Certain insect viruses produce stable infectious microcrystals called polyhedra which function to protect the virus after the death of infected larvae. Polyhedra form within infected cells and contain numerous virus particles embedded in a crystalline lattice of the viral protein polyhedrin. We have previously demonstrated that the Nterminal 75 amino acids of the Bombx mori cypovirus (BmCPV) tu...

It is the habit of some drug consumers to dissolve the powder of crushed pills, intended for oral use, in water and inject this solution intravenously. Insoluble particles than obstruct pulmonary vessels causing microscopic pulmonary emboli. These foreign bodies migrate and penetrate into the perivascular space and interstitium, resulting in chronic inflammation and foreign body giant cell reac...

BACKGROUND Mastoid obliteration seeks to replace an open mastoid cavity with material that will become viable and free of infection and cholesteatoma. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of bioactive glass ceramic particles for mastoid obliteration using a guinea pig animal model. MATERIALS AND METHODS Ten male guinea pigs (weighing 250-300 g) with normal eardrums and Preye...

An important function of the complement cascade is to coat self and foreign particles with C3-proteins that serve as ligands for phagocytic receptors. Although tissue resident macrophages play an important role in complement-mediated clearance, the receptors coordinating this process have not been well characterized. In the present study, we identified a subpopulation of resident peritoneal mac...

Virus-like particles (VLPs) of chimeric porcine circovirus type 2 (PCV2) were generated by replacing the nuclear localization signal (NLS; at 1-39 aa) of PCV2 capsid protein (Cap) with classical swine fever virus (CSFV) T-cell epitope (1446-1460 aa), CSFV B-cell epitope (693-716 aa) and CSFV T-cell epitope conjugated with B-cell epitope. The recombinant proteins were expressed using the baculov...

The assessment of the risks exerted by nanoparticles is a key challenge for academic, industrial, and regulatory communities worldwide. Experimental evidence points towards significant toxicity for a range of nanoparticles both in vitro and in vivo. Worldwide efforts aim at uncovering the underlying mechanisms for this toxicity. Here, we show that the intracellular ion release elicited by the a...

The presence of Leptopilina heterotoma or Leptopilina boulardi eggs in the hemocoel of a Drosophila melanogaster larva induces the differentiation of lamellocytes, the blood cells that encapsulate foreign objects. L. boulardi eggs are encapsulated by the newly differentiated lamellocytes, but L. heterotoma eggs are not. The induced lamellocytes in host larvae with L. heterotoma eggs undergo the...

The aetiological factors and the pathophysiological mechanisms of encapsulating peritoneal sclerosis (EPS) have not been fully elucidated. We present a patient on continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis whose peritoneal catheter was exchanged due to repeated episodes of bacterial peritonitis. Immediately afterwards, he experienced severe abdominal pain, nausea and fever. Peritoneal biopsy, ta...

In this work we extend a well-known model from arrested physical systems, and employ it in order to efficiently depict different currency pairs of foreign exchange market price fluctuation distributions. We consider the exchange rate price in the time range between 2010 and 2016 at yearly time intervals and resolved at one minute frequency. We then fit the experimental datasets with this model,...