Investigations by Cell-Mediated Immunologic Tests and Therapeutic Trials With Thymopentin in Vaginal Mycoses

Objective: According to unsatisfactory therapeutic results in patients with chronically recurrent vaginal candidosis, we investigated if immunologic patient factors could be found and treated

Inhibition of geranylgeranyl diphosphate synthesis in in vitro systems

The incorporation of [14C]mevalonate and [14C]isopentenyl diphosphate into geranylgeranyl diphosphate was investigated in in vitro systems from Cucurbita pepo (pumpkin) endosperm and from Avena sativa etioplasts. Mevalonate incorporation was effectively inhibited in the pumpkin system by geranylgeranyl diphosphate and geranylgeranyl monophosphate but less effectively by phytyl diphosphate or inorganic diphosphate. Membrane lipids, geranyllinalool, or lecithin enhanced mevalonate incorporation in the Cucurbita system. Incorporation of isopentenyl diphosphate was also enhanced by lecithin and inhibited by geranylgeranyl diphosphate in the Cucurbita system. No lipid enhancement was found in the Avena system; inhibition by GGPP required a much higher GGPP concentration than in the Cucurbita system

Tunneling Anisotropic Spin Polarization in lateral (Ga,Mn)As/GaAs spin Esaki diode devices

We report here on anisotropy of spin polarization obtained in lateral all-semiconductor all-electrical spin injection devices, employing $p^{+}-$(Ga,Mn)As/$n^{+}-$GaAs Esaki diode structures as spin aligning contacts, resulting from the dependence of the efficiency of spin tunneling on the orientation of spins with respect to different crystallographic directions. We observed an in-plane anisotropy of $~8$ in case of spins oriented either along $[1\bar{1}0]$ or $[110]$ directions and $~25$ anisotropy between in-plane and perpendicular-to-plane orientation of spins.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Magnetic anisotropy of epitaxial (Ga,Mn)As on (113)A GaAs

The temperature dependence of magnetic anisotropy in (113)A (Ga,Mn)As layers grown by molecular beam epitaxy is studied by means of superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID) magnetometry as well as by ferromagnetic resonance (FMR) and magnetooptical effects. Experimental results are described considering cubic and two kinds of uniaxial magnetic anisotropy. The magnitude of cubic and uniaxial anisotropy constants is found to be proportional to the fourth and second power of saturation magnetization, respectively. Similarly to the case of (001) samples, the spin reorientation transition from uniaxial anisotropy with the easy along the [-1, 1, 0] direction at high temperatures to the biaxial anisotropy at low temperatures is observed around 25 K. The determined values of the anisotropy constants have been confirmed by FMR studies. As evidenced by investigations of the polar magnetooptical Kerr effect, the particular combination of magnetic anisotropies allows the out-of-plane component of magnetization to be reversed by an in-plane magnetic field. Theoretical calculations within the p-d Zener model explain the magnitude of the out-of-plane uniaxial anisotropy constant caused by epitaxial strain, but do not explain satisfactorily the cubic anisotropy constant. At the same time the findings point to the presence of an additional uniaxial anisotropy of unknown origin. Similarly to the case of (001) films, this additional anisotropy can be explained by assuming the existence of a shear strain. However, in contrast to the (001) samples, this additional strain has an out-of-the-(001)-plane character.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figure

Beyond taste and healthiness: establishing the importance and stability of diverse motives for eating and drinking

To tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time, the obesity epidemic and climate change, novel interventions, regulations and public policies are needed to help people shift towards healthier and more sustainable diets. To achieve this goal, it is essential to first fully understand how eating and drinking, both highly complex, multifaceted behaviours, are influenced by internal and external factors. Previous research has typically used unsituated self-report measures at a single timepoint to identify and establish the importance of diverse consumption motives (e.g., habit, health, liking etc.) by averaging across participants, simply presuming relative stability across individuals, eating occasion and time. Consequently, there is a gap in the literature of the underlying intra- and individual differences in food and beverage consumption motivation patterns and their stability across different domains. This thesis’ objective is to add to the understanding of consumption motivations, by establishing diverse motives for food and beverage consumption, assessing their stability across eating occasion, time beverages and foods, and exploring intra- and individual differences, using a situated measuring approach. Chapter 2 establishes a seven-factor framework predicting the consumption frequency of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Findings show that predictive patterns remain remarkably stable across individual beverages. In contrast, large individual differences occur across participants’ predictive patterns, although habit emerged consistently as important. Lastly, participants differ greatly in their perception of the different beverages. Chapter 3 presents the results of three separate studies with the overarching aim to establish individual’s predictive patterns for their consumption frequency and desire of situated foods and beverages and to assess the stability of those patterns across different eating occasions. Study 1 establishes an extensive sample of foods consumed in eight different eating situations in the UK. Study 2 identifies the relevant underlying motives predicting consumption frequency and desire. Lastly, Study 3’s results demonstrate (again) large individual differences across individual’s predictive patterns, again with the exception of automaticity which was important for both consumption frequency and desire across participants. Remarkably, findings indicate that individual’s predictive patterns remain stable across eating occasions. Little agreement was found between what participants believed to influence their consumption and SAM2s predictive profiles, potentially indicating that participants have little insight into what predicts their consumption. The empirical work presented in Chapter 4 expands on the findings in Chapter 3 by assessing consumption motivations of diverse food groups across a two-week timespan. Findings show the occurrence of learning effects for some of the predictors, meaning the association between consumption and the predictors increases overtime. In contrast, consumption motivations remain stable over time. As in Chapter 3 and 4 large individual differences occur in predictive patterns as well as participants perception of the diverse food groups, although (again) automaticity emerges as most important across participants. Lastly, again little agreement was found between what participants believed to predict their consumption and SAM2s findings. Finally, in Chapter 5 the key theoretical and practical implications of this work are discussed, particularly in how the findings relate back to the grounded cognition theory and the wider literature. Lastly, the strength and limitations of the empirical work are presented, and potential future research avenues reviewed

Dose Response for the Stimulation of Cell Division by Caffeic Acid in Forestomach and Kidney of the Male F344 Rat

Caffeic acid (CA, 3,4-dihydroxycinnainic acid), at 2% in the diet, had been shown to be carcinogenic in forestomach and kidney of F344 rats and B6C3F1 mice. Based on its occurrence in coffee and numerous foods and using a linear interpolation for cancer incidence between dose 0 and 2%, the cancer risk in humans would be considerable. In both target organs, tumor formation was preceded by hyperplasia, which could represent the main mechanism of carcinogenic action. The dose-response relationship for this effect was investigated in male F344 rats after 4-week feeding with CA at different dietary concentrations (0, 0.05, 0.14, 0.40, and 1.64%). Cells in S-phase of DNA replication were visualized by iminunohistochemical analysis of incorporated 5-bromo-2′-deoxyuridine (BrdU), 2 hr after intraperitoneal injection. In the forestomach, both the total number of epithelial cells per millimeter section length and the unit length labeling index of BrdU-positive cells (ULLI) were increased, about 2.5-fold, at 0.44) and 1.64%. The lowest concentration (0.05%) had no effect. At 0.14%, both variables were decreased by about one-third. In the kidney, the labeling index in proximal tubular cells also indicated a J-shaped (or U-shaped) dose response with a 1.8-fold increase at 1.64%. In the glandular stomach and in the liver, which are not target organs, no dose-related effect was seen. The data show a good correlation between the organ specificity for cancer induction and stimulation of cell division. With respect to the dose-response relationship and the corresponding extrapolation of the animal tumor data to a human cancer risk, a linear extrapolation appears not to be appropriat

High spatial resolution measurement of oxygen consumption rates in permeable sediments

A method is presented for the measurement of depth profiles of volumetric oxygen consumption rates in permeable sediments with high spatial resolution. When combined with in situ oxygen microprofiles measured by microsensors, areal rates of aerobic respiration in sediments can be calculated. The method is useful for characterizing sediments exposed to highly dynamic advective water exchange, such as intertidal sandy sediments. The method is based on percolating the sediment in a sampling core with aerated water and monitoring oxygen in the sediment using either an oxygen microelectrode or a planar oxygen optode. The oxygen consumption rates are determined using three approaches: (1) as the initial rate of oxygen decrease measured at discrete points after the percolation is stopped, (2) from oxygen microprofiles measured sequentially after the percolation is stopped, and (3) as a derivative of steady-state oxygen microprofiles measured during a constant percolation of the sediment. The spatial resolution of a typical 3 to 4 cm profile within a measurement time of 1 to 2 h is better with planar optodes (˜0.3 mm) then with microelectrodes (2 to 5 mm), whereas the precision of oxygen consumption rate measurements at individual points is similar (0.1 to 0.5 µmol L–1 min–1) for both sensing methods. The method is consistent with the established methods (interfacial gradients combined with Fick’s law of diffusion, benthic-chambers), when tested on the same sediment sample under identical, diffusion-controlled conditions

Imaging ellipsometry of graphene

Imaging ellipsometry studies of graphene on SiO2/Si and crystalline GaAs are presented. We demonstrate that imaging ellipsometry is a powerful tool to detect and characterize graphene on any flat substrate. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry is used to explore the dispersion of the optical constants of graphene in the visible range with high lateral resolution. In this way the influence of the substrate on graphene's optical properties can be investigatedComment: 3 pages, 3 figure

The conserved protein kinase-A target motif in synapsin of Drosophila is effectively modified by pre-mRNA editing.

RIGHTS : This article is licensed under the BioMed Central licence at http://www.biomedcentral.com/about/license which is similar to the 'Creative Commons Attribution Licence'. In brief you may : copy, distribute, and display the work; make derivative works; or make commercial use of the work - under the following conditions: the original author must be given credit; for any reuse or distribution, it must be made clear to others what the license terms of this work are.BACKGROUND: Synapsins are abundant synaptic vesicle associated phosphoproteins that are involved in the fine regulation of neurotransmitter release. The Drosophila member of this protein family contains three conserved domains (A, C, and E) and is expressed in most or all synaptic terminals. Similar to mouse mutants, synapsin knock-out flies show no obvious structural defects but are disturbed in complex behaviour, notably learning and memory. RESULTS: We demonstrate that the N-terminal phosphorylation consensus motif RRxS that is conserved in all synapsins investigated so far, is modified in Drosophila by pre-mRNA editing. In mammals this motif represents the target site P1 of protein kinase A (PKA) and calcium/calmodulin dependent protein kinase I/IV. The result of this editing, by which RRFS is modified to RGFS, can be observed in cDNAs of larvae and adults and in both isolated heads and bodies. It is also seen in several newly collected wild-type strains and thus does not represent an adaptation to laboratory culture conditions. A likely editing site complementary sequence is found in a downstream intron indicating that the synapsin pre-mRNA can form a double-stranded RNA structure that is required for editing by the adenosine deaminase acting on RNA (ADAR) enzyme. A deletion in the Drosophila Adar gene generated by transposon remobilization prevents this modification, proving that the ADAR enzyme is responsible for the pre-mRNA editing described here. We also provide evidence for a likely function of synapsin editing in Drosophila. The N-terminal synapsin undeca-peptide containing the genomic motif (RRFS) represents an excellent substrate for in-vitro phosphorylation by bovine PKA while the edited peptide (RGFS) is not significantly phosphorylated. Thus pre-mRNA editing by ADAR could modulate the function of ubiquitously expressed synapsin in a cell-specific manner during development and adulthood. CONCLUSION: Similar to several other neuronal proteins of Drosophila, synapsin is modified by ADAR-mediated recoding at the pre-mRNA level. This editing likely reduces or abolishes synapsin phosphorylation by PKA. Since synapsin in Drosophila is required for various forms of behavioural plasticity, it will be fascinating to investigate the effect of this recoding on learning and memory.Published versio