Interleukin-1\beta affects the macrophage recruitment and proliferation in the injured brain of 6-day-old rat

Six-day-old male rats received a mechanical lesion in the left cerebral hemisphere. Thereafter, a single dose of either 5, 50 or 500 units (U) of recombinant rat interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) was injected into the lesion cavity. One or 2 days after the injury, the rats were injected with H-3-thymidine. Brain sections were subjected to BSI-B4 lectin histochemistry and autoradiography to visualise proliferating and non-proliferating macrophages located within the region of injury. A mitogenic effect of IL-1 beta on macrophages was observed on day 2 in brains injected with the lowest 5 U dose of cytokine. Following administration of higher 50 U and 500 U doses, infiltration of the injured tissue by macrophages was significantly intensified on day 1. However, on day 2, dose-dependent reductions of the total number of macrophages as well as their proliferative activity were recorded. The findings suggest that the higher the initial quantity of macrophages,the sooner they disappeared from the injury site. It may therefore be hypothesised that IL-1 beta-induced increase in macrophage recruitment at the beginning of the inflammatory response speeded the removal of tissue debris and, therefore, accelerated healing of the injured nervous tissue

The use of SR-FTIR microspectroscopy for a preliminary biochemical study of the rat hippocampal formation tissue in case of pilocarpine induced epilepsy and neutroprotection with FK-506

The main aim of the work was the biochemical analysis of the hippocampal formation tissue in the case of epileptic rats treated with the neuroprotective agent FK-506. Three groups of animals were compared: rats with pilocarpine induced seizures treated and non-treated with tacrolimus as well as naive controls. Synchrotron radiation Fourier transform infrared (SR-FTIR) microspectroscopy was used for the biomolecular analysis of studied samples. The measurements were carried out at SISSI beamline of ELETTRA. A Bruker IFS 66v/S interferometer coupled to a Bruker Hyperion 2000 microscope was used. The tissue samples were analyzed in transmission mode with a beam defined by a small aperture and spatial resolution steps of 10 mu m which allowed us to probe the selected cross-line of the sample at cellular resolution. The obtained results enabled to compare the distributions of proteins and lipids in the three hippocampal cellular layers, i.e. in molecular, multiform and granular layers. For epileptic animals both treated and non-treated with FK-506, the tendency for increase of the ratio of the absorbance at around 1548 and 1658 cm(-1) (amide II/amide I ratio) was observed, however only for the multiform layer these changes were statistically significant. Similar relation was noticed in case of the ratio of the absorbance at around 1631 and 1658 cm(-1). The mentioned results may suggest conformational changes of proteins in the direction of beta-sheet secondary structure. Additionally, a statistically significant increase in the lipid massif and a decrease of the ratio of absorbance at around 2921 and 2958 cm(-1) were observed for epileptic animals treated with tacrolimus comparing to the control group

On a generic symmetry defect hypersurface

We show that symmetry defect hypersurfaces for two generic members of the irreducible algebraic family of n-dimensional smooth irreducible subvarieties in general position in C²ⁿ are homeomorphic and they have homeomorphic sets of singular points. In particular symmetry defect curves for two generic curves in C² of the same degree have the same numer of singular points

Generic singularities of symplectic and quasi-symplectic immersions

For any k<2n we construct a complete system of invariants in the problem of classifying singularities of immersed k-dimensional submanifolds of a symplectic 2n-manifold at a generic double point.Comment: 12 page

An 11-year-old boy with Down syndrome phenotype and partial duplication in 21q11.2-q21 region

Opis przypadku 11-letniego chłopca z zespołem Downa ze stwierdzoną de novo częściową duplikacją chromosomu 21. pary. W pracy dokonano prezentacji algorytmu diagnostycznego, jak również skrótowego przeglądu literaturowego.We report a clinical case of an 11-year-old boy with de novo partial duplication of chromosome 21st pair and some clinical features of Down syndrome. Using hr-CGH method (high resolution Comparative Genomic Hybridization) we detected a quantitative change (a duplication) in 21q21-q11.2 region. To confirmed the results of hr-CGH analysis we used Quantitative Fluorescent Real Time PCR method with four primers for two different genes located in duplication region

Effects of seeding density and cultivar on productivity of baby spinach grown hydroponically in deep water culture systems

Masters of Engineering project report detailing two trials of DWC spinach comparisons in Fall 2017.Three spinach cultivars, Carmel, Space, and Seaside (F1), were evaluated in regards to their suitability for Deep Water Culture (DWC) hydroponic production according to the procedure presented in Cornell Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) Baby Spinach Handbook. Carmel consistently had the highest sprout count and produced the highest fresh weight (FW) among the three cultivars. Space performed moderately well; more data is needed for statistical robustness and verification under more typical higher-light conditions. With respect to Carmel, seeding fewer cells, but at a higher reduced sprouting rate and yield, but not severely. For all three cultivars, pericarps (seed coats getting stuck on cotyledons time of harvest) found in manually harvested baby spinach of marketable size were rare.Element Farm

Bifurcation sets of families of reflections on surfaces in R-3

We introduce a new affinely invariant structure on smooth surfaces in ℝ3 by defining a family of reflections in all points of the surface. We show that the bifurcation set of this family has a special structure at ‘ points’, which are not detected by the flat geometry of the surface. These points (without an associated structure on the surface) have also arisen in the study of the centre symmetry set; using our technique we are able to explain how the points are created and annihilated in a generic family of surfaces. We also present the bifurcation set in a global setting.</jats:p

Effects of immunosuppressants FK506 and cyclosporin A on the developing rat brain

Tacrolimus (FK506) and cyclosporin A (CsA) are immunosuppressants commonly used in transplantology. Their neuroprotective actions have also frequently been reported. Unfortunately, after prolonged administration, the drugs have numerous negative neurological side-effects which could also be observed in paediatric clinical cases. Since the problem has never been explored experimentally, the present study focuses on FK506 and CsA influence on the developing rat brain. Six- and 30-day-old rats (P6s and P30s, respectively) received two injections of FK506 or CsA, at a 24-hr interval. Control rats were injected with vehicle alone (Cremophor and ethanol mixture). When the rats were 60-day-old, weights and sizes of their brains were recorded. Additionally, quantitative assessment of calretinin-(CR+) and parvalbumin-immunopositive (PV+) inhibitory neurons was performed. In comparison to naive or vehicle-injected controls, FK506 or CsA-treated P6s showed decreases in the brain weight. In P30s, a decrease in the brain weight was observed only following the vehicle injections. In P6s, CsA injections reduced both CR+ and PV+ neuronal populations while FK506 injections reduced only numbers of PV+ neurons. In P30s, injections of the vehicle alone, but not those of FK506 or CsA, led to significant reductions of the CR+ and PV+ neurons. Generally, the results suggest negative long-term effects of FK506 or CsA on the developing brain. Interestingly, the negative effects of the vehicle were much stronger