Treatment with Helicobacter pylori-derived VacA attenuates allergic airway disease

BACKGROUND: Asthma is an incurable heterogeneous disease with variations in clinical and underlying immunological phenotype. New approaches could help to support existing therapy concepts. Neonatal infection of mice with Helicobacter pylori or administration of H. pylori-derived extracts or molecules after birth have been shown to prevent the development of allergic airway disease later in life. This study evaluated the potential therapeutic efficacy of H. pylori vacuolating cytotoxin A (VacA) in allergic airway inflammation and investigated the underlying immunological mechanisms for its actions. METHODS: Murine models of allergic airway diseases, and murine and human in vitro models were used. RESULTS: In both an acute model and a therapeutic house dust mite model of allergic airway disease, treatment with H. pylori-derived VacA reduced several asthma hallmarks, including airway hyperresponsiveness, inflammation and goblet cell metaplasia. Flow cytometry and ELISA analyses revealed induction of tolerogenic dendritic cells (DC) and FoxP3 positive regulatory T cells (Tregs), and a shift in the composition of allergen-specific immunoglobulins. Depletion of Tregs during treatment with VacA reversed treatment-mediated suppression of allergic airway disease. Human monocyte derived DCs (moDC) that were exposed to VacA induced Tregs in co-cultured naïve autologous T cells, replicating key observations made in vivo. CONCLUSION: H. pylori-derived VacA suppressed allergic airway inflammation via induction of Tregs in both allergic airway disease models. These data suggest that the immunomodulatory activity of VacA could potentially be exploited for the prevention and treatment of allergic airway disease

Spatio-temporal patterns in the coral reef communities of the Spermonde Archipelago, 2012–2014, II: Fish assemblages display structured variation related to benthic condition

The Spermonde Archipelago is a complex of ~70 mostly populated islands off Southwest Sulawesi, Indonesia, in the center of the Coral Triangle. The reefs in this area are exposed to a high level of anthropogenic disturbances. Previous studies have shown that variation in the benthos is strongly linked to water quality and distance from the mainland. However, little is known about the fish assemblages of the region and if their community structure also follows a relationship with benthic structure and distance from shore. In this study, we used eight islands of the archipelago, varying in distance from 1 to 55 km relative to the mainland, and 3 years of surveys, to describe benthic and fish assemblages and to examine the spatial and temporal influence of benthic composition on the structure of the fish assemblages. Cluster analysis indicated that distinct groups of fish were associated with distance, while few species were present across the entire range of sites. Relating fish communities to benthic composition using a multivariate generalized linear model confirmed that fish groups relate to structural complexity (rugosity) or differing benthic groups; either algae, reef builders (coral and crustose coralline algae) or invertebrates and rubble. From these relationships we can identify sets of fish species that may be lost given continued degradation of the Spermonde reefs. Lastly, the incorporation of water quality, benthic and fish indices indicates that local coral reefs responded positively after an acute disturbance in 2013 with increases in reef builders and fish diversity over relatively short (1 year) time frames. This study contributes an important, missing component (fish community structure) to the growing literature on the Spermonde Archipelago, a system that features environmental pressures common in the greater Southeast Asian region

Inter-layer and inter-subject variability of diurnal gene expression in human skin

The skin is the largest human organ with a circadian clock that regulates its function. Although circadian rhythms in specific functions are known, rhythms in the proximal clock output, gene expression, in human skin have not been thoroughly explored. This work reports 24 h gene expression rhythms in two skin layers, epidermis and dermis, in a cohort of young, healthy adults, who maintained natural, regular sleep-wake schedules. 10% of the expressed genes showed such diurnal rhythms at the population level, of which only a third differed between the two layers. Amplitude and phases of diurnal gene expression varied more across subjects than layers, with amplitude being more variable than phases. Expression amplitudes in the epidermis were larger and more subject-variable, while they were smaller and more consistent in the dermis. Core clock gene expression was similar across layers at the population-level, but were heterogeneous in their variability across subjects. We also identified small sets of biomarkers for internal clock phase in each layer, which consisted of layer-specific non-core clock genes. This work provides a valuable resource to advance our understanding of human skin and presents a novel methodology to quantify sources of variability in human circadian rhythms.Peer Reviewe

Spatio-temporal patterns in coral reef communities of the Spermonde Archipelago, 2012-2014, I: Comprehensive reef monitoring of water and benthic indicators reflect changes in reef health

Pollution, fishing, and outbreaks of predators can heavily impact coastal coral reef ecosystems, leading to decreased water quality and benthic community shifts. To determine the main environmental drivers of coral reef status in the Spermonde Archipelago, Indonesia, we monitored environmental variables and coral reef benthic community structure along an on-to-offshore gradient annually from 2012 to 2014. Findings revealed that concentrations of phosphate, chlorophyll a-like fluorescence, suspended particulate matter, and light attenuation significantly decreased from on-to-offshore, while concentrations of dissolved O2 and values of water pH significantly increased on-to-offshore. Nitrogen stable isotope signatures of sediment and an exemplary common brown alga were significantly enriched nearshore, identifying wastewater input from the city of Makassar as primary N source. In contrast to the high temporal variability in water quality, coral reef benthic community cover did not show strong temporal, but rather, spatial patterns. Turf algae was the dominant group next to live coral, and was negatively correlated to live coral, crustose coralline algae (CCA), rubble and hard substrate. Variation in benthic cover along the gradient was explained by water quality variables linked to trophic status and physico-chemical variables. As an integrated measure of reef status and structural complexity, the benthic index, based on the ratio of relative cover of live coral and CCA to other coral reef organisms, and reef rugosity were determined. The benthic index was consistently low nearshore and increased offshore, with high variability in the midshelf sites across years. Reef rugosity was also lowest nearshore and increased further offshore. Both indices dropped in 2013, increasing again in 2014, indicating a period of acute disturbance and recovery within the study and suggesting that the mid-shelf reefs are more resilient to disturbance than nearshore reefs. We thus recommend using these two indices with a selected number of environmental variables as an integral part of future reef monitoring

On the Nature of the Phase Transition in SU(N), Sp(2) and E(7) Yang-Mills theory

We study the nature of the confinement phase transition in d=3+1 dimensions in various non-abelian gauge theories with the approach put forward in [1]. We compute an order-parameter potential associated with the Polyakov loop from the knowledge of full 2-point correlation functions. For SU(N) with N=3,...,12 and Sp(2) we find a first-order phase transition in agreement with general expectations. Moreover our study suggests that the phase transition in E(7) Yang-Mills theory also is of first order. We find that it is weaker than for SU(N). We show that this can be understood in terms of the eigenvalue distribution of the order parameter potential close to the phase transition.Comment: 15 page

Countrywide campaign to prevent soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players.

Background: In Switzerland, the national accident insurance company registered a total of 42 262 soccer injuries, resulting in costs of approximately 145 million Swiss francs (~US$130 million) in 2003. Research on injury prevention has shown that exercise-based programs can reduce the incidence of soccer injuries

Countrywide campaign to prevent soccer injuries in Swiss amateur players.

Background: In Switzerland, the national accident insurance company registered a total of 42 262 soccer injuries, resulting in costs of approximately 145 million Swiss francs (~US$130 million) in 2003. Research on injury prevention has shown that exercise-based programs can reduce the incidence of soccer injuries

Quark masses and mixings in minimally parameterized UV completions of the Standard Model

We explore a simple parameterization of new physics that results in an ultraviolet complete gauge-quark sector of the Standard Model. Specifically, we add an antiscreening contribution to the beta functions of the gauge couplings and a flavor-independent, antiscreening contribution to the beta functions of the Yukawa couplings. These two free parameters give rise to an intricate web of Renormalization Group fixed points. Their predictive power extends to the flavor structure and mixing patterns, which we investigate to demonstrate that some of the free parameters of the Standard Model could be determined by the Renormalization Group flow

Religionsmigration:Der Islam in Frankreich und Deutschland

In dem Beitrag werden die religionskulturellen Umstrände und Folgen der Arbeitsmigration aus Ländern mit überwiegend muslimischer Bevölkerung nach Frankreich und Deutschland ab der Mitte des 20. Jahrhunderts dargestellt. Der besondere Fokus liegt dabei auf der Bedeutung, die den jeweils partikularen sozialen, politischen, religionskulturellen, ökonomischen und auch rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen der Aufnahmegesellschaften für die Entwicklungsdynamiken von Religionen im Migrationsprozess zukommt

Religion – Identitätsressource von Migranten?:Eine religionssoziologische Studie

Astrid Reuter analysiert in ihrem Beitrag vergleichend muslimische Migration nach Frankreich und Deutschland in der zweiten Hälfte des 20. Jahrhunderts. Ausgehend von den historisch bedingten Unterschieden der Migrationsgeschichte rekonstruiert sie die jüngeren migrationsbedingten religionskulturellen Entwicklungsdynamiken in den Vergleichsländern