CD40 plays a central regulatory role in the immune system and antibodies able to modulate CD40 signalling may consequently have a potential in immunotherapy, in particular for treatment of lymphomas and autoimmune disease like multiple sclerosis. As a first step to achieve this goal, we describe the selection and characterization of a novel set of fully human anti-CD40 antibody fragments (scFv) fr

The relative importance of natural selection in the diversification of organisms. can be assessed indirectly using matrix correspondence. The present study determines the environmental and genetic correlates of microgeographical variation in the growth form, leaf form and flower morphology in populations of four Aeonium species from section Leuconium using partial regression methods. The phylogeny

Lumbar arteries are important because they are the main source of blood supply to the lumbar spine structures. However, these vessels and their flow characteristics have received little attention and their role in conditions such as low back pain remains unclear. The present study 1. describes the application of duplex ultrasonography in the assessment of lumbar artery blood flow and 2. evaluates

Several quantitative trait loci regulating murine Lyme arthritis severity have been mapped, including a highly significant linkage found on chromosome 5, termed Bb2Bb3. Within this region, the Ncf1 gene of the phagocyte nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH) oxidase has recently been identified as a major regulator of arthritis severity in rodent models of rheumatoid arthritis, an eff

Ag/alumina catalysts with different silver contents for octane-SCR were prepared by impregnation and incipient wetness methods. Activity tests revealed that the decisive factor for high activity is not only a high dispersion of silver, but also the ability of the system to redisperse clustered silver. Determination of dispersion by TEM/HAADF and O-2-chemisorption experiments resulted in values clo

This paper analyses the ability of beta and other factors, like firm size and book-to-market, to explain cross‐sectional variation in average stock returns on the Swedish stock market for the period 1983–96. We use a bivariate GARCH(1,1) process to estimate time-varying betas for asset returns. The estimated variances of these betas, derived from a Taylor series approximation, are used for correct

Purpose: Promoter hypermethylation of, for example, tumor-sup pressor genes, is considered to be an important step in cancerogenesis and a negative risk factor for survival in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS); however, its role for response to therapy has not been determined. This study was designed to assess the effect of methylation status on the outcome of conventional induction ch

Poly(styrene-b-vinylphosphonic acid) diblock copolymers have been prepared via sequential anionic polymerization and evaluated as nanostructured polymer electrolytes. The ionic block copolymers were synthesized by first initiating the polymerization of styrene using n-butyllithium in tetrahydrofuran at −78 °C. 1,1-Diphenylethylene was then added to the living polystyryl anions before charging diet

Background: Presence of bleeding symptoms, inheritance and reduced von Willebrand factor (VWF) contribute to the diagnosis of type 1 von Willebrand disease (VWD). However, quantitative analysis of the importance of VWF antigen (VWF:Ag) and ristocetin cofactor activity (VWF:RCo) levels in the diagnosis is lacking. Objectives: To evaluate the relative contribution of VWF measurement to the diagnosis

Background: Sleep disturbance is common in intensive care patients. Aside from its unpleasantness, there is a correlation with intensive care unit (ICU) syndrome/delirium. Reasons for sleep deprivation appear to be multifactorial, including the underlying illness, an acute superimposed disturbance, medications, and the ICU environment itself. There are reasons to believe that alterations of the 'b

Previous studies suggest that obesity is related to increased risk of renal cell carcinoma (RCC); however, only a few studies report on measures of central vs. peripheral adiposity. We examined the association between anthropometric measures, including waist and hip circumference and RCC risk among 348,550 men and women free of cancer at baseline from 8 countries of the European Prospective Invest

PURPOSE: To assess the visual results, retinal detachment (RD) rate, incidence of glaucoma, and intraocular lens (IOL) placement after vitrectomy for removal of retained lens fragments in the vitreous after phacoemulsification. SETTING: Department of Ophthalmology, University Hospital of Lund, Lund, Sweden. METHODS: This retrospective noncomparative interventional case series included all cases of

Abstract in SpanishResumen: La tarea de la semiótica de la imagen no consiste solamente en determinar la especificidad de la imagen como signo, sino también en describir las particularidades de diferentes imágenes, como son, por ejemplo, el dibujo, la fotografía y la imagen de computadora. El presente texto describe, primero, el desarrollo del signo del tipo de laAbstract: The task of pictorial se

The elicitation of a positive patch test reaction in a given individual depends upon the dose of the sensitizer applied, the patch test technique and the occlusion time. The dose is determined by the concentration and volume/amount of test preparation applied. If the same amount/volume of a test preparation is applied all the time with the same test technique (same area of skin) and occlusion time

We find effective, or homogenized, material parameters for Maxwell's equations when the microscopic scale becomes small compared to the scale induced by the frequencies of the imposed currents. After defining a singular value decomposition of the non-self-adjoint partial differential operator, we expand the electromagnetic field in the modes corresponding to the singular values and show that only

Different simple methods for evaluating the diffusivity from a sorption measurement are presented and tested when there is a surface resistance (a limited mass transfer coefficient), a non-perfect step in relative humidity or non-Fickian effects. It is concluded that the different methods have different qualities and it is impossible to give a general recommendation on which method to use. The bes