Activation

Plasmodium falciparum malaria is responsible for the deaths of nearly 500,000 people each year. Much attention has been paid to antibody and cellular mechanisms of immunity against this pathogen. By contrast, the role that the complement system plays in immunity and pathogenesis in this infection is not very well recognized or understood. Based on the work of a number of research groups, we know that complement plays an important role in these processes. In this book, some of the leading scientists in the field discuss the mechanisms of complement activation during malaria infection as well as the role of complement in the pathogenesis of key syndromes such as severe malarial anemia, cerebral malaria, and placental malaria. In addition, they review recently-identified complement evasion strategies of P. falciparum merozoites, and how these mechanisms may translate into paradoxical enhancement of infection rather than protection. Finally, they also discuss the role of the mosquito complement system on immunity against the parasite.

In Denmark, Finland and Sweden the evolution of administrative law, including social welfare law, has been marked by a shift towards a stronger protection of the recipient's individual rights. The adoption of activation policies targeting recipients of social assistance has highlighted the tensions between decision-making concerning the implementation of these policies and the legislative efforts to promote the realisation of individual rights in the field of social welfare. An examination of the legislation in question and its implementation conditions shows that the realisation of individual rights is subordinated to the pursuit of organisational and other objectives. The findings of the study are used to formulate proposals for the promotion of individual rights based on the Nordic egalitarian model of citizenship. This critical assessment of activation policies should be of broad international appeal. It will be of interest to researchers in social policy, as well as those concerned with protection of rights.

This book analyzes in what way activation policies impact on given patterns of social citizenship that predominate in national contexts. It argues that the liberal paradigm of activation introduced into labour market policies in all Western European states challenges the specific patterns of social citizenship in each country.

Immune Response Activation and Immunomodulation has been written to address the perceived needs of both medical school and undergraduate curricula and to take advantage of new understandings in immunology. We have tried to achieve several goals and present the most important principles governing the function of the immune system. Our fundamental objective has been to synthesize the key concepts from the vast amount of experimental data that have emerged in the rapidly advancing field of immunology. The choice of what is most important is based on what is most clearly established by experimentation, what our students find puzzling, and what explains the wonderful efficiency and economy of the immune system. Inevitably, however, such a choice will have an element of bias, and our bias is toward emphasizing the cellular interactions in immune response by limiting the description of many of the underlying biochemical and molecular mechanisms to the essential facts. This book gives an insight into the role of cytokines in activating immune response during pathogenic invasion. Immunomodulation, aryl hydrocarbons, the role of the protein defensin and nucleated cells in provoking immune response, Bcl protein/gene-based apoptotic pathways, and plant-derived phytochemical-mediated immune response are all central themes of this book.

This book provides a tutorial in the use of Altair Compose and Altair Activate, software packages that provide system modeling and simulation facilities. Advanced system modeling software provide multiple ways of creating models: models can be programmed in specialized languages, graphically constructed as block-diagrams and state machines, or expressed mathematically in equation-based languages. Compose and Activate are introduced in this text in two parts. The first part introduces the multi-language environment of Compose and its use for modeling, simulation and optimization. The second describes the graphical system modeling and optimization with Activate, an open-system environment providing signal-based modeling as well as physical system component-based modeling. Throughout both parts are applied examples from mechanical, biological, and electrical systems, as well as control and signal processing systems. This book will be an invaluable addition with many examples both for those just interested in OML and those doing industrial scale modeling, simulation, and design. All examples are worked using the free basic editions of Activate and Compose that are available.

In this book leading researchers in the field discuss the state-of-the-art of many aspects of SAPK signaling in various systems from yeast to mammals. These include various chapters on regulatory mechanisms as well as the contribution of the SAPK signaling pathways to processes such as gene expression, metabolism, cell cycle regulation, immune responses and tumorigenesis. Written by international experts, the book will appeal to cell biologists and biochemists.

A remarkable spectrum of novel immunoreceptors sharing related immunoglobulin-like domains and signaling potential has been identified in recent years. These receptors have attracted widespread interest because they resemble the TCR, BCR, and FcR complexes in their ability to serve as activating or inhibitory receptors on the cells that bear them. Moreover, they are well positioned to affect both innate and adaptive immunity. The full range of ligands for these new receptor families is still not known, and understanding of their physiological roles is far from complete. This volume is the first attempt to summarize and highlight all known aspects of immunoglobulin-like receptors, providing a topical overview of the roles and characteristic features of the immunoglobulin-like receptors and related molecules in the immune system. Researchers in immunology, molecular biology, cell biology, clinical medicine, and pharmacology will find this book invaluable.