BACKGROUND Based on our preclinical findings, we are assessing the efficacy of intratumoral injection of dendritic cells (DC) transduced with an adenoviral vector expressing the secondary lymphoid chemokine (CCL21) gene (Ad-CCL21-DC) in a phase I trial in advanced non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). While this approach shows immune enhancement, the preparation of autologous DC for CCL21 genetic...

Physical models and scaled prototypes of architecture play an important role in design. They enable architects and designers to investigate the formal, functional, and material attributes of the design. Understanding digital processes of realizing scaled prototypes is a significant problem confronting design practice. This paper reports on three approaches to the translation of Gaussian surface...

In the present paper, on assuming that the material has infinite friction and no cohesion, i.e. it is No-Tension in the sense of Heyman, we study the equilibrium of cross vaults of unequal rise, such as those of some Romanesque and Gothic churches. In particular the case study of the lateral cross vaults of the Cathedral of the old town of Caserta is analyzed. The scope of the paper is not to s...

Vaults are 13 megadalton ribonucleoprotein particles composed largely of the major vault protein (MVP) and two high molecular weight proteins, p240 and p193, and a small vault RNA (vRNA). Increased levels of MVP expression, vault-associated vRNA, and vaults have been linked directly to multidrug resistance (MDR). To further define the putative role of vaults in MDR, we produced monoclonal antib...

The Urine Diverting Dehydration Toilet (UDDT) is one of a wide range of technologies Ecological Sanitation (Ecosan) offers. A commonly used type is the so called solar UDDT, constructed with inclined vault doors or panels which are usually made from black iron sheets to increase the temperature inside the vaults and therefore would facilitate dehydration and hygienisation. The study aims to giv...

Previous studies have shown that the receptive field properties, spontaneous activity and spatio-temporal interactions of low-threshold mechanical somatosensory cells in the barrel cortex are influenced by C-fibers. In this study, we examined the effect of C-fiber depletion on response properties of barrel cortex neurons following experience dependent plasticity. Methods: In this study, exte...

introduction: acinetobacter baumannii is associated with hospital-acquired infections. outer membrane protein a of a.baumannii (abompa) is a well-characterized virulence factor which has important roles in pathogenesis of this bacterium. methods: based on our pcr-sequencing of ompa gene in the clinical isolates, abompa protein can be categorized into two types, named here type-1 and type-2. we ...