878 research outputs found
Calcitonin receptor-like receptor is expressed on gastrointestinal immune cells
Background/Aims: Pharmacological and morphological studies suggest that the gut mucosal immune system and local neuropeptide-containing neurones interact. We aimed to determine whether gut immune cells are targets for calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP), which has potent immune regulatory properties. Methods: Using density gradient centrifugation, rat lamina propria mononuclear cells (LP-MNCs) and intra-epithelial lymphocytes (IELs) were isolated. RT-PCR was employed for the detection of mRNA of rat calcitonin receptor-like receptor (CRLR), which is considered to represent the pharmacologically defined CGRP receptor-1 subtype, as well as mRNA of the receptor activity-modifying proteins, which are essential for CRLR function and determine ligand specificity. A radioreceptor assay was employed for the detection of specific CGRP binding sites. Results: RT-PCR and DNA sequencing showed that LP-MNCs and IELs express CRLR. Incubation of isolated LP-MNCs with radiolabelled alphaCGRP revealed the existence of specific binding sites for CGRP. Conclusion: These novel data indicate that mucosal immune cells of the rat gut are a target for CGRP and provide significant evidence that CGRP functions as an immune regulator in the gut mucosa. Copyright (C) 2002 S. Karger AG, Basel
Acute fulminant necrotizing myopathy in a dog caused by co-infection with ultrastructural Sarcocystis caninum and Sarcocystis svanai-like apicomplexan protozoa
Abstract Typically, carnivores are the definitive and herbivores the intermediate hosts for protozoan Sarcocystis spp. In the definitive host, the parasite has sexual multiplication in the intestine. Asexual phases occur in the musculature of different intermediate hosts. Although intestinal sarcocystosis is common in dogs, muscular symptomatic sarcocystosis is rarely reported. Here we report a fatal dual Sarcocystis spp. infection in a dog. The dog had acute onset of non-ambulatory tetraparesis. While neurological findings suggested a generalized neuromuscular disease with peripheral neuropathy concordant with the neurological deficits, the highly elevated muscle enzymes were more suggestive of a myopathy. Despite supportive therapy, the dog died three days after the onset of clinical signs. Necropsy revealed severe monophasic multifocal myodegeneration with severe pyogranulomatous inflammation. Histology revealed multiple sarcocysts in skeletal muscles and a smaller number in the heart. In light microscopy, both thin-walled and very thin-walled sarcocysts were found in skeletal muscles. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed the presence of two types of mature sarcocysts. Morphologically, cysts were indistinguishable from Sarcocystis caninum and Sarcocystis svanai, which were previously reported in a dog from USA. A region of the 18S rRNA gene sequence confirmed the presence of one species, S. arctica/caninum, without evidence for a dual infection. This is the first report of muscular sarcocystosis in a dog in Europe and, intriguingly, revealed morphologically similar species across the Atlantic.Peer reviewe
Reconstructing the direction of reactor antineutrinos via electron scattering in Gd-doped water Cherenkov detectors
The potential of elastic antineutrino-electron scattering in a Gd-doped water
Cherenkov detector to determine the direction of a nuclear reactor antineutrino
flux was investigated using the recently proposed WATCHMAN antineutrino
experiment as a baseline model. The expected scattering rate was determined
assuming a 13-km standoff from a 3.758-GWt light water nuclear reactor and the
detector response was modeled using a Geant4-based simulation package.
Background was estimated via independent simulations and by scaling published
measurements from similar detectors. Background contributions were estimated
for solar neutrinos, misidentified reactor-based inverse beta decay
interactions, cosmogenic radionuclides, water-borne radon, and gamma rays from
the photomultiplier tubes (PMTs), detector walls, and surrounding rock. We show
that with the use of low background PMTs and sufficient fiducialization,
water-borne radon and cosmogenic radionuclides pose the largest threats to
sensitivity. Directional sensitivity was then analyzed as a function of radon
contamination, detector depth, and detector size. The results provide a list of
experimental conditions that, if satisfied in practice, would enable
antineutrino directional reconstruction at 3 significance in large
Gd-doped water Cherenkov detectors with greater than 10-km standoff from a
nuclear reactor.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure
Theology, News and Notes - Vol. 33, No. 02
Theology News & Notes was a theological journal published by Fuller Theological Seminary from 1954 through 2014.https://digitalcommons.fuller.edu/tnn/1092/thumbnail.jp
Qweak: A Precision Measurement of the Proton's Weak Charge
The Qweak experiment at Jefferson Lab aims to make a 4% measurement of the
parity-violating asymmetry in elastic scattering at very low of a
longitudinally polarized electron beam on a proton target. The experiment will
measure the weak charge of the proton, and thus the weak mixing angle at low
energy scale, providing a precision test of the Standard Model. Since the value
of the weak mixing angle is approximately 1/4, the weak charge of the proton
is suppressed in the Standard Model, making it
especially sensitive to the value of the mixing angle and also to possible new
physics. The experiment is approved to run at JLab, and the construction plan
calls for the hardware to be ready to install in Hall C in 2007. The
theoretical context of the experiment and the status of its design are
discussed.Comment: 5 pages, 2 figures, LaTeX2e, to be published in CIPANP 2003
proceeding
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