PURPOSE: We have recently identified homeostatic alterations in the circulating T cells of patients with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). In cultures of retinal pigment epithelial cells, we have demonstrated that T-cell-derived cytokines induced the upregulation of complement, chemokines and other proteins implicated in AMD pathogenesis. The purpose of this study was to test whether increas

PURPOSE: The chemokine receptor CXCR3 has been strongly related to inhibition of angiogenesis. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association between expression of CXCR3 on peripheral blood leukocytes and age-related wet macular degeneration. Furthermore, we measured the plasma concentration of chemokines CXCL9 to -11.METHODS: The study group consisted of patients with age-related ma

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a leading cause of visual impairment in the aged population worldwide. The mechanisms underlying this multifactorial and heterogenic disease are complex and incompletely understood. There is increasing evidence to suggest that regulatory differences in the immune system are involved in the development of the various subtypes of AMD. The purpose of this the

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate potential differences in plasma 25-hydroxyvitamin in subtypes of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and in patients in Clinical Age-Related Maculopathy Staging (CARMS) group 5 with or without subretinal fibrosis.METHODS: This single-center cross-sectional study included 178 participants during a period of 20 months. Ninety-five patients belonged to CARMS 5; twelve belo

BACKGROUND: Dysregulation of the CCR3/CCL11 pathway has been implicated in the pathogenesis of choroidal neovascularisation, a common feature of late age-related macular degeneration (AMD). The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of CCR3 and its ligand CCL11 in peripheral blood in patients with neovascular AMD.METHODS: Patients with neovascular AMD and healthy controls were include

PURPOSE: To investigate the expression of the complement regulatory proteins CD46, CD55, and CD59 on peripheral leukocytes in neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD).DESIGN: Prospective, case-control study.METHODS: Thirty-five unrelated patients with neovascular AMD and 30 control individuals were included in this case-control study. All participants were subjected to a structured inter

PURPOSE: Association of neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD) with C-reactive protein (CRP) was previously reported, indicating a relation to systemic low-grade inflammation. However, visual impairment limits physical activity, and physical activity modulates CRP levels. Here, we investigated the impact of physical activity on CRP levels in patients with neovascular AMD and control in

OBJECTIVE: Dysregulation of retinal microglial activity has been implicated in the pathogenesis of neovascular age-related macular degeneration. Microglia activity can be regulated through the membrane protein CD200 and its corresponding receptor, the CD200 receptor (CD200R). Because both the ligand and the receptor are expressed on a broad spectrum of cell types, we set out to study the expressio

PURPOSE: To examine the association between age-related changes in the T-cell compartment and prevalence of age-related macular degeneration (AMD).DESIGN: Case-control study.PARTICIPANTS: A total of 117 AMD cases and 106 controls were included prospectively.METHODS: Fresh-drawn peripheral blood samples were processed for flow cytometric analysis of T-cell populations. Plasma samples were analyzed

PURPOSE: To investigate corneal endothelial cell density and morphology in type II diabetic and non-diabetic patients and to relate potential differences to the glycaemic status.METHODS: A prospective clinical study including 107 patients with type II diabetes and 128 non-diabetic patients. Sample size was based on a power calculation (power = 0.90; p = 0.05). The diabetic patients had on average

Cognitive linguistic and semiotic accounts of metaphor have addressed similar issues such as universality, conventionality, context-sensitivity, cross-cultural variation, creativity, and “multimodality.” However, cognitive linguistics and semiotics have been poor bedfellows and interactions between them have often resulted in cross-talk. This paper, which focuses on metaphors in Greek street art,

Determining the drivers of diversity is a major topic in biology. Due to its high level of micro-endemism in many taxa, Madagascar has been described as one of Earth's biodiversity hotspot. The exceptional Malagasy biodiversity has been shown to be the result of various eco-evolutionary mechanisms that have taken place on this large island since its isolation from other landmasses. Extensive phylo

There is a scarcity of instruments for assessing opportunities for residentswith psychiatric disabilities to engage in meaningful home-based activities.We thus developed the Perceived Meaning of Activity in Housing (PMA-H),containing four subscales (activity opportunities, social interaction, developingas a person, and organization and planning). The aim of the study was to investigate the content

This study investigates the impact of beach sediment supply on dune volume evolution through data analysis and model simulations of the Kennemer dunes in the Netherlands. A cross-shore sediment transport model (the CS-model) is applied with local time-averaged longshore sediment transport gradients derived from bathymetric and topographic observations. The model is used to study the relative impor

A new palaeoecological and palaeoclimatic project in the subalpine Abisko area, N Scandes, founded upon the pollen zone system defined by Sonesson is described. This model of vegetation history has been confirmed, although the chronology is partly revised. Sonesson's pollen diagrams are combined with new results from a lake sediment sequence at the tree-limit, which include sedimentologic, mineral

The remit of the INTIMATE project of the INQUA Palaeoclimate Commission is to synthesise marine, terrestrial and ice-core data for the North Atlantic region during the Last Glacial-Interglacial Transition (LGIT: ca 13-1014C kyr BP; ca 15-11.5 ice-core kyr BP). A major problem, however, is the difficulty of effecting correlations at a temporal resolution that are adequate for defining 'leads' and '