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AIMS: GITR-a co-stimulatory immune checkpoint protein-is known for both its activating and regulating effects on T-cells. As atherosclerosis bears features of chronic inflammation and autoimmunity, we investigated the relevance of GITR in cardiovascular disease (CVD). METHODS AND RESULTS: GITR expression was elevated in carotid endarterectomy specimens obtained from patients with cerebrovascular e

The first excited 2(+) state of the unstable isotope Sn-110 has been studied in safe Coulomb excitation at 2.82 MeV/u using the MINIBALL array at the REX-ISOLDE post accelerator at CERN. This is the first measurement of the reduced transition probability of this state using this method for a neutron deficient Sn isotope. The strength of the approach lies in the excellent peak-to-background ratio t

The reduced transition probabilities, B(E2; 0(gs)+ -->2(1)+), have been measured in the radioactive isotopes (108,106)Sn using subbarrier Coulomb excitation at the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN. Deexcitation gamma rays were detected by the highly segmented MINIBALL Ge-detector array. The results, B(E2;0(gs)+ -->2(1)+)=0.222(19)e2b2 for 108Sn and B(E2; 0(gs)+-->2(1)+)=0.195(39)e2b2 for 106Sn were det

The present study investigated whether the effects of central cholinergic stimulation on thermoregulation during exercise are modulated by arterial baroreceptors. Wistar rats were submitted to sinoaortic denervation (SAD) or sham denervation (SHAM) and then fitted with a chronic guide cannula into the lateral cerebral ventricle. After 2 weeks, a catheter was implanted into the ascending aorta, and

Relapse is a major problem in acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and adversely affects survival. In this phase 2 study, we investigated the effect of vaccination with dendritic cells (DCs) electroporated with Wilms’ tumor 1 (WT1) messenger RNA (mRNA) as postremission treatment in 30 patients with AML at very high risk of relapse. There was a demonstrable antileukemic response in 13 patients. Nine patien

We use Gaia-ESO (GES) Survey iDR4 data to explore the Mg-Al anti-correlation in globular clusters that were observed as calibrators, as a demonstration of the quality of Gaia-ESO Survey data and analysis. The results compare well with the available literature, within 0.1 dex or less, after a small (compared to the internal spreads) offset between the UVES and GIRAFFE data of 0.10-0.15 dex was take

Red giant stars are perhaps the most important type of stars for Galactic and extra-galactic archaeology: they are luminous, occur in all stellar populations, and their surface temperatures allow precise abundance determinations for many different chemical elements. Yet, the full star formation and enrichment history of a galaxy can be traced directly only if two key observables can be determined

Diabetes is an increasing worldwide problem leading to major associated health issues and increased health care costs. In 2012, 9.3% of the American population was affected by diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association, with 1.7 million of new cases since during the year (www.diabetes.org). Proteome initiatives can provide a deeper understanding of the biology of this disease and hel

Background and Aim Childhood cancer survivors are at high risk of long-term adverse effects of cancer and its treatment, including cardiac events. The pan-European PanCareSurFup study determined the incidence and risk factors for cardiac events among childhood cancer survivors. The aim of this article is to describe the methodology of the cardiac cohort and nested case-control study within PanCare

A 4 pi silicon bail for detection and identification of light charged particles in large multidetector gamma-arrays as EUROBALL is presented. The design is based on a N = 42 ball with 12 pentagons and 30 hexagons as used in the GASP array. The absorptive material for gamma-rays is minimized to the detector thickness of 300 or 500 mu m and a 0.63 mm ceramic backing. The geometrical coverage is desi

Up to half of the heritability of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is explained by common variants(1-5). Here, we report the identification of a rare, highly penetrant missense mutation in CFI encoding a p.Gly119Arg substitution that confers high risk of AMD (P = 3.79 x 10(-6); odds ratio (OR) = 22.20, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 2.98-164.49). Plasma and sera from cases carrying the p.Gly

Aims. We study how diffuse interstellar bands (DIBs) measured toward distance-distributed target stars can be used to locate dense interstellar (IS) clouds in the Galaxy and probe a line-of-sight (LOS) kinematical structure, a potentially useful tool when gaseous absorption lines are saturated or not available in the spectral range. Cool target stars are numerous enough for this purpose. Methods.

Background: Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) based screening for prostate cancer (PCa) has been shown to reduce prostate specific mortality by 20% in an intention to screen (ITS) analysis in a randomised trial (European Randomised Study of Screening for Prostate Cancer [ERSPC]). This effect may be diluted by nonattendance in men randomised to the screening arm and contamination in men randomised to

Excited states of the nucleus Er-170 have been studied by Coulomb excitation using the GASP gamma-ray detector system at the Laboratori Nazionali di Legnaro. The ground-state band along with a low-lying K-pi = 0(+) band and gamma-vibrational band were populated during the experiment. Based on the measured gamma-ray yields, a set of interband and intraband matrix elements has been extracted using t

We present a study of spectral diagnostics available from optical spectra with R = 17 000 obtained with the VLT/Giraffe HR15n setup, using observations from the Gaia-ESO Survey, on the gamma Vel young cluster, with the purpose of classifying these stars and finding their fundamental parameters. We define several spectroscopic indices, sampling the amplitude of TiO bands, the H alpha line core and

Using the REX-ISOLDE facility at CERN the Coulomb excitation cross sections for the 0(gs)(+)-> 2(1)(+) transition in the beta-unstable isotopes Cd-100,Cd-102,Cd-104 have been measured for the first time. Two different targets were used, which allows for the first extraction of the static electric quadrupole moments Q(2(1)(+)) in Cd-102,Cd-104. In addition to the B(E2) values in Cd-102,Cd-104, a fi

The fusion-evaporation reactions Si-28(S-32,1 alpha 2p1n)Fe-53 at 125 MeV and Mg-24(S-32,2p1n)Fe-53 at a 95-MeV beam energy were used to investigate excited states in Fe-53. The combination of the Gammasphere Ge detector array and ancillary devices led to the construction of an extensive level scheme comprising some 90 transitions connecting 40 states. The lifetime of the yrast 25/2(-) state and u

BMD and clinical risk factors predict hip and other osteoporotic fractures. The combination of clinical risk factors and BMD provide higher specificity and sensitivity than either alone. Introduction and hypotheses To develop a risk assessment tool based on clinical risk factors (CRFs) with and without BMD. Methods Nine population-based studies were studied in which BMD and CRFs were documented at

Objectives: To investigate the effect of prolonged neutralisation of tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha) on the radiological course in rheumatoid arthritis (RA). To assess whether the radiological course can be predicted by clinical variables or biological markers of cartilage and synovium turnover and of endothelial activation. Patients and methods: Forty seven patients with active RA enrolle

We report on VLT/GIRAFFE spectra of stars in two recently discovered ultra-faint satellites, Reticulum 2 and Horologium 1, obtained as part of the Gaia-ESO Survey. We identify 18 members in Reticulum 2 and five in Horologium 1. We find Reticulum 2 to have a velocity dispersion of 3.22(-0.49)(+1.64) km s(-1) , implying a mass-to-light ratio (M/L) of similar to 500. The mean metallicity of Reticulum