In this paper, we study battery sizing for grid-connected photovoltaic (PV) systems. In our setting, PV generated electricity is used to supply the demand from loads: on one hand, if there is surplus PV generation, it is stored in a battery (as long as the battery is not fully charged), which has a fixed maximum charging/discharging rate; on the other hand, if the PV generation and battery disc...

BACKGROUND Ficus deltoidea, is a perennial herb that is used to assist labor, firm the uterus post-delivery and to prevent postpartum bleeding. In view of its claimed uterotonic action, the mechanisms underlying plant's effect on uterine contraction were investigated. METHODS Adult female SD rats were injected with 2 mg/kg 17β-oestradiol (E2) to synchronize their oestrous cycle. A day after i...

hepatocellular carcinoma (hcc) represents one of the most common neoplasms worldwide.  liver trasnplantation (lt) is the treatment of choice for selected group of patients with hcc. lt is actually a consolidated therapeutic option for hcc because it cures both tumor and underlying cirrhosis. in 1996, the publication of a pivotal prospective study on less than 50 patients, transplanted for hcc u...

Forced expression of certain transcription factors in somatic cells results in generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, which differentiate into various cell types. We investigated T-cell and B-cell lineage differentiation from iPS cells in vitro. To evaluate the impact of iPS cell source, murine splenic B-cell-derived iPS (B-iPS) cells were generated after retroviral transduction of...

RATIONALE Induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells can differentiate into multiple cell types, including cardiomyocytes and have tremendous potential for drug discovery and regenerative therapies. However, it is unknown how much variability exists between differentiated lineages from independent iPS cell lines and, specifically, how similar iPS cell-derived cardiomyocytes (iPS-CMs) are to embryonic...

Human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells hold great promise for cardiovascular research and therapeutic applications, but the ability of human iPS cells to differentiate into functional cardiomyocytes has not yet been demonstrated. The aim of this study was to characterize the cardiac differentiation potential of human iPS cells generated using OCT4, SOX2, NANOG, and LIN28 transgenes compared...

The present essay reviews a series of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies conducted in parallel in humans and awake monkeys, concentrating on the intraparietal sulcus (IPS). MR responses to a range of visual stimuli indicate that the human IPS contains more functional regions along its anterior-posterior extent than are known in the monkey. Human IPS includes four motion sensit...

FTY720 is a new and effective immunosuppressive agent, which produces peripheral blood lymphopenia through a lymphocyte homing effect. We investigated the relationship between the dose of FTY720 or blood concentration (pharmacokinetics, PK) and peripheral lymphopenia (pharmacodynamics, PD) in 23 kidney transplant recipients randomized to receive FTY720 (0.25-2.5 mg/day) or mofetil mycophenolate...

OBJECTIVE We aimed to evaluate the use of dynamic contrast enhanced magnetic resonance imaging (DCE-MRI) at 3.0 T for differentiating the benign from malignant soft tissue tumors. Also we aimed to assess whether the shorter length of DCE-MRI protocols are adequate, and to evaluate the effect of temporal resolution. MATERIALS AND METHODS Dynamic contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging, at...

Volatile anaesthetics may modulate cerebrovascular resistance, but their direct actions on human cerebral arteries are unknown. In the present study, we have evaluated the effects of halothane and isoflurane at different MAC (0.4, 1.0 and 2.0) on contractions induced by depolarization (potassium) or receptor stimulation (prostaglandin F2 alpha) in isolated ring segments of human pial arteries. ...