Re-evaluating the role of natural killer cells in innate resistance to herpes simplex virus type 1

BACKGROUND: Interferon-γ acts to multiply the potency with which innate interferons (α/β) suppress herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) replication. Recent evidence suggests that this interaction is functionally relevant in host defense against HSV-1. However, it is not clear which WBCs of the innate immune system, if any, limit HSV-1 spread in an IFN-γ dependent manner. The current study was initiated to determine if natural killer (NK) cells provide innate resistance to HSV-1 infection, and if so to determine if this resistance is IFN-γ-dependent. RESULTS: Lymphocyte-deficient scid or rag2(-/- )mice were used to test four predictions of the central hypothesis, and thus determine if innate resistance to HSV-1 is dependent on 1. NK cell cytotoxicity, 2. NK cells, 3. WBCs, or 4. the IFN-activated transcription factor, Stat 1. Loss of NK cell cytotoxic function or depletion of NK cells had no effect on the progression of HSV-1 infection in scid mice. In contrast, viral spread and pathogenesis developed much more rapidly in scid mice depleted of WBCs. Likewise, loss of Stat 1 function profoundly impaired the innate resistance of rag2(-/- )mice to HSV-1. CONCLUSION: Lymphocyte-deficient mice possess a very tangible innate resistance to HSV-1 infection, but this resistance is not dependent upon NK cells

The Magnitude-Size Relation of Galaxies out to z ~ 1

As part of the Deep Extragalactic Evolutionary Probe (DEEP) survey, a sample of 190 field galaxies (I_{814} <= 23.5) in the ``Groth Survey Strip'' has been used to analyze the magnitude-size relation over the range 0.1 < z < 1.1. The survey is statistically complete to this magnitude limit. All galaxies have photometric structural parameters, including bulge fractions (B/T), from Hubble Space Telescope images, and spectroscopic redshifts from the Keck Telescope. The analysis includes a determination of the survey selection function in the magnitude-size plane as a function of redshift, which mainly drops faint galaxies at large distances. Our results suggest that selection effects play a very important role. A first analysis treats disk-dominated galaxies with B/T < 0.5. If selection effects are ignored, the mean disk surface brightness (averaged over all galaxies) increases by ~1.3 mag from z = 0.1 to 0.9. However, most of this change is plausibly due to comparing low luminosity galaxies in nearby redshift bins to high luminosity galaxies in distant bins. If this effect is allowed for, no discernible evolution remains in the disk surface brightness of bright (M_B < -19) disk-dominated galaxies. A second analysis treats all galaxies by substituting half-light radius for disk scale length, with similar conclusions. Indeed, at all redshifts, the bulk of galaxies is consistent with the magnitude-size envelope of local galaxies, i.e., with little or no evolution in surface brightness. In the two highest redshift bins (z > 0.7), a handful of luminous, high surface brightness galaxies appears that occupies a region of the magnitude-size plane rarely populated by local galaxies. Their wide range of colors and bulge fractions points to a variety of possible origins.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures. Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journa

Hydrodynamical evolution near the QCD critical end point

Hydrodynamical calculations have been successful in describing global observables in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions, which aim to observe the production of the quark-gluon plasma. On the other hand, recently, a lot of evidence that there exists a critical end point (CEP) in the QCD phase diagram has been accumulating. Nevertheless, so far, no equation of state with the CEP has been employed in hydrodynamical calculations. In this paper, we construct the equation of state with the CEP on the basis of the universality hypothesis and show that the CEP acts as an attractor of isentropic trajectories. We also consider the time evolution in the case with the CEP and discuss how the CEP affects the final state observables, such as the correlation length, fluctuation, chemical freezeout, kinetic freezeout, and so on. Finally, we argue that the anomalously low kinetic freezeout temperature at the BNL Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider suggests the possibility of the existence of the CEP.Comment: 13 pages, 12 figures, accepted for publication in Physical Review

Periodically kicked turbulence

Periodically kicked turbulence is theoretically analyzed within a mean field theory. For large enough kicking strength A and kicking frequency f the Reynolds number grows exponentially and then runs into some saturation. The saturation level can be calculated analytically; different regimes can be observed. For large enough Re we find the saturation level to be proportional to A*f, but intermittency can modify this scaling law. We suggest an experimental realization of periodically kicked turbulence to study the different regimes we theoretically predict and thus to better understand the effect of forcing on fully developed turbulence.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures. Phys. Rev. E., in pres

UBVI Surface Photometry of the Spiral Galaxy NGC 300 in the Sculptor Group

We present UBVI surface photometry for 20.'5 X 20.'5 area of a late-type spiral galaxy NGC 300. In order to understand the morphological properties and luminosity distribution characteristics of NGC 300, we have derived isophotal maps, surface brightness profiles, ellipticity profiles, position angle profiles, and color profiles. By merging the I-band data of our surface brightness measurements with those of Boeker et al. (2002) based on Hubble Space Telescope observations, we have made combined I-band surface brightness profiles for the region of 0."02 < r < 500" and decomposed the profiles into three components: a nucleus, a bulge, and an exponential disk.Comment: 16 pages(cjaa209.sty), Accepted by the Chinese J. Astron. Astrophys., Fig 2 and 8 are degraded to reduce spac

Stratospheric ozone trends and variability as seen by SCIAMACHY from 2002 to 2012

Vertical profiles of the rate of linear change (trend) in the altitude range 15–50 km are determined from decadal O₃ time series obtained from SCIAMACHY¹/ENVISAT² measurements in limb-viewing geometry. The trends are calculated by using a multivariate linear regression. Seasonal variations, the quasi-biennial oscillation, signatures of the solar cycle and the El Niño–Southern Oscillation are accounted for in the regression. The time range of trend calculation is August 2002–April 2012. A focus for analysis are the zonal bands of 20° N–20° S (tropics), 60–50° N, and 50–60° S (midlatitudes). In the tropics, positive trends of up to 5% per decade between 20 and 30 km and negative trends of up to 10% per decade between 30 and 38 km are identified. Positive O₃ trends of around 5% per decade are found in the upper stratosphere in the tropics and at midlatitudes. Comparisons between SCIAMACHY and EOS MLS³ show reasonable agreement both in the tropics and at midlatitudes for most altitudes. In the tropics, measurements from OSIRIS⁴/Odin and SHADOZ⁵ are also analysed. These yield rates of linear change of O₃ similar to those from SCIAMACHY. However, the trends from SCIAMACHY near 34 km in the tropics are larger than MLS and OSIRIS by a factor of around two. <br><br> <br><br> ¹ SCanning Imaging Absorption spectroMeter for Atmospheric CHartographY ² European environmental research satellite ³ Earth Observing System (EOS) Microwave Limb Sounder (MLS) ⁴ Optical Spectrograph and InfraRed Imager System ⁵ Southern Hemisphere ADditional OZonesonde

SuperMassive Black Holes in Bulges

We present spatially extended gas kinematics at parsec-scale resolution for the nuclear regions of four nearby disk galaxies, and model them as rotation of a gas disk in the joint potential of the stellar bulge and a putative central black hole. The targets were selected from a larger set of long-slit spectra obtained with the Hubble Space Telescope as part of the Survey of Nearby Nuclei with STIS (SUNNS). They represents the 4 galaxies (of 24) that display symmetric gas velocity curves consistent with a rotating disk. We derive the stellar mass distribution from the STIS acquisition images adopting the stellar mass-to-light ratio normalized so as to match ground-based velocity dispersion measurements over a large aperture. Subsequently, we constrain the mass of a putative black hole by matching the gas rotation curve, following two distinct approaches. In the most general case we explore all the possible disk orientations, alternatively we constrain the gas disk orientation from the dust-lane morphology at similar radii. In the latter case the kinematic data indicate the presence of a central black hole for three of the four objects, with masses of 10^7 - 10^8 solar masses, representing up to 0.025 % of the host bulge mass. For one object (NGC2787) the kinematic data alone provide clear evidence for the presence of a central black hole even without external constraints on the disk orientation. These results illustrate directly the need to determine black-hole masses by differing methods for a large number of objects, demonstrate that the variance in black hole/bulge mass is much larger than previously claimed, and reinforce the recent finding that the black-hole mass is tightly correlated with the bulge stellar velocity dispersion.Comment: 26 pages, 11 Postscript figures, accepted for publication on Ap

Einstellungen und Selbstwirksamkeit von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern zur schulischen Inklusion in Deutschland - eine Analyse mit Daten des Nationalen Bildungspanels Deutschlands (NEPS)

In Deutschland wird der gemeinsame Unterricht von Schülerinnen und Schülern mit und ohne sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf im Schulsystem stark ausgebaut. Als eine wichtige Voraussetzung für eine gelungene Umsetzung des gemeinsamen Unterrichts wird in der Forschung die Einstellungen der beteiligten Lehrerinnen und Lehrer zur Inklusion gesehen. Der vorliegende Bei- trag berichtet über die Selbstwirksamkeit und die allgemeine Einstellung zur Inklusion bei 130 Klassenlehrkräften in der der 2. Welle der Startkohorte 3 (6. Jahrgangsstufe) des Nationalen Bildungspanels (NEPS). Insgesamt haben die Regelschullehrkräfte eine positive Einstellung gegenüber der Inklusion, jedoch ist die Selbstwirksamkeit in Bezug auf Inklusion eher gering ausgeprägt. Die befragten Klassenlehrkräfte in Förderschulen trauen sich dagegen die Umsetzung des gemeinsamen Unterrichts eher zu. Gegenüber der Inklusion haben sie jedoch Bedenken und halten die Förderschule für den optimaleren Förderort für Schülerinnen und Schüler mit sonderpädagogischem Förderbedarf

Phase ordering and shape deformation of two-phase membranes

Within a coupled-field Ginzburg-Landau model we study analytically phase separation and accompanying shape deformation on a two-phase elastic membrane in simple geometries such as cylinders, spheres and tori. Using an exact periodic domain wall solution we solve for the shape and phase ordering field, and estimate the degree of deformation of the membrane. The results are pertinent to a preferential phase separation in regions of differing curvature on a variety of vesicles.Comment: 4 pages, submitted to PR