21 research outputs found
Cracking the BAFF code.
The tumour necrosis factor (TNF) family members B cell activating factor (BAFF) and APRIL (a proliferation-inducing ligand) are crucial survival factors for peripheral B cells. An excess of BAFF leads to the development of autoimmune disorders in animal models, and high levels of BAFF have been detected in the serum of patients with various autoimmune conditions. In this Review, we consider the possibility that in mice autoimmunity induced by BAFF is linked to T cell-independent B cell activation rather than to a severe breakdown of B cell tolerance. We also outline the mechanisms of BAFF signalling, the impact of ligand oligomerization on receptor activation and the progress of BAFF-depleting agents in the clinical setting
Dispersion and mixing in quasigeostrophic turbulence
The dynamics of passive Lagrangian tracers in three-dimensional
quasigeostrophic turbulence is studied numerically and compared with the
behavior of two-dimensional barotropic turbulence. Despite the different
Eulerian properties of the two flows, the Lagrangian dynamics of
passively advected tracers in three-dimensional quasigeostrophic
turbulence is very similar to that of barotropic turbulence. In both
systems, coherent vortices play a major role in determining the mixing
and dispersion properties. This work indicates that recent results on
particle dynamics in barotropic, two-dimensional turbulence carry over
to more realistic baroclinic flows, such as those encountered in the
large-scale dynamics of the atmosphere and ocean
Vortex merging in quasi-geostrophic flows
We study symmetric vortex merger in quasi-geostrophic hows using
numerical simulations with high vertical resolution. We analyse the
effect of varying the vertical aspect ratio of the vortices and compare
with the barotropic case. During the merging of potential vorticity
cores with small aspect ratio, we observe the birth of secondary
instabilities on the filaments. This is a new phenomenon not seen in
baroclinic simulations having low vertical resolution. Passive
Lagrangian tracers are used to explore the transport of fluid parcels
during vortex merger, to provide a detailed view of the flow evolution,
and to determine the value of the critical merging distance for
baroclinic vortices