Many types of glomerulonephritis are initiated by the deposition of immune complexes, which induce tissue injury via either engagement of Fc receptors on effector cells or via complement activation. Four murine Fc receptors (Fc Rs) have been identified at present. Ligand binding to Fc RI, III , and IV induces cell activation via the immunoreceptor tyrosine-based activation motif on the common c...

Receptors for the Fc portion of immunoglobulin molecules (FcR) present on leukocyte cell membranes mediate a large number of cellular responses that are very important in host defense. Cross-linking of FcR by immune complexes leads to functions such as phagocytosis, cell cytotoxicity, production and secretion of inflammatory mediators, and modulation of the immune response. Molecular characteri...

OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to compare the potential economic efficiency of third-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (CLL) with alemtuzumab versus fludarabine, cyclophosphamide and rituximab (FCR). METHODS The target population for this study were patients with CLL who were able to tolerate third-line treatment with either FCR or alemtuzumab. The perspective used wa...

The relationship between the structure of the T cell antigen receptor (TCR)-CD3 complex and development of NK1.1+ T cells was investigated. The TCR complex of freshly isolated NK1.1+ TCR-alpha/beta+ thymocytes contained CD3 zeta homodimers and CD zeta-FcR gamma heterodimers, whereas that of the majority of NK1.1- T cells did not contain FcR gamma. The function of CD3 zeta and FcR gamma in the d...

Recent European legislation adopts the concept of Full-cost recovery (FCR) as the guiding line for pricing of environmental services. In this paper, the meaning of the FCR concept is analysed and the economic rationale for its application is discussed. The basic idea developed is that FCR is a misleading concept, since costs are by definition recovered, and the problem becomes to assess how it ...

This experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of the form of diets with different levels of protein and energy on broilers performance at the end of the third week. A total of 2800 male broiler chicks were fed with two forms of diet (mash and crumble-pellet), two levels of protein (23% and 21% CP), and two levels of energy (3200 and 3000 Kcal/Kg ME) from 1 to 21 days of age. The bodyw...

OBJECTIVE In patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), estimation of infarct size from the early markers, fatty acid-binding protein (FABP) and myoglobin (MYO), usually assumes average (fixed) rate constants (FCR) for protein clearance from plasma. However, individual variation in FCR is large. Renal dysfunction causes slower clearance of FABP and MYO from plasma and, hence, overestimati...

The production and catabolism of very low density lipoprotein triglycerides (VLDL-TG) were determined in 11 index patients with primary hypertriglyceridemia and in their 70 first-degree relatives. In the probands the mean value for VLDL-TG production rate was twice normal, and the mean fractional catabolic rate (FCR) was reduced to 50% from normal. A similar kinetic pattern was also observed in...

In sea cage fish farming, production quotas aim to constrain the impact of fish farming on the surrounding ecosystem. It is unknown how these quotas affect economic profitability and environmental impact of genetic improvement. We combined bioeconomic modelling with life cycle assessment (LCA) to calculate the economic (EV) and environmental (ENV) values of thermal growth coefficient (TGC) and ...

BACKGROUND Registries of individuals at risk for hereditary cancer syndromes are an invaluable resource for cancer research, yet little is known about the predictors of enrollment in hereditary cancer registries. We sought to identify the factors that characterize individuals who enroll versus those who decline participation in a Familial Cancer Registry (FCR). We also sought to identify the fa...