1,085 research outputs found
Insights from applying different assessment methods for metals resource use
No full textSociety’s increasing metal demand raises a number of concerns. In the shorter term, there may be risks to for constraints on expanding extraction to meet a rapidly increasing demand, causing supply disruptions and price volatility which especially affects import-dependent regions. The ongoing transition to renewable electricity production based on wind and sun and to electrified vehicles may even be delayed because of lack of required metals. In the longer term, continued extraction depends on decreasingly concentrated ores and may risk to eventually cause depletion. Metal use is also associated with significant environmental impacts, through life cycle energy use and locally from mining. The social impacts of so-called conflict minerals are undisputable. Companies and public policy makers wishing to act on these concerns are faced with a multitude of issues and potential solutions, such as circular economy, may involve trade-offs between different issues and consequently require decisions on what issues to prioritize. Ex-ante assessments can offer such decision-makers the opportunity to study potential implications of different actions before-hand. However, it may be challenging to discern the purpose of the multitude of methods that exist and what aspects of metal resources they in fact address. Furthermore, can methods be used in a complementary way or are they overlapping? Are they appropriate for any context? This contribution aims to present insights gained from having applied a selection of different assessments methods to study how circular economy solutions affect metal use. The methods are life cycle assessment, criticality assessment, dynamic material flow analysis and circularity indicators. All are applied for studying various aspects of circular economy solutions for electric traction motors in passenger cars – an essential part of the drivetrain of all types of electric vehicles and one that requires several metals such as iron, copper, aluminium and rare earth elements. The methods have been applied in separate studies performed over several years (Huisman et al. 2017, André and Ljunggren 2020, Løvik et al 2021, Jerome et al. 2022) and have pointed to different potential actions to take for decision makers. In this contribution, the studies will be presented and compared to illustrate typical questions addressed regarding metal resource use and differences and similarities between methods. This may support a discussion on what methods to apply in what contexts as well as what methods to apply in a complementary manner, what methods to further integrate and what methods to develop. The goal is to support a purposive and more comprehensive and assessment of actions to reduce concerns about society’s metal resource use. References: André, H. and Ljunggren, M. (2020) Supply disruption and depletion impacts in a company context: the case of a permanent magnet electric traction motor, in André, H. (2020) Assessing Mineral Resource Scarcity in a Circular Economy Context. Chalmers Tekniska Hogskola (Sweden). Jerome, A., Helander, H., Ljunggren, M., & Janssen, M. (2022). Mapping and testing circular economy productlevel indicators: A critical review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 178, 106080. Løvik, A., Marmy, C., Ljunggren, M., Kushnir, D., Huisman, J., Bobba, S., Maury, T., Ciuta, T., Garbossa, E., Mathieux, F. and Wäger, P., Material composition trends in vehicles: critical raw materials and other relevant metals., EUR 30916 EN, Publications Office of the European Union, Luxembourg, 2021, ISBN 978-92-76- 45213-3 (online), doi:10.2760/351825 (online), JRC126564. Huisman, J., Leroy, P., Tertre, F., Ljunggren Söderman, M., Chancerel, P., Cassard, D., Løvik, A. N., Wäger, P., Kushnir, D., Rotter, V.S., Mählitz, P., Herreras, L., Emmerich, J., Hallberg, A., Habib, H., Wagner, M., Downes, S. (2017), Prospecting Secondary Raw Materials in the Urban Mine and mining wastes (ProSUM) - Final Report, ISBN: 978-92-808-9060-0 (print), 978-92-808-9061-7 (electronic), December 21, 2017, Brussels, Belgium
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No full textARTIKLAR
Gustaf Aulén: Några intryck från den engelsk-tyska teologkonferensen i Wartburg
G. Ljunggren: Paraddoxen som teologiskt uttrycksmedel
Anton Fridrichsen: Til lignelsen om de onde vingartnere
FRÅN DEN TEOLOGISKA SAMTIDEN
TEOLOGISK LITTERATUR
Sven Herner: Gamla testamentets religion. Anm. av Gustav Boström
Adolf Kolmodin: Johannes-evangeliet en verklighetsskildring. Friedrich Büchsel: Johannes und der hellenistische Synkretismus. Karl Bornhäuser: Das Johannesevangelium eine Missionsschrift für Israel. Anm. av Erling Eidem
Gustaf Aulén: Den kristna gudsbilden genom seklerna och i nutiden. En konturteckning. Anm. av Arvid Runestam
Alarik Klefbeck: Etiska idéer i svensk frikyrklig väckelsereligiositet. Anm. av Arvid Runestam
Nathan Söderblom: Kristi Pinas Historia. En passionsbok. Anm. av H. Hägglund
Gunnar Wetterberg: Handbok i kyrkolagfarenhet. Anm. av Ernst Newman
C. I. Scharling m. fl.: H. L. Martensen, hans tanker og livssyn. Anm. av Gustaf Aulén
Theodor Odenwald: Protestantische Theologie, Überblick und Einführung. Horst Stephan: Die systematische Theologie. Anm. av Gustaf Aulén
Jens Nörregaard: Augustinusʼ väg till kristendomen. Anm. av Gustaf Aulé
Natural killer cell-mediated lysis of dorsal root ganglia neurons via RAE1/NKG2D interactions
No full textNatural killer cells have been reported to be able to kill various transformed and virus-infected target cells. It was recently observed that NK cells also could kill syngeneic dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons by a perforin-dependent mechanism. We demonstrate here that this phenomenon does not reflect a general ability of NK cells to kill neurons in culture. While DRG neurons of the peripheral nervous system were readily killed, ventral spinal cord neurons and hippocampal neurons of the central nervous system (CNS) were resistant to lysis. The resistance to NK cell-mediated lysis of the latter neurons was not related to protection by MHC class I molecules, since similar β2-microglobulin-/- neurons were equally resistant to lysis. While exploring other possible molecular mechanisms for the selective triggering of lysis of DRG neurons, we observed that the retinoic acid early inducible gene-1 (RAE-1), the product of which is a ligand for the NK cell-activating receptor NKG2D, was expressed at high levels in the DRG neurons. In contrast, RAE-1 was expressed only at very low levels in the resistant CNS-derived neurons. Blocking NK cells with anti-NKG2D antibodies inhibited NK cell-mediated killing of the DRG neurons. Thus, we demonstrate that NK cell-mediated lysis of DRG neurons correlates with the expression of RAE-1 and that this lysis is dependent on activation of NK cells via NKG2D. This observation demonstrates that NK cells can kill non-pathogen-infected or non-transformed syngeneic cells through activation of the NKG2D receptor
Cytomegalovirus prevents antigen presentation by blocking the transport of peptide-loaded major histocompatibility complex class I molecules into the medial-Golgi compartment
No full textSelective expression of murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) immediate-early (IE) genes leads to
the presentation by the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I molecule L a of a
peptide derived from MCMV IE protein pp89 (Reddehase, M. J., J. B. Rothbard, and U. H.
Koszinowski. 1989. Nature (Lond.). 337:651). Characterization of endogenous antigenic peptides
identified the pp89 peptide as the nonapeptide msYPHFMFFNLt76 (del Val, M., H.-J. Schlicht,
T. Ruppert, M. J. Reddehase, and U. H. Koszinowski. 1991. Cell. 66:1145). Subsequent expression
of MCMV early genes prevents presentation of pp89 (del Val, M., K. Mfinch, M. J. Reddehase,
and U. H. Koszinowski. 1989. Cell. 58:305). We report on the mechanism by which MCMV
early genes interfere with antigen presentation. Expression of the IE promoter-driven bacterial
gene lacZ by recombinant MCMV subjected antigen presentation of B-galactosidase to the same
control and excluded antigen specificity. The La-dependent presence of naturally processed
antigenic peptides also in nonpresenting cells located the inhibitory function subsequent to the
step of antigen processing. The finding that during the E phase of MCMV gene expression the
MHC class I heavy chain glycosylation remained in an Endo H-sensitive form suggested a block
within the endoplasmic reticulum/c/s-Golgi compartment. The failure to present antigenic peptides
was explained by a general retention of nascent assembled trimolecular MHC class I complexes.
Accordingly, at later stages of infection a significant decrease of surface MHC class I expression
was seen, whereas other membrane glycoproteins remained unaffected. Thus, MCMV E genes
endow this virus with an effective immune evasion potential. These results also indicate that
the formation of the trimolecular complex of MHC dass I heavy chain, ~2-microglobulin, and
the finally trimmed peptide is completed before entering the medial-Golgi compartment
Differentiation of Ly49s-positive or -negative natural killer cells is inhibited by anti-H-2b monoclonal antibodies acting at the level of bone marrow progenitors from B6 mice.
No full textShort-term efficacy of physical interventions in osteoarthritic knee pain. A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised placebo-controlled trials
No full textAbstract Background Treatment efficacy of physical agents in osteoarthritis of the knee (OAK) pain has been largely unknown, and this systematic review was aimed at assessing their short-term efficacies for pain relief. Methods Systematic review with meta-analysis of efficacy within 1–4 weeks and at follow up at 1–12 weeks after the end of treament. Results 36 randomised placebo-controlled trials (RCTs) were identified with 2434 patients where 1391 patients received active treatment. 33 trials satisfied three or more out of five methodological criteria (Jadad scale). The patient sample had a mean age of 65.1 years and mean baseline pain of 62.9 mm on a 100 mm visual analogue scale (VAS). Within 4 weeks of the commencement of treatment manual acupuncture, static magnets and ultrasound therapies did not offer statistically significant short-term pain relief over placebo. Pulsed electromagnetic fields offered a small reduction in pain of 6.9 mm [95% CI: 2.2 to 11.6] (n = 487). Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS, including interferential currents), electro-acupuncture (EA) and low level laser therapy (LLLT) offered clinically relevant pain relieving effects of 18.8 mm [95% CI: 9.6 to 28.1] (n = 414), 21.9 mm [95% CI: 17.3 to 26.5] (n = 73) and 17.7 mm [95% CI: 8.1 to 27.3] (n = 343) on VAS respectively versus placebo control. In a subgroup analysis of trials with assumed optimal doses, short-term efficacy increased to 22.2 mm [95% CI: 18.1 to 26.3] for TENS, and 24.2 mm [95% CI: 17.3 to 31.3] for LLLT on VAS. Follow-up data up to 12 weeks were sparse, but positive effects seemed to persist for at least 4 weeks after the course of LLLT, EA and TENS treatment was stopped. Conclusion TENS, EA and LLLT administered with optimal doses in an intensive 2–4 week treatment regimen, seem to offer clinically relevant short-term pain relief for OAK.</p
The therapeutic potential of ex vivo expanded natural killer (NK) cells for immunotherapy of cancer
No full textCell and gene therapy of cancers has received much attention in the past decade. A number of applications of cancer treatment have been developed and used. One of the recent applications is immunotherapy of tumours with human natural killer (NK) cells. A major challenge to the successful application of this treatment has been the identification, expansion, and gene modification of appropriate effector cells. We therefore developed a novel expansion method that is simple, good manufacturing practice (GMP)-compatible, cost-effective (Paper I).For NK cell immunotherapy of patients with B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (B-CLL), efficient NK cell expansion was obtained using the same method (Paper II). However, NK cell expansion rates were lower in cultures from patients with progressive B-CLL, demonstrating the negative effect of disease progression on NK cell expansion. In the same study (Paper II), it was also demonstrated that samples obtained from the same patients at different time points had similar NK expansion capacity, indicating reproducibility and also the reability of the method. In addition, in both studies it was shown that half of the expanded T cells possess an NK-like T (NKT) phenotype (CD3+CD56+).Moreover, using retroviral vector transduction, efficient gene transfer into primary human ex vivo expanded NK cells was demonstrated. Days 5 and 6 of expansion seem to be the best days for NK cell transduction (Paper III). In addition, the safety and the in vivo anti-tumour activity of human ex vivo expanded NK cells were evaluated against human K562 cells in SCID-beige mice (Paper IV). Mice treated with expanded NK cells had significantly prolonged survival compared to the untreated group. Finally, NK and NKT cell populations that were expanded with GMP components were infused into patients with tumors. Such killer cells with or without IL-2 injections were shown to be safe and to some extent had anti-tumor activity (Paper V).In conclusion, these studies have shown that NK as well as NKT cell expansion is possible with such a simple, cost effective and easy-to-use method. We were able to expand and gene-modify with retroviral vectors NK cells directly from the peripheral blood of both healthy donors and patients with B-CLL and show that NK cells can eradicate tumour cells in vivo. This may open new possibilities for current and future cell- and gene therapy approaches.List of scientific papersI. Carlens S, Gilljam M, Chambers BJ, Aschan J, Guven H, Ljunggren HG, Christensson B, Dilber MS (2001). A new method for in vitro expansion of cytotoxic human CD3-CD56+ natural killer cells. Hum Immunol. 62(10): 1092-8. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0198-8859(01)00313-5 II. Guven H, Gilljam M, Chambers BJ, Ljunggren HG, Christensson B, Kimby E, Dilber MS (2003). Expansion of natural killer (NK) and natural killer-like T (NKT)-cell populations derived from patients with B-chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL): a potential source for cellular immunotherapy. Leukemia. 17(10): 1973-80. https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.leu.2403083 III. Guven H, Konstantinidis KV, Alici E, Aints A, Abedi-Valugerdi M, Christensson B, Ljunggren HG, Dilber MS (2005). Efficient gene transfer into primary human natural killer cells by retroviral transduction. Exp Hematol. 33(11): 1320-1328. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.exphem.2005.07.006 IV. Guimaraes F, Guven H, Donati D, Christensson B, Ljunggren HG, Bejarano MT, Dilber MS (2005). Evaluation of ex vivo expanded human NK cells on anti-leukemia activity in SCID-beige mice. [Submitted]V. Barkholt L, Guven H, Treschow A, Conrad R, Cederlund K, Ljunggren HG, Aschan J, Christensson B, Gilljam M, Stellan B, Ringden O, Dilber MS (2005). Donor derived natural killer (NK) and natural killer-like T (NKT) cell infusions are safe with a potential biological anti-tumour effect. [Manuscript]</p
Abolished angiogenicity and tumorigenicity of Burkitt's lymphoma by Interleukin-10
No full textBecause of its immunosuppressive properties, interleukin-10 (IL-10) is thought to play an important role in a number of human disease states, including inflammation, autoimmunity, and transplant rejection. In this study, we demonstrate that introduction of human or viral IL-10 genes into Burkitt's lymphoma cells markedly reduced their ability to grow as subcutaneous (sc) tumors in SCID mice. In vivo assays for angiogenesis revealed an inhibition of the angiogenic capacity of the IL-10-transfected lines. Recombinant human IL-10 abolished and viral IL-10 reduced vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-165-induced neovascularization. Furthermore, IL-10 blocked the VEGF- and fibroblast growth factor (FGF)-2-induced proliferation of microvascular endothelial cells in vitro. The current observations suggest a direct role for IL-10 in the prevention of angiogenesis in human lymphoid malignancies
MHC I stabilizing potential of computer-designed octapeptides
No full textExperimental results are presented for 180 in silico designed octapeptide sequences and their stabilizing effects on the major histocompatibility class I molecule H-2Kb. Peptide sequence design was accomplished by a combination of an ant colony optimization algorithm with artificial neural network classifiers. Experimental tests yielded nine H-2Kb stabilizing and 171 nonstabilizing peptides. 28 among the nonstabilizing octapeptides contain canonical motif residues known to be favorable for MHC I stabilization. For characterization of the area covered by stabilizing and non-stabilizing octapeptides in sequence space, we visualized the distribution of 100,603 octapeptides using a self-organizing map. The experimental results present evidence that the canonical sequence motives of the SYFPEITHI database on their own are insufficient for predicting MHC I protein stabilization
Presence of maternal antibodies to HIV-I gp 120 env epitopes correlate with uninfected status of the children born to seropositive mothers
No full textThe present study demonstrates that maternal
antibodies to certain epitopes of human immunodeficiency
virus 1 (HIV-1) proteins are associated with a defined outcome
for at-risk pregnancies of HIV-infected women. An initial
retrospective analysis of antibodies to synthetic peptides and
recombinant proteins representing env, pol, and gag regions of
HIV-1 was carried out. Sera studied were from 33 children who
were born to HIV-infected mothers and whose clinical outcome
was known at the time of analysis. Sera, collected within the
first 6 months of life, of uninfected at-risk children were found
to selectively contain maternal antibodies to certain peptides
containing epitopes of the HIV envelope glycoprotein gpl20. To
confirm the predictive role of maternal antibodies to defined
HIV-1 epitopes, a prospective analysis was then performed on
sera from 21 HIV-seropositive mothers and their infants, whose
clinical and immunological status was then followed up for a
period of at least 15 months. As expected, antibodies to the
same envelope protein peptides were detected almost exclusively
in sera from mothers of uninfected children. Our data
suggest that antibodies against select epitopes of HIV envelope
protein gpl20 might play an important role in preventing
mother-to-child transmission of HIV-1 infection. Accordingly,
site-directed serology might be used to predict the outcome of
an at-risk pregnancy of an HIV-infected woman
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