Insulin-like growth factor I is an independent coregulatory modulator of natural killer (NK) cell activity.

We aimed to investigate the natural killer (NK) cell activity in hGH-deficient adults and to analyze the effect of insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-I in uivo and in vitro on NK cell activity. NK cell activity was measured in a 4-h nonisotopic assay with europium-labeled and cryopreserved K-562 cells. NK-cell numbers were measured after incubation with murine monoclonal CD3 and CD16 antibodies by flow cytometry analysis. In a cross-sectional study, the basal and interferon- p (IFN-P) stimulated (1000 IU/ml) NK cell activity of 15 hGHdeficient patients and 15 age- and sex-matched controls was measured. The percentages and absolute numbers of CD3./16+ NK-cells were not significantly different in the patient vs. control group. The basal and IFN-P stimulated NK cell activity however was significantly decreased in the patient vs. control group at all effecter/target (E/T) cell ratios from 12.5-100 (e.g. 17 ? 3 vs. 28 ? 3% lysis without IFN-P, P < 0.05, and 42 t 4 vs. 57 2 4% lysis with IFN-0, P < 0.05; both at E/T 50). IGF-I levels of patients and controls showed a significant positive correlation with NK cell activity (r = 0.37; P < 0.05). In an IGF-I in vitro study (IGF-I in vitro 250-1250 kg/L), the basal and IFN-P stimulated NK cell activity of 13 hGH-deficient patients and of 18 normal subjects was significantly enhanced by IGF-I in vitro (e.g. GH-deficient patients: 9 ? 2 us. 10 2 2% lysis without IFN-P, P < 0.05 and 25 + 4 vs. 30 + 4% lysis with IFN-/3, P < 0.005; and normal subjects: 15 + 3 vs. 23 ? 3% lysis without IFN-/3, P < 0.001 and 35 2 4 us. 44 + 5% lysis with IFN-P, P < 0.001; both at IGF-I 500 pg/L). In summary, in our cross-sectional study, adult GH-deficient patients showed a significantly lower basal and IFN-P stimulated NK cell activity than matched controls, despite equal NK cell numbers. IGF-I levels of patients and controls showed a weak positive correlation with NK cell activity. In an in vitro study, IGF-I significantly enhanced basal and IFN-P stimulated NK cell activity of hGH-deficient patients and also of normal subjects. The decreased NK cell activity in GHdeficient patients may be caused at least in part by low serum IGF-I levels. IGF-I appears to be an independent coregulatory modulator of NK cell activity. (Endocrinology 137: 5332-5336, 1996

Polynomial Chaos Expansion method as a tool to evaluate and quantify field homogeneities of a novel waveguide RF Wien Filter

For the measurement of the electric dipole moment of protons and deuterons, a novel waveguide RF Wien filter has been designed and will soon be integrated at the COoler SYnchrotron at J\"ulich. The device operates at the harmonic frequencies of the spin motion. It is based on a waveguide structure that is capable of fulfilling the Wien filter condition ($\vec{E} \perp \vec{B}$) \textit{by design}. The full-wave calculations demonstrated that the waveguide RF Wien filter is able to generate high-quality RF electric and magnetic fields. In reality, mechanical tolerances and misalignments decrease the simulated field quality, and it is therefore important to consider them in the simulations. In particular, for the electric dipole moment measurement, it is important to quantify the field errors systematically. Since Monte-Carlo simulations are computationally very expensive, we discuss here an efficient surrogate modeling scheme based on the Polynomial Chaos Expansion method to compute the field quality in the presence of tolerances and misalignments and subsequently to perform the sensitivity analysis at zero additional computational cost.Comment: 12 pages, 19 figure

Implementing a National Cancer Clinical Trials System for the 21st Century - Second Workshop Summary

http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=1836

Effect of Growth Hormone (hGH) Replacement Therapy on Physical Work Capacity and Cardiac and Pulmonary Function in Patients with hGH Deficiency Acquired in Adulthood.

The effects of 6 months of replacement therapy with recombinant human GH (hGH) on physical work capacity and cardiac structure and function were investigated in 20 patients with hGH deficiency of adult onset in a double blind, placebo-controlled trial. The GH dose of 12.5 micrograms/kg BW was self-administered daily sc. Oxygen consumption (VO2), CO2 production, and ventilatory volumes were measured during exercise on a bicycle spiroergometer. M-Mode echocardiography was performed using standard techniques. The VO2 max data, expressed per kg BW (mL/min.kg BW) showed a significant increase from 23.2 +/- 2.4 to 30.0 +/- 2.3 (P < 0.01) in the hGH-treated group, whereas the VO2 max data, expressed per lean body mass (milliliters per min/kg lean body mass) did not change significantly in either group. Maximal O2 pulse (milliliters per beat) increased significantly from 15.2 +/- 5.6 to 19.6 +/- 3.3 mL/beat (P < 0.01), but remained constant in the placebo group. The maximal power output (watts +/- SE) increased significantly (P < 0.01) from 192.5 +/- 13.5 to 227.5 +/- 11.5 in the hGH-treated group, but remained constant in the placebo group. Cardiac structure (left ventricular posterior wall, interventricular septum thickness, left ventricular mass, left ventricular end-systolic dimension, and left ventricular end-diastolic dimension) as well as echocardiographically assessed cardiac function did not change significantly after 6 months of treatment in either group. We conclude that hGH replacement in hGH-deficient adults improves oxygen uptake and exercise capacity. These improvements in pulmonary parameters might be due to an increase in respiratory muscle strength and partly to the changes in muscle volume per se observed during hGH replacement therapy. Furthermore, an increased cardiac output might contribute to the improvement in exercise performance during hGH treatment. According to our data, hGH replacement therapy leads to an improvement of exercise capacity and maximal oxygen uptake, but has no significant effect on cardiac structure

The TWINS-LAD mission: Observations of terrestrial Lyman-? fluxes

International audienceThe TWINS project (Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers) is mainly devoted to measure high energy neutral atoms (ENAs) originating via charge exchange of protons with geocoronal hydrogen atoms in the plasmasphere and magnetosphere. In order to unfold the local ion density along the line-of-sight (LOS) from the integrated ENA flux measurements, a good knowledge of the geocoronal hydrogen density distribution is needed. Therefore, two Lyman-? detectors (LADs) - designed and calibrated by the authors - were added to the TWINS package. These detectors register line-integrated Lyman-? resonance emission intensities which then can be used to get the actual local hydrogen densities with the help of a numerical inversion routine

Role of organic components in sol-gel glasses

Organic groupings play an important role for the preparation of glasses by the sol-gel route. They are responsible for the solubility of precursors, interact during the polycondensation process, the drying and ageing step and during firing. For processing, important parameters e.g. hydrolysis rates and the SiOH formation can be controlled by proper choice of the hydrolysable group. If organics remain in the glass network, remarkable changes of properties (density, hardness, refractive index) occur

The TWINS exospheric neutral H-density distribution under solar minimum conditions

Terrestrial exospheric atomic hydrogen (H) resonantly scatters solar Lyman-α (121.567 nm) radiation, observed as the glow of the H-geocorona. The Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers (TWINS) satellites are equiped with two Lyman-α line-of-sight Detectors (LADs) each. Since during the past solar minimum conditions the relevant solar control parameters practically did not vary, we are using LAD data between June and September 2008 to create a time averaged hydrogen geocorona model representative for these solar minimum conditions. In this averaged model we assume that the H-geocorona is longitudinally symmetric with respect to the earth-sun line. We find a 3-dimensional H-density distribution in the range from 3 to 8 earth radii which with some caution can also be extrapolated to larger distances. For lower geocentric distances than 3 earth radii a best fitting r-dependent Chamberlain (1963)-like model is adapted. Main findings are larger than conventionally expected H-densities at heights above 5 <I>R</I>_E and a pronounced day-to-night side H-density asymmetry. The H-geocorona presented here should serve as a reference H-atmosphere for the earth during solar minimum conditions

Electromagnetic Simulation and Design of a Novel Waveguide RF Wien Filter for Electric Dipole Moment Measurements of Protons and Deuterons

The conventional Wien filter is a device with orthogonal static magnetic and electric fields, often used for velocity separation of charged particles. Here we describe the electromagnetic design calculations for a novel waveguide RF Wien filter that will be employed to solely manipulate the spins of protons or deuterons at frequencies of about 0.1 to 2 MHz at the COoler SYnchrotron COSY at J\"ulich. The device will be used in a future experiment that aims at measuring the proton and deuteron electric dipole moments, which are expected to be very small. Their determination, however, would have a huge impact on our understanding of the universe.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures, 4 table

Emissions Savings in the Corn-Ethanol Life Cycle from Feeding Coproducts to Livestock

Environmental regulations on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from corn (Zea mays L.)-ethanol production require accurate assessment methods to determine emissions savings from coproducts that are fed to livestock. We investigated current use of coproducts in livestock diets and estimated the magnitude and variability in the GHG emissions credit for coproducts in the corn-ethanol life cycle. The coproduct GHG emissions credit varied by more than twofold, from 11.5 to 28.3 g CO2e per MJ of ethanol produced, depending on the fraction of coproducts used without drying, the proportion of coproduct used to feed beef cattle (Bos taurus) vs. dairy or swine (Sus scrofa), and the location of corn production. Regional variability in the GHG intensity of crop production and future livestock feeding trends will determine the magnitude of the coproduct GHG offset against GHG emissions elsewhere in the corn-ethanol life cycle. Expansion of annual U.S. corn-ethanol production to 57 billion liters by 2015, as mandated in current federal law, will require feeding of coproduct at inclusion levels near the biological limit to the entire U.S. feedlot cattle, dairy, and swine herds. Under this future scenario, the coproduct GHG offset will decrease by 8% from current levels due to expanded use by dairy and swine, which are less efficient in use of coproduct than beef feedlot cattle. Because the coproduct GHG credit represents 19 to 38% of total life cycle GHG emissions, accurate estimation of the coproduct credit is important for determining the net impact of corn-ethanol production on atmospheric warming and whether corn-ethanol producers meet state- and national-level GHG emissions regulations

First Results from MASIV: The Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability Survey

We are undertaking a large-scale, Micro-Arcsecond Scintillation-Induced Variability (MASIV) survey of the northern sky, Dec > 0 deg, at 4.9 GHz with the VLA. Our objective is to construct a sample of 100 to 150 scintillating extragalactic sources with which to examine both the microarcsecond structure and the parent populations of these sources, and to probe the turbulent interstellar medium responsible for the scintillation. We report on our first epoch of observations which revealed variability on timescales ranging from hours to days in 85 of 710 compact flat-spectrum sources. The number of highly variable sources, those with RMS flux density variations greater than 4% of the mean, increases with decreasing source flux density but rapid, large amplitude variables such as J1819+3845 are very rare. When compared with a model for the scintillation due to irregularities in a 500 pc thick electron layer, our preliminary results indicate maximum brightness temperatures ~10E+12 K, similar to those obtained from VLBI surveys even though interstellar scintillation is not subject to the same angular resolution limit.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures. To appear in the Astronomical Journa