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BACKGROUND: Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) activity has been shown to be expressed in local lymph nodes and induce immune suppression of tumor immunity. Here we analyze the effect of IDO expression on prostate tumor growth using the transgenic adenocarcinoma of mouse prostate (TRAMP) animal model. METHODS: Mice deficient in IDO expression were crossed to TRAMP mice and the time to the appearanc

Human dendritic cells (DCs) are a distinct but heterogeneous lineage of APCs operating as the link between innate and adaptive immune responses, with the function to either maintain,tolerance or trigger immunity. The DC lineage consists of several subpopulations with unique phenotypes; however, their functional characteristics and transcriptional similarities remain largely unknown. To further cha

Dimethyldodecylamine-N-oxide (DDAO) has only one polar atom that is able to interact with water. Still, this surfactant shows very hydrophilic properties: in mixtures with water, it forms normal liquid crystalline phases and micelles. Moreover, there is data in the literature indicating that the hydration of this surfactant is driven by enthalpy while other studies show that hydration of surfactan

The complement system is old, yet it may still have something new to teach us. For many years, research has existed which shows that C3d, in addition to its established role as an adjuvant, could have an immunosuppressive activity. Being true, it suggests that a common mechanism may be used both by organisms and by their pathogens to prevent unwanted immune responses.

The complexation between a polyion and an oppositely charged spherical macroion in the framework of the primitive model has been studied by the use of Monte Carlo simulations. The polyion length, linear charge density, and bare persistence length are varied systematically, while the properties of the macroion are kept constant. The polyion charge to macroion charge ratio is varied between 1/4 and

Popular Abstract in Swedish Utgångspunkten för denna avhandling är de många bekymmer som präglar vår tid - däribland också bekymret om frivillighetens framtid i ett postmodernt samhälle. Det är en paradox, när det å ena sidan hävdas att det moderna samhället är i kris, att den sociala gemenskaperna har brutit samman och att människor inte längre ställer upp, engagerar sig och hjälper varandra. OchThe theme of this thesis is motives for voluntarism - with particular focus on volunteering in social work compared to voluntary work in sports clubs and patient associations. It is based on a combination of different data sources and methodological approaches: surveys, analyses of letters from volunteers and literature studies. Theoretically the thesis is based on two sets of sociological theorie

We evaluate the impact on earnings, pensions, and further labor market outcomes of two parallel educational reforms increasing instructional time in Swedish primary school. The reforms extended the annual term length and years of compulsory schooling by comparable amounts. We find striking differences in the effects of the two reforms: at 5% the returns to the term length extension were sizeable a

Background: The aim of this study was to describe hand fracture epidemiology/etiology in city children and describe time trend during six decades. Patients and methods: A single hospital serves the entire city population of 271,271 (year 2005). Through the hospital medical and radiological archives, we collected epidemiology and etiology data concerning pediatric (age < 16 years) hand fractures in

Natural light-harvesting is performed by pigment–protein complexes, which collect and funnel the solar energy at the start of photosynthesis. The identity and arrangement of pigments largely define the absorption spectrum of the antenna complex, which is further regulated by a palette of structural factors. Small alterations are induced by pigment–protein interactions. In light-harvesting systems

Languages borrow words when there is a need for it, all languages contain loanwords, and no part of the lexicon is entirely “loan-proof”. These are statements about lexical borrowing that are typically found in linguistic textbooks (Hock and Joseph 1996). Further, we know that that there are large discrepancies in the borrowability of different lexical concepts, where core vocabulary domains (sens

Background: Adherence to topical corticosteroids (TCS) is essential for the effective treatment of atopic dermatitis but can be limited by concerns about their use. This study examined the feasibility of applying the validated TOPICOP score for assessing TCS phobia across different countries. Methods: This was a prospective multicentre feasibility study conducted in 21 hospitals in 17 countries. P

The intestinal immune system has the daunting task of protecting us from pathogenic insults while limiting inflammatory responses against the resident commensal microbiota and providing tolerance to food antigens. This role is particularly impressive when one considers the vast mucosal surface and changing landscape that the intestinal immune system must monitor. In this review, we highlight regio

In this paper we show that nestling mass hierarchies in the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) are due to asynchronous hatching. The parents may, by starting to incubate the day the penultimate egg is laid, or earlier, affect the degree of hatching asynchrony and thereby the nestling weight hierarchy. Intra-clutch variation in egg size had no effect on nestling weight hierarchies, explaining onl

Ergonomics are, in most cases, focusing on the human being when evaluating assembly system designs. This results in the human performance being expressed isolated from the technical environment. On the other hand, technicians are prone to concentrate on the hardware. These conditions underline the need to pursue a more integrated evaluation and design procedure in order to avoid the drawbacks of t