Depolarization ratios of single ice particles assuming finite circular cylinders.

Results of the depolarization ratio (delta) of single ice particles in fixed orientations are presented to determine whether discrimination between nonspherical ice crystals (causing depolarization) and spherical water droplets (inducing no depolarization) can be made. A T-matrix method is used to compute delta over a range of particle diameters from 0.13 to 4 microm and aspect ratios chi=d/h (d is the diameter and h the height of the particle) from 0.

The effects of omeprazole on healing and appearance of small gastric and duodenal lesions during dosing with diclofenac in healthy subjects.

Background: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are associated with gastrointestinal mucosal damage. Omeprazole prevents the formation, and accelerates the healing, of NSAID-induced ulcers.

Aim: To test whether omeprazole accelerates healing of standardized gastroduodenal lesions in the presence of diclofenac.

Upregulation and redistribution of cadherins reveal specific glial and muscle cell phenotypes during wallerian degeneration and muscle denervation in the mouse.

In the present work, we investigated the expression of cadherin mRNAs in the adult neuromuscular system either under normal conditions or following experimental neurotomy. Cadherin-6, a marker of Schwann cell precursors, was not expressed in the adult peripheral nerve, while M-cadherin, cadherin-11, and N-cadherin were expressed both by glial and conjunctive cells. Moreover, the three transcripts were transiently upregulated in the distal stump of neurotomized sciatic nerve during Wallerian degeneration: N-cadherin was abundant in myelinating Schwann cells during myelin degradation, while M-cadherin and cadherin-11 may be upregulated in proliferating Schwann cells.

[Cadherins, the development and regeneration of the neuromuscular axis].

Various cell adhesion molecules of the cadherin family characterize the neuromuscular system. During development, cadherins N and M are sequentially expressed by myogenic cells during the two waves of myoblast fusion. Two other cadherins, called 6 and 11, are also expressed during the embryonic musculature development.

Cadherins M, 11, and 6 expression patterns suggest complementary roles in mouse neuromuscular axis development.

As the result of a systematic search for cell adhesion molecules of the cadherin family expressed in the developing mouse neuromuscular system, we obtained cDNAs coding for eight molecules of the family, including cadherins M, 11, and 6. Northern blot and in situ hybridization analysis in the mouse embryo revealed a complementary expression of these transcripts. M-cadherin is found in embryonic somitic and nonsomitic striated muscles.

Distinct location and prevalence of alpha-, beta-catenins and gamma-catenin/plakoglobin in developing and denervated skeletal muscle.

We studied the distribution of alpha-catenin, beta-catenin and gamma-catenin/plakoglobin in developing, adult and denervated mouse skeletal muscle. During primary myogenesis, all three catenins present a subsarcolemmal distribution within primary myotubes. During secondary myogenesis they accumulate at myotube-myotube contacts.

Localized deposition of M-cadherin in the glomeruli of the granular layer during the postnatal development of mouse cerebellum.

M-cadherin is a Ca2+-dependent cell adhesion molecule of the cadherin family, initially localized at the areas of contact between myotubes during myogenesis, but also detected in the peripheral nerve and at the adult neuromuscular junction. In this study, searching for the expression of M-cadherin in the adult mouse brain, we observed a restricted expression of M-cadherin in one of the three layers of the cerebellar cortex: the granular layer. M-cadherin was accumulated in structures rich in synapses and other intercellular junctions where mossy fibers connect granule cell dendrites, the glomeruli.

M-cadherin distribution in the mouse adult neuromuscular system suggests a role in muscle innervation.

M-cadherin belongs to the Ca(2+)-dependent cadherin family of cell adhesion molecules and was first isolated from a mouse muscle cell line cDNA library. It is specifically expressed in muscle tissue during development and is supposed to play an important role in secondary myogenesis. In the present study the expression of M-cadherin mRNA and protein and its localization were investigated in adult mouse skeletal muscle and peripheral nerve.

Effects of misoprostol on healing and prevention of biopsy-induced gastroduodenal lesions occurring during the administration of diclofenac to volunteers.

Aim: To determine whether misoprostol promotes the healing of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug-induced gastroduodenal lesions in a human experimental model.

Methods: Mucosal damage and healing of mucosal biopsy sites were assessed endoscopically in 10 healthy, Helicobacter pylori-negative volunteers with a normal initial endoscopy: they were enrolled in a double-blind, double-dummy, placebo-controlled cross-over study. They received 2-week courses of misoprostol (200 micrograms b.

Bacterial overgrowth during treatment with omeprazole compared with cimetidine: a prospective randomised double blind study.

Background: Gastric and duodenal bacterial overgrowth frequently occurs in conditions where diminished acid secretion is present. Omeprazole inhibits acid secretion more effectively than cimetidine and might therefore more frequently cause bacterial overgrowth.

Aim: This controlled prospective study compared the incidence of gastric and duodenal bacterial overgrowth in patients treated with omeprazole or cimetidine.

M-cadherin localization in developing adult and regenerating mouse skeletal muscle: possible involvement in secondary myogenesis.

In this work, we investigated the distribution of the Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecule, M-cadherin, in mouse limb muscle during normal development and regeneration. Using two unrelated anti-M-cadherin peptide antibodies, we found scarce M-cadherin immunostaining during primary myogenesis (E12-E14) with no accumulation at areas of cell-cell contact. In contrast, the staining sharply increased in intensity at E16, remained high during secondary myogenesis (E16-P0) but disappeared soon after birth.

Is intercellular communication via gap junctions required for myoblast fusion?

Fusion of myoblasts to form syncitial muscle cells results from a complex series of sequential events including cell alignment, cell adhesion and cell communication. The aim of the present investigation was to assess whether intercellular communication through gap junctions would be required for subsequent membrane fusion. The presence of the gap junction protein connexin 43 at areas of contact between prefusing rat L6 myoblasts was established by immunofluorescent staining.

N-cadherin expression in developing, adult and denervated chicken neuromuscular system: accumulations at both the neuromuscular junction and the node of Ranvier.

N-cadherin, a member of the Ca(2+)-dependent cell adhesion molecule family plays essential roles in morphogenesis and histogenesis. N-cadherin has been shown in vitro to promote myoblast fusion and neurite outgrowth. We report here the cellular localization of N-cadherin during development and regeneration of the chick neuromuscular system.

[Cell adhesion and development of skeletal muscle].

Cell adhesion is a cell autonomous property of pluricellular organisms at the basis of tissues and organs formation. Thus, adhesive processes must be considered as key features of the development of skeletal muscle as well as of other tissues. We present here the actual knowledge on cell adhesion molecules in skeletal muscle morphogenesis.

N-cadherin and N-CAM-mediated adhesion in development and regeneration of skeletal muscle.

In this review, the experimental evidence supporting the fact that the cell adhesion molecules N-CAM and N-cadherin are involved in myogenesis has been surveyed. In order to give access to the function of these molecules, a strategy of in vivo localization and in vitro perturbation of their adhesive function by interfering antibodies and peptides was applied. Both molecules are expressed at the surface of myogenic cells during myogenesis in vivo and in vitro.

N-cadherin and N-CAM in myoblast fusion: compared localisation and effect of blockade by peptides and antibodies.

The expression and distribution of two cell adhesion molecules, N-cadherin and N-CAM, at the surface of cultured leg muscle cells from 11-day-old chicken embryos were studied and compared. N-cadherin, which was expressed by fusing myoblasts, was down-regulated on old myotubes while N-CAM was still present. Both molecules, as viewed by confocal microscopy, appeared to have coaccumulated at the areas of contact between fusing myoblasts.

Maintenance therapy: is there still a place for antireflux surgery?

Effective and safe maintenance medical therapy for uncomplicated reflux esophagitis is now feasible with omeprazole and it is likely that other H+K+ATPase blockers, and possibly very high dose H2 receptor antagonist regimens, will also be acceptable. In addition, many patients with ulceration, strictures, and Barrett's esophagus will respond to conservative medical therapy and a proportion of patients with erosive esophagitis may remain in remission with cisapride or with low dose H2 receptor antagonists, if disease is less severe. Thus, there is now a medical "gold standard" against which surgical therapy for uncomplicated esophagitis must be judged and it is essential that all future studies be conducted with clearly defined criteria for the assessment of the symptoms and endoscopic signs of esophagitis and its complications.

Cytotactin is involved in synaptogenesis during regeneration of the frog neuromuscular system.

The expression of cytotactin, an extracellular matrix glycoprotein involved in morphogenesis and regeneration, was determined in the normal and regenerating neuromuscular system of the frog Rana temporaria. Cytotactin was expressed in adult brain and gut as two major components of Mr 190,000 and 200,000 and a minor form of higher molecular weight, but was almost undetectable in skeletal muscle extract. However, cytotactin was concentrated at the neuromuscular junctions as well as at the nodes of Ranvier.

Phosphatidylinositol is involved in the attachment of tailed asymmetric acetylcholinesterase to neuronal membranes.

1. We analyzed the mode of attachment of 16 S tailed acetylcholinesterase (AChE; EC 3.1.

[Dieulafoy's simple stomach ulcer: apropos of 5 cases].

Dieulafoy's ulcer is a probably congenital arterial malformation which may produce severe upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage. It represents about 1% of all cases of acute upper gastrointestinal haemorrhage (3/249 in our department during 1989). We report 5 cases in whom haemostatic endoscopic treatment was successful and propose therefore that this therapy should be the initial treatment of choice.

Cell modulation of hydrophobic tailed 16S acetylcholinesterase by intracellular calcium in rat superior cervical ganglion neurons.

In primary cell cultures of rat superior cervical ganglia (SCG) the tailed asymmetric 16S molecular form of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) possesses hydrophilic (high-salt soluble, HSS) and hydrophobic (detergent extracted, DE) variants. Hydrophobic tailed acetylcholinesterase is associated with membranes through a glycolipid anchor. In the presence of tunicamycin, an antibiotic which inhibits protein glycosylation, the cellular amount of the hydrophobic DE 16S AChE is increased.

Scoring atopic dermatitis: the simpler the better?

Two scoring methods evaluating the severity of atopic dermatitis have been compared. One was simple, quick and compatible with a busy outpatients clinic. The other was more complicated and time consuming; it took into account most of the evaluable clinical signs of disease activity in each involved site.