Untersuchungen zur Käferfauna der Umgebung von Skwierzyna im westlichen Polen (Wielkopolska)

In den Jahren 2003-2006 wurden im westlichen Polen im Bezirk Gorzow WLKP - hauptsächlich in der Umgebung von Skwierzyna - insgesamt über 1100 Käferarten nachgewiesen. Neben den üblichen Handfängen kam auch die Autokescher-Methode (= AK) zum Einsatz. In der ersten Tabelle werden die kompletten Funddaten von 190 aus Polen nur wenig oder noch nicht gemeldeten Arten mitgeteilt. Die Anhangtabelle enthält die übrigen Arten, aber ohne genaue Fundangaben. Diese sind jedoch bei Bedarf beim Erstautor abrufbar.In the northwest of Poland, region Gorzow WLKP, more than 1100 species of beetles were found during short visits 2003-2006. In addition to the normal sampling methods the car net (AK = „Autokescher“) was applied. In the first table the finding data of 190 species are given. From Poland they are recorded only a few times or they were unknown there before. A second table contains all the other species without finding data. If wanted these can be asked for at the adress of the first author

A comparison of third-generation semi-invasive arterial waveform analysis with thermodilution in patients undergoing coronary surgery

Uncalibrated semi-invasive continous monitoring of cardiac index (CI) has recently gained increasing interest. The aim of the present study was to compare the accuracy of CI determination based on arterial waveform analysis with transpulmonary thermodilution. Fifty patients scheduled for elective coronary surgery were studied after induction of anaesthesia and before and after cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB), respectively. Each patient was monitored with a central venous line, the PiCCO system, and the FloTrac/Vigileo-system. Measurements included CI derived by transpulmonary thermodilution and uncalibrated semi-invasive pulse contour analysis. Percentage changes of CI were calculated. There was a moderate, but significant correlation between pulse contour CI and thermodilution CI both before (r(2) = 0.72, P < 0.0001) and after (r(2) = 0.62, P < 0.0001) CPB, with a percentage error of 31% and 25%, respectively. Changes in pulse contour CI showed a significant correlation with changes in thermodilution CI both before (r(2) = 0.52, P < 0.0001) and after (r(2) = 0.67, P < 0.0001) CPB. Our findings demonstrated that uncalibrated semi-invasive monitoring system was able to reliably measure CI compared with transpulmonary thermodilution in patients undergoing elective coronary surgery. Furthermore, the semi-invasive monitoring device was able to track haemodynamic changes and trends

Growth Hormone (GH)-Releasing Peptide Stimulation of GH Release from Human Somatotroph Adenoma Cells: Interaction with GH-Releasing Hormone, Thyrotropin- Releasing Hormone, and Octreotide.

The synthetic hexapeptide GH-releasing peptide (GHRP; His-D-Trp-Ala-Trp-D-Phe-Lys-NH2) specifically stimulates GH secretion in humans in vivo and in animals in vitro and in vivo via a still unknown receptor and mechanism. To determine the effect of GHRP on human somatotroph cells in vitro, we stimulated cell cultures derived from 12 different human somatotroph adenomas with GHRP alone and in combination with GH-releasing hormone (GHRH), TRH, and the somatostatin analog octreotide. GH secretion of all 12 adenoma cultures could be stimulated with GHRP, whereas GHRH was active only in 6 adenoma cultures. In GHRH-responsive cell cultures, simultaneous application of GHRH and GHRP had an additive effect on GH secretion. TRH stimulated GH release in 4 of 7 adenoma cultures; in TRH-responsive cell cultures there was also an additive effect of GHRP and TRH on GH secretion. In 5 of 9 adenoma cultures investigated, octreotide inhibited basal GH secretion. In these cell cultures, GHRP-induced GH release was suppressed by octreotide. In 5 of 5 cases, the protein kinase-C inhibitor phloretin partly inhibited GHRP-stimulated GH release, but not basal GH secretion. In summary, GH secretion was stimulated by GHRP in all somatotroph adenomas investigated, indicating that its unknown receptor and signaling pathway are expressed more consistently in somatotroph adenoma cells than those for GHRH, TRH, and somatostatin. Our data give further evidence that GHRP-stimulated GH secretion is mediated by a receptor different from that for GHRH or TRH, respectively, and that protein kinase-C is involved in the signal transduction pathway. Because human somatotroph adenoma cell cultures respond differently to various neuropeptides (GHRH, TRH, somatostatin, and others), they provide a model for further investigation of the mechanism of action of GHRP-induced GH secretion

Expression of MAGE-C1/CT7 and selected cancer/testis antigens in ovarian borderline tumours and primary and recurrent ovarian carcinomas

MAGE-C1/CT7, NY-ESO-1, GAGE and MAGE-A4 are members of the cancer/testis (CT) antigen family, which have been proposed as potential targets for cancer immunotherapy. To determine the prevalence and biologic relevance of the novel CT antigen MAGE-C1/CT7 and other antigens, 36 ovarian borderline tumours (BTs), 230 primary ovarian carcinomas (OCs) and 80 recurrent OCs were immunohistochemically analysed using the monoclonal antibodies CT7-33 (MAGE-C1/CT7), E978 (NY-ESO-1), clone 26 (GAGE) and 57B (MAGE-A4). Positivity of at least one CT antigen was present in 39.5% (81/205) of primary OC and in 50% (26/52) of all recurrences. Expression of the novel CT antigen MAGE-C1/CT7 was most commonly seen with positivity in 24.5% of primary and 35.1% of recurrent OC. MAGE-A4, GAGE and NY-ESO-1 expressions were seen in 22.7, 13.9 and 7.1% of primary and 22.6, 17.5 and 8.9% of recurrent OC, respectively. Analysis of histological subtypes (serous, endometrioid, clear cell, mucinous and transitional) exhibited variable expression with negativity in all mucinous OC. High-grade serous OC revealed CT antigen expression in 5.6 to 28% with MAGE-C1/CT7 being the most frequent, but without correlation with stage or overall survival. MAGE-C1/CT7 expression and coexpression of CT antigens were significantly correlated with grade of endometrioid OC. None of the BT showed CT antigen expression. No significant correlation was seen with stage, overall survival or response to chemotherapy. In summary, CT antigens are expressed in a certain subset of OC with no expression in BT or OC of mucinous histology. These findings may have implications for the design of polyvalent vaccination strategies for ovarian carcinoma

A Caribbean epiphyte community preserved in Miocene Dominican amber

Fossil tree resins preserve a wide range of animals, plants, fungi and microorganisms in microscopic fidelity. Fossil organisms preserved in an individual piece of amber lived at the same time in Earth history and mostly even in the same habitat, but they were not necessarily parts of the same interacting community. Here, we report on an in situ preserved corticolous community from a piece of Miocene Dominican amber which is composed of a lichen, a moss and three species of leafy liverworts. The lichen is assigned to the extant genus Phyllopsora (Ramalinaceae, Lecanoromycetes) and is described as P. magna Kaasalainen, Rikkinen & A. R. Schmidt sp. nov. The moss, Aptychellites fossilis Schaf.-Verw., Hedenas, Ignatov & Heinrichs gen. & sp. nov., closely resembles the extant genus Aptychella of the family Pylaisiadelphaceae. The three leafy liverworts comprise the extinct Lejeuneaceae species Cheilolejeunea antiqua (Grolle) Ye & Zhu, 2010 and Lejeunea miocenica Heinrichs, Schaf.-Verw., M. A. M. Renner & G. E. Lee sp. nov. and the extinct Radulaceae species Radula intecta M. A. M. Renner, Schaf.-Verw. & Heinrichs sp. nov. The presence of five associated extinct cryptogam species, four of which belong to extant genera, further substantiates the notion of a stasis in morphotype diversity, but a certain turnover of species, in the Caribbean since the early Miocene.Peer reviewe

microRNA profiling in Epstein-Barr virus-associated B-cell lymphoma

The Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is an oncogenic human Herpes virus found in ∼15% of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). EBV encodes miRNAs and induces changes in the cellular miRNA profile of infected cells. MiRNAs are small, non-coding RNAs of ∼19-26 nt which suppress protein synthesis by inducing translational arrest or mRNA degradation. Here, we report a comprehensive miRNA-profiling study and show that hsa-miR-424, -223, -199a-3p, -199a-5p, -27b, -378, -26b, -23a, -23b were upregulated and hsa-miR-155, -20b, -221, -151-3p, -222, -29b/c, -106a were downregulated more than 2-fold due to EBV-infection of DLBCL. All known EBV miRNAs with the exception of the BHRF1 cluster as well as EBV-miR-BART15 and -20 were present. A computational analysis indicated potential targets such as c-MYB, LATS2, c-SKI and SIAH1. We show that c-MYB is targeted by miR-155 and miR-424, that the tumor suppressor SIAH1 is targeted by miR-424, and that c-SKI is potentially regulated by miR-155. Downregulation of SIAH1 protein in DLBCL was demonstrated by immunohistochemistry. The inhibition of SIAH1 is in line with the notion that EBV impedes various pro-apoptotic pathways during tumorigenesis. The down-modulation of the oncogenic c-MYB protein, although counter-intuitive, might be explained by its tight regulation in developmental processe

Dynamic and volumetric variables reliably predict fluid responsiveness in a porcine model with pleural effusion

Background: The ability of stroke volume variation (SVV), pulse pressure variation (PPV) and global end-diastolic volume (GEDV) for prediction of fluid responsiveness in presence of pleural effusion is unknown. The aim of the present study was to challenge the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness in a porcine model with pleural effusions. Methods: Pigs were studied at baseline and after fluid loading with 8 ml kg−1 6% hydroxyethyl starch. After withdrawal of 8 ml kg−1 blood and induction of pleural effusion up to 50 ml kg−1 on either side, measurements at baseline and after fluid loading were repeated. Cardiac output, stroke volume, central venous pressure (CVP) and pulmonary occlusion pressure (PAOP) were obtained by pulmonary thermodilution, whereas GEDV was determined by transpulmonary thermodilution. SVV and PPV were monitored continuously by pulse contour analysis. Results: Pleural effusion was associated with significant changes in lung compliance, peak airway pressure and stroke volume in both responders and non-responders. At baseline, SVV, PPV and GEDV reliably predicted fluid responsiveness (area under the curve 0.85 (p<0.001), 0.88 (p<0.001), 0.77 (p = 0.007). After induction of pleural effusion the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness was well preserved and also PAOP was predictive. Threshold values for SVV and PPV increased in presence of pleural effusion. Conclusions: In this porcine model, bilateral pleural effusion did not affect the ability of SVV, PPV and GEDV to predict fluid responsiveness

Влияние CaO на синтез и микроструктуру керамики на основе бората алюминия

Осуществлен синтез бората алюминия на основе природных сырьевых материалов, изучено влияние добавки CaO на структуру и свойства материала. Было выявлено, что введение CaO в состав исходной сырьевой смеси способствует формированию игольчатых кристаллов и увеличению выхода фазы бората алюминия, а также снижению плотности материала. Показано, что двухстадийный обжиг позволяет повысить прочность образцов с добавкой CaO с сохранением низкой плотности