The stem cell factor receptor/c-Kit plays an important physiological role in hematopoesis, melanogenesis and gametogenesis. It has also been implicated in numerous human malignancies. Signal transduction pathways shown to be of importance for c-Kit mediated transformation include the PI3-kinase/Akt pathway. We have previously shown that two alternative splice forms of c-Kit, denoted GNNK- and GNNK

The ns photodissociation of perfluoroethyliodide C2F5I at 266 nm has been studied by using the resonant two-photon ionization (R2PI) technique. Recoil anisotropy parameters as well as average translational energy of the I atoms in the fine structure states P-2(1/2) and P-2(3/2) have been determined. The main contribution (99%) to the absorption at 266 nm was found to be caused by a parallel transi

Purpose: To evaluate patients with central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) and neovascular glaucoma (NVG) using electrophysiology in order to gain better understanding of visual outcome and risk factors, such as previously diagnosed primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG). Methods: Eighty-three patients (83 eyes) initially presenting with CRVO and examined with full-field electroretinography (ERG) within

Purpose: To investigate initial learning curves on a virtual reality (VR) eye surgery simulator and whether achieved skills are transferable between tasks. Methods: Thirty-five medical students were randomized to complete ten iterations on either the VR Caspulorhexis module (group A) or the Cataract navigation training module (group B) and then two iterations on the other module. Learning curves w

Limitations in everyday movements, physical activities are/or pain are the main reasons for seeking help from a physiotherapist. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychometric properties of the Body Awareness Scale Movement Quality (BAS MQ) focusing on factor structure, validity and reliability and to explore whether BAS MQ could discriminate between healthy individuals and patients

Exploring the semantic encoding of a group of crosslinguistically uncommon "spatial-coordinate demonstratives", this work establishes the existence of demonstratives whose function is to project angular search domains, thus invoking proper coordinate systems (or "frames of reference"). What is special about these distinctions is that they rely on a spatial asymmetry in relativizing a demonstrative

Platelet-derived growth factors (PDGF) constitute a family of four gene products (PDGF-A-D) acting by means of two receptor tyrosine kinases, PDGFR alpha and beta. Three of the ligands (PDGF-A, -B, and -C) bind to PDGFR alpha with high affinity. Knockout of pdgf-a in mice has demonstrated a role for PDGF-A in the recruitment of smooth muscle cells to the alveolar sacs and their further compartment

Background/Aims: Two differently charged polypeptides, poly-L-lysine (PL) and poly-L-glutamate (PG), have previously been shown to reduce postoperative intra-abdominal adhesions. This study aims to investigate the possible toxic effects and to establish a lowest effective antiadhesive dose. Methods: 152 mice were investigated with a well-known adhesion model and given different concentrations of t

Sclerosing injections under ultrasonographic guidance is a new method of treatment for persistent pain in Achilles tendinosis. Good results, even superior to those of surgery, have been described. We report the outcome of 25 patients with midportion tendinosis receiving sclerosing treatment. Twenty-eight consecutive patients (29 tendons) with ultrasonographical findings of midportion tendinosis ex

The c-kit-encoded tyrosine kinase receptor for stem cell factor (Kit/SCFR) is crucial for the development of hematopoietic cells, melanoblasts, and germ cells. Ligand stimulation of Kit/SCFR leads to receptor dimerization and autophosphorylation on tyrosine residues. We recently showed, that protein kinase C (PKC) acts in an SCF-stimulated negative feedback loop, which controls Kit/SCFR tyrosine k

The idea to use transplants of dopamine-producing cells to substitute for the lost midbrain dopamine neurons in Parkinson's disease (PD) goes back to the 1970s. In this review we give an overview of the history of cell transplantation in animal models of PD, and summarize the experience gained from the open-label and placebo-controlled clinical trials performed so far using intrastriatal transplan

The contribution of hereditary factors for development of childhood tumors is limited to some few known syndromes associated with predominance of tumors in childhood. Occurrence of childhood tumors in hereditary cancer syndromes such as BRCA1/2 associated breast and ovarian cancer, DNA-mismatch repair (MMR) genes associated hereditary non polyposis colorectal cancer and CDKN2A associated familial

Sp1/Kruppel-like factor (KLF) family of transcription factors regulates diverse biological processes including cell growth, differentiation, and development through modulation of gene expression. This family of factors regulates transcription positively and negatively by binding to the GC and GT/CACCC boxes in the promoter through their highly conserved three zinc finger domains. Although the mole

AIMS/HYPOTHESIS: Type 2 diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder associated with devastating microvascular complications. Genome-wide association studies have identified more than 60 genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes and/or glucose and insulin traits, but their role in the progression of diabetes is not established. The aim of this study was to explore whether these variants were al

Ann-Marie Pendrill has been on the Physics Education board since 2008 and has been teaching for 18 years. What led her into teaching, what challenges lay ahead and who would she most like to have dinner with? Read our interview and find our more.

PURPOSE: Although survival has been studied for various subtypes of non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), there have been few comprehensive studies to quantify the prognosis, including all specific histologies. The effect of family history on survival in NHL has not been examined. METHODS: We used the Swedish Family-Cancer Database to estimate hazard ratios in NHL by histology and family history. RESULTS:

We present a new method for investigating the nonperturbative quantum mechanical interaction of light with atoms in two dimensions, without a basis expansion. This enables us to investigate intense laser-atom interactions with light of arbitrary polarization without approximation, within the model restrictions. Results are presented for the dependence of ionization and high harmonic generation on