objective(s): the structure- activity relationship of a series of 36 molecules, showing l-type calcium channel blocking was studied using a qsar (quantitative structure–activity relationship) method. materials and methods: structures were optimized by the semi-empirical am1 quantum-chemical method which was also used to find structure-calcium channel blocking activity trends. several types of d...

Tacrolimus (FK-506) and cyclosporin A (CsA) are calcineurin antagonists used widely as T-cell immunosuppressants; however, their relative efficacy on the production of interleukin-18 (IL-18) remains undefined. We have examined the effects of FK-506 and CsA on the cytokine generation of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) in mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) with lipopolysaccharide (L...

In light of the widely accepted view that Ia-restricted L3T4+ T helper cells play a decisive role in controlling the differentiation of Lyt-2+ cells, experiments were designed to examine whether Lyt-2+ cells can respond to antigen in the absence of L3T4+ cells. The results showed that highly purified Lyt-2+ cells gave high primary mixed lymphocyte reactions (MLR) to various class I differences,...

The present studies were designed to investigate the mechanism(s) of the defective T cell proliferative response to various stimuli in patients with B cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia B-CLL. In 14 patients with advanced B-CLL (stage III or IV) we found the T cell response in the autologous (auto) and allogeneic (allo) mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) to be 35.7% and 30% of the controls, respect...

Reported values of lung resistance (RL) and elastance (EL) in spontaneously breathing preterm neonates vary widely. We hypothesized that this variability in lung properties can be largely explained by both inter- and intrasubject variability in breathing pattern and demographics. Thirty-three neonates receiving nasal continuous positive airway pressure [weight 606-1,792 g, gestational age (GA) ...

INTRODUCTION This study is to evaluate the prognostic and predictive value of metastatic lymph node ratio (MLR) in stage III gastric cancer following radical D2 dissection. METHODS 87 patients who underwent radical resection with D2 lymphadenectomy were retrospectively evaluated. The median age was 60 with a 2:1 ratio of male/female. Of these 87 patients, 83 underwent total gastrectomy, the r...

A biologically based neuromuscular simulator was used to produce short(SLR) and medium-latency reflexes (MLR) observed after a stretch of the SO muscle. As expected, SLR was exclusively mediated by the activity of Ia afferents passing through a monosynaptic pathway. The MLR was generated by a summation of effects from Ia and type-II afferents, though it could be generated without the activity o...

The generalized likelihood ratio (GLR) test is a widely used method for detecting abrupt changes in linear systems and signals. In this paper the marginalized likelihood ratio (MLR) test is introduced for eliminating three shortcomings of GLR, while preserving its applicability and generality. Firstly, the need for a user-chosen threshold is eliminated in MLR. Secondly, the noise levels need no...

A modified mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR) assay was developed to screen immunosuppressive agents. In the MLR, irradiation of splenocytes with UV light was employed for the preparation of stimulator cells, and the highest response was observed with the combination of splenocytes of C3H/He mice as a stimulator and those of C57BL/6 as a responder. The blastogenesis of the responder cells was quan...

Although mesencephalic locomotor region (MLR) stimulation and the exercise pressor reflex have been shown to increase whole nerve renal sympathetic activity, it is not known whether these mechanisms converge onto the same population of renal sympathetic postganglionic efferents. In decerebrate cats, we examined the responses of single renal sympathetic postganglionic efferents to stimulation of...