Stimulation of estrogen receptor accumulation by estradiol in primary cultures of salmon hepatocytes

AbstractHepatocytes of Salmo salar in primary culture form confluent monolayers and can be maintained at 11 °C in serum-free medium for 8 days with minimal cell loss. Cultured hepatocytes from immature male salmon contain estrogen receptor both in nuclear and cytosol fractions (2000 and 2400 sites/cell, respectively). A single addition of estradiol results in an increase in the nuclear receptor to a level of 23 000 sites/cell after 24 h. This nuclear receptor concentration is similar to that in liver of estrogen-treated salmon in vivo, and is much higher than has been found for any other egg-laying vertebrate. The cultured salmon hepatocytes thus represent a highly sensitive system for the study of estrogen receptor dynamics and vitellogenesis in vitro

The provinces of the Roman empire, from Caesar to Diocletian

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Effects of Trauma-Hemorrhage and IL-6 Deficiency on Splenic Immune Function in a Murine Trauma Model

Splenic immune function is known to be depressed following hemorrhage. The present study investigates the effects of femoral shaft fracture, isolated or in combination with hemorrhage, on early stage cytokine production capacity of splenocytes and observes the role of IL-6 under these conditions. Male IL-6 knockout (IL-6−/−) and wild-type mice (WT) were randomly divided into three groups: sham (S), isolated femoral fracture (Fx), and femoral fracture + volume controlled hemorrhage (TH-Fx) (n = 6 per group). Animals were sacrificed four hours after induction of hemorrhage and fracture. Cytokine release (TNF-α, IL-6, and IL-10) of isolated and LPS-stimulated splenocytes was determined by cytometric bead array. Femoral fracture with or without hemorrhage caused a suppression of in vitro cytokine production capacity of splenocytes at an early posttraumatic stage in WT and IL-6−/−. In the absence of IL-6, the profile of splenic cytokine secretion is significantly altered, identifying this cytokine as a potential therapeutic target to modulate the posttraumatic immune response

Carbonate Deposits in Marine Fish Intestines: A New Source of Biomineralization

Marine teleostean fish are hypo-osmotic to seawater. As part of a multiorgan osmoregulatory strategy they drink seawater and selectively absorb water and minerals across the intestinal epithelium. Notably, divalent cations (Ca2+ and Mg2-) are left behind. We report here that in the gulf toadfish, Opsanus beta, the ionic by-products of osmoregulation in the intestine contribute to de novo formation of a carbonate mineral, tentatively identified as calcian kutnohorite. Our data suggest that intestinal mineralization is a general feature of osmoregulation in marine teleosts and that this process is an unrecognized and possibly substantial source of marine carbonate sediments

Antimatter and Matter Production in Heavy Ion Collisions at CERN (The NEWMASS Experiment NA52)

Besides the dedicated search for strangelets NA52 measures light (anti)particle and (anti)nuclei production over a wide range of rapidity. Compared to previous runs the statistics has been increased in the 1998 run by more than one order of magnitude for negatively charged objects at different spectrometer rigidities. Together with previous data taking at a rigidity of -20 GeV/c we obtained 10^6 antiprotons 10^3 antideuterons and two antihelium3 without centrality requirements. We measured nuclei and antinuclei (p,d,antiprotons, antideuterons) near midrapidity covering an impact parameter range of b=2-12 fm. Our results strongly indicate that nuclei and antinuclei are mainly produced via the coalescence mechanism. However the centrality dependence of the antibaryon to baryon ratios show that antibaryons are diminished due to annihilation and breakup reactions in the hadron dense environment. The volume of the particle source extracted from coalescence models agrees with results from pion interferometry for an expanding source. The chemical and thermal freeze-out of nuclei and antinuclei appear to coincide with each other and with the thermal freeze-out of hadrons.Comment: 12 pages, 8 figures, to appear in the proceedings of the conference on 'Fundamental Issues in Elementary Matter' Bad Honnef, Germany, Sept. 25-29, 200

Systemic Inflammatory Effects of Traumatic Brain Injury, Femur Fracture, and Shock: An Experimental Murine Polytrauma Model

Objective. Despite broad research in neurotrauma and shock, little is known on systemic inflammatory effects of the clinically most relevant combined polytrauma. Experimental investigation in an animal model may provide relevant insight for therapeutic strategies. We describe the effects of a combined injury with respect to lymphocyte population and cytokine activation. Methods. 45 male C57BL/6J mice (mean weight 27 g) were anesthetized with ketamine/xylazine. Animals were subjected to a weight drop closed traumatic brain injury (WD-TBI), a femoral fracture and hemorrhagic shock (FX-SH). Animals were subdivided into WD-TBI, FX-SH and combined trauma (CO-TX) groups. Subjects were sacrificed at 96 h. Blood was analysed for cytokines and by flow cytometry for lymphocyte populations. Results. Mortality was 8%, 13% and 47% for FX-SH, WD-TBI and CO-TX groups (P < 0.05). TNFα (11/13/139 for FX-SH/WD-TBI/CO-TX; P < 0.05), CCL2 (78/96/227; P < 0.05) and IL-6 (16/48/281; P = 0.05) showed significant increases in the CO-TX group. Lymphocyte populations results for FX-SH, WD-TBI and CO-TX were: CD-4 (31/21/22; P = n.s.), CD-8 (7/28/34, P < 0.05), CD-4-CD-8 (11/12/18; P = n.s.), CD-56 (36/7/8; P < 0.05). Conclusion. This study shows that a combination of closed TBI and femur-fracture/ shock results in an increase of the humoral inflammation. More attention to combined injury models in inflammation research is indicated

Comparative historical sociology and the State : problems of method

Historical sociology can be understood both as a specific sub-field of sociology and as providing general conceptual underpinnings of the discipline, to the extent that it provides an understanding of the specificity of the modern state and the perceived emergence of modernity within Europe. The association of modernity with Europe (and with a European history limited to the self-identified boundaries of the continent) is commonplace and pervasive within the social sciences and humanities. What such an understanding fails to take into consideration, however, are the connections between Europe and the rest of the world that constitute the broader context for the emergence of what is understood to be the modern world and its institutions, such as the state and market. In this article, I suggest that integral to this misunderstanding, and its reproduction over time, is the methodology of comparative historical sociology as represented by ideal types. In contrast, I argue for ‘connected sociologies’ as a more appropriate way to understand our shared past and its continuing impact upon the present. I examine these issues in the context of historical sociological understandings of nation-state formation

Diabetes and Obesity-Related Risks for Pelvic Reconstructive Surgery in a Cohort of Swedish Twins

OBJECTIVE—To determine the diabetes- and obesity-related risks for surgically managed stress urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse