Relationship between the magnetic hyperfine field and the magnetic moment

Based on experimental data it is shown, for some chosen alloys and compounds of iron, that there is no one unique relationship between the 57Fe-site magnetic hyperfine field, Bhf, and the magnetic moment per Fe atom, m. Instead, the Bhf-m plot consists of several branches, each of them being characteristic of a given alloy or compound. Consequently, the effective proportionality constant (hyperfine coupling constant) depends on the alloy system or compound, and for a given alloy system or compound it depends on the composition or even on the lattice site. Consequently, the scaling of Bhf into the underlying m cannot be done a priopri

Risk and Time Pattern of Recurrences After Local Endoscopic Resection of T1 Colorectal Cancer: A Meta-analysis

Cellular mechanisms in basic and clinical gastroenterology and hepatolog

Prospects of micromass culture technology in tissue engineering

Tissue engineering of bone and cartilage tissue for subsequent implantation is of growing interest in cranio- and maxillofacial surgery. Commonly it is performed by using cells coaxed with scaffolds. Recently, there is a controversy concerning the use of artificial scaffolds compared to the use of a natural matrix. Therefore, new approaches called micromass technology have been invented to overcome these problems by avoiding the need for scaffolds. Technically, cells are dissociated and the dispersed cells are then reaggregated into cellular spheres. The micromass technology approach enables investigators to follow tissue formation from single cell sources to organised spheres in a controlled environment. Thus, the inherent fundamentals of tissue engineering are better revealed. Additionally, as the newly formed tissue is devoid of an artificial material, it resembles more closely the in vivo situation. The purpose of this review is to provide an insight into the fundamentals and the technique of micromass cell culture used to study bone tissue engineering

Type I IFN and TNFα cross-regulation in immune-mediated inflammatory disease: basic concepts and clinical relevance

A cross-regulation between type I IFN and TNFα has been proposed recently, where both cytokines are hypothesized to counteract each other. According to this model, different autoimmune diseases can be viewed as disequilibrium between both cytokines. As this model may have important clinical implications, the present review summarizes and discusses the currently available clinical evidence arguing for or against the proposed cross-regulation between TNFα and type I IFN. In addition, we review how this cross-regulation works at the cellular and molecular levels. Finally, we discuss the clinical relevance of this proposed cross-regulation for biological therapies such as type I IFN or anti-TNFα treatment

Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome protein-mediated actin dynamics control type-I interferon production in plasmacytoid dendritic cells

Mutations in Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS) protein (WASp), a regulator of actin dynamics in hematopoietic cells, cause WAS, an X-linked primary immunodeficiency characterized by recurrent infections and a marked predisposition to develop autoimmune disorders. The mechanisms that link actin alterations to the autoimmune phenotype are still poorly understood. We show that chronic activation of plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs) and elevated type-I interferon (IFN) levels play a role in WAS autoimmunity. WAS patients display increased expression of type-I IFN genes and their inducible targets, alteration in pD

Current status of the algae production industry in Europe: an emerging sector of the Blue Bioeconomy

Versión del edito

Identification, characterisation and expression analysis of natural killer receptor genes in Chlamydia pecorum infected koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus)

BACKGROUND: Koalas (Phascolarctos cinereus), an iconic Australian marsupial, are being heavily impacted by the spread of Chlamydia pecorum, an obligate intracellular bacterial pathogen. Koalas vary in their response to this pathogen, with some showing no symptoms, while others suffer severe symptoms leading to infertility, blindness or death. Little is known about the pathology of this disease and the immune response against it in this host. Studies have demonstrated that natural killer (NK) cells, key components of the innate immune system, are involved in the immune response to chlamydial infections in humans. These cells can directly lyse cells infected by intracellular pathogens and their ability to recognise these infected cells is mediated through NK receptors on their surface. These are encoded in two regions of the genome, the leukocyte receptor complex (LRC) and the natural killer complex (NKC). These two families evolve rapidly and different repertoires of genes, which have evolved by gene duplication, are seen in different species. METHODS: In this study we aimed to characterise genes belonging to the NK receptor clusters in the koala by searching available koala transcriptomes using a combination of search methods. We developed a qPCR assay to quantify relative expression of four genes, two encoded within the NK receptor cluster (CLEC1B, CLEC4E) and two known to play a role in NK response to Chalmydia in humans (NCR3, PRF1). RESULTS: We found that the NK receptor repertoire of the koala closely resembles that of the Tasmanian devil, with minimal genes in the NKC, but with lineage specific expansions in the LRC. Additional genes important for NK cell activity, NCR3 and PRF1, were also identified and characterised. In a preliminary study to investigate whether these genes are involved in the koala immune response to infection by its chlamydial pathogen, C. pecorum, we investigated the expression of four genes in koalas with active chlamydia infection, those with past infection and those without infection using qPCR. This analysis revealed that one of these four, CLEC4E, may be upregulated in response to chlamydia infection. CONCLUSION: We have characterised genes of the NKC and LRC in koalas and have discovered evidence that one of these genes may be upregulated in koalas with chlamydia, suggesting that these receptors may play a role in the immune response of koalas to chlamydia infection