Filtyp
To improvise together for the pure curiosity, joy, and beauty of it constitutes a central but often neglected ability of human beings. Integrating pragmatic, practical, and technical skills with conceptual understanding, improvisation is adaptive and collaborative. It seems made to counter the challenges of living in a fleeting present, unconstrained by physical and historical boundaries, and very
Bacteriophages present huge potential both as a resource for developing novel tools for bacterial diagnostics and for use in phage therapy. This potential is also valid for bacteriophages specific for Yersinia enterocolitica. To increase our knowledge of Y. enterocolitica- specific phages, we characterized two novel yersiniophages. The genomes of the bacteriophages vB_YenM_TG1 (TG1) and vB_YenM_φR
Obesity impairs the relaxant capacity of adipose tissue surrounding the vasculature (PVAT) and has been implicated in resultant obesity-related hypertension and impaired glucose intolerance. Resident immune cells are thought to regulate adipocyte activity. We investigated the role of eosinophils in mediating normal PVAT function. Healthy PVAT elicits an anti-contractile effect, which was lost in m
BACKGROUND: Non-fatal outcomes of disease and injury increasingly detract from the ability of the world's population to live in full health, a trend largely attributable to an epidemiological transition in many countries from causes affecting children, to non-communicable diseases (NCDs) more common in adults. For the Global Burden of Diseases, Injuries, and Risk Factors Study 2015 (GBD 2015), we
Use of clay brick masonry in façades is often motivated by its aesthetic values and durability. Yet, mortar joints exposed to climate agents erode over time, expected to cause elevated moisture content and water absorption. Thus, it is often recommended that 40- to 50-year-old facades should be repointed – a measure which is intrusive and costly. Decision is in many cases taken without a clear evi
We introduce the 'Engineering Dwarfs at Galaxy Formation's Edge' (EDGE) project to study the cosmological formation and evolution of the smallest galaxies in the Universe. In this first paper, we explore the effects of resolution and sub-grid physics on a single low-mass halo (Mhalo = 109M⊙), simulated to redshift z = 0 at amass and spatial resolution of ∼ 20 M⊙ and ∼3 pc. We consider different st
Phage display technology is a common approach for discovery of therapeutic antibodies. Drug candidates are typically isolated in two steps: First, a pool of antibodies is enriched through consecutive rounds of selection on a target antigen, and then individual clones are characterized in a screening procedure. When whole cells are used as targets, as in phenotypic discovery, the output phage pool
Integrin αβ heterodimer cell surface receptors mediate adhesive interactions that provide traction for cell migration. Here, we test whether the integrin, when engaged to an extracellular ligand and the cytoskeleton, adopts a specific orientation dictated by the direction of actin flow on the surface of migrating cells. We insert GFP into the rigid, ligand-binding head of the integrin, model with
For decades, in vitro expansion of transplantable hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) has been an elusive goal. Here, we demonstrate that multipotent adult progenitor cells (MAPCs), isolated from green fluorescent protein (GFP)-transgenic mice and expanded in vitro for >40-80 population doublings, are capable of multilineage hematopoietic engraftment of immunodeficient mice. Among MAPC-derived GFP+CD4
The capability of the antibody (Ab) repertoire to mount a response to appropriate epitopes on infectious agents will strongly affect the ability of the immune system to provide protection against disease. Certain epitopes may be poor inducers of immunity but are nevertheless able to promote biologically important protection when recognized by the immune repertoire. We have investigated the recogni
Protein L from the bacterial species Peptostreptococcus magnus binds specifically to the variable domain of Ig light chains, without interfering with the antigen-binding site. In this work a genetically engineered fragment of protein L, including four of the repeated Ig-binding repeat units, was employed for the purification of Ig from various sources. Thus, IgG, IgM, and IgA were purified from hu
The antimicrobial effects of Laponite nanoparticles with or without loading of the antimicrobial peptide LL-37 was investigated along with their membrane interactions. The study combines data from ellipsometry, circular dichroism, fluorescence spectroscopy, particle size/ζ potential measurements, and confocal microscopy. As a result of the net negative charge of Laponite, loading of net positively
Currently, many research studies are exploring opportunities for the use of novel fuels and of their blends with conventional, i.e. petroleum-based fuels. To pave the way for their acceptance and implementation in the existing energy market, a comprehensive knowledge about their combustion properties is inevitable, among others. Within this context, alcohols, with butanol in particular, are consid
Over the last decade, the family of galectin proteins has been identified as key regulators of important biological processes. They bind β-D-galactopyranoside residues in glycoconjugates, and by presenting multiple binding sites, within one galectin or by forming dimers or multimers, they can cross-link glycoproteins and form galectin-glycoprotein lattices. Such lattices formed on the cell surface
Complement is crucial to the immune response, but dysregulation of the system causes inflammatory disease. Complement is activated by three pathways: classical, lectin, and alternative. The classical and lectin pathways are initiated by the C1r/C1s (classical) and MASP-1/MASP-2 (lectin) proteases. Given the role of complement in disease, there is a requirement for inhibitors to control the initiat
C4b-binding protein (C4BP) is a well-known regulator of the complement system that holds additional and important activities unrelated to complement inhibition. Recently, we have described a novel immunomodulatory activity in the minor C4BP(β-) isoform directly acting over inflammatory phagocytes. Here we show that incorporation of the β-chain to the C4BP α-chain oligomer interferes with this immu
Background: Increased solar and geomagnetic activity (SGA) may alter sympathetic nervous system activity, reduce antioxidant activity, and modulate physiochemical processes that contribute to atmospheric aerosols, all which may reduce pulmonary function. Objectives: Investigate associations between forced expiratory volume at 1 s (FEV1) and forced vital capacity (FVC) with SGA, and assess whether
A wealth of theoretical and phenomenological information about Quantum Chromodynamics at short and long distances collected so far in major collider measurements has profound implications in cosmology. In this review, we give a brief discussion of major implications of strongly-coupled dynamics of quarks and gluons and effects of their collective motion in physics of early Universe and in astrophy
