1,003 research outputs found
Effect of rituximab treatment on T and B cell subsets in lymph node biopsies of patients with rheumatoid arthritis
Contains fulltext :
205472.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)OBJECTIVES: The exact underlying mechanism of rituximab treatment in patients with RA is poorly defined and knowledge about the effect of B cell depletion on immune cells in secondary lymphoid organs is lacking. We analysed lymphoid tissue responses to rituximab in RA patients. METHODS: Fourteen RA patients received 2 x 1000 mg rituximab intravenously, and lymph node (LN) biopsies were obtained before and 4 weeks after the first infusion. Tissues were examined by flow cytometry, immunohistochemistry and quantitative PCR. LN biopsies from five healthy individuals (HC) served as controls. RESULTS: LN biopsies of RA patients showed increased frequencies of CD21+CD23+IgDhighIgMvariable follicular B cells and CD3+CD25+CD69+ early activated, tissue resident T cells when compared with HCs. After treatment, there was incomplete depletion of LN B cells. There was a significant decrease in CD27-IgD+ naive B cells, and CD27+IgD+ unswitched memory B cells including the CD27+IgD+IgM+ subset and follicular B cells. Strikingly, CD27+IgD- switched memory B cells persisted in LN biopsies after rituximab treatment. In the T cell compartment, a significant decrease was observed in the frequency of early activated, tissue resident T cells after rituximab treatment, but late activated T cells persisted. B cell proliferation inducing cytokine IL-21 was higher expressed in LN biopsies of RA patients compared with HC and expression was not affected by rituximab treatment. CONCLUSION: Rituximab does not cure RA, possibly due to persistence of switched memory B cells in lymphoid tissues suggesting that factors promoting B cell survival and differentiation need to be additionally targeted
Stability of strangelet at finite temperature
Using the quark mass density- and temperature dependent model, we have
studied the thermodynamical properties and the stability of strangelet at
finite temperature. The temperature, charge and strangeness dependences on the
stability of strangelet are investigated. We find that the stable strangelets
are only occured in the high strangeness and high negative charge region.Comment: 12 pages, 14 figure
The Pomeron In Exclusive Vector Meson Production
An earlier developed model for vector meson photoproduction, based on a
dipole Pomeron exchange, is extended to electroproduction. Universality of the
non linear Pomeron trajectory is tested by fitting the model to ZEUS and H1
data as well as to CDF data on elastic scattering.Comment: 12 pages, 13 figure
Personal identity (de)formation among lifestyle travellers: A double-edged sword?
This article explores the personal identity work of lifestyle travellers â individuals for whom extended leisure travel is a preferred lifestyle that they return to repeatedly. Qualitative findings from in-depth semi-structured interviews with lifestyle travellers in northern India and southern Thailand are interpreted in light of theories on identity formation in late modernity that position identity as problematic. It is suggested that extended leisure travel can provide exposure to varied cultural praxes that may contribute to a sense of social saturation. Whilst a minority of the respondents embraced a saturation of personal identity in the subjective formation of a cosmopolitan cultural identity, several of the respondents were paradoxically left with more identity questions than answers as the result of their travels
Nuclear shadowing at low Q^2
We re-examine the role of vector meson dominance in nuclear shadowing at low
Q^2. We find that models which incorporate both vector meson and partonic
mechanisms are consistent with both the magnitude and the Q^2 slope of the
shadowing data.Comment: 7 pages, 2 figures; to appear in Phys. Rev.
Properties of Strangelets at Finite Temperature in Liquid Drop Model
A comprehensive study of the properties of strangelets at zero and finite
temperature is presented within the framework of liquid drop model, including
the essential finite size effects. Strong parameter dependences of the
properties are found and discussed.Comment: Revised version, some discussions added; 14 pages(Revtex), 8 figures;
To be published in Phys. Rev.
Shape Space Methods for Quantum Cosmological Triangleland
With toy modelling of conceptual aspects of quantum cosmology and the problem
of time in quantum gravity in mind, I study the classical and quantum dynamics
of the pure-shape (i.e. scale-free) triangle formed by 3 particles in 2-d. I do
so by importing techniques to the triangle model from the corresponding 4
particles in 1-d model, using the fact that both have 2-spheres for shape
spaces, though the latter has a trivial realization whilst the former has a
more involved Hopf (or Dragt) type realization. I furthermore interpret the
ensuing Dragt-type coordinates as shape quantities: a measure of
anisoscelesness, the ellipticity of the base and apex's moments of inertia, and
a quantity proportional to the area of the triangle. I promote these quantities
at the quantum level to operators whose expectation and spread are then useful
in understanding the quantum states of the system. Additionally, I tessellate
the 2-sphere by its physical interpretation as the shape space of triangles,
and then use this as a back-cloth from which to read off the interpretation of
dynamical trajectories, potentials and wavefunctions. I include applications to
timeless approaches to the problem of time and to the role of uniform states in
quantum cosmological modelling.Comment: A shorter version, as per the first stage in the refereeing process,
and containing some new reference
Schwinger boson theory of anisotropic ferromagnetic ultrathin films
Ferromagnetic thin films with magnetic single-ion anisotropies are studied
within the framework of Schwinger bosonization of a quantum Heisenberg model.
Two alternative bosonizations are discussed. We show that qualitatively correct
results are obtained even at the mean-field level of the theory, similar to
Schwinger boson results for other magnetic systems. In particular, the
Mermin-Wagner theorem is satisfied: a spontaneous magnetization at finite
temperatures is not found if the ground state of the anisotropic system
exhibits a continuous degeneracy. We calculate the magnetization and effective
anisotropies as functions of exchange interaction, magnetic anisotropies,
external magnetic field, and temperature for arbitrary values of the spin
quantum number. Magnetic reorientation transitions and effective anisotropies
are discussed. The results obtained by Schwinger boson mean-field theory are
compared with the many-body Green's function technique.Comment: 14 pages, including 7 EPS figures, minor changes, final version as
publishe
The fully differential single-top-quark cross section in next-to-leading order QCD
We present a new next-to-leading order calculation for fully differential
single-top-quark final states. The calculation is performed using phase space
slicing and dipole subtraction methods. The results of the methods are found to
be in agreement. The dipole subtraction method calculation retains the full
spin dependence of the final state particles. We show a few numerical results
to illustrate the utility and consistency of the resulting computer
implementations.Comment: 37 pages, latex, 2 ps figure
- âŠ