Apoptotic cells are opsonized by complement components such as C1q and C3b, which increases their susceptibility to phagocytosis. Soluble complement inhibitors such as factor H (fH)b also recognise apoptotic cells to minimize the pro-inflammatory effects of downstream complement activation. We used four radiolabelled protein constructs that span different regions of the 20 CCP modules that make up

To review the effect of immunological changes induced by interstitial laser thermotherapy (ILT) on long-term outcome of patients with breast cancer.

Growing evidence indicates that insect ocelli are strongly adapted to meet the specific functional requirements in the environment in which that insect lives. We investigated how the ocelli of the nocturnal bee Megalopta genalis are adapted to life in the dim understory of a tropical rainforest. Using a combination of light microscopy and three-dimensional reconstruction, we found that the retinae

To compare the efficacy and safety of weekly albiglutide with daily sitagliptin, daily glimepiride, and placebo.RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: Patients with type 2 diabetes receiving metformin were randomized to albiglutide (30 mg), sitagliptin (100 mg), glimepiride (2 mg), or placebo. Blinded dose titration for albiglutide (to 50 mg) and glimepiride (to 4 mg) was based on predefined hyperglycemia c

We present an experimental study of vesicle fusion using light and neutron scattering to monitor fusion events. Vesicles are reproducibly formed with an extrusion procedure using an single amphiphile triethylene glycol mono-n-decyl ether in water. They show long-term stability for temperatures around 20 C, but at temperatures above 26 C we observe an increase in the scattered intensity due to fusi

The Milky Way is expected to host an accreted disc of stars and dark matter. This forms as massive greater than or similar to 1 : 10 mergers are preferentially dragged towards the disc plane by dynamical friction and then tidally shredded. The accreted disc likely contributes only a tiny fraction of the MilkyWay's thin and thick stellar disc. However, it is interesting because (i) its associated '

Caveolae are 50-100nm large invaginations in the cell membrane that are considered to play roles in receptor signaling. Here we aimed to investigate the expression and distribution of the arginine-vasopressin (AVP) V1a receptor and its functional dependence on caveolin-1 (Cav1) in the mouse urethra. Female Cav1 knockout (KO) and wild type (WT) mice were used, and urethral preparations were micro-d

We present the first in vivo application of the filter-exchange imaging protocol for diffusion MRI. The protocol allows noninvasive mapping of the rate of water exchange between microenvironments with different self-diffusivities, such as the intracellular and extracellular spaces in tissue. Since diffusional water exchange across the cell membrane is a fundamental process in human physiology and

The article presents a study of the potential for the use of B6O superhard boron suboxide as a binder in composite materials with a low cBN content. Superhard B6O is characterized by higher mechanical properties than TiC widely used in commercial materials today. Composites containing 60 vol % cBN and different binder compositions that included B6O and TiC have been sintered in a toroid-type high-

By studying the continuity between the Ottoman Empire and its succeeding Turkish Republic, this article aims to address one crucial aspect of the denial of the Armenian genocide by the Turkish state, namely the issue of state responsibility. There are psychological barriers in Turkey which have largely suppressed the memories of possible wrongdoings during World War I and the ensuing ‘Independence

Resilience is becoming a prevalent agenda in safety research and organisational practice. In this study we examine how the peer-reviewed safety science literature (a) formulates the rationale behind the study of resilience; (b) constructs resilience as a scientific object; and (c) constructs and locates the resilient subject. The results suggest that resilience engineering scholars typically motiv

Intermittent bursts of electrical activity are a ubiquitous signature of very early brain activity. Previous studies have largely focused on assessing the amplitudes of these transient cortical bursts or the intervals between them. Recent advances in basic neuroscience have identified the presence of scale-free 'avalanche' processes in bursting patterns of cortical activity in other clinical conte

The theoretical phase noise performance of a tuned-input tuned-output (TITO) oscillator is analyzed with a rigorous approach, which yields a compact closed-form phase noise equation that is dependent only on the value of the circuit components and current consumption of the oscillator. A straightforward comparison with the more commonly used differential LC-tank oscillator shows that the latter is

We searched MEDLINE, EMBASE and the Cochrane Controlled Trials Register to determine whether oxygen relieves dyspnoea in mildly or non-hypoxemic COPD and included 18 randomised controlled trials (431 participants) in the meta-analysis using Cochrane methodology. Oxygen therapy reduced dyspnoea when compared with medical air; standardised mean difference -0.37 (95% CI -0.50 to -0.24; I(2)=14%). In

A second generation of a substrate-selective dynamic supramolecular catalytic system consisting of a catalyst part and a receptor part, connected by a hydrogen-bonding motif, has been realized based on rational design. The results from analyses of the equilibrium mixture of the species generated by the components of the first generation system led us to selectively lock the cisoid conformation of

The present paper investigates and discusses the ability of the Hartmann test with a 4-aperture differential image motion monitor (DIMM) to measure the atmospheric primary aberrations which, in turn, can be used for the calculation of the atmospheric coherence time. Through performing numerical simulations, we show that the 4-aperture DIMM is able to measure the defocus and astigmatism terms corre

Robot-assisted surgery is a promising technical innovation. Given the similarities between laparoscopic and robot-assisted surgery it is unlikely that randomized controlled trials would be conducted to disclose any differences between these two technical instruments. Thus, skepticism remains due to lack of any definitive conclusions in the literature.

Cloud computing has become one of the fastest growing segments of the IT industry. In the wake of this, cloud based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems have emerged as an alternative to traditional ERPs. The marketing of cloud based ERPs states that adoption require low upfront investments and can rapidly be deployed, as they are provided over the cloud. In this study we seek to unravel clo

A long-held astronomical vision is to realize diffraction-limited optical aperture synthesis over kilometer baselines. This will enable imaging of stellar surfaces and their environments, show their evolution over time, and reveal interactions of stellar winds and gas flows in binary star systems. An opportunity is now opening up with the large telescope arrays primarily erected for measuring Cher