Search results for "Anatomy and Physiology"
showing 10 items of 104 documents
Influence of Age on Brain Edema Formation, Secondary Brain Damage and Inflammatory Response after Brain Trauma in Mice
2012
After traumatic brain injury (TBI) elderly patients suffer from higher mortality rate and worse functional outcome compared to young patients. However, experimental TBI research is primarily performed in young animals. Aim of the present study was to clarify whether age affects functional outcome, neuroinflammation and secondary brain damage after brain trauma in mice. Young (2 months) and old (21 months) male C57Bl6N mice were anesthetized and subjected to a controlled cortical impact injury (CCI) on the right parietal cortex. Animals of both ages were randomly assigned to 15 min, 24 h, and 72 h survival. At the end of the observation periods, contusion volume, brain water content, neurolo…
The Insulin Receptor Substrate 1 (Irs1) in Intestinal Epithelial Differentiation and in Colorectal Cancer
2012
Colorectal cancer (CRC) is associated with lifestyle factors that affect insulin/IGF signaling, of which the insulin receptor substrate 1 (IRS1) is a key transducer. We investigated expression, localization and pathologic correlations of IRS1 in cancer-uninvolved colonic epithelium, primary CRCs with paired liver metastases and in vitro polarizing Caco2 and HT29 cells. IRS1 mRNA and protein resulted higher, relative to paired mucosa, in adenomas of familial adenomatous polyposis patients and in CRCs that overexpressed c-MYC, ß-catenin, InsRß, and IGF1R. Analysis of IRS1 immunostaining in 24 cases of primary CRC with paired colonic epithelium and hepatic metastasis showed that staining inten…
Sex-related effects in the superhydrophobic properties of damselfly wings in young and old Calopteryx splendens.
2013
Numerous sex-related morphological adaptations are connected to reproductive behavior in animals. For example, females of some insect species can submerge during oviposition, which may lead to sex-related adaptations in the hydrophobicity (water-repellency) due to specialization of certain morphological structures. On the other hand, ageing can cause changes in hydrophobicity of the surface, because the morphological structures can wear with age. Here, we investigated sex-and age-related differences in wing hydrophobicity and in morphology (spine density, wax cover characteristics, size of females' pseudopterostigma) potentially related to hydrophobicity of Calopteryx splendens damselflies.…
A Lack of Sexual Dimorphism in Width-to-Height Ratio in White European Faces Using 2D Photographs, 3D Scans, and Anthropometry
2012
Facial width-to-height ratio has received a great deal of attention in recent research. Evidence from human skulls suggests\ud that males have a larger relative facial width than females, and that this sexual dimorphism is an honest signal of\ud masculinity, aggression, and related traits. However, evidence that this measure is sexually dimorphic in faces, rather than\ud skulls, is surprisingly weak. We therefore investigated facial width-to-height ratio in three White European samples using\ud three different methods of measurement: 2D photographs, 3D scans, and anthropometry. By measuring the same\ud individuals with multiple methods, we demonstrated high agreement across all measures. Ho…
Clinical efficacy of blue light full body irradiation as treatment option for severe atopic dermatitis.
2011
Background Therapy of atopic dermatitis (AD) relies on immunosuppression and/or UV irradiation. Here, we assessed clinical efficacy and histopathological alterations induced by blue light-treatment of AD within an observational, non-interventional study. Methodology/Principal Findings 36 patients with severe, chronic AD resisting long term disease control with local corticosteroids were included. Treatment consisted of one cycle of 5 consecutive blue light-irradiations (28.9 J/cm2). Patients were instructed to ask for treatment upon disease exacerbation despite interval therapy with topical corticosteroids. The majority of patients noted first improvements after 2–3 cycles. The EASI score w…
The role of left supplementary motor area in grip force scaling
2013
Skilled tool use and object manipulation critically relies on the ability to scale anticipatorily the grip force (GF) in relation to object dynamics. This predictive behaviour entails that the nervous system is able to store, and then select, the appropriate internal representation of common object dynamics, allowing GF to be applied in parallel with the arm motor commands. Although psychophysical studies have provided strong evidence supporting the existence of internal representations of object dynamics, known as "internal models", their neural correlates are still debated. Because functional neuroimaging studies have repeatedly designated the supplementary motor area (SMA) as a possible …
Heme oxygenase-1 regulates the progression of K/BxN serum transfer arthritis.
2012
Background Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) is induced in many cell types as a defense mechanism against stress. We have investigated the possible role of endogenous HO-1 in the effector phase of arthritis using the K/BxN serum transfer model of arthritis in HO-1 heterozygous and homozygous knock-out mice. Methodology/Principal Findings Arthritis was induced in C57/Black-6 xFVB (HO-1+/+, HO-1+/− and HO-1−/−) mice by intraperitoneal injection of 150 µl serum from arthritic K/BxN mice at days 0 and 2. Blood was collected and animals were sacrificed at day 10. Histological analysis was performed in ankle sections. The levels of inflammatory mediators were measured in serum and paw homogenates by enzyme…
Epigenetic upregulation of endogenous VEGF-A reduces myocardial infarct size in mice.
2014
“Epigenetherapy” alters epigenetic status of the targeted chromatin and modifies expression of the endogenous therapeutic gene. In this study we used lentiviral in vivo delivery of small hairpin RNA (shRNA) into hearts in a murine infarction model. shRNA complementary to the promoter of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF-A) was able to upregulate endogenous VEGF-A expression. Histological and multiphoton microscope analysis confirmed the therapeutic effect in the transduced hearts. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed in vivo that the infarct size was significantly reduced in the treatment group 14 days after the epigenetherapy. Importantly, we show that promoter-targeted shRNA upr…
Characterization of Human γδ T Lymphocytes Infiltrating Primary Malignant Melanomas
2012
T lymphocytes are often induced naturally in melanoma patients and infiltrate tumors. Given that gamma delta T cells mediate antigen-specific killing of tumor cells, we studied the representation and the in vitro cytokine production and cytotoxic activity of tumor infiltrating gamma delta T cells from 74 patients with primary melanoma. We found that gamma delta T cells represent the major lymphocyte population infiltrating melanoma, and both V delta 1(+) and V delta 2(+) cells are involved. The majority of melanoma-infiltrating gamma delta cells showed effector memory and terminally-differentiated phenotypes and, accordingly, polyclonal gamma delta T cell lines obtained from tumor-infiltrat…
Retro-nasal aroma release is correlated with variations in the in-mouth air cavity volume after empty deglutition.
2012
International audience; We hypothesized that interindividual differences in motor activities during chewing and/or swallowing were determining factors for the transfer of volatile aroma from the in-mouth air cavity (IMAC) toward the olfactory mucosa. In our first experiment, we looked for changes in IMAC volume after saliva deglutition in 12 healthy subjects. The mean IMAC volume was measured after empty deglutition using an acoustic pharyngometer device. Based on the time course of the IMAC volume after swallowing, we discerned two groups of subjects. The first group displayed a small, constant IMAC volume (2.26 mL ±0.62) that corresponded to a high tongue position. The second group displa…