1,498 research outputs found
Innate immune functions in kidney transplantation
The innate immune system plays an important role in solid organ transplantation. This thesis focuses on the role of the lectin pathway of complement activation in kidney and simultaneous pancreas-kidney transplantation (SPKT) and describes the role of properdin in tubular complement activation and clearance of apoptotic cells. Mannose-binding lectin (MBL) is the initiating molecule of the lectin pathway of complement activation and its levels are largely determined by frequently occurring polymorphisms of the MBL gene. Our studies show that high MBL levels in the transplant recipient are associated with poorer graft survival and in the case of SPKT also with poorer survival of the recipient. While low MBL levels are associated with better survival we also show that low MBL does increase the risk for infectious complications after SPKT. Properdin is classically described as a stabilizer of the alternative pathway of complement activation. This thesis points towards a new role for properdin by describing a direct interaction with apoptotic cells and with the tubular epithelium of the kidney. By directly binding to these cellular surfaces properdin may contribute to the clearance of apoptotic cells and participate in complement activation and renal damage in proteinuric states.UBL - phd migration 201
Low Mannose-Binding Lectin (MBL) genotype is associated with future cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetic South Asians. A prospective cohort study
Background: South Asians have a high burden of type 2 diabetes and vascular complications. Vascular inflammation is considered central in the pathophysiology of atherosclerosis, and the complement system is thought to play an important role. Mannose-Binding Lectin (MBL), which activates the lectin pathway of complement activation, has been introduced as a risk marker of vascular damage. The present study explores the association of MBL levels, genotype and cardiovascular events in type 2 diabetic South Asians.Methods: We conducted a prospective observational study. A cohort consisting of 168 type 2 diabetic South Asians was followed for a median duration of 7.66 years. At baseline, MBL levels and genotype were determined. The association with future cardiovascular events was assessed by Cox proportional hazard regression.Results: During follow-up, 31 cardiovascular events occurred in 22 subjects (11 men, 11 women). The O/O genotype was significantly associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events (hazard ratio 3.42, 95%CI 1.24-9.49, P = 0.018). However, log MBL levels were not associated with the occurrence of cardiovascular events (hazard ratio 0.93, 95% CI 0.50-1.73).Conclusions: In type 2 diabetic South Asians, the O/O MBL genotype is associated with cardiovascular events, although single serum MBL levels are not
Bayesian approach and Naturalness in MSSM analyses for the LHC
The start of LHC has motivated an effort to determine the relative
probability of the different regions of the MSSM parameter space, taking into
account the present, theoretical and experimental, wisdom about the model.
Since the present experimental data are not powerful enough to select a small
region of the MSSM parameter space, the choice of a judicious prior probability
for the parameters becomes most relevant. Previous studies have proposed
theoretical priors that incorporate some (conventional) measure of the
fine-tuning, to penalize unnatural possibilities. However, we show that such
penalization arises from the Bayesian analysis itself (with no ad hoc
assumptions), upon the marginalization of the mu-parameter. Furthermore the
resulting effective prior contains precisely the Barbieri-Giudice measure,
which is very satisfactory. On the other hand we carry on a rigorous treatment
of the Yukawa couplings, showing in particular that the usual practice of
taking the Yukawas "as required", approximately corresponds to taking
logarithmically flat priors in the Yukawa couplings. Finally, we use an
efficient set of variables to scan the MSSM parameter space, trading in
particular B by tan beta, giving the effective prior in the new parameters.
Beside the numerical results, we give accurate analytic expressions for the
effective priors in all cases. Whatever experimental information one may use in
the future, it is to be weighted by the Bayesian factors worked out here.Comment: LaTeX, 19 pages, 3 figure
Production of -pairs at HERA-
The production of -pairs as a possible measure of the polarized gluon
distribution is studied for proton--nucleon collisions at
\sqrt{s} =40\;\mbox{GeV}^2 (HERA-). Possibilities of
reconstructing the helicity state of at least one of the 's are
critically reviewed. The observation of production asymmetries in the single
polarized mode of HERA- is found to be not feasible.Comment: 8 pages, LATeX, 3 figures availabe as .uu-fil
Double heavy meson production through double parton scattering in hadronic collisions
It is shown that the contribution from double parton scattering to the
inclusive double heavy meson yield is quite comparable with the usually
considered mechanism of their production at the LHC energy. For some pairs of
heavy flavored quarks in the final state the double parton scattering will be a
dominant mode of their production.Comment: 5 pages, version accepted in Phys. Lett. B, discussion extended,
references adde
Chiral phase properties of finite size quark droplets in the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model
Chiral phase properties of finite size hadronic systems are investigated
within the Nambu--Jona-Lasinio model. Finite size effects are taken into
account by making use of the multiple reflection expansion. We find that, for
droplets with relatively small baryon numbers, chiral symmetry restoration is
enhanced by the finite size effects. However the radius of the stable droplet
does not change much, as compared to that without the multiple reflection
expansion.Comment: RevTex4, 9 pages, 6 figures, to be published in Phys. Rev.
Running into New Territory in SUSY Parameter Space
The LEP-II bound on the light Higgs mass rules out the vast majority of
parameter space left to the Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) with
weak-scale soft-masses. This suggests the importance of exploring extensions of
the MSSM with non-minimal Higgs physics. In this article, we explore a theory
with an additional singlet superfield and an extended gauge sector. The theory
has a number of novel features compared to both the MSSM and Next-to-MSSM,
including easily realizing a light CP-even Higgs mass consistent with LEP-II
limits, tan(beta) < 1, and a lightest Higgs which is charged. These features
are achieved while remaining consistent with perturbative unification and
without large stop-masses. Discovery modes at the Tevatron and LHC are
discussed.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures; Typo in equation (4.5) corrected; submitted to
JHE
Constraints on the pMSSM from LAT Observations of Dwarf Spheroidal Galaxies
We examine the ability for the Large Area Telescope (LAT) to constrain
Minimal Supersymmetric Standard Model (MSSM) dark matter through a combined
analysis of Milky Way dwarf spheroidal galaxies. We examine the Lightest
Supersymmetric Particles (LSPs) for a set of ~71k experimentally valid
supersymmetric models derived from the phenomenological-MSSM (pMSSM). We find
that none of these models can be excluded at 95% confidence by the current
analysis; nevertheless, many lie within the predicted reach of future LAT
analyses. With two years of data, we find that the LAT is currently most
sensitive to light LSPs (m_LSP < 50 GeV) annihilating into tau-pairs and
heavier LSPs annihilating into b-bbar. Additionally, we find that future LAT
analyses will be able to probe some LSPs that form a sub-dominant component of
dark matter. We directly compare the LAT results to direct detection
experiments and show the complementarity of these search methods.Comment: 24 pages, 9 figures, submitted to JCA
Top-squark searches at the Tevatron in models of low-energy supersymmetry breaking
We study the production and decays of top squarks (stops) at the Tevatron
collider in models of low-energy supersymmetry breaking. We consider the case
where the lightest Standard Model (SM) superpartner is a light neutralino that
predominantly decays into a photon and a light gravitino. Considering the
lighter stop to be the next-to-lightest Standard Model superpartner, we analyze
stop signatures associated with jets, photons and missing energy, which lead to
signals naturally larger than the associated SM backgrounds. We consider both
2-body and 3-body decays of the top squarks and show that the reach of the
Tevatron can be significantly larger than that expected within either the
standard supergravity models or models of low-energy supersymmetry breaking in
which the stop is the lightest SM superpartner. For a modest projection of the
final Tevatron luminosity, L = 4 fb-1, stop masses of order 300 GeV are
accessible at the Tevatron collider in both 2-body and 3-body decay modes. We
also consider the production and decay of ten degenerate squarks that are the
supersymmetric partners of the five light quarks. In this case we find that
common squark masses up to 360 GeV are easily accessible at the Tevatron
collider, and that the reach increases further if the gluino is light.Comment: 32 pages, 9 figures; references adde
Analytic Solutions of The Wheeler-DeWitt Equation in Spherically Symmetric Space-time
We study the quantum theory of the Einstein-Maxwell action with a
cosmological term in the spherically symmetric space-time, and explored quantum
black hole solutions in Reissner-Nordstrom-de Sitter geometry. We succeeded to
obtain analytic solutions to satisfy both the energy and momentum constraints.Comment: LaTeX file, 15 page
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