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Selected AbstractsImmunocytochemical investigation of immune cells within human primary and permanent tooth pulpINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF PAEDIATRIC DENTISTRY, Issue 1 2006H. D. RODD Summary. Aim., The aim of this study was to determine whether there are any differences in the number and distribution of immune cells within human primary and permanent tooth pulp, both in health and disease. Design., The research took the form of a quantitative immunocytochemical study. One hundred and twenty-four mandibular first permanent molars and second primary molars were obtained from children requiring dental extractions under general anaesthesia. Following exodontia, 10-µm-thick frozen pulp sections were processed for indirect immunofluorescence. Triple-labelling regimes were employed using combinations of the following: (1) protein gene product 9·5, a general neuronal marker; (2) leucocyte common antigen (LCA); and (3) Ulex europaeus I lectin, a marker of vascular endothelium. Image analysis was then used to determine the percentage area of immunostaining for LCA. Results., Leucocytes were significantly more abundant in the pulp horn and mid-coronal region of intact and carious primary teeth, as compared to permanent teeth (P < 0·05, anova). Both dentitions demonstrated the presence of well-localized inflammatory cell infiltrates and marked aborization of pulpal nerves in areas of dense leucocyte accumulation. Conclusions., Primary and permanent tooth pulps appear to have a similar potential to mount inflammatory responses to gross caries The management of the compromised primary tooth pulp needs to be reappraised in the light of these findings. [source] Prostaglandin E2 -Mediated Anabolic Effect of a Novel Inhibitor of Phosphodiesterase 4, XT-611, in the In Vitro Bone Marrow Culture,JOURNAL OF BONE AND MINERAL RESEARCH, Issue 8 2003Ken-Ichi Miyamoto Abstract The mechanism of osteoblast formation by a novel PDE4 inhibitor, XT-611, was studied in the in vitro bone marrow culture system. The compound potentiated the osteoblast differentiation through accumulation of cyclic AMP after autocrine stimulation of EP4 receptor by PGE2 in pro-osteoblastic cells. Introduction: We previously reported that inhibitors of phosphodiesterase (PDE)4 isoenzyme increase osteoblast formation in an in vitro bone marrow culture system and inhibit bone loss in animal osteoporosis models. Here we investigated the mechanism of the effect of a novel PDE4 inhibitor, 3,4-dipropyl-4,5,7,8-tetrahydro-3H -imidazo[1,2- i]-purin-5-one (XT-611), on osteoblast formation in the in vitro bone marrow culture system. Materials and Methods: Rodent bone marrow cells were cultured in the presence of 0.2 mM ascorbic acid phosphate ester, 1 mM ,-glycerophosphate, and 10 nM dexamethasone for 10 days. Drug treatments were done for 24 h on day 3 of culture. Results: PDE4 inhibitors, including XT-611, but not PDE3 and PDE5 inhibitors, increased mineralized nodule formation in rat and mouse bone marrow cell cultures. During culture of the bone marrow cells, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) production increased with a peak on day 4, but the increase was completely inhibited by indomethacin, an unselective cyclo-oxygenase (COX) inhibitor. Spontaneous and XT-611-induced mineralized-nodule formation was also inhibited by indomethacin and COX-2 inhibitors, in a similar potential. Alkaline phosphatase-positive nodule formation in the absence or presence of XT-611 was inhibited by an antagonist of EP4 receptor, AH23848B, and synergistically potentiated by 11-deoxy-PGE1, but it was not influenced by other EP antagonists and agonists examined. The expression of PDE4 and EP4 mRNAs was observed in bone marrow cells. The effect of XT-611 was also confirmed to involve an increase of cyclic AMP and the cyclic AMP-dependent protein kinase pathway. Conclusion: These results suggest that PGE2 stimulates differentiation of osteoblast progenitor cells through the EP4 receptor in an autocrine manner, and the PDE4 inhibitor potentiates the differentiation by inhibiting hydrolysis of cyclic AMP in the cells. [source] Network optimization for the design of underground minesNETWORKS: AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL, Issue 1 2007M. Brazil Abstract Efficient methods to model and optimize the design of open-cut mines have been known for many years. The design of the infrastructure of underground mines has a similar potential for optimization and strategic planning. In this article we discuss the use of network optimization to tackle this problem. The idea is to design a connected system of declines, ramps, drives, and possibly shafts, to minimize capital development and haulage costs over the lifetime of a mine. This can be modeled as a variation on the Steiner problem, with suitable metric and constraints. These constraints include: an upper bound on the absolute gradient of arcs in the embedded network (typically 1/7), turning circle restrictions for navigability, and obstacle avoidance. Here we give an overview of the literature, focussing on our published work. We investigate the way in which this design problem can be modeled as a network optimization problem that accurately reflects the real costs involved while remaining mathematically tractable. Our approach is to first establish a fundamental model, which principally captures the development costs of the mine, and to study its geometric properties. We then outline more complicated generalized models, which add extra costs and constraints to the fundamental model but are still solvable. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. NETWORKS, Vol. 49(1), 40,50 2007 [source] Intraguild interactions promote assortative mating and affect sexual attractiveness in a phytophagous flyBIOLOGICAL JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY, Issue 1 2009TOM READER Changes in acoustic and substrate-borne sexual signals in phytophagous insects associated with host plant shifts are known to have the potential to promote assortative mating, reproductive isolation and speciation. In this article, we ask whether the switch between pure herbivory and intraguild predation (IGP), which is common amongst phytophagous insects, has similar potential. Male flies in the genus Lipara (Diptera: Chloropidae) search for females by vibrating reed stems and waiting for a reply. By kleptoparasitizing other phytophagous species in the genus (a form of IGP), Lipara rufitarsis can increase its nonsexual fitness considerably. We looked at the impact of IGP on the timing of hatching, body size and attractiveness of male calls in L. rufitarsis. L. rufitarsis males that had engaged in IGP hatched significantly earlier than purely phytophagous flies and were significantly larger, but their calls were less likely to elicit responses from females during playback experiments. We conclude that, although behavioural observations of females provided no evidence of ,like preferring like', changes in phenology associated with IGP are likely to promote assortative mating in this system. The general preference of females for the calls of smaller males is a phenomenon worthy of further study: it may have no adaptive significance, or it may indicate that mating with large males is associated with a fitness cost. © 2009 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2009, 98, 171,180. [source] Studies on some singular potentials in quantum mechanicsINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF QUANTUM CHEMISTRY, Issue 6 2005Amlan K. RoyArticle first published online: 10 MAY 200 Abstract A simple methodology is suggested for the efficient calculation of certain central potentials having singularities. The generalized pseudospectral method used in this work facilitates nonuniform and optimal spatial discretization. Applications have been made to calculate the energies, densities, and expectation values for two singular potentials of physical interest, viz., (i) the harmonic potential plus inverse quartic and sextic perturbation and (ii) the Coulomb potential with a linear and quadratic term for a broad range of parameters. The first 10 states belonging to a maximum of ,, = 8 and 5 for (i) and (ii) have been computed with good accuracy and compared with the most accurate available literature data. The calculated results are in excellent agreement, especially in light of the difficulties encountered in these potentials. Some new states are reported here for the first time. This offers a general and efficient scheme for calculating these and other similar potentials of physical and mathematical interest in quantum mechanics accurately. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Quantum Chem, 2005 [source] |