CD25+ T-lymphocytes induce CD11b on eosinophils in allergic nasal mucosa

In the allergic mucosa, there is a significant increase in numbers of CD25+ cells and activated eosinophils. To determine whether a link exists between the activated T-lymphocytes and tissue eosinophils in nasal allergy, we studied CD25+ cells in the nasal mucosa and compared the levels of soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R) both in the serum and the nasal secretions, and further investigated expression of CD11b on eosinophils in the nasal lavage fluids and peripheral blood of patients with nasal allergy. We also examined the effects of the culture supernatant of Con A- and IL-2-activated T-lymphocytes on CD11b expression on eosinophils in the present study. The concentration of sIL-2R in the nasal secretions from patients with Japanese cedar pollinosis (JCP) was significantly higher than that from normal subjects (p < 0.01). The sIL-2R level was significantly higher in the nasal secretions than in the sera in patients (p < 0.01), and CD11b expression on eosinophils from nasal hvage fluid was significandy higher than that of eosinophils from peripheral blood of the same individuals (p < 0.01). The activated T-lymphocytes promoted eosinophil activation with upregulation of CD11b in vitro, and eosinophils in the nasal secretions from patients significantly expressed more CD11b in vivo. These results indicate that activation of T-lymphocytes is linked to eosinophil activation in nasal allergy

Critical phase of a magnetic hard hexagon model on triangular lattice

We introduce a magnetic hard hexagon model with two-body restrictions for configurations of hard hexagons and investigate its critical behavior by using Monte Carlo simulations and a finite size scaling method for discreate values of activity. It turns out that the restrictions bring about a critical phase which the usual hard hexagon model does not have. An upper and a lower critical value of the discrete activity for the critical phase of the newly proposed model are estimated as 4 and 6, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 8 Postscript figures, uses revtex.st

Cause of cavitation instabilities in three-dimensional inducer

Alternate blade cavitation, rotating cavitation and cavitation surge in rocket turbopump inducers were simulated by a commercial CFD code. In order to clarify the cause of instabilities, the velocity disturbance caused by cavitation was obtained by subtracting the velocity vector under noncavitating condition from that under cavitating condition. It was found that there exists a disturbance flow towards the trailing edge of the tip cavity. This flow has an axial flow component towards downstream which reduces the incidence angle to the next blade. It was found that all of the cavitation instabilities start to occur when this flow starts to interact with the leading edge of the next blade. The existence of the disturbance flow was validated by experiments.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/84249/1/CAV2009-final50.pd

Self-organization of traffic jams in cities: effects of stochastic dynamics and signal periods

We propose a cellular automata model for vehicular traffic in cities by combining (and appropriately modifying) ideas borrowed from the Biham-Middleton-Levine (BML) model of city traffic and the Nagel-Schreckenberg (NS) model of highway traffic. We demonstrate a phase transition from the "free-flowing" dynamical phase to the completely "jammed" phase at a vehicle density which depends on the time periods of the synchronized signals and the separation between them. The intrinsic stochasticity of the dynamics, which triggers the onset of jamming, is similar to that in the NS model, while the phenomenon of complete jamming through self-organization as well as the final jammed configurations are similar to those in the BML model. Using our new model, we have made an investigation of the time-dependence of the average speeds of the cars in the "free-flowing" phase as well as the dependence of flux and jamming on the time period of the signals.Comment: 4 pages, REVTEX, 4 eps figures include

Elevation of soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels in nasal allergy

To investigate soluble IL-2 receptor (sIL-2R) levels in nasal allergy, the sera and nasal secretions from patients with nasal allergy and from healthy subjects were subjected to a double-epitope enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Significant elevation of sIL-2R concentrations in the sera and nasal secretions was observed in the allergy patients (n = 26) compared with those of healthy subjects (n = 9). IL-2R-positive (CD25+) cells were observed in the crust formed in an allergic nasal mucosa. The concentration of sIL-2R in the sera correlated neither with the eosinophil count of the peripheral blood count nor with clinical severity. The concentration of sIL-2R in the nasal secretions was significantly higher compared with that in the sera from allergic patients (p < 0.01), whereas no significant difference was observed between sIL-2R levels in the sera and nasal sections from normal subjects. These findings indicate that sIL-2R plays an essential role in allergic processes by regulating IL-2R-positive cells recruited into the nasal mucosa

Extracellular calcification of Braarudosphaera bigelowii deduced from electron microscopic observations of cell surface structure and elemental composition of pentaliths

We have performed morphological and crystallographic studies of Braarudosphaera bigelowii using various light and electron microscopy techniques. A study by light microscopy revealed that B. bigelowii has a haptonema, and can use it for adhesion to external substrates. A study of the pentaliths by transmission electron microscopy indicates that the well-known trapezoidal lamina is formed with foliate crystals having perfectly identical crystallographic orientation. A cytological study shows that the pentaliths of B. bigelowii are surrounded by an organic structure consisting of a pentalith-substrate and thin organic layers. The pentalith-substrate underlies the proximal surface of the pentaliths and extends between the sides of the individual pentaliths, it also extends between the five trapezoidal segments forming a pentalith. Thin organic layers, which apparently originate from ridges of pentalith-substrate, cover the distal surface of the trapezoidal segments. The close association between the pentalith-substrate, organic layers, and pentaliths leads us to the hypothesis that calcification of the pentaliths occurs between the pentalith-substrate and organic layers, extracellularly. The relatively high Mg content observed in pentaliths supports our hypothesis of extracellular calcification