The effects of hard and soft waters on the growth of some plants under greenhouse conditions

Typescript (photocopy) Thesis (M.S.)--Iowa State College, 1927. Includes bibliography

Strategic Implications of Data Gathering Activities in Small Firms: A Comparison Between Family and Nonfamily Firms

The empirical research presented in this article examines data gathering activities  and processes of small businesses and compares those activities and processes in family and nonfamily firms. MANOVA and t-test analyses  were  used  in analyzing questionnaire  data from 1245 respondents in 89 small businesses. For these small firms, the results indicated differences in the relative use of types of information gathered and processes used. Further, the study found differences between family and nonfamily firm data gathering activities and processes  used.  Finally, the study indicated that the type of customer to whom a firm sold had an impact on the data gathering activities of a small business and  impacted family  and nonfamily firm  data gathering differentially

Comparison between adult and foetal adnexa derived equine post-natal mesenchymal stem cells

Background Little is known about the differences among adult and foetal equine mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), and no data exist about their comparative ultrastructural morphology. The aim of this study was to describe and compare characteristics, immune properties, and ultrastructural morphology of equine adult (bone marrow: BM, and adipose tissue: AT) and foetal adnexa derived (umbilical cord blood: UCB, and Wharton's jelly: WJ) MSCs. Results No differences were observed in proliferation during the first 3 passages. While migration ability was similar among cells, foetal MSCs showed a higher adhesion ability, forming smaller spheroids after hanging drop culture (P < 0.05). All MSCs differentiated toward adipogenic, chondrogenic and osteogenic lineages, only tenogenic differentiation was less evident for WJ-MSCs. Data obtained by PCR confirmed MHC1 expression and lack of MHC2 expression in all four cell types. Foetal adnexa MSCs were positive for genes specific for anti-inflammatory and angiogenic factors (IL6, IL8, IL beta 1) and WJ-MSCs were the only positive for OCT4 pluripotency gene. At immunofluorescence all cells expressed typical mesenchymal markers (alpha-SMA, N-cadherin), except for BM-MSCs, which did not express N-cadherin. By transmission electron microscopy, it was observed that WJ-MSCs had a higher (P < 0.05) number of microvesicles compared to adult MSCs, and UCB-MSCs showed more microvesicles than BM-MSCs (P < 0.05). AT-MSCs had a lower number of mitochondria than WJ-MSCs (P < 0.05), and mitochondrial area was higher for WJ-MSCs compared to UCB and AT-MSCs (P < 0.05). Conclusions Results demonstrate that MSCs from adult and foetal tissues have different characteristics, and foetal MSCs, particularly WJ derived ones, seem to have some charactestics that warrant further investigation into potential advantages for clinical application

The Labour Government, the Treasury and the £6 pay policy of July 1975

The 1974-79 Labour Government was elected in a climate of opinion that was fiercely opposed to government intervention in the wage determination process, and was committed to the principles of free collective bargaining in its manifestoes. However, by December 1974 the Treasury was advocating a formal incomes policy, and by July 1975 the government had introduced a £6 flat rate pay norm. With reference to archival sources, the paper demonstrates that TUC and Labour Party opposition to incomes policy was reconciled with the Treasury's advocacy by limiting the Bank of England‟s intervention in the foreign exchange market when sterling came under pressure. This both helped to achieve the Treasury's objective of improving the competitiveness of British industry, and acted as a catalyst for the introduction of incomes policy because the slide could be attributed to a lack of market confidence in British counter-inflation policy

Altered hippocampus synaptic function in selenoprotein P deficient mice

Selenium is an essential micronutrient that function through selenoproteins. Selenium deficiency results in lower concentrations of selenium and selenoproteins. The brain maintains it's selenium better than other tissues under low-selenium conditions. Recently, the selenium-containing protein selenoprotein P (Sepp) has been identified as a possible transporter of selenium. The targeted disruption of the selenoprotein P gene (Sepp1) results in decreased brain selenium concentration and neurological dysfunction, unless selenium intake is excessive However, the effect of selenoprotein P deficiency on the processes of memory formation and synaptic plasticity is unknown. In the present studies Sepp1(-/-) mice and wild type littermate controls (Sepp1(+/+)) fed a high-selenium diet (1 mg Se/kg) were used to characterize activity, motor coordination, and anxiety as well as hippocampus-dependent learning and memory. Normal associative learning, but disrupted spatial learning was observed in Sepp1(-/-) mice. In addition, severe alterations were observed in synaptic transmission, short-term plasticity and long-term potentiation in hippocampus area CA1 synapses of Sepp1(-/-) mice on a 1 mg Se/kg diet and Sepp1(+/+) mice fed a selenium-deficient (0 mg Se/kg) diet. Taken together, these data suggest that selenoprotein P is required for normal synaptic function, either through presence of the protein or delivery of required selenium to the CNS

HIF-2α downregulation in the absence of functional VHL is not sufficient for renal cell differentiation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Mutational inactivation of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene has been linked to hereditary as well as sporadic clear cell renal carcinomas. The product of the VHL gene, pVHL, acts to target hypoxia-inducible factor alpha (HIF-α) subunits for ubiquitination and subsequent degradation. Using an RNA interference approach to lower levels of HIF-2α in two different renal cell lines that lack functional pVHL, we have tested the contribution of HIF-2α toward cellular pVHL activities.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Knockdown of HIF-2α resulted in cell cycle arrest of renal cells that were grown on collagen I, indicating that this pVHL function is dependent on HIF-2α regulation. However, cellular morphological changes and downregulation of integrins α5 and β1, which were seen upon pVHL replacement, were not faithfully phenocopied by HIF-2α reduction. Moreover, fibronectin deposition and expression of renal cell differentiation markers were observed in cells containing replaced pVHL, but not in HIF-2α knockdown cells, indicating that these pVHL functions may occur independently of HIF-2α downregulation.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results indicate that HIF-2α regulation is not sufficient for pVHL-induced renal cell differentiation. We hypothesize that in addition to HIF-2α dysregulation, abrogation of additional pVHL functions is required for the initiation of renal carcinogenesis.</p