Increased number and altered phenotype of lymphatic vessels in peripheral lung compartments of patients with COPD

<p>Background De novo lymphatic vessel formation has recently been observed in lungs of patients with moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). However, the distribution of lymphatic vessel changes among the anatomical compartments of diseased lungs is unknown. Furthermore, information regarding the nature of lymphatic vessel alterations across different stages of COPD is missing. This study performs a detailed morphometric characterization of lymphatic vessels in major peripheral lung compartments of patients with different severities of COPD and investigates the lymphatic expression of molecules involved in immune cell trafficking.</p> <p>Methods Peripheral lung resection samples obtained from patients with mild (GOLD stage I), moderate-severe (GOLD stage II-III), and very severe (GOLD stage IV) COPD were investigated for podoplanin-immunopositive lymphatic vessels in distinct peripheral lung compartments: bronchioles, pulmonary blood vessels and alveolar walls. Control subjects with normal lung function were divided into never smokers and smokers. Lymphatics were analysed by multiple morphological parameters, as well as for their expression of CCL21 and the chemokine scavenger receptor D6.</p> <p>Results The number of lymphatics increased by 133% in the alveolar parenchyma in patients with advanced COPD compared with never-smoking controls (p <0.05). In patchy fibrotic lesions the number of alveolar lymphatics increased 20-fold from non-fibrotic parenchyma in the same COPD patients. The absolute number of lymphatics per bronchiole and artery was increased in advanced COPD, but numbers were not different after normalization to tissue area. Increased numbers of CCL21- and D6-positive lymphatics were observed in the alveolar parenchyma in advanced COPD compared with controls (p <0.01). Lymphatic vessels also displayed increased mean levels of immunoreactivity for CCL21 in the wall of bronchioles (p < 0.01) and bronchiole-associated arteries (p < 0.05), as well as the alveolar parenchyma (p < 0.001) in patients with advanced COPD compared with never-smoking controls. A similar increase in lymphatic D6 immunoreactivity was observed in bronchioles (p <0.05) and alveolar parenchyma (p < 0.01).</p> <p>Conclusions This study shows that severe stages of COPD is associated with increased numbers of alveolar lymphatic vessels and a change in lymphatic vessel phenotype in major peripheral lung compartments. This novel histopathological feature is suggested to have important implications for distal lung immune cell traffic in advanced COPD.</p&gt

Ejector and propeller spin-down: How might a superluminous supernova millisecond magnetar become the 6.67 h pulsar in RCW 103

The X-ray source 1E 161348-5055 in the supernova remnant RCW 103 recently exhibited X-ray activity typical of magnetars, i.e. neutron stars with magnetic fields > 1014 - 1015 G. However, 1E 161348-5055 has an observed period of 6.67 hr, in contrast to magnetars which have a spin period of seconds. Here we describe a simple model which can explain the spin evolution of 1E 161348-5055, as well as other magnetars, from an initial period of milliseconds that would be required for dynamo generation of magnetar-strength magnetic fields. We propose that the key difference between 1E 161348-5055 and other magnetars is the persistence of a remnant disk of small total mass. This disk caused 1E 161348-5055 to undergo ejector and propeller phases in its life, during which strong torques caused a rapid increase of its spin period. By matching its observed spin period and ~ 1-3 kyr age, we find that 1E 161348-5055 has the (slightly) highest magnetic field of all known magnetars, with B ~ 5 x 1015 G, and that its disk had a mass of ~ 1024 g, comparable to that of the asteroid Ceres

Wobbling Motion in Atomic Nuclei with Positive-Gamma Shapes

The three moments of inertia associated with the wobbling mode built on the superdeformed states in 163Lu are investigated by means of the cranked shell model plus random phase approximation to the configuration with an aligned quasiparticle. The result indicates that it is crucial to take into account the direct contribution to the moments of inertia from the aligned quasiparticle so as to realize J_x > J_y in positive-gamma shapes. Quenching of the pairing gap cooperates with the alignment effect. The peculiarity of the recently observed 163Lu data is discussed by calculating not only the electromagnetic properties but also the excitation spectra.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

Varied Signature Splitting Phenomena in Odd Proton Nuclei

Varied signature splitting phenomena in odd proton rare earth nuclei are investigated. Signature splitting as functions of $K$ and $j$ in the angular momentum projection theory is explicitly shown and compared with those of the particle rotor model. The observed deviations from these rules are due to the band mixings. The recently measured $^{169}$Ta high spin data are taken as a typical example where fruitful information about signature effects can be extracted. Six bands, two of which have not yet been observed, were calculated and discussed in detail in this paper. The experimentally unknown band head energies are given

Can sexual selection drive female life histories? A comparative study on Galliform birds

Sexual selection is an important driver of many of the most spectacular morphological traits that we find in the animal kingdom (for example see Andersson, 1994). As such, sexual selection is most often emphasized as

Soft Photons in Hadron-Hadron Collisions: Synchrotron Radiation from the QCD Vacuum?

We discuss the production of soft photons in high energy hadron-hadron collisions. We present a model where quarks and antiquarks in the hadrons emit ``synchrotron light'' when being deflected by the chromomagnetic fields of the QCD vacuum, which we assume to have a nonperturbative structure. This gives a source of prompt soft photons with frequencies $\omega <= 300 MeV$ in the c.m. system of the collision in addition to hadronic bremsstrahlung. In comparing the frequency spectrum and rate of ``synchrotron'' photons to experimental results we find some supporting evidence for their existence. We make an exclusive--inclusive connection argument to deduce from the ``synchrotron'' effect a behaviour of the neutron electric formfactor $G_E^n(Q^2)$ proportional to $(Q^2)^{1/6}$ for $Q^2 < 20 fm^{-2}$. We find this to be consistent with available data. In our view, soft photon production in high energy hadron-hadron and lepton-hadron collisions as well as the behaviour of electromagnetic hadron formfactors for low $Q^2$ are thus sensitive probes of the nonperturbative structure of the QCD vacuum.Comment: Heidelberg preprint HD-THEP-94-36, 31 pages, LaTeX + ZJCITE.sty (included), 12 figures appended as uuencoded compressed ps-fil

De Sitter and Schwarzschild-De Sitter According to Schwarzschild and De Sitter

When de Sitter first introduced his celebrated spacetime, he claimed, following Schwarzschild, that its spatial sections have the topology of the real projective space RP^3 (that is, the topology of the group manifold SO(3)) rather than, as is almost universally assumed today, that of the sphere S^3. (In modern language, Schwarzschild was disturbed by the non-local correlations enforced by S^3 geometry.) Thus, what we today call "de Sitter space" would not have been accepted as such by de Sitter. There is no real basis within classical cosmology for preferring S^3 to RP^3, but the general feeling appears to be that the distinction is in any case of little importance. We wish to argue that, in the light of current concerns about the nature of de Sitter space, this is a mistake. In particular, we argue that the difference between "dS(S^3)" and "dS(RP^3)" may be very important in attacking the problem of understanding horizon entropies. In the approach to de Sitter entropy via Schwarzschild-de Sitter spacetime, we find that the apparently trivial difference between RP^3 and S^3 actually leads to very different perspectives on this major question of quantum cosmology.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, typos fixed, references added, equation numbers finally fixed, JHEP versio

Bose-Einstein Correlations of Neutral and Charged Pions in Hadronic Z Decays

Bose-Einstein correlations of both neutral and like-sign charged pion pairs are measured in a sample of 2 million hadronic Z decays collected with the L3 detector at LEP. The analysis is performed in the four-momentum difference range 300 MeV < Q < 2 GeV. The radius of the neutral pion source is found to be smaller than that of charged pions. This result is in qualitative agreement with the string fragmentation model

Study of Inclusive Strange-Baryon Production and Search for Pentaquarks in Two-Photon Collisions at LEP

Measurements of inclusive production of the Lambda, Xi- and Xi*(1530) baryons in two-photon collisions with the L3 detector at LEP are presented. The inclusive differential cross sections for Lambda and Xi- are measured as a function of the baryon transverse momentum, pt, and pseudo-rapidity, eta. The mean number of Lambda, Xi- and Xi*(1530) baryons per hadronic two-photon event is determined in the kinematic range 0.4 GeV < pt< 2.5 GeV, |eta| < 1.2. Overall agreement with the theoretical models and Monte Carlo predictions is observed. A search for inclusive production of the pentaquark theta+(1540) in two-photon collisions through the decay theta+ -> proton K0s is also presented. No evidence for production of this state is found

Search for Single Top Production at LEP

Single top production in e+e- annihilations is searched for in data collected by the L3 detector at centre-of-mass energies from 189 to 209 GeV, corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 634 pb-1. Investigating hadronic and semileptonic top decays, no evidence of single top production at LEP is obtained and upper limits on the single top cross section as a function of the centre-of-mass energy are derived. Limits on possible anomalous couplings, as well as on the scale of contact interactions responsible for single top production are determined