4,683 research outputs found
Novel Molecular Mechanisms in the Development of Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis.
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most common causes of chronic liver disease in adults and children worldwide. NAFLD has become a severe health issue and it can progress towards a more severe form of the disease, the non-alcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH). A combination of environmental factors, host genetics, and gut microbiota leads to excessive accumulation of lipids in the liver (steatosis), which may result in lipotoxicity and trigger hepatocyte cell death, liver inflammation, fibrosis, and pathological angiogenesis. NASH can further progress towards liver cirrhosis and cancer. Over the last few years, cell-derived extracellular vesicles (EVs) have been identified as effective cell-to-cell messengers that transfer several bioactive molecules in target cells, modulating the pathogenesis and progression of NASH. In this review, we focused on recently highlighted aspects of molecular pathogenesis of NASH, mediated by EVs via their bioactive components. The studies included in this review summarize the state of art regarding the role of EVs during the progression of NASH and bring novel insight about the potential use of EVs for diagnosis and therapeutic strategies for patients with this disease
Role of noninvasive molecular imaging in determining response
The intersection of immunotherapy and radiation oncology is a rapidly evolving area of preclinical and clinical investigation. The strategy of combining radiation and immunotherapy to enhance local and systemic antitumor immune responses is intriguing yet largely unproven in the clinical setting because the mechanisms of synergy and the determinants of therapeutic response remain undefined. In recent years, several noninvasive molecular imaging approaches have emerged as a platform to interrogate the tumor immune microenvironment. These tools have the potential to serve as robust biomarkers for cancer immunotherapy and may hold several advantages over conventional anatomic imaging modalities and contemporary invasive tissue acquisition techniques. Given the key and expanding role of precision imaging in radiation oncology for patient selection, target delineation, image guided treatment delivery, and response assessment, noninvasive molecular-specific imaging may be uniquely suited to evaluate radiation/immunotherapy combinations. Herein, we describe several experimental imaging-based strategies that are currently being explored to characterize in vivo immune responses, and we review a growing body of preclinical data and nascent clinical experience with immuno-positron emission tomography molecular imaging as a putative biomarker for cancer immunotherapy. Finally, we discuss practical considerations for clinical translation to implement noninvasive molecular imaging of immune checkpoint molecules, immune cells, or associated elements of the antitumor immune response with a specific emphasis on its potential application at the interface of radiation oncology and immuno-oncology
Long range order in gauge theories. Deformed QCD as a toy model
We study a number of different ingredients, related to long range order
observed in lattice QCD simulations, using a simple "deformed QCD" model. This
model is a weakly coupled gauge theory, which however has all the relevant
crucial elements allowing us to study difficult and nontrivial problems which
are known to be present in real strongly coupled QCD. In the present study, we
want to understand the physics of long range order in form of coherent low
dimensional vacuum configurations observed in Monte Carlo lattice simulations.
We demonstrate the presence of double-layer domain wall structures in the
deformed QCD, and study their interaction with localized topological monopoles.
Furthermore, we show that there is in fact an attractive interaction between
the two, such that the monopole favors a position within the domain wall.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Quantum phases in entropic dynamics
In the Entropic Dynamics framework the dynamics is driven by maximizing
entropy subject to appropriate constraints. In this work we bring Entropic
Dynamics one step closer to full equivalence with quantum theory by identifying
constraints that lead to wave functions that remain single-valued even for
multi-valued phases by recognizing the intimate relation between quantum
phases, gauge symmetry, and charge quantization.Comment: Presented at MaxEnt 2017, the 37th International Workshop on Bayesian
Inference and Maximum Entropy Methods in Science and Engineering (July 9-14,
2017, Jarinu, Brazil
Casimir piston for massless scalar fields in three dimensions
We study the Casimir piston for massless scalar fields obeying Dirichlet
boundary conditions in a three dimensional cavity with sides of arbitrary
lengths and where is the plate separation. We obtain an exact
expression for the Casimir force on the piston valid for any values of the
three lengths. As in the electromagnetic case with perfect conductor
conditions, we find that the Casimir force is negative (attractive) regardless
of the values of , and . Though cases exist where the interior
contributes a positive (repulsive) Casimir force, the total Casimir force on
the piston is negative when the exterior contribution is included. We also
obtain an alternative expression for the Casimir force that is useful
computationally when the plate separation is large.Comment: 19 pages,3 figures; references updated and typos fixed to match
published versio
Genome Sequences for Three Strains of Kocuria rosea, Including the Type Strain
Genomes from three strains of Kocuria rosea were sequenced. K. rosea ATCC 186, the type strain, was 3,958,612 bp in length with a total G+C content of 72.70%. When assembled, K. rosea ATCC 516 was 3,862,128 bp with a 72.82% G+C content. K. rosea ATCC 49321 was 4,018,783 bp in size with a 72.49% G+C content
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