Interleukin 12 (IL-12) is a heterodimeric, pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays a central role in activation and differentiation of CD4(+) T cells into interferon-γ secreting T-helper type 1 cells. IL-12B, a gene encoding the larger subunit of active IL-12, has been reported to be down-regulated by the nuclear hormone 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D(3) (1α,25(OH)(2)D(3)), but the mechanism of the regu...

IL-12 has been reported to affect thymic T cell selection, but the role of IL-12 in thymic involution has not been studied. We found that in vivo, IL-12b knockout (IL-12b(-/-)) mice exhibited accelerated thymic involution compared with wild-type (WT) B6 mice. This is characterized by an increase in thymocytes with the early development stage phenotype of CD25(-)CD44(+)CD4(-)CD8(-) in aged IL-12...

A series of tribenzotriquinacene derivatives bearing three oxy-functionalised alkyl groups at the benzhydrylic bridgeheads (C-4b, C-8b and C-12b) have been synthesised. The 4b,8b,12b-triallyl derivative was used to generate the corresponding TBTQ-tris-acetaldehyde and TBTQ-tris(acetic acid), in which the functional groups stretch out from the convex rigid molecular surface. The corresponding tr...

Serpentine cord formation in BACTEC 12B medium was evaluated as a rapid method for the presumptive identification of M. tuberculosis complex. Kinyoun acid-fast stained smears were prepared from 666 positive BACTEC 12B bottles and examined for the presence or absence of serpentine cording. Cord formation had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, and negative predictive value of ...

This study illustrates the use of data envelopment analysis to benchmark mutual funds on the basis of risk-adjusted performance, load, 12b-1 plan, and expense ratios. Using the DEA methodology, we calculate an efficiency score for 189 funds on a scale of 1 to 100 by maximizing twelve month total return and minimizing beta, standard deviation, load, 12b-1 charges, and expense ratios. This study ...

We evaluated the ability of a PCR assay to identify Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex (MTBC) from positive BACTEC 12B broth cultures. A total of 107 sputum samples were processed and inoculated into Ogawa slants and BACTEC 12B vials. At a growth index (GI) > or=30, 1.0 ml of the 12B broth was removed, stored, and assayed with PCR. Molecular results were compared to those obtained by phenotypic...

Object-Oriented Technology (OOT) has been extensively utilized throughout the nonsafety rated software development community (e.g., Windows 98 and Internet software). Although the adoption of OOT has been limited in the airborne civil aviation community, OOT is being considered by an increasing number of manufacturers of airborne software. Application of RTCA DO-178B/EUROCAE ED-12B ("Software C...

PURPOSE To investigate the associations of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of three genes (IL-12B, IL-12Rβ1 and IL-12Rβ2) in Behcet's disease (BD) and Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome in a Chinese Han population. METHODS A total of 806 BD cases, 820 VKH patients, and 1600 healthy controls were involved in this study. The first investigation included 400 BD patients, 400 VKH cases, a...