3,337 research outputs found
A novel role for Hedgehog in T-cell receptor signaling: implications for development and immunity
The Hedgehog (Hh) signaling pathway is a key regulator of both embryonic development and homeostasis of adult tissues, including thymus and blood. In the thymus, Hh signals for differentiation, survival and proliferation in the early stages of T cell development, before TCR gene rearrangement. Our recent data has shown that Hh signaling also modulates T cell receptor (TCR) signal strength in more mature T lineage cells. We showed that constitutive activation of the Hh pathway in thymocytes (by transgenic expression of the transcriptional activator form of Gli2) decreased TCR signal strength with profound consequences for the thymus--allowing self-reactive T cells to escape deletion and altering T cell CD4/CD8 lineage decisions. In contrast, in the Sonic Hh deficient thymus, TCR signaling was increased, again influencing both TCR repertoire selection and CD4/8 lineage commitment. In peripheral T cells, the transcriptional changes induced by activation of the Hh signaling pathway lead to reduced T cell activation. Hh signaling also attenuated ERK phosphorylation and proliferation in mature T cells on TCR ligation. Modulation of TCR signal strength by Hh pathway activation has importance for immunity as the presence or absence of Hh in the environment in which a T cell is activated would shape the immune response
Two subsets of human alphoid repetitive DNA show distinct preferential localization in the pericentromeric heterochromatin of chromosomes 13, 21 and 18
A review of High Performance Computing foundations for scientists
The increase of existing computational capabilities has made simulation
emerge as a third discipline of Science, lying midway between experimental and
purely theoretical branches [1, 2]. Simulation enables the evaluation of
quantities which otherwise would not be accessible, helps to improve
experiments and provides new insights on systems which are analysed [3-6].
Knowing the fundamentals of computation can be very useful for scientists, for
it can help them to improve the performance of their theoretical models and
simulations. This review includes some technical essentials that can be useful
to this end, and it is devised as a complement for researchers whose education
is focused on scientific issues and not on technological respects. In this
document we attempt to discuss the fundamentals of High Performance Computing
(HPC) [7] in a way which is easy to understand without much previous
background. We sketch the way standard computers and supercomputers work, as
well as discuss distributed computing and discuss essential aspects to take
into account when running scientific calculations in computers.Comment: 33 page
Smoothing a program soundly and robustly
We study the foundations of smooth interpretation, a recently-proposed program approximation scheme that facilitates the use of local numerical search techniques (e.g., gradient descent) in program analysis and synthesis. While the popular techniques for local optimization works well only on relatively smooth functions, functions encoded by real-world programs are infested with discontinuities and local irregular features. Smooth interpretation attenuates such features by taking the convolution of the program with a Gaussian function, effectively replacing discontinuous switches in the program by continuous transitions. In doing so, it extends to programs the notion of Gaussian smoothing, a popular signal-processing technique used to filter noise and discontinuities from signals.
Exact Gaussian smoothing of programs is undecidable, so algorithmic implementations of smooth interpretation must necessarily be approximate. In this paper, we characterize the approximations carried out by such algorithms. First, we identify three correctness properties—soundness, robustness, and β-robustness—that an approximate smooth interpreter should satisfy. In particular, a smooth interpreter is sound if it computes an abstraction of a program’s “smoothed” semantics, and robust if it has arbitrary-order derivatives in the input variables at every point in its input space. Second, we describe the design of an approximate smooth interpreter that provably satisfies these properties. The interpreter combines program abstraction using a new domain with symbolic calculation of convolution.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant CCF-0953507)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laborator
Relaxation of Surface Profiles by Evaporation Dynamics
We present simulations of the relaxation towards equilibrium of one
dimensional steps and sinusoidal grooves imprinted on a surface below its
roughening transition. We use a generalization of the hypercube stacking model
of Forrest and Tang, that allows for temperature dependent
next-nearest-neighbor interactions. For the step geometry the results at T=0
agree well with the t^(1/4) prediction of continuum theory for the spreading of
the step. In the case of periodic profiles we modify the mobility for the tips
of the profile and find the approximate solution of the resulting free boundary
problem to be in reasonable agreement with the T=0 simulations.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, 5 Postscript figures, to appear in PRB 15, October
199
The rheological behavior of CO2 ice: application to glacial flow on Mars
Vast amounts of solid CO2 reside in topographic basins of the south polar layered deposits (SPLD) on Mars and exhibit morphological features indicative of glacial flow. Previous experimental studies showed that coarse-grained CO2 ice is 1–2 orders of magnitude weaker than water ice under Martian polar conditions. Here we present data from a series of deformation experiments on high-purity, fine-grained CO2 ice over a broader range of temperatures than previously explored (158–213 K). The experiments confirm previous observations of highly non-linear power-law creep at larger stresses, but also show a transition to a previously-unseen linear-viscous creep regime at lower stresses. We examine the viscosity of CO2 within the SPLD and predict that the CO2-rich layers may be stronger than previously thought. We also predict that CO2 ice flows much more readily than H2O ice on steep flanks of SPLD topographic basins, allowing the CO2 to pond as observed.National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) NNH16ZDA001N-SS
The rheological behavior of CO2 ice: application to glacial flow on Mars
Author Posting. © American Geophysical Union, 2020. This article is posted here by permission of American Geophysical Union for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in Geophysical Research Letters 47(22), (2020): e2020GL090431, doi:10.1029/2020GL090431.Vast quantities of solid CO2 reside in topographic basins of the south polar layered deposits (SPLD) on Mars and exhibit morphological features indicative of glacial flow. Previous experimental studies showed that CO2 ice is 1–2 orders of magnitude weaker than water ice under Martian polar conditions. Here we present data from deformation experiments on pure, fine‐grained CO2 ice, over a broader range of temperatures than previously explored (158–213 K). The experiments confirm previous observations of highly nonlinear power law creep at larger stresses, but also show a transition to a previously unseen linear‐viscous creep regime at lower stresses. We examine the viscosity of CO2 within the SPLD and predict that the CO2‐rich deposits are modestly stronger than previously thought. Nevertheless, CO2 ice flows much more readily than H2O ice, particularly on the steep flanks of SPLD topographic basins, allowing the CO2 to pond as observed.This work was funded by NASA grant NNH16ZDA001N‐SSW awarded to Smith and Goldsby. Additional salary support for Cross was provided by the WHOI Investment in Science Fund.2021-04-2
The POLST program: a retrospective review of the demographics of use and outcomes in one community where advance directives are prevalent
OBJECTIVES: Determine the use and utility of the Physician Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment (POLST) program in a community where powers of attorney for health care (POAHCs) are prevalent.
METHODS: A retrospective review of medical record and death certificate data of 400 adults who died between September 1, 2007, and March 31, 2008, in the La Crosse County, Wisconsin community. Demographic and cause-of-death data were collected from death certificates. Information about POAHC, POLST forms, and medical treatments provided in the last 30 days of life were abstracted from decedents' medical records.
RESULTS: Sixty-seven percent of decedents had a POLST form, whereas 22% had POAHC alone. In comparison with decedents with POAHC alone, decedents with a POLST form were significantly older (83 versus 77 years, p<0.001), more likely to die in a nursing home than in a hospital (p<0.001), and more likely to die from a terminal or chronic illnesses (97%). Decedents with POLST orders for higher levels of medical treatment received more treatment, and in only two cases was there evidence that treatment was discrepant with POLST orders. In 31% of all POLST forms, the person appointed in the POAHC consented to the POLST orders.
CONCLUSIONS: POLST can be a highly effective program to ensure that patient preferences are known and honored in all settings. POAHCs are valuable because they identify appropriate surrogates when patients are incapacitated
Carrier-density effects in many-polaron systems
Many-polaron systems with finite charge-carrier density are often encountered
experimentally. However, until recently, no satisfactory theoretical
description of these systems was available even in the framework of simple
models such as the one-dimensional spinless Holstein model considered here. In
this work, previous results obtained using numerical as well as analytical
approaches are reviewed from a unified perspective, focussing on spectral
properties which reveal the nature of the quasiparticles in the system. In the
adiabatic regime and for intermediate electron-phonon coupling, a
carrier-density driven crossover from a polaronic to a rather metallic system
takes place. Further insight into the effects due to changes in density is
gained by calculating the phonon spectral function, and the fermion-fermion and
fermion-lattice correlation functions. Finally, we provide strong evidence
against the possibility of phase separation.Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in J. Phys.: Condens.
Matter; final versio
Flow properties of driven-diffusive lattice gases: theory and computer simulation
We develop n-cluster mean-field theories (0 < n < 5) for calculating the flow
properties of the non-equilibrium steady-states of the Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn
model of the driven diffusive lattice gas, with attractive and repulsive
inter-particle interactions, in both one and two dimensions for arbitrary
particle densities, temperature as well as the driving field. We compare our
theoretical results with the corresponding numerical data we have obtained from
the computer simulations to demonstrate the level of accuracy of our
theoretical predictions. We also compare our results with those for some other
prototype models, notably particle-hopping models of vehicular traffic, to
demonstrate the novel qualitative features we have observed in the
Katz-Lebowitz-Spohn model, emphasizing, in particular, the consequences of
repulsive inter-particle interactions.Comment: 12 RevTex page
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