Cytokine profiles of stimulated blood lymphocytes in asthmatic and healthy adolescents across the school year

T cell cytokines play an important role in mediating airway inflammation in asthma. The predominance of a Th2 cytokine profile, particularly interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5, is associated with the pathogenesis and course of asthma. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a stressful life event alters the pattern of cytokine release in asthmatic individuals. Thirteen healthy controls and 21 asthmatic adolescents gave blood samples three times over a semester: midsemester, during the week of final examinations, and 2-3 weeks after examinations. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 were measured from supernatants of cells stimulated with PHA/PMA for 24 h. Cells from asthmatic subjects released significantly more IL-5 during the examination and postexamination periods, whereas cells from healthy controls released significantly more IL-2 during the midsemester and examination periods, thereby indicating a bias for a Th2-like pattern in asthmatics and a Th1-like pattern in healthy controls. IL-4 and IL-5 production showed a marked decrease during and after examinations in healthy controls, whereas this decline was absent in asthmatics. The ratios of IFN-gamma:IL-4 and IFN-gamma:IL-5 also revealed significant changes in the profile of cytokine release across the semester. These results indicate differential cytokine responses in asthmatics that may become pronounced during periods of cellular activation.     

Complexity classification in qualitative temporal constraint reasoning

We study the computational complexity of the qualitative algebra which is a temporal constraint formalism that combines the point algebra, the point-interval algebra and Allen's interval algebra. We identify all tractable fragments and show that every other fragment is NP-complete.     

An outbreak of malignant catarrhal fever in young rusa deer (Cervus timorensis)

On the basis of clinical signs and histological findings eight 9-month-old male rusa deer (Cervus timorensis) were diagnosed with sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever. Following a variable course involving rectal temperatures around 40.5 degrees C, depression, inappetence, diarrhoea, corneal opacity and hypopyon all animals died or were euthanased over a 5-week period. Severe multifocal vasculitis, mainly periglomerular and in the arcuate vessels were consistent histological findings which in the past have been adequate to confirm clinical diagnosis of sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever. A nested polymerase chain reaction test has been used to detect a sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever PRC product, 238 base-pairs in size, in DNA extracted from lymphocyte preparations. The result supported the diagnosis of sheep associated-malignant catarrhal fever in these deer.     

A streamlined approximation and duality scheme for structural optimization

An efficient and commonly used approach to structural optimization is to solve a sequence of approximate design problems that are constructed iteratively. As is well-known, a major part of the computational burden of this scheme lies in the sensitivity analysis needed to state the approximate problems. We propose a possibility for reducing this burden by streamlining the calculations in a combined approximation and duality scheme for structural optimization. The difference between this scheme and the traditional one is that, instead of calculating all the constraint gradients to state an approximate design problem explicitly, linear combinations of these gradients are generated as they are needed during the solution of the approximate problem by the dual method. We show, by analysing some typical scenarios of problem characteristics, that this rearrangement of the calculations may be a computationally viable alternative to the traditional scheme. An advantage of streamlining the calculations is that there is no need to incorporate an active set strategy in the scheme, as is usually done, since all the design constraints may be taken into consideration without any loss of computational efficiency. This may, clearly, enhance the practical rate of convergence of the overall approximation scheme. Moreover, the proposed rearrangement of the calculations may make it computationally viable to apply iterative equation solvers to the structural analysis problem. Numerical results with direct as well as iterative equation solvers show that the streamlined scheme is a feasible and promising approach to structural optimization.     

The prospects for using the genetically engineered surface antigen of the hepatitis B virus (HBsAg) expressed by recombinant poxvirus strains as the basis for vaccines against hepatitis B

The use of a recombinant poxvirus (RPV) strain, expressing HBsAg in the process of reproduction in different bioreactor systems under stationary and bioreactor conditions of cultivation, made it possible to obtain highly purified HBsAg. The identity and purity of HBsAg was confirmed by the analysis of its amino acid composition, SDS electrophoresis in polyacrylamide gel, electron microscopy and high-performance liquid chromatography. Good prospects of the use of RPV-expressed gene engineering HBsAg as the basis vaccines against hepatitis B was demonstrated in 10 experimental batches of vaccine. All batches of the preparation had pronounced immunogenicity and were safe and nontoxic in animal experiments. The ID50 of experimental batches did not exceed 211 ng/ml, which, according to the data of comparative experiments, was lower than, or equal to, corresponding values of analogous foreign commercial preparations, based on plasma or yeast HBsAg.     

Writing as a therapeutic modality

1. Most psychiatric and mental health professionals are experienced with writing in some form as a tool for encouraging patients to express feelings and identify stressors. 2. Narrative writing, or journal writing, can also help patients identify areas of conflict in their lives and to clarify complicated issues. 3. Writing can be used effectively with patients who are reluctant or embarrassed to speak openly in one-on-one interactions.     

Highly integrated direct conversion receiver for GSM/GPRS/EDGE with on-chip 84-dB dynamic range continuous-time /spl Sigma//spl Delta/ ADC

This paper describes a highly digitized direct conversion receiver of a single-chip quadruple-band RF transceiver that meets GSM/GPRS and EDGE requirements. The chip uses an advanced 0.25-/spl mu/m BiCMOS technology. The I and Q on-chip fifth-order single-bit continuous-time sigma-delta (/spl Sigma//spl Delta/) ADC has 84-dB dynamic range over a total bandwidth of /spl plusmn/135 kHz for an active area of 0.4 mm/sup 2/. Hence, most of the channel filtering is realized in a CMOS IC where digital processing is achieved at a lower cost. The systematic analysis of dc offset at each stage of the design enables to perform the dc offset cancellation loop in the digital domain as well. The receiver operates at 2.7 V with a current consumption of 75 mA. A first-order substrate coupling analysis enables to optimize the floor plan strategy. As a result, the receiver has an area of 1.8 mm/sup 2/.