The proliferative effects of recombinant human interleukin-3 (IL-3) and granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) were investigated in semi-solid and liquid cultures of purified CD34+ hematopoietic cells obtained from umbilical cord blood. No important differences in overall cloning efficiencies in response to IL-3 or GM-CSF were observed in semi-solid medium in the presence of ...

The blood-air barrier is a most important functional element of the lung but little information is available about the cells constituting this barrier in vivo. The aim of the present study was to create an in vitro model of the blood-air barrier that would allow investigation of cellular interactions and alveolar metabolism, and would be suitable for in vitro drug screening. Rat pneumocytes and...

Rapidly growing aerobic organisms can deplete oxygen in the nutrient medium even when culture vessels are open to the air. Agitation is beneficial under these conditions because it tends to expose more liquid to the air, and because the mixing tends to make conditions more homogeneous throughout the volume of the medium. Rotary and reciprocating shakers are capable of high rates of aeration whe...

This study was conducted to determine whether the hospital devices and materials used for the examination and treatment of patients play a role in the outbreaks of infection in hospitals. Environmental sampling was performed to find the possible sources of septicemia at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Environmental sampling results and blood culture records from the outbreak areas were...

Liquid nitrogen freezing is recommended for long-term preservation of Leptospira serovars. However, there is no standard protocol to follow for this methodology. We herein report a simple procedure to preserve well-characterized Leptospira serovars unaltered for long-term storage in liquid nitrogen. Forty-three (43) leptospira strains, cryoprotected with 10% (v/v) glycerol were rapidly frozen i...

Mucociliary transport in the airways significantly depends on the liquid and mucin components of the airway surface liquid (ASL). The regulation of ASL water and mucin content during pathological conditions is not well understood. We hypothesized that airway epithelial mucin production and liquid transport are regulated in response to inflammatory stimuli and tested this hypothesis by investiga...

A rapid, cheap and effective method for diagnosing tuberculosis (TB) is essential for TB control. We evaluated the performance of an immunochromatographic assay (ICA) kit (SD Bioline TB Ag MPT64 rapid test) designed for detecting Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTC) in liquid and solid cultures to determine its ability to detect and differentiate MTC directly in sputum samples. We attempted...

In recent years, industrial fermentation researchers have shifted their attention from liquid to solid and semisolid culture conditions. We converted liquid cultures to the semisolid mode by adding high levels of gelatin. Previous studies on liquid cultures have revealed the inhibitory activity of mineral salts, such as NaCl, on the fermentation of sugars by yeasts. We made a kinetic study of t...

We investigated the effects of recombinant interleukin-3 (IL-3), granulocyte-macrophage and granulocyte colony-stimulating factors (GM-CSF and G-CSF), and erythropoietin (Ep) on the number of human hematopoietic progenitors after two to ten days of incubation in liquid cultures deprived of fetal bovine serum (FBS). The source of progenitor cells was normal human marrow depleted of T lymphocytes...

A key aspect of the lung's innate defense system is the ability of the superficial epithelium to regulate airway surface liquid (ASL) volume to maintain a 7-mum periciliary liquid layer (PCL), which is required for cilia to beat and produce mucus flow. The mechanisms whereby airway epithelia regulate ASL height to >or=7 microm are poorly understood. Using bumetanide as an inhibitor of Cl- secre...