Co-localisation of NOS with calcium-binding proteins during the postnatal development of the rat claustrum.

An immunocytochemical double-staining method was applied in order to study the co-localisation of nitric oxide synthase (NOS) with three calcium-binding proteins, calbindin D28k (CB), calretinin (CR) and parvalbumin (PV) in the claustrum of the rat during the first 4 months of life (postnatal days: PO-P120). The co-localisation of NOS/PV and NOS/CB is reported. These neurons fall into the category of non-pyramidal cells.

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the postnatal development of the ventroposterolateral nucleus of the thalamus in rat and rabbit.

The morphometric analysis of changes occurring in the rat and rabbit ventroposterolateral (VPL) nucleus of the thalamus during the postnatal development was performed using unbiased stereological methods. The materials used in the study included 30 Wistar rats and 32 New Zealand rabbits aged from P0 to P180 (P-postnatal day), which were divided into six and eight age groups, respectively. The following stereological parameters of VPL nucleus on the cresyl violet stained sections were determined: volume of the nucleus, numerical density and total number of neurons.

Performance and evaluation of small construction safety training simulations.

Background: Back- and fall-related injuries occur frequently in construction and are costly in terms of workers' compensation claims and lost productivity. Interventions are needed that address the susceptibility to these injuries.

Aims: The purpose of this study was to develop and test a safety training intervention for small construction companies ( View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Postnatal development of NOS-ir neurons in the rat claustrum.

The morphological features of nitric oxide synthase (NOS)-containing neurons in the rat claustrum (Cl) were studied during the period of four months after birth. Forty-five animals divided into nine groups, according to survival period (P0, P4, P7, P10, P14, P21, P28, P60, P120) were used in the study. The immunocytochemical staining to neuronal NOS was performed and the material was studied both qualitatively and quantitatively using unbiased stereological methods.

Characterization of interleukin 10 and NO release by transplantable melanoma cell lines with regard to their progression.

The results from our investigations concerning the secretory activity of interleukin 10 (IL-10) by two transplantable melanoma cells showed that a spontaneous alteration of the native-melanotic line into an amelanotic form and the tumor progression connected with it, were accompanied by a 6-fold decrease of the IL-10 content in the supernatant of these melanoma line cell culture. Simultaneously, the intracellular content of IL-10 indicated that there was only a small population of IL-10 positive cells, numerically similar in both melanoma cell lines. A comparison of the IL-10 and nitric oxide (NO) secreted by both melanoma lines does not show any correlation between the changes in the content of these substances, which seems to indicate that NO does not act as an autocrine regulator of IL-10 secretion.

[Surgical treatment of Valsalva sinus aneurysms and fistulas].

Introduction: Valsalva sinus aneurysms and fistulas (ASV; FSV) are rare aortic pathologies and present in only a few percent of patients with aorta and/or left arterial orifice disease. Etiology of ASV and FVS is congenital and acquired.

Materials And Methods: 40 patients (pts) were operated on in the Department of Cardiovascular Surgery and Transplantology from 1978 to 2002 due to pathology of Valsalva sinus (< 1% of all operations in ECC).

Employers are cautiously optimistic about health care after election 2002.

The Director of Public Policy from the Washington Business Group on Health offers his take on how health care legislation will be addressed in the new Congress. Will the Republican majority work cohesively to reform Medicare? The author believes that "Congress is poised to act on critical legislation to fill some of the gaps in our health care system and has retreated from issues that would only have added more stress to it."

[Comparison of early clinical results after left ventricular aneurysmectomy using classic and modified technique].

Introduction: In our department left ventricular aneurysmectomy was performed using only classic Cooley technique until 1989. Since then a modified technique was introduced: left ventricular geometry reconstruction modo Stoney simultaneously with the excision of scarred endocardium.

Aim: Comparison of early clinical results after left ventricular aneurysmectomy using classic (Group A) and modified technique (Group B).

Left ventricular true aneurysm without coronary artery occlusion--a case study.

Background: Left ventricular true aneurysm is described as distinct area of the left ventricular wall with systolic dyskinesia where typical myocardial structure is replaced with fibrous tissue. Transmural infarction following occlusion of left anterior descending coronary artery is the most common cause of formation of the left ventricular aneurysm.

Case Report: A 51-year old white male, with the history of inferolateral wall myocardial infarction 6 years ago was admitted to the emergency department at the local hospital last year because of sudden cardiac arrest due to ventricular fibrillation in the course of inferolateral myocardial infarction.

Cholinergic innervation of parvalbumin- and calbindin-containing neurones in the hippocampus during postnatal development of the rat brain.

Immunohistochemical study of the cholinergic innervation of the parvalbumin- and calbindin-containing cells in the hippocampus was conducted on 30 rat brains of various postnatal ages: P0, P4, P7, P14, P21, P30, P60 and P180. Sections with double immunostaining for vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT; the marker of cholinergic cells, fibres and terminals) and parvalbumin (PV) or calbindin (CB) were analysed using confocal laser-scanning microscope. Obtained data demonstrate that the pattern of cholinergic innervation of calbindin- and parvalbumin-immunoreactive hippocampal neurones shows some differences.

Relation between the age of specimen and the shrinkage of brain frozen sections.

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of age of the animal upon the real thickness of the frozen sections. The study was performed on 19 rabbit brains. The thickness of the frozen sections regardless of their staining is age-dependent.

The influence of storage time upon the real thickness of the histological brain sections.

The aim of the study was to assess the effect of storage time on the actual thickness of the histological sections. The study was performed on 5 brains of adult Wistar rats. The most rapid changes occur at the beginning of the storage process, after about one month the dynamics of changes decreases, but still the thickness of the sections diminishes.

Qualitative and quantitative study of the postnatal development of the rabbit claustrum.

The morphometric analysis of changes occurring in the rabbit claustrum in the early postnatal period was performed by means of unbiased stereological methods. Material consisted of 40 animals aged from P2 to P180 (P-postnatal day) divided into eight groups. The volume of the claustrum, total number and numerical density of its neurons change very rapidly at the beginning of the postnatal life and stabilize by about the fourth week.

Improved mouse blood smears using the DiffSpin slide spinner.

Push smears of mouse blood prepared for differential white blood cell (WBC) determination often have many lysed WBCs, numerous RBC "ghosts", and poor morphology of intact RBCs. The purpose of this study was to compare the quality of peripheral blood smears prepared by 3 different methods and to optimize a technique for mouse blood differential WBC determination. Peripheral blood smears were prepared from blood obtained from clinically normal adult mice and human adults.

Rat brain cholinergic, dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons express GABAA receptors derived from the alpha3 subunit.

In order to study the most abundant GABAA receptor subtypes expressed in cholinergic, dopaminergic, noradrenergic and serotonergic neurons (i.e., in neurons of the so-called "global" projection systems), we employed double-immunocytochemical techniques combining the labeling of GABAA receptor alpha1, alpha2 and alpha3 subunit with markers for these cells.

Cholinergic innervation and calretinin-immunoreactive neurones in the hippocampus during postnatal development of the rat brain.

Immunohistochemical study of the cholinergic innervation of the hippocampal calretinin-containing cells was conducted on 28 rat brains of postnatal ages: P0, P4, P7, P14, P21, P30 and P60. Sections with double immunostaining for vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT; the marker of cholinergic cells, fibres and terminals) and calretinin were analysed using confocal laser-scanning microscope. Obtained data demonstrate that during development as well as in adult species calretinin-containing neurones in the rat hippocampus form sparse synaptic contact with VAChT-ir terminals.

The amygdaloid complex of the rabbit--morphological and histochemical study.

The aim of the present paper is to describe the morphology and topography of the nuclei of the amygdaloid complex in the rabbit. In the current study we also investigated the intensity of the enzymatic reaction for acetylcholinesterase (AChE) in the amygdaloid complex and the morphology of its neurones. Material consisted of 5 brains of adult New Zealand rabbit, stained either with cresyl violet or for AChE activity.

Discovery of a novel murine keratin 6 (K6) isoform explains the absence of hair and nail defects in mice deficient for K6a and K6b.

The murine genome is known to have two keratin 6 (K6) genes, mouse K6 (MK6)a and MK6b. These genes display a complex expression pattern with constitutive expression in the epithelia of oral mucosa, hair follicles, and nail beds. We generated mice deficient for both genes through embryonic stem cell technology.

Cholinergic endings on various neurones containing calcium binding proteins and glutamic acid decarboxylase in the hippocampus of the rat.

Immunohistochemical study of the cholinergic innervation of the hippocampal cells containing glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD) and calcium binding proteins: parvalbumin (PV), calbindin D28k (CB) and calretinin (CR) was conducted on 5 adult rat brains. Analysis of sections with double immunostaining for vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT; the marker of cholinergic cells, fibres and terminals) and respectively either GAD or PV, CB, CR, using confocal laser-scanning microscope shows that the intensive cholinergic innervations receive GAD, PV and CB-positive hippocampal cells. Cholinergic afferentiations of the CR-positive neurones are considerably fewer.

Delayed wound healing in keratin 6a knockout mice.

Keratin 6 (K6) expression in the epidermis has two components: constitutive expression in the innermost layer of the outer root sheath (ORS) of hair follicles and inducible expression in the interfollicular epidermis in response to stressful stimuli such as wounding. Mice express two K6 isoforms, MK6a and MK6b. To gain insight into the functional significance of these isoforms, we generated MK6a-deficient mice through mouse embryonic stem cell technology.

The mouse keratin 6 isoforms are differentially expressed in the hair follicle, footpad, tongue and activated epidermis.

Keratin 6 (K6) is expressed constitutively in a variety of internal stratified epithelia as well as in palmoplantar epidermis and in specialized cells of the hair follicle. K6 expression can also be induced by hyperproliferative conditions as in wound healing or by conditions that perturb normal keratinocyte function. The functional significance of the expression of K6 on keratinocyte biology under these disparate conditions is not known.

Expression of MK6a dominant-negative and C-terminal mutant transgenes in mice has distinct phenotypic consequences in the epidermis and hair follicle.

Mouse keratin 6a (MK6a) is constitutively expressed in a single cell layer of the outer root sheath (ORS) of hair follicles, but its synthesis can be induced in interfollicular epidermis including the basal cell layer in response to perturbing stimuli. A basally inducible human K6 (HK6) isoform has not been described, and it is not clear which of the known HK6 isoforms is expressed in the ORS. In this study we show that expression of a dominant-negative MK6a construct (Delta2B-P) in the interfollicular epidermis caused severe blistering and neonatal lethality, suggesting that mutations in a yet to be identified basally expressed HK6 isoform might result in a severe blistering phenotype.

Expression of PTHrP and the PTH/PTHrP receptor in purified alveolar epithelial cells, myoepithelial cells, and stromal fibroblasts derived from the lactating rat mammary gland.

Parathyroid hormone-related protein (PTHrP) is produced by the lactating mammary gland and secreted into the milk; however, the function of PTHrP during lactation is unknown. Since messenger RNA for both PTHrP and the PTH/PTHrP receptor have been demonstrated within mammary tissue, a paracrine or autocrine function for PTHrP has been proposed. To investigate this hypothesis in lactating tissue, the expression of PTHrP and the PTH/PTHrP receptor was examined in purified subpopulations of cells derived from lactating rat mammary glands.

[Coronary bypass grafting after failed percutaneous angioplasty (PTCA)].

Between January 1991 and September 1997, in the Cardiovascular Surgery Department of the Institute of Cardiology of Jagiellonian University Medical School, 23 patients underwent emergency CABG due to acute myocardial ischaemia in result of failed PTCA. Over the same period of time invasive cardiologists performed 1883 PTCAs out of which 23 (1.2%) were emergency cardiosurgical procedures, and in 38 patients, stents were implanted in the damaged coronary arteries.