Genes were isolated using the suppression subtractive hybridization method by stimulation of pro/pre B cells with anti-CD40 and interleukin (IL)-4 to mature S mu-Sepsilon-switched cells. One of the strongly upregulated genes encodes a novel murine CC chemokine we have named ABCD-1. The ABCD-1 gene has three exons separated by 1. 2- and 2.7-kb introns. It gives rise to a 2.2-kb transcript contai...

The giant extracellular hemoglobin of the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, has four major O2-binding chains, a, b, and c (forming a disulfide-linked trimer) and d ("monomer"). Participation of additional "linker" chains L1, L2, and L3 is necessary for the assembly of the approximately 3,900+ kDa two-tiered hexagonal structure. We have determined the proportions of linker chains, trimer, and cha...

Correlation properties of speckle fields at the output of quadratic phase systems with hard square and circular apertures are examined. Using the linear canonical transform and ABCD ray matrix techniques to describe these general optical systems, we first derive analytical formulas for determining axial and lateral speckle sizes. Then using a numerical technique, we extend the analysis so that ...

Starting with the Iwasawa-type decomposition of a first-order optical system (or ABCD system) as a cascade of a lens, a magnifier, and an orthosymplectic system (a system that is both symplectic and orthogonal), a further decomposition of the orthosymplectic system in the form of a separable fractional Fourier transformer embedded between two spatial-coordinate rotators is proposed. The resulti...

Time domain reflectometry (TDR) is a measurement technique based upon transmission line theory. The solutions of transmission line equations are reformulated in terms of independent physical properties, instead of coupled per-unit-length circuit parameters. The complete TDR response is effectively modeled by a non-uniform transmission line using the non-recursive ABCD matrix approach. Approache...

The relationship between optical fractional Fourier transforms (OFRTs) obtained at different wavelengths is derived by use of the ABCD matrix formalism. It is shown that varying the wavelength while retaining the same optical system can be used to control the order of the OFRT. The advantage of this method of varying OFRT order is that no variation in the characteristics of the bulk optics is r...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The ABCD system was derived to predict early risk of stroke after transient ischemic attack. Independent validations have reported conflicting results. We therefore systematically reviewed published and unpublished data to determine predictive value and generalizability to different clinical settings and users. METHODS Validations of the ABCD and ABCD2 scores were ident...

BACKGROUND Photodermatitis is an abnormal response to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). The photoallergic contact dermatitis caused by plant allergens is a serious cause of morbidity in India. Airborne contact dermatitis is the classical presentation of plant-induced dermatosis, which may become difficult to differentiate from chronic actinic dermatitis in chronic cases. The rapid growth of partheni...

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE A 6-point score, based on age, blood pressure, clinical features, and duration (ABCD), was shown to effectively stratify the short-term risk of stroke after a transient ischemic attack (TIA). Prospective validation in different populations of patients should precede its widespread use. Whether adding computed tomography (CT) scan findings to the score would improve its pe...