Alien Registration- Tozer, Arabella S. (Orono, Penobscot County)

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Estradiol, progesterone, testosterone profiles in human follicular fluid and cultured granulosa cells from luteinized pre-ovulatory follicles

BACKGROUND: The production of sex steroids by follicular cells is proposed to be influenced by the maturity of the incumbent oocyte. Thus steroid levels may reflect suitability of an oocyte for IVF. We examined follicular fluids and granulosa cell production of steroid from IVF patients in order to test the relationship between steroid levels and fertilization. METHODS: Follicular fluid and granulosa cells were extracted from 206 follicles of 35 women undergoing controlled ovarian stimulation. Follicular fluid was assayed for estradiol, progesterone and testosterone. Granulosa cells were cultured from individual follicles and their culture media assayed for production of these hormones after 24 hrs in vitro. Levels of steroids were correlated with follicular diameter, oocyte recovery and subsequent fertilization. RESULTS: Follicular fluid levels of progesterone were 6100 times higher than that of estradiol, and 16,900 times higher that of testosterone. Despite the size of follicle triggered after controlled luteinization, the levels of progesterone and testosterone were maintained at relatively constant levels (median 98.1 micromoles/L for progesterone, and 5.8 nanomoles/L for testosterone). However, estradiol levels were slightly lower in the larger follicles (follicular diameter 10-15 mm, median 25.3 nanomoles/L; follicles > = 15 mm, median 15.1 nanomoles/L; linear correlation r = -0.47, p < 0.0001). With respect to oocyte recovery, no steroid showed a significant association in follicular fluid levels. Similarly no difference in follicular fluid steroid levels was found for those oocytes that did or did not fertilize. Significant quantities of progesterone were produced by the granulosa cells but production was constant regardless of the size of follicle from which the cells originated. Estradiol levels were only detectable in 10 of 121 cultures examined, and testosterone in none. Interestingly, when an oocyte was present follicular estradiol levels correlated with progesterone levels. However, when absent, follicular estradiol levels correlated with testosterone levels but not with progesterone. CONCLUSIONS: The principle steroid product of luteinized pre-ovulatory granulosa is progesterone, a differentiation triggered by the gonadotropin surge. However, absolute steroid levels are associated with follicular size, not oocyte maturation/ability to fertilize

The relationship between regional variations in blood flow and histology in a transplanted rat fibrosarcoma

The regional distribution of blood flow to the LBDS1 fibrosarcoma, transplanted into the subcutaneous site in rats, was investigated using the readily diffusible compound 14C-iodo-antipyrine (14C-IAP). Quantitative autoradiography was used to establish absolute values of specific blood flow F for 100 X 100 X 20 microns adjacent tissue volumes of the unperturbed tumour. Mean blood flow to whole tumours was found to decrease with increase in tumour size. This relationship was abolished if blood flow was only measured in sections cut from the periphery of the tumours. Detailed analysis of a sub-group of tumours showed that blood flow to individual tumours was heterogeneous. The range of blood flow was large, indicating that mean blood flow to a whole tumour is a poor reflection of the blood perfusion pattern of that tumour. Necrotic tumour regions were usually very poorly perfused. With the exception of the smallest tumours studied, blood flow was lower in the centre of tumours than in the periphery. Necrosis also tended to develop centrally. However, the peripheral to central gradient of blood flow was apparent even when densely cellular, viable tumour regions and necrotic regions were analysed separately. The decrease in blood flow with tumour size was also apparent in densely cellular, viable tumour regions when analysed separately. Qualitative comparison of tumour histology and regional blood flow showed that there were areas of very low blood flow associated with viable tumour regions. Less common were areas of rather high blood flow associated with necrotic tumour regions. A complicated relationship exists between tumour histology and blood flow. The quantitative autoradiography technique is suitable for investigating the most poorly perfused and the most well perfused viable fractions of animal tumours which may limit the efficacy of different types of therapy

Synthesis of [3-C-13]-2,3-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde

An efficient synthesis of [3-13C]-2,3-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde, an isotopically labelled probe of a common intermediate used in the synthesis of a number of biologically relevant molecules, has been achieved in 9 steps from an acyclic, non-aromatic precursor. A 13C label for molecular imaging was introduced in a linear synthesis from the reaction of [13C]-labelled methyl iodide with glutaric monomethyl ester chloride. Cyclisation then aromatisation gave 1,3-dimethoxybenzene and an additional methoxy group was introduced by a formylation/Baeyer–Villiger/hydrolysis/methylation sequence. Subsequent ortho-formylation and selective demethylation yielded the desired [3-13C]-2,3-dihydroxy-4-methoxybenzaldehyde

Multiband effects on beta-FeSe single crystals

We present the upper critical fields Hc2(T) and Hall effect in beta-FeSe single crystals. The Hc2(T) increases as the temperature is lowered for field applied parallel and perpendicular to (101), the natural growth facet of the crystal. The Hc2(T) for both field directions and the anisotropy at low temperature increase under pressure. Hole carriers are dominant at high magnetic fields. However, the contribution of electron-type carriers is significant at low fields and low temperature. Our results show that multiband effects dominate Hc2(T) and electronic transport in the normal state

Measuring Red Blood Cell Velocity with a Keyhole Tracking Algorithm

A tracking algorithm is proposed to measure the velocity of red blood cells traveling through microvessels of tumors growing in skin flaps implanted on mice. The tracking is based on a keyhole model that describes the probable movement of a segmented cell between contiguous frames in a video sequence. When a history of movements exists, past, present and a predicted landing position define two regions of probability with a keyhole shape. This keyhole is used to de- termine if cells in contiguous frames should be linked to form tracks. Pre-processing segments cells from background and post-processing joins tracks and discards links that could have been formed due to noise or uncertainty. The algorithm pre- sents several advantages over traditional methods such as kymographs or particle image velocimetry: manual interven- tion is restricted to the thresholding, several vessels can be analyzed simultaneously, algorithm is robust to noise and a wealth of statistical measures can be obtained. Two tumors with different geometries were analyzed; average velocities were 211±136 [μm/s] (mean±std) with a range 15.9-797 [μm/s], and 89±62 [μm/s] with a range 5.5-300 [μm/s] respec- tively, which are consistent with previous results in the litera- ture