The major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I chain-related gene A (MICA) is located centromerically to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-B. The short distance between these loci in the MHC indicates the presence of linkage disequilibrium (LD). Similarly to the HLA, the MICA is highly polymorphic, and this polymorphism has not been well documented in different populations. In this study, w...

We compare the deformation patterns produced by sand and a sand mica mixture (14:1 ratio of sand to mica by weight) while simulating basin fill in extension and inversion models to analyze the potential of the sand mica mixture for applications that require a strong elasto-frictional plastic analogue material in physical models. Sand and the sand mica mixture have nearly equal angles of interna...

The MHC-encoded MHC class I-related chains A (MICA) glycoproteins are known to enhance the functions of NK and T cells by ligating the stimulating receptor NKG2D and appear to play an important role in host defense. Human CMV (HCMV) evades the immune response in many different ways, but has not previously been found to down-regulate MICA. We have found that a common form of MICA, which has a nu...

Gold-mediated exfoliation of ultralarge optoelectronically perfect monolayers with lateral dimensions up to ≈500 μm is reported. Electrical, optical, and X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy characterization show that the quality of the gold-exfoliated flakes is similar to that of tape-exfoliated flakes. Large-area flakes allow manufacturing of large-area mono-layer transition metal dichalcogenide...

We hypothesized that the cell wall inhibitor micafungin (MICA) induces apoptosis in both MICA-susceptible (MICA-S) and MICA-non-susceptible (MICA-NS) Candida parapsilosis. Antifungal activity and apoptosis were analyzed in MICA-S and MICA-NS C. parapsilosis strains following exposure to micafungin for 3 h at 37°C in RPMI 1640 medium. Apoptosis was characterized by detecting phosphatidylserine e...

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a threat to public health worldwide. We previously identified the association of a single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) at the promoter region of the MHC class I polypeptide-related sequence A (MICA) gene with the risk of hepatitis-virus-related HCC. Because this SNP affects MICA expression levels, regulating MICA expression levels may be important in the preve...

background: a possible mechanism by which hyperthermia enhances tumor immunogenicity is the induction of nkg2d ligands on tumor cells. although the expression of mhc class i chain-related protein a and b (mica/b) has previously been reported in different carcinomas, there is no information about mica/b expression in liposarcomas. objective: to investigate mica/b induction in a human liposarcoma...

The MHC class I-related chain A (MICA) molecules exist as membrane-bound and soluble isoforms and are encoded by a polymorphic gene. Their genetic and phenotype characteristics have been studied in various pathologic settings but not in the context of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT). Here, we evaluated whether MICA-related features namely MICA-129 gene polymorphism, serum levels ...

Morphology of BMIM FAP on the heated mica surface Mica was cleaved and heat treated in an conventional oven at 120 C for 1 h. Afterwards, the mica was dip-coated with 0.01 g/L and 0.001 g/L BMIM FAP/Vertrel (2,3-dihydrodecafluoropentane) solution, respectively. The average thickness of the resulting BMIM FAP nanofilms is estimated to be in the order of angstrom or lowerS1. The topography of BM...

Mica can store (for > 1 Gy) etchable tracks caused by atoms recoiling from WIMPs. Because a background from fission neutrons will eventually limit this technique, a unique signature for WIMPs in ancient mica is needed. Our motion around the center of the Galaxy causes WIMPs, unlike neutrons, to enter the mica from a preferred direction on the sky. Mica is a directional detector and despite the ...