T Cell–dependent Immune Response in C1q-deficient Mice: Defective Interferon γ Production by Antigen-specific T Cells

The role of the classical complement pathway in humoral immune responses was investigated in gene-targeted C1q-deficient mice (C1qA−/−). Production of antigen-specific immunoglobulin (Ig)G2a and IgG3 in primary and secondary responses to T cell–dependent antigen was significantly reduced, whereas IgM, IgG1, and IgG2b responses were similar in control and C1qA−/− mice. Despite abnormal humoral responses, B cells from C1qA−/− mice proliferated normally to a number of stimuli in vitro. Immune complex localization to follicular dendritic cells within splenic follicles was lacking in C1qA−/− mice. The precursor frequency of antigen-specific T cells was similar in C1qA−/− and wild-type mice. However, analysis of cytokine production by primed T cells in response to keyhole limpet hemocyanin revealed a significant reduction in interferon-γ production in C1qA−/− mice compared with control mice, whereas interleukin 4 secretion was equivalent. These data suggest that the classical pathway of complement may influence the cytokine profile of antigen-specific T lymphocytes and the subsequent immune response

Lawson criterion for ignition exceeded in an inertial fusion experiment

For more than half a century, researchers around the world have been engaged in attempts to achieve fusion ignition as a proof of principle of various fusion concepts. Following the Lawson criterion, an ignited plasma is one where the fusion heating power is high enough to overcome all the physical processes that cool the fusion plasma, creating a positive thermodynamic feedback loop with rapidly increasing temperature. In inertially confined fusion, ignition is a state where the fusion plasma can begin "burn propagation" into surrounding cold fuel, enabling the possibility of high energy gain. While "scientific breakeven" (i.e., unity target gain) has not yet been achieved (here target gain is 0.72, 1.37 MJ of fusion for 1.92 MJ of laser energy), this Letter reports the first controlled fusion experiment, using laser indirect drive, on the National Ignition Facility to produce capsule gain (here 5.8) and reach ignition by nine different formulations of the Lawson criterion

Clinical Image Processing Services

This paper discusses how to squeeze volume rendering into as few bits per operation as possible while still retaining excellent image quality. For each of the typical volume rendering pipeline stages in texture map volume rendering, ray casting and splatting we provide a quantitative analysis of the theoretical and practical limits for the required bit precision for computation and storage. Applying this analysis to any volume rendering implementation can balance the internal precisions based on the desired final output precision and can result in significant speedups and reduced memory footprint. Categories and Subject Descriptors (according to ACM CCS): I.3.3 [Computer Graphics]: Picture/Image Generation E.2 [Data]: Data Storage Representations 1