Comments on "Cavitons and spontaneous hot flow anomalies in a hybrid-Vlasov global magnetospheric simulation" by Blanco-Cano et al. (2018)

Blanco-Cano et al. (2018) intended to find a type of transient event in the solar wind before the terrestrial bow shock using a special type of simulation. However, the simulation results cannot reproduce the main features of the event. Based on the remarks described below, I am sure that the features in the simulations are not those type of events. The VLASIATOR code simulated proto-SHFAs.Comment: Accepted comment paper; 3 pages; Original research paper: https://www.ann-geophys.net/36/1081/2018/; Comment paper: https://www.ann-geophys-discuss.net/angeo-2019-6

A global study of hot flow anomalies using Cluster multi-spacecraft measurements

Hot flow anomalies (HFAs) are studied using observations of the magnetometer and the plasma instrument aboard the four Cluster spacecraft. We study several specific features of tangential discontinuities on the basis of Cluster measurements from the time periods of February–April 2003, December 2005–April 2006 and January–April 2007, when the separation distance of spacecraft was large. The previously discovered condition (Facskó et al., 2008) for forming HFAs is confirmed, i.e. that the solar wind speed and fast magnetosonic Mach number values are higher than average. Furthermore, this constraint is independent of the Schwartz et al. (2000)’s condition for HFA formation. The existence of this new condition is confirmed by simultaneous ACE magnetic field and solar wind plasma observations at the L1 point, at 1.4 million km distance from the Earth. The temperature, particle density and pressure parameters observed at the time of HFA formation are also studied and compared to average values of the solar wind plasma. The size of the region affected by the HFA was estimated by using two different methods. We found that the size is mainly influenced by the magnetic shear and the angle between the discontinuity normal and the Sun-Earth direction. The size grows with the shear and (up to a certain point) with the angle as well. After that point it starts decreasing. The results are compared with the outcome of recent hybrid simulations

Turbulent dynamics inside the cavity of hot flow anomalies

In this paper the turbulent dynamics of a hot flow anomaly (HFA) event is investigated. The HFAs are transient plasma disturbances generated by the interaction of the bow shock (BS) and a tangential discontinuity (TD) embedded in the solar wind. The typical changes of the plasma parameters inside HFAs (increased plasma temperature, low bulk velocity, increased magnetic fluctuations, etc.) have been thoroughly interpreted by the records of space missions (e.g. Cluster). It is shown that the level of the turbulent intermittency inside the HFA cavity can be monitored in terms of space and time by the fourth statistical moment of the temporal differences of the time-series, i.e. by their flatness. With the multi-spacecraft observations the intermittency in the plasma fluctuations can be revealed not only in temporal but also in spatial scales. However, in the analysis, it must be taken into account that the dynamics of the foreshock region and the HFAs is governed not only by turbulent fluctuations but also by regular wave phenomena. In many cases the wave activities are more energetic than the turbulent processes, therefore the periodic signal components considerably modify the power-law behaviour of the turbulent spectra and determine the probability density functions and structure functions of the magnetic records exhibiting turbulent intermittency. On the other hand, while the wave phenomena are tight to certain time-scales, the turbulent character appears in a wide range of temporal scales. For this reason, it is argued that with the use of a dynamical high-pass filtering, the wave-like and turbulent-like components of the HFA magnetic signal can be discriminated. In our work the high-pass filtering is carried out with the use of continuous wavelet transformation. It is shown that the high-frequency components of HFA magnetic fluctuations exhibit strong intermittency referring to turbulent dynamics. It is also suggested that in the low-frequency regime, the turbulent dynamics is hidden by the wave activities

Chlamydia pneumoniae fertőzés szerepe a makula degeneráció kialakulásában angiográfiával igazolt koszorúérbetegekben = The role of chlamydia pneumoniae infection in the pathogenesis of age-related macular degeneration in patients with proven coronary artery disease

Célul tűztük ki, hogy megvizsgáljuk: - a Chlamydia pneumoniae fertőzöttség mértékét AMD-ben (age related macular degeneration) szenvedő és koszorúér betegeken. - a cytokinek kiválasztását pathologias human könnymintákban (1. postoperativ állapotnál (cataracta és PKP [perforáló keratoplastica] műtét), 2. corneális idegentest kapcsán, 3. bakteriális conjunctivitisben). Az IL-6 koncentráció mellett meghatároztuk az IL-6 release-t is. - AION-ban (anterior ischaemiás opticus neuropathia) milyen arányban fordul elő a ma egyik leggyakoribb thrombosist okozó kockázati tényező, az APC-rezisztencia és az ezt előidéző FV (Leiden)-mutáció. Új eredmények: • Chlamydia titer vizsgálataink alapján a kontrollcsoportban észlelt alacsonyabb szeropozitivitási arány alátámasztja a Chlamydia pneumoniae pathológiás szerepét az AMD és a coronaria betegség kialakulásában. Mindezek alapján feltételezzük, hogy a Chlamydia pneumoniae az egyéb rizikótényezők hatását fokozva, együttesen hajlamosíthat az AMD kialakulására. • Az IL-6 nemcsak a szemfelszíni gyulladásokban, hanem postoperatív állapotokban is fontos szerepet játszik az inflammatorikus folyamatokban. Az IL-6 release korai markere a gyulladásos folyamatoknak. • AION-ban szenvedő betegek jelentős részénél igazoltuk az aktivált protein-C rezisztencia és a Leiden-mutáció jelenlétét. Feltételezzük, hogy ezen betegeknél a thrombophil állapot hozzájárult a vascularis opticus neuropathia kialakulásához. | Aims of the study were as follows: - to find correlation among chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection and age-related macular degeneration, AMD) in patients with coronary heart disease (CAD). - to determine the secretion kinetics of interleukin-6 (IL-6) in human tears collected from patients with different eye diseases (1. penetrating keratoplasty /PKP/ or cataract operation, 2. corneal foreign body and 3. acute bacterial conjunctivitis). The total IL-6 amount and release were calculated. - to examine the prevalence of APC resistance and Leiden mutation in patients with non-arteric ischaemic optic neuropathy (NAION). The resistance of coagulation factor V (FV) to activated protein C (APC), mostly due to FV Leiden mutation, is a common cause of inherited thombophilia. New results • Our result supports the assumption that chronic Chlamydia pneumoniae infection plays a role in the development of AMD, and CAD. • The release of IL-6 into the tears is enhanced not only in various anterior segment eye inflammations, but also in postoperative conditions. IL-6 seems to be a sensitive indicator of the different types of irritative eye diseases, especially in postoperative PKP condition. • APC resistance and Leiden mutation were found significantly more frequenently among patients with NAION than in control group members with similar risk factors. FV Leiden mutation may play an important role in the development of the disease

Involvement of p63 in the herpes simplex virus-1-induced demise of corneal cells

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The transcription factor p63 plays a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of epithelial tissues, including the ocular surface. In an effort to gain insight into the pathogenesis of keratitis caused by HSV-1, we determined the expression patterns of the p63 and Bax proteins in the Staatens Seruminstitute Rabbit Cornea cell line (SIRC).</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>SIRC cells were infected with HSV-1 at various multiplicities and maintained for different periods of time. Virus replication was measured by indirect immunofluorescence assay and Western blot analysis. Cell viability was determined by MTT assay. The apoptotic response of the infected cells was quantified by ELISA detecting the enrichment of nucleosomes in the cytoplasm. Western blot analysis was used to determine the levels of p63 and Bax proteins.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Indirect immunofluorescence assays and Western blot analyses demonstrated the presence of HSV-1 glycoprotein D (gD) in the infected SIRC cell line, and the pattern of gD expression was consistent with efficient viral replication. The results of MTT and ELISA assays showed that HSV-1 elicited a strong cytopathic effect, and apoptosis played an important role in the demise of the infected cells. Mock-infected SIRC cells displayed the constitutive expression of ΔNp63α. The expressions of the Bax-β and TAp63γ isoforms were considerably increased, whereas the level of ΔNp63α was decreased in the HSV-1-infected SIRC cells. Experiments involving the use of acyclovir showed that viral DNA replication was necessary for the accumulation of TAp63γ.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These data suggest that a direct, virus-mediated cytopathic effect may play an important role in the pathogenic mechanism of herpetic keratitis. By disturbing the delicate balance between the pro-survival ΔN and the pro-apoptotic TA isoforms, HSV-1 may cause profound alterations in the viability of the ocular cells and in the tissue homeostasis of the ocular surface.</p

Statistical comparison of seasonal variations in the GUMICS-4 global MHD model ionosphere and measurements

Understanding the capability of a simulation to reproduce observed features is a requirement for its use in operational space weather forecasting. We compare statistically ionospheric seasonal variations in the Grand Unified Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling Simulation (GUMICS-4) global magnetohydrodynamic model with measurements. The GUMICS-4 data consist of a set of runs that was fed with real solar wind measurements and cover the period of 1 year. Ionospheric convection measurements are from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars, and electric currents are derived from the magnetic field measured by the CHAMP satellite. Auroral electrojet indices are used to examine the disturbance magnetic field on ground. The signatures of electrodynamic coupling between the magnetosphere and ionosphere extend to lower latitudes in GUMICS-4 than in observations, and key features of the auroral ovals—the Region 2 field-aligned currents, electrojets, Harang discontinuity, and ring of enhanced conductivity—are not properly reproduced. The ground magnetic field is even at best about 5 times weaker than measurements, which can be a problem for forecasting geomagnetically induced currents. According to the measurements, the ionospheric electrostatic potential does not change significantly from winter to summer but field-aligned currents enhance, whereas in GUMICS-4, the electrostatic potential weakens from winter to summer but field-aligned currents do not change. This could be a consequence of the missing Region 2 currents: the Region 1 current has to close with itself across the polar cap, which makes it sensitive to solar UV conductivity. Precipitation energy and conductance peak amplitudes in GUMICS-4 agree with observations

Cultivation and characterization of pterygium as an ex vivo study model for disease and therapy

PURPOSE: Development of ex vivo model to study pathogenesis, inflammation and treatment modalities for pterygium. METHODS: Pterygium obtained from surgery was cultivated (3 months). Gravitational attachment method using viscoelastic facilitated adherence of graft and outgrowing cells. Medium contained serum as the only growth supplement with no use of scaffolds. Surface profiling of the multi-layered cells for hematopoietic- and mesenchymal stem cell markers was performed. Examination of cells by immunohistochemistry using pluripotency, oxidative stress, stemness, migration and proliferation, epithelial and secretory markers was performed. The effect of anti-proliferative agent Mitomycin C upon secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines IL-6 and IL-8 was assessed. RESULTS: Cells showed high expression of migration- (CXCR4), secretory- (MUC1, MUC4) and oxidative damage- (8-OHdG) markers, and low expression of hypoxia- (HIF-1alpha) and proliferation- (Ki-67) markers. Moderate and low expression of the pluripotency markers (Vimentin and DeltaNp63) was present, respectively, while the putative markers of stemness (Sox2, Oct4, ABCG-2) and epithelial cell markers- (CK19, CK8-18) were weak. The surface marker profile of the outgrowing cells revealed high expression of the hematopoietic marker CD47, mesenchymal markers CD90 and CD73, minor or less positivity for the hematopoietic marker CD34, mesenchymal marker CD105, progenitor marker CD117 and attachment protein markers while low levels of IL-6 and IL-8 secretion ex vivo, were inhibited upon Mitomycin C treatment. CONCLUSION: Ex vivo tissue engineered pterygium consists of a mixture of cells of different lineage origin, suitable for use as a disease model for studying pathogenesis ex vivo, while opening possibilities for new treatment and prevention modalities