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The chemokine CCL25 is selectively and constitutively expressed in the small intestinal epithelium and plays an important role in mediating lymphocyte recruitment to this site. In this study, we demonstrate that CCL25 expression in murine small intestinal epithelial cells is independent of signaling through the lymphotoxin 0 receptor and is not enhanced by inflammatory stimuli, pathways involved i

In the Peyer's patches (PPs), germinal centers (GCs) are chronically induced by bacteria and are the major sites for generation of gut immunoglobulin A (IgA) immune responses. Whether follicular dendritic cells (FDCs) within the GCs directly contribute to the IgA production in PPs is unknown. We showed here that direct stimulation of FDCs by bacterial products and retinoic acid synergistically enh

The innate immune system is the first line of defense against invading microbes. Its specificity relies a great deal on host pattern recognition molecules that sense pathogen-associated molecular patterns of the invading pathogen. However, full protection is not always guaranteed, and some early defense mechanisms involved in bacterial killing, such as the complement system, can also exert cytolyt

The purpose of this paper is to present a novel combined design of the voltage source converter–high voltage direct current (VSC-HVDC) and the power system stabilizer (PSS) controllers to obtain a better dynamical response. The proposed technique is applied to enhance the damping of the power system low-frequency oscillations (LFOs) and results are compared with traditional design. A fuzzy logic c

Biofilm formation by Staphylococcus epidermidis is a cause of infections related to peritoneal dialysis (PD). We have used a PD catheter flow-cell model in combination with confocal scanning laser microscopy and atomic force microscopy to study biofilm formation by S. epidermidis. Adherence to serum-coated catheters was four times greater than to uncoated ones, suggesting that S. epidermidis binds

We report the development of a new database of technology services and products for analysis of biobank samples in biomedical research. BARCdb, the Biobanking Analysis Resource Catalogue (http://www.barcdb.org), is a freely available web resource, listing expertise and molecular resource capabilities of research centres and biotechnology companies. The database is designed for researchers who requ

The design thinking concept emphasizes the actual activity of solving problems with a design approach, associating it to the designer's knowledge and competence instead of the intimate link between design and the physical object. Yet design consultancies still have problems charging for intangible components in their offerings and for the role of strategic consultants. We argue that the design thi

In recent years, the Galactic Centre (GC) region (200 pc in radius) has been studied in detail with spectroscopic stellar data as well as an estimate of the ongoing star formation rate. The aims of this paper are to study the chemical evolution of the GC region by means of a detailed chemical evolution model and to compare the results with high-resolution spectroscopic data in order to impose cons

The intestinal mucosa is exposed to large amounts of foreign antigen (Ag) derived from commensal bacteria, dietary Ags, and intestinal pathogens. Dendritic cells (DCs) are believed to be involved in the induction of tolerance to harmless Ags and in mounting protective immune responses to pathogens and, as such, to play key roles in regulating intestinal immune homeostasis. The characterization of

IL-10 is a pleiotropic cytokine with stimulatory and inhibitory properties, and is thought to have a protective role in rheumatoid arthritis and collagen-induced arthritis (CIA). In this study, we investigated how IL-10 deficiency affects CIA and anti-collagen type II (CII) Ab-transferred arthritis in C57BL/10.Q (B10.Q) mice. The B10.Q.IL-10(-/-) mice had an 8-cM 129/Ola fragment around the IL-10

Southern Sweden is an area of Lyme borreliosis (LB) endemicity, with an incidence of 9 cases per 100,000 inhabitants. The most frequent clinical manifestations are erythema migrans (77%) and neuroborreliosis (16%). There was no record of human Borrelia strains being isolated front patients in this region before the prospective study reported here. Borrelia spirochetes were isolated from skin and c

n this study, we show that costimulation required for mucosal IgA responses is strikingly different from that needed for systemic responses, including serum IgA. Following oral immunization with cholera toxin (CT) adjuvant we found that whereas CTLA4-H{gamma}1 transgenic mice largely failed to respond, CD28-/- mice developed near normal gut mucosal IgA responses but poor serum Ab responses. The lo

Through alterations primarily in the penicillin-binding proteins, a non-beta-lactamase-mediated resistance to beta-lactams has evolved in Haemophilus influenzae. The virulence of these chromosomally changed strains has been questioned. To ascertain whether these alterations involve a reduction in virulence of H. influenzae and whether they could be advantageous for the bacterium during amoxicillin

Background: The appropriate management of women with minor cytologic lesions in their cervix is unclear. We performed a meta-analysis to assess the accuracy of human papillomavirus (HPV) DNA testing as an alternative to repeat cytology in women who had equivocal results on a previous Pap smear. Methods: Data were extracted from articles published between 1992 and 2002 that contained results of vir

Colonized bank voles (Clethrionomys glareolus) originating from Sweden developed type 1 diabetes. Animals became polydipsic, glucosuric, and hyperglycemic and gradually developed a lethal ketoacidosis. Pancreas in animals with end-stage disease showed total destruction of islet cells. Interestingly, also a high proportion of wild bank voles in cyclic populations that were trapped at (or close to)

Vesicles composed of an anionic and a cationic surfactant, with a net negative charge, associate strongly with a hydrophobically modified polycation (LM200) and with an unmodified polycation with higher charge density (JR400), forming viscoelastic gel-like structures. Calorimetric results show that in these gels, LM200 induces a rise of the chain melting temperature (T-m) of the vesicles, whereas