Rejection of an allograft usually is preceded by activation of T lymphocytes, in which state such cells may be identified by their ability to form thermostable rosettes with sheep erythrocytes (TE-R). The objective of the present work, therefore, was to determine whether or not enumeration of TE-R in the peripheral blood was of any value in the diagnosis of rejection. The results showed no significant differences between TE-R (mean +/- SEM) in normal subjects (9.9 +/- 1.3; n = 25), renal allograft recipients without rejections (13.5 +/- 1.7; n = 5) and in patients who suffered from acute tubular necrosis in the posttransplant period (12.4 +/- 2.5; n = 8). In contrast, recipients who had rejection episodes showed a marked rise in TE-R levels (43.0 +/- 4.0; n = 11) about two to seven days prior to the diagnosis of rejection by clinical and chemical criteria. Furthermore, TE-R remained high if the rejection episodes turned out to be irreversible after therapy (42.2 +/- 3.7) but fell if the episodes were reversible (19.9 +/- 3.2). TE-R values were elevated in patients with chronic renal failure on maintenance hemodialysis (45.7 +/- 4.9; n = 23). Neither acute dialytic runs or acute infections altered TE-R values. In conclusion, those results show that enumeration of TE-R may be helpful in the early diagnosis of allograft rejection, before clinical and chemical stigmata are apparent.
Nonpoint-source pollutants are implicated in the global acidification of fresh waters. Our ability to differentiate the effects of point-source and nonpoint-source pollution on the acidification of large rivers is limited. Most studies of point-source discharges have been concerned with municipal programs for reducing biochemical oxygen demand, bacterial counts, and total phosphorus; few have addressed acidification of rivers. Because of the meager information on the role of nonpoint-source and industrial pollution in the acidification of large rivers, we examined long-term trends (and cyclic seasonal events) in pH, alkalinity, and selected ions in the lower Mississippi River basin from 1958 to 1986. Time-series analyses disclosed significant declines in pH and alkalinity and increases in strong acid anions in the lower 300 km (industrial corridor) of the lower Mississippi River. However, upstream from most industry on the Mississippi River and throughout the Atchafalaya River, where agricultural development has predominated, long-term trends in those characteristics were variable or nonsignificant.
Abstract Jesus is remembered as praying to God as his Abba, a form of address used by children in speaking to their fathers, and also as a polite way of speaking to elderly men. In this Jesus seems to be unique, not because this as a form of address to God is un-Jewish or without parallel elsewhere—it is not. Notably the Hasidim are remembered for their sense of filial closeness to God. But Jesus is unique in that this address is remembered as utterly characteristic of him, his idiolect. Matthew and Luke further describe his teaching his disciples to pray (the Lord’s Prayer), encouraging them address God as he did.
-We assessed the effects of abiotic factors on invertebrate drift composition in the lower Mississippi River from November 1984 to June 1985. We sampled drift, measured in situ water quality variables and recorded river stage and discharge 1 night each month. Principal component analysis (PCA) and standard multiple regression were used to investigate temporal relationships between drift and abiotic factors in a large river system. Several drifting taxa (Ephemeroptera, Trichoptera) were significantly, negatively related to discharge and positively related to temperature, current and conductivity. In separate analyses, collector, engulfing predator and detritivore feeding groups were significantly, positively related to stage/discharge and negatively related to current velocity. In addition, each trophic component had several prey and one predator highly correlated with it. Seasonal variability in drift was a response to both invertebrate predation and fluctuations in the hydrologic cycle. Our study could not distinguish between two main effects of river discharge on drift: dilution and habitat availability. The possibility that drift may be a separate community apart from the benthos, and thereby affected strongly by seasonal abiotic factors, is discussed.
Abstract Previously, we presented preliminary evidence that supported our hypothesis for the immunoregulatory nature of iron [7]. The objective of the present work was to test that hypothesis in greater detail. Our approach was to examine the effect that iron had on the expression of the surface markers on lymphocytes that had been activated by pokeweed mitogen (PWM). The two categories of lymphoid surface molecules were enumerated on those cells; first were those that identify T lymphocytes and second, those that appear on the membrane of T cells following activation. The results, as regards T cell-associated molecules, demonstrated that iron suppresses the expression of the molecules identified by the monoclonal antibodies OKT3 and OKT4. It suppressed expression of the T4 molecule in PWM-activated cells (30.6% ± 4.5; n = 5) compared with untreated but activated cells (52.2% ± 2.9; n = 5; P = 1.9 × 10−3) resulting in a reduced helper:suppressor T cell ratio from 2.2 ± 0.4 to 1.2 ± 0.3. With regard to activation-associated lymphocyte markers, iron significantly enhanced expression of the receptor for transferrin as identified by the monoclonal antibody, OKT9. However, it failed to change significantly the expression of three other activation-associated markers, namely, la, T10, and the receptor that forms thermostable erythrocyte-rosettes (TE-R) with sheep red blood cells (SRC). We conclude from those results that iron has a differential immunoregulatory influence on the expression of certain lymphocyte surface molecules on actively dividing lymphocytes.
This book combines literary, historical, and theological approaches in a study of the doctrine of the Resurrection. The first part of the book provides a careful and sympathetic description of 1st-century Jewish and pagan opinions and beliefs about death and what might follow. It then presents a general account of early Christian claims about the death and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. The second part offers a detailed, full-length commentary on and exegesis of the main New Testament texts that speak of Jesus' death and resurrection: 1 Corinthians 15 and the narratives in the four canonical gospels. The third part discusses and evaluates various proposals that have been made by those attempting to explain the data in ways that differ from the traditional Christian explanation. Finally, the book asks, "So what?" and considers various theological and ethical implications of accepting the claim "Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead." Throughout, the book exhibits a willingness to face hard questions as well as an appropriate reverence for a faith that for almost two thousand years has enabled millions of people to lead lives of meaning and grace.
The influence of a positive B-cell crossmatch on graft outcome in renal transplantation is controversial.We analyzed graft survival using Kaplan-Meier estimates for recipients of deceased donor kidneys who were either regraft transplant patients (n = 198) from 1990 to August 20, 2004, or primary transplant patients (n = 361) from December 15, 2000 to August 8, 2004, each of whom had a flow T- and B-cell IgG crossmatch performed before transplantation. The flow B-cell crossmatch (FBXM) was not used to decide whether or not to transplant. Graft survival was analyzed by whether the patient's FBXM was positive or negative. We also evaluated creatinine levels and graft survival of 131 transplant patients (June 1, 2004 to July 1, 2005) by their FBXM result and by their HLA class II flow-defined IgG PRA.One- and three-yr graft survival for the primary transplant patient group with a positive FBXM (98% and 84%) was not significantly different from the group with a negative FBXM (96% and 93%) (log-rank = 0.9). Similarly, graft survival at one, five, and 10 yr for the regraft transplant group whose FBXM was positive (91%, 76%, and 61%) was not significantly different from the group whose FBXM was negative (91%, 79%, and 77%) (log-rank = 0.4). Creatinine levels in the group of patients whose FBXM was positive (1.4 +/- 0.4 mg/dL; n = 76) were not significantly different from the group with a negative FBXM (1.4 +/- 0.4 mg/dL; n = 42). Even in the presence of class II PRA, a positive FBXM did not impact a patient's creatinine levels or graft outcome.Neither short nor long-term graft survival of deceased donor kidneys is influenced by a positive flow B-cell IgG crossmatch, even when caused by HLA class II antibody.
