This review summarizes experimental findings that highlight the role of immune mechanisms in atherosclerosis and the potential atheroprotective effects of active or passive immunization strategies. Immunomodulation therapy appears to be feasible and effective, suggesting that a vaccine for atherosclerosis can be developed for clinical testing. Given the increasing number of patients with atheroscl

Fluorescence lidar is a non-invasive, remote sensing technique that makes it possible to extend the application of the laser-induced fluorescence technique to the outdoor environment where uncontrolled, external conditions must be met. Although initially developed for the investigation of marine environment and vegetation, in the past decade this technique has been successfully applied to the fiel

Application of a biotreatment system utilising immobilised white rot fungi can become an alternative for treating water or effluent contaminated by organic pollutants such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The application of the packed bed and suspended carrier bioreactor systems for the degradation of PAHs in synthetic polluted media using a subtropical white rot fungal isolate DSPM95 w

Background: The aim of this study was to explore the feasibility of using a technique based on artificial neural networks for quality assurance of image reporting. The networks were used to identify potentially suboptimal or erroneous interpretations of myocardial perfusion scintigrams (MPS). Methods: Reversible perfusion defects (ischaemia) in each of five myocardial regions, as interpreted by on

Web sites are exposed to high rates of incoming requests. Since web sites are sensitive to overload, admission control mechanisms are often implemented. The purpose of such a mechanism is to prevent requests from entering the web server during high loads. This paper presents how admission control mechanisms can be designed and implemented with a combination of queueing theory and control theory. S

Chromosome segment 12q13 -> q15 recombines with many different chromosome bands in lipomas and at least ten recurrent translocations have been identified. The HMGA2 gene is often rearranged, but little is known about the molecular consequences at other breakpoints. Fusion genes between HMGA2 (12q14 -> q15) and LPP (3q27 -> q28), LHFP (13q12) and CMKOR1 (2q37) have been reported. In the present stu

In neonatal retinal explants cultured long-term green cones are missing. Recently it was reported that thyroid hormone beta2 receptors (TR-beta2) are essential for these green cones to differentiate. Therefore transcript level of these receptors was investigated in our mouse retinal explants. However, thyroid receptors function as heterodimers with retinoid receptors (RR); so the fate of selected

Background New treatment strategies for early rheumatoid arthritis are evolving rapidly. We aimed to compare addition of conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (sulfasalazine and hydroxychloroquine) with addition of a tumour necrosis factor antagonist (infliximab) to methotrexate in patients with early rheumatoid arthritis. Methods We undertook a randomised trial in 15 rheumatology uni

Recent studies show that plant organ positioning may be mediated by localized concentrations of the plant hormone auxin. Auxin patterning in the shoot apical meristem is in turn brought about by the subcellular polar distribution of the putative auxin efflux mediator, PIN1. However, the question of what signals determine PIN1 polarization and how this gives rise to regular patterns of auxin concen

The objective of the present study was to assess the performance and recent improvements of the land surface scheme used operationally in the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) in a Scandinavian boreal forest climate/ecosystem. The previous (the 1999 scheme of P. Viterbo and A. K. Betts) and the new (Tiled ECMWF Surface Scheme for Exchange Processes over Land, TESSEL) surfa

Structural and mechanistic aspects of orthoplatination of acetophenone and benzaldehyde oximes by the platinum(II) sulfoxide and sulfide complexes [PtCl2L2] (2, L = SOMe2 (a), rac-SOMePh (b), R-SOMe(C6H4Me-4) (c), and SMe2 (d)) to afford the corresponding platinacycles cis-(CS)-[Pt-II(C6H3-2-CR'=NOH-5-R)CI(L)] (3, R, R' = H, Me) have been investigated. The reaction of acetophenone oxime with sulfo

We investigated the variation in concentration of orientation among nocturnally migrating passerine birds. Using tracking radar, we recorded flight tracks of birds during spring and autumn migration and, with the aid of concurrent wind recordings, we calculated heading directions. The concentrations of track and heading directions were compared between seasons and also between different categories

In a prospective pilot study nested in the EPIC-Oxford cohort, we examined the seroprevalence of antibodies against the L1 antigen of 38 human papilloma virus (HPV) types among 39 cases of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) for whom plasma was collected prior to diagnosis (incident) and 80 controls. Fifteen cases having already developed SCC at blood collection (prevalent) were also tested. T

Ovarian carcinomas (OCs) often exhibit highly complex cytogenetic changes. Abnormal chromosome segregation at mitosis is one potential mechanism for genomic rearrangements in tumors. In this study, OCs were demonstrated to have dysfunctional short telomeres, anaphase bridging, and multipolar mitoses with supernumerary centrosomes. When normal human ovarian surface epithelial (HOSE) cells were tran

Red blood cells (RBCs) with the Do(null) phenotype lack all antigens in the Dombrock blood group system, i.e. Do(a), Do(b), Gy(a), Hy and Jo(a). Sequence analysis of DNA from one proband with the Do(null) phenotype revealed a single nucleotide mutation of t to c in the donor splice site of DO (IVS1 + 2t > c), with outsplicing of exon 2. Analysis of a second proband revealed a homozygous nonsense m

The pioneering papers published more than one century ago by Theodor Boveri opened the way to extensive research on the mechanism linking chromosomal abnormalities to the pathogenesis of cancer. As a result of this effort, robust theoretical and empirical evidence correlating cytogenetic damage to early stages of cancer in humans was consolidated, and an increased cancer risk was postulated in hea