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Sample records for undifferentiated esc colonies

  1. Image-based quantification and mathematical modeling of spatial heterogeneity in ESC colonies.

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    Herberg, Maria; Zerjatke, Thomas; de Back, Walter; Glauche, Ingmar; Roeder, Ingo

    2015-06-01

    Pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential to differentiate into cells of all three germ layers. This unique property has been extensively studied on the intracellular, transcriptional level. However, ESCs typically form clusters of cells with distinct size and shape, and establish spatial structures that are vital for the maintenance of pluripotency. Even though it is recognized that the cells' arrangement and local interactions play a role in fate decision processes, the relations between transcriptional and spatial patterns have not yet been studied. We present a systems biology approach which combines live-cell imaging, quantitative image analysis, and multiscale, mathematical modeling of ESC growth. In particular, we develop quantitative measures of the morphology and of the spatial clustering of ESCs with different expression levels and apply them to images of both in vitro and in silico cultures. Using the same measures, we are able to compare model scenarios with different assumptions on cell-cell adhesions and intercellular feedback mechanisms directly with experimental data. Applying our methodology to microscopy images of cultured ESCs, we demonstrate that the emerging colonies are highly variable regarding both morphological and spatial fluorescence patterns. Moreover, we can show that most ESC colonies contain only one cluster of cells with high self-renewing capacity. These cells are preferentially located in the interior of a colony structure. The integrated approach combining image analysis with mathematical modeling allows us to reveal potential transcription factor related cellular and intercellular mechanisms behind the emergence of observed patterns that cannot be derived from images directly. © 2015 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

  2. Ultrastructural characteristics of three undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cell lines and their differentiated three-dimensional derivatives: a comparative study.

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    Alharbi, Suzan; Elsafadi, Mona; Mobarak, Mohammed; Alrwili, Ali; Vishnubalaji, Radhakrishnan; Manikandan, Muthurangan; Al-Qudsi, Fatma; Karim, Saleh; Al-Nabaheen, May; Aldahmash, Abdullah; Mahmood, Amer

    2014-04-01

    The fine structures of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) grown as colonies and differentiated in three-dimensional (3D) culture as embryoid bodies (EBs) were analyzed by transmission electron microscopy. Undifferentiated mESCs expressed markers that proved their pluripotency. Differentiated EBs expressed different differentiation marker proteins from the three germ layers. The ultrastructure of mESCs revealed the presence of microvilli on the cell surfaces, large and deep infolded nuclei, low cytoplasm-to-nuclear ratios, frequent lipid droplets, nonprominent Golgi apparatus, and smooth endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, we found prominent juvenile mitochondria and free ribosomes-rich cytoplasm in mESCs. Ultrastructure of the differentiated mESCs as EBs showed different cell arrangements, which indicate the different stages of EB development and differentiation. The morphologies of BALB/c and 129 W9.5 EBs were very similar at day 4, whereas C57BL/6 EBs were distinct from the others at day 4. This finding suggested that differentiation of EBs from different cell lines occurs in the same pattern but not at the same rate. Conversely, the ultrastructure results of BALB/c and 129 W9.5 ESCs revealed differentiating features, such as the dilated profile of a rough endoplasmic reticulum. In addition, we found low expression levels of undifferentiated markers on the outer cells of BALB/c and 129 W9.5 mESC colonies, which suggests a faster differentiation potential.

  3. Highly sensitive in vitro methods for detection of residual undifferentiated cells in retinal pigment epithelial cells derived from human iPS cells.

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    Takuya Kuroda

    Full Text Available Human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs possess the capabilities of self-renewal and differentiation into multiple cell types, and they are free of the ethical problems associated with human embryonic stem cells (hESCs. These characteristics make hiPSCs a promising choice for future regenerative medicine research. There are significant obstacles, however, preventing the clinical use of hiPSCs. One of the most obvious safety issues is the presence of residual undifferentiated cells that have tumorigenic potential. To locate residual undifferentiated cells, in vivo teratoma formation assays have been performed with immunodeficient animals, which is both costly and time-consuming. Here, we examined three in vitro assay methods to detect undifferentiated cells (designated an in vitro tumorigenicity assay: soft agar colony formation assay, flow cytometry assay and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction assay (qRT-PCR. Although the soft agar colony formation assay was unable to detect hiPSCs even in the presence of a ROCK inhibitor that permits survival of dissociated hiPSCs/hESCs, the flow cytometry assay using anti-TRA-1-60 antibody detected 0.1% undifferentiated hiPSCs that were spiked in primary retinal pigment epithelial (RPE cells. Moreover, qRT-PCR with a specific probe and primers was found to detect a trace amount of Lin28 mRNA, which is equivalent to that present in a mixture of a single hiPSC and 5.0×10⁴ RPE cells. Our findings provide highly sensitive and quantitative in vitro assays essential for facilitating safety profiling of hiPSC-derived products for future regenerative medicine research.

  4. Recombinant human laminin isoforms can support the undifferentiated growth of human embryonic stem cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Miyazaki, Takamichi; Futaki, Sugiko; Hasegawa, Kouichi; Kawasaki, Miwa; Sanzen, Noriko; Hayashi, Maria; Kawase, Eihachiro; Sekiguchi, Kiyotoshi; Nakatsuji, Norio; Suemori, Hirofumi

    2008-01-01

    Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are thought to be a promising cell source for cell transplantation therapy. For such a clinical application, the hESCs should be manipulated using appropriate and qualified materials. In this study, we examined the efficacy of recombinant human laminin (rhLM) isoforms on the undifferentiated growth of hESCs. We first determined the major integrins expressed on the hESCs to reveal the preference of the hESCs for rhLMs, and found that the hESCs mainly expressed integrin α6β1, which binds predominantly to laminin-111, -332 and -511/-521. When the hESCs were seeded onto rhLMs, the cells indeed adhered markedly to rhLM-332, and to rhLM-511 and rhLM-111 to a lesser extent. The hESCs proliferated on these three rhLMs for several passages while preserving their pluripotency. These results show that rhLM-111, -332, and -511 are good substrates to expand undifferentiated hESCs due to their high affinity to integrin α6β1 expressed on hESCs

  5. A novel chemical-defined medium with bFGF and N2B27 supplements supports undifferentiated growth in human embryonic stem cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Yanxia; Song Zhihua; Zhao Yang; Qin Han; Cai Jun; Zhang Hong; Yu Tianxin; Jiang Siming; Wang Guangwen; Ding Mingxiao; Deng Hongkui

    2006-01-01

    Traditionally, undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are maintained on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells or on matrigel with an MEF-conditioned medium (CM), which hampers the clinical applications of hESCs due to the contamination by animal pathogens. Here we report a novel chemical-defined medium using DMEM/F12 supplemented with N2, B27, and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) [termed NBF]. This medium can support prolonged self-renewal of hESCs. hESCs cultured in NBF maintain an undifferentiated state and normal karyotype, are able to form embryoid bodies in vitro, and differentiate into three germ layers and extraembryonic cells. Furthermore, we find that hESCs cultured in NBF possess a low apoptosis rate and a high proliferation rate compared with those cultured in MEF-CM. Our findings provide a novel, simplified chemical-defined culture medium suitable for further therapeutic applications and developmental studies of hESCs

  6. Localized decrease of β-catenin contributes to the differentiation of human embryonic stem cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lam, Hayley; Patel, Shyam; Wong, Janelle; Chu, Julia; Li, Adrian; Li, Song

    2008-01-01

    Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are pluripotent, and can be directed to differentiate into different cell types for therapeutic applications. To expand hESCs, it is desirable to maintain hESC growth without differentiation. As hESC colonies grow, differentiated cells are often found at the periphery of the colonies, but the underlying mechanism is not well understood. Here, we utilized micropatterning techniques to pattern circular islands or strips of matrix proteins, and examined the spatial pattern of hESC renewal and differentiation. We found that micropatterned matrix restricted hESC differentiation at colony periphery but allowed hESC growth into multiple layers in the central region, which decreased hESC proliferation and induced hESC differentiation. In undifferentiated hESCs, β-catenin primarily localized at cell-cell junctions but not in the nucleus. The amount of β-catenin in differentiating hESCs at the periphery of colonies or in multiple layers decreased significantly at cell-cell junctions. Consistently, knocking down β-catenin decreased Oct-4 expression in hESCs. These results indicate that localized decrease of β-catenin contributes to the spatial pattern of differentiation in hESC colonies

  7. Mitomycin-treated undifferentiated embryonic stem cells as a safe and effective therapeutic strategy in a mouse model of Parkinson's disease.

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    Mariana eAcquarone

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available Parkinson’s disease (PD is an incurable progressive neurodegenerative disorder. Clinical presentation of PD stems largely from the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the nigrostriatal dopaminergic pathway, motivating experimental strategies aimed at replacing dopaminergic innervation by cellular therapy. Transplantation of dopaminergic neurons derived from embryonic stem cells significantly improves motor functions in rodent and non-human primate models of PD. However, protocols to generate dopaminergic neurons from embryonic stem cells generally meet with low efficacy and high risk of teratoma development upon transplantation. To address these issues, we have pre-treated undifferentiated mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs with the DNA alkylating agent mitomycin C (MMC before transplantation. MMC treatment of cultures prevented tumor formation in a 12-week follow-up after mESCs were injected in nude mice. In 6-OH-dopamine-lesioned mice, intrastriatal injection of MMC-treated mESCs markedly improved motor function without tumor formation for as long as 15 months. Furthermore, we show that halting mitotic activity of undifferentiated mESCs induces a four-fold increase in dopamine release following in vitro differentiation. Our findings indicate that treating mESCs with mitomycin C prior to intrastriatal transplant is an effective strategy that could be further investigated as a novel alternative for treatment of Parkinson's disease.

  8. Undifferentiated Embryonic Cell Transcription Factor 1 Regulates ESC Chromatin Organization and Gene Expression

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kooistra, Susanne M.; van den Boom, Vincent; Thummer, Rajkumar P.; Johannes, Frank; Wardenaar, Rene; Tesson, Bruno M.; Veenhoff, Liesbeth M.; Fusetti, Fabrizia; O'Neill, Laura P.; Turner, Bryan M.; de Haan, Gerald; Eggen, Bart J. L.; O’Neill, Laura P.

    2010-01-01

    Previous reports showed that embryonic stem (ES) cells contain hyperdynamic and globally transcribed chromatin-properties that are important for ES cell pluripotency and differentiation. Here, we demonstrate a role for undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) in regulating ES

  9. Developmental Competence of Buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Pluripotent Embryonic Stem Cells Over Different Homologous Feeder Layers and the Comparative Evaluation with Various Extracellular Matrices.

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    Sharma, Manjinder; Dubey, Pawan K; Kumar, Rajesh; Nath, Amar; Kumar, G Sai; Sharma, G Taru

    2013-05-01

    Use of somatic cells as a feeder layer to maintain the embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in undifferentiated state limits the stem cell research design, since experimental data may result from a combined ESCs and feeder cell response to various stimuli. Therefore, present study was designed to evaluate the developmental competence of the buffalo ESCs over different homogenous feeders and compare with various extracellular matrices using different concentrations of LIF. Inner cell masses (ICMs) of in vitro hatched blastocysts were cultured onto homologous feeders viz. fetal fibroblast, granulosa and oviductal cell feeder layers and synthetic matrices viz. fibronectin, collagen type I and matrigel in culture medium. Developmental efficiency was found higher for ESCs cultured on fetal fibroblast and granulosa layers (83.33%) followed by fibronectin (77.78%) at 30 ng LIF. Oviductal feeder was found to be the least efficient feeder showing only 11.11% undifferentiated primary ESC colonies at 30 ng LIF. However, neither feeder layer nor synthetic matrix could support the development of primary colonies at 10 ng LIF. Expression of SSEA- 4, TRA-1-60 and Oct-4 were found positive in ESC colonies from all the feeders and synthetic matrices with 20 ng and 30 ng LIF. Fetal fibroblast and granulosa cell while, amongst synthetic matrices, fibronectin were found to be equally efficient to support the growth and maintenance of ESCs pluripotency with 30 ng LIF. This well-defined culture conditions may provide an animal model for culturing human embryonic stem cells in the xeno-free or feeder-free conditions for future clinical applications.

  10. The synergistic effect of 5Azadc and TSA on maintenance of pluripotency of chicken ESCs by overexpression of NANOG gene.

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    Wang, Xiaoyan; Wang, Yingjie; Zuo, Qisheng; Li, Dong; Zhang, Wenhui; Lian, Chao; Tang, Beibei; Xiao, Tianrong; Wang, Man; Wang, Kehua; Li, Bichun; Zhang, Yani

    2016-04-01

    NANOG is a transcription factor that functions in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and a key factor in maintaining pluripotency. Here, we cloned the NANOG gene promoter from the Rugao yellow chicken and constructed a dual luciferase reporter vector to detect its transcriptional activity and analyze the effects of 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (5-Azadc) and trichostatin A (TSA) on NANOG promoter activity and ESC pluripotency maintenance in vitro. NANOG transcriptional activity was enhanced when 5-Azadc and TSA were used alone or together, suggesting the possibility of elevated methylation of the CpG island in the NANOG regulatory region. When ESCs were cultured in basic medium with 5-Azadc and TSA in vitro, significantly more cell colonies were maintained in the 5-Azadc + TSA group than in the control group, which had many differentiated cells and few cell colonies after 6 d of induction. On the tenth day of induction, the cells in the control group fully differentiated and no cell colonies remained, but many cell colonies were present in the 5-Azadc + TSA group. The expression of NANOG in the cell colonies was confirmed by indirect immunofluorescence. Furthermore, ESCs could be passaged to the 12th generation under 5-Azadc and TSA treatment and maintained their pluripotency. Thus, we showed that 5-Azadc and TSA can effectively maintain chicken ESC pluripotency in vitro by increasing NANOG gene expression.

  11. Video Bioinformatics Analysis of Human Embryonic Stem Cell Colony Growth

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    Lin, Sabrina; Fonteno, Shawn; Satish, Shruthi; Bhanu, Bir; Talbot, Prue

    2010-01-01

    Because video data are complex and are comprised of many images, mining information from video material is difficult to do without the aid of computer software. Video bioinformatics is a powerful quantitative approach for extracting spatio-temporal data from video images using computer software to perform dating mining and analysis. In this article, we introduce a video bioinformatics method for quantifying the growth of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) by analyzing time-lapse videos collected in a Nikon BioStation CT incubator equipped with a camera for video imaging. In our experiments, hESC colonies that were attached to Matrigel were filmed for 48 hours in the BioStation CT. To determine the rate of growth of these colonies, recipes were developed using CL-Quant software which enables users to extract various types of data from video images. To accurately evaluate colony growth, three recipes were created. The first segmented the image into the colony and background, the second enhanced the image to define colonies throughout the video sequence accurately, and the third measured the number of pixels in the colony over time. The three recipes were run in sequence on video data collected in a BioStation CT to analyze the rate of growth of individual hESC colonies over 48 hours. To verify the truthfulness of the CL-Quant recipes, the same data were analyzed manually using Adobe Photoshop software. When the data obtained using the CL-Quant recipes and Photoshop were compared, results were virtually identical, indicating the CL-Quant recipes were truthful. The method described here could be applied to any video data to measure growth rates of hESC or other cells that grow in colonies. In addition, other video bioinformatics recipes can be developed in the future for other cell processes such as migration, apoptosis, and cell adhesion. PMID:20495527

  12. Label-free separation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and their cardiac derivatives using Raman spectroscopy

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    Chan, J W; Lieu, D K; Huser, T R; Li, R A

    2008-09-08

    Self-renewable, pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can be differentiated into cardiomyocytes (CMs), providing an unlimited source of cells for transplantation therapies. However, unlike certain cell lineages such as hematopoietic cells, CMs lack specific surface markers for convenient identification, physical separation, and enrichment. Identification by immunostaining of cardiac-specific proteins such as troponin requires permeabilization, which renders the cells unviable and non-recoverable. Ectopic expression of a reporter protein under the transcriptional control of a heart-specific promoter for identifying hESC-derived CMs (hESC-CMs) is useful for research but complicates potential clinical applications. The practical detection and removal of undifferentiated hESCs in a graft, which may lead to tumors, is also critical. Here, we demonstrate a non-destructive, label-free optical method based on Raman scattering to interrogate the intrinsic biochemical signatures of individual hESCs and their cardiac derivatives, allowing cells to be identified and classified. By combining the Raman spectroscopic data with multivariate statistical analysis, our results indicate that hESCs, human fetal left ventricular CMs, and hESC-CMs can be identified by their intrinsic biochemical characteristics with an accuracy of 96%, 98% and 66%, respectively. The present study lays the groundwork for developing a systematic and automated method for the non-invasive and label-free sorting of (i) high-quality hESCs for expansion, and (ii) ex vivo CMs (derived from embryonic or adult stem cells) for cell-based heart therapies.

  13. Extracellular matrix aggregates from differentiating embryoid bodies as a scaffold to support ESC proliferation and differentiation.

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    Saik-Kia Goh

    Full Text Available Embryonic stem cells (ESCs have emerged as potential cell sources for tissue engineering and regeneration owing to its virtually unlimited replicative capacity and the potential to differentiate into a variety of cell types. Current differentiation strategies primarily involve various growth factor/inducer/repressor concoctions with less emphasis on the substrate. Developing biomaterials to promote stem cell proliferation and differentiation could aid in the realization of this goal. Extracellular matrix (ECM components are important physiological regulators, and can provide cues to direct ESC expansion and differentiation. ECM undergoes constant remodeling with surrounding cells to accommodate specific developmental event. In this study, using ESC derived aggregates called embryoid bodies (EB as a model, we characterized the biological nature of ECM in EB after exposure to different treatments: spontaneously differentiated and retinoic acid treated (denoted as SPT and RA, respectively. Next, we extracted this treatment-specific ECM by detergent decellularization methods (Triton X-100, DOC and SDS are compared. The resulting EB ECM scaffolds were seeded with undifferentiated ESCs using a novel cell seeding strategy, and the behavior of ESCs was studied. Our results showed that the optimized protocol efficiently removes cells while retaining crucial ECM and biochemical components. Decellularized ECM from SPT EB gave rise to a more favorable microenvironment for promoting ESC attachment, proliferation, and early differentiation, compared to native EB and decellularized ECM from RA EB. These findings suggest that various treatment conditions allow the formulation of unique ESC-ECM derived scaffolds to enhance ESC bioactivities, including proliferation and differentiation for tissue regeneration applications.

  14. Locust bean gum as an alternative polymeric coating for embryonic stem cell culture

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Perestrelo, Ana Rubina [Regenerative Medicine Program, Departamento de Ciências Biomédicas e Medicina, Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); IBB - Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre for Molecular and Structural Biomedicine (CBME), Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); PhD Program in Biomedical Sciences, Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); Grenha, Ana [IBB - Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre for Molecular and Structural Biomedicine (CBME), Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); Rosa da Costa, Ana M. [Centro de Investigação em Química do Algarve (CIQA) and Departamento de Química e Farmácia, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); Belo, José António, E-mail: jose.belo@fcm.unl.pt [Regenerative Medicine Program, Departamento de Ciências Biomédicas e Medicina, Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); IBB - Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Centre for Molecular and Structural Biomedicine (CBME), Universidade do Algarve (Portugal); Faculdade de Ciências Médicas, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Campo Mártires da Pátria 130, 1169-056 Lisboa (Portugal)

    2014-07-01

    Pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have self-renewal capacity and the potential to differentiate into any cellular type depending on specific cues (pluripotency) and, therefore, have become a vibrant research area in the biomedical field. ESCs are usually cultured in gelatin or on top of a monolayer of feeder cells such as mitotically inactivated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFsi). The latter is the gold standard support to maintain the ESCs in the pluripotent state. Examples of versatile, non-animal derived and inexpensive materials that are able to support pluripotent ESCs are limited. Therefore, our aim was to find a biomaterial able to support ESC growth in a pluripotent state avoiding laborious and time consuming parallel culture of MEFsi and as simple to handle as gelatin. Many of the new biomaterials used to develop stem cell microenvironments are using natural polymers adsorbed or covalently attached to the surface to improve the biocompatibility of synthetic polymers. Locust beam gum (LBG) is a natural, edible polymer, which has a wide range of potential applications in different fields, such as food and pharmaceutical industry, due to its biocompatibility, adhesiveness and thickening properties. The present work brings a natural system based on the use of LBG as a coating for ESC culture. Undifferentiated mouse ESCs were cultured on commercially available LBG to evaluate its potential in maintaining pluripotent ESCs. In terms of morphology, ESC colonies in LBG presented the regular dome shape with bright borders, similar to the colonies obtained in co-cultures with MEFsi and characteristic of pluripotent ESC colonies. In short-term cultures, ESC proliferation in LBG coating was similar to ESC cultured in gelatin and the cells maintained their viability. The activity of alkaline phosphatase and Nanog, Sox2 and Oct4 expression of mouse ESCs cultured in LBG were comparable or in some cases higher than in ESCs cultured in gelatin. An in vitro

  15. Locust bean gum as an alternative polymeric coating for embryonic stem cell culture

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Perestrelo, Ana Rubina; Grenha, Ana; Rosa da Costa, Ana M.; Belo, José António

    2014-01-01

    Pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have self-renewal capacity and the potential to differentiate into any cellular type depending on specific cues (pluripotency) and, therefore, have become a vibrant research area in the biomedical field. ESCs are usually cultured in gelatin or on top of a monolayer of feeder cells such as mitotically inactivated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFsi). The latter is the gold standard support to maintain the ESCs in the pluripotent state. Examples of versatile, non-animal derived and inexpensive materials that are able to support pluripotent ESCs are limited. Therefore, our aim was to find a biomaterial able to support ESC growth in a pluripotent state avoiding laborious and time consuming parallel culture of MEFsi and as simple to handle as gelatin. Many of the new biomaterials used to develop stem cell microenvironments are using natural polymers adsorbed or covalently attached to the surface to improve the biocompatibility of synthetic polymers. Locust beam gum (LBG) is a natural, edible polymer, which has a wide range of potential applications in different fields, such as food and pharmaceutical industry, due to its biocompatibility, adhesiveness and thickening properties. The present work brings a natural system based on the use of LBG as a coating for ESC culture. Undifferentiated mouse ESCs were cultured on commercially available LBG to evaluate its potential in maintaining pluripotent ESCs. In terms of morphology, ESC colonies in LBG presented the regular dome shape with bright borders, similar to the colonies obtained in co-cultures with MEFsi and characteristic of pluripotent ESC colonies. In short-term cultures, ESC proliferation in LBG coating was similar to ESC cultured in gelatin and the cells maintained their viability. The activity of alkaline phosphatase and Nanog, Sox2 and Oct4 expression of mouse ESCs cultured in LBG were comparable or in some cases higher than in ESCs cultured in gelatin. An in vitro

  16. A Simple and Robust Method for Culturing Human-Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells in an Undifferentiated State Using Botulinum Hemagglutinin.

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    Kim, Mee-Hae; Matsubara, Yoshifumi; Fujinaga, Yukako; Kino-Oka, Masahiro

    2018-02-01

    Clinical and industrial applications of human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) is hindered by the lack of robust culture strategies capable of sustaining a culture in an undifferentiated state. Here, a simple and robust hiPSC-culture-propagation strategy incorporating botulinum hemagglutinin (HA)-mediated selective removal of cells deviating from an undifferentiated state is developed. After HA treatment, cell-cell adhesion is disrupted, and deviated cells detached from the central region of the colony to subsequently form tight monolayer colonies following prolonged incubation. The authors find that the temporal and dose-dependent activity of HA regulated deviated-cell removal and recoverability after disruption of cell-cell adhesion in hiPSC colonies. The effects of HA are confirmed under all culture conditions examined, regardless of hiPSC line and feeder-dependent or -free culture conditions. After routine application of our HA-treatment paradigm for serial passages, hiPSCs maintains expression of pluripotent markers and readily forms embryoid bodies expressing markers for all three germ-cell layers. This method enables highly efficient culturing of hiPSCs and use of entire undifferentiated portions without having to pick deviated cells manually. This simple and readily reproducible culture strategy is a potentially useful tool for improving the robust and scalable maintenance of undifferentiated hiPSC cultures. © 2017 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 regulates ESC chromatin organization and gene expression

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kooistra, Susanne M; van den Boom, Vincent; Thummer, Rajkumar P

    2010-01-01

    Previous reports showed that embryonic stem (ES) cells contain hyperdynamic and globally transcribed chromatin-properties that are important for ES cell pluripotency and differentiation. Here, we demonstrate a role for undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) in regulating ES...... cell chromatin structure. Using chromatin immunoprecipitation-on-chip analysis, we identified >1,700 UTF1 target genes that significantly overlap with previously identified Nanog, Oct4, Klf-4, c-Myc, and Rex1 targets. Gene expression profiling showed that UTF1 knock down results in increased expression...... of a large set of genes, including a significant number of UTF1 targets. UTF1 knock down (KD) ES cells are, irrespective of the increased expression of several self-renewal genes, Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) dependent. However, UTF1 KD ES cells are perturbed in their differentiation in response...

  18. A model-based analysis of culture-dependent phenotypes of mESCs.

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    Maria Herberg

    Full Text Available Mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs can be maintained in a proliferative and undifferentiated state over many passages (self-renewal while retaining the potential to give rise to every cell type of the organism (pluripotency. Autocrine FGF4/Erk signalling has been identified as a major stimulus for fate decisions and lineage commitment in these cells. Recent findings on serum-free culture conditions with specific inhibitors (known as 2i demonstrate that the inhibition of this pathway reduces transcription factor heterogeneity and is vital to maintain ground state pluripotency of mESCs. We suggest a novel mathematical model to explicitly integrate FGF4/Erk signalling into an interaction network of key pluripotency factors (namely Oct4, Sox2, Nanog and Rex1. The envisaged model allows to explore whether and how proposed mechanisms and feedback regulations can account for different expression patterns in mESC cultures. We demonstrate that an FGF4/Erk-mediated negative feedback is sufficient to induce molecular heterogeneity with respect to Nanog and Rex1 expression and thus critically regulates the propensity for differentiation and the loss of pluripotency. Furthermore, we compare simulation results on the transcription factor dynamics in different self-renewing states and during differentiation with experimental data on a Rex1GFPd2 reporter cell line using flow cytometry and qRT-PCR measurements. Concluding from our results we argue that interaction between FGF4/Erk signalling and Nanog expression qualifies as a key mechanism to manipulate mESC pluripotency. In particular, we infer that ground state pluripotency under 2i is achieved by shifting stable expression pattern of Nanog from a bistable into a monostable regulation impeding stochastic state transitions. Furthermore, we derive testable predictions on altering the degree of Nanog heterogeneity and on the frequency of state transitions in LIF/serum conditions to challenge our model assumptions.

  19. Icaritin enhances mESC self-renewal through upregulating core pluripotency transcription factors mediated by ERα.

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    Tsang, Wing Pui; Zhang, Fengjie; He, Qiling; Cai, Waijiao; Huang, Jianhua; Chan, Wai Yee; Shen, Ziyin; Wan, Chao

    2017-01-16

    Utilization of small molecules in modulation of stem cell self-renewal is a promising approach to expand stem cells for regenerative therapy. Here, we identify Icaritin, a phytoestrogen molecule enhances self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Icaritin increases mESCs proliferation while maintains their self-renewal capacity in vitro and pluripotency in vivo. This coincides with upregulation of key pluripotency transcription factors OCT4, NANOG, KLF4 and SOX2. The enhancement of mESCs self-renewal is characterized by increased population in S-phase of cell cycle, elevation of Cylin E and Cyclin-dependent kinase 2 (CDK2) and downregulation of p21, p27 and p57. PCR array screening reveals that caudal-related homeobox 2 (Cdx2) and Rbl2/p130 are remarkably suppressed in mESCs treated with Icaritin. siRNA knockdown of Cdx2 or Rbl2/p130 upregulates the expression of Cyclin E, OCT4 and SOX2, and subsequently increases cell proliferation and colony forming efficiency of mESCs. We then demonstrate that Icaritin co-localizes with estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and activates its nuclear translocation in mESCs. The promotive effect of Icaritin on cell cycle and pluripotency regulators are eliminated by siRNA knockdown of ERα in mESCs. The results suggest that Icaritin enhances mESCs self-renewal by regulating cell cycle machinery and core pluripotency transcription factors mediated by ERα.

  20. Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease

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    ... Home Conditions Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD) Undifferentiated Connective Tissue Disease (UCTD) Make an Appointment Find a Doctor ... by Barbara Goldstein, MD (February 01, 2016) Undifferentiated connective tissue disease (UCTD) is a systemic autoimmune disease. This ...

  1. Interspecies chimera between primate embryonic stem cells and mouse embryos: monkey ESCs engraft into mouse embryos, but not post-implantation fetuses.

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    Simerly, Calvin; McFarland, Dave; Castro, Carlos; Lin, Chih-Cheng; Redinger, Carrie; Jacoby, Ethan; Mich-Basso, Jocelyn; Orwig, Kyle; Mills, Parker; Ahrens, Eric; Navara, Chris; Schatten, Gerald

    2011-07-01

    Unequivocal evidence for pluripotency in which embryonic stem cells contribute to chimeric offspring has yet to be demonstrated in human or nonhuman primates (NHPs). Here, rhesus and baboons ESCs were investigated in interspecific mouse chimera generated by aggregation or blastocyst injection. Aggregation chimera produced mouse blastocysts with GFP-nhpESCs at the inner cell mass (ICM), and embryo transfers (ETs) generated dimly-fluorescencing abnormal fetuses. Direct injection of GFP-nhpESCs into blastocysts produced normal non-GFP-fluorescencing fetuses. Injected chimera showed >70% loss of GFP-nhpESCs after 21 h culture. Outgrowths of all chimeric blastocysts established distinct but separate mouse- and NHP-ESC colonies. Extensive endogenous autofluorescence compromised anti-GFP detection and PCR analysis did not detect nhpESCs in fetuses. NhpESCs localize to the ICM in chimera and generate pregnancies. Because primate ESCs do not engraft post-implantation, and also because endogenous autofluorescence results in misleading positive signals, interspecific chimera assays for pluripotency with primate stem cells is unreliable with the currently available ESCs. Testing primate ESCs reprogrammed into even more naïve states in these inter-specific chimera assays will be an important future endeavor. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. Dynamic link between histone H3 acetylation and an increase in the functional characteristics of human ESC/iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomomi G Otsuji

    Full Text Available Cardiomyocytes (CMs derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs or human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs are functionally heterogeneous, display insufficient biological efficacy and generally possess the electrophysiological properties seen in fetal CMs. However, a homogenous population of hESC/hiPSC-CMs, with properties similar to those of adult human ventricular cells, is required for use in drug cardiotoxicity screening. Unfortunately, despite the requirement for the functional characteristics of post-mitotic beating cell aggregates to mimic the behavior of mature cardiomyocytes in vitro, few technological improvements have been made in this field to date. Previously, we showed that culturing hESC-CMs under low-adhesion conditions with cyclic replating confers continuous contractility on the cells, leading to a functional increase in cardiac gene expression and electrophysiological properties over time. The current study reveals that culturing hESC/hiPSC-CMs under non-adhesive culture conditions enhances the electrophysiological properties of the CMs through an increase in the acetylation of histone H3 lysine residues, as confirmed by western blot analyses. Histone H3 acetylation was induced chemically by treating primitive hESC/hiPSC-CMs with Trichostatin A (TSA, a histone deacetylase (HDAC inhibitor, resulting in an immediate increase in global cardiac gene expression. In functional analyses using multi-electrode array (MEA recordings, TSA-treated hESC/hiPSC-CM colonies showed appropriate responses to particular concentrations of known potassium ion channel inhibitors. Thus, the combination of a cell-autonomous functional increase in response to non-adhesive culture and short-term TSA treatment of hESC/hiPSC-CM colonies cultured on MEA electrodes will help to make cardiac toxicity tests more accurate and reproducible via genome-wide chromatin activation.

  3. Formation and hematopoietic differentiation of human embryoid bodies by suspension and hanging drop cultures.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cerdan, Chantal; Hong, Seok Ho; Bhatia, Mickie

    2007-10-01

    The in vitro aggregation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) into clusters termed embryoid bodies (EBs) allows for the spontaneous differentiation of cells representing endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm lineages. This stochastic process results however, in the generation of low numbers of differentiated cells, and can be enhanced to some extent by the addition of exogenous growth factors or overexpression of regulatory genes. In the authors' laboratory, the use of hematopoietic cytokines in combination with the mesoderm inducer bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP-4) was able to generate up to 90% of CD45(+) hematopoietic cells with colony-forming unit (CFU) activity. This unit describes two protocols that have been successfully applied in the authors' laboratory for the generation of EBs in (1) suspension and (2) hanging drop (HD) cultures from enzymatically digested clumps of undifferentiated hESC colonies.

  4. Gene expression profile and functionality of ESC-derived Lin-ckit+Sca-1+ cells are distinct from Lin-ckit+Sca-1+ cells isolated from fetal liver or bone marrow.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina Fernandez

    Full Text Available In vitro bioreactor-based cultures are being extensively investigated for large-scale production of differentiated cells from embryonic stem cells (ESCs. However, it is unclear whether in vitro ESC-derived progenitors have similar gene expression profiles and functionalities as their in vivo counterparts. This is crucial in establishing the validity of ESC-derived cells as replacements for adult-isolated cells for clinical therapies. In this study, we compared the gene expression profiles of Lin-ckit+Sca-1+ (LKS cells generated in vitro from mouse ESCs using either static or bioreactor-based cultures, with that of native LKS cells isolated from mouse fetal liver (FL or bone marrow (BM. We found that in vitro-generated LKS cells were more similar to FL- than to BM LKS cells in gene expression. Further, when compared to cells derived from bioreactor cultures, static culture-derived LKS cells showed fewer differentially expressed genes relative to both in vivo LKS populations. Overall, the expression of hematopoietic genes was lower in ESC-derived LKS cells compared to cells from BM and FL, while the levels of non-hematopoietic genes were up-regulated. In order to determine if these molecular profiles correlated with functionality, we evaluated ESC-derived LKS cells for in vitro hematopoietic-differentiation and colony formation (CFU assay. Although static culture-generated cells failed to form any colonies, they did differentiate into CD11c+ and B220+ cells indicating some hematopoietic potential. In contrast, bioreactor-derived LKS cells, when differentiated under the same conditions failed to produce any B220+ or CD11c+ cells and did not form colonies, indicating that these cells are not hematopoietic progenitors. We conclude that in vitro culture conditions significantly affect the transcriptome and functionality of ESC-derived LKS cells and although in vitro differentiated LKS cells were lineage negative and expressed both ckit and Sca-1

  5. EZ spheres: a stable and expandable culture system for the generation of pre-rosette multipotent stem cells from human ESCs and iPSCs

    OpenAIRE

    Ebert, A.; Shelley, B.; Hurley, A.; Onorati, M.; Castiglioni, V.; Patitucci, T.; Svendsen, S.; Mattis, V.; Mcgivern, J.; Schwab, A.; Sareen, D.; Kim, H.; Cattaneo, E.; Svendsen, C.

    2013-01-01

    We have developed a simple method to generate and expand multipotent, self-renewing pre-rosette neural stem cells from both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) without utilizing embryoid body formation, manual selection techniques, or complex combinations of small molecules. Human ESC and iPSC colonies were lifted and placed in a neural stem cell medium containing high concentrations of EGF and FGF-2. Cell aggregates (termed EZ spheres) could be...

  6. Combats escènics

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pawel Rouba Billowicz

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available “Combats Escènics” és un treball que tracta sobre la interpretació artística de la violència d’artistes de l’espectacle per tal de divertir el públic i emetre un missatge humanista mitjançant una coreografia ritual. En aquest estudi es presenta una classificació del combat escènic des del doble vessant agonista/antagonista, es realitza un passeig històric de la representació artística del combat a través de les diferents etapes i de les diverses cultures, s’aborda la preparació escènica de l’actor i del coreògraf, i s’entreveuen les perspectives de futur d’aquesta modalitat artística. Estudi realitzat per Pawel Rouba Billewicz (Inowroclaw, Polònia, 1939 - Barcelona, 2007, director, coreògraf, actor, mestre d’armes, mestre del gest i de la pantomima i professor de l’INEF de Catalunya. Aquest article, editorialment inèdit, es publica postmortem per Apunts. Educació Física i Esports com a homenatge i reconeixement de l’autor per la seva extraordinària i polivalent aportació al camp de l’art i l’Activitat Física i l’Esport.

  7. The cell cycle inhibitor p27Kip¹ controls self-renewal and pluripotency of human embryonic stem cells by regulating the cell cycle, Brachyury and Twist.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menchón, Cristina; Edel, Michael J; Izpisua Belmonte, Juan Carlos

    2011-05-01

    The continued turn over of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) while maintaining an undifferentiated state is dependent on the regulation of the cell cycle. Here we asked the question if a single cell cycle gene could regulate the self-renewal or pluripotency properties of hESC. We identified that the protein expression of the p27(Kip)¹ cell cycle inhibitor is low in hESC cells and increased with differentiation. By adopting a gain and loss of function strategy we forced or reduced its expression in undifferentiating conditions to define its functional role in self-renewal and pluripotency. Using undifferentiation conditions, overexpression of p27(Kip)¹ in hESC lead to a G₁phase arrest with an enlarged and flattened hESC morphology and consequent loss of self-renewal ability. Loss of p27(Kip)¹ caused an elongated/scatter cell-like phenotype involving up-regulation of Brachyury and Twist gene expression. We demonstrate the novel finding that p27(Kip)¹ protein occupies the Twist1 gene promoter and manipulation of p27(Kip)¹ by gain and loss of function is associated with Twist gene expression changes. These results define p27(Kip)¹ expression levels as critical for self-renewal and pluripotency in hESC and suggest a role for p27(Kip)¹ in controlling an epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in hESC.

  8. Car drivers' perceptions of electronic stability control (ESC) systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Vadeby, Anna; Wiklund, Mats; Forward, Sonja

    2011-05-01

    As a way to reduce the number of car crashes different in-car safety devices are being introduced. In this paper one such application is being investigated, namely the electronic stability control system (ESC). The study used a survey method, including 2000 private car drivers (1000 driving a car with ESC and 1000 driving a car without ESC). The main objective was to investigate the effect of ESC on driver behaviour. Results show that drivers report that they drive even more carelessly when they believe that they have ESC, than when they do not. Men are more risk prone than women and young drivers more than older drivers. Using the theory of planned behaviour the results show that attitude, subjective norm and perceived control explain between 62% and 67% of driver's variation of intentions to take risks. When descriptive norm was added to the model a small but statistically significant increase was found. The study also shows that more than 35% erroneously believe that their car is equipped with an ESC system. These findings may suggest that driver behaviour could reduce the positive effect ESC has on accidents. It also shows that drivers who purchase a new car are not well informed about what kind of safety devices the car is equipped with. These findings highlight the need for more targeted information to drivers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. Microfabricated modular scale-down device for regenerative medicine process development.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marcel Reichen

    Full Text Available The capacity of milli and micro litre bioreactors to accelerate process development has been successfully demonstrated in traditional biotechnology. However, for regenerative medicine present smaller scale culture methods cannot cope with the wide range of processing variables that need to be evaluated. Existing microfabricated culture devices, which could test different culture variables with a minimum amount of resources (e.g. expensive culture medium, are typically not designed with process development in mind. We present a novel, autoclavable, and microfabricated scale-down device designed for regenerative medicine process development. The microfabricated device contains a re-sealable culture chamber that facilitates use of standard culture protocols, creating a link with traditional small-scale culture devices for validation and scale-up studies. Further, the modular design can easily accommodate investigation of different culture substrate/extra-cellular matrix combinations. Inactivated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (iMEF and human embryonic stem cell (hESC colonies were successfully seeded on gelatine-coated tissue culture polystyrene (TC-PS using standard static seeding protocols. The microfluidic chip included in the device offers precise and accurate control over the culture medium flow rate and resulting shear stresses in the device. Cells were cultured for two days with media perfused at 300 µl.h(-1 resulting in a modelled shear stress of 1.1×10(-4 Pa. Following perfusion, hESC colonies stained positively for different pluripotency markers and retained an undifferentiated morphology. An image processing algorithm was developed which permits quantification of co-cultured colony-forming cells from phase contrast microscope images. hESC colony sizes were quantified against the background of the feeder cells (iMEF in less than 45 seconds for high-resolution images, which will permit real-time monitoring of culture progress in future

  10. Twenty years of embryonic stem cell research in farm animals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Notable distinctions between an embryonic stem cell (ESC) and somatic cell are that the ESC can maintain an undifferentiated state indefinitely, self renew, and is pluripotent, meaning that the ESC can potentially generate cells representing all the three primordial germ layers and contribute to the...

  11. A novel in vitro method for detecting undifferentiated human pluripotent stem cells as impurities in cell therapy products using a highly efficient culture system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Keiko Tano

    Full Text Available Innovative applications of cell therapy products (CTPs derived from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs in regenerative medicine are currently being developed. The presence of residual undifferentiated hPSCs in CTPs is a quality concern associated with tumorigencity. However, no simple in vitro method for direct detection of undifferentiated hPSCs that contaminate CTPs has been developed. Here, we show a novel approach for direct and sensitive detection of a trace amount of undifferentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs using a highly efficient amplification method in combination with laminin-521 and Essential 8 medium. Essential 8 medium better facilitated the growth of hiPSCs dissociated into single cells on laminin-521 than in mTeSR1 medium. hiPSCs cultured on laminin-521 in Essential 8 medium were maintained in an undifferentiated state and they maintained the ability to differentiate into various cell types. Essential 8 medium allowed robust hiPSC proliferation plated on laminin-521 at low cell density, whereas mTeSR1 did not enhance the cell growth. The highly efficient culture system using laminin-521 and Essential 8 medium detected hiPSCs spiked into primary human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs or human neurons at the ratio of 0.001%-0.01% as formed colonies. Moreover, this assay method was demonstrated to detect residual undifferentiated hiPSCs in cell preparations during the process of hMSC differentiation from hiPSCs. These results indicate that our highly efficient amplification system using a combination of laminin-521 and Essential 8 medium is able to detect a trace amount of undifferentiated hPSCs contained as impurities in CTPs and would contribute to quality assessment of hPSC-derived CTPs during the manufacturing process.

  12. Can magnetic resonance imaging differentiate undifferentiated arthritis?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Østergaard, Mikkel; Duer, Anne; Hørslev-Petersen, K

    2005-01-01

    A high sensitivity for the detection of inflammatory and destructive changes in inflammatory joint diseases makes magnetic resonance imaging potentially useful for assigning specific diagnoses, such as rheumatoid arthritis and psoriatic arthritis in arthritides, that remain undifferentiated after...... conventional clinical, biochemical and radiographic examinations. With recent data as the starting point, the present paper describes the current knowledge on magnetic resonance imaging in the differential diagnosis of undifferentiated arthritis....

  13. X-radiation-induced differentiation of xenotransplanted human undifferentiated rhabdomyosarcoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Takizawa, T.; Matsui, T.; Maeda, Y.

    1989-01-01

    A serially xenotransplantable strain of undifferentiated embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma originating from the nasal cavity of a 42-year-old woman has been established in our laboratory. After radiotherapy for the tumor donor, distinct rhabdomyoblastic differentiation of the undifferentiated sarcoma cells appeared in the primary lesion, and it is a reasonable assumption that X-irradiation has a certain potentiality to induce morphologic differentiation of tumor cells. To study this possibility, tissue fragments of undifferentiated embryonal rhabdomyosarcoma that had grown to more than 10 mm after being transplanted to nude mice were selectively irradiated in situ. The degree of rhabdomyoblastic differentiation according to radiation dose was evaluated by light and electron microscopy and by immunostainability for myoglobin, creatine phosphokinase-MM, and desmin. Distinct morphologic differentiation of undifferentiated sarcoma cells could be induced by repeated X-irradiations at several-week intervals

  14. Importance of a diffusion-dominant small volume to activate cell-secreted soluble factor signaling in embryonic stem cell culture in microbioreactors: a mathematical model based study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chowdhury, Mohammad Mahfuz; Fujii, Teruo; Sakai, Yasuyuki

    2013-07-01

    In our previous studies, we observed that cell-secreted BMP4 had a prominent influence on mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) behaviors in a membrane-based two-chambered microbioreactor (MB), but not in a macro-scale culture (6-well plate/6WP). In this study, we investigated how the physical aspects of these cultures regulated BMP4 signaling by developing mathematical models of the cultures. The models estimated signaling activity in the cultures by considering size of the undifferentiated mESC colonies and their growth, diffusion of BMP4, and BMP4 trafficking process in the colonies. The models successfully depicted measured profile of BMP4 concentration in the culture medium which was two times higher in the MB than that in the 6WP during 5-day culture. The models estimated that, owing to the small volume and the membrane, cells were exposed to a higher BMP4 concentration in the top chamber of the MB than that in the 6WP culture. The higher concentration of BMP4 induced a higher concentration of BMP4-bound receptor in the colony in the MB than in the 6WP, thereby leading to the higher activation of BMP4 signaling in the MB. The models also predicted that the size of the MB, but not that of the 6WP, was suitable for maximizing BMP4 accumulation and upregulating its signaling. This study will be helpful in analyzing culture systems, designing microfluidic devices for controlling ESC or other cell behavior. Copyright © 2013 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Human amniotic epithelial cell feeder layers maintain mouse embryonic stem cell pluripotency via epigenetic regulation of the c-Myc promoter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Te; Cheng, Weiwei; Liu, Tianjin; Guo, Lihe; Huang, Qin; Jiang, Lizhen; Du, Xiling; Xu, Fuhui; Liu, Zhixue; Lai, Dongmei

    2010-02-01

    Mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are typically cultured on a feeder layer of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) added to maintain them in an undifferentiated state. We have previously shown that human amniotic epithelial cells (hAECs) can be used as feeder cells to maintain mouse ESC pluripotency, but the mechanism for this is unknown. In the present study, we found that CpG islands 5' of the c-Myc gene remain hypomethylated in mouse ESCs cultured on hAECs. In addition, levels of acetylation of histone H3 and trimethylation of histone H3K4 in the c-Myc gene promoter were higher in ES cells cultured on hAECs than those in ES cells cultured on MEFs. These data suggested that hAECs can alter mouse ESC gene expression via epigenetic modification of c-Myc, providing a possible mechanism for the hAEC-induced maintenance of ESCs in an undifferentiated state.

  16. File list: ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  17. File list: ALL.PSC.10.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  18. File list: ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  19. File list: ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  20. File list: Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  3. File list: DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  4. File list: DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  5. File list: DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  6. File list: Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  7. File list: Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  9. File list: Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  10. Tet Enzymes Regulate Telomere Maintenance and Chromosomal Stability of Mouse ESCs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiao Yang

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Ten-eleven translocation (Tet family proteins convert 5-methylcytosine to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine. We show that mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs depleted of Tet1 and/or Tet2 by RNAi exhibit short telomeres and chromosomal instability, concomitant with reduced telomere recombination. Tet1 and Tet2 double-knockout ESCs also display short telomeres but to a lesser extent. Notably, Tet1/2/3 triple-knockout ESCs show heterogeneous telomere lengths and increased frequency of telomere loss and chromosomal fusion. Mechanistically, Tets depletion or deficiency increases Dnmt3b and decreases 5hmC levels, resulting in elevated methylation levels at sub-telomeres. Consistently, knockdown of Dnmt3b or addition of 2i (MAPK and GSK3β inhibitors, which also inhibits Dnmt3b, reduces telomere shortening, partially rescuing Tet1/2 deficiency. Interestingly, Tet1/2 double or Tet1/2/3 triple knockout in ESCs consistently upregulates Zscan4, which may counteract telomere shortening. Together, Tet enzymes play important roles in telomere maintenance and chromosomal stability of ESCs by modulating sub-telomeric methylation levels.

  11. European Society of Cardiology (ESC) Annual Congress Report From Barcelona 2017.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Satoh, Kimio; Takahashi, Jun; Matsumoto, Yasuharu; Tatebe, Shunsuke; Aoki, Tatsuo; Kikuchi, Yoku; Hao, Kiyotaka; Ohyama, Kazuma; Nogi, Masamichi; Suda, Akira; Kasahara, Shintaro; Sato, Koichi; Ichijo, Sadamitsu; Shimokawa, Hiroaki

    2017-11-24

    From August 26th to 30th, the 2017 Annual Congress of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC 2017) was held in Barcelona, Spain. Despite the terrorism tradegy just before the ESC congress, the congress attracted many medical professionals from all over the world to discuss the recent topics in cardiovascular medicine in more than 500 sessions, including COMPASS (Cardiovascular OutcoMes for People using Anticoagulation StrategieS Trial), CANTOS (Canakinumab Anti-Inflammatory Thrombosis Outcomes Study), and ORION (which assessed the effect of a novel siRNA inhibitor to PCSK9 on reductions in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol). Japanese cardiologists and the Japanese Circulation Society greatly contributed to the congress. This report briefly introduces some late-breaking registry results, late-breaking clinical trials, and ESC Guidelines from the ESC 2017 Congress.

  12. File list: Oth.PSC.20.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  13. File list: Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  14. File list: Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  15. File list: Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  16. Clinical and Endoscopic Features of Undifferentiated Gastric Cancer in Patients with Severe Atrophic Gastritis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kishino, Maiko; Nakamura, Shinichi; Shiratori, Keiko

    2016-01-01

    Differentiated gastric cancer generally develops in the atrophic gastric mucosa, although undifferentiated cancer is sometimes encountered in patients with severe atrophic gastritis. We characterized the endoscopic features of undifferentiated gastric cancer in patients with severe atrophic gastritis. Stage IA early gastric cancer was diagnosed in 501 patients who were admitted to our hospital between April 2003 and March 2012. The endoscopic and pathological findings were compared among 29 patients with undifferentiated cancer and severe atrophic gastritis, 104 patients with undifferentiated cancer and mild/moderate atrophic gastritis and 223 patients with well-differentiated cancer and severe atrophic gastritis. Endoscopic atrophic gastritis was classified according to the Kimura-Takemoto classification as no gastritis, C-1 and C-2 (mild), C-3 and O-1 (moderate) or O-2 and O-3 (severe). The tumors were larger and showed deeper mural invasion in the patients with undifferentiated cancer and severe atrophic gastritis than in those with well-differentiated cancer and severe gastritis or undifferentiated cancer and mild/moderate gastritis. On endoscopy, undifferentiated cancer associated with severe gastritis was often red in color. It is often difficult to diagnose early undifferentiated gastric cancer, especially in patients with severe atrophic gastritis. The present study characterized the important endoscopic features of such tumors.

  17. File list: NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

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  18. File list: InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

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    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  20. File list: InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESCs, differentia...,SRX388447 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESCs,_differentiated.bed ...

  1. Derivation and characterisation of the human embryonic stem cell lines, NOTT1 and NOTT2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Priddle, Helen; Allegrucci, Cinzia; Burridge, Paul; Munoz, Maria; Smith, Nigel M; Devlin, Lyndsey; Sjoblom, Cecilia; Chamberlain, Sarah; Watson, Sue; Young, Lorraine E; Denning, Chris

    2010-04-01

    The ability to maintain human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during long-term culture and yet induce differentiation to multiple lineages potentially provides a novel approach to address various biomedical problems. Here, we describe derivation of hESC lines, NOTT1 and NOTT2, from human blastocysts graded as 3BC and 3CB, respectively. Both lines were successfully maintained as colonies by mechanical passaging on mouse embryonic feeder cells or as monolayers by trypsin-passaging in feeder-free conditions on Matrigel. Undifferentiated cells retained expression of pluripotency markers (OCT4, NANOG, SSEA-4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81), a stable karyotype during long-term culture and could be transfected efficiently with plasmid DNA and short interfering RNA. Differentiation via formation of embryoid bodies resulted in expression of genes associated with early germ layers and terminal lineage specification. The electrophysiology of spontaneously beating NOTT1-derived cardiomyocytes was recorded and these cells were shown to be pharmacologically responsive. Histological examination of teratomas formed by in vivo differentiation of both lines in severe immunocompromised mice showed complex structures including cartilage or smooth muscle (mesoderm), luminal epithelium (endoderm) and neuroectoderm (ectoderm). These observations show that NOTT1 and NOTT2 display the accepted characteristics of hESC pluripotency.

  2. KAT-Independent Gene Regulation by Tip60 Promotes ESC Self-Renewal but Not Pluripotency

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diwash Acharya

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Although histone-modifying enzymes are generally assumed to function in a manner dependent on their enzymatic activities, this assumption remains untested for many factors. Here, we show that the Tip60 (Kat5 lysine acetyltransferase (KAT, which is essential for embryonic stem cell (ESC self-renewal and pre-implantation development, performs these functions independently of its KAT activity. Unlike ESCs depleted of Tip60, KAT-deficient ESCs exhibited minimal alterations in gene expression, chromatin accessibility at Tip60 binding sites, and self-renewal, thus demonstrating a critical KAT-independent role of Tip60 in ESC maintenance. In contrast, KAT-deficient ESCs exhibited impaired differentiation into mesoderm and endoderm, demonstrating a KAT-dependent function in differentiation. Consistent with this phenotype, KAT-deficient mouse embryos exhibited post-implantation developmental defects. These findings establish separable KAT-dependent and KAT-independent functions of Tip60 in ESCs and during differentiation, revealing a complex repertoire of regulatory functions for this essential chromatin remodeling complex.

  3. O Escândalo Político como experiência narrativa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Helder Prior

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available O trabalho sobre a experiência narrativa do escândalo político procura abordar as relações entre o campo do jornalismo e os pressupostos da narratologia. Procuraremos estabelecer um quadro teórico e conceptual de análise dos escândalos político-mediáticos tendo em conta o papel dos meios de comunicação na reconfiguração do acontecimento em intrigas inteligíveis para o leitor. Na nossa perspectiva, os escândalos políticos são narrativas complexas que se desenvolvem na imprensa, podendo ser interpretados como “estórias” que têm um enredo, episódios principais e secundários, personagens, e efeitos de sentido inerentes ao trabalho plásticos do medium no momento de converter o fenómeno numa experiência mediática. Na parte final, oferecemos ao leitor um esquema teórico e conceptual de desconstrução hermenêutica e pragmática do escândalo mediático, colocando em evidência o valor expressivo do escândalo e a componente esteticizante que ele revela.

  4. Proteomic Analysis of Human Blastocoel Fluid and Blastocyst Cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Linnert Jensen, Pernille; Beck, Hans Christian; Petersen, Jørgen

    The human blastocyst consists of 100-200 cells that are organized in an outer layer of differentiated trophectoderm (TE) cells lining the blastocyst cavity into which the undifferentiated inner cell mass (ICM) protrudes. The cavity of the blastocyst is filled with blastocoel fluid to which all...... the cells of the blastocyst are exposed. The ICM is the starting point for the development of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which posses the potential to develop into any cell type present in the adult human body [1,2]. This ability makes hESCs a potential source of cells...

  5. L1TD1 Is a Marker for Undifferentiated Human Embryonic Stem Cells

    OpenAIRE

    Wong, Raymond Ching-Bong; Ibrahim, Abel; Fong, Helen; Thompson, Noelle; Lock, Leslie F.; Donovan, Peter J.

    2011-01-01

    Background Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) are stem cells capable of differentiating into cells representative of the three primary embryonic germ layers. There has been considerable interest in understanding the mechanisms regulating stem cell pluripotency, which will ultimately lead to development of more efficient methods to derive and culture hESC. In particular, Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog are transcription factors known to be important in maintenance of hESC. However, many of the downstream ...

  6. Thalidomide induces apoptosis in undifferentiated human induced pluripotent stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tachikawa, Saoko; Nishimura, Toshinobu; Nakauchi, Hiromitsu; Ohnuma, Kiyoshi

    2017-10-01

    Thalidomide, which was formerly available commercially to control the symptoms of morning sickness, is a strong teratogen that causes fetal abnormalities. However, the mechanism of thalidomide teratogenicity is not fully understood; thalidomide toxicity is not apparent in rodents, and the use of human embryos is ethically and technically untenable. In this study, we designed an experimental system featuring human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to investigate the effects of thalidomide. These cells exhibit the same characteristics as those of epiblasts originating from implanted fertilized ova, which give rise to the fetus. Therefore, theoretically, thalidomide exposure during hiPSC differentiation is equivalent to that in the human fetus. We examined the effects of thalidomide on undifferentiated hiPSCs and early-differentiated hiPSCs cultured in media containing bone morphogenetic protein-4, which correspond, respectively, to epiblast (future fetus) and trophoblast (future extra-embryonic tissue). We found that only the number of undifferentiated cells was reduced. In undifferentiated cells, application of thalidomide increased the number of apoptotic and dead cells at day 2 but not day 4. Application of thalidomide did not affect the cell cycle. Furthermore, immunostaining and flow cytometric analysis revealed that thalidomide exposure had no effect on the expression of specific markers of undifferentiated and early trophectodermal differentiated cells. These results suggest that the effect of thalidomide was successfully detected in our experimental system and that thalidomide eliminated a subpopulation of undifferentiated hiPSCs. This study may help to elucidate the mechanisms underlying thalidomide teratogenicity and reveal potential strategies for safely prescribing this drug to pregnant women.

  7. Efflux protein expression in human stem cell-derived retinal pigment epithelial cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kati Juuti-Uusitalo

    Full Text Available Retinal pigment epithelial (RPE cells in the back of the eye nourish photoreceptor cells and form a selective barrier that influences drug transport from the blood to the photoreceptor cells. At the molecular level, ATP-dependent efflux transporters have a major role in drug delivery in human RPE. In this study, we assessed the relative expression of several ATP-dependent efflux transporter genes (MRP1, -2, -3, -4, -5, -6, p-gp, and BCRP, the protein expression and localization of MRP1, MRP4, and MRP5, and the functionality of MRP1 efflux pumps at different maturation stages of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESC and RPE derived from the hESC (hESC-RPE. Our findings revealed that the gene expression of ATP-dependent efflux transporters MRP1, -3, -4, -5, and p-gp fluctuated during hESC-RPE maturation from undifferentiated hESC to fusiform, epithelioid, and finally to cobblestone hESC-RPE. Epithelioid hESC-RPE had the highest expression of MRP1, -3, -4, and P-gp, whereas the most mature cobblestone hESC-RPE had the highest expression of MRP5 and MRP6. These findings indicate that a similar efflux protein profile is shared between hESC-RPE and the human RPE cell line, ARPE-19, and suggest that hESC-RPE cells are suitable in vitro RPE models for drug transport studies. Embryonic stem cell model might provide a novel tool to study retinal cell differentiation, mechanisms of RPE-derived diseases, drug testing and targeted drug therapy.

  8. File list: ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...cedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  9. File list: ALL.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  10. File list: ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...cedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  11. File list: His.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 Histone Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...tp://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  12. File list: His.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 Histone Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...tp://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  13. Primary renal undifferentiated sarcoma as an infiltrative mass in a 12 year old boy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Yong Hee; Kim, Myung Joon; Lee, Mi Jung; Kim, Se Hwa

    2015-01-01

    Undifferentiated sarcomas are rare tumors not classified into any sarcoma subtype. Due to their rarity, imaging findings of undifferentiated sarcomas are poorly characterized. The purpose of this report was to present imaging findings of a pathologically confirmed undifferentiated sarcoma originated from the left kidney of a 12-year-old boy. The mass was infiltrative involving the renal pelvis. It mimicked massive hilar lymphadenopathy with a preserved renal contour visible by both ultrasonography and CT. Renal vein thrombosis was also observed. Although undifferentiated sarcomas are rare, they should be considered in differential diagnosis of infiltrative renal masses with renal pelvis invasion in children

  14. Primary renal undifferentiated sarcoma as an infiltrative mass in a 12 year old boy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Yong Hee; Kim, Myung Joon; Lee, Mi Jung [Dept. of Radiology and Research Institute of Radiological Science, Severance Children' s Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of); Kim, Se Hwa [Dept. of Pathology, Severance Hospital, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-09-15

    Undifferentiated sarcomas are rare tumors not classified into any sarcoma subtype. Due to their rarity, imaging findings of undifferentiated sarcomas are poorly characterized. The purpose of this report was to present imaging findings of a pathologically confirmed undifferentiated sarcoma originated from the left kidney of a 12-year-old boy. The mass was infiltrative involving the renal pelvis. It mimicked massive hilar lymphadenopathy with a preserved renal contour visible by both ultrasonography and CT. Renal vein thrombosis was also observed. Although undifferentiated sarcomas are rare, they should be considered in differential diagnosis of infiltrative renal masses with renal pelvis invasion in children.

  15. Rtt107/Esc4 binds silent chromatin and DNA repair proteins using different BRCT motifs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jockusch Rebecca A

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background By screening a plasmid library for proteins that could cause silencing when targeted to the HMR locus in Saccharomyces cerevisiae, we previously reported the identification of Rtt107/Esc4 based on its ability to establish silent chromatin. In this study we aimed to determine the mechanism of Rtt107/Esc4 targeted silencing and also learn more about its biological functions. Results Targeted silencing by Rtt107/Esc4 was dependent on the SIR genes, which encode obligatory structural and enzymatic components of yeast silent chromatin. Based on its sequence, Rtt107/Esc4 was predicted to contain six BRCT motifs. This motif, originally identified in the human breast tumor suppressor gene BRCA1, is a protein interaction domain. The targeted silencing activity of Rtt107/Esc4 resided within the C-terminal two BRCT motifs, and this region of the protein bound to Sir3 in two-hybrid tests. Deletion of RTT107/ESC4 caused sensitivity to the DNA damaging agent MMS as well as to hydroxyurea. A two-hybrid screen showed that the N-terminal BRCT motifs of Rtt107/Esc4 bound to Slx4, a protein previously shown to be involved in DNA repair and required for viability in a strain lacking the DNA helicase Sgs1. Like SLX genes, RTT107ESC4 interacted genetically with SGS1; esc4Δ sgs1Δ mutants were viable, but exhibited a slow-growth phenotype and also a synergistic DNA repair defect. Conclusion Rtt107/Esc4 binds to the silencing protein Sir3 and the DNA repair protein Slx4 via different BRCT motifs, thus providing a bridge linking silent chromatin to DNA repair enzymes.

  16. Self-renewal and differentiation capabilities are variable between human embryonic stem cell lines I3, I6 and BG01V

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rao Mahendra S

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background A unique and essential property of embryonic stem cells is the ability to self-renew and differentiate into multiple cell lineages. However, the possible differences in proliferation and differentiation capabilities among independently-derived human embryonic stem cells (hESCs are not well known because of insufficient characterization. To address this question, a side-by-side comparison of 1 the ability to maintain an undifferentiated state and to self-renew under standard conditions; 2 the ability to spontaneously differentiate into three primary embryonic germ lineages in differentiating embryoid bodies; and 3 the responses to directed neural differentiation was made between three NIH registered hES cell lines I3 (TE03, I6 (TE06 and BG01V. Lines I3 and I6 possess normal XX and a normal XY karyotype while BG01V is a variant cell line with an abnormal karyotype derived from the karyotypically normal cell line BG01. Results Using immunocytochemistry, flow cytometry, qRT-PCR and MPSS, we found that all three cell lines actively proliferated and expressed similar "stemness" markers including transcription factors POU5F1/Oct3/4 and NANOG, glycolipids SSEA4 and TRA-1-81, and alkaline phosphatase activity. All cell lines differentiated into three embryonic germ lineages in embryoid bodies and into neural cell lineages when cultured in neural differentiation medium. However, a profound variation in colony morphology, growth rate, BrdU incorporation, and relative abundance of gene expression in undifferentiated and differentiated states of the cell lines was observed. Undifferentiated I3 cells grew significantly slower but their differentiation potential was greater than I6 and BG01V. Under the same neural differentiation-promoting conditions, the ability of each cell line to differentiate into neural progenitors varied. Conclusion Our comparative analysis provides further evidence for similarities and differences between three hESC

  17. File list: Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  18. File list: Unc.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Unc.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  19. File list: Unc.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Unc.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  20. File list: Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  1. File list: Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  2. File list: Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  3. File list: Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  4. File list: Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  5. File list: DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural... cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  6. File list: DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural... cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  7. File list: Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  8. Traditional Chinese Medicine Baicalin Suppresses mESCs Proliferation through Inhibition of miR-294 Expression

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jian Wang

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available Background: Traditional Chinese herbal medicines (TCMs have been widely used against a broad spectrum of biological activities, including influencing the cardiac differentiation from mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs. However, their effects and mechanisms of action on ESCs proliferation remain to be determined. The present study aimed to determine the effect of three TCMs, baicalin, ginsenoside Rg1, and puerarin, on mESCs proliferation and to elucidate the possible mechanism of their action. Methods: Cell proliferation was examined with a cell proliferation assay Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8, propidium iodide (PI staining was used to visualize cell cycle. The mRNA expression level of c-myc, c-fos, c-jun, GAPDH and microRNAs were measured by quantitative real time RT-PCR. Results: We found that baicalin 50 μM suppressed the proliferation of mESCs as observations in more cells in G1 phase and less cells in either S phase or G2/M phase. Moreover, baicalin suppressed the expressions of c-jun and c-fos in mESCs and down-regulated the expression of miR-294. Overexpression of miR-294 in mESCs significantly reversed the effects of baicalin both on mESC proliferation and c-fos/c-jun expression. Conclusions: Baicalin down-regulation of miR-294 may be its key mechanism of action in decreasing mESCs proliferation.

  9. File list: Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

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  10. File list: Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  11. File list: Oth.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  12. File list: Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  13. File list: Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  14. File list: Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  15. File list: Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX378284 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  16. File list: Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...,SRX213761,SRX213757 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  17. File list: Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests SRX059366 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Unc.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  18. File list: Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Unclassified Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests SRX059366 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Unc.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  19. File list: Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX190259 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  20. File list: Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX190259 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  1. File list: Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX190259 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  2. File list: DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX404487 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  3. File list: His.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Histone Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146012,SRX146011 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  4. File list: His.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Histone Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146012,SRX146011 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  5. File list: His.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Histone Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146012,SRX146011 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/His.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  6. File list: DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX404487 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  7. File list: DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX404487 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  8. File list: DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX404487 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  9. File list: Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...RX213760,SRX213764 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Pol.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  10. File list: ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...RX059366,SRX059364 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  11. File list: DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX121241,SRX134721 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/DNS.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  12. File list: Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...RX213764,SRX213760 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Pol.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  13. File list: DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX121241,SRX134721 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/DNS.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  14. File list: Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...RX213760,SRX213764 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Pol.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  15. File list: Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 RNA polymerase Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...RX213760,SRX213764 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Pol.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  16. File list: DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 DNase-seq Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... cells SRX121241,SRX134721 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/DNS.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  17. File list: ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...X1091539,SRX059364 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  18. File list: ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...RX729682,SRX729698,SRX729709 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  19. File list: His.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Histone Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...3,SRX1091531,SRX059364,SRX1091530 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  20. File list: Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...10563,SRX213763,SRX352996 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  1. File list: His.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Histone Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...30,SRX059362,SRX1091539,SRX059364 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  2. File list: His.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Histone Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...30,SRX059362,SRX1091539,SRX059364 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  3. File list: Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...13762,SRX213759,SRX352995 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  4. File list: Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...X1091546,SRX1091550,SRX059360,SRX059368,SRX059367 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  5. File list: Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...X1091546,SRX1091550,SRX059360,SRX059368,SRX059367 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  6. File list: Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 TFs and others Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...X1091550,SRX059360,SRX1091547,SRX059367,SRX059368 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/Oth.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  7. Radiation therapy for primary undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ohno, Tatsuya; Yamakawa, Michitaka; Shiojima, Kazumi; Hasegawa, Masatoshi; Akimoto, Tetsuo; Nakayama, Yuko; Kitamoto, Yoshizumi; Mitsuhashi, Norio; Niibe, Hideo

    1996-01-01

    Eight patients with undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus were treated by radiation therapy. Loco-regional control was easily achieved by radiation therapy alone and no loco-regional recurrence was observed for six patients treated with total dose of more than 30 Gy. However four patients developed distant metastases and died of tumor. Median survival was 3.5 months with a range of 0 to 48 months. Only one patient is alive with no evidence of tumor for 48 months. Combination chemotherapy should be recommended for primary undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus because of having a high incidence of distant metastases. (author)

  8. File list: His.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 Histone Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...710,SRX729692,SRX729688,SRX729689,SRX729698,SRX729709,SRX729699 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  9. File list: ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...3762,SRX213759,SRX276676,SRX018672,SRX352995,SRX276677,SRX298194,SRX213757 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  10. File list: His.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 Histone Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...692,SRX729710,SRX729684,SRX729689,SRX729699,SRX729704,SRX729694 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  11. File list: ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...8051,SRX810565,SRX810562,SRX810563,SRX810564,SRX213763,SRX352996,SRX604259 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  12. File list: His.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available His.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 Histone Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...707,SRX027494,SRX698181,SRX729681,SRX729682,SRX729698,SRX729709 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/His.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  13. File list: ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...3762,SRX352996,SRX604259,SRX213763,SRX213761,SRX213764,SRX213758,SRX213757 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  14. File list: ALL.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available ALL.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 All antigens Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...0564,SRX213764,SRX095620,SRX016838,SRX213758,SRX213761,SRX604259,SRX352996 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/ALL.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  15. File list: NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 No description Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...edbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  16. File list: NoD.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 No description Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...edbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  17. File list: NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 No description Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...edbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  18. File list: NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 No description Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...edbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  19. EZ spheres: a stable and expandable culture system for the generation of pre-rosette multipotent stem cells from human ESCs and iPSCs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ebert, Allison D; Shelley, Brandon C; Hurley, Amanda M; Onorati, Marco; Castiglioni, Valentina; Patitucci, Teresa N; Svendsen, Soshana P; Mattis, Virginia B; McGivern, Jered V; Schwab, Andrew J; Sareen, Dhruv; Kim, Ho Won; Cattaneo, Elena; Svendsen, Clive N

    2013-05-01

    We have developed a simple method to generate and expand multipotent, self-renewing pre-rosette neural stem cells from both human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) without utilizing embryoid body formation, manual selection techniques, or complex combinations of small molecules. Human ESC and iPSC colonies were lifted and placed in a neural stem cell medium containing high concentrations of EGF and FGF-2. Cell aggregates (termed EZ spheres) could be expanded for long periods using a chopping method that maintained cell-cell contact. Early passage EZ spheres rapidly down-regulated OCT4 and up-regulated SOX2 and nestin expression. They retained the potential to form neural rosettes and consistently differentiated into a range of central and peripheral neural lineages. Thus, they represent a very early neural stem cell with greater differentiation flexibility than other previously described methods. As such, they will be useful for the rapidly expanding field of neurological development and disease modeling, high-content screening, and regenerative therapies based on pluripotent stem cell technology. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Promoter DNA hypermethylation and gene repression in undifferentiated Arabidopsis cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Berdasco

    Full Text Available Maintaining and acquiring the pluripotent cell state in plants is critical to tissue regeneration and vegetative multiplication. Histone-based epigenetic mechanisms are important for regulating this undifferentiated state. Here we report the use of genetic and pharmacological experimental approaches to show that Arabidopsis cell suspensions and calluses specifically repress some genes as a result of promoter DNA hypermethylation. We found that promoters of the MAPK12, GSTU10 and BXL1 genes become hypermethylated in callus cells and that hypermethylation also affects the TTG1, GSTF5, SUVH8, fimbrin and CCD7 genes in cell suspensions. Promoter hypermethylation in undifferentiated cells was associated with histone hypoacetylation and primarily occurred at CpG sites. Accordingly, we found that the process specifically depends on MET1 and DRM2 methyltransferases, as demonstrated with DNA methyltransferase mutants. Our results suggest that promoter DNA methylation may be another important epigenetic mechanism for the establishment and/or maintenance of the undifferentiated state in plant cells.

  1. File list: NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 No description Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  2. File list: NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 No description Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  3. The effect of cephalosporin usage on the occurrence of ESCs producing E. coli in pig herds

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dalhoff Andersen, Vibe; Jensen, Vibeke Frøkjær; Agersø, Yvonne

    in 19 pig herds which have had five to fourteen prescriptions of ceph. and 20 pig herds without prescribed ceph. in a previous 12 month period. The 39 herds were all integrated and represent typical Danish pig farms. The occurrence of ESCs producing E. coli in the herds were tested in a total of 9...... pooled samples per herd. A pig herd was considered positive if one or more of the nine samples contained ESCs producing E. coli. Initially, the association between usages of ceph. and occurrence of ESCs producing E. coli in the pig herds was analyzed using logistic regression, and the effect was adjusted...... of ESCs producing E. coli was estimated as risk ratio(RR). The results showed that consumption of ceph. increased the risk of occurrence of ESCs producing E. coli significantly with a RR of 5 (95% CI: 2-11). This demonstrates that ceph. usage significant affect the occurrence of ESCs resistance...

  4. Effects of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor and interleukin 6 on the growth of leukemic blasts in suspension culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsao, C J; Cheng, T Y; Chang, S L; Su, W J; Tseng, J Y

    1992-05-01

    We examined the stimulatory effects of recombinant human granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and interleukin 6 (IL)-6 on the in vitro proliferation of leukemic blast cells from patients with acute leukemia. Bone marrow or peripheral blood leukemic blast cells were obtained from 21 patients, including 14 cases of acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML), four cases of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), two cases of acute undifferentiated leukemia, and one case of acute mixed-lineage leukemia. The proliferation of leukemic blast cells was evaluated by measuring the incorporation of 3H-thymidine into cells incubated with various concentrations of cytokines for 3 days. GM-CSF stimulated the DNA synthesis (with greater than 2.0 stimulation index) of blast cells in 9 of 14 (64%) AML cases, two cases of acute undifferentiated leukemia and one case of acute mixed-lineage leukemia. Only two cases of AML blasts responded to IL-6 to grow in the short-term suspension cultures. GM-CSF and IL-6 did not display a synergistic effect on the growth of leukemic cells. Moreover, GM-CSF and IL-6 did not stimulate the proliferation of ALL blast cells. Binding study also revealed the specific binding of GM-CSF on the blast cells of acute undifferentiated leukemia and acute mixed-lineage leukemia. Our results indicated that leukemic blast cells of acute undifferentiated leukemia and acute mixed-lineage leukemia possessed functional GM-CSF receptors.

  5. File list: NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 No description Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  6. File list: NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 No description Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  7. File list: NoD.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 No description Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  8. GROα regulates human embryonic stem cell self-renewal or adoption of a neuronal fate

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krtolica, Ana; Larocque, Nick; Genbacev, Olga; Ilic, Dusko; Coppe, Jean-Philippe; Patil, Christopher K.; Zdravkovic, Tamara; McMaster, Michael; Campisi, Judith; Fisher, Susan J.

    2012-01-01

    Previously we reported that feeders formed from human placental fibroblasts (hPFs) support derivation and long-term self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) under serum-free conditions. Here, we show, using antibody array and ELISA platforms, that hPFs secrete ~6-fold higher amounts of the CXC-type chemokine, GROα, than IMR 90, a human lung fibroblast line, which does not support hESC growth. Furthermore, immunocytochemistry and immunoblot approaches revealed that hESCs express CXCR, a GROα receptor. We used this information to develop defined culture medium for feeder-free propagation of hESCs in an undifferentiated state. Cells passaged as small aggregates and maintained in the GROα-containing medium had a normal karyotype, expressed pluripotency markers, and exhibited apical–basal polarity, i.e., had the defining features of pluripotent hESCs. They also differentiated into the three primary (embryonic) germ layers and formed teratomas in immunocompromised mice. hESCs cultured as single cells in the GROα-containing medium also had a normal karyotype, but they downregulated markers of pluripotency, lost apical–basal polarity, and expressed markers that are indicative of the early stages of neuronal differentiation—βIII tubulin, vimentin, radial glial protein, and nestin. These data support our hypothesis that establishing and maintaining cell polarity is essential for the long-term propagation of hESCs in an undifferentiated state and that disruption of cell–cell contacts can trigger adoption of a neuronal fate. PMID:21396766

  9. File list: NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 No description Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural... cells SRX440736,SRX440731 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  10. File list: NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 No description Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural... cells SRX440731,SRX440736 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  11. File list: NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 No description Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural... cells SRX440731,SRX440736 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/NoD.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  12. Synthetic niches for differentiation of human embryonic stem cells bypassing embryoid body formation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Yarong; Fox, Victoria; Lei, Yuning; Hu, Biliang; Joo, Kye-Il; Wang, Pin

    2014-07-01

    The unique self-renewal and pluripotency features of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) offer the potential for unlimited development of novel cell therapies. Currently, hESCs are cultured and differentiated using methods, such as monolayer culture and embryoid body (EB) formation. As such, achieving efficient differentiation into higher order structures remains a challenge, as well as maintaining cell viability during differentiation into homogeneous cell populations. Here, we describe the application of highly porous polymer scaffolds as synthetic stem cell niches. Bypassing the EB formation step, these scaffolds are capable of three-dimensional culture of undifferentiated hESCs and subsequent directed differentiation into three primary germ layers. H9 hESCs were successfully maintained and proliferated in biodegradable polymer scaffolds based on poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA). The results showed that cells within PLGA scaffolds retained characteristics of undifferentiated pluripotent stem cells. Moreover, the scaffolds allowed differentiation towards the lineage of interest by the addition of growth factors to the culture system. The in vivo transplantation study revealed that the scaffolds could provide a microenvironment that enabled hESCs to interact with their surroundings, thereby promoting cell differentiation. Therefore, this approach, which provides a unique culture/differentiation system for hESCs, will find its utility in various stem cell-based tissue-engineering applications. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  13. Undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus: a clinicopathological study of 16 cases☆

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singhi, Aatur D.; Seethala, Raja R.; Nason, Katie; Foxwell, Tyler J.; Roche, Robyn L.; McGrath, Kevin M.; Levy, Ryan M.; Luketich, James D.; Davison, Jon M.

    2015-01-01

    Summary Undifferentiated carcinoma of the esophagus is a rare histologic variant of esophageal carcinoma. Using criteria based on studies of undifferentiated carcinomas arising at other sites, we have collected 16 cases of resected esophageal undifferentiated carcinomas. Patients ranged in age from 39 to 84 years (mean, 65.5 years) and were predominantly male (94%). The tumors were characterized by an expansile growth pattern of neoplastic cells organized in solid sheets and without significant glandular, squamous, or neuroendocrine differentiation. The neoplastic cells had a syncytial-like appearance, little intervening stroma, and patchy tumor necrosis. In a subset of cases, the tumor cells adopted a sarcomatoid (n = 2), rhabdoid (n = 1), or minor component (esophagus. Consistent with the epithelial nature of these neoplasms, cytokeratin positivity was identified in all cases. In addition, SALL4 expression was present in 8 (67%) of 12 cases. Follow-up information was available for 15 (94%) of 16 patients, all of whom were deceased. Survival after surgery ranged from 1 to 50 months (mean, 11.9 months). Before death, 67% patients had documented locoregional recurrence and/or distant organ metastases. In summary, esophageal undifferentiated carcinomas are aggressive neoplasms and associated with a high incidence of recurrence and/or metastases and a dismal prognosis. PMID:25582499

  14. Noun-Verb Ambiguity in Chronic Undifferentiated Schizophrenia

    Science.gov (United States)

    Goldfarb, Robert; Bekker, Natalie

    2009-01-01

    This study investigated noun-verb retrieval patterns of 30 adults with chronic undifferentiated schizophrenia and 67 typical adults, to determine if schizophrenia affected nouns (associated with temporal lobe function) differently from verbs (associated with frontal lobe function). Stimuli were homophonic homographic homonyms, balanced according…

  15. File list: InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146010,SRX146009 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  16. File list: InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146010,SRX146009 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  17. File list: InP.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146010,SRX146009 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.10.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  18. File list: InP.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived panc...reatic cells SRX146010,SRX146009 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_pancreatic_cells.bed ...

  19. File list: InP.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Input control Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests SRX1091573,SRX059369,SRX059361 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/InP.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  20. File list: InP.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests hg19 Input control Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural... crests SRX1091573,SRX059369,SRX059361 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/InP.PSC.50.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_crests.bed ...

  1. File list: InP.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells hg19 Input control Pluripotent stem cell hESC derived neural...RX698183,SRX729711,SRX729701 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/hg19/assembled/InP.PSC.05.AllAg.hESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  2. Human Embryonic and Hepatic Stem Cell Differentiation Visualized in Two and Three Dimensions Based on Serial Sections

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vestentoft, Peter S.; Brøchner, Christian B; Lynnerup, Niels

    2015-01-01

    ESC colony, and prepare 3-5 μm thick serial sections. Immunohistochemistry applied to individual sections produces a 2-dimensional survey of the developing hESC colony. Based on serial paraffin sections of the 2D-expression pattern, a new and useful 3D-visualization can be modeled. The actual 3D rendering...... visualization of hESC colonies and stem cells in organs, which leads to new insights into and information about the interaction of stem cells with their surroundings....

  3. International Earth Science Constellation (ESC) Introduction

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guit, William J.; Machado, Michael J.

    2016-01-01

    This is the Welcome and Introduction presentation for the International Earth Science Constellation (ESC) Mission Operations Working Group (MOWG) meeting held in Albuquerque NM from September 27-29. It contains an org chart, charter, history, significant topics to be discussed, AquaAura 2017 inclination adjust maneuver calendar, a-train long range plans, upcoming events, and action items.

  4. File list: InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...38,SRX810565,SRX1214070,SRX810564,SRX101693,SRX276677,SRX604259 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.20.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  5. File list: InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...65,SRX1214070,SRX810564,SRX101693,SRX604259,SRX018672,SRX276677 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.50.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  6. File list: InP.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells [Chip-atlas[Archive

    Lifescience Database Archive (English)

    Full Text Available InP.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells mm9 Input control Pluripotent stem cell mESC derived neural...4,SRX1214071,SRX1214070,SRX518051,SRX810565,SRX810564,SRX604259 http://dbarchive.biosciencedbc.jp/kyushu-u/mm9/assembled/InP.PSC.05.AllAg.mESC_derived_neural_cells.bed ...

  7. SUV rollover in single vehicle crashes and the influence of ESC and SSF.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kallan, Michael J; Jermakian, Jessica Steps

    2008-10-01

    The modern Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) fleet continues to go through a transformation in response to the concern that they are at an increased risk of rollover. Our research objective was to look at changes in rollover rates for single vehicle crashes in the modern SUV fleet (corresponding to NCAP rollover testing model years) and the impact of electronic stability control (ESC) and lowered center of gravity. We looked at 2001-2006 NASS-GES data on a probability sample of 3,331 SUVs involved in single vehicle crashes, weighted to represent 324,149 crashes in the study population. Static Stability Factor (SSF) information from NCAP testing and ESC presence (from IIHS) were also incorporated. 20.2% of these SUVs were involved a rollover, which decreased by more than half from model year 2001 (25.3%) through 2006 (11.5%). Nearly 9% had ESC as a standard feature, including 47% in model year 2006. The majority of the late model year decline in rollover rates can be attributed to ESC presence and higher SSF. Rollover was two-thirds less likely (adjusted OR=0.33, 95% CI=0.20-0.55) in SUVs with ESC as a standard feature versus those known not to have ESC. Those SUVs with SSF > or = 1.20 were significantly less likely to rollover (adjusted OR=0.31, 95% CI=0.20-0.48). Additional significant predictors of rollover included SUV size, driver age and alcohol use. Our study builds on the previous work of NHTSA, IIHS, and others with regard to rollover risk by looking at an even wider array of late model year SUVs.

  8. Vascular budding in Symplegma brakenhielmi and the evolution of coloniality in styelid ascidians.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutierrez, Stefania; Brown, Federico D

    2017-03-15

    Individuals of colonial animals (e.g. zooids) are in continuous turnover. In ascidians colonial or solitary species have evolved by convergence multiple times. Colonial Botryllus and Botrylloides are well-studied genera that exhibit colony-wide developmental mechanisms that regulate synchronous and orchestrated cycles of budding and turnover of zooids. The origins of modular developmental mechanisms that facilitated the evolution of coloniality in this group remain unclear. To reconstruct ancestral states of coloniality we studied Symplegma brakenhielmi, a sister taxon of the botryllids. S. brakenhielmi zooids are embedded in a common tunic and present a similar vascular system as the botrylloides, however development and turnover of zooids occurs asynchronously and in a more independent manner. We generated a table of common stages of budding in Symplegma and Botryllus for comparative studies of asexual development. We tested dependent processes of budding among individuals of the colony by systemic bud or zooid removals. Although our results showed a higher degree of independence in bud development in S. brakenhielmi, we found a subtle colony-wide regulatory mechanism of modular development, i.e. new buds expedited development after the removal of all buds in the colony. Next, we characterized external morphology, ultrastructure, and abundance of circulatory blood cells in the vascular system of S. brakenhielmi. Macrophage-like cells (MLCs) are involved in zooid resorption and turnover. Proportions of MLCs in the blood of S. brakenhielmi corresponded to the peak of occurrence of this cell type during the budding cycle of B. schlosseri. We found several new blood cell types in S. brakenhielmi, including two cell types that resemble circulatory progenitor stem cells of other botryllid colonial ascidians. These cells showed features of undifferentiated cells and expressed mitotic marker Phospho-histone H3. Comparative studies of S. brakenhielmi and B. schlosseri

  9. Possibility of Undifferentiated Human Thigh Adipose Stem Cells Differentiating into Functional Hepatocytes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jong Hoon Lee

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available BackgroundThis study aimed to investigate the possibility of isolating mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs from human thigh adipose tissue and the ability of human thigh adipose stem cells (HTASCs to differentiate into hepatocytes.MethodsThe adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs were isolated from thigh adipose tissue. Growth factors, cytokines, and hormones were added to the collagen coated dishes to induce the undifferentiated HTASCs to differentiate into hepatocyte-like cells. To confirm the experimental results, the expression of hepatocyte-specific markers on undifferentiated and differentiated HTASCs was analyzed using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction and immunocytochemical staining. Differentiation efficiency was evaluated using functional tests such as periodic acid schiff (PAS staining and detection of the albumin secretion level using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA.ResultsThe majority of the undifferentiated HTASCs were changed into a more polygonal shape showing tight interactions between the cells. The differentiated HTASCs up-regulated mRNA of hepatocyte markers. Immunocytochemical analysis showed that they were intensely stained with anti-albumin antibody compared with undifferentiated HTASCs. PAS staining showed that HTASCs submitted to the hepatocyte differentiation protocol were able to more specifically store glycogen than undifferentiated HTASCs, displaying a purple color in the cytoplasm of the differentiated HTASCs. ELISA analyses showed that differentiated HTASCs could secrete albumin, which is one of the hepatocyte markers.ConclusionsMSCs were islolated from human thigh adipose tissue differentiate to heapatocytes. The source of ADSCs is not only abundant abdominal adipose tissue, but also thigh adipose tissue for cell therapy in liver regeneration and tissue regeneration.

  10. The effect of caffeine on p53-dependent radioresponses in undifferentiated mouse embryonal carcinoma cells after X-ray and UV-irradiations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Taga, Masataka; Shiraishi, Kazunori; Shimura, Tsutomu; Uematsu, Norio; Kato, Tomohisa; Niwa, Ohtsura; Nishimune, Yoshitake; Aizawa, Shinichi; Oshimura, Mitsuo

    2000-01-01

    The effect of caffeine was studied on the radioresponses of undifferentiated mouse embryonal carcinoma cells (EC cells) with or without the functional p53. The radioresponses studied included radiosensitivity, the activation of p53, apoptosis with characteristic DNA ladder formation and cell cycle progression. An undifferentiated mouse EC cell line, ECA2, and a newly established p53-deficient EC cell line, p53δ, were used in the present study. The status of the p53 gene did not significantly affect the colony survivals of undifferentiated EC cells to X-rays and UV. Although a post-irradiation treatment with caffeine sensitized both lines to X-rays marginally, the sensitization was prominent for UV regardless of the p53 status of the cells. The activation of a p53 responsible lacZ reporter construct was observed in stably transfected ECA2 cells after X-ray and UV irradiations. Caffeine suppressed the X-ray induced activation of the lacZ reporter, while it drastically enhanced the activation after UV irradiation. X-rays and UV readily triggered the apoptosis of ECA2 cells with the characteristic DNA ladder. Although UV-induced DNA ladder formation was enhanced by caffeine, that induced by X-rays was unaffected. Therefore, the effects of caffeine on the p53-dependent radioresponses were found to be agent specific: suppression for the X-ray induced and augmentation for the UV induced. In contrast to p53-proficient ECA2 cells, smear-like DNA degradation was observed for irradiated p53δ cells, suggesting the presence of a mode of cell death without DNA ladder formation. UV induction of the smear-like DNA degradation was enhanced in the presence of caffeine. Regardless of the state of the p53 gene, G1/S arrest was not observed in X-ray and UV irradiated EC cells. X-rays induced G2/M arrest in both lines, which was abrogated by caffeine, while G2/M arrest after UV was unaffected by a caffeine treatment. These results indicate that the radioresponses of undifferentiated

  11. The effect of caffeine on p53-dependent radioresponses in undifferentiated mouse embryonal carcinoma cells after X-ray and UV-irradiations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Taga, Masataka; Shiraishi, Kazunori; Shimura, Tsutomu; Uematsu, Norio; Kato, Tomohisa; Niwa, Ohtsura [Kyoto Univ. (Japan). Radiation Biology Center; Nishimune, Yoshitake; Aizawa, Shinichi; Oshimura, Mitsuo

    2000-09-01

    The effect of caffeine was studied on the radioresponses of undifferentiated mouse embryonal carcinoma cells (EC cells) with or without the functional p53. The radioresponses studied included radiosensitivity, the activation of p53, apoptosis with characteristic DNA ladder formation and cell cycle progression. An undifferentiated mouse EC cell line, ECA2, and a newly established p53-deficient EC cell line, p53{delta}, were used in the present study. The status of the p53 gene did not significantly affect the colony survivals of undifferentiated EC cells to X-rays and UV. Although a post-irradiation treatment with caffeine sensitized both lines to X-rays marginally, the sensitization was prominent for UV regardless of the p53 status of the cells. The activation of a p53 responsible lacZ reporter construct was observed in stably transfected ECA2 cells after X-ray and UV irradiations. Caffeine suppressed the X-ray induced activation of the lacZ reporter, while it drastically enhanced the activation after UV irradiation. X-rays and UV readily triggered the apoptosis of ECA2 cells with the characteristic DNA ladder. Although UV-induced DNA ladder formation was enhanced by caffeine, that induced by X-rays was unaffected. Therefore, the effects of caffeine on the p53-dependent radioresponses were found to be agent specific: suppression for the X-ray induced and augmentation for the UV induced. In contrast to p53-proficient ECA2 cells, smear-like DNA degradation was observed for irradiated p53{delta} cells, suggesting the presence of a mode of cell death without DNA ladder formation. UV induction of the smear-like DNA degradation was enhanced in the presence of caffeine. Regardless of the state of the p53 gene, G1/S arrest was not observed in X-ray and UV irradiated EC cells. X-rays induced G2/M arrest in both lines, which was abrogated by caffeine, while G2/M arrest after UV was unaffected by a caffeine treatment. These results indicate that the radioresponses of

  12. ELABELA Is an Endogenous Growth Factor that Sustains hESC Self-Renewal via the PI3K/AKT Pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ho, Lena; Tan, Shawn Y X; Wee, Sheena; Wu, Yixuan; Tan, Sam J C; Ramakrishna, Navin B; Chng, Serene C; Nama, Srikanth; Szczerbinska, Iwona; Sczerbinska, Iwona; Chan, Yun-Shen; Avery, Stuart; Tsuneyoshi, Norihiro; Ng, Huck Hui; Gunaratne, Jayantha; Dunn, N Ray; Reversade, Bruno

    2015-10-01

    ELABELA (ELA) is a peptide hormone required for heart development that signals via the Apelin Receptor (APLNR, APJ). ELA is also abundantly secreted by human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which do not express APLNR. Here we show that ELA signals in a paracrine fashion in hESCs to maintain self-renewal. ELA inhibition by CRISPR/Cas9-mediated deletion, shRNA, or neutralizing antibodies causes reduced hESC growth, cell death, and loss of pluripotency. Global phosphoproteomic and transcriptomic analyses of ELA-pulsed hESCs show that it activates PI3K/AKT/mTORC1 signaling required for cell survival. ELA promotes hESC cell-cycle progression and protein translation and blocks stress-induced apoptosis. INSULIN and ELA have partially overlapping functions in hESC medium, but only ELA can potentiate the TGFβ pathway to prime hESCs toward the endoderm lineage. We propose that ELA, acting through an alternate cell-surface receptor, is an endogenous secreted growth factor in human embryos and hESCs that promotes growth and pluripotency. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Isolation and differentiation of chondrocytic cells derived from human embryonic stem cells using dlk1/FA1 as a novel surface marker

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Harkness, Linda; Taipaleenmaki, Hanna; Mahmood, Amer

    2009-01-01

    of dlk1/FA1 as a novel surface marker for chondroprogenitor cells during hESC differentiation. We found that, Dlk1/FA1 is expressed specifically in cells undergoing transition from proliferating to prehypertrophic chondrocytes during endochondral ossification of the mouse limb. In hESC cells, dlk1/FA1...... was not expressed by undifferentiated hESC, but expressed during in vitro embryoid bodies (hEBs) formation upon down-regulation of undifferentiated markers e.g. Oct 3/4. Similarly, dlk1/FA1 was expressed in chondrocytic cells during in vivo teratoma formation. Interestingly, treatment of hEBs with Activin B......, a member of TGF-ss family, markedly increased Dlk1 expression in association with up-regulation of the mesoderm-specific markers (e.g. FOXF1, KDR and VE-cadherin) and SOX9. dlk1/FA1(+) cells isolated by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) were capable of differentiating into chondrocytic cells when...

  14. Generating size-controlled embryoid bodies using laser direct-write

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dias, A D; Corr, D T; Unser, A M; Xie, Y; Chrisey, D B

    2014-01-01

    Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have the potential to self-renew and differentiate into any specialized cell type. One common method to differentiate ESCs in vitro is through embryoid bodies (EBs), three-dimensional cellular aggregates that spontaneously self-assemble and generally express markers for the three germ layers, endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm. It has been previously shown that both EB size and 2D colony size each influence differentiation. We hypothesized that we could control the size of the EB formed by mouse ESCs (mESCs) by using a cell printing method, laser direct-write (LDW), to control both the size of the initial printed colony and the local cell density in printed colonies. After printing mESCs at various printed colony sizes and printing densities, two-way ANOVAs indicated that the EB diameter was influenced by printing density after three days (p = 0.0002), while there was no effect of the printed colony diameter on the EB diameter at the same timepoint (p = 0.74). There was no significant interaction between these two factors. Tukey's honestly significant difference test showed that high-density colonies formed significantly larger EBs, suggesting that printed mESCs quickly aggregate with nearby cells. Thus, EBs can be engineered to a desired size by controlling printing density, which will influence the design of future differentiation studies. Herein, we highlight the capacity of LDW to control the local cell density and colony size independently, at prescribed spatial locations, potentially leading to better stem cell maintenance and directed differentiation. (paper)

  15. Leukemic blast cell colony formation in semisolid culture with erythropoietin: a case report of acute poorly differentiated erythroid leukemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomonaga, M; Jinnai, I; Tagawa, M; Amenomori, T; Nishino, K; Yao, E; Nonaka, H; Kuriyama, K; Yoshida, Y; Matsuo, T

    1987-02-01

    The bone marrow of a patient with acute undifferentiated leukemia developed unique colonies after a 14-day culture in erythropoietin (EPO)-containing methylcellulose. The colonies consisted of 20 to 200 nonhemoglobinized large blast cells. Cytogenetic analysis of single colonies revealed hypotetraploid karyotypes with several marker chromosomes that were identical to those found in directly sampled bone marrow. The concurrently formed erythroid bursts showed only normal karyotypes. No leukemic colony formation was observed in other culture systems with either colony-stimulating activity (CSA) or phytohemagglutinin-stimulated leukocyte-conditioned medium (PHA-LCM). The leukemic colonies exhibited a complete EPO-dose dependency similar to that of the patient's normal BFU-E. Although cytochemical and immunologic marker studies of the bone marrow cells failed to clarify the cell lineage of the leukemic cells with extraordinarily large cell size, ultrastructural study revealed erythroid differentiation such as siderosome formation in the cytoplasm and ferritin particles in the rhophecytosis invaginations. These findings indicate that the patient had poorly differentiated erythroid leukemia and that some of the clonogenic cells might respond to EPO in vitro. Corresponding to this biological feature, the leukemic cells were markedly decreased in number in response to repeated RBC transfusions, and partial remission was obtained. These observations suggest that erythroid leukemia distinct from erythroleukemia (M6) with a myeloblastic component, can develop as a minor entity of human acute leukemia.

  16. PHB Associates with the HIRA Complex to Control an Epigenetic-Metabolic Circuit in Human ESCs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Zhexin; Li, Chunliang; Zeng, Yanwu; Ding, Jianyi; Qu, Zepeng; Gu, Junjie; Ge, Laixiang; Tang, Fan; Huang, Xin; Zhou, Chenlin; Wang, Ping; Zheng, Deyou; Jin, Ying

    2017-02-02

    The chromatin landscape and cellular metabolism both contribute to cell fate determination, but their interplay remains poorly understood. Using genome-wide siRNA screening, we have identified prohibitin (PHB) as an essential factor in self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Mechanistically, PHB forms protein complexes with HIRA, a histone H3.3 chaperone, and stabilizes the protein levels of HIRA complex components. Like PHB, HIRA is required for hESC self-renewal. PHB and HIRA act together to control global deposition of histone H3.3 and gene expression in hESCs. Of particular note, PHB and HIRA regulate the chromatin architecture at the promoters of isocitrate dehydrogenase genes to promote transcription and, thus, production of α-ketoglutarate, a key metabolite in the regulation of ESC fate. Our study shows that PHB has an unexpected nuclear role in hESCs that is required for self-renewal and that it acts with HIRA in chromatin organization to link epigenetic organization to a metabolic circuit. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma with osteoclast-like giant cells of the female breast

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Balbi Giancarlo

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract The authors describe a case of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma of the breast occurring in a 50-year-old woman who presented with a palpable mass in her right breast. She first noticed the mass one month previously. Core needle biopsy showed connective tissue including epithelioid and spindle cells. The patient underwent total mastectomy without axillary lymph node dissection. Based on examination of the excised tumor, the initial pathologic diagnosis was atypical spindle-shaped and ovoid cells with uncertain malignant potential. Histological findings with immunomarkers led to the final diagnosis of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma. This case highlights a rare and interesting variant of primary breast sarcoma and the important role of immunohistochemistry in defining histological type and differential diagnosis. Hence, undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma has been a diagnosis of exclusion performed through sampling and critical use of ancillary diagnostic techniques.

  18. MicroRNA-302/367 Cluster Governs hESC Self-Renewal by Dually Regulating Cell Cycle and Apoptosis Pathways

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhonghui Zhang

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available miR-302/367 is the most abundant miRNA cluster in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs and can promote somatic cell reprogramming. However, its role in hESCs remains poorly understood. Here, we studied functional roles of the endogenous miR-302/367 cluster in hESCs by employing specific TALE-based transcriptional repressors. We revealed that miR-302/367 cluster dually regulates hESC cell cycle and apoptosis in dose-dependent manner. Gene profiling and functional studies identified key targets of the miR-302/367 cluster in regulating hESC self-renewal and apoptosis. We demonstrate that in addition to its role in cell cycle regulation, miR-302/367 cluster conquers apoptosis by downregulating BNIP3L/Nix (a BH3-only proapoptotic factor and upregulating BCL-xL expression. Furthermore, we show that butyrate, a natural compound, upregulates miR-302/367 cluster expression and alleviates hESCs from apoptosis induced by knockdown of miR-302/367 cluster. In summary, our findings provide new insights in molecular mechanisms of how miR-302/367 cluster regulates hESCs.

  19. ESC-Derived Basal Forebrain Cholinergic Neurons Ameliorate the Cognitive Symptoms Associated with Alzheimer’s Disease in Mouse Models

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Yue

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available Degeneration of basal forebrain cholinergic neurons (BFCNs is associated with cognitive impairments of Alzheimer’s disease (AD, implying that BFCNs hold potentials in exploring stem cell-based replacement therapy for AD. However, studies on derivation of BFCNs from embryonic stem cells (ESCs are limited, and the application of ESC-derived BFCNs remains to be determined. Here, we report on differentiation approaches for directing both mouse and human ESCs into mature BFCNs. These ESC-derived BFCNs exhibit features similar to those of their in vivo counterparts and acquire appropriate functional properties. After transplantation into the basal forebrain of AD model mice, ESC-derived BFCN progenitors predominantly differentiate into mature cholinergic neurons that functionally integrate into the endogenous basal forebrain cholinergic projection system. The AD mice grafted with mouse or human BFCNs exhibit improvements in learning and memory performances. Our findings suggest a promising perspective of ESC-derived BFCNs in the development of stem cell-based therapies for treatment of AD.

  20. Relación entre ansiedad escénica, perfeccionismo y calificaciones en estudiantes del Título Superior de Música

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francisco Javier Zarza-Alzugaray

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available La ansiedad escénica es uno de los principales problemas a los que los músicos, estudiantes y profesionales, deben enfrentarse. El perfeccionismo es un constructo asociado a problemas de fobia social como pueda ser la ansiedad escénica. La asociación entre perfeccionismo y ansiedad escénica no ha recibido especial atención dentro del ámbito investigador y formativo español. Objetivos: Estudiar la presencia de niveles de ansiedad escénica en una muestra de estudiantes del Conservatorio Superior de Música de Alicante y cómo se relaciona ésta con el perfeccionismo y las calificaciones obtenidas. Método: El estudio de los datos es cuantitativo mediante un diseño selectivo con un muestreo por disponibilidad. Las respuestas corresponden a dos instrumentos de medida específicos de la ansiedad escénica y del perfeccionismo por parte de 87 estudiantes del Conservatorio Superior de Música de Alicante. Resultados: Encontramos niveles de ansiedad escénica algo mayores a la media. La ansiedad escénica está relacionada significativamente con el perfeccionismo, y éste con las calificaciones del alumnado. Conclusiones: El perfeccionismo explica una parte tanto de la ansiedad escénica como de las calificaciones obtenidas por parte de los estudiantes. Es necesaria más investigación sobre la ansiedad escénica que suponga en un futuro implementar mejoras formativas.

  1. Fostering diffusion of scientific contents of National Society Cardiovascular Journals: The new ESC search engine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fernando Alfonso

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available European Society of Cardiology (ESC National Society Cardiovascular Journals (NSCJs are high-quality biomedical journals focused on cardiovascular diseases. The Editors’ Network of the ESC devises editorial initiatives aimed at improving the scientific quality and diffusion of NSCJ. In this article we will discuss on the importance of the Internet, electronic editions and open access strategies on scientific publishing. Finally, we will propose a new editorial initiative based on a novel electronic tool on the ESC web-page that may further help to increase the dissemination of contents and visibility of NSCJs.

  2. [Nailfold capillaroscopy in the evaluation of Raynaud's phenomenon and undifferentiated connective tissue disease].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cortes, Sara; Clemente-Coelho, Paulo

    2008-01-01

    Microvascular abnormalities involved in the pathogenic mechanism of several connective tissue disorders can be detected by nailfold capillaroscopy. Evaluation of the interest of nailfold capillaroscopy results in patients with Raynaud s phenomenon or undifferentiated connective tissue disease and their correlation with diagnostic and therapeutical evolution. Selection of capillaroscopic and laboratory results of patients with the diagnosis of Raynaud s phenomenon (without defined connective tissue disease) or undifferentiated connective tissue disease. Evaluation of the present diagnosis and treatment comparing with the ones existed at the time of capillaroscopy performance. 80 patients were enrolled with an age of 51.4+/-14.3 years (mean+/-SD) 78 females (97.5%) with Raynaud s phenomenon and undifferentiated connective tissue disease 27 patients (33.8%); Raynaud s Phenomenon 46 patients (57.5%); undifferentiated connective tissue disease 7 patients (8.7%). The capillaroscopic results were normal 30 patients (37.5%); minor changes tortuosity enlargement 16 patients (20.0%) major changes 34 patients (42.5%) hemorrhages 25 patients (31.3%) megacapillaries 26 patients (32.5%) avascular areas 3 patients (3.8%). The introduction of new treatments after the capillaroscopy occurred in 32 patients (40.0%) and a new diagnosis was done in 39 patients (48.8%). Major changes in capillaroscopy correlated with the change of diagnosis and the introduction of a new treatment (pNailfold capillaroscopy performed in patients with isolated Raynaud s phenomenon or undifferentiated connective tissue disease has a role in the prognostic evaluation related to the possibility of an evolution of the diagnosis or to the need of the introduction of new treatments.

  3. Extract of Stellerachamaejasme L(ESC) inhibits growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma via regulating microRNA expression.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiaoni; Wang, Shuang; Xu, Jianji; Kou, Buxin; Chen, Dexi; Wang, Yajie; Zhu, Xiaoxin

    2018-03-20

    MicroRNAs(miRNAs)are involved in the initiation and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma. ESC, an extract of Stellerachamaejasme L, had been confirmed as a potential anti-tumor extract of Traditional Chinese Medicine. In light of the important role of miRNAs in hepatocellular carcinoma, we questioned whether the inhibitory effects of ESC on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) were associated with miRNAs. The proliferation inhibition of ESC on HCC cells was measured with MTT assay. The migration inhibition of ESC on HCC cells was measured with transwell assay. The influences of ESC on growth and metastasis inhibition were evaluated with xenograft tumor model of HCC. Protein expressions were measured with western blot and immunofluorescence methods and miRNA profiles were detected with miRNA array. Differential miRNA and target mRNAs were verified with real-time PCR. The results showed that ESC could inhibit proliferation and epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT) in HCC cells in vitro and tumor growth and metastasis in xenograft models in vivo. miRNA array results showed that 69 differential miRNAs in total of 429 ones were obtained in MHCC97H cells treated by ESC. hsa-miR-107, hsa-miR-638, hsa-miR-106b-5p were selected to be validated with real-time PCR method in HepG2 and MHCC97H cells. Expressions of hsa-miR-107 and hsa-miR-638 increased obviously in HCC cells treated by ESC. Target genes of three miRNAs were also validated with real-time PCR. Interestingly, only target genes of hsa-miR-107 changed greatly. ESC downregulated the MCL1, SALL4 and BCL2 gene expressions significantly but did not influence the expression of CACNA2D1. The findings suggested ESC regressed growth and metastasis of human hepatocellular carcinoma via regulating microRNAs expression and their corresponding target genes.

  4. ZEB1 overexpression associated with E-cadherin and microRNA-200 downregulation is characteristic of undifferentiated endometrial carcinoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Romero-Pérez, Laura; López-García, M Ángeles; Díaz-Martín, Juan; Biscuola, Michele; Castilla, M Ángeles; Tafe, Laura J; Garg, Karuna; Oliva, Esther; Matias-Guiu, Xavier; Soslow, Robert A; Palacios, José

    2013-11-01

    Undifferentiated endometrial carcinomas are very aggressive high-grade endometrial carcinomas that are frequently under-recognized. This study aimed to analyze the molecular alterations underlying the development of these endometrial carcinomas, focusing on those related to dedifferentiation. We assessed a series of 120 tumors: 57 grade 1 and 2 endometrioid endometrial carcinomas, 15 grade 3 endometrioid endometrial carcinomas, 27 endometrial serous carcinomas, and 21 undifferentiated endometrial carcinomas. We found a high frequency of DNA mismatch repair deficiency (38%) and moderate rate of p53 overexpression (∼33%) in undifferentiated carcinomas. In contrast to the characteristic endometrioid phenotype, there was a dramatic downregulation of E-cadherin expression in the undifferentiated subtype. Quantitative methylation studies dismissed CDH1 promoter hypermethylation as the mechanism responsible for this change in gene expression, while immunohistochemistry revealed that the E-cadherin repressor ZEB1 was frequently overexpressed (62%) in undifferentiated endometrial carcinomas. This finding was accompanied by a sharp downregulation in the expression of the miR-200 family of microRNAs, well-known targets of ZEB1. Furthermore, there was enhanced expression of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition markers in undifferentiated endometrial carcinomas, such as N-cadherin, cytoplasmic p120, and osteonectin. In addition, HMGA2, a regulator of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition that is expressed in aggressive endometrial tumors, such as endometrial serous carcinomas and carcinosarcomas, was expressed in >20% of undifferentiated carcinomas. These results suggest that ZEB1 overexpression, associated with E-cadherin and miR-200s downregulation, and the expression of mesenchymal markers might enhance the metastatic potential of undifferentiated endometrial carcinomas, leading to a poor prognosis. In addition, our observations suggest that the immnohistochemical analysis

  5. Establishment and characterization of a human uterine endometrial undifferentiated carcinoma cell line, TMG-L.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hasegawa, Kiyoshi; Suzuki, Machiko; Ishikawa, Kunimi; Yasue, Akira; Kato, Rina; Nakamura, Azumi; Kuroki, Jun; Udagawa, Yasuhiro

    2003-03-01

    A new cell line of human uterine endometrial undifferentiated carcinoma, designated as TMG-L, was established from the metastatic lymph node of 56-year-old patient TMG-L cells have been cultured with Ham's F-12 medium supplemented with 10% FCS and grew as a loosely adherent monolayer with polygonal or spindle-shaped cells exhibiting poor cell-cell contact and piled up against each other, showing a tendency to grow as floating cells. The doubling time of this cell line was about 48 hours, and chromosomal analysis revealed aneuploidy at passage 25. The cells formed tumors in SCID mouse, the histology of which was similar to that of undifferentiated carcinoma component of primary tumor. TMG-L cells showed the loss of expression and membranous localization of either E-cadherin or alpha-catenin, implied corresponding loss of their adhesive function. And this dysfunction implicated the biological aggressive behavior of uterine endometrial undifferentiated carcinoma. This cell line appears to provide a useful system for studying uterine undifferentiated carcinoma in vivo and in vitro.

  6. Regional differences in expression of specific markers for human embryonic stem cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laursen, Steen B; Møllgård, Kjeld; Olesen, Christian

    2007-01-01

    Characterization of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines derived from the inner cell masses of blastocysts generally includes expression analysis of markers such as OCT4, NANOG, SSEA3, SSEA4, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81. Expression is usually detected by immunocytochemical staining of entire colonies...... of hESC, using one colony for each individual marker. Four newly established hESC lines showed the expected expression pattern and were capable of differentiating into the three germ layers in vitro. Neighbouring sections of entire colonies grown for 4, 11, 21 and 28 days respectively were stained...

  7. Comparing ESC and iPSC—Based Models for Human Genetic Disorders

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tomer Halevy

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Traditionally, human disorders were studied using animal models or somatic cells taken from patients. Such studies enabled the analysis of the molecular mechanisms of numerous disorders, and led to the discovery of new treatments. Yet, these systems are limited or even irrelevant in modeling multiple genetic diseases. The isolation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs from diseased blastocysts, the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs from patients’ somatic cells, and the new technologies for genome editing of pluripotent stem cells have opened a new window of opportunities in the field of disease modeling, and enabled studying diseases that couldn’t be modeled in the past. Importantly, despite the high similarity between ESCs and iPSCs, there are several fundamental differences between these cells, which have important implications regarding disease modeling. In this review we compare ESC-based models to iPSC-based models, and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each system. We further suggest a roadmap for how to choose the optimal strategy to model each specific disorder.

  8. Comparing ESC and iPSC-Based Models for Human Genetic Disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halevy, Tomer; Urbach, Achia

    2014-10-24

    Traditionally, human disorders were studied using animal models or somatic cells taken from patients. Such studies enabled the analysis of the molecular mechanisms of numerous disorders, and led to the discovery of new treatments. Yet, these systems are limited or even irrelevant in modeling multiple genetic diseases. The isolation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from diseased blastocysts, the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients' somatic cells, and the new technologies for genome editing of pluripotent stem cells have opened a new window of opportunities in the field of disease modeling, and enabled studying diseases that couldn't be modeled in the past. Importantly, despite the high similarity between ESCs and iPSCs, there are several fundamental differences between these cells, which have important implications regarding disease modeling. In this review we compare ESC-based models to iPSC-based models, and highlight the advantages and disadvantages of each system. We further suggest a roadmap for how to choose the optimal strategy to model each specific disorder.

  9. Enabling a robust scalable manufacturing process for therapeutic exosomes through oncogenic immortalization of human ESC-derived MSCs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Choo Andre

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Exosomes or secreted bi-lipid vesicles from human ESC-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hESC-MSCs have been shown to reduce myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury in animal models. However, as hESC-MSCs are not infinitely expansible, large scale production of these exosomes would require replenishment of hESC-MSC through derivation from hESCs and incur recurring costs for testing and validation of each new batch. Our aim was therefore to investigate if MYC immortalization of hESC-MSC would circumvent this constraint without compromising the production of therapeutically efficacious exosomes. Methods The hESC-MSCs were transfected by lentivirus carrying a MYC gene. The transformed cells were analyzed for MYC transgene integration, transcript and protein levels, and surface markers, rate of cell cycling, telomerase activity, karyotype, genome-wide gene expression and differentiation potential. The exosomes were isolated by HPLC fractionation and tested in a mouse model of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury, and infarct sizes were further assessed by using Evans' blue dye injection and TTC staining. Results MYC-transformed MSCs largely resembled the parental hESC-MSCs with major differences being reduced plastic adherence, faster growth, failure to senesce, increased MYC protein expression, and loss of in vitro adipogenic potential that technically rendered the transformed cells as non-MSCs. Unexpectedly, exosomes from MYC-transformed MSCs were able to reduce relative infarct size in a mouse model of myocardial ischemia/reperfusion injury indicating that the capacity for producing therapeutic exosomes was preserved. Conclusion Our results demonstrated that MYC transformation is a practical strategy in ensuring an infinite supply of cells for the production of exosomes in the milligram range as either therapeutic agents or delivery vehicles. In addition, the increased proliferative rate by MYC transformation reduces the time

  10. Bem Sex Role Inventory Undifferentiated Score: A Comparison of Sexual Dysfunction Patients with Sexual Offenders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dwyer, Margretta; And Others

    1988-01-01

    Examined Bem Sex Role undifferentiated scores on 93 male sex offenders as compared with 50 male sexually dysfunctional patients. Chi-square analyses revealed significant difference: offenders obtained undifferentiated scores more often than did sexual dysfunctional population. Concluded that Bem Sex Role Inventory is useful in identifying sexual…

  11. Long-term culture of undifferentiated spermatogonia isolated from immature and adult bovine testes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suyatno; Kitamura, Yuka; Ikeda, Shuntaro; Minami, Naojiro; Yamada, Masayasu; Imai, Hiroshi

    2018-03-01

    Undifferentiated spermatogonia eventually differentiate in the testis to produce haploid sperm. Within this cell population, there is a small number of spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs). SSCs are rare cells in the testis, and their cellular characteristics are poorly understood. Establishment of undifferentiated cell line would provide an indispensable tool for studying their biological nature and spermiogenesis/spermatogenesis in vitro. However, there have been few reports on the long-term culture of undifferentiated spermatogonia in species other than rodents. Here, we report the derivation and long-term in vitro culture of undifferentiated spermatogonia cell lines from immature and adult bovine testes. Cell lines from immature testes were maintained in serum-free culture conditions in the presence of glial-cell-line-derived neurotropic factor (GDNF) and bovine leukemia inhibitory factor (bLIF). These cell lines have embryonic stem (ES)-like cell morphology, express pluripotent-stem-cell-specific and germ-cell-specific markers at the protein and mRNA levels, and contributed to the inner cell mass (ICM) of embryos in the blastocyst stage. Meanwhile, cell lines established from adult testes were maintained in low-serum media in the presence of 6-bromoindirubin-3'-oxime (BIO). These cell lines have characteristics resembling those of previously reported male mouse germ cell lines as confirmed by their botryoidally aggregated morphology, as well as the expression of germ-cell-specific markers and pluripotent stem cell markers. These findings could be useful for the development of long-term culture of undifferentiated spermatogonia, which could aid in conservation of species and improvement of livestock production through genome editing technology. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  12. Utilization of human amniotic mesenchymal cells as feeder layers to sustain propagation of human embryonic stem cells in the undifferentiated state.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Kehua; Cai, Zhe; Li, Yang; Shu, Jun; Pan, Lin; Wan, Fang; Li, Hong; Huang, Xiaojie; He, Chun; Liu, Yanqiu; Cui, Xiaohui; Xu, Yang; Gao, Yan; Wu, Liqun; Cao, Shanxia; Li, Lingsong

    2011-08-01

    Human embryonic stem (ES) cells are usually maintained in the undifferentiated state by culturing on feeder cells layers of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). However, MEFs are not suitable to support human ES cells used for clinical purpose because of risk of zoonosis from animal cells. Therefore, human tissue-based feeder layers need to be developed for human ES cells for clinical purpose. Hereof we report that human amniotic mesenchymal cells (hAMCs) could act as feeder cells for human ES cells, because they are easily obtained and relatively exempt from ethical problem. Like MEFs, hAMCs could act as feeder cells for human ES cells to grow well on. The self-renewal rate of human ES cells cultured on hAMCs feeders was higher than that on MEFs and human amniotic epithelial cells determined by measurement of colonial diameters and growth curve as well as cell cycle analysis. Both immunofluorescence staining and immunoblotting showed that human ES cells cultured on hAMCs expressed stem cell markers such as Oct-3/4, Sox2, and NANOG. Verified by embryoid body formation in vitro and teratoma formation in vivo, we found out that after 20 passages of culture, human ES cells grown on hAMCs feeders could still retain the potency of differentiating into three germ layers. Taken together, our data suggested hAMCs may be safe feeder cells to sustain the propagation of human ES cells in undifferentiated state for future therapeutic use.

  13. Relación entre ansiedad escénica, perfeccionismo y calificaciones en estudiantes del Título Superior de Música

    OpenAIRE

    Francisco Javier Zarza-Alzugaray; Óscar Casanova-López; José Elías Robles-Rubio

    2016-01-01

    La ansiedad escénica es uno de los principales problemas a los que los músicos, estudiantes y profesionales, deben enfrentarse. El perfeccionismo es un constructo asociado a problemas de fobia social como pueda ser la ansiedad escénica. La asociación entre perfeccionismo y ansiedad escénica no ha recibido especial atención dentro del ámbito investigador y formativo español. Objetivos: Estudiar la presencia de niveles de ansiedad escénica en una muestra de estudiantes del Conservatorio Superio...

  14. Summary of 2017 ESC guidelines on valvular heart disease, peripheral artery disease, STEMI and on dual antiplatelet therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van Camp, Guy; De Backer, Tine; Beauloye, Christophe; Desmet, Walter; Claeys, Marc J

    2017-12-11

    During the ESC congress in September 2017 in Barcelona, the new ESC guidelines were presented and are now available on the ESC website. The new guidelines cover management recommendations on following cardiovascular items: valvular heart disease, peripheral artery disease, ST elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) and on dual antiplatelet therapy. The present document gives a summary of these guidelines and highlights the most important recommendations and changes in the management of these diseases. It will help to increase awareness about the new guidelines and may stimulate to consult the full document for specific items. Ultimately, the authors hope that this document will enhance implementation of new ESC guidelines in daily clinical practice.

  15. Mesenchymal stem cell like (MSCl) cells generated from human embryonic stem cells support pluripotent cell growth

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Varga, Nóra; Veréb, Zoltán; Rajnavölgyi, Éva; Német, Katalin; Uher, Ferenc; Sarkadi, Balázs; Apáti, Ágota

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: ► MSC like cells were derived from hESC by a simple and reproducible method. ► Differentiation and immunosuppressive features of MSCl cells were similar to bmMSC. ► MSCl cells as feeder cells support the undifferentiated growth of hESC. -- Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cell like (MSCl) cells were generated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) through embryoid body formation, and isolated by adherence to plastic surface. MSCl cell lines could be propagated without changes in morphological or functional characteristics for more than 15 passages. These cells, as well as their fluorescent protein expressing stable derivatives, efficiently supported the growth of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells as feeder cells. The MSCl cells did not express the embryonic (Oct4, Nanog, ABCG2, PODXL, or SSEA4), or hematopoietic (CD34, CD45, CD14, CD133, HLA-DR) stem cell markers, while were positive for the characteristic cell surface markers of MSCs (CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105). MSCl cells could be differentiated toward osteogenic, chondrogenic or adipogenic directions and exhibited significant inhibition of mitogen-activated lymphocyte proliferation, and thus presented immunosuppressive features. We suggest that cultured MSCl cells can properly model human MSCs and be applied as efficient feeders in hESC cultures.

  16. Fostering diffusion of scientific contents of National Society Cardiovascular Journals: The new ESC search engine.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alfonso, Fernando; Gonçalves, Lino; Pinto, Fausto; Timmis, Adam; Ector, Hugo; Ambrosio, Giuseppe; Vardas, Panos

    2015-05-01

    European Society of Cardiology (ESC) National Society Cardiovascular Journals (NSCJs) are high-quality biomedical journals focused on cardiovascular diseases. The Editors' Network of the ESC devises editorial initiatives aimed at improving the scientific quality and diffusion of NSCJ. In this article we will discuss on the importance of the Internet, electronic editions and open access strategies on scientific publishing. Finally, we will propose a new editorial initiative based on a novel electronic tool on the ESC web-page that may further help to increase the dissemination of contents and visibility of NSCJs. Copyright © 2013 Sociedade Portuguesa de Cardiologia. Published by Elsevier España. All rights reserved.

  17. Undifferentiated-type gastric adenocarcinoma: prognostic impact of three histological types

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lee Han

    2012-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The prognostic value of the three constituents of undifferentiated-type gastric adenocarcinoma remains unclear. The present study assessed the clinicopathological characteristics and prognosis of undifferentiated-type mucinous adenocarcinoma (uMAC and signet ring cell carcinoma (SRC compared with those of poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (PDAC. Methods In total, 1,376 patients with undifferentiated-type gastric adenocarcinoma were included, consisting of 1,002 patients diagnosed with PDAC, 54 with uMAC and 320 with SRC. Clinicopathological factors and survival rates were compared among the three histological types. Results Significant differences in the distribution of pathological stages were observed among the groups. Patients with SRC had a significantly better survival rate than those with PDAC or uMAC, in both the all patients including non-curative resected patients and curative-resected groups. In addition, there was significant difference in survival between the PDAC and uMAC groups. Multivariate analysis suggested that age, gender, tumor depth, lymph node metastasis and curability significantly affected survival. Histological type was not an independent prognostic factor. There was no significant difference in the pattern of recurrence among the three groups. Conclusions The uMAC and SRC had worse and favorable prognosis compared with PDCA, respectively. However, there were no differences in survival by pathological stage, thus histological type was not an independent predictor of prognosis.

  18. Primary undifferentiated sarcoma of the meninges: A case report and comprehensive review of the literature.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wapshott, Taylor; Schammel, Christine M G; Schammel, David P; Rezeanu, Luminita; Lynn, Michael

    2018-05-21

    Sarcomas make up 1% of all cases of adult cancer, with 5-10% of those classified as undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcomas (UPS/PUS) and 0.1-4.3% primary intracranial sarcomas. Intracranial undifferentiated sarcoma is characterized by an earlier age of onset and generally poorer prognosis compared to extracranial undifferentiated sarcomas. Current therapies involve surgical excision with wide margins and radiotherapy, with minimal data available regarding the efficacy of chemotherapy. A 79-year-old man with a history of remote superficial bladder cancer presented with a large frontal scalp lesion. A biopsy was initially attempted by a dermatologist in the outpatient setting, but a follow-up CT scan revealed a skull-eroding, enhancing soft tissue lesion. Neurosurgical treatment revealed an undifferentiated sarcoma. The patient underwent adjuvant radiation therapy of 59.4 Gy fractionated over 45 days following surgery. Follow-up brain MRIs at 1-, 6-, 9-, 12-, 15-, 21-, and 27 months after surgery have not shown any indications of local recurrence or tumor metastasis. Despite the high propensity that undifferentiated sarcomas have for recurrence and metastasis and the patient's advanced age, this patient remains uniquely disease-free. We provide a description of an unusual case and comprehensive literature review of UPS to clarify the hallmarks of the disease, identify the difficulties in diagnosis, and provide a summary of therapies employed in the literature with their corresponding patient outcomes. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. Imaging features of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver: a series of 15 children

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gabor, Flaviu; Franchi-Abella, Stephanie; Pariente, Daniele [Bicetre Hospital, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Le Kremlin-Bicetre (France); Merli, Laura [Bambino Gesu Children' s Hospital, Unit of Hepato-Biliary and Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery and Transplantation Centre, Rome (Italy); Adamsbaum, Catherine [Bicetre Hospital, Department of Pediatric Radiology, Le Kremlin-Bicetre (France); Paris Sud University, Faculty of Medicine, Le Kremlin-Bicetre (France); Universite Paris-Saclay, LTCI, CNRS, Telecom Paris Tech, Paris (France)

    2016-11-15

    Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver is a rare malignant mesenchymal tumour occurring mostly in children ages 6-10 years. The discrepancy between its solid appearance on US and cystic-like appearance on CT has been described. To study the imaging particularities and similarities among our cases of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma and to report the errors in initial diagnoses. We conducted a retrospective study of 15 children with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma diagnosed or referred to our hospital during 1997-2015 and analysed the clinical, biological and imaging data. We identified eight boys and seven girls ages 9 months to 14 years. Ten children presented with abdominal pain. Alpha-fetoprotein was slightly increased in one. Initial US and CT had been performed for all, while additional MRI had been done in two children. Initial CT demonstrated a hypoattenuated mass in all. Rupture was seen in five and intratumoural bleeding in seven children. Tumour volumes reduced during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 10 children. Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma might be suggested in a non-secreting unifocal tumour with well-defined borders, fluid-filled spaces on US, hypoattenuation and serpiginous vessels on CT, and if there are signs of internal bleeding or rupture on CT or MRI. (orig.)

  20. Imaging features of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver: a series of 15 children

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gabor, Flaviu; Franchi-Abella, Stephanie; Pariente, Daniele; Merli, Laura; Adamsbaum, Catherine

    2016-01-01

    Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma of the liver is a rare malignant mesenchymal tumour occurring mostly in children ages 6-10 years. The discrepancy between its solid appearance on US and cystic-like appearance on CT has been described. To study the imaging particularities and similarities among our cases of undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma and to report the errors in initial diagnoses. We conducted a retrospective study of 15 children with undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma diagnosed or referred to our hospital during 1997-2015 and analysed the clinical, biological and imaging data. We identified eight boys and seven girls ages 9 months to 14 years. Ten children presented with abdominal pain. Alpha-fetoprotein was slightly increased in one. Initial US and CT had been performed for all, while additional MRI had been done in two children. Initial CT demonstrated a hypoattenuated mass in all. Rupture was seen in five and intratumoural bleeding in seven children. Tumour volumes reduced during neoadjuvant chemotherapy in 10 children. Undifferentiated embryonal sarcoma might be suggested in a non-secreting unifocal tumour with well-defined borders, fluid-filled spaces on US, hypoattenuation and serpiginous vessels on CT, and if there are signs of internal bleeding or rupture on CT or MRI. (orig.)

  1. Formalization of 2007 ESH/ESC Hypertension Guidelines (HGL)

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Peleška, Jan; Anger, Z.; Buchtela, David; Tomečková, Marie; Veselý, Arnošt; Zvárová, Jana; Zvolský, Miroslav

    2008-01-01

    Roč. 26, Suppl. 1 (2008), s. 302-302 ISSN 0952-1178. [ Hypertension 2008. 14.06.2008-19.06.2008, Berlin] R&D Projects: GA AV ČR 1ET200300413 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z10300504 Keywords : formalization of medical guidelines * 2007 ESH/ESC hypertension guidelines Subject RIV: FA - Cardiovascular Diseases incl. Cardiotharic Surgery

  2. Progenitor cells for regenerative medicine and consequences of ART and cloning-associated epimutations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laprise, Shari L

    2010-06-01

    The "holy grail" of regenerative medicine is the identification of an undifferentiated progenitor cell that is pluripotent, patient specific, and ethically unambiguous. Such a progenitor cell must also be able to differentiate into functional, transplantable tissue, while avoiding the risks of immune rejection. With reports detailing aberrant genomic imprinting associated with assisted reproductive technologies (ART) and reproductive cloning, the idea that human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) derived from surplus in vitro fertilized embryos or nuclear transfer ESCs (ntESCs) harvested from cloned embryos may harbor dangerous epigenetic errors has gained attention. Various progenitor cell sources have been proposed for human therapy, from hESCs to ntESCs, and from adult stem cells to induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS and piPS cells). This review highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each of these technologies, with particular emphasis on epigenetic stability.

  3. ACC/AHA guidelines superior to ESC/EAS guidelines for primary prevention with statins in non-diabetic Europeans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mortensen, Martin Bødtker; Nordestgaard, Børge G; Afzal, Shoaib

    2017-01-01

    Aim We compared the 2013 American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association (ACC/AHA) and the 2016 European Society of Cardiology/European Atherosclerosis Society (ESC/EAS) guidelines on prevention of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) using different risk prediction models [US......-calibrated around decision thresholds for statin therapy. For a Class I recommendation, 42% of individuals qualified for statins using the ACC/AHA guidelines vs. 6% with the ESC/EAS guidelines. Using ACC/AHA- vs. ESC/EAS-defined statin eligibility led to a substantial gain in sensitivity (+62% for any ASCVD and+76......% for fatal ASCVD) with a smaller loss in specificity (-35% for any ASCVD and -36% for fatal ASCVD). Similar differences between the ACC/AHA and ESC/EAS guidelines were found for men and women separately, and for Class IIa recommendations. The sensitivity and specificity of a US-PCE risk of 5% were similar...

  4. Chromosome togetherness at the onset of ESC differentiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krivega, Ivan; Dean, Ann

    2015-03-05

    Pairing of homologous alleles is a phenomenon generally associated with imprinted and mono-allelically expressed loci. In this issue, Hogan et al. (2015) examine the earliest steps between pluripotency and lineage commitment in ESCs and find a critical role for transient pairing of Oct4 alleles in exiting the pluripotent state. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy identifies early lineage commitment in differentiating human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heraud, Philip; Ng, Elizabeth S; Caine, Sally; Yu, Qing C; Hirst, Claire; Mayberry, Robyn; Bruce, Amanda; Wood, Bayden R; McNaughton, Don; Stanley, Edouard G; Elefanty, Andrew G

    2010-03-01

    Human ESCs (hESCs) are a valuable tool for the study of early human development and represent a source of normal differentiated cells for pharmaceutical and biotechnology applications and ultimately for cell replacement therapies. For all applications, it will be necessary to develop assays to validate the efficacy of hESC differentiation. We explored the capacity for FTIR spectroscopy, a technique that rapidly characterises cellular macromolecular composition, to discriminate mesendoderm or ectoderm committed cells from undifferentiated hESCs. Distinct infrared spectroscopic "signatures" readily distinguished hESCs from these early differentiated progeny, with bioinformatic models able to correctly classify over 97% of spectra. These data identify a role for FTIR spectroscopy as a new modality to complement conventional analyses of hESCs and their derivatives. FTIR spectroscopy has the potential to provide low-cost, automatable measurements for the quality control of stem and differentiated cells to be used in industry and regenerative medicine. Crown Copyright 2009. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. The influence of gamma radiation on the ESC behaviour of a toughened PMMA through stress relaxation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sousa, Alexandre R.; Araujo, Elmo S.; Rabello, Marcelo S.

    2009-01-01

    On this work we studied the ESC degradation behaviour of a toughened PMMA irradiated with different gamma radiation doses. Tensile samples were obtained by injection moulding, and then irradiated using a 60 Co source. The samples irradiated on several doses were submitted to relaxation tests under air, ethanol and ethylene glycol. The results showed that the ESC action was intensified with the rising radiation doses when the relaxation tests were done under ethanol. On the tests under ethylene glycol the ESC effect was observed only to the irradiated polymer through the higher dose and under the higher relaxation load. The fracture surface analysis of tested relaxation samples, under ethanol, showed a dendritic pattern formed on fracture surfaces. (author)

  7. Mesenchymal stem cell like (MSCl) cells generated from human embryonic stem cells support pluripotent cell growth

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Varga, Nora [Membrane Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest (Hungary); Vereb, Zoltan; Rajnavoelgyi, Eva [Department of Immunology, Medical and Health Science Centre, University of Debrecen, Debrecen (Hungary); Nemet, Katalin; Uher, Ferenc; Sarkadi, Balazs [Membrane Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest (Hungary); Apati, Agota, E-mail: apati@kkk.org.hu [Membrane Research Group of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Semmelweis University, Budapest (Hungary)

    2011-10-28

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer MSC like cells were derived from hESC by a simple and reproducible method. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Differentiation and immunosuppressive features of MSCl cells were similar to bmMSC. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer MSCl cells as feeder cells support the undifferentiated growth of hESC. -- Abstract: Mesenchymal stem cell like (MSCl) cells were generated from human embryonic stem cells (hESC) through embryoid body formation, and isolated by adherence to plastic surface. MSCl cell lines could be propagated without changes in morphological or functional characteristics for more than 15 passages. These cells, as well as their fluorescent protein expressing stable derivatives, efficiently supported the growth of undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells as feeder cells. The MSCl cells did not express the embryonic (Oct4, Nanog, ABCG2, PODXL, or SSEA4), or hematopoietic (CD34, CD45, CD14, CD133, HLA-DR) stem cell markers, while were positive for the characteristic cell surface markers of MSCs (CD44, CD73, CD90, CD105). MSCl cells could be differentiated toward osteogenic, chondrogenic or adipogenic directions and exhibited significant inhibition of mitogen-activated lymphocyte proliferation, and thus presented immunosuppressive features. We suggest that cultured MSCl cells can properly model human MSCs and be applied as efficient feeders in hESC cultures.

  8. Bone metastasis of undifferentiated pulmonary adenocarcinoma in a cat

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, H.E.; Arnbjerg, J.

    1986-01-01

    In the cat, metastases from primary lung tumors (PLT) to distal bones have been described by Moore & Middleton (differentiated adenocarcinoma) and Pool et al. (squamous cell carcinoma) (16 22). This paper describes the radiological and pathological findings in a cat with metastatic undifferentiated papillary adenocarcinoma. The involvement of the toes was the initial sign leading to veterinary consultation

  9. ESC resistance of commercial grade polycarbonates during exposure to butter and related chemicals

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kjellander, Carina Koch; Nielsen, Tenna B; Ghanbari-Siahkali, Afshin

    2008-01-01

    differences in ESC resistance could be related to their structural or chemical properties. MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry revealed that Makrolon Rx:1805 contains a low molar mass material characterised as poly(propylene glycol)p, which was confirmed by ATR-FTIR and H-1 NMR. Some "non-absorbing" chemicals......, such as butter, cause the PCs to be less resistant to ESC under stress. The reason for this is that these chemicals and the PCs have sufficiently similar Hansen solubility parameters to allow surface conformational changes even though absorption is non-existent or extremely small. ATR-FTIR was used to detect...

  10. Undifferentiated Gender Role Orientation, Drinking Motives, and Increased Alcohol Use in Men and Women.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fugitt, Jessica L; Ham, Lindsay S; Bridges, Ana J

    2017-05-12

    Alcohol misuse has historically affected men more than women. However, the differences in drinking behaviors across sex have steadily decreased over time and accumulating research suggests that gender role orientation, or culturally scripted gender-specific characteristics, and negative reinforcement drinking motives may better explain risk for alcohol use and related problems than sex. The current study tested a mediational model of the undifferentiated orientation (low masculinity and low femininity), an oft neglected orientation despite evidence that it could carry much weight in drinking behaviors, versus the other three gender role orientations, coping and conformity drinking motives, and hazardous alcohol use. Participants were 426 current drinkers over age 21 (41% men; 77.8% Caucasian; M age = 34.5, range = 21-73) residing across the United States who completed an online survey. Structural equation modeling analyses suggested that individuals with an undifferentiated orientation (n = 99), compared to masculine (high masculinity, low femininity; n = 102), feminine (high femininity, low masculinity; n = 113), or androgynous (high masculinity, high femininity; n = 112) orientations, reported higher coping drinking motives, which were positively associated with levels of hazardous alcohol use. Although analyses suggested that undifferentiated individuals reported drinking for conformity motives more often than masculine and androgynous individuals, conformity motives were not associated with increased use. Conclusions/Importance: An undifferentiated gender role orientation may contribute a unique risk for alcohol use and related problems by increasing frequency of drinking to cope, a motive specifically associated with hazardous use trajectories.

  11. Colonial Figures: Memories of Street Traders in the Colonial and Early Post-colonial Periods

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sheri Lynn Gibbings

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article explores post-colonial memories about street traders among individuals who lived in the former colony of the Dutch East Indies. It argues that these narratives romanticize the relationship between Europeans and indigenous peoples. Street vendors are also used to differentiate between periods within colonial and post-colonial history. The nostalgic representation of interracial contact between Europeans and traders is contrasted with representations of other figures such as the Japanese and the nationalist. A recurring feature of these representations is the ability of Europeans to speak with street traders and imagine what they wanted and needed. The traders are remembered as a social type that transgressed politics and represented the neutrality of the economic sphere as a place for shared communication. The article concludes that the figure of the street vendor contributes to the nostalgic reinvention of the colony but is also used in narratives to differentiate between and mark changes across the colonial and post-colonial periods.

  12. Icaritin enhances mESC self-renewal through upregulating core pluripotency transcription factors mediated by ER?

    OpenAIRE

    Tsang, Wing Pui; Zhang, Fengjie; He, Qiling; Cai, Waijiao; Huang, Jianhua; Chan, Wai Yee; Shen, Ziyin; Wan, Chao

    2017-01-01

    Utilization of small molecules in modulation of stem cell self-renewal is a promising approach to expand stem cells for regenerative therapy. Here, we identify Icaritin, a phytoestrogen molecule enhances self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). Icaritin increases mESCs proliferation while maintains their self-renewal capacity in vitro and pluripotency in vivo. This coincides with upregulation of key pluripotency transcription factors OCT4, NANOG, KLF4 and SOX2. The enhancement of m...

  13. How well are European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines adhered to in patients with syncope?

    LENUS (Irish Health Repository)

    O'Dwyer, C

    2010-01-01

    The ESC guidelines on syncope were published in 2001 and updated in 2004. Adherence to the recommendations enables early stratification of low and high risk patients and prevents unnecessary investigations and admissions. Vasovagal syncope (VVS) is the commonest cause of syncope in all age groups and a low risk condition. The study objective was to determine whether the ESC guidelines were adhered to prior to referral to a syncope unit; 100 consecutive patients with unexplained syncope (52 +\\/- 23 (15-91) years); 53 female. Sixty-six patients had VVS. Forty nine (75%) of patients with VVS had undergone unnecessary investigations prior to diagnosis and 31 (47%) were admitted to hospital for investigation. Research from other countries confirms that adherence to the ESC guidelines expediates accurate diagnosis, improves resource utilization and reduces health care cost. Greater awareness amongst Irish practitioners of guidelines may improve syncope management and reduce costs.

  14. FEATURES OF CLINICAL COURSE OF GASTROESOPHAGEAL REFLUX DISEASE IN NEWLY RECRUITED WITH CONNECTIVE TISSUE UNDIFFERENTIATED DYSPLASIA SYNDROME

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    E.I. Kashkina

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available The presence of connective tissue undifferentiated dysplasia syndrome against a background of psychological stress at newly recruited can promote the risk of gastroesophageal reflux disease occurrence. To the utmost, correlation between the gastroesophageal reflux disease and such manifestations of connective tissue undifferentiated dysplasia syndrome as asthenic constitution, chest deformation, Gothic palate and hypermobility of joints was found

  15. Characterization of genetic determinants of extended-spectrum cephalosporinases (ESCs) in Escherichia coli isolates from Danish and imported poultry meat

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Bergenholz, Rikke; Jørgensen, Mikael Skaanning; Hansen, Lars H.

    2009-01-01

    Sir, The predominant cause of resistance towards cephalosporins in Escherichia coli is production of plasmid-encoded extended-spectrum ß-lactamases (ESBLs) and AmpC-type ß-lactamases, also referred to as extended-spectrum cephalosporinases (ESCs). Most studies have focused on description of ESCs...

  16. Canonical Wnt signaling induces a primitive endoderm metastable state in mouse embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Price, Feodor D; Yin, Hang; Jones, Andrew; van Ijcken, Wilfred; Grosveld, Frank; Rudnicki, Michael A

    2013-04-01

    Activation of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway synergizes with leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) to maintain pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs). However, in the absence of LIF, Wnt signaling is unable to maintain ESCs in the undifferentiated state. To investigate the role of canonical Wnt signaling in pluripotency and lineage specification, we expressed Wnt3a in mESCs and characterized them in growth and differentiation. We found that activated canonical Wnt signaling induced the formation of a reversible metastable primitive endoderm state in mESC. Upon subsequent differentiation, Wnt3a-stimulated mESCs gave rise to large quantities of visceral endoderm. Furthermore, we determined that the ability of canonical Wnt signaling to induce a metastable primitive endoderm state was mediated by Tbx3. Our data demonstrates a specific role for canonical Wnt signaling in promoting pluripotency while at the same time priming cells for subsequent differentiation into the primitive endoderm lineage. Copyright © 2013 AlphaMed Press.

  17. Identification of distinct topographical surface microstructures favoring either undifferentiated expansion or differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Markert, Lotte D'Andrea; Lovmand, Jette; Foss, Morten; Lauridsen, Rune Hoff; Lovmand, Michael; Füchtbauer, Ernst-Martin; Füchtbauer, Annette; Wertz, Karin; Besenbacher, Flemming; Pedersen, Finn Skou; Duch, Mogens

    2009-11-01

    The potential of embryonic stem (ES) cells for both self-renewal and differentiation into cells of all three germ layers has generated immense interest in utilizing these cells for tissue engineering or cell-based therapies. However, the ability to culture undifferentiated ES cells without the use of feeder cells as well as means to obtain homogeneous, differentiated cell populations devoid of residual pluripotent ES cells still remain major challenges. Here we have applied murine ES cells to topographically microstructured surface libraries, BioSurface Structure Arrays (BSSA), and investigated whether these could be used to (i) identify topographically microstructured growth supports alleviating the need for feeder cells for expansion of undifferentiated ES cells and (ii) identify specific types of microstructures enforcing differentiation of ES cells. The BSSA surfaces arrays consisted of 504 different topographical microstructures each located in a tester field of 3 x 3 mm. The murine ES cell lines CJ7 and KH2 were seeded upon the BSSA libraries and specific topographical structures facilitating either undifferentiated ES cell growth or enhancing spreading indicative of differentiation of the ES cells were identified. Secondly serial passage of undifferentiated CJ7 ES cells on selected microstructures, identified in the screening of these BSSA libraries, showed that these cells had retained germ-line potential. These results indicate that one specific type of topographical surface microstructures, identified by the BSSA technology, can substitute for feeder cells and that another subset may be used to eliminate undifferentiated ES cells from a population of differentiated ES cells.

  18. Wnt/β-catenin and LIF-Stat3 signaling pathways converge on Sp5 to promote mouse embryonic stem cell self-renewal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ye, Shoudong; Zhang, Dongming; Cheng, Fei; Wilson, Daniel; Mackay, Jeffrey; He, Kan; Ban, Qian; Lv, Feng; Huang, Saifei; Liu, Dahai; Ying, Qi-Long

    2016-01-15

    Activation of leukemia inhibitor factor (LIF)-Stat3 or Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) self-renewal. A myriad of downstream targets have been identified in the individual signal pathways, but their common targets remain largely elusive. In this study, we found that the LIF-Stat3 and Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathways converge on Sp5 to promote mESC self-renewal. Forced Sp5 expression can reproduce partial effects of Wnt/β-catenin signaling but mimics most features of LIF-Stat3 signaling to maintain undifferentiated mESCs. Moreover, Sp5 is able to convert mouse epiblast stem cells into a naïve pluripotent state. Thus, Sp5 is an important component of the regulatory network governing mESC naïve pluripotency. © 2016. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  19. EURObservational Research Programme: the Heart Failure Pilot Survey (ESC-HF Pilot)

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Maggioni, Aldo P; Dahlström, Ulf; Filippatos, Gerasimos

    2010-01-01

    The primary objective of the new ESC-HF Pilot Survey was to describe the clinical epidemiology of outpatients and inpatients with heart failure (HF) and the diagnostic/therapeutic processes applied across 12 participating European countries. This pilot study was specifically aimed at validating...

  20. STS-48 ESC Earth observation of ice pack, Antarctic Ice Shelf

    Science.gov (United States)

    1991-01-01

    STS-48 Earth observation taken aboard Discovery, Orbiter Vehicle (OV) 103, is of the breakup of pack ice along the periphery of the Antarctic Ice Shelf. Strong offshore winds, probably associated with katabatic downdrafts from the interior of the continent, are seen peeling off the edges of the ice shelf into long filaments of sea ice, icebergs, bergy bits, and growlers to flow northward into the South Atlantic Ocean. These photos are used to study ocean wind, tide and current patterns. Similar views photographed during previous missions, when analyzed with these recent views may yield information about regional ice drift and breakup of ice packs. The image was captured using an electronic still camera (ESC), was stored on a removable hard disk or small optical disk, and was converted to a format suitable for downlink transmission. The ESC documentation was part of Development Test Objective (DTO) 648, Electronic Still Photography.

  1. Ansiedad escénica y flamenco

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mariola Lupiáñez Castillo

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Cuando el artista flamenco sube al escenario, además de expresar su arte y disfrutar con su ejecución, es también objeto de la valoración de su público. Cuando los pensamientos y la atención del artista se centran solo en este escrutinio de la audiencia se puede desarrollar miedo o incomodidad a la hora de actuar, padeciendo lo que se denomina ansiedad escénica. Esta fobia social aparece cuando la persona teme ser evaluada negativamente por los demás y mostrar síntomas de nerviosismo que puedan ser perceptibles por el público. Las manifestaciones de la ansiedad se pueden clasificar en tres categorías: Cognitivas, fisiológicas y conductuales. Estas manifestaciones afectan al estado de ánimo, dificultan la ejecución de la tarea y predisponen al artista a evitar enfrentarse a futuras actuaciones. No controlar estas manifestaciones de la forma adecuada puede suponer en el músico o bailaor el detrimento de su calidad artística y en numerosas ocasiones, el abandono de la carrera artística. Estudios anteriores revelan que la formación académica y el contexto socio cultural en el que se desenvuelve el artista pueden incidir en el desarrollo y permanencia de la ansiedad escénica. Teniendo en cuenta las peculiaridades históricas y sociales del Flamenco así como la evolución de su formación, que ha pasado de la transmisión oral de un ambiente informal al estudio dentro de los conservatorios, se considera necesario estudiar cómo afecta la ansiedad a los artistas de este género para poder prevenir e intervenir en los músicos que la padezcan.

  2. EURObservational Research Programme : The Heart Failure Pilot Survey (ESC-HF Pilot)

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maggioni, Aldo P.; Dahlstrom, Ulf; Filippatos, Gerasimos; Chioncel, Ovidiu; Crespo Leiro, Marisa; Drozdz, Jaroslaw; Fruhwald, Friedrich; Gullestad, Lars; Logeart, Damien; Metra, Marco; Parissis, John; Persson, Hans; Ponikowski, Piotr; Rauchhaus, Mathias; Voors, Adriaan A.; Nielsen, Olav Wendelboe; Zannad, Faiez; Tavazzi, Luigi

    2010-01-01

    The primary objective of the new ESC-HF Pilot Survey was to describe the clinical epidemiology of outpatients and inpatients with heart failure (HF) and the diagnostic/therapeutic processes applied across 12 participating European countries. This pilot study was specifically aimed at validating the

  3. ELABELA Is an Endogenous Growth Factor that Sustains hESC Self-Renewal via the PI3K/AKT Pathway

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ho, Lena; Tan, Shawn Y. X.; Wee, Sheena; Wu, Yixuan; Tan, Sam J. C.; Ramakrishna, Navin B.; Chng, Serene C.; Nama, Srikanth; Szczerbinska, Iwona; Sczerbinska, Iwona; Chan, Yun-Shen; Avery, Stuart; Tsuneyoshi, Norihiro; Ng, Huck Hui; Gunaratne, Jayantha; Dunn, N. Ray; Reversade, Bruno

    2015-01-01

    ELABELA (ELA) is a peptide hormone required for heart development that signals via the Apelin Receptor (APLNR, APJ). ELA is also abundantly secreted by human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), which do not express APLNR. Here we show that ELA signals in a paracrine fashion in hESCs to maintain

  4. Etiologies of Acute Undifferentiated Fever and Clinical Prediction of Scrub Typhus in a Non-Tropical Endemic Area

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jung, Ho-Chul; Chon, Sung-Bin; Oh, Won Sup; Lee, Dong-Hyun; Lee, Ho-Jin

    2015-01-01

    Scrub typhus usually presents as acute undifferentiated fever. This cross-sectional study included adult patients presenting with acute undifferentiated fever defined as any febrile illness for ≤ 14 days without evidence of localized infection. Scrub typhus cases were defined by an antibody titer of a ≥ fourfold increase in paired sera, a ≥ 1:160 in a single serum using indirect immunofluorescence assay, or a positive result of the immunochromatographic test. Multiple regression analysis identified predictors associated with scrub typhus to develop a prediction rule. Of 250 cases with known etiology of acute undifferentiated fever, influenza (28.0%), hepatitis A (25.2%), and scrub typhus (16.4%) were major causes. A prediction rule for identifying suspected cases of scrub typhus consisted of age ≥ 65 years (two points), recent fieldwork/outdoor activities (one point), onset of illness during an outbreak period (two points), myalgia (one point), and eschar (two points). The c statistic was 0.977 (95% confidence interval = 0.960–0.994). At a cutoff value ≥ 4, the sensitivity and specificity were 92.7% (79.0–98.1%) and 90.9% (86.0–94.3%), respectively. Scrub typhus, the third leading cause of acute undifferentiated fever in our region, can be identified early using the prediction rule. PMID:25448236

  5. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Guayabos Sheet N-15

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gancio, F.; Ford, I.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Guayabos) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils of Arapey, Guichon, Mercedes and Asencio formations in the Cretaceous period

  6. EseE of Edwardsiella tarda Augments Secretion of Translocon Protein EseC and Expression of the escC-eseE Operon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yi, Jia; Xiao, Shui Bing; Zeng, Zhi Xiong; Lu, Jin Fang; Liu, Lu Yi; Laghari, Zubair Ahmed; Nie, Pin; Yu, Hong Bing; Xie, Hai Xia

    2016-08-01

    Edwardsiella tarda is an important Gram-negative pathogen that employs a type III secretion system (T3SS) to deliver effectors into host cells to facilitate bacterial survival and replication. These effectors are translocated into host cells through a translocon complex composed of three secreted proteins, namely, EseB, EseC, and EseD. The secretion of EseB and EseD requires a chaperone protein called EscC, whereas the secretion of EseC requires the chaperone EscA. In this study, we identified a novel protein (EseE) that also regulates the secretion of EseC. An eseE deletion mutant secreted much less EseC into supernatants, accompanied by increased EseC levels within bacterial cells. We also demonstrated that EseE interacted directly with EseC in a pulldown assay. Interestingly, EseC, EseE, and EscA were able to form a ternary complex, as revealed by pulldown and gel filtration assays. Of particular importance, the deletion of eseE resulted in decreased levels of EseB and EseD proteins in both the bacterial pellet and supernatant fraction. Furthermore, real-time PCR assays showed that EseE positively regulated the transcription of the translocon operon escC-eseE, comprising escC, eseB, escA, eseC, eseD, and eseE These effects of EseE on the translocon components/operon appeared to have a functional consequence, since the ΔeseE strain was outcompeted by wild-type E. tarda in a mixed infection in blue gourami fish. Collectively, our results demonstrate that EseE not only functions as a chaperone for EseC but also acts as a positive regulator controlling the expression of the translocon operon escC-eseE, thus contributing to the pathogenesis of E. tarda in fish. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  7. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Cololo Sheet 0-19

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Morales, H.; Ford, I.; Montana, J.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Cololo) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils of Holocene, Oligocene and upper Cretaceous in Asencio and Fray Bentos formations

  8. NUTM1 Gene Fusions Characterize a Subset of Undifferentiated Soft Tissue and Visceral Tumors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dickson, Brendan C; Sung, Yun-Shao; Rosenblum, Marc K; Reuter, Victor E; Harb, Mohammed; Wunder, Jay S; Swanson, David; Antonescu, Cristina R

    2018-05-01

    NUT midline carcinoma is an aggressive tumor that occurs mainly in the head and neck and, less frequently, the mediastinum and lung. Following identification of an index case of a NUTM1 fusion positive undifferentiated soft tissue tumor, we interrogated additional cases of primary undifferentiated soft tissue and visceral tumors for NUTM1 abnormalities. Targeted next-generation sequencing was performed on RNA extracted from formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue, and results validated by fluorescence in situ hybridization using custom bacterial artificial chromosome probes. Six patients were identified: mean age of 42 years (range, 3 to 71 y); equal sex distribution; and, tumors involved the extremity soft tissues (N=2), kidney (N=2), stomach, and brain. On systemic work-up at presentation all patients lacked a distant primary tumor. Morphologically, the tumors were heterogenous, with undifferentiated round-epithelioid-rhabdoid cells arranged in solid sheets, nests, and cords. Mitotic activity was generally brisk. Four cases expressed pancytokeratin, but in only 2 cases was this diffuse. Next-generation sequencing demonstrated the following fusions: BRD4-NUTM1 (3 cases), BRD3-NUTM1, MXD1-NUTM1, and BCORL1-NUTM1. Independent testing by fluorescence in situ hybridization confirmed the presence of NUTM1 and partner gene rearrangement. This study establishes that NUT-associated tumors transgress the midline and account for a subset of primitive neoplasms occurring in soft tissue and viscera. Tumors harboring NUTM1 gene fusions are presumably underrecognized, and the extent to which they account for undifferentiated mesenchymal, neuroendocrine, and/or epithelial neoplasms is unclear. Moreover, the relationship, if any, between NUT-associated tumors in soft tissue and/or viscera, and conventional NUT carcinoma, remains to be elucidated.

  9. Is undifferentiated spondyloarthritis a discrete entity? A debate.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deodhar, Atul; Miossec, Pierre; Baraliakos, Xenofon

    2018-01-01

    The concept of undifferentiated spondyloarthritis has been introduced recently to describe a clinical setting where the classical features of spondyloarthritis (SpA) are not fully present. Whether this is a discrete entity was the basis of a debate during the 4th International Congress on Controversies in Rheumatology & Autoimmunity held in Bologna, Italy 9-11 March 2017. The pro and con aspects of the debate are presented. The implications of the debate are important ranging from diagnostic aspects to consequences for the society and the payers. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. A comprehensive review of rollover accidents involving vehicles equipped with Electronic Stability Control (ESC) systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Padmanaban, Jeya; Shields, Leland E; Scheibe, Robert R; Eyges, Vitaly E

    2008-10-01

    This study investigated 478 police accident reports from 9 states to examine and characterize rollover crashes involving ESC-equipped vehicles. The focus was on the sequence of critical events leading to loss of control and rollover, and the interactions between the accident, driver, and environment. Results show that, while ESC is effective in reducing loss of control leading to certain rollover crashes, its effectiveness is diminished in others, particularly when the vehicle departs the roadway or when environmental factors such as slick road conditions or driver factors such as speeding, distraction, fatigue, impairment, or overcorrection are present.

  11. Introducción al libro La mujer en las artes visuales y escénicas

    OpenAIRE

    Barrios Herrero, Olga

    2010-01-01

    [ES]Este trabajo presenta el libro Women in the Visual and Performing Arts, haciendo hincapié en la variedad de estilos, alto grado de experimentación y géneros vanguardistas creados por mujeres artistas de todo el mundo, tanto en las artes visuales como en las escénicas, muchas de ellas combinando visual y escénico en sus expresiones artísticas. El libro incluye una panorámica histórica de las mujeres en las artes, presentando teoría al igual que testimonios de las propias artistas que nos c...

  12. Promoted neuronal differentiation after activation of alpha4/beta2 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in undifferentiated neural progenitors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takeshi Takarada

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Neural progenitor is a generic term used for undifferentiated cell populations of neural stem, neuronal progenitor and glial progenitor cells with abilities for proliferation and differentiation. We have shown functional expression of ionotropic N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA and gamma-aminobutyrate type-A receptors endowed to positively and negatively regulate subsequent neuronal differentiation in undifferentiated neural progenitors, respectively. In this study, we attempted to evaluate the possible functional expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (nAChR by undifferentiated neural progenitors prepared from neocortex of embryonic rodent brains. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction analysis revealed mRNA expression of particular nAChR subunits in undifferentiated rat and mouse progenitors prepared before and after the culture with epidermal growth factor under floating conditions. Sustained exposure to nicotine significantly inhibited the formation of neurospheres composed of clustered proliferating cells and 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide reduction activity at a concentration range of 1 µM to 1 mM without affecting cell survival. In these rodent progenitors previously exposed to nicotine, marked promotion was invariably seen for subsequent differentiation into cells immunoreactive for a neuronal marker protein following the culture of dispersed cells under adherent conditions. Both effects of nicotine were significantly prevented by the heteromeric α4β2 nAChR subtype antagonists dihydro-β-erythroidine and 4-(5-ethoxy-3-pyridinyl-N-methyl-(3E-3-buten-1-amine, but not by the homomeric α7 nAChR subtype antagonist methyllycaconitine, in murine progenitors. Sustained exposure to nicotine preferentially increased the expression of Math1 among different basic helix-loop-helix proneural genes examined. In undifferentiated progenitors from embryonic mice

  13. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Piriapolis Sheet G-29

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preciozzi, F; Pena, S; Masquelin, E; Pias, J; Tabo, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Piriapolis) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils. Geomorphologically Piriapolis fotoplano is dominated by Las Animas and an important Cenozoic coverage

  14. Cell cycle regulation in human embryonic stem cells: links to adaptation to cell culture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barta, Tomas; Dolezalova, Dasa; Holubcova, Zuzana; Hampl, Ales

    2013-03-01

    Cell cycle represents not only a tightly orchestrated mechanism of cell replication and cell division but it also plays an important role in regulation of cell fate decision. Particularly in the context of pluripotent stem cells or multipotent progenitor cells, regulation of cell fate decision is of paramount importance. It has been shown that human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) show unique cell cycle characteristics, such as short doubling time due to abbreviated G1 phase; these properties change with the onset of differentiation. This review summarizes the current understanding of cell cycle regulation in hESCs. We discuss cell cycle properties as well as regulatory machinery governing cell cycle progression of undifferentiated hESCs. Additionally, we provide evidence that long-term culture of hESCs is accompanied by changes in cell cycle properties as well as configuration of several cell cycle regulatory molecules.

  15. Esc2 and Sgs1 act in functionally distinct branches of the homologous recombination repair pathway in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mankouri, Hocine W; Ngo, Hien-Ping; Hickson, Ian D

    2009-01-01

    , the accumulation of these structures in esc2 (but not sgs1) mutants is entirely dependent on Mph1, a protein that shows structural similarity to the Fanconi anemia group M protein (FANCM). In the absence of both Esc2 and Sgs1, the intra-S-phase DNA damage checkpoint response is compromised after exposure to MMS...

  16. Eficiência de escórias de siderurgia na cultura do feijoeiro em sistema de semeadura direta

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Angélica Cristina Fernandes Deus

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available No sistema de semeadura direta (SSD, a prática da correção da acidez do solo se restringe ao uso do calcário, havendo poucas informações em relação às escórias de siderurgia. O trabalho objetivou avaliar as alterações em propriedades químicas do solo, rendimento e absorção de nutrientes do feijoeiro, em função das formas de aplicação de escórias de siderurgia, comparadas ao calcário, na implantação do sistema de semeadura direta. O experimento foi conduzido na área experimental da Faculdade de Ciências Agronômicas de Botucatu (SP, no período de dezembro de 2010 a maio de 2011. Os tratamentos foram duas formas de aplicação de sete corretivos da acidez do solo: escórias de aciaria, de alto forno, de forno de panela, do aço inox (agrosilício, wollastonita, calcário dolomítico e calcário dolomítico calcinado, além de uma testemunha sem aplicação de corretivo. A dose aplicada de cada corretivo foi calculada para elevar a saturação por bases do solo a 70. A acidez do solo foi neutralizada até a camada de 20cm com os calcários, enquanto a wollastonita e escória de forno de panela atingiram a camada de 10cm; para as escórias de aciaria, alto forno e o agrosilício, o efeito corretivo ficou restrito aos primeiros 5cm. O rendimento do feijoeiro aumentou com a aplicação de corretivos da acidez do solo, sem diferença entre o modo de aplicação.

  17. Aberrant patterns of X chromosome inactivation in a new line of human embryonic stem cells established in physiological oxygen concentrations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Oliveira Georges, Juliana Andrea; Vergani, Naja; Fonseca, Simone Aparecida Siqueira; Fraga, Ana Maria; de Mello, Joana Carvalho Moreira; Albuquerque, Maria Cecília R Maciel; Fujihara, Litsuko Shimabukuro; Pereira, Lygia Veiga

    2014-08-01

    One of the differences between murine and human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is the epigenetic state of the X chromosomes in female lines. Murine ESCs (mESCs) present two transcriptionally active Xs that will undergo the dosage compensation process of XCI upon differentiation, whereas most human ESCs (hESCs) spontaneously inactivate one X while keeping their pluripotency. Whether this reflects differences in embryonic development of mice and humans, or distinct culture requirements for the two kinds of pluripotent cells is not known. Recently it has been shown that hESCs established in physiological oxygen levels are in a stable pre-XCI state equivalent to that of mESCs, suggesting that culture in low oxygen concentration is enough to preserve that epigenetic state of the X chromosomes. Here we describe the establishment of two new lines of hESCs under physiological oxygen level and the characterization of the XCI state in the 46,XX line BR-5. We show that a fraction of undifferentiated cells present XIST RNA accumulation and single H3K27me foci, characteristic of the inactive X. Moreover, analysis of allele specific gene expression suggests that pluripotent BR-5 cells present completely skewed XCI. Our data indicate that physiological levels of oxygen are not sufficient for the stabilization of the pre-XCI state in hESCs.

  18. Viral respiratory tract infections among patients with acute undifferentiated fever in Vietnam

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Phuong, Hoang Lan; Nga, Tran T. T.; van Doornum, Gerard J.; Groen, Jan; Binh, Tran Q.; Giao, Phan T.; Hung, Le Q.; Nams, Nguyen V.; Kager, P. A.; de Vries, Peter J.

    2010-01-01

    To investigate the proportion of viral respiratory tract infections among acute undifferentiated fevers (AUFs) at primary health facilities in southern Vietnam during 2001-2005, patients with AUF not caused by malaria were enrolled at twelve primary health facilities and a clinic for malaria control

  19. Comparison of Gene Expression in Human Embryonic Stem Cells, hESC-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells

    OpenAIRE

    Romain Barbet; Isabelle Peiffer; Antoinette Hatzfeld; Pierre Charbord; Jacques A. Hatzfeld

    2011-01-01

    We present a strategy to identify developmental/differentiation and plasma membrane marker genes of the most primitive human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs). Using sensitive and quantitative TaqMan Low Density Arrays (TLDA) methodology, we compared the expression of 381 genes in human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs), hESC-derived MSCs ...

  20. Characterization of acute undifferentiated leukemia by combined analysis of plasma membrane-associated gamma-glutamyltranspeptidase and soluble terminal transferase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Heumann, D; Losa, G; Barras, C; Morell, A; von Fliedner, V

    1985-08-01

    gamma-Glutamyltranspeptidase (gamma-GT) is a plasma membrane-associated enzyme present in blasts of certain acute leukemias. We analyzed 90 cases of undifferentiated and differentiated acute leukemias for gamma-GT, using a colorimetric assay. Blasts of all patients with common acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) and T-ALL were negative for gamma-GT (less than 5 units). In contrast, gamma-GT was significantly elevated in acute myeloblastic or monoblastic leukemia blasts (P less than .001). In 16 cases of acute undifferentiated leukemia (AUL) studied, the levels of gamma-GT ranged from 0 to 93 units; in eight cases, gamma-GT was positive (greater than 5 units), and six of these had 2% to 5% Sudan black-positive leukemic cells in the blast-enriched suspension. Combined gamma-GT/TdT analysis revealed that both enzyme markers were mutually exclusive in 75% of AUL cases, suggesting that gamma-GT+/TdT-blasts are of nonlymphoid origin, and gamma-GT-/TdT+ blasts are of lymphoid origin. Two cases were devoid of both enzyme activities and could represent truly undifferentiated leukemia. Thus, combined gamma-GT/TdT analysis underlines the heterogeneity of AUL and appears to be useful in defining the lineage commitment of undifferentiated leukemic blasts.

  1. Explicative memory of the geologic map of Uruguay. Esc. 1.500.000

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preciozzi Porta, F.; Spoturno, J.; Rossi, P.; Heinzen, W.

    1985-01-01

    The Geological Map of Uruguay Esc. 1.500.000 is part of the Geological Map Programme developed by the Institute Geologic during the years 1977 - 1980. Its memory describe the geography, the lit ho stratigraphy and the crystalline area in the soil of Uruguay.

  2. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Talita Sheet J-24

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Campal, N; Chulepin, H

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Talita) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils.The area belongs to the Rio de la Plata socket basin is associated with the orogenic cycle

  3. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Molles Sheet K-19

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, I

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Molles) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to the Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary period in Arapey, Mercedes, Asencio, Palmitas, Fray Bentos and Libertad formations

  4. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Chafalote Sheet D-26

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Masquelin, H; Tabo, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Chafalote) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils. The area corresponding to Chafalote is located in central and eastern metamorphic formation constituted by Lavalleja-Rocha group

  5. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Palmitas Sheet 0- 22

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, I.; Gancio, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Molles) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to the Proterozoic, Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary period in Mercedes, Asencio, Palmitas and Fray Bentos formations

  6. Prevalence of undifferentiated fever in adults of Rawalpindi having primary dengue fever

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zafar, H.; Hayyat, A.; Akhtar, N.

    2013-01-01

    The objectives of the study were to highlight early subclinical presentation of dengue viral infection (DVI) as an undifferentiated febrile illness. The descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out at Microbiology Department, Rawalpindi Medical College from March to September 2009. Stratified random sampling was used to select subjects from various urban and rural areas of Rawalpindi, and Serum IgG anti-dengue antibodies were detected by using 3rd generation enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Out of the total 240 subjects, 69 (28.75%) were found to be positive for anti-dengue IgG antibodies. Of the positive cases, 41 (59.4%) - comprising 31 (44.9%) urban residents - and 10 (14.4%) rural residents presented with a previous history of undifferentiated fever (p<0.05). It was concluded that primary DVI can present as subclinical form in healthy population residing in rural and urban areas of Rawalpindi, which is an alarming situation indicating the spread of disease in the study area. (author)

  7. Benefits and Disadvantages of Neoadjuvant Radiochemotherapy (RCT) in the Multimodal Therapy of Squamous Esophageal Cancer (ESC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hanna, Adrian; Birla, Rodica; Iosif, Cristina; Boeriu, Marius; Constantinoiu, Silviu

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to present the advantages and disadvantages of neoadjuvant RCT in multimodal therapyof ESC. Between 1998-2014 221 patients were treated with ESC, 85 of whom received neoadjuvant RCT. For these we have made imaging and pathologic assessment of response using RECIST and MANDARD criteria and statistical data were interpreted in terms of the factors that influence the response. Also, they were evaluated statistical correlations between RCT and resectability, postoperative morbidity, mortality and long-term survival. 45 patients were imagistic responders and 34 underwent surgery, 40 non-responders of which 14 underwent surgery. Of the 48 surgical patients with preoperative RCT, histopathological evaluation showed that 32 were pathological responders and 16 non responders. There were performed statistical analyzes of correlations between RCT and resectability, stage, location of ESC, morbidity, mortality and survival. RCT increase resectability, improves survival and maximum duration of survival, more in responders than in nonresponders and does not affect postoperative complications and postoperative mortality, nor among the responders or nonresponders. Imaging evaluation result of the response to RCT overestimate responders. Celsius.

  8. Non-canonical TAF complexes regulate active promoters in human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maston, Glenn A; Zhu, Lihua Julie; Chamberlain, Lynn; Lin, Ling; Fang, Minggang; Green, Michael R

    2012-11-13

    The general transcription factor TFIID comprises the TATA-box-binding protein (TBP) and approximately 14 TBP-associated factors (TAFs). Here we find, unexpectedly, that undifferentiated human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) contain only six TAFs (TAFs 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 and 11), whereas following differentiation all TAFs are expressed. Directed and global chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses reveal an unprecedented promoter occupancy pattern: most active genes are bound by only TAFs 3 and 5 along with TBP, whereas the remaining active genes are bound by TBP and all six hESC TAFs. Consistent with these results, hESCs contain a previously undescribed complex comprising TAFs 2, 6, 7, 11 and TBP. Altering the composition of hESC TAFs, either by depleting TAFs that are present or ectopically expressing TAFs that are absent, results in misregulated expression of pluripotency genes and induction of differentiation. Thus, the selective expression and use of TAFs underlies the ability of hESCs to self-renew.DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00068.001.

  9. Understanding Long-Run African Growth : Colonial Institutions or Colonial Education?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bolt, J.; Bezemer, D.J.

    2009-01-01

    Long-term growth in developing countries has been explained in four frameworks: 'extractive colonial institutions' (Acemoglu et al., 2001), 'colonial legal origin' (La Porta et al., 2004), 'geography' (Gallup et al., 1998) and 'colonial human capital' (Glaeser et al., 2004). In this paper we test

  10. Delayed Mesoderm and Erythroid Differentiation of Murine Embryonic Stem Cells in the Absence of the Transcriptional Regulator FUBP1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josephine Wesely

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The transcriptional regulator far upstream binding protein 1 (FUBP1 is essential for fetal and adult hematopoietic stem cell (HSC self-renewal, and the constitutive absence of FUBP1 activity during early development leads to embryonic lethality in homozygous mutant mice. To investigate the role of FUBP1 in murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs and in particular during differentiation into hematopoietic lineages, we generated Fubp1 knockout (KO ESC clones using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Although FUBP1 is expressed in undifferentiated ESCs and during spontaneous differentiation following aggregation into embryoid bodies (EBs, absence of FUBP1 did not affect ESC maintenance. Interestingly, we observed a delayed differentiation of FUBP1-deficient ESCs into the mesoderm germ layer, as indicated by impaired expression of several mesoderm markers including Brachyury at an early time point of ESC differentiation upon aggregation to EBs. Coculture experiments with OP9 cells in the presence of erythropoietin revealed a diminished differentiation capacity of Fubp1 KO ESCs into the erythroid lineage. Our data showed that FUBP1 is important for the onset of mesoderm differentiation and maturation of hematopoietic progenitor cells into the erythroid lineage, a finding that is supported by the phenotype of FUBP1-deficient mice.

  11. Stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) and quantitative comparison of the membrane proteomes of self-renewing and differentiating human embryonic stem cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Prokhorova, Tatyana A; Rigbolt, Kristoffer T G; Johansen, Pia T

    2009-01-01

    Stable isotope labeling by amino acids in cell culture (SILAC) is a powerful quantitative proteomics platform for comprehensive characterization of complex biological systems. However, the potential of SILAC-based approaches has not been fully utilized in human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research...... embryonic stem cell lines. Of the 811 identified membrane proteins, six displayed significantly higher expression levels in the undifferentiated state compared with differentiating cells. This group includes the established marker CD133/Prominin-1 as well as novel candidates for hESC surface markers......: Glypican-4, Neuroligin-4, ErbB2, receptor-type tyrosine-protein phosphatase zeta (PTPRZ), and Glycoprotein M6B. Our study also revealed 17 potential markers of hESC differentiation as their corresponding protein expression levels displayed a dramatic increase in differentiated embryonic stem cell...

  12. Elasticity of human embryonic stem cells as determined by atomic force microscopy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kiss, Robert; Bock, Henry; Pells, Steve; Canetta, Elisabetta; Adya, Ashok K; Moore, Andrew J; De Sousa, Paul; Willoughby, Nicholas A

    2011-10-01

    The expansive growth and differentiation potential of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) make them a promising source of cells for regenerative medicine. However, this promise is off set by the propensity for spontaneous or uncontrolled differentiation to result in heterogeneous cell populations. Cell elasticity has recently been shown to characterize particular cell phenotypes, with undifferentiated and differentiated cells sometimes showing significant differences in their elasticities. In this study, we determined the Young's modulus of hESCs by atomic force microscopy using a pyramidal tip. Using this method we are able to take point measurements of elasticity at multiple locations on a single cell, allowing local variations due to cell structure to be identified. We found considerable differences in the elasticity of the analyzed hESCs, reflected by a broad range of Young's modulus (0.05-10 kPa). This surprisingly high variation suggests that elasticity could serve as the basis of a simple and efficient large scale purification/separation technique to discriminate subpopulations of hESCs.

  13. Brief Report: External Beam Radiation Therapy for the Treatment of Human Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Teratomas.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Andrew S; Tang, Chad; Hong, Wan Xing; Park, Sujin; Bazalova-Carter, Magdalena; Nelson, Geoff; Sanchez-Freire, Veronica; Bakerman, Isaac; Zhang, Wendy; Neofytou, Evgenios; Connolly, Andrew J; Chan, Charles K; Graves, Edward E; Weissman, Irving L; Nguyen, Patricia K; Wu, Joseph C

    2017-08-01

    Human pluripotent stem cells, including human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and human induced PSCs (hiPSCs), have great potential as an unlimited donor source for cell-based therapeutics. The risk of teratoma formation from residual undifferentiated cells, however, remains a critical barrier to the clinical application of these cells. Herein, we describe external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) as an attractive option for the treatment of this iatrogenic growth. We present evidence that EBRT is effective in arresting growth of hESC-derived teratomas in vivo at day 28 post-implantation by using a microCT irradiator capable of targeted treatment in small animals. Within several days of irradiation, teratomas derived from injection of undifferentiated hESCs and hiPSCs demonstrated complete growth arrest lasting several months. In addition, EBRT reduced reseeding potential of teratoma cells during serial transplantation experiments, requiring irradiated teratomas to be seeded at 1 × 10 3 higher doses to form new teratomas. We demonstrate that irradiation induces teratoma cell apoptosis, senescence, and growth arrest, similar to established radiobiology mechanisms. Taken together, these results provide proof of concept for the use of EBRT in the treatment of existing teratomas and highlight a strategy to increase the safety of stem cell-based therapies. Stem Cells 2017;35:1994-2000. © 2017 AlphaMed Press.

  14. English for Scientific Purposes (EScP): Technology, Trends, and Future Challenges for Science Education

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Gi-Zen; Chiu, Wan-Yu; Lin, Chih-Chung; Barrett, Neil E.

    2014-12-01

    To date, the concept of English for Specific Purposes has brought about a great impact on English language learning across various disciplines, including those in science education. Hence, this review paper aimed to address current English language learning in the science disciplines through the practice of computer-assisted language learning to identify the use of learning technologies in science-based literacy. In the literature review, the researchers found that science-based literacy instruction shares many pedagogical aims with English language teaching in terms of reading, writing, listening and speaking, allowing it to be classified as English for Scientific Purposes (EScP). To answer the research questions, the researchers conducted the survey by extracting related articles and teaching examples from the Web of Science. In the search procedure, the researchers used the keywords science OR scientific AND technolog* OR comput* in ten selected journals of social science citation index. Only articles which are specified as journal articles rather than other document types were included. After compiling the corpora, the researchers compared the trends, methodologies and results of EScP instruction in science education. The implications of this study include the opportunities, advantages and challenges for EScP instruction in science education to further develop better educational approaches, adopt new technologies, as well as offer some directions for researchers to conduct future studies.

  15. Posibilidades y límites del escándalo político como una forma de control social

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FERNANDO JIMÉNEZ SÁNCHEZ

    1994-01-01

    Full Text Available El punto de partida del trabajo es una definición del escándalo político como un fenómeno distinto al de la corrupción. De este modo, se define el escándalo político como una reacción de la opinión pública contra un agente político al que se considera responsable de una conducta que es percibida como un abuso de poder o una traición de la confianza social sobre la que se basa la posición de la autoridad que mentiene o puede llegar a mantener tal agente. En este sentido, el escándalo puede ser considerado como una forma de control social (un medio a través del cuál una sociedad se regula a sí misma y coordina el comportamiento de sus miembros. Ahora bien, el escándalo político no es proceso automático de control social en el que a una violación de la confianza social le siga la sanción correspondiente, sino que es un proceso abierto cuyo resultado es incierto y depende del juego de unas élites sociales que se desarrolla sobre el fondo de un contexto cultural, institucional e histórico determinado.

  16. ESC-B: The Cryogenic Upper Stage for Europe's Heavy Lift Launcher Ariane 5ECB

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juhls, A.

    2002-01-01

    -A. Juhls, Astrium GmbH -M. Lepelletier, Snecma Moteurs -JM. Bahu, CNES -C. Poincheval, CNES. In the year 1998 the European ministerial council decided to initiate the Ariane 5 Plus programme in order to upgrade the European heavy lift launcher Ariane 5. The market was changing more rapidly than predicted showing steadily growing satellite mass and the demand for flexible missions while strong competitors were intensifying their preparations to enter the commercial business. The answer was to improve the Ariane 5 launcher by modifying the cryogenic first (or lower ?) stage and the solid boosters and by introducing two cryogenic upper stages in two steps: In order to cope with the short term need of a significant growth of GTO lift capacity up to 10 t the first denoted ESC-A shall enter commercial service in 2002. Four years later a more powerful second version shall take over enabling a GTO performance of 12 t and providing versatile mission capability. The paper will focus on this new cryogenic upper stage denoted ESC-B giving first a general description of main characteristics and constituents. The article will highlight different challenging aspects of the ESC-B development: Ambitious economical conditions regarding both limited development budgets and the strong need to reduce production cost require improved working methods and an adjustment of the conventional development logic, in particular regarding new verification methods. Furthermore Europe is now facing the complex combination of versatile mission capability together with a powerful cryogenic upper stage. The paper will present the approach to define reasonable mission scenarios in order to cover customer demands while avoiding too stringent system requirements. Along with VINCI, Europe's first expander cycle type engine featuring an extendable nozzle dedicated subsystems will be described which allow 4 re-ignitions and 6 hours of ballistic flight. The paper concludes with the summary of the

  17. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Carmelo Sheet P-24

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrando, L; Eugui, W; Cabrera, Z; Elias, R

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Carmelo) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils of the precambrian period in the Mercedes , Fray Bentos, Libertad and Raigon formations. The Precambrian rocks are found in large quarries in Carmelo hill

  18. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Algorta Sheet N-16

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, I; Gancio, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Algorta) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological soil characteristics of the upper cretaceous in Guichon, Mercedes and Asencio formaltions as well as the lower tertiary period of Palmitas and Fray Bentos formations

  19. Conditionally replicating adenovirus prevents pluripotent stem cell–derived teratoma by specifically eliminating undifferentiated cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaoru Mitsui

    Full Text Available Incomplete abolition of tumorigenicity creates potential safety concerns in clinical trials of regenerative medicine based on human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs. Here, we demonstrate that conditionally replicating adenoviruses that specifically target cancers using multiple factors (m-CRAs, originally developed as anticancer drugs, may also be useful as novel antitumorigenic agents in hPSC-based therapy. The survivin promoter was more active in undifferentiated hPSCs than the telomerase reverse transcriptase (TERT promoter, whereas both promoters were minimally active in differentiated normal cells. Accordingly, survivin-responsive m-CRA (Surv.m-CRA killed undifferentiated hPSCs more efficiently than TERT-responsive m-CRAs (Tert.m-CRA; both m-CRAs exhibited efficient viral replication and cytotoxicity in undifferentiated hPSCs, but not in cocultured differentiated normal cells. Pre-infection of hPSCs with Surv.m-CRA or Tert.m-CRA abolished in vivo teratoma formation in a dose-dependent manner following hPSC implantation into mice. Thus, m-CRAs, and in particular Surv.m-CRAs, represent novel antitumorigenic agents that could facilitate safe clinical applications of hPSC-based regenerative medicine.

  20. Genetic diversity affects colony survivorship in commercial honey bee colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tarpy, David R.; vanEngelsdorp, Dennis; Pettis, Jeffrey S.

    2013-08-01

    Honey bee ( Apis mellifera) queens mate with unusually high numbers of males (average of approximately 12 drones), although there is much variation among queens. One main consequence of such extreme polyandry is an increased diversity of worker genotypes within a colony, which has been shown empirically to confer significant adaptive advantages that result in higher colony productivity and survival. Moreover, honey bees are the primary insect pollinators used in modern commercial production agriculture, and their populations have been in decline worldwide. Here, we compare the mating frequencies of queens, and therefore, intracolony genetic diversity, in three commercial beekeeping operations to determine how they correlate with various measures of colony health and productivity, particularly the likelihood of queen supersedure and colony survival in functional, intensively managed beehives. We found the average effective paternity frequency ( m e ) of this population of honey bee queens to be 13.6 ± 6.76, which was not significantly different between colonies that superseded their queen and those that did not. However, colonies that were less genetically diverse (headed by queens with m e ≤ 7.0) were 2.86 times more likely to die by the end of the study when compared to colonies that were more genetically diverse (headed by queens with m e > 7.0). The stark contrast in colony survival based on increased genetic diversity suggests that there are important tangible benefits of increased queen mating number in managed honey bees, although the exact mechanism(s) that govern these benefits have not been fully elucidated.

  1. On colonial grounds

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dommelen, Peter Alexander René van

    1998-01-01

    As a study of the colonial situations of first millennium BC Sardinia, this book is as much an investigation into colonialism as a sociological category, as it explores the specific historical conditions of a particular region. Taking a fresh look at colonialism in Mediterranean archaeology from a

  2. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Bequelo Sheet N0-20

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montana, J.; Ford, I.; Morales, H.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Bequelo) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics of the precambrian period in the Bequelo stream as well as the Mercedes , Asencio and Fray Bentos formations

  3. Meta-analysis of differentiating mouse embryonic stem cell gene expression kinetics reveals early change of a small gene set.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Clive H Glover

    2006-11-01

    Full Text Available Stem cell differentiation involves critical changes in gene expression. Identification of these should provide endpoints useful for optimizing stem cell propagation as well as potential clues about mechanisms governing stem cell maintenance. Here we describe the results of a new meta-analysis methodology applied to multiple gene expression datasets from three mouse embryonic stem cell (ESC lines obtained at specific time points during the course of their differentiation into various lineages. We developed methods to identify genes with expression changes that correlated with the altered frequency of functionally defined, undifferentiated ESC in culture. In each dataset, we computed a novel statistical confidence measure for every gene which captured the certainty that a particular gene exhibited an expression pattern of interest within that dataset. This permitted a joint analysis of the datasets, despite the different experimental designs. Using a ranking scheme that favored genes exhibiting patterns of interest, we focused on the top 88 genes whose expression was consistently changed when ESC were induced to differentiate. Seven of these (103728_at, 8430410A17Rik, Klf2, Nr0b1, Sox2, Tcl1, and Zfp42 showed a rapid decrease in expression concurrent with a decrease in frequency of undifferentiated cells and remained predictive when evaluated in additional maintenance and differentiating protocols. Through a novel meta-analysis, this study identifies a small set of genes whose expression is useful for identifying changes in stem cell frequencies in cultures of mouse ESC. The methods and findings have broader applicability to understanding the regulation of self-renewal of other stem cell types.

  4. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Zapican Sheet F-22

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preciozzi, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Zapican) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils.The fotoplano Zapican is located in the north of Lavalleja town and geologically is formed by Lavalleja group and the west socket represented by granites and volcanic reefs

  5. Smad, PI3K/Akt, and Wnt-dependent signaling pathways are involved in BMP-4-induced ESC self-renewal.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Min Young; Lim, Hyun Woo; Lee, Sang Hun; Han, Ho Jae

    2009-08-01

    It is known that bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP-4) has a diverse effect on ESCs. However, its precise mechanism in mouse ESCs is not fully understood. We evaluated the effect of BMP-4 on ESC proliferation and its related signal cascades in this study. BMP-4 significantly increased the level of [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation in time- (> or =8 hours) and dose- (> or =10 ng/ml) dependent manners. Additionally, BMP-4 increased cyclin D1 and decreased p27(kip1) expression values in a time-dependent manner. The increases in BMP-4-induced [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation and cyclin D1 expression were inhibited by the BMP-4 receptor antagonist noggin. BMP-4 increased Wnt1 expression. Wnt1 expression was attenuated by Smad4 small interfering RNA (siRNA), and BMP-4-induced cyclin D1 expression was inhibited by Smad4 and Wnt1 siRNAs. BMP-4 also activated beta-catenin, which was blocked by Smad4 and Wnt1 siRNAs. In addition, BMP-4 induced Akt phosphorylation. BMP-4-induced beta-catenin activation and cyclin D1 expression were attenuated by phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K) siRNA and Akt inhibitor. Additionally, downregulation of Smad4, Wnt1, and PI3K expression by siRNA decreased the levels of pluripotency marker mRNAs of ESCs, including Oct4, Sox2, and FoxD3. Our results suggested that BMP-4-induced [(3)H]-thymidine incorporation was significantly attenuated by Smad4, Wnt1, and PI3K knockdown. In conclusion, BMP-4 contributed to the maintenance of cell proliferation and the pluripotent state by Smad, PI3K/Akt, and Wnt1/beta-catenin in mouse ESCs.

  6. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. El Ombu Sheet N-18

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, I

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (El Ombu) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to the Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary period in Arapey, Mercedes, Asencio, Palmitas, Fray Bentos and Libertad formations

  7. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Cerro Partido Sheet F-24

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Diaz, R; Albanell, H.; Bossi, J.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Cerro Partido) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils. The area corresponding to the Cerro Partido fotoplano is located in the orogenic belt or Don Feliciano belt

  8. Entomophagy and coprophagy in undifferentiated schizophrenia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lingeswaran, Anand; Vijayakumar, Vinayak; Dinesh, John

    2009-01-01

    Coprophagia or the ingestion of feces, considered to be a variant of pica, has been associated with medical disorders like seizure disorders, cerebral atrophy, and tumors and with psychiatric disorders like mental retardation, alcoholism, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, fetishes, delirium, and dementia. But entomophagy or the practice of eating live or dead insects as food by humans has only been reported as part of eating habits by some cultures in the world and not in association with any medical or neuropsychiatric disorders. Till date, there is no report in medical literature of entomophagy as an association with any neuropsychiatric or medical illnesses. Coprophagy and entomophagy has not been together reported as well. We describe the first ever case report of a 19-year- old male patient diagnosed with undifferentiated schizophrenia and associated with both entomophagy and coprophagy. His schizophrenic symptoms, the entomophagic, coprophagic behaviors improved with olanzapine therapy. Entomophagy and coprophagy, two very unusual human behaviors, can be seen in association with schizophrenia.

  9. Ireland – a test case of Post-colonialism / Post colonialism

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Brenda Murray

    2006-05-01

    Full Text Available Contextualisation This review attempts to set the stage for post-colonial theorising, in the light of alternative representations of ‘whiteness’, on issues of gender, race and language within the discourse of equality. In this paper Ireland and the Irish provide a backdrop against which the nature and impact of colonialism on the colonised and the coloniser are explored. Many challenging questions emerge about the ideological basis of post colonial theory, not least when traditional paradigms of racism, as conveyed by the black / white dichotomy, are examined: Ireland presents a context, it is argued, where subjugation is of white on white. Linked to this is the language of the coloniser, a powerful hegemonic force which, in some situations, has been nurtured by the colonised and later developed into a text which is unique, producing a new literature which, it is asserted, truly invokes the ‘post colonial’. Abstract: Post-colonialism – essentially a critique of colonialism, is characterised by a process of disengagement from the colonial epoch and has taken many forms. In this article a set of phenomena are examined that have become inscribed in the cultures of the colonised with a view to identifying alternative cultural origins and dispositions recovered in this post-colonial era. Ireland and the Irish provide the background context of this exploration into perspectives generated by the peripheral or post-colonial nations. Globalisation, too, has had a role to play in the increasing de-territorialisation of communities as a result of cross-frontier mobility, increased intra-community mobility and new communication technologies. A critical reflection on the process of disengagement leads the author to conclude that we must come to recognise new cultural forms which are accepting of a heterogeneous and inclusive society: one which is not characterised by difference.

  10. Podocalyxin as a major pluripotent marker and novel keratan sulfate proteoglycan in human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Toyoda, Hidenao; Nagai, Yuko; Kojima, Aya; Kinoshita-Toyoda, Akiko

    2017-04-01

    Podocalyxin (PC) was first identified as a heavily sialylated transmembrane protein of glomerular podocytes. Recent studies suggest that PC is a remarkable glycoconjugate that acts as a universal glyco-carrier. The glycoforms of PC are responsible for multiple functions in normal tissue, human cancer cells, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs). PC is employed as a major pluripotent marker of hESCs and hiPSCs. Among the general antibodies for human PC, TRA-1-60 and TRA-1-81 recognize the keratan sulfate (KS)-related structures. Therefore, It is worthwhile to summarize the outstanding chemical characteristic of PC, including the KS-related structures. Here, we review the glycoforms of PC and discuss the potential of PC as a novel KS proteoglycan in undifferentiated hESCs and hiPSCs.

  11. Avaliação da escória de siderurgia e do calcário como corretivos para cultura cafeeira

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bruno Manoel Rezende de Melo

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar a eficiência de correção da escória de siderurgia comparativamente ao calcário em função do tempo e profundidade. O experimento foi instalado no Instituto Federal de Educação, Ciência e Tecnologia do Sul de Minas Gerais, campus Muzambinho, em lavoura de café arábica da cultivar Catuai, implantada em  solo Latossolo Vermelho Amarelo (LVA, sendo que os corretivos foram aplicados em função da elevação da saturação de bases para 60% (V%. O delineamento experimental foi o de blocos casualizados com parcelas subdivididas no tempo, com quatro repetições, considerando os seguintes tratamentos: testemunha (sem calcário ou escória, com calcário e escória, sendo as subparcelas amostradas nos respectivos tempos e profundidade: 30 dias (0 a 0,1m, 60 dias (0 a 0,1m e 0,1m a 0,2m e 90 dias (0 a 0,1m e 0,1m a 0,2m. Os resultados obtidos demonstraram que os corretivos não diferiram entre si. Conclui-se, portanto, que a escória de siderurgia apresentou potencial de uso na cafeicultura comparativamente ao calcário na profundidade de 0 a 10 cm, apresentando resultado significativo para o tempo 30 dias após aplicação dos corretivos, entretanto, a exemplo do calcário, a escória não corrigiu o solo na profundidade de 10 a 20 cm.

  12. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Melo Sheet D-15

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ferrando, L.; Andreis, R.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Melo) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to the pre devonian period in Melo, Buena Vista Yaguari and Tres islas formations. These metamorphic rocks would be compared with the orogenic cycle of the east and southeast groups

  13. Effect of Chromatin Structure on the Extent and Distribution of DNA Double Strand Breaks Produced by Ionizing Radiation; Comparative Study of hESC and Differentiated Cells Lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Venkatesh, Priyanka; Panyutin, Irina V; Remeeva, Evgenia; Neumann, Ronald D; Panyutin, Igor G

    2016-01-02

    Chromatin structure affects the extent of DNA damage and repair. Thus, it has been shown that heterochromatin is more protective against DNA double strand breaks (DSB) formation by ionizing radiation (IR); and that DNA DSB repair may proceed differently in hetero- and euchromatin regions. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) have a more open chromatin structure than differentiated cells. Here, we study the effect of chromatin structure in hESC on initial DSB formation and subsequent DSB repair. DSB were scored by comet assay; and DSB repair was assessed by repair foci formation via 53BP1 antibody staining. We found that in hESC, heterochromatin is confined to distinct regions, while in differentiated cells it is distributed more evenly within the nuclei. The same dose of ionizing radiation produced considerably more DSB in hESC than in differentiated derivatives, normal human fibroblasts; and one cancer cell line. At the same time, the number of DNA repair foci were not statistically different among these cells. We showed that in hESC, DNA repair foci localized almost exclusively outside the heterochromatin regions. We also noticed that exposure to ionizing radiation resulted in an increase in heterochromatin marker H3K9me3 in cancer HT1080 cells, and to a lesser extent in IMR90 normal fibroblasts, but not in hESCs. These results demonstrate the importance of chromatin conformation for DNA protection and DNA damage repair; and indicate the difference of these processes in hESC.

  14. Spermatogonial multiplication in the Chinese hamster. II. Cell cycle properties of undifferentiated spermatogonia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Lok, D.; Jansen, M. T.; de rooij, D. G.

    1983-01-01

    The cell cycle properties of undifferentiated spermatogonia in the Chinese hamster were analysed by the fraction of labelled mitoses technique (FLM) in whole mounted seminiferous tubules. The minimum cell cycle time (Tc) was found to be c. 90 hr for the As and 87 hr for the Apr and Aal

  15. From "ES-like" cells to induced pluripotent stem cells: a historical perspective in domestic animals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Sehwon; Piedrahita, Jorge A

    2014-01-01

    Pluripotent stem cells such as embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) provide great potential as cell sources for gene editing to generate genetically modified animals, as well as in the field of regenerative medicine. Stable, long-term ESCs have been established in laboratory mouse and rat; however, isolation of true pluripotent ESCs in domesticated animals such as pigs and dogs have been less successful. Initially, domesticated animal pluripotent cell lines were referred to as "embryonic stem-like" cells owing to their similar morphologic characteristics to mouse ESCs, but accompanied by a limited ability to proliferate in vitro in an undifferentiated state. That is, they shared some but not all the characteristics of true ESCs. More recently, advances in reprogramming using exogenous transcription factors, combined with the utilization of small chemical inhibitors of key biochemical pathways, have led to the isolation of iPSCs. In this review, we provide a historical perspective of the isolation of various types of pluripotent stem cells in domesticated animals. In addition, we summarize the latest progress and limitations in the derivation and application of iPSCs. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Defining the genomic signature of totipotency and pluripotency during early human development.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Amparo Galan

    Full Text Available The genetic mechanisms governing human pre-implantation embryo development and the in vitro counterparts, human embryonic stem cells (hESCs, still remain incomplete. Previous global genome studies demonstrated that totipotent blastomeres from day-3 human embryos and pluripotent inner cell masses (ICMs from blastocysts, display unique and differing transcriptomes. Nevertheless, comparative gene expression analysis has revealed that no significant differences exist between hESCs derived from blastomeres versus those obtained from ICMs, suggesting that pluripotent hESCs involve a new developmental progression. To understand early human stages evolution, we developed an undifferentiation network signature (UNS and applied it to a differential gene expression profile between single blastomeres from day-3 embryos, ICMs and hESCs. This allowed us to establish a unique signature composed of highly interconnected genes characteristic of totipotency (61 genes, in vivo pluripotency (20 genes, and in vitro pluripotency (107 genes, and which are also proprietary according to functional analysis. This systems biology approach has led to an improved understanding of the molecular and signaling processes governing human pre-implantation embryo development, as well as enabling us to comprehend how hESCs might adapt to in vitro culture conditions.

  17. Superficial EWSR1-negative undifferentiated small round cell sarcoma with CIC/DUX4 gene fusion: a new variant of Ewing-like tumors with locoregional lymph node metastasis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Machado, Isidro; Cruz, Julia; Lavernia, Javier; Rubio, Luis; Campos, Jorge; Barrios, María; Grison, Camille; Chene, Virginie; Pierron, Gaelle; Delattre, Olivier; Llombart-Bosch, Antonio

    2013-12-01

    The present study describes a new case of EWSR1-negative undifferentiated sarcoma with CIC/DUX4 gene fusion. This case is similar to tumors described as primitive undifferentiated round cell sarcomas that occur mainly in the trunk and display an aggressive behavior. To our knowledge, this is the first report of such a tumor presenting locoregional lymph node metastasis. In view of previous studies that prove the existence of a particular variant of undifferentiated sarcoma with Ewing-like morphology and CIC/DUX-4 gene fusion, a search for this gene fusion in all undifferentiated round cell sarcomas should be considered if a conclusive diagnosis cannot be reached following other conventional studies. Although additional cases with more extensive follow-up studies are needed, we believe that EWSR1-negative undifferentiated small round cell sarcoma with CIC/DUX4 gene fusion should be added to the list of new sarcoma variants with the possibility of lymph node metastasis.

  18. Albumin-associated lipids regulate human embryonic stem cell self-renewal.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Francesc R Garcia-Gonzalo

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Although human embryonic stem cells (hESCs hold great promise as a source of differentiated cells to treat several human diseases, many obstacles still need to be surmounted before this can become a reality. First among these, a robust chemically-defined system to expand hESCs in culture is still unavailable despite recent advances in the understanding of factors controlling hESC self-renewal. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: In this study, we attempted to find new molecules that stimulate long term hESC self-renewal. In order to do this, we started from the observation that a commercially available serum replacement product has a strong positive effect on the expansion of undifferentiated hESCs when added to a previously reported chemically-defined medium. Subsequent experiments demonstrated that the active ingredient within the serum replacement is lipid-rich albumin. Furthermore, we show that this activity is trypsin-resistant, strongly suggesting that lipids and not albumin are responsible for the effect. Consistent with this, lipid-poor albumin shows no detectable activity. Finally, we identified the major lipids bound to the lipid-rich albumin and tested several lipid candidates for the effect. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: Our discovery of the role played by albumin-associated lipids in stimulating hESC self-renewal constitutes a significant advance in the knowledge of how hESC pluripotency is maintained by extracellular factors and has important applications in the development of increasingly chemically defined hESC culture systems.

  19. Characterization of Bovine 5′-flanking Region during Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hye-Jeong Jang

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available Embryonic stem cells (ESCs have been used as a powerful tool for research including gene manipulated animal models and the study of developmental gene regulation. Among the critical regulatory factors that maintain the pluripotency and self-renewal of undifferentiated ESCs, NANOG plays a very important role. Nevertheless, because pluripotency maintaining factors and specific markers for livestock ESCs have not yet been probed, few studies of the NANOG gene from domestic animals including bovine have been reported. Therefore, we chose mouse ESCs in order to understand and compare NANOG expression between bovine, human, and mouse during ESCs differentiation. We cloned a 600 bp (−420/+181 bovine NANOG 5′-flanking region, and tagged it with humanized recombinant green fluorescent protein (hrGFP as a tracing reporter. Very high GFP expression for bovine NANOG promoter was observed in the mouse ESC line. GFP expression was monitored upon ESC differentiation and was gradually reduced along with differentiation toward neurons and adipocyte cells. Activity of bovine NANOG (−420/+181 promoter was compared with already known mouse and human NANOG promoters in mouse ESC and they were likely to show a similar pattern of regulation. In conclusion, bovine NANOG 5-flanking region functions in mouse ES cells and has characteristics similar to those of mouse and human. These results suggest that bovine gene function studied in mouse ES cells should be evaluated and extrapolated for application to characterization of bovine ES cells.

  20. Differential Expression of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Protein and Apoptosis-Related Genes in Differentiated and Undifferentiated SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells Treated with MPP+

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kawinthra Khwanraj

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line has been used as a dopaminergic cell model for Parkinson’s disease research. Whether undifferentiated or differentiated SH-SY5Y cells are more suitable remains controversial. This study aims to evaluate the expression of apoptosis-related mRNAs activated by MPP+ and evaluate the differential expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH in undifferentiated and retinoic acid- (RA- induced differentiated cells. The western blot results showed a gradual decrease in TH in undifferentiated cells and a gradual increase in TH in differentiated cells from days 4 to 10 after cell plating. Immunostaining revealed a gradual increase in TH along with neuritic outgrowth in differentiated cells on days 4 and 7 of RA treatment. For the study on cell susceptibility to MPP+ and the expression of apoptosis-related genes, MTT assay showed a decrease in cell viability to approximately 50% requiring 500 and 1000 μM of MPP+ for undifferentiated and RA-differentiated cells, respectively. Using real-time RT-PCR, treatment with 500 μM MPP+ led to significant increases in the Bax/Bcl-2 ratio, p53, and caspase-3 in undifferentiated cells but was without significance in differentiated cells. In conclusion, differentiated cells may be more suitable, and the shorter duration of RA differentiation may make the SH-SY5Y cell model more accessible.

  1. Maturation of human embryonic stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hESC-CMs) in 3D collagen matrix: Effects of niche cell supplementation and mechanical stimulation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, W; Kong, C W; Tong, M H; Chooi, W H; Huang, N; Li, R A; Chan, B P

    2017-02-01

    Cardiomyocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC-CMs) are regarded as a promising source for regenerative medicine, drug testing and disease modeling. Nevertheless, cardiomyocytes are immature in terms of their contractile structure, metabolism and electrophysiological properties. Here, we fabricate cardiac muscle strips by encapsulating hESC-CMs in collagen-based biomaterials. Supplementation of niche cells at 3% to the number of hESC-CMs enhance the maturation of the hESC-CMs in 3D tissue matrix. The benefits of adding mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are comparable to that of adding fibroblasts. These two cell types demonstrate similar effects in promoting the compaction and cell spreading, as well as expression of maturation markers at both gene and protein levels. Mechanical loading, particularly cyclic stretch, produces engineered cardiac tissues with higher maturity in terms of twitch force, elastic modulus, sarcomere length and molecular signature, when comparing to static stretch or non-stretched controls. The current study demonstrates that the application of niche cells and mechanical stretch both stimulate the maturation of hESC-CMs in 3D architecture. Our results therefore suggest that this 3D model can be used for in vitro cardiac maturation study. Cardiomyocytes derived from human embryonic stem cells (hESC-CMs) are regarded as being a promising source of cells for regenerative medicine, drug testing and disease modeling. Nevertheless, cardiomyocytes are immature in terms of their contractile structure, metabolism and electrophysiological properties. In the current study, we have fabricated cardiac muscle strips by encapsulating hESC-CMs in collagen-based biomaterials and demonstrated that supplementation of mesenchymal niche cells as well as provision of mechanical loading particularly stretching have significantly promoted the maturation of the cardiomyocytes and hence improved the mechanical functional characteristics of the tissue strips

  2. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Guaycuru Sheet M-24

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garat, I.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Guaycuru)) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to the Cenozoic and Precambrian period. The Cuaycuru area is located in the West of the Rio de la Plata socket constituted by metamorphic belts and is associated with migmatitic and intrusive granitoids

  3. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Piraraja Sheet F-23

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preciozzi, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Piraraja) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to Cenozoic, Cretaceous, Jurassic and Precambrian period.The Pirafja fotoplano is located in Lavalleja and geomorphologically is constituted by the Lavalleja group, the Atlantic socket, Piraraja granite and the Barriga Negra group

  4. miR-200c and GATA binding protein 4 regulate human embryonic stem cell renewal and differentiation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hsiao-Ning Huang

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs are functionally unique for their self-renewal ability and pluripotency, but the molecular mechanisms giving rise to these properties are not fully understood. hESCs can differentiate into embryoid bodies (EBs containing ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm. In the miR-200 family, miR-200c was especially enriched in undifferentiated hESCs and significantly downregulated in EBs. The knockdown of the miR-200c in hESCs downregulated Nanog expression, upregulated GATA binding protein 4 (GATA4 expression, and induced hESC apoptosis. The knockdown of GATA4 rescued hESC apoptosis induced by downregulation of miR-200c. miR-200c directly targeted the 3′-untranslated region of GATA4. Interestingly, the downregulation of GATA4 significantly inhibited EB formation in hESCs. Overexpression of miR-200c inhibited EB formation and repressed the expression of ectoderm, endoderm, and mesoderm markers, which could partially be rescued by ectopic expression of GATA4. Fibroblast growth factor (FGF and activin A/nodal can sustain hESC renewal in the absence of feeder layer. Inhibition of transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β/activin A/nodal signaling by SB431542 treatment downregulated the expression of miR-200c. Overexpression of miR-200c partially rescued the expression of Nanog/phospho-Smad2 that was downregulated by SB431542 treatment. Our observations have uncovered novel functions of miR-200c and GATA4 in regulating hESC renewal and differentiation.

  5. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. La Union Sheet J-29

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Goso, C.; Veroslavsky, G.; Oyantcabal, P.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (La Union) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to the Holocene Pleistocene, Pliocene, Oligocene and Precambrian period. This area is located in the eastern of Montevideo and the South West of Canelones

  6. Comparing ESC and iPSC?Based Models for Human Genetic Disorders

    OpenAIRE

    Halevy, Tomer; Urbach, Achia

    2014-01-01

    Traditionally, human disorders were studied using animal models or somatic cells taken from patients. Such studies enabled the analysis of the molecular mechanisms of numerous disorders, and led to the discovery of new treatments. Yet, these systems are limited or even irrelevant in modeling multiple genetic diseases. The isolation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) from diseased blastocysts, the derivation of induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from patients’ somatic cells, and the ne...

  7. FMR1 epigenetic silencing commonly occurs in undifferentiated fragile X-affected embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Avitzour, Michal; Mor-Shaked, Hagar; Yanovsky-Dagan, Shira; Aharoni, Shira; Altarescu, Gheona; Renbaum, Paul; Eldar-Geva, Talia; Schonberger, Oshrat; Levy-Lahad, Ephrat; Epsztejn-Litman, Silvina; Eiges, Rachel

    2014-11-11

    Fragile X syndrome (FXS) is the most common heritable form of cognitive impairment. It results from epigenetic silencing of the X-linked FMR1 gene by a CGG expansion in its 5'-untranslated region. Taking advantage of a large set of FXS-affected human embryonic stem cell (HESC) lines and isogenic subclones derived from them, we show that FMR1 hypermethylation commonly occurs in the undifferentiated state (six of nine lines, ranging from 24% to 65%). In addition, we demonstrate that hypermethylation is tightly linked with FMR1 transcriptional inactivation in undifferentiated cells, coincides with loss of H3K4me2 and gain of H3K9me3, and is unrelated to CTCF binding. Taken together, these results demonstrate that FMR1 epigenetic gene silencing takes place in FXS HESCs and clearly highlights the importance of examining multiple cell lines when investigating FXS and most likely other epigenetically regulated diseases.

  8. FMR1 Epigenetic Silencing Commonly Occurs in Undifferentiated Fragile X-Affected Embryonic Stem Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michal Avitzour

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Fragile X syndrome (FXS is the most common heritable form of cognitive impairment. It results from epigenetic silencing of the X-linked FMR1 gene by a CGG expansion in its 5′-untranslated region. Taking advantage of a large set of FXS-affected human embryonic stem cell (HESC lines and isogenic subclones derived from them, we show that FMR1 hypermethylation commonly occurs in the undifferentiated state (six of nine lines, ranging from 24% to 65%. In addition, we demonstrate that hypermethylation is tightly linked with FMR1 transcriptional inactivation in undifferentiated cells, coincides with loss of H3K4me2 and gain of H3K9me3, and is unrelated to CTCF binding. Taken together, these results demonstrate that FMR1 epigenetic gene silencing takes place in FXS HESCs and clearly highlights the importance of examining multiple cell lines when investigating FXS and most likely other epigenetically regulated diseases.

  9. El presidente Mauricio Macri y los Panama Papers. Periodismo, justicia y política entre las denuncias y el escándalo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge Andrés Stefoni

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available El presente artículo aborda la magnitud y las limitaciones del “escándalo” producido alrededor del presidente argentino Mauricio Macri tras las revelaciones de los Panama Papers. Desde una perspectiva sociológico-pragmática, se recorrerán los marcos de situación generados por las denuncias, se evaluarán las intervenciones desde sus exigencias pragmáticas de justificación y se analizarán las legitimidades variables de los distintos actores involucrados en la dinámica denuncia-escándalo. Analizando dimensiones como I la articulación de la denuncia y la percepción del escándalo, II las características de la denuncia, III las particularidades del denunciado, IV el lugar de los medios de comunicación, V la movilización de la denuncia por parte de los distintos actores y VI las formas de legitimación de los denunciantes, se buscará explicar cuáles fueron las condiciones de felicidad del escándalo y por qué el develamiento estuvo lejos de corresponderse con las expectativas de sus impulsores. Como conclusión sostiene que fueron las características de la denuncia periodística y las condiciones contextuales en el ámbito periodístico-mediático, judicial y político las que atenuaron la denuncia, les imposibilitaron a varios actores acreditarse como intérpretes legítimos y terminaron por disminuir la magnitud del escándalo.

  10. Síndrome do aprisionamento fascial do nervo torácico longo: escápula alada

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jefferson Braga Silva

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available resumo Objetivo: Analisar os resultados de cirurgia de intervenção precoce em pacientes com sín drome do aprisionamento fascial do nervo torácico longo e consequente escápula alada. Métodos: Acompanhamos seis pacientes com uma síndrome de aprisionamento sem restricões específicas de estiramento ao nervo. Resultados: Pacientes tiveram melhoria em seus sintomas seis a 20 meses após o proce dimento. Sintomas motores melhoraram completamente sem qualquer dor persistente. A deformidade medial da escápula alada melhorou em todos os casos sem distúrbios estéticos residuais. Conclusão: A abordagem de liberação cirúrgica precoce parece ser um melhor preditor na recuperação de paralisia não traumática do músculo serrátil anterior.

  11. Acute undifferentiated fever in Binh Thuan province, Vietnam: imprecise clinical diagnosis and irrational pharmaco-therapy

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Phuong, Hoang L.; de Vries, Peter J.; Nagelkerke, Nico; Giao, Phan T.; Hung, Le Q.; Binh, Tran Q.; Nga, Tran T. Thanh; Nam, Nguyen V.; Kager, Piet A.

    2006-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To describe the characteristics of patients consulting commune primary healthcare posts for acute undifferentiated fever not being malaria (AUF), and to explore the diagnostic and therapeutic responses of the healthcare workers. METHODS: All patients presenting with AUF at 12 commune

  12. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Paso del Palmar Sheet N-19

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, I.; Montana, J.; Morales, H.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Paso del Palmar) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils belong to Cretaceous, Tertiary and Quaternary period in San Gregorio, Arapey, Mercedes, Asencio and Fray Bentos formations

  13. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Cuchilla del Ombu. Sheet H-12

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Montana, J.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Cuchilla del Ombu) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological, lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils. In crystalline rocks have been recognized four basic units: porphyritic granite, Cunapiru granite, Cunapiru subvolcanic microgranite and metamorfites

  14. Clinical and biochemical manifestations of undifferentiated forms of connective tissue dysplasia in pregnant women with varicose veins of small pelvis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N.M. Shibelgut

    2010-03-01

    Full Text Available Research objective is to define the pathogenesis of varicous veins of small pelvis in women. at Ultrasonic investigation of venous system of small pelvis has been carried out in 290 pregnant women. It revealed 190 patients with varicose veins of small pelvis (VVSP. By means of V.M. Jakovleva's technique phenotypic menifestation of connective tissue dysplasia was determined in all pregnant women. Biochemical manifestations of connective tissue dysplasia were identified by sialic acid level in blood serum, daily excretion of glycosaminoglycans and oxyproline. High frequency of clinical and biochemical manifestations of undifferentiated forms of connective tissue dysplasia was revealed in pregnant women with VVSP. Patients with VVSP developed tooth and jaw, facial and locomotor damages. Patients with VVSP characterized by visceral undifferentiated forms of connective tissue dysplasia demonstrated by refraction involvement, ventral hernias, flat feet, varicous veins of lower extremities, hypermobile syndrome, mitral valve prolapse of different degree. Biochemical manifestations of undifferentiated forms of connective tissue dysplasia in pregnant women with VVSP were insignificant

  15. Effect of tryptophan hydroxylase gene polymorphism on aggression in major depressive disorder and undifferentiated somatoform disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koh, Kyung Bong; Kim, Chan Hyung; Choi, Eun Hee; Lee, Young-joon; Seo, Won Youl

    2012-05-01

    Aggression and anger have been linked with depression, and anger suppression has been linked with somatic symptoms of somatoform disorders. However, the relationship between aggression or anger and genes in patients with depression and somatoform disorders has not been clearly elucidated. The objective of this study was to examine the effect of serotonin-related gene polymorphism on aggression in depressive disorders and somatoform disorders. A serotonin-related polymorphic marker was assessed by using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping. 106 outpatients with major depressive disorder (MDD), 102 outpatients with undifferentiated somatoform disorder, and 133 healthy subjects were enrolled between October 2005 and May 2008. Diagnoses were made according to the Korean version of the Structured Clinical Interview Schedule for DSM-IV. The allele and genotype frequencies of tryptophan hydroxylase-1 (TPH1) A218C were compared between groups. The Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and the Aggression Questionnaire were used for psychological assessment. Each of the 2 disorder groups scored significantly higher on all the Aggression Questionnaire subscales and on the total Aggression Questionnaire score than the healthy subjects (P sex and age. However, no significant differences were found in TPH1 C allele and CC homozygote frequencies between the undifferentiated somatoform disorder patients and the healthy subjects. TPH1 CC homozygote in the MDD group scored significantly higher in terms of verbal aggression (P = .03) and total Aggression Questionnaire score (P = .04) than A-carrier genotypes, regardless of sex and age. However, no significant differences were found in the scores of all the Aggression Questionnaire subscales and the total Aggression Questionnaire score between TPH1 CC homozygote and A-carrier genotypes in the undifferentiated somatoform disorder group and the control group, respectively. Aggression in MDD patients is more susceptible to an

  16. Influence of feeding bee colonies on colony strenght and honey authenticity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Andreja KANDOLF BOROVŠAK

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available For the natural development of bee colonies, there is the need for appropriate nutrition. Lack of natural honey flow must be supplemented by feeding bee colonies with sugar syrups or candy paste. This supplementary feeding encourages brood breeding and forage activity, whereby stronger colonies collect more honey. Sugar syrups can cause honey adulteration, which is more frequent with the reversing of the brood combs with the bee food, with the combs moved from the brood chamber to the upper chamber. Authentication of honey from the standpoint of the presence of sugar syrup is very complex, because there is no single method by which honey adulteration can be reliably confirmed. Feeding the colonies in spring should result in stronger colonies and hence the collection of more honey in the brood chambers. The objective of the present study was to determine whether this has effects also on honey authenticity, and to discover a simple method for detection of honey adulteration. The colonies were fed with candy paste that had added yeast and blue dye, to provide markers for detection of honey adulteration. The strength of the colonies and quantity of honey in the brood chambers were monitored. The results of the analysis of stable isotope and activity of foreign enzymes were compared with the results of yeast quantity and colour of the honey (absorbance, L*, a*, b* parameters. Detection of yeast in the honey samples and presence of colour as a consequence of added dye appear to be appropriate methods to follow honey adulteration, and further studies are ongoing.

  17. The Induction Effect of Am80 and TSA on ESC Differentiation via Regulation of Stra8 in Chicken.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yani; Zuo, Qisheng; Liu, Zhiyong; Li, Dong; Tang, Beibei; Xiao, Tian-Rong; Lian, Chao; Wang, Yingjie; Jin, Kai; Wang, Yilin; Zhang, Wenhui; Li, Bichun

    2015-01-01

    Stra8 encodes stimulated by retinoic acid gene 8, a protein that is important for initiation of meiosis in mammals and birds. This study was aimed at identifying the active control area of chicken STRA8 gene core promoter, to screen optimum inducers of the STRA8 gene, thus to enhance the differentiation of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) into spermatogonial stem cells. Fragments of chicken STRA8 gene promoter were cloned into fluorescent reporter plasmids and transfected into DF-1 cells. Then Dual-Luciferase® Reporter Assay System was used to identify the activity of the STRA8 gene under different inducers. Our studies showed that the promoter fragment -1055 bp to +54 bp of Suqin chicken Stra8 revealed the strongest activity. The dual-luciferase® reporter showed that Tamibarotene (Am80) and TrichostatinA (TSA) could significantly enhance STRA8 transcription. The in vitro inductive culture of chicken ESCs demonstrated that spermatogonial stem cells (SSC)-like cells appeared and Integrinβ1 protein was expressed on day 10, indicating that Am80 and TSA can promote ESCs differentiation into SSCs via regulation of Stra8.

  18. Myeloblastic and lymphoblastic markers in acute undifferentiated leukemia and chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shumak, K H; Baker, M A; Taub, R N; Coleman, M S

    1980-11-01

    Blast cells were obtained from 17 patients with acute undifferentiated leukemia and 13 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crisis. The blasts were tested with anti-i serum in cytotoxicity tests and with antisera to myeloblastic leukemia-associated antigens in immunofluorescence tests. The terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TDT) content of the blasts was also measured. Lymphoblasts react strongly with anti-i, do not react with anti-myeloblast serum, and have high levels of TDT; myeloblasts react weakly with anti-i, do not react with anti-myeloblast serum, and have very low levels of TDT. Of the 17 patients with acute undifferentiated leukemia, there were six with blasts which reacted like lymphoblasts, six with blasts which reacted like myeloblasts, and five with blasts bearing different combinations of these lymphoblastic and myeloblastic markers. Eight of the 11 patients with lymphoblastic or mixed lymphoblastic-myeloblastic markers, but only one of the six with myeloblastic markers, achieved complete or partial remission in response to therapy. Thus, in acute undifferentiated leukemia, classification of blasts with these markers may be of prognostic value. Of the 13 patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia in blast crises, the markers were concordant (for myeloblasts) in only two cases. Three of the 13 patients had TDT-positive blasts, but the reactions of these cells with anti-i and with anti-myeloblast serum differed from those seen with lymphoblasts from patients with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Although the cell involved in "lymphoid" blast crisis of chronic myelogenous leukemia is similar in many respects to that involved in acute lymphoblastic leukemia, these cells are not identical.

  19. [Clinical and cytological differences in adult acute lymphatic and acute undifferentiated leukemia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abbrederis, K; Schmalzl, F

    1976-01-01

    The usefulness for clinical purposes of the distinction of acute undifferentiated (AUL) and acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is suggested by the following observations: 1. Maturation from AUL to ALL has not been observed. Transformation of ALL to AUL has been reported i.e. less of cytoplasmic polysaccharides; however this seems rather to be the effect of cytotoxic therapy and not a real change of the cytological type. 2. Significant differences among ALL and AUL can be noted as far as the therapeutic response is concerned: All of the 9 patients with ALL but only 2 out of 9 patients with AUL went into remission. The mean survival of the cases with ALL amounts to 34, that of AUL only to 4 months. Out of the patients with ALL 4 patients are still alive in persistant first remission after 77, 57, 36 and 28 months. 3. ALL occurs most frequently in young adults (mean age of 21 patients: 31.7 years): AUL is more frequent in elderly patients (Mean age of 18 patients: 57.6 years). 4. In our material ALL did never occur consequent to a typical preluekemic stage, which was followed either by myeloblastic, monocytic, erythroleukemic or undifferentiated leukemias.

  20. Review Essay A history of colonialism through post-colonial lenses ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Review Essay A history of colonialism through post-colonial lenses: reading Mahmood Mamdani's citizen and subject. Sanya Osha. Abstract. No Abstract. The Nigerian Journal of Economic History Vol. 2, 1999: 155-161. Full Text: EMAIL FULL TEXT EMAIL FULL TEXT · DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT DOWNLOAD FULL TEXT.

  1. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Bizcocho Sheet N-0-21

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, I; Gancio, F

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Bizcocho) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics of the lower Proterozoic in the socket of the La Plata river, Upper Cretaceous in Mercedes and Asencio formations, lower Tertiary in Palmitas and Fray Bentos formations and soils characteristics of the Quaternary period

  2. Comparison of the toxicity of smoke from conventional and harm reduction cigarettes using human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Sabrina; Fonteno, Shawn; Weng, Jo-Hao; Talbot, Prue

    2010-11-01

    This study evaluated the hypothesis that smoke from harm reduction cigarettes impedes attachment and proliferation of H9 human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Smoke from three harm reduction brands was compared with smoke from a conventional brand. Doses of smoke were measured in puff equivalents (PE) (1 PE = the amount of smoke in one puff that dissolves in 1 ml of medium). Cytotoxic doses were determined using morphological criteria and trypan blue staining, and apoptosis was confirmed using Magic Red staining. Attachment and proliferation of hESC were followed at a noncytotoxic dose in time-lapse videos collected using BioStation technology. Data were mined from videos either manually or using video bioinformatics subroutines developed with CL-Quant software. Mainstream (MS) and sidestream (SS) smoke from conventional and harm reduction cigarettes induced apoptosis in hESC colonies at 1 PE. At 0.1 PE (noncytotoxic), SS smoke from all brands inhibited attachment of hESC colonies to Matrigel with the strongest inhibition occurring in harm reduction brands. At 0.1 PE, SS smoke, but not MS smoke, from all brands inhibited hESC growth, and two harm reduction brands were more potent than the conventional brand. In general, hESC appeared more sensitive to smoke than their mouse ESC counterparts. Although harm reduction cigarettes are often marketed as safer than conventional brands, our assays show that SS smoke from harm reduction cigarettes was at least as potent or in some cases more potent than smoke from a conventional brand and that SS smoke was more inhibitory than MS smoke in all assays.

  3. The effects of studded tires on fatal crashes with passenger cars and the benefits of electronic stability control (ESC) in Swedish winter driving.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Strandroth, Johan; Rizzi, Matteo; Olai, Maria; Lie, Anders; Tingvall, Claes

    2012-03-01

    This study set out to examine the effects of studded tires on fatal crashes on roads covered with ice or snow in Sweden and also to investigate the extra benefits of electronic stability control (ESC) during the winter months. Two different studies are presented in this paper. Both studies used an induced exposure approach. In the main study, 369 in-depth studies of fatal crashes with passenger cars were analyzed to determine whether loss-of-control (LOC) had been a major component or not. Only crashes involving cars without ESC and equipped with approved studded or non-studded winter tires were analyzed. The additional study used police-reported crashes that occurred during the winter seasons 2003-2010, involving passenger cars with and without ESC. While police records in Sweden do not include any tire information, it was assumed that most cars involved in crashes during the winter period would be equipped with studded tires. Findings in the main study showed that in 64% of the fatal crashes on roads covered with ice or snow LOC had been a major component. Furthermore, in 82% of LOC crashes, the passenger car over-steered prior to collision. Studded tires were found to have a statistically significant effect of 42% in terms of fatal crash reduction on roads covered with ice or snow, compared to non-studded winter tires. The effect on dry or wet roads in the winter was negative, although statistically non-significant. In the additional study, it was found that ESC further reduced crashes with injuries by 29%. The benefits on severe and fatal crashes were slightly greater (32%), although the lower 95% confidence limit was lower. Although studded tires were shown to reduce the risk of fatal crash involvement, compared to non-studded winter tires, the proportion of LOC and over-steering among cars with studded tires was large (59% and 49%, respectively). It was therefore concluded that studded tires do not prevent all LOC crashes, while ESC has benefits in those

  4. Colonial Legal Reasoning in the Post-Colonial African State: A ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Colonial Legal Reasoning in the Post-Colonial African State: A Critique and a Defense of the Argument from African Metaphysical Epistemology. ... Africa, as it has the advantageous result of helping in the search for truth concerning such offences, thereby promoting the delivery of effective legal justice, and thus contributing ...

  5. A Predictive Model to Classify Undifferentiated Fever Cases Based on Twenty-Four-Hour Continuous Tympanic Temperature Recording

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pradeepa H. Dakappa

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Diagnosis of undifferentiated fever is a major challenging task to the physician which often remains undiagnosed and delays the treatment. The aim of the study was to record and analyze a 24-hour continuous tympanic temperature and evaluate its utility in the diagnosis of undifferentiated fevers. This was an observational study conducted in the Kasturba Medical College and Hospitals, Mangaluru, India. A total of ninety-six (n=96 patients were presented with undifferentiated fever. Their tympanic temperature was recorded continuously for 24 hours. Temperature data were preprocessed and various signal characteristic features were extracted and trained in classification machine learning algorithms using MATLAB software. The quadratic support vector machine algorithm yielded an overall accuracy of 71.9% in differentiating the fevers into four major categories, namely, tuberculosis, intracellular bacterial infections, dengue fever, and noninfectious diseases. The area under ROC curve for tuberculosis, intracellular bacterial infections, dengue fever, and noninfectious diseases was found to be 0.961, 0.801, 0.815, and 0.818, respectively. Good agreement was observed [kappa = 0.618 (p<0.001, 95% CI (0.498–0.737] between the actual diagnosis of cases and the quadratic support vector machine learning algorithm. The 24-hour continuous tympanic temperature recording with supervised machine learning algorithm appears to be a promising noninvasive and reliable diagnostic tool.

  6. Life in the colonies: learning the alien ways of colonial organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winston, Judith E

    2010-12-01

    Who needs to go to outer space to study alien beings when the oceans of our own planet abound with bizarre and unknown creatures? Many of them belong to sessile clonal and colonial groups, including sponges, hydroids, corals, octocorals, ascidians, bryozoans, and some polychaetes. Their life histories, in many ways unlike our own, are a challenge for biologists. Studying their ecology, behavior, and taxonomy means trying to “think like a colony” to understand the factors important in their lives. Until the 1980s, most marine ecologists ignored these difficult modular organisms. Plant ecologists showed them ways to deal with the two levels of asexually produced modules and genetic individuals, leading to a surge in research on the ecology of clonal and colonial marine invertebrates. Bryozoans make excellent model colonial animals. Their life histories range from ephemeral to perennial. Aspects of their lives such as growth, reproduction, partial mortality due to predation or fouling, and the behavior of both autozooids and polymorphs can be studied at the level of the colony, as well as that of the individual module, in living colonies and over time.

  7. Management of atrial fibrillation around the world: a comparison of current ACCF/AHA/HRS, CCS, and ESC guidelines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wasmer, Kristina; Eckardt, Lars

    2011-10-01

    New guidelines for the management of atrial fibrillation (AF) have recently been published by the American College of Cardiology Foundation/American Heart Association, and Heart Rhythm Society (ACCF/AHA/HRS) task force on practice guidelines, the Canadian Cardiovascular Society (CCS), and the European Society of Cardiology (ESC). Although they all refer to the same scientific data and agree in the majority of AF management, interpretation, and weighing of study results are quite different in some aspects. While recommendations for stroke risk assessment and prophylaxis are rather conservative in the ESC guidelines, the CCS guideline recommendations are more conservative with regard to lenient rate control and the ACCF/AHA/HRS recommendations are rather strict with regard to rhythm management.

  8. Efeito residual da escória de siderurgia como corretivo de acidez do solo na soqueira de cana-de-açúcar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prado R. M.

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available A escória de siderurgia, como material corretivo e efeito residual prolongado, pode beneficiar culturas de ciclo longo, a exemplo da cana-de-açúcar, minimizando a queda de produção ao longo do ciclo produtivo. Este trabalho objetivou avaliar diferentes níveis de saturação por bases, utilizando, como corretivo do solo, a escória de siderurgia, comparando-a com calcário calcítico, nas alterações de alguns atributos químicos do solo, bem como na resposta da soqueira da cana-de-açúcar. Para isto, realizou-se um experimento com a variedade SP 80-1842, durante o terceiro e o quarto corte, nos anos agrícolas 2000/01 e 2001/02. Os tratamentos, dispostos em blocos casualizados, em esquema fatorial com quatro repetições, constaram de duas fontes de corretivos, calcário calcítico e escória de siderurgia, e quatro níveis de correção, estimados pelo método da saturação por bases (V %: testemunha (sem correção e com correção para V % de 50; 75 e 100, tendo sido tais corretivos aplicados na época do plantio da cana-de-açúcar. O calcário calcítico e a escória de siderurgia promoveram efeito residual benéfico, após 48 meses da aplicação, na correção da acidez do solo e na elevação do valor da saturação por bases; a maior dose de calcário causou efeito depressivo no perfilhamento, no número de colmos industrializáveis e na produção da cana-de-açúcar, fato não observado com uso da escória de siderurgia; a aplicação da escória de siderurgia e do calcário, em pré-plantio, promoveu efeito residual positivo na produção da soqueira de cana-de-açúcar.

  9. A 3-dimensional human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived model to detect developmental neurotoxicity of nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoelting, Lisa; Scheinhardt, Benjamin; Bondarenko, Olesja; Schildknecht, Stefan; Kapitza, Marion; Tanavde, Vivek; Tan, Betty; Lee, Qian Yi; Mecking, Stefan; Leist, Marcel; Kadereit, Suzanne

    2013-04-01

    Nanoparticles (NPs) have been shown to accumulate in organs, cross the blood-brain barrier and placenta, and have the potential to elicit developmental neurotoxicity (DNT). Here, we developed a human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived 3-dimensional (3-D) in vitro model that allows for testing of potential developmental neurotoxicants. Early central nervous system PAX6(+) precursor cells were generated from hESCs and differentiated further within 3-D structures. The 3-D model was characterized for neural marker expression revealing robust differentiation toward neuronal precursor cells, and gene expression profiling suggested a predominantly forebrain-like development. Altered neural gene expression due to exposure to non-cytotoxic concentrations of the known developmental neurotoxicant, methylmercury, indicated that the 3-D model could detect DNT. To test for specific toxicity of NPs, chemically inert polyethylene NPs (PE-NPs) were chosen. They penetrated deep into the 3-D structures and impacted gene expression at non-cytotoxic concentrations. NOTCH pathway genes such as HES5 and NOTCH1 were reduced in expression, as well as downstream neuronal precursor genes such as NEUROD1 and ASCL1. FOXG1, a patterning marker, was also reduced. As loss of function of these genes results in severe nervous system impairments in mice, our data suggest that the 3-D hESC-derived model could be used to test for Nano-DNT.

  10. SOX2 co-occupies distal enhancer elements with distinct POU factors in ESCs and NPCs to specify cell state.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Michael A Lodato

    Full Text Available SOX2 is a master regulator of both pluripotent embryonic stem cells (ESCs and multipotent neural progenitor cells (NPCs; however, we currently lack a detailed understanding of how SOX2 controls these distinct stem cell populations. Here we show by genome-wide analysis that, while SOX2 bound to a distinct set of gene promoters in ESCs and NPCs, the majority of regions coincided with unique distal enhancer elements, important cis-acting regulators of tissue-specific gene expression programs. Notably, SOX2 bound the same consensus DNA motif in both cell types, suggesting that additional factors contribute to target specificity. We found that, similar to its association with OCT4 (Pou5f1 in ESCs, the related POU family member BRN2 (Pou3f2 co-occupied a large set of putative distal enhancers with SOX2 in NPCs. Forced expression of BRN2 in ESCs led to functional recruitment of SOX2 to a subset of NPC-specific targets and to precocious differentiation toward a neural-like state. Further analysis of the bound sequences revealed differences in the distances of SOX and POU peaks in the two cell types and identified motifs for additional transcription factors. Together, these data suggest that SOX2 controls a larger network of genes than previously anticipated through binding of distal enhancers and that transitions in POU partner factors may control tissue-specific transcriptional programs. Our findings have important implications for understanding lineage specification and somatic cell reprogramming, where SOX2, OCT4, and BRN2 have been shown to be key factors.

  11. A murine ESC-like state facilitates transgenesis and homologous recombination in human pluripotent stem cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    C. Buecker (Christa); H.H. Chen; J.M. Polo (Jose); L. Daheron (Laurence); L. Bu (Lei); T.S. Barakat (Tahsin Stefan); P. Okwieka (Patricia); A. Porter (Andrew); J.H. Gribnau (Joost); K. Hochedlinger (Konrad); N. Geijsen (Niels)

    2010-01-01

    textabstractMurine pluripotent stem cells can exist in two functionally distinct states, LIF-dependent embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and bFGF-dependent epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs). However, human pluripotent cells so far seemed to assume only an epiblast-like state. Here we demonstrate that human

  12. Survival and Functionality of hESC-Derived Retinal Pigment Epithelium Cells Cultured as a Monolayer on Polymer Substrates Transplanted in RCS Rats.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Biju B; Zhu, Danhong; Zhang, Li; Thomas, Padmaja B; Hu, Yuntao; Nazari, Hossein; Stefanini, Francisco; Falabella, Paulo; Clegg, Dennis O; Hinton, David R; Humayun, Mark S

    2016-05-01

    To determine the safety, survival, and functionality of human embryonic stem cell-derived RPE (hESC-RPE) cells seeded on a polymeric substrate (rCPCB-RPE1 implant) and implanted into the subretinal (SR) space of Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rats. Monolayers of hESC-RPE cells cultured on parylene membrane were transplanted into the SR space of 4-week-old RCS rats. Group 1 (n = 46) received vitronectin-coated parylene membrane without cells (rMSPM+VN), group 2 (n = 59) received rCPCB-RPE1 implants, and group 3 (n = 13) served as the control group. Animals that are selected based on optical coherence tomography screening were subjected to visual function assays using optokinetic (OKN) testing and superior colliculus (SC) electrophysiology. At approximately 25 weeks of age (21 weeks after surgery), the eyes were examined histologically for cell survival, phagocytosis, and local toxicity. Eighty-seven percent of the rCPCB-RPE1-implanted animals showed hESC-RPE survivability. Significant numbers of outer nuclear layer cells were rescued in both group 1 (rMSPM+VN) and group 2 (rCPCB-RPE1) animals. A significantly higher ratio of rod photoreceptor cells to cone photoreceptor cells was found in the rCPCB-RPE1-implanted group. Animals with rCPCB-RPE1 implant showed hESC-RPE cells containing rhodopsin-positive particles in immunohistochemistry, suggesting phagocytic function. Superior colliculus mapping data demonstrated that a significantly higher number of SC sites responded to light stimulus at a lower luminance threshold level in the rCPCB-RPE1-implanted group. Optokinetic data suggested both implantation groups showed improved visual acuity. These results demonstrate the safety, survival, and functionality of the hESC-RPE monolayer transplantation in an RPE dysfunction rat model.

  13. Aproveitamento de escória de siderurgia em substratos alternativos para produção de mudas de pimenteira Dedo-de-moça

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Eduardo France Oza

    Full Text Available RESUMO Estudos relacionados com o aproveitamento de escória de siderurgia tornaram-se imprescindíveis, pela possibilidade de seu uso como componente de substratos na produção de mudas e por esse uso minimizar o risco de contaminação ambiental, decorrente do descarte inadequado. Assim, objetivou-se, com este trabalho, avaliar o efeito de níveis crescentes de escória de siderurgia em substratos, compostos por solo com esterco bovino curtido e areia, nas variáveis de crescimento e na qualidade de mudas de pimenteira dedo-de-moça (Capsicum baccatum L.. Utilizou-se o delineamento em blocos casualizados, tendo como tratamentos cinco concentrações de escória (0%; 2,5%; 5%; 10% e; 20% e quatro repetições. As avaliações ocorreram aos 55 dias após semeadura, consistindo na contagem do número de folhas, na medição da altura de planta e do diâmetro do coleto, na quantificação das massas secas de folhas e raízes da planta e na determinação do Índice de Qualidade de Dickson. Modelos de regressão foram ajustados (P < 0,05 aos tratamentos com níveis crescentes de escória de siderurgia. A adição em torno de 10% de escória ao substrato proporcionou os maiores valores das variáveis de crescimento, em mudas de pimenteira Dedo-de-moça.

  14. Risk prediction in stable cardiovascular disease using a high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T single biomarker strategy compared to the ESC-SCORE.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Biener, Moritz; Giannitsis, Evangelos; Kuhner, Manuel; Zelniker, Thomas; Mueller-Hennessen, Matthias; Vafaie, Mehrshad; Stoyanov, Kiril M; Neumann, Franz-Josef; Katus, Hugo A; Hochholzer, Willibald; Valina, Christian Marc

    2018-01-01

    To evaluate the prognostic performance of high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) compared with the ESC-SCORE. We included low-risk outpatients with stable cardiovascular (CV) disease categorised into need for non-secondary and secondary prevention. The prognostication of hs-cTnT at index visit was compared with the European Society of Cardiology-Systematic COronary Risk Evaluation (ESC-SCORE) with respect to all-cause mortality (ACM) and two composite endpoints (ACM, acute myocardial infarction (AMI) and stroke and ACM, AMI, stroke and rehospitalisation for acute coronary syndrome (ACS) and decompensated heart failure (DHF)). Within a median follow-up of 796 days, a total of 16 deaths, 32 composite endpoints of ACM, AMI and stroke and 83 composite endpoints of ACM, AMI, stroke, rehospitalisation for ACS and DHF were observed among 693 stable low-risk outpatients. Using C-statistics, measurement of hs-cTnT alone outperformed the ESC-SCORE for the prediction of ACM in the entire study population (Δarea under the curve (AUC) 0.221, p=0.0039) and both prevention groups (non-secondary: ΔAUC 0.164, p=0.0208; secondary: ΔAUC 0.264, p=0.0134). For the prediction of all other secondary endpoints, hs-cTnT was at least as effective as the ESC-SCORE, both in secondary and non-secondary prevention. Using continuous and categorical net reclassification improvement and integrated discrimination improvement, hs-cTnT significantly improved reclassification regarding all endpoints in the entire population and in the secondary prevention cohort. In non-secondary prevention, hs-cTnT improved reclassification only for ACM. The results were confirmed in an independent external cohort on 2046 patients. Hs-cTnT is superior to the multivariable ESC-SCORE for the prediction of ACM and a composite endpoint in stable outpatients with and without relevant CV disease. NCT01954303; Pre-results.

  15. Notas sobre o escândalo e o cinismo de Manet

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tereza Calomeni

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available Em 1971, Foucault profere, em Túnis, uma conferência sobre a pintura de Manet. Em 1984, em A coragem da verdade, último curso oferecido no Collège de France, analisando o cinismo como expressão da parresia, novamente se refere ao pintor ao relacionar arte moderna e cinismo. A partir dos dois textos, o artigo reflete sobre o escândalo de Olympia, uma das treze telas examinadas na conferência, e a relação, estabelecida no curso, entre arte moderna e cinismo.

  16. Seabird Colonies in Western Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boertmann, D.; Mosbech, A.; Falk, K.

    About 1 million seabirds (indvs) breed in 1032 colonies distributed along the coasts of western Greenland (Fig. 1). However, this figure does not include the little auk colonies in Avanersuaq. These colonies are roughly estimated to hold about 20 mill. pairs. All the basic information on seabird...... colonies in Greenland is compiled in a database maintained by NERI-AE. This report presents data on distribution, population numbers and population trends of 19 species of breeding colonial seabirds in western Greenland. Distributions are depicted on maps in Fig. 18-39. It is apparent that the major...... colonies are found in the northern part of the region, viz. Upernavik and Avanersuaq. The numbers of birds recorded in the database for each species are presented in Tab. 4, and on the basis of these figures estimates of the populations in western Greenland are given (Tab. 5). The most numerous species...

  17. As gramáticas morais da corrupção: aportes para uma sociologia do escândalo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Edmilson Lopes Júnior

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Como analisar sociologicamente as práticas de corrupção? Quais aportes teóricos podem ser mobilizados para uma apreensão não essencialista dos escândalos de corrupção? Este artigo aborda estas questões combinando os aportes teóricos da sociologia econômica e da sociologia da moral. A ilustração empírica é dada pelo chamado "Escândalo do Mensalão", acontecimento que marcou a vida política brasileira na última década. Por fim, faço indicações para uma análise sociológica relacional das práticas de corrupção no Brasil.

  18. Colony Dimorphism in Bradyrhizobium Strains

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sylvester-Bradley, Rosemary; Thornton, Philip; Jones, Peter

    1988-01-01

    Ten isolates of Bradyrhizobium spp. which form two colony types were studied; the isolates originated from a range of legume species. The two colony types differed in the amount of gum formed or size or both, depending on the strain. Whole 7-day-old colonies of each type were subcultured to determine the proportion of cells which had changed to the other type. An iterative computerized procedure was used to determine the rate of switching per generation between the two types and to predict proportions reached at equilibrium for each strain. The predicted proportions of the wetter (more gummy) or larger colony type at equilibrium differed significantly between strains, ranging from 0.9999 (strain CIAT 2383) to 0.0216 (strain CIAT 2469), because some strains switched faster from dry to wet (or small to large) and others switched faster from wet to dry (or large to small). Predicted equilibrium was reached after about 140 generations in strain USDA 76. In all but one strain (CIAT 3030) the growth rate of the wetter colony type was greater than or similar to that of the drier type. The mean difference in generation time between the two colony types was 0.37 h. Doubling times calculated for either colony type after 7 days of growth on the agar surface ranged from 6.0 to 7.3 h. The formation of two persistent colony types by one strain (clonal or colony dimorphism) may be a common phenomenon among Bradyrhizobium strains. Images PMID:16347599

  19. Intraspecific Variation among Social Insect Colonies: Persistent Regional and Colony-Level Differences in Fire Ant Foraging Behavior.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alison A Bockoven

    Full Text Available Individuals vary within a species in many ecologically important ways, but the causes and consequences of such variation are often poorly understood. Foraging behavior is among the most profitable and risky activities in which organisms engage and is expected to be under strong selection. Among social insects there is evidence that within-colony variation in traits such as foraging behavior can increase colony fitness, but variation between colonies and the potential consequences of such variation are poorly documented. In this study, we tested natural populations of the red imported fire ant, Solenopsis invicta, for the existence of colony and regional variation in foraging behavior and tested the persistence of this variation over time and across foraging habitats. We also reared single-lineage colonies in standardized environments to explore the contribution of colony lineage. Fire ants from natural populations exhibited significant and persistent colony and regional-level variation in foraging behaviors such as extra-nest activity, exploration, and discovery of and recruitment to resources. Moreover, colony-level variation in extra-nest activity was significantly correlated with colony growth, suggesting that this variation has fitness consequences. Lineage of the colony had a significant effect on extra-nest activity and exploratory activity and explained approximately half of the variation observed in foraging behaviors, suggesting a heritable component to colony-level variation in behavior.

  20. Three-dimensional neural differentiation of embryonic stem cells with ACM induction in microfibrous matrices in bioreactors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Ning; Ouyang, Anli; Li, Yan; Yang, Shang-Tian

    2013-01-01

    The clinical use of pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-derived neural cells requires an efficient differentiation process for mass production in a bioreactor. Toward this goal, neural differentiation of murine embryonic stem cells (ESCs) in three-dimensional (3D) polyethylene terephthalate microfibrous matrices was investigated in this study. To streamline the process and provide a platform for process integration, the neural differentiation of ESCs was induced with astrocyte-conditioned medium without the formation of embryoid bodies, starting from undifferentiated ESC aggregates expanded in a suspension bioreactor. The 3D neural differentiation was able to generate a complex neural network in the matrices. When compared to 2D differentiation, 3D differentiation in microfibrous matrices resulted in a higher percentage of nestin-positive cells (68% vs. 54%) and upregulated gene expressions of nestin, Nurr1, and tyrosine hydroxylase. High purity of neural differentiation in 3D microfibrous matrix was also demonstrated in a spinner bioreactor with 74% nestin + cells. This study demonstrated the feasibility of a scalable process based on 3D differentiation in microfibrous matrices for the production of ESC-derived neural cells. © 2013 American Institute of Chemical Engineers.

  1. Differential Expression of Tyrosine Hydroxylase Protein and Apoptosis-Related Genes in Differentiated and Undifferentiated SH-SY5Y Neuroblastoma Cells Treated with MPP+

    OpenAIRE

    Khwanraj, Kawinthra; Phruksaniyom, Chareerut; Madlah, Suriyat; Dharmasaroja, Permphan

    2015-01-01

    The human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cell line has been used as a dopaminergic cell model for Parkinson's disease research. Whether undifferentiated or differentiated SH-SY5Y cells are more suitable remains controversial. This study aims to evaluate the expression of apoptosis-related mRNAs activated by MPP+ and evaluate the differential expression of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) in undifferentiated and retinoic acid- (RA-) induced differentiated cells. The western blot results showed a gradual decre...

  2. Rhabdoid and Undifferentiated Phenotype in Renal Cell Carcinoma: Analysis of 32 Cases Indicating a Distinctive Common Pathway of Dedifferentiation Frequently Associated With SWI/SNF Complex Deficiency.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agaimy, Abbas; Cheng, Liang; Egevad, Lars; Feyerabend, Bernd; Hes, Ondřej; Keck, Bastian; Pizzolitto, Stefano; Sioletic, Stefano; Wullich, Bernd; Hartmann, Arndt

    2017-02-01

    Undifferentiated (anaplastic) and rhabdoid cell features are increasingly recognized as adverse prognostic findings in renal cell carcinoma (RCC), but their molecular pathogenesis has not been studied sufficiently. Recent studies identified alterations in the Switch Sucrose nonfermentable (SWI/SNF) chromatin remodeling complex as molecular mechanisms underlying dedifferentiation and rhabdoid features in carcinomas of different organs. We herein have analyzed 32 undifferentiated RCCs having in common an undifferentiated (anaplastic) phenotype, prominent rhabdoid features, or both, irrespective of the presence or absence of conventional RCC component. Cases were stained with 6 SWI/SNF pathway members (SMARCB1, SMARCA2, SMARCA4, ARID1A, SMARCC1, and SMARCC2) in addition to conventional RCC markers. Patients were 20 males and 12 females aged 32 to 85 years (mean, 59). A total of 22/27 patients with known stage presented with ≥pT3. A differentiated component varying from microscopic to major component was detected in 20/32 cases (16 clear cell and 2 cases each chromophobe and papillary RCC). The undifferentiated component varied from rhabdoid dyscohesive cells to large epithelioid to small monotonous anaplastic cells. Variable loss of at least 1 SWI/SNF complex subunit was noted in the undifferentiated/rhabdoid component of 21/32 cases (65%) compared with intact or reduced expression in the differentiated component. A total of 15/17 patients (88%) with follow-up died of metastatic disease (mostly within 1 y). Only 2 patients were disease free at last follow-up (1 and 6 y). No difference in survival, age distribution, or sex was observed between the SWI/SNF-deficient and the SWI/SNF-intact group. This is the first study exploring the role of SWI/SNF deficiency as a potential mechanism underlying undifferentiated and rhabdoid phenotype in RCC. Our results highlight the association between the aggressive rhabdoid phenotype and the SWI/SNF complex deficiency, consistent

  3. Kant's Second Thoughts on Colonialism

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kleingeld, Pauline; Flikschuh, Katrin; Ypi, Lea

    2014-01-01

    Kant is widely regarded as a fierce critic of colonialism. In Toward Perpetual Peace and the Metaphysics of Morals, for example, he forcefully condemns European conduct in the colonies as a flagrant violation of the principles of right. His earlier views on colonialism have not yet received much

  4. Derivation of novel genetically diverse human embryonic stem cell lines.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stefanova, Valentina T; Grifo, James A; Hansis, Christoph

    2012-06-10

    Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have the potential to revolutionize many biomedical fields ranging from basic research to disease modeling, regenerative medicine, drug discovery, and toxicity testing. A multitude of hESC lines have been derived worldwide since the first 5 lines by Thomson et al. 13 years ago, but many of these are poorly characterized, unavailable, or do not represent desired traits, thus making them unsuitable for application purposes. In order to provide the scientific community with better options, we have derived 12 new hESC lines at New York University from discarded genetically normal and abnormal embryos using the latest techniques. We examined the genetic status of the NYUES lines in detail as well as their molecular and cellular features and DNA fingerprinting profile. Furthermore, we differentiated our hESCs into the tissues most affected by a specific condition or into clinically desired cell types. To our knowledge, a number of characteristics of our hESCs have not been previously reported, for example, mutation for alpha thalassemia X-linked mental retardation syndrome, linkage to conditions with a genetic component such as asthma or poor sperm morphology, and novel combinations of ethnic backgrounds. Importantly, all of our undifferentiated euploid female lines tested to date did not show X chromosome inactivation, believed to result in superior potency. We continue to derive new hESC lines and add them to the NIH registry and other registries. This should facilitate the use of our hESCs and lead to advancements for patient-benefitting applications.

  5. Comparison of Gene Expression in Human Embryonic Stem Cells, hESC-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbet, Romain; Peiffer, Isabelle; Hatzfeld, Antoinette; Charbord, Pierre; Hatzfeld, Jacques A

    2011-01-01

    We present a strategy to identify developmental/differentiation and plasma membrane marker genes of the most primitive human Mesenchymal Stem Cells (hMSCs). Using sensitive and quantitative TaqMan Low Density Arrays (TLDA) methodology, we compared the expression of 381 genes in human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs), hESC-derived MSCs (hES-MSCs), and hMSCs. Analysis of differentiation genes indicated that hES-MSCs express the sarcomeric muscle lineage in addition to the classical mesenchymal lineages, suggesting they are more primitive than hMSCs. Transcript analysis of membrane antigens suggests that IL1R1(low), BMPR1B(low), FLT4(low), LRRC32(low), and CD34 may be good candidates for the detection and isolation of the most primitive hMSCs. The expression in hMSCs of cytokine genes, such as IL6, IL8, or FLT3LG, without expression of the corresponding receptor, suggests a role for these cytokines in the paracrine control of stem cell niches. Our database may be shared with other laboratories in order to explore the considerable clinical potential of hES-MSCs, which appear to represent an intermediate developmental stage between hESCs and hMSCs.

  6. Behavioral Modulation of Infestation by Varroa destructor in Bee Colonies. Implications for Colony Stability.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Figueiró Santos, Joyce; Coelho, Flávio Codeço; Bliman, Pierre-Alexandre

    2016-01-01

    Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) has become a global problem for beekeepers and for the crops that depend on bee pollination. While many factors are known to increase the risk of colony collapse, the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is considered to be the most serious one. Although this mite is unlikely to cause the collapse of hives itself, it is the vector for many viral diseases which are among the likely causes for Colony Collapse Disorder. The effects of V. destructor infestation differ from one part of the world to another, with greater morbidity and higher colony losses in European honey bees (EHB) in Europe, Asia and North America. Although this mite has been present in Brazil for many years, there have been no reports of colony losses amongst Africanized Honey Bees (AHB). Studies carried out in Mexico have highlighted different behavioral responses by the AHB to the presence of the mite, notably as far as grooming and hygienic behavior are concerned. Could these explain why the AHB are less susceptible to Colony Collapse Disorder? In order to answer this question, we have developed a mathematical model of the infestation dynamics to analyze the role of resistance behavior by bees in the overall health of the colony, and as a consequence, its ability to face epidemiological challenges.

  7. Behavioral Modulation of Infestation by Varroa destructor in Bee Colonies. Implications for Colony Stability.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joyce de Figueiró Santos

    Full Text Available Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD has become a global problem for beekeepers and for the crops that depend on bee pollination. While many factors are known to increase the risk of colony collapse, the ectoparasitic mite Varroa destructor is considered to be the most serious one. Although this mite is unlikely to cause the collapse of hives itself, it is the vector for many viral diseases which are among the likely causes for Colony Collapse Disorder. The effects of V. destructor infestation differ from one part of the world to another, with greater morbidity and higher colony losses in European honey bees (EHB in Europe, Asia and North America. Although this mite has been present in Brazil for many years, there have been no reports of colony losses amongst Africanized Honey Bees (AHB. Studies carried out in Mexico have highlighted different behavioral responses by the AHB to the presence of the mite, notably as far as grooming and hygienic behavior are concerned. Could these explain why the AHB are less susceptible to Colony Collapse Disorder? In order to answer this question, we have developed a mathematical model of the infestation dynamics to analyze the role of resistance behavior by bees in the overall health of the colony, and as a consequence, its ability to face epidemiological challenges.

  8. Colonialism, customary law and the post-colonial state in Africa: the ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Colonialism became a fact of life in many African countries. An effect of colonialism especially in the former British colonized countries was the transplantation of the British legal system, which led to recognition of both systems and the gradual relegation of the indigenous system otherwise called customary law. The use and ...

  9. Public Heath in Colonial and Post-Colonial Ghana: Lesson-Drawing for The Twenty-First Century

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adu-Gyamfi, Samuel

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Public health in twenty-first century Ghana is mired with several issues ranging from the inadequacy of public health facilities, improper settlement planning, insanitary conditions, and the inadequacy of laws and their implementation. This situation compared to the colonial era is a direct contradiction. Development in the pre-colonial era to the colonial era sought to make the prevention of diseases a priority in the colonial administration. This was begun with the establishment of the health branch in 1909 as a response to the bubonic plague that was fast spreading in the colony. From here public health policies and strategies were enacted to help the diseases prevention cause. Various public health boards, the medical research institute or the laboratory branch, the waste management department, the use of preventive medicine and maintenance of good settlement planning and sanitation were public health measures in the colonial era. This research seeks to analyse the public health system in the colonial era so as to draw basic lessons for twenty-first century Ghana. Archival data and other secondary sources are reviewed and analysed to help draw these lessons. Richard Rose’s lesson-drawing approach was used to draw the lessons.

  10. Responses of human embryonic stem cells and their differentiated progeny to ionizing radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zou, Ying; Zhang, Ningzhe; Ellerby, Lisa M.; Davalos, Albert R.; Zeng, Xianmin; Campisi, Judith; Desprez, Pierre-Yves

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► hESCs and their progeny, NSCs and neurons, were exposed to ionizing radiation. ► Upon irradiation, most hESCs died within 5–7 h. ► Surviving NSCs underwent senescence and displayed features of astrocytes. ► Surviving NSCs did not display the secretory phenotype expressed by pure astrocytes. ► This study is to better understand the stress-responses of hESCs and their progeny. -- Abstract: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold promise for the treatment of many human pathologies. For example, hESCs and the neuronal stem cells (NSCs) and neurons derived from them have significant potential as transplantation therapies for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Two concerns about the use of hESCs and their differentiated derivatives are their ability to function and their ability to resist neoplastic transformation in response to stresses that inevitably arise during their preparation for transplantation. To begin to understand how these cells handle genotoxic stress, we examined the responses of hESCs and derived NSCs and neurons to ionizing radiation (IR). Undifferentiated hESCs were extremely sensitive to IR, with nearly all the cells undergoing cell death within 5–7 h. NSCs and neurons were substantially more resistant to IR, with neurons showing the most resistant. Of interest, NSCs that survived IR underwent cellular senescence and acquired astrocytic characteristics. Unlike IR-treated astrocytes, however, the NSC-derived astrocytic cells that survived IR did not display the typical pro-inflammatory, pro-carcinogenic senescence-associated secretory phenotype. These findings suggest distinct genotoxic stress-responses of hESCs and derived NSC and neuronal populations, and suggest that damaged NSCs, while failing to function, may not cause local inflammation.

  11. Responses of human embryonic stem cells and their differentiated progeny to ionizing radiation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zou, Ying; Zhang, Ningzhe; Ellerby, Lisa M.; Davalos, Albert R.; Zeng, Xianmin; Campisi, Judith [Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA 94945 (United States); Desprez, Pierre-Yves, E-mail: pydesprez@cpmcri.org [Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Novato, CA 94945 (United States); California Pacific Medical Center, Research Institute, San Francisco, CA 94107 (United States)

    2012-09-14

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer hESCs and their progeny, NSCs and neurons, were exposed to ionizing radiation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Upon irradiation, most hESCs died within 5-7 h. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Surviving NSCs underwent senescence and displayed features of astrocytes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Surviving NSCs did not display the secretory phenotype expressed by pure astrocytes. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer This study is to better understand the stress-responses of hESCs and their progeny. -- Abstract: Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) hold promise for the treatment of many human pathologies. For example, hESCs and the neuronal stem cells (NSCs) and neurons derived from them have significant potential as transplantation therapies for a variety of neurodegenerative diseases. Two concerns about the use of hESCs and their differentiated derivatives are their ability to function and their ability to resist neoplastic transformation in response to stresses that inevitably arise during their preparation for transplantation. To begin to understand how these cells handle genotoxic stress, we examined the responses of hESCs and derived NSCs and neurons to ionizing radiation (IR). Undifferentiated hESCs were extremely sensitive to IR, with nearly all the cells undergoing cell death within 5-7 h. NSCs and neurons were substantially more resistant to IR, with neurons showing the most resistant. Of interest, NSCs that survived IR underwent cellular senescence and acquired astrocytic characteristics. Unlike IR-treated astrocytes, however, the NSC-derived astrocytic cells that survived IR did not display the typical pro-inflammatory, pro-carcinogenic senescence-associated secretory phenotype. These findings suggest distinct genotoxic stress-responses of hESCs and derived NSC and neuronal populations, and suggest that damaged NSCs, while failing to function, may not cause local inflammation.

  12. An integrative analysis of reprogramming in human isogenic system identified a clone selection criterion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shutova, Maria V; Surdina, Anastasia V; Ischenko, Dmitry S; Naumov, Vladimir A; Bogomazova, Alexandra N; Vassina, Ekaterina M; Alekseev, Dmitry G; Lagarkova, Maria A; Kiselev, Sergey L

    2016-01-01

    The pluripotency of newly developed human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) is usually characterized by physiological parameters; i.e., by their ability to maintain the undifferentiated state and to differentiate into derivatives of the 3 germ layers. Nevertheless, a molecular comparison of physiologically normal iPSCs to the "gold standard" of pluripotency, embryonic stem cells (ESCs), often reveals a set of genes with different expression and/or methylation patterns in iPSCs and ESCs. To evaluate the contribution of the reprogramming process, parental cell type, and fortuity in the signature of human iPSCs, we developed a complete isogenic reprogramming system. We performed a genome-wide comparison of the transcriptome and the methylome of human isogenic ESCs, 3 types of ESC-derived somatic cells (fibroblasts, retinal pigment epithelium and neural cells), and 3 pairs of iPSC lines derived from these somatic cells. Our analysis revealed a high input of stochasticity in the iPSC signature that does not retain specific traces of the parental cell type and reprogramming process. We showed that 5 iPSC clones are sufficient to find with 95% confidence at least one iPSC clone indistinguishable from their hypothetical isogenic ESC line. Additionally, on the basis of a small set of genes that are characteristic of all iPSC lines and isogenic ESCs, we formulated an approach of "the best iPSC line" selection and confirmed it on an independent dataset.

  13. Trisomy 4 in a case of acute undifferentiated myeloblastic leukemia with hand-mirror cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kao, Y S; McCormick, C; Vial, R

    1990-04-01

    A case of acute undifferentiated myelocytic leukemic with trisomy 4 is described. The patient is a 61-year-old woman who developed leukemia 4 1/2 years after receiving radiation therapy for uterine carcinoma. Many leukemic cells exhibited hand-mirror configuration after the bone marrow aspirate was left at room temperature overnight. The relationship between trisomy 4 and hand-mirror cells in acute myelocytic leukemia is unknown.

  14. Ethanol negatively regulates hepatic differentiation of hESC by inhibition of the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway in vitro.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Gao

    Full Text Available Alcohol insult triggers complex events in the liver, promoting fibrogenic/inflammatory signals and in more advanced cases, aberrant matrix deposition. It is well accepted that the regenerative capacity of the adult liver is impaired during alcohol injury. The liver progenitor/stem cells have been shown to play an important role in liver regeneration -in response to various chronic injuries; however, the effects of alcohol on stem cell differentiation in the liver are not well understood.We employed hepatic progenitor cells derived from hESCs to study the impact of ethanol on hepatocyte differentiation by exposure of these progenitor cells to ethanol during hepatocyte differentiation.We found that ethanol negatively regulated hepatic differentiation of hESC-derived hepatic progenitor cells in a dose-dependent manner. There was also a moderate cell cycle arrest at G1/S checkpoint in the ethanol treated cells, which is associated with a reduced level of cyclin D1 in these cells. Ethanol treatment specifically inhibited the activation of the ERK but not JNK nor the p38 MAP signaling pathway. At the same time, the WNT signaling pathway was also reduced in the cells exposed to ethanol. Upon evaluating the effects of the inhibitors of these two signaling pathways, we determined that the Erk inhibitor replicated the effects of ethanol on the hepatocyte differentiation and attenuated the WNT/β-catenin signaling, however, inhibitors of WNT only partially replicated the effects of ethanol on the hepatocyte differentiation.Our results demonstrated that ethanol negatively regulated hepatic differentiation of hESC-derived hepatic progenitors through inhibiting the MAPK/ERK signaling pathway, and subsequently attenuating the WNT signaling pathway. Thus, our finding provides a novel insight into the mechanism by which alcohol regulates cell fate selection of hESC-derived hepatic progenitor cells, and the identified pathways may provide therapeutic targets

  15. Heterogeneity in acute undifferentiated leukemia.

    Science.gov (United States)

    LeMaistre, A; Childs, C C; Hirsch-Ginsberg, C; Reuben, J; Cork, A; Trujillo, J M; Andersson, B; McCredie, K B; Freireich, E; Stass, S A

    1988-01-01

    From January 1985 to May 1987, we studied 256 adults with newly diagnosed acute leukemia. Acute undifferentiated leukemia (AUL) was diagnosed in 12 of the 256 (4.6%) cases when lineage could not be delineated by light microscopy and light cytochemistry. To further characterize the blasts, immunophenotyping, ultrastructural myeloperoxidase (UMPO), and ultrastructural platelet peroxidase parameters were examined in 10, 11, and 6 of the 12 cases, respectively. Five cases demonstrated UMPO and were reclassified as acute myeloblastic leukemia (AML). Of the six UMPO-negative cases, three had a myeloid and one had a mixed immunophenotype. One UMPO-negative patient with a myeloid immunophenotype was probed for the immunoglobulin heavy chain gene (JH) and the beta chain of the T-cell receptor gene (Tcr beta) with no evidence of rearrangement. Six cases were treated with standard acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) chemotherapy and failed to achieve complete remission (CR). Various AML chemotherapeutic regimens produced CR in only 3 of the 12 cases. One case was treated with gamma interferon and the other 2 with high-dose Ara-C. Our findings indicate a myeloid lineage can be detected by UMPO (5/12) in some cases of AUL. A germline configuration with JH and Tcr beta in one case as well as a myeloid immunophenotype in 3 UMPO-negative cases raises the possibility that myeloid lineage commitment may occur in the absence of myeloid peroxidase (MPO) cytochemical positivity.

  16. The growth hormone-releasing hormone (GHRH) antagonist JV-1-36 inhibits proliferation and survival of human ectopic endometriotic stromal cells (ESCs) and the T HESC cell line.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Annunziata, Marta; Grande, Cristina; Scarlatti, Francesca; Deltetto, Francesco; Delpiano, Elena; Camanni, Marco; Ghigo, Ezio; Granata, Riccarda

    2010-08-01

    To determine the effect of the GHRH antagonist JV-1-36 on proliferation and survival of primary ectopic human endometriotic stromal cells (ESCs) and the T HESC cell line. Prospective laboratory study. University hospital. 22 women with endometriosis (aged 34.8+/-5.7 years) undergoing therapeutic laparoscopy. Eutopic (n=10) and ectopic (n=22) endometrial tissues were collected from women who underwent therapeutic laparoscopic surgery for endometriosis (stage III/IV). Expression of GHRH, GHRH receptor (GHRH-R) and GHRH-R splice variant (SV) 1 mRNA was determined by reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). The ESC proliferation was assessed by 5-bromo-2-deoxyuridine incorporation, cell survival by 3-[4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl]-2,5-diphenyl tetrazolium bromide (MTT) and Trypan blue assay. The T HESC survival was evaluated by MTT, cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) levels by ELISA, extracellular signal-regulated kinases 1 and 2 (ERK1/2) phosphorylation by Western blot, and insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-2 mRNA by real-time PCR. The ESCs and T HESCs, but not normal endometrial tissues, expressed GHRH-R mRNA; SV1 mRNA was determined in normal endometrial tissues, ESCs, and T HESCs; GHRH mRNAwas found in T HESCs; JV-1-36 inhibited ESC proliferation and ESC and T HESC survival. In T HESCs, JV-1-36 reduced cAMP production and ERK1/2 phosphorylation but had no effect on IGF-2 mRNA expression. The GHRH antagonist JV-1-36 inhibits endometriotic cell proliferation and survival, suggesting that GHRH antagonist may represent promising tools for treatment of endometriosis. Copyright (c) 2010 American Society for Reproductive Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  17. Dynamics of the Presence of Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus in Honey Bee Colonies with Colony Collapse Disorder

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chunsheng Hou

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available The determinants of Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD, a particular case of collapse of honey bee colonies, are still unresolved. Viruses including the Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV were associated with CCD. We found an apiary with colonies showing typical CCD characteristics that bore high loads of IAPV, recovered some colonies from collapse and tested the hypothesis if IAPV was actively replicating in them and infectious to healthy bees. We found that IAPV was the dominant pathogen and it replicated actively in the colonies: viral titers decreased from April to September and increased from September to December. IAPV extracted from infected bees was highly infectious to healthy pupae: they showed several-fold amplification of the viral genome and synthesis of the virion protein VP3. The health of recovered colonies was seriously compromised. Interestingly, a rise of IAPV genomic copies in two colonies coincided with their subsequent collapse. Our results do not imply IAPV as the cause of CCD but indicate that once acquired and induced to replication it acts as an infectious factor that affects the health of the colonies and may determine their survival. This is the first follow up outside the US of CCD-colonies bearing IAPV under natural conditions.

  18. Geological map of Uruguay Esc 1,100,000. Fuente del Puma Sheet G-27

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Preciozzi, F.; Pena, S.

    1990-01-01

    This work is about the geological map of Uruguay Esc.1.100.000 (Fuente del Puma) and the explanatory memoranda which describes the geological , lithological and sedimentological characteristics soils. The area corresponding to Fuente del Puma is located in the SW of Lavalleja and NW of Maldonado town and its stratigraphy belong to the Cretaceous and Cenozoic formations as well as the Cambrian and upper Precambrian

  19. Specialized mouse embryonic stem cells for studying vascular development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Glaser, Drew E; Burns, Andrew B; Hatano, Rachel; Medrzycki, Magdalena; Fan, Yuhong; McCloskey, Kara E

    2014-01-01

    Vascular progenitor cells are desirable in a variety of therapeutic strategies; however, the lineage commitment of endothelial and smooth muscle cell from a common progenitor is not well-understood. Here, we report the generation of the first dual reporter mouse embryonic stem cell (mESC) lines designed to facilitate the study of vascular endothelial and smooth muscle development in vitro. These mESC lines express green fluorescent protein (GFP) under the endothelial promoter, Tie-2, and Discomsoma sp. red fluorescent protein (RFP) under the promoter for alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA). The lines were then characterized for morphology, marker expression, and pluripotency. The mESC colonies were found to exhibit dome-shaped morphology, alkaline phosphotase activity, as well as expression of Oct 3/4 and stage-specific embryonic antigen-1. The mESC colonies were also found to display normal karyotypes and are able to generate cells from all three germ layers, verifying pluripotency. Tissue staining confirmed the coexpression of VE (vascular endothelial)-cadherin with the Tie-2 GFP+ expression on endothelial structures and smooth muscle myosin heavy chain with the α-SMA RFP+ smooth muscle cells. Lastly, it was verified that the developing mESC do express Tie-2 GFP+ and α-SMA RFP+ cells during differentiation and that the GFP+ cells colocalize with the vascular-like structures surrounded by α-SMA-RFP cells. These dual reporter vascular-specific mESC permit visualization and cell tracking of individual endothelial and smooth muscle cells over time and in multiple dimensions, a powerful new tool for studying vascular development in real time.

  20. YKL-40 is differentially expressed in human embryonic stem cells and in cell progeny of the three germ layers.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brøchner, Christian B; Johansen, Julia S; Larsen, Lars A; Bak, Mads; Mikkelsen, Hanne B; Byskov, Anne Grete; Andersen, Claus Yding; Møllgård, Kjeld

    2012-03-01

    The secreted glycoprotein YKL-40 participates in cell differentiation, inflammation, and cancer progression. High YKL-40 expression is reported during early human development, but its functions are unknown. Six human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines were cultured in an atmosphere of low or high oxygen tension, in culture medium with or without basic fibroblast growth factor, and on feeder layers comprising mouse embryonic fibroblasts or human foreskin fibroblasts to evaluate whether hESCs and their progeny produced YKL-40 and to characterize YKL-40 expression during differentiation. Secreted YKL-40 protein and YKL-40 mRNA expression were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and quantitative RT-PCR. Serial-sectioned colonies were stained for YKL-40 protein and for pluripotent hESC (OCT4, NANOG) and germ layer (HNF-3β, PDX1, CD34, p63, nestin, PAX6) markers. Double-labeling showed YKL-40 expression in OCT4-positive hESCs, PAX6-positive neuroectodermal cells, and HNF-3β-positive endodermal cells. The differentiating progeny showed strong YKL-40 expression. Abrupt transition between YKL-40 and OCT4-positive hESCs and YKL-40-positive ecto- and neuroectodermal lineages was observed within the same epithelial-like layer. YKL-40-positive cells within deeper layers lacked contact with OCT4-positive cells. YKL-40 may be important in initial cell differentiation from hESCs toward ectoderm and neuroectoderm, with retained epithelial morphology, whereas later differentiation into endoderm and mesoderm involves a transition into the deeper layers of the colony.

  1. Actin-myosin contractility is responsible for the reduced viability of dissociated human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Guokai; Hou, Zhonggang; Gulbranson, Daniel R; Thomson, James A

    2010-08-06

    Human ESCs are the pluripotent precursor of the three embryonic germ layers. Human ESCs exhibit basal-apical polarity, junctional complexes, integrin-dependent matrix adhesion, and E-cadherin-dependent cell-cell adhesion, all characteristics shared by the epiblast epithelium of the intact mammalian embryo. After disruption of epithelial structures, programmed cell death is commonly observed. If individualized human ESCs are prevented from reattaching and forming colonies, their viability is significantly reduced. Here, we show that actin-myosin contraction is a critical effector of the cell death response to human ESC dissociation. Inhibition of myosin heavy chain ATPase, downregulation of myosin heavy chain, and downregulation of myosin light chain all increase survival and cloning efficiency of individualized human ESCs. ROCK inhibition decreases phosphorylation of myosin light chain, suggesting that inhibition of actin-myosin contraction is also the mechanism through which ROCK inhibitors increase cloning efficiency of human ESCs. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  2. Transplant of Hepatocytes, Undifferentiated Mesenchymal Stem Cells, and In Vitro Hepatocyte-Differentiated Mesenchymal Stem Cells in a Chronic Liver Failure Experimental Model: A Comparative Study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    El Baz, Hanan; Demerdash, Zeinab; Kamel, Manal; Atta, Shimaa; Salah, Faten; Hassan, Salwa; Hammam, Olfat; Khalil, Heba; Meshaal, Safa; Raafat, Inas

    2018-02-01

    Liver transplant is the cornerstone line of treatment for chronic liver diseases; however, the long list of complications and obstacles stand against this operation. Searching for new modalities for treatment of chronic liver illness is a must. In the present research, we aimed to compare the effects of transplant of undifferentiated human mesenchymal stem cells, in vitro differentiated mesenchymal stem cells, and adult hepatocytes in an experimental model of chronic liver failure. Undifferentiated human cord blood mesenchymal stem cells were isolated, pro-pagated, and characterized by morphology, gene expression analysis, and flow cytometry of surface markers and in vitro differentiated into hepatocyte-like cells. Rat hepatocytes were isolated by double perfusion technique. An animal model of chronic liver failure was developed, and undifferentiated human cord blood mesenchymal stem cells, in vitro hepato-genically differentiated mesenchymal stem cells, or freshly isolated rat hepatocytes were transplanted into a CCL4 cirrhotic experimental model. Animals were killed 3 months after transplant, and liver functions and histopathology were assessed. Compared with the cirrhotic control group, the 3 cell-treated groups showed improved alanine aminotransferase, aspartate aminotransferase, albumin, and bilirubin levels, with best results shown in the hepatocyte-treated group. Histopathologic examination of the treated groups showed improved fibrosis, with best results obtained in the undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cell-treated group. Both adult hepatocytes and cord blood mesenchymal stem cells proved to be promising candidates for cell-based therapy in liver regeneration on an experimental level. Improved liver function was evident in the hepatocyte-treated group, and fibrosis control was more evident in the undifferentiated mesenchymal stem cell-treated group.

  3. CCL19/CCR7 contributes to the pathogenesis of endometriosis via PI3K/Akt pathway by regulating the proliferation and invasion of ESCs.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Diao, Ruiying; Wei, Weixia; Zhao, Jinghui; Tian, Fuying; Cai, Xueyong; Duan, Yong-Gang

    2017-11-01

    The level of CCL19 increased in the peritoneal fluid of women with endometriosis, but the precise mechanism of CCL19/CCR7 in the pathogenesis of endometriosis remains unknown. ELISA and immunohistochemistry were performed to analyze CCL19/CCR7 expressions in peritoneal fluid and endometrium from women with endometriosis (n = 38) and controls (n = 32). Cell proliferation and transwell invasion assays were applied to detect proliferation and invasion of human endometrial stromal cells (ESCs). Expressions of Bcl2, MMP2, MMP9, and p-AKT/AKT were analyzed by Western blot. Peritoneal fluid concentration of CCL19 in patients with endometriosis was higher than that in controls. Those patients with moderate/severe endometriosis had significantly higher peritoneal fluid concentrations of CCL19 compared to those with minimal/mild endometriosis. Higher CCL19 and CCR7 were found in the endometrium with endometriosis compared to control. CCL19 significantly enhanced ESC proliferation and invasion through CCR7 via activating PI3K/Akt signal pathways. CCL19/CCR7 interaction significantly enhanced phosphorylation of Akt, Bcl2, MMP2, and MMP9 in ESCs. These data indicate CCL19/CCR7 contributes to proliferation and invasion of ESCs, which are conducive to the pathogenesis of endometriosis through activating PI3K/Akt pathway. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  4. Growth Mechanism of Microbial Colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Minhui; Martini, K. Michael; Kim, Neil H.; Sherer, Nicholas; Lee, Jia Gloria; Kuhlman, Thomas; Goldenfeld, Nigel

    Experiments on nutrient-limited E. coli colonies, growing on agar gel from single cells reveal a power-law distribution of sizes, both during the growth process and in the final stage when growth has ceased. We developed a Python simulation to study the growth mechanism of the bacterial population and thus understand the broad details of the experimental findings. The simulation takes into account nutrient uptake, metabolic function, growth and cell division. Bacteria are modeled in two dimensions as hard circle-capped cylinders with steric interactions and elastic stress dependent growth characteristics. Nutrient is able to diffuse within and between the colonies. The mechanism of microbial colony growth involves reproduction of cells within the colonies and the merging of different colonies. We report results on the dynamic scaling laws and final state size distribution, that capture in semi-quantitative detail the trends observed in experiment. Supported by NSF Grant 0822613.

  5. Pollen foraging in colonies of Melipona bicolor (Apidae, Meliponini): effects of season, colony size and queen number.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hilário, S D; Imperatriz-Fonseca, V L

    2009-01-01

    We evaluated the ratio between the number of pollen foragers and the total number of bees entering colonies of Melipona bicolor, a facultative polygynous species of stingless bees. The variables considered in our analysis were: seasonality, colony size and the number of physogastric queens in each colony. The pollen forager ratios varied significantly between seasons; the ratio was higher in winter than in summer. However, colony size and number of queens per colony had no significant effect. We conclude that seasonal differences in pollen harvest are related to the production of sexuals and to the number of individuals and their body size.

  6. Striking similarity in the gene expression levels of individual Myc module members among ESCs, EpiSCs, and partial iPSCs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masataka Hirasaki

    Full Text Available Predominant transcriptional subnetworks called Core, Myc, and PRC modules have been shown to participate in preservation of the pluripotency and self-renewality of embryonic stem cells (ESCs. Epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs are another cell type that possesses pluripotency and self-renewality. However, the roles of these modules in EpiSCs have not been systematically examined to date. Here, we compared the average expression levels of Core, Myc, and PRC module genes between ESCs and EpiSCs. EpiSCs showed substantially higher and lower expression levels of PRC and Core module genes, respectively, compared with those in ESCs, while Myc module members showed almost equivalent levels of average gene expression. Subsequent analyses revealed that the similarity in gene expression levels of the Myc module between these two cell types was not just overall, but striking similarities were evident even when comparing the expression of individual genes. We also observed equivalent levels of similarity in the expression of individual Myc module genes between induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs and partial iPSCs that are an unwanted byproduct generated during iPSC induction. Moreover, our data demonstrate that partial iPSCs depend on a high level of c-Myc expression for their self-renewal properties.

  7. Political instability and discontinuity in Nigeria: The pre-colonial past and public goods provision under colonial and post-colonial political orders

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Papaioannou, K.I.; Dalrymple-Smith, A.E.

    2015-01-01

    This article explores the relative importance of pre-colonial institutional capacity and the effects of periods of peace and stability on long-term development outcomes in Nigeria. We use data on education, health, and public works at a provincial level from a variety of colonial and Nigerian state

  8. Total Artificial Heart Implantation After Undifferentiated High-Grade Sarcoma Excision.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kremer, Jamila; Farag, Mina; Arif, Rawa; Brcic, Andreas; Sabashnikov, Anton; Schmack, Bastian; Popov, Aron-Frederik; Karck, Matthias; Dohmen, Pascal M; Ruhparwar, Arjang; Weymann, Alexander

    2016-11-02

    BACKGROUND Total artificial heart (TAH) implantation in patients with aggressive tumor infiltration of the heart can be challenging. CASE REPORT We report on a patient with a rare primary undifferentiated high-grade spindle cell sarcoma of the mitral valve and in the left atrium, first diagnosed in 2014. The referring center did a first resection in 2014. In the course of 17 months, computer tomography (CT) scan again showed massive invasion of the mitral valve and left atrium. Partial resection and mitral valve replacement was not an option. We did a subtotal heart excision with total artificial heart implantation. In this report we discuss complications, risk factors, and perioperative management of this patient. CONCLUSIONS Patients with aggressive tumors of the heart can be considered for TAH implantation.

  9. Queen promiscuity lowers disease within honeybee colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seeley, Thomas D; Tarpy, David R

    2006-01-01

    Most species of social insects have singly mated queens, but in some species each queen mates with numerous males to create a colony with a genetically diverse worker force. The adaptive significance of polyandry by social insect queens remains an evolutionary puzzle. Using the honeybee (Apis mellifera), we tested the hypothesis that polyandry improves a colony's resistance to disease. We established colonies headed by queens that had been artificially inseminated by either one or 10 drones. Later, we inoculated these colonies with spores of Paenibacillus larvae, the bacterium that causes a highly virulent disease of honeybee larvae (American foulbrood). We found that, on average, colonies headed by multiple-drone inseminated queens had markedly lower disease intensity and higher colony strength at the end of the summer relative to colonies headed by single-drone inseminated queens. These findings support the hypothesis that polyandry by social insect queens is an adaptation to counter disease within their colonies. PMID:17015336

  10. Single-Cell Analyses of ESCs Reveal Alternative Pluripotent Cell States and Molecular Mechanisms that Control Self-Renewal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dmitri Papatsenko

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Analyses of gene expression in single mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs cultured in serum and LIF revealed the presence of two distinct cell subpopulations with individual gene expression signatures. Comparisons with published data revealed that cells in the first subpopulation are phenotypically similar to cells isolated from the inner cell mass (ICM. In contrast, cells in the second subpopulation appear to be more mature. Pluripotency Gene Regulatory Network (PGRN reconstruction based on single-cell data and published data suggested antagonistic roles for Oct4 and Nanog in the maintenance of pluripotency states. Integrated analyses of published genomic binding (ChIP data strongly supported this observation. Certain target genes alternatively regulated by OCT4 and NANOG, such as Sall4 and Zscan10, feed back into the top hierarchical regulator Oct4. Analyses of such incoherent feedforward loops with feedback (iFFL-FB suggest a dynamic model for the maintenance of mESC pluripotency and self-renewal.

  11. Prevalence of extended-spectrum cephalosporinase (ESC)-producing Escherichia coli in Danish slaughter pigs and retail meat identified by selective enrichment and association with cephalosporin usage

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Agersø, Yvonne; Aarestrup, Frank Møller; Pedersen, Karl

    2012-01-01

    OBJECTIVES: To investigate the prevalence of extended-spectrum cephalosporinase (ESC)-producing Escherichia coli in pigs at slaughter and retail meat, and possible associations with the consumption of third- and fourth-generation cephalosporins. METHODS: During 2009, faecal samples from Danish pigs...... (n = 786) were collected at slaughter, and 866 meat samples [Danish: pork (153), broiler meat (121) and beef (142); and imported: pork (173), broiler meat (193) and beef (84)] were randomly collected in retail stores and outlets. E. coli was isolated after enrichment in MacConkey broth.......7%–3.3% in other meat types. ESC E. coli from imported broiler meat (n = 69) contained blaCMY-2 (48%), blaCTX-M-1 (25%) and blaSHV-12 (16%). Without selective enrichment, no ESC E. coli from pigs and only 4.1% from imported broiler meat were found. CONCLUSIONS: The usage of cephalosporins for slaughter pigs may...

  12. Differentiation of monkey embryonic stem cells to hepatocytes by feeder-free dispersion culture and expression analyses of cytochrome p450 enzymes responsible for drug metabolism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maruyama, Junya; Matsunaga, Tamihide; Yamaori, Satoshi; Sakamoto, Sakae; Kamada, Noboru; Nakamura, Katsunori; Kikuchi, Shinji; Ohmori, Shigeru

    2013-01-01

    We reported previously that monkey embryonic stem cells (ESCs) were differentiated into hepatocytes by formation of embryoid bodies (EBs). However, this EB formation method is not always efficient for assays using a large number of samples simultaneously. A dispersion culture system, one of the differentiation methods without EB formation, is able to more efficiently provide a large number of feeder-free undifferentiated cells. A previous study demonstrated the effectiveness of the Rho-associated kinase inhibitor Y-27632 for feeder-free dispersion culture and induction of differentiation of monkey ESCs into neural cells. In the present study, the induction of differentiation of cynomolgus monkey ESCs (cmESCs) into hepatocytes was performed by the dispersion culture method, and the expression and drug inducibility of cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzymes in these hepatocytes were examined. The cmESCs were successfully differentiated into hepatocytes under feeder-free dispersion culture conditions supplemented with Y-27632. The hepatocytes differentiated from cmESCs expressed the mRNAs for three hepatocyte marker genes (α-fetoprotein, albumin, CYP7A1) and several CYP enzymes, as measured by real-time polymerase chain reaction. In particular, the basal expression of cmCYP3A4 (3A8) in these hepatocytes was detected at mRNA and enzyme activity (testosterone 6β-hydroxylation) levels. Furthermore, the expression and activity of cmCYP3A4 (3A8) were significantly upregulated by rifampicin. These results indicated the effectiveness of Y-27632 supplementation for feeder-free dispersed culture and induction of differentiation into hepatocytes, and the expression of functional CYP enzyme(s) in cmESC-derived hepatic cells.

  13. JAX Colony Management System (JCMS): an extensible colony and phenotype data management system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Donnelly, Chuck J; McFarland, Mike; Ames, Abigail; Sundberg, Beth; Springer, Dave; Blauth, Peter; Bult, Carol J

    2010-04-01

    The Jackson Laboratory Colony Management System (JCMS) is a software application for managing data and information related to research mouse colonies, associated biospecimens, and experimental protocols. JCMS runs directly on computers that run one of the PC Windows operating systems, but can be accessed via web browser interfaces from any computer running a Windows, Macintosh, or Linux operating system. JCMS can be configured for a single user or multiple users in small- to medium-size work groups. The target audience for JCMS includes laboratory technicians, animal colony managers, and principal investigators. The application provides operational support for colony management and experimental workflows, sample and data tracking through transaction-based data entry forms, and date-driven work reports. Flexible query forms allow researchers to retrieve database records based on user-defined criteria. Recent advances in handheld computers with integrated barcode readers, middleware technologies, web browsers, and wireless networks add to the utility of JCMS by allowing real-time access to the database from any networked computer.

  14. Collective Memories of Portuguese Colonial Action in Africa: Representations of the Colonial Past among Mozambicans and Portuguese Youths

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    João Feijó

    2010-05-01

    Full Text Available Social representations of the colonization and decolonization processes among young people from a former European colonial power (Portugal and from an African ex-colony (Mozambique were investigated through surveys using open- and closed-ended questions about national history, focusing on the identity functions of collective memories. Hegemonic and contested representations were found of the most prominent events related to Portuguese colonization of Mozambique, arousing a range of collective emotions. A central place is occupied by memories of the Colonial War, which ended with the Carnation Revolution in Portugal and the subsequent independence of the Portuguese African colonies. Overall, the depiction of colonialism was more negative for Mozambican than for Portuguese participants. The violent effects of colonial action were very salient in Mozambican memories, which stressed the most oppressive aspects of the colonial period, associated with slave trade and brutal repression. On the Portuguese side, the idealization of the voyages of discovery persisted, obscuring the most violent effects of colonial expansion. However, collective memories of colonization of former colonizer and former colonized do not simply stand opposed. Both Mozambican and Portuguese participants reported ambivalent feelings towards the colonization process.

  15. Treatment of refractory undifferentiated acute myelogenous leukemia with all-trans-retinoic acid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Griggs, J J; Henley, S E; Rowe, J M

    1994-02-01

    A patient is described with undifferentiated acute myeloblastic leukemia refractory to two courses of daunorubicin and cytosine arabinoside. Because some the myeloblasts developed morphologic features of promyelocytes, the patient was treated with all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) in an attempt to promote maturation. Cytogenetic studies and sensitive molecular analysis did not reveal any abnormality classically associated with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Serial bone marrow biopsies demonstrated myeloid maturation, and the patient uneventfully went into a sustained complete remission. A review of the literature confirms this to be an apparently hitherto undescribed response to ATRA that may have therapeutic implications in similar patients.

  16. Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma: indolent, tail-like recurrence of a high-grade tumor

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Alpert, Justin S. [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Boland, Patrick [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, Department of Surgery, New York, NY (United States); Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY (United States); Hameed, Meera [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Pathology, New York, NY (United States); Panicek, David M. [Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Department of Radiology, New York, NY (United States); Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY (United States)

    2018-01-15

    Recurrence of a soft tissue sarcoma typically manifests as a round or oval mass at imaging, and recurrent high-grade soft tissue sarcomas generally enlarge relatively rapidly. We present a case of high-grade undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma in the calf of a 48-year-old male that recurred as a thin, curvilinear ''tail'' of enhancing tissue at magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), with extremely indolent growth over a 7-year period. The unusual imaging finding of a slowly enlarging ''tail'' should not be dismissed as postoperative changes, even for a high-grade soft tissue sarcoma. (orig.)

  17. Tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R is a highly effective general therapeutic for undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma patient-derived orthotopic xenograft nude-mouse models.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Igarashi, Kentaro; Kawaguchi, Kei; Kiyuna, Tasuku; Miyake, Kentaro; Miyake, Masuyo; Singh, Arun S; Eckardt, Mark A; Nelson, Scott D; Russell, Tara A; Dry, Sarah M; Li, Yunfeng; Yamamoto, Norio; Hayashi, Katsuhiro; Kimura, Hiroaki; Miwa, Shinji; Tsuchiya, Hiroyuki; Singh, Shree Ram; Eilber, Fritz C; Hoffman, Robert M

    2018-03-18

    Undifferentiated soft tissue sarcoma (USTS) is a recalcitrant and heterogeneous subgroup of soft tissue sarcoma with high risk of metastasis and recurrence. Due to heterogeneity of USTS, there is no reliably effective first-line therapy. We have generated tumor-targeting Salmonella typhimurium A1-R (S. typhimurium A1-R), which previously showed strong efficacy on single patient-derived orthotopic xenograft (PDOX) models of Ewing's sarcoma and follicular dendritic cell sarcoma. In the present study, tumor resected from 4 patients with a biopsy-proven USTS (2 undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma [UPS], 1 undifferentiated sarcoma not otherwise specified [NOS] and 1 undifferentiated spindle cell sarcoma [USS]) were grown orthotopically in the biceps femoris muscle of mice to establish PDOX models. One USS model and one UPS model were doxorubicin (DOX) resistant. One UPS and the NOS model were partially sensitive to DOX. DOX is first-line therapy for these diseases. S. typhimurium A1-R arrested tumor growth all 4 models. In addition to arresting tumor growth in each case, S. typhimurium A1-R was significantly more efficacious than DOX in each case, thereby surpassing first-line therapy. These results suggest that S. typhimurium A1-R can be a general therapeutic for USTS and possibly sarcoma in general. Published by Elsevier Inc.

  18. Post-colonial identity in Greenland?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Gad, Ulrik Pram

    2009-01-01

    could be furthered by bringing politics back in. Based on a discourse analysis of the Greenlandic debate on language, this paper makes three claims: First, the identity projects promoted in Greenland are based on an essentialist conception of identity. Secondly, Greenlandic identity discourse combines......In the gradual unravelling of Greenland’s colonial relationship to Denmark, an essentialist conceptualization of Greenlandic identity has played a significant role. However, both our scholarly understanding of post-colonial Greenlandic identity and the process towards independence for Greenland...... elements of traditional Inuit culture and elements of colonial modernity. Thirdly, monolingual Greenlanders are those with the most to gain from abandoning the dichotomy of essentialist identities. Strategically, the paper suggests a post-post-colonial Greenlandic identity as a means of avoiding...

  19. Comparison of the glycosphingolipids of human-induced pluripotent stem cells and human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Säljö, Karin; Barone, Angela; Vizlin-Hodzic, Dzeneta; Johansson, Bengt R; Breimer, Michael E; Funa, Keiko; Teneberg, Susann

    2017-04-01

    High expectations are held for human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) since they are established from autologous tissues thus overcoming the risk of allogeneic immune rejection when used in regenerative medicine. However, little is known regarding the cell-surface carbohydrate antigen profile of hiPSC compared with human embryonic stem cells (hESC). Here, glycosphingolipids were isolated from an adipocyte-derived hiPSC line, and hiPSC and hESC glycosphingolipids were compared by concurrent characterization by binding assays with carbohydrate-recognizing ligands and mass spectrometry. A high similarity between the nonacid glycosphingolipids of hiPSC and hESC was found. The nonacid glycosphingolipids P1 pentaosylceramide, x2 pentaosylceramide and H type 1 heptaosylceramide, not previously described in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC), were characterized in both hiPSC and hESC. The composition of acid glycosphingolipids differed, with increased levels of GM3 ganglioside, and reduced levels of GD1a/GD1b in hiPSC when compared with hESC. In addition, the hESC glycosphingolipids sulf-globopentaosylceramide and sialyl-globotetraosylceramide were lacking in hiPSC. Neural stem cells differentiating from hiPSC had a reduced expression of sialyl-lactotetra, whereas expression of the GD1a ganglioside was significantly increased. Thus, while sialyl-lactotetra is a marker of undifferentiated hPSC, GD1a is a novel marker of neural differentiation. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

  20. The problem of gastroptosis as a manifestation of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia in the clinical practice of pediatric gastroenterologist

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O.M. Shulhai

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available In the article, the authors describe a clinical case of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia in 10- and 15-year-old girls. This pathology is common because it has a lot of clinical, morphological and visceral manifestations, but it is hard to diagnose. Many chronic diseases have been formed based on this pathology. Clinical cases in this article describe confirmed gastroptosis (greater curvature of the stomach is displaced downwards, below the level of the iliac crests in standing position as one of the visceral manifestations of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia, laboratory and instrumental findings that help to diagnose this syndrome. Gastroptosis occurs in children with asthenic type of constitution (elongated limbs, thin body, small chest, narrow shoulders, hypermobility of the joints. It comes from weak development of muscle and connective tissues so they can not endure overload, resulting is many problems, including the gastroptosis, visceroptosis etc. There are many causes of gastroptosis: congenital anomalies of the ligamentous apparatus structure, maternal disease during pregnancy, surgical intervention, sharp decrease in body weight, vitamin and proteins deficiency, irrational nutrition, lengthening the mesentery of an organ such as large intestine. If we know clinical manifestations and features of undifferentiated connective tissue dysplasia, it will allow diagnosing this pathology in a timely manner and will help more fully provide medical care to such patients, carry out their rehabilitation, psychological ada­ptation, and prevent early development of disability.

  1. Compósitos de cimento - borracha de pneus: efeito da escória nas propriedades Tire rubber-cement composites: effect of slag on properties

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Segre

    2006-12-01

    Full Text Available Compósitos de cimento-borracha de pneus preparados com cimentos tipo I e contendo adições de três diferentes escórias foram estudados. Resistência à flexão, absorção de água e resistência ao ataque ácido foram investigadas. Um decréscimo no módulo de ruptura (MOR foi observado para todos os corpos de prova contendo borracha, quando comparados com os corpos de prova sem borracha (controles. Para as pastas controle e com borracha e argamassas controle, preparadas com cimento com escória, o MOR aumenta com o aumento da atividade hidráulica da escória utilizada, até valores indistinguíveis dos obtidos para as argamassas e pastas preparadas com cimento tipo I. Argamassas com borracha apresentaram valores de MOR independentes do cimento utilizado. Uma redução na sorção de água é observada para corpos de prova controle e contendo borracha, preparados com todos os cimentos contendo adição de escória, quando comparados com os corpos de prova preparados com cimento tipo I. Para corpos de prova de argamassa com borracha, quanto mais baixa é a basicidade da escória, menor é a sorção de água dos compósitos. Estes resultados indicam baixa porosidade e consequentemente uma melhor adesão entre a borracha e a matriz de cimento nestes corpos de prova. Além disso, uma velocidade menor de sorção de água é observada para os corpos de prova com borracha, com destaque para os corpos de prova com cimento que contém a escória menos básica, quando comparados com os controles. Resultados de ataque ácido aos corpos e prova de argamassas, preparadas com os cimentos contendo adição de escória, mostram que a susceptibilidade dos corpos de prova frente à degradação por ácido é governada não somente por aspectos microestruturais, como porosidade e permeabilidade, mas também por aspectos químicos, como diferenças na quantidade de álcalis presentes nas escórias ou quantidade de escória não reagida nos corpos de prova

  2. Totipotency, Pluripotency and Nuclear Reprogramming

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mitalipov, Shoukhrat; Wolf, Don

    Mammalian development commences with the totipotent zygote which is capable of developing into all the specialized cells that make up the adult animal. As development unfolds, cells of the early embryo proliferate and differentiate into the first two lineages, the pluripotent inner cell mass and the trophectoderm. Pluripotent cells can be isolated, adapted and propagated indefinitely in vitro in an undifferentiated state as embryonic stem cells (ESCs). ESCs retain their ability to differentiate into cells representing the three major germ layers: endoderm, mesoderm or ectoderm or any of the 200+ cell types present in the adult body. Since many human diseases result from defects in a single cell type, pluripotent human ESCs represent an unlimited source of any cell or tissue type for replacement therapy thus providing a possible cure for many devastating conditions. Pluripotent cells resembling ESCs can also be derived experimentally by the nuclear reprogramming of somatic cells. Reprogrammed somatic cells may have an even more important role in cell replacement therapies since the patient's own somatic cells can be used for reprogramming thereby eliminating immune based rejection of transplanted cells. In this review, we summarize two major approaches to reprogramming: (1) somatic cell nuclear transfer and (2) direct reprogramming using genetic manipulations.

  3. Early Developmental Program Shapes Colony Morphology in Bacteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gideon Mamou

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available When grown on a solid surface, bacteria form highly organized colonies, yet little is known about the earliest stages of colony establishment. Following Bacillus subtilis colony development from a single progenitor cell, a sequence of highly ordered spatiotemporal events was revealed. Colony was initiated by the formation of leading-cell chains, deriving from the colony center and extending in multiple directions, typically in a “Y-shaped” structure. By eradicating particular cells during these early stages, we could influence the shape of the resulting colony and demonstrate that Y-arm extension defines colony size. A mutant in ymdB encoding a phosphodiesterase displayed unordered developmental patterns, indicating a role in guiding these initial events. Finally, we provide evidence that intercellular nanotubes contribute to proper colony formation. In summary, we reveal a “construction plan” for building a colony and provide the initial molecular basis for this process.

  4. Resposta da cana-de-açúcar à aplicação da escória de siderurgia como corretivo de acidez do solo

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. M. Prado

    2001-03-01

    Full Text Available A acidez elevada dos solos da região sudeste e centro-oeste do Brasil predomina onde se concentra a maior área cultivada com cana-de-açúcar. Grandes depósitos de escória de siderurgia, que contêm nutrientes como cálcio e magnésio e apresentam ação corretiva de acidez, localizam-se também naquelas regiões. O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar diferentes níveis de saturação por bases, utilizando como corretivo do solo a escória de siderurgia, comparando-a com calcário calcítico, nas alterações de alguns atributos químicos do solo, bem como na resposta da cana-de-açúcar, durante os dois primeiros cortes. Para isto, foi realizado um experimento com a cana-de-açúcar, variedade SP 80-1842, nos anos agrícolas 98/99 e 99/00. Os tratamentos, dispostos em blocos casualizados em esquema fatorial com quatro repetições, constaram de duas fontes de corretivos, calcário calcítico e escória de siderurgia, e quatro níveis de correção, estimados pelo método da saturação por bases (V%: testemunha sem correção e correção para V% de 50, 75 e 100. Concluiu-se que os efeitos da aplicação do calcário e da escória de siderurgia foram semelhantes na correção da acidez do solo, na elevação da concentração de cálcio e magnésio do solo e na saturação por bases. As doses de calcário proporcionaram efeito quadrático sobre a produtividade e perfilhamento da cana-de-açúcar, enquanto as de escória resultaram em resposta linear.

  5. Nature vs. nurture: gold perpetuates "stemness".

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paul, Willi; Sharma, Chandra P; Deb, Kaushik Dilip

    2011-01-01

    Adult tissues contain quiescent reservoirs of multipotent somatic stem cells and pluripotent embryonic-like stem cells (ELSCs). Credited with regenerative properties gold is used across both -contemporary and -ancient medicines. Here, we show that gold exerted these effects by enhancing the pool of pluripotent ELSC while improving their stemness. We used hESCs as an in-vitro model to understand if gold could enhance self-renewal and pluripotency. Swarna-bhasma (SB), an ancient Indian gold microparticulate (41.1 nm), preparation, reduced spontaneous-differentiation, improved self-renewal, pluripotency and proliferation of hESCs. Colloidal gold-nanoparticles (GNP) (15.59 nm) were tested to confirm that the observations were attributable to nanoparticulate-gold. SB and GNP exposure: maintained -stemness, -karyotypic stability, enhanced pluripotency till day-12, increased average colony-sizes, and reduced the number of autonomously-derived differentiated FGFR1 positive fibroblast-niche-cells/colony. Particulate-gold induced upregulation of FGFR1 and IGF2 expression, and decrease in IGF1 secretion indicates IGF1/2 mediated support for enhanced pluripotency and self-renewal in hESCs.

  6. OCT4 expression in outgrowth colonies derived from porcine inner cell masses and epiblasts

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rasmussen, M A; Wolf, X A; Schauser, K

    2011-01-01

    on the relationship between OCT4 expression and embryonic stem cell (ESC)-like morphology. A total of 104 zona pellucida-enclosed and 101 hatched blastocysts were subjected to four different methods of ICM and epiblast isolation, respectively: Manual isolation, immunosurgery, immunosurgery with manual cleaning......, or whole blastocyst culture. OCs were established on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells and categorized according to morphology and OCT4 staining. Although all isolation methods resulted in ESC-like OCs, immunosurgery with manual cleaning yielded significantly higher rates of ICM/epiblast attachment...

  7. [Undifferentiated (embryonal) liver sarcoma: reviaew of 6 cases in National Cancer Institute, Lima, Peru. Review of the literature].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dueñas, Daniela; Huanca, Lourdes; Cordero, Mónica; Webb, Patricia; Ruiz, Eloy

    2016-01-01

    Undifferentiated (embryonal) liver sarcoma is a rare tumor about 2% of all malignant liver tumors with a poor prognosis and usually occurs in children, this review aims to assess cases of primary embryonal sarcoma of the liver presented at our institution the past 8 years and improve recognition of its variants and evaluate immunohistochemical characteristics that help differentiated it from other tumors. Six cases of undifferentiated liver sarcoma were histologically evaluated and investigated by immunohistochemistry with a panel of antibodies using the equipment “Autostainer Link 48”. Usually masses were on average more than 20 cm, with solid, cystic, mucinous areas. The microscopic features include cells of spindle cell appearance, oval, starry, epithelioid and multinucleated cells densely arranged in a myxoid matrix. Trapped bile ducts and hepatic cords often present in the periphery of tumors. Intracellular and extracellular PAS positive hyaline globules. Immunohistochemistry showed very divergent differentiation.

  8. An American termite in Paris: temporal colony dynamics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baudouin, Guillaume; Dedeine, Franck; Bech, Nicolas; Bankhead-Dronnet, Stéphanie; Dupont, Simon; Bagnères, Anne-Geneviève

    2017-12-01

    Termites of the genus Reticulitermes are widespread invaders, particularly in urban habitats. Their cryptic and subterranean lifestyle makes them difficult to detect, and we know little about their colony dynamics over time. In this study we examined the persistence of Reticulitermes flavipes (Kollar) colonies in the city of Paris over a period of 15 years. The aim was (1) to define the boundaries of colonies sampled within the same four areas over two sampling periods, (2) to determine whether the colonies identified during the first sampling period persisted to the second sampling period, and (3) to compare the results obtained when colonies were delineated using a standard population genetic approach versus a Bayesian clustering method that combined both spatial and genetic information. Herein, colony delineations were inferred from genetic differences at nine microsatellite loci and one mitochondrial locus. Four of the 18 identified colonies did not show significant differences in their genotype distributions between the two sampling periods. While allelic richness was low, making it hard to reliably distinguish colony family type, most colonies appeared to retain the same breeding structure over time. These large and expansive colonies showed an important ability to fuse (39% were mixed-family colonies), contained hundreds of reproductives and displayed evidence of isolation-by-distance, suggesting budding dispersal. These traits, which favor colony persistence over time, present a challenge for pest control efforts, which apply treatment locally. The other colonies showed significant differences, but we cannot exclude the possibility that their genotype distributions simply changed over time.

  9. Expression of the chitinase family glycoprotein YKL-40 in undifferentiated, differentiated and trans-differentiated mesenchymal stem cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel J Hoover

    Full Text Available The glycoprotein YKL-40 (CHI3L1 is a secreted chitinase family protein that induces angiogenesis, cell survival, and cell proliferation, and plays roles in tissue remodeling and immune regulation. It is expressed primarily in cells of mesenchymal origin, is overexpressed in numerous aggressive carcinomas and sarcomas, but is rarely expressed in normal ectodermal tissues. Bone marrow-derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs can be induced to differentiate into various mesenchymal tissues and trans-differentiate into some non-mesenchymal cell types. Since YKL-40 has been used as a mesenchymal marker, we followed YKL-40 expression as undifferentiated MSCs were induced to differentiate into bone, cartilage, and neural phenotypes. Undifferentiated MSCs contain significant levels of YKL-40 mRNA but do not synthesize detectable levels of YKL-40 protein. MSCs induced to differentiate into chondrocytes and osteocytes soon began to express and secrete YKL-40 protein, as do ex vivo cultured chondrocytes and primary osteocytes. In contrast, MSCs induced to trans-differentiate into neurons did not synthesize YKL-40 protein, consistent with the general absence of YKL-40 protein in normal CNS parenchyma. However, these trans-differentiated neurons retained significant levels of YKL-40 mRNA, suggesting the mechanisms which prevented YKL-40 translation in undifferentiated MSCs remained in place, and that these trans-differentiated neurons differ in at least this way from neurons derived from neuronal stem cells. Utilization of a differentiation protocol containing β-mercaptoethanol resulted in cells that expressed significant amounts of intracellular YKL-40 protein that was not secreted, which is not seen in normal cells. Thus the synthesis of YKL-40 protein is a marker for MSC differentiation into mature mesenchymal phenotypes, and the presence of untranslated YKL-40 mRNA in non-mesenchymal cells derived from MSCs reflects differences between differentiated and

  10. Intensive combined modality therapy of small round cell and undifferentiated sarcomas in children and young adults

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bader, J.L.; Dewan, R.; Watkins, E.; Kinsella, T.J.; Glatstein, E.; STeinberg, S.M.

    1989-01-01

    Seventy-five patients (ages 4-35 years) with the following small round cell tumors and undifferentiated sarcoma were treated at the National Cancer Institute: Ewing's sarcome (n=32), peripheral neuroepithelioma (n=14), rhabdomyosarcoma (n=24), undifferentiated sarcoma (n=5). Most patients had poor prognostic features including 36 (48%) with metastatic disease, and 42 (56%) with central (truncal) tumors (22 in the pelvis). Treatment included 5 cycles of intensive induction chemotherapy with vincristine, cyclophosphamide and adriamycin, plus aggressive local radiation therapy using simulation and computerized treatment planning for all patients. Thereafter, complete clinical responses were consolidated with intensive chemotherapy, total body irradiation and autologous bone marrow transplantation. There were three local only failures, 10 local plus distant failures, 36 distant only failures, 3 treatment-related deaths, and one intercurrent death. Overall actuarial survival and event-free survival at 4 years are 49 and 29%, respectively. Actuarial freedom from local progression was seen in 74% of patients at 4 years, quite remarkable considering the bulk and location of most of these tumors. Without aggressive surgery, many of these high risk patients had satisfactory outcomes, but better systemic treatments are still needed.(author). 44 refs.; 8 figs.; 6 tabs

  11. PDGFRa amplification in multiple skin lesions of undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma: A clue for intimal sarcoma metastases.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Osio, Amélie; Vignon-Pennamen, Marie-Dominique; Pedeutour, Florence; Le Maignan, Christine; Koskas, Fabien; Lebbé, Célèste; Janin, Anne; Battistella, Maxime

    2017-05-01

    A 62-year-old human immunodeficiency virus-positive man was admitted for multiple cutaneous and subcutaneous nodules on his lower limbs, corresponding to an undifferentiated proliferation of spindle and pleomorphic cells, with irregular nuclei and numerous mitoses. The tumor cells were negative for a large panel of immunohistochemical markers, except CD10. MDM2 immunohistochemical staining was also negative, leading to the diagnosis of Fédération Nationale des Centres de Lutte contre le Cancer grade III undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS). Array-comparative genomic hybridization showed a highly complex karyotype, with amplification of the 4q12 region, an area that contains only the platelet-derived growth factor receptor α (PDGFRa) gene. This amplification of PDFGRa, molecular hallmark of intimal sarcoma (IS), led to the diagnosis of skin IS metastasis. A positron emission tomography showed a hypermetabolic mass protruding in the preaortic area, consistent with the diagnosis of aortic IS. Our study shows that a rare differential diagnosis in peripheral UPS can be IS skin metastasis, and underlines the importance of molecular analyses in UPS. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Wnt/β-catenin signaling promotes self-renewal and inhibits the primed state transition in naïve human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xu, Zhuojin; Robitaille, Aaron M; Berndt, Jason D; Davidson, Kathryn C; Fischer, Karin A; Mathieu, Julie; Potter, Jennifer C; Ruohola-Baker, Hannele; Moon, Randall T

    2016-10-18

    In both mice and humans, pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) exist in at least two distinct states of pluripotency, known as the naïve and primed states. Our understanding of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors that enable PSCs to self-renew and to transition between different pluripotent states is important for understanding early development. In mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs), Wnt proteins stimulate mESC self-renewal and support the naïve state. In human embryonic stem cells (hESCs), Wnt/β-catenin signaling is active in naïve-state hESCs and is reduced or absent in primed-state hESCs. However, the role of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in naïve hESCs remains largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that inhibition of the secretion of Wnts or inhibition of the stabilization of β-catenin in naïve hESCs reduces cell proliferation and colony formation. Moreover, we show that addition of recombinant Wnt3a partially rescues cell proliferation in naïve hESCs caused by inhibition of Wnt secretion. Notably, inhibition of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in naïve hESCs did not cause differentiation. Instead, it induced primed hESC-like proteomic and metabolic profiles. Thus, our results suggest that naïve hESCs secrete Wnts that activate autocrine or paracrine Wnt/β-catenin signaling to promote efficient self-renewal and inhibit the transition to the primed state.

  13. A feeder-free, human plasma-derived hydrogel for maintenance of a human embryonic stem cell phenotype in vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lewis Fiona C

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs represent a tremendous resource for cell therapies and the study of human development; however to maintain their undifferentiated state in vitro they routinely require the use of mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF feeder-layers and exogenous protein media supplementation. Results These well established requirements can be overcome and in this study, it will be demonstrated that phenotypic stability of hESCs can be maintained using a novel, human plasma protein-based hydrogel as an extracellular culture matrix without the use of feeder cell co-culture. hESCs were resuspended in human platelet poor plasma (PPP, which was gelled by the addition of calcium containing DMEM-based hESC culture medium. Phenotypic and genomic expression of the pluripotency markers OCT4, NANOG and SOX2 were measured using immunohistochemistry and qRT-PCR respectively. Typical hESC morphology was demonstrated throughout in vitro culture and both viability and phenotypic stability were maintained throughout extended culture, up to 25 passages. Conclusions PPP-derived hydrogel has demonstrated to be an efficacious alternative to MEF co-culture with its hydrophilicity allowing for this substrate to be delivered via minimally invasive procedures in a liquid phase with polymerization ensuing in situ. Together this provides a novel technique for the study of this unique group of stem cells in either 2D or 3D both in vitro and in vivo.

  14. Indistinguishable genomic profiles and shared prognostic markers in undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and leiomyosarcoma: different sides of a single coin?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Carneiro, Ana; Francis, Princy; Bendahl, Pär-Ola

    2009-01-01

    Soft tissue sarcoma (STS) diagnostics and prognostics are challenging, particularly in highly malignant and pleomorphic subtypes such as undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS) and leiomyosarcoma (LMS). We applied 32K BAC arrays and gene expression profiling to 18 extremity soft tissue LMS and...

  15. Morphogen and community effects determine cell fates in response to BMP4 signaling in human embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nemashkalo, Anastasiia; Ruzo, Albert; Heemskerk, Idse; Warmflash, Aryeh

    2017-09-01

    Paracrine signals maintain developmental states and create cell fate patterns in vivo and influence differentiation outcomes in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in vitro Systematic investigation of morphogen signaling is hampered by the difficulty of disentangling endogenous signaling from experimentally applied ligands. Here, we grow hESCs in micropatterned colonies of 1-8 cells ('µColonies') to quantitatively investigate paracrine signaling and the response to external stimuli. We examine BMP4-mediated differentiation in µColonies and standard culture conditions and find that in µColonies, above a threshold concentration, BMP4 gives rise to only a single cell fate, contrary to its role as a morphogen in other developmental systems. Under standard culture conditions BMP4 acts as a morphogen but this requires secondary signals and particular cell densities. We find that a 'community effect' enforces a common fate within µColonies, both in the state of pluripotency and when cells are differentiated, and that this effect allows a more precise response to external signals. Using live cell imaging to correlate signaling histories with cell fates, we demonstrate that interactions between neighbors result in sustained, homogenous signaling necessary for differentiation. © 2017. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.

  16. Efficient and scalable purification of cardiomyocytes from human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells by VCAM1 surface expression.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hideki Uosaki

    Full Text Available RATIONALE: Human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells (hESCs/hiPSCs are promising cell sources for cardiac regenerative medicine. To realize hESC/hiPSC-based cardiac cell therapy, efficient induction, purification, and transplantation methods for cardiomyocytes are required. Though marker gene transduction or fluorescent-based purification methods have been reported, fast, efficient and scalable purification methods with no genetic modification are essential for clinical purpose but have not yet been established. In this study, we attempted to identify cell surface markers for cardiomyocytes derived from hESC/hiPSCs. METHOD AND RESULT: We adopted a previously reported differentiation protocol for hESCs based on high density monolayer culture to hiPSCs with some modification. Cardiac troponin-T (TNNT2-positive cardiomyocytes appeared robustly with 30-70% efficiency. Using this differentiation method, we screened 242 antibodies for human cell surface molecules to isolate cardiomyocytes derived from hiPSCs and identified anti-VCAM1 (Vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 antibody specifically marked cardiomyocytes. TNNT2-positive cells were detected at day 7-8 after induction and 80% of them became VCAM1-positive by day 11. Approximately 95-98% of VCAM1-positive cells at day 11 were positive for TNNT2. VCAM1 was exclusive with CD144 (endothelium, CD140b (pericytes and TRA-1-60 (undifferentiated hESCs/hiPSCs. 95% of MACS-purified cells were positive for TNNT2. MACS purification yielded 5-10×10(5 VCAM1-positive cells from a single well of a six-well culture plate. Purified VCAM1-positive cells displayed molecular and functional features of cardiomyocytes. VCAM1 also specifically marked cardiomyocytes derived from other hESC or hiPSC lines. CONCLUSION: We succeeded in efficiently inducing cardiomyocytes from hESCs/hiPSCs and identifying VCAM1 as a potent cell surface marker for robust, efficient and scalable purification of cardiomyocytes from hESC

  17. Post-Colonial Theory and Action Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jim Parsons

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available This essay explores connections between post-colonial theory and action research. Post-colonial theory is committed to addressing the plague of colonialism. Action research, at its core, promises to problematize uncontested ‘colonial’ hegemonies of any form. Both post-colonial theory and action research engage dialogic, critically reflective and collaborative values to offer a fuller range of human wisdom. The authors contend that post-colonialism theory calls for justice and seeks to speak to social and psychological suffering, exploitation, violence and enslavement done to the powerless victims of colonization around the world by challenging the superiority of dominant perspectives and seeking to re-position and empower the marginalized and subordinated. In similar ways, action research works to eradicate oppression, powerlessness and worthlessness by affirming solidarity with the oppressed, helping humans move from passive to active and by fundamentally reshaping power. Because both post-colonial theory and action research position the insider or oppressed in an ethic of efficacy, it values community, relationships, communication and equality, and is committed to reciprocity, reflexivity and reflection. Thus, both hold the potential to help reconstruct conditions for a more democratic and just society

  18. Post-Colonial Theory and Action Research

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jim B. Parsons

    2011-04-01

    Full Text Available This essay explores connections between post-colonial theory and action research. Post-colonial theory is committed to addressing the plague of colonialism. Action research, at its core, promises to problematize uncontested ‘colonial’ hegemonies of any form. Both post-colonial theory and action research engage dialogic, critically reflective and collaborative values to offer a fuller range of human wisdom. The authors contend that post-colonialism theory calls for justice and seeks to speak to social and psychological suffering, exploitation, violence and enslavement done to the powerless victims of colonization around the world by challenging the superiority of dominant perspectives and seeking to re-position and empower the marginalized and subordinated. In similar ways, action research works to eradicate oppression, powerlessness and worthlessness by affirming solidarity with the oppressed, helping humans move from passive to active and by fundamentally reshaping power. Because both post-colonial theory and action research position the insider or oppressed in an ethic of efficacy, it values community, relationships, communication and equality, and is committed to reciprocity, reflexivity and reflection. Thus, both hold the potential to help reconstruct conditions for a more democratic and just society.

  19. Colony formation in the cyanobacterium Microcystis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Man; Li, Ming; Reynolds, Colin S

    2018-02-22

    Morphological evolution from a unicellular to multicellular state provides greater opportunities for organisms to attain larger and more complex living forms. As the most common freshwater cyanobacterial genus, Microcystis is a unicellular microorganism, with high phenotypic plasticity, which forms colonies and blooms in lakes and reservoirs worldwide. We conducted a systematic review of field studies from the 1990s to 2017 where Microcystis was dominant. Microcystis was detected as the dominant genus in waterbodies from temperate to subtropical and tropical zones. Unicellular Microcystis spp. can be induced to form colonies by adjusting biotic and abiotic factors in laboratory. Colony formation by cell division has been induced by zooplankton filtrate, high Pb 2+ concentration, the presence of another cyanobacterium (Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii), heterotrophic bacteria, and by low temperature and light intensity. Colony formation by cell adhesion can be induced by zooplankton grazing, high Ca 2+ concentration, and microcystins. We hypothesise that single cells of all Microcystis morphospecies initially form colonies with a similar morphology to those found in the early spring. These colonies gradually change their morphology to that of M. ichthyoblabe, M. wesenbergii and M. aeruginosa with changing environmental conditions. Colony formation provides Microcystis with many ecological advantages, including adaption to varying light, sustained growth under poor nutrient supply, protection from chemical stressors and protection from grazing. These benefits represent passive tactics responding to environmental stress. Microcystis colonies form at the cost of decreased specific growth rates compared with a unicellular habit. Large colony size allows Microcystis to attain rapid floating velocities (maximum recorded for a single colony, ∼ 10.08 m h -1 ) that enable them to develop and maintain a large biomass near the surface of eutrophic lakes, where they may shade

  20. CHRISTIANITY AND COLONIALISM IN SOME ENGLISH SHORT STORIES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tatang Iskarna

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Colonial and postcolonial studies are often linked to the power domination of the West upon the East in the way that the East economically, politically, and socially oppressed. Colonialism is often associated with three elements, the explorers dealing with geographical information, missionaries approaching the local people culturally, and the colonial administrators ruling the colony. Gold, glory, and gospel are the European’s concern. However, in representing the relation between Christianity and colonialism there is critical dialectic amongst historians, anthropologists, Christian missions, or cultural critics. Some propose that Christianity is considered to be the religious arm of colonialism. Others state that Christianity is spread without any secular interest as it is a great commandment of Jesus Christ. A few believe that Christianity give critical resistance against colonialism. The relation between Christianity and colonialism cannot be simplified as being neutral, in complicity, or in opposition. So, it is worth-discussing to understand how European writers construct the relation between Christianity and colonialism in their literary work. How Christianity is constructed and how Christianity is related to colonialism will be discussed in this paper. Using postcolonial paradigm, two English short stories will be analyzed in that way. They are Rudyard Kipling’s “Lispeth” and Doris Lessing’s “No Witchcraft for Sale”.

  1. Dynamics of the transcriptome response of cultured human embryonic stem cells to ionizing radiation exposure

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sokolov, Mykyta V.; Panyutin, Irina V.; Panyutin, Igor G.; Neumann, Ronald D.

    2011-01-01

    One of the key consequences of exposure of human cells to genotoxic agents is the activation of DNA damage responses (DDR). While the mechanisms underpinning DDR in fully differentiated somatic human cells have been studied extensively, molecular signaling events and pathways involved in DDR in pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESC) remain largely unexplored. We studied changes in the human genome-wide transcriptome of H9 hESC line following exposures to 1 Gy of gamma-radiation at 2 h and 16 h post-irradiation. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to verify the expression data for a subset of genes. In parallel, the cell growth, DDR kinetics, and expression of pluripotency markers in irradiated hESC were monitored. The changes in gene expression in hESC after exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) are substantially different from those observed in somatic human cell lines. Gene expression patterns at 2 h post-IR showed almost an exclusively p53-dependent, predominantly pro-apoptotic, signature with a total of only 30 up-regulated genes. In contrast, the gene expression patterns at 16 h post-IR showed 354 differentially expressed genes, mostly involved in pro-survival pathways, such as increased expression of metallothioneins, ubiquitin cycle, and general metabolism signaling. Cell growth data paralleled trends in gene expression changes. DDR in hESC followed the kinetics reported for human somatic differentiated cells. The expression of pluripotency markers characteristic of undifferentiated hESC was not affected by exposure to IR during the time course of our analysis. Our data on dynamics of transcriptome response of irradiated hESCs may provide a valuable tool to screen for markers of IR exposure of human cells in their most naive state; thus unmasking the key elements of DDR; at the same time, avoiding the complexity of interpreting distinct cell type-dependent genotoxic stress responses of terminally differentiated cells.

  2. Dynamics of the transcriptome response of cultured human embryonic stem cells to ionizing radiation exposure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sokolov, Mykyta V., E-mail: sokolovm@mail.nih.gov [Nuclear Medicine Division, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Panyutin, Irina V., E-mail: ipanyutinv@mail.nih.gov [Nuclear Medicine Division, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Panyutin, Igor G., E-mail: igorp@helix.nih.gov [Nuclear Medicine Division, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States); Neumann, Ronald D., E-mail: rneumann@mail.nih.gov [Nuclear Medicine Division, Department of Radiology and Imaging Sciences, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892 (United States)

    2011-05-10

    One of the key consequences of exposure of human cells to genotoxic agents is the activation of DNA damage responses (DDR). While the mechanisms underpinning DDR in fully differentiated somatic human cells have been studied extensively, molecular signaling events and pathways involved in DDR in pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESC) remain largely unexplored. We studied changes in the human genome-wide transcriptome of H9 hESC line following exposures to 1 Gy of gamma-radiation at 2 h and 16 h post-irradiation. Quantitative real-time PCR was performed to verify the expression data for a subset of genes. In parallel, the cell growth, DDR kinetics, and expression of pluripotency markers in irradiated hESC were monitored. The changes in gene expression in hESC after exposure to ionizing radiation (IR) are substantially different from those observed in somatic human cell lines. Gene expression patterns at 2 h post-IR showed almost an exclusively p53-dependent, predominantly pro-apoptotic, signature with a total of only 30 up-regulated genes. In contrast, the gene expression patterns at 16 h post-IR showed 354 differentially expressed genes, mostly involved in pro-survival pathways, such as increased expression of metallothioneins, ubiquitin cycle, and general metabolism signaling. Cell growth data paralleled trends in gene expression changes. DDR in hESC followed the kinetics reported for human somatic differentiated cells. The expression of pluripotency markers characteristic of undifferentiated hESC was not affected by exposure to IR during the time course of our analysis. Our data on dynamics of transcriptome response of irradiated hESCs may provide a valuable tool to screen for markers of IR exposure of human cells in their most naive state; thus unmasking the key elements of DDR; at the same time, avoiding the complexity of interpreting distinct cell type-dependent genotoxic stress responses of terminally differentiated cells.

  3. La Validez y la Eficacia de los Ejercicios Respiratorios para Reducir la Ansiedad Escénica en el Aula de Música

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pablo Ramos Ramos

    2013-06-01

    Full Text Available El presente texto repasa la literatura científica más relevante en el ámbito de la ansiedad escénica asociada a la interpretación musical, tanto en edad adulta como durante la infancia. Además, se exponen las conclusiones de aquellos estudios que han analizado este rasgo de la personalidad en el medio escolar y se destacan las causas que lo provocan: presión ante la presencia de padres y de otros alumnos, perfeccionismo, baja resistencia al estrés.Por otra parte, se relaciona el desarrollo de la ansiedad escénica con la pérdida de autoestima, lo que repercute en la educación del niño a un nivel general. Ante esta problemática se discuten las posibles terapias que podrían implementarse en el aula; de entre todas ellas se destacan –por su eficacia y por la facilidad a la hora de aplicarlas– las técnicas de respiración.Finalmente, se establece un decálogo a modo de guía de actuación para combatir la ansiedad escénica, que el maestro o profesor de música puede tener en cuenta de cara a una primera intervención en el medio escolar.

  4. Neonicotinoid pesticides can reduce honeybee colony genetic diversity.

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    Nadège Forfert

    Full Text Available Neonicotinoid insecticides can cause a variety of adverse sub-lethal effects in bees. In social species such as the honeybee, Apis mellifera, queens are essential for reproduction and colony functioning. Therefore, any negative effect of these agricultural chemicals on the mating success of queens may have serious consequences for the fitness of the entire colony. Queens were exposed to the common neonicotinoid pesticides thiamethoxam and clothianidin during their developmental stage. After mating, their spermathecae were dissected to count the number of stored spermatozoa. Furthermore, their worker offspring were genotyped with DNA microsatellites to determine the number of matings and the genotypic composition of the colony. Colonies providing the male mating partners were also inferred. Both neonicotinoid and control queens mated with drones originating from the same drone source colonies, and stored similar number of spermatozoa. However, queens reared in colonies exposed to both neonicotinoids experienced fewer matings. This resulted in a reduction of the genetic diversity in their colonies (i.e. higher intracolonial relatedness. As decreased genetic diversity among worker bees is known to negatively affect colony vitality, neonicotinoids may have a cryptic effect on colony health by reducing the mating frequency of queens.

  5. Boa noite, e boa sorte: determinantes da demissão de ministros envolvidos em escândalos de corrupção no primeiro governo Dilma Rousseff

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cletiane Medeiros Araújo

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Resumo Quais os determinantes para demissão de ministros? Este artigo analisa a onda de escândalos de corrupção envolvendo ministros do primeiro governo Dilma Rousseff. O desenho de pesquisa combina estatística descritiva e análise multivariada para testar as hipóteses de que notícias sobre escândalos políticos, competição política e gerenciamento da coalizão impactam positivamente na probabilidade de o ministro denunciado deixar a pasta ministerial. O estudo foi realizado a partir da construção de uma base de dados, para a qual foram coletadas 677 notícias de três jornais de larga circulação nacional, a saber: Folha de S. Paulo, O Estado de S. Paulo e O Globo, ao longo dos 17 primeiros meses do governo. Os resultados apontam que quanto maior o número de matérias sobre os escândalos de corrupção do ministro denunciado maior a probabilidade de ele ser demitido. Espera-se, através deste estudo de caso, contribuir para a agenda de pesquisa sobre a relação escândalos políticos/instituições democráticas/accountability, buscando situar esse fenômeno na democracia brasileira recente.

  6. Case of Six-Year Disease-Free Survival with Undifferentiated Carcinoma of the Pancreas

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    Hiroyuki Saito

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available Undifferentiated carcinoma of the pancreas (UDC is rare and has a dismal prognosis. Here, we report a case of 6-year disease-free survival with a mixed type of UDC and UDC with osteoclast-like giant cells, with a high mitotic index as well as perineural, lymphatic, vessel, and diaphragmatic invasion. The patient underwent radical distal pancreatectomy and was subsequently treated with adjuvant chemotherapy using gemcitabine plus S-1 followed by maintenance chemotherapy with oral tegafur-uracil. The patient has been doing well with no evidence of recurrence for more than 6 years after surgery.

  7. Varroa-Virus Interaction in Collapsing Honey Bee Colonies

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Francis, Roy Mathew; Nielsen, Steen L.; Kryger, Per

    2013-01-01

    Varroa mites and viruses are the currently the high-profile suspects in collapsing bee colonies. Therefore, seasonal variation in varroa load and viruses (Acute-Kashmir-Israeli complex (AKI) and Deformed Wing Virus (DWV)) were monitored in a year-long study. We investigated the viral titres...... in honey bees and varroa mites from 23 colonies (15 apiaries) under three treatment conditions: Organic acids (11 colonies), pyrethroid (9 colonies) and untreated (3 colonies). Approximately 200 bees were sampled every month from April 2011 to October 2011, and April 2012. The 200 bees were split to 10...... subsamples of 20 bees and analysed separately, which allows us to determine the prevalence of virus-infected bees. The treatment efficacy was often low for both treatments. In colonies where varroa treatment reduced the mite load, colonies overwintered successfully, allowing the mites and viruses...

  8. Risk factors for the occurrence of undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type: A case-control study

    OpenAIRE

    Nešić Vladimir; Šipetić Sandra; Vlajinac Hristina; Stošić-Divjak Svetlana; Ješić Snežana

    2010-01-01

    Introduction. The incidence rate of nasopharyngeal carcinoma in Serbia is less than one per 100,000 citizens, which classifies it as a region with low incidence for this disease. Objective. The aim of this study was to test some hypotheses of the risk factors for undifferentiated carcinoma of nasopharyngeal type (UCNT) in the low incidence population. Methods. A case-control study was used for the research. The study included 45 cases with histopathological diagnosis of UCNT and 90 controls. ...

  9. First recorded loss of an emperor penguin colony in the recent period of Antarctic regional warming: implications for other colonies.

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    Philip N Trathan

    Full Text Available In 1948, a small colony of emperor penguins Aptenodytes forsteri was discovered breeding on Emperor Island (67° 51' 52″ S, 68° 42' 20″ W, in the Dion Islands, close to the West Antarctic Peninsula (Stonehouse 1952. When discovered, the colony comprised approximately 150 breeding pairs; these numbers were maintained until 1970, after which time the colony showed a continuous decline. By 1999 there were fewer than 20 pairs, and in 2009 high-resolution aerial photography revealed no remaining trace of the colony. Here we relate the decline and loss of the Emperor Island colony to a well-documented rise in local mean annual air temperature and coincident decline in seasonal sea ice duration. The loss of this colony provides empirical support for recent studies (Barbraud & Weimerskirch 2001; Jenouvrier et al 2005, 2009; Ainley et al 2010; Barber-Meyer et al 2005 that have highlighted the vulnerability of emperor penguins to changes in sea ice duration and distribution. These studies suggest that continued climate change is likely to impact upon future breeding success and colony viability for this species. Furthermore, a recent circumpolar study by Fretwell & Trathan (2009 highlighted those Antarctic coastal regions where colonies appear most vulnerable to such changes. Here we examine which other colonies might be at risk, discussing various ecological factors, some previously unexplored, that may also contribute to future declines. The implications of this are important for future modelling work and for understanding which colonies actually are most vulnerable.

  10. Thrombo-embolism and antithrombotic therapy for heart failure in sinus rhythm. A joint consensus document from the ESC Heart Failure Association and the ESC Working Group on Thrombosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lip, Gregory Y H; Ponikowski, Piotr; Andreotti, Felicita; Anker, Stefan D; Filippatos, Gerasimos; Homma, Shunichi; Morais, Joao; Pullicino, Patrick; Rasmussen, Lars H; Marin, Francisco; Lane, Deirdre A

    2012-07-01

    Chronic heart failure (HF) with either reduced or preserved ejection fraction is common and remains an extremely serious disorder with a high mortality and morbidity. Many complications related to HF can be related to thrombosis. Epidemiological and pathophysiological data also link HF to an increased risk of thrombosis, leading to the clinical consequences of sudden death, stroke, systemic thrombo-embolism, and/or venous thrombo-embolism. This consensus document of the Heart Failure Association (EHFA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the ESC Working Group on Thrombosis reviews the published evidence and summarizes 'best practice', and puts forward consensus statements that may help to define evidence gaps and assist management decisions in everyday clinical practice. In HF patients with atrial fibrillation, oral anticoagulation is recommended, and the CHA(2)DS(2)-VASc and HAS-BLED scores should be used to determine the likely risk-benefit ratio (thrombo-embolism prevention vs. risk of bleeding) of oral anticoagulation. In HF patients with reduced left ventricular ejection fraction who are in sinus rhythm there is no evidence of an overall benefit of vitamin K antagonists (e.g. warfarin) on mortality, with risk of major bleeding. Despite the potential for a reduction in ischaemic stroke, there is currently no compelling reason to use warfarin routinely for these patients. Risk factors associated with increased risk of thrombo-embolic events should be identified and decisions regarding use of anticoagulation individualized. Patient values and preferences are important determinants when balancing the risk of thrombo-embolism against bleeding risk. New oral anticoagulants that offer a different risk-benefit profile compared with warfarin may appear as an attractive therapeutic option, but this would need to be confirmed in clinical trials.

  11. Avaliação da escória de siderurgia e de calcários como corretivos da acidez do solo no cultivo da alface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prado Renato de Mello

    2002-01-01

    Full Text Available O presente trabalho objetivou avaliar os efeitos da escória de siderurgia e dos calcários magnesiano e dolomítico, na produção de matéria seca da alface (Lactuca sativa L. e as alterações na sua nutrição e em alguns atributos químicos do solo. Os tratamentos consistiram dos corretivos calcário magnesiano e dolomítico e escória de siderurgia, em três doses: 2,36, 4,72 e 7,08 g por vaso. Utilizou-se o delineamento experimental inteiramente casualizado, com quatro repetições, em esquema fatorial 3x3+1 (três corretivos x três doses + testemunha. Todos os materiais corretivos aumentaram a produção de matéria seca da alface, porém destacaram-se os calcários, sendo que para a escória, a alta concentração do Mn na parte aérea limitou a produção. Na parte aérea da alface, os teores e quantidade acumulada de Ca, Mg e Cu aumentaram, e os teores de Mn e Zn não foram alterados com a aplicação dos corretivos. Todos os materiais corretivos foram eficientes na correção da acidez do solo, especialmente quando se utilizou calcário magnesiano. A escória de siderurgia não é o corretivo mais apropriado para a cultura da alface.

  12. Human therapeutic cloning (NTSC): applying research from mammalian reproductive cloning.

    Science.gov (United States)

    French, Andrew J; Wood, Samuel H; Trounson, Alan O

    2006-01-01

    Human therapeutic cloning or nuclear transfer stem cells (NTSC) to produce patient-specific stem cells, holds considerable promise in the field of regenerative medicine. The recent withdrawal of the only scientific publications claiming the successful generation of NTSC lines afford an opportunity to review the available research in mammalian reproductive somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) with the goal of progressing human NTSC. The process of SCNT is prone to epigenetic abnormalities that contribute to very low success rates. Although there are high mortality rates in some species of cloned animals, most surviving clones have been shown to have normal phenotypic and physiological characteristics and to produce healthy offspring. This technology has been applied to an increasing number of mammals for utility in research, agriculture, conservation, and biomedicine. In contrast, attempts at SCNT to produce human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) have been disappointing. Only one group has published reliable evidence of success in deriving a cloned human blastocyst, using an undifferentiated hESC donor cell, and it failed to develop into a hESC line. When optimal conditions are present, it appears that in vitro development of cloned and parthenogenetic embryos, both of which may be utilized to produce hESCs, may be similar to in vitro fertilized embryos. The derivation of ESC lines from cloned embryos is substantially more efficient than the production of viable offspring. This review summarizes developments in mammalian reproductive cloning, cell-to-cell fusion alternatives, and strategies for oocyte procurement that may provide important clues facilitating progress in human therapeutic cloning leading to the successful application of cell-based therapies utilizing autologous hESC lines.

  13. Transient inhibition of cell proliferation does not compromise self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ruoxing; Guo, Yan-Lin

    2012-10-01

    Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have unlimited capacity for self-renewal and can differentiate into various cell types when induced. They also have an unusual cell cycle control mechanism driven by constitutively active cyclin dependent kinases (Cdks). In mouse ESCs (mESCs). It is proposed that the rapid cell proliferation could be a necessary part of mechanisms that maintain mESC self-renewal and pluripotency, but this hypothesis is not in line with the finding in human ESCs (hESCs) that the length of the cell cycle is similar to differentiated cells. Therefore, whether rapid cell proliferation is essential for the maintenance of mESC state remains unclear. We provide insight into this uncertainty through chemical intervention of mESC cell cycle. We report here that inhibition of Cdks with olomoucine II can dramatically slow down cell proliferation of mESCs with concurrent down-regulation of cyclin A, B and E, and the activation of the Rb pathway. However, mESCs display can recover upon the removal of olomoucine II and are able to resume normal cell proliferation without losing self-renewal and pluripotency, as demonstrated by the expression of ESC markers, colony formation, embryoid body formation, and induced differentiation. We provide a mechanistic explanation for these observations by demonstrating that Oct4 and Nanog, two major transcription factors that play critical roles in the maintenance of ESC properties, are up-regulated via de novo protein synthesis when the cells are exposed to olomoucine II. Together, our data suggest that short-term inhibition of cell proliferation does not compromise the basic properties of mESCs. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  14. Transcription profiling by array of the response of Arabidopsis cultivar Columbia etiolated seedlings and undifferentiated tissue culture cells to the spaceflight environment

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — We address a key baseline question of whether gene expression changes are induced by the orbital environment and then we ask whether undifferentiated cells cells...

  15. CT findings of primary undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma in the small bowel: A case report

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Youe Ree; Lee, Young Hwan; Yoon, Kwon Ha; Yun, Ki Jung [Wonkwang University School of Medicine and Hospital, Institute of Wonkwang Medical Science, Iksan (Korea, Republic of)

    2015-11-15

    Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma (UPS), previously known as malignant fibrous histiocytoma, is a soft tissue sarcoma arising from mesenchymal tissue of the body. UPS of the gastrointestinal tract is known to be rare and only a few cases have been reported in the literature. Based on our case and review of the other relevant literature, the CT findings of primary UPS of the small bowel included nodular bowel wall thickening with homogeneous enhancement. It presents as a rapidly growing tumor without bowel obstruction, and it may be accompanied by distant metastasis.

  16. A feeder-free culture using autogeneic conditioned medium for undifferentiated growth of human embryonic stem cells: Comparative expression profiles of mRNAs, microRNAs and proteins among different feeders and conditioned media

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chou Chi-Hsien

    2010-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Human embryonic stem (hES cell lines were derived from the inner cell mass of human blastocysts, and were cultured on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF feeder to maintain undifferentiated growth, extensive renewal capacity, and pluripotency. The hES-T3 cell line with normal female karyotype was previously used to differentiate into autogeneic fibroblast-like cells (T3HDF as feeder to support the undifferentiated growth of hES-T3 cells (T3/HDF for 14 passages. Results A feeder-free culture on Matrigel in hES medium conditioned by the autogeneic feeder cells (T3HDF was established to maintain the undifferentiated growth of hES-T3 cells (T3/CMHDF for 8 passages in this investigation. The gene expression profiles of mRNAs, microRNAs and proteins between the undifferentiated T3/HDF and T3/CMHDF cells were shown to be very similar, and their expression profiles were also found to be similar to those of T3/MEF and T3/CMMEF cells grown on MEF feeder and feeder-free Matrigel in MEF-conditioned medium, respectively. The undifferentiated state of T3/HDF and T3/CMHDF as well as T3/MEF andT3/CMMEF cells was evidenced by the very high expression levels of "stemness" genes and low expression levels of differentiation markers of ectoderm, mesoderm and endoderm in addition to the strong staining of OCT4 and NANOG. Conclusion The T3HDF feeder and T3HDF-conditioned medium were able to support the undifferentiated growth of hES cells, and they would be useful for drug development and toxicity testing in addition to the reduced risks of xenogeneic pathogens when used for medical applications such as cell therapies.

  17. A case report of prostate cancer metastasis to the stomach resembling undifferentiated-type early gastric cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Inagaki, Chiaki; Suzuki, Takuto; Kitagawa, Yoshiyasu; Hara, Taro; Yamaguchi, Taketo

    2017-08-07

    Occurrence of metastatic cancer to the stomach is rare, particularly in patients with prostate cancer. Gastric metastasis generally presents as a solitary and submucosal lesion with a central depression. We describe a case of gastric metastasis arising from prostate cancer, which is almost indistinguishable from the undifferentiated-type gastric cancer. A definitive diagnosis was not made until endoscopic resection. On performing both conventional and magnifying endoscopies, the lesion appeared to be slightly depressed and discolored area and it could not be distinguished from undifferentiated early gastric cancer. Biopsy from the lesion was negative for immunohistochemical staining of prostate-specific antigen, a sensitive and specific marker for prostate cancer. Thus, false initial diagnosis of an early primary gastric cancer was made and endoscopic submucosal dissection was performed. Pathological findings from the resected specimen aroused suspicion of a metastatic lesion. Consequently, immunostaining was performed. The lesion was positive for prostate-specific acid phosphatase and negative for prostate-specific antigen, cytokeratin 7, and cytokeratin 20. Accordingly, the final diagnosis was a metastatic gastric lesion originating from prostate cancer. In this patient, the definitive diagnosis as a metastatic lesion was difficult due to its unusual endoscopic appearance and the negative stain for prostate-specific antigen. We postulate that both of these are consequences of hormonal therapy against prostate cancer.

  18. Comparative study of human embryonic stem cells (hESC and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC as a treatment for retinal dystrophies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marina Riera

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Retinal dystrophies (RD are major causes of familial blindness and are characterized by progressive dysfunction of photoreceptor and/or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE cells. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the therapeutic effects of two pluripotent stem cell (PSC-based therapies. We differentiated RPE from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs or human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs and transplanted them into the subretinal space of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS rat. Once differentiated, cells from either source of PSC resembled mature RPE in their morphology and gene expression profile. Following transplantation, both hESC- and hiPSC-derived cells maintained the expression of specific RPE markers, lost their proliferative capacity, established tight junctions, and were able to perform phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments. Remarkably, grafted areas showed increased numbers of photoreceptor nuclei and outer segment disk membranes. Regardless of the cell source, human transplants protected retina from cell apoptosis, glial stress and accumulation of autofluorescence, and responded better to light stimuli. Altogether, our results show that hESC- and hiPSC-derived cells survived, migrated, integrated, and functioned as RPE in the RCS rat retina, providing preclinical evidence that either PSC source could be of potential benefit for treating RD.

  19. Comparative study of human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSC) as a treatment for retinal dystrophies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riera, Marina; Fontrodona, Laura; Albert, Silvia; Ramirez, Diana Mora; Seriola, Anna; Salas, Anna; Muñoz, Yolanda; Ramos, David; Villegas-Perez, Maria Paz; Zapata, Miguel Angel; Raya, Angel; Ruberte, Jesus; Veiga, Anna; Garcia-Arumi, Jose

    2016-01-01

    Retinal dystrophies (RD) are major causes of familial blindness and are characterized by progressive dysfunction of photoreceptor and/or retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) cells. In this study, we aimed to evaluate and compare the therapeutic effects of two pluripotent stem cell (PSC)-based therapies. We differentiated RPE from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) or human-induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) and transplanted them into the subretinal space of the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat. Once differentiated, cells from either source of PSC resembled mature RPE in their morphology and gene expression profile. Following transplantation, both hESC- and hiPSC-derived cells maintained the expression of specific RPE markers, lost their proliferative capacity, established tight junctions, and were able to perform phagocytosis of photoreceptor outer segments. Remarkably, grafted areas showed increased numbers of photoreceptor nuclei and outer segment disk membranes. Regardless of the cell source, human transplants protected retina from cell apoptosis, glial stress and accumulation of autofluorescence, and responded better to light stimuli. Altogether, our results show that hESC- and hiPSC-derived cells survived, migrated, integrated, and functioned as RPE in the RCS rat retina, providing preclinical evidence that either PSC source could be of potential benefit for treating RD. PMID:27006969

  20. Naked regulators: moral pluralism, deliberative democracy and authoritative regulation of human embryonic stem cell (hESC) research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parker, Malcolm

    2009-02-01

    Bioethical issues pose challenges for pluralist, democratic societies due to the need to arbitrate between incompatible views over fundamental beliefs. The legitimacy of public policy is increasingly seen to depend on taking public consultation seriously, and subsequently regulating contested activities such as therapeutic cloning and hESC research. In December 2006, the Australian Federal Parliament lifted the ban on therapeutic cloning, following recommendations of the Legislation Review Committee (Lockhart Committee), which recently reported on its approach and methods in this journal. This column analyses recent accounts of democratic deliberative processes, authoritative regulation and the committee's own account. Authoritative regulation turns out to be largely an appeasement strategy, directed towards the losers of the contest, in this case the opponents of therapeutic cloning and hESC research. This is because regulation fails to minimise harm as perceived by the losers, and fails to meaningfully limit what it is the winners wish to do. Moreover, regulation adds an unnecessary layer of red tape to the work of the winners. Committees of inquiry in bioethical matters should be more open about their processes and their normative recommendations, at the risk of eroding trust in parts of their processes.

  1. JAX Colony Management System (JCMS): an extensible colony and phenotype data management system

    OpenAIRE

    Donnelly, Chuck J.; McFarland, Mike; Ames, Abigail; Sundberg, Beth; Springer, Dave; Blauth, Peter; Bult, Carol J.

    2010-01-01

    The Jackson Laboratory Colony Management System (JCMS) is a software application for managing data and information related to research mouse colonies, associated biospecimens, and experimental protocols. JCMS runs directly on computers that run one of the PC Windows® operating systems, but can be accessed via web browser interfaces from any computer running a Windows, Macintosh®, or Linux® operating system. JCMS can be configured for a single user or multiple users in small- to medium-size wo...

  2. Improved Ant Colony Clustering Algorithm and Its Performance Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, Wei

    2016-01-01

    Clustering analysis is used in many disciplines and applications; it is an important tool that descriptively identifies homogeneous groups of objects based on attribute values. The ant colony clustering algorithm is a swarm-intelligent method used for clustering problems that is inspired by the behavior of ant colonies that cluster their corpses and sort their larvae. A new abstraction ant colony clustering algorithm using a data combination mechanism is proposed to improve the computational efficiency and accuracy of the ant colony clustering algorithm. The abstraction ant colony clustering algorithm is used to cluster benchmark problems, and its performance is compared with the ant colony clustering algorithm and other methods used in existing literature. Based on similar computational difficulties and complexities, the results show that the abstraction ant colony clustering algorithm produces results that are not only more accurate but also more efficiently determined than the ant colony clustering algorithm and the other methods. Thus, the abstraction ant colony clustering algorithm can be used for efficient multivariate data clustering. PMID:26839533

  3. Is colonialism history? The declining impact of colonial legacies on African institutional and economic development : The declining impact of colonial legacies on African institutional and economic development

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Maseland, Robbert

    2018-01-01

    This paper investigates the claim that colonial history has left an enduring imprint on Africa's institutional and economic development. The literature following Acemoglu, Johnson and Robinson (2001) and Sokoloff and Engerman (2000) maintains that different types of colonialism affected the

  4. Engaging With Colonial Archives: Reflections Of An End-User

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayodeji Olukoju

    2016-06-01

    Full Text Available Official and/or public archives were a byproduct of colonial rule in Africa. (Archives are a byproduct of administrative governance everywhere. Given the density and diversity of colonial archival records, historians have tended to rely on them for the study of the colonial period. Publications on the use of archives have not captured the perspective of end-users, who often face peculiar challenges in the use of colonial and metropolitan archives. This paper provides an end-user perspective on colonial archives in Nigeria and the United Kingdom. It highlights the challenges of data collection and prospects of optimal use of archival source material. The discussion is of general application to users of colonial archives especially in the former British colonies in Africa.

  5. [Linkage analysis of susceptibility loci in 2 target chromosomes in pedigrees with paranoid schizophrenia and undifferentiated schizophrenia].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeng, Li-ping; Hu, Zheng-mao; Mu, Li-li; Mei, Gui-sen; Lu, Xiu-ling; Zheng, Yong-jun; Li, Pei-jian; Zhang, Ying-xue; Pan, Qian; Long, Zhi-gao; Dai, He-ping; Zhang, Zhuo-hua; Xia, Jia-hui; Zhao, Jing-ping; Xia, Kun

    2011-06-01

    To investigate the relationship of susceptibility loci in chromosomes 1q21-25 and 6p21-25 and schizophrenia subtypes in Chinese population. A genomic scan and parametric and non-parametric analyses were performed on 242 individuals from 36 schizophrenia pedigrees, including 19 paranoid schizophrenia and 17 undifferentiated schizophrenia pedigrees, from Henan province of China using 5 microsatellite markers in the chromosome region 1q21-25 and 8 microsatellite markers in the chromosome region 6p21-25, which were the candidates of previous studies. All affected subjects were diagnosed and typed according to the criteria of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, Text Revised (DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association, 2000). All subjects signed informed consent. In chromosome 1, parametric analysis under the dominant inheritance mode of all 36 pedigrees showed that the maximum multi-point heterogeneity Log of odds score method (HLOD) score was 1.33 (α = 0.38). The non-parametric analysis and the single point and multi-point nonparametric linkage (NPL) scores suggested linkage at D1S484, D1S2878, and D1S196. In the 19 paranoid schizophrenias pedigrees, linkage was not observed for any of the 5 markers. In the 17 undifferentiated schizophrenia pedigrees, the multi-point NPL score was 1.60 (P= 0.0367) at D1S484. The single point NPL score was 1.95(P= 0.0145) and the multi-point NPL score was 2.39 (P= 0.0041) at D1S2878. Additionally, the multi-point NPL score was 1.74 (P= 0.0255) at D1S196. These same three loci showed suggestive linkage during the integrative analysis of all 36 pedigrees. In chromosome 6, parametric linkage analysis under the dominant and recessive inheritance and the non-parametric linkage analysis of all 36 pedigrees and the 17 undifferentiated schizophrenia pedigrees, linkage was not observed for any of the 8 markers. In the 19 paranoid schizophrenias pedigrees, parametric analysis showed that under recessive

  6. Laser-induced speckle scatter patterns in Bacillus colonies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Huisung eKim

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Label-free bacterial colony phenotyping technology called BARDOT (BActerial Rapid Detection using Optical scattering Technology provided successful classification of several different bacteria at the genus, species, and serovar level. Recent experiments with colonies of Bacillus species provided strikingly different characteristics of elastic light scatter (ELS patterns, which were comprised of random speckles compared to other bacteria, which are dominated by concentric rings and spokes. Since this laser-based optical sensor interrogates the whole volume of the colony, 3-D information of micro- and macro-structures are all encoded in the far-field scatter patterns. Here, we present a theoretical model explaining the underlying mechanism of the speckle formation by the colonies from Bacillus species. Except for Bacillus polymyxa, all Bacillus spp. produced random bright spots on the imaging plane, which presumably dependent on the cellular and molecular organization and content within the colony. Our scatter model-based analysis revealed that colony spread resulting in variable surface roughness can modify the wavefront of the scatter field. As the center diameter of the Bacillus spp. colony grew from 500 μm to 900 μm, average speckles area decreased 2-fold and the number of small speckles increased 7-fold. In conclusion, as Bacillus colony grows, the average speckle size in the scatter pattern decreases and the number of smaller speckle increases due to the swarming growth characteristics of bacteria within the colony.

  7. Heat shock instructs hESCs to exit from the self-renewal program through negative regulation of OCT4 by SAPK/JNK and HSF1 pathway.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byun, Kyunghee; Kim, Taek-Kyun; Oh, Jeehyun; Bayarsaikhan, Enkhjargal; Kim, Daesik; Lee, Min Young; Pack, Chan-Gi; Hwang, Daehee; Lee, Bonghee

    2013-11-01

    Environmental factors affect self-renewal of stem cells by modulating the components of self-renewal networks. Heat shock, an environmental factor, induces heat shock factors (HSFs), which up-regulate stress response-related genes. However, the link of heat shock to self-renewal of stem cells has not been elucidated yet. Here, we present the direct link of heat shock to a core stem cell regulator, OCT4, in the self-renewal network through SAPK/JNK and HSF1 pathway. We first showed that heat shock initiated differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs). Gene expression analysis revealed that heat shock increased the expression of many genes involved in cellular processes related to differentiation of stem cells. We then examined the effects of HSFs induced by heat shock on core self-renewal factors. Among HSFs, heat shock induced mainly HSF1 in hESCs. The HSF1 repressed the expression of OCT4, leading to the differentiation of hESCs and the above differentiation-related gene expression change. We further examined the effects of the upstream MAP (mitogen-activated protein) kinases of HSF1 on the repression of OCT4 expression by HSF1. Among the MAP kinases, SAPK/JNK controlled predominantly the repression of the OCT4 expression by HSF1. The direct link of heat shock to the core self-renewal regulator through SAPK/JNK and HSF1 provides a fundamental basis for understanding the effect of heat and other stresses involving activation of HSF1 on the self-renewal program and further controlling differentiation of hESCs in a broad spectrum of stem cell applications using these stresses. © 2013.

  8. Escória de siderurgia e calcário na correção da acidez do solo cultivado com cana-de-açúcar em vaso

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prado Renato de Mello

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available A avaliação química da escória de siderurgia, como corretivo de acidez do solo, pode sofrer interferências em razão da presença da alta energia de ligação dos seus constituintes neutralizantes e a presença de diversos elementos metálicos. Tendo como objetivo avaliar se a recomendação de correção baseada no poder de neutralização adotado para o calcário é compatível para escória de siderurgia, em função das alterações do valor pH, teores de H+Al, Ca+Mg em solos ácidos da região dos cerrados cultivados com cana-de-açúcar, realizou-se o presente experimento, em condições de casa de vegetação, em vaso com 20 dm³ do Latossolo Vermelho e do Neossolo Quartzarênico em dois cultivos sucessivos da cana-de-açúcar (cana-planta e cana-soca por 210 dias após a incorporação dos corretivos, a cada cultivo. Os tratamentos, foram constituídos de dois corretivos calcário e escória em dois níveis de aplicação, como segue: nível 1= a dose para elevar V=50% e nível 2= dobro da dose necessária para elevar V=50%. Ao término de cada cultivo, os solos foram amostrados e analisados quimicamente. A reatividade da escória de siderurgia depende da classe de solo. A eficiência da escória de siderurgia baseado no poder de neutralização adotado para o calcário não apresentou comportamento satisfatório para estimar a necessidade de produto para a correção da acidez do solo, sugerindo a necessidade de mais estudos.

  9. Acute erythroblastic leukemia presenting as acute undifferentiated leukemia: a report of two cases with ultrastructural features.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reiffers, J; Bernard, P; Larrue, J; Dachary, D; David, B; Boisseau, M; Broustet, A

    1985-01-01

    This report describes two elderly patients with acute leukemia in which blast cells were undifferentiated with conventional light microscopy (L.M.) and cytochemistry. Blast cells were identified as belonging to the erythroblastic line by their ultrastructural features: glycogen deposits, lipidic vacuoles, cytoplasmic ferritin molecules and rhopheocytotic invagination. Moreover, blast cells were surrounding a central macrophage. Thus, these two patients had acute erythroblastic leukemia which differs from erythroleukemia (M6 of FAB classification) in which blast cells present myeloblastic characteristics.

  10. Coalescing colony model: Mean-field, scaling, and geometry

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carra, Giulia; Mallick, Kirone; Barthelemy, Marc

    2017-12-01

    We analyze the coalescing model where a `primary' colony grows and randomly emits secondary colonies that spread and eventually coalesce with it. This model describes population proliferation in theoretical ecology, tumor growth, and is also of great interest for modeling urban sprawl. Assuming the primary colony to be always circular of radius r (t ) and the emission rate proportional to r (t) θ , where θ >0 , we derive the mean-field equations governing the dynamics of the primary colony, calculate the scaling exponents versus θ , and compare our results with numerical simulations. We then critically test the validity of the circular approximation for the colony shape and show that it is sound for a constant emission rate (θ =0 ). However, when the emission rate is proportional to the perimeter, the circular approximation breaks down and the roughness of the primary colony cannot be discarded, thus modifying the scaling exponents.

  11. Multicenter validation of the value of BASFI and BASDAI in Chinese ankylosing spondylitis and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy patients

    OpenAIRE

    Lin, Zhiming; Gu, Jieruo; He, Peigen; Gao, Jiesheng; Zuo, Xiaoxia; Ye, Zhizhong; Shao, Fengmin; Zhan, Feng; Lin, Jinying; Li, Li; Wei, Yanlin; Xu, Manlong; Liao, Zetao; Lin, Qu

    2009-01-01

    The objectives of this study were to evaluate the reliability of Bath ankylosing spondylitis functional index (BASFI) and Bath ankylosing spondylitis disease activity index (BASDAI) in Chinese ankylosing spondylitis (AS) and undifferentiated spondyloarthropathy (USpA) patients. 664 AS patients by the revised New York criteria for AS and 252 USpA patients by the European Spondyloarthropathy Study Group criteria were enrolled. BASDAI and BASFI questionnaires were translated into Chinese. Partic...

  12. Hegemony and Accommodation in the History Curriculum in Colonial Botswana

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mafela, Lily

    2014-01-01

    A reanalysis of colonial education is necessary in order to highlight its multifaceted and hybrid nature in specific colonial contexts. Although in general, colonial education served the socio-political needs of the colonial machinery, the colonial government's hegemonic authority over the school curriculum did not operate as a totalising project.…

  13. Colonial Institutions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    McAtackney, Laura; Palmer, Russell

    2016-01-01

    and the USA which reveal that the study of colonial institutions should not be limited to the functional life of these institutions—or solely those that take the form of monumental architecture—but should include the long shadow of “imperial debris” (Stoler 2008) and immaterial institutions....

  14. Transient inhibition of cell proliferation does not compromise self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wang, Ruoxing [Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive 5018, Hattiesburg, MS 39406 (United States); Guo, Yan-Lin, E-mail: yanlin.guo@usm.edu [Department of Biological Sciences, The University of Southern Mississippi, 118 College Drive 5018, Hattiesburg, MS 39406 (United States)

    2012-10-01

    Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have unlimited capacity for self-renewal and can differentiate into various cell types when induced. They also have an unusual cell cycle control mechanism driven by constitutively active cyclin dependent kinases (Cdks). In mouse ESCs (mESCs). It is proposed that the rapid cell proliferation could be a necessary part of mechanisms that maintain mESC self-renewal and pluripotency, but this hypothesis is not in line with the finding in human ESCs (hESCs) that the length of the cell cycle is similar to differentiated cells. Therefore, whether rapid cell proliferation is essential for the maintenance of mESC state remains unclear. We provide insight into this uncertainty through chemical intervention of mESC cell cycle. We report here that inhibition of Cdks with olomoucine II can dramatically slow down cell proliferation of mESCs with concurrent down-regulation of cyclin A, B and E, and the activation of the Rb pathway. However, mESCs display can recover upon the removal of olomoucine II and are able to resume normal cell proliferation without losing self-renewal and pluripotency, as demonstrated by the expression of ESC markers, colony formation, embryoid body formation, and induced differentiation. We provide a mechanistic explanation for these observations by demonstrating that Oct4 and Nanog, two major transcription factors that play critical roles in the maintenance of ESC properties, are up-regulated via de novo protein synthesis when the cells are exposed to olomoucine II. Together, our data suggest that short-term inhibition of cell proliferation does not compromise the basic properties of mESCs. -- Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Inhibition of Cdks slows down mESCs proliferation. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer mESCs display remarkable recovery capacity from short-term cell cycle interruption. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Short-term cell cycle interruption does not compromise mESC self-renewal. Black

  15. Transient inhibition of cell proliferation does not compromise self-renewal of mouse embryonic stem cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wang, Ruoxing; Guo, Yan-Lin

    2012-01-01

    Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) have unlimited capacity for self-renewal and can differentiate into various cell types when induced. They also have an unusual cell cycle control mechanism driven by constitutively active cyclin dependent kinases (Cdks). In mouse ESCs (mESCs). It is proposed that the rapid cell proliferation could be a necessary part of mechanisms that maintain mESC self-renewal and pluripotency, but this hypothesis is not in line with the finding in human ESCs (hESCs) that the length of the cell cycle is similar to differentiated cells. Therefore, whether rapid cell proliferation is essential for the maintenance of mESC state remains unclear. We provide insight into this uncertainty through chemical intervention of mESC cell cycle. We report here that inhibition of Cdks with olomoucine II can dramatically slow down cell proliferation of mESCs with concurrent down-regulation of cyclin A, B and E, and the activation of the Rb pathway. However, mESCs display can recover upon the removal of olomoucine II and are able to resume normal cell proliferation without losing self-renewal and pluripotency, as demonstrated by the expression of ESC markers, colony formation, embryoid body formation, and induced differentiation. We provide a mechanistic explanation for these observations by demonstrating that Oct4 and Nanog, two major transcription factors that play critical roles in the maintenance of ESC properties, are up-regulated via de novo protein synthesis when the cells are exposed to olomoucine II. Together, our data suggest that short-term inhibition of cell proliferation does not compromise the basic properties of mESCs. -- Highlights: ► Inhibition of Cdks slows down mESCs proliferation. ► mESCs display remarkable recovery capacity from short-term cell cycle interruption. ► Short-term cell cycle interruption does not compromise mESC self-renewal. ► Oct4 and Nanog are up-regulated via de novo synthesis by cell cycle interruption.

  16. 21 CFR 866.2170 - Automated colony counter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ...) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2170 Automated colony counter. (a) Identification. An automated colony counter is a mechanical device intended for medical...

  17. [Undifferentiated cutaneous angiosarcoma of the head: identification by the endothelial marker Ulex europaeus agglutinin I].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bork, K; Fries, J; Hoede, N; Korting, G W; Dienes, P

    1985-06-01

    Cutaneous angiosarcoma of the head is a rare tumor of the elderly and can occur in an undifferentiated form without any clinical or histological signs of the vascular origin of this tumor. In these cases, the tumor can be identified by using endothelial cell markers, such as factor-VIII-related antigen and ulex europaeus agglutinin I, in an immunofluorescence technique or a peroxidase-antiperoxidase method. A 78-year-old patient is described who died within 18 months from such a tumor, which was diagnosed using the endothelial cell marker, ulex europaeus agglutinin I.

  18. Perspectives on the 2014 ESC/EACTS Guidelines on Myocardial Revascularization: Fifty Years of Revascularization: Where Are We and Where Are We Heading?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    F. Costa (Francesco); S. Ariotti (Sara); M. Valgimigli (Marco); P.H. Kolh (Philippe); S.W. Windecker (Stephan)

    2015-01-01

    textabstractThe joint European Society of Cardiology and European Association of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery (ESC/EACTS) guidelines on myocardial revascularization collect and summarize the evidence regarding decision-making, diagnostics, and therapeutics in various clinical scenarios of coronary artery

  19. Adherence to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for chronic heart failure - A national survey of the cardiologists in Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    Background The aims of this study were to evaluate the awareness of and attitudes towards the 2005 European Society of Cardiology (ESC) guidelines for Heart Failure (HF) of the cardiologists in Pakistan and assess barriers to adherence to guidelines. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in person from March to July 2009 to all cardiologists practicing in 4 major cities in Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar). A validated, semi-structured questionnaire assessing ESC 2005 Guidelines for HF was used to obtain information from cardiologists. It included questions about awareness and relevance of HF guidelines (See Additional File 1). Respondents' management choices were compared with those of an expert panel based on the guidelines for three fictitious patient cases. Cardiologists were also asked about major barriers to adherence to guidelines. Results A total of 372 cardiologists were approached; 305 consented to participate (overall response rate, 82.0%). The survey showed a very high awareness of CHF guidelines; 97.4% aware of any guideline. About 13.8% considered ESC guidelines as relevant or very relevant for guiding treatment decisions while 92.8% chose AHA guidelines in relevance. 87.2% of respondents perceived that they adhered to the HF guidelines. For the patient cases, the proportions of respondents who made recommendations that completely matched those of the guidelines were 7% (Scenario 1), 0% (Scenario 2) and 20% (Scenario 3). Respondents considered patient compliance (59%) and cost/health economics (50%) as major barriers to guideline implementation. Conclusion We found important self reported departures from recommended HF management guidelines among cardiologists of Pakistan. PMID:22093082

  20. Alianzas y redes de colaboración entre las agrupaciones culturales de las Artes Escénicas en Andalucía

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    I. Ramos

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available el análisis de redes sociales se ha utilizado de manera efectiva en la evalua- ción de programas (eisenberg & swanson, 1996; Fujimoto, valente & Pentz, 2009, la gestión de información y la difusión de innovaciones (valente, 1995; Kraatz, 1998; ahuja, 2000, el estudio de la evolución de las coaliciones comu- nitarias (Feinberg, Riggs & greenberg, 2005; Wendel et al., 2010 y las iniciati- vas para promover la capacidad de las organizaciones (nowel & Foster-Fishman, 2010. en este estudio se analizan 6 tipos de relaciones entre 32 organizaciones culturales del sector de las artes escénicas en andalucía. las agrupaciones de las artes escénicas en andalucía conforman una estructura centro-periferia. el es- pacio central se articula en torno a una tríada formada por tres entidades jóvenes que destacan, respectivamente, por (a gestionar recursos de formación en artes escénicas, (b coordinar la asociación de los profesionales del sector y (c tener un perfil activo en la producción de espectáculos en los últimos años. a través del análisis de clúster han sido identificados cuatro conglomerados integrados por organizaciones que han desplegado diferentes estrategias relacionales y cuentan con características diferenciales. los resultados se devolvieron a repre- sentantes del sector en un grupo de discusión. se presentan las reacciones de los participantes.

  1. Inbred or Outbred? Genetic Diversity in Laboratory Rodent Colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brekke, Thomas D.; Steele, Katherine A.; Mulley, John F.

    2017-01-01

    Nonmodel rodents are widely used as subjects for both basic and applied biological research, but the genetic diversity of the study individuals is rarely quantified. University-housed colonies tend to be small and subject to founder effects and genetic drift; so they may be highly inbred or show substantial genetic divergence from other colonies, even those derived from the same source. Disregard for the levels of genetic diversity in an animal colony may result in a failure to replicate results if a different colony is used to repeat an experiment, as different colonies may have fixed alternative variants. Here we use high throughput sequencing to demonstrate genetic divergence in three isolated colonies of Mongolian gerbil (Meriones unguiculatus) even though they were all established recently from the same source. We also show that genetic diversity in allegedly “outbred” colonies of nonmodel rodents (gerbils, hamsters, house mice, deer mice, and rats) varies considerably from nearly no segregating diversity to very high levels of polymorphism. We conclude that genetic divergence in isolated colonies may play an important role in the “replication crisis.” In a more positive light, divergent rodent colonies represent an opportunity to leverage genetically distinct individuals in genetic crossing experiments. In sum, awareness of the genetic diversity of an animal colony is paramount as it allows researchers to properly replicate experiments and also to capitalize on other genetically distinct individuals to explore the genetic basis of a trait. PMID:29242387

  2. Latin America: Essays Interpretating Colonial Legacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    María Pia López

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available A large part of the Latin–American literature of the 19th and 20th century tried to deal with the national question intertwining different dimensions: the weight of colonial legacy, the cultural peculiarity of the nation and the inner relations between social classes and ethnic groups. Thinking the nation implied, in any case, to think the difference and the conflict with others, as well as the inner conflict and the logic of local colonialism. Analyzing some of these essays that played a central role in such process of recasting the origin of the nation, the author moves around three main axes: the formulation of dualist writings (colonial/national; white /indigenous; civilization/wilderness, the issue of language (the language inherited from the colonial experience versus the multilingual nature of indigenous Latin American societies, and the hypothesis about the birth of the nation – appointed to different groups – and its normal functioning as legitimization of the order sprung from independences.

  3. O perfil da relação profissional entre as empresas de serviços contábeis (ESC) e a micro e a pequena empresa (MPE)

    OpenAIRE

    Palma, Daniel Azevedo

    2005-01-01

    Neste trabalho, além do referencial teórico, envolvendo conceitos e classificações da MPE, e também da Contabilidade, realizou-se uma pesquisa de campo na cidade de Unaí -MG, em que se procurou identificar as principais características existentes na relação profissional entre as Empresas de Serviços Contábeis (ESC) e a Micro e Pequena Empresa (MPE) e verificar como as informações geradas pelas ESCs podem ser mais bem utilizadas na gestão das MPEs. Obteve-se uma amostra corroborando a caracter...

  4. 21 CFR 866.2180 - Manual colony counter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-04-01

    ...) MEDICAL DEVICES IMMUNOLOGY AND MICROBIOLOGY DEVICES Microbiology Devices § 866.2180 Manual colony counter. (a) Identification. A manual colony counter is a device intended for medical purposes that consists...

  5. Colonial Army Formats in Africa and Post-Colonial Military Coups:

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    BSOS USER

    The centralised and autocratic features of Caliphate rule were .... latter's participation in the affairs of their respective societies, and leadership ..... deployment of the army by the NPC for internal colonial-style repression duties in the Middle Belt ...

  6. Post-Colonialism Perspectives on Educational Competition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yeh, Chuan-Rong

    2016-01-01

    Educational competition has always been the puzzle issue of educational researches. In this article, I analyze several aspects of educational competition within the perspective of post-colonialism discourse. In the political aspect, Taiwanese education is linked with political power, to present the post-colonial spirit by continuing dynastic…

  7. Colony Development and Density-Dependent Processes in Breeding Grey Herons

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takeshi Shirai

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The density-dependent processes that limit the colony size of colonially breeding birds such as herons and egrets remain unclear, because it is difficult to monitor colonies from the first year of their establishment, and the most previous studies have considered mixed-species colonies. In the present study, single-species colonies of the Grey Heron (Ardea cinerea were observed from the first year of their establishment for 16 years in suburban Tokyo. Colony size increased after establishment, illustrating a saturation curve. The breeding duration (days from nest building to fledging by a pair increased, but the number of fledglings per nest decreased, with colony size. The reproductive season in each year began earlier, and there was greater variation in the timing of individual breeding when the colony size was larger. The prolonged duration until nestling feeding by early breeders of the colony suggests that herons at the beginning of the new breeding season exist in an unsteady state with one another, likely owing to interactions with immigrant individuals. Such density-dependent interference may affect reproductive success and limit the colony size of Grey Herons.

  8. Relationship of colony-stimulating activity to apparent kill of human colony-forming cells by irradiation and hydroxyurea

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Broxmeyer, H.E.; Galbraith, P.R.; Baker, F.L.

    1976-01-01

    Suspensions of human bone marrow cells were subjected to 137 Cs irradiation in vitro and then cultured in semisolid agar medium. Cultures of irradiated cells were stimulated with colony-stimulating activity (CSA) of different potencies, and it was found that the amount of stimulation applied to cultures influenced the apparent kill of colony-forming cells (CFC). It was also found that the effects of irradiation on colony formation were not confined to CFC kill since medium conditioned by cells during irradiation exhibited stimulatory and inhibitory properties after treatment by 600 and 1000 rads, respectively. Studies in which irradiated cells were pretreated with hydroxyurea indicated that CFC in the DNA synthetic phase of the cell cycle were particularly sensitive to low doses of irradiation. The proliferative capacity of CFC surviving 1000 rads was undiminished as judged by their ability to form large colonies. Estimates of CFC kill by hydroxyurea were also affected by the level of CSA

  9. Queen promiscuity lowers disease within honeybee colonies

    OpenAIRE

    Seeley, Thomas D; Tarpy, David R

    2006-01-01

    Most species of social insects have singly mated queens, but in some species each queen mates with numerous males to create a colony with a genetically diverse worker force. The adaptive significance of polyandry by social insect queens remains an evolutionary puzzle. Using the honeybee (Apis mellifera), we tested the hypothesis that polyandry improves a colony's resistance to disease. We established colonies headed by queens that had been artificially inseminated by either one or 10 drones. ...

  10. Effect of fluid motion on colony formation in Microcystis aeruginosa

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lin Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Microcystis aeruginosa, generally occurring in large colonies under natural conditions, mainly exists as single cells in laboratory cultures. The mechanisms involved in colony formation in Microcystis aeruginosa and their roles in algal blooms remain unknown. In this study, based on previous research findings that fluid motion may stimulate the colony formation in green algae, culture experiments were conducted under axenic conditions in a circular water chamber where the flow rate, temperature, light, and nutrients were controlled. The number of cells of Microcystis aeruginosa, the number of cells per colony, and the colonial characteristics in various growth phases were observed and measured. The results indicated that the colony formation in Microcystis aeruginosa, which was not observed under stagnant conditions, was evident when there was fluid motion, with the number of cells per largest colony reaching 120 and the proportion of the number of cells in colonial form to the total number of cells and the mean number of cells per colony reaching their peak values at a flow rate of 35 cm/s. Based on the analysis of colony formation process, fluid motion stimulates the colony formation in Microcystis aeruginosa in the lag growth phase, while flushes and disaggregates the colonies in the exponential growth phase. The stimulation effect in the lag growth phase may be attributable to the involvement of fluid motion in a series of physiological processes, including the uptake of trace elements and the synthesis and secretion of polysaccharides. In addition, the experimental groups exhibiting typical colonial characteristics in the lag growth phase were found to have higher cell biomass in the later phase.

  11. Structural organisation and dynamics in king penguin colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gerum, Richard; Richter, Sebastian; Fabry, Ben; Le Bohec, Céline; Bonadonna, Francesco; Nesterova, Anna; Zitterbart, Daniel P.

    2018-04-01

    During breeding, king penguins do not build nests, however they show strong territorial behaviour and keep a pecking distance to neighbouring penguins. Penguin positions in breeding colonies are highly stable over weeks and appear regularly spaced, but thus far no quantitative analysis of the structural order inside a colony has been performed. In this study, we use the radial distribution function to analyse the spatial coordinates of penguin positions. Coordinates are obtained from aerial images of two colonies that were observed for several years. Our data demonstrate that the structural order in king penguin colonies resembles a 2D liquid of particles with a Lennard-Jones-type interaction potential. We verify this using a molecular dynamics simulation with thermally driven particles, whereby temperature corresponds to penguin movements, the energy well depth ɛ of the attractive potential corresponds to the strength of the colony-forming behaviour, and the repulsive zone corresponds to the pecking radius. We can recapitulate the liquid disorder of the colony, as measured by the radial distribution function, when the particles have a temperature of several (1.4–10) \

  12. MFH classification: differentiating undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma in the 21st Century.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matushansky, Igor; Charytonowicz, Elizabeth; Mills, Joslyn; Siddiqi, Sara; Hricik, Todd; Cordon-Cardo, Carlos

    2009-08-01

    The essence and origin of malignant fibrous histiocytoma (MFH) have been debated for now close to five decades. Originally characterized as a morphologically unique soft-tissue sarcoma subtype of unclear etiology in 1963, with a following 15 years of research only to conclude that "the issue of histogenesis [of MFH] is largely unresolvable"; it is "now regarded as synonymous with [high grade] undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma and essentially represents a diagnosis of exclusion". Yet despite this apparent lack of progress, the first decade of the 21st century has seen some significant progress in terms of defining the origins of MFH. Perhaps more importantly these origins might also pave the way for novel therapies. This manuscript will highlight MFH's troubled history, discuss recent advances, and comment as to what the coming years may promise and what further needs to be done to make sure that progress continues.

  13. Undifferentiated nasopharyngeal cancer (UCNT): current diagnostic and therapeutic aspects

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Altun, M.; Fandi, A.; Dupuis, O.; Cvitkovic, E.; Krajina, Z.; Eschwege, F.

    1995-01-01

    Undifferentiated carcinoma of the nasopharynx (UCNT) is a particular head and neck epidermoid lineage tumor related to the Epstein Barr Virus (EBV). It has geographically selective endemic epidemiologic features, without relation to external carcinogens. Its systemic aggressiveness is the source of most disease-related demises, because radiotherapy achieves excellent local control and a significant percentage of cure in patients with exclusive locoregional disease. Differences in the staging systems currently in use, the recent changes in imaging and radiotherapy technology, and the lack of distinction between UCNT and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) of the nasopharynx in Western literature reports make for some difficulty in therapeutic results evaluation when analyzing available literature. Its chemosensitivity is a relatively recent acknowledged fact, and its use in metastatic patients results in a high percentage of objective responses, many of long duration. Neoadjuvant cisplatin-based chemotherapy seems to be of benefit, but outstanding controversies in this regard will be soon answered through ongoing phase III trials. After a review of the current literature of all the above-mentioned aspects of this fascinating nosologic entity, our own experience, both in metastatic and locoregional disease patients is analyzed

  14. Colonial army recruitment patterns and post-colonial Military Coups ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Since time immemorial, societies, states and state builders have been challenged and transformed by the need and quest for military manpower. European states relied on conscript armies to 'pacify' and retain colonies in parts of the non-European world. These facts underscore the meticulous attention paid by the British to ...

  15. Thromboembolism and antithrombotic therapy for heart failure in sinus rhythm: an executive summary of a joint consensus document from the ESC Heart Failure Association and the ESC Working Group on Thrombosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lip, Gregory Y H; Piotrponikowski, Piotr; Andreotti, Felicita; Anker, Stefan D; Filippatos, Gerasimos; Homma, Shunichi; Morais, Joao; Pullicino, Patrick; Rasmussen, Lars H; Marín, Francisco; Lane, Deirdre A

    2012-12-01

    Chronic heart failure (HF) with either reduced or preserved left ventricular (LV) ejection fraction is common and remains an extremely serious disorder with a high mortality and morbidity. Many complications related to heart failure can be related to thrombosis. Epidemiological and pathophysiological data also link HF to an increased risk of thrombosis, leading to the clinical consequences of sudden death, stroke, systemic thromboembolism and/or venous thromboembolism. This executive summary of a joint consensus document of the Heart Failure Association (EHFA) of the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) and the ESC Working Group on Thrombosis reviews the published evidence, summarises 'best practice', and puts forward consensus statements that may help to define evidence gaps and assist management decisions in everyday clinical practice. In HF patients with atrial fibrillation, oral anticoagulation is clearly recommended, and the CHA2DS2-VASc and HAS-BLED scores should be used to determine the likely risk-benefit ratio (thromboembolism prevention versus risk of bleeding) of oral anticoagulation. In HF patients with reduced LV ejection fraction who are in sinus rhythm there is no evidence of an overall benefit of vitamin K antagonists (e.g. warfarin) on mortality, with risk of major bleeding. Whilst there is the potential for a reduction in ischaemic stroke, there is currently no compelling reason to routinely use warfarin for these patients. Risk factors associated with increased risk of thromboembolic events should be identified and decisions regarding use of anticoagulation individualised. Patient values and preferences are important determinants when balancing the risk of thromboembolism against bleeding risk. Novel oral anticoagulants that offer a different risk-benefit profile compared with warfarin may appear as an attractive therapeutic option, but this would need to be confirmed in clinical trials.

  16. Ant- and Ant-Colony-Inspired ALife Visual Art.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greenfield, Gary; Machado, Penousal

    2015-01-01

    Ant- and ant-colony-inspired ALife art is characterized by the artistic exploration of the emerging collective behavior of computational agents, developed using ants as a metaphor. We present a chronology that documents the emergence and history of such visual art, contextualize ant- and ant-colony-inspired art within generative art practices, and consider how it relates to other ALife art. We survey many of the algorithms that artists have used in this genre, address some of their aims, and explore the relationships between ant- and ant-colony-inspired art and research on ant and ant colony behavior.

  17. Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) and deleted in azoospermia-like (DAZL) expression in the testes of donkeys.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Y S; Jung, H J; Yoon, M J

    2017-04-01

    Putative markers for each specific germ cell stage can be a useful tool to study the fate and functions of these cells. Undifferentiated embryonic cell transcription factor 1 (UTF1) is a putative marker for undifferentiated spermatogonia in humans, rats and horses. The deleted in azoospermia-like (DAZL) protein is also expressed by differentiated spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in several species. However, whether the expression patterns of these molecular markers are identical and applicable to donkeys remains to be elucidated. The objective of this study was to investigate the expression patterns of UTF1 and DAZL in donkey testicular tissue, using immunohistochemistry (IHC). Testicular samples were collected from routine field castration of donkeys in Korea. The reproductive stages (pre- or post-puberty) of the testes were determined from the morphological characteristics of cross-sections of the seminiferous tubules. For IHC, the UTF1 and DAZL primary antibodies were diluted at 1:100 and 1:200, respectively. The immunolabelling revealed that UTF1 was expressed in approximately 50% of spermatogonia in the pre-pubertal stage, whereas its expression was limited to an early subset of spermatogonia in the post-pubertal stage. DAZL was expressed in some, but not all, spermatogonia in the pre-pubertal spermatogonia, and interestingly, its expression was also observed in spermatogonia and primary spermatocytes in the post-pubertal stage. Co-immunolabelling of the germ cells with both UTF1 and DAZL revealed three types of protein expression patterns at both reproductive stages, namely UTF1 only, DAZL only and both UTF1 and DAZL. These protein molecules were not expressed in Sertoli and Leydig cells. In conclusion, a co-immunolabelling system with UTF1 and DAZL antibodies may be used to identify undifferentiated (UTF1 only), differentiating (UTF1 and DAZL), and differentiated spermatogonia (DAZL only) in donkey testes. © 2017 Blackwell Verlag GmbH.

  18. The Role of Non-Foraging Nests in Polydomous Wood Ant Colonies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ellis, Samuel; Robinson, Elva J H

    2015-01-01

    A colony of red wood ants can inhabit more than one spatially separated nest, in a strategy called polydomy. Some nests within these polydomous colonies have no foraging trails to aphid colonies in the canopy. In this study we identify and investigate the possible roles of non-foraging nests in polydomous colonies of the wood ant Formica lugubris. To investigate the role of non-foraging nests we: (i) monitored colonies for three years; (ii) observed the resources being transported between non-foraging nests and the rest of the colony; (iii) measured the amount of extra-nest activity around non-foraging and foraging nests. We used these datasets to investigate the extent to which non-foraging nests within polydomous colonies are acting as: part of the colony expansion process; hunting and scavenging specialists; brood-development specialists; seasonal foragers; or a selfish strategy exploiting the foraging effort of the rest of the colony. We found that, rather than having a specialised role, non-foraging nests are part of the process of colony expansion. Polydomous colonies expand by founding new nests in the area surrounding the existing nests. Nests founded near food begin foraging and become part of the colony; other nests are not founded near food sources and do not initially forage. Some of these non-foraging nests eventually begin foraging; others do not and are abandoned. This is a method of colony growth not available to colonies inhabiting a single nest, and may be an important advantage of the polydomous nesting strategy, allowing the colony to expand into profitable areas.

  19. Between Past and Present: The Sociopsychological Constructs of Colonialism, Coloniality and Postcolonialism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tomicic, Ana; Berardi, Filomena

    2018-03-01

    If one of the major aspirations of postcolonial theory is to re-establish a balance in the relationship between the (former) colonizer and the colonized by engaging the voices of the "subaltern", and on the other hand to illuminate how power relations of the present are embedded in history (Mills 2007), we argue that important theoretical insights might inform research by anchoring post-colonial theory within a sociopsychological framework. While there is a growing corpus of sociopsychological research articles focusing on how major geopolitical events and historical processes bear on people's lives, we aim to investigate the theoretical potential of postcolonial theory within the disciplines aiming at a sociopsychological approach. By focusing on the social dynamics of power imbalances, post-colonial theory finds its operational meaning: the feelings stemming from actions committed in the past are indeed crucial in determining reparatory attitudes and policies towards members of former colonized groups. Firstly, drawing from the sociopsychological scientific production related to consequences of colonial past, seen in recent years as a growing research interest in the field, we will explore patterns and trends through a thematic analysis of literature. Social Psychology as well as adjacent disciplines can greatly benefit from this theoretical fertilization, especially in the way post-colonial ideologies relate to the symbolic promotion versus exclusion of indigenous culture (Sengupta et al., International Journal of Intercultural Relations, 36(4), 506-517, 2012). Furthermore, by comparing and contrasting the ideological cosmologies relating to this particular topic, this study aims to establish the state of knowledge in the field, to identify how research methods and thematic fields are paired, to find "gaps" and create spaces for research that become integrative of postcolonial theory. While focusing on academic production, we also hope to contribute to develop

  20. Colony strength and queen replacement in Melipona marginata (Apidae: Meliponini

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A. de M. P. Kleinert

    Full Text Available Physogastric queens of Melipona marginata were removed from their colonies in order to verify the acceptance of a new queen by workers. Colony strength was evaluated according to queen oviposition rate and comb diameters. Replacement was observed seven times. Its occurrence and speed related positively to colony strength, independently of queen's age. In weak colonies, queen replacement was observed only once, following colony population increase that occurred after introduction of combs from another colony. Worker oviposition after queen removal was observed three times: in a strong colony with virgin queens and males, and in two of the weak colonies. In the first two or three days of new queen oviposition, during which most of the eggs were eaten by the queen, worker oviposition preceded almost all provisioning and oviposition processes (POPs. After this period, worker oviposition decreased until it reached around 25% of the POPs. Daily oviposition rate of young queens decreased or was even interrupted by hatching of their first brood.

  1. Comparative efficacy of tulathromycin versus a combination of florfenicol-oxytetracycline in the treatment of undifferentiated respiratory disease in large numbers of sheep

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohsen Champour

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available The objective of this study was to compare the efficacy of tulathromycin (TUL with a combination of florfenicol (FFC and long-acting oxytetracycline (LAOTC in the treatment of naturally occurring undifferentiated respiratory diseases in large numbers of sheep. In this study, seven natural outbreaks of sheep pneumonia in Garmsar, Iran were considered. From these outbreaks, 400 sheep exhibiting the signs of respiratory diseases were selected, and the sheep were randomly divided into two equal groups. The first group was treated with a single injection of TUL (dosed at 2.5 mg/kg body weight, and the second group was treated with concurrent injections of FFC (dosed at 40 mg/kg bwt and LAOTC (dosed at 20 mg/kg bwt. In the first group, 186 (93% sheep were found to be cured 5 days after the injection, and 14 (7% sheep needed further treatment, of which 6 (3% were cured, and 8 (4% died. In the second group, 172 (86% sheep were cured after the injections, but 28 (14% sheep needed further treatment, of which 10 (5% were cured, and 18 (9% died. This study revealed that TUL was more efficacious as compared to the combined treatment using FFC and LAOTC. As the first report, this field trial describes the successful treatment of undifferentiated respiratory diseases in large numbers of sheep. Thus, TUL can be used for the treatment of undifferentiated respiratory diseases in sheep. [J Adv Vet Anim Res 2015; 2(3.000: 279-284

  2. Colonial Bilingual Heritage and Post-Colonial Myths in Cameroon's ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Thus, the study traces and shows that an uncritical support of the existing school bilingualism, a aspect of the general political objective of national unity and integration, hinges on a fictitious collective post-colonial dream about using the bilingual heritage of French and English, and the cultures that lie behind them, ...

  3. California gull chicks raised near colony edges have elevated stress levels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Herring, Garth; Ackerman, Joshua T.

    2011-01-01

    Coloniality in nesting birds represents an important life history strategy for maximizing reproductive success. Birds nesting near the edge of colonies tend to have lower reproductive success than individuals nesting near colony centers, and offspring of edge-nesting parents may be impaired relative to those of central-nesting parents. We used fecal corticosterone metabolites in California gull chicks (Larus californicus) to examine whether colony size or location within the colony influenced a chick's physiological condition. We found that chicks being raised near colony edges had higher fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations than chicks raised near colony centers, but that colony size (ranging from 150 to 11,554 nests) had no influence on fecal corticosterone levels. Fecal corticosterone metabolite concentrations also increased with chick age. Our results suggest that similarly aged California gull chicks raised near colony edges may be more physiologically stressed, as indicated by corticosterone metabolites, than chicks raised near colony centers.

  4. Epigenetic mechanisms regulate MHC and antigen processing molecules in human embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Beatriz Suárez-Alvarez

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs are an attractive resource for new therapeutic approaches that involve tissue regeneration. hESCs have exhibited low immunogenicity due to low levels of Mayor Histocompatibility Complex (MHC class-I and absence of MHC class-II expression. Nevertheless, the mechanisms regulating MHC expression in hESCs had not been explored.We analyzed the expression levels of classical and non-classical MHC class-I, MHC class-II molecules, antigen-processing machinery (APM components and NKG2D ligands (NKG2D-L in hESCs, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs and NTera2 (NT2 teratocarcinoma cell line. Epigenetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of these genes were investigated by bisulfite sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP assays. We showed that low levels of MHC class-I molecules were associated with absent or reduced expression of the transporter associated with antigen processing 1 (TAP-1 and tapasin (TPN components in hESCs and iPSCs, which are involved in the transport and load of peptides. Furthermore, lack of beta2-microglobulin (beta2m light chain in these cells limited the expression of MHC class I trimeric molecule on the cell surface. NKG2D ligands (MICA, MICB were observed in all pluripotent stem cells lines. Epigenetic analysis showed that H3K9me3 repressed the TPN gene in undifferentiated cells whilst HLA-B and beta2m acquired the H3K4me3 modification during the differentiation to embryoid bodies (EBs. Absence of HLA-DR and HLA-G expression was regulated by DNA methylation.Our data provide fundamental evidence for the epigenetic control of MHC in hESCs and iPSCs. Reduced MHC class I and class II expression in hESCs and iPSCs can limit their recognition by the immune response against these cells. The knowledge of these mechanisms will further allow the development of strategies to induce tolerance and improve stem cell allograft acceptance.

  5. Epigenetic Mechanisms Regulate MHC and Antigen Processing Molecules in Human Embryonic and Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Suárez-Álvarez, Beatriz; Rodriguez, Ramón M.; Calvanese, Vincenzo; Blanco-Gelaz, Miguel A.; Suhr, Steve T.; Ortega, Francisco; Otero, Jesus; Cibelli, Jose B.; Moore, Harry; Fraga, Mario F.; López-Larrea, Carlos

    2010-01-01

    Background Human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) are an attractive resource for new therapeutic approaches that involve tissue regeneration. hESCs have exhibited low immunogenicity due to low levels of Mayor Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) class-I and absence of MHC class-II expression. Nevertheless, the mechanisms regulating MHC expression in hESCs had not been explored. Methodology/Principal Findings We analyzed the expression levels of classical and non-classical MHC class-I, MHC class-II molecules, antigen-processing machinery (APM) components and NKG2D ligands (NKG2D-L) in hESCs, induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and NTera2 (NT2) teratocarcinoma cell line. Epigenetic mechanisms involved in the regulation of these genes were investigated by bisulfite sequencing and chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) assays. We showed that low levels of MHC class-I molecules were associated with absent or reduced expression of the transporter associated with antigen processing 1 (TAP-1) and tapasin (TPN) components in hESCs and iPSCs, which are involved in the transport and load of peptides. Furthermore, lack of β2-microglobulin (β2m) light chain in these cells limited the expression of MHC class I trimeric molecule on the cell surface. NKG2D ligands (MICA, MICB) were observed in all pluripotent stem cells lines. Epigenetic analysis showed that H3K9me3 repressed the TPN gene in undifferentiated cells whilst HLA-B and β2m acquired the H3K4me3 modification during the differentiation to embryoid bodies (EBs). Absence of HLA-DR and HLA-G expression was regulated by DNA methylation. Conclusions/Significance Our data provide fundamental evidence for the epigenetic control of MHC in hESCs and iPSCs. Reduced MHC class I and class II expression in hESCs and iPSCs can limit their recognition by the immune response against these cells. The knowledge of these mechanisms will further allow the development of strategies to induce tolerance and improve stem cell allograft acceptance

  6. H3S10ph broadly marks early-replicating domains in interphase ESCs and shows reciprocal antagonism with H3K9me2.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Carol C L; Goyal, Preeti; Karimi, Mohammad M; Abildgaard, Marie H; Kimura, Hiroshi; Lorincz, Matthew C

    2018-01-01

    Phosphorylation of histone H3 at serine 10 (H3S10ph) by Aurora kinases plays an important role in mitosis; however, H3S10ph also marks regulatory regions of inducible genes in interphase mammalian cells, implicating mitosis-independent functions. Using the fluorescent ubiquitin-mediated cell cycle indicator (FUCCI), we found that 30% of the genome in interphase mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) is marked with H3S10ph. H3S10ph broadly demarcates gene-rich regions in G1 and is positively correlated with domains of early DNA replication timing (RT) but negatively correlated with H3K9me2 and lamin-associated domains (LADs). Consistent with mitosis-independent kinase activity, this pattern was preserved in ESCs treated with Hesperadin, a potent inhibitor of Aurora B/C kinases. Disruption of H3S10ph by expression of nonphosphorylatable H3.3S10A results in ectopic spreading of H3K9me2 into adjacent euchromatic regions, mimicking the phenotype observed in Drosophila JIL-1 kinase mutants . Conversely, interphase H3S10ph domains expand in Ehmt1 (also known as Glp ) null ESCs, revealing that H3S10ph deposition is restricted by H3K9me2. Strikingly, spreading of H3S10ph at RT transition regions (TTRs) is accompanied by aberrant transcription initiation of genes co-oriented with the replication fork in Ehmt1 -/- and Ehmt2 -/- ESCs, indicating that establishment of repressive chromatin on the leading strand following DNA synthesis may depend upon these lysine methyltransferases. H3S10ph is also anti-correlated with H3K9me2 in interphase murine embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) and is restricted to intragenic regions of actively transcribing genes by EHMT2. Taken together, these observations reveal that H3S10ph may play a general role in restricting the spreading of repressive chromatin in interphase mammalian cells. © 2018 Chen et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press.

  7. Experimental Study for Automatic Colony Counting System Based Onimage Processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Fang, Junlong; Li, Wenzhe; Wang, Guoxin

    Colony counting in many colony experiments is detected by manual method at present, therefore it is difficult for man to execute the method quickly and accurately .A new automatic colony counting system was developed. Making use of image-processing technology, a study was made on the feasibility of distinguishing objectively white bacterial colonies from clear plates according to the RGB color theory. An optimal chromatic value was obtained based upon a lot of experiments on the distribution of the chromatic value. It has been proved that the method greatly improves the accuracy and efficiency of the colony counting and the counting result is not affected by using inoculation, shape or size of the colony. It is revealed that automatic detection of colony quantity using image-processing technology could be an effective way.

  8. A new FACS approach isolates hESC derived endoderm using transcription factors.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yuqiong Pan

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available We show that high quality microarray gene expression profiles can be obtained following FACS sorting of cells using combinations of transcription factors. We use this transcription factor FACS (tfFACS methodology to perform a genomic analysis of hESC-derived endodermal lineages marked by combinations of SOX17, GATA4, and CXCR4, and find that triple positive cells have a much stronger definitive endoderm signature than other combinations of these markers. Additionally, SOX17(+ GATA4(+ cells can be obtained at a much earlier stage of differentiation, prior to expression of CXCR4(+ cells, providing an important new tool to isolate this earlier definitive endoderm subtype. Overall, tfFACS represents an advancement in FACS technology which broadly crosses multiple disciplines, most notably in regenerative medicine to redefine cellular populations.

  9. Adherence to the European Society of Cardiology (ESC guidelines for chronic heart failure - A national survey of the cardiologists in Pakistan

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shoukat Sana

    2011-11-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The aims of this study were to evaluate the awareness of and attitudes towards the 2005 European Society of Cardiology (ESC guidelines for Heart Failure (HF of the cardiologists in Pakistan and assess barriers to adherence to guidelines. Methods A cross-sectional survey was conducted in person from March to July 2009 to all cardiologists practicing in 4 major cities in Pakistan (Karachi, Lahore, Quetta and Peshawar. A validated, semi-structured questionnaire assessing ESC 2005 Guidelines for HF was used to obtain information from cardiologists. It included questions about awareness and relevance of HF guidelines (See Additional File 1. Respondents' management choices were compared with those of an expert panel based on the guidelines for three fictitious patient cases. Cardiologists were also asked about major barriers to adherence to guidelines. Additional file 1 Questionnaire. Description: Questionnaire that was administered to participants. Click here for file Results A total of 372 cardiologists were approached; 305 consented to participate (overall response rate, 82.0%. The survey showed a very high awareness of CHF guidelines; 97.4% aware of any guideline. About 13.8% considered ESC guidelines as relevant or very relevant for guiding treatment decisions while 92.8% chose AHA guidelines in relevance. 87.2% of respondents perceived that they adhered to the HF guidelines. For the patient cases, the proportions of respondents who made recommendations that completely matched those of the guidelines were 7% (Scenario 1, 0% (Scenario 2 and 20% (Scenario 3. Respondents considered patient compliance (59% and cost/health economics (50% as major barriers to guideline implementation. Conclusion We found important self reported departures from recommended HF management guidelines among cardiologists of Pakistan.

  10. BCNT studies for application to the undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dagrosa, Maria A.; Viaggi, Mabel E.; Cabrini, Romulo L.; Juvenal, Guillermo J.; Pisarev, Mario A.; Garavaglia, Ricardo N.; Farias, Silvia S.; Belli, Carolina; Larripa, Irene; Gangitano, David

    2000-01-01

    Undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma (UTC) lacks an effective treatment. Boron neutron capture therapy (BNCT) is based on the selective uptake of 10 B-boronated compounds by some tumours, followed by irradiation with an appropriate neutron beam. The radioactive boron originated ( 11 B) decays releasing 7 Li, gamma rays and alpha particles, and these latter will destroy the tumour. In order to explore the possibility of applying BNCT to UTC we have studied the biodistribution of BPA. Animal Model: To develop an animal model of undifferentiated thyroid carcinoma (UTC), which may be useful to study of BNCT. The UTC human cell line ARO was implanted into the back of the nude mice. We performed successive passages in mouse after tumor culturing in order to obtain an animal model similar to the human tumor. We studied the kinetics and the tumoral histology, the capability to induce metastasis, the biokinetics of in vitro growth, as well as cytogenetic and molecular aspects. Histological specimens of tumor showed extensive viability with high mitotic activity. At 117 days, the tumors reached a size of 1700 mm 3 and showed a central necrotic portion with a thin layer of viable cells presence of micro metastasis could be observed in the lung. The kinetics of growth both in vivo and in vitro showed that when the number of passages in mouse increases the growth rate decreases. The cytogenetic and molecular studies did not show differences between the original line and the sublines that could explain this phenotypic change. Moreover, the cytogenetic studies proved that the ARO cell line and its sublines showed a complex clonal karyotype including structural alterations with deletions and translocations involving chromosomes 5, 7, 8, 9p, 11p, 17q 19p, and 20q that were consistent with earlier reported data in UTC. In vivo BNCT studies: ARO cells were transplanted into the scapular region of NIH nude mice, and after 2 weeks BPA (350 or 600 mg/kg bw) was injected via i.p. The

  11. Uncovering the Role of Hypermethylation by CTG Expansion in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 Using Mutant Human Embryonic Stem Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yanovsky-Dagan, Shira; Avitzour, Michal; Altarescu, Gheona; Renbaum, Paul; Eldar-Geva, Talia; Schonberger, Oshrat; Mitrani-Rosenbaum, Stella; Levy-Lahad, Ephrat; Birnbaum, Ramon Y.; Gepstein, Lior; Epsztejn-Litman, Silvina; Eiges, Rachel

    2015-01-01

    Summary CTG repeat expansion in DMPK, the cause of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1), frequently results in hypermethylation and reduced SIX5 expression. The contribution of hypermethylation to disease pathogenesis and the precise mechanism by which SIX5 expression is reduced are unknown. Using 14 different DM1-affected human embryonic stem cell (hESC) lines, we characterized a differentially methylated region (DMR) near the CTGs. This DMR undergoes hypermethylation as a function of expansion size in a way that is specific to undifferentiated cells and is associated with reduced SIX5 expression. Using functional assays, we provide evidence for regulatory activity of the DMR, which is lost by hypermethylation and may contribute to DM1 pathogenesis by causing SIX5 haplo-insufficiency. This study highlights the power of hESCs in disease modeling and describes a DMR that functions both as an exon coding sequence and as a regulatory element whose activity is epigenetically hampered by a heritable mutation. PMID:26190529

  12. Uncovering the Role of Hypermethylation by CTG Expansion in Myotonic Dystrophy Type 1 Using Mutant Human Embryonic Stem Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shira Yanovsky-Dagan

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available CTG repeat expansion in DMPK, the cause of myotonic dystrophy type 1 (DM1, frequently results in hypermethylation and reduced SIX5 expression. The contribution of hypermethylation to disease pathogenesis and the precise mechanism by which SIX5 expression is reduced are unknown. Using 14 different DM1-affected human embryonic stem cell (hESC lines, we characterized a differentially methylated region (DMR near the CTGs. This DMR undergoes hypermethylation as a function of expansion size in a way that is specific to undifferentiated cells and is associated with reduced SIX5 expression. Using functional assays, we provide evidence for regulatory activity of the DMR, which is lost by hypermethylation and may contribute to DM1 pathogenesis by causing SIX5 haplo-insufficiency. This study highlights the power of hESCs in disease modeling and describes a DMR that functions both as an exon coding sequence and as a regulatory element whose activity is epigenetically hampered by a heritable mutation.

  13. Colony collapse disorder: a descriptive study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Dennis Vanengelsdorp

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Over the last two winters, there have been large-scale, unexplained losses of managed honey bee (Apis mellifera L. colonies in the United States. In the absence of a known cause, this syndrome was named Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD because the main trait was a rapid loss of adult worker bees. We initiated a descriptive epizootiological study in order to better characterize CCD and compare risk factor exposure between populations afflicted by and not afflicted by CCD. METHODS AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Of 61 quantified variables (including adult bee physiology, pathogen loads, and pesticide levels, no single measure emerged as a most-likely cause of CCD. Bees in CCD colonies had higher pathogen loads and were co-infected with a greater number of pathogens than control populations, suggesting either an increased exposure to pathogens or a reduced resistance of bees toward pathogens. Levels of the synthetic acaricide coumaphos (used by beekeepers to control the parasitic mite Varroa destructor were higher in control colonies than CCD-affected colonies. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: This is the first comprehensive survey of CCD-affected bee populations that suggests CCD involves an interaction between pathogens and other stress factors. We present evidence that this condition is contagious or the result of exposure to a common risk factor. Potentially important areas for future hypothesis-driven research, including the possible legacy effect of mite parasitism and the role of honey bee resistance to pesticides, are highlighted.

  14. Iridovirus and microsporidian linked to honey bee colony decline.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bromenshenk, Jerry J; Henderson, Colin B; Wick, Charles H; Stanford, Michael F; Zulich, Alan W; Jabbour, Rabih E; Deshpande, Samir V; McCubbin, Patrick E; Seccomb, Robert A; Welch, Phillip M; Williams, Trevor; Firth, David R; Skowronski, Evan; Lehmann, Margaret M; Bilimoria, Shan L; Gress, Joanna; Wanner, Kevin W; Cramer, Robert A

    2010-10-06

    In 2010 Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD), again devastated honey bee colonies in the USA, indicating that the problem is neither diminishing nor has it been resolved. Many CCD investigations, using sensitive genome-based methods, have found small RNA bee viruses and the microsporidia, Nosema apis and N. ceranae in healthy and collapsing colonies alike with no single pathogen firmly linked to honey bee losses. We used Mass spectrometry-based proteomics (MSP) to identify and quantify thousands of proteins from healthy and collapsing bee colonies. MSP revealed two unreported RNA viruses in North American honey bees, Varroa destructor-1 virus and Kakugo virus, and identified an invertebrate iridescent virus (IIV) (Iridoviridae) associated with CCD colonies. Prevalence of IIV significantly discriminated among strong, failing, and collapsed colonies. In addition, bees in failing colonies contained not only IIV, but also Nosema. Co-occurrence of these microbes consistently marked CCD in (1) bees from commercial apiaries sampled across the U.S. in 2006-2007, (2) bees sequentially sampled as the disorder progressed in an observation hive colony in 2008, and (3) bees from a recurrence of CCD in Florida in 2009. The pathogen pairing was not observed in samples from colonies with no history of CCD, namely bees from Australia and a large, non-migratory beekeeping business in Montana. Laboratory cage trials with a strain of IIV type 6 and Nosema ceranae confirmed that co-infection with these two pathogens was more lethal to bees than either pathogen alone. These findings implicate co-infection by IIV and Nosema with honey bee colony decline, giving credence to older research pointing to IIV, interacting with Nosema and mites, as probable cause of bee losses in the USA, Europe, and Asia. We next need to characterize the IIV and Nosema that we detected and develop management practices to reduce honey bee losses.

  15. Colony form variation of Bacillus pumilus E601 after cultured and neutron irradiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Xiaoming; Wei Baoli; Zhang Jianguo

    2008-01-01

    The distribution of two colony forms of Bacillus pumilus E601 and the effect of neutron irradiation on the colony form were reported. The translucent and opaque colonies were cultured several generations to observe the proportion of two form colonies. The spores of opaque colony were irradiated at 80, 800 and 2000 Gy of fast neutron from CFBR-II pulse pile, and the survivors of opaque colony were irradiated again at the same doses. The results showed that: (1) Bacillus pumilus E601 observed two types of colony form: translucent and opaque colony; (2) the translucent colony could produce both translucent and opaque colonies in equal, while the opaque colony couldn't produce translucent colony generally; (3) neutron irradiation could affect the colony form distribution. The ratio of survival translucent colony was increased with the increase of the first neutron irradiation doses, and the second neutron irradiation also increased the ratio of translucent colony. It was concluded that the instability of translucent colony was the main reason to produce two colony forms of Bacillus pumilus E601. The strain of translucent colony had a stronger ability to resist neutron irradiation than the opaque colony. (authors)

  16. Colony mapping: A new technique for monitoring crevice-nesting seabirds

    Science.gov (United States)

    Renner, H.M.; Renner, M.; Reynolds, J.H.; Harping, A.M.A.; Jones, I.L.; Irons, D.B.; Byrd, G.V.

    2006-01-01

    Monitoring populations of auklets and other crevice-nesting seabirds remains problematic, although numerous methods have been attempted since the mid-1960s. Anecdotal evidence suggests several large auklet colonies have recently decreased in both abundance and extent, concurrently with vegetation encroachment and succession. Quantifying changes in the geographical extent of auklet colonies may be a useful alternative to monitoring population size directly. We propose a standardized method for colony mapping using a randomized systematic grid survey with two components: a simple presence/absence survey and an auklet evidence density survey. A quantitative auklet evidence density index was derived from the frequency of droppings and feathers. This new method was used to map the colony on St. George Island in the southeastern Bering Sea and results were compared to previous colony mapping efforts. Auklet presence was detected in 62 of 201 grid cells (each grid cell = 2500 m2) by sampling a randomly placed 16 m2 plot in each cell; estimated colony area = 155 000 m2. The auklet evidence density index varied by two orders of magnitude across the colony and was strongly correlated with means of replicated counts of birds socializing on the colony surface. Quantitatively mapping all large auklet colonies is logistically feasible using this method and would provide an important baseline for monitoring colony status. Regularly monitoring select colonies using this method may be the best means of detecting changes in distribution and population size of crevice-nesting seabirds. ?? The Cooper Ornithological Society 2006.

  17. Deconstructive Pedagogy and Ideological Demystification in Post-Colonial Pakistan

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansoor, Asma; Malik, Samina

    2016-01-01

    With post-colonial Pakistan inheriting the British colonial ideological and governmental apparatus, the English literature curriculum implemented at the university level in Pakistan carried the interpellatory baggage of its colonial past. Our interdisciplinary exploration focuses on using deconstructive pedagogy to demystify and subvert the…

  18. The regulation of British colonial lunatic asylums and the origins of colonial psychiatry, 1860-1864.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Swartz, Sally

    2010-05-01

    In this paper I outline a brief period in the history of the British Empire, during which colonial lunatic asylum policy began to be formulated. I begin with a scandal that erupted in Jamaica and suggest that this set in motion processes that led to critical changes in asylum administration. The first of these processes was an audit of hospitals and asylums in the colonies. The results of the audit and the policy that emerged from it marked the beginning of systematic regulation of lunatic asylum practice across the British Empire. It revealed a formulation of policy that was intended to cut across the self-governing regimes that had up to this point been allowed to evolve. Drawing on the work of Michel Foucault and Nikolas Rose, I argue that the policy and the practices associated with it contribute to an understanding of the emergence of the psy-sciences in colonial settings. They illustrate the establishment of a panoptic gaze on previously neglected insane spaces. Systematic surveillance constituted government at a distance and made colonial lunacy administration a governable discursive space. The regulation of the medical officers, lunatic attendants, and hospital boards began the process of creating a professional psychiatric workforce. I conclude with a discussion of the implications and the mixed impact of this policy change for the mentally ill across the empire, over the ensuing decades.

  19. Leisure, economy and colonial urbanism: Darjeeling, 1835-1930.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharya, Nandini

    2013-08-01

    This article posits that the hill station of Darjeeling was a unique form of colonial urbanism. It shifts historiographical interest from major urban centres in colonial India (such as Bombay or Calcutta) and instead attempts a greater understanding of smaller urban centres. In the process, it also interrogates the category of hill stations, which have been understood as exotic and scenic sites rather than as towns that were integral to the colonial economy. In arguing that hill stations, particularly Darjeeling, were not merely the scenic and healthy 'other' of the clamorous, dirty and diseased plains of India, it refutes suggestions that the 'despoiling' or overcrowding of Darjeeling was incremental to the purposes of its establishment. Instead, it suggests that Darjeeling was part of the colonial mainstream; its urbanization and inclusion into the greater colonial economy was effected from the time of its establishment. Therefore, a constant tension between its exotic and its functional elements persisted throughout.

  20. Is there a Space for Post-Colonial Theory in the Socio-Psychological Research on Consequences of Colonial Past?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Leone, Giovanna

    2018-04-26

    The focus of my commentary is two-fold. First, I discuss what appeared to me as the central theoretical focus of the article; the possibility to create a space, if at all, for integrating post-colonial theory into the broader research field of social and psychological studies of the consequences of colonial past. Second, I intend to show why, in my opinion, the methodological choices of the authors and the criteria adopted for corpus construction allowed for data that, although too thin to establishing the state of knowledge in the field of study on consequences of colonial past, is nevertheless very informative and thoughts-provoking. My conclusions suggest that this study is an innovative attempt at describing and grasping the results of a search guided by two among the more consolidated electronic datasets currently available for English-speaking scholars. However, this study may not easily understand which can be the space to integrate post-colonial theory in the field of research on consequences of colonial past. To better reach this aim, it is perhaps necessary to build another kind of corpus, open to other languages (starting from French) and focused also on other scientific products, as books or proceedings of congress. In addition, disciplinary boundaries have to be even more explored, starting from interdisciplinary studies on education and historical culture. In spite of these limitations, I am convinced that this innovative study by Tomicic and Berardi tackles issues of relevance to any serious effort towards reflecting on long-term consequences of colonial violence and opens up to valuable new research questions and methods, to be taken into serious account and further explored in future works.

  1. Parent–offspring resemblance in colony-specific adult survival of cliff swallows

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brown, Charles R.; Roche, Erin A.; Brown, Mary Bomberger

    2015-01-01

    Survival is a key component of fitness. Species that occupy discrete breeding colonies with different characteristics are often exposed to varying costs and benefits associated with group size or environmental conditions, and survival is an integrative net measure of these effects. We investigated the extent to which survival probability of adult (≥1-year old) cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota) occupying different colonies resembled that of their parental cohort and thus whether the natal colony had long-term effects on individuals. Individuals were cross-fostered between colonies soon after hatching and their presence as breeders monitored at colonies in the western Nebraska study area for the subsequent decade. Colony-specific adult survival probabilities of offspring born and reared in the same colony, and those cross-fostered away from their natal colony soon after birth, were positively and significantly related to subsequent adult survival of the parental cohort from the natal colony. This result held when controlling for the effect of natal colony size and the age composition of the parental cohort. In contrast, colony-specific adult survival of offspring cross-fostered to a site was unrelated to that of their foster parent cohort or to the cohort of non-fostered offspring with whom they were reared. Adult survival at a colony varied inversely with fecundity, as measured by mean brood size, providing evidence for a survival–fecundity trade-off in this species. The results suggest some heritable variation in adult survival, likely maintained by negative correlations between fitness components. The study provides additional evidence that colonies represent non-random collections of individuals.

  2. Efeito da escória de siderurgia na química do solo e na absorção de nutrientes e metais pesados pela cana-de-açúcar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Carlos Prezotti

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Com a redução das reservas naturais de nutrientes e o alto custo dos fertilizantes, tem aumentado a busca por fontes alternativas, sendo a escória de siderurgia uma opção, uma vez que possui compostos neutralizantes da acidez do solo e elementos químicos importantes para a nutrição das plantas. Este trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar as alterações, nas características químicas do solo e nos teores de nutrientes e de metais pesados, na cana-de-açúcar, em função de doses crescentes de escória de siderurgia. Os tratamentos foram compostos por oito doses de escória de aciaria: 0; 0,5; 1,0; 2,5; 5,0; 10; 20; 40 t ha-1, mais um tratamento adicional composto por uma dose de 2,5 t ha-1 de calcário, totalizando nove tratamentos, distribuídos em blocos ao acaso, com três repetições. Foram determinadas as características químicas de solo e planta, bem como a produtividade da cana-de-açúcar. A aplicação de escória no solo elevou o pH, a saturação por bases e os teores de P, Ca, B, Fe e Mn, não influenciando os teores de K e Mg. Mesmo aplicando-se doses mais elevadas, não houve alteração nos teores dos metais pesados Cd, Pb e Ni do solo. Houve elevação do teor de Cr. O teor de P na folha e no colmo da cana-de-açúcar apresentou tendência de aumento com as doses de escória, não havendo influência para os demais nutrientes, como, também, para os metais pesados. Houve elevação da produtividade tanto da cana-planta como da cana-soca.

  3. The Genesis of Public Relations in British Colonial Practice.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Smyth, Rosaleen

    2001-01-01

    Demonstrates how the British Colonial Office employed public relations strategies as they administered the British colony of Northern Rhodesia before, during, and after World War II. Demonstrates how civil servants in London and colonial officials implemented public relations policies, strategies, and tactics on an ad hoc basis, covering political…

  4. Policing native pleasures: a colonial history.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jabbar, Naheem

    2012-12-01

    The moral modality of colonial power is still with us when it comes to the recreation of sexual norms of traditional or feudal society. We can examine the emergent properties of colonial knowledge anew by exploring how the colonial regime's strategic attention of regulating brothels in India differed from the analytic of power Foucault described for sexuality in European society. It turns out that amongst other things, public anxieties about the failure of adaptation by South Asians are incapable of leaving sexuality aside as a key interpretive device for their culture. The British preoccupation with reproducing the dynamics of the bourgeois matrimonial market on foreign soil in the mid-nineteenth century similarly necessitated a sociological pretext for racial purity. However, the kind of knowledge a typical traveller and employee of the East India Company brought to the Victorian public from his own researches in the brothels and streets of colonial India, which revealed how popular prostitution was as a vice amongst the officer class, was also more than a welcome imaginary relief from Christian morality; it was an alternative vision of modernity. © London School of Economics and Political Science 2012.

  5. Buckling instability in ordered bacterial colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boyer, Denis; Mather, William; Mondragón-Palomino, Octavio; Orozco-Fuentes, Sirio; Danino, Tal; Hasty, Jeff; Tsimring, Lev S.

    2011-04-01

    Bacterial colonies often exhibit complex spatio-temporal organization. This collective behavior is affected by a multitude of factors ranging from the properties of individual cells (shape, motility, membrane structure) to chemotaxis and other means of cell-cell communication. One of the important but often overlooked mechanisms of spatio-temporal organization is direct mechanical contact among cells in dense colonies such as biofilms. While in natural habitats all these different mechanisms and factors act in concert, one can use laboratory cell cultures to study certain mechanisms in isolation. Recent work demonstrated that growth and ensuing expansion flow of rod-like bacteria Escherichia coli in confined environments leads to orientation of cells along the flow direction and thus to ordering of cells. However, the cell orientational ordering remained imperfect. In this paper we study one mechanism responsible for the persistence of disorder in growing cell populations. We demonstrate experimentally that a growing colony of nematically ordered cells is prone to the buckling instability. Our theoretical analysis and discrete-element simulations suggest that the nature of this instability is related to the anisotropy of the stress tensor in the ordered cell colony.

  6. Buckling instability in ordered bacterial colonies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyer, Denis; Mather, William; Mondragón-Palomino, Octavio; Danino, Tal; Hasty, Jeff; Orozco-Fuentes, Sirio; Tsimring, Lev S

    2011-01-01

    Bacterial colonies often exhibit complex spatio-temporal organization. This collective behavior is affected by a multitude of factors ranging from the properties of individual cells (shape, motility, membrane structure) to chemotaxis and other means of cell–cell communication. One of the important but often overlooked mechanisms of spatio-temporal organization is direct mechanical contact among cells in dense colonies such as biofilms. While in natural habitats all these different mechanisms and factors act in concert, one can use laboratory cell cultures to study certain mechanisms in isolation. Recent work demonstrated that growth and ensuing expansion flow of rod-like bacteria Escherichia coli in confined environments leads to orientation of cells along the flow direction and thus to ordering of cells. However, the cell orientational ordering remained imperfect. In this paper we study one mechanism responsible for the persistence of disorder in growing cell populations. We demonstrate experimentally that a growing colony of nematically ordered cells is prone to the buckling instability. Our theoretical analysis and discrete-element simulations suggest that the nature of this instability is related to the anisotropy of the stress tensor in the ordered cell colony

  7. Mem and Cookie: The Colonial Kitchen in Malaysia and Singapore

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Cecilia Leong-Salobir

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper examines the emergence of a distinctive colonial cuisine in the British colonies of Malaysia and Singapore beginning in the late nineteenth century. This colonial cuisine evolved over time and was a combination of culinary practices derived from European and Asian foodways, much of which came from colonial India. As in India, this acculturation developed through the reliance of colonizers on their domestic servants for food preparation. While domestic servants (as cooks, or known locally as “cookie” were generally represented as dirty, dishonest and lacking in intelligence according to colonial narratives, they were responsible for the preparation of food for the family. Asian cooks in the colonial home played a much more crucial role than the negative image painted of them by British colonizers and other historians. While the mem (short for memsahib, meaning mistress held the supervisory role of the household, it was the physical contribution of the domestic servants that enabled her to fulfill this function. The large number of servants employed enabled the mem to make the colonial home move seamlessly between the private domain of the home and the official venue for the empire’s tasks. The mem as the head of the household decided on the rituals and tasks that defined the colonial space as home, and as a bastion of white imperialism. In contrast, it was the cooks’ local knowledge that procured food. Most kitchens were fashioned according to the requirements of the servants and the cooks did all the cooking, usually preparing local dishes. The argument is that, had it not been for the servants’ input, the mems would have had to work harder. As it was, the work of the servants not only saved white labour, it helped shape colonial culture, despite the Britons’ best efforts to keep themselves socially distant. Colonial cuisine would not have developed with such distinctive features without the skills and local knowledge of

  8. Derivation of porcine pluripotent stem cells for biomedical research.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shiue, Yow-Ling; Yang, Jenn-Rong; Liao, Yu-Jing; Kuo, Ting-Yung; Liao, Chia-Hsin; Kang, Ching-Hsun; Tai, Chein; Anderson, Gary B; Chen, Lih-Ren

    2016-07-01

    Pluripotent stem cells including embryonic stem cells (ESCs), embryonic germ cells (EGCs), and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) are capable of self-renew and limitlessly proliferating in vitro with undifferentiated characteristics. They are able to differentiate in vitro, spontaneously or responding to suitable signals, into cells of all three primary germ layers. Consequently, these pluripotent stem cells will be valuable sources for cell replacement therapy in numerous disorders. However, the promise of human ESCs and EGCs is cramped by the ethical argument about destroying embryos and fetuses for cell line creation. Moreover, there are still carcinogenic risks existing toward the goal of clinical application for human ESCs, EGCs, and iPSCs. Therefore, a suitable animal model for stem cell research will benefit the further development of human stem cell technology. The pigs, on the basis of their similarity in anatomy, immunology, physiology, and biochemical properties, have been wide used as model animals in the study of various human diseases. The development of porcine pluripotent stem cell lines will hold the opportunity to provide an excellent material for human counterpart to the transplantation in biomedical research and further development of cell-based therapeutic strategy. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. The psychology of colonialism: sex, age, and ideology in British India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nandy, A

    1982-08-01

    It is becoming more and more obvious that colonialism--as we have come to know it during the last two hundred years--cannot be identified with only economic gain and political power. In Manchuria, Japan consistently lost money, and for many years colonial Indochina, Algeria and Angola, instead of increasing the political power of France and Portugal, sapped it. This did not make Manchuria, Indochina, Algeria or Angola less important as colonies. Nor did it disprove the point that economic gain and political power are important motives in a colonial situation. It only showed that colonialism could be characterized by the search for economic and political advantage without concomitant real economic or political gains, and sometimes even with economic or political losses. This essay argues that the first differentia of colonialism is a state of mind in the colonizers and the colonized, a colonial consciousness which includes the sometimes unrealizable wish to make economic and political profits from the colonies, but other elements, too. The political economy of colonization is of course important, but the vulgarity and insanity of colonialism are principally expressed in the sphere of psychology. The following pages will explore some of these psychological contours of colonialism in the rulers and the ruled and try to define colonialism as a shared culture which may not always begin with the establishment of alien rule in a society and end with the departure of the alien rulers from the colony. The example I shall use will be that of India, where a colonial political economy began to operate seventy-five years before the full-blown ideology of British imperialism became dominant, and where thirty years after the formal ending of the raj, the ideology of colonialism is still triumphant in many sectors of life.

  10. New strategies for the treatment of undifferentiated thyroid cancer and poorly differentiated thyroid cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Juvenal, Guillermo J.

    2006-01-01

    Undifferentiated thyroid cancer, which accounts for about 5-10% of thyroid cancer cases, is a very aggressive tumor with no effective treatment, since it lacks iodine uptake and does not respond to radio or chemotherapy. The prognosis of these patients is bad, due to the rapid growth of the tumor and the early development of metastasis. Oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes are involved in the genetic changes that underlie thyroid cancer, as all kinds of tumors. The characterization of these proteins is being exploited to delineate new therapeutic strategies for the treatment of this cancer. This work is focused on those compounds or therapeutic approaches that are being used in clinical essays or in animal models. (author) [es

  11. Synthetic quorum sensing in model microcapsule colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shum, Henry; Balazs, Anna C.

    2017-08-01

    Biological quorum sensing refers to the ability of cells to gauge their population density and collectively initiate a new behavior once a critical density is reached. Designing synthetic materials systems that exhibit quorum sensing-like behavior could enable the fabrication of devices with both self-recognition and self-regulating functionality. Herein, we develop models for a colony of synthetic microcapsules that communicate by producing and releasing signaling molecules. Production of the chemicals is regulated by a biomimetic negative feedback loop, the “repressilator” network. Through theory and simulation, we show that the chemical behavior of such capsules is sensitive to both the density and number of capsules in the colony. For example, decreasing the spacing between a fixed number of capsules can trigger a transition in chemical activity from the steady, repressed state to large-amplitude oscillations in chemical production. Alternatively, for a fixed density, an increase in the number of capsules in the colony can also promote a transition into the oscillatory state. This configuration-dependent behavior of the capsule colony exemplifies quorum-sensing behavior. Using our theoretical model, we predict the transitions from the steady state to oscillatory behavior as a function of the colony size and capsule density.

  12. The tense the hostile and the distressed : Multidimensional psychosocial risk profiles based on the ESC interview in coronary artery disease patients. The THORESCI study

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van Montfort, E.M.J.; Denollet, J.; Vermunt, J.K.; Widdershoven, J.W.M.G.; Kupper, N.

    2017-01-01

    Background While single psychosocial factors have been associated with cardiovascular outcomes, it is still unclear how they cluster. Therefore, we examined whether latent multidimensional psychosocial risk profiles could be identified in the European Society of Cardiology (ESC) psychosocial

  13. Agar Technique for the Cultivation In Vitro of Bone-Marrow Colonies

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Metcalf, D. [Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, VIC (Australia)

    1969-07-15

    In solid-state agar cultures certain haemopoietic cells proliferate and form discrete colonies of 200 - 4000 cells. Colony formation is dependent on stimulation by the colony-stimulating factor, and this is achieved by (1) the use of a cell feeder layer, (2) the addition of conditioned medium, or (3) the addition of human or mouse serum or urine containing the factor. All colonies initially contain granulocytic cells which differentiate from myeloblasts to polymorphs as colony growth proceeds. Later colonies develop a second population of phagocytic mononuclear cells (macrophages). The colony-forming-system is simple, readily quantitated and highly reproducible. Linear dose responses occur between the dose of colony-stimulating factor and the number and size of colonies developing from a standard number of bone-marrow cells. In-vitro colony formation has been achieved with haemopoietic cells of the following species: mouse, rat, hamster, guinea pig, rabbit and human. In the adult mouse, colony-forming cells are located in the bone marrow, spleen and blood and in the embryo, in the yolk sac, liver and spleen. The colony-forming cell appears to be an early member of the granulocytic series. The colony-forming system has been used as a quantitative assay system: (1) to assay levels of colony-stimulating factor in serum and urine and in the chemical- characterization and purification of the factor; and (2) to enumerate the number of colony-forming cells in haemopoietic tissues in response to a variety of experimental procedures and disease states. Since the system is applicable to human bone-marrow cells, it should prove of value in the quantitative assay of (1) survival of human bone marrow on storage, and (2) bone-marrow content of granulocytic precursor cells in various disease states and following various types of therapy. The system is not suitable for the mass production in vitro of haemopoietic cells for therapeutic use. (author)

  14. Manipulation of signaling thresholds in "engineered stem cell niches" identifies design criteria for pluripotent stem cell screens.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Raheem Peerani

    Full Text Available In vivo, stem cell fate is regulated by local microenvironmental parameters. Governing parameters in this stem cell niche include soluble factors, extra-cellular matrix, and cell-cell interactions. The complexity of this in vivo niche limits analyses into how individual niche parameters regulate stem cell fate. Herein we use mouse embryonic stem cells (mESC and micro-contact printing (microCP to investigate how niche size controls endogenous signaling thresholds. microCP is used to restrict colony diameter, separation, and degree of clustering. We show, for the first time, spatial control over the activation of the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription pathway (Jak-Stat. The functional consequences of this niche-size-dependent signaling control are confirmed by demonstrating that direct and indirect transcriptional targets of Stat3, including members of the Jak-Stat pathway and pluripotency-associated genes, are regulated by colony size. Modeling results and empirical observations demonstrate that colonies less than 100 microm in diameter are too small to maximize endogenous Stat3 activation and that colonies separated by more than 400 microm can be considered independent from each other. These results define parameter boundaries for the use of ESCs in screening studies, demonstrate the importance of context in stem cell responsiveness to exogenous cues, and suggest that niche size is an important parameter in stem cell fate control.

  15. Collaboration, Coproduction, and Code-Switching: Colonial Cinema and Postcolonial Archaeology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nayoung Aimee Kwon

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This article reassesses the issue of colonial collaboration in the Japanese empire by examining the rise of cinematic coproductions between Japanese and Korean filmmakers. By the late 1930s, colonial Korea’s filmmaking industry had been fully subsumed into the Japanese film industry, and regulations were established that required all films to assimilate imperial policies. The colonial government’s active promotion of colonial “collaboration” and “coproduction” between the colonizers and the colonized ideologically worked to obfuscate these increasing restrictions in colonial film productions while producing complex and contentious desires across the colonial divide. The very concepts of “collaboration” and “coproduction” need to be redefined in light of increasingly complex imperial hierarchies and entanglements. Taking the concept of “code-switching” beyond its linguistic origins, this article argues that we must reassess texts of colonial collaboration and coproduction produced at a time when Korean film had to “code-switch” into Japanese—to linguistically, culturally, and politically align itself with the wartime empire. The article argues that recently excavated films from colonial and Cold War archives, such as Spring in the Korean Peninsula, offer a rare glimpse into repressed and contested histories and raise the broader conundrum of accessing and assessing uneasily commingled colonial pasts of Asian-Pacific nations in the ruins of postcolonial aftermath.

  16. For the youth : juvenile delinquency, colonial civil society and the late colonial state in the Netherlands Indies, 1872-1942

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dirks, Annelieke

    2011-01-01

    This dissertation project focuses on forced re-education policies for juvenile delinquents in the Netherlands Indies (now Indonesia) and uses this topic to show the interaction between a 'modernizing' Dutch colonial state and the growth of a colonial civil society, between approximately 1872 and

  17. Morphological Diversity of the Colony Produced by Bacteria Proteus mirabilis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakahara, Akio; Shimada, Yuji; Wakita, Jun-ichi; Matsushita, Mitsugu; Matsuyama, Tohey

    1996-08-01

    Morphological changes of colonies have been investigatedfor a bacterial strain of Proteus mirabilis, which is a famous speciesfor producing concentric-ring-like colonies. It was found that colony patterns can be classified into three types,i.e., cyclic spreading, diffusion-limited growth (DLA-like)and three-dimensional growth (inside the agar medium) patterns. Cyclic spreading patterns can further be classifiedinto three subgroups, i.e., concentric-ring, homogeneous and spatiotemporal patterns. These subgroups were classified by examining the development of colony structure after colonies spread all over petri-dishes. Comparison of the results with thoseof another bacterial species Bacillus subtilis is also discussed.

  18. Colonialism as a Broader Social Determinant of Health

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Czyzewski

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available A proposed broader or Indigenized social determinants of health framework includes "colonialism" along with other global processes. What does it mean to understand Canadian colonialism as a distal determinant of Indigenous health? This paper reviews pertinent discourses surrounding Indigenous mental health in Canada.With an emphasis on the notion of intergenerational trauma, there are real health effects of social, political, and economic marginalization embodied within individuals, which can collectively affect entire communities. Colonialism can also be enacted and reinforced within Indigenous mental health discourse, thus influencing scholarly and popular perceptions. Addressing this distal determinant through policy work necessitates that improving Indigenous health is inherently related to improving these relationships, i.e. eliminating colonial relations, and increasing self-determination.

  19. Single-Cell Gene Expression Analysis of a Human ESC Model of Pancreatic Endocrine Development Reveals Different Paths to β-Cell Differentiation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petersen, Maja Borup Kjær; Azad, Ajuna; Ingvorsen, Camilla; Hess, Katja; Hansson, Mattias; Grapin-Botton, Anne; Honoré, Christian

    2017-10-10

    The production of insulin-producing β cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in vitro represents a promising strategy for a cell-based therapy for type 1 diabetes mellitus. To explore the cellular heterogeneity and temporal progression of endocrine progenitors and their progeny, we performed single-cell qPCR on more than 500 cells across several stages of in vitro differentiation of hESCs and compared them with human islets. We reveal distinct subpopulations along the endocrine differentiation path and an early lineage bifurcation toward either polyhormonal cells or β-like cells. We uncover several similarities and differences with mouse development and reveal that cells can take multiple paths to the same differentiation state, a principle that could be relevant to other systems. Notably, activation of the key β-cell transcription factor NKX6.1 can be initiated before or after endocrine commitment. The single-cell temporal resolution we provide can be used to improve the production of functional β cells. Copyright © 2017 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Social interactions in the central nest of Coptotermes formosanus juvenile colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Juvenile colonies of Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki were investigated to determine the social interactions among all individuals near the central nest of a colony. The behavioral repertoire of whole colonies of subterranean termites has yet to be identified because of their cryptic nests. Colonies w...

  1. The CIPRUS study, a nurse-led psychological treatment for patients with undifferentiated somatoform disorder in primary care: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sitnikova, Kate; Leone, Stephanie S.; Zonneveld, Lyonne N. L.; van Marwijk, Harm W. J.; Bosmans, Judith E.; van der Wouden, Johannes C.; van der Horst, Henriëtte E.

    2017-01-01

    Background: Up to a third of patients presenting medically unexplained physical symptoms in primary care may have a somatoform disorder, of which undifferentiated somatoform disorder (USD) is the most common type. Psychological interventions can reduce symptoms associated with USD and improve

  2. The CIPRUS study, a nurse-led psychological treatment for patients with undifferentiated somatoform disorder in primary care : study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sitnikova, Kate; Leone, Stephanie S; Zonneveld, Lyonne N L; van Marwijk, Harm W J; Bosmans, Judith E; van der Wouden, Johannes C; van der Horst, Henriëtte E

    2017-01-01

    BACKGROUND: Up to a third of patients presenting medically unexplained physical symptoms in primary care may have a somatoform disorder, of which undifferentiated somatoform disorder (USD) is the most common type. Psychological interventions can reduce symptoms associated with USD and improve

  3. Enhancement of erythroid colony growth in culture by hemin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Porter, P.N.; Meints, R.H.; Mesner, K.

    1979-01-01

    Hemin was found to enhance the growth of murine erythroid colonies in culture. In the presence of 100 mU/ml erythropoietin (EPO), the addition of hemin (0.05-0.2 mM) resulted in the growth of twice as many colonies as were obtained with EPO alone. Hemin also significantly increased erythroid colony formation in culture in the absence of added EPO. Hemoblobin synthesis as measured by the incorporation of 59 Fe into cyclohexanone extractable heme was augmented in culture by hemin. Neither Δ-aminolevulinic acid, a hemin precursor, nor FeCl 3 increased colony number. (author)

  4. [Notes about other epidemics in Colonial Chile].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Laval, Enrique

    2015-10-01

    In chronicles or in the historiography of the Colony in Chile there are few references about epidemics different to smallpox; like typhus, typhoid fever, dysentery, etc. Almost all, fast spreading in the country and some with high lethality, which led to overflowing the capacity of hospitals in the Chilean colonial period.

  5. Effects of x-ray and neutron irradiation on spherical colonies

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Aramaki, Ryoji

    1980-01-01

    Responses of in vitro cultured mammalian cells in spherical colonies to 200 kVp x-rays and D-T neutrons were studied using reproductive capacity as a criterion for survival. Cell lines used were FM3A, L5 and Chinese hamster V79. The spherical colonies exposed to x-rays exhibited two-component survival curves. All cells used were more radio-resistant in spherical colonies than in single cell suspensions. It was suggested that this difference in response was attributable to the presence of hypoxic cells in spherical colonies. Dose-modifying Factor (DMF), the ratios of D 0 of the second slopes of the curves for spherical colonies to those for single cells, were 1.6 for FM3A, 1.8 for L5, and 1.7 for Chinese hamster V79. The hypoxic cell fractions in spherical colonies for FM3A, L5, and Chinese hamster V79, were 0.1, 0.6 and 0.4, respectively, resulting in variations in cell survival in spherical colonies following x-radiation. No significant difference was observed between responses of spherical colonies and single cell suspensions to D-T neutrons. FM3A and Chinese hamster V79 showed two-component survival curves when irradiated with neutrons at 37 0 C, but not at 25 0 C. The repair of potentially lethal and sub-lethal damage was also investigated using FM3A in spherical colonies. No detectable repair of potentially lethal damage was observed for x-rays and D-T neutrons. The effect of neutron fractionation was considerably smaller for spherical colonies as compared to single cells. (author)

  6. Impaired T-lymphocyte colony formation by cord blood mononuclear cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Herrod, H.G.; Valenski, W.R.

    1982-01-01

    When compared to adult mononuclear cells, cord blood mononuclear cells demonstrated significantly decreased T-lymphocyte colony formation (1351 +/- 643 vs 592 +/- 862, P less than 0.01). This diminished colony-forming activity did not appear to be associated with impaired responsiveness to the stimulant phytohemagglutinin or with excessive suppressor-cell activity. Irradiation reduced the colony-forming capacity of cord blood mononuclear cells more than it did that of adult mononuclear cells. Depletion of adherent cells reduced cord blood mononuclear-cell colony-forming capacity by 40%, while similar treatment reduced adult colony formation by 10%. Lymphocyte proliferation in liquid culture of cord and adult cells was minimally affected by these procedures. The colony-forming capacity of cord blood could be enhanced by the addition of irradiated adult cells (284 +/- 72 vs 752 +/- 78, P less than 0.01). This enhancement was demonstrated to be due to a soluble factor produced by a population of irradiated adult cells depleted of the OKT8+ subpopulation of lymphocytes. These results indicate that the progenitor cells of T-lymphocyte colonies in cord blood have distinct biologic characteristics when compared to colony progenitors present in adult blood. This assay may prove to be useful in our efforts to understand the differentiation of T-cell function in man

  7. Workers' Extra-Nest Behavioral Changes During Colony Fission in Dinoponera quadriceps (Santschi).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Medeiros, J; Araújo, A

    2014-04-01

    Ant colonies can reproduce by two strategies: independent foundation, wherein the queen starts a new colony alone, and dependent foundation, in which workers assist the queen. In the queenless species Dinoponera quadriceps (Santschi), the colony reproduces obligatorily by fission, a type of dependent foundation, but this process is not well understood. This study describes a colony fission event of D. quadriceps in the field and analyzes the influence of the fission process on workers' extra-nest behavior. Based on observations of workers outside the nest, five distinct stages were identified: monodomic stage, polydomic stage, split stage, conflict stage, and post-conflict stage. The colony was initially monodomic and then occupied a second nest before it split into two independent colonies, indicating a gradual and opportunistic dependent foundation. After the fission event, the daughter colony had aggressive conflicts with the parental colony, resulting in the latter's disappearance. Colony fission affected workers' extra-nest behavior by increasing the frequency of rubbing the gaster against the substrate (which probably has a chemical marking function) and by decreasing the frequency of foraging during the split stage. After the fission event, the number of foragers was halved and foragers remained nearer to the nest during extra-nest activity. The spatial closeness of the parental and daughter colonies led to competition that caused the extinction or migration of the parental colony. Intraspecific competition was indicated by foraging directionality at the colony level, whereby areas of neighbor colonies were avoided; this directionality was stronger while both colonies coexisted.

  8. Healthy human CSF promotes glial differentiation of hESC-derived neural cells while retaining spontaneous activity in existing neuronal networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heikki Kiiski

    2013-05-01

    The possibilities of human pluripotent stem cell-derived neural cells from the basic research tool to a treatment option in regenerative medicine have been well recognized. These cells also offer an interesting tool for in vitro models of neuronal networks to be used for drug screening and neurotoxicological studies and for patient/disease specific in vitro models. Here, as aiming to develop a reductionistic in vitro human neuronal network model, we tested whether human embryonic stem cell (hESC-derived neural cells could be cultured in human cerebrospinal fluid (CSF in order to better mimic the in vivo conditions. Our results showed that CSF altered the differentiation of hESC-derived neural cells towards glial cells at the expense of neuronal differentiation. The proliferation rate was reduced in CSF cultures. However, even though the use of CSF as the culture medium altered the glial vs. neuronal differentiation rate, the pre-existing spontaneous activity of the neuronal networks persisted throughout the study. These results suggest that it is possible to develop fully human cell and culture-based environments that can further be modified for various in vitro modeling purposes.

  9. A defined, feeder-free, serum-free system to generate in vitro hematopoietic progenitors and differentiated blood cells from hESCs and hiPSCs.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Giorgia Salvagiotto

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Human ESC and iPSC are an attractive source of cells of high quantity and purity to be used to elucidate early human development processes, for drug discovery, and in clinical cell therapy applications. To efficiently differentiate pluripotent cells into a pure population of hematopoietic progenitors we have developed a new 2-dimensional, defined and highly efficient protocol that avoids the use of feeder cells, serum or embryoid body formation. Here we showed that a single matrix protein in combination with growth factors and a hypoxic environment is sufficient to generate from pluripotent cells hematopoietic progenitors capable of differentiating further in mature cell types of different lineages of the blood system. We tested the differentiation method using hESCs and 9 iPSC lines generated from different tissues. These data indicate the robustness of the protocol providing a valuable tool for the generation of clinical-grade hematopoietic cells from pluripotent cells.

  10. Retinoic acid combined with spermatogonial stem cell conditions facilitate the generation of mouse germ-like cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Dong, Guoyi; Shang, Zhouchun; Liu, Longqi

    2017-01-01

    Spermatogenic lineage has been directly generated in spermatogonial stem cell (SSC) conditions from human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs). However, it remains unknown whether mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) can directly differentiate into advanced male germ cell lineage in the same conditions. Here......, we showed rather low efficiency of germ-like cell generation from mouse ESCs in SSC conditions. Interestingly, addition of retinoic acid (RA) into SSC conditions enabled efficient differentiation of mouse ESCs into germ-like cells, as shown by the activation of spermatogenesis-associated genes...... such as Mvh, Dazl, Prdm14, Stella, Scp1, Scp3, Stra8 and Rec8. In contrast, for cells cultured in control medium, the activation of the above genes barely occurred. In addition, RA with SSC conditions yielded colonies of Acrosin-expressing cells and the positive ratio reached a peak at day 6. Our work thus...

  11. Indonesian Chinese in the Netherlands and the legacies of violence in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alexander van der Meer

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available After Indonesian independence in 1945, thousands of Indonesian Chinese repatriated to the Netherlands, the former colonizer. As opposed to other repatriates from Indonesia, who organized themselves into pressure groups and fought for a place in the national memory culture, the Indonesian Chinese in the Netherlands only formed strict socio-cultural associations and have generally stayed clear of identity politics. Usually, this divergence is attributed to the smooth integration and socio-economic success of the latter group, as well as to Chinese values, such as conflict avoidance.This article adds to this explanation by positing that this phenomenon has also been induced by the legacy of anti-Chinese violence in colonial and post-colonial Indonesia: respectively, Dutch discomfort to acknowledge the violent and discriminatory elements of its own colonial history, as well as a fear of offending the Indonesian government. Consequently, many Indonesian Chinese in the Netherlands have engaged in some form of public self-silencing.

  12. Predation of artificial ground nests on white-tailed prairie dog colonies

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baker, B.W.; Stanley, T.R.; Sedgwick, J.A.

    1999-01-01

    Prairie dog (Cynomys spp.) colonies are unique to prairie and shrub-steppe landscapes. However, widespread eradication, habitat loss, and sylvatic plague (Yersinia pestis) have reduced their numbers by 98% since historical times. Birds associated with prairie dogs also are declining. Potential nest predators, such as coyotes (Canis latrans), swift foxes (Vulpes velox), and badgers (Taxidea taxus), may be attracted to colonies where a high concentration of prairie dogs serve as available prey. Increased abundance of small mammals, including prairie dogs, also may increase the risk of predation for birds nesting on colonies. Finally, because grazing by prairie dogs may decrease vegetation height and canopy cover, bird nests may be easier for predators to locate. In this study, we placed 1,444 artificial ground nests on and off 74 white-tailed prairie dog (C. leucurus) colonies to test the hypothesis that nest predation rates are higher on colonies than at nearby off sites (i.e., uncolonized habitat). We sampled colonies from 27 May to 16 July 1997 at the following 3 complexes: Coyote Basin, Utah and Colorado; Moxa Arch, Wyoming; and Shirley Basin, Wyoming. Differences in daily predation rates between colonies and paired off sites averaged 1.0% (P = 0.060). When converted to a typical 14-day incubation period, predation rates averaged 14% higher on colonies (57.7 ?? 2.7%; ?? ?? SE) than at off sites (50.4 ?? 3.1%). Comparisons of habitat variables on colonies to off sites showed percent canopy cover of vegetation was similar (P = 0.114), percent bare ground was higher on colonies (P 0.288). Although we found the risk of nest predation was higher on white-tailed prairie dog colonies than at off sites, fitness of birds nesting on colonies might depend on other factors that influence foraging success, reproductive success, or nestling survival.

  13. Population regulation in Magellanic penguins: what determines changes in colony size?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luciana M Pozzi

    Full Text Available Seabirds are often studied at individual colonies, but the confounding effects of emigration and mortality processes in open populations may lead to inappropriate conclusions on the mechanisms underlying population changes. Magellanic penguin (Spheniscus magellanicus colonies of variable population sizes are distributed along the Argentine coastline. In recent decades, several population and distributional changes have occurred, with some colonies declining and others newly established or increasing. We integrated data of eight colonies scattered along ∼600 km in Northern Patagonia (from 41°26´S, 65°01´W to 45°11´S, 66°30´W, Rio Negro and Chubut provinces and conducted analysis in terms of their growth rates, production of young and of the dependence of those vital rates on colony age, size, and location. We contrasted population trends estimated from abundance data with those derived from population modeling to understand if observed growth rates were attainable under closed population scenarios. Population trends were inversely related to colony size, suggesting a density dependent growth pattern. All colonies located in the north--which were established during the last decades--increased at high rates, with the smallest, recently established colonies growing at the fastest rate. In central-southern Chubut, where colonies are the oldest, the largest breeding aggregations declined, but smaller colonies remained relatively stable. Results provided strong evidence that dispersal played a major role in driving local trends. Breeding success was higher in northern colonies, likely mediated by favorable oceanographic conditions. However, mean foraging distance and body condition of chicks at fledging were influenced by colony size. Recruitment of penguins in the northern area may have been triggered by a combination of density dependence, likely exacerbated by less favorable oceanographic conditions in the southern sector. Our results

  14. Specters of Colonialism

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Muhr, Sara Louise; Azad, Salam

    2013-01-01

    at the same time they always are bound to fail to become ‘Swedish’ because of the same foreign origins. Although Swedish culture – partly by distancing itself from having a colonial past – has successfully built up an image of openness, we argue that without acknowledging and confronting the role...

  15. Seabird colonies in the Melville Bay, Northwest Greenland

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Boertmann, David; Huffeldt, Nicholas Per

    This report describes the results of a survey for breeding and colonial seabirds in a hitherto un-surveyed area of Northwest Greenland - the Melville Bay. The results shall be included as background data for oil spill sensitivity mapping, preparation of environmental impact assessments of petroleum...... activities in Baffin Bay and for the regulation (by the Greenland government) of petroleum activities. The survey showed, that compared to other coasts of West Greenland, the Melville Bay holds only few breeding colonies and low numbers of breeding seabirds. The most widespread and numerous species...... is the black guillemot followed by the glaucous gull. However, one colony is of national significance – Sabine Øer, with high numbers of breeding Arctic terns and Sabine’s gulls. Other noteworthy observations were puffins on Thom Ø and many new Iceland gull colonies that extended the known northern breeding...

  16. Genetic diversity within honeybee colonies increases signal production by waggle-dancing foragers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mattila, Heather R; Burke, Kelly M; Seeley, Thomas D

    2008-01-01

    Recent work has demonstrated considerable benefits of intracolonial genetic diversity for the productivity of honeybee colonies: single-patriline colonies have depressed foraging rates, smaller food stores and slower weight gain relative to multiple-patriline colonies. We explored whether differences in the use of foraging-related communication behaviour (waggle dances and shaking signals) underlie differences in foraging effort of genetically diverse and genetically uniform colonies. We created three pairs of colonies; each pair had one colony headed by a multiply mated queen (inseminated by 15 drones) and one colony headed by a singly mated queen. For each pair, we monitored the production of foraging-related signals over the course of 3 days. Foragers in genetically diverse colonies had substantially more information available to them about food resources than foragers in uniform colonies. On average, in genetically diverse colonies compared with genetically uniform colonies, 36% more waggle dances were identified daily, dancers performed 62% more waggle runs per dance, foragers reported food discoveries that were farther from the nest and 91% more shaking signals were exchanged among workers each morning prior to foraging. Extreme polyandry by honeybee queens enhances the production of worker–worker communication signals that facilitate the swift discovery and exploitation of food resources. PMID:18198143

  17. Rethinking the Colonial State: Configurations of Power, Violence, and Agency

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rud, Søren; Ivarsson, Søren

    2017-01-01

    The main theme of this special volume is the colonial state and its governmental practices. This chapter introduces and contextualizes the contributions by providing a brief induction to recent developments within the study of the colonial state. It then presents the contributions under three per...... perspectives which represent separate yet interrelated themes relevant for the understanding of the colonial state: practices, violence, and agency. Hereby, we also accentuate the value of a non-state-centric approach to the analysis of the colonial state....

  18. Immunoflourescence and mRNA analysis of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) grown under feeder-free conditions

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Awan, Aashir; Oliveri, Roberto S; Jensen, Pernille L

    2010-01-01

    onto 16-well glass chambers, and continuing with the general IF and qPCR steps will be provided. The techniques will be illustrated with new results on cellular localization of transcriptional factors and components of the Hedgehog, Wnt, and PDGF signaling pathways to primary cilia in stem cell......This chapter describes the procedures in order to do immunofluorescence (IF) microscopy and quantitative PCR (qPCR) analysis of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) grown specifically under feeder-free conditions. A detailed protocol outlining the steps from initially growing the cells, passaging...

  19. Characterisation of human embryonic stem cells conditioning media by 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    David A MacIntyre

    Full Text Available BACKGROUND: Cell culture media conditioned by human foreskin fibroblasts (HFFs provide a complex supplement of protein and metabolic factors that support in vitro proliferation of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs. However, the conditioning process is variable with different media batches often exhibiting differing capacities to maintain hESCs in culture. While recent studies have examined the protein complement of conditioned culture media, detailed information regarding the metabolic component of this media is lacking. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Using a (1H-Nuclear Magnetic Resonance ((1H-NMR metabonomics approach, 32 metabolites and small compounds were identified and quantified in media conditioned by passage 11 HFFs (CMp11. A number of metabolites were secreted by HFFs with significantly higher concentration of lactate, alanine, and formate detected in CMp11 compared to non-conditioned media. In contrast, levels of tryptophan, folate and niacinamide were depleted in CMp11 indicating the utilisation of these metabolites by HFFs. Multivariate statistical analysis of the (1H-NMR data revealed marked age-related differences in the metabolic profile of CMp11 collected from HFFs every 24 h over 72 h. Additionally, the metabolic profile of CMp11 was altered following freezing at -20°C for 2 weeks. CM derived from passage 18 HFFs (CMp18 was found to be ineffective at supporting hESCs in an undifferentiated state beyond 5 days culture. Multivariate statistical comparison of CMp11 and CMp18 metabolic profiles enabled rapid and clear discrimination between the two media with CMp18 containing lower concentrations of lactate and alanine as well as higher concentrations of glucose and glutamine. CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE: (1H-NMR-based metabonomics offers a rapid and accurate method of characterising hESC conditioning media and is a valuable tool for monitoring, controlling and optimising hESC culture media preparation.

  20. Sustained levels of FGF2 maintain undifferentiated stem cell cultures with biweekly feeding.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Steven Lotz

    Full Text Available An essential aspect of stem cell culture is the successful maintenance of the undifferentiated state. Many types of stem cells are FGF2 dependent, and pluripotent stem cells are maintained by replacing FGF2-containing media daily, while tissue-specific stem cells are typically fed every 3rd day. Frequent feeding, however, results in significant variation in growth factor levels due to FGF2 instability, which limits effective maintenance due to spontaneous differentiation. We report that stabilization of FGF2 levels using controlled release PLGA microspheres improves expression of stem cell markers, increases stem cell numbers and decreases spontaneous differentiation. The controlled release FGF2 additive reduces the frequency of media changes needed to maintain stem cell cultures, so that human embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells can be maintained successfully with biweekly feedings.