CD4+ T cells that recognize residues 256–270 of type II collagen (CII) associated with the I-Aq (Aq) molecule play a central role in disease pathogenesis in murine collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). Disease is most efficiently induced by immunization with heterologous CII, which elicits heterologous, e.g. bovine, CII256–270:I-Aq-specific T cells that only poorly cross-react with mouse CII. The self

Affinity precipitation of proteins uses polymers capable of reversible soluble-insoluble transitions in response to small environmental changes (temperature, pH or solvent composition). Here we describe protocols for (i) the synthesis of responsive polymers with specific affinity to target proteins and (ii) the purification of proteins using these polymers. The purification is based on precipitati

In this work a method was developed for characterisation of commercially available polymers consisting of mixtures of substituted cellulose and starch. Selective hydrolysis with specific enzymes was used to achieve separation of the two polymers in the mixture. Enzymes hydrolysing (1 -> 4)-alpha-D and (1 -> 6)-alpha-D-glycosidic bonds were used for the starch part and enzymes hydrolysing (1 -> 4)-

Background and purpose Early migration of joint replacements is an effect of poor fixation and can predict late loosening. By reducing the bone resorption after implantation of a joint replacement, it should be possible to enhance the initial fixation of the implant. We studied the effect of once-weekly treatment with alendronate after knee replacement. Patients and methods We recruited 60 patient

Background Pain at the site of intravenous injection of propofol is a common clinical finding. This double-blind, randomized cross-over study was designed to evaluate whether venous occlusion applied during injection of a low dose of propofol reduces the intensity of pain at the site of injection compared with no occlusion. Methods Bilateral 0.5-ml injections of an emulsion containing 10 mg/ml of

OBJECTIVES: A six country Pan-European study of aspects of urogenital ageing (UGA). METHODS: The study was carried out using a stratified random sample of 3000 women between the ages of 55 and 75 years. RESULTS: A total of 30% suffered from UGA symptoms, of whom 60% made efforts to alleviate their UGA problems, most commonly using HRT. There were some international differences regarding womens' pe

A study of the Upper Ordovician-Lower Silurian strata in Jamtland, central Sweden, shows that large-scale changes in shelf deposition took place close to the systems boundary. These changes include unconformity development and the replacement of a siliciclastic shelf with a carbonate-dominated shelf, suggesting the interaction of allocyclic controls such as changing eustatic sea-level and climate.

In this paper different approaches to groundwater flow and its effect in the vicinity of a borehole ground heat exchanger are discussed. The common assumption that groundwater flow in hard rock may be modelled as a homogeneous flow in a medium with an effective porosity is confronted and models for heat transfer due to groundwater flow in fractures and fracture zones are presented especially from

Dramatic changes occur in skin as a function of age, including changes in morphology, physiology, and mechanical properties. Changes in extracellular matrix molecules also occur, and these changes likely contribute to the overall age-related changes in the physical properties of skin. The major proteoglycans detected in extracts of human skin are decorin and versican. In addition, adult human skin

Trichoderma reesei produces five known endoglucanases. The most studied are Cel7B (EG I) and Cel5A (EG II) which are the most abundant of the endoglucanases. We have performed a characterisation of the enzymatic properties of the less well-studied endoglucanases Cel12A (EG III), Cel45A (EG V) and the catalytic core of Cel45A. For comparison, Cel5A and Cel7B were included in the study. Adsorption s

The quasi-linear Maxwell equations describing electromagnetic wave propagation in nonlinear media permit several weak solutions, which may be discontinuous (shock waves). It is often conjectured that the solutions are unique if they satisfy an additional entropy condition. The entropy condition states that the energy contained in the electromagnetic fields is irreversibly dissipated to other energ

A new automated method for quantification of left ventricular function from gated-single photon emission computed tomography ( SPECT) images has been developed. The method for quantification of cardiac function (CAFU) is based on a heart shaped model and the active shape algorithm. The model contains statistical information of the variability of left ventricular shape. CAFU was adjusted based on t

The recreational drug ecstasy [3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA)], has been found to selectively damage brain serotonin neurons in experimental animals, and probably in human MDMA users, but detailed morphometric analyses and parallel functional measures during damage and recovery are missing. Since there is evidence that serotonin regulates sleep, we have compared serotonergic markers para

Staphylococcus aureus is one of the most significant pathogens in human sepsis and endocarditis. S. aureus can initiate blood coagulation, leading to the formation of microthrombi and multiorgan dysfunction in sepsis, whereas in endocarditis the bacterium induces fibrin clots on the inner surface of the heart, so-called endocardial vegetations. In the present study, we show that live and heat-kill

Syntheses in the Al-Sb-V-O system, which is a candidate catalyst system for propane ammoxidation to acrylonitrile, were characterised by X-ray powder diffraction, electron diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray microanalysis, high-resolution electron microscopy, infrared spectroscopy, and catalytic measurements. The objective was to study phase formation as well as to identify the phase, or phases,