Angiogenetische Faktoren in Plasma und Urin bei Kindern mit Hämangiomen

Der basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) und der vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) sind Wachstumsfaktoren der Familie der Zytokine, die eine wichtige Rolle in der Angiogenese sowohl in physiologischen, als auch in pathologischen Prozessen spielen. Bei der Entstehung von kindlichen Hämangiomen wird den beiden Wachstumsfaktoren aufgrund ihrer starken angiogenetischen Potenz ein hoher Stellenwert zugesprochen. In dieser Arbeit wurden die Plasmakonzentrationen von bFGF und VEGF und die Konzentrationen von bFGF im Urin bei Patienten mit Hämangiomen gemessen. Es wurde untersucht, ob die Konzentrationen beider Faktoren erhöht sind und ob erhöhte Spiegel mit den klinischen Parametern korrelieren. Unter Verwendung des enzyme linked immunosorbent assay wurden die Konzentrationen von VEGF und bFGF im EDTA-Plasma bei gesunden Säuglingen und Kleinkindern (Kontrollgruppe) und bei Säuglingen und Kleinkindern mit Hämangiomen (Patientengruppe) gemessen. Zudem wurde die bFGF Konzentration im Urin bestimmt. Klinische Merkmale wie Größe und Beschaffenheit der Hämangiome wurden dokumentiert. Erhöhte Werte von bFGF und VEGF im Plasma wurden bei Patienten mit grossen Hämangiomen (> 5cm) und hoher Wachstumstendenz gefunden. Die gemessenen Werte von bFGF im Urin waren im Vergleich zur Kontrollgruppe nicht signifikant erhöht. Bei einer Patientin mit diffuser neonataler Hämangiomatose lagen die Konzentrationen beider Faktoren signifikant höher als bei der Kontrollgruppe. Unter der anti-angiogenetischen Therapie mit Interferon-α2a kam es zu einem starken Abfall der zu Beginn der Behandlung hohen VEGF Plasmaspiegel. Die Behandlung zeigte keinen wesentlichen Einfluss auf die hohen bFGF Konzentration im Plasma und Urin. Diese Arbeit zeigt, dass insbesondere bei Patienten mit großen und proliferierenden Hämangiomen erhöhte Konzentrationen der Angiogenesefaktoren VEGF und bFGF im Plasma und Urin gemessen werden können. Aufgrund der inter- sowie intraindividuellen Schwankungen der Plasmaspiegel beider Faktoren ist allerdings der klinische Nutzen zur Verlaufsbeurteilung eingeschränkt. Dennoch mag gerade bei den systemischen Formen, den Hämangiomatosen, in Zukunft die Messung von Angiogenesefaktoren für die Therapiekontrolle einer anti-angiogenetischen Behandlung eine wichtige Rolle spielen

Dynamical robustness of biological networks with hierarchical distribution of time scales

We propose the concepts of distributed robustness and r-robustness, well adapted to functional genetics. Then we discuss the robustness of the relaxation time using a chemical reaction description of genetic and signalling networks. First, we obtain the following result for linear networks: for large multiscale systems with hierarchical distribution of time scales the variance of the inverse relaxation time (as well as the variance of the stationary rate) is much lower than the variance of the separate constants. Moreover, it can tend to 0 faster than 1/n, where n is the number of reactions. We argue that similar phenomena are valid in the nonlinear case as well. As a numerical illustration we use a model of signalling network that can be applied to important transcription factors such as NFkB

Composition and Elevation of Spruce Forests Affect Susceptibility to Bark Beetle Attacks: Implications for Forest Management

(6) spruce-broadleaf mixed forest

Subjective evaluation of experimental dyspnoea: effects of isocapnia and repeated exposure

Resistive respiratory loading is an established stimulus for the induction of experimental dyspnoea. In comparison to unloaded breathing, resistive loaded breathing alters end-tidal CO2 (PETCO2), which has independent physiological effects (e.g. upon cerebral blood flow). We investigated the subjective effects of resistive loaded breathing with stabilized PETCO2 (isocapnia) during manual control of inspired gases on varying baseline levels of mild hypercapnia increased PETCO2). Furthermore, to investigate whether perceptual habituation to dyspnoea stimuli occurs, the study was repeated over four experimental sessions. Isocapnic hypercapnia did not affect dyspnoea unpleasantness during resistive loading. A post hoc analysis revealed a small increase of respiratory unpleasantness during unloaded breathing at +0.6 kPa, the level that reliably induced isocapnia. We didnot observe perceptual habituation over the four sessions. We conclude that isocapnic respiratory loading allows stable induction of respiratory unpleasantness, making it a good stimulus for multi-session studies of dyspnoea

Source description and sampling techniques in PEREGRINE Monte Carlo calculations of dose distributions for radiation oncology

We outline the techniques used within PEREGRINE, a 3D Monte Carlo code calculation system, to model the photon output from medical accelerators. We discuss the methods used to reduce the phase-space data to a form that is accurately and efficiently sampled

Treatment of patient-dependent beam modifiers in photon treatments by the Monte Carlo dose calculation code PEREGRINE

The goal of the PEREGRINE Monte Carlo Dose Calculation Project is to deliver a Monte Carlo package that is both accurate and sufficiently fast for routine clinical use. One of the operational requirements for photon-treatment plans is a fast, accurate method of describing the photon phase-space distribution at the surface of the patient. The open-field case is computationally the most tractable; we know, a priori, for a given machine and energy, the locations and compositions of the relevant accelerator components (i.e., target, primary collimator, flattening filter, and monitor chamber). Therefore, we can precalculate and store the expected photon distributions. For any open-field treatment plan, we then evaluate these existing photon phase-space distributions at the patient`s surface, and pass the obtained photons to the dose calculation routines within PEREGRINE. We neglect any effect of the intervening air column, including attenuation of the photons and production of contaminant electrons. In principle, for treatment plans requiring jaws, blocks, and wedges, we could precalculate and store photon phase-space distributions for various combinations of field sizes and wedges. This has the disadvantage that we would have to anticipate those combinations and that subsequently PEREGRINE would not be able to treat other plans. Therefore, PEREGRINE tracks photons through the patient-dependent beam modifiers. The geometric and physics methods used to do this are described here. 4 refs., 8 figs

Heterotrimeric Go protein links Wnt-Frizzled signaling with ankyrins to regulate the neuronal microtubule cytoskeleton.

Drosophila neuromuscular junctions (NMJs) represent a powerful model system with which to study glutamatergic synapse formation and remodeling. Several proteins have been implicated in these processes, including components of canonical Wingless (Drosophila Wnt1) signaling and the giant isoforms of the membrane-cytoskeleton linker Ankyrin 2, but possible interconnections and cooperation between these proteins were unknown. Here, we demonstrate that the heterotrimeric G protein Go functions as a transducer of Wingless-Frizzled 2 signaling in the synapse. We identify Ankyrin 2 as a target of Go signaling required for NMJ formation. Moreover, the Go-ankyrin interaction is conserved in the mammalian neurite outgrowth pathway. Without ankyrins, a major switch in the Go-induced neuronal cytoskeleton program is observed, from microtubule-dependent neurite outgrowth to actin-dependent lamellopodial induction. These findings describe a novel mechanism regulating the microtubule cytoskeleton in the nervous system. Our work in Drosophila and mammalian cells suggests that this mechanism might be generally applicable in nervous system development and function

Evolutionary Changes of the Target Sites of Two MicroRNAs Encoded in the Hox Gene Cluster of Drosophila and Other Insect Species

MicroRNAs (miRs) are noncoding RNAs that regulate gene expression at the post-transcriptional level. In animals, the target sites of a miR are generally located in the 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs) of messenger RNAs. However, how the target sites change during evolution is largely unknown. MiR-iab-4 and miR-iab-4as are known to regulate the expression of two Hox genes, Abd-A and Ubx, in Drosophila melanogaster. We have therefore studied the evolutionary changes of these two miR genes and their target sites of the Hox genes in Drosophila, other insect species, and Daphnia. Our homology search identified a single copy of each miR gene located in the same genomic position of the Hox gene cluster in all species examined. The seed nucleotide sequence was also the same for all species. Searching for the target sites in all Hox genes, we found several target sites of miR-iab-4 and miR-iab-4as in Antp in addition to Abd-A and Ubx in most insect species examined. Our phylogenetic analysis of target sites in Abd-A, Ubx, and Antp showed that the old target sites, which existed before the divergence of the 12 Drosophila species, have been well maintained in most species under purifying selection. By contrast, new target sites, which were generated during Drosophila evolution, were often lost in some species and mostly located in unalignable regions of the 3′ UTRs. These results indicate that these regions can be a potential source of generating new target sites, which results in multiple target genes for each miR in animals

On the expression of TAM on nouns: evidence from Tundra Nenets

The paper aims to enrich the database of independent time-related morphology on nouns and contribute to the discussion of its categorization by examining the so-called predestinative forms in Tundra Nenets (Uralic). The basic semantic contribution predestinatives make consists in providing temporal information relevant for the interpretation of possessive NPs: they specify the relation between the time at which the possessive predicate is true of the possessor and the possessed noun, and the time at which the whole NP is true. However, some properties of predestinatives are not easily accounted for by the nominal tense analysis; rather it would be more appropriate to analyze them as nominal mood, in particular, subjunctive or embedded irrealis. The paper concludes that Tundra Nenets presents rather clear evidence for a TAM category on nouns, but whether it is tense or mood ultimately depends on whether nominal tense is defined as a category that affects the time at which the whole NP is true or the time at which the predicate embedded within the NP is true

A Computational Study on the Role of Gap Junctions and Rod Ih Conductance in the Enhancement of the Dynamic Range of the Retina

Recent works suggest that one of the roles of gap junctions in sensory systems is to enhance their dynamic range by avoiding early saturation in the first processing stages. In this work, we use a minimal conductance-based model of the ON rod pathways in the vertebrate retina to study the effects of electrical synaptic coupling via gap junctions among rods and among AII amacrine cells on the dynamic range of the retina. The model is also used to study the effects of the maximum conductance of rod hyperpolarization activated current Ih on the dynamic range of the retina, allowing a study of the interrelations between this intrinsic membrane parameter with those two retina connectivity characteristics. Our results show that for realistic values of Ih conductance the dynamic range is enhanced by rod-rod coupling, and that AII-AII coupling is less relevant to dynamic range amplification in comparison with receptor coupling. Furthermore, a plot of the retina output response versus input intensity for the optimal parameter configuration is well fitted by a power law with exponent . The results are consistent with predictions of more theoretical works and suggest that the earliest expression of gap junctions along the rod pathways, together with appropriate values of rod Ih conductance, has the highest impact on vertebrate retina dynamic range enhancement