Struktur-Funktionsuntersuchungen an CLC-Chloridkanälen am Beispiel des humanen Skelettmuskelkanals hCIC-1

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A pilot study of hair and cytokine balance alteration in healthy young women under major exam stress

Mouse models show that experimental stress mimicking prolonged life-stress exposure enhances neurogenic inflammation, induces adaptive immunity cytokine- imbalance characterized by a shift to Type 1 T-helper cell cytokines and increases apoptosis of epithelial cells. This affects hair growth in otherwise healthy animals. In this study, we investigate whether a prolonged naturalistic life-stress exposure affects cytokine balance and hair parameters in healthy humans. 33 (18 exam, 15 comparison) female medical students with comparable sociobiological status were analyzed during a stressful final examination period, at three points in time (T) 12 weeks apart. T1 was before start of the learning period, T2 between the three-day written exam and an oral examination, and T3 after a 12 week rest and recovery from the stress of the examination period. Assessments included: self-reported distress and coping strategies (Perceived Stress Questionnaire [PSQ], Trier Inventory for the Assessment of Chronic Stress [TICS]), COPE), cytokines in supernatants of stimulated peripheral blood mononucleocytes (PBMCs), and trichogram (hair cycle and pigmentation analysis). Comparison between students participating in the final medical exam at T2 and non-exam students, revealed significantly higher stress perception in exam students. Time-wise comparison revealed that stress level, TH1/TH2 cytokine balance and hair parameters changed significantly from T1 to T2 in the exam group, but not the control. However, no group differences were found for cytokine balance or hair parameters at T2. The study concludes that in humans, naturalistic stress, as perceived during participation in a major medical exam, has the potential to shift the immune response to TH1 and transiently hamper hair growth, but these changes stay within a physiological range. Findings are instructive for patients suffering from hair loss in times of high stress. Replication in larger and more diverse sample populations is required, to assess suitability of trichogram analysis as biological outcome for stress studies

Kajian Awal Prospek Bahan Galian Monasit Mengandung U Dan Elemen Asosiasinya Di Semelangan Ketapang, Kalimantan Barat

Daerah Semelangan termasuk dalam cakupan area geologi regional Ketapang. Analisis kadar geokimia contoh sedimen yang menunjukkan bahwa daerah Semelangan, Kecamatan Nanga Tayap, Kabupaten Ketapang teridentifikasi mengandung endapan mineral radioaktif berupa monasit yang mengandung uranium (U) dan unsur tanah jarang (rare earth elements, REE) yang cukup potensial. Keberadaan elemen radioaktif telah teridentifikasi dari hasil analisis granulometri beberapa sampel mineral berat yang mengandung mineral monasit mencapai 63% dan beberapa sampel mengandung butiran zirkon mencapai 40% (dari jumlah butiran), hasil analisis butiran dari contoh batuan terdapat contoh yang mengandung monasit 0,11%. Studi di daerah ini dilakukan dengan melakukan kajian data sekunder dan evaluasi data laboratorium. Kajian mencakup aspek geologi, batuan sumber, perangkap dan interpretasi sebaran plaser monasit mengandung U, Th dan zirkon beserta REE. Tujuan yang ingin diperoleh adalah informasi tentang karakter geologi dan sebaran sumberdaya bahan galian monasit mengandung Th dan U serta REE dalam monasit dan zircon. Batuan sumber bahan galian monasit, berupa granit berumur 77–115 juta (Yura – Kapur Akhir), termasuk tipe S dari kelompok granit alkali yang terbentuk pada fasa pegmatitik (pegmatitic stage) yang terdefrensiasi tingkat lanjut pada suhu 550 – 600°C. Nilai radioaktivitas anomali batuan granit biotit (400 c/s - 9200 c/s) dicirikan kandungan oleh mineral berupa K-felspar, kuarsa dan plagioklas (rasio K-felspar terhadap plagioklas bervariasi dari 80 – 100 berbanding 10) mengandung mineral penyerta berupa thorit, monasit, zirkon dan alanit. Kadar U batuan granit berkisar dari 2,5 ppm- 64,8 ppm. Sebaran lateral sedimen plaser aluvium mengandung monasit menempati dataran dari lembah banjir antar perbukitan, terletak terpisah dari dataran pantai mengikuti pola sebaran batuan granit (sumber monasit). Daerah propek monasit terletak pada dataran lembah banjir dari DAS S. Pawan, DAS S. Tulah dan DAS S. Laur dengan luas total 2.113.500 Ha. Semelangan study area included in the regional geology Ketapang. Geochemical analysis of sediment samples that represented showed that the region Semelangan Ketapang, District Nanga Tayap, Ketapang identified monazite deposite containing radioactive mineral. The monazite minerals containing rare earth element are potential. The presence of radioactive elements have been identified by the analysis granulometry of some pan consentrate samples. They containt of monazite grain mineral to reach 63% and some sample content of zircon grain mineral up to 40% (from total grains), grain analysis of rock samples are samples containing monazite 0.11 %. Activities study in this area is done by studying ecxisting data and laboratory data evaluation, which covering studies geological aspects, source rock, trap and plaser monazite deposits containing U, Th and REE and zircon. The objective is to obtain information about the character of geological and mineral resource distribution of monazite containing Th and U and rare earth elements in monazite and zircon. Source rock of the monazite minerals is a granite with aged 77-15 million (Yura - Late Cretaceous), including the S type granite group that formed in the alkali granite pegmatitic stage, which highly differentiated advanced at a temperature 550-6000°C. The radioactivity anomalous values is 400 c/s – 9200 c/s (biotite granite) with a mineral character of the form K-feldspar, quartz and plagioclase (K-feldspar to plagioclase ratio varies from 80-100 versus 10), containing minerals association such as thorit, monazite, zircon and alanit. The U content in granite rock ranging from 2.5 ppm - 64.8 ppm U. Lateral distribution plaser alluvial sediments contain monazite occupy flood plains of the valley between the hills, is located separately from the coastal plain and following the granite distribution pattern (source monazite). Monazite prospect region lies at the flood plains of the valley catcment area S. Pawan, S. Tulah and S Laur with a total area of 2.1135 million hectares

Evolving treatment of necrotizing pancreatitis

Background Over the past decade, the treatment of necrotizing pancreatitis (NP) has incorporated greater use of minimally invasive techniques, including percutaneous drainage and endoscopic debridement. No study has yet compared outcomes of patients treated with all available techniques. We sought to evaluate the evolution of NP treatment at our high volume pancreas center. We hypothesized that minimally invasive techniques (medical only, percutaneous, and endoscopic) were used more frequently in later years. Methods Treatment strategy of NP patients at a single academic medical center between 2005 and 2014 was reviewed. Definitive management of pancreatic necrosis was categorized as: 1) medical treatment only; 2) surgical only; 3) percutaneous (interventional radiology – IR) only; 4) endoscopic only; and 5) combination (Surgery ± IR ± Endoscopy). Results 526 NP patients included biliary (45%), alcoholic (17%), and idiopathic (20%) etiology. Select patients were managed exclusively by medical, IR, or endoscopic treatment; use of these therapies remained relatively consistent over time. A combination of therapies was used in about 30% of patients. Over time, the percentage of NP patients managed without operation increased from 28% to 41%. 247 (47%) of patients had operation as the only NP treatment; an additional 143 (27%) required surgery as part of a multidisciplinary management. Conclusion Select NP patients may be managed exclusively by medical, IR, or endoscopic treatment. Combination treatment is necessary in many NP patients, and surgical treatment continues to play an important role in the definitive therapy of necrotizing pancreatitis patients

Stellar populations of early-type galaxies in different environments I. Line-strength indices

Aims: This paper commences a series devoted to the study of the stellar content of early-type galaxies. The goal of the series is to set constraints on the evolutionary status of these objects. Methods: In this paper we describe the details of the galaxy sample, the observations, and the data reduction. Line-strength indices and velocity dispersions sigma are measured in 98 early-type galaxies drawn from different environments, and the relation of the indices with the velocity dispersion analysed in detail. Results: The present sample indicates that some of the index-sigma relations depend on galaxy environment. In particular, the slope of the relation between Balmer lines and sigma is steeper for galaxies in the Virgo cluster, small groups, and in the field than for galaxies in the Coma cluster. In several indices there is also a significant offset in the zero point between the relations defined by the different subsamples. The slopes of the index-sigma relation for the Virgo and low-density environment galaxies are explained by a variation of both age and metallicity with velocity dispersion, as previously noted in other studies. For the galaxies in the Coma cluster, however, the relation of the indices with sigma only requires a variation of the abundance along the sigma sequence. In agreement with other studies we find that the models that better reproduce the slopes are those in which the alpha elements vary more than the Fe-peak elements along the sigma sequence, while, at a given sigma, older galaxies show an higher alpha/Fe ratio. Conclusions: The results can be explained assuming that galaxies in the Coma cluster have experienced a truncated star formation and chemical enrichment history compared to a more continuous time-extended history for their counterparts in lower density environments.Comment: accepted for publication in A&

Expression of the SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE1 (SERK1) gene is associated with developmental change in the life cycle of the model legume Medicago truncatula

SOMATIC EMBRYOGENESIS RECEPTOR-LIKE KINASE (SERK) genes have been demonstrated to play a role in somatic embryogenesis in several plant species. As more is learnt about these genes, the view of their role in plant development has broadened. The Medicago truncatula MtSERK1 gene has been associated with somatic embryogenesis and in vitro root formation. In order to study the role of MtSERK1 in development further, the MtSERK1 promoter sequence has been isolated and cloned into a promoter–GUS analysis vector. SERK1 promoter-driven GUS expression was studied in A. tumefaciens-transformed cultures and regenerated plants, in A. rhizogenes-transformed root clones, and in nodulation. In embryogenic cultures, GUS staining is detected after 2 d of culture at the edge of the explant and around vascular tissue. Expression at the explant edge intensifies over subsequent days and then is lost from the edge as callus formation moves inward. MtSERK1 expression appears to be associated with new callus formation. When somatic embryos form, GUS staining occurs throughout embryo development. Zygotic embryos show expression until the heart stage. The in planta studies reveal a number of interesting expression patterns. There appear to be three types. (i) Expression associated with the primary meristems of the root and shoot and the newly formed meristems of the lateral roots and nodule. (ii) Expression at the junction between one type of tissue or organ and another. (iii) Expression associated with the vascular tissue procambial cells. The data led us to conclude that MtSERK1 expression is associated with developmental change, possibly reflecting cellular reprogramming

What is the biological basis of pattern formation of skin lesions?

Pattern recognition is at the heart of clinical dermatology and dermatopathology. Yet, while every practitioner of the art of dermatological diagnosis recognizes the supreme value of diagnostic cues provided by defined patterns of 'efflorescences', few contemplate on the biological basis of pattern formation in and of skin lesions. Vice versa, developmental and theoretical biologists, who would be best prepared to study skin lesion patterns, are lamentably slow to discover this field as a uniquely instructive testing ground for probing theoretical concepts on pattern generation in the human system. As a result, we have at best scraped the surface of understanding the biological basis of pattern formation of skin lesions, and widely open questions dominate over definitive answer. As a symmetry-breaking force, pattern formation represents one of the most fundamental principles that nature enlists for system organization. Thus, the peculiar and often characteristic arrangements that skin lesions display provide a unique opportunity to reflect upon – and to experimentally dissect – the powerful organizing principles at the crossroads of developmental, skin and theoretical biology, genetics, and clinical dermatology that underlie these – increasingly less enigmatic – phenomena. The current 'Controversies' feature offers a range of different perspectives on how pattern formation of skin lesions can be approached. With this, we hope to encourage more systematic interdisciplinary research efforts geared at unraveling the many unsolved, yet utterly fascinating mysteries of dermatological pattern formation. In short: never a dull pattern

Multiphasic analysis of the temporal development of the distal gut microbiota in patients following ileal pouch anal anastomosis

Abstract Background The indigenous gut microbiota are thought to play a crucial role in the development and maintenance of the abnormal inflammatory responses that are the hallmark of inflammatory bowel disease. Direct tests of the role of the gut microbiome in these disorders are typically limited by the fact that sampling of the microbiota generally occurs once disease has become manifest. This limitation could potentially be circumvented by studying patients who undergo total proctocolectomy with ileal pouch anal anastomosis (IPAA) for the definitive treatment of ulcerative colitis. A subset of patients who undergo IPAA develops an inflammatory condition known as pouchitis, which is thought to mirror the pathogenesis of ulcerative colitis. Following the development of the microbiome of the pouch would allow characterization of the microbial community that predates the development of overt disease. Results We monitored the development of the pouch microbiota in four patients who underwent IPAA. Mucosal and luminal samples were obtained prior to takedown of the diverting ileostomy and compared to samples obtained 2, 4 and 8 weeks after intestinal continuity had been restored. Through the combined analysis of 16S rRNA-encoding gene amplicons, targeted 16S amplification and microbial cultivation, we observed major changes in structure and function of the pouch microbiota following ileostomy. There is a relative increase in anaerobic microorganisms with the capacity for fermentation of complex carbohydrates, which corresponds to the physical stasis of intestinal contents in the ileal pouch. Compared to the microbiome structure encountered in the colonic mucosa of healthy individuals, the pouch microbial community in three of the four individuals was quite distinct. In the fourth patient, a community that was much like that seen in a healthy colon was established, and this patient also had the most benign clinical course of the four patients, without the development of pouchitis 2 years after IPAA. Conclusions The microbiota that inhabit the ileal-anal pouch of patients who undergo IPAA for treatment of ulcerative colitis demonstrate significant structural and functional changes related to the restoration of fecal flow. Our preliminary results suggest once the pouch has assumed the physiologic role previously played by the intact colon, the precise structure and function of the pouch microbiome, relative to a normal colonic microbiota, will determine if there is establishment of a stable, healthy mucosal environment or the reinitiation of the pathogenic cascade that results in intestinal inflammation.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112442/1/40168_2012_Article_10.pd