C-type lectin receptors of the Dectin-1 cluster : Physiological roles and involvement in disease

Acknowledgements: We apologise to our many colleagues whose valuable work we could not cite due to space constraints. Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust (102705, 097377), the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology and the University of Aberdeen (MR/N006364/1). KT received a research fellowship from Jikei University School of Medicine.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Optical lock-in camera for gravitational wave detectors

Knowledge of the intensity and phase profiles of spectral components in a coherent optical field is critical for a wide range of high-precision optical applications. One of these is interferometric gravitational wave detectors, which rely on the optical beats between these fields for precise control of the experiment. Here we describe an optical lock-in camera and show that it can be used to record optical beats at MHz or greater frequencies with higher spatial and temporal resolution than previously possible. This improvement is achieved using a Pockels cell as a fast optical switch to transform each pixel on a sCMOS array into an optical lock-in amplifier. We demonstrate that the optical lock-in camera can record fields with 2 Mpx resolution at 10 Hz with a sensitivity of -62 dBc when averaged over 2s.Huy Tuong Cao, Daniel D. Brown, Peter J. Veitch, and David J. Ottawa

Dental Caries, Fluorosis, and Fluoride Exposure in Michigan Schoolchildren

This study relates the prevalence of caries and fluorosis among Michigan children, residing in four different areas, to the various concentrations of F in the communities' water supplies. Demographic information, details of F history, and dental attendance data were collected by a questionnaire form filled out by parents. Children ages six to 12 were screened for caries by means of the NIDR criteria and for fluorosis by means of the TSIF index. Results pertain only to continuous residents and the permanent dentition. The prevalence of both caries and fluorosis was significantly associated with the F concentration in the community water supply. Approximately 65% of all children were caries-free, ranging from 55.1 % in fluoride-deficient Cadillac to 73.7% in Redford (1. 0 ppm F). About 36% of all children had dental fluorosis, ranging from 12.2 in Cadillac to 51.2 in Richmond (1.2 ppm). All of the fluorosis was very mild. From logistic regression, the prevalence of caries was significantly associated with age, dental attendance, and the use of a water supply fluoridated at 1.0 ppm. The odds of experiencing fluorosis increased at every F level above the baseline (Cadillac), with the use of topical F rinses, and with age. Results suggest that children in the four communities may be ingesting a similar level of F from sources such as dentifrices, dietary supplements, and professional applications, but the factor that differentiates them with respect to the prevalence of caries and fluorosis is the F concentration in the community water supply.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/66926/2/10.1177_00220345880670050101.pd

Characterization of antifungal C-type lectin receptor expression on murine epithelial and endothelial cells in mucosal tissues

Funding Information: We thank P. Asamaphan, A. Clark, and B. Kerscher for providing NIH overexpression cell lines, S. Yamasaki for the anti‐Mincle antibody, the staff of the University of Aberdeen animal facility for the care for our animals, and the Iain Fraser Cytometry Centre at the University of Aberdeen for their assistance. This work was supported by funding from the Wellcome Trust (102705, 217163), the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology, and the University of Exeter (MR/N006364/2).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

The Impact of a School-Based Weight Management Program Involving Parents via mHealth for Overweight and Obese Children and Adolescents with Intellectual Disability: A Randomized Controlled Trial

There is a scarcity of resources and studies that utilize targeted weight management interventions to engage parents via mHealth tools targeting obese children and adolescents with mild intellectual disabilities (MIDs) extended from school to a home setting. To test the feasibility and acceptability of a school-based weight program (SBWMP) involving parents via mHealth tools designed to reduce weight, enhance knowledge and adopt healthy lifestyles, and thereby achieve better psychosocial well-being among children and adolescents with MIDs. Four special schools were randomly assigned as intervention or control schools. Students from the intervention group (n = 63) were compared to those in the control group (n = 52), which comprised those with usual school planned activities and no parental involvement. Demographics were considered as covariates in a general linear model, an ordinal regression model and a binary logistic regression model analyzing the relationships between the SBWMP and the outcome variables at baseline (T0) and six months later (T1). Body weight, body mass index, and triceps and subscapular skinfold thickness were lower in the intervention group compared to the control group, although the differences were not statistically significant. There was a positive and direct impact of the SBWMP on students’ health knowledge and psychological impacts in the intervention group. The SBWMP extended to the home involving parents via mHealth tools is a feasible and acceptable program for this group with MIDs and their parents

Three-body decay of the d* dibaryon

Under certain circumstances, a three-body decay width can be approximated by an integral involving a product of two off-shell two-body decay widths. This ``angle-average'' approximation is used to calculate the $\pi NN$ decay width of the $d^*(J^\pi=3^+, T=0)$ dibaryon in a simple $\Delta^2$ model for the most important Feynman diagrams describing pion emissions with baryon-baryon recoil and meson retardation. The decay width is found to be about 0.006 (0.07, 0.5) MeV at the $d^*$ mass of 2065 (2100, 2150) MeV for input dynamics derived from the Full Bonn potential. The smallness of this width is qualitatively understood as the result of the three-body decay being ``third forbidden''. The concept of $\ell$ forbiddenness and the threshold behavior of a three-body decay are further studied in connection with the $\pi NN$ decay of the dibaryon $d'(J^\pi=0^-, T=0 or 2)$ where the idea of unfavorness has to be introduced. The implications of these results are briefly discussed.Comment: 15 pages, RevTeX, two-column journal style, six figure

Absence of resonant enhancements in some inclusive rates

A toy model is defined and solved perturbatively with the aim of examining some claimed "resonant" enhancements of certain reaction rates that enter popular models of leptogenesis. We find: a) that such enhancements are absent; and b) that the perturbative solution, as done correctly using finite- temperature field theory, is well defined without the "resumming" procedures found in the literature. The pathologies that led to the perceived need for these procedures are an artifact of uncritical use of weighted vacuum cross- sections in the determination of rates, without adequate attention to the effects of the medium upon the single particle states within it.Comment: 11 pages, no figures. Some typos corrected. More typos correcte

The effectiveness of the anti-CD11d treatment is reduced in rat models of spinal cord injury that produce significant levels of intraspinal hemorrhage

We have previously reported that administration of a CD11d monoclonal antibody (mAb) improves recovery in a clip-compression model of SCI. In this model the CD11d mAb reduces the infiltration of activated leukocytes into the injured spinal cord (as indicated by reduced intraspinal MPO). However not all anti-inflammatory strategies have reported beneficial results, suggesting that success of the CD11d mAb treatment may depend on the type or severity of the injury. We therefore tested the CD11d mAb treatment in a rat hemi-contusion model of cervical SCI. In contrast to its effects in the clip-compression model, the CD11d mAb treatment did not improve forelimb function nor did it significantly reduce MPO levels in the hemi-contused cord. To determine if the disparate results using the CD11d mAb were due to the biomechanical nature of the cord injury (compression SCI versus contusion SCI) or to the spinal level of the injury (12th thoracic level versus cervical) we further evaluated the CD11d mAb treatment after a T12 contusion SCI. In contrast to the T12 clip compression SCI, the CD11d mAb treatment did not improve locomotor recovery or significantly reduce MPO levels after T12 contusion SCI. Lesion analyses revealed increased levels of hemorrhage after contusion SCI compared to clip-compression SCI. SCI that is accompanied by increased intraspinal hemorrhage would be predicted to be refractory to the CD11d mAb therapy as this approach targets leukocyte diapedesis through the intact vasculature. These results suggest that the disparate results of the anti-CD11d treatment in contusion and clip-compression models of SCI are due to the different pathophysiological mechanisms that dominate these two types of spinal cord injuries

MelLec Exacerbates the Pathogenesis of Aspergillus fumigatus-Induced Allergic Inflammation in Mice

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank the staff of the University of Aberdeen animal facility for their support and care for our animals. We also would like to express gratitude to Linda Duncan and Ailsa Laird of the Ian Fraser Cytometry Centre at the University of Aberdeen for their technical support and advice. Funding was provided by the Wellcome Trust (102705, 097377) and the Medical Research Council Centre for Medical Mycology (MR/N006364/2). For the purpose of open access, the author has applied a CC BY public copyright licence to any Author Accepted Manuscript version arising from this submission. KT received a research fellowship from The Jikei University School of Medicine.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

In-medium relativistic kinetic theory and nucleon-meson systems

Within the $\sigma-\omega$ model of coupled nucleon-meson systems, a generalized relativistic Lenard--Balescu--equation is presented resulting from a relativistic random phase approximation (RRPA). This provides a systematic derivation of relativistic transport equations in the frame of nonequilibrium Green's function technique including medium effects as well as flucuation effects. It contains all possible processes due to one meson exchange and special attention is kept to the off--shell character of the particles. As a new feature of many particle effects, processes are possible which can be interpreted as particle creation and annihilation due to in-medium one meson exchange. In-medium cross sections are obtained from the generalized derivation of collision integrals, which possess complete crossing symmetries.Comment: See nucl-th/9310032 for revised version which the authors incompetently resubmitted rather than correctly replacing thi