Increased demyelination and axonal damage in metallothionein I+II-deficient mice during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis

Metallothioneins I+II (MT-I+II) are antioxidant, neuroprotective factors. We previously showed that MT-I+II deficiency during experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) leads to increased disease incidence and clinical symptoms. Moreover, the inflammatory response of macrophages and T cells, oxidative stress, and apoptotic cell death during EAE were increased by MT-I+II deficiency. We now show for the first time that demyelination and axonal damage are significantly increased in MT-I+II deficient mice during EAE. Furthermore, oligodendroglial regeneration, growth cone formation, and tissue repair including expression of trophic factors were significantly reduced in MT-I+II-deficient mice during EAE. Accordingly, MT-I+II have protective and regenerative roles in the brain. Received 31 October 2002; received after revision 23 November 2002; accepted 26 November 2002 RID="*" ID="*"Corresponding author. M. Penkowa and C. Espejo contributed equally to this paper.     

The State of the State: Introduction

Systemic Practice and Action Research -     

Domains of interaction between a social system and its environment

This paper offers insights about the role of complexity in the interaction between a social system and its environment. For this purpose it clarifies, from the viewpoint of the individuals constituting these social systems, the complementarity between their domain of observation, or informational domain, and their domain of action, or operational domain.     

Auditing as a Trust Creation Process

This paper offers an account of a process to build up relations of trust as a necessary condition for developing a new concept of auditing. The conceptual base of the discussion is centered upon the idea of managing complexity. Specifically, trust is observed not only as a form of reducing the complexity of our world relevant to each of us, but also as a most powerful amplifier of social complexity. In the paper the distinction is made between contextual trust and responsible trust. It is argued that responsible trust is necessary in order to accept diversity and increase the organization's performance in a demanding environment. This, in turn, suggests the necessity to move from hierarchical organizations to recursive organizations. The system in focus in this work was the Colombian State and, in particular, the National Audit Office of Colombia, which has begun a process to support the development of self-controlled organizational systems.     

Microring-Assisted Coupling Between Dissimilar Waveguides

The use of microring resonators to assist in the evanescent field coupling between dissimilar waveguides is proposed and analyzed. Theoretical analysis based on the coupled mode theory and nu-merical example show that complete cross power transfers can be obtained near the microring resonances. Applications of the device include power dividers, low-power thermo-optic or electro-optic switches, and modulators.     

Studies on philippine species of rauwolfia 1. Isolation of reserpine and rescinnamine fromRauwolfia amsoniaefolia A. DC

Zusammenfassung AusRauwolfia amsoniaefolia A. DC. wurden ziemlich reines Reserpin und ein Gemisch von Reserpin und Rescinnamin isoliert und charakterisiert.     

Late survival of Neanderthals at the southernmost extreme of Europe

The late survival of archaic hominin populations and their long contemporaneity with modern humans is now clear for southeast Asia. In Europe the extinction of the Neanderthals, firmly associated with Mousterian technology, has received much attention, and evidence of their survival after 35 kyr bp has recently been put in doubt. Here we present data, based on a high-resolution record of human occupation from Gorham's Cave, Gibraltar, that establish the survival of a population of Neanderthals to 28 kyr bp. These Neanderthals survived in the southernmost point of Europe, within a particular physiographic context, and are the last currently recorded anywhere. Our results show that the Neanderthals survived in isolated refuges well after the arrival of modern humans in Europe.