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Studies on infectivity, longevity and fecundity of Ancylostoma ceylanicum in golden hamsters.

Ancylostoma ceylanicum is a new introduction as an experimental hookworm model. Information on the biology of this parasite in its laboratory host--the golden hamster, is meagre. Its infectivity, longevity and fecundity were studied to obtain relevant information especially on vulnerable points in the maintenance and continuation of the infection. 100% infectivity was obtained with an inoculum of 60 larvae per animal. Maximum numbers of parasites were harboured from day 15 to day 18 after infection and thereafter gradually declined. Approximately 10% of the worms were still present at the end of the third month of infection. The in vitro release of eggs in a 24-hour period by one female nematode peaked from day 25 to day 39, a second rise occurred in day 70 after infection.

Ancylostoma↗

Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes: their longevity and infectivity.

The longevity and infectivity of isolated populations of Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes were studied. Following chloroquine treatment gametocyte numbers fell with a constant rate of loss over a period of 16-24 days; the populations had a half-life of 2-4 days. The sex ratio stayed constant throughout at 4 female: 1 male. The ability of the microgametocytes to exflagellate and the infectivity of the population to mosquitoes persisted for 3 weeks. Antibodies to the gametocytes were detected but not in every patient studied. It was concluded that the gametocytes of P. falciparum are both long-lived and show persistent infectivity to mosquitoes. They can stimulate antibody production but the immune response appears to play no part in their elimination, which probably takes place in the spleen as a part of the normal process of removing old, damaged and malformed red cells.

Animals↗

Plagiorchis elegans: emergence, longevity and infectivity of cercariae, and host behavioural modifications during cercarial emergence.

We investigated changes in the behaviour of Stagnicola elodes associated with the emergence of Plagiorchis elegans cercariae. Within 15 min of the reduction in light intensity, which triggered the onset of cercarial emergence, infected snails moved to the top of the water column and remained there for 2-3 h. Seventy-nine percent of all cercariae that emerged from the snail did so during this period. Uninfected snails showed no such behavioural changes following the change in light intensity. Cercariae were released in a dense cloud around the snail at the water surface and dispersed passively. Within 3-4 h more than 80% of all cercariae had settled in the bottom 5 cm of the water column. The infectivity of cercariae increased from less than 20% upon emergence from the snail to greater than 75% 4-6 h post-emergence, and then declined steadily to below 5% by 24 h post-emergence. Cercarial longevity was greater than 30 h and exceeded the period of infectivity. This may be related to steadily falling endogenous glycogen levels. A delay in attaining maximum infectivity may represent an adaptive mechanism allowing time for cercarial dissemination, thus reducing superinfection, and subsequent parasite-associated mortality, of second intermediate hosts.

Aedes↗

Technology assessment in dentistry: a comparison of the longevity and cost-effectiveness of inlays.

OBJECTIVES: An example of technology assessment in dental care by evaluating the (cost-)effectiveness of types of three-surface inlays (gold, laboratory-fabricated ceramic, and chairside CAD/CAM ceramic) is provided. METHODS: MEDLINE, EMBASE, and the Cochrane Library were searched for studies published between 1966 and June 2003 that reported annual survival probabilities and annual observations. The longevity of different types of inlays was measured by the number of failure-free years. Annual survival rates from different studies were pooled by weighing the rates of each study by the inverse of the variance of the effect estimate. A cost-effectiveness analysis from the perspective of German private health insurers was performed using billing charges. RESULTS: Three, five, and two case series on laboratory-fabricated ceramic, chairside CAD/CAM ceramic, and gold inlays, respectively, were included. Over a 9-year observation period, the number of undiscounted failure-free years was 8.62 (95 percent confidence interval, 8.40-8.85), 8.65 (8.58-8.73), and 8.76 (8.72-8.80) for laboratory-fabricated ceramic, chairside CAD/CAM ceramic, and gold inlays, respectively. Laboratory-fabricated ceramic inlays were the most expensive. CONCLUSIONS: While laboratory-fabricated ceramic, chairside CAD/CAM ceramic, and gold inlays had a strikingly similar failure-free survival rate, laboratory-fabricated ceramic inlays had the highest costs and, thus, were less cost-effective than chairside CAD/CAM ceramic and gold inlays.

Cost-Benefit Analysis↗

Enhancement of Sf-9 cell growth and longevity through supplementation of culture medium with hemolymph.

The benefits of insect cell culture medium supplementation with hemolymph of Lonomia obliqua were investigated. The addition of hemolymph to the medium induced high levels of cell growth, and the viability was maintained for longer periods. The maximum cell yield increased almost 3-fold after hemolymph supplementation. Cultures in their stationary phase were rescued through hemolymph supplementation, also reaching high cell concentrations. These actions were much dependent on the concentration of hemolymph; low hemolymph concentration had a positive effect in cell growth, whereas high hemolymph concentration showed a deleterious effect. Fractionation of hemolymph by gel filtration chromatography showed the presence of three factors with different activity in insect cell culture: an potential anti-apoptotic factor, a growth-promoting factor, and an enzyme that hydrolyzes sucrose. Addition of hemolymph to the medium induced high levels of glucose production. The sucrose to glucose conversion was also linearly dependent upon the hemolymph concentration. Therefore, we conclude that cell growth and longevity can be increased by supplementation of the culture medium with hemolymph.

Animals↗

Longevity of granular iron in groundwater treatment processes: solution composition effects on reduction of organohalides and nitroaromatic compounds.

Although granular iron permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) are increasingly employed to contain subsurface contaminants, information pertaining to system longevity is sparse. The present investigation redresses this situation by examining the long-term effects of carbonate, silica, chloride, and natural organic matter (NOM) on reactivity of Master Builders iron toward organohalides and nitroaromatic contaminants. Six columns were operated for 1100 days (approximately 4500 pore volumes) and five others for 407 days (approximately 1800 pore volumes). Nine were continuously exposed to mixtures of contaminant species, while the other two were only intermittently exposed in order to differentiate deactivation induced by water (and inorganic cosolutes) from that resulting from contaminant reduction. Contaminants investigated were trichloroethylene, 1,2,3-trichloropropane, 1,1-dichloroethane, 2-nitrotoluene, 4-nitroacetophenone, and 4-nitroanisole. Column reactivity declined substantially over the first 300 days and was dependent on the feed solution chemistry. High carbonate concentrations enhanced reactivity slightly within the first 90 days but produced poorer performance over the long term. Both silica and NOM adversely affected reactivity, while chloride evinced a somewhat mixed effect. Observed contrasts in relative reactivities suggest that trichloroethylene, 1,2,3-trichloropropane, and nitroaromatic compounds all react at different types of reactive sites. Our results indicate that differences in groundwater chemistry should be considered in the PRB design process.

Chlorides↗

Longevity of granular iron in groundwater treatment processes: corrosion product development.

Permeable reactive barriers employing iron as a reactive surface have received extensive attention. A remaining issue, however, relates to their longevity. As an integral part of a long-term column study conducted to examine the influence of inorganic cosolutes on iron reactivity toward chlorinated solvents and nitroaromatic compounds, Master Builder iron grains were characterized via scanning and transmission electron microscopy, electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), micro-Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction. Prior to exposure to carbonate solutions, the iron grains were covered by a surface scale that consisted of fayalite (Fe2SiO4), wüstite (FeO), magnetite (Fe3O4), maghemite (gamma-Fe2O3), and graphite. After 1100 days of exposure to solutions containing carbonate, other inorganic solutes, and organic contaminants, the wüstite, fayalite, and graphite of the original scale partially dissolved, and magnetite and iron carbonate hydroxide (Fe3(OH)2.2CO3) precipitated on top of the scale. Raman results indicate the presence of green rust (e.g., [Fe4(2+)Fe2(3+)(OH)12]-[CO3 x 2H2O]) toward the column outlet after 308 days of operation, although this mineral phase disappears at longer operation times. Grains extracted from a column exposed to a high concentration (20 mM) of sodium bicarbonate were more extensively weathered than those from columns exposed to 2 mM sodium bicarbonate. An iron carbonate hydroxide layer up to 100 microm thick was observed. Even though EELS analysis of iron carbonate hydroxide indicates that this is a redox-active phase, the thickness of this layer is presumed responsible for the previously observed decline in the reactivity of this column relative to low-bicarbonate columns. A silica-containing feed resulted in reduced reactivity toward TCE. Grains from this column had a strong enrichment of silicon in the precipitates, although no distinct silica-containing mineral phases were identified. The substitution of 2 mM calcium carbonate for 2 mM sodium bicarbonate in the feed did not produce a measurable reactivity loss, asthe discrete calcium carbonate precipitates that formed in this system did not severely restrict access to the reactive surface.

Calcium Carbonate↗

Cellular longevity: role of apoptosis and replicative senescence.

Cellular longevity refers to the lifespan of an individual cell. Normal cells have a finite lifespan and typically die by undergoing apoptosis, or enter into a state of irreversible growth arrest, termed replicative senescence, at the end of that lifespan. The lifespan of a cell is a balance between pro-survival/anti-apoptotic and pro-apoptotic death-promoting factors. The role of heat shock proteins, Bcl-2 family members, antioxidant molecules, and telomere length and telomerase activity in the regulation of apoptosis and replicative senescence, will be discussed.

Animals↗

Trait humor and longevity: do comics have the last laugh?

Four sets of biographical data were analyzed in order to test the hypothesis that the ability to generate humor is associated with longevity. Although steps were taken to ensure that tests had high levels of statistical power, analyses provided very little support for the idea that individuals with a well-developed sense of humor live longer than serious writers and other entertainers. In addition, a subsidiary analysis revealed that those in the business of entertaining others died at an earlier age than those in other lines of endeavor. These findings suggest that researchers should turn their attention from trait humor to the effects of humorous material.

Aged↗

Longevity enhances selection of environmental sex determination.

Environmental sex determination (ESD) is a mechanism in which an individual develops as male or female largely in response to some environmental effect experienced early in life. Its forms range from sex determination by egg incubation temperature in reptiles to sex determination of photoperiod in amphipods. Previous theoretical work as suggested that ESD is favored by natural selection if the fitness consequences of the early environmental experience differ for males and females, so that an individual benefits by being male under some conditions and female under others. A drawback of ESD is that it enables climatic changes to influence the population sex ratio, and such fluctuations select against ESD. This study employed numerical analyses to investigate the balance between these two opposing forces. The negative impact of climatic fluctuations appears to depend greatly on species longevity: substantial between-year fluctuations are of little consequence in selecting against ESD in long-lived species because annual sex ratio fluctuations tend to cancel and thus alter the total population sex ratio only slightly. Thus, if a species is sufficiently long-lived, extreme ESD can be maintained despite only a weak advantage. This result offers one explanation for the failure to demonstrate an advantage for the extreme forms of ESD observed in reptiles.

Animals↗

The costimulation-regulated duration of PKB activation controls T cell longevity.

A brief antigenic stimulus can promote T cell proliferation, but the duration and nature of intracellular signals required for survival are unclear. Here we show that in the absence of OX40 costimulation, antigen-activated CD4+ cells are short-lived because the activity of protein kinase B (PKB; also known as Akt) is not maintained over time. Activated T cells that express a dominant-negative variant of PKB also undergo apoptosis, reproducing the OX40-deficient phenotype. In contrast, an active form of PKB prevents downregulation of antiapoptotic proteins in OX40-deficient T cells, rescues antigen-induced cell survival in vivo, and controls inflammation in recall responses. Thus, sustained and periodic PKB signaling has an integral role in regulating T cell longevity.

Animals↗

Genetic tagging shows increased frequency and longevity of antigen-presenting, skin-derived dendritic cells in vivo.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are key regulators of immune responses that activate naive antigen-specific T lymphocytes. In draining lymph nodes, antigen-bearing DCs are reported to be rare and short-lived. How such small numbers of short-lived DCs can activate rare antigen-specific T cells is unclear. Here we show that after immunization of mouse skins by gene gun, the number of antigen-bearing DCs that migrate to draining lymph node is 100-fold higher than previously estimated and that they persist for approximately 2 weeks. The substantial frequency and longevity of DCs in situ ensures ample antigen presentation and stimulation for the rare antigen-specific T cells in draining lymph nodes.

Animals↗

LASS3 (longevity assurance homologue 3) is a mainly testis-specific (dihydro)ceramide synthase with relatively broad substrate specificity.

The LASS (longevity assurance homologue) family members are highly conserved from yeasts to mammals. Five mouse and human LASS family members, namely LASS1, LASS2, LASS4, LASS5 and LASS6, have been identified and characterized. In the present study we cloned two transcriptional variants of hitherto-uncharacterized mouse LASS3 cDNA, which encode a 384-amino-acid protein (LASS3) and a 419-amino-acid protein (LASS3-long). In vivo, [3H]dihydrosphingosine labelling and electrospray-ionization MS revealed that overproduction of either LASS3 isoform results in increases in several ceramide species, with some preference toward those having middle- to long-chain-fatty acyl-CoAs. A similar substrate preference was observed in an in vitro (dihydro)ceramide synthase assay. These results indicate that LASS3 possesses (dihydro)ceramide synthesis activity with relatively broad substrate specificity. We also found that, except for a weak display in skin, LASS3 mRNA expression is limited almost solely to testis, implying that LASS3 plays an important role in this gland.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Functional granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor receptor is constitutively expressed on neoplastic plasma cells and mediates tumour cell longevity.

It has been shown that granulocyte/macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF) is able to support myeloma cell propagation in cooperation with interleukin (IL)-6, the major growth factor for malignant plasma cells, although the biological mechanisms involved remain unknown. Therefore we investigated (i) the expression levels of the GM-CSF receptor (GM-CSFR) constituents in three malignant plasma cell lines and in native malignant plasma cells, (ii) the ability of the receptor to mediate common signalling pathways regulating proliferation and cell survival in malignant plasma cell lines, and (iii) the effects of GM-CSF on tumour cell biology. The GM-CSFRalpha subunit was detected in the malignant plasma cell lines RPMI-8226, MC/CAR, IM-9 as well as 6/6 native myeloma cell samples derived from the bone marrow of patients with overt disease. Furthermore, GM-CSFR expression was also detected in the CD19+ fraction from 2/3 bone marrow samples and 5/8 peripheral blood samples derived from patients with malignant plasma cell disorders, but not in the CD19+ fraction of peripheral blood from healthy donors. The expressed cytokine receptor alpha-subunit was able to constitute a functional signalling complex with the ubiquitously expressed GM-CSFRbeta subunit, as demonstrated by the fact that GM-CSF induced the p21-ras/mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling cascade in malignant plasma cell lines. Since this signalling cascade plays an essential role in the mediation of both proliferation and cell survival, we investigated the impact of GM-CSF on these two events. Application of GM-CSF led to an increase of DNA-synthesis in MC/CAR, IM-9 and RPMI-8226 cells. Furthermore, it increased longevity of these malignant plasma cell lines by reducing the rates of spontaneous apoptosis. We conclude that (i) the functional GM-CSFR is commonly expressed on malignant plasma cells and that (ii) GM-CSF promotes the clonal expansion of myeloma cells by inhibiting spontaneous apoptosis and promoting DNA synthesis.

Aged↗

The post-amalgam era: a selection of materials and their longevity in the primary and young permanent dentitions.

OBJECTIVES: During the last decade there has been a rapid change in the selection of dental restorative materials as the use of amalgam has decreased. The aim of this study was to obtain information on children's restorative dental care in Finland and to analyse the longevity of failed restorations. DESIGN: A random sample of public dental health care centres was drawn from the registers and the dentists working there were asked to record information for each restoration they placed during a three-day period. The survey data comprised a total of 2186 restorations in patients younger than 17 years. RESULTS: Of the children in need of restorative treatment, only a few had previous amalgam restorations. Primary caries was the main reason for restorative treatment in both primary and permanent dentitions (80% and 83%, respectively). In primary teeth, the most common restorative material was resin-modified glass ionomer cement (57.4%), whereas in permanent teeth, composite resin dominated (58.7%). Amalgam was not used at all in the primary dentition and in only 0.6% of permanent teeth. Eighteen per cent of treatments in primary and 12% in permanent teeth were replacements of previous fillings. The mean age of failed glass ionomer restorations was 2.8 years (n = 101) in the primary dentition, and 3.5 years (n = 54) in the permanent dentition. CONCLUSIONS: Until better restorative materials are developed, more attention should be paid to the prevention of dental caries as well as to the proper handling of alternative materials.

Adolescent↗

Longevity of fixed metal ceramic bridge prostheses: a clinical follow-up study.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the factors that influence the longevity of fixed metal ceramic bridge prostheses, including the length of the bridge as well as the basic circumstances of the mouth. A total of 132 patients attended the clinical examination. There were 84 women (64%) and 48 men (36%). Patients had altogether 195 bridges, which included 157 short bridges (3-5 units) and 47 long bridges (6 and more units). The overall clinical examination was performed including the intra-oral radiographs. The salivary findings of the patient at baseline [flow rate of stimulated saliva, scores of mutans streptococci (SM) and lactobacilli (LB)] were registered from the patient files. In addition, the patient files were examined to receive further information concerning the complications treated in our clinic. On the basis of severe and extensive complications, the overall survival after 10 years was 84%. Long bridges had lower survival than the shorter ones (P=0.04). A low secretion of saliva recorded before the prosthetic treatment decreased the survival of the bridges (P=0.12) and the survival of the bridges was likewise reduced by high scores of LB and SM (P=0.07). Age of the patient did not influence the survival. It was shown here that long bridges (5 and more units) have a lower survival than the short bridges. It can be concluded, however, that the low secretion of saliva and the high scores of lactobacilli and SM have a remarkable influence on complications and these facts should therefore be taken into careful consideration in choosing the patients for the prosthetic treatment with fixed prosthodontics.

Adult↗

Longevity of immune complexes and abnormal germinal centre formation in NZB mice.

Rheumatoid factor (RF)-like (antibody-antibody) immune complexes induce a selective and intensive immunoglobulin (Ig)G1-RF response after a single injection in mice. However, the longevity of the response differs between mouse strains: serum IgG1-RF antibody titres decline 40 days after injection in C57Bl/6 mice whereas levels are maintained for more than 100 days in NZB mice. In order to elucidate whether this difference was owing to a lower ability of NZB mice to clear the injected immune complexes, sections of kidney, spleen, liver and mesenteric lymph nodes were harvested at different time points after injection with RF-like immune complexes. Immunohistochemical staining revealed that NZB mice have a delayed clearance of the injected immune complexes, because the immune complexes are retained for more than 40 days in their spleens and 100 days in their kidneys, compared to only 14 days in C57Bl/6 mice. Germinal centres were also present for a longer period in the spleens of the NZB mice, accompanying the presence of the immune complexes, and were abnormally large compared to C57Bl/6 mice. The clearance of immune complexes from the spleen coincided with the decline in serum levels of IgG1-RF, indicating that prolonged retention of immune complexes is responsible for the sustained IgG1-RF response.

Animals↗