Matrine (Mat) is a major alkaloid extracted from Sophora flavescens Ait, an herb which is used in the traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of inflammation, cancer, and other diseases. The present study examined the impact of Mat on the CCl4-induced hepatic infiltration of Gr1(hi) monocytes to explore the possible mechanisms underlying its anti-inflammatory and antifibrotic effects. The re...

BACKGROUND Leptospirosis is endemic in both urban and rural areas of Sri Lanka and there had been many out breaks in the recent past. This study was aimed at validating the leptospirosis surveillance case definition, using the Microscopic Agglutination Test (MAT). METHODS The study population consisted of patients with undiagnosed acute febrile illness who were admitted to the medical wards o...

Temperatures in the Arctic have increased by an astounding 1 °C in response to anthropogenic forcing over the past 20 years and are expected to rise further in the coming decades. The Pliocene (2.6–5.3 Ma) is of particular interest as an analog for future warming because global temperatures were signifi cantly warmer than today for a sustained period of time, with continental confi gurations si...

In most fungal ascomycetes, mating is controlled by a single locus (MAT). Fungi requiring a partner to mate are heterothallic (self-sterile); those not requiring a partner are homothallic (self-fertile). Structural analyses of MAT sequences from homothallic and heterothallic Cochliobolus species support the hypothesis that heterothallism is ancestral. Homothallic species carry both MAT genes in...

The distribution of mating types of Ascochyta rabiei (teleomorph: Didymella rabiei) was studied on isolates collected from chickpea growing areas of Central Anatolia. Mating type assessments of 45 isolates from 6 different provinces were conducted under laboratory conditions. After keeping for 5-6 weeks, the pseudothecial development and ascospore production were observed on chickpea stem piece...

Hydrogen may accumulate to micromolar concentrations in cyanobacterial mat communities from various environments, but the governing factors for this accumulation are poorly described. We used newly developed sensors allowing for simultaneous measurement of H2S and H2 or O2 and H2 within the same point to elucidate the interactions between oxygen, sulfate reducing bacteria, and H2 producing micr...

Fusarium graminearum, the causal agent of Fusarium head blight in cereal crops, produces sexual progeny (ascospore) as an important overwintering and dissemination strategy for completing the disease cycle. This homothallic ascomycetous species does not require a partner for sexual mating; instead, it carries two opposite mating-type (MAT) loci in a single nucleus to control sexual development....

PURPOSE Meniscal allograft transplantation (MAT) has become an accepted treatment option for patients undergoing meniscectomy with recalcitrant pain in the corresponding compartment. Whether MAT can oppose cartilage degeneration is unclear. Our purpose was to perform a systematic review of available literature to answer the following: (1) Does MAT prevent advancing chondrosis? (2) Who is the id...