BACKGROUND Flavonoids are polyphenolic compounds of plant origin with antioxidant effects. Flavonoids inhibit LDL oxidation and reduce thrombotic tendency in vitro. Little is known about how cocoa powder and dark chocolate, rich sources of polyphenols, affect these cardiovascular disease risk factors. OBJECTIVE We evaluated the effects of a diet high in cocoa powder and dark chocolate (CP-DC ...

A complete study of the ac response of Hg-based superconductors with 1, 2, and 3 Cu-O planes is presented. Under a dc field, the ac susceptibility xac(T) displays a double transition, which is argued to be of intrinsic nature. The systematic analysis of the evolution of xac ~fundamental and higher harmonics! as a function of the experimental parameters, and the comparison with resistance and dc...

These models are suitable for analysis in the time domain, which is especially useful for load transient simulations. Linear models that can be transformed to the frequency domain for analysis are derived from the Hamiltonian models. The duty cycle is included in the input signal vector, enabling full system analysis with respect to the system’s transfer functions: audio susceptibility, output ...

The encounter between APC and T cells is crucial for initiating immune responses to infectious microorganisms. In the spleen, interaction between dendritic cells (DC) and T cells occurs in the periarteriolar lymphoid sheath (PALS) into which DC and T cells migrate from the marginal zone (MZ) along chemokine gradients. However, the importance of DC migration from the MZ into the PALS for immune ...

Preclinical work in murine models suggests that local radiotherapy plus intratumoral syngeneic dendritic cells (DC) injection can mediate immunologic tumor eradication. Radiotherapy affects the immune response to cancer, besides the direct impact on the tumor cells, and other ways to coordinate immune modulation with radiotherapy have been explored. We review here the potential for immune-media...

Diabetic complications include infection and cardiovascular disease. Within the immune system, host-pathogen and regulatory host-host interactions operate through binding of oligosaccharides by C-type lectin. A number of C-type lectins recognise oligosaccharides rich in mannose and fucose - sugars with similar structures to glucose. This raises the possibility that high glucose conditions in di...

Persistent levels of IL-10 play a central role in progressive immune dysfunction associated with chronic viral infections such as HIV, but the underlying mechanisms are poorly understood. Because IL-10 affects the phenotypic and functional properties of DCs, which are responsible for initiating adaptive immune responses, we investigated whether IL-10 induces changes in DC phenotype and function...

The community associated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) is a serious issue of public health. Here, we conducted an experimental approach to determine: (i) the optimal significant stimulation range of electrical current for effective checking of CA-MRSA growth; (ii) the effect of electrical stimulations on methicillin susceptibility and possible beta lactam resistance reve...