Aims Responses of ecological restoration projects to disturbances are rarely explored, yet their capacity withstand and recover from disturbance (resilience) is a critical measure success. In many plant communities, the soil seed bank (SSB) provides an important source propagules for species persistence community resilience disturbance. Understanding how SSBs develop with time can inform resili...

The transfer of DNA from Agrobacterium to plant cell nuclei is initiated by a cleavage reaction within the 25-bp right border of Ti plasmids. In an effort to develop all-native DNA transformation vectors, 50 putative right border alternatives were identified in both plant expressed sequence tags and genomic DNA. Efficacy tests in a tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum) model system demonstrated that 14 o...

Macrophages in the presence of bacteria-derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimuli produce a soluble cytotoxin which is toxic to tumor cells. In this study, we examined various parameters of cytotoxin production from pulmonary lavage cells obtained from Fisher 344 cesarean-derived rats. Cultures of macrophages were derived from pulmonary lavage cells and stimulated in vitro with LPS. Cytotoxin pr...

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Exposure to whole cigarette smoke from reference cigarettes results in the prompt (peak activity is 6 hrs), but fairly weak (similar to 2 fold), induction of murine pulmonary microsomal monooxygenase activity. This activity can be detected by using as substrates either benzo(a)pyrene or ethoxyresorufin, and can be inhibited by treatment with cycloheximide or actinomycin D. Unlike the induction ...

Cigarette smoke-induced airway inflammationmucus over-production is one of the most important pathogenic features of chronic airway diseases. This study aimed to investigate the effect of berberine, a plant alkaloid with strong anti-inflammatory property, on cigarette smoke-induced airway inflammation and mucushypersecretion in mice. Mice with exposure to cigarette smoke wereintraperitonealy in...

RATIONALE Adipose-derived stem cells express multiple growth factors that inhibit endothelial cell apoptosis, and demonstrate substantial pulmonary trapping after intravascular delivery. OBJECTIVES We hypothesized that adipose stem cells would ameliorate chronic lung injury associated with endothelial cell apoptosis, such as that occurring in emphysema. METHODS Therapeutic effects of system...

background one of the requirements of the osun state smoke-free legislation is to ensure smoke-free enclosed and partially enclosed workplaces. this survey was conducted to assess the knowledge and attitude of workers in indoor bars, beer parlors and discotheques to smoke-free legislation in general and the osun state smoke-free law in particular.   methods a convenience sampling of 36 hospital...