Despite their increasing use in autoimmune, inflammatory, and allergic conditions, the mechanism of action of i.v. Igs (IVIg) is poorly understood. On the basis of the critical role of invariant NKT (iNKT) cells in allergic airway inflammation (AAI) and their constitutive expression of the low-affinity IgG receptor FcγRIIIA, we surmised that IVIg targets iNKT cells to exert their anti-inflammat...

Naturally induced auto-anti-idiotypic (AAI) antibody responses specific for antimicrococcal antibody idiotypes were detected in 42% of the rabbits in a family immunized with Micrococcus lysodeikticus. The natural AAI response of each rabbit recognized only a portion (11-41%) of that individual's total antimicrococcal antibody population. Cross-reactions of idiotypes were observed within the gro...

SULE, AMBARISH MUKUND Hardware-Software Codesign of a Programmable Wireless Receiver System-on-a-chip. (Under the direction of Prof. William Rhett Davis). With gate counts and system complexity growing rapidly, engineers have to find efficient ways of designing hardware circuits. The advent of Hardware Description Languages and synthesis methodologies improved designer productivity by raising t...

Exposure to aristolochic acid (AA) is associated with human nephropathy and urothelial cancer. Individual susceptibility to AA-induced disease likely reflects individual differences in enzymes that metabolize AA. Herein, we evaluated AAI metabolism by human cytochrome P450 (CYP) 1A1 and 1A2 in two CYP1A-humanized mouse lines that carry functional human CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 genes in the absence of ...

Development of techniques for measurement of aural acoustic immittance (AAI) is reviewed . Measurement characteristics of selected AAI instruments are compared. Real-ear data obtained with a digital instrument are presented. Review of data support the suggestion that digital AAI instruments promote development of quantitative measurement protocols with greater efficiency and power.

Autophagy is a lysosomal degradation pathway that is essential for cell survival and tissue homeostasis. However, limited information is available about autophagy in aristolochic acid (AA) nephropathy. In this study, we investigated the role of autophagy and related signaling pathway during progression of AAI-induced injury to renal tubular epithelial cells (NRK52E cells). The results showed th...

BACKGROUND Precise control of anesthetic depth during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is crucial because most intravenous anesthetics have anticonvulsant effects. In this study, we investigated the association between anesthetic depth measured by the Alaris auditory evoked potential index (AAI) and seizure inducibility and seizure duration during ECT. METHODS Sixty-four ECTs were evaluated in...

Aristolochic acid causes a specific nephropathy (AAN), Balkan endemic nephropathy, and urothelial malignancies. Using Western blotting suitable to determine protein expression, we investigated in several transgenic mouse lines expression of NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1)-the most efficient cytosolic enzyme that reductively activates aristolochic acid I (AAI). The mouse tissues used were ...