592 research outputs found
miR-23~27~24 clusters control effector T cell differentiation and function
Coordinated repression of gene expression by evolutionarily conserved microRNA (miRNA) clusters and paralogs ensures that miRNAs efficiently exert their biological impact. Combining both loss- and gain-of-function genetic approaches, we show that the miR-23~27~24 clusters regulate multiple aspects of T cell biology, particularly helper T (Th) 2 immunity. Low expression of this miRNA family confers proper effector T cell function at both physiological and pathological settings. Further studies in T cells with exaggerated regulation by individual members of the miR-23~27~24 clusters revealed that miR-24 and miR-27 collaboratively limit Th2 responses through targeting IL-4 and GATA3 in both direct and indirect manners. Intriguingly, although overexpression of the entire miR-23 cluster also negatively impacts other Th lineages, enforced expression of miR-24, in contrast to miR-23 and miR-27, actually promotes the differentiation of Th1, Th17, and induced regulatory T cells, implying that under certain conditions, miRNA families can fine tune the biological effects of their regulation by having individual members antagonize rather than cooperate with each other. Together, our results identify a miRNA family with important immunological roles and suggest that tight regulation of miR-23~27~24 clusters in T cells is required to maintain optimal effector function and to prevent aberrant immune responses
WMAP constraints on inflationary models with global defects
We use the cosmic microwave background angular power spectra to place upper
limits on the degree to which global defects may have aided cosmic structure
formation. We explore this under the inflationary paradigm, but with the
addition of textures resulting from the breaking of a global O(4) symmetry
during the early stages of the Universe. As a measure of their contribution, we
use the fraction of the temperature power spectrum that is attributed to the
defects at a multipole of 10. However, we find a parameter degeneracy enabling
a fit to the first-year WMAP data to be made even with a significant defect
fraction. This degeneracy involves the baryon fraction and the Hubble constant,
plus the normalization and tilt of the primordial power spectrum. Hence,
constraints on these cosmological parameters are weakened. Combining the WMAP
data with a constraint on the physical baryon fraction from big bang
nucleosynthesis calculations and high-redshift deuterium abundance, limits the
extent of the degeneracy and gives an upper bound on the defect fraction of
0.13 (95% confidence).Comment: 10pp LaTeX/RevTeX, 6 eps figs; matches accepted versio
A Full Shell Model Study of a~=~48 Nuclei
Exact diagonalizations with a minimally modified realistic force lead to
detailed agreement with measured level schemes and electromagnetic transitions
in Ca, Sc, Ti, V, Cr and Mn.
Gamow-Teller strength functions are systematically calculated and reproduce the
data to within the standard quenching factor. Their fine structure indicates
that fragmentation makes much strength unobservable. As a by-product, the
calculations suggest a microscopic description of the onset of rotational
motion. The spectroscopic quality of the results provides strong arguments in
favour of the general validity of monopole corrected realistic forces, which is
discussed.Comment: 30 pages, LaTeX with epsf.sty, 14 Postscript figures included and
compressed using uufiles. Completely new version of previous preprint
nucl-th/9307001. FTUAM-93/01, CRN/PT 93-3
Measurement of the near-threshold cross section using initial-state radiation
We report measurements of the exclusive cross section for , where or , in the center-of-mass energy range from the threshold to with initial-state radiation. The
analysis is based on a data sample collected with the Belle detector with an
integrated luminosity of 673 .Comment: Presented at EPS07 and LP07 conferences, published in PRD(RC
Search for Resonant Decays at Belle
We report measurements and searches for resonant decays where is a
meson or
the X(3872) particle.Comment: accepted by Physics Letters
Study of charmonia in four-meson final states produced in two-photon collisions
We report measurements of charmonia produced in two-photon collisions and
decaying to four-meson final states, where the meson is either a charged pion
or a charged kaon. The analysis is based on a 395fb^{-1} data sample
accumulated with the Belle detector at the KEKB electron-positron collider. We
observe signals for the three C-even charmonia eta_c(1S), chi_{c0}(1P) and
chi_{c2}(1P) in the pi^+pi^-pi^+pi^-, K^+K^-pi^+pi^- and K^+K^-K^+K^- decay
modes. No clear signals for eta_c(2S) production are found in these decay
modes. We have also studied resonant structures in charmonium decays to
two-body intermediate meson resonances. We report the products of the
two-photon decay width and the branching fractions, Gamma_{gamma gamma}B, for
each of the charmonium decay modes.Comment: 22 pages, 12 figure
Search for B+ -> D*+ pi0 decay
We report on a search for the doubly Cabibbo suppressed decay B+ -> D*+ pi0,
based on a data sample of 657 million BBbar pairs collected at the Upsilon(4S)
resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric energy e+ e- collider.
We find no significant signal and set an upper limit of Br(B+ -> D*+ pi0) < 3.6
x 10^-6 at the 90% confidence level. This limit can be used to constrain the
ratio between suppressed and favored B -> D* pi decay amplitudes, r < 0.051, at
the 90% confidence level.Comment: 5pages, 2figures, submitted to PRL (v1); PRL published version (v2:
minor corrections in the text
Observation of Ds1(2536)+ -> D+pi-K+ and angular decomposition of Ds1(2536)+ -> D*+K0S
Using 462/fb of e+e- annihilation data recorded by the Belle detector, we
report the first observation of the decay Ds1(2536)+ -> D+pi-K+. The ratio of
branching fractions B(Ds1+ -> D+pi-K+)/B(Ds1+ -> D*+K0) is measured to be
(3.27+-0.18+-0.37)%. We also study the angular distributions in the Ds1(2536)+
-> D*+K0S decay and measure the ratio of D- and S-wave amplitudes. The S-wave
dominates, with a partial width of Gamma_S/Gamma_total=0.72+-0.05+-0.01.Comment: Submitted to Phys.Rev.D 16 pages, 6 figures, 3 table
Search for lepton-flavor-violating decays at Belle
We have searched for neutrinoless lepton decays into and ,
where stands for an electron or muon, and for a vector meson
(, , , or ), using 543 fb
of data collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy
collider. No excess of signal events over the expected background has
been observed, and we set upper limits on the branching fractions in the range
at the 90% confidence level. These upper limits
include the first results for the mode as well as new limits that
are significantly more restrictive than our previous results for the , , and modes.Comment: 7 pages, 16 figure
Improved measurement of CP-violating parameters in rho+rho- decays
We present a measurement of the CP-violating asymmetry in rho+rho- decays
using 535 million BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB
e+e- collider. We measure CP-violating coefficients A = 0.16 +- 0.21(stat) +-
0.07 (syst) and S = 0.19 +- 0.30(stat) +- 0.07 (syst}. These values are used to
determine the unitarity triangle angle phi_2 using an isospin analysis; the
solution consistent with Standard Model lies in the range 53 < phi_2 < 114 deg.
at 90 C.L.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, presented at JPS/DPF 2006 (Added KEK, BELLE
preprint numbers, submitted to PRD(RC)
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