Human plasmacytoid dendritic cells interact with gp96 via CD91 and regulate inflammatory responses.

Glucose-regulated stress protein gp96 is known to be involved in the host response to pathogens and to cancer. Our study explored the relationships between gp96 and human blood plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDC) and proved that gp96 directly targets pDC by a receptor-dependent interaction. Competition studies identified CD91 as a gp96 receptor on pDC, and laser confocal imaging indicated that CD91 triggering was followed by gp96 endocytosis and trafficking into early endosomes and later into the endoplasmic reticulum compartment.

Implementation of a Digital Radiographic Image Acquisition and Retrieval System (DRIARS) using a wireless network in an orthodontic department.

Aim: The objective of this report is to describe the implementation and pilot-test of an integrated wireless local area network (WLAN) system that incorporated the Planmeca Promax CCD based digital panoramic/cephalometric x-ray system, Dolphin(R) software, and multiple remote user units to increase the efficiency of data management by the residents in the Department of Orthodontics.

Background: The Department of Orthodontics of the New Jersey Dental School (NJDS) acquired the Dolphin cephalometric analysis software and the Planmeca Promax digital panoramic/cephalometric x-ray units on separate occasions. Dolphin has been in use for many years at this institution, the current version being 10, and the Promax was acquired in the Fall of 2002.

Heat-shock protein-based vaccines for cancer and infectious disease.

Almost 60 years ago, the pioneering work of George Klein and others showed that cancers could be made targets for the immune system. Identification of the tumor targets, known as tumor antigens, became a focus in cancer biology that led to the discovery of the immunological properties of heat-shock proteins (HSPs) in 1986 by Pramod Srivastava and colleagues. Since then, the use of HSPs in the therapeutics of cancer and infectious disease in several clinical trials has been guided by our understanding of the role and effects of HSPs in adaptive and innate immune responses, investigated primarily in mice.

Specific immunogenicity of heat shock protein gp96 derives from chaperoned antigenic peptides and not from contaminating proteins.

The peptide-binding property of MHC is central to adaptive immunological functions. A similar property of heat shock proteins (HSPs) hsp70 and hsp90 has been implicated in Ag presentation by MHC and in cross-priming. The peptide-binding pocket of hsp70 has been characterized structurally and functionally and a peptide-binding site in gp96 (of hsp90 family) has been defined.

Effectiveness of a mental health court in reducing criminal recidivism and violence.

Objective: In response to the large-scale involvement of people with mental disorders in the criminal justice system, many communities have created specialized mental health courts in recent years. However, little research has been done to evaluate the criminal justice outcomes of such courts. This study evaluated whether a mental health court can reduce the risk of recidivism and violence by people with mental disorders who have been arrested.

"He said--she said": the role of the forensic evaluator in determining credibility of plaintiffs who allege sexual exploitation and boundary violations.

The authors present civil cases that involved allegations of boundary violations or sexual assault in which there was no corroborating evidence. In these cases, the alleged perpetrators denied any wrongdoing. Both plaintiff and defense attorneys were interested in the credibility of their clients.

Commentary: The importance of professional judgment in evaluation of stalking and threatening situations.

When a person is stalked, a common reaction is to consult an expert for the answers to several key questions: Is the stalker dangerous? How can I get the stalker to stop the behavior? What should I do to protect myself? Although certain risk factors are associated with an increased likelihood of violence, care must be taken in using risk factors to predict violence, because there are many exceptions to and subtleties in such analyses. Risks in stalking situations depend on interactions of potentially fluctuating and interrelated factors, and risk assessments need to be updated as more information becomes available. The consultant must consider a variety of strategies to stop the stalking behavior and to protect the victim.

Heat shock protein vaccines: from bench to bedside.

Heat shock proteins (HSPs) are immunogenic, with the specificity of the immune response provided by the peptides that they chaperone. Binding of cell surface receptors by HSPs is central to the elicitation of the innate and adaptive immune responses obtained after vaccination and also plays a physiologic role in cross-priming. These effects of HSPs have been exploited in prophylaxis and therapy of cancer and infectious disease.

[The current revision of Directive 86/609/EWG from the perspective of animal welfare legislation].

The necessity to revise Directive 86/609/EWG has been discussed since 1993, growing more urgent since the Protocol to the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997) and the Treaty establishing a Constitution for the European Union (2004), both of which recognise the welfare of animals as sentient beings; a revision also proves necessary because of various changes within the framework of animal experimentation. Within an expert questionnaire launched in the summer of 2006 several shortcomings of Directive 86/609/EWG are pointed out; proposals for revision mainly concern the scope of the directive, authorisation of animal experiments by national bodies, controls on institutional level, minimal requirements for housing and care of laboratory animals as well as for qualification of staff, and instruments for reducing duplication of animal experiments. The introduction of an obligatory ethical review as part of a standardised and project-related authorisation procedure, the up-grading of housing and care standards and the implementation of mechanisms for reducing duplication of animal experiments may enhance full exploitation of the 3R and are therefore crucially important for a directive complying with the requirements of the Treaty of Amsterdam.

Large excitonic enhancement of optical refrigeration in semiconductors.

We present a theoretical analysis for laser cooling of bulk GaAs based on a microscopic many-particle theory of absorption and luminescence of a partially ionized electron-hole plasma. Our cooling threshold analysis shows that, at low temperatures, the presence of the excitonic resonance in the luminescence is essential in competing against heating losses. The theory includes self-consistent energy renormalizations and line broadenings from both instantaneous mean-field and frequency-dependent carrier-carrier correlations, and it is applicable from the few-Kelvin regime to above room temperature.

Hereditary cranium bifidum persisting as enlarged parietal foramina (Catlin marks) on cephalometric radiographs.

Cranium bifidum occultum is a rare skull ossification disorder referred to as the Catlin mark characterized by ossification defects in the parietal bones. Evidence suggests that this condition has a strong genetic heterogenicity. It is believed that, as calvarial growth continues, ossification in parietal bones fills these defects, and they can remain as parietal foramina on either side of the sagittal suture.

Colony forming unit levels of salivary Lactobacilli and Streptococcus mutans in orthodontic patients.

The purpose of this study was to compare the levels of Lactobacilli (LB) and Streptococcus mutans (SM) colony forming units (CFU) in the saliva of subjects before and after orthodontic appliance placement. This was a controlled, prospective two-group, two-measurement, clinical trial performed on 64 study patients, 12-15 years old. Subjects in the experimental group were sampled for LB and SM in stimulated saliva collected on the same day but prior to band and bracket placement.

Distortionless light pulse delay in quantum-well Bragg structures.

We describe a reflection scheme that allows Bragg-spaced semiconductor quantum wells to be used to trap, store, and release light. We study the temporal and spectral distortion of delayed light pulses and show that this geometry allows multibit delays and offers a high degree of distortion compensation.

Incarceration associated with homelessness, mental disorder, and co-occurring substance abuse.

Objective: This study assessed relationships between homelessness, mental disorder, and incarceration.

Methods: Using archival databases that included all 12,934 individuals who entered the San Francisco County Jail system during the first six months of 2000, the authors assessed clinical and behavioral characteristics associated with homelessness and incarceration.

Results: In 16 percent of the episodes of incarceration, the inmates were homeless, and in 18 percent of the episodes, the inmates had a diagnosis of a mental disorder; 30 percent of the inmates who were homeless had a diagnosis of a mental disorder during one or more episodes.

Use of a wireless local area network in an orthodontic clinic.

Radiographic images and other patient records, including medical histories, demographics, and health insurance information, can now be stored digitally and accessed via patient management programs. However, digital image acquisition and diagnosis and treatment planning are independent tasks, and each is time consuming, especially when performed at different computer workstations. Networking or linking the computers in an office enhances access to imaging and treatment planning tools.

Psychiatric emergency service use and homelessness, mental disorder, and violence.

Objective: This study examined relationships between homelessness, mental disorder, violence, and the use of psychiatric emergency services. To the authors' knowledge, this study is the first to examine these issues for all episodes of care in a psychiatric emergency service that serves an entire mental health system in a major city.

Methods: Archival databases were examined to gather data on all individuals (N=2,294) who were served between January 1, 1997, and June 30, 1997, in the county hospital's psychiatric emergency service in San Francisco, California.

Peptides chaperoned by heat-shock proteins are a necessary and sufficient source of antigen in the cross-priming of CD8+ T cells.

The form in which antigens are transferred from cancer cells or infected cells to antigen-presenting cells as a part of the process of priming CD8(+) T cells has been a longstanding unresolved issue. Intact proteins or protein fragments in the form of free peptides or peptides chaperoned by heat-shock protein are possible sources of antigen. We address this here using beta-galactosidase and ovalbumin.

Quantum-dot quantum-interference infrared design proposal photodetector: and modeling of performance characteristics.

A novel design of an IR photodetector operating at wavelengths around 10 microm is presented. It is based on a three-level quantum coherence effect in semiconductor quantum dots as measured in balanced-homodyne detection in a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. The advantage of this design is the combination of room-temperature operation and fast response time, whereas the major drawback is the high noise-equivalent power.

The heat-shock protein receptors: some answers and more questions.

The existence of heat-shock protein (HSP) receptors on antigen-presenting cells (APCs) was hypothesized in 1994. The first such receptor, CD91 or LRP, was identified and characterized in 2000. The pace of attribution has quickened since and during the last three years alone, six putative HSP receptors have been identified.