Histometric features for the grading of prostatic carcinoma

Histometric features for the objective grading of prostatic adenocarcinoma in histologic specimens were analyzed in five cases each of well, moderately and poorly differentiated lesions. Tissue sections from the selected cases were stained by the Feulgen method and digitized by a video-based microphotometer. Twenty total fields were recorded for each grade: ten at high resolution (an image sampling of 0.5 micron per pixel) and ten at low resolution (0.8 micron per pixel), with two fields per case recorded at each resolution. The images were segmented by an automated expert system-guided scene segmentation procedure. The performance of that procedure was measured by comparing the automated counts of nuclei in the segmented fields to the visual counts made by a pathologist in the same fields. For well, moderately and poorly differentiated cases, respectively, the nuclear counts made by the expert system at high resolution were 2.7%, 4.2% and 4.7% higher than the visual counts (as estimated from a total of 6,628 nuclei), but 1.2%, 2.5% and 1.1% lower at low resolution (10,329 nuclei). High-resolution features and tissue textural features were computed for each case. The high-resolution features showed good separation between the three groups of cases. The tissue textural features showed consistent separation between well and moderately differentiated cases. The relaxation of the spatial resolution (to 0.8 micron/pixel spacing) did not affect the selection of features, but led to less separation between the data from different grades. In conclusion, the automated system performed satisfactorily in distinguishing sections of prostatic tumors of varying degrees of differentiation.     

Die Variabilität vegetativer und generativer Flechtenstrukturen und ihre Bedeutung für die Systematik

Die Entstehung von Stützleisten in den Thalli von Cladonia chlorophaea und Cetraria islandica, sowie die Entwicklung sekundärer Soredien im Inneren der Podetien von Cladonia chlorophaea werden beschrieben. Gemeinsam mit anderen Entwicklungsvorgängen von Flechten zeigen die Beobachtungen eine sehr geringe Determination der Flechtengewebe. Die Struktur wird weitgehend durch die Funktion bestimmt, während gleichzeitig bestimmte ontogenetische Abläufe unveränderbar sind. Die Bedeutung dieser Erscheinungen für die Systematik wird diskutiert.     

Characterization of plasmids in halobacteria.

Extrachromosomal, covalently closed circular deoxyribonucleic acid has been isolated from different species of halobacteria. Three strains of Halobacterium halobium and one of Halobacterium cutirubrum, all of which synthesize purple membrane (Pum+) and bacterioruberin (Rub+), contain plasmids of different size which share extensive sequence homologies. One strain of Halobacterium salinarium, another one of Halobacterium capanicum, and two new Halobacterium isolates from Tunisia, which are also Pum+ Rub+, do not harbor covalently closed circular deoxyribonucleic acid but contain sequences, presumably integrated into the chromosome, which are similar if not identical to those of pHH1, i.e., the plasmid originally isolated from H. halobium. Three other halophilic strains, Halobacterium trapanicum, Halobacterium volcanii, and a new isolate from Israel, do not carry pHH1-like sequences. These strains are, by morphological and physiological criteria, different from the others examined and harbor plasmids unrelated to pHH1.     

Effects of lithium on inducible enzymes of rat liver.

Chronic lithium administration to female rats results in elevation of serum corticoids, lowering of serum glucose and altered induction of liver enzymes. The cortisol induction of tyrosine transaminase is increased selectively over that of tryptophan oxygenase. The glucose induction of glucokinase following a fast is increased by chronic lithium treatment but diminished by acute treatment. These results indicate that lithium may alter the glucose metabolic set-point in rats.     

Lipid status association with 25-hydroxy vitamin D: Cross sectional study of end stage renal disease patients

BackgroundSome observational studies indicate an association of 25-hydroxy vitamin D (25(OH)D) insufficiency and atherogenic cholesterol concentrations. The aim of this study was to investigate relationship between 25(OH)D concentrations and lipid parameters in end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, separately for predialysis, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients.MethodsWe have adjusted 25(OH)D concentrations for seasonal variability with cosinor analysis, and performed all further analysis using these corrected 25(OH)D concentrations. Concentrations of 25(OH)D and the lipid parameters were determined in 214 ESRD patients and 50 control group participants. The analysis included the measurement of 25(OH)D by HPLC, apolipoprotein (Apo) AI, ApoB and Lp(a) by nephelometry, total cholesterol (TC), high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C), low-density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C) and triglyceride (TG) by spectrophotometry and manually calculated ApoB/ApoAI and LDL-C/HDL-C ratio.ResultsESRD patients with adjusted 25(OH)D concentrations of 50 nmol/L had significantly higher TC (P = 0.005) and ApoAI (P = 0.049). Significantly higher HDLC (P = 0.011) and ApoAI (P = 0.020) were found in hemodialysis patients with the 25(OH)D concentrations of 50 nmol/L. The other analyzed lipid parameters differed significantly between predialysis, hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis patients with 25(OH)D concentrations of < 50 nmol/L.ConclusionsOur study indicate the significant relationship between 25(OH)D repletion and optimal concentrations of lipid parameters in ESRD patients. Further research is necessary to explain whether joint evaluation of vitamin D status and lipid abnormalities could improve cardiovascular outcome in ESRD patients.     

Protected areas and prime hoverfly areas: Safe haven for hoverflies or not?

The efficiency of protected areas (PAs) has often been questioned due to global decline of biodiversity. Invertebrates, especially insects, have been historically underrepresented in conservation studies. Our study focuses on hoverflies, an important group of insect pollinators and proven to be good bioindicators. Research was focused in Serbia, one of Europe's hotspots of hoverfly diversity, with a long tradition of hoverfly research, which provided sufficient information for achieving our aims: identifying areas of high hoverfly diversity, evaluating the efficiency of PAs and prime hoverfly areas (PHAs) in the conservation of hoverflies, determining how well they cover the distribution of hoverfly species, especially those of conservation concern, and testing the importance of the size of the area for conservation of hoverfly diversity. We applied weighting of the species to help stress the importance of species of conservation concern. The results indicated that PHAs cover the areas with high hoverfly diversity better than PA networks, especially when it comes to species of conservation concern. Generalized linear model results showed that the area size was a significant predictor of number of species in both PA and PHA. This indicates that area size is key when designating new areas important for conservation, but there are also other factors that need to be taken into account, such as habitat quality or suitability. Studies like this are useful in aiding designation of new areas important for conservation of certain species and in identifying sampling gaps, which could potentially aim future research in that direction.     

A new approach for activation of the kiwifruit cysteine protease for usage in in-vitro testing

Molecular Biology Reports - Actinidin (Act d 1), a highly abundant cysteine protease from kiwifruit, is one of the major contributors to the development of kiwifruit allergy. Many studies have...     

Cytotoxic activities of Hypericum perforatum L. extracts against 2D and 3D cancer cell models

Cytotechnology - Six extracts were obtained from plant species Hypericum perforatum L., collected at Samsun in Turkey. The aim of this study was to examine the mechanisms of the anticancer activity...