vegetative explants.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaturvedi, H C; Singh, S K; Sharma, A K; Agnihotri, S

2001-11-01

Citrus being a number one fruit of the world due to its high nutritional value, huge production of fruits and fruit products, the citrus industry may be considered a major fruit industry. Though citrus orchard area in India is comparable to USA, the produce is far less, while its export is nil. Biotechnology has played an outstanding role in boosting the citrus industry, e.g., in Spain, which is now the biggest exporter of citrus fruit with the application of micrografting. Amongst the fruit trees, perhaps the maximum tissue culture research has been done in citrus during the past four decades, however, the results of practical value are meagre. The shortfalls in citrus tissue culture research and some advancements made in this direction along with bright prospects are highlighted, restricting the review to vegetative explants only. Whilst utilization of nucellar embryogenesis is limited to rootstocks, the other aspects, like, regeneration and proliferation of shoot meristems measuring 200 microm in length--a global breakthrough--of two commercially important scion species, Citrus aurantifolia and C. sinensis and an important rootstock, C. limonia, improvement of micrografting technique, cloning of the same two scion species as well as some Indian rootstock species, employing nodal stem segments of mature trees, of immense practical value have been elaborated. A rare phenomenon of shift in the morphogenetic pattern of differentiation from shoot bud differentiation to embryoid formation occurred during the long-term culture of stem callus of C. grandis. Stem callus-regenerated plants of C. aurantifolia, C. sinensis and C. grandis showed variation in their ploidy levels and a somaclonal variant of C. sinensis, which produced seedless fruits was isolated. Tailoring of rooting in microshoots to a tap root-like system by changing the inorganic salt composition of the rooting medium, resulting in 100% transplant success, and germplasm preservation through normal growth
A transmissão cultural assediada: metamorfoses da cultura comum na escola Cultural transmission under harassment: avatars of common culture in school

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Inés Dussel

2009-08-01

Full Text Available Neste artigo, gostaríamos de propor algumas reflexões em torno do que se percebe como crise da transmissão escolar. Mais especificamente, interessa-nos o que decorre da discussão sobre a cultura comum que a escola deve transmitir, tendo em vista que essa instituição está voltada para a formação do núcleo de referências comuns que permite ao aluno se integrar à sociedade nacional e se converter em cidadão. Hoje, tanto a ideia de "cultura comum" como a própria noção de tradição e reprodução cultural parecem sob assédio. Em primeiro lugar, esse assédio tem a ver com o declínio das humanidades modernas como centro de referência da cultura comum - um declínio que já tem mais de um século. Em segundo lugar, está ocorrendo uma transformação profunda da ideia de tradição e reprodução cultural, bem como das formas com que estas se realizam. Ambos os elementos são discutidos no artigo. Por último, para retomar a ideia de transmissão da cultura comum na escola, sugerem-se alguns critérios que levem em conta os questionamentos e desafios da construção de uma tradição nas presentes condições.In this article, I advance some arguments about what is perceived as the crisis of the act of transmitting or passing over culture to new generations. More specifically, I am interested in understanding what is built into the discussion of what a common culture is, and what role schools play in their formation. Schools were institutions that were conceived for producing a core of common references that allowed people to be included in the national society and turn into citizens. Today, both the idea of a 'common culture' and the notion of tradition and cultural reproduction appear to be under siege. First, this siege is linked to the decline of modern humanities as the reference centre for common culture - a decline that has been taking place for over a century. Second, what is taking place is a profound transformation of the
Advanced cell culture technology for generation of in vivo-like tissue models

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Stefan Przyborski

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Human tissues are mostly composed of different cell types, that are often highly organised in relation to each other. Often cells are arranged in distinct layers that enable signalling and cell-to-cell interactions. Here we describe the application of scaffold-based technology, that can be used to create advanced organotypic 3D models of various tissue types that more closely resemble in vivo-like conditions (Knight et al., 2011. The scaffold comprises a highly porous polystyrene material, engineered into a 200 micron thick membrane that is presented in various ways including multi-welled plates and well inserts, for use with conventional culture plasticware and medium perfusion systems. This technology has been applied to generate numerous unique types of co-culture model. For example: 1 a full thickness human skin construct comprising dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes, raised to the air-liquid interface to induce cornification of the upper layers (Fig.1 (Hill et al., 2015; 2 a neuron-glial co-culture to enable the study of neurite outgrowth interacting with astroglial cells to model and investigate the glial scar found in spinal cord injury (Clarke et al., 2016; 3 formation of a sub-mucosa consisting of a polarised simple epithelium, layer of ECM proteins simulating the basement membrane, and underlying stromal tissues (e.g. intestinal mucosa. These organotypic models demonstrate the versatility of scaffold membranes and the creation of advanced in vivo-like tissue models. Creating a layered arrangement more closely simulates the true anatomy and organisation of cells within many tissue types. The addition of different cell types in a temporal and spatial fashion can be used to study inter-cellular relationships and create more physiologically relevant in vivo-like cell-based assays. Methods that are relatively straightforward to use and that recreate the organised structure of real tissues will become valuable research tools for use in
Canine osteosarcoma karyotypes from an original tumor, its metastasis, and tumor cells in tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taylor, N.; Shifrine, M.; Wolf, H.G.; Trommershausen-Smith, A.

1975-01-01

Radiation-induced osteosarcoma, its metastasis, and cells grown in tissue culture were karyotyped. Both hypodiploid and hyperdiploid stem lines were observed. The hypodiploid line contained 45-55 chromosomes with 10 to 15 abnormal metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes and one subtelocentric marker. The hyperdiploid line contained 90 to 105 chromosomes with 20 to 30 abnormal metacentric and submetacentric chromosomes with two subtelocentric markers. Karyotypic analysis can be used to monitor osteosarcomas maintained in tissue culture
Tissue culture of three species of Laurencia complex

Science.gov (United States)

Shen, Songdong; Wu, Xunjian; Yan, Binlun; He, Lihong

2010-05-01

To establish a micropropagation system of three Laurencia complex species ( Laurencia okamurai, Laurencia tristicha, and Chondrophycus undulatus) by tissue culture techniques, we studied the regeneration characteristics and optimal culture conditions of axenic algal fragments cultured on solid medium and in liquid medium. Regeneration structures were observed and counted regularly under a reverse microscope to investigate the regeneration process, polarity and optimal illumination, and temperature and salinity levels. The results show that in most cultures of the three species, we obtained bud regeneration on solidified medium with 0.5% agar and in liquid medium. Rhizoid-like regeneration was filamentous and developed from the lower cut surface of fragments in L. okamurai, but was discoid and developed from the apical back side of bud regeneration in L. tristicha and C. undulatus. Regeneration polarity was localized to the apical part of algal fronds in all three species, and on fragments cut from the basal part of algae buds could develop from both the upper and the lower cut surfaces. Buds could develop from both the medullary and the cortical portions in L. okamurai and C. undulatus, while in L. tristicha, buds only emerged from the cortex. The optimal culture conditions for L. okamurai were 4 500 lx, 20°C and 35 (salinity); for C. undulatus, 4 500 lx, 20°C and 30; and for L. tristicha, 4 500 lx, 25°C and 30.
Divergent regeneration-competent cells adopt a common mechanism for callus initiation in angiosperms.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, Bo; Zhang, Guifang; Liu, Wu; Shi, Jianmin; Wang, Hua; Qi, Meifang; Li, Jiqin; Qin, Peng; Ruan, Ying; Huang, Hai; Zhang, Yijing; Xu, Lin

2017-06-01

In tissue culture, the formation of callus from detached explants is a key step in plant regeneration; however, the regenerative abilities in different species are variable. While nearly all parts of organs of the dicot Arabidopsis thaliana are ready for callus formation, mature regions of organs in monocot rice ( Oryza sativa ) and other cereals are extremely unresponsive to tissue culture. Whether there is a common molecular mechanism beyond these different regenerative phenomena is unclear. Here we show that the Arabidopsis and rice use different regeneration-competent cells to initiate callus, whereas the cells all adopt WUSCHEL-RELATED HOMEOBOX 11 ( WOX11 ) and WOX5 during cell fate transition. Different from Arabidopsis which maintains regeneration-competent cells in mature organs, rice exhausts those cells during organ maturation, resulting in regenerative inability in mature organs. Our study not only explains this old perplexity in agricultural biotechnology, but also provides common molecular markers for tissue culture of different angiosperm species.
Pre-study - mobile briquetting plant for reed canary grass in inland Northern Sweden; Foerstudie - mobil briketteringsanlaeggning foer roerflen i norrlands inland

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Paulrud, Susanne; Lundmark, Bo

2009-07-01

The aim of this preliminary study was to summarize existing information and to develop an outline plan for a mobile briquette plant based on the conditions and requirements of reed canary grass production on forestry land. The results of the study show that there is potential to build up small-scale briquette production from reed canary grass in the areas around Arvidsjaur, Lycksele and Malaa. Important conclusions from the study are that there are potential users for reed canary grass briquettes in all three areas studied, but that profitability for mobile briquette plants is dependent on the willingness of the users to pay well for the briquettes. These briquette plants would need a relatively high degree of automation for commercial operation to be profitable. The first plant should therefore be collocated with another business so that staff, machinery (e.g. loader) and storage space can be shared with other operations. One appropriate location would be to build up activities for a mobile reed canary grass briquette plant around Glommers Miljoeenergi's pellet plant in Glommerstraesk. Thus, the plant could be used as a demonstration mobile unit, with a stationary 'home production base'CO{sub 2} Glommerstraesk
A method for high purity intestinal epithelial cell culture from adult human and murine tissues for the investigation of innate immune function.

Science.gov (United States)

Graves, Christina L; Harden, Scott W; LaPato, Melissa; Nelson, Michael; Amador, Byron; Sorenson, Heather; Frazier, Charles J; Wallet, Shannon M

2014-12-01

Intestinal epithelial cells (IECs) serve as an important physiologic barrier between environmental antigens and the host intestinal immune system. Thus, IECs serve as a first line of defense and may act as sentinel cells during inflammatory insults. Despite recent renewed interest in IEC contributions to host immune function, the study of primary IEC has been hindered by lack of a robust culture technique, particularly for small intestinal and adult tissues. Here, a novel adaptation for culture of primary IEC is described for human duodenal organ donor tissue as well as duodenum and colon of adult mice. These epithelial cell cultures display characteristic phenotypes and are of high purity. In addition, the innate immune function of human primary IEC, specifically with regard to Toll-like receptor (TLR) expression and microbial ligand responsiveness, is contrasted with a commonly used intestinal epithelial cell line (HT-29). Specifically, TLR expression at the mRNA level and production of cytokine (IFNγ and TNFα) in response to TLR agonist stimulation is assessed. Differential expression of TLRs as well as innate immune responses to ligand stimulation is observed in human-derived cultures compared to that of HT-29. Thus, use of this adapted method to culture primary epithelial cells from adult human donors and from adult mice will allow for more appropriate studies of IECs as innate immune effectors. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Tissue culture of osteogenic sarcoma in rats, induced by radioactive phosphorus P-32 and the effect of the anti-cancerous agents on these tumor cells under tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Osaka, Shunzo

1976-01-01

Small pieces of osteogenic sarcoma, induced into albino rats of the C.F. Wistar strain by injection of radioactive phosphorus 32 P, were cultured in mixtures of Eagle's minimum essential medium and 20% calf serum. The tumor cells cultured in this way were transplanted into the subcutaneous tissue or the intraabdominal cavity to healthy albino rats. The effect of the anticancerous agents was evaluated by the decrease of nucleic acid composition in these cultured tumor cells. As anti-cancerous agents, cyclophosphamide (CPA), mitomycin C(MMC), and 5-fluorouracil(5-FU) were put into contact with the tumor cells in cultures for two hours under the following dilutions: CPA; 10 -6 , 10 -5 , 10 -4 g/ml. MMC; 2 x 10 -8 , 2 x 10 -7 , 2 x 10 -6 g/ml. 5-FU; 2 x 10 -6 , 2 x 10 -5 , 2 x 10 -4 g/ml. The results are as follows: Three of the seven osteogenic sarcomas in rats were successfully cultured, one of them through more than eighteen generations. After about five hundred thousand cultured cells had been transplanted into the subcutaneous tissues or abdominal cavities of rats, tumors grew in all of them. The histological findings of the tumors in the second generation were quite similar to those of the original tumor. The same process was repeated three times and the tumor showed histogical findings similar to those of the original ones. The capability of nucleic acid synthesis in these cells was decreased at twenty fours after CPA contact and at forty eight hours after MMC. (J.P.N.)
Whole genome characterization of non-tissue culture adapted HRSV strains in severely infected children

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Kumaria Rajni

2011-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Human respiratory syncytial virus (HRSV is the most important virus causing lower respiratory infection in young children. The complete genetic characterization of RSV clinical strains is a prerequisite for understanding HRSV infection in the clinical context. Current information about the genetic structure of the HRSV genome has largely been obtained using tissue culture adapted viruses. During tissue culture adaptation genetic changes can be introduced into the virus genome, which may obscure subtle variations in the genetic structure of different RSV strains. Methods In this study we describe a novel Sanger sequencing strategy which allowed the complete genetic characterisation of 14 clinical HRSV strains. The viruses were sequenced directly in the nasal washes of severely hospitalized children, and without prior passage of the viruses in tissue culture. Results The analysis of nucleotide sequences suggested that vRNA length is a variable factor among primary strains, while the phylogenetic analysis suggests selective pressure for change. The G gene showed the greatest sequence variation (2-6.4%, while small hydrophobic protein and matrix genes were completely conserved across all clinical strains studied. A number of sequence changes in the F, L, M2-1 and M2-2 genes were observed that have not been described in laboratory isolates. The gene junction regions showed more sequence variability, and in particular the intergenic regions showed a highest level of sequence variation. Although the clinical strains grew slower than the HRSVA2 virus isolate in tissue culture, the HRSVA2 isolate and clinical strains formed similar virus structures such as virus filaments and inclusion bodies in infected cells; supporting the clinical relevance of these virus structures. Conclusion This is the first report to describe the complete genetic characterization of HRSV clinical strains that have been sequenced directly from clinical
Diagnostic utility of melanin production by fungi: Study on tissue sections and culture smears with Masson-Fontana stain

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Challa Sundaram

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Dematiaceous fungi appear brown in tissue section due to melanin in their cell walls. When the brown color is not seen on routine H and E and culture is not available, differentiation of dematiaceous fungi from other fungi is difficult on morphology alone. Aims and Objective: To study if melanin production by dematiaceous fungi can help differentiate them from other types of fungi. Materials and Methods: Fifty tissue sections of various fungal infections and 13 smears from cultures of different species of fungi were stained with Masson Fontana stain to assess melanin production. The tissue sections included biopsies from 26 culture-proven fungi and 24 biopsies of filamentous fungi diagnosed on morphology alone with no culture confirmation. Results: All culture-proven dematiaceous fungi and Zygomycetes showed strong positivity in sections and culture smears. Aspergillus sp showed variable positivity and intensity. Cryptococcus neoformans showed strong positivity in tissue sections and culture smears. Tissue sections of septate filamentous fungi (9/15, Zygomycetes (4/5, and fungi with both hyphal and yeast morphology (4/4 showed positivity for melanin. The septate filamentous fungi negative for melanin were from biopsy samples of fungal sinusitis including both allergic and invasive fungal sinusitis and colonizing fungal balls. Conclusion: Melanin is produced by both dematiaceous and non-dematiaceous fungi. Masson-Fontana stain cannot reliably differentiate dematiaceous fungi from other filamentous fungi like Aspergillus sp; however, absence of melanin in the hyphae may be used to rule out dematiaceous fungi from other filamentous fungi. In the differential diagnosis of yeast fungi, Cryptococcus sp can be differentiated from Candida sp by Masson-Fontana stain in tissue sections.
Tobacco clones derived from tissue culture with supersensitivity to ozone

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sun, E.J.; Kang, H.W.

2003-01-01

New tobacco clones supersensitive to ozone were obtained from tissue culture. - At least two supersensitive tobacco somaclones were obtained from tissue culture (TC) , when this approach was used to asexually propagate Bel-W3 tobacco indicator plants. These somaclones can detect as low as 30 ppb ozone for a 4-h exposure duration both within CSTR exposure chambers and in ambient air. Comparison of the injury index and their coefficient of variance showed that the TC plantlets usually have more uniform performance in response to ozone in addition to their higher sensitivity. A quick regeneration procedure was established to preserve the supersensitive germplasm immediately when it was found. The TC plantlets will flower and produce seed similar to seed-grown tobacco. The TC approach proved to be a better propagation system for valuable indicator plant species. The mechanism that causes the variation and the possible difference in their genome from seed-grown tobacco is still unknown. Further studies are needed in the future to determine if factors in the TC system may be responsible for the sensitivity difference
Organ and plantlet regeneration of Menyanthes trifoliata through tissue culture

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Urszula Adamczyk-Rogozińska

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The conditions for the regeneration of plants through organogenesis from callus tissues of Menyanthes trifoliata are described. The shoot multiplication rate was affected by basal culture media, the type and concentration of cytokinin and subculture number. The best response was obtained when caulogenic calli were cultured on the modified Schenk and Hildebrandt medium (SH-M containing indole-3-acetic acid (IAA 0,5 mg/l and 6-benzyladenine (BA 1 mg/l or zeatin (2 mg/l. Under these conditions ca 7 shoots (mostly 1 cm or more in length per culture in the 5th and 6th passages could be developed. In older cultures (after 11-12 passages there was a trend for more numerous but shorter shoot formation. All regenerated shoots could be rooted on the SH-M medium supplemented with 0.5 mg/l IAA within 6 weeks; 80% of in vitro rooted plantlets survived their transfer to soil.
Recent status and trends of the land bird avifauna on Saipan, Mariana Islands, with emphasis on the endangered Nightingale Reed-warbler Acrocephalus luscinia

Science.gov (United States)

Camp, R.J.; Pratt, T.K.; Marshall, A.P.; Amidon, F.; Williams, L.L.

2009-01-01

The avifauna of the Mariana Islands, an archipelago in the western Pacific, faces the threats of rapid economic development and the spread of non-native species, particularly a devastating predator, Brown Tree Snake Boiga irregularis. In this paper, we examine the status and trends of the land bird fauna of Saipan Island based on three island-wide surveys conducted in 1982, 1997, and 2007. During this period, the human population on Saipan increased more than four-fold and much of the island has been developed. The surveys employed standard point-transect methods based on Distance Sampling. Remarkably, we found nearly all species of land birds - 11 native species and three introduced species - to be common or abundant. The exception was the Micronesian Megapode Megapodius laperouse, a historically rare species that was not observed on the 2007 survey, although it does persist on Saipan and other Mariana islands. A comparison of species densities among the three surveys showed that seven species, mainly fruit and seed-eaters, had increased and three species of insectivorous birds had decreased - Rufous Fantail Rhipidura rufifrons, Nightingale Reed-warbler Acrocephalus luscinia, and Golden White-eye Cleptornis marchei. Of these three, Nightingale Reed-warbler is listed as Endangered on the IUCN Red List and as an Endangered Species by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Reed-warbler densities on Saipan decreased by more than half between 1982 and 2007. Although point transect sampling worked well for this species, density estimates and trends assessment could be improved by reallocating sampling stations among habitats and by more frequent sampling. ?? BirdLife International 2009.
Treatment of chronic desquamative gingivitis using tissue-engineered human cultured gingival epithelial sheets: a case report.

Science.gov (United States)

Okuda, Kazuhiro; Momose, Manabu; Murata, Masashi; Saito, Yoshinori; lnoie, Masukazu; Shinohara, Chikara; Wolff, Larry F; Yoshie, Hiromasa

2004-04-01

Human cultured gingival epithelial sheets were used as an autologous grafting material for regenerating gingival tissue in the maxillary left and mandibular right quadrants of a patient with chronic desquamative gingivitis. Six months post-surgery in both treated areas, there were gains in keratinized gingiva and no signs of gingival inflammation compared to presurgery. In the maxillary left quadrant, preoperative histopathologic findings revealed the epithelium was separated from the connective tissue and inflammatory cells were extensive. After grafting with the gingival epithelial sheets, inflammatory cells were decreased and separation between epithelium and connective tissue was not observed. The human cultured gingival epithelial sheets fabricated using tissue engineering technology showed significant promise for gingival augmentation in periodontal therapy.
Representation of Solar Capacity Value in the ReEDS Capacity Expansion Model

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sigrin, B. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Sullivan, P. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Ibanez, E. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States); Margolis, R. [National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)

2014-03-01

An important issue for electricity system operators is the estimation of renewables' capacity contributions to reliably meeting system demand, or their capacity value. While the capacity value of thermal generation can be estimated easily, assessment of wind and solar requires a more nuanced approach due to the resource variability. Reliability-based methods, particularly assessment of the Effective Load-Carrying Capacity, are considered to be the most robust and widely-accepted techniques for addressing this resource variability. This report compares estimates of solar PV capacity value by the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) capacity expansion model against two sources. The first comparison is against values published by utilities or other entities for known electrical systems at existing solar penetration levels. The second comparison is against a time-series ELCC simulation tool for high renewable penetration scenarios in the Western Interconnection. Results from the ReEDS model are found to compare well with both comparisons, despite being resolved at a super-hourly temporal resolution. Two results are relevant for other capacity-based models that use a super-hourly resolution to model solar capacity value. First, solar capacity value should not be parameterized as a static value, but must decay with increasing penetration. This is because -- for an afternoon-peaking system -- as solar penetration increases, the system's peak net load shifts to later in the day -- when solar output is lower. Second, long-term planning models should determine system adequacy requirements in each time period in order to approximate LOLP calculations. Within the ReEDS model we resolve these issues by using a capacity value estimate that varies by time-slice. Within each time period the net load and shadow price on ReEDS's planning reserve constraint signals the relative importance of additional firm capacity.
Solid tissue culture for cytogenetic analysis: a collaborative survey for the Association of Clinical Cytogeneticists.

Science.gov (United States)

Rodgers, C S; Creasy, M R; Fitchett, M; Maliszewska, C T; Pratt, N R; Waters, J J

1996-01-01

AIMS: To survey the diagnostic service provided by UK laboratories for the culture of solid tissue samples (excluding tumours) and in particular to examine the variation in culture success rates and the problems of maternal cell overgrowth. METHODS: Twenty seven laboratories took part in a collaborative survey during 1992. Each laboratory submitted data on up to a maximum of 60 consecutive specimens (n = 1361) over a six month period. RESULTS: Skin specimens, the largest category received (n = 520), were the most problematic (51% success rate). Culture success rates were significantly lower (43%) when skin specimens (n = 140) were transported dry to the laboratory. Success rates for skin specimens also varied, depending on the origin of the specimen, from 18% for intra-uterine deaths (IUD) (n = 94) to 85% for neonatal deaths (n = 33) and 83% for live patients (n = 54). Culture of selected extra-fetal tissues from IUD, stillbirths and following elective termination of pregnancy (TOP) gave comparable success rates to those achieved for skin samples from neonatal deaths and live births. Skewed sex ratios, female > male, were identified for products of conception (POC) (n = 298) and placental biopsy specimens (n = 97). CONCLUSIONS: By appropriate selection, transport and processing of tissues, and in particular by avoiding relying solely on skin samples from IUD, stillbirths and TOP, an increase in culture success rates for solid tissue samples submitted for cytogenetic analysis could be achieved. The high risk of maternal cell contamination from POC and placental biopsy specimens was also identified in this survey. PMID:8881913
Study of the agroindustrial alterations induced by the irradiated tissue culture in sugar cane, variety NA 56-79

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Figueiredo Junior, O.

1991-01-01

The use of plant tissue culture and the application of gamma radiation as mutation inducing agents, in the sugar cane plant, variety NA 5679, are studied. The variation in the contents of brix, pol, fiber, purity, extraction, phosphorus, nitrogen, reducing sugars as well as the morphological characteristics are analysed. The 'callus' obtained by the tissue culture were irradiated with 20, 40, and 60 Gy doses. The statistical analysis indicated that the method of tissue culture may, eventually, increase the contents of the technological parameters and the dosages of gamma radiation were not efficient for such purpose. (M.A.C.)
Heritability of regeneration in tissue cultures of sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas L.).

Science.gov (United States)

Templeton-Somers, K M; Collins, W W

1986-03-01

A population of open-pollinated progeny from 12 parents, and the 12 parents, was surveyed for in vitro growth and regeneration characteristics. Four different tissue culture procedures involving different media and the use of different explants to initiate the cultures were used. Petiole explants from young leaves were used as explants for initiation of callus cultures. These were evaluated for callus growth rate, friability, and callus color and texture, before transferring to each of three different regeneration media for evaluation of morphogenetic potential. Small shoot tips also were used to initiate callus cultures, which were evaluated for the same growth characteristics and transferred to growth-regulator free regeneration media. Regeneration occurred through root or shoot regeneration or through embryogenesis. Tissue culture treatment effects, as well as genotypic effects, were highly significant in determining: the types of callus produced, callus growth rates, color and texture on the two types of media used for the second and third subcultures. The family x treatment interaction was generally not statistically significant, affecting only callus color. Estimates of narrow sense heritability for callus growth rate in both the second and third subcultures were high enough (0.35 and 0.63, respectively) for the evaluation of parental lines for selection procedures. These characteristics were also the only early culture callus traits that were consistently correlated with later morphogenesis of the cultures. They were negatively correlated with root or shoot regeneration. The occurence of somatic embryogenesis was not correlated with early callus growth characteristics. Genetic and treatment effects were highly significant in the evaluation of morphogenetic potential, through root or shoot regeneration, or through embryogenesis. Regeneration of all types was of low frequency for all procedures, expressed in ≦ 11% of the cultures of the total population.
Optimization of an Efficient Non-Tissue Culture Transformation Method for Brassica Juncea

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naeem, I.; Munir, I.; Iqbal, A.; Ullah, F.

2016-01-01

The major hurdles in successful in vitro transformation of Brassica juncea through standard tissue culture (STC) method are: culture contamination, somaclonal variations, and lack of expertise. Moreover, the current STC method is time consuming and needs continuous electricity. In the present study, the in planta transformation method through floral dip with or without vacuum infiltration was optimized for successful transformation of B. juncea. The B. juncea CV RAYA Anmol was used for transformation through Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain GV3101 harboring the binary vector plasmid pBinGlyBar4-EADcT. Based on the resistance reaction to the herbicide Basta, 20 and 40 resistant seedlings were obtained from 2000 seed germinated from the plants transformed through floral dip and vacuum infiltration methods, respectively. The PCR analyses further confirmed the presence of transgene in 3 floral dipped plants without vacuum infiltration and 17 floral dipped plants with vacuum infiltration, giving the transformation frequencies of 1.5*10/sup -3/ and 8.5*10/sup -3/, respectively. This method, which avoids tissue culture, will reduce the somaclonal variation accompanying prolonged culture of cells in a dedifferentiated state, will facilitate functional genomics and improvement of Brassica juncea with novel desirable traits while reducing time and expense. (author)
Intercropping of reed canary grass, phalaris arundinacea l., with legumes can cut costs for n-fertilization

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Palmborg, Cecilia; Lindvall, Eva (Swedish Univ. of Agricultural Sciences, Dept. of Agricultural Research for Northern Sweden, Umeaa (Sweden)), e-mail: eva.lindvall@njv.slu.se

2010-07-15

In a field experiment close to Oestersund in mid Sweden reed canary grass was intercropped with barley, Alsike clover, Trifolium hybridum L., red clover, T. pratense L., goats rue, Galega orientalis L. or a combination of red clover and goats rue. There were also three fertilization treatments: A: Recommended amounts of N, P and K. B: Recommended amounts of P and K and half amount of N. C: Sewage sludge application before sowing (establishment year) and recommended amounts of P and K and half amount of N. The biomass was lower where reed canary grass had been undersown in barley, and higher with full N-fertilization than with half N-fertilization. However there were no significant differences between legume intercrops with half N-fertilization and pure reed canary grass with full Nfertilization. Alsike clover was the most productive legume, followed by red clover. The amount of nitrogen fixed by the legumes was less with full N-fertilization (29 kg/ha as a mean) than with half N-fertilization (38 kg/ha). Intercropping with legumes could substitute half of the N in fertilization but similar experiments in other parts of Sweden has shown that there is a higher risk of weed problems
Reduction of the suction losses through reed valves in hermetic reciprocating compressors using a magnet coil

Science.gov (United States)

Hopfgartner, J.; Posch, S.; Zuber, B.; Almbauer, R.; Krischan, K.; Stangl, S.

2017-08-01

Reed valves are widely used in hermetic reciprocating compressors and are responsible for a large part of the thermodynamic losses. Especially, the suction valve, which is opened nearly during the whole suction stroke, has a big potential for improvement. Usually, suction valves are opened only by vacuum created by the moving piston and should be closed before the compression stroke starts to avoid a reversed mass-flow through the valve. Therefore, the valves are prestressed, which results on the other hand in a higher flow resistance. In this work, a suction valve is investigated, which is not closed by the preload of the valve but by an electromagnetic coil located in the suction muffler neck. Shortly before the piston reaches its bottom dead centre, voltage is applied to the coil and a magnetic force is generated which pulls the valve shut. Thereby, the flow resistance through the valve can be reduced by changing the preload on the reed valve because it is no longer needed to close the valve. The investigation of this adapted valve and the electromagnetic coil is firstly done by numerical simulations including fluid structure interactions of the reed valves of a reciprocating compressor and secondly by experiments made on a calorimeter test bench.
Culture of equine bone marrow mononuclear fraction and adipose tissue-derived stromal vascular fraction cells in different media

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Gesiane Ribeiro

2013-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of this study was to evaluate the culture of equine bone marrow mononuclear fraction and adipose tissue - derived stromal vascular fraction cells in two different cell culture media. Five adult horses were submitted to bone marrow aspiration from the sternum, and then from the adipose tissue of the gluteal region near the base of the tail. Mononuclear fraction and stromal vascular fraction were isolated from the samples and cultivated in DMEM medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum or in AIM-V medium. The cultures were observed once a week with an inverted microscope, to perform a qualitative analysis of the morphology of the cells as well as the general appearance of the cell culture. Colony-forming units (CFU were counted on days 5, 15 and 25 of cell culture. During the first week of culture, differences were observed between the samples from the same source maintained in different culture media. The number of colonies was significantly higher in samples of bone marrow in relation to samples of adipose tissue.
Supercritical fluid extraction of reed (thypa)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kucuk, M.; Genel, Y. [YYU Educational Faculty, Van (Turkey); Demir, H. [YYU Science and Art Faculty, Van (Turkey)

2005-04-15

Reed (typha) mill was converted to liquid products by using organic solvents (methanol, ethanol and acetone) with catalysts (% 10 NaOH and ZnCl{sub 2}) and without catalyst in an autoclave at temperatures of 533, 553, and 573 K. The liquid products were extracted by liquid-liquid extraction [DSA1] (benzene and diethyl ether). The yields from supercritical methanol, ethanol and acetone conversions were 36.2, 24.5, and 55.1%, respectively, at 573 K. In the catalytic runs with methanol and ethanol extracts were 46.3 and 35.5% (for NaOH catalyst) and 51.8 and 38.5% (for ZnCl{sub 2} catalyst) respectively, at 573 K. The yields from supercritical methanol were increased from 38.2 to 52.4% as the temperature was increased from 533 to 573 K in the catalytic run. (Author)
Using aerial photography and image analysis to measure changes in giant reed populations

Science.gov (United States)

A study was conducted along the Rio Grande in southwest Texas to evaluate color-infrared aerial photography combined with supervised image analysis to quantify changes in giant reed (Arundo donax L.) populations over a 6-year period. Aerial photographs from 2002 and 2008 of the same seven study site...
Discrimination and similarity evaluation of tissue-cultured and wild Dendrobium species using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Nai-dong; Chen, Han; Li, Jun; Sang, Mang-mang; Ding, Shen; Yu, Hao

2015-04-01

The FTIR method was applied to evaluate the similarity of tissue-cultured and wild Dendrobium huoshanense C.Z. Tang et S.J. Cheng, Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo and Dendrobium moniliforme (Linn.) Sw and discriminate different Dendrobium species, especially D. huoshanense and its main goldbrick Dendrobium henanense J.L. Lu et L.X. Gao. Despite the general pattern of the IR spectra, different intensities, shapes and peak positions were found in the IR spectra of these samples, especially in the range of 1800-600 cm-1, which could be used to discriminate them. The methanol, aqueous extracting procedure and the second derivative transformation obviously enlarged the tiny spectral differences among these samples. The similarity evaluation based on the IR spectra and the second derivative IR spectrum revealed that the similarity of the methanol extracts between tissue-cultured and wild Dendrobiums might be lower than that between different Dendrobium species. The similarities of the powders and aqueous extracts between tissue-cultured and wild Dendrobiums were higher than those between different Dendrobium species. The further principal component analysis showed that the first three components explained 99.7%, 87.7% and 85.1% of data variance for powder, methanol extract and aqueous extract, respectively, demonstrating a good discrimination between samples. Our research suggested that the variations of secondary metabolites between different origins of the investigated Dendrobiums might be higher than what we had supposed. Tissue culture techniques were widely used in the conversation of rare and endangered medicinal amedica, however, our study suggested that the chemical constituents of tissue-cultured plants might be quite different from their wild correspondences.
Co-cultures and cell sheet engineering as relevant tools to improve the outcome of bone tissue engineering strategies

OpenAIRE

Pirraco, Rogério

2011-01-01

Taking into consideration the complex biology of bone tissue it is quite clear that the understanding of the cellular interactions that regulate the homeostasis and regeneration of this remarkable tissue is essential for a successful Tissue Engineering strategy. The in vitro study of these cellular interactions relies on co-culture systems, a tremendously useful methodology where two or more cell types are cultured at the same time. Such strategy increases the complexity of typ...
Analytical and diagnostic performance of a qPCR assay for Ichthyophonus spp. compared to the tissue culture 'gold standard'.

Science.gov (United States)

Lowe, Vanessa C; Hershberger, Paul K; Friedman, Carolyn S

2018-06-04

Parasites of the genus Ichthyophonus infect many fish species and have a non-uniform distribution within host tissues. Due in part to this uneven distribution, the comparative sensitivity and accuracy of using molecular-based detection methods versus culture to estimate parasite prevalence is under debate. We evaluated the analytical and diagnostic performance of an existing qPCR assay in comparison to the 'gold standard' culture method using Pacific herring Clupea pallasii with known exposure history. We determined that the assay is suitable for use in this host, and diagnostic specificity was consistently high (>98%) in both heart and liver tissues. Diagnostic sensitivity could not be fully assessed due to low infection rates, but our results suggest that qPCR is not as sensitive as culture under all circumstances. Diagnostic sensitivity of qPCR relative to culture is likely affected by the amount of sample processed. The prevalence values estimated by the 2 methods were not significantly different when sample amounts were equal (heart tissue), but when the assayed sample amounts were unequal (liver tissue), the culture method detected a significantly higher prevalence of the parasite than qPCR. Further, culture of liver also detected significantly more Ichthyophonus infections than culture of heart, suggesting that the density and distribution of parasites in tissues also plays a role in assay sensitivity. This sensitivity issue would be most problematic for fish with light infections. Although qPCR does not detect the presence of a live organism, DNA-based pathogen detection methods provide the opportunity for alternate testing strategies when culture is not possible.

The Reed & Kellogg System of Sentence Diagramming and Its Implementation in Higher Education

Science.gov (United States)

Coats, Judith Ruth

2012-01-01

The purpose of this study was to research whether or not the intervention of the Reed & Kellogg System of sentence diagramming would make a significant difference in the acquisition, retention, and comprehension of the basic grammatical skills, including parts of speech, complements, phrases, clauses, and sentence structures, on the higher…
Rotating three-dimensional dynamic culture of adult human bone marrow-derived cells for tissue engineering of hyaline cartilage.

Science.gov (United States)

Sakai, Shinsuke; Mishima, Hajime; Ishii, Tomoo; Akaogi, Hiroshi; Yoshioka, Tomokazu; Ohyabu, Yoshimi; Chang, Fei; Ochiai, Naoyuki; Uemura, Toshimasa

2009-04-01

The method of constructing cartilage tissue from bone marrow-derived cells in vitro is considered a valuable technique for hyaline cartilage regenerative medicine. Using a rotating wall vessel (RWV) bioreactor developed in a NASA space experiment, we attempted to efficiently construct hyaline cartilage tissue from human bone marrow-derived cells without using a scaffold. Bone marrow aspirates were obtained from the iliac crest of nine patients during orthopedic operation. After their proliferation in monolayer culture, the adherent cells were cultured in the RWV bioreactor with chondrogenic medium for 2 weeks. Cells from the same source were cultured in pellet culture as controls. Histological and immunohistological evaluations (collagen type I and II) and quantification of glycosaminoglycan were performed on formed tissues and compared. The engineered constructs obtained using the RWV bioreactor showed strong features of hyaline cartilage in terms of their morphology as determined by histological and immunohistological evaluations. The glycosaminoglycan contents per microg DNA of the tissues were 10.01 +/- 3.49 microg/microg DNA in the case of the RWV bioreactor and 6.27 +/- 3.41 microg/microg DNA in the case of the pellet culture, and their difference was significant. The RWV bioreactor could provide an excellent environment for three-dimensional cartilage tissue architecture that can promote the chondrogenic differentiation of adult human bone marrow-derived cells.
Functional enhancement of chitosan and nanoparticles in cell culture, tissue engineering, and pharmaceutical applications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wenjuan eGao

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract: As a biomaterial, chitosan has been widely used in tissue engineering, wound healing, drug delivery, and other biomedical applications. It can be formulated in a variety of forms, such as powder, film, sphere, gel and fiber. These features make chitosan an almost ideal biomaterial in cell culture applications, and cell cultures arguably constitute the most practical way to evaluate biocompatibility and biotoxicity. The advantages of cell cultures are that they can be performed under totally controlled environments, allow high throughput functional screening, and are less costly, as compared to other assessment methods. Chitosan can also be modified into multilayer composite by combining with other polymers and moieties to alter the properties of chitosan for particular biomedical applications. This review briefly depicts and discusses applications of chitosan and nanoparticles in cell culture, in particular, the effects of chitosan and nanoparticles on cell adhesion, cell survival, and the underlying molecular mechanisms: both stimulatory and inhibitory influences are discussed. Our aim is to update the current status of how nanoparticles can be utilized to modify the properties of chitosan to advance the art of tissue engineering by using cell cultures.
A Protocol for Rapid, Measurable Plant Tissue Culture Using Stem Disc Meristem Micropropagation of Garlic ("Allium Sativum L.")

Science.gov (United States)

Peat, Gerry; Jones, Meriel

2012-01-01

Plant tissue culture is becoming an important technique for the mass propagation of plants. Problems with existing techniques, such as slow growth and contamination, have restricted the practical work in plant tissue culture carried out in schools. The new protocol using garlic meristematic stem discs explained in this article addresses many of…
Tissue culture-induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in rice pure-lines, F1 hybrids and polyploids.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiaoran; Wu, Rui; Lin, Xiuyun; Bai, Yan; Song, Congdi; Yu, Xiaoming; Xu, Chunming; Zhao, Na; Dong, Yuzhu; Liu, Bao

2013-05-05

Genetic and epigenetic alterations can be invoked by plant tissue culture, which may result in heritable changes in phenotypes, a phenomenon collectively termed somaclonal variation. Although extensive studies have been conducted on the molecular nature and spectrum of tissue culture-induced genomic alterations, the issue of whether and to what extent distinct plant genotypes, e.g., pure-lines, hybrids and polyploids, may respond differentially to the tissue culture condition remains poorly understood. We investigated tissue culture-induced genetic and epigenetic alterations in a set of rice genotypes including two pure-lines (different subspecies), a pair of reciprocal F1 hybrids parented by the two pure-lines, and a pair of reciprocal tetraploids resulted from the hybrids. Using two molecular markers, amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) and methylation-sensitive amplified polymorphism (MSAP), both genetic and DNA methylation alterations were detected in calli and regenerants from all six genotypes, but genetic alteration is more prominent than epigenetic alteration. While significant genotypic difference was observed in frequencies of both types of alterations, only genetic alteration showed distinctive features among the three types of genomes, with one hybrid (N/9) being exceptionally labile. Surprisingly, difference in genetic alteration frequencies between the pair of reciprocal F1 hybrids is much greater than that between the two pure-line subspecies. Difference also exists in the pair of reciprocal tetraploids, but is to a less extent than that between the hybrids. The steady-state transcript abundance of genes involved in DNA repair and DNA methylation was significantly altered in both calli and regenerants, and some of which were correlated with the genetic and/or epigenetic alterations. Our results, based on molecular marker analysis of ca. 1,000 genomic loci, document that genetic alteration is the major cause of somaclonal variation in rice
Tissue culture and micropropagation for forest biomass production

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Mason, E.; Maine, F.W.

1984-09-01

An increase in forest production will be necessary in the future when wood becomes a major renewable source of energy and chemicals along with its traditional role of fibre source. This increase could eventually by achieved be proper selection and breeding of trees. Clonal forestry by vegetative propagation of cuttings is becoming a viable alternative to a seedling-based forestry with many advantages, and cutting could be used to quickly propagate large numbers of clones of control-pollinated seedlings. Most forest trees are propagated sexually and seed orchards were started in the US and Canada in the last 40-50 years for breeding purposes. Forests could ultimately be established with improved seedlings instead of from seed with unknown genetic potential, or by natural regeneration. Micropropagation is the term used to refer to the propagation of plants raised by tissue culture methods rather than from seeds or cuttings. Many clonal plantlets could be regenerated asexually in the laboratory and eventually transplanted to permanent sites. In addition the technology could be developed to produce new variants from somatic cells. Tissue culture is a technique which may be useful for plant propagation where conventional methods are inadequate or unsuitable. However, traditional studies of field planting observed over long periods of time would still be necessary. This document has the object of informing those who may wish to know more about these techniques in relation to practical application, and require a general overview rather than experimental details, which are given in an annotated bilbiography. 274 refs., 2 figs., 1 tab.
Reed Reactor Facility final report, September 1, 1994--August 31, 1995

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This report covers the period from September 1, 1994 to August 31, 1995. Information contained in this report is intended to fulfill several purposes including the reporting requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). Highlights of the last year include: student participation in the program is very high; the facility has been extraordinarily successful in obtaining donated equipment from Portland General Electric, US Department of Energy, Precision Castparts, Tektronix, and other sources; the facility is developing more paid work. There were 1,115 visits of the Reactor Facility by individuals during the year. Most of these visitors were students in classes at Reed College or area universities, colleges, and high schools. During the year, the reactor was operated 225 separate times on 116 days. The total energy production was 24.6 MW-hours. The reactor staff consists of a Director, an Associate Director, a contract Health Physicist, and approximately fifteen Reed College undergraduate students as hourly employees. All radiation exposures to individuals during this year were well below 1% of the federal limits. There were no releases of liquid radioactive material from the facility and airborne releases (primarily 41 Ar) were well within regulatory limits
Reed Reactor Facility final report, September 1, 1994--August 31, 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1997-09-01

This report covers the period from September 1, 1994 to August 31, 1995. Information contained in this report is intended to fulfill several purposes including the reporting requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). Highlights of the last year include: student participation in the program is very high; the facility has been extraordinarily successful in obtaining donated equipment from Portland General Electric, US Department of Energy, Precision Castparts, Tektronix, and other sources; the facility is developing more paid work. There were 1,115 visits of the Reactor Facility by individuals during the year. Most of these visitors were students in classes at Reed College or area universities, colleges, and high schools. During the year, the reactor was operated 225 separate times on 116 days. The total energy production was 24.6 MW-hours. The reactor staff consists of a Director, an Associate Director, a contract Health Physicist, and approximately fifteen Reed College undergraduate students as hourly employees. All radiation exposures to individuals during this year were well below 1% of the federal limits. There were no releases of liquid radioactive material from the facility and airborne releases (primarily {sup 41}Ar) were well within regulatory limits.
Development of human nervous tissue upon differentiation of embryonic stem cells in three-dimensional culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Preynat-Seauve, Olivier; Suter, David M; Tirefort, Diderik; Turchi, Laurent; Virolle, Thierry; Chneiweiss, Herve; Foti, Michelangelo; Lobrinus, Johannes-Alexander; Stoppini, Luc; Feki, Anis; Dubois-Dauphin, Michel; Krause, Karl Heinz

2009-03-01

Researches on neural differentiation using embryonic stem cells (ESC) require analysis of neurogenesis in conditions mimicking physiological cellular interactions as closely as possible. In this study, we report an air-liquid interface-based culture of human ESC. This culture system allows three-dimensional cell expansion and neural differentiation in the absence of added growth factors. Over a 3-month period, a macroscopically visible, compact tissue developed. Histological coloration revealed a dense neural-like neural tissue including immature tubular structures. Electron microscopy, immunochemistry, and electrophysiological recordings demonstrated a dense network of neurons, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes able to propagate signals. Within this tissue, tubular structures were niches of cells resembling germinal layers of human fetal brain. Indeed, the tissue contained abundant proliferating cells expressing markers of neural progenitors. Finally, the capacity to generate neural tissues on air-liquid interface differed for different ESC lines, confirming variations of their neurogenic potential. In conclusion, this study demonstrates in vitro engineering of a human neural-like tissue with an organization that bears resemblance to early developing brain. As opposed to previously described methods, this differentiation (a) allows three-dimensional organization, (b) yields dense interconnected neural tissue with structurally and functionally distinct areas, and (c) is spontaneously guided by endogenous developmental cues.
Dynamic Culturing of Cartilage Tissue: The Significance of Hydrostatic Pressure

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Pereira, Ana L.; Duarte, Ana R.C.; Frias, Ana M.; Pedro, Adriano J.; Oliveira, João T.; Sousa, Rui A.; Reis, Rui L.

2012-01-01

Human articular cartilage functions under a wide range of mechanical loads in synovial joints, where hydrostatic pressure (HP) is the prevalent actuating force. We hypothesized that the formation of engineered cartilage can be augmented by applying such physiologic stimuli to chondrogenic cells or stem cells, cultured in hydrogels, using custom-designed HP bioreactors. To test this hypothesis, we investigated the effects of distinct HP regimens on cartilage formation in vitro by either human nasal chondrocytes (HNCs) or human adipose stem cells (hASCs) encapsulated in gellan gum (GG) hydrogels. To this end, we varied the frequency of low HP, by applying pulsatile hydrostatic pressure or a steady hydrostatic pressure load to HNC-GG constructs over a period of 3 weeks, and evaluated their effects on cartilage tissue-engineering outcomes. HNCs (10×106 cells/mL) were encapsulated in GG hydrogels (1.5%) and cultured in a chondrogenic medium under three regimens for 3 weeks: (1) 0.4 MPa Pulsatile HP; (2) 0.4 MPa Steady HP; and (3) Static. Subsequently, we applied the pulsatile regimen to hASC-GG constructs and varied the amplitude of loading, by generating both low (0.4 MPa) and physiologic (5 MPa) HP levels. hASCs (10×106 cells/mL) were encapsulated in GG hydrogels (1.5%) and cultured in a chondrogenic medium under three regimens for 4 weeks: (1) 0.4 MPa Pulsatile HP; (2) 5 MPa Pulsatile HP; and (3) Static. In the HNC study, the best tissue development was achieved by the pulsatile HP regimen, whereas in the hASC study, greater chondrogenic differentiation and matrix deposition were obtained for physiologic loading, as evidenced by gene expression of aggrecan, collagen type II, and sox-9; metachromatic staining of cartilage extracellular matrix; and immunolocalization of collagens. We thus propose that both HNCs and hASCs detect and respond to physical forces, thus resembling joint loading, by enhancing cartilage tissue development in a frequency- and
Simultaneous separation and quantitation of amino acids and polyamines of forest tree tissues and cell cultures within a single high-performance liquid chromatography run using dansyl derivatization

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Rakesh Minocha; Stephanie Long

2004-01-01

The objective of the present study was to develop a rapid HPLC method for simultaneous separation and quantitation of dansylated amino acids and common polyamines in the same matrix for analyzing forest tree tissues and cell cultures. The major modifications incorporated into this method as compared to previously published HPLC methods for separation of only dansyl...
Culture Environment-Induced Pluripotency of SACK-Expanded Tissue Stem Cells

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Jean-François Paré

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Previous efforts to improve the efficiency of cellular reprogramming for the generation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs have focused mainly on transcription factors and small molecule combinations. Here, we report the results of our focus instead on the phenotype of the cells targeted for reprogramming. We find that adult mouse pancreatic tissue stem cells derived by the method of suppression of asymmetric cell kinetics (SACK acquire increased potency simply by culture under conditions for the production and maintenance of pluripotent stem cells. Moreover, supplementation with the SACK agent xanthine, which promotes symmetric self-renewal, significantly increases the efficiency and degree of acquisition of pluripotency properties. In transplantation analyses, clonal reprogrammed pancreatic stem cells produce slow-growing tumors with tissue derivative of all three embryonic germ layers. This acquisition of pluripotency, without transduction with exogenous transcription factors, supports the concept that tissue stem cells are predisposed to cellular reprogramming, particularly when symmetrically self-renewing.
Biomaterials and Culture Technologies for Regenerative Therapy of Liver Tissue.

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Perez, Roman A; Jung, Cho-Rok; Kim, Hae-Won

2017-01-01

Regenerative approach has emerged to substitute the current extracorporeal technologies for the treatment of diseased and damaged liver tissue. This is based on the use of biomaterials that modulate the responses of hepatic cells through the unique matrix properties tuned to recapitulate regenerative functions. Cells in liver preserve their phenotype or differentiate through the interactions with extracellular matrix molecules. Therefore, the intrinsic properties of the engineered biomaterials, such as stiffness and surface topography, need to be tailored to induce appropriate cellular functions. The matrix physical stimuli can be combined with biochemical cues, such as immobilized functional groups or the delivered actions of signaling molecules. Furthermore, the external modulation of cells, through cocultures with nonparenchymal cells (e.g., endothelial cells) that can signal bioactive molecules, is another promising avenue to regenerate liver tissue. This review disseminates the recent approaches of regenerating liver tissue, with a focus on the development of biomaterials and the related culture technologies. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.
Development of control rod position indicator using seismic-resistance reed switches for integral reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, Je Yong; Kim, Ji Ho; Huh, Hyung; Choi, Myoung Hwan; Sohn, Dong Seong

2008-01-01

The Reed Switch Position Transmitter (RSPT) is used as a position indicator for the control rod in commercial nuclear power plants made by ABB-CE. But this position indicator has some problems when directly adopting it to the integral reactor. The Control Element Drive Mechanism (CEDM) for the integral reactor is designed to raise and lower the control rod in steps of 2mm in order to satisfy the design features of the integral reactor which are the soluble boron free operation and the use of a nuclear heating for the reactor start-up. Therefore the resolution of the position indicator for the integral reactor should be achieved to sense the position of the control rod more precisely than that of the RSPT of the ABB-CE. This paper adopts seismic resistance reed switches to the position indicator in order to reduce the damages or impacts during the handling of the position indicator and earthquake
Evaluation of reference genes for quantitative real-time PCR in oil palm elite planting materials propagated by tissue culture.

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Pek-Lan Chan

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: The somatic embryogenesis tissue culture process has been utilized to propagate high yielding oil palm. Due to the low callogenesis and embryogenesis rates, molecular studies were initiated to identify genes regulating the process, and their expression levels are usually quantified using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR. With the recent release of oil palm genome sequences, it is crucial to establish a proper strategy for gene analysis using RT-qPCR. Selection of the most suitable reference genes should be performed for accurate quantification of gene expression levels. RESULTS: In this study, eight candidate reference genes selected from cDNA microarray study and literature review were evaluated comprehensively across 26 tissue culture samples using RT-qPCR. These samples were collected from two tissue culture lines and media treatments, which consisted of leaf explants cultures, callus and embryoids from consecutive developmental stages. Three statistical algorithms (geNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper confirmed that the expression stability of novel reference genes (pOP-EA01332, PD00380 and PD00569 outperformed classical housekeeping genes (GAPDH, NAD5, TUBULIN, UBIQUITIN and ACTIN. PD00380 and PD00569 were identified as the most stably expressed genes in total samples, MA2 and MA8 tissue culture lines. Their applicability to validate the expression profiles of a putative ethylene-responsive transcription factor 3-like gene demonstrated the importance of using the geometric mean of two genes for normalization. CONCLUSIONS: Systematic selection of the most stably expressed reference genes for RT-qPCR was established in oil palm tissue culture samples. PD00380 and PD00569 were selected for accurate and reliable normalization of gene expression data from RT-qPCR. These data will be valuable to the research associated with the tissue culture process. Also, the method described here will facilitate the selection
Evaluation of Reference Genes for Quantitative Real-Time PCR in Oil Palm Elite Planting Materials Propagated by Tissue Culture

Science.gov (United States)

Chan, Pek-Lan; Rose, Ray J.; Abdul Murad, Abdul Munir; Zainal, Zamri; Leslie Low, Eng-Ti; Ooi, Leslie Cheng-Li; Ooi, Siew-Eng; Yahya, Suzaini; Singh, Rajinder

2014-01-01

Background The somatic embryogenesis tissue culture process has been utilized to propagate high yielding oil palm. Due to the low callogenesis and embryogenesis rates, molecular studies were initiated to identify genes regulating the process, and their expression levels are usually quantified using reverse transcription quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). With the recent release of oil palm genome sequences, it is crucial to establish a proper strategy for gene analysis using RT-qPCR. Selection of the most suitable reference genes should be performed for accurate quantification of gene expression levels. Results In this study, eight candidate reference genes selected from cDNA microarray study and literature review were evaluated comprehensively across 26 tissue culture samples using RT-qPCR. These samples were collected from two tissue culture lines and media treatments, which consisted of leaf explants cultures, callus and embryoids from consecutive developmental stages. Three statistical algorithms (geNorm, NormFinder and BestKeeper) confirmed that the expression stability of novel reference genes (pOP-EA01332, PD00380 and PD00569) outperformed classical housekeeping genes (GAPDH, NAD5, TUBULIN, UBIQUITIN and ACTIN). PD00380 and PD00569 were identified as the most stably expressed genes in total samples, MA2 and MA8 tissue culture lines. Their applicability to validate the expression profiles of a putative ethylene-responsive transcription factor 3-like gene demonstrated the importance of using the geometric mean of two genes for normalization. Conclusions Systematic selection of the most stably expressed reference genes for RT-qPCR was established in oil palm tissue culture samples. PD00380 and PD00569 were selected for accurate and reliable normalization of gene expression data from RT-qPCR. These data will be valuable to the research associated with the tissue culture process. Also, the method described here will facilitate the selection of appropriate
Current status and future prospects for cultured limbal tissue transplants in Australia and New Zealand.

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Harkin, Damien G; Apel, Andrew J; Di Girolamo, Nick; Watson, Stephanie; Brown, Karl; Daniell, Mark D; McGhee, J Jane; McGhee, Charles N J

2013-04-01

Cultured limbal tissue transplants have become widely used over the last decade as a treatment for limbal stem cell deficiency (LSCD). While the number of patients afflicted with LSCD in Australia and New Zealand is considered to be relatively low, the impact of this disease on quality of life is so severe that the potential efficacy of cultured transplants has necessitated investigation. We presently review the basic biology and experimental strategies associated with the use of cultured limbal tissue transplants in Australia and New Zealand. In doing so, we aim to encourage informed discussion on the issues required to advance the use of cultured limbal transplants in Australia and New Zealand. Moreover, we propose that a collaborative network could be established to maintain access to the technology in conjunction with a number of other existing and emerging treatments for eye diseases. © 2012 The Authors. Clinical and Experimental Ophthalmology © 2012 Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists.
Robust cell tracking in epithelial tissues through identification of maximum common subgraphs.

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Kursawe, Jochen; Bardenet, Rémi; Zartman, Jeremiah J; Baker, Ruth E; Fletcher, Alexander G

2016-11-01

Tracking of cells in live-imaging microscopy videos of epithelial sheets is a powerful tool for investigating fundamental processes in embryonic development. Characterizing cell growth, proliferation, intercalation and apoptosis in epithelia helps us to understand how morphogenetic processes such as tissue invagination and extension are locally regulated and controlled. Accurate cell tracking requires correctly resolving cells entering or leaving the field of view between frames, cell neighbour exchanges, cell removals and cell divisions. However, current tracking methods for epithelial sheets are not robust to large morphogenetic deformations and require significant manual interventions. Here, we present a novel algorithm for epithelial cell tracking, exploiting the graph-theoretic concept of a 'maximum common subgraph' to track cells between frames of a video. Our algorithm does not require the adjustment of tissue-specific parameters, and scales in sub-quadratic time with tissue size. It does not rely on precise positional information, permitting large cell movements between frames and enabling tracking in datasets acquired at low temporal resolution due to experimental constraints such as phototoxicity. To demonstrate the method, we perform tracking on the Drosophila embryonic epidermis and compare cell-cell rearrangements to previous studies in other tissues. Our implementation is open source and generally applicable to epithelial tissues. © 2016 The Authors.
Rapid real-time PCR assay for culture and tissue identification of Geomyces destructans: the etiologic agent of bat geomycosis (white nose syndrome).

Science.gov (United States)

Chaturvedi, Sudha; Rudd, Robert J; Davis, April; Victor, Tanya R; Li, Xiaojiang; Appler, Kim A; Rajkumar, Sunanda S; Chaturvedi, Vishnu

2011-10-01

Geomyces destructans is the etiologic agent of bat geomycosis, commonly referred to as white nose syndrome (WNS). This infection has caused severe morbidity and mortality in little brown bats (Myotis lucifugus) and has also spread to other bat species with significant decline in the populations. Currently, G. destructans infection is identified by culture, ITS-PCR, and histopathology. We hypothesized that a real-time PCR assay would considerably improve detection of G. destructans in bats. The 100 bp sequence of the Alpha-L-Rhamnosidase gene was validated as a target for real-time PCR. The assay sensitivity was determined from serial dilution of DNA extracted from G. destructans conidia (5 × 10(-1)-5 × 10(7)), and the specificity was tested using DNA from 30 closely and distantly related fungi and 5 common bacterial pathogens. The real-time PCR assay was highly sensitive with detection limit of two G. destructans conidia per reaction at 40 PCR cycles. The assay was also highly specific as none of the other fungal or bacterial DNA cross-reacted in the real-time PCR assay. One hundred and forty-seven bat tissue samples, suspected of infection with G. destructans, were used to compare the real-time PCR assay to other methods employed for the detection of G. destructans. Real-time PCR was highly sensitive with 80 of 147 (55%) samples testing positive for G. destructans DNA. In comparison, histopathology examination revealed 64/147 (44%) positive samples. The internal transcribed spacer (ITS)-PCR yielded positive amplicon for G. destructans from 37 tissue samples (25%). The least sensitive assay was the fungal culture with only 17 tissue samples (12%) yielding G. destructans in culture. The data suggested that the real-time PCR assay is highly promising for rapid, sensitive, and specific identification of G. destructans. Further trials and inter-laboratory comparisons of this novel assay are recommended to improve the diagnosis of bat geomycosis.
COMPARISON OF CULTURE OF SYNOVIAL FLUID, PERIPROSTHETIC TISSUE AND PROSTHESIS SONICATE FOR THE DIAGNOSIS OF KNEE PROSTHESIS INFECTION

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Andrej Trampuž

2003-03-01

Full Text Available Background. Synovial fluid and periprosthetic tissue specimens are the standard specimens cultured for the diagnosis of prosthetic joint infection (PJI. We hypothesize that ultrasonication of the explanted prosthesis may improve diagnosis of PJI by dislodging biofilm bacteria from the prosthesis surface and improve the sensitivity and specificity of diagnosis of PJI.Methods. Included were patients undergoing knee prosthesis exchange for septic or biomechanical failure and have not received antimicrobial therapy in the last 2 weeks prior specimen collection. Cultures of synovial fluid and periprosthetic tissue specimens were performed per the usual clinical practice. Additionally, explanted joint components were sonicated for 5 minutes at frequency 40 kHz in sterile Ringer’s solution; aliquots of 0.5 ml sonicate were plated onto five aerobic and five anaerobic blood agar plates, and incubated at 37 °C and examined for the next seven days. The number and identity of each colony morphology was recorded.Results. 35 patients undergoing knee replacement have been studied (24 for aseptic biomechanical failure and 11 for suspected PJI. In patients with PJI, coagulase-negative staphylococci (7 cases, Corynebacterium spp. (2 cases, Staphylococcus aureus (1 case, and viridans group streptococcus (1 case were recovered. Culture sensitivity and specificity were for synovial fluid 88% and 100%, for periprosthetic tissue 83% and 81%, and for explant sonicate 91% and 100%, respectively. In sonicate cultures higher numbers of microorganisms than in periprosthetic tissue cultures were consistently detected.Conclusions. Using synovial fluid, periprosthetic tissue, and explant sonicate cultures, 12%, 17% and 9% of PJI were missed, respectively. Explant sonicate cultures were the most sensitive with respect to the diagnosis of PJI, indicating that explant ultrasonication may improve bacterial recovery. In sonicate cultures, infecting organisms were detected in

Tissue culture-induced genetic and epigenetic variation in triticale (× Triticosecale spp. Wittmack ex A. Camus 1927) regenerants.

Science.gov (United States)

Machczyńska, Joanna; Zimny, Janusz; Bednarek, Piotr Tomasz

2015-10-01

Plant regeneration via in vitro culture can induce genetic and epigenetic variation; however, the extent of such changes in triticale is not yet understood. In the present study, metAFLP, a variation of methylation-sensitive amplified fragment length polymorphism analysis, was used to investigate tissue culture-induced variation in triticale regenerants derived from four distinct genotypes using androgenesis and somatic embryogenesis. The metAFLP technique enabled identification of both sequence and DNA methylation pattern changes in a single experiment. Moreover, it was possible to quantify subtle effects such as sequence variation, demethylation, and de novo methylation, which affected 19, 5.5, 4.5% of sites, respectively. Comparison of variation in different genotypes and with different in vitro regeneration approaches demonstrated that both the culture technique and genetic background of donor plants affected tissue culture-induced variation. The results showed that the metAFLP approach could be used for quantification of tissue culture-induced variation and provided direct evidence that in vitro plant regeneration could cause genetic and epigenetic variation.
Estimation of the in vitro eye irritating and inflammatory potential of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dust by using reconstituted human corneal epithelium tissue cultures.

Science.gov (United States)

Cao, Yi; Bindslev, Dorthe A; Kjærgaard, Søren K

2015-01-01

Eye irritation is a common complaint in indoor environment, but the causes have still not been identified among the multiple exposures in house environments. To identify the potential environmental factors responsible for eye irritation and study the possible mechanisms, an in vitro model for eye irritation is suggested. In this study, reconstituted human corneal epithelium (HCE) tissue cultures were used to study the eye irritating and inflammatory potential of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and dust. HCE tissue cultures were exposed to a range of concentrations of LPS for 6 h and dust for 24 h, respectively. After exposure, viability and secretion of interleukins (IL) IL-1β, IL-8, and tumor necrosis factor (TNFα) were examined. Histology was used to indicate the morphological changes after dust exposure. Both LPS and dust affected HCE viability. There was an increased level of IL-8 after LPS exposure, while the concentrations of IL-1β and TNFα remained unaffected. Dust exposure resulted in an elevation of both IL-1β and IL-8, but not TNFα. Histology study showed increased vacuolization and reduced thickness after 24 h exposure to 5 mg/mL dust. LPS and dust showed in vitro eye irritating and inflammatory potential, and cytokines/chemokines like IL-1β and IL-8 may be involved in the mechanisms of eye irritation. The HCE tissue culture may be used as an in vitro model to study environmental exposure induced eye irritation and inflammation.
Generation of Functional Thyroid Tissue Using 3D-Based Culture of Embryonic Stem Cells.

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Antonica, Francesco; Kasprzyk, Dominika Figini; Schiavo, Andrea Alex; Romitti, Mírian; Costagliola, Sabine

2017-01-01

During the last decade three-dimensional (3D) cultures of pluripotent stem cells have been intensively used to understand morphogenesis and molecular signaling important for the embryonic development of many tissues. In addition, pluripotent stem cells have been shown to be a valid tool for the in vitro modeling of several congenital or chronic human diseases, opening new possibilities to study their physiopathology without using animal models. Even more interestingly, 3D culture has proved to be a powerful and versatile tool to successfully generate functional tissues ex vivo. Using similar approaches, we here describe a protocol for the generation of functional thyroid tissue using mouse embryonic stem cells and give all the details and references for its characterization and analysis both in vitro and in vivo. This model is a valid approach to study the expression and the function of genes involved in the correct morphogenesis of thyroid gland, to elucidate the mechanisms of production and secretion of thyroid hormones and to test anti-thyroid drugs.
Availability of commonly consumed and culturally specific fruits and vegetables in African-american and Latino neighborhoods.

Science.gov (United States)

Grigsby-Toussaint, Diana S; Zenk, Shannon N; Odoms-Young, Angela; Ruggiero, Laurie; Moise, Imelda

2010-05-01

Although the importance of culture in shaping individual dietary behaviors is well-documented, cultural food preferences have received limited attention in research on the neighborhood food environment. The purpose of this study was to assess the availability of commonly consumed and culturally specific fruits and vegetables in retail food stores located in majority African-American and Latino neighborhoods in southwest Chicago, IL. A cross-sectional survey of 115 stores (15% grocery stores, 85% convenience/corner stores) in African-American neighborhoods and 110 stores (45% grocery stores, 55% convenience/corner stores) in Latino neighborhoods was conducted between May and August of 2006. chi(2) tests were used to assess differences in the availability (presence/absence) of commonly consumed (n=25) and culturally specific fruits and vegetables for African Americans (n=16 varieties) and Latinos (n=18 varieties). Stores located in neighborhoods in which the majority of residents were African American or Latino were more likely to carry fresh fruits and vegetables that were culturally relevant to the dominant group. For example, grocery stores located in Latino neighborhoods were more likely to carry chayote (82.0% vs 17.6%, P<0.05), whereas grocery stores located in African-American neighborhoods were more likely to carry black-eyed peas (52.9% vs 20%, P<0.05). Most stores, however, carried fewer than 50% of commonly consumed or culturally specific fruits and vegetables. Findings from this study highlight that limited availability of culturally specific as well as commonly consumed fruits and vegetables in the neighborhood may be a barrier to fruit and vegetable consumption among African Americans and Latinos. Copyright 2010 American Dietetic Association. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Nanotechnology, Cell Culture and Tissue Engineering

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Kazutoshi Haraguchi

2011-01-01

Full Text Available We have fabricated new types of polymer hydrogels and polymer nanocomposites, i.e., nanocomposite gels (NC gels and soft, polymer nanocomposites (M-NCs: solid, with novel organic/inorganic network structures. Both NC gels and M-NCs were synthesized by in-situ free-radical polymerization in the presence of exfoliated clay platelets in aqueous systems and were obtained in various forms such as film, sheet, tube, coating, etc. and sizes with a wide range of clay contents. Here, disk-like inorganic clay nanoparticles act as multi-functional crosslinkers to form new types of network systems. Both NC gels and M-NCs have extraordinary optical and mechanical properties including ultra-high reversible extensibility, as well as a number of new characteristics relating to optical anisotropy, polymer/clay morphology, biocompatibility, stimuli-sensitive surfaces, micro-patterning, etc. For examples, the biological testing of medical devices, comprised of a sensitization test, an irritation test, an intracutaneous test and an in vitro cytotoxicity test,was carried out for NC gels and M-NCs. The safety of NC gels and M-NCs was confirmed in all tests. Also, the interaction of living tissue with NC gel was investigated in vivo by implantation in live goats; neither inflammation nor concrescence occurred around the NC gels. Furthermore, it was found that both N-NC gels consisting of poly(N-isopropylacrylamide(PNIPA/clay network and M-NCs consisting of poly(2-methoxyethyacrylate(PMEA/clay network show characteristic cell culture and subsequent cell detachment on their surfaces, although it was almost impossible to culture cells on conventional, chemically-crosslinked PNIPA hydrogels and chemically crossslinked PMEA, regardless of their crosslinker concentration. Various kinds of cells, such ashumanhepatoma cells (HepG2, normal human dermal fibroblast (NHDF, and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC, could be cultured to be confluent on the surfaces of N
Skin equivalent tissue-engineered construct: co-cultured fibroblasts/ keratinocytes on 3D matrices of sericin hope cocoons.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sunita Nayak

Full Text Available The development of effective and alternative tissue-engineered skin replacements to autografts, allografts and xenografts has became a clinical requirement due to the problems related to source of donor tissue and the perceived risk of disease transmission. In the present study 3D tissue engineered construct of sericin is developed using co-culture of keratinocytes on the upper surface of the fabricated matrices and with fibroblasts on lower surface. Sericin is obtained from "Sericin Hope" silkworm of Bombyx mori mutant and is extracted from cocoons by autoclave. Porous sericin matrices are prepared by freeze dried method using genipin as crosslinker. The matrices are characterized biochemically and biophysically. The cell proliferation and viability of co-cultured fibroblasts and keratinocytes on matrices for at least 28 days are observed by live/dead assay, Alamar blue assay, and by dual fluorescent staining. The growth of the fibroblasts and keratinocytes in co-culture is correlated with the expression level of TGF-β, b-FGF and IL-8 in the cultured supernatants by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The histological analysis further demonstrates a multi-layered stratified epidermal layer of uninhibited keratinocytes in co-cultured constructs. Presence of involucrin, collagen IV and the fibroblast surface protein in immuno-histochemical stained sections of co-cultured matrices indicates the significance of paracrine signaling between keratinocytes and fibroblasts in the expression of extracellular matrix protein for dermal repair. No significant amount of pro inflammatory cytokines (TNF-α, IL-1β and nitric oxide production are evidenced when macrophages grown on the sericin matrices. The results all together depict the potentiality of sericin 3D matrices as skin equivalent tissue engineered construct in wound repair.
Decoding of interleaved Reed-Solomon codes using improved power decoding

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Puchinger, Sven; Rosenkilde ne Nielsen, Johan

2017-01-01

We propose a new partial decoding algorithm for m-interleaved Reed-Solomon (IRS) codes that can decode, with high probability, a random error of relative weight 1 − Rm/m+1 at all code rates R, in time polynomial in the code length n. For m > 2, this is an asymptotic improvement over the previous...... state-of-the-art for all rates, and the first improvement for R > 1/3 in the last 20 years. The method combines collaborative decoding of IRS codes with power decoding up to the Johnson radius....
Micropropagation and maintenance of phytoplasmas in tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Bertaccini, Assunta; Paltrinieri, Samanta; Martini, Marta; Tedeschi, Mara; Contaldo, Nicoletta

2013-01-01

Maintenance of phytoplasma strains in tissue culture is achievable for all strains transmitted to periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus), and also for other naturally infected plant host species. Shoots of 1-3 cm length are grown in a solid medium containing Murashige and Skoog (MS) micro- and macroelements and 0.12 mg/L benzylaminopurine. The continued presence of phytoplasmas in infected shoots of periwinkle that have been maintained in micropropagation for up to 20 years can be shown by diagnostic methods such as nested PCR tests using the 16S rDNA gene (see Chapters 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25,and 26 for phytoplasma diagnostic methods).
Study on rapid propagation of Zanhuang Chinese jujube by tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Yun; Wang Yu; Tian Yanting

2002-01-01

Zanhuang jujube is a very precious and rare variety of Chinese jujube. Its development was restricted by the under-developed propagate technique in history. The rapid propagation by tissue culture was studied and the optimum media were screened out. Through studying the condition of initial, proliferating, acclimatizing and rooting culture, 4 media, MS +6-BA 0.5 mg/L+IBA 0.1 mg/L, MS+6-BA 1.5 mg/L+IBA 0.1-0.2 mg/L, MS+KT 0.5 mg/L+NAA 0.2 mg/L and 1/2 MS+IBA 0.6 mg/L+NAA 0.2-0.3 mg/L were selected respectively
Plant cell tissue culture: A potential source of chemicals

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Scott, C.D.; Dougall, D.K.

1987-08-01

Higher plants produce many industrially important products. Among these are drugs and medicinal chemicals, essential oils and flavors, vegetable oils and fats, fine and specialty chemicals, and even some commodity chemicals. Although, currently, whole-plant extraction is the primary means of harvesting these materials, the advent of plant cell tissue culture could be a much more effective method of producing many types of phytochemicals. The use of immobilized plant cells in an advanced bioreactor configuration with excretion of the product into the reactor medium may represent the most straightforward way of commercializing such techniques for lower-value chemicals. Important research and development opportunities in this area include screening for plant cultures for nonmedical, lower-value chemicals; understanding and controlling plant cell physiology and biochemistry; optimizing effective immobilization methods; developing more efficient bioreactor concepts; and perfecting product extraction and purification techniques. 62 refs., 2 figs.
Isolation of Lysosomes from Mammalian Tissues and Cultured Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Aguado, Carmen; Pérez-Jiménez, Eva; Lahuerta, Marcos; Knecht, Erwin

2016-01-01

Lysosomes participate within the cells in the degradation of organelles, macromolecules, and a wide variety of substrates. In any study on specific roles of lysosomes, both under physiological and pathological conditions, it is advisable to include methods that allow their reproducible and reliable isolation. However, purification of lysosomes is a difficult task, particularly in the case of cultured cells. This is mainly because of the heterogeneity of these organelles, along with their low number and high fragility. Also, isolation methods, while disrupting plasma membranes, have to preserve the integrity of lysosomes, as the breakdown of their membranes releases enzymes that could damage all cell organelles, including themselves. The protocols described below have been routinely used in our laboratory for the specific isolation of lysosomes from rat liver, NIH/3T3, and other cultured cells, but can be adapted to other mammalian tissues or cell lines.
Comparison of mesencephalic free-floating tissue culture grafts and cell suspension grafts in the 6-hydroxydopamine-lesioned rat

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meyer, Morten; Widmer, H R; Wagner, B

1998-01-01

of grafted dopaminergic neurons and to correlate that with the behavioral effects. Additional cultures and acutely prepared explants were also fixed and stored for histological investigation in order to estimate the loss of dopaminergic neurons in culture and after transplantation. Similar behavioral...... numbers of TH-immunoreactive (TH-ir) neurons in grafts of cultured tissue (775 +/- 98, mean +/- SEM) and grafts of fresh, dissociated cell suspension (806 +/- 105, mean +/- SEM). Cell counts in fresh explants, 7-day-old cultures, and grafted cultures revealed a 68.2% loss of TH-ir cells 7 days after......Ventral mesencephalon (VM) of fetal rat and human origin grown as free-floating roller-tube (FFRT) cultures can survive subsequent grafting to the adult rat striatum. To further explore the functional efficacy of such grafts, embryonic day 13 ventral mesencephalic tissue was grafted either after 7...
Implementasi Dan Evaluasi Kinerja Encoder-Decoder Reed Solomon Pada M-Ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (M-Qam Mengunakan Wireless Open-Access Research Platform (WARP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nadya Noor Oktarini

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Teknik modulasi multilevel seperti M-ary Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (M-QAM memiliki kelemahan yaitu semakin tinggi level modulasi yang digunakan, maka semakin tinggi pula nilai BER yang dihasilkan. Hal ini menyebabkan kinerja sistem menjadi tidak maksimal karena sistem semakin tidak tahan terhadap noise. Salah satu teknik error control coding yang digunakan untuk mendeteksi kesalahan sekaligus memperbaiki kesalahan yaitu kode Reed Solomon. Kelebihan dari kode Reed Solomon adalah sifatnya yang non-binary artinya data diolah dalam simbol sehingga kemampuan koreksi data lebih banyak. WARP merupakan salah satu jenis dari teknologi SDR yang bisa diprogram untuk membuat prototype sistem komunikasi nirkabel. Pengimplementasian encoder dan decoder reed solomon dengan menggunakan perangkat WARP bertujuan untuk membandingkan modulasi M-QAM dengan dan tanpa kode reed solomon, kemudian mengetahui kinerja code rate yang berbeda pada modulasi M-QAM, serta mengetahui pengaruh besarnya daya pancar dan jarak pada sistem komunikasi. Hasil implementasi terbaik terdapat pada sistem RS (15,9 yang mana dapat memperbaiki kesalahan di semua level modulasi karena memiliki kemampuan koreksi error ganda (t=3 dengan ukuran k yang sama. Dari hasil implementasi juga didapatkan kesimpulan bahwa nilai BER akan semakin besar terhadap bertambahnya jarak antar node untuk daya pancar tetap, ini menandakan jarak sangat mempengaruhi kualitas kinerja suatu sistem komunikasi.
Review of vascularised bone tissue-engineering strategies with a focus on co-culture systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Yuchun; Chan, Jerry K Y; Teoh, Swee-Hin

2015-02-01

Poor angiogenesis within tissue-engineered grafts has been identified as a main challenge limiting the clinical introduction of bone tissue-engineering (BTE) approaches for the repair of large bone defects. Thick BTE grafts often exhibit poor cellular viability particularly at the core, leading to graft failure and lack of integration with host tissues. Various BTE approaches have been explored for improving vascularisation in tissue-engineered constructs and are briefly discussed in this review. Recent investigations relating to co-culture systems of endothelial and osteoblast-like cells have shown evidence of BTE efficacy in increasing vascularization in thick constructs. This review provides an overview of key concepts related to bone formation and then focuses on the current state of engineered vascularized co-culture systems using bone repair as a model. It will also address key questions regarding the generation of clinically relevant vascularized bone constructs as well as potential directions and considerations for research with the objective of pursuing engineered co-culture systems in other disciplines of vascularized regenerative medicine. The final objective is to generate serious and functional long-lasting vessels for sustainable angiogenesis that will enable enhanced cellular survival within thick voluminous bone grafts, thereby aiding in bone formation and remodelling in the long term. However, more evidence about the quality of blood vessels formed and its associated functional improvement in bone formation as well as a mechanistic understanding of their interactions are necessary for designing better therapeutic strategies for translation to clinical settings. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Review of finite fields: Applications to discrete Fourier, transforms and Reed-Solomon coding

Science.gov (United States)

Wong, J. S. L.; Truong, T. K.; Benjauthrit, B.; Mulhall, B. D. L.; Reed, I. S.

1977-01-01

An attempt is made to provide a step-by-step approach to the subject of finite fields. Rigorous proofs and highly theoretical materials are avoided. The simple concepts of groups, rings, and fields are discussed and developed more or less heuristically. Examples are used liberally to illustrate the meaning of definitions and theories. Applications include discrete Fourier transforms and Reed-Solomon coding.
Comparison Of Cd And Zn Accumulation In Tissues Of Different Vascular Plants: A Radiometric Study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dürešová Zuzana

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present work was to compare the accumulation and translocation of Cd and Zn in plants of tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum L., celery (Apium graveolens L., maize (Zea mays L., giant reed (Arundo donax L., and alpine pennycress (Noccaea caerulescens L. under conditions of short-term hydroponic experiments using nutrient solutions spiked with radionuclides 109Cd or 65Zn, and direct gamma-spectrometry. It was found that the time-course of metals accumulation in studied plants was not different in terms of target metal, but it was significantly different on the level of plant species. The highest values of Cd accumulation showed plants of giant reed, whereby the accumulation decreased in the order: giant reed > tobacco > alpine pennycress >> maize and celery. On the basis of concentration ratios (CR [Me]shoot / [Me]root calculation for both metals, it was found that Cd and Zn were in prevailing part accumulated in the root tissues and only partially accumulated in the shoots, where the amount of accumulated Cd and Zn increased from the oldest developed leaves to the youngest developed leaves. The CR values corresponding to these facts were calculated in the range 0.06 – 0.27 for Cd and for Zn 0.06 – 0.48. In terms of plant species, the CR values obtained for Cd decreased in the order: maize > celery > tobacco and giant reed > alpine pennycress. The similarity between studied objects – individual plant species on the basis of the obtained variables defining Cd or Zn accumulation at different conditions of the experiments as well as the relationships between obtained variables and conditions of the experiments were subjected to multivariate analysis method – cluster analysis (CA. According to the findings and this analysis, it can be expected that plants of tobacco and giant reed will dispose with similar characteristics as plants of alpine pennycress, which are classified as Zn/Cd hyperaccumulators, in terms of Cd or Zn accumulation
NMR-based metabolomics of mammalian cell and tissue cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aranibar, Nelly; Borys, Michael; Mackin, Nancy A.; Ly, Van; Abu-Absi, Nicholas; Abu-Absi, Susan; Niemitz, Matthias; Schilling, Bernhard; Li, Zheng Jian; Brock, Barry; Russell, Reb J.; Tymiak, Adrienne; Reily, Michael D.

2011-01-01

NMR spectroscopy was used to evaluate growth media and the cellular metabolome in two systems of interest to biomedical research. The first of these was a Chinese hamster ovary cell line engineered to express a recombinant protein. Here, NMR spectroscopy and a quantum mechanical total line shape analysis were utilized to quantify 30 metabolites such as amino acids, Krebs cycle intermediates, activated sugars, cofactors, and others in both media and cell extracts. The impact of bioreactor scale and addition of anti-apoptotic agents to the media on the extracellular and intracellular metabolome indicated changes in metabolic pathways of energy utilization. These results shed light into culture parameters that can be manipulated to optimize growth and protein production. Second, metabolomic analysis was performed on the superfusion media in a common model used for drug metabolism and toxicology studies, in vitro liver slices. In this study, it is demonstrated that two of the 48 standard media components, choline and histidine are depleted at a faster rate than many other nutrients. Augmenting the starting media with extra choline and histidine improves the long-term liver slice viability as measured by higher tissues levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione and ATP, as well as lower LDH levels in the media at time points out to 94 h after initiation of incubation. In both models, media components and cellular metabolites are measured over time and correlated with currently accepted endpoint measures.
NMR-based metabolomics of mammalian cell and tissue cultures

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Aranibar, Nelly; Borys, Michael; Mackin, Nancy A.; Ly, Van; Abu-Absi, Nicholas; Abu-Absi, Susan [Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (United States); Niemitz, Matthias [PERCH Solutions Ltd. (Finland); Schilling, Bernhard; Li, Zheng Jian; Brock, Barry; Russell, Reb J.; Tymiak, Adrienne; Reily, Michael D., E-mail: michael.reily@bms.com [Bristol-Myers Squibb Company (United States)

2011-04-15

NMR spectroscopy was used to evaluate growth media and the cellular metabolome in two systems of interest to biomedical research. The first of these was a Chinese hamster ovary cell line engineered to express a recombinant protein. Here, NMR spectroscopy and a quantum mechanical total line shape analysis were utilized to quantify 30 metabolites such as amino acids, Krebs cycle intermediates, activated sugars, cofactors, and others in both media and cell extracts. The impact of bioreactor scale and addition of anti-apoptotic agents to the media on the extracellular and intracellular metabolome indicated changes in metabolic pathways of energy utilization. These results shed light into culture parameters that can be manipulated to optimize growth and protein production. Second, metabolomic analysis was performed on the superfusion media in a common model used for drug metabolism and toxicology studies, in vitro liver slices. In this study, it is demonstrated that two of the 48 standard media components, choline and histidine are depleted at a faster rate than many other nutrients. Augmenting the starting media with extra choline and histidine improves the long-term liver slice viability as measured by higher tissues levels of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH), glutathione and ATP, as well as lower LDH levels in the media at time points out to 94 h after initiation of incubation. In both models, media components and cellular metabolites are measured over time and correlated with currently accepted endpoint measures.
Participation of cob tissue in the transport of medium components into maize kernels cultured in vitro

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Felker, F.C.

1990-01-01

Maize (Zea mays L.) kernels cultured in vitro while still attached to cob pieces have been used as a model system to study the physiology of kernel development. In this study, the role of the cob tissue in uptake of medium components into kernels was examined. Cob tissue was essential for in vitro kernel growth, and better growth occurred with larger cob/kernel ratios. A symplastically transported fluorescent dye readily permeated the endosperm when supplied in the medium, while an apoplastic dye did not. Slicing the cob tissue to disrupt vascular connections, but not apoplastic continuity, greatly reduced [ 14 C]sucrose uptake into kernels. [ 14 C]Sucrose uptake by cob and kernel tissue was reduced 31% and 68%, respectively, by 5 mM PCMBS. L-[ 14 C]glucose was absorbed much more slowly than D-[ 14 C]glucose. These and other results indicate that phloem loading of sugars occurs in the cob tissue. Passage of medium components through the symplast cob tissue may be a prerequisite for uptake into the kernel. Simple diffusion from the medium to the kernels is unlikely. Therefore, the ability of substances to be transported into cob tissue cells should be considered in formulating culture medium
Discarded human fetal tissue and cell cultures for transplantation research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hay, R.J.; Phillips, T.; Thompson, A.; Vilner, L.; Cleland, M.; Tchaw-ren Chen; Zabrenetzky, V.

1999-01-01

A feasibility study has been performed to explore the utility of various tissues from discarded human abortuses for transplantation and related research. Specifically, aborted fetuses plus parental blood samples and all relevant clinical data were obtained through a local hospital complex. Whenever possible, pancreas, skin and skeletal muscle, heart, liver, kidney, cartilage and lung tissues were removed, dissociated and subfractionated for cryopreservation, characterization and cultivation trials in vitro. Existing protocols for these manipulations were compared and improved upon as required. Clonal culture, cell aggregate maintenance techniques and use of feeder cell populations have been utilized where appropriate to develop quantitative comparative data. Histological and biochemical assays were applied both to evaluate separation/cultivation methods and to identify optimal culture conditions for maintaining functional cells. Immunochemical and molecular biological procedures were applied to study expression of Major Histocompatibility Vomplex (MHC) class 1 and 11 molecules on cell lines derived. Tissue and cell culture populations were examined for infections with bacteria, ftingi, mycoplasma, HIV, CMV, hepatitis B and other viruses. Only 1% of the abortuses tested were virally infected. Cytogenetic analyses confin-ned the normal diploid status in the vast majority (>98%) of lines tested. A total of over 250 abortuses have been obtained and processed. Only 25 were found to be contaminated with bacteria or fungi and unsuitable for further cultivation trials. A total of over 200 cell populations were isolated, characterized and cryopreserved for further study. Included were kidney, lung, liver and epidermal epithelia: cartilage-derived cells from the spine and epiphyses plus myogenic myoblasts. Selected lines have been immortalized using HPV I 6E6/E7 sequences. Epithelia from the liver and pancreas and cardiac myocytes were the most problematic in that initial

Cultural Commonalities and Differences in Spatial Problem-Solving: A Computational Analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Lovett, Andrew; Forbus, Kenneth

2011-01-01

A fundamental question in human cognition is how people reason about space. We use a computational model to explore cross-cultural commonalities and differences in spatial cognition. Our model is based upon two hypotheses: (1) the structure-mapping model of analogy can explain the visual comparisons used in spatial reasoning; and (2) qualitative,…
Coping with shifting nest predation refuges by European reed Warblers Acrocephalus scirpaceus.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lucyna Halupka

Full Text Available Predation, the most important source of nest mortality in altricial birds, has been a subject of numerous studies during past decades. However, the temporal dynamics between changing predation pressures and parental responses remain poorly understood. We analysed characteristics of 524 nests of European reed warblers monitored during six consecutive breeding seasons in the same area, and found some support for the shifting nest predation refuge hypothesis. Nest site characteristics were correlated with nest fate, but a nest with the same nest-site attributes could be relatively safe in one season and vulnerable to predation in another. Thus nest predation refuges were ephemeral and there was no between-season consistency in nest predation patterns. Reed warblers that lost their first nests in a given season did not disperse farther for the subsequent reproductive attempt, compared to successful individuals, but they introduced more changes to their second nest sites. In subsequent nests, predation risk remained constant for birds that changed nest-site characteristics, but increased for those that did not. At the between-season temporal scale, individual birds did not perform better with age in terms of reducing nest predation risk. We conclude that the experience acquired in previous years may not be useful, given that nest predation refuges are not stable.
Variation in primary and culture-expanded cells derived from connective tissue progenitors in human bone marrow space, bone trabecular surface and adipose tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Qadan, Maha A; Piuzzi, Nicolas S; Boehm, Cynthia; Bova, Wesley; Moos, Malcolm; Midura, Ronald J; Hascall, Vincent C; Malcuit, Christopher; Muschler, George F

2018-03-01

Connective tissue progenitors (CTPs) embody the heterogeneous stem and progenitor cell populations present in native tissue. CTPs are essential to the formation and remodeling of connective tissue and represent key targets for tissue-engineering and cell-based therapies. To better understand and characterize CTPs, we aimed to compare the (i) concentration and prevalence, (ii) early in vitro biological behavior and (iii) expression of surface-markers and transcription factors among cells derived from marrow space (MS), trabecular surface (TS), and adipose tissues (AT). Cancellous-bone and subcutaneous-adipose tissues were collected from 8 patients. Cells were isolated and cultured. Colony formation was assayed using Colonyze software based on ASTM standards. Cell concentration ([Cell]), CTP concentration ([CTP]) and CTP prevalence (P CTP ) were determined. Attributes of culture-expanded cells were compared based on (i) effective proliferation rate and (ii) expression of surface-markers CD73, CD90, CD105, SSEA-4, SSEA-3, SSEA-1/CD15, Cripto-1, E-Cadherin/CD324, Ep-CAM/CD326, CD146, hyaluronan and transcription factors Oct3/4, Sox-2 and Nanog using flow cytometry. Mean [Cell], [CTP] and P CTP were significantly different between MS and TS samples (P = 0.03, P = 0.008 and P= 0.0003), respectively. AT-derived cells generated the highest mean total cell yield at day 6 of culture-4-fold greater than TS and more than 40-fold greater than MS per million cells plated. TS colonies grew with higher mean density than MS colonies (290 ± 11 versus 150 ± 11 cell per mm 2 ; P = 0.0002). Expression of classical-mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) markers was consistently recorded (>95%) from all tissue sources, whereas all the other markers were highly variable. The prevalence and biological potential of CTPs are different between patients and tissue sources and lack variation in classical MSC markers. Other markers are more likely to discriminate differences
Astrocyte cultures derived from human brain tissue express angiotensinogen mRNA

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milsted, A.; Barna, B.P.; Ransohoff, R.M.; Brosnihan, K.B.; Ferrario, C.M.

1990-01-01

The authors have identified human cultured cell lines that are useful for studying angiotensinogen gene expression and its regulation in the central nervous system. A model cell system of human central nervous system origin expressing angiotensinogen has not previously been available. Expression of angiotensinogen mRNA appears to be a basal property of noninduced human astrocytes, since astrocytic cell lines derived from human glioblastomas or nonneoplastic human brain tissue invariably produced angiotensinogen mRNA. In situ hybridization histochemistry revealed that angiotensinogen mRNA production was not limited to a subpopulation of astrocytes because >99% of cells in these cultures contained angiotensinogen mRNA. These cell lines will be useful in studies of the molecular mechanisms controlling angiotensin synthesis and the role of biologically active angiotensin in the human brain by allowing the authors to examine regulation of expression of the renin-angiotensin system in human astrocyte cultures
Fault-tolerant conversion between adjacent Reed-Muller quantum codes based on gauge fixing

Science.gov (United States)

Quan, Dong-Xiao; Zhu, Li-Li; Pei, Chang-Xing; Sanders, Barry C.

2018-03-01

We design forward and backward fault-tolerant conversion circuits, which convert between the Steane code and the 15-qubit Reed-Muller quantum code so as to provide a universal transversal gate set. In our method, only seven out of a total 14 code stabilizers need to be measured, and we further enhance the circuit by simplifying some stabilizers; thus, we need only to measure eight weight-4 stabilizers for one round of forward conversion and seven weight-4 stabilizers for one round of backward conversion. For conversion, we treat random single-qubit errors and their influence on syndromes of gauge operators, and our novel single-step process enables more efficient fault-tolerant conversion between these two codes. We make our method quite general by showing how to convert between any two adjacent Reed-Muller quantum codes \\overline{\\textsf{RM}}(1,m) and \\overline{\\textsf{RM}}≤ft(1,m+1\\right) , for which we need only measure stabilizers whose number scales linearly with m rather than exponentially with m obtained in previous work. We provide the explicit mathematical expression for the necessary stabilizers and the concomitant resources required.
Cryopreservation of testicular tissue before long-term testicular cell culture does not alter in vitro cell dynamics

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Baert, Yoni; Braye, Aude; Struijk, Robin B.; van Pelt, Ans M. M.; Goossens, Ellen

2015-01-01

To assess whether testicular cell dynamics are altered during long-term culture after testicular tissue cryopreservation. Experimental basic science study. Reproductive biology laboratory. Testicular tissue with normal spermatogenesis was obtained from six donors. None. Detection and comparison of
Lipid-mediated glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor gene transfer to cultured porcine ventral mesencephalic tissue

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bauer, Matthias; Meyer, Morten; Brevig, Thomas

2002-01-01

Transplantation of dopaminergic ventral mesencephalic (VM) tissue into the basal ganglia of patients with Parkinson's disease (PD) shows at best moderate symptomatic relief in some of the treated cases. Experimental animal studies and clinical trials with allogenic and xenogenic pig-derived VM...... tissue grafts to PD patients indicate that one reason for the poor outcome of neural transplantation is the low survival and differentiation of grafted dopaminergic neurons. To improve dopaminergic cell survival through a gene-therapeutic approach we have established and report here results of lipid-mediated...... numbers of tyrosine hydroxylase-positive neurons in the cultured VM tissue. We conclude that lipid-mediated gene transfer employed on embryonic pig VM explant cultures is a safe and effective method to improve survival of dopaminergic neurons and may become a valuable tool to improve allo...
Altered Loyalties of Neuronal Markers in Cultured Slices of Resected Human Brain Tissue

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verwer, Ronald W. H.; Sluiter, Arja A.; Balesar, Rawien A.; Baayen, Johannes C.; Speijer, Dave; Idema, Sander; Swaab, Dick F.

2016-01-01

Organotypic cultures from normal neocortical tissue obtained at epilepsy surgery show a severe injury response. This response involves both neuronal degeneration and the proliferation of reactive cells. A salient feature of the reactive cells is the co-expression of microglial and astrocytic
Fibrochondrogenic potential of synoviocytes from osteoarthritic and normal joints cultured as tensioned bioscaffolds for meniscal tissue engineering in dogs

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jennifer J. Warnock

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Meniscal tears are a common cause of stifle lameness in dogs. Use of autologous synoviocytes from the affected stifle is an attractive cell source for tissue engineering replacement fibrocartilage. However, the diseased state of these cells may impede in vitro fibrocartilage formation. Synoviocytes from 12 osteoarthritic (“oaTSB” and 6 normal joints (“nTSB” were cultured as tensioned bioscaffolds and compared for their ability to synthesize fibrocartilage sheets. Gene expression of collagens type I and II were higher and expression of interleukin-6 was lower in oaTSB versus nTSB. Compared with nTSB, oaTSB had more glycosaminoglycan and alpha smooth muscle staining and less collagen I and II staining on histologic analysis, whereas collagen and glycosaminoglycan quantities were similar. In conclusion, osteoarthritic joint—origin synoviocytes can produce extracellular matrix components of meniscal fibrocartilage at similar levels to normal joint—origin synoviocytes, which makes them a potential cell source for canine meniscal tissue engineering.
hSAGEing: an improved SAGE-based software for identification of human tissue-specific or common tumor markers and suppressors.

Science.gov (United States)

Yang, Cheng-Hong; Chuang, Li-Yeh; Shih, Tsung-Mu; Chang, Hsueh-Wei

2010-12-17

SAGE (serial analysis of gene expression) is a powerful method of analyzing gene expression for the entire transcriptome. There are currently many well-developed SAGE tools. However, the cross-comparison of different tissues is seldom addressed, thus limiting the identification of common- and tissue-specific tumor markers. To improve the SAGE mining methods, we propose a novel function for cross-tissue comparison of SAGE data by combining the mathematical set theory and logic with a unique "multi-pool method" that analyzes multiple pools of pair-wise case controls individually. When all the settings are in "inclusion", the common SAGE tag sequences are mined. When one tissue type is in "inclusion" and the other types of tissues are not in "inclusion", the selected tissue-specific SAGE tag sequences are generated. They are displayed in tags-per-million (TPM) and fold values, as well as visually displayed in four kinds of scales in a color gradient pattern. In the fold visualization display, the top scores of the SAGE tag sequences are provided, along with cluster plots. A user-defined matrix file is designed for cross-tissue comparison by selecting libraries from publically available databases or user-defined libraries. The hSAGEing tool provides a combination of friendly cross-tissue analysis and an interface for comparing SAGE libraries for the first time. Some up- or down-regulated genes with tissue-specific or common tumor markers and suppressors are identified computationally. The tool is useful and convenient for in silico cancer transcriptomic studies and is freely available at http://bio.kuas.edu.tw/hSAGEing.
Dynamic culture induces a cell type-dependent response impacting on the thickness of engineered connective tissues.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortier, Guillaume Marceau; Gauvin, Robert; Proulx, Maryse; Vallée, Maud; Fradette, Julie

2013-04-01

Mesenchymal cells are central to connective tissue homeostasis and are widely used for tissue-engineering applications. Dermal fibroblasts and adipose-derived stromal cells (ASCs) allow successful tissue reconstruction by the self-assembly approach of tissue engineering. This method leads to the production of multilayered tissues, devoid of exogenous biomaterials, that can be used as stromal compartments for skin or vesical reconstruction. These tissues are formed by combining cell sheets, generated through cell stimulation with ascorbic acid, which favours the cell-derived production/organization of matrix components. Since media motion can impact on cell behaviour, we investigated the effect of dynamic culture on mesenchymal cells during tissue reconstruction, using the self-assembly method. Tissues produced using ASCs in the presence of a wave-like movement were nearly twice thicker than under standard conditions, while no difference was observed for tissues produced from dermal fibroblasts. The increased matrix deposition was not correlated with an increased proliferation of ASCs, or by higher transcript levels of fibronectin or collagens I and III. A 30% increase of type V collagen mRNA was observed. Interestingly, tissues engineered from dermal fibroblasts featured a four-fold higher level of MMP-1 transcripts under dynamic conditions. Mechanical properties were similar for tissues reconstructed using dynamic or static conditions. Finally, cell sheets produced using ASCs under dynamic conditions could readily be manipulated, resulting in a 2 week reduction of the production time (from 5 to 3 weeks). Our results describe a distinctive property of ASCs' response to media motion, indicating that their culture under dynamic conditions leads to optimized tissue engineering. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Organotypic culture of human bone marrow adipose tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Uchihashi, Kazuyoshi; Aoki, Shigehisa; Shigematsu, Masamori; Kamochi, Noriyuki; Sonoda, Emiko; Soejima, Hidenobu; Fukudome, Kenji; Sugihara, Hajime; Hotokebuchi, Takao; Toda, Shuji

2010-04-01

The precise role of bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) in the marrow remains unknown. The purpose of the present study was therefore to describe a novel method for studying BMAT using 3-D collagen gel culture of BMAT fragments, immunohistochemistry, ELISA and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. Mature adipocytes and CD45+ leukocytes were retained for >3 weeks. Bone marrow stromal cells (BMSC) including a small number of lipid-laden preadipocytes and CD44+/CD105+ mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-like cells, developed from BMAT. Dexamethasone (10 micromol/L), but not insulin (20 mU/mL), significantly increased the number of preadipocytes. Dexamethasone and insulin also promoted leptin production and gene expression in BMAT. Adiponectin production by BMAT was BMAT, in which adiponectin protein secretion is normally very low, and that BMAT may exhibit a different phenotype from that of the visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissues. BMAT-osteoblast interactions were also examined, and it was found that osteoblasts inhibited the development of BMSC and reduced leptin production, while BMAT inhibited the growth and differentiation of osteoblasts. The present novel method proved to be useful for the study of BMAT biology.
Habitat selection of two Acrocephalus warblers breeding in reed beds near Malacky (Western Slovakia)

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Prokešová, Jarmila; Kocian, Ľ.

2004-01-01

Roč. 59, č. 5 (2004), s. 637-644 ISSN 0006-3088 Grant - others:VEGA(SK) 1/7197/20; VEGA(SK) 1/0017/03 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z6093917 Keywords : reed warblers * breeding * habitat selection Subject RIV: EH - Ecology, Behaviour Impact factor: 0.207, year: 2004 http://biologia.savba.sk/59_5_04/Prokesova_J.pdf
Continuous butyric acid fermentation coupled with REED technology for enhanced productivity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Baroi, George Nabin; Skiadas, Ioannis; Westermann, Peter

strains, C.tyrobutyricum seems the most promising for biological production of butyric acid as it is characterised by higher selectivity and higher tolerance to butyric acid. However, studies on fermentative butyric production from lignocellulosic biomasses are scarce in the international literature...... of continuous fermentation mode and in-situ acids removal by Reverse Enhanced Electro Dialysis (REED) resulted to enhanced sugars consumption rates when 60% PHWS was fermented. Specifically, glucose and xylose consumption rate increased by a factor of 6 and 39, respectively, while butyric acid productivity...
Potato transformation and potato cyst nematode infection on potato plantlets in tissue culture

Science.gov (United States)

These two protocols describe the methods for generating transgenic potato plants and for evaluating potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis and G. pallida) infection on potato plantlets in tissue culture. These methods are useful tools that can be used in the study of the interactions between ...
High-radix transforms for Reed-Solomon codes over Fermat primes

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, K. Y.; Reed, I. S.; Truong, T. K.

1977-01-01

A method is proposed to streamline the transform decoding algorithm for Reed-Solomon (RS) codes of length equal to 2 raised to the power 2n. It is shown that a high-radix fast Fourier transform (FFT) type algorithm with generator equal to 3 on GF(F sub n), where F sub n is a Fermat prime, can be used to decode RS codes of this length. For a 256-symbol RS code, a radix 4 and radix 16 FFT over GF(F sub 3) require, respectively, 30 and 70% fewer modulo F sub n multiplications than the usual radix 2 FFT.
Role of hydraulic retention time and granular medium in microbial removal in tertiary treatment reed beds.

Science.gov (United States)

García, Joan; Vivar, Joan; Aromir, Maria; Mujeriego, Rafael

2003-06-01

The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the role of hydraulic retention time (HRT) and granular medium in faecal coliform (FC) and somatic coliphage (SC) removal in tertiary reed beds. Experiments were carried out in a pilot plant with four parallel reed beds (horizontal subsurface flow constructed wetlands), each one containing a different type of granular medium. This pilot plant is located in a wastewater treatment plant in Montcada i Reixac, near Barcelona, in northeastern Spain. The microbial inactivation ratios obtained in the different beds are compared as a function of three selected HRTs. Secondary effluent from the wastewater treatment plant was used as the influent of the pilot system. The microbial inactivation ratio ranged between 0.1 and 2.7 log-units for FC and from 0.5 to 1.7 log-units for SC in beds with coarser granular material (5-25mm), while it ranged between 0.7 and 3.4 log-units for FC and from 0.9 to 2.6 log-units for SC in the bed with finer material (2-13mm). HRT and granular medium are both key factors in microbial removal in the tertiary reed beds. The microbial inactivation ratio rises as the HRT increases until it reaches a saturation value (in general at an HRT of 3 days). The value of the microbial inactivation ratio at the saturation level depends on the granular medium contained in the bed. The specific surface area necessary to reach 2-3 log-units of FC and SC is approximately 3m(2)/person-equivalent.
Formation of proteoglycan and collagen-rich scaffold-free stiff cartilaginous tissue using two-step culture methods with combinations of growth factors.

Science.gov (United States)

Miyazaki, Tatsuya; Miyauchi, Satoshi; Matsuzaka, Satoshi; Yamagishi, Chie; Kobayashi, Kohei

2010-05-01

Tissue-engineered cartilage may be expected to serve as an alternative to autologous chondrocyte transplantation treatment. Several methods for producing cartilaginous tissue have been reported. In this study, we describe the production of scaffold-free stiff cartilaginous tissue of pig and human, using allogeneic serum and growth factors. The tissue was formed in a mold using chondrocytes recovered from alginate bead culture and maintained in a medium with transforming growth factor-beta and several other additives. In the case of porcine tissue, the tear strength of the tissue and the contents of proteoglycan (PG) and collagen per unit of DNA increased dose-dependently with transforming growth factor-beta. The length of culture was significantly and positively correlated with thickness, tear strength, and PG and collagen contents. Tear strength showed positive high correlations with both PG and collagen contents. A positive correlation was also seen between PG content and collagen content. Similar results were obtained with human cartilaginous tissue formed from chondrocytes expanded in monolayer culture. Further, an in vivo pilot study using pig articular cartilage defect model demonstrated that the cartilaginous tissue was well integrated with surrounding tissue at 13 weeks after the implantation. In conclusion, we successfully produced implantable scaffold-free stiff cartilaginous tissue, which characterized high PG and collagen contents.
Implementing oxygen control in chip-based cell and tissue culture systems.

Science.gov (United States)

Oomen, Pieter E; Skolimowski, Maciej D; Verpoorte, Elisabeth

2016-09-21

Oxygen is essential in the energy metabolism of cells, as well as being an important regulatory parameter influencing cell differentiation and function. Interest in precise oxygen control for in vitro cultures of tissues and cells continues to grow, especially with the emergence of the organ-on-a-chip and the desire to emulate in vivo conditions. This was recently discussed in this journal in a Critical Review by Brennan et al. (Lab Chip (2014). DOI: ). Microfluidics can be used to introduce flow to facilitate nutrient supply to and waste removal from in vitro culture systems. Well-defined oxygen gradients can also be established. However, cells can quickly alter the oxygen balance in their vicinity. In this Tutorial Review, we expand on the Brennan paper to focus on the implementation of oxygen analysis in these systems to achieve continuous monitoring. Both electrochemical and optical approaches for the integration of oxygen monitoring in microfluidic tissue and cell culture systems will be discussed. Differences in oxygen requirements from one organ to the next are a challenging problem, as oxygen delivery is limited by its uptake into medium. Hence, we discuss the factors determining oxygen concentrations in solutions and consider the possible use of artificial oxygen carriers to increase dissolved oxygen concentrations. The selection of device material for applications requiring precise oxygen control is discussed in detail, focusing on oxygen permeability. Lastly, a variety of devices is presented, showing the diversity of approaches that can be employed to control and monitor oxygen concentrations in in vitro experiments.
Does conspicuous colouration of Magpies Pica pica influence aggressive behaviour in nesting Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Trnka, A.; Požgayová, Milica

2017-01-01

Roč. 64, č. 1 (2017), s. 108-111 ISSN 0006-3657 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : Magpies Pica pica * Great Reed Warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus Subject RIV: EG - Zoology OBOR OECD: Ornithology Impact factor: 0.925, year: 2016

Do common cuckoo chicks suffer nest predation more than host nestlings?

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Jelínek, Václav; Karasová, Tereza; Weidinger, K.; Procházka, Petr; Honza, Marcel

2016-01-01

Roč. 70, č. 11 (2016), s. 1975-1987 ISSN 0340-5443 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GAP506/12/2404 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : Brood parasitism * Great reed warbler * Nest survival * Reed warbler Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 2.185, year: 2016
Removal of personal care compounds from sewage sludge in reed bed container (lysimeter) studies - Effects of macrophytes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Chen, Xijuan; Pauly, Udo; Rehfus, Stefan

2009-01-01

as on the bactericide Triclosan. Additionally, the capacity of different macrophytes species to affect the treatment process was examined. Three different macrophyte species were compared: bulrush (Typha latifolia), reed (Phragmites australis) and reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea). They were planted...... into containers (lysimeters) with a size of 1 m × 1 m × 1 m which were filled with 20 cm gravel at the bottom and 50 cm sludge on top, into which the macrophytes were planted. During the twelve months experiment reduction of 20-30% for HHCB and AHTN, 70% for Triclosan and 70% for OTNE were determined under...... environmental conditions. The reduction is most likely due to degradation, since volatilization, uptake into plants and leaching are insignificant. No difference between the containers with different macrophyte species or the unplanted containers was observed. Considering the usual operation time of 10 years...
Morphological, biochemical and genetic influence of mutagen treatments on medicinal plant tissue cultures

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Onisei, T.; Toth, E.; Tesio, B.; Floria, F.

1994-01-01

Gamma rays and/or alkylant agents have been applied on callus tissue, young regenerants and cell suspension in order to establish their effect on morphogenesis, regeneration ability and biosynthetic potential. Growth dynamics, morpho-anatomic variables, secondary metabolite production, cell cytogenetics, enzyme specific activities, isoperoxidase and isoesterase patterns were analyzed in relation to the morphogenetic response of Atropa belladonna, Datura innoxia, Lavandula angustifolia, Chamomilla recutita, Digitalis lanata and Vinca minor tissue cultures. The effects of gamma-ray doses varied from one species to another; 10 to 20 Gy were generally able to stimulate growth and plant regeneration (via organogenesis and somatic embryogenesis), while 10 to 50 Gy enhanced secondary metabolite biosynthesis both in callus and cell suspension culture. Semnificative increase of secondary metabolite production was obtained when treatments with EMS (0.1-0.2%) have been applied to young regenerants. Many differences in biological features and biochemical behaviour were registered 20 days and one year, respectively, after treatment. (author)
hSAGEing: an improved SAGE-based software for identification of human tissue-specific or common tumor markers and suppressors.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheng-Hong Yang

Full Text Available BACKGROUND: SAGE (serial analysis of gene expression is a powerful method of analyzing gene expression for the entire transcriptome. There are currently many well-developed SAGE tools. However, the cross-comparison of different tissues is seldom addressed, thus limiting the identification of common- and tissue-specific tumor markers. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To improve the SAGE mining methods, we propose a novel function for cross-tissue comparison of SAGE data by combining the mathematical set theory and logic with a unique "multi-pool method" that analyzes multiple pools of pair-wise case controls individually. When all the settings are in "inclusion", the common SAGE tag sequences are mined. When one tissue type is in "inclusion" and the other types of tissues are not in "inclusion", the selected tissue-specific SAGE tag sequences are generated. They are displayed in tags-per-million (TPM and fold values, as well as visually displayed in four kinds of scales in a color gradient pattern. In the fold visualization display, the top scores of the SAGE tag sequences are provided, along with cluster plots. A user-defined matrix file is designed for cross-tissue comparison by selecting libraries from publically available databases or user-defined libraries. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: The hSAGEing tool provides a combination of friendly cross-tissue analysis and an interface for comparing SAGE libraries for the first time. Some up- or down-regulated genes with tissue-specific or common tumor markers and suppressors are identified computationally. The tool is useful and convenient for in silico cancer transcriptomic studies and is freely available at http://bio.kuas.edu.tw/hSAGEing.
Toxicity and oxidative stress of canine mesenchymal stromal cells from adipose tissue in different culture passages

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Arícia Gomes Sprada

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Abstract: Stem cells in regenerative therapy have received attention from researchers in recent decades. The culture of these cells allows studies about their behavior and metabolism. Thus, cell culture is the basis for cell therapy and tissue engineering researches. A major concern regarding the use of cultivated stem cell in human or veterinary clinical routine is the risk of carcinogenesis. Cellular activities require a balanced redox state. However, when there is an imbalance in this state, oxidative stress occurs. Oxidative stress contributes to cytotoxicity, which may result in cell death or genomic alterations, favoring the development of cancer cells. The aim of this study was to determine whether there are differences in the behavior of cultured mesenchymal stem cells from canine adipose tissue according to its site of collection (omentum and subcutaneous evaluating the rate of proliferation, viability, level of oxidative stress and cytotoxicity over six passages. For this experiment, two samples of adipose tissue from subcutaneous and omentum where taken from a female dog corpse, 13 years old, Pitbull. The results showed greater levels of oxidative stress in the first and last passages of both groups, favoring cytotoxicity and cell death.
The release of bystander factor(s) from tissue explant cultures of rainbow trout (Onchorhynchus mykiss) after exposure to gamma radiation.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Dowd, Colm; Mothersill, Carmel E; Cairns, Michael T; Austin, Brian; McClean, Brendan; Lyng, Fiona M; Murphy, James E J

2006-10-01

The bystander response has been documented in cell lines and cell cultures derived from aquatic species over the past several years. However, little work has been undertaken to identify a similar bystander response in tissue explant cultures from fish. In this study, indirect effects of ionizing gamma radiation on tissue explant cultures of fish were investigated. Tissue explants in culture were exposed to 0.5 Gy and 5 Gy gamma radiation from a 60Co teletherapy unit. A bystander response in Epithelioma papulosum cyprini (EPC) cells exposed to gamma-irradiated tissue conditioned medium from rainbow trout explants was investigated, and the effects on cell survival were quantified by the clonogenic survival assay. Dichlorofluorescein and rhodamine 123 fluorescent dyes were used to identify alterations in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP), respectively. Results indicate a different response for the three tissue types investigated. Clonogenic assay results vary from a decrease in cell survival (gill) to no effect (skin) to a stimulatory effect (spleen). Results from fluorescence assays of ROS and MMP show similarities to clonogenic assay results. This study identifies a useful model for further studies relating to the bystander effect in aquatic organisms in vivo and ex vivo.
Three-Dimensional Culture Model of Skeletal Muscle Tissue with Atrophy Induced by Dexamethasone.

Science.gov (United States)

Shimizu, Kazunori; Genma, Riho; Gotou, Yuuki; Nagasaka, Sumire; Honda, Hiroyuki

2017-06-15

Drug screening systems for muscle atrophy based on the contractile force of cultured skeletal muscle tissues are required for the development of preventive or therapeutic drugs for atrophy. This study aims to develop a muscle atrophy model by inducing atrophy in normal muscle tissues constructed on microdevices capable of measuring the contractile force and to verify if this model is suitable for drug screening using the contractile force as an index. Tissue engineered skeletal muscles containing striated myotubes were prepared on the microdevices for the study. The addition of 100 µM dexamethasone (Dex), which is used as a muscle atrophy inducer, for 24 h reduced the contractile force significantly. An increase in the expression of Atrogin-1 and MuRF-1 in the tissues treated with Dex was established. A decrease in the number of striated myotubes was also observed in the tissues treated with Dex. Treatment with 8 ng/mL Insulin-like Growth Factor (IGF-I) for 24 h significantly increased the contractile force of the Dex-induced atrophic tissues. The same treatment, though, had no impact on the force of the normal tissues. Thus, it is envisaged that the atrophic skeletal muscle tissues induced by Dex can be used for drug screening against atrophy.
Adherence of coagulase-negative staphylococci to plastic tissue culture plates: a quantitative model for the adherence of staphylococci to medical devices.

OpenAIRE

Christensen, G D; Simpson, W A; Younger, J J; Baddour, L M; Barrett, F F; Melton, D M; Beachey, E H

1985-01-01

The adherence of coagulase-negative staphylococci to smooth surfaces was assayed by measuring the optical densities of stained bacterial films adherent to the floors of plastic tissue culture plates. The optical densities correlated with the weight of the adherent bacterial film (r = 0.906; P less than 0.01). The measurements also agreed with visual assessments of bacterial adherence to culture tubes, microtiter plates, and tissue culture plates. Selected clinical strains were passed through ...
[Effects of endophytic fungi from Dendrobium officinale on host growth and components metabolism of tissue culture seedlings].

Science.gov (United States)

Zhu, Bo; Liu, Jing-Jing; Si, Jin-Ping; Qin, Lu-Ping; Han, Ting; Zhao, Li; Wu, Ling-Shang

2016-05-01

The paper aims to study the effects of endophytic fungi from D. officinale cultivated on living trees on growth and components metabolism of tissue culture seedlings. Morphological characteristics and agronomic characters of tissue culture seedlings infected and uninfected by endophytic fungus were observed and measured. Polysaccharides and alcohol-soluble extracts contents were determined by phenol-sulfuric acid method and hot-dipmethod, respectively. Monosacchride composition of polysaccharides and alcohol-soluble extracts components were analyzed by pre-column derivatives HPLC and HPLC method, respectively. It showed that effects of turning to purple of stem nodes could be changed by endophytic fungus. Besides, the endophytic fungus could affect the contents and constitutions of polysaccharides and alcohol-soluble extracts. The strains tested, expect DO34, could promote growth and polysaccharides content of tissue culture seedlings. The strains tested, expect DO12, could promote the accumulation of mannose. Furthermore, DO18, DO19 and DO120 could increase alcohol-soluble extracts. On the basis, four superior strains were selected for mechanism research between endophytic fungus and their hosts and microbiology engineering. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.
Primary microglia isolation from mixed glial cell cultures of neonatal rat brain tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Tamashiro, Tami T; Dalgard, Clifton Lee; Byrnes, Kimberly R

2012-08-15

Microglia account for approximately 12% of the total cellular population in the mammalian brain. While neurons and astrocytes are considered the major cell types of the nervous system, microglia play a significant role in normal brain physiology by monitoring tissue for debris and pathogens and maintaining homeostasis in the parenchyma via phagocytic activity. Microglia are activated during a number of injury and disease conditions, including neurodegenerative disease, traumatic brain injury, and nervous system infection. Under these activating conditions, microglia increase their phagocytic activity, undergo morpohological and proliferative change, and actively secrete reactive oxygen and nitrogen species, pro-inflammatory chemokines and cytokines, often activating a paracrine or autocrine loop. As these microglial responses contribute to disease pathogenesis in neurological conditions, research focused on microglia is warranted. Due to the cellular heterogeneity of the brain, it is technically difficult to obtain sufficient microglial sample material with high purity during in vivo experiments. Current research on the neuroprotective and neurotoxic functions of microglia require a routine technical method to consistently generate pure and healthy microglia with sufficient yield for study. We present, in text and video, a protocol to isolate pure primary microglia from mixed glia cultures for a variety of downstream applications. Briefly, this technique utilizes dissociated brain tissue from neonatal rat pups to produce mixed glial cell cultures. After the mixed glial cultures reach confluency, primary microglia are mechanically isolated from the culture by a brief duration of shaking. The microglia are then plated at high purity for experimental study. The principle and protocol of this methodology have been described in the literature. Additionally, alternate methodologies to isolate primary microglia are well described. Homogenized brain tissue may be separated
Contribution to harmonic balance calculations of self-sustained periodic oscillations with focus on single-reed instruments.

Science.gov (United States)

Farner, Snorre; Vergez, Christophe; Kergomard, Jean; Lizée, Aude

2006-03-01

The harmonic balance method (HBM) was originally developed for finding periodic solutions of electronical and mechanical systems under a periodic force, but has been adapted to self-sustained musical instruments. Unlike time-domain methods, this frequency-domain method does not capture transients and so is not adapted for sound synthesis. However, its independence of time makes it very useful for studying any periodic solution, whether stable or unstable, without care of particular initial conditions in time. A computer program for solving general problems involving nonlinearly coupled exciter and resonator, HARMBAL, has been developed based on the HBM. The method as well as convergence improvements and continuation facilities are thoroughly presented and discussed in the present paper. Applications of the method are demonstrated, especially on problems with severe difficulties of convergence: the Helmholtz motion (square signals) of single-reed instruments when no losses are taken into account, the reed being modeled as a simple spring.
Evaluating the Value of High Spatial Resolution in National Capacity Expansion Models using ReEDS: Preprint

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krishnan, Venkat; Cole, Wesley

2016-07-01

Power sector capacity expansion models (CEMs) have a broad range of spatial resolutions. This paper uses the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, a long-term national scale electric sector CEM, to evaluate the value of high spatial resolution for CEMs. ReEDS models the United States with 134 load balancing areas (BAs) and captures the variability in existing generation parameters, future technology costs, performance, and resource availability using very high spatial resolution data, especially for wind and solar modeled at 356 resource regions. In this paper we perform planning studies at three different spatial resolutions--native resolution (134 BAs), state-level, and NERC region level--and evaluate how results change under different levels of spatial aggregation in terms of renewable capacity deployment and location, associated transmission builds, and system costs. The results are used to ascertain the value of high geographically resolved models in terms of their impact on relative competitiveness among renewable energy resources.
Metabolic aspects of growth in HU-treated crown-gall tissue cultures. II. Helianthus annuus

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aldona Rennert

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The dynamics of growth and changes in nucleic acid and protein contents in sunflower calluses and tumours cultured in hydroxyurea (HU containing media were examined. HU-induced changes in healthy tissues ran in parallel always in the same direction, in tumourous ones however an uncoupling between DNA synthesis and tissue growth on one hand and RNA and protein synthesis on the other took place. A detailed analysis of the results allows to suppose that the specific activity of HU on tumourous tissue could be an index of: 1 quantitative disturbances in its genes function (2 degree of the lass of sensitivity to the factors of regulation.
NIH Scientists Map Genetic Changes That Drive Tumors in a Common Pediatric Soft-Tissue Cancer

Science.gov (United States)

... Press Release NIH scientists map genetic changes that drive tumors in a common pediatric soft-tissue cancer ... of Health FOLLOW US Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Google+ LinkedIn GovDelivery RSS CONTACT INFORMATION Contact Us LiveHelp ...
Walter Reed Army Medical Center's Internet-based electronic health portal.

Science.gov (United States)

Abbott, Kevin C; Boocks, Carl E; Sun, Zhengyi; Boal, Thomas R; Poropatich, Ronald K

2003-12-01

Use of the World Wide Web (WWW) and electronic media to facilitate medical care has been the subject of many reports in the popular press. However, few reports have documented the results of implementing electronic health portals for essential medical tasks, such as prescription refills and appointments. At Walter Reed Army Medical Center, "Search & Learn" medical information, Internet-based prescription refills and patient appointments were established in January 2001. A multiphase retrospective analysis was conducted to determine the use of the "Search & Learn" medical information and the relative number of prescription refills and appointments conducted via the WWW compared with conventional methods. From January 2001 to May 2002, there were 34,741 refills and 819 appointments made over the Internet compared with 2,275,112 refills and approximately 500,000 appointments made conventionally. WWW activity accounted for 1.52% of refills and 0.16% of appointments. There was a steady increase in this percentage over the time of the analysis. In April of 2002, the monthly average of online refills had risen to 4.57% and online appointments were at 0.27%. Online refills were projected to account for 10% of all prescriptions in 2 years. The "Search & Learn" medical information portion of our web site received 147,429 unique visits during this same time frame, which was an average of 326 visitors per day. WWW-based methods of conducting essential medical tasks accounted for a small but rapidly increasing percentage of total activity at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. Subsequent phases of analysis will assess demographic and geographic factors and aid in the design of future systems to increase use of the Internet-based systems.
Evaluating the Value of High Spatial Resolution in National Capacity Expansion Models using ReEDS

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Krishnan, Venkat; Cole, Wesley

2016-07-18

This poster is based on the paper of the same name, presented at the IEEE Power & Energy Society General Meeting, July18, 2016. Power sector capacity expansion models (CEMs) have a broad range of spatial resolutions. This paper uses the Regional Energy Deployment System (ReEDS) model, a long-term national scale electric sector CEM, to evaluate the value of high spatial resolution for CEMs. ReEDS models the United States with 134 load balancing areas (BAs) and captures the variability in existing generation parameters, future technology costs, performance, and resource availability using very high spatial resolution data, especially for wind and solar modeled at 356 resource regions. In this paper we perform planning studies at three different spatial resolutions - native resolution (134 BAs), state-level, and NERC region level - and evaluate how results change under different levels of spatial aggregation in terms of renewable capacity deployment and location, associated transmission builds, and system costs. The results are used to ascertain the value of high geographically resolved models in terms of their impact on relative competitiveness among renewable energy resources.
Hybrid reed: Solid-state devices are a new generation of protective relays

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gurevich Vladimir

2007-01-01

Full Text Available Research and development in the field of electromechanical protective relays has not been conducted for tens of years. Author’s approach allows viewing the problem of re-equipment of relay protection in a new way. In the author’s opinion combination of reed switches with magnetic circuits and semiconductor elements opens new avenues in development of the promising protective relays featuring reliability, simplicity and low cost. Examples of protective relays made with these elements are given below.
Assessment of three types of spaceflight hardware for tissue culture studies: Comparison of skeletal tissue growth and differentiation

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Klement, B.J. [Space Medicine and Life Sciences Research Center Department of Anatomy Morehouse School of Medicine 720 Westview Dr. SW Atlanta, Georgia30310-1495 (United States); Spooner, B.S. [NASA Specialized Center of Research and Training Division of Biology Ackert Hall Kansas State University Manhattan, Kansas66506 (United States)

1997-01-01

Three different types of spaceflight hardware, the BioProcessing Module (BPM), the Materials Dispersion Apparatus (MDA), and the Fluid Processing Apparatus (FPA), were assessed for their ability to support pre-metatarsal growth and differentiation in experiments conducted on five space shuttle flights. BPM-cultured pre-metatarsal tissue showed no difference in flight and ground control lengths. Flight and ground controls cultured in the MDA grew 135 {mu}m and 141 {mu}m, respectively, in an 11 day experiment. Only five control rods and three flight rods mineralized. In another MDA experiment, pre-metatarsals were cultured at 4{degree}C (277K) or 20{degree}C (293K) for the 16 day mission, then cultured an additional 16 days in laboratory dishes at 37{degree}C (310K). The 20{degree}C (293K) cultures died post-flight. The 4{degree}C (277K) flight pre-metatarsals grew 417 {mu}m more than the 4{degree}C (277K) ground controls post-flight. In 5 and 6 day experiments done in FPAs, flight rods grew longer than ground control rods. In a 14 day experiment, ground control and flight rods also expanded in length, but there was no difference between them. The pre-metatarsals cultured in the FPAs did not mineralize, or terminally differentiate. These experiments demonstrate, that while supporting pre-metatarsal growth in length, the three types of hardware are not suitable to support routine differentiation. {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}
Products of cells from gliomas: VIII. Multiple-well immunoperoxidase assay of immunoreactivity of primary hybridoma supernatants with human glioma and brain tissue and cultured glioma cells.

Science.gov (United States)

McKeever, P E; Wahl, R L; Shakui, P; Jackson, G A; Letica, L H; Liebert, M; Taren, J A; Beierwaltes, W H; Hoff, J T

1990-06-01

To test the feasibility of primary screening of hybridoma supernatants against human glioma tissue, over 5000 combinations of hybridoma supernatants with glioma tissue, cultured glioma cells, and normal central neural tissue were screened with a new multiple-well (M-well) screening system. This is an immunoperoxidase assay system with visual endpoints for screening 20-30 hybridoma supernatants per single microscope slide. There were extensive differences between specificities to tissue and to cultured glioma cells when both were screened with M-wells and when cultured cells were screened with standard semi-automated fluorescence. Primary M-well screening with glioma tissue detected seven hybridoma supernatants that specifically identified parenchymal cells of glioma tissue and that were not detected with cultured cells. Immunoreactivities of individual supernatants for vascular components (nine supernatants), necrosis (five supernatants), and nuclei (three supernatants) were detected. Other supernatants bound multiple sites on glioma tissue and/or subpopulations of neurons and glia of normal tissue. The results show that primary screening with glioma tissue detects a number of different specificities of hybridoma supernatants to gliomas not detected by conventional screening with cultured cells. These are potentially applicable to diagnosis and therapy.
An Evaluation of Reed Bed Technology to Dewater Army Wastewater Treatment Plant Sludge

Science.gov (United States)

1993-09-01

speculated that the plants produced "root exudations" that were active against pathogens , and that the plants specifically showed an affinity for cadmium, zinc...mineralize and for pathogens to be destroyed. This downtime makes multiple beds necessary. The USEPA also reports that the major advantage of the reed...employee to regulate the sludge applications. This employee would also visually assess the beds for possible problems such as weed or insect ( aphid

Effect of Additives and Fuel Blending on Emissions and Ash-Related Problems from Small-Scale Combustion of Reed Canary Grass

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sébastien Fournel

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Agricultural producers are interested in using biomass available on farms to substitute fossil fuels for heat production. However, energy crops like reed canary grass contain high nitrogen (N, sulfur (S, potassium (K and other ash-forming elements which lead to increased emissions of gases and particulate matter (PM and ash-related operational problems (e.g., melting during combustion. To address these problematic behaviors, reed canary grass was blended with wood (50 wt% and fuel additives (3 wt% such as aluminum silicates (sewage sludge, calcium (limestone and sulfur (lignosulfonate based additives. When burned in a top-feed pellet boiler (29 kW, the four blends resulted in a 17%–29% decrease of PM concentrations compared to pure reed canary grass probably because of a reduction of K release to flue gas. Nitrogen oxides (NOx and sulfur dioxide (SO2 emissions varied according to fuel N and S contents. This explains the lower NOx and SO2 levels obtained with wood based products and the higher SO2 generation with the grass/lignosulfonate blend. The proportion of clinkers found in combustion ash was greatly lessened (27%–98% with the use of additives, except for lignosulfonate. The positive effects of some additives may allow agricultural fuels to become viable alternatives.
Primary chondrocytes enhance cartilage tissue formation upon co-culture with expanded chondrocytes, dermal fibroblasts, 3T3 feeder cells and embryonic stem cells

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hendriks, J.A.A.; Miclea, Razvan L.; Schotel, Roka; de Bruijn, Ewart; Moroni, Lorenzo; Karperien, Hermanus Bernardus Johannes; Riesle, J.U.; van Blitterswijk, Clemens

2010-01-01

Co-culture models have been increasingly used in tissue engineering applications to understand cell–cell interactions and consequently improve regenerative medicine strategies. Aiming at further elucidating cartilage tissue formation, we co-cultured bovine primary chondrocytes (BPCs) with human
Reed Canary Grass Project. Development of a new crop production system based on delayed harvesting and a system for its combined processing to chemical pulp and bio fuel powder

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Olsson, Rolf (ed.) (and others)

2004-07-01

The Reed canary grass project has been performed by 13 partners 8 countries; Sweden, Finland, Germany, Denmark, England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland. The aim of the project has been to evaluate if new breeding lines of reed canary grass suits in different European agricultural areas and to evaluate if the new delayed harvesting method originally developed in Sweden can be used all over the northern parts of Europe. The other part of the project deals with developing a system for its combined processing to chemical pulp and biofuel powder. The scientific objectives are to develop the C3 plant reed canary grass to an economically and environmentally competitive industrial crop for combined production of high quality chemical pulp and bioenergy fuel powder. Main results obtained in the project can be summarised as follows: The screening trials with new breeding lines of reed canary grass have shown a large potential for getting higher yields and better quality in new industrial varieties of reed canary grass. The best breeding lines tested gave at average a yield 20 % higher than now existing forage varieties which all economic calculations are based on. The results show that the delayed harvesting method gives important quality improvements and can be used except in areas with maritime climate. The research on chemical pulping and paper making have been successfully developed in the project and the obtained results in laboratory and pilot scale made it also possible to increase the ambitions in the project and include research on mill scale in cooperation with industry. This gave also possibilities to develop technologies needed for the whole chain from production fields to long distance handling and transport technology of intermediate processed raw materials. Different cooking processes have been developed for reed canary grass and a new cooking method the soda-oxygen process has given extremely high pulp yields if combined with intermediate processed raw material
[Extraction and analysis of chemical components of essential oil in Thymus vulgaris of tissue culture].

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Xiao-Dong; Yang, Li; Xu, Shi-Qian; Li, Jian-Guo; Cheng, Zhi-Hui; Dang, Jian-Zhang

2011-10-01

To extract the essential oils from the Seedlings, the Aseptic Seedlings and the Tissue Culture Seedlings of Thymus vulgaris and analyze their chemical components and the relative contents. The essential oils were extracted by steam distillation, the chemical components and the relative contents were identified and analyzed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS) and peak area normalization method. The main chemical components of essential oil in these three samples had no significant difference, they all contained the main components of essential oil in Thymus vulgaris: Thymol, Carvacrol, o-Cymene, gamma-Terpinene, Caryophyllene et al. and only had a slight difference in the relative content. This study provides important theoretical foundation and data reference for further study on production of essential oil in thyme by tissue culture technology.
Comparison of tumour age response to radiation for cells derived from tissue culture or solid tumours

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Keng, P.C.; Siemann, D.W.; Rochester Univ., NY; Rochester Univ., NY; Wheeler, K.T.

1984-01-01

Direct comparison of the cell age response of 9L and KHT tumour cells derived either from tissue culture or solid tumours was achieved. Cells from dissociated KHT and 9L tumours (the latter implanted either subcutaneously or intracerebrally) and cells from tissue culture were separated into homogenous sized populations by centrifugal elutriation. In both tumour models these homogeneous sized populations correspond to populations enriched at different stages of the cell cycle. The survival of these elutriated cell populations was measured after a single dose of Cs-137 gamma rays. For cells isolated from 9L solid tumours, there was little variation in radiosensitivity throughout the cell cycle; however, a very small but significant increase in resistance was found in late G 1 cells. This lack of a large variation in radiosensitivity through the cell cycle for 9L cells from solid tumours also was seen in 9L cells growing in monolayer tissue culture. When similar experiments were performed using the KHT sarcoma tumour model, the results showed that KHT cells in vitro exhibited a fairly conventional increase in radioresistance in both mid G 1 and late S. However, the cell age response of KHT cells from solid tumours was different; particularly in the late S and G 2 + M phases. (author)
Allelopathy of small everlasting (Antennaria microphylla) : Phytotoxicity to leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula) in tissue culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Hogan, M E; Manners, G D

1990-03-01

Media and media extracts from callus cultures of small everlasting (Antennaria microphylla) inhibited leafy spurge (Euphorbia esula L.) callus tissue and suspension culture growth (50 and 70% of control, respectively) and were phytotoxic in lettuce and leafy spurge root elongation bioassays (64 and 77% of control, respectively). Hydroquinone, a phytotoxic compound previously isolated from small everlasting, was also biosynthesized by callus and suspension cultures of this species. Exogenously supplied hydroquinone (0.5 mM) was toxic to leafy spurge suspension culture cells and was only partially biotransformed to its nontoxic water-soluble monoglucoside, arbutin, by these cells. This report confirms the chronic involvement of hydroquinone in the allelopathic interaction between small everlasting and leafy spurge.
Metabolism of monoterpenes in cell cultures of common sage (Salvia officinalis)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Falk, K.L.; Gershenzon, J.; Croteau, R.

1990-01-01

Leaves of common sage (Salvia officinalis) accumulate monoterpenes in glandular trichomes at levels exceeding 15 milligrams per gram fresh weight at maturity, whereas sage cells in suspension culture did not accumulate detectable levels of monoterpenes ( 14 C]sucrose was also virtually undetectable in this cell culture system. In vitro assay of each of the enzymes required for the sequential conversion of the ubiquitous isoprenoid precursor geranyl pyrophosphate to (+)-camphor (a major monoterpene product of sage) in soluble extracts of the cells revealed the presence of activity sufficient to produce (+)-camphor at a readily detectable level (>0.3 micrograms per gram fresh weight) at the late log phase of growth. Other monoterpene synthetic enzymes were present as well. In vivo measurement of the ability to catabolize (+)-camphor in these cells indicated that degradative capability exceeded biosynthetic capacity by at least 1,000-fold. Therefore, the lack of monoterpene accumulation in undifferentiated sage cultures could be attributed to a low level of biosynthetic activity (relative to the intact plant) coupled to a pronounced capacity for monoterpene catabolism
Reed Reactor Facility annual report, September 1, 1994--August 31, 1995

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1995-01-01

This report covers the period from September 1, 1994 to August 31, 1995. Information contained in this report is intended to fulfill several purposes including the reporting requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). Highlights of the last year include: (1) The number of new licensed student operators more than replaced the number of graduating seniors. Seven Reed College seniors used the reactor as part of their thesis projects. (2) The facility has been extraordinarily successful in obtaining donated equipment from Portland General Electric, US Department of Energy, Precision Castparts, Tektronix, and other sources. Battelle (Pacific Northwest Laboratory) has been generous in lending valuable equipment to the college. (3) The facility is developing more paid work. Income in the past academic year was much greater than the previous year, and next year should increase by even more. Additionally, the US Department of Energy's Reactor-Use Sharing grant increased significantly this year. During the year, the reactor was operated 225 separate times on 116 days. The total energy production was 24.6 MW-hours. The reactor staff consists of a Director, an Assistant Director, a contract Health Physicist, and approximately fifteen Reed College undergraduate students as hourly employees. All radiation exposures to individuals during this year were well below one percent of the federal limits. There were no releases of liquid radioactive material from the facility and airborne releases (primarily 41 Ar) were well within regulatory limits. No radioactive waste was shipped from the facility during this period
Reed Reactor Facility annual report, September 1, 1994--August 31, 1995

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1995-12-31

This report covers the period from September 1, 1994 to August 31, 1995. Information contained in this report is intended to fulfill several purposes including the reporting requirements of the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), the US Department of Energy (USDOE), and the Oregon Department of Energy (ODOE). Highlights of the last year include: (1) The number of new licensed student operators more than replaced the number of graduating seniors. Seven Reed College seniors used the reactor as part of their thesis projects. (2) The facility has been extraordinarily successful in obtaining donated equipment from Portland General Electric, US Department of Energy, Precision Castparts, Tektronix, and other sources. Battelle (Pacific Northwest Laboratory) has been generous in lending valuable equipment to the college. (3) The facility is developing more paid work. Income in the past academic year was much greater than the previous year, and next year should increase by even more. Additionally, the US Department of Energy`s Reactor-Use Sharing grant increased significantly this year. During the year, the reactor was operated 225 separate times on 116 days. The total energy production was 24.6 MW-hours. The reactor staff consists of a Director, an Assistant Director, a contract Health Physicist, and approximately fifteen Reed College undergraduate students as hourly employees. All radiation exposures to individuals during this year were well below one percent of the federal limits. There were no releases of liquid radioactive material from the facility and airborne releases (primarily {sup 41}Ar) were well within regulatory limits. No radioactive waste was shipped from the facility during this period.
Longitudinal Claudin Gene Expression Analyses in Canine Mammary Tissues and Thereof Derived Primary Cultures and Cell Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne C. Hammer

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Human and canine mammary tumours show partial claudin expression deregulations. Further, claudins have been used for directed therapeutic approaches. However, the development of claudin targeting approaches requires stable claudin expressing cell lines. This study reports the establishment and characterisation of canine mammary tissue derived cell lines, analysing longitudinally the claudin-1, -3, -4 and -7 expressions in original tissue samples, primary cultures and developed cell lines. Primary cultures were derived from 17 canine mammary tissues: healthy, lobular hyperplasia, simple adenoma, complex adenoma, simple tubular carcinoma, complex carcinoma, carcinoma arising in a benign mixed tumour and benign mixed tissue. Cultivation was performed, if possible, until passage 30. Claudin mRNA and protein expressions were analysed by PCR, QuantiGene Plex Assay, immunocytochemistry and immunofluorescence. Further, cytokeratin expression was analysed immunocytochemically. Cultivation resulted in 11 established cell lines, eight showing epithelial character. In five of the early passages the claudin expressions decreased compared to the original tissues. In general, claudin expressions were diminished during cultivation. Three cell lines kept longitudinally claudin, as well as epithelial marker expressions, representing valuable tools for the development of claudin targeted anti-tumour therapies.
Sensory systems for a control rod position using reed switches for the integral reactor

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Yu, J. Y.; Choi, S.; Kim, J. H.; Lee, D. J.

2007-01-01

The system-integrated modular advanced reactor (SMART) currently under development at the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute is being designed with a soluble boron free operation and the use of nuclear heating for the reactor start-up. These design features require a Control Element Drive Mechanism (CEDM) for the SMART to have a fine-step movement capability as well as a high reliability for a fine reactivity control. Also the reliability and accuracy of the information for the control rod position is very important to the reactor safety as well as the design of the core protection system. The position indicator is classified as a Class 1E component because the rod position signal of the position indicator is used in the safety related systems. Therefore it will be separated from the control systems to the extent that a failure of any single control system component of a channel and shall have sufficient independence, redundancy, and testability to perform its safety functions assuming a single failure. The position indicator is composed of a permanent magnet, reed switches and a voltage divider. Four independent position indicators around the upper pressure housing provide an indication of the position of a control rod comprising of a permanent magnet with a magnetic field concentrator which moves with the extension shaft connected to the control rod. The zigzag arranged reed switches are positioned along a line parallel to the path of the movement of the permanent magnet and it is activated selectively when the permanent magnet passes by. A voltage divider electrically connected to the reed switches provides a signal commensurate with the position of the control rod. The signal may then be transmitted to a position indicating device. In order to monitor the operating condition of the rotary step motor of CEDM, the angular position detector was installed at the top of the rotary step motor by means of connecting between the planetary gear and the rotating
Tissue expander infections in children: look beyond the expander pocket.

Science.gov (United States)

Mason, A C; Davison, S P; Manders, E K

1999-11-01

Infection of the expander pocket is the most common complication encountered with soft-tissue expansion. It is usually due to direct inoculation with skin flora either at the time of expander insertion or from extrusion of the device. The authors report two cases of infection of tissue expanders in which the children had concomitant infected sites distant from the prosthesis. Etiological bacteria of common pediatric infections like otitis media and pharyngitis were cultured from the infected expander pocket, raising suspicion that translocation of the organism to the expander had occurred. Aggressive antibiotic treatment, removal of the prosthesis, and flap advancement is advocated.
Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC) and Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Circular A-76: Implications for the Future

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Grasso, Valerie B

2007-01-01

This report examines the issues surrounding the recent Walter Reed public-private competition conducted under OMB Circular A-76 and its potential impact on future Department of Defense competitions...
Business Case Analysis of the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Medical/Surgical Prime Vendor Generation III Service Level Electron Program

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Markot, Peter B

2007-01-01

...) staffing and medical/surgical services offered under the Prime Vendor (PV) Generation III contract would provide the best supply chain management solution for Walter Reed Army Medical Center (WRAMC...
Rapid detection of Mannheimia haemolytica in lung tissues of sheep and from bacterial culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jyoti Kumar

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Aim: This study was aimed to detect Mannheimia haemolytica in lung tissues of sheep and from a bacterial culture. Introduction: M. haemolytica is one of the most important and well-established etiological agents of pneumonia in sheep and other ruminants throughout the world. Accurate diagnosis of M. haemolytica primarily relies on bacteriological examination, biochemical characteristics and, biotyping and serotyping of the isolates. In an effort to facilitate rapid M. haemolytica detection, polymerase chain reaction assay targeting Pasteurella haemolytica serotype-1 specific antigens (PHSSA, Rpt2 and 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA genes were used to detect M. haemolytica directly from lung tissues and from bacterial culture. Materials and Methods: A total of 12 archived lung tissues from sheep that died of pneumonia on an organized farm were used. A multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR based on two-amplicons targeted PHSSA and Rpt2 genes of M. haemolytica were used for identification of M. haemolytica isolates in culture from the lung samples. All the 12 lung tissue samples were tested for the presence M. haemolytica by PHSSA and Rpt2 genes based PCR and its confirmation by sequencing of the amplicons. Results: All the 12 lung tissue samples tested for the presence of PHSSA and Rpt2 genes of M. haemolytica by mPCR were found to be positive. Amplification of 12S rRNA gene fragment as internal amplification control was obtained with each mPCR reaction performed from DNA extracted directly from lung tissue samples. All the M. haemolytica were also positive for mPCR. No amplified DNA bands were observed for negative control reactions. All the three nucleotide sequences were deposited in NCBI GenBank (Accession No. KJ534629, KJ534630 and KJ534631. Sequencing of the amplified products revealed the identity of 99-100%, with published sequence of PHSSA and Rpt2 genes of M. haemolytica available in the NCBI database. Sheep specific mitochondrial 12S r
Transverse grooved artefacts from southwestern Asia and northern Eurasia: Common traits and the reconstruction of function

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Irina Usacheva

2016-10-01

Full Text Available Transverse grooved artefacts (TGA appeared as a new cultural element in Mesolithic-Proto-Neolithic sites in southwestern Asia. We know of similar artefacts from northern Africa. Hundreds of TGA have also been found in northern Eurasia. Some common traits were found in specimens from far apart territories, such as the non-abrasive heat-resistant nature of the raw materials, specificity of fragmentation without any signs of physical impact, the standard size of the grooves, association with a specific type of landscape, the similar economic level of the societies with which the items are associated, and use-wear marks in the grooves. Based on these regularities we can speak of a single main function for these artefacts which support the earlier reconstruction of R.L. and R.S. Solecki, suggesting that grooved stones were used for straightening cane and reed shafts under heating. Other evidence and traces that have been identified on the surface of TGA outside the groove could be associated with a variety of additional functions.
Design considerations and challenges for mechanical stretch bioreactors in tissue engineering.

Science.gov (United States)

Lei, Ying; Ferdous, Zannatul

2016-05-01

With the increase in average life expectancy and growing aging population, lack of functional grafts for replacement surgeries has become a severe problem. Engineered tissues are a promising alternative to this problem because they can mimic the physiological function of the native tissues and be cultured on demand. Cyclic stretch is important for developing many engineered tissues such as hearts, heart valves, muscles, and bones. Thus a variety of stretch bioreactors and corresponding scaffolds have been designed and tested to study the underlying mechanism of tissue formation and to optimize the mechanical conditions applied to the engineered tissues. In this review, we look at various designs of stretch bioreactors and common scaffolds and offer insights for future improvements in tissue engineering applications. First, we summarize the requirements and common configuration of stretch bioreactors. Next, we present the features of different actuating and motion transforming systems and their applications. Since most bioreactors must measure detailed distributions of loads and deformations on engineered tissues, techniques with high accuracy, precision, and frequency have been developed. We also cover the key points in designing culture chambers, nutrition exchanging systems, and regimens used for specific tissues. Since scaffolds are essential for providing biophysical microenvironments for residing cells, we discuss materials and technologies used in fabricating scaffolds to mimic anisotropic native tissues, including decellularized tissues, hydrogels, biocompatible polymers, electrospinning, and 3D bioprinting techniques. Finally, we present the potential future directions for improving stretch bioreactors and scaffolds. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 32:543-553, 2016. © 2016 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.
Umbilical cord Wharton's jelly repeated culture system: a new device and method for obtaining abundant mesenchymal stem cells for bone tissue engineering.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhengqi Chang

Full Text Available To date, various types of cells for seeding regenerative scaffolds have been used for bone tissue engineering. Among seed cells, the mesenchymal stem cells derived from human umbilical cord Wharton's jelly (hUCMSCs represent a promising candidate and hold potential for bone tissue engineering due to the the lack of ethical controversies, accessibility, sourced by non-invasive procedures for donors, a reduced risk of contamination, osteogenic differentiation capacities, and higher immunomodulatory capacity. However, the current culture methods are somewhat complicated and inefficient and often fail to make the best use of the umbilical cord (UC tissues. Moreover, these culture processes cannot be performed on a large scale and under strict quality control. As a result, only a small quantity of cells can be harvested using the current culture methods. To solve these problems, we designed and evaluated an UC Wharton's jelly repeated culture device. Using this device, hUCMSCs were obtained from the repeated cultures and their quantities and biological characteristics were compared. We found that using our culture device, which retained all tissue blocks on the bottom of the dish, the total number of obtained cells increased 15-20 times, and the time required for the primary passage was reduced. Moreover, cells harvested from the repeated cultures exhibited no significant difference in their immunophenotype, potential for multilineage differentiation, or proliferative, osteoinductive capacities, and final osteogenesis. The application of the repeated culture frame (RCF not only made full use of the Wharton's jelly but also simplified and specified the culture process, and thus, the culture efficiency was significantly improved. In summary, abundant hUCMSCs of dependable quality can be acquired using the RCF.
Availability of commonly consumed and culturally specific fruits and vegetables in African-American and Latino neighborhoods

OpenAIRE

Grigsby-Toussaint, Diana S.; Zenk, Shannon N.; Odoms-Young, Angela; Ruggiero, Laurie; Moise, Imelda

2010-01-01

Although the importance of culture in shaping individual dietary behaviors is well documented, cultural food preferences have received limited attention in research on the neighborhood food environment. The purpose of this study was to assess the availability of commonly consumed and culturally specific fruits and vegetables in retail food stores located in majority African-American and Latino neighborhoods in southwest Chicago. A cross-sectional survey of 115 stores (15% grocery stores, 85% ...
Proteomic analysis reveals the mechanisms of Mycena dendrobii promoting transplantation survival and growth of tissue culture seedlings of Dendrobium officinale.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, X B; Ma, X Y; Lei, H H; Song, H M; Ying, Q C; Xu, M J; Liu, S B; Wang, H Z

2015-06-01

Dendrobium officinale is an important traditional Chinese medicinal herb. Its seedlings generally show low survival and growth when transferred from in vitro tissue culture to a greenhouse or field environment. In this study, the effect of Mycena dendrobii on the survival and growth of D. officinale tissue culture seedlings and the mechanisms involved was explored. Mycena dendrobii were applied underneath the roots of D. officinale tissue culture seedlings. The seedling survival and growth were analysed. The root proteins induced by M. dendrobii were identified using two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight MS (MALDI-TOF-MS). Mycena dendrobii treatment significantly enhanced survival and growth of D. officinale seedlings. Forty-one proteins induced by M. dendrobii were identified. Among them, 10 were involved in defence and stress response, two were involved in the formation of root or mycorrhizae, and three were related to the biosynthesis of bioactive constituents. These results suggest that enhancing stress tolerance and promoting new root formation induced by M. dendrobii may improve the survival and growth of D. officinale tissue culture seedlings. This study provides a foundation for future use of M. dendrobii in the large-scale cultivation of Dendrobiums. © 2015 The Society for Applied Microbiology.

In Vivo-Like Culture Conditions in a Bioreactor Facilitate Improved Tissue Quality in Corneal Storage.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmid, Richard; Tarau, Ioana-Sandra; Rossi, Angela; Leonhardt, Stefan; Schwarz, Thomas; Schuerlein, Sebastian; Lotz, Christian; Hansmann, Jan

2018-01-01

The cornea is the most-transplanted tissue worldwide. However, the availability and quality of grafts are limited due to the current methods of corneal storage. In this study, a dynamic bioreactor system is employed to enable the control of intraocular pressure and the culture at the air-liquid interface. Thereby, in vivo-like storage conditions are achieved. Different media combinations for endothelium and epithelium are tested in standard and dynamic conditions to enhance the viability of the tissue. In contrast to culture conditions used in eye banks, the combination of the bioreactor and biochrom medium 1 allows to preserve the corneal endothelium and the epithelium. Assessment of transparency, swelling, and the trans-epithelial-electrical-resistance (TEER) strengthens the impact of the in vivo-like tissue culture. For example, compared to corneas stored under static conditions, significantly lower optical densities and significantly higher TEER values were measured (p-value <0.05). Furthermore, healing of epithelial defects is enabled in the bioreactor, characterized by re-epithelialization and initiated stromal regeneration. Based on the obtained results, an easy-to-use 3D-printed bioreactor composed of only two parts was derived to translate the technology from the laboratory to the eye banks. This optimized bioreactor facilitates noninvasive microscopic monitoring. The improved storage conditions ameliorate the quality of corneal grafts and the storage time in the eye banks to increase availability and reduce re-grafting. © 2017 The Authors. Biotechnology Journal Published by Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA.
Picroside I and Picroside II from Tissue Cultures of Picrorhiza kurroa

Science.gov (United States)

Ganeshkumar, Yamjala; Ramarao, Ajmera; Veeresham, Ciddi

2017-01-01

Background: Picrorhiza kurroa (PK) belongs to Scrophulariaceae family and is a representative endemic, medicinal herb, widely distributed throughout the higher altitudes of alpine Himalayas from west to east, between 3000 and 4500 m above mean sea level. Objective: The objective of the present study is to assess the production of picroside I and picroside II from tissue cultures of PK. Materials and Methods: Auxiliary shoot tips of PK were incubated in Murashige and Skoog medium supplemented with indole-3-butyric acid and kinetin phytohormones. The callus produced was collected at different time intervals and was processed for extraction of picroside I and picroside II followed by thin layer chromatography and high-performance liquid chromatography HPLC analysis. Results: The maximum growth index was found to be 5.109 ± 0.159 at 16-week-old callus culture. The estimation of picroside-I and picroside-II was carried out by (HPLC) analysis; quantity of secondary metabolite found to be 16.37 ± 0.0007 mg/g for PK-I and 6.34 ± 0.0012 mg/g for PK-II. Conclusion: This is the first attempt to produce the Picroside-I and II in large amount by the tissue culture technique. It can be observed that the method of callus culture can be used in production of secondary metabolites Picroside-I and II from PK SUMMARY Picrorhiza kurroa is a high value medicinal herb due to rich source of hepatoprotective metabolites, Picroside-I and Picroside-II. The medicinal importance of P. kurroa is due to its pharmacological properties like hepatoprotective, antioxidant (particularly in liver), antiallergic and antiasthamatic, anticancer activity particularly in liver and immunomodulatory. Shoot apices which were produced a good response was inoculated on selected medium i.e., on MS medium containing 2, 4 D (mg/l) + KN (1mg/l) for induction of callus. The initiation of callus was observed after 4weeks and it was light green and fragile Maximum growth was observed with 3% w/v of sucrose
RAID-6 reed-solomon codes with asymptotically optimal arithmetic complexities

KAUST Repository

Lin, Sian-Jheng

2016-12-24

In computer storage, RAID 6 is a level of RAID that can tolerate two failed drives. When RAID-6 is implemented by Reed-Solomon (RS) codes, the penalty of the writing performance is on the field multiplications in the second parity. In this paper, we present a configuration of the factors of the second-parity formula, such that the arithmetic complexity can reach the optimal complexity bound when the code length approaches infinity. In the proposed approach, the intermediate data used for the first parity is also utilized to calculate the second parity. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first approach supporting the RAID-6 RS codes to approach the optimal arithmetic complexity.
IN VITRO PROPAGATION OF DENDROBIUM AND PHALAENOPSIS THROUGH TISSUE CULTURE FOR CONSERVATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lita Soetopo

2012-06-01

Full Text Available The studies were focused on developing an efficient and effective propagation protocol for orchid species from genera Dendrobioum and Phalaenopsis through tissue culture. The Materials used were explants from adventive shoot tip, floral stalk buds and PLBs derived from seeds. The results indicated growth and development of adventive shoot tip explants of Dendrobium: a high survival percentage for explant with green color was shown by D. racianum, followed by D. laxiflorum, D. pseudo-conantum, D. strebloceras, D. lineale, and D. veratrifolium. However, plantlets regeneration occurred only on D. pseudoconantum, and D. strebloceras. Explant regeneration from seed derived protocorm-like bodies on D. spectabile occurred 40 days after inoculation transfer and subculture. High survival percentage of explant from floral stalk shoot was shown by P. amabilis. There were several plantlets surviving in acclimatisation. Explant regeneration from seed derived from protocorm-like bodies on P. hieroglypha occurred 40 days after inoculation and subculture. It was suggested that for ex situ conservation on certain species of Dendrobium and Phalaenopsis in the category of rare germplasms, tissue culture could be applied effectively and efficiently by using explant from adventive shoot tip, floral stalk buds and seed derived protocorm-like body explant for vegetative seed multiplication.
Uptake and Bioaccumulation of Pentachlorophenol by Emergent Wetland Plant Phragmites australis (Common Reed) in Cadmium Co-contaminated Soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Hechmi, Nejla; Ben Aissa, Nadhira; Abdenaceur, Hassen; Jedidi, Naceur

2015-01-01

Despite many studies on phytoremediation of soils contaminated with either heavy metals or organics, little information is available on the effectiveness of phytoremediation of co-occurring metal and organic pollutants especially by using wetland species. Phragmites australis is a common wetland plant and its potential for phytoremediation of cadmium pentachlorophenol (Cd-PCP) co-contaminated soil was investigated. A greenhouse study was executed to elucidate the effects of Cd (0, 10, and 20 mg kg(-1)) without or with PCP (0, 50, and 250 mg kg(-1)) on the growth of the wetland plant P. australis and its uptake, accumulation and removal of pollutant from soils. After 75 days, plant biomass was significantly influenced by interaction of Cd and PCP and the effect of Cd on plant growth being stronger than that of PCP. Coexistence of PCP at low level lessened Cd toxicity to plants, resulting in improved plant growth and increased Cd accumulation in plant tissues. The dissipation of PCP in soils was significantly influenced by interactions of Cd, PCP and plant presence or absence. As an evaluation of soil biological activities after remediation soil enzyme was measured.
Production of mutants by irradiation of in vitro-cultured tissues of coconut and banana and their mass propagation by the tissue culture technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guzman, E.V. de; Rosario, A.G. del; Pagcaliwagan, P.C.

1982-01-01

Regeneration of buds/shoots as well as plantlets was induced from banana shoot tip explants cultured in highly modified Murashige and Skoog's medium supplemented with coconut water and benzyladenine. Initially shoot regeneration was sparse, but on further subculture became profuse. Gamma irradiation at low dosage (1.0 kR) was stimulating to explant growth and bud formation with the two types of explants used. With Bungulan stimulation was observed even at 2.5 kR. Several morphological aberrations were exhibited by shoots of 'irradiated' in vitro plants growing in potted soil. A highly and continuously proliferating tissue strain has been isolated from a subculture which was ultimately derived from an irradiated explant. Its continued proliferation is dependent on an external supply of coconut water and benzyladenine. In vitro-produced plants have been established under field conditions. The 'irradiated' plants are comparable with, and some seem to be better than, the unirradiated controls with respect to height, girth, sucker production and number of hands and fingers per bunch. Higher doses of irradiation are required to produce an adverse effect on growth of coconut embryos during the liquid culture than when growing in solid medium. (author)
Hormonal effect on polyphenol accumulation in Cassia tissues cultured in vitro

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shah, R R; Subbaiah, K V; Mehta, A R

1976-06-01

Effects of auxin and kinetin on growth and production of phenolic compounds in cultured Cassia fistula L. tissues were examined. Initiation of polyphenols was largely determined by the auxin concentration in the medium. Growth of the cells in relation to accumulation of polyphenols was studied at different auxin and kinetin concentrations. The accumulation of phenolic materials was essentially restricted to the most rapid phase of the growth cycle. Progressive changes in the pattern of peroxidase activity were followed and their relationship with polyphenol synthesis is examined.
Royal Jelly Prevents Osteoporosis in Rats: Beneficial Effects in Ovariectomy Model and in Bone Tissue Culture Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saburo Hidaka

2006-01-01

Full Text Available Royal jelly (RJ has been used worldwide for many years as medical products, health foods and cosmetics. Since RJ contains testosterone and has steroid hormone-type activities, we hypothesized that it may have beneficial effects on osteoporosis. We used both an ovariectomized rat model and a tissue culture model. Rats were divided into eight groups as follows: sham-operated (Sham, ovariectomized (OVX, OVX given 0.5% (w/w raw RJ, OVX given 2.0% (w/w RJ, OVX given 0.5% (w/w protease-treated RJ (pRJ, OVX given 2.0% (w/w pRJ, OVX given 17β-estradiol and OVX given its vehicle, respectively. The Ovariectomy decreased tibial bone mineral density (BMD by 24%. Administration of 17β-estradiol to OVX rats recovered the tibial BMD decrease by 100%. Administration of 2.0% (w/w RJ and 0.5–2.0% (w/w pRJ to OVX rats recovered it by 85% or more. These results indicate that both RJ and pRJ are almost as effective as 17β-estradiol in preventing the development of bone loss induced by ovariectomy in rats. In tissue culture models, both RJ and pRJ increased calcium contents in femoral-diaphyseal and femoral-metaphyseal tissue cultures obtained from normal male rats. However, in a mouse marrow culture model, they neither inhibited the parathyroid hormone (PTH-induced calcium loss nor affected the formation of osteoclast-like cells induced by PTH in mouse marrow culture system. Therefore, our results suggest that both RJ and pRJ may prevent osteoporosis by enhancing intestinal calcium absorption, but not by directly antagonizing the action of PTH.
Beauveria bassiana (Balsamo) Vuillemin as an endophyte in tissue culture banana (Musa spp.).

Science.gov (United States)

Akello, Juliet; Dubois, Thomas; Gold, Clifford S; Coyne, Daniel; Nakavuma, Jessica; Paparu, Pamela

2007-09-01

Beauveria bassiana is considered a virulent pathogen against the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus. However, current field application techniques for effective control against this pest remain a limitation and an alternative method for effective field application needs to be investigated. Three screenhouse experiments were conducted to determine the ability of B. bassiana to form an endophytic relationship with tissue culture banana (Musa spp.) plants and to evaluate the plants for possible harmful effects resulting from this relationship. Three Ugandan strains of B. bassiana (G41, S204 and WA) were applied by dipping the roots and rhizome in a conidial suspension, by injecting a conidial suspension into the plant rhizome and by growing the plants in sterile soil mixed with B. bassiana-colonized rice substrate. Four weeks after inoculation, plant growth parameters were determined and plant tissue colonization assessed through re-isolation of B. bassiana. All B. bassiana strains were able to colonize banana plant roots, rhizomes and pseudostem bases. Dipping plants in a conidial suspension achieved the highest colonization with no negative effect on plant growth or survival. Beauveria bassiana strain G41 was the best colonizer (up to 68%, 79% and 41% in roots, rhizome and pseudostem base, respectively) when plants were dipped. This study demonstrated that, depending on strain and inoculation method, B. bassiana can form an endophytic relationship with tissue culture banana plants, causing no harmful effects and might provide an alternative method for biological control of C. sordidus.
Differential marker expression by cultures rich in mesenchymal stem cells

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Mesenchymal stem cells have properties that make them amenable to therapeutic use. However, the acceptance of mesenchymal stem cells in clinical practice requires standardized techniques for their specific isolation. To date, there are no conclusive marker (s) for the exclusive isolation of mesenchymal stem cells. Our aim was to identify markers differentially expressed between mesenchymal stem cell and non-stem cell mesenchymal cell cultures. We compared and contrasted the phenotype of tissue cultures in which mesenchymal stem cells are rich and rare. By initially assessing mesenchymal stem cell differentiation, we established that bone marrow and breast adipose cultures are rich in mesenchymal stem cells while, in our hands, foreskin fibroblast and olfactory tissue cultures contain rare mesenchymal stem cells. In particular, olfactory tissue cells represent non-stem cell mesenchymal cells. Subsequently, the phenotype of the tissue cultures were thoroughly assessed using immuno-fluorescence, flow-cytometry, proteomics, antibody arrays and qPCR. Results Our analysis revealed that all tissue cultures, regardless of differentiation potential, demonstrated remarkably similar phenotypes. Importantly, it was also observed that common mesenchymal stem cell markers, and fibroblast-associated markers, do not discriminate between mesenchymal stem cell and non-stem cell mesenchymal cell cultures. Examination and comparison of the phenotypes of mesenchymal stem cell and non-stem cell mesenchymal cell cultures revealed three differentially expressed markers – CD24, CD108 and CD40. Conclusion We indicate the importance of establishing differential marker expression between mesenchymal stem cells and non-stem cell mesenchymal cells in order to determine stem cell specific markers. PMID:24304471
An electrochemical approach to monitor pH change in agar media during plant tissue culture.

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Wang, Min; Ha, Yang

2007-05-15

In this work, metal oxide microelectrodes were developed to monitor pH change in agar media during plant tissue culture. An antimony wire was produced by a new approach "capillary melt method". The surface of the obtained antimony wire was oxidized in a potassium nitrate melt to fabricate an antimony oxide film for pH sensing. Characterization results show that the oxide layer grown on the wire surface consists of Sb(2)O(3) crystal phase. The sensing response, open-circuit potential, of the electrode has a good linear relationship (R(2)=1.00) with pH value of the test solution. Adding organic compounds into the test media would not affect the linear relationship, although the slope of the lines varied with different ingredients added. The antimony oxide electrodes were employed to continuously monitor pH change of agar culture media during a 2-week plant tissue culture of Dendrobium candidum. The antimony oxide electrode fabricated this way has the advantages of low cost, easy fabrication, fast response, and almost no contamination introduced into the system. It would be suitable for in situ and continuous pH measurement in many bio applications.
Integrated non-food concept of rape seed, reed canary grass and flax processing for fiber, fuel oil and solid fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sipilae, K.

1998-01-01

The target of the project was to investigate if rape seed based fuel oil and diesel fuel component, agrofiber and solid fuel from other annual crops could be produced effectively as an alternative to existing non-economical biodiesel-RME and ethanol production. Without heavy tax incentives the biodiesel and grain ethanol can not compete with conventional liquid fuels, the present EU fuel tax legislation will not permit any permanent tax incentives for commercial scale operations. Based on several studies by VTT the rape seed oil will be 30 % cheaper than RME and the utilization as a component 10-30 % blended to heating oil or diesel fuel might the most flexible solution. Neste Oy has carried out the combustion tests with 20 kW boiler and VTT the diesel engine tests with 20 % unprocessed rape seed oil mixtures, the oil was delivered by Mildola Oy. For the co-utilization of annual crops and straw, several laboratory scale combustion and flash pyrolysis tests have been carried out by VTT with straw, reed canary grass etc. In fluid bed combustion 10-30 % addition of rape seed straw and reed canary grass, which have high ash melting point, seems to be less problematic compared to other straw species, which are used for example in Denmark. In a flash pyrolysis process, the alkalies will remain in the char and a low alkali level bio oils can be produced. As a final step in order to reach the zero subsidy target, an extensive laboratory work is carried out to produce agro fibre from flax, reed canary grass and wheat straw. The laboratory results show that a good quality pulp can be produced to be mixed with conventional wood fibres, the quality of flax pulp is even better compared to conventional pulp. During the next months an overall economic calculations will be carried out in Finnish, Danish and Italian conditions as an EU-Apas project in order to see the competitiveness of such integrated concepts to conventional RME and reed canary grass combustion. (orig.)
The fast decoding of Reed-Solomon codes using Fermat theoretic transforms and continued fractions

Science.gov (United States)

Reed, I. S.; Scholtz, R. A.; Welch, L. R.; Truong, T. K.

1978-01-01

It is shown that Reed-Solomon (RS) codes can be decoded by using a fast Fourier transform (FFT) algorithm over finite fields GF(F sub n), where F sub n is a Fermat prime, and continued fractions. This new transform decoding method is simpler than the standard method for RS codes. The computing time of this new decoding algorithm in software can be faster than the standard decoding method for RS codes.
GROWTH AND ROOTING SYSTEM OF ACACIA MANGIUM OBTAINED BY TISSUE CULTURE

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SUPRIYANTO

1991-01-01

Full Text Available Since 1980/1981, the government of Indonesia through the Ministry of Forestry has started to reforest logged-over, alang-alang, unproductive areas and to convert them to Forest Industry Plantation. The target is 300 000 ha per year. It means, 750 million seedlings should be provided per year (planting distance 2 m x 2 m. The tree species to be planted in forest industry plantation should have shorter life cycle (8 - 10 years, good stem-form, good rooting system, and should be fast growing. Acacia mangium has been selected as one of the important tree species for forest industry plantation due to its growth, quality of fiber wood (pulp and paper industry and rooting system (produce a lot of secondary root and nitrogen fixater (Soebardjo 1986. The reforestation of logged-over Dipterocarp forests in Malaysia with A. mangium has also been considered (Appanah and Weinland 1989. Generally, reforestation with A. mangium is done with seedlings obtained by seed germination. A. mangium produce a lot of seeds but its production is still limited by the season, while the conventional method of vegetative propagation through cuttings gave very low percentage of rooted-cuttings (1% (Umboh and Syamsul Yani 1989. The micropropagation of A. mangium through tissue culture is a promising method. The production of A. mangium plantlets through that method has been done at the Forest Genetic Laboratory, Tropical Forest Biology, SEAMEO BIOTROP (Situmorang 1988, Umboh 1988, Umboh et al. 1989, 1990. These rooted-plantlets (plantlings were first put in the green house (acclimatization before planting in the field. Field tests of some agricultural plants have been done but information on forest trees species is still lacking because the production of plantlings through tissue culture is still limited as there are still problems of their rooting. In fact, the progress of reproducing woody plants by tissue culture has been much slower than with herbaceous plants. The major
Seismomorphogenesis: a novel approach to acclimatization of tissue culture regenerated plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Sarmast, Mostafa Khoshhal; Salehi, Hassan; Khosh-Khui, Morteza

2014-12-01

Plantlets under in vitro conditions transferred to ex vivo conditions are exposed to biotic and abiotic stresses. Furthermore, in vitro regenerated plants are typically frail and sometimes difficult to handle subsequently increasing their risk to damage and disease; hence acclimatization of these plantlets is the most important step in tissue culture techniques. An experiment was conducted under in vitro conditions to study the effects of shaking duration (twice daily at 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m. for 2, 4, 8, and 16 min at 250 rpm for 14 days) on Sansevieria trifasciata L. as a model plant. Results showed that shaking improved handling, total plant height, and leaf characteristics of the model plant. Forty-eight hours after 14 days of shaking treatments with increasing shaking time, leaf length decreased but proline content of leaf increased. However, 6 months after starting the experiment different results were observed. In explants that received 16 min of shaking treatment, leaf length and area and photosynthesis rate were increased compared with control plantlets. Six months after starting the experiment, control plantlets had 12.5 % mortality; however, no mortality was observed in other treated explants. The results demonstrated that shaking improved the explants' root length and number and as a simple, cost-effective, and non-chemical novel approach may be substituted for other prevalent acclimatization techniques used for tissue culture regenerated plantlets. Further studies with sensitive plants are needed to establish this hypothesis.
Screening Test of Greenhouse Seeding Exercise Matrix for Tissue Culture Seeding of Dendrobium Officinale Kimura et Migo

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Zhou Yuan

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo has a high demand on planting matrix, while its tissue culture seeding has much more demands on planting matrix. To find out a seeding exercise matrix to enhance the survival rate of tissue culture seeding of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo more efficiently, this article carries out a screening test of greenhouse seeding exercise matrix material for tissue culture seeding of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo. The test adopts full random test design, mainly for screening test of five matrix materials, namely pine bark, camphor tree bark, fern root, peanut shell and longan bark. Compare the impact of prepared seeding exercise matrix on the survival rate and growth trend (including plant height, growth rate and bud growth rate. The test result shows that: The seeding exercise matrix prepared by fern root is the most efficient, and the survival rate, plant height, growth rate and bud growth rate have achieved 100%, 4.5cm, 43.67% and 54.33% respectively. The main reason may be that the seeding exercise matrix C prepared by fern root is fairly loose and has a great water permeability, which is conducive to the growth of Dendrobium officinale Kimura et Migo.
Supporting local farming communities and crop production resilience to climate change through giant reed (Arundo donax L.) cultivation: An Italian case study.

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Bonfante, A; Impagliazzo, A; Fiorentino, N; Langella, G; Mori, M; Fagnano, M

2017-12-01

Bioenergy crops are well known for their ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and increase the soil carbon stock. Although such crops are often held to be in competition with food crops and thus raise the question of current and future food security, at the same time mitigation measures are required to tackle climate change and sustain local farming communities and crop production. However, in some cases the actions envisaged for specific pedo-climatic conditions are not always economically sustainable by farmers. In this frame, energy crops with high environmental adaptability and yields, such as giant reed (Arundo donax L.), may represent an opportunity to improve farm incomes, making marginal areas not suitable for food production once again productive. In so doing, three of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the United Nations would be met, namely SDG 2 on food security and sustainable agriculture, SDG 7 on reliable, sustainable and modern energy, and SDG 13 on action to combat climate change and its impacts. In this work, the response of giant reed in the marginal areas of an agricultural district of southern Italy (Destra Sele) and expected farm incomes under climate change (2021-2050) are evaluated. The normalized water productivity index of giant reed was determined (WP; 30.1gm -2 ) by means of a SWAP agro-hydrological model, calibrated and validated on two years of a long-term field experiment. The model was used to estimate giant reed response (biomass yield) in marginal areas under climate change, and economic evaluation was performed to determine expected farm incomes (woodchips and chopped forage). The results show that woodchip production represents the most profitable option for farmers, yielding a gross margin 50% lower than ordinary high-input maize cultivation across the study area. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Finite element study of scaffold architecture design and culture conditions for tissue engineering.

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Olivares, Andy L; Marsal, Elia; Planell, Josep A; Lacroix, Damien

2009-10-01

Tissue engineering scaffolds provide temporary mechanical support for tissue regeneration and transfer global mechanical load to mechanical stimuli to cells through its architecture. In this study the interactions between scaffold pore morphology, mechanical stimuli developed at the cell microscopic level, and culture conditions applied at the macroscopic scale are studied on two regular scaffold structures. Gyroid and hexagonal scaffolds of 55% and 70% porosity were modeled in a finite element analysis and were submitted to an inlet fluid flow or compressive strain. A mechanoregulation theory based on scaffold shear strain and fluid shear stress was applied for determining the influence of each structures on the mechanical stimuli on initial conditions. Results indicate that the distribution of shear stress induced by fluid perfusion is very dependent on pore distribution within the scaffold. Gyroid architectures provide a better accessibility of the fluid than hexagonal structures. Based on the mechanoregulation theory, the differentiation process in these structures was more sensitive to inlet fluid flow than axial strain of the scaffold. This study provides a computational approach to determine the mechanical stimuli at the cellular level when cells are cultured in a bioreactor and to relate mechanical stimuli with cell differentiation.
Broken connections of wetland cultural knowledge

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Middleton, Beth A.

2016-01-01

As global agriculture intensifies, cultural knowledge of wetland utilization has eroded as natural resources become more stressed, and marginal farmers move away from the land. The excellent paper by Fawzi et al. (2016) documents a particularly poignant case of traditional knowledge loss among the Marsh Arab women of Iraq. Through interviews, the authors document the breakdown of skill transfer from the older to younger generation of women. The authors link the loss of their cultural knowledge with the loss of wetlands in the region. Women no longer can help provide for their families using wetland products, and along with that, their ancient knowledge of plant usage is lost. These ancient skills included medicinal uses, and reed harvesting for weaving and water buffalo fodder. As, the majority of the Mesopotamian Marshes have dried, this way of life is being forgotten (Fawzi et al. 2015). The global tragedy is that while the careful alliance of wetlands and people have sustained human cultures for millennia, degraded wetlands lose their ability to provide these services (Maltby 1980).
Tissue culture of black pepper (piper nigrum l.) in Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hussain, A.; Naz, S.; Nazir, H.; Shinwari, Z.K.

2011-01-01

Black pepper (Piper nigrum L.) the 'King of Spices' is a universal table condiment. It is extensively used in Pakistani cuisines and herbal medicines and imported in bulk from neighboring countries. The black pepper vine is generally cultivated by seed because other vegetative propagation methods are slow and time consuming. Therefore the tissue culture technique is considered more efficient and reliable method for rapid and mass propagation of this economically important plant. The present study was initiated to develop protocol for micro-propagation of black pepper vine. The stem, leaf and shoot tip explants from mature vine were cultured on MS medium supplemented with different concentrations of plant growth regulators (2,4-D, BA, IBA). Best callus was produced on MS medium with 1.5 mg/l BA by shoot tip explant. Shoot regeneration was excellent on MS medium with 0.5 mg/l BA. The plantlets formed were rooted best on 1.5 mg/l IBA. The rooted plants were transplanted in soil medium and acclimatized in growth room. The plants raised were test planted under the local conditions of Hattar. (author)

Tissue culture media supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum contains a castrate level of testosterone.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sedelaar, J.P.M.; Isaacs, J.T.

2009-01-01

BACKGROUND: Human prostate cancer cells are routinely maintained in media supplemented with 10% Fetal Calf Serum (FCS) to provide androgen. In the present study, total and free testosterone levels in 10%FCS supplemented tissue culture media were determined and compared to levels in intact and
Transform Decoding of Reed-Solomon Codes. Volume I. Algorithm and Signal Processing Structure

Science.gov (United States)

1982-11-01

systematic channel co.’e. 1. lake the inverse transform of the r- ceived se, - nee. 2. Isolate the error syndrome from the inverse transform and use... inverse transform is identic l with interpolation of the polynomial a(z) from its n values. In order to generate a Reed-Solomon (n,k) cooce, we let the set...in accordance with the transform of equation (4). If we were to apply the inverse transform of equa- tion (6) to the coefficient sequence of A(z), we
Common factors method to predict the carcass composition tissue in kid goats

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Helen Fernanda Barros Gomes

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The objective of this work was to analyze the interrelations among weights and carcass measures of the longissimus lumborum muscle thickness and area, and of sternum tissue thickness, measured directly on carcass and by ultrasound scan. Measures were taken on live animals and after slaughter to develop models of multiple linear regression, to estimate the composition of shoulder blade, from selected variables in 89 kids of both genders and five breed groups, raised in feedlot system. The variables considered relevant and not redundant on the information they carry, for the common factor analysis, were used in the carcass composition estimate development models. The presuppositions of linear regression models relative to residues were evaluated, the estimated residues were subjected to analysis of variance and the means were compared by the Student t test. Based in these results, the group of 32 initial variables could be reduced to four variables: hot carcass weight, rump perimeter, leg length and tissue height at the fourth sternum bone. The analysis of common factors was shown as an effective technique to study the interrelations among the independent variables. The measures of carcass dimension, alone, did not add any information to hot carcass weight. The carcass muscle weight can be estimated with high precision from simple models, without the need for information related to gender and breed, and they could be built based on carcass weight, which makes it easy to be applied. The fat and bones estimate models were not as accurate.
Common impairments of emotional facial expression recognition in schizophrenia across French and Japanese cultures

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Takashi eOkada

2015-07-01

Full Text Available To address whether the recognition of emotional facial expressions is impaired in schizophrenia across different cultures, patients with schizophrenia and age-matched normal controls in France and Japan were tested with a labeling task of emotional facial expressions and a matching task of unfamiliar faces. Schizophrenia patients in both France and Japan were less accurate in labeling fearful facial expressions. There was no correlation between the scores of facial emotion labeling and face matching. These results suggest that the impaired recognition of emotional facial expressions in schizophrenia is common across different cultures.
Scientific and Cultural Knowledge in Intercultural Science Education: Student Perceptions of Common Ground

Science.gov (United States)

Gondwe, Mzamose; Longnecker, Nancy

2015-02-01

There is no consensus in the science education research community on the meanings and representations of western science and indigenous knowledge or the relationships between them. How students interpret these relationships and their perceptions of any connections has rarely been studied. This study reports student perceptions of the meaning and relationship between scientific and cultural knowledge. Personal meaning maps adapted for small groups were conducted in seven culturally diverse schools, school years 7-9 (with students aged 12-15 years) ( n = 190), with six schools in Western Australia and one school in Malawi, Africa. Of the six Australian school groups, two comprised Australian Aboriginal students in an after-school homework programme and the other four schools had a multicultural mix of students. Students in this study identified connections between scientific and cultural knowledge and constructed connections from particular thematic areas—mainly factual content knowledge as opposed to ideas related to values, attitudes, beliefs and identity. Australian Aboriginal students made fewer connections between the two knowledge domains than Malawian students whose previous science teacher had made explicit connections in her science class. Examples from Aboriginal culture were the most dominant illustrations of cultural knowledge in Australian schools, even in school groups with students from other cultures. In light of our findings, we discuss the construction of common ground between scientific knowledge and cultural knowledge and the role of teachers as cultural brokers and travel agents. We conclude with recommendations on creating learning environments that embrace different cultural knowledges and that promote explicit and enquiring discussions of values, attitudes, beliefs and identity associated with both knowledge domains.
Fusarium growth on culture media made of tissue juice from irradiated and unirradiated potato tubers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Taczanowski, M.

1994-01-01

Fusarium Sulphureum Schlecht is one of the tuber pathogens causing potato storage disease knowing as dry rot. Because irradiation can disturb the tissue defence mechanism against the pathogen, it was decided to carry out experiments on influence of the treatment on subsequent tuber tissue reaction to a maceration process. The maceration as a physical stress was a substitute for the pathogen activity. Tubers of two potato varieties were tested: Mila -a resistant variety to Fusarium and Atol - susceptible one. Tubers of both varieties were irradiated with a dose of 105 kGy. Unirradiated tubers were taken as a control. A day after irradiation the cortex tissue was macerated using an ordinary rasper and the resulted tissue pulp was strained through medical gauze to obtain crude juice. The juice was clarified by centrifugation and then added to dissolved PDA. The volume ratio of juice to PDA was 1:1. The prepared media were dispensed into Petri dishes. Small pieces of the Fusarium culture were put on the surface of the medium at the centre of each Petri dish. Subsequent growth of the fungus was assessed by measurement of culture diameters every 24 hours. Linear functions of the Fusarium growth were obtained for Mila control and Atol control. In the case of Mila, the Fusarium found more favourable conditions for its growth in the presence of juice from irradiated tubers than from the control ones. Making the same comparison for Atol, no difference was detected. (author)
Developmental delay and connective tissue disorder in four patients sharing a common microdeletion at 6q13-14.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Esch, Hilde; Rosser, Elisabeth M; Janssens, Sandra; Van Ingelghem, Ingrid; Loeys, Bart; Menten, Bjorn

2010-10-01

Interstitial deletions of the long arm of chromosome 6 are rare, and most reported cases represent large, cytogenetically detectable deletions. The implementation of array comparative genome hybridisation in the diagnostic work-up of patients presenting with congenital disorders, including developmental delay, has enabled identification of many patients with smaller chromosomal imbalances. In this report, the cases are presented of four patients with a de novo interstitial deletion of chromosome 6q13-14, resulting in a common microdeletion of 3.7 Mb. All presented with developmental delay, mild dysmorphism and signs of lax connective tissue. Interestingly, the common deleted region harbours 16 genes, of which COL12A1 is a good candidate for the connective tissue pathology.
Collagenous Extracellular Matrix Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering: Lessons from the Common Sea Urchin Tissue

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Goh, Kheng Lim; Holmes, David F.

2017-01-01

Scaffolds for tissue engineering application may be made from a collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM) of connective tissues because the ECM can mimic the functions of the target tissue. The primary sources of collagenous ECM material are calf skin and bone. However, these sources are associated with the risk of having bovine spongiform encephalopathy or transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Alternative sources for collagenous ECM materials may be derived from livestock, e.g., pigs, and from marine animals, e.g., sea urchins. Collagenous ECM of the sea urchin possesses structural features and mechanical properties that are similar to those of mammalian ones. However, even more intriguing is that some tissues such as the ligamentous catch apparatus can exhibit mutability, namely rapid reversible changes in the tissue mechanical properties. These tissues are known as mutable collagenous tissues (MCTs). The mutability of these tissues has been the subject of on-going investigations, covering the biochemistry, structural biology and mechanical properties of the collagenous components. Recent studies point to a nerve-control system for regulating the ECM macromolecules that are involved in the sliding action of collagen fibrils in the MCT. This review discusses the key attributes of the structure and function of the ECM of the sea urchin ligaments that are related to the fibril-fibril sliding action—the focus is on the respective components within the hierarchical architecture of the tissue. In this context, structure refers to size, shape and separation distance of the ECM components while function is associated with mechanical properties e.g., strength and stiffness. For simplicity, the components that address the different length scale from the largest to the smallest are as follows: collagen fibres, collagen fibrils, interfibrillar matrix and collagen molecules. Application of recent theories of stress transfer and fracture mechanisms in fibre reinforced
Collagenous Extracellular Matrix Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering: Lessons from the Common Sea Urchin Tissue.

Science.gov (United States)

Goh, Kheng Lim; Holmes, David F

2017-04-25

Scaffolds for tissue engineering application may be made from a collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM) of connective tissues because the ECM can mimic the functions of the target tissue. The primary sources of collagenous ECM material are calf skin and bone. However, these sources are associated with the risk of having bovine spongiform encephalopathy or transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Alternative sources for collagenous ECM materials may be derived from livestock, e.g., pigs, and from marine animals, e.g., sea urchins. Collagenous ECM of the sea urchin possesses structural features and mechanical properties that are similar to those of mammalian ones. However, even more intriguing is that some tissues such as the ligamentous catch apparatus can exhibit mutability, namely rapid reversible changes in the tissue mechanical properties. These tissues are known as mutable collagenous tissues (MCTs). The mutability of these tissues has been the subject of on-going investigations, covering the biochemistry, structural biology and mechanical properties of the collagenous components. Recent studies point to a nerve-control system for regulating the ECM macromolecules that are involved in the sliding action of collagen fibrils in the MCT. This review discusses the key attributes of the structure and function of the ECM of the sea urchin ligaments that are related to the fibril-fibril sliding action-the focus is on the respective components within the hierarchical architecture of the tissue. In this context, structure refers to size, shape and separation distance of the ECM components while function is associated with mechanical properties e.g., strength and stiffness. For simplicity, the components that address the different length scale from the largest to the smallest are as follows: collagen fibres, collagen fibrils, interfibrillar matrix and collagen molecules. Application of recent theories of stress transfer and fracture mechanisms in fibre reinforced
Collagenous Extracellular Matrix Biomaterials for Tissue Engineering: Lessons from the Common Sea Urchin Tissue

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kheng Lim Goh

2017-04-01

Full Text Available Scaffolds for tissue engineering application may be made from a collagenous extracellular matrix (ECM of connective tissues because the ECM can mimic the functions of the target tissue. The primary sources of collagenous ECM material are calf skin and bone. However, these sources are associated with the risk of having bovine spongiform encephalopathy or transmissible spongiform encephalopathy. Alternative sources for collagenous ECM materials may be derived from livestock, e.g., pigs, and from marine animals, e.g., sea urchins. Collagenous ECM of the sea urchin possesses structural features and mechanical properties that are similar to those of mammalian ones. However, even more intriguing is that some tissues such as the ligamentous catch apparatus can exhibit mutability, namely rapid reversible changes in the tissue mechanical properties. These tissues are known as mutable collagenous tissues (MCTs. The mutability of these tissues has been the subject of on-going investigations, covering the biochemistry, structural biology and mechanical properties of the collagenous components. Recent studies point to a nerve-control system for regulating the ECM macromolecules that are involved in the sliding action of collagen fibrils in the MCT. This review discusses the key attributes of the structure and function of the ECM of the sea urchin ligaments that are related to the fibril-fibril sliding action—the focus is on the respective components within the hierarchical architecture of the tissue. In this context, structure refers to size, shape and separation distance of the ECM components while function is associated with mechanical properties e.g., strength and stiffness. For simplicity, the components that address the different length scale from the largest to the smallest are as follows: collagen fibres, collagen fibrils, interfibrillar matrix and collagen molecules. Application of recent theories of stress transfer and fracture mechanisms in fibre
Joint use of developed collagen-containing complexes and cell cultures in creating new tissue equivalents

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K. V. Kulakova

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of the study is to assess the possibility of applying the integrated module as the basis of a celltissue equivalent for treatment of wounds of skin and soft tissues. In the frame of the set task the following problems were being solved: research of the spatial structure and architectonics of the surface of the developed base collagen-containing materials and their biocompatibility with cell cultures.Materials and methods. The study of a material which is a two-layer complex film, consisting of collagen and polysaccharide components was carried out. The collagen was separated from the dermis and was then impregnated with particulate demineralized bone matrix (DCM according to the original methodology. For the purposes of the study the dehydrated material was created in the form of a film. Electron microscopic examination of surfaces was performed on scanning electron microscope JEOL JSM-IT300LV in high vacuum and at low values of probe current (< 0,1 nА. Studies to assess the viability of the cells cultivated on films of collagen material (tested for cytotoxicity and the adhesive capacity were performed in vitro using strains of diploid human fibroblasts 4–6 passage. The culture condition was visually assessed using an inverted Leica microscope DM IL (Carl Zeiss, Austria, equipped with a computerizes program of control of culture growth (Leica IM 1000.Results. The data obtained in the study of the surface structure of the developed complex module showed that it seems to be promising as a basic component of the cellular-tissue system with its large number of structural formations for fixation of the cells and a well-organized barrier layer capable of vapor - permeability. Experiments in vitro confirmed the absence of toxicity of the material being studied in relation to the culture of dermal human fibroblasts, suggesting the possibility of creation on its basis of cell-tissue complex and further experimental studies in vivo
[Microbiological diagnosis of infections of the skin and soft tissues].

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Burillo, Almudena; Moreno, Antonio; Salas, Carlos

2007-11-01

Skin and soft tissue infections are often seen in clinical practice, yet their microbiological diagnosis is among the most complex of laboratory tasks. The diagnosis of a skin and a soft tissue infection is generally based on clinical criteria and not microbiological results. A microbiological diagnosis is reserved for cases in which the etiology of infection is required, e.g., when the infection is particularly severe, when less common microorganisms are suspected as the causative agent (e.g. in immunocompromised patients), when response to antimicrobial treatment is poor, or when a longstanding wound does not heal within a reasonable period of time. We report the indications, sampling and processing techniques, and interpretation criteria for various culture types, including quantitative cultures from biopsy or tissue specimens and semiquantitative and qualitative cultures performed on all types of samples. For non-invasive samples taken from open wounds, application of the Q index to Gram stains is a cost-effective way to standardize sample quality assessment and interpretation of the pathogenic involvement of the different microorganisms isolated from cultures. All these issues are covered in the SEIMC microbiological procedure number 22: Diagnóstico microbiológico de las infecciones de piel y tejidos blandos (Microbiological diagnosis of infections of the skin and soft tissues) (2nd ed., 2006, www.seimc.org/protocolos/microbiologia).
Cell culture density affects the proliferation activity of human adipose tissue stem cells.

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Kim, Dae Seong; Lee, Myoung Woo; Ko, Young Jong; Chun, Yong Hoon; Kim, Hyung Joon; Sung, Ki Woong; Koo, Hong Hoe; Yoo, Keon Hee

2016-01-01

In this study, we investigated the effect of cell density on the proliferation activity of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from adipose tissue (AT-MSCs) over time in culture. Passage #4 (P4) and #12 (P12) AT-MSCs from two donors were plated at a density of 200 (culture condition 1, CC1) or 5000 (culture condition 2, CC2) cells cm(-2) . After 7 days of incubation, P4 and P12 AT-MSCs cultured in CC1 were thin and spindle-shaped, whereas those cultured in CC2 had extensive cell-to-cell contacts and an expanded cell volume. In addition, P4 and P12 AT-MSCs in CC1 divided more than three times, while those in CC2 divided less than once on average. Flow cytometric analysis using 5(6)-carboxyfluorescein diacetate N-succinimidyl ester dye showed that the fluorescence intensity of AT-MSCs was lower in CC1 than in CC2. Furthermore, expression of proliferation-associated genes, such as CDC45L, CDC20A and KIF20A, in P4 AT-MSCs was higher in CC1 than in CC2, and this difference was also observed in P12 AT-MSCs. These data demonstrated that cell culture density affects the proliferation activity of MSCs, suggesting that it is feasible to design a strategy to prepare suitable MSCs using specific culture conditions. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Effects of cyclic compression on the mechanical properties and calcification process of immature chick bone tissue in culture.

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Maeda, Eijiro; Nakagaki, Masashi; Ichikawa, Katsuhisa; Nagayama, Kazuaki; Matsumoto, Takeo

2017-06-01

Contribution of mechanical loading to tissue growth during both the development and post-natal maturation is of a particular interest, as its understanding would be important to strategies in bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The present study has been performed to investigate how immature bone responds to mechanical loading using an ex vivo culture system. A slice of the tibia, with the thickness of 3 mm, was obtained from 0-day-old chick. For the ex vivo culture experiment in conjunction with cyclic compressive loading, we developed a custom-made, bioreactor system where both the load and the deformation applied to the specimen was recorded. Cyclic compression, with an amplitude of 0.3 N corresponding to 1 to 2% compressive strain, was applied to immature bone specimen during a 3-day culture period at an overall loading rate 3-4 cycles/min, in the presence of β-glycerol phosphate and dexamethasone in culture medium. The stress-strain relationship was obtained at the beginning and the end of the culture experiment. In addition, analyses for alkaline phosphate release, cell viability and tissue calcification were also performed. It was exhibited that elastic moduli of bone slices were significantly elevated at the end of the 3-day culture in the presence of cyclic compression, which was a similar phenomenon to significant elevation of the elastic moduli of bone tissue by the maturation from 0-day old to 3-day old. By contrast, no significant changes in the moduli were observed in the absence of cyclic compression or in deactivated, cell-free samples. The increases in the moduli were coincided with the increase in calcified area in the bone samples. It was confirmed that immature bone can respond to compressive loading in vitro and demonstrate the growth of bone matrix, similar to natural, in vivo maturation. The elevation of the elastic moduli was attributable to the increased calcified area and the realignment of collagen fibers parallel to
Effects of cyclic compression on the mechanical properties and calcification process of immature chick bone tissue in culture

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Eijiro Maeda

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Contribution of mechanical loading to tissue growth during both the development and post-natal maturation is of a particular interest, as its understanding would be important to strategies in bone tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The present study has been performed to investigate how immature bone responds to mechanical loading using an ex vivo culture system. A slice of the tibia, with the thickness of 3 mm, was obtained from 0-day-old chick. For the ex vivo culture experiment in conjunction with cyclic compressive loading, we developed a custom-made, bioreactor system where both the load and the deformation applied to the specimen was recorded. Cyclic compression, with an amplitude of 0.3 N corresponding to 1 to 2% compressive strain, was applied to immature bone specimen during a 3-day culture period at an overall loading rate 3–4 cycles/min, in the presence of β-glycerol phosphate and dexamethasone in culture medium. The stress-strain relationship was obtained at the beginning and the end of the culture experiment. In addition, analyses for alkaline phosphate release, cell viability and tissue calcification were also performed. It was exhibited that elastic moduli of bone slices were significantly elevated at the end of the 3-day culture in the presence of cyclic compression, which was a similar phenomenon to significant elevation of the elastic moduli of bone tissue by the maturation from 0-day old to 3-day old. By contrast, no significant changes in the moduli were observed in the absence of cyclic compression or in deactivated, cell-free samples. The increases in the moduli were coincided with the increase in calcified area in the bone samples. It was confirmed that immature bone can respond to compressive loading in vitro and demonstrate the growth of bone matrix, similar to natural, in vivo maturation. The elevation of the elastic moduli was attributable to the increased calcified area and the realignment of collagen
Tissue-specific and minor inter-individual variation in imprinting of IGF2R is a common feature of Bos taurus Concepti and not correlated with fetal weight.

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Daniela Bebbere

Full Text Available The insulin-like growth factor 2 receptor (IGF2R is essential for prenatal growth regulation and shows gene dosage effects on fetal weight that can be affected by in-vitro embryo culture. Imprinted maternal expression of murine Igf2r is well documented for all fetal tissues excluding brain, but polymorphic imprinting and biallelic expression were reported for IGF2R in human. These differences have been attributed to evolutionary changes correlated with specific reproductive strategies. However, data from species suitable for testing this hypothesis are lacking. The domestic cow (Bos taurus carries a single conceptus with a similar gestation length as human. We identified 12 heterozygous concepti informative for imprinting studies among 68 Bos taurus fetuses at Day 80 of gestation (28% term and found predominantly maternal IGF2R expression in all fetal tissues but brain, which escapes imprinting. Inter-individual variation in allelic expression bias, i.e. expression of the repressed paternal allele relative to the maternal allele, ranged from 4.6-8.9% in heart, 4.3-10.2% in kidney, 6.1-11.2% in liver, 4.6-15.8% in lung and 3.2-12.2% in skeletal muscle. Allelic bias for mesodermal tissues (heart, skeletal muscle differed significantly (P<0.05 from endodermal tissues (liver, lung. The placenta showed partial imprinting with allelic bias of 22.9-34.7% and differed significantly (P<0.001 from all other tissues. Four informative fetuses were generated by in-vitro fertilization (IVF with embryo culture and two individuals displayed fetal overgrowth. However, there was no evidence for changes in imprinting or DNA methylation after IVF, or correlations between allelic bias and fetal weight. In conclusion, imprinting of Bos taurus IGF2R is similar to mouse except in placenta, which could indicate an effect of reproductive strategy. Common minor inter-individual variation in allelic bias and absence of imprinting abnormalities in IVF fetuses suggest
Enhanced Nutrients Removal Using Reeds Straw as Carbon Source in a Laboratory Scale Constructed Wetland

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Tong Wang

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The low carbon/nitrogen (C/N ratio and high nitrate content characteristics of agricultural runoff restricted the nitrogen removal in constructed wetlands (CWs. To resolve such problems, the economically- and easily-obtained Phragmites Australis (reeds litters were applied and packed in the surface layer of a surface flow CW as external carbon sources. The results demonstrated that the introduction of the reeds straw increased the C concentration as a result of their decomposition during the CW operation, which will help the denitrification in the ensuing operation of an entire 148 days. The total nitrogen (TN and Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD ( in the effluent reached the peak level of 63.2 mg/L and 83 mg/L at the fourth and the second day, respectively. Subsequently, the pollutants in the CW that were filled with straw decreased rapidly and achieved a stable removal after 13 days of operation. Moreover, the present study showed that the N removal efficiency increased with the increase of the hydraulic retention time (HRT. Under the HRT of four days, the CW presented 74.1 ± 6%, 87.4 ± 6% and 56.0 ± 6% removal for TN, NO3-, and TP, respectively.
Strategies on process engineering of chondrocyte culture for cartilage tissue regeneration.

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Mallick, Sarada Prasanna; Rastogi, Amit; Tripathi, Satyavrat; Srivastava, Pradeep

2017-04-01

The current work is an attempt to study the strategies for cartilage tissue regeneration using porous scaffold in wavy walled airlift bioreactor (ALBR). Novel chitosan, poly (L-lactide) and hyaluronic acid based composite scaffold were prepared. The scaffolds were cross-linked with 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide, N-hydroxysuccinimide and chondroitin sulfate to obtain interconnected 3D microstructure showing excellent biocompatibility, higher cellular differentiation and increased stability. The surface morphology and porosity of the scaffolds were analyzed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and mercury intrusion porosimeter and optimized for chondrocyte regeneration. The study shows that the scaffolds were highly porous with pore size ranging from 48 to 180 µm and the porosities in the range 80-92%. Swelling and in vitro degradation studies were performed for the composite scaffolds; by increasing the chitosan: HA ratio in the composite scaffolds, the swelling property increases and stabilizes after 24 h. There was controlled degradation of composite scaffolds for 4 weeks. The uniform chondrocyte distribution in the scaffold using various growth modes in the shake flask and ALBR was studied by glycosaminoglycans (GAG) quantification, MTT assay and mixing time evaluation. The cell culture studies demonstrated that efficient designing of ALBR increases the cartilage regeneration as compared to using a shake flask. The free chondrocyte microscopy and cell attachment were performed by inverted microscope and SEM, and from the study it was confirmed that the cells uniformly attached to the scaffold. This study focuses on optimizing strategies for the culture of chondrocyte using suitable scaffold for improved cartilage tissue regeneration.
The establishment of the cell culture of preadipocytes of common carp (Cyprinus carpio L.

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Ljubojević Dragana B.

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Common carp is the most important freshwater fish in aquaculture in Republic of Serbia. Excess fat deposition in the meat and abdominal cavity of farmed carp can affect carp flesh quality, dressing percentage and consequently restrict the further development of aquaculture production. The reasons for lipid deposition in carp flesh and around visceral organs are not well known, and it is important to develop method which would enable us to understand process which occurs in common carp lipid cells. The aim of this study was to establish a new model of common carp preadipocytes and evaluate proliferation and differentiation capacity of carp preadipocytes in vitro. The establishment of the cell culture of preadipocytes of common carp could serve as a valuable tool for studying fat metabolism in this fish species.
Transformation and mass hyperplasia technique of the garden plant (lily) by radiation and so forth. Mass hyperplasia of the lily using tissue culture

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shigematsu, Koji; Hamada, Yutaka

1997-01-01

For an aim of more uniform child bulb production and good quality kind conservation using tissue culture of the lily, some hyperplasia from organs over ground of the lily were tried. In particular, optimum culture media with higher hyperplasia rate of the child bulb, redifferentiation due to difference among kinds of the lilies, and difference of hyperplasia of the child bulbs were investigated. As a result, it was found that pollution due to various germs attached to used materials often occurs, that efficiency obtainable for initial child bulb by redifferentiation from the organs was low at 20%, and that pollution due to various germs was often found at 25degC of cultivation temperature, which was inferior to that at 20degC. And, when conducting mass hyperplasia of the lily using tissue culture, an optimum culture medium of formation and hyperplasia of child bulb could be obtained for its each kind. As a result of conducting some investigations on configuration of the lily nourished from its child bulb and flowered by the tissue culture, it was also found that cultured bulb had the same character as its parent bulb had. (G.K.)

Prolonged hypoxic culture and trypsinization increase the pro-angiogenic potential of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells

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Rasmussen, Jeppe Grøndahl; Frøbert, Ole; Pilgaard, Linda

2011-01-01

Transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), including adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASC), is a promising option in the treatment of vascular disease. Short-term hypoxic culture of MSC augments secretion of anti-apoptotic and angiogenic cytokines. We hypothesized that prolonged hypoxic...... (1% and 5% oxygen) culture and trypsinization would augment ASC expression of anti-apoptotic and angiogenic cytokines and increase the angiogenic potential of ASC-conditioned media....
Micropropagation of Pear Rootstock (Pyrus Communis) by using tissue culture technique and gamma irradiation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

El-Sharnouby, M.E.; ESSAM, E.R.; Ayoub, S.

2006-01-01

New growing shoots from healthy pear rootstock (Pyrus communis) trees were taken and sterilized 3 times in dipping water. Explants were subjected to antioxidant treatment, different media, different additives and different BAP and NAA concentrations. The obtained results showed that Murashig-Skoog (MS) supplemented with 1 mg/l BA was better than Gamborg medium. Adding antioxidant solution and adenine sulphate to the culture medium was preferred for maximizing explants development. Exposing the explants to gamma irradiation at different doses decreased tissue culture parameters with increasing gamma doses. However, the low dose of gamma rays (1 Krad) significantly increased the number of shoots than other gamma treatments. Adding of BAP at 2 mg/l to the culture medium increased number and length of shoots. However, addition of 1 mg/l NAA to the rooting medium led to increase the root formation
Comparing culture and molecular methods for the identification of microorganisms involved in necrotizing soft tissue infections

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Rudkjøbing, Vibeke Børsholt; Thomsen, Trine Rolighed; Xu, Yijuan

2016-01-01

BACKGROUND: Necrotizing soft tissue infections (NSTIs) are a group of infections affecting all soft tissues. NSTI involves necrosis of the afflicted tissue and is potentially life threatening due to major and rapid destruction of tissue, which often leads to septic shock and organ failure. The gold...... to culture. Although the molecular methods generally gave concordant results, our results indicate that Microseq may misidentify or overlook microorganisms that can be detected by other molecular methods. Half of the patients were found to be infected with S. pyogenes, but several atypical findings were also...... that clinicians should be prepared to diagnose and treat any combination of microbial pathogens. Some of the tested molecular methods offer a faster turnaround time combined with a high specificity, which makes supplemental use of such methods attractive for identification of microorganisms, especially...
Dynamic culture of a thermosensitive collagen hydrogel as an extracellular matrix improves the construction of tissue-engineered peripheral nerve.

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Huang, Lanfeng; Li, Rui; Liu, Wanguo; Dai, Jin; Du, Zhenwu; Wang, Xiaonan; Ma, Jianchao; Zhao, Jinsong

2014-07-15

Tissue engineering technologies offer new treatment strategies for the repair of peripheral nerve injury, but cell loss between seeding and adhesion to the scaffold remains inevitable. A thermosensitive collagen hydrogel was used as an extracellular matrix in this study and combined with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells to construct tissue-engineered peripheral nerve composites in vitro. Dynamic culture was performed at an oscillating frequency of 0.5 Hz and 35° swing angle above and below the horizontal plane. The results demonstrated that bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells formed membrane-like structures around the poly-L-lactic acid scaffolds and exhibited regular alignment on the composite surface. Collagen was used to fill in the pores, and seeded cells adhered onto the poly-L-lactic acid fibers. The DNA content of the bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells was higher in the composites constructed with a thermosensitive collagen hydrogel compared with that in collagen I scaffold controls. The cellular DNA content was also higher in the thermosensitive collagen hydrogel composites constructed with the thermosensitive collagen hydrogel in dynamic culture than that in static culture. These results indicate that tissue-engineered composites formed with thermosensitive collagen hydrogel in dynamic culture can maintain larger numbers of seeded cells by avoiding cell loss during the initial adhesion stage. Moreover, seeded cells were distributed throughout the material.
Effects of form of nitrogen fertilization on the accumulation of Pb, As, Sc Ge and U in shoots of reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.)

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Wiche, Oliver; Székely, Balázs; Moschner, Christin; Heilmeier, Hermann

2015-04-01

Nitrogen (N) fertilization is necessary for growth and development of plants but it may also causes an increased metal uptake by plants due to changes of physiochemical properties of the elements in soil. The research in phytoremediation and phytomining conducted so far has revealed that the effect of nitrogen fertilizers initially depends on the form of application, as N is the only element that can be readily utilized by plants in its cationic (ammonia) or anionic form (nitrate) causing several effects in soil-plant system. However, to our knowledge most of the recent studies only documented an improvement of yield parameters and the uptake of heavy metals by plants as a result of different forms of N-fertilization. Here we report the result of a field experiment were we tried to obtain more information about the effects of form of N-fertilization on uptake of As, Pb, Sc Ge and U in reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.). In this study, reed canary grass was grown on 15 plots (4 m² each) under field conditions on a semi-field lysimer at the off-site soil recycling and remediation center in Hirschfeld (Saxony, Germany). To test the effects of a fertilization with different N-forms on the accumulation, the plots plants received 5 g N / m² in three doses as NH4SO4, Mg(NO3)2 or NH4NO3. The geometrical arrangement of plots was randomized and every treatment was fivefold replicated. After a 50 day period of plant growth, the plants were harvested and concentrations of trace metals in the shoots were measured with ICP-MS. As a result of the different N-treatments we found that in plants treated with NH4SO4 concentrations of Pb and As as well as of Sc, Ge and U were significantly increased in plant tissues compared to plants treated with NH4NO3. Furthermore, no significant changes in mineral composition of plants between the Mg(NO3)2 and NH4NO3 treatments could be observed. Our interpretation of these results is that it might be an effect of the acidification of
Hydrothermal Conversion of Giant Reed to Furfural and Levulinic Acid: Optimization of the Process under Microwave Irradiation and Investigation of Distinctive Agronomic Parameters

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Claudia Antonetti

2015-11-01

Full Text Available The hydrothermal conversion of giant reed (Arundo donax L. to furfural (FA and levulinic acid (LA was investigated in the presence of dilute hydrochloric acid. FA and LA yields were improved by univariate optimization of the main reaction parameters: concentration of the acid catalyst, solid/liquid ratio of the reaction mixture, hydrolysis temperature, and reaction time. The catalytic performances were investigated adopting the efficient microwave (MW irradiation, allowing significant energy and time savings. The best FA and LA yields were further confirmed using a traditionally heated autoclave reactor, giving very high results, when compared with the literature. Hydrolysis temperature and time were the main reaction variables to be carefully optimized: FA formation needed milder reaction conditions, while LA more severe ones. The effect of the crop management (e.g., harvest time on FA/LA production was discussed, revealing that harvest time was not a discriminating parameter for the further optimization of both FA and LA production, due to the very high productivity of the giant reed throughout the year. The promising results demonstrate that giant reed represents a very interesting candidate for a very high contemporary production of FA and LA of up to about 70% and 90% of the theoretical yields, respectively.
Effect of gamma-radiation on callus initiation and oraganogenesis in the tissue culture of Nicotiana tabaccum L

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shin, S. H.; Kim, J. G.; Song, H. S.

2004-01-01

It is generally agreed that ionizing radiations stimulate cell division, growth and development in various organisms including animals and plants. Differentiating tissues are the most sensitive to radiation. The present experiment was carried out to investigate the effects of ionizing radiation on callus initiation and organogenesis from the stem in the culture of Nicotiana tabaccum L. cv. When the stem segments were cultured on a Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium with 2 mg/L kinetin, with 1 mg/L 2,4-Dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D), with 2 mg/L kinetin and 1 mg/L 2,4-D, the shoots and callus were differentiated 14 days after cultivation. Callus was especially formed on the MS medium with 2,4-D and/or kinetin and the formation was promoted by 1 Gy and 5 Gy of gamma radiation. The formation of the shoot clusters on the MS medium with 2 mg/L kinetin were prominent in the 5 Gy-irradiated groups. It is concluded that that gamma radiation enhanced the callus initiation and organogenesis in the tissue culture of Nicotiana tabaccum L
Protein and Glycoprotein Patterns Related to Morphogenesis in Mammillaria gracillis Pfeiff. Tissue Culture

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Biljana Balen

2002-01-01

Full Text Available As plants with Crassulacean Acid Metabolism (CAM, cacti are highly affected by artificial environmental conditions in tissue culture. Plants of Mammillaria gracillis Pfeiff. (Cactaceae propagated in vitro produced callus spontaneously. This habituated callus regenerated normal and hyperhydric shoots without the addition of growth regulators. In order to compare habituated callus with the tumorous one, cactus cells were transformed with two strains of Agrobacterium tumefaciens: the wild strain B6S3 (tumour line TW and the rooty mutant GV3101 (tumour line TR. Gene expression in cactus plants, habituated callus, regenerated shoots and two tumour lines was analysed at the level of cellular and extracellular protein and glycoprotein profiles. Proteins were separated by SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis and 2-D PAGE electrophoresis and silver stained. Concavalin A-peroxidase staining detected glycoproteins with D-manose in their glycan component on protein blots. Developmentally specific protein patterns of Mammillaria gracillis tissue lines were detected. The 2-D PAGE electrophoresis revealed some tissue specific protein groups. The cellular glycoprotein of 42 kDa detected by ConA was highly expressed in undifferentiated tissues (habituated callus, TW and TR tumours and in hyperhydric regenerants. Tumours produced extracellular proteins of 33, 23 and 22 kDa. The N glycosylation of cellular and extracellular proteins was related to specific developmental stage of cactus tissue.
Increased adsorption of histidine-tagged proteins onto tissue culture polystyrene.

Science.gov (United States)

Holmberg, Maria; Hansen, Thomas Steen; Lind, Johan Ulrik; Hjortø, Gertrud Malene

2012-04-01

In this study we compare histidine-tagged and native proteins with regards to adsorption properties. We observe significantly increased adsorption of proteins with an incorporated polyhistidine amino acid motif (HIS-tag) onto tissue culture polystyrene (TCPS) compared to similar proteins without a HIS-tag. The effect is not observed on polystyrene (PS). Adsorption experiments have been performed at physiological pH (7.4) and the effect was only observed for the investigated proteins that have pI values below or around 7.4. Competitive adsorption experiments with imidazole and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA), as well as adsorption performed at different pH and ionic strength indicates that the high adsorption is caused by electrostatic interaction between negatively charged carboxylate groups on the TCPS surface and positively charged histidine residues in the proteins. Pre-adsorption of bovine serum albumin (BSA) does not decrease the adsorption of HIS-tagged proteins onto TCPS. Our findings identify a potential problem in using HIS-tagged signalling molecule in assays with cells cultured on TCPS, since the concentration of the molecule in solution might be affected and this could critically influence the assay outcome. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Getting ahead of one's self? The common culture of immunology and philosophy.

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Anderson, Warwick

2014-09-01

During the past thirty years, immunological metaphors, motifs, and models have come to shape much social theory and philosophy. Immunology, so it seems, often has served to naturalize claims about self, identity, and sovereignty--perhaps most prominently in Jacques Derrida's later studies. Yet the immunological science that functions as "nature" in these social and philosophical arguments is derived from interwar and Cold War social theory and philosophy. Theoretical immunologists and social theorists knowingly participated in a common culture. Thus the "naturalistic fallacy" in this case might be reframed as an error of categorization: its conditions of possibility would require ceaseless effort to purify and separate out the categories of nature and culture. The problem--inasmuch as there is a problem-therefore is not so much the making of an appeal to nature as assuming privileged access to an independent, sovereign category called "nature".
Selective enhancement of scopadulcic acid B production in the cultured tissues of Scoparia dulcis by methyl jasmonate.

Science.gov (United States)

Nkembo, Kasidimoko Marguerite; Lee, Jung-Bum; Hayashi, Toshimitsu

2005-07-01

The effects of methyl jasmonate (MeJA) on isoprenoid production were evaluated in cultured tissues of Scoparia dulcis. It was found that MeJA suppressed the accumulation of chlorophylls, carotenoids, phytol and beta-sitosterol in the tissues. MeJA, however, remarkably enhanced the production of scopadulcic acid B (SDB), with 10 microM being optimal observed concentration for stimulation of SDB production. The maximum concentration of SDB was observed 6 d after MeJA treatment.
Clinical Presentation of Soft-tissue Infections and its Management: A Study of 100 Cases.

Science.gov (United States)

Singh, Baldev; Singh, Sukha; Khichy, Sudhir; Ghatge, Avinash

2017-01-01

Soft-tissue infections vary widely in their nature and severity. A clear approach to the management must allow their rapid identification and treatment as they can be life-threatening. Clinical presentation of soft-tissue infections and its management. A prospective study based on 100 patients presenting with soft-tissue infections was done. All the cases of soft-tissue infections were considered irrespective of age, sex, etiological factors, or systemic disorders. The findings were evaluated regarding the pattern of soft-tissue infections in relation to age and sex, clinical presentation, complications, duration of hospital stay, management, and mortality. The most commonly involved age group was in the range of 41-60 years with male predominance. Abscess formation (45%) was the most common clinical presentation. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was the most common associated comorbid condition. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common culture isolate obtained. The most common complication seen was renal failure. Patients with surgical site infections had maximum duration of stay in the hospital. About 94% of the cases of soft-tissue infections were managed surgically. Mortality was mostly encountered in the cases of complications of cellulitis. Skin and soft-tissue infections are among the most common infections encountered by the emergency physicians. Ignorance, reluctance to treatment, economic constraints, and illiteracy delay the early detection and the initiation of proper treatment. Adequate and timely surgical intervention in most of the cases is of utmost importance to prevent the complications and reduce the mortality.
Blood profile and meat quality of Holstein-Friesian steers finished on total mixed ration or flaxseed oil-supplemented pellet mixed with reed canary grass haylage.

Science.gov (United States)

Utama, D T; Lee, S G; Baek, K H; Chung, W S; Chung, I A; Kim, D I; Kim, G Y; Lee, S K

2018-02-01

Holstein-Friesian steer beef production is renowned globally as a secondary product of the milk industry. Grass feeding is a common practice in raising Holstein steers because of its low cost. Furthermore, grass feeding is an alternative way to produce beef with a balanced n-6 to n-3 fatty acids (FAs) ratio. However, the performance and meat quality of Holstein-Friesian cattle is more likely to depend on a high-quality diet. The aim of this study was to observe whether feeding two mixed diets; a corn-based total mixed ration (TMR) with winter ryegrass (Lolium perenne) or flaxseed oil-supplemented pellets with reed canary grass haylage (n-3 mix) provided benefits on carcass weight, meat quality and FA composition compared with cattle fed with reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea) haylage alone. In all, 15 21-month-old Holstein-Friesian steers were randomly assigned to three group pens, were allowed free access to water and were fed different experimental diets for 150 days. Blood samples were taken a week before slaughter. Carcass weight and meat quality were evaluated after slaughter. Plasma lipid levels and aspartate aminotransferase (AST), γ-glutamyl transpeptidase (GGT), creatine kinase (CK) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activities were determined. Diet did not affect plasma triglyceride levels and GGT activity. Plasma cholesterol levels, including low-density and high-density lipoproteins, were higher in both mixed-diet groups than in the haylae group. The highest activities of plasma AST, CK and ALP were observed in the haylage group, followed by n-3 mix and TMR groups, respectively. Carcass weight was lower in the haylage group than in the other groups and no differences were found between the TMR and n-3 mix groups. Although the n-3 mix-fed and haylage-fed beef provided lower n-6 to n-3 FAs ratio than TMR-fed beef, the roasted beef obtained from the TMR group was more acceptable with better overall meat physicochemical properties and sensory scores
Polyamine patterns in haploid and diploid tobacco tissues and in vitro cultures

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Sílvia Bicudo Carone

2010-04-01

Full Text Available The aim of this work was to determine PAs levels in pith tissues and callus cultures from haploid and diploid tobacco plants, explanted from the apical and basal regions of the stem. These explants were cultured in an RM-64 medium supplied with IAA and kinetin, under light or in the dark, during successive subcultures. PAs levels followed a basipetal decrease in diploid and an increase in haploid, pith tissues. A similar pattern of total PAs (free + conjugated was observed for the callus of diploid and haploid plants maintained in the light, and for the haploid callus in the dark, whereas the diploid callus in the dark showed a constant increase in total PAs levels until the end of culture. The PA increase in the diploid callus in the dark was related to free Put levels increase. The ploidy status of the plants could express different PA gradients together with the plant pith and in vitro callus cultures.O objetivo deste trabalho foi determinar os níveis de PAs em tecidos de medula e cultura de calos de plantas haplóides e diplóides de tabaco, obtidas da região apical e basal do caule. Estes explantes foram cultivados em meio RM-64 suplementado com AIA e cinetina, na luz e no escuro, durante vários subcultivos. Nos tecidos medulares, os níveis de PAs apresentam um decréscimo basípeto em diplóides e um aumento em haplóides.Um padrão similar nos níveis de PAs totais (livres+ conjugadas foi observado em calos haplóides e diplóides mantidos na luz, e haplóides no escuro, enquanto os diplóides cultivados no escuro mostraram um aumento constante até o final do cultivo. O aumento no conteúdo de PAs nos calos diplóides no escuro, foi devido ao aumento do conteúdo de Put livre. Foi observado que a ploidia da planta pode expressar diferentes gradientes de PA ao longo do tecido medular e nas culturas de calos in vitro.
Screenhouse and field persistence of nonpathogenic endophytic Fusarium oxysporum in Musa tissue culture plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Paparu, Pamela; Dubois, Thomas; Gold, Clifford S; Niere, Björn; Adipala, Ekwamu; Coyne, Daniel

2008-04-01

Two major biotic constraints to highland cooking banana (Musa spp., genome group AAA-EA) production in Uganda are the banana weevil Cosmopolites sordidus and the burrowing nematode Radopholus similis. Endophytic Fusarium oxysporum strains inoculated into tissue culture banana plantlets have shown control of the banana weevil and the nematode. We conducted screenhouse and field experiments to investigate persistence in the roots and rhizome of two endophytic Fusarium oxysporum strains, V2w2 and III4w1, inoculated into tissue-culture banana plantlets of highland cooking banana cultivars Kibuzi and Nabusa. Re-isolation of F. oxysporum showed that endophyte colonization decreased faster from the rhizomes than from the roots of inoculated plants, both in the screenhouse and in the field. Whereas rhizome colonization by F. oxysporum decreased in the screenhouse (4-16 weeks after inoculation), root colonization did not. However, in the field (17-33 weeks after inoculation), a decrease was observed in both rhizome and root colonization. The results show a better persistence in the roots than rhizomes of endophytic F. oxysporum strains V2w2 and III4w1.
Evaluation of microorganisms cultured from injured and repressed tissue regeneration sites in endangered giant aquatic Ozark Hellbender salamanders.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cheryl A Nickerson

Full Text Available Investigation into the causes underlying the rapid, global amphibian decline provides critical insight into the effects of changing ecosystems. Hypothesized and confirmed links between amphibian declines, disease, and environmental changes are increasingly represented in published literature. However, there are few long-term amphibian studies that include data on population size, abnormality/injury rates, disease, and habitat variables to adequately assess changes through time. We cultured and identified microorganisms isolated from abnormal/injured and repressed tissue regeneration sites of the endangered Ozark Hellbender, Cryptobranchus alleganiensis bishopi, to discover potential causative agents responsible for their significant decline in health and population. This organism and our study site were chosen because the population and habitat of C. a. bishopi have been intensively studied from 1969-2009, and the abnormality/injury rate and apparent lack of regeneration were established. Although many bacterial and fungal isolates recovered were common environmental organisms, several opportunistic pathogens were identified in association with only the injured tissues of C.a. bishopi. Bacterial isolates included Aeromonas hydrophila, a known amphibian pathogen, Granulicetella adiacens, Gordonai terrae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, Aerococcus viridans, Streptococcus pneumoniae and a variety of Pseudomonads, including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, P. stutzeri, and P. alcaligenes. Fungal isolates included species in the genera Penicillium, Acremonium, Cladosporium, Curvularia, Fusarium, Streptomycetes, and the Class Hyphomycetes. Many of the opportunistic pathogens identified are known to form biofilms. Lack of isolation of the same organism from all wounds suggests that the etiological agent responsible for the damage to C. a. bishopi may not be a single organism. To our knowledge, this is the first study to profile the external microbial consortia
Using organotypic (raft) epithelial tissue cultures for the biosynthesis and isolation of infectious human papillomaviruses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ozbun, Michelle A; Patterson, Nicole A

2014-08-01

Papillomaviruses have a strict tropism for epithelial cells, and they are fully reliant on cellular differentiation for completion of their life cycles, resulting in the production of progeny virions. Thus, a permissive environment for full viral replication in vitro-wherein virion morphogenesis occurs under cooperative viral and cellular cues-requires the cultivation of epithelium. Presented in the first section of this unit is a protocol to grow differentiating epithelial tissues that mimic many important morphological and biochemical aspects of normal skin. The technique involves growing epidermal cells atop a dermal equivalent consisting of live fibroblasts and a collagen lattice. Epithelial stratification and differentiation ensues when the keratinocyte-dermal equivalent is placed at the air-liquid interface. The apparent floating nature of the cell-matrix in this method led to the nickname "raft" cultures. The general technique can be applied to normal low passage keratinocytes, to cells stably transfected with papillomavirus genes or genomes, or keratinocytes established from neoplastic lesions. However, infectious papillomavirus particles have only been isolated from organotypic epithelial cultures initiated with cells that maintain oncogenic human papillomavirus genomes in an extrachomosomal replicative form. The second section of this unit is dedicated to a virion isolation method that minimizes aerosol and skin exposure to these human carcinogens. Although the focus of the protocols is on the growth of tissues that yields infectious papillomavirus progeny, this culture system facilitates the investigation of these fastidious viruses during their complex replicative cycles, and raft tissues can be manipulated and harvested at any point during the process. Importantly, a single-step virus growth cycle is achieved in this process, as it is unlikely that progeny virions are released to initiate subsequent rounds of infection. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley
Application of plant cell and tissue culture for the production of phytochemicals in medicinal plants.

Science.gov (United States)

Pant, Bijaya

2014-01-01

Approximately 80% of the world inhabitants depend on the medicinal plants in the form of traditional formulations for their primary health care system well as in the treatment of a number of diseases since the ancient time. Many commercially used drugs have come from the information of indigenous knowledge of plants and their folk uses. Linking of the indigenous knowledge of medicinal plants to modern research activities provides a new reliable approach, for the discovery of novel drugs much more effectively than with random collection. Increase in population and increasing demand of plant products along with illegal trade are causing depletion of medicinal plants and many are threatened in natural habitat. Plant tissue culture technique has proved potential alternative for the production of desirable bioactive components from plants, to produce the enough amounts of plant material that is needed and for the conservation of threatened species. Different plant tissue culture systems have been extensively studied to improve and enhance the production of plant chemicals in various medicinal plants.
Mouse Pancreas Tissue Slice Culture Facilitates Long-Term Studies of Exocrine and Endocrine Cell Physiology in situ

OpenAIRE

Marciniak, Anja; Selck, Claudia; Friedrich, Betty; Speier, Stephan

2013-01-01

Studies on pancreatic cell physiology rely on the investigation of exocrine and endocrine cells in vitro. Particularly, in the case of the exocrine tissue these studies have suffered from a reduced functional viability of acinar cells in culture. As a result not only investigations on dispersed acinar cells and isolated acini were limited in their potential, but also prolonged studies on pancreatic exocrine and endocrine cells in an intact pancreatic tissue environment were unfeasible. To ove...
IN VITRO INOCULATION OF ASPARAGUS OFFICINALIS TISSUE CULTURE SHOOTS WITH FUSARIUM PROLIFERA TUM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A.K.MoHD OMAR

1999-01-01

Full Text Available Artificially inoculated asparagus tissue culture plantlets with a virulent fungus, Fusarium proliferatum showed signs of infection as early as 4 days after inoculat ion. Macroscopic observations revealed presence of early symptoms such as necrotic lesions at the affected area and light microscopic examinations clearly revealed the post-penetration events that took place including the destruction of surrounding cells. However, little is known of the hyphal activity or advancement on the host's surface at the initial stage after inoculation. Scanning electron microscopic examination clearly revealed the hyphal advancement on the surface and the mode of entrance into the host tissues beneath. Four days after inoculation, the fungi proceeded to spread out from the inoculation point onto the host surface which eventually developed into a sparse network of both aerial and non-aerial hyphae. Non-aerial hyphae form a network of mycelium that adheres to the surface and it's movement appeared to be oriented towards the stomata. Hyphal penetration occurs more often through the stomata, natural openings or wounds. In some cases, the hyphae crossed over the stomatal opening w ithout entering the host tissues. At places where the cuticle layer is absent or not well developed the hyphae successfully grew in between the epidermal cells into the tissues beneath.

Rose (Rosa hybrida L.) tissue culture mutagenesis for new mutants generation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salahbiah Abdul Majid; Rusli Ibrahim

2004-01-01

Tissue culture technique can be used to obtain complete regeneration of plant cells from shoots, rots, flowers, axillary buds and other parts of the plant. In this study, axillary buds from stem cuttings of Cutting Red, Christine Dior and Mini Rose varieties were used as the stating explants. Murashige and Skoog (1962) media supplemented with 6-Benzylaminopurine (BAP, at 4.44 - 8.88μM/l), Napthaleneacetic acid (NAA at 0.54μM/l),, nad 3% sucrose were used for plantlet initiation and regeneration. Cultured axillary buds were exposed to gamma ray (0.250 Gy/s) at 0, 15, 25, 35, 45, 55, 65 and 75 Gy for radiosensitivity test. From the dose respond curve, LD 5 0 the value for cutting red variety was 25 Gy, Christion Dior 30 Gy and Mini Rose 38 Gy, yet 22% of Mini Rose samples survived at 65 Gy and another 10% at 70 Gy. Screening of M3 plants of irradiated cultured shoots, 2 colour variations were obtained at 40 Gy for Cutting Red variety, while 3 colour variations for Mini Rose at 20 Gy. When 6 varieties of Fragrance Rose were irradiated at 40 Gy, 1 colour variation was obtained from 99 screened plants. This study suggests that the dose range of 20 to 45 can be considered for rose mutagenesis study to produce mutants. (Author)
Greenhouse gas emissions from the mineralisation process in a Sludge Treatment Reed Bed system: Seasonal variation and environmental impact

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Julie Dam; Nielsen, Steen; Scheutz, Charlotte

2017-01-01

Greenhouse gas emission data from the mineralisation process in Sludge Treatment Reed Bed systems (STRB) are scarce. The aim of this study was to quantify the emission rates of carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) and to investigate seasonal variations in order to estimate ...
Nitrogen mineralisation and greenhouse gas emission from the soil application of sludge from reed bed mineralisation systems

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Gómez-Muñoz, B; Larsen, Julie Dam; Bekiaris, G

2017-01-01

A sludge treatment reed bed system (STRB) is a technology used for dewatering and stabilising sewage sludge via assisted biological mineralisation, which creates a sludge residue suitable for use as fertiliser on agricultural land. We evaluated the effect of sludge residue storage time (stabilisa......A sludge treatment reed bed system (STRB) is a technology used for dewatering and stabilising sewage sludge via assisted biological mineralisation, which creates a sludge residue suitable for use as fertiliser on agricultural land. We evaluated the effect of sludge residue storage time...... (stabilisation time) for three STRBs on soil N mineralisation and CO2 and N2O emissions in soil. The experiment revealed that the N mineralisation rate and emissions of CO2 and N2O decreased as a function of treatment time in the STRBs. Mixed sludge residue (sludge residue subjected to different treatment times......) for the three STRBs resulted in N mineralisation rates similar to the sludge residue subjected to a shorter treatment time but lower N2O emissions similar to the values of the older sludge residue. This finding reveals that combining fresh and more stabilised sludge residue ensures high N availability...
Cytokeratin expression of engrafted three-dimensional culture tissues using epithelial cells derived from porcine periodontal ligaments.

Science.gov (United States)

Yamada, Rie; Kitajima, Kayoko; Arai, Kyoko; Igarashi, Masaru

2014-09-01

This study investigated the differentiation and proliferation of epithelial cells derived from periodontal ligaments after three-dimensional culture using collagen gel with fibroblasts in vitro and in vivo. Epithelial cells and fibroblasts were derived from porcine periodontal ligaments. Epithelial cells were labeled using a fluorescent red membrane marker (PKH-26GL) and were seeded onto collagen gel with fibroblasts, followed by incubation in an air-liquid interface for 7 days. Three-dimensional cultures were grafted onto the backs of nude mice and removed at 1, 7, and 14 days after surgery (in vivo model). Unfixed sections (5 μm) were used to detect the presence of red fluorescent cells. Paraffin sections were analyzed histologically and immunohistochemically. Specimens were compared with three-dimensional culture tissues at 8, 14 and 21 days (in vitro model). Grafted three-dimensional cultures formed a stratified epithelial structure similar to skin in vivo. Epithelial cells were sequenced in basal-layer-like structures at 14 days in vivo. Immunohistochemical findings showed that the expression of cytokeratin was detected in the epithelial layer in in vitro and in vivo models. Ck8 + 18 + 19 was expressed in the upper epithelial layer in the in vitro model at 14 and 21 days, but not in vivo. Involucrin was expressed in the certified layers in vitro at 14 days, but not in vivo. Laminin was detected at the dermo-epidermal junction in vivo at 7 and 14 days, but not in vitro. These results suggest that differentiation of three-dimensional culture tissues differs in vivo and in vitro. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.
Evaluation of viability and proliferative activity of human urothelial cells cultured onto xenogenic tissue-engineered extracellular matrices.

LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

Davis, Niall F

2011-04-01

To evaluate the viability and proliferative activity of human urothelial cells (HUCs) cultured on tissue-engineered extracellular matrix scaffolds and to assess the potential of extracellular matrixes to support the growth of HUCs in their expected in vivo urine environment.
Tooth Tissue Engineering: The Importance of Blood Products as a Supplement in Tissue Culture Medium for Human Pulp Dental Stem Cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Pisciolaro, Ricardo Luiz; Duailibi, Monica Talarico; Novo, Neil Ferreira; Juliano, Yara; Pallos, Debora; Yelick, Pamela Crotty; Vacanti, Joseph Phillip; Ferreira, Lydia Masako; Duailibi, Silvio Eduardo

2015-11-01

One of the goals in using cells for tissue engineering (TE) and cell therapy consists of optimizing the medium for cell culture. The present study compares three different blood product supplements for improved cell proliferation and protection against DNA damage in cultured human dental pulp stem cells for tooth TE applications. Human cells from dental pulp were first characterized as adult stem cells (ectomesenchymal mixed origin) by flow cytometry. Next, four different cell culture conditions were tested: I, supplement-free; II, supplemented with fetal bovine serum; III, allogeneic human serum; and IV, autologous human serum. Cultured cells were then characterized for cell proliferation, mineralized nodule formation, and colony-forming units (CFU) capability. After 28 days in culture, the comet assay was performed to assess possible damage in cellular DNA. Our results revealed that Protocol IV achieved higher cell proliferation than Protocol I (p = 0.0112). Protocols II and III resulted in higher cell proliferation than Protocol I, but no statistical differences were found relative to Protocol IV. The comet assay revealed less cell damage in cells cultured using Protocol IV as compared to Protocols II and III. The damage percentage observed on Protocol II was significantly higher than all other protocols. CFUs capability was highest using Protocol IV (p = 0.0018) and III, respectively, and the highest degree of mineralization was observed using Protocol IV as compared to Protocols II and III. Protocol IV resulted in significantly improved cell proliferation, and no cell damage was observed. These results demonstrate that human blood product supplements can be used as feasible supplements for culturing adult human dental stem cells.
Analysis of Iterated Hard Decision Decoding of Product Codes with Reed-Solomon Component Codes

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Justesen, Jørn; Høholdt, Tom

2007-01-01

Products of Reed-Solomon codes are important in applications because they offer a combination of large blocks, low decoding complexity, and good performance. A recent result on random graphs can be used to show that with high probability a large number of errors can be corrected by iterating...... minimum distance decoding. We present an analysis related to density evolution which gives the exact asymptotic value of the decoding threshold and also provides a closed form approximation to the distribution of errors in each step of the decoding of finite length codes....
Gas composition of sludge residue profiles in a sludge treatment reed bed between loadings

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Julie Dam; Nielsen, Steen M; Scheutz, Charlotte

2017-01-01

Treatment of sludge in sludge treatment reed bed systems includes dewatering and mineralization. The mineralization process, which is driven by microorganisms, produces different gas species as by-products. The pore space composition of the gas species provides useful information on the biological...... processes occurring in the sludge residue. In this study, we measured the change in composition of gas species in the pore space at different depth levels in vertical sludge residue profiles during a resting period of 32 days. The gas composition of the pore space in the sludge residue changed during...
Changes in adipose tissue stromal-vascular cells in primary culture due to porcine sera

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jewell, D.E.; Hausman, G.J.

1986-01-01

This study was conducted to determine the response of rat stromal-vascular cells to pig sea. Sera were collected from unselected contemporary (lean) and high backfat thickness selected (obese) pigs. Sera from obese pigs were collected either by exsanguination or cannulation. sera from lean pigs during the growing phase (45 kg) and the fattening phase (100-110 kg) were collected. Stromal-vascular cells derived rom rat inguinal tissue were cultured on either 25 cm 2 flasks, collagen-coated coverslips or petri dishes. Cell proliferation was measured by [ 3 H]-thymidine incorporation during the fourth day of culture. Coverslip cultures were used for histochemical analysis. Petri dish cultures were used for analysis of Sn-glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPDH) activity. All cells were plated for 24 hours in media containing 10 fetal bovine sera. Test media contained 2.5, 5.0, 10.0% sera. Sera from obese pigs increased GPDH activity and fat cell production when compared to the lean controls. The increased concentration of sera increased esterase activity and lipid as measured with oil red O. The sera from obese pigs collected at slaughter stimulated more fat cell production than obese sera collected by cannulation. These studies show there are adipogenic factors in obese pigs sera which promote fat cell development in primary cell culture
Children in Asian cultures say yes to yes–no questions: Common and cultural differences between Vietnamese and Japanese children

OpenAIRE

Okanda, Mako; Itakura, Shoji

2008-01-01

We investigated whether children’s response tendency toward yes–no questions concerning objects is a common phenomenon regardless of languages and cultures. Vietnamese and Japanese 2- to 5-year-old (N = 108) were investigated. We also examined whether familiarity with the questioning issue has any effect on Asian children’s yes bias. As the result, Asian children showed a yes bias to yes–no questions. The children’s response tendency changes dramatically with their age: Vietnamese and Japanes...
Clinical presentation of soft-tissue infections and its management: A study of 100 cases

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Baldev Singh

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Background: Soft-tissue infections vary widely in their nature and severity. A clear approach to the management must allow their rapid identification and treatment as they can be life-threatening. Objective: Clinical presentation of soft-tissue infections and its management. Materials and Methods: A prospective study based on 100 patients presenting with soft-tissue infections was done. All the cases of soft-tissue infections were considered irrespective of age, sex, etiological factors, or systemic disorders. The findings were evaluated regarding the pattern of soft-tissue infections in relation to age and sex, clinical presentation, complications, duration of hospital stay, management, and mortality. Results: The most commonly involved age group was in the range of 41–60 years with male predominance. Abscess formation (45% was the most common clinical presentation. Type 2 diabetes mellitus was the most common associated comorbid condition. Staphylococcus aureus was the most common culture isolate obtained. The most common complication seen was renal failure. Patients with surgical site infections had maximum duration of stay in the hospital. About 94% of the cases of soft-tissue infections were managed surgically. Mortality was mostly encountered in the cases of complications of cellulitis. Conclusion: Skin and soft-tissue infections are among the most common infections encountered by the emergency physicians. Ignorance, reluctance to treatment, economic constraints, and illiteracy delay the early detection and the initiation of proper treatment. Adequate and timely surgical intervention in most of the cases is of utmost importance to prevent the complications and reduce the mortality.
Characterization of the Embryogenic Tissue of the Norway Spruce Including a Transition Layer between the Tissue and the Culture Medium by Magnetic Resonance Imaging

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Kořínek R.

2017-02-01

Full Text Available The paper describes the visualization of the cells (ESEs and mucilage (ECMSN in an embryogenic tissue via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI relaxometry measurement combined with the subsequent multi-parametric segmentation. The computed relaxometry maps T1 and T2 show a thin layer (transition layer between the culture medium and the embryogenic tissue. The ESEs, mucilage, and transition layer differ in their relaxation times T1 and T2; thus, these times can be used to characterize the individual parts within the embryogenic tissue. The observed mean values of the relaxation times T1 and T2 of the ESEs, mucilage, and transition layer are as follows: 1469 ± 324 and 53 ± 10 ms, 1784 ± 124 and 74 ± 8 ms, 929 ± 164 and 32 ± 4.7 ms, respectively. The multi-parametric segmentation exploiting the T1 and T2 relaxation times as a classifier shows the distribution of the ESEs and mucilage within the embryogenic tissue. The discussed T1 and T2 indicators can be utilized to characterize both the growth-related changes in an embryogenic tissue and the effect of biotic/abiotic stresses, thus potentially becoming a distinctive indicator of the state of any examined embryogenic tissue.
A 3D Human Lung Tissue Model for Functional Studies on Mycobacterium tuberculosis Infection.

Science.gov (United States)

Braian, Clara; Svensson, Mattias; Brighenti, Susanna; Lerm, Maria; Parasa, Venkata R

2015-10-05

Tuberculosis (TB) still holds a major threat to the health of people worldwide, and there is a need for cost-efficient but reliable models to help us understand the disease mechanisms and advance the discoveries of new treatment options. In vitro cell cultures of monolayers or co-cultures lack the three-dimensional (3D) environment and tissue responses. Herein, we describe an innovative in vitro model of a human lung tissue, which holds promise to be an effective tool for studying the complex events that occur during infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M. tuberculosis). The 3D tissue model consists of tissue-specific epithelial cells and fibroblasts, which are cultured in a matrix of collagen on top of a porous membrane. Upon air exposure, the epithelial cells stratify and secrete mucus at the apical side. By introducing human primary macrophages infected with M. tuberculosis to the tissue model, we have shown that immune cells migrate into the infected-tissue and form early stages of TB granuloma. These structures recapitulate the distinct feature of human TB, the granuloma, which is fundamentally different or not commonly observed in widely used experimental animal models. This organotypic culture method enables the 3D visualization and robust quantitative analysis that provides pivotal information on spatial and temporal features of host cell-pathogen interactions. Taken together, the lung tissue model provides a physiologically relevant tissue micro-environment for studies on TB. Thus, the lung tissue model has potential implications for both basic mechanistic and applied studies. Importantly, the model allows addition or manipulation of individual cell types, which thereby widens its use for modelling a variety of infectious diseases that affect the lungs.
Prolonged hypoxic culture and trypsinization increase the pro-angiogenic potential of human adipose tissue-derived stem cells

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rasmussen, Jeppe Grøndahl; Frøbert, Ole; Pilgaard, Linda

2011-01-01

Transplantation of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC), including adipose tissue-derived stem cells (ASC), is a promising option in the treatment of vascular disease. Short-term hypoxic culture of MSC augments secretion of anti-apoptotic and angiogenic cytokines. We hypothesized that prolonged hypoxi...
Porous PEOT/PBT scaffolds for bone tissue engineering: preparation, characterization, and in vitro bone marrow cell culturing

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Claase, M.B.; Grijpma, Dirk W.; Mendes, S.C.; Mendes, Sandra C.; de Bruijn, Joost Dick; Feijen, Jan

2003-01-01

The preparation, characterization, and in vitro bone marrow cell culturing on porous PEOT/PBT copolymer scaffolds are described. These scaffolds are meant for use in bone tissue engineering. Previous research has shown that PEOT/PBT copolymers showed in vivo degradation, calcification, and bone
Three-dimensional epithelial tissues generated from human embryonic stem cells.

Science.gov (United States)

Hewitt, Kyle J; Shamis, Yulia; Carlson, Mark W; Aberdam, Edith; Aberdam, Daniel; Garlick, Jonathan A

2009-11-01

The use of pluripotent human embryonic stem (hES) cells for tissue engineering may provide advantages over traditional sources of progenitor cells because of their ability to give rise to multiple cell types and their unlimited expansion potential. We derived cell populations with properties of ectodermal and mesenchymal cells in two-dimensional culture and incorporated these divergent cell populations into three-dimensional (3D) epithelial tissues. When grown in specific media and substrate conditions, two-dimensional cultures were enriched in cells (EDK1) with mesenchymal morphology and surface markers. Cells with a distinct epithelial morphology (HDE1) that expressed cytokeratin 12 and beta-catenin at cell junctions became the predominant cell type when EDK1 were grown on surfaces enriched in keratinocyte-derived extracellular matrix proteins. When these cells were incorporated into the stromal and epithelial tissue compartments of 3D tissues, they generated multilayer epithelia similar to those generated with foreskin-derived epithelium and fibroblasts. Three-dimensional tissues demonstrated stromal cells with morphologic features of mature fibroblasts, type IV collagen deposition in the basement membrane, and a stratified epithelium that expressed cytokeratin 12. By deriving two distinct cell lineages from a common hES cell source to fabricate complex tissues, it is possible to explore environmental cues that will direct hES-derived cells toward optimal tissue form and function.
Hatchling sex ratio and female mating status in the great reed warbler, Acrocephalus arundinaceus (Aves, Passeriformes): further evidence for offspring sex ratio manipulation

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Trnka, A.; Prokop, P.; Kašová, M.; Sobeková, Karolina; Kocian, Ľ.

2012-01-01

Roč. 79, č. 2 (2012), s. 212-217 ISSN 1125-0003 Institutional support: RVO:68081766 Keywords : Great reed warbler * sex ratio * social polygyny Subject RIV: EG - Zoology Impact factor: 0.890, year: 2012
Effect of radiation and other cytotoxic agents on the growth of cells cultured from normal and tumor tissues from the female genital tract

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mothersill, C.; Seymour, C.B.; Bonnar, J.

1990-01-01

A technique is presented which allows the response of human gynecological tissue to radiation and cytotoxic drugs to be assessed using a tissue culture explant system. The technique is simple to use and gives results in line with those obtained for human tissues by more complex culture methods. Data are presented showing how the explant technique developed by the group for other tissues can be adapted to yield acceptable results for normal tissue response to radiation. The potential of the technique for use in predictive testing of individual tumor response is then assessed in five cases of gynecological malignancy. It is clear that variations in sensitivity to different radio- and chemotherapy agents and combinations can be detected. The results obtained require clinical validation and it is hoped that this will come over the next few years from evaluation of patient response to treatment using individually optimized, rather than empirical therapy
Aplicações da cultura de tecidos em plantas medicinais Applications of tissue culture in medicinal plants

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

T.P. Morais

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Esta revisão tem por objetivo levantar dados de literatura sobre o histórico e a situação atual das técnicas de cultura de tecidos em plantas medicinais. Para tanto, foi realizada uma revisão de publicações do período de 1976 a 2009. A cultura de tecidos é muito utilizada em pesquisas envolvendo plantas medicinais, com destaque para a técnica de micropropagação. A aplicação das técnicas de cultura de tecidos em plantas medicinais tem como perspectivas a obtenção de germoplasma competitivo e adaptado a diversos métodos de cultivo, escolha de novas espécies que servirão como fonte de compostos biologicamente ativos e aprimoramento da produção de fitofármacos, a fim de assegurar exploração sustentável destas espécies.The aim of this literature review is to conduct a survey concerning the history and current situation of tissue culture techniques in medicinal plants. Therefore, a review was done considering the period from 1976 to 2009. Tissue culture is widely applied in medicinal plants researches, especially micropropagation. The perspectives of tissue culture techniques in medicinal plants are related to the development of competitive germoplasm adapted to diverse methods of cultivation, the election of new species that will serve as source of biological active composts, and the improvement of phytochemicals production, in order to assure sustainable exploration of these species.
Integrated non-food concept of rape seed, reed canary grass and flax processing for fiber, fuel oil and solid fuel

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sipilae, K.

1995-01-01

The target of this project is to investigate if rape seed based fuel oil and diesel fuel component, agrofiber and solid fuel from other annual crops could be produced effectively as an alternative to existing non economical biodiesel-RME and ethanol production. Without heavy tax incentives the biodiesel and grain ethanol can not compete with conventional liquid fuels, the present EU fuel tax legislation will not permit any permanent tax incentives for commercial scale operations. Based on several studies by VTT the rape seed oil will be 30 % cheaper than RME and the utilization as a component 10-30 % blended to heating oil or diesel fuel might the most flexible solution. Neste Oy has carried out the combustion tests with 20 kW boiler and VTT the diesel engine tests with 20 % unprocessed rape seed oil mixtures, the oil was delivered by Mildola Oy. For the co-utilization of annual crops and straw, several laboratory scale combustion and flash pyrolysis tests have been carried out by VTT with straw, reed canary grass etc. In a flash pyrolysis process, the alkalies will remain in the char and a low alkali level bio oils can be produced. As a final step in order to reach the zero subsidy target, an extensive laboratory work is carried out to produce agrofibre from flax, reed canary grass and wheat straw. During the next months an overall economic calculations will be carried out in Finnish, Danish and Italian conditions as an EU-Apas project in order to see the competitiveness of such integrated concepts to conventional RME and reed canary grass combustion

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