Normal neonatal TREC and KREC levels in early onset juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Objective: Dysregulated central tolerance predisposes to autoimmune diseases. Reduced thymic output as well as compromised central B cell tolerance checkpoints have been proposed in the pathogenesis of juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA). The aim of this study was to investigate neonatal levels of T-cell receptor excision circles (TRECs) and kappa-deleting element excision circles (KRECs), as markers of T- and B-cell output at birth, in patients with early onset JIA. Methods: TRECs and KRECs were quantitated by multiplex qPCR from dried blood spots (DBS), collected 2–5 days after birth, in 156 children with early onset JIA and in 312 matched controls. Results: When analysed from neonatal dried blood spots, the median TREC level was 78 (IQR 55–113) in JIA cases and 88 (IQR 57–117) copies/well in controls. The median KREC level was 51 (IQR 35–69) and 53 (IQR 35–74) copies/well, in JIA cases and controls, respectively. Stratification by sex and age at disease onset did not reveal any difference in the levels of TRECs and KRECs. Conclusion: T- and B-cell output at birth, as measured by TREC and KREC levels in neonatal dried blood spots, does not differ in children with early onset JIA compared to controls

Desalination of Archaeological Composite Objects Consisting of Wrought Iron and Wood/Bone. With Focus on the Iron Component.

The difficulty of choosing a suitable treatment for freshly excavated composite objects from archaeological sites is a well known problem within the field of conservation. The array of different materials, their shape and condition, degree of deterioration and their individual demand on correct treatment along with their effect on each other through time is a complicated combination of factors. In order to preserve iron, it is important to eliminate as much Cl- as possible after excavation. This is usually done through treatments in alkaline solutions. However, the high pH of these solutions (pH 12 – 13) is extremely destructive to the organic components in composite objects containing wood and bone. The Western Australian Museum has been using mineral oil as a seal during the desalination process of iron in alkaline solutions. They report that it is possible to prevent the absorption of carbon dioxide as to avoid the pH dropping in the solution for up to 6 weeks. The aim of this thesis is to investigate the suitability of the use of mineral oil as a sealing agent to exclude the ingress of oxygen during the desalination process on composite iron/organic objects. The focus of this project lies on the effectiveness of the treatment of the iron component in composite objects. The results of my work indicate that distilled water with mineral oil as a sealing agent to exclude oxygen for the treatment of composite objects does not work sufficiently. This conclusion is based on the amount of sediment and the iron in the solutions that showed a high level of corrosion on the objects.Uppsats för avläggande av filosofie kandidatexamen i Kulturvård, Konservatorprogrammet 15 hp Institutionen för kulturvård Göteborgs universitet 2015:0