The study of recurrent epidemic outbreaks has been attracting great attention for decades, but its underlying mechanism is still under debate. Based on a large number of real data from different cities, we find that besides the seasonal periodic outbreaks of influenza, there are also non-periodic outbreaks, i.e. non-seasonal or non-annual behaviors. To understand how the non-periodicity shows u...

The eye attempts to limit local immune and inflammatory responses to preserve vision. This phenomenon, known as ocular immune privilege, is mediated by a combination of local and systemic mechanisms. While immune privilege is believed to protect the eye from day-to-day inflammatory insults, it is not absolute and its mechanisms are still incompletely understood.

Interleukin-13 has been implicated as a key factor in asthma, allergy, atopy and inflammatory response, establishing the protein as a valuable therapeutic target. The high-resolution solution structure of human IL-13 has been determined by multidimensional NMR. The resulting structure is consistent with previous short-chain left-handed four-helix bundles, where a significant similarity in the f...

the concepts of SIRS and CARS still exist, although the notion that CARS represents a reaction to SIRS has been challenged [3, 4] . In this theme issue of the Journal of Innate Immunity, current knowledge of several aspects of the SIRS and CARS concepts are reviewed in 7 articles; the issue is completed by 3 original articles about these topics. Kumpf and Schumann [5] summarize data on genetic ...

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