Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies: FY2015 Appropriations

[Excerpt] The Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related Agencies appropriations bill provides funding for the planning, design, construction, alteration, and improvement of facilities used by active and reserve military components worldwide. It capitalizes military family housing and the U.S. share of the NATO Security Investment Program and finances the implementation of installation closures and realignments. It underwrites veterans benefit and health care programs administered by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), provides for the creation and maintenance of U.S. cemeteries and battlefield monuments within the United States and abroad, and supports the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, Armed Forces Retirement Homes, and Arlington National Cemetery. The bill also funds advance appropriations for veterans’ medical services

Impact of neutrino flavor oscillations on the neutrino-driven wind nucleosynthesis of an electron-capture supernova

Neutrino oscillations, especially to light sterile states, can affect the nucleosynthesis yields because of their possible feedback effect on the electron fraction (Ye). For the first time, we perform nucleosynthesis calculations for neutrino-driven wind trajectories from the neutrino-cooling phase of an 8.8 Msun electron-capture supernova, whose hydrodynamic evolution was computed in spherical symmetry with sophisticated neutrino transport and whose Ye evolution was post-processed by including neutrino oscillations both between active and active-sterile flavors. We also take into account the alpha-effect as well as weak magnetism and recoil corrections in the neutrino absorption and emission processes. We observe effects on the Ye evolution which depend in a subtle way on the relative radial positions of the sterile MSW resonances, of collective flavor transformations, and on the formation of alpha particles. For the adopted supernova progenitor, we find that neutrino oscillations, also to a sterile state with eV-mass, do not significantly affect the element formation and in particular cannot make the post-explosion wind outflow neutron rich enough to activate a strong r-process. Our conclusions become even more robust when, in order to mimic equation-of-state dependent corrections due to nucleon potential effects in the dense-medium neutrino opacities, six cases with reduced Ye in the wind are considered. In these cases, despite the conversion of active neutrinos to sterile neutrinos, Ye increases or is not significantly lowered compared to the values obtained without oscillations and active flavor transformations. This is a consequence of a complicated interplay between sterile-neutrino production, neutrino-neutrino interactions, and alpha-effect.Comment: 19 pages, 12 figures; accepted for publication by Ap

Searching for Dust around Hyper Metal-Poor Stars

We examine the mid-infrared fluxes and spectral energy distributions for metal-poor stars with iron abundances [Fe/H] $\lesssim-5$, as well as two CEMP-no stars, to eliminate the possibility that their low metallicities are related to the depletion of elements onto dust grains in the formation of a debris disk. Six out of seven stars examined here show no mid-IR excess. These non-detections rule out many types of circumstellar disks, e.g. a warm debris disk ($T\!\le\!290$ K), or debris disks with inner radii $\le1$ AU, such as those associated with the chemically peculiar post-AGB spectroscopic binaries and RV Tau variables. However, we cannot rule out cooler debris disks, nor those with lower flux ratios to their host stars due to, e.g. a smaller disk mass, a larger inner disk radius, an absence of small grains, or even a multicomponent structure, as often found with the chemically peculiar Lambda Bootis stars. The only exception is HE0107-5240, for which a small mid-IR excess near 10 microns is detected at the 2-$\sigma$ level; if the excess is real and associated with this star, it may indicate the presence of (recent) dust-gas winnowing or a binary system.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap

Mucosal immune responses following intestinal nematode infection.

In most natural environments, the large majority of mammals harbour parasitic helminths that often live as adults within the intestine for prolonged periods (1-2 years). Although these organisms have been eradicated to a large extent within westernized human populations, those living within rural areas of developing countries continue to suffer from high infection rates. Indeed, recent estimates indicate that approximately 2.5 billion people worldwide, mainly children, currently suffer from infection with intestinal helminths (also known as geohelminths and soil-transmitted helminths) . Paradoxically, the eradication of helminths is thought to contribute to the increased incidence of autoimmune diseases and allergy observed in developed countries. In this review, we will summarize our current understanding of host-helminth interactions at the mucosal surface that result in parasite expulsion or permit the establishment of chronic infections with luminal dwelling adult worms. We will also provide insight into the adaptive immune mechanisms that provide immune protection against re-infection with helminth larvae, a process that is likely to be key to the future development of successful vaccination strategies. Lastly, the contribution of helminths to immune modulation and particularly to the treatment of allergy and inflammatory bowel disease will be discussed

Whole-blood transcriptomic signatures induced during immunization by chloroquine prophylaxis and Plasmodium falciparum sporozoites

A highly effective vaccine that confers sterile protection to malaria is urgently needed. Immunization under chemoprophylaxis with sporozoites (CPS) consistently confers high levels of protection in the Controlled Human Malaria infection (CHMI) model. To provide a broad, unbiased assessment of the composition and kinetics of direct ex vivo human immune responses to CPS, we profiled whole-blood transcriptomes by RNA-seq before and during CPS immunization and following CHMI challenge. Differential expression of genes enriched in modules related to T cells, NK cells, protein synthesis, and mitochondrial processes were detected in fully protected individuals four weeks after the first immunization. Non-protected individuals demonstrated transcriptomic changes after the third immunization and the day of treatment, with upregulation of interferon and innate inflammatory genes and downregulation of B-cell signatures. Protected individuals demonstrated more significant interactions between blood transcription modules compared to non-protected individuals several weeks after the second and third immunizations. These data provide insight into the molecular and cellular basis of CPS-induced immune protection from P. falciparum infection

Bound states near a moving charge in a quantum plasma

It is investigated how the shielding of a moving point charge in a one-component fully degenerate fermion plasma affects the bound states near the charge at velocities smaller than the Fermi one. The shielding is accounted for by using the Lindhard dielectric function, and the resulting potential is substituted into the Schr\"odinger equation in order to obtain the energy levels. Their number and values are shown to be primarily determined by the value of the charge and the quantum plasma coupling parameter, while the main effect of the motion is to split certain energy levels. This provides a link between quantum plasma theory and possible measurements of spectra of ions passing through solids.Comment: Published in EPL, see http://epljournal.edpsciences.org/articles/epl/abs/2011/09/epl13478/epl13478.htm

The positive link between executive function and lifetime cannabis use in schizophrenia is not explained by current levels of superior social cognition

There has been a growing link between a history of cannabis use and neurocognitive performance in patients with schizophrenia. Fewer neurocognitive deficits may be a marker of the superior social cognition needed to obtain illicit substances, or cannabis use may indicate a distinct path to schizophrenia with less neurocognitive vulnerability. This study sought to determine whether the relationship of cannabis use and executive function exists independently of social cognition. Eighty-seven patients with schizophrenia were administered measures of social cognition and executive function. Social cognition was assessed using the Bell-Lysaker Emotion Recognition Test to measure affect recognition, and the Eyes and Hinting Tests to measure theory of mind. Executive function was assessed by the Mental Flexibility component of the Delis-Kaplan Executive Functioning Scale. The relations between the variables were examined with structural equation modeling. Cannabis use positively related to executive function, negatively related to affect recognition, and had no relationship with theory of mind. There were no indirect effects of other illicit substances on amount of regular cannabis use. Alcohol use was related to worse affect recognition. The relationship between cannabis use and better executive function was supported and was not explained by superior social cognitio

The Goblet Cell Is the Cellular Source of the Anti-Microbial Angiogenin 4 in the Large Intestine Post Trichuris muris Infection

Mouse angiogenin 4 (Ang4) has previously been described as a Paneth cell-derived antimicrobial peptide important in epithelial host defence in the small intestine. However, a source for Ang4 in the large intestine, which is devoid of Paneth cells, has not been defined.Analysis was performed on Ang4 expression in colonic tissue by qPCR and immunohistochemistry following infection with the large intestine dwelling helminth parasite Trichuris muris. This demonstrated an increase in expression of the peptide following infection of resistant BALB/c mice. Further, histological analysis of colonic tissue revealed the cellular source of this Ang4 to be goblet cells. To elucidate the mechanism of Ang4 expression immunohistochemistry and qPCR for Ang4 was performed on colonic tissue from T. muris infected mouse mutants. Experiments comparing C3H/HeN and C3H/HeJ mice, which have a natural inactivating mutation of TLR4, revealed that Ang4 expression is TLR4 independent. Subsequent experiments with IL-13 and IL-4 receptor alpha deficient mice demonstrated that goblet cell expression of Ang4 is controlled either directly or indirectly by IL-13.The cellular source of mouse Ang4 in the colon following T. muris infection is the goblet cell and expression is under the control of IL-13

Plasma ADMA associates with all-cause mortality in renal transplant recipients

Asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) is a key endogenous inhibitor of endothelial NO synthase that affects endothelial function, blood pressure and vascular remodeling. Increased plasma levels of ADMA are associated with worse outcome from cardiovascular disease. Due to endothelial dysfunction before and after kidney transplantation, renal transplant recipients (RTR) are at high risk for the alleged deleterious effects of ADMA. We investigated the associations of ADMA levels with all-cause mortality and graft failure in RTR. Plasma ADMA levels were determined in 686 stable outpatient RTR (57 % male, 53 ± 13 years), with a functioning graft for ?1 year. Determinants of ADMA were evaluated with multivariate linear regression models. Associations between ADMA and mortality were assessed using multivariable Cox regression analyses. The strongest associations with plasma ADMA in the multivariable analyses were male gender, donor age, parathyroid hormone, NT-pro-BNP and use of calcium supplements. During a median follow-up of 3.1 [2.7-3.9] years, 79 (12 %) patients died and 45 (7 %) patients developed graft failure. ADMA was associated with increased all-cause mortality [HR 1.52 (95 % CI 1.26-1.83] per SD increase, P < 0.001], whereby associations remained upon adjustment for confounders. ADMA was associated with graft failure [HR 1.41 (1.08-1.83) per SD increase, P = 0.01]; however, upon addition of eGFR significance was lost. High levels of plasma ADMA are associated with increased mortality in RTR. Our findings connect disturbed NO metabolism with patient survival after kidney transplantation

The Retinoic Acid Receptor Agonist Am80 Increases Mucosal Inflammation in an IL-6 Dependent Manner During Trichuris muris Infection

PURPOSE: Vitamin A metabolites, such as all-trans-retinoic acid (RA) that act through the nuclear receptor; retinoic acid receptor (RAR), have been shown to polarise T cells towards Th2, and to be important in resistance to helminth infections. Co-incidentally, people harbouring intestinal parasites are often supplemented with vitamin A, as both vitamin A deficiency and parasite infections often occur in the same regions of the globe. However, the impact of vitamin A supplementation on gut inflammation caused by intestinal parasites is not yet completely understood. METHODS: Here, we use Trichuris muris, a helminth parasite that buries into the large intestine of mice causing mucosal inflammation, as a model of both human Trichuriasis and IBD, treat with an RARα/β agonist (Am80) and quantify the ensuing pathological changes in the gut. RESULTS: Critically, we show, for the first time, that rather than playing an anti-inflammatory role, Am80 actually exacerbates helminth-driven inflammation, demonstrated by an increased colonic crypt length and a significant CD4(+) T cell infiltrate. Further, we established that the Am80-driven crypt hyperplasia and CD4(+) T cell infiltrate were dependent on IL-6, as both were absent in Am80-treated IL-6 knock-out mice. CONCLUSIONS: This study presents novel data showing a pro-inflammatory role of RAR ligands in T. muris infection, and implies an undesirable effect for the administration of vitamin A during chronic helminth infection. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s10875-013-9936-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users