Early signaling defects in human T cells anergized by T cell presentation of autoantigen.

Major histocompatibility complex class II-positive human T cell clones are nontraditional antigen-presenting cells (APCs) that are able to simultaneously present and respond to peptide or degraded antigen, but are unable to process intact protein. Although T cell presentation of peptide antigen resulted in a primary proliferative response, T cells that had been previously stimulated by T cells presenting antigen were completely unresponsive to antigen but not to interleukin 2 (IL-2). In contrast, peptide antigen presented by B cells or DR2+ L cell transfectants resulted in T cell activation and responsiveness to restimulation. The anergy induced by T cell presentation of peptide could not be prevented by the addition of either autologous or allogeneic B cells or B7+ DR2+ L cell transfectants, suggesting that the induction of anergy could occur in the presence of costimulation. T cell anergy was induced within 24 h of T cell presentation of antigen and was long lasting. Anergized T cells expressed normal levels of T cell receptor/CD3 but were defective in their ability to release [Ca2+]i to both alpha CD3 and APCs. Moreover, anergized T cells did not proliferate to alpha CD2 monoclonal antibodies or alpha CD3 plus phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), nor did they synthesize IL-2, IL-4, or interferon gamma mRNA in response to either peptide or peptide plus PMA. In contrast, ionomycin plus PMA induced both normal proliferative responses and synthesis of cytokine mRNA, suggesting that the signaling defect in anergized cells occurs before protein kinase C activation and [Ca2+]i release

Expression of CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules are potential markers for better survival in nasopharyngeal carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>B7 Costimulatory signal is essential to trigger T-cell activation upon the recognition of tumor antigens. This study examined the expression of B7-1 (CD80) and B7-2 (CD86) costimulatory molecules along with HLA-DR and the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and dendritic cells to assess their significance in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Expression of CD80, CD86, HLA-DR, S-100 protein and the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and follicular dendritic reticulum cells were immunohistochemically examined on the paraffin-embedded tissue blocks from newly diagnosed NPC patients (n = 50). The results were correlated with clinical outcome of patients.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>CD80 and CD86 were each expressed in 10 of 50 cases in which they co-expressed in 9 cases. Univariate analysis revealed that patients with CD80/CD86 expression had significantly better overall survival than those without it (P = 0.017), but after adjustment for stage, nodal status, and treatment, the expression of CD80/CD86 did not significantly correlate with overall survival. Expression of HLA-DR and the presence of infiltrating lymphocytes and dendritic cells did not appear to have impact on the survival of patients.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Expression of CD80 and CD86 costimulatory molecules appears to be a marker of better survival in patient with NPC.</p

Motif Minang Kaluak Paku Kacang Balimbiang pada Busana Kasual

Minangkabau sebagai salah satu suku bangsa yang mengisi kekhasan budaya Indonesia memiliki warisan budaya yang terpencar dalam berbagai aspek kehidupannya. Salah satu warisan budaya adalah seni ukir. Seni ukir yang dikembangkan dengan mengambil ide dari alam memiliki makna-makna filosofi bagi kehidupan masyarakat Minangkabau. Semua jenis ukiran yang dipahatkan di Rumah Gadang menunjukkan unsur penting pembentuk budaya Minangkabau bercerminkan kepada apa yang ada di alam. Salah satu ukiran pada rumah gadang yaitu kaluak paku. Kaluak paku adalah nama salah satu motif ukiran dalam adat Minangkabau. Berasal dari motif gulungan (kelukan/kaluak) pada ujung tanaman pakis (paku) yang masih muda. Ukiran kaluak paku rumah gadang melambangkan tanggung jawab seorang lelaki dalam adat Minangkabau kepada generasi penerus, sebagai ayah dari anak-anaknya dan sebagai mamak dari kemenakan (keponakan). Ukiran rumah gadang kaluak paku minangkabau inilah yang menjadi sumber ide penciptaan busana pada tugas akhir ini. Pada Penciptaan karya ini menggunakan beberapa metode, yaitu metode pendekatan estetis dan ergonomis, metode pengumpulan data dengan studi pustaka, dan motode penciptaan dengan teori Gustami Sp 3 tahap 6 Langkah. Dalam proses pembuatan karya dibutuhkan beberapa data, cara pengumpulan data acuan berdasarkan pengumpulan data pustaka yaitu berupa buku, jurnal pada media sosial, serta aplikasi pada smartphone seperti pinterest. Data yang dikumpulkan yang paling utama adalah gambar bentuk visual dari ukiran tanaman kaluak paku minangkabau dan busana kasual. Penciptaan karya yang dihasilkan yaitu berupa 8 busana kasual. Siluet pada kesuluruhan hasil karya yaitu memiliki siluet A yang mengembang pada bagian bawah. Pada penciptaan karya ini menggunakan bahan utama primisima. Perpaduan warna yang diterapkan menggunakan warna khas minangkabau yang diambil dari warna bendera adatnya “marawa” yaitu merah, hitam, dan kuning. Karya- karya yang dihasilkan dengan penggunaan warna tersebut sangat sesuai dengan tema yang mengangkat ukiran rumah gadang kaluak paku minangkabau. Kata Kunci : Minang, Kaluak Paku Kacang Balimbiang, Kasua

Newsprint coverage of smoking in cars carrying children : a case study of public and scientific opinion driving the policy debate

Acknowledgements Date of Acceptance:17/10/2014 Acknowledgements: This project was funded by Cancer Research UK (MC_U130085862) and the Scottish School of Public Health Research. Cancer Research UK and the Scottish School of Public Health Research was not involved in the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data, writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit the manuscript for publication. Shona Hilton, Karen Wood, Josh Bain and Chris Patterson are funded by the UK Medical Research Council as part of the Understandings and Uses of Public Health Research programme (MC_UU_12017/6) at the MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit, University of Glasgow. We thank Alan Pollock who provided assistance with coding.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Anti-nausea effects and pharmacokinetics of ondansetron, maropitant and metoclopramide in a low-dose cisplatin model of nausea and vomiting in the dog: a blinded crossover study

Nausea is a subjective sensation which is difficult to measure in non-verbal species. The aims of this study were to determine the efficacy of three classes of antiemetic drugs in a novel low dose cisplatin model of nausea and vomiting and measure change in potential nausea biomarkers arginine vasopressin (AVP) and cortisol. A four period cross-over blinded study was conducted in eight healthy beagle dogs of both genders. Dogs were administered 18 mg/m2 cisplatin intravenously, followed 45 min later by a 15 min infusion of either placebo (saline) or antiemetic treatment with ondansetron (0.5 mg/kg; 5-HT3 antagonist), maropitant (1 mg/kg; NK1 antagonist) or metoclopramide (0.5 mg/kg; D2 antagonist). The number of vomits and nausea associated behaviours, scored on a visual analogue scale, were recorded every 15 min for 8 h following cisplatin administration. Plasma samples were collected to measure AVP, cortisol and antiemetic drug concentrations

Applicability and reproducibility of acute myeloid leukaemia stem cell assessment in a multi-centre setting

Leukaemic stem cells (LSC) have been experimentally defined as the leukaemia-propagating population and are thought to be the cellular reservoir of relapse in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Therefore, LSC measurements are warranted to facilitate accurate risk stratification. Previously, we published the composition of a one-tube flow cytometric assay, characterised by the presence of 13 important membrane markers for LSC detection. Here we present the validation experiments of the assay in several large AML research centres, both in Europe and the United States. Variability within instruments and sample processing showed high correlations between different instruments (Rpearson &nbsp;&gt;&nbsp;0·91, P&nbsp;&lt;&nbsp;0·001). Multi-centre testing introduced variation in reported LSC percentages but was found to be below the clinical relevant threshold. Clear gating protocols resulted in all laboratories being able to perform LSC assessment of the validation set. Participating centres were nearly unanimously able to distinguish LSChigh (&gt;0·03% LSC) from LSClow (&lt;0·03% LSC) despite inter-laboratory variation in reported LSC percentages. This study proves that the LSC assay is highly reproducible. These results together with the high prognostic impact of LSC load at diagnosis in AML patients render the one-tube LSC assessment a good marker for future risk classification

Climate Dynamics: A Network-Based Approach for the Analysis of Global Precipitation

Precipitation is one of the most important meteorological variables for defining the climate dynamics, but the spatial patterns of precipitation have not been fully investigated yet. The complex network theory, which provides a robust tool to investigate the statistical interdependence of many interacting elements, is used here to analyze the spatial dynamics of annual precipitation over seventy years (1941-2010). The precipitation network is built associating a node to a geographical region, which has a temporal distribution of precipitation, and identifying possible links among nodes through the correlation function. The precipitation network reveals significant spatial variability with barely connected regions, as Eastern China and Japan, and highly connected regions, such as the African Sahel, Eastern Australia and, to a lesser extent, Northern Europe. Sahel and Eastern Australia are remarkably dry regions, where low amounts of rainfall are uniformly distributed on continental scales and small-scale extreme events are rare. As a consequence, the precipitation gradient is low, making these regions well connected on a large spatial scale. On the contrary, the Asiatic South-East is often reached by extreme events such as monsoons, tropical cyclones and heat waves, which can all contribute to reduce the correlation to the short-range scale only. Some patterns emerging between mid-latitude and tropical regions suggest a possible impact of the propagation of planetary waves on precipitation at a global scale. Other links can be qualitatively associated to the atmospheric and oceanic circulation. To analyze the sensitivity of the network to the physical closeness of the nodes, short-term connections are broken. The African Sahel, Eastern Australia and Northern Europe regions again appear as the supernodes of the network, confirming furthermore their long-range connection structure. Almost all North-American and Asian nodes vanish, revealing that extreme events can enhance high precipitation gradients, leading to a systematic absence of long-range patterns