MHC class I–specific antibody binding to nonhematopoietic cells drives complement activation to induce transfusion-related acute lung injury in mice

In a manner partially independent of activating Fcγ receptors, antibody-mediated production of complement component C5a and recruitment of macrophages elicit transfusion-related acute lung injury in mice

Changes in salivary analytes in canine parvovirus : A high-resolution quantitative proteomic study

The present study evaluated the changes in salivary proteome in parvoviral enteritis (PVE) in dogs through a high-throughput quantitative proteomic analysis. Saliva samples from healthy dogs and dogs with severe parvovirosis that survived or perished due to the disease were analysed and compared by Tandem Mass Tags (TMT) analysis. Proteomic analysis quantified 1516 peptides, and 287 (corresponding to 190 proteins) showed significantly different abundances between studied groups. Ten proteins were observed to change significantly between dogs that survived or perished due to PVE. Bioinformatics' analysis revealed that saliva reflects the involvement of different pathways in PVE such as catalytic activity and binding, and indicates antimicrobial humoral response as a pathway with a major role in the development of the disease. These results indicate that saliva proteins reflect physiopathological changes that occur in PVE and could be a potential source of biomarkers for this disease

The colour of environmental fluctuations associated with terrestrial animal population dynamics

AIM:The temporal structure (colour) of environmental variation influences population fluctuations, extinction risk and community stability. However, it is unclear whether environmental covariates linked to population fluctuations are distinguishable from a purely random process (white noise). We aim to estimate colour coefficients and relative support for three models commonly representing coloured stochastic processes, in environmental series linked to terrestrial animal population fluctuations. LOCATION:North-America and Eurasia.TIME PERIOD:1901-2002MAJOR TAXA STUDIED:Birds, insects and mammals.METHODS:We analysed multiple abiotic environmental covariates, comparing point estimates and confidence intervals of temporal structure in competing models fitted using white noise, autoregressive (AR[1]) and 1/f processes in the time-domain and frequency-domain (where time-series were analysed following decomposition into different sinusoidal frequencies and their relative powers). All animal time-series were sampled annually for ≤ 50 years, potentially inflating Type-II errors. We also considered 101-year series of matched environmental covariates, performing a statistical power analysis evaluating our ability to draw robust conclusions.RESULTS:Temperature-related variables were associated with the largest fraction of population fluctuations. 93% of shorter environmental series were indistinguishable from white noise, limited by time-series length and associated with wide confidence intervals. The longer environmental series analysed in the time-domain offered sufficiently high statistical power to correctly identify colour estimates ≥ |0.27|, indicating 20% of series were best described by a slightly reddened noise process.MAIN CONCLUSIONS:Focusing on the short time-scales typically available for ecologists, most environmental variables associated with terrestrial animal population fluctuations are best characterised by white noise processes, although Type-II errors are common. Correctly detecting intermediately coloured noise with power 0.8 requires at least 16 data points in the time or 47 points in the frequency-domain. Over longer time-scales, where Type-II errors are less likely, one-fifth of populations are associated with coloured (often reddened) variables

Novel immunomodulators from hard ticks selectively reprogramme human dendritic cell responses

Hard ticks subvert the immune responses of their vertebrate hosts in order to feed for much longer periods than other blood-feeding ectoparasites; this may be one reason why they transmit perhaps the greatest diversity of pathogens of any arthropod vector. Tick-induced immunomodulation is mediated by salivary components, some of which neutralise elements of innate immunity or inhibit the development of adaptive immunity. As dendritic cells (DC) trigger and help to regulate adaptive immunity, they are an ideal target for immunomodulation. However, previously described immunoactive components of tick saliva are either highly promiscuous in their cellular and molecular targets or have limited effects on DC. Here we address the question of whether the largest and globally most important group of ticks (the ixodid metastriates) produce salivary molecules that specifically modulate DC activity. We used chromatography to isolate a salivary gland protein (Japanin) from Rhipicephalus appendiculatus ticks. Japanin was cloned, and recombinant protein was produced in a baculoviral expression system. We found that Japanin specifically reprogrammes DC responses to a wide variety of stimuli in vitro, radically altering their expression of co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory transmembrane molecules (measured by flow cytometry) and their secretion of pro-inflammatory, anti-inflammatory and T cell polarising cytokines (assessed by Luminex multiplex assays); it also inhibits the differentiation of DC from monocytes. Sequence alignments and enzymatic deglycosylation revealed Japanin to be a 17.7 kDa, N-glycosylated lipocalin. Using molecular cloning and database searches, we have identified a group of homologous proteins in R. appendiculatus and related species, three of which we have expressed and shown to possess DC-modulatory activity. All data were obtained using DC generated from at least four human blood donors, with rigorous statistical analysis. Our results suggest a previously unknown mechanism for parasite-induced subversion of adaptive immunity, one which may also facilitate pathogen transmission

Att sträva mot en allians : Sjuksköterskors erfarenheter av att stödja ungdomar med anorexia nervosa till att vara delaktiga i sin vård

Background:To be struck down with anorexia nervosa as an adolescent means that their everyday life is all about avoiding meals in order to starve themselves and often do long sessions of physical activity. The illness can quickly develop into an identity in the adolescent's life. Anorexia nervosa is a serious illness that can become life-threatening. An ambivalence to receive care often arises related to, among other things, the difficulty to break the compulsive behavior. To involve the adolescents in their own care poses a challenge for health care providers.  Aim:To describe nurses' experiences with supporting adolescents with anorexia nervosa to be involved in their own care within the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry.  Method:A descriptive design with a qualitative inductive approach. Five nurses have been interviewed, these have been analyzed with a qualitative content analysis.  Results:The nurses support the adolescents to involvement in their own care by being together with them in a two-sided alliance. This is described as: The nurses support the adolescent to involvement in their own care by aiming for an alliance. This is described as to use information as a tool to get the adolescent to dare change, to bring attention to the adolescent's individual needs and motivation, and to make their own commitment possible and encouraged.   Conclusion: In order for nurses to support patients to participate, information about how the illness works has to be given, and they have to clearify which model of treatment is used, and bring attention to and encourage the adolescent's former interests and life story and part of their own treatment. To, as a nurse, get support from the undertakings and skills that are described in the Tidal Model can make starting from the adolescents' needs and wishes easier and consequently also the possibility of supporting them to involvement. Keywords: Adolescents, Anorexia nervosa, Participation, Nurses, Qualitative content analysis

Turbulent Boundary Layer Separation and Control

Boundary layer separation is an unwanted phenomenon in most technical applications, as for instance on airplane wings, ground vehicles and in internal flow systems. If separation occurs, it causes loss of lift, higher drag and energy losses. It is thus essential to develop methods to eliminate or delay separation.In the present experimental work streamwise vortices are introduced in turbulent boundary layers to transport higher momentum fluid towards the wall. This enables the boundary layer to stay attached at  larger pressure gradients. First the adverse pressure gradient (APG) separation bubbles that are to be eliminated are studied. It is shown that, independent of pressure gradient, the mean velocity defect profiles are self-similar when the scaling proposed by Zagarola and Smits is applied to the data. Then vortex pairs and arrays of vortices of different initial strength are studied in zero pressure gradient (ZPG). Vane-type vortex generators (VGs) are used to generate counter-rotating vortex pairs, and it is shown that the vortex core trajectories scale with the VG height h and the spanwise spacing of the blades. Also the streamwise evolution of the turbulent quantities scale with h. As the vortices are convected downstream they seem to move towards a equidistant state, where the distance from the vortex centres to the wall is half the spanwise distance between two vortices. Yawing the VGs up to 20° do not change the generated circulation of a VG pair. After the ZPG measurements, the VGs where applied in the APG mentioned above. It is shown that that the circulation needed to eliminate separation is nearly independent of the pressure gradient and that the streamwise position of the VG array relative to the separated region is not critical to the control effect. In a similar APG jet vortex generators (VGJs) are shown to as effective as the passive VGs. The ratio VR of jet velocity and test section inlet velocity is varied and a control effectiveness optimum is found for VR=5. At 40° yaw the VGJs have only lost approximately 20% of the control effect. For pulsed VGJs the pulsing frequency, the duty cycle and VR were varied. It was shown that to achieve maximum control effect the injected mass flow rate should be as large as possible, within an optimal range of jet VRs. For a given injected mass flow rate, the important parameter was shown to be the injection time t1. A non-dimensional injection time is defined as t1+ = t1Ujet/d, where d is the jet orifice diameter. Here, the optimal  t1+ was 100-200.QC 2010082

Vortex generators and turbulent boundary layer separation control

Boundary layer separation is usually an unwanted phenomenon in most technical applications as for instance on airplane wings, on ground vehicles and in internal flows such as diffusers. If separation occurs it leads to loss of lift, higher drag and results in energy losses. It is therefore important to be able to find methods to control and if possible avoid separation altogether without introducing a too heavy penalty such as increased drag, energy consuming suction etc. In the present work we study one such control method, namely the use of vortex generators (VGs), which are known to be able to hinder turbulent boundary layer separation. We first study the downstream development of streamwise vortices behind pairs and arrays of vortex generators and how the strength of the vortices is coupled to the relative size of the vortex generators in comparison to the boundary layer size. Both the amplitude and the trajectory of the vortices are tracked in the downstream direction. Also the influences of yaw and free stream turbulence on the vortices are investigated. This part of the study is made with hot-wire anemometry where all three velocity components of the vortex structure are measured. The generation of circulation by the VGs scales excellently with the VG blade height and the velocity at the blade edge. The magnitude of circulation was found to be independent of yaw angle. The second part of the study deals with the control effect of vortex generators on three different cases where the strength of the adverse pressure gradient (APG) in a turbulent boundary layer has been varied. In this case the measurements have been made with particle image velocimetry. It was found that the streamwise position where the VGs are placed is not critical for the control effect. For the three different APG cases approximately the same level of circulation was needed to inhibit separation. In contrast to some previous studies we find no evidence of a universal detachment shape factor H12, that is independent of pressure gradient.QC 2010111