Human plasma cells (PCs) and their precursors play an essential role in humoral immune response but are rare and difficult to harvest. We report the generation of human syndecan-1(+) and immunoglobulin secreting PCs starting from memory B cells in a 3-step and 10-day (D) culture, including a 6-fold cell amplification. We report the detailed phenotypic and Affymetrix gene expression profiles of ...

Protein kinase C (PKC) appears to play a significant role in the signal transduction of cardiac growth and development. The aim of this study was to determine changes in the total PKC activity and the expression of PKC isoforms alpha, delta and epsilon in the rat heart that was affected by pressure overload imposed at postnatal day (d) 2. Three groups of Wistar rats were employed for the experi...

Ground beef contains numerous microorganisms of various types. The commonly recognized bacteria are associated with current problems of spoilage. Irradiation, however, contributes a new factor through selective destruction of the microflora. The residual microorganisms surviving a nonsterilizing dose are predominantly gram-negative coccobacilli. Various classifications have been given, e.g., Mo...

The importance of relativity and dispersion in metallophilicity has been discussed in numerous studies. The existence of hybridization in the bonding between closed shell d10-d10 metal atoms has also been speculated, but the presence of attractive MO interaction in the metal-metal bond is still a matter of an ongoing debate. In this comparative study, a quantitative molecular orbital analysis a...

A series of 56 ssDNA aptamer variants that bind to diclofenac (DCF) were selected from an initial pool of 2.4x10(14) ssDNA molecules by Flu-Mag SELEX process. Sequence analysis of these aptamer variants showed three major groups based on sequence similarity in their random N40 sequences. Out of these, four aptamers designated as D10/DA24, D22, D16, and D3 showed high affinity to DCF with K(d) v...

kashan erg is one of the most important sand dunes complexes in iran. it is included the most important various type of sand dunes in iran. this study was performed to compare the granulometry of aeolian sediments in different sand dunes and also from plinth to crest of transverse dunes that located in kashan erg’s north. in order to determining different statistical variables, aeolian sediment...

The initial microflora of minimally processed celery and cabbage packaged under a modified atmosphere was determined. The samples came from the same producer and were sold in a supermarket chain of Santiago, Chile. Although neither E. coli nor Salmonella spp. were detected, initial total plate and Enterobacteriaceae counts were high (= 10(5) cfu/g), not meeting in most cases the specifications ...

In this study we assess the functional role of Aquaporin-4 (AQP4) in the skeletal muscle by analyzing whether physical activity modulates AQP4 expression and whether the absence of AQP4 has an effect on osmotic behavior, muscle contractile properties, and physical activity. To this purpose, rats and mice were trained on the treadmill for 10 (D10) and 30 (D30) days and tested with exercise to ex...

BACKGROUND To assess the relationship between dosimetric parameters and the quality of life (QL) outcomes of patients with low-intermediate-risk localised prostate cancer (LPC) treated with low-dose-rate brachytherapy (LDR-BT). MATERIALS AND METHODS We evaluated the participants in two consecutive prospective studies of the QL of patients treated with LDR-BT for LPC. QL was evaluated by means...

OBJECTIVE To analyze the socioeconomic inequalities in medical visits (MV) in the past year in Brazil. METHODS Data from adults aged ≥ 20 years old who participated in the Brazilian National Household Surveys and living in the Northeastern (2003; n = 75,652 and 2008, n = 79,779) and Southeastern (2003; n = 76,029 and 2008; n = 79,356) regions were analyzed according to MV. We compared MVs acc...