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Introduction: Cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP) is found at elevated concentrations in sera of patients with joint diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and osteoarthritis (OA). We recently showed that COMP activates complement via the alternative pathway and that COMP-C3b complexes are present in sera of RA patients, but not in healthy controls. We now set out to elaborate on the in

Apolipoprotein B (ApoB) of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) causes endothelial dysfunction in the initial stage of atherogenesis. The present study was designed to explore the underlying molecular mechanisms involved. Rat mesenteric arteries were organ cultured in the presence of different concentrations of ApoB or LDL. Vasodilation induced by acetylcholine was monitored by a sensitive myograph. Nitr

Parasites may influence the outcome of interspecific competition between closely related host species through lower parasite virulence in the host with which they share the longer evolutionary history. We tested this idea by comparing the prevalence of avian malaria (Haemosporidia) lineages and their association with survival in pied and collared flycatchers (Ficedula hypoleuca and F. albicollis)

Despite the unprecedented interest in organic-inorganic metal halide perovskite solar cells, quantitative information on the charge transfer dynamics into selective electrodes is still lacking. In this paper, we report the time scales and mechanisms of electron and hole injection and recombination dynamics at organic PCBM and Spiro-OMeTAD electrode interfaces. On the one hand, hole transfer is com

A search is reported for the pair production of a new quark b' with at least one b' decaying to a Z boson and a bottom quark. The data, corresponding to 2.0 fb(-1) of integrated luminosity, were collected from pp collisions at root s = 7 TeV with the ATLAS detector at the CERN Large Hadron Collider. Using events with a b-tagged jet and a Z boson reconstructed from opposite-charge electrons, the ma

Binding of HIV to C-type lectin receptors may either result in enhanced trans-infection of T cells or virus degradation. We have investigated the efficacy of HIV-1 utilization of Dendritic Cell-Specific Intercellular adhesion molecule-3-Grabbing Non-integrin (DC-SIGN), a C-type lectin receptor, in the setting of intrauterine or intrapartum mother-to-child transmission. Viruses isolated from HIV-1

Bacterial colonization of the lower respiratory tract is frequently seen in COPD and may cause exacerbations leading to deterioration of the disease. An important part of the innate lung immunity is antimicrobial peptides, not least the cathelicidin hCAP-18/LL-37. Peptidylarginine deiminases (PADI) posttranslationally modifies proteins by converting cationic peptidylarginine residues to neutral pe

A gene-centric Human Proteome Project has been proposed to characterize the human protein-coding genes in a chromosome-centered manner to understand human biology and disease. Here, we report on the protein evidence for all genes predicted from the genome sequence based on manual annotation from literature (UniProt), antibody-based profiling in cells, tissues and organs and analysis of the transcr

This paper presents results of analyses by parametric methods of annual means of temperature, precipitation and discharge, and of seasonal maximum precipitation at 17, 28 and 10 Icelandic stations, respectively, for the period 1961-2000. Trends in mean seasonal temperature and precipitation are in broad agreement with results found by other authors using other methods. A positive trend appears in

The aim of this study was to propose a method for measuring the echogenicity of several neonatal brain structures for quantitative interpretation of ultrasound images. To do this, 40 preterm neonates (24-34 weeks' gestation) with adequate birth weight for gestational age were studied. On the third day after delivery, anterior fontanelle ultrasound imaging of the brain was performed in standard cor

Protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) in-gel assays were used to explore association of PTPs with the platelet-derived growth factor beta-receptor (PDGFbetaR). Five PTP activity bands of approximately 120, approximately 70, approximately 60, approximately 53, and approximately 45 kDa could be detected in PDGFbetaR immunoprecipitates and were identified by immunodepletion experiments as PTP-PEST, SHP-

Proline-rich regions have been identified in many surface proteins of pathogenic streptococci and staphylococci. These regions have been suggested to be located in cell wall-spanning domains and/or to be required for surface expression of the protein. Because little is known about these regions, which are found in extensively studied and biologically important surface proteins, we characterized th

Corticosterone exposure during prenatal development as a result of maternal upregulation of circulating hormone levels has been shown to have effects on offspring development in mammals. Corticosterone has also been documented in egg yolk in oviparous vertebrates, but the extent to which this influences phenotypic development is less studied. We show that maternal corticosterone is transferred to

A new technique suitable for automated, large-scale fabrication of enzyme electrodes by air-spraying enzymes in organic inks is presented. Model oxidoreductases, tyrosinase (Tyr) and glucose oxidase (GOx), were adapted to octane-based ink by entrapment in a system of reverse micelles (RM) of surfactant AOT in octane to separate and stabilize the catalytically active forms of the enzymes in nonpola

Old oaks (Quercus robur L.) play an important role in the southern Scandinavian landscape by providing habitat for a wide range of species, a large proportion of them being currently on the National Redlists. To provide support for the management of these trees, we review data on oak mortality and formulate a mortality-driven stochastic model analysing interactions between mortality rate, oak recr

The effect of ethanol on muscarinic receptor-stimulated formation of inositol 1,4,5-trisphosphate was studied in human neuroblastoma SH-SY5Y cells. Stimulation with carbachol induced a biphasic increase of inositol 1,4,5-triphosphate with an initial peak after 10 sec declining to a plateau phase of elevation above basal levels, which was sustained for at least 5 min in the presence of agonist. The

Adults with repaired tetralogy of Fallot and significant chronic pulmonary regurgitation are at risk for progressive right ventricular (RV) dilatation and dysfunction. The assessment of RV function is important in the management in these patients. There is still a lack of an adequate geometric model to quantify RV function by echocardiography. The myocardial performance index (MPI) is a nonvolumet

Here, we investigated effects of increased atmospheric CO2 concentration, increased temperatures, and both factors in combination on ericoid mycorrhizal colonization, mycorrhizal functioning and below-ground carbon allocation in a subarctic forest understorey, to evaluate the hypothesis that photosynthesis is a primary driver for mycorrhizal colonization. Treatment effects on ecosystem processes w

The proteinuria selectivity index (SI) describes changes of the glomerular permeability for macromolecules. In the present study, we examine the implications of SI as a diagnostic (199 patients) and a prognostic (49 patients) marker in glomerular diseases. Using SI based on alpha(2)-macroglobulin (alpha(2)-M-SI) or on IgM (IgM-SI) we found that minimal change nephropathy could be discriminated by