Dogs do not use their own experience with novel barriers to infer others' visual access.

Despite extensive research into the Theory of Mind abilities in non-human animals, it remains controversial whether they can attribute mental states to other individuals or whether they merely predict future behaviour based on previous behavioural cues. In the present study, we tested pet dogs (in total, = 92) on adaptations of the 'goggles test' previously used with human infants and great apes. In both a cooperative and a competitive task, dogs were given direct experience with the properties of novel screens (one opaque, the other transparent) inserted into identical, but differently coloured, tunnels.

Role of the Metal-Oxide Work Function on Photocurrent Generation in Hybrid Solar Cells.

ZnO is a widely used metal-oxide semiconductor for photovoltaic application. In solar cell heterostructures they not only serve as a charge selective contact, but also act as electron acceptor. Although ZnO offers a suitable interface for exciton dissociation, charge separation efficiencies have stayed rather poor and conceptual differences to organic acceptors are rarely investigated.

The transcriptional coregulator MAML1 affects DNA methylation and gene expression patterns in human embryonic kidney cells.

Mastermind-like 1 (MAML1) is a transcriptional coregulator that has been associated with early development of many systems such as neuronal, muscular and urogenital. The present study aimed to explore the genome wide effects of MAML1 on DNA methylation and RNA expression in human embryonic kidney cells. Infinium HumanMethylation450 BeadChip Illumina array, methylation-sensitive high-resolution melt technique, Chip Analysis Methylation Pipeline and RNA profiling approaches were used to study MAML1 effects on the epigenome.

MS-HRM assay identifies high levels of epigenetic heterogeneity in human immortalized cell lines.

Immortalized cell lines are widely used in genetic and epigenetic studies, from exploration of basic molecular pathways to evaluation of disease-specific cellular properties. They are also used in biotechnology, e.g.

Arsenic-induced suppression of kidney cell proliferation and the transcriptional coregulator MAML1.

Mastermind-like 1 (MAML1) is a transcriptional coregulator of diverse/multiple activators, such as Notch, p53, myocyte enhancer factor 2C, NF-κB, beta-catenin, papillomavirus E6 proteins, early growth response 1 and runt-related transcription factor 2. Thus, MAML1 functions in various signaling pathways, most of them connected to cell proliferation, which suggests that MAML1 might play a potential role as a cell proliferation marker. In this study we show that MAML1 expression in the kidney correlates in silico with established cell proliferation markers including PCNA, CDC2 and XRCC5 (Ku80).

Global identification of genes regulated by estrogen signaling and demethylation in MCF-7 breast cancer cells.

Estrogen signaling and epigenetic modifications, in particular DNA methylation, are involved in regulation of gene expression in breast cancers. Here we investigated a potential regulatory cross-talk between these two pathways by identifying their common target genes and exploring underlying molecular mechanisms in human MCF-7 breast cancer cells. Gene expression profiling revealed that the expression of approximately 140 genes was influenced by both 17β-estradiol (E2) and a demethylating agent 5-aza-2'-deoxycytidine (DAC).

Effects of two common polymorphisms in the 3' untranslated regions of estrogen receptor beta on mRNA stability and translatability.

Background: The present study represents the first attempt to functionally characterize two common single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the 3'untranslated regions (3'UTRs) of estrogen receptor beta (ERbeta), focusing on the differences between alleles with regard to mRNA stability and translatability. These two ERbeta SNPs have been investigated for association with disease in a large number of reports.

Results: Here we examined allelic expression in breast tumor samples from heterozygous individuals.

Microarray analysis of altered gene expression in ERbeta-overexpressing HEK293 cells.

Estrogen receptors (ERs), ERalpha and ERbeta, mediate estrogen actions in a broad range of target tissues. With the introduction of microarray techniques, a significant understanding has been gained regarding the interplay between the ERalpha and ERbeta in breast cancer cell lines. To gain a more comprehensive understanding of ERbeta-dependent gene regulation independent of ERalpha, we performed microarray analysis on HEK293/mock and HEK293/ERbeta cells.

Binding of estrogen receptor alpha/beta heterodimers to chromatin in MCF-7 cells.

Estrogen receptors (ERs), ERalpha and ERbeta, belong to a group of transcription factors that, upon ligand binding, regulate gene expression by binding to specific DNA regions in chromatin as dimers. In this article, we applied the sequential chromatin immunoprecipitation assay (Re-ChIP) to study the simultaneous presence of ERalpha and ERbeta on various DNA-binding regions in intact chromatin. ERalpha/beta heterodimers were isolated by precipitation with anti-ERbeta antibody followed by anti-ERalpha antibody from a stable MCF-7-derived cell line that expresses endogenous ERalpha and an inducible version of ERbeta.

Effects of estrogen on gene expression profiles in mouse hypothalamus and white adipose tissue: target genes include glutathione peroxidase 3 and cell death-inducing DNA fragmentation factor, alpha-subunit-like effector A.

Obesity has become a major health problem in many parts of the world. Estrogens are known to reduce adipose tissue mass in both humans and animals but the molecular mechanisms are not well characterized. We used gene expression profiling to study long-term effects of estrogen on gene expression in mouse white adipose tissue and hypothalamus.

[Electrocardiography and echocardiography in the diagnosis of chronic cor pulmonale].

The study was aimed at evaluating the possibilities of electrocardiography (ECG) and echocardiography in establishing the diagnosis of chronic pulmonary heart disease (CPHD). Sixty patients with a chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and clinical symptoms of cardiac decompensation were observed. The examined patients ranged from 26 to 74 years of age, the mean age being 59.

[Malignant melanoma of the skin and pregnancy].

Two women, during pregnancy, suddenly developed changes in the pigmented skin nevus (melanoma) which they had had since their childhood. Both patients were surgically treated; the diagnosis was malignant melanoma. One of the patients, 12 years after the operation, is alive and well, and so is her child.