535 research outputs found
Arginine depletion as a mechanism for the immune privilege of corneal allografts.
No full textThe cornea is an immune privileged tissue. Since arginase has been found to modulate T-cell function by depleting arginine, we investigated the expression of arginase in the cornea and its possible role in immune privilege using a murine transplant model. We found that both the endothelium and epithelium of murine corneas express functional arginase I, capable of down-regulating T-cell proliferation in an in vitro culture system. The administration of the specific arginase inhibitor N-hydroxy-nor-L-Arg to recipient mice resulted in an accelerated rejection of allogeneic C57BL/6 (B6) corneal grafts. In contrast, in vivo blockade of arginase activity had no effect in altering the course of rejection of primary skin grafts that express little, if any, arginase. In addition, the inhibition of arginase did not alter systemic T-cell proliferation. These data show that arginase is functional in the cornea and contributes to the immune privilege of the eye, and that modulation of arginase contributes to graft survival
The Book of Daniel and manticism: a critical assessment of the view that the Book of Daniel derives from a mantic tradition
No full textThis dissertation examines the consensus view that is based on Hans-Peter
Müller's 1969 and 1972 articles: Daniel was a mantic wise man in the Mesopotamian
ASA
court, and this was the self-understanding or aspiration of the maskilim of Dan 11:33, 35,
12:3, 10, who wrote the book. Chapter 1 reviews the arguments that make the mantic connection and Chapter 2 concludes that a direct connection with the Danes of Aqht, Ezek, and Jub, and with the angel in 1 Enoch should be rejected. There is evidence that the
tradition of a priest in Ezra 8: 2 and Neh 10: 7, and found also in the superscription to
the Old Greek of Bel, and 4 Ezra 12:10-11, and suggested the name.
Chapter 3 concludes that the portrayal of the court diviners in Dan 1-6 is wholly
negative and includes both the diviners, and the essence of the professions, i. e., the
ability to interpret a divine revelation. The critique is conveyed through the story line,
explicit criticisms, irony, and humour. Chapter 4 concludes that Daniel, the interpreter
of dreams and the writing on the wall, is distinguished from every other character and role. In the final form of Dan, Daniel as the divinely assisted each time he interprets, just as when he receives help from an interpreting angel in Dan 7-12.
Chapter 5 demonstrates that the portrayal of Daniel as the divinely assisted
interpreter makes sense of the reinterpretation of old prophecies against the Assyrians
as prophecies against Antiochus IV Epiphanes. Hab 2:2-4 and Isa 52-53 were also
understood as predictions about the maskilim themselves. Comparisons are then made
with the Teacher of Righteousness, the writers of the Hodayot, and with three Essenes
portrayed by Josephus. These too were portrayed as divinely assisted interpreters
endritic cell modification as a route to inhibiting corneal graft rejection by the indirect pathway of allorecognition
No full textDendritic cell (DC) modification is a potential strategy to induce clinical transplantation tolerance. We compared two DC modification strategies to inhibit allogeneic T-cell proliferation. In the first strategy, murine DCs were transduced with a lentiviral vector expressing CTLA4-KDEL, a fusion protein that prevents surface CD80/86 expression by retaining the co-stimulatory molecules within the ER. In the second approach, DCs were transduced to express the tryptophan-catabolising enzyme IDO. CTLA4-KDEL-expressing DCs induced anergy in alloreactive T cells and generated both CD4(+) CD25(+) and CD4(+) CD25(-) Treg cells (with direct and indirect donor allospecificity and capacity for linked suppression) both in vitro and in vivo. In contrast, T-cell unresponsiveness induced by IDO(+) DCs lacked donor specificity. In the absence of any immunosuppressive treatment, i.v. administration of CTLA4-KDEL-expressing DCs resulted in long-term survival of corneal allografts only when the DCs were capable of indirect presentation of alloantigen. This study demonstrates the therapeutic potential of CTLA4-KDEL-expressing DCs in tolerance induction.</p
Letter to the Editor in Response to Kim et al, “Effect of Histocompatibility Y Antigen Matching on Graft Survival in Primary Penetrating Keratoplasty.”
No full textCan Secondary School Architecture Build Community, Encourage Working Successfully and Enhance Well-Being? Student and Staff Evaluations.
No full textIn Britain, the ‘Building Schools for the Future’ (BSF) programme numbered among its aims: ‘the building of sustainable communities in which students and teachers alike [could] thrive’ (DfES, 2003, p.88). Modern, purpose-built and ecologically efficient architecture was regarded as central to this. What is less clear is how particular architectural features could contribute to the positive effects hypothesized in BSF literature.
Vischer (2008) has identified three areas in which environmental psychology research explores the effects of workspaces and workplace design on individuals: Territoriality and Belonging (how much users feel a part of the organisation, as a result of using the space); Productivity (how the space affects the performance of the individual, the team and the organisation) and Satisfaction (how users feel about the physical and aesthetic aspects of a space). However, the experiences of children working in schools may be very different to that of adults working in offices; and the role of the architecture in these different contexts may also vary between them. In addition, there remains an opportunity to explore these issues in secondary school settings as BSF was initially set-up in response to concerns about secondary school architecture. This research re-conceptualized Vischer’s three areas as Community (Territoriality…), Working Successfully (Productivity) and Well-being (Satisfaction), to explore experiences of architecture in a school context.
This study over two phases operated from a Realist perspective (Blaikie, 1993) and used an Exploratory Evaluation Research methodology (Clarke, 2005) to explore the responses of students and staff to the architecture in 8 secondary schools: Schools A-D in the South-West of England (total sample n=105 students; n=26 staff) and Schools E-H in London (total sample n=83 students; n=2 staff). Schools A, E, F and H are BSF schools; B, C, D and G are non-BSF (mixed architectural styles). Phase 1 used questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to explore student and staff responses to the architecture in their schools; and how this architecture affects their sense of Community, Working Successfully and WellBeing. Phase 2 used a classroom-based computer-aided design (CAD) activity to explore whether participants could offer architectural design solutions for classrooms and schools, according to their needs.
Thematic analysis revealed common definitions of Community, Working Successfully and Well-Being across all schools; design choices which aimed to maximize natural light; beliefs that SEN status is central to school functioning well as a community; and beliefs about the role of curved architecture in improving acoustical quality. Implications for EP practice are considered and future research directions proposed
Theology in suspense : how the detective fiction of P.D. James provokes theological thought
No full textElectronic redacted version excludes material for which permission has not been granted by the rights holderThe following dissertation argues that the detective fiction of P.D. James
provokes her readers to think theologically. I present evidence from the body of
James’s work, including her detective fiction that features the Detective Adam
Dalgliesh, as well as her other novels, autobiography, and non-fiction work. I also
present a brief history of detective fiction. This history provides the reader with a
better understanding of how P.D James is influenced by the detective genre as well as
how she stands apart from the genre’s traditions.
This dissertation relies on an interview that I conducted with P.D. James in
November, 2008. During the interview, I asked James how Christianity has
influenced her detective fiction and her responses greatly contribute to this
dissertation. However, James’s novels should be interpreted and explored in the
manner that they are received by the reader. How the reader receives and responds to
the novels, not only how James writes the novels, is what causes her stories to
provoke theological thinking.
By examining Christian symbolism that is present in setting, character, the
Detective Adam Dalgliesh, and plot, this dissertation seeks to assert that James
contributes to a theological conversation through her popular detective fiction
Luke’s use of the Old Testament in Luke 22-23
No full textWhile Luke understands Jesus' suffering and death as the fulfillment of OT prophecy, he does not use many OT quotations or allusions to express this fact in his passion narrative. The question arises: How does Luke use the OT in his passion narrative, especially to show prophetic fulfillment?This study seeks to answer this question through an identification and analysis of the OT quotations, allusions, ideas, and stylistic elements in Luke 22-23. The criteria for identification and critical analysis are gathered from studying the history of scholarship on the subject from the Reformation to 1972.Our findings are that Luke presents the fulfillment of the key OT prophecy in his passion narrative, Is. 53:12/Lk. 22:37, through a thematic development of various aspects of its message. Other OT quotes, allusions, ideas, and stylistic elements contribute to the development of this theme. Luke's approach to the OT is Christocentric both in the sense that all the quotations and most of the allusions occur in the reported words of Jesus, and in the sense that most of Luke's OT material refers to the OT promises of a suffering and glorified Messiah. OT ideas also occur mainly in the reported words of Jesus and the OT stylistic elements are best understood as examples of LXX style imitation. We found that Luke's lack of allusions and quotations was probably due to his desire to have his readers relive the fulfillment events of the Passion as they unfold in the narrative without being distracted by editorial fulfillment proof~texts. Yet, at the same time Luke, the Christian theologian to the Gentiles, did make extensive use of the OT. With a Christocentric interpretational approach to understanding OT prophecy and theological content within a salvation history framework, Luke shows how the OT was important to Gentile Christians
Energy-efficient acceleration of MPEG-4 compression tools
No full textWe propose novel hardware accelerator architectures for the most computationally demanding algorithms of the MPEG-4 video compression standard-motion estimation, binary motion estimation (for shape coding), and the forward/inverse discrete cosine transforms (incorporating shape adaptive modes). These accelerators have been designed using general low-energy design philosophies at the algorithmic/architectural abstraction levels. The themes of these philosophies are avoiding waste and trading area/performance for power and energy gains. Each core has been synthesised targeting TSMC 0.09
μm TCBN90LP technology, and the experimental results presented in this paper show that the proposed cores improve upon the prior art
First in the Nation in Education : Final Report,1984.
No full textThis report is one step in an ongoing process of change and is a plea for commitment for high standards in education in Iowa. Contains the final reports of the six subcommittees as adopted by the Excellence in Education Task Force, and the five recommendations made by the Task Force
African origin of the malaria parasite Plasmodium vivax.
No full textPlasmodium vivax is the leading cause of human malaria in Asia and Latin America but is absent from most of central Africa due to the near fixation of a mutation that inhibits the expression of its receptor, the Duffy antigen, on human erythrocytes. The emergence of this protective allele is not understood because P. vivax is believed to have originated in Asia. Here we show, using a non-invasive approach, that wild chimpanzees and gorillas throughout central Africa are endemically infected with parasites that are closely related to human P. vivax. Sequence analyses reveal that ape parasites lack host specificity and are much more diverse than human parasites, which form a monophyletic lineage within the ape parasite radiation. These findings indicate that human P. vivax is of African origin and likely selected for the Duffy-negative mutation. All extant human P. vivax parasites are derived from a single ancestor that escaped out of Africa
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