4,034 research outputs found
The Fetal Allograft Revisited: Does the Study of an Ancient Invertebrate Species Shed Light on the Role of Natural Killer Cells at the Maternal-Fetal Interface?
Human pregnancy poses a fundamental immunological problem because the placenta and fetus are genetically different from the host mother. Classical transplantation theory has not provided a plausible solution to this problem. Study of naturally occurring allogeneic chimeras in the colonial marine invertebrate, Botryllus schlosseri, has yielded fresh insight into the primitive development of allorecognition, especially regarding the role of natural killer (NK) cells. Uterine NK cells have a unique phenotype that appears to parallel aspects of the NK-like cells in the allorecognition system of B. schlosseri. Most notably, both cell types recognize and reject "missing self" and both are involved in the generation of a common vascular system between two individuals. Chimeric combination in B. schlosseri results in vascular fusion between two individual colonies; uterine NK cells appear essential to the establishment of adequate maternal-fetal circulation. Since human uterine NK cells appear to de-emphasize primary immunological function, it is proposed that they may share the same evolutionary roots as the B. schlosseri allorecognition system rather than a primary origin in immunity
The Fetal Allograft Revisited: Does the Study of an Ancient Invertebrate Species Shed Light on the Role of Natural Killer Cells at the Maternal-Fetal Interface?
Human pregnancy poses a fundamental immunological problem because the placenta and fetus are genetically different from the host mother. Classical transplantation theory has not provided a plausible solution to this problem. Study of naturally occurring allogeneic chimeras in the colonial marine invertebrate, Botryllus schlosseri, has yielded fresh insight into the primitive development of allorecognition, especially regarding the role of natural killer (NK) cells. Uterine NK cells have a unique phenotype that appears to parallel aspects of the NK-like cells in the allorecognition system of B. schlosseri. Most notably, both cell types recognize and reject “missing self” and both are involved in the generation of a common vascular system between two individuals. Chimeric combination in B. schlosseri results in vascular fusion between two individual colonies; uterine NK cells appear essential to the establishment of adequate maternal-fetal circulation. Since human uterine NK cells appear to de-emphasize primary immunological function, it is proposed that they may share the same evolutionary roots as the B. schlosseri allorecognition system rather than a primary origin in immunity
Control of non-controllable quantum systems: A quantum control algorithm based on Grover iteration
A new notion of controllability, eigenstate controllability, is defined for
finite-dimensional bilinear quantum mechanical systems which are neither
strongly completely controllably nor completely controllable. And a quantum
control algorithm based on Grover iteration is designed to perform a quantum
control task of steering a system, which is eigenstate controllable but may not
be (strongly) completely controllable, from an arbitrary state to a target
state.Comment: 7 pages, no figures, submitte
Information-technology approach to quantum feedback control
Quantum control theory is profitably reexamined from the perspective of
quantum information, two results on the role of quantum information technology
in quantum feedback control are presented and two quantum feedback control
schemes, teleportation-based distant quantum feedback control and quantum
feedback control with quantum cloning, are proposed. In the first feedback
scheme, the output from the quantum system to be controlled is fed back into
the distant actuator via teleportation to alter the dynamics of system. The
result theoretically shows that it can accomplish some tasks such as distant
feedback quantum control that Markovian or Bayesian quantum feedback can't
complete. In the second feedback strategy, the design of quantum feedback
control algorithms is separated into a state recognition step, which gives
"on-off" signal to the actuator through recognizing some copies from the
cloning machine, and a feedback (control) step using another copies of cloning
machine. A compromise between information acquisition and measurement
disturbance is established, and this strategy can perform some quantum control
tasks with coherent feedback.Comment: 10 pages,submitte
Sound trapping in an open resonator
The ability of sound energy confinement with high-quality factor resonance is of vital importance for acoustic devices requiring high intensity and hypersensitivity in biological ultrasonics, enhanced collimated sound emission (i.e. sound laser) and high-resolution sensing. However, structures reported so far have been experimentally demonstrated with a limited quality factor of acoustic resonances, up to several tens in an open resonator. The emergence of bound states in the continuum makes it possible to realize high quality factor acoustic modes. Here, we report the theoretical design and experimental demonstration of acoustic bound states in the continuum supported by a single open resonator. We predicted that such an open acoustic resonator could simultaneously support three types of bound states in the continuum, including symmetry protected bound states in the continuum, Friedrich-Wintgen bound states in the continuum induced by mode interference, as well as a new type-mirror symmetry induced bound states in the continuum. We also experimentally demonstrated their existence with quality factor up to one order of magnitude greater than the highest quality factor reported in an open resonator
SEC24A deficiency lowers plasma cholesterol through reduced PCSK9 secretion.
The secretory pathway of eukaryotic cells packages cargo proteins into COPII-coated vesicles for transport from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) to the Golgi. We now report that complete genetic deficiency for the COPII component SEC24A is compatible with normal survival and development in the mouse, despite the fundamental role of SEC24 in COPII vesicle formation and cargo recruitment. However, these animals exhibit markedly reduced plasma cholesterol, with mutations in Apoe and Ldlr epistatic to Sec24a, suggesting a receptor-mediated lipoprotein clearance mechanism. Consistent with these data, hepatic LDLR levels are up-regulated in SEC24A-deficient cells as a consequence of specific dependence of PCSK9, a negative regulator of LDLR, on SEC24A for efficient exit from the ER. Our findings also identify partial overlap in cargo selectivity between SEC24A and SEC24B, suggesting a previously unappreciated heterogeneity in the recruitment of secretory proteins to the COPII vesicles that extends to soluble as well as trans-membrane cargoes. DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.00444.001
Study on the One-Proton Halo Structure in Al
The Glauber theory has been used to investigate the reaction cross section of
proton-rich nucleus Al. A core plus a proton structure is assumed for
Al. HO-type density distribution is used for the core while the density
distribution for the valence proton is calculated by solving the eigenvalue
problem of Woods-Saxon potential. The transparency function in an analytical
expression is obtained adopting multi-Gaussian expansion for the density
distribution. Coulomb correction and finite-range interaction are introduced.
This modified Glauber model is apt for halo nuclei. A dominate s-wave is
suggested for the last proton in Al from our analysis which is possible
in the RMF calculation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
A phase 2a randomized clinical trial of intravenous vedolizumab for the treatment of steroid-refractory intestinal acute graft-versus-host disease
Steroid-refractory (SR) acute graft-versus-host disease (aGvHD) remains a significant complication after allogeneic hematopoietic cell transplantation. Systemic corticosteroids are first-line therapy for aGvHD, but apart from ruxolitinib, there are no approved treatments for SR aGvHD. Vedolizumab is approved for treatment of ulcerative colitis and Crohn\u27s disease, and may be effective for treatment of SR intestinal aGvHD. We conducted a phase 2a trial (NCT02993783) to evaluate the clinical efficacy, tolerability, and safety of vedolizumab 300 and 600 mg for SR intestinal aGvHD. This study was terminated before full enrollment was completed because early results failed to demonstrate positive proof-of-concept in efficacy. Before termination, 17 participants had enrolled and an early response in intestinal aGvHD was observed in 11 and eight participants at days 15 and 28, respectively. All adverse events observed were consistent with those expected in a population with SR intestinal aGvHD. Overall, vedolizumab did not meet the primary efficacy endpoint (overall response at day 28), likely owing to premature study drug discontinuation, lack of efficacy, and the competing risks inherent with a population with advanced SR intestinal aGvHD. Nevertheless, this study provides valuable insights into the considerations needed when conducting studies in patients with SR intestinal aGvHD
On the Conductance Sum Rule for the Hierarchical Edge States of the Fractional Quantum Hall Effect
The conductance sum rule for the hierarchical edge channel currents of a
Fractional Quantum Hall Effect state is derived analytically within the
Haldane-Halperin hierarchy scheme. We provide also an intuitive interpretation
for the hierarchical drift velocities of the edge excitations.Comment: 11 pages, no figure, Revtex 3.0, IC/93/329, ASITP-93-5
A proposed reaction channel for the synthesis of the superheavy nucleus Z = 109
We apply a statistical-evaporation model (HIVAP) to calculate the cross
sections of superheavy elements, mainly about actinide targets and compare with
some available experimental data. A reaction channel Si + Am is
proposed for the synthesis of the element Z = 109 and the cross section is
estimated.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, 2 tables; two typos are corrected in Ref. [12]
and [19
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