The objective of the present study was to evaluate the contribution of the shared epitope (SE), the rheumatoid arthritis (RA) protection model, and the occurrence of anti-cyclic citrullinated peptide (anti-CCP) antibodies in RA patients from a genetically diverse population. One hundred and forty Brazilian RA patients and 161 matched controls were typed for HLA-DRB1 alleles using amplified DNA ...

While predisposing genetic factors have been implicated across a variety of autoimmune diseases, the inherited risk they carry has failed to completely account for development disease in any given individual. In fact, etiology autoimmunity is complex and multifactorial, involving both non-genetic factors. The lack full concordance as revealed by monozygotic twins studies conditions support impo...

Mycobacterium smegmatis has been widely used as a mycobacterial infection model. Unlike the M. smegmatis mc(2)155 strain, M. smegmatis J15cs strain has the advantage of surviving for one week in murine macrophages. In our previous report, we clarified that the J15cs strain has deleted apolar glycopeptidolipids (GPLs) in the cell wall, which may affect its morphology and survival in host cells. ...

The study aimed to further characterise HLA encoded risk factors of type 1 diabetes (T1D) in Brazilian population and test the capability of a low resolution full-house DR-DQ typing method to find subjects at diabetes risk. Insulin and CTLA-4 gene polymorphisms were also analysed. The method is based on an initial DQB1 typing supplemented by DQA1 and DR4 subtyping when informative. Increased fr...

The trend in Printed Circuit Board Assembly (PCBA) technology is towards higher complexity. Many boards have significantly more components and solder joints today than just a few years ago. More components and more solder joints means more defect opportunities and lower yields. A higher number of components typically means higher cost for each PCBA, resulting in higher WIP cost (work in process...

HLA-DPB1 genotypes were determined for samples from 269 multiplex Caucasian families from the Human Biological Data Interchange. DRB1 and DQB1 loci were also characterized, allowing assignment of DPB1 alleles to haplotypes and calculation of linkage disequilibrium values. Frequencies for several DPB1 alleles diff e r e d significantly between patients and affected family– based control subjects...

Reflow profile has significant impact on solder joint performance because it influences wetting and microstructure of the solder joint. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of reflow profile and thermal shock on the shear performance of eutectic SnPb (SnPb) and Sn3.0Ag0.5Cu (SAC305) solder joints. Test boards were assembled with four different sized surface mount chip resisto...

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a complex genetic disorder in which the HLA-region contributes most to the genetic risk. HLA-DRB1-molecules containing the amino acid sequence DERAA (i.e., HLA-DRB1*0103, *0402, *1102, *1103, *1301, *1302, and *1304) are associated with protection from RA. It has been proposed that not only inherited but also noninherited HLA-antigens from the mother (NIMA) can infl...

TCR engagement of peptide-MHC class II ligands involves specific contacts between the TCR and residues on both the MHC and peptide molecules. We have used molecular modeling and assays of peptide binding and T cell function to characterize these interactions for a CD4+ Th1 cell clone, ESL4.34, which recognizes a peptide epitope of the herpes simplex type 2 virus virion protein, VP16 393-405, in...