Professional antigen-presenting cells, such as dendritic cells, macrophages and B cells have been implicated in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, constituting a possible target for antigen-specific immunotherapy. We addressed the possibility of blocking antigen presentation of the type II collagen (CII)-derived immunodominant arthritogenic epitope CII259-273 to specific CD4 T cells by inhi

Biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC), such as isoprene and monoterpenes, play an important role in atmospheric processes. BVOC species are oxidized in the atmosphere and influence levels of ozone. The less volatile amongst the BVOC and their oxidation products are important for the formation and growth of secondary biogenic aerosol. In this way, the Earth's radiation balance is affected. Geo

Background-Atrial fibrillation (AF) is heterogeneous at the clinical and molecular levels. Association studies have reported that common single-nucleotide polymorphisms in KCNE1 and SCN5A may predispose to AF In this study, we tested the hypothesis that specific AF-associated genotypes confer variation on the appearance of AF assessed by analysis of fibrillatory rate of the atria. Methods and Resu

Kindling is a model of temporal lobe epilepsy in which repeated electrical stimulations in limbic areas lead to progressive increase of seizure susceptibility, culminating in generalized convulsions and the establishment of a permanent epileptic syndrome. We studied here the effect of stimulations in the thalamic reticular nucleus (TRN) on. the development of seizures and hippocampal hyperexcitabi

OBJECTIVE: To study perinatal characteristics as risk factors for developing primary Sjogren's syndrome (SS).METHODS: This was a case control study with extraction of information from birth records comprising 32 cases with SS (fulfilling the unified American-European classification criteria) and 159 controls. Cases were selected from a patient register of SS cases in Malmö, Sweden. For each case,

Objective. Some monoclonal antibodies (mAb) to type II collagen (CII) are arthritogenic upon passive transfer to mice. We undertook this study to investigate whether such mAb are pathogenic in the absence of mediators of inflammation. Methods. The arthritogenic mAb CIIC1 and M2139, and the nonarthritogenic mAb CIIF4, each reactive with a distinct and well-defined conformational epitope on CII, wer

The effect of peptide hydrophobicity and charge on peptide interaction with model lipid bilayers was investigated for the C3a-derived peptide CNY21 by fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, ellipsometry, z-potential, and photon correlation spectroscopy measurements. For both zwitterionic and anionic liposomes, the membrane-disruptive potency for CNY21 variants increased with increasing net

The five Nordic species of the genus Urytalpa Edwards (Diptera: Keroplatidae) are revised, of which one species, Urytalpa galdes Hedmark & Kjaerandsen, sp. n., is described as new to science based on males collected in northern Sweden. We find that the original type species assignment for Urytalpa (Platyura ochracea Meigen, 1818) is based on a misidentification, and in order to stabilize the n

Electronic and geometric properties of the adsorbate-substrate complex formed upon adsorption of methyl oxirane on Si(1 0 0)2 x 1 at room temperature is reported, obtained with synchrotron radiation-induced valence and core-level photoemission. A ring-opening reaction is demonstrated to occur, followed by a five-membered ring formation involving two of the Si surface atoms bound to a surface dimer

A total of 10-40% of patients with Hodgkin's disease relapse following initial curative therapy. Intensive follow-up is resource intensive and may identify false relapses. We performed a retrospective review of all patients with Hodgkin's disease treated at our centre between 1990 and 1999 to evaluate the utility of the components of follow-up. A total of 107 patients met the inclusion and exclusi

There is current interest in fish consumption and marine omega-3 (n-3) fatty acids and breast cancer risk. Some in vitro and animal studies have suggested an inhibitory effect of marine n-3 fatty acids on breast cancer growth, but the results from epidemiological studies that have examined the association between fish consumption and breast cancer risk in humans are inconsistent. We examined fish

The effects of thalidomide on in vitro interleukin 2 (IL-2) production and thymidine uptake by human peripheral blood lymphocytes or rat splenocytes were investigated. Phytohaemagglutinin-stimulated human lymphocytes were incubated in the presence of thalidomide added at culture initiation. No immunosuppressive effect of thalidomide was observed in these experiments. Primary human mixed lymphocyte

A modification in Ross operation is described in which the free-standing pulmonary autograft root is suspended in a Dacron prosthetic vascular jacket with a view to prevent dilatation of the neo-aortic root. In a group of 13 patients operated consecutively using this technique, there was no significant increase in the diameters of the neo-aortic root after a mean 16-month follow-up. Aortic valve f

BACKGROUND: Many cases of hereditary breast cancer are due to mutations in either the BRCA1 or the BRCA2 gene. The histopathological changes in these cancers are often characteristic of the mutant gene. We hypothesized that the genes expressed by these two types of tumors are also distinctive, perhaps allowing us to identify cases of hereditary breast cancer on the basis of gene-expression profile

The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the costs and process of implementing RFID technology to manage and control the rotation of returnable transport items. Due to the novelty of using RFID in logistics and supply chain management, in-depth case studies were conducted at two global firms in the retail industry to investigate how and why organisations implement and assess RFID techn