Dendritic Cells and T Lymphocytes in the Pathogenesis of Pulmonary Sarcoidosis

The history of sarcoidosis begins in 1899 when the Norwegian dermatologist Ceasar Boeck described nodular skin lesions characterized by epitheloid cells and a few giant cells as multiple benign sarcoid of the skin. Now, many years later, a lot more is known about sarcoidosis. The definition of sarcoidosis is described in the American Thoracic Society statement on sarcoidosis in 1999: sarcoidosis is regarded as a multisystem disorder of unknown cause, commonly affecting young and middle aged adults, with bilateral hilar adenopathy, pulmonary infiltrates, eye and skin lesions. Also oth

Enumeration of maps with self avoiding loops and the O(n) model on random lattices of all topologies

We compute the generating functions of a O(n) model (loop gas model) on a random lattice of any topology. On the disc and the cylinder, they were already known, and here we compute all the other topologies. We find that the generating functions (and the correlation functions of the lattice) obey the topological recursion, as usual in matrix models, i.e they are given by the symplectic invariants of their spectral curve.Comment: pdflatex, 89 pages, 12 labelled figures (15 figures at all), minor correction

Ethnically Biased? Experimental Evidence from Kenya

Ethnicity has been shown to shape political, social, and economic behavior in Africa, but the underlying mechanisms remain contested. We utilize lab experiments to isolate one mechanism - an individual's bias in favor of coethnics and against non-coethnics - that has been central in both theory and in the conventional wisdom about the impact of ethnicity. We employ an unusually rich research design involving a large sample of 1300 participants from Nairobi, Kenya; the collection of multiple rounds of experimental data with varying proximity to national elections; within-lab priming conditions; both standard and novel experimental measures of coethnic bias; and an implicit association test (IAT). We find very little evidence of an ethnic bias in the behavioral games, which runs against the common presumption of extensive coethnic bias among ordinary Africans and suggests that mechanisms other than a coethnic bias in preferences must account for the associations we see in the region between ethnicity and political, social, and economic outcomes

Finansiell krise og utsikter for et krakk i det norske boligmarkedet : vurdering av utsikter for et krakk i det norske boligmarkedet ut i fra etablert kriseteori og pengepolitisk diskusjon

Masterutredningen har som hovedformål å gjennomføre en grundig analyse av dagens situasjon i det norske boligmarkedet. Vi ønsker i denne forbindelse å se den siste tids boligprisutvikling i lys av etablert kriseteori, utarbeidet av Hyman Minsky og Charles P. Kindleberger. Ved å se på utviklingen i lys av disse teoriene, ønsker vi å kunne si noe om hvordan boligmarkedet har utviklet seg fram til i dag, hvorvidt det eksisterer en boble i det norske boligmarkedet, og hvordan utsiktene er for et eventuelt boligkrakk. For å supplere teorien, har vi benyttet statistiske metoder som trend og avviksanalyse, sammen med P/R-analyse (Price/Rent). Til slutt har vi tatt for oss den innvirkningen pengepolitikken spiller for utviklingen i boligprisene. Oppgaven er basert på offentlig tilgjengelig informasjon, i hovedsak fra Norges Bank, Statistisk sentralbyrå og ECONs boligprisrapport. Vi finner i denne utredningen støtte for at boligprisene har vært, og fortsatt er overvurdert i forhold til fundamentale verdier. Boligprisene har hatt en formidabel prisvekst, langt utover hva realøkonomiske forhold skulle tilsi. Vi kan derfor anta at vi befinner oss i en boligboble, og at mulighetene for en priskorreksjon er sannsynlig. Det må likevel sies at en korreksjon ikke nødvendigvis vil komme i form av et boligkrakk. Det er like troverdig at vi får en korreksjon over tid, ved at inflasjonen ”spiser opp” mye av boblen gjennom fallende realpriser. Utredningen er inndelt i fem hovedområder der vi i kapittel 2 presenterer det teoretiske rammeverket som benyttes i analysen. Kapittel 3 er en empirisk beskrivelse av finans- og eiendomskrisen på 1987-1992. Ved å studere likhetstrekk og eventuelle forskjeller ved den forrige- og dagens finanskrise, mener vi å være bedre rustet til å gi en indikasjon til hvordan det norske boligmarkedet vil utvikle seg. Vi har i tillegg studert boligprisutviklingen fra 1993 og frem til i dag. I kapittel fire analyserer vi det norske boligmarkedet i lys av teori og empiri for å kunne predikere utviklingen i boligprisene. I kapittel fem tar vi for oss implikasjoner av pengepolitikkens betydning for boligprisene før vi oppsummerer avsluttende konklusjoner i kapittel seks

Monitoring for Adaptive Management: Status and Trends Monitoring of Aquatic and Riparian Habitats in the Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish Watershed

The 692 square mile Lake Washington/Cedar/Sammamish watershed, containing over 1.4 million human inhabitants, is the most populous watershed in the state of Washington. Yet despite its profound alterations, the watershed continues to sustain several salmon stocks including two ESA-listed Chinook salmon populations. Watershed and salmon conservation efforts are led by a collaborative Salmon Recovery Council representing 27 local governments, citizens, non-profits, state and federal agencies. There is strong support for the persistent collection of data to monitor watershed health and salmon recovery in the watershed. We will present results from a multi-year investigation linking biological data to stream habitat, land use and hydrology trends in the watershed, and discuss how this and other information is used to help adaptively manage salmon recovery efforts in the watershed

Occurrence of phthalates and organotins in sediments and water in Norway

NIVA has carried out a study on the occurrence of PVC additives such as phthalates, adipates and organotins in sediment, freshwater, seawater and domestic sewage in southern Norway on the commission of Norsk Hydro, Petrochemicals Division. The actual sampling areas were possible points of discharges from factories with a known use of either phthalates or organotins or both. In addition samples were taken from clean refernce areas and sewage plants. The largest source of phthalates seems to be receiving water to sewage treatment plants. 70 - 90% of the phthalates and adipates are retained in the sludge, which were dominated by DEHP. Background values from clean areas as lake Femunden were about 50 µg/kg of DEHP, and 80 µg/kg in marine sediments from Færder. Octyltin compounds were only found in sediments at two marine locations (Frierfjorden and Brattøya near Halden). The levels of phthalates in Norway are comparable to levels recorded in Sweden. It seems to be no contamination from industry which uses PVC additives in their production

Stable two-dimensional dispersion-managed soliton

The existence of a dispersion-managed soliton in two-dimensional nonlinear Schr\"odinger equation with periodically varying dispersion has been explored. The averaged equations for the soliton width and chirp are obtained which successfully describe the long time evolution of the soliton. The slow dynamics of the soliton around the fixed points for the width and chirp are investigated and the corresponding frequencies are calculated. Analytical predictions are confirmed by direct PDE and ODE simulations. Application to a Bose-Einstein condensate in optical lattice is discussed. The existence of a dispersion-managed matter-wave soliton in such system is shown.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, Submitted to Phys. Rev.

Kinetic Inductance of Josephson Junction Arrays: Dynamic and Equilibrium Calculations

We show analytically that the inverse kinetic inductance $L^{-1}$ of an overdamped junction array at low frequencies is proportional to the admittance of an inhomogeneous equivalent impedance network. The $ij^{th}$ bond in this equivalent network has an inverse inductance $J_{ij}\cos(\theta_i^0-\theta_j^0-A_{ij})$, where $J_{ij}$ is the Josephson coupling energy of the $ij^{th}$ bond, $\theta_i^0$ is the ground-state phase of the grain $i$, and $A_{ij}$ is the usual magnetic phase factor. We use this theorem to calculate $L^{-1}$ for square arrays as large as $180\times 180$. The calculated $L^{-1}$ is in very good agreement with the low-temperature limit of the helicity modulus $\gamma$ calculated by conventional equilibrium Monte Carlo techniques. However, the finite temperature structure of $\gamma$, as a function of magnetic field, is \underline{sharper} than the zero-temperature $L^{-1}$, which shows surprisingly weak structure. In triangular arrays, the equilibrium calculation of $\gamma$ yields a series of peaks at frustrations $f = \frac{1}{2}(1-1/N)$, where $N$ is an integer $\geq 2$, consistent with experiment.Comment: 14 pages + 6 postscript figures, 3.0 REVTe

Dielectrophoresis-Driven Spreading of Immersed Liquid Droplets

In recent years electrowetting-on-dielectric (EWOD) has become an effective tool to control partial wetting. EWOD uses the liquid−solid interface as part of a capacitive structure that allows capacitive and interfacial energies to adjust by changes in wetting when the liquid−solid interface is charged due to an applied voltage. An important aspect of EWOD has been its applications in micro fluidics in chemistry and biology and in optical devices and displays in physics and engineering. Many of these rely on the use of a liquid droplet immersed in a second liquid due to the need either for neutral buoyancy to overcome gravity and shield against impact shocks or to encapsulate the droplet for other reasons, such as in microfluidic-based DNA analyses. Recently, it has been shown that nonwetting oleophobic surfaces can be forcibly wetted by nonconducting oils using nonuniform electric fields and an interface-localized form of liquid dielectrophoresis (dielectrowetting). Here we show that this effect can be used to create films of oil immersed in a second immiscible fluid of lower permittivity. We predict that the square of the thickness of the film should obey a simple law dependent on the square of the applied voltage and with strength dependent on the ratio of difference in permittivity to the liquid-fluid interfacial tension, Δε/γLF. This relationship is experimentally confirmed for 11 liquid−air and liquid−liquid combinations with Δε/γLF having a span of more than two orders of magnitude. We therefore provide fundamental understanding of dielectrowetting for liquid-in-liquid systems and also open up a new method to determine liquid−liquid interfacial tensions