Qa-2 is a nonclassical class I molecule encoded by the Q7 gene within the mouse major histocompatibility complex (MHC). Results from previous experiments on Qa-2, and on a chimeric Ld molecule (LQ3) in which the alpha 3 domain is encoded by Q7b, suggested that the alpha 3 domain of Qa-2 does not carry out the functions typical of the alpha 3 domains in other classical and nonclassical class I a...

We are developing a dialogue manager (DM) for a multimodal interactive Question Answering (QA) system. Our QA system presents answers using text and pictures, and the user may pose follow-up questions using text or speech, while indicating screen elements with the mouse. We developed a corpus of multimodal follow-up questions for this system. This paper describes a detailed analysis of this cor...

A number of nonclassical MHC Ib molecules recognizing distinct microbial antigens have been implicated in the immune response to Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb). HLA-E has been identified to present numerous Mtb peptides to CD8+ T cells, with multiple HLA-E-restricted cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) and regulatory T cell lines isolated from patients with active and latent tuberculosis (TB). In ot...

Extracts of 125I-labeled cloned murine cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) were immunoprecipitated with alloantisera to the cloned CTL and rabbit antisera to beta-2 microglobulin. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) of the specific precipitates revealed, as expected, 125I-labeled components that corresponded to products of class I genes of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC). However, ad...

Natural killer (NK) cells preferentially lyse targets that express reduced levels of major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I proteins. To date, the only known mouse NK receptors for MHC class I belong to the Ly49 family of C-type lectin homodimers. Here, we report the cloning of mouse NKG2A, and demonstrate it forms an additional and distinct class I receptor, a CD94/NKG2A heterodimer. U...

Immunological and biochemical characteristics of the Qa-2 murine nonclassical histocompatibility class 1 antigen expressed on tumor cells derived from H-2k (Qa-2-) mice were studied. It was found that the Qa-2 antigen on normal H-2b lymphocytes reacted with Qa-2-specific monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) 34-1.2, 59 (both specific to the alpha 1/alpha 2 region) and 141-15.8 (specific to the alpha 3 d...

Abstract There has been considerable interest in understanding the biological consequence and therapeutic implications of aberrant tryptophan metabolism brain tumors neurodegenerative diseases. An overwhelming majority this work focused on first-step (kynurenine); however, yet to result clinical application. Using global metabolomic profiling >100 patient-derived tumors, we identified a ...

objective(s): quinolinic acid (qa)-mediated excitotoxicity has been widely used as a model for studying neurodegenerative disorders. recent studies suggested that saffron (crocus sativus) or its active metabolite, i.e. safranal, exerts pharmacological actions on central nervous system including anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, and neuroprotective properties. the present study aimed to investigate th...

Background Iran has a widespread diagnostics and clinical support services (DCSS) network that plays a crucial role in providing diagnostic and clinical support services to both inpatient and outpatient care. However, very little is known on the application of quality assurance (QA) policies in DCSS units. This study explores the extent of application of eleven QA strategies in DCSS units withi...