Factors associated with successful mobilization of peripheral blood progenitor cells in 200 patients with lymphoid malignancies

To examine the repertoire of Pneumocystis carinii antigens recognized by antibody-secreting B cells from tracheobronchial lymph nodes isolated immediately following recovery from P. carinii pneumonia, monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) were produced from these cells. In contrast to previous studies of systemic immunity, P. carinii gpA was not the immunodominant antigen recognized by these B cells. Forty-nine (91%) of 54 P. carinii-specific hybridoma culture supernatants reacted with P. carinii antigens other than gpA. Many of the resulting MAbs recognized a previously uncharacterized antigen expressed on the surface of both cysts and trophozoites. Western blotting using one of the cloned MAbs revealed reactivity with a broad range of antigenic material, with the most intense reactivity in the 50- to 65-kDa region of the blot. The antigens identified by these MAbs merit further investigation regarding protective immunity to P. carinii because they were recognized by B cells in the context of recovery from P. carinii pneumonia.     

Utility-based scheduling disciplines for adaptive applications overthe Internet

This letter presents packet scheduling disciplines based on application utility functions and network traffic measurements. The disciplines support different classes of adaptive applications over the Internet, providing differentiation, fairness, and dynamic allocation of network resources. They are composed of a decision procedure, where a fairness criterion based on utility functions is used; and a measurement procedure, which considers the statistics involving packet arrivals and departures. The underlying algorithm is then applied to emulate the proportional differentiation services, and is shown-via simulation-that its results outperform the best alternative algorithms published in the literature     

Human normal peripheral blood B-lymphocytes are deficient in DNA-dependent protein kinase activity due to the expression of a variant form of the Ku86 protein

The heterodimeric Ku protein, which comprises a 86 kDa (Ku86) amd a 70 kDa (Ku70) subunits, is an abundant nuclear DNA-binding protein which binds in vitro to DNA termini without sequence specificity. Ku is the DNA-targeting component of the large catalytic sub-unit of the DNA-dependent protein kinase complex (DNA-PK[CS]), that plays a critical role in mammalian double-strand break repair and lymphoid V(D)J recombination. By using electrophoretic mobility shift assays, we demonstrated that in addition to the major Ku x DNA complex usually detected in cell line extracts, a second complex with faster electrophoretic mobility was observed in normal peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) extracts. The presence of this faster migrating complex was restricted to B cells among the circulating lymphocyte population. Western blot analysis revealed that B cells express a variant form of the Ku86 protein with an apparent molecular weight of 69 kDa, and not the 86 kDa- full-length protein. Although the heterodimer Ku70/variant-Ku86 binds to DNA-ends, this altered form of the Ku heterodimer has a decreased ability to recruit the catalytic component of the complex, DNA-PK(CS), which contributes to an absence of detectable DNA-PK activity in B cells. These data provide a molecular basis for the increased sensitivity of B cells to ionizing radiation and identify a new mechanism of regulation of DNA-PK activity that operates in vivo.     

Teleaction services: standards and architectures

The article provides a review of the standards and architectures that can be used to implement teleaction services. Although they are already penetrating the market and are recognized as having substantial potential for growth, the work on standardization of these services is not complete. The article analyzes the variety of implementation architectures and standards that may be deployed; illustrates the cost benefits that can be achieved by deploying new technologies; and guides the standardization process by identifying the critical areas where standards will have maximum impact on business development. Drawing an architectural framework for the provision of teleaction services, the authors identify the generic capabilities for the support of teleaction services and analyze the main architectural implementations for teleaction services. Several types of networks based on existing technology are reviewed. ISDN-based implementations and their associated standards are described, and aspects such as protocols, interconnection of networks, and migration from current arrangements to ISDN implementations are analyzed. Quality of service (QOS) is of central importance. Requirements for QOS are reviewed mainly by reviewing some of the European standards. The significant progress in standardization of home systems is considered and a review of the major products and technical trends in home systems and their use as customer premises equipment for teleaction services is then presented. Finally, the authors review a system under development in Denmark and draw some conclusions     

Amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) in tissue repair process

Synthetic biomaterials submitted to new structural technologies have become ideal for the recovery of traumatized bone tissues and some bone substitutes such as bioactive glass, β‐Tricalcium phosphate (β‐TCP) and amorphous calcium phosphate (ACP) are being used in areas of tissue defects. For this study, ACP was produced in the form of fibers and then submitted to cytotoxicity testing. A sample of ACP was inserted into the mandibular region of a patient with a lost implant so after removal and curettage, the remaining bone site was filled with the ACP biomaterial. Preliminary cytotoxicity test was negative. After 15 weeks of healing, a titanium implant was inserted at the site. Clinical and radiographic follow‐up was conducted for 12 months and sequential radiographic analyses revealed tissue formation resembling spongy bone. Images under immunohistochemistry demonstrated efficient deposition and osteoconduction of the newly deposited tissue. Residual portion of the CaO:P₂O₅ outer layers served as a substrate for osteoid matrix deposition, aiding growth, and the results of fiber absorption favored maturation of the new bone tissue.     

Evaluation of the mechanical properties of Brazilian lumber (Goupia glabra) by nondestructive techniques

The purpose of this work was to ascertain the accuracy of the ultrasonic and transverse vibration techniques in comparison with the values obtained from static tests on structural lumber, thereby contributing to the body of knowledge about nondestructive testing of timber. The experimental methodology involved studies on pieces of structural dimensions of the species Goupia glabra, a Brazilian hardwood, which were classified mechanically using the nondestructive ultrasonic and transverse vibration techniques to determine the dynamic modulus of elasticity (E_d). Concomitantly to the nondestructive tests, static bending tests were conducted to determine the static modulus of elasticity (MOE) and compare it with the values of dynamic modulus of elasticity. The values of the coefficient of determination for the ultrasonic technique (R² = 0.88) and for the transverse vibration technique (R² = 0.88) obtained for the species G. glabra were significant, demonstrating that the ultrasonic and transverse vibration techniques are important tools for the nondestructive inference of the modulus of elasticity of timber.     

Effect of Everolimus versus Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cells on Glomerular Injury in a Rat Model of Glomerulonephritis: A Preventive,Predictive and Personalized Implication

Glomerular endothelial injury and effectiveness of glomerular endothelial repair play a crucial role in the progression of glomerulonephritis. Although the potent immune suppressive everolimus is increasingly used in renal transplant patients, adverse effects of its chronic use have been reported clinically in human glomerulonephritis and experimental renal disease. Recent studies suggest that progenitor stem cells could enhance glomerular endothelial repair with minimal adverse effects. Increasing evidence supports the notion that stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine can be effectively used in pathological conditions within the predictive, preventive and personalized medicine (PPPM) paradigm. In this study, using an experimental model of glomerulonephritis, we tested whether bone marrow-derived stem cells (BMDSCs) could provide better effect over everolimus in attenuating glomerular injury and improving the repair process in a rat model of glomerulonephritis. Anti-Thy1 glomerulonephritis was induced in male Sprague Dawley rats by injection of an antibody against Thy1, which is mainly expressed on glomerular mesangial cells. Additional groups of rats were treated with the immunosuppressant everolimus daily after the injection of anti-Thy1 or injected with single bolus dose of BMDSCs after one week of injection of anti-Thy1 (n = 6–8). Nine days after injection of anti-Thy1, glomerular albumin permeability and albuminuria were significantly increased when compared to control group (p < 0.05). Compared to BMDSCs, everolimus was significantly effective in attenuating glomerular injury, nephrinuria and podocalyxin excretion levels as well as in reducing inflammatory responses and apoptosis. Our findings suggest that bolus injection of BMDSCs fails to improve glomerular injury whereas everolimus slows the progression of glomerular injury in Anti-Thy-1 induced glomerulonephritis. Thus, everolimus could be used at the early stage of glomerulonephritis, suggesting potential implications of PPPM in the treatment of progressive renal injury.     

Goat Cheese Flavor: Sensory Evaluation of Branched-Chain Fatty Acids and Small Peptides

ABSTRACT: Small peptides (MW < 1000 g/mol) and volatile fatty acids of goat cheese were studied for their favorite properties. The threshold values of 4-methyl- and 4-ethyl-octanoic acids-responsible for the typical goat note were evaluated at pH 5 for orthonasal aroma in a citrate buffer and for retronasal aroma after incorporation in a cheese model. Though the concentration of the 4-ethyl- was lower than the concentration of the 4-methyl-octanoic acid in goat cheese, its relative impact on the typical goat flavor appeared more important because of its much lower threshold value. The small peptides, isolated by nano filtration of the ultrafiltered water-soluble extract at pH 5, were incorporated in the cheese model. Sensory evaluations with omission tests did not allow us to find any taste activity for this peptidic fraction.     

On Metrics to Distinguish Skype Flows from HTTP Traffic

Skype is a Voice over IP (VoIP) Internet application that is gaining huge popularity in recent years. A key point to Skype popularity is its capability to dynamically adapt itself to operate behind firewalls or network proxies. A common way adopted by Skype to delude these network devices is to use port 80, normally expected to comprise HTTP traffic. In this paper, we propose metrics and investigate statistical tests intended to clearly distinguish Skype flows from HTTP traffic. We validate our study using real-world experimental datasets gathered at a commercial Internet Service Provider (ISP). Our experimental results suggest that the proposed methodology may be seen as a promising building block towards a system to detect general protocol anomalies in HTTP traffic.     

Multi-label incremental learning applied to web page categorization

Multi-label problems are challenging because each instance may be associated with an unknown number of categories, and the relationship among the categories is not always known. A large amount of data is necessary to infer the required information regarding the categories, but these data are normally available only in small batches and distributed over a period of time. In this work, multi-label problems are tackled using an incremental neural network known as the evolving Probabilistic Neural Network (ePNN). This neural network is capable of continuous learning while maintaining a reduced architecture, so that it can always receive training data when available with no drastic growth of its structure. We carried out a series of experiments on web page data sets and compared the performance of ePNN to that of other multi-label categorizers. On average, ePNN outperformed the other categorizers in four out of five metrics used for evaluation, and the structure of ePNN was less complex than that of the other algorithms evaluated.