BACKGROUND: Toll-like receptors enable the host to recognize a large number of pathogen-associated molecular patterns such as bacterial lipopolysaccharide, viral RNA, CpG-containing DNA and flagellin. Toll-like receptors have also been shown to play a pivotal role in both innate and adaptive immune responses. The role of Toll-like receptors as a primary part of our microbe defense system has been

A classification for primary and incisional abdominal wall hernias is needed to allow comparison of publications and future studies on these hernias. It is important to know whether the populations described in different studies are comparable. Several members of the EHS board and some invitees gathered for 2 days to discuss the development of an EHS classification for primary and incisional abdom

Inflammatory challenges of the airway mucosa cause luminal entry of bulk plasma. Extravasation of plasma is well described but the routes for epithelial passage of plasma are largely unknown. Using colloidal gold (5 nm) as tracer we have now examined the fate of extravasated plasma in the airways. The tracer was given intravenously to anaesthetized, ovalbumin-sensitized guinea-pigs 2min prior to a

BACKGROUND: In early breast cancer, variations in local treatment that substantially affect the risk of locoregional recurrence could also affect long-term breast cancer mortality. To examine this relationship, collaborative meta-analyses were undertaken, based on individual patient data, of the relevant randomised trials that began by 1995. METHODS: Information was available on 42,000 women in 78

Calcineurin inhibitor toxicity is a major reason for long-term graft loss (chronic rejection). Here is a snap shot of the ongoing quest to balance continuing efficacy against toxicity.

A 120 kHz echo sounder, with two split-beam transducers, was used horizontally to monitor the behaviour of 0+ roach Rutilus rutilis, from June to August, in field enclosures. 0+ roach outside the vegetated area of the enclosures were registered both as schools and as single swimming fish. Combining echo counting and tracking with direct observation of echograms, an estimate of relative abundance o

Background: Terlipressin has been suggested as the ideal drug to treat anesthesia-induced hypotension in patients under long-term renin-angiotensin system inhibitor treatment for arterial hypertension. The authors compared the effects of terlipressin and norepinephrine on systemic hemodynamic parameters and gastric mucosal perfusion using a laser Doppler flowmetry technique in patients treated wit

Electric field gradients at the oxygen and hydrogen nuclei of water have been calculated using high level ab initio methods. Systematic studies of basis set truncation errors have been carried out at the Hartree-Fock and coupled cluster singles and doubles (CCSD) levels using extended correlation consistent basis sets with up to 398 basis functions. Correlation effects are investigated using a hie

An early and accurate diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is required to initiate symptomatic treatment with currently approved drugs and will be of even greater importance if disease modifying compounds in development display a clinical effect. Protein profiles of human cerebrospinal fluid samples from AD patients (n = 95) and population-based healthy controls (n = 72) were analyzed by SELDI-TO

Exome sequencing studies in complex diseases are challenged by the allelic heterogeneity, large number and modest effect sizes of associated variants on disease risk and the presence of large numbers of neutral variants, even in phenotypically relevant genes. Isolated populations with recent bottlenecks offer advantages for studying rare variants in complex diseases as they have deleterious varian

The 16 - 22 amino-acid fragment of the beta-amyloid peptide associated with the Alzheimer's disease, Abeta, is capable of forming amyloid fibrils. Here we study the aggregation mechanism of Abeta(16-22) peptides by unbiased thermodynamic simulations at the atomic level for systems of one, three, and six Abeta(16-22) peptides. We find that the isolated Abeta(16-22) peptide is mainly a random coil i

Cystatin C, a major extracellular cysteine proteinase inhibitor, is deposited as amyloid in brain haemorrhage patients with hereditary cystatin C amyloid angiopathy (HCCAA). A disease-causing mutation on the genetic level results in the substitution Leu68-->Gln (L68Q) in cystatin C, which causes protein instability. Besides carrying the L68Q substitution, cystatin C in amyloid deposits isolated fr

Microsphere-based constitutive models are a helpful tool in the modelling of materials with a microstructure composed of contributing elements directionally arranged. This is the case, for instance, for fibred soft tissues. In these models, the macroscopic mechanical behaviour is obtained from the integration of the micro-structural contribution of each component (e.g. each fibre) over the surface