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Background & objectives: Human and animal cystatins have been shown to inhibit the replication of certain viruses and bacteria, though it is not directly demonstrated that the effects are due to protease inhibitory capacity of the cystatins. We report antibacterial properties of a novel antimicrobial peptidyl derivative, (2S)-2-(N-alpha-benzyloxycarbonyl-arginyl-leucylamido)-1-(E)-cinnamoyla m
Antimicrobial peptides produced by epithelial cells and neutrophils represent essential elements of innate immunity, and include the defensin and cathelicidin family of antimicrobial polypeptides. The human cathelicidin cationic antimicrobial protein-18 is an antimicrobial peptide precursor predominantly expressed in neutrophils, and its active peptide LL-37 is released from the precursor through
Moisture permeabilities (δv) of mature concrete and cement paste with water-cement ratio (w0/C) 0.4, 0.5 and 0.6 have been determined as functions of the relative humidity (RH). These δv can be used to calculate δv of the aggregates including the interfacial transition zone (ITZ). δv of granite has been preliminarily determined as a function of RH.
The distribution of human papillomavirus (HPV) types in cervical cancers is essential for design and evaluation of HPV type-specific vaccines. To follow up on a previous report that HPV types 35 and 58 were the dominant HPV types in cervical neoplasia in Mozambique, the HPV types in a consecutive case series of 74 invasive cervical cancers in Mozambique were determined. The most common worldwide m
Regional sex-specific rates of a rare disease often show conspicuous fluctuations over conventional strata of age and calendar time. In a cohort study, when such rates are used as references in the calculation of the expected number of cases, the accumulated person-time of the study cohort may somewhat haphazardly contribute to the result. For example, only the person-time observed in the strata w
Background: Rhinovirus (RV)-induced chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) exacerbations exhibit TH(2)-like inflammation. We hypothesized that RV-infected bronchial epithelial cells (BEC) overproduce TH(2)-switching hub cytokine, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) in COPD. Methods: Primary BEC from healthy (HBEC) and from COPD donors (COPD-BEC) were grown in 12-well plates, infected with RV
The increasing number of bacterial genomes in combination with reproducible quantitative proteome measurements provides new opportunities to explore how genetic differences modulate proteome composition and virulence. It is challenging to combine genome and proteome data as the underlying genome influences the proteome. We present a strategy to facilitate the integration of genome data from severa
Somatostatin (SST) is a peptide hormone active in the regulation of the endocrine system via different somatostatin receptors subtypes. It inhibits the release of multiple secondary peptide hormones, affecting neurotransmission and cell proliferation. SST has a high therapeutic potential in the treatment of disease, such as acromegali, acute pancreatitis and gastroenteropathic endocrine tumors. Ho
Purpose: Alkaline sphingomyelinase (alk-SMase) is an enzyme that hydrolyses sphingomyelin in a bile salt-dependent manner in the gastrointestinal tract, and has been proposed as an inhibitor of colon carcinogenesis. Ursolic acid (UA) is a plant-derived pentacyclic triterpenoid that has been shown to have anti-proliferative and apoptotic effects on HT29 human colon adenocarcinoma cells, with activa
Antibiotic resistance in pneumococci is due to the spread of strains belonging to a limited number of clones. The Spain(9v)-3 clone of sequence type (ST)156 is one of the most successful clones with reduced susceptibility to penicillin [pneumococci nonsusceptible to penicillin (PNSP)]. In Sweden during 2000-2003, a dramatic increase in the number of PNSP isolates was observed. Molecular characteri
The basis of a new non-destructive method for concrete pavements is described. The method uses a hybrid approach that combines frequency domain (impact-echo) and time domain (seismic) data. The equipment and data interpretation for the hybrid approach are described. The dynamic response data are interpreted in terms of guided plate wave (Lamb wave) theory, which are shown to follow the S, Lamb mod
Saturated straight- and branched-chain 3-hydroxy fatty acids (3-OH FAs) of 10-18 carbon chain lengths were determined in saliva from 27 individuals with chronic periodontitis and 18 healthy individuals by using gas chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Of the 14 different 3-OH FAs detected, 3-OH-C-i17:0 was the most abundant in the periodontitis samples while 3-OH-C-14:0 was the most abundant i
Training studies in children have suggested that endurance training can give enlargement of cardiac dimensions. This relationship has not been studied on a population-based level in young children with objective methods. A cross-sectional study was made of 248 children (140 boys and 108 girls), aged 8-11 years, from a population-based cohort. Left ventricular end-diastolic diameter (LVDD) and left
Ongoing inflammation including activation of the complement system is a hallmark of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Antimicrobial neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are composed of secreted chromatin that may act as a source of autoantigens typical for SLE. In this study, we investigated how complement interacts with NETs and how NET degradation is affected by complement in SLE patients. We
This article outlines a numerical study on the benefit of using High-Performance/Strength Concrete for fabrication of concrete elements. For this purpose a comparison is done between the cost of existing beams with normal strength concrete and optimized beams made of High-Performance/Strength Concrete. A background is given concerning the most essential properties of High-Performance/Strength Conc
The aim of the present doctoral thesis is to study and conceptualize juridification as a phenomenon. This aim comprises analyzing the theories through which juridification as an empirical development is interpreted. In this thesis juridification signifies displacements towards legal discourse. Juridification comes about when an issue that was previously dealt with within a cultural, ethical, polit
Objective. Most methods for measurements of the regional cerebral blood flow are unable to provide absolute blood flow values. Until now interest has been focused on measurement of the gray matter blood flow, while the white matter blood flow has been rather neglected. The aim of the present project was to develop and evaluate an improved method for reliable tomographic measurements of absolute wh
In this chapter, a control design approach based on linear parametervarying (LPV) systems, which can be exploited to solve several problems typically encountered in control engineering, is presented. By means of recent techniques based on Youla–Kucera parametrization, it is shown how it is possible not only to design and optimize stabilizing controllers, but also to exploit the structure of the Yo
