Anoplodiera voluta und Wahlia macrostylifera,zwei neue parasitische turbellarien aus Stichopus tremulus

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Identification of abscisic acid from shoots of Salix pentandra

Abscisic acid isolated from vegetative shoots of Salix pentandra L. has been identified by high performance liquid chromatography and combined gas chromatography-mass spectrometry.     

The quantitative relationship between longitudinal and radial function in left, right, and total heart pumping in humans

The total heart volume variation (THVV) during systole has been proposed to be caused by radial function of the ventricles, but definitive data for both ventricles have not been presented. Furthermore, the right ventricle (RV) has been suggested to have a greater longitudinal pumping component than the left ventricle (LV). Therefore, we aimed to compare the stroke volume (SV) generated by radial function to the volume variation of the left, right, and total heart. To do this, we also needed to develop a new method for measuring the contribution of the longitudinal atrioventricular plane displacement (AVPD) to the RVSV (RVSV(AVPD)). For our study, 11 volunteers underwent cine MRI in the short- and long-axis planes and MRI flow measurement in all vessels leading to and from the heart. The left, right, and total heart showed correlations between volume variation from flow measurements and radial function calculated as SV minus the longitudinal function (r = 0.81, P < 0.01; r = 0.80, P < 0.01; and r = 0.92, P < 0.001, respectively). Compared with the LV, the RV had a greater AVPD (23.4 +/- 0.8 vs. 16.4 +/- 0.5 mm), center of volume movement (13.0 +/- 0.7 vs. 7.8 +/- 0.4 mm), and, RVSV(AVPD) (82 +/- 2% vs. 60 +/- 2%) (P < 0.001 for all). We found that THVV is predominantly caused by radial function of the ventricles. Longitudinal AVPD accounts for approximately 80% of the RVSV, compared with approximately 60% for the LVSV. This difference explains the larger portion of THVV found on the left side of the heart.     

Numbers and distribution of the Great Cormorant in Iceland: Limitation at the regional and metapopulation level

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Specific Amyloid β Clearance by a Catalytic Antibody Construct

Classical immunization methods do not generate catalytic antibodies (catabodies), but recent findings suggest that the innate antibody repertoire is a rich catabody source. We describe the specificity and amyloid β (Aβ)-clearing effect of a catabody construct engineered from innate immunity principles. The catabody recognized the Aβ C terminus noncovalently and hydrolyzed Aβ rapidly, with no reactivity to the Aβ precursor protein, transthyretin amyloid aggregates, or irrelevant proteins containing the catabody-sensitive Aβ dipeptide unit. The catabody dissolved preformed Aβ aggregates and inhibited Aβ aggregation more potently than an Aβ-binding IgG. Intravenous catabody treatment reduced brain Aβ deposits in a mouse Alzheimer disease model without inducing microgliosis or microhemorrhages. Specific Aβ hydrolysis appears to be an innate immune function that could be applied for therapeutic Aβ removal.     

Urbanized birds have superior establishment success in novel environments

Many animals have adapted to the proximity of humans and thereby gained an advantage in a world increasingly affected by human activity. Numerous organisms have invaded novel areas and thereby increased their range. Here, we hypothesize that an ability to thrive in urban habitats is a key innovation that facilitates successful establishment and invasion. We test this hypothesis by relating the probability of establishment by birds on oceanic islands to the difference in breeding population density between urban and nearby rural habitats as a measure of urbanization in the ancestral range. This measure was the single-most important predictor of establishment success and the only statistically significant one, with additional effects of sexual dichromatism, number of releases and release effort, showing that the ability to cope with human proximity is a central component of successful establishment. Because most invasions occur as a consequence of human-assisted establishment, the ability to cope with human proximity will often be of central importance for successful establishment.     

Transcriptional Profiling of Adult Neural Stem-Like Cells from the Human Brain

There is a great potential for the development of new cell replacement strategies based on adult human neural stem-like cells. However, little is known about the hierarchy of cells and the unique molecular properties of stem- and progenitor cells of the nervous system. Stem cells from the adult human brain can be propagated and expanded in vitro as free floating neurospheres that are capable of self-renewal and differentiation into all three cell types of the central nervous system. Here we report the first global gene expression study of adult human neural stem-like cells originating from five human subventricular zone biopsies (mean age 42, range 33–60). Compared to adult human brain tissue, we identified 1,189 genes that were significantly up- and down-regulated in adult human neural stem-like cells (1% false discovery rate). We found that adult human neural stem-like cells express stem cell markers and have reduced levels of markers that are typical of the mature cells in the nervous system. We report that the genes being highly expressed in adult human neural stem-like cells are associated with developmental processes and the extracellular region of the cell. The calcium signaling pathway and neuroactive ligand-receptor interactions are enriched among the most differentially regulated genes between adult human neural stem-like cells and adult human brain tissue. We confirmed the expression of 10 of the most up-regulated genes in adult human neural stem-like cells in an additional sample set that included adult human neural stem-like cells (n = 6), foetal human neural stem cells (n = 1) and human brain tissues (n = 12). The NGFR, SLITRK6 and KCNS3 receptors were further investigated by immunofluorescence and shown to be heterogeneously expressed in spheres. These receptors could potentially serve as new markers for the identification and characterisation of neural stem- and progenitor cells or as targets for manipulation of cellular fate.     

Infectivity of amyloid diseases

To date, transmissibility of amyloid diseases has not been thoroughly investigated. Although only some of these conformational disorders are considered infectious, all amyloid diseases could be infectious under certain conditions. For transmissibility, endogenous expression of an amyloidogenic peptide required, as well as the presence of an inoculum that is rich in amyloid fibrils and/or their precursors. Notably, administration of one type of amyloid might result in deposition of a different amyloid. Various cofactors could be essential for transmission - some might chaperone the amyloid peptides and/or fibrils, thereby directly facilitating their propagation; others might indirectly stabilize and/or increase levels of conformers with a high beta-sheet content. It is possible that these chaperones are induced by inflammation, which itself can lead to secondary amyloidosis. Thus, amyloid-related therapeutic approaches should not be based on administration of amyloidogenic peptides in conjunction with an inflammatory stimulus, such as in a recently halted clinical trial for Alzheimer's disease.