Mast cells are found in tissues throughout the body where they play important roles in the regulation of inflammatory responses. One characteristic feature of mast cells is their longevity. Although it is well established that mast cell survival is dependent on stem cell factor (SCF), it has not been described how this process is regulated. Herein, we report that SCF promotes mast cell survival th

We study the spin-polarized tunneling of electrons from the valence band of GaMnAs into the conduction band of n-type GaAs with Si delta-doping at the interface. The injection of spin-polarized electrons is detected as circular polarized emission from a GaInAs/GaAs quantum well light emitting diode, corresponding to magneto-optical Kerr effect loops. The angular momentum selection rules are simpli

This paper deals with the peritoneal microcirculation and with peritoneal exchange occurring in peritoneal dialysis (PD). The capillary wall is a major barrier to solute and water exchange across the peritoneal membrane. There is a bimodal size-selectivity of solute transport between blood and the peritoneal cavity, through pores of radius approximately 40-50 A as well as through a very low number

We investigate the structure and evolution of blue straggler stars, which were formed from direct stellar collisions between main-sequence stars in globular clusters. In particular, we look at the rotational evolution of the products of off-axis collisions. As found in previous work, such blue stragglers initially have too high an angular momentum to contract down to the main sequence. We consider

Surfactants have been extensively used in ultrafiltration processes such as membrane cleaning,removal of surfactants or other organic toxic compounds and metal ions from solutions and estimation of interactions at surfactant and membrane interface. The aim of this review is to present the possibilities that arise from the data reported in the literature on the field of ultrafiltration (UF) membran

Garlic belongs to the Allium family of plants that produce organosulfur compounds, such as allicin and diallyl disulfide (DADS), which account for their pungency and spicy aroma. Many health benefits have been ascribed to Allium extracts, including hypotensive and vasorelaxant activities. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying these effects remain unknown. Intriguingly, allicin and DADS shar

Expressions for first-order induced electronic transition matrix elements are derived within the coupled-cluster response theory framework. When combined with electric-dipole and spin-orbit operators, these matrix elements allow the calculation of radiative transition probabilities between singlet ground and triplet excited states. An implementation employing an atomic mean-field representation of

A density functional theory study of the influence of the various functional groups of the molybdopterin ligand on electronic and geometric properties of active-site models for the molybdenum and tungsten cofactors has been undertaken. We used analogous molybdenum and tungsten complexes with increasingly accurate representation of the molybdopterin ligands and compared bond lengths, angles, charge

Estimating the extinction risk of natural populations is not only an urgent problem in conservation biology but also involves some profound aspects of population dynamics. Apart from the obvious case of a continuous decrease in a population's carrying capacity, understanding the extinction process necessarily includes environmental and demographic stochasticity. Here, we build from first principle

Vita brevis, ars longa (or...life is too short for abstracts).

OBJECTIVE: We previously reported high Systemic Lupus International Collaborating Clinics (SLICC) scores in fatal cases of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) from our inception cohort. This study was done to clarify if the SLICC damage scores 5 years after diagnosis predicted the outcome. METHODS: We studied 80 patients with SLE (70 women, 10 men), all enrolled and diagnosed during the years 1981

Abstract in UndeterminedC-14 specific activities were measured in grass samples collected around Brazilian nuclear power reactors. The specific activity values varied between 227 and 299 Bq/kg C. Except for two samples which showed C-14 specific activities 22% above background values, half of the samples showed background specific activities, and the other half had a C-14 excess of 1-18%. The high

Endometriotic tissue sometimes shows an invasive pattern. but the growth regulation of the tissue is insufficiently characterized. In a research programme on factors regulating endometriotic growth, the DNA ploidy status and S-phase fraction (SPF) were studied. Fresh-frozen endometriotic tissue from 14 women and endometrium from 11 of them were studied using flow cytometry. A clear diploid pattern

Altered levels of enzymes in the central carbon metabolism in Streptococcus thermophilus increased the exopolysaccharide (EPS) production 3.3 times over that of the parent strain. The influence of enhanced EPS production on the rheological properties of fermented milk is described for engineered strains of S. thermophilus which produce different levels of EPSs.

The boreal and boreo-nemoral forests in Europe, which occur in northern and northeastern Europe, are dominated by 2 coniferous species, Norway spruce Picea abies (L.) Karst. being economically the most important one. Forestry is of major economic importance in this region. Forestry planning and climate change scenarios are based on similar (long-term) timescales, i.e. between 70 and 120 yr. Within

Background. Device failure is a limitation of permanent mechanical circulatory support. We studied the mechanical reliability of the Jarvik 2000 Heart, an axial flow pump with ceramic bearings designed to provide more than 10 years' durability. Methods. The Jarvik 2000 Heart was implanted in 102 patients between April 2000 and December 2004. Eighty-three pumps with an abdominal driveline were impl