Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic inflammatory disease associated with certain HLA-DR4 subtypes. The target autoantigen(s) is unknown, but type II collagen (CII) is a candidate, with a single immunodominant DR4-restricted 261-273 T cell epitope (CII(261273)). In the present study, we have prepared HLA-DR4:CII(261-273) tetramers and analyzed peripheral blood, lymph node, and synovial fluid cells fr

The paper describes the spectrometric system "SPES4-pi" used at the National Laboratory Saturne (CE Saclay, France) for the exclusive study of the baryon resonance excitation in inelastic alpha and d scattering on the proton, as well as coherent pion production in charge exchange reactions. The system consists of the magnetic spectrometer SPES4 and two wide-aperture position-sensitive detector arr

The paper suggests an explicit form of a general integral of motion for some classes of dynamical systems including n-degree-of-freedom mechanical systems subject to (n-1) virtual holonomic constraints. The computation of this integral opens several possibilities for generating and further exponential orbital stabilization of solutions in nonlinear feedback systems. An illustrative example is give

Various types of silicon material and silicon p(+)n diodes have been treated to increase the concentration of the oxygen dimer (02) defect. This was done by exposing the bulk material and the diodes to 6 MeV electrons at a temperature of about 350 degrees C. FTIR spectroscopy has been performed on the processed material confirming the formation of oxygen dimer defects in Czochralski silicon pieces

We describe the detectors for identification of charged particles and fragments in CHICSi, a large solid angle multitelescope system mounted inside an ultra-high vacuum (UHV), cluster-jet target chamber. CHICSi performs nuclear reaction experiments at storage rings. The telescopes consist of a first very thin, 10-14 mum Si detector, a second 300 mum (or possibly 500 pm) ion implanted Si detector s

The ability to identify methicillin-resistant staphylococci by the disc diffusion method was evaluated using discs containing oxacillin (1, 5 and 10 micrograms), methicillin (10 micrograms) and cephalexin (30 micrograms). Strains of Staphylococcus aureus (67 strains) and coagulase-negative staphylococci (72 novobiocin-sensitive and 27 novobiocin-resistant strains) were studied using two inoculum d

Objectives To compare endoscopic and open carpal tunnel release surgery among employed patients with carpal tunnel syndrome. Design and setting Randomised controlled trial at a single orthopaedic department. Participants 128 employed patients aged 25-60 years with clinically diagnosed and electrophysiologically confirmed idiopathic carpal tunnel syndrome. Main outcome measures The primary outcome

This report presents the addition of camber to a previously published semi-empirical tire model by the same authors. The model combines empirical models for pure braking, cornering and cambering to a model for simultaneous braking, cornering and cambering. It is based on brush-model tire mechanics and aims to offer an easy-to-use accurate model for vehicle handling-simulations. The proposed model

The effect of kinship on growth and use of space by individually PIT-tagged 1+ brown trout was studied for 11 weeks in eight stream enclosures. Each enclosure consisted of two sections, separated by a region containing PIT-detecting antennae, which enabled us to measure use of sections by all individuals. Two types of sibling groups were tested, a single sibling group, F1, consisting of four indiv

The proton structure function F-2(x, Q(2)) is measured in inelastic QED Compton scattering using data collected with the H1 detector at HERA. QED Compton events are used to access the kinematic range of very low virtualities of the exchanged photon, Q(2), down to 0.5 GeV2, and Bjorken x up to similar to 0.06, a region which has not been covered previously by inclusive measurements at HERA. The res

Using recently developed algorithms based on Cholesky decomposition of two-electron integrals to compute response properties at the correlated level, the static and dynamic (at 589 nm) polarizabilities of [4n + 2]-annulenes (n = 1, 2, 3, 4) have been calculated. The results show that the perpendicular component increases along the series linearly with the number of double bonds. The in-plane stati

During the last few years several genetic markers have been discovered that contribute to an increased risk of venous thrombosis. Patients who have several genetic markers are at a considerably higher risk of being affected than patients with only one marker. Recommendations are made as to which patients should be investigated, with appropriate laboratory analyses, when an increased risk of venous

This study deals with technological capability building of local auto parts firms in Malaysia and Thailand during the period 1960-2000. Malaysia introduced a national car programme in 1985 while Thailand has maintained its liberal economic policy and relies on foreign multinational automakers to operate in the country. The study focuses on an empirical survey of 41 and 42 local auto parts firms in

Concentrations of PCB congeners were determined in precipitation and the annual and seasonal depositional fluxes were calculated for 16 (mostly rural) stations around the Baltic Sea during 1990-1993. The concentrations of individual congeners in precipitation were found to be influenced by atmospheric concentrations of PCBs, ambient temperature, precipitation volume and physico-chemical properties

We announce the detection of two fully resolved hyperfine components of the intercombination line of Tl II (Z = 81) at 1908.6 Angstrom in the ultraviolet spectrum of the sharp-lined, nonmagnetic, chemically peculiar star chi Lupi (BB.5pHgMn + A2 Vm). The wavelengths and profiles of these absorption lines strongly suggest that they arise from the heaviest isotope, Tl-205. The echelle observations w