Framtidens rekrytering sker i dag

Sveriges arbetsföra befolkning har börjat minska och kommer att fortsätta minska under flera år framöver. Anledningen är minskade födelsetal under de senaste decennierna. Detta i kombination med ett minskat intresse för teknik och låg status för skogsindustrisektorn bland unga kan leda till att skogsindustriföretagen kommer att möta en framtida brist på ingenjörer. I syfte att minska detta problem har skogsindustriföretaget Södra startat en kampanj som syftar till att intressera och locka unga ingenjörer. Syftet med denna uppsats var att undersöka om studenter på Chalmers och Lunds tekniska högskola har fått en förändrad bild av Södra efter att satsningen påbörjades 2007 och att undersöka hur de ser på Södra som arbetsgivare. Dessutom fick respondenterna ta ställning till vad de värderar hos en framtida arbetsgivare. Den teoretiska basen utgörs av teorier kring arbetsgivarvarumärken, kommunikation, relationsmarknadsföring. Undersökningen genomfördes i form av en besöksenkät där 153 studenter svarade på 59 frågor. Frågorna var strukturerade och svarsalternativen slutna. Resultatet visade på att studenterna i hög grad har haft kontakt med Södra, och att deras bild av Södra har förändrats efter kontakten. Studenterna uppger att de vet mer om Södra i dag än innan satsningen påbörjades och att den bild de har av Södra är mer positiv i dag än tidigare. Generellt sett har respondenterna svarat att de arbetsgivaregenskaper som de fått ta ställning till är viktiga, men de har haft svårt att applicera dessa på Södra. Okunskapen kring hur Södra är som arbetsgivare var hög. Studenterna från LTH har haft mindre kunskap om Södra, än studenterna från Chalmers. Även om många har svarat att det inte vet, på frågorna om Södra, har de flesta som gett ett betyg varit positiva

DR-bearing T lymphocytes in thoracic duct lymph

T cells having DR antigens were shown to be present in high numbers in the thoracic duct lymph of patients undergoing long-term drainage. As drainage progresses the proportion of T DR cells in the lymph increases to levels as high as 70% at 6 weeks. These cells were demonstrated by showing that T cells isolated by sheep red cell rosetting were killed by the action of rabbit anti-B-cell sera and of HLA-DR antisera. The HLA-DR specificities found on the T cells corresponded with those on the patients’ B lymphocytes

Effect of preoperative thoracic duct drainage on canine kidney transplantation

Chronic drainage of the thoracic duct to the esophagus was developed in dogs, and its efficacy in immunomodulation was tested using kidney transplantation. Compared to 9.7 days in the control, the mean animal survival was prolonged to 9.9 days, 17.8 days, and 18.5 days when TDD was applied preoperatively for 3 weeks, 6 weeks, and 9 weeks, respectively. Prolongation was significant after 6 weeks. Patency of the fistula was 93.5, 80.4, and 76.1% at respective weeks. Number of peripheral T-lymphocytes determined by a new monoclonal antibody diminished after 3 weeks. All animals were in normal health, requiring no special care for fluid, electrolyte, or protein replacement

Effects of Combination Treatment of Intravesical Resiniferatoxin Instillation and Hydrodistention in Patients with Refractory Painful Bladder Syndrome/Interstitial Cystitis: A Pilot Study

Purpose Painful bladder syndrome/interstitial cystitis (PBS/IC) is a disabling disease of the urinary bladder, and its etiology and treatment are not yet established. Current medications used in the treatment of PBS/IC have shown limited efficacy. This prospective study investigated the efficacy of intravesical resiniferatoxin (RTX) in PBS/IC refractory to medical treatment. Methods Patients with proven PBS/IC refractory to traditional medical treatment were enrolled. By randomized trial, a total of 18 consecutive patients were divided into two groups: treatment with hydrodistention and intravesical RTX (group 1) or treatment with hydrodistension only (group 2). We assessed bladder pain by use of a visual analogue pain scale, the maximal urine flow rate, post-void residual urine volume, and a voiding diary before and 3 months after treatment. Results The median age of the 18 patients was 55.8±6.9 years, and the median duration of symptoms before diagnosis was 3.6±1.6 years. Frequency, functional bladder capacity, and score on a 5-point pain scale were significantly improved at 3-month after treatment in both groups. Intravesical RTX instillation plus hydrodistention, compared with hydrodistention only, did not have a significant effect on the voiding symptoms or uroflowmetry of the patients but significantly improved scores on the pain scale. Conclusions Intravesical RTX instillation plus hydrodistention was effective in relieving pain but was not effective in improving lower urinary tract symptoms. Further larger studies are needed to clarify the efficacy of combination treatment of intravesical RTX instillation and hydrodistention

Natural killer clones recognize specific soluble HLA class I molecules

Enhancement of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I expression leads to protection from natural killer (NK) cell recognition in several systems. MHC class I gene products are released from the cell surface and can be found in sera as soluble forms. To investigate the possible immunoregulatory role of soluble KLA (sHLA) in NK cell-target recognition, several sHLA antigens were studied for their ability to induce NK cell cytotoxicity modulation. NK cell-target recognition was inhibited by the addition of sHLA during the cytotoxicity assay. Our results indicate that sHLA molecules can down regulate NK killing al the effector level. Moreover, different NK clones are able to specifically recognize different sHLA antigens. Kp43 molecules seem to be involved in the NK recognition of sHLA-B7

New directions for the treatment of adrenal insufficiency

The following funding bodies supported this work: Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC BB/L00267/1, to LG), Rosetrees Trust (to LG), Barts and The London Charity (417/2235, to LG), EU COFUND (PCOFUND-GA-2013-608765, to LG and GRB). IH is supported by a Medical Research Council (MRC, G0802796) PhD studentship

Analysis of Qa-1bPeptide Binding Specificity and the Capacity of Cd94/Nkg2a to Discriminate between Qa-1–Peptide Complexes

The major histocompatibility complex class Ib protein, Qa-1b, serves as a ligand for murine CD94/NKG2A natural killer (NK) cell inhibitory receptors. The Qa-1b peptide-binding site is predominantly occupied by a single nonameric peptide, Qa-1 determinant modifier (Qdm), derived from the leader sequence of H-2D and L molecules. Five anchor residues were identified in this study by measuring the peptide-binding affinities of substituted Qdm peptides in experiments with purified recombinant Qa-1b. A candidate peptide-binding motif was determined by sequence analysis of peptides eluted from Qa-1 that had been folded in the presence of random peptide libraries or pools of Qdm derivatives randomized at specific anchor positions. The results indicate that Qa-1b can bind a diverse repertoire of peptides but that Qdm has an optimal primary structure for binding Qa-1b. Flow cytometry experiments with Qa-1b tetramers and NK target cell lysis assays demonstrated that CD94/NKG2A discriminates between Qa-1b complexes containing peptides with substitutions at nonanchor positions P4, P5, or P8. Our findings suggest that it may be difficult for viruses to generate decoy peptides that mimic Qdm and raise the possibility that competitive replacement of Qdm with other peptides may provide a novel mechanism for activation of NK cells