1,841 research outputs found
Predictors of response to omalizumab and relapse in chronic spontaneous urticaria: a study of 470 patients
Static and dynamic heterogeneities in irreversible gels and colloidal gelation
We compare the slow dynamics of irreversible gels, colloidal gels, glasses
and spin glasses by analyzing the behavior of the so called non-linear
dynamical susceptibility, a quantity usually introduced to quantitatively
characterize the dynamical heterogeneities. In glasses this quantity typically
grows with the time, reaches a maximum and then decreases at large time, due to
the transient nature of dynamical heterogeneities and to the absence of a
diverging static correlation length. We have recently shown that in
irreversible gels the dynamical susceptibility is instead an increasing
function of the time, as in the case of spin glasses, and tends asymptotically
to the mean cluster size. On the basis of molecular dynamics simulations, we
here show that in colloidal gelation where clusters are not permanent, at very
low temperature and volume fractions, i.e. when the lifetime of the bonds is
much larger than the structural relaxation time, the non-linear susceptibility
has a behavior similar to the one of the irreversible gel, followed, at higher
volume fractions, by a crossover towards the behavior of glass forming liquids.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure
An invariant distribution in static granular media
We have discovered an invariant distribution for local packing configurations
in static granular media. This distribution holds in experiments for packing
fractions covering most of the range from random loose packed to random close
packed, for beads packed both in air and in water. Assuming only that there
exist elementary cells in which the system volume is subdivided, we derive from
statistical mechanics a distribution that is in accord with the observations.
This universal distribution function for granular media is analogous to the
Maxwell-Boltzmann distribution for molecular gasses.Comment: 4 pages 3 figure
Hypoxic pre-conditioning increases the infiltration of endothelial cells into scaffolds for dermal regeneration pre-seeded with mesenchymal stem cells.
Many therapies using mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) rely on their ability to produce and release paracrine signals with chemotactic and pro-angiogenic activity. These characteristics, however, are mostly studied under standard in vitro culture conditions. In contrast, various novel cell-based therapies imply pre-seeding MSC into bio-artificial scaffolds. Here we describe human bone marrow-derived MSC seeded in Integra matrices, a common type of scaffold for dermal regeneration (SDR). We show and measured the distribution of MSC within the SDR, where cells clearly establish physical interactions with the scaffold, exhibiting constant metabolic activity for at least 15 days. In the SDR, MSC secrete VEGF and SDF-1α and induce transwell migration of CD34(+) hematopoietic/endothelial progenitor cells, which is inhibited in the presence of a CXCR4/SDF-1α antagonist. MSC in SDR respond to hypoxia by altering levels of angiogenic signals such as Angiogenin, Serpin-1, uPA, and IL-8. Finally, we show that MSC-containing SDR that have been pre-incubated in hypoxia show higher infiltration of endothelial cells after implantation into immune deficient mice. Our data show that MSC are fully functional ex vivo when implanted into SDR. In addition, our results strongly support the notion of hypoxic pre-conditioning MSC-containing SDR, in order to promote angiogenesis in the wounds
Fibronectin and Cyclic Strain Improve Cardiac Progenitor Cell Regenerative Potential In Vitro.
Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) have rapidly advanced to clinical trials, yet little is known regarding their interaction with the microenvironment. Signaling cues present in the microenvironment change with development and disease. This work aims to assess the influence of two distinct signaling moieties on CPCs: cyclic biaxial strain and extracellular matrix. We evaluate four endpoints for improving CPC therapy: paracrine signaling, proliferation, connexin43 expression, and alignment. Vascular endothelial growth factor A (about 900 pg/mL) was secreted by CPCs cultured on fibronectin and collagen I. The application of mechanical strain increased vascular endothelial growth factor A secretion 2-4-fold for CPCs cultured on poly-L-lysine, laminin, or a naturally derived cardiac extracellular matrix. CPC proliferation was at least 25% higher on fibronectin than that on other matrices, especially for lower strain magnitudes. At 5% strain, connexin43 expression was highest on fibronectin. With increasing strain magnitude, connexin43 expression decreased by as much as 60% in CPCs cultured on collagen I and a naturally derived cardiac extracellular matrix. Cyclic mechanical strain induced the strongest CPC alignment when cultured on fibronectin or collagen I. This study demonstrates that culturing CPCs on fibronectin with 5% strain magnitude is optimal for their vascular endothelial growth factor A secretion, proliferation, connexin43 expression, and alignment
Phase-resolved Crab pulsar measurements from 25 to 400 GeV with the MAGIC telescopes
We report on observations of the Crab pulsar with the MAGIC telescopes. Our
data were taken in both monoscopic (> 25GeV) and stereoscopic (> 50GeV)
observation modes. Two peaks were detected with both modes and phase-resolved
energy spectra were calculated. By comparing with Fermi- LAT measurements, we
find that the energy spectrum of the Crab pulsar does not follow a power law
with an exponential cutoff, but has an additional hard component, extending up
to at least 400 GeV. This suggests that the emission above 25 GeV is not
dominated by curvature radiation, as suggested in the standard scenarios of the
OG and SG models.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figures, Proc. TAUP 2011, submitted for publication in
JCP
Static and dynamic heterogeneities in a model for irreversible gelation
We study the structure and the dynamics in the formation of irreversible gels
by means of molecular dynamics simulation of a model system where the gelation
transition is due to the random percolation of permanent bonds between
neighboring particles. We analyze the heterogeneities of the dynamics in terms
of the fluctuations of the intermediate scattering functions: In the sol phase
close to the percolation threshold, we find that this dynamical susceptibility
increases with the time until it reaches a plateau. At the gelation threshold
this plateau scales as a function of the wave vector as , with
being related to the decay of the percolation pair connectedness
function. At the lowest wave vector, approaching the gelation threshold it
diverges with the same exponent as the mean cluster size. These
findings suggest an alternative way of measuring critical exponents in a system
undergoing chemical gelation.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Percolation transition and the onset of non exponential relaxation in fully frustrated models
We numerically study the dynamical properties of fully frustrated models in 2
and 3 dimensions. The results obtained support the hypothesis that the
percolation transition of the Kasteleyn-Fortuin clusters corresponds to the
onset of stretched exponential autocorrelation functions in systems without
disorder. This dynamical behavior may be due to the ``large scale'' effects of
frustration, present below the percolation threshold. Moreover these results
are consistent with the picture suggested by Campbell et al. in space of
configurations.Comment: 8 pages, 11 figures, revised versio
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