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Administration of staphylococcal enterotoxin A (SEA) to mice induces profound activation, cytokine production and cytotoxic activity of both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, but subsequently activated cells are deleted or become anergic. This study demonstrates that administration of interleukin-2 (IL-2) can prevent sea-induced hyporesponsiveness in CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). Repeated injections wi

We investigate the feasibility of using diode laser gas spectroscopy for sinusitis diagnostics. We simulate light propagation using the Monte Carlo concept, as implemented by the Advanced Systems Analysis Program (ASAP (TM)) software. Simulations and experimental data are compared for a model based on two scattering bodies representing human tissue, with an air gap in-between representing the sinu

The study characterizes historical land-use change and the development of semi-natural grassland habitats, over 274 years, within a mosaic agricultural landscape (22 km2) on the island of O¨ land (Sweden). We also explore the relationship between previous land-use, habitat continuity and present-day vascular plant species richness in grassland patches. Land-cover maps, based on cadastral maps and

Quadrivalent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has been shown to provide protection from HPV 6/11/16/18-related cervical, vaginal, and vulvar disease through 3 years. We provide an update on the efficacy of the quadrivalent HPV vaccine against high-grade cervical, vaginal, and vulvar lesions based on end-of-study data from three clinical trials. Additionally, we stratify vaccine efficacy by sever

C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is a plasma glycoprotein involved in regulation of the complement system. C4BP consists of seven alpha-chains and one unique beta-chain, all constructed of repeating complement control protein (CCP) modules. The beta-chain, made up of three CCPs, binds tightly to vitamin K-dependent protein S, a cofactor to anticoagulant activated protein C. When bound to C4BP, protein S

Laminin-alpha5 chain was localized in all epithelial basement membranes (BMs) of mouse submandibular gland (SMG) from the onset of branching morphogenesis and became restricted to BMs of epithelial ducts in the adult. To investigate whether the laminin-alpha5 chain plays a role in branching morphogenesis, a set of cell-adhesive peptides from the C-terminal globular domains (LG1-5) was tested for t

Of seven human cystatins investigated, none inhibited the cysteine proteases staphopain A and B secreted by the human pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. Rather, the extracellular cystatins C, D and E/M were hydrolyzed by both staphopains. Based on MALDI-TOF time-course experiments, staphopain A cleavage of cystatin C and D should be physiologically relevant and occur upon S. aureus infection. Staphop

The prevalence of Helicobacter pylori is high in Eastern Europe. The purpose of this study was to estimate the prevalence of H. pylori in symptomatic Lithuanian children and to identify the infection by clinicopathological and serological analyses. One hundred sixteen symptomatic children (age 8-16) with gastritis and duodenal ulcer were included. Biopsies were histologically assessed according to

We assess the accuracy of a density functional theory for athermal polymer solutions, consisting of solvent particles with a smaller radius than that of the monomers. The monomer and solvent density profiles in a slit bound by hard, flat, and inert surfaces are compared with those obtained by a Metropolis Monte Carlo simulation. At the relatively high density at which the comparison is performed,

A long-ranged attractive force was recently detected between two mica plates immersed in a quasibinary polymer solution (Freyssingeas et al. Langmuir 1998,14, 5877-5889). The quasi-binary polymer solution was aqueous ethyl(hydroxyethyl)cellulose (EHEC), where the EHEC had a broad polydispersity. The long-ranged attractive force in the EHEC solution could not be attributed to classical mechanisms s

Synovial sarcoma is an aggressive soft-tissue tumor that accounts for up to 10% of soft-tissue sarcomas. Cytogenetically, synovial sarcoma is characterized by the t(X;18)(p11;q11), found in more than 95% of the tumors. This translocation results in rearrangements of the SYT gene in 18q11 and one of the SSX1, SSX2, or SSX4 genes in Xp11, creating a SYT/SSX1, SYT/SSX2, or SYT/SSX4 chimeric gene. It

A method for measuring attenuation coefficients in single-photon emission tomography (SPECT) is described and evaluated, together with a method for attenuation correction using these measured attenuation coefficients. Build-up, caused by scattered photons, is corrected for by a simple substitution in the algorithms. Transmission studies are performed with a 99mTc- or 57Co flood source, and emissio

Amongst the wear debris particles implicated in the particle hypothesis for prosthetic loosening are polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA), and particularly PMMA with barium sulphate contrast agent. Another suggested cause for loosening is hydrostatic pressure. PMMA particles were combined with hydrostatic pressure in a study to investigate whether there could be a synergistic or additive effect between t

Background: Venous and arterial thrombotic complications exhibit a seasonal variation, with risk peaking in winter and dropping to a nadir in summer. We sought a possible correlation between sun exposure habits and venous thromboembolism (VTE) events. Methods: This was a cohort study comprising 40 000 women (1000 per year of age from 25 to 64 years) who were drawn from the southern Swedish populat

Attempts of Magain et al. to detect the host galaxy of the bright quasi-stellar object (QSO) HE0450-2958 have not been successful. We suggest that the supermassive black hole (SMBH) powering the QSO was ejected from the observed ultraluminous infrared galaxy (ULIRG) at the same redshift and at 1.5 arcsec distance. Ejection could have been caused either by recoil due to gravitational wave emission