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The cost of an immune response: vaccination reduces parental effort

A fundamental assumption of theories of the ecology and evolution of inducible defences is that protective responses to attacks by parasites or predators should not only have benefits, but also costs. The vertebrate immune system is by far the best studied example of an inducible defence, yet little is known about the costs of an immune response, especially in natural populations. To test: if an i

Development of sensitive immunoassays for free and total human glandular kallikrein 2

Background: Free and total human kallikrein 2 (hK2) might improve the discrimination between prostate cancer and benign prostatic hyperplasia. Concentrations of hK2 are 100-fold lower than concentrations of prostate-specific antigen (PSA); therefore, an hK2 assay must have a low detection limit and good specificity. Methods: PSA- and hK2-specific monoclonal antibodies were used in solid-phase, two

Stellar chemical abundances with the GHRS

The accurate quantitative analysis of high resolution ultraviolet spectra of ultra-sharp-lined early-type, chemically peculiar stars, obtained with the Goddard High Resolution spectrograph on the Hubble Space Telescope, has been made possible by the synergism between state-of-the-art astro-physics and state-of-the-art atomic spectroscopy. We illustrate this with several examples, including the dis

Polymorphisms in the tyrosine kinase 2 and interferon regulatory factor 5 genes are associated with systemic lupus erythematosus

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex systemic autoimmune disease caused by both genetic and environmental factors. Genome scans in families with SLE point to multiple potential chromosomal regions that harbor SLE susceptibility genes, and association studies in different populations have suggested several susceptibility alleles for SLE. Increased production of type I interferon (IFN) an

Preoperative Antibiotics Before Endourologic Surgery: Current Recommendations

The use of antibiotic prophylaxis is an accepted and widely practiced feature of modern surgery. The prevention and control of infection is a priority in healthcare worldwide, and the emergence of antibiotic resistance is a global phenomenon. Hence, rational use of antibiotics is essential. We discuss the guidelines published with regard to endourologic procedures and review the limited evidence c

Structure of SP-B/DPPC Mixed Films Studied by Neutron Reflectometry.

The structures of films of SP-B and mixtures of SP-B and DPPC at the air/water interface have been studied by neutron reflectometry (NR) and Langmuir film balance methods. From the film balance studies we observe that at very high pressures the isotherms of pure DPPC and SP-B/DPPC mixtures very nearly overlay one another, suggesting that the SP-B is being excluded from the film. The use of multipl

Common cuckoo Cuculus canorus parasitism, antiparasite defence and gene flow in closely located populations of great reed warblers Acrocephalus arundinaceus

In Hungary an unusually high rate of parasitism on the great reed warbler Acrocephalus arundinaceus by the common cuckoo Cuculus canorus has been maintained for at least the last one hundred years. We evaluated parasitism rate, antiparasite defence and genetic differentiation among Hungarian great reed warblers at three sites located 40-130 km from each other, where hosts suffered from a high (41-

Structural requirements for the interaction of human IgM and IgA with the human Fc alpha/mu receptor

Here we unravel the structural features of human IgM and IgA that govern their interaction with the human Fc alpha/mu receptor (hFc alpha/mu R). Ligand polymerization status was crucial for the interaction, because hFc alpha/mu R binding did not occur with monomeric Ab of either class. hFc alpha/mu R bound IgM with an affinity in the nanomolar range, whereas the affinity for dimeric IgA (dIgA) was

Subintimal angioplasty of infrainguinal arterial occlusions for critical limb ischemia: Long-term patency and clinical efficacy

Purpose: To evaluate long-term patency and clinical efficacy of subintimal angioplasty (SAP) of occluded infrainguinal arteries 3 years post procedure. Methods: One hundred eighty-one patients (92 men; median age 79 years) underwent attempted SAP in 193 limbs with occluded infrainguinal arteries during the period 1999 to 2001. Nearly half (83, 46%) of the patients had diabetes. Most (172, 95%) had

Partitioning based algorithms for some colouring problems

We discuss four variants of the graph colouring problem, and present algorithms for solving them. The problems are k-COLOURABILITY, MAX IND k-COL, MAX VAL k-COL, and, finally, MAX k-COL, which is the unweighted case of the MAX k-CUT problem. The algorithms are based on the idea of partitioning the domain of the problems into disjoint subsets, and then considering all possible instances were the va

A New Method of Selective, Rapid Cooling of the Brain: An Experimental Study.

Purpose: To determine whether retrograde perfusion of cooled blood into one internal jugular vein (IJV) in the pig can selectively reduce the brain temperature without affecting the core body temperature (CBT). Methods: In 7 domestic pigs, the left IJV was catheterized on one side and a catheter placed with the tip immediately below the rete mirabile. Thermistors were placed in both brain hemisphe

Description and analysis of two internet-based databases of insect pathogens: EDWIP and VIDIL

In 1996, two searchable databases covering insect pathogens were posted on the World Wide Web: the Ecological Database of the World's Insect Pathogens (EDWIP) and the Viral Diseases of Insects in the Literature database (VIDIL). In this paper, we describe the format and contents of EDWIP and VIDIL on the World Wide Web. EDWIP contains over 9400 pathogen-host association records, 677 negative test

Potential of mean force between charged colloids: Effect of dielectric discontinuities

The potential of mean force between two spherical and like-charged macroions in a salt-free aqueous solution has been determined using an extended primitive model and canonical Monte Carlo simulations. The systems considered covered the range from a purely repulsive to a purely attractive potential of mean force as the electrostatic coupling was increased. The macroions were modeled as spherical d

Three-dimensional analysis of compaction of metal powder

Three-dimensional compaction simulations of geometries with circular and quadratic cross-sections are reported using dilatant viscoplastic material models representing a ductile steel powder. The simulations are compared with experiments using in situ measurements of the wall-tractions within the die. Two different porous viscoplastic material models have been used: the combined Fleck-Kuhn-MeMeeki