Inaug.-Diss.--Zürich. / Vita. "Die vorliegende Arbeit erscheint gleichzeitig als Band XII der ... Schriftenreihe 'Basler Studien zur Kunstgeschichte.'" Bibliography: p. 145-146.

Inaug.-Diss.--Zürich. / Vita. "Die vorliegende Arbeit erscheint gleichzeitig als Band XII der ... Schriftenreihe 'Basler Studien zur Kunstgeschichte.'" Bibliography: p. 145-146.

Thesis--K.B. Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München am 17. Juni 1910. / Dissertation was published in earlier form under title: "Die Glasmalerei des 15. Jahrhunderts in Bayern und Schwaben." Vita.

The purinergic P2X7 receptor (P2X7R) is an ionotropic adenosine triphosphate(ATP) receptor which is closely linked with pathological conditions in the central nervous system (CNS). Gliomas are the most common primary brain tumors with presently no cures. The roles of the P2X7R in these diseases have not been previously studied and in this work, I have used the rat C6 glioma as an experimental model system to investigate expression and function of the P2X7R in vitro and in vivo. The in vitro study has examined expression of the P2X7R in C6 cells and the involvement of this receptor in mediating cell functional responses. C6 glioma cells were found to express the P2X7R at both mRNA and protein levels. The P2X7Ragonist, 2', 3 '-(benzoy1-4-benzoy1)-ATP (BzATP) induced an increase in intracellularCa2+ concentration, an effect which was largely inhibited by periodate-oxidized ATP(OxATP), an irreversible P2X7R antagonist. BzATP treatment of C6 cells also resulted in ethidium bromide dye uptake indicating pore formation was induced byP2X7R activation. Chronic exposure of C6 cells to BzATP showed up-regulation of several pro-inflammatory factors including the chemokines monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) and interleukin-8 (IL-8) and the angiogenic factor vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) suggesting the P2X7R in C6 cells is involved in mediating inflammation in tumors. In addition, BzATP treatment was found to enhance wound-induced cell migration, an effect which was inhibited in the presence of OxATP, or another P2X7R antagonist, Brilliant Blue G (BBG). The in vivo study examined whether pharmacological modulation of P2X7R with BBG altered tumor growth. C6 glioma cells were implanted into the striatum of rat brain and in situ P2X7R expression was shown to be associated with glioma cells and resident microglia. Preliminary results have indicated that inhibition of P2X7R leads to a reduced volume of brain tumors formed by transplanted C6 cells. The overall results from this study demonstrate the novel finding that C6 glioma cells express functional P2X7R and suggest pharmacological modulation of theP2X7R could serve as an effective strategy to inhibit the development and progression of brain tumors. / Medicine, Faculty of / Anesthesiology, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of / Graduate

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Department of Art History, December 1999. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

The goal of the thesis was to make available a reference for the beginning appreciation of stained glass windows. It was designed for the person who has no prior experience in stained glass, and therefore the information is kept general and non-technical. A short history of stained glass is contained within the first section, and the second section is a self-guided tour of stained glass in West Portland. The historical information was pieced together from the library resources of Portland State University. The subject itself is difficult, as extensive reference material and primary sources are simply not available. The second section was designed specifically for the Portland resident. Seven churches and a synagogue were selected within walking distance of one another. A map is included, and the reader is urged to take this self-guided tour. The data was gathered from church records, newspaper articles, the Oregon Historical Society, professional glass craftsmen and signatures on the windows. After extensive research, it is discouraging to note that almost no information on Portland stained glass is available. This is attributed in part to the attitude of many of the relative unimportance of stained glass, and the habit of church records and newspaper accounts to limit their reports to personalities rather than facts. Since the basic theme of the thesis deals with a visual art, it was necessary to relate as much visual information as possible. Twenty-five photographs were chosen from reference books, the British Museum, the Oregon Historical Society and private collections. Calligraphy, maps and drawings are also included. The thesis is limited in scope and written primarily for Portland residents and visitors. It is an introduction which presents no conclusions. It is a beginning reference for those who have just begun to take notice of stained glass.

<p>The aim of this laboratory based study is to assess the efficiency of a tooth bleaching agent by measuring the degree of color change with a spectrophotometer (Konica Minolta, CM 2600d) and not by the usual subjective visual guide methods. Objectives of the study are: To determine tooth shade with a spectrophotometer prior to staining the tooth (baseline). To determine which insult causes the most discoloration numerically. To measure the efficiency of the bleaching agent used in the study with periodic color change pectrophotometer readings.&nbsp / To assess if the baseline tooth shade can be regained by the bleaching agent.</p>

No description available.

The field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo) focuses on understanding the evolution of ontogeny and mechanisms of evolutionary change. Recently, taxonomic comparisons of the sequence of skeletal ossification have become prominent in evo-devo. However, most of these studies fail to consider two major issues: how the technique used to assay ossification and ontogenetic variation and variability may affect comparisons among taxa. This study focuses on the onset of ossification in the skeleton of Monodelphis domestica and quantifies the affects of variation, variability, and technique bias on reconstructions of ontogeny. Previous comparisons among mammalian taxa have used both computed tomography (CT) and clearing-and-staining (CS) to assess the presence or absence of skeletal elements (i.e., skeletal maturity). In this study, CT and CS were used on the same specimen to compare how these methods assess skeletal maturity. The comparisons of the same individual under reveal significant differences in how skeletal maturity is assessed by CT and CS techniques. Further, significant biases were recovered between techniques. CT is more likely to reveal cranial elements that CS does not, whereas CS is more likely to reveal appendicular elements that CT does not. To assess levels of variation and variability, Ontogenetic Sequence Analysis (OSA) was used to characterize the ontogeny of Monodelphis domestica. This revealed significant levels of variation with over 800 different ontogenetic pathways recovered for the onset of ossification of all skeletal elements studied. Additionally, high levels of variability were also reconstructed because the majority of specimens were found to exhibit non-modal ontogenetic sequences. This variability is more highly concentrated in the sequence of cranial ossification, suggesting potential modularity in ontogenetic variation and variability. Finally, OSA revealed that technique bias could importantly affect reconstructions of skeletal ossification sequences because no identical sequences were recovered by the CT and CS datasets. The results of this study demonstrate the importance of considering the primary nature of developmental studies, the specimen. Only by recognizing and quantifying the complexities of evo-devo research, especially natural variation and methodological biases, can more complete understandings of the evolution of ontogeny be had. / text

Human placental villi are covered by a layer of trophoblast epithelia in direct contact with maternal blood, which exist in a constant steady-state of turnover and renewal ensuring both maternal and fetal health. The process of trophoblast turnover involves proliferation, differentiation and fusion of cytotrophoblast cells to form a terminally differentiated outer syncytiotrophoblast layer which functions as the active transport compartment between mother and fetus. Alterations in the balance between these three processes are thought to diminish both the structural and functional integrity of the syncytiotrophoblast, potentially leading to placental insufficiency associated with severe complications of pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia (PET), intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS). Placentas from early (<32 weeks) and late-onset (>33 weeks) pregnancies complicated by PET, IUGR, SIDS and gestational age-matched controls were systematically uniform randomly sampled to assess the morphological basis of placental villous structure and trophoblast turnover (villi, cytotrophoblast, syncytiotrophoblast, apoptotic syncytial knots) using unbiased stereological techniques (volumes and numbers). Villous cytotrophoblast proliferation was assessed using double immunohistochemistry for Ki67 and cytokeratin 7 (CK-7). Severe early-onset IUGR placentas (n=5) were smaller displaying significant reductions in the total number of CT cells, within which the density of proliferating CT was further reduced by 50%. Syncytiotrophoblast volume and number was significantly reduced with an increase in apoptotic syncytial knots. Late-onset IUGR placentas (n=4) also displayed significant reductions in the total number of CT and proliferating CT, but were not associated with changes in the density of proliferating CT. SCT numbers were significantly reduced with an increase in apoptotic knots. Placentas from severe early-onset PET (n=11) were similar to preterm controls, except for a significant increase in apoptotic syncytial knots. However, late-onset PET (n=6) displayed a significant decrease in total CT number, the percentage of which undergoing proliferation was significantly increased for structural villi. There were increased numbers of apoptotic syncytial knots in peripheral villi.