| 1. |
- Janson, Per-Olof, 1940, et al.
(author)
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Acromegaly and Cushing's syndrome due to ectopic production of GHRH and ACTH by a thymic carcinoid tumour: in vitro responses to GHRH and GHRP-6.
- 1998
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In: Clinical endocrinology. - 0300-0664. ; 48:2, s. 243-50
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- A 50-year-old male presented with diabetes mellitus and Cushing's syndrome associated with a large mediastinal mass. The levels of serum cortisol were high (1500-1800 nmol/l) without diurnal variation. Plasma ACTH levels (200-250 ng/l) and urinary excretion of cortisol were also increased. The levels of these hormones did not change in response to stimulation with corticotrophin releasing hormone (CRH) or suppression with high doses of dexamethasone. The patient had an elevated baseline GH level (7.3 mU/l), and the levels of immunoreactive GH-releasing hormone (GHRH) in eight plasma samples were markedly increased (600-1500 ng/l). Circulating levels of IGF-1, chromogranin A and neuropeptide Y (NPY) were also increased. Computer-assisted tomography and octreotide scintigraphy revealed a large mediastinal tumour and metastases in the left supraclavicular fossa. During treatment with octreotide, the baseline GH level was decreased (to 4.4 mU/l), while the GH pulse height was unchanged. Surgical removal of most of the tumour tissue resulted in a further decrease in the baseline serum GH level to a value (1.6 mU/l) about 20% of that before treatment, while the pulse height and mean GH were affected to a lesser extent. Postoperatively, circulating levels of cortisol and IGF-1 decreased, and the patient exhibited clinical improvement. Histological examination showed a neuroendocrine tumour with characteristics consistent with a foregut carcinoid of thymic origin. Immunoreactive GHRH, ACTH and NPY, but not immunoreactive GH, were detected in 80-90% of the tumour cells and the three peptides appeared to be co-localized. In primary culture, cells from this tumour displayed calcium influx in response to GHRH or GH releasing peptide-6 (GHRP-6), while there were not such responses by cells from another carcinoid not producing GHRH, ACTH or NPY. These results demonstrate a rare case of ectopic production of GHRH, ACTH and NPY, and indicate that the tumour cells were responsive to GHRH and GHRP-6 as well as octreotide.
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| 3. |
- Ljungberg, Ulla K, et al.
(author)
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The interaction between different domains of staphylococcal protein A and human polyclonal IgG, IgA, IgM and F(ab')2: separation of affinity from specificity
- 1993
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In: Molecular Immunology. - 1872-9142. ; 30:14, s. 1279-1285
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Binding properties of staphylococcal protein A (SpA) to different human immunoglobulins have been investigated. In this analysis, intact SpA as well as SpA-derived fragments containing one to five IgG-binding domains of different compositions, were used. The affinity binding constants of the different proteins to human polyclonal IgG, IgA, IgM and F(ab')2-fragments as well as their binding capacity to the immunoglobulin molecules were determined. The results show that although all the proteins bound to IgG, regardless of size or composition, the binding strength differed significantly. Proteins containing five domains have a stronger affinity for IgG than those containing one or two. There were no marked differences in binding strength between different domains. However, the binding ability to IgA and IgM showed a marked difference between the various SpA-derived proteins of different compositions. This discrepancy was correlated to differences in their relative binding properties to isolated F(ab')2-fragments of IgG. Hence, we conclude that the binding affinity is mainly affected by the number of domains, whereas the binding specificity is to a large extent determined by which domains are selected.
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| 4. |
- Abdulla, Parosh Aziz, et al.
(author)
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Handling Global Conditions in Parameterized System Verification
- 1999
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In: Proc. 11th Int. Conf. on Computer Aided Verification. - Berlin : Springer Verlag. - 3540662022 ; , s. 134-145
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We consider symbolic verification for a class of parameterized systems, where a system consists of a linear array of processes, and where an action of a process may in general be guarded by both local conditions restricting the state of the process about to perform the action, and global conditions defining the context in which the action is enabled. Such actions are present, e.g., in idealized versions of mutual exclusion protocols, such as the bakery and ticket algorithms by Lamport, Burn’s protocol, Dijkstra’s algorithm, and Szymanski’s algorithm. The presence of both local and global conditions makes the parameterized versions of these protocols infeasible to analyze fully automatically, using existing model checking methods for parameterized systems. In all these methods the actions are guarded only by local conditions involving the states of a finite set of processes. We perform verification using a standard symbolic reachability algorithm enhanced by an operation to accelerate the search of the state space. The acceleration operation computes the effect of an arbitrary number of applications of an action, rather than a single application. This is crucial for convergence of the analysis e.g. when applying the algorithm to the above protocols. We illustrate the use of our method through an application to Szymanski’s algorithm.
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| 5. |
- Adawi, Tom, 1970, et al.
(author)
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Goldstone tensor modes
- 1998
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In: J. High Energy Phys. 9902:001,1999.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In the context of brane solutions of supergravity, we discuss a general method to introduce collective modes of any spin by exploiting a particular way of breaking symmetries. The method is applied to the D3, M2 and M5 branes and we derive explicit expressions for how the zero-modes enter the target space fields, verify normalisability in the transverse directions and derive the corresponding field equations on the brane. In particular, the method provides a clear understanding of scalar, spinor, and rank r tensorial Goldstone modes, chiral as well as non-chiral, and how they arise from the gravity, Rarita-Schwinger, and rank r+1 Kalb-Ramond tensor gauge fields, respectively. Some additional observations concerning the chiral tensor modes on the M5 brane are discussed.
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| 6. |
- Adawi, Tom, 1970, et al.
(author)
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Superembeddings, nonlinear supersymmetry and five-branes
- 1997
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In: Int.J.Mod.Phys.A13:4691-4716,1998.
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We examine general properties of superembeddings, i.e., embeddings of supermanifolds into supermanifolds. The connection between an embedding procedure and the method of non-linearly realised supersymmetry is clarified, and we demonstrate how the latter arises as a special case of the former. As an illustration, the super-5-brane in 7 dimensions, containing a self-dual 3-form world-volume field strength, is formulated in both languages, and provides an example of a model where the embedding condition does not suffice to put the theory on-shell.
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| 7. |
- Ahlström, Håkan, et al.
(author)
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Positron emission tomography in the diagnosis and staging of urinary bladder cancer
- 1996
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In: Acta Radiologica. - 0284-1851 .- 1600-0455. ; 37:2, s. 180-185
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- PURPOSE: Evaluation of positron emission tomography (PET) using (18)fl 18F-2-fluoro-2-deoxy-D-glucose (18FDG) and L-methyl-11C-methionine in the diagnosis and staging of urinary bladder carcinoma. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Twenty-three patients with biopsy-proven urinary bladder carcinoma were examined with PET after intravenous injection of 11C-methionine; 2 were also examined with 18FDG. The results from the PET investigations were compared with CT or MR findings and TNM classification before and after treatment. RESULTS: The urinary excretion of 18FDG prevented distinction of the primary tumour from the surrounding tracer. With 11C-methionine it was possible to detect 18/23 primary tumours. A trend was seen, suggesting that the higher the uptake values of 11C-methionine in the tumour, the greater the tumour stage. CONCLUSION: It is possible to visualize urinary bladder tumours larger than 1 cm in diameter with PET using (11)C-methionine, but the value of the method in the staging of the lesions is not superior to conventional methods.
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| 9. |
- Andersson, Lena, et al.
(author)
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Hydrolysis of galactolipids by human pancreatic lipolytic enzymes and duodenal contents
- 1995
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In: Journal of Lipid Research. - 1539-7262. ; 36:6, s. 1392-1400
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Monogalactosyldiacylglycerols (MGDG), digalactosyldiacylglycerols (DGDG) and sulfoquinovosyldiacylglycerols (SQDG) are major lipids in vegetable food. Their digestion and absorption are unknown. This study examines the hydrolysis of galactolipids in vitro with human duodenal contents, pancreatic juice, and purified human pancreatic lipases. Galactolipids were incubated with human duodenal contents, pancreatic juice, pure pancreatic carboxyl ester lipase (CEL), and colipase-dependent lipase with colipase (Lip-Col). Hydrolysis was estimated as release of free fatty acids and by the use of [3H]galactose or [3H]fatty acid-labeled DGDG. Pancreatic juice and duodenal contents hydrolyzed DGDG to fatty acids, digalactosylmonoacylglycerol (DGMG) and water-soluble galactose-containing compounds. The hydrolysis of DGDG was bile salt-dependent and had a pH optimum at 6.5-7.5. Human pancreatic juice released fatty acids from MGDG, DGDG, and SQDG. Purified CEL hydrolyzed all three substrates; the hydrolysis rate was MGDG > SQDG > DGDG. Pure Lip-Col had activity toward MGDG but had little activity against DGDG. Separation of pancreatic juice by Sephadex G100 gel filtration chromatography revealed two peaks with galactolipase activity that coincided with CEL (molecular mass 100 kD) and lipase (molecular mass 50 kD) peaks. In contrast to pure Lip-Col enzymes of the latter peak were as active against DGDG as against MGDG. Thus, DGDG is hydrolyzed both by CEL and by a pancreatic enzyme(s) with a molecular mass of 40-50 kD to fatty acids and lyso DGDG. MGDG, DGDG, and SQDG are all hydrolyzed by human pancreatic juice. Pure CEL hydrolyzed all three substrates.
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| 10. |
- Aniansson Zdolsek, Helena, 1961-, et al.
(author)
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Expression of the T–cell markers CD3, CD4 and CD8 in healthy and atopic Children during the first 18 months of life
- 1999
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In: International Archives of Allergy and Immunology. - : S. Karger AG. - 1018-2438 .- 1423-0097. ; 119:1, s. 6-12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: There is little information available about the development of T–cell immunity in healthy and atopic children. We have studied prospectively the mean fluorescence intensity of the T–cell receptor complex–associated CD3, CD4 and CD8 in relation to atopic family history (AFH) and the development of atopic disease.Methods: Children with a defined AFH (n = 172) were followed from birth to 18 months and the cumulative history of atopic disease was recorded. Blood samples were obtained at birth and at 18 months, and in a subgroup of 78 children also at 3, 6 and 12 months. Multicolour flow cytometry was used to analyse pan T–cells (CD3+CD45+CD14–), T–helper–(CD3+CD4+) and T–cytotoxic–(CD3+CD8+) cells.Results: At 18 months, 31 children were atopic and 118 non–atopic. Children who developed atopic disease had a higher CD4 expression (mean fluorescence intensity, MFI) on CD4+CD3+ lymphocytes at birth and at 3 months, particularly as compared with non–atopic children without AFH. Furthermore, the CD3 expression on CD3+CD45+CD14– lymphocytes increased more slowly with age in children with double atopic heredity, as compared with children with no or only one atopic family member.Conclusions: The higher expression of the CD4 receptor in early infancy in children who developed atopic disease compared with non–atopics suggests a delayed expression in T–helper cells. Children with a strong AFH had a slower increase in the expression of CD3, indicating a delayed T–cell maturation.
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