390 research outputs found
Identification of West African estuarine shrimp and crab larvae
The paper deals with the decapod crustacean larvae likely to be found in fresh and brackish waters in tropical west Africa. It summarizes results from an ongoing program of describing larvae hatched directly from adults of known species, to provide the identification keys necessary for applied research on nursery grounds, plankton ecology and pollution effects. A preliminary key to stage - 1 larvae is given for approximately 40 species. In includes all the genera, and nearly all the species, known to produce larvae in fresh and low-salinity waters. The common species of higher salinity waters are also include
Homoeologous chromosomal location of the genes encoding thionins in wheat and rye
Thionins are high sulphur basic polypeptides present in the endosperm of Gramineae. In wheat there are three thionins encoded by genes located in the long arms of chromosomes 1A, 1B and 1D. Rye has one thionin encoded by a gene which has been assigned to chromosome 1R after analysis of the Imperial-Chinese Spring rye-wheat disomic addition lines. Commercial varieties and experimental stocks with a 1B/1R substitution carry the thionin from rye ( R) instead of the B thionin from wheat. The R thionin gene is not located in the large chromosomal segment representing most of the short arm of chromosome 1R
IgG 3 + B cells are associated with the development of multiple sclerosis
Objectives
Diseaseâmodifying therapies (DMTs) targeting B cells are amongst the most effective for preventing multiple sclerosis (MS) progression. IgG3 antibodies and their uncharacterised Bâcell clones are predicted to play a pathogenic role in MS. Identifying subsets of IgG3+ B cells involved in MS progression could improve diagnosis, could inform timely disease intervention and may lead to new DMTs that target B cells more specifically.
Methods
We designed a 31âparameter Bâcellâfocused mass cytometry panel to interrogate the role of peripheral blood IgG3+ B cells in MS progression of two different patient cohorts: one to investigate the Bâcell subsets involved in conversion from clinically isolated syndrome (CIS) to MS; and another to compare MS patients with inactive or active stages of disease. Each independent cohort included a group of nonâMS controls.
Results
Nine distinct CD20+IgDâIgG3+ Bâcell subsets were identified. Significant changes in the proportion of CD21+CD24+CD27âCD38â and CD27+CD38hiCD71hi memory Bâcell subsets correlated with changes in serum IgG3 levels and time to conversion from CIS to MS. The same CD38â doubleânegative Bâcell subset was significantly elevated in MS patients with active forms of the disease. A third CD21+CD24+CD27+CD38â subset was elevated in patients with active MS, whilst narrowband UVB significantly reduced the proportion of this switchedâmemory Bâcell subset.
Conclusion
We have identified previously uncharacterised subsets of IgG3+ B cells and shown them to correlate with autoimmune attacks on the central nervous system (CNS). These results highlight the potential for therapies that specifically target IgG3+ B cells to impact MS progression
Long-term exposures to air pollution and the risk of atrial fibrillation in the womenâs health initiative cohort
BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with substantial morbidity and mortality. Short-term exposures to air pollution have been associated with AF triggering; less is known regarding associations between long-term air pollution exposures and AF incidence. OBJECTIVES: Our objective was to assess the association between long-term exposures to air pollution and distance to road on incidence of AF in a cohort of U.S. women. METHODS: We assessed the association of high resolution spatiotemporal model predictions of long-term exposures to particulate matter (PM10 and PM2:5 ), sulfur dioxide (SO2 ), nitrogen dioxide (NO2 ), and distance to major roads with incidence of AF diagnosis, identified through Medicare link-age, among 83,117 women in the prospective Womenâs Health Initiative cohort, followed from enrollment in Medicare through December 2012, incidence of AF, or death. Using time-varying Cox proportional hazards models adjusted for age, race/ethnicity, study component, body mass index, physical activity, menopausal hormone therapy, smoking, diet quality, alcohol consumption, educational attainment, and neighborhood socioeconomic status, we estimated the relative risk of incident AF in association with each pollutant. RESULTS: A total of 16,348 incident AF cases were observed over 660,236 person-years of follow-up. Most exposureâresponse associations were non-linear. NO2 was associated with risk of AF in multivariable adjusted models [Hazard Ratio Ă°HRĂ = 1:18; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.13, 1.24, comparing the top to bottom quartile, p-for-trend = < 0:0001]. Women living closer to roadways were at higher risk of AF (e.g., HR = 1:07; 95% CI: 1.01, 1.13 for living within 50 m of A3 roads, compared with â„1,000 m, p-for-trend = 0:02), but we did not observe adverse associations with exposures to PM10, PM2:5, or SO2 . There were adverse associations with PM10 (top quartile HR = 1:10; 95% CI: 1.05, 1.16, p-for-trend = < 0:0001) and PM2:5 (top quartile HR = 1:09; 95% CI: 1.03, 1.14, p-for-trend = 0:002) in sensitivity models adjusting for census region. DISCUSSION: In this study of postmenopausal women, NO2 and distance to road were consistently associated with higher risk of AF. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP7683
Study of the B^0 Semileptonic Decay Spectrum at the Upsilon(4S) Resonance
We have made a first measurement of the lepton momentum spectrum in a sample
of events enriched in neutral B's through a partial reconstruction of B0 -->
D*- l+ nu. This spectrum, measured with 2.38 fb**-1 of data collected at the
Upsilon(4S) resonance by the CLEO II detector, is compared directly to the
inclusive lepton spectrum from all Upsilon(4S) events in the same data set.
These two spectra are consistent with having the same shape above 1.5 GeV/c.
From the two spectra and two other CLEO measurements, we obtain the B0 and B+
semileptonic branching fractions, b0 and b+, their ratio, and the production
ratio f+-/f00 of B+ and B0 pairs at the Upsilon(4S). We report b+/b0=0.950
(+0.117-0.080) +- 0.091, b0 = (10.78 +- 0.60 +- 0.69)%, and b+ = (10.25 +- 0.57
+- 0.65)%. b+/b0 is equivalent to the ratio of charged to neutral B lifetimes,
tau+/tau0.Comment: 14 page, postscript file also available at
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Radiative Decay Modes of the Meson
Using data recorded by the CLEO-II detector at CESR we have searched for four
radiative decay modes of the meson: ,
, , and . We
obtain 90% CL upper limits on the branching ratios of these modes of , , and
respectively.Comment: 15 page postscript file, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Measurement of the Mass Splittings between the States
We present new measurements of photon energies and branching fractions for
the radiative transitions: Upsilon(2S)->gamma+chi_b(J=0,1,2). The masses of the
chi_b states are determined from the measured radiative photon energies. The
ratio of mass splittings between the chi_b substates,
r==(M[J=2]-M[J=1])/(M[J=1]-M[J=0]) with M the chi_b mass, provides information
on the nature of the bbbar confining potential. We find
r(1P)=0.54+/-0.02+/-0.02. This value is in conflict with the previous world
average, but more consistent with the theoretical expectation that r(1P)<r(2P);
i.e., that this mass splittings ratio is smaller for the chi_b(1P) triplet than
for the chi_b(2P) triplet.Comment: 11 page postscript file, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
Search for displaced vertices arising from decays of new heavy particles in 7 TeV pp collisions at ATLAS
We present the results of a search for new, heavy particles that decay at a
significant distance from their production point into a final state containing
charged hadrons in association with a high-momentum muon. The search is
conducted in a pp-collision data sample with a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV
and an integrated luminosity of 33 pb^-1 collected in 2010 by the ATLAS
detector operating at the Large Hadron Collider. Production of such particles
is expected in various scenarios of physics beyond the standard model. We
observe no signal and place limits on the production cross-section of
supersymmetric particles in an R-parity-violating scenario as a function of the
neutralino lifetime. Limits are presented for different squark and neutralino
masses, enabling extension of the limits to a variety of other models.Comment: 8 pages plus author list (20 pages total), 8 figures, 1 table, final
version to appear in Physics Letters
Measurement of the polarisation of W bosons produced with large transverse momentum in pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment
This paper describes an analysis of the angular distribution of W->enu and
W->munu decays, using data from pp collisions at sqrt(s) = 7 TeV recorded with
the ATLAS detector at the LHC in 2010, corresponding to an integrated
luminosity of about 35 pb^-1. Using the decay lepton transverse momentum and
the missing transverse energy, the W decay angular distribution projected onto
the transverse plane is obtained and analysed in terms of helicity fractions
f0, fL and fR over two ranges of W transverse momentum (ptw): 35 < ptw < 50 GeV
and ptw > 50 GeV. Good agreement is found with theoretical predictions. For ptw
> 50 GeV, the values of f0 and fL-fR, averaged over charge and lepton flavour,
are measured to be : f0 = 0.127 +/- 0.030 +/- 0.108 and fL-fR = 0.252 +/- 0.017
+/- 0.030, where the first uncertainties are statistical, and the second
include all systematic effects.Comment: 19 pages plus author list (34 pages total), 9 figures, 11 tables,
revised author list, matches European Journal of Physics C versio
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