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The use of mechanical and enzymatic techniques to isolate preantral follicles before in-vitro culture has been previously described. The aim of this study was to assess the effect of the isolation procedure of mouse preantral follicles on their subsequent development in vitro.

In this paper we classify $\operatorname{Ext}$-finite noetherian hereditary abelian categories over an algebraically closed field $k$ satisfying Serre duality in the sense of Bondal and Kapranov. As a consequence we obtain a classification of saturated noetherian hereditary abelian categories. As a side result we show that when our hereditary abelian categories have no non-zero projectives or injectives, then the Serre duality property is equivalent to the existence of almost split sequences.

A novel method to monitor the performance of WDM channels in an optical network is presented by analyzing the photo-diode current of a detected optical signal. From the photo-diode current, an amplitude histogram is generated, hereafter to be called the probability density function (PDF). By analyzing the PDF information is obtained about several monitor parameters including the optical power as well as the noise-levels of the channels. A wavelength dependent attenuator has to be used to extract the monitor parameters uniquely. Experimental evidence is given to demonstrate that the method can be used to analyze at least three WDM channels simultaneously.

Glutamine and taurine are reported to be beneficial for mouse embryo development in vitro, and we have recently shown that glutamine improves human blastocyst formation in vitro. This randomized study compared the development of supernumerary human embryos in the presence of 1 mmol/l glutamine and/or 5 mmol/l taurine from the 2–4-cell stage to the blastocyst stage. Blastocyst development and cell numbers were similar in the presence of glutamine or taurine: 52.6% and 58.3% of the embryos reached the blastocyst stage, respectively. Pyruvate uptake was similar in the presence of glutamine or taurine throughout development, as was lactate production after the 8-cell stage. Before this stage, lactate production was 4-fold higher in the presence of taurine (P < 0.001). The proportion of embryos reaching the blastocyst stage was similar with glutamine alone or with glutamine and taurine (62.5% and 47.2% respectively), as were the blastocyst cell numbers (63.0 ± 4.6 and 61.0 ± 5.1 respectively). In conclusion, taurine supports development of 2–4-cell human embryos to the blastocyst stage, although it does not further augment the beneficial effects of glutamine.

Without Abstract:

Polarized12B nuclei were produced andrecoil implanted in single crystals of fcc aluminum. The boron decay asymmetry andrelaxation times were measured as a function of external magnetic field values andat different orientation angles of the crystal. To identify the resonances at certain field values in the12B depolarization in Al, a consistent theory based on the principle of a multi-spin system and Nuclear level-crossing has been developed. A unique identification of the resonances, based on the resonant interaction between boron andparticular pairs of aluminum neighbours, is perfectly possible. The strong dissipative coupling of the Al nuclei with the electron bath of the lattice hinders a straightforward interpretation of the resonance width anddepth.

The level mixing spectroscopy (LEMS) method has proven to be a very useful method to determine the quadrupole interaction frequency of an isomer in a solid host. Especially in the “difficult” cases, e.g. when the isomeric lifetime is very long or its spin is very high, the method yields valuable information which is not accessible with other methods (such as TDPAD). Since the development of the method some years ago, many experiments have been performed on high spin isomers in the lead region. The static quadrupole moment of isomers with lifetimes ranging from 20 ns up to 13 ms andspins up to 65/2h have been determined in neutron deficient isotopes of Bi, At, Fr andRa.

A detailed chemical analysis and quantification of oxygen-containing monoterpenes in auto-oxidizedd-limonene was performed. Some of these, e.g. the cis- and trans-isomers of limonene-2-hydroperoxide, have previously been shown to exhibit strong contact allergenic properties. GC-MS with chemical ionization in negative ion mode was shown to be a successful method for the identification and determination of the molecular weight of chemically unstable limonene hydroperoxides. An HPLC method for isolation of individual compounds in auto-oxidizedd-limonene is presented. Two different stationary phases were used in normal phase mode, cyanopropyl- and diamino-modified silica. The method described can be used for the isolation of individual contact allergens in sensitization experiment vehicles, such as petrolatum and olive oil. This makes it possible to study whether test compounds, such as hydroperoxides, are chemically stable during a sensitization experiment.

Difficulty in recruiting donors plays a crucial role in oocyte donation programmes. We report here an original strategy to overcome this problem, consisting of sharing out anonymous oocytes between recipients, which has markedly improved treatment efficiency by avoiding freezing or destruction of supernumerary embryos. Each patient received part of the supply of oocytes from several donors in four successive cycles, while each donor underwent oocyte retrieval only once. This strategy led to one pregnancy per treated donor, increased treatment efficacy by 300%, and reduced dramatically the oocyte shortage at our centre. The system avoids wastage of the rare and precious donated oocytes, increases the chance of pregnancy for each related recipient and even permits the inclusion of some recipients without related donors.

A CMP-NeuAc:Gal beta 1----3GalNAc-R alpha 2----3-sialyltransferase has been purified over 20,000-fold from a Triton X-100 extract of human placenta by affinity chromatography on concanavalin A-Sepharose and CDP-hexanolamine-Sepharose in a yield of 10%. Sodium dodecyl sulfate-gel electrophoresis under reducing conditions revealed that the enzyme consists of a major polypeptide species with a molecular weight of 41,000 and some minor forms with molecular weights of 40,000, 43,000, and 65,000, respectively, which can be resolved partially by gel filtration on Sephadex G-100. Isoelectric focusing revealed that the enzyme occurs in a major and a minor charged form with pI values of 5.0-5.5 and 6.0, respectively. Acceptor specificity studies indicated that the enzyme catalyzes the incorporation of sialic acid from CMP-NeuAc into glycoproteins, glycolipids, and oligosaccharides which possess a terminal Gal beta----3GalNAc unit. Analysis of the structure of the product chain by high-pressure liquid chromatography and thin layer chromatography as well as methylation analysis revealed that a NeuAc alpha 2----3Gal beta 1----3GalNAc sequence is elaborated. The best glycoprotein acceptors are antifreeze glycoprotein and porcine submaxillary asialo/afucomucin. The disaccharide Gal beta 1----3GalNAc-Thr shows values for Km and V which are close to those of the latter glycoprotein. Lactose as well as oligosaccharides in which galactose is linked beta 1----3 or beta 1----4 to N-acetylglucosamine are less efficient acceptors. Of the glycolipids tested only gangliosides GM1 and GD1b served as an acceptor. The enzyme does not show an absolute aglycon specificity, and attaches sialic acid regardless the anomeric configuration of the N-acetylgalactosaminyl residue in the accepting Gal beta 1----3GalNAc unit. By use of specific acceptor substrates it could be demonstrated that the purified enzyme is free from other known sialyltransferase activities. Studies with rabbit antibodies raised against a partially purified sialyltransferase preparation indicated that the enzyme is immunologically unrelated to a Gal beta 1----4GlcNAc-R alpha 2----3-sialyltransferase, which previously had been identified in human placenta (Van den Eijnden, D.H., and Schiphorst, W. E. C. M. (1981) J. Biol. Chem. 256, 3159-3162). Initial-rate kinetic studies suggest that the sialyltransferase operates through a mechanism involving a ternary complex of enzyme, sugar donor, and acceptor. This is the first report on the extensive purification and characterization of a sialyltransferase from a human tissue.

At nuclear level mixing condition, interferences between different transition amplitudes can occur. In a narrow frequency range, absorption can be hindered while not the emission. This feature offers interesting applications on the design of a graser and of a resonant scatterer for ?-rays.

Fetal calf liver microsomes were found to be capable of sialylating 14C-galactosylated ovine submaxillary asialomucin. The main oligosaccharide product chain could be obtained by beta-elimination under reductive conditions and was identified as NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 3Gal beta 1 leads to 3GalNAcol (where GalNAcol represents N-acetylgalactosaminitol) by means of high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) analysis and methylation. The branched trisaccharide Gal beta 1 leads to 3(NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 6)-GalNAcol and the disaccharide NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 6GalNAcol were not formed. Very similar results were obtained when asialofetuin and antifreeze glycoprotein were used as an acceptor. When 3H-sialylated antifreeze glycoprotein ([3H]NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 3Gal beta 1 leads to 3GalNAc-protein) was incubated with fetal calf liver microsomes and CMP-[14C]NeuAc, a reduced tetrasaccharide could be isolated. The structure of this product chain appeared to be [3H]NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 3Gal beta 1 leads to 3([14C]NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 6)GalNAcol, as established by means of HPLC analysis, specific enzymatic degradation with Newcastle disease virus neuraminidase, and periodate oxidation. These data indicate that fetal calf liver contains two sialyltransferases involved in the biosynthesis of the O-linked bisialotetrasaccharide chain. The first enzyme is a beta-galactoside alpha 2 leads to 3 sialyltransferase which converts Gal beta 1 leads to 3 GalNAc chains to the substrate for the second enzyme, a (NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 3Gal beta 1 leads to 3)GalNAc-protein alpha 2 leads to 6 sialyltransferase. The latter enzyme does not sialylate GalNAc or Gal beta 1 leads to 3GalNAc units but is capable of transferring sialic acid to C-6 of GalNAc in NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 3Gal beta 1 leads to 3GalNAc trisaccharide side chains, thereby dictating a strictly ordered sequence of sialylation of the Gal beta 1 leads to 3 GalNAc units in fetal calf liver.

Oligosaccharide processing is controlled by host- and protein-dependent factors. To increase our understanding of the relative contribution of those factors we studied the glycosylation of yeast invertase expressed in a heterologous system. Invertase synthesized in psi-2 cells (an NIH 3T3-derived packaging line) is secreted efficiently, enzymatically active, and heavily glycosylated. It was estimated that the protein contains 8 or 9 carbohydrate chains. Two classes can be observed, of an approximate size of 100-110 kDa and 115-130 kDa, respectively. The size differences are due to differences in glycosylation. The smaller class contains two high-mannose carbohydrate chains; the remainder is of the complex type, sialylated and most likely tri- or tetraantennary. This profile parallels the situation observed with invertase glycosylation in yeast, where 2 of 9 or 10 chains remain unprocessed. The larger size class of invertase expressed in mouse fibroblasts has a different profile, since it contains probably only complex-type glycans. There are no apparent differences, however, in the size of the protein backbone between the two size classes. When invertase is synthesized in the presence of the mannosidase inhibitor 1-deoxymannojirimycin, processing is blocked completely, since all glycans are susceptible to endo-beta-N-acetylglucosaminidase H. The glucosidase inhibitor 1-deoxynojirimycin does not inhibit processing completely. In both cases secretion of the protein is not affected. The glycosylation inhibitor tunicamycin prevents secretion of invertase completely when cells are cultured at 37 degrees C. At 26 degrees C, however, nonglycosylated invertase can be detected in the medium. These data suggest that glycosylation of invertase seems to be essential for the early steps of the secretory pathway but is less critical for later events.

If x is a central regular element of the Noetherian ring A such that A/xA has finite global dimension then gldimA=max{1+gldimA/xA,gldim Ax} and we apply this to filtered rings. We study the regularity of the Rees ring when both the filtered and the associated graded ring are regular rings.

High-pressure liquid chromatography was used to identify the sialo-oligosaccharide products obtained after sialylation of [14C]Gal-GalNAc-protein in vitro by an ovine submaxillary-gland microsomal fraction. Among other products, two isomeric trisaccharides could be identified. NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 3Gal beta 1 leads to 3GalNAcol and Gal beta 1 leads to 3-(NeuAc alpha 2 leads to 6)GalNAcol respectively, indicating that ovine submaxillary gland contains two sialyltransferases acting on mucin-type acceptors, a beta-galactoside alpha 2 leads to 3 sialyltransferase and a N-acetylgalactosaminide alpha 2 leads to 6 sialyltransferase. This conclusion was fully supported by methylation analysis of the two trisaccharide products.