18,247 research outputs found
Interaction between Cannabinoid System and Toll-Like Receptors Controls Inflammation
Since the discovery of the endocannabinoid system consisting of cannabinoid receptors, endogenous ligands, and biosynthetic and metabolizing enzymes, interest has been renewed in investigating the promise of cannabinoids as therapeutic agents. Abundant evidence indicates that cannabinoids modulate immune responses. An inflammatory response is triggered when innate immune cells receive a danger signal provided by pathogen- or damage-associated molecular patterns engaging pattern-recognition receptors. Toll-like receptor family members are prominent pattern-recognition receptors expressed on innate immune cells. Cannabinoids suppress Toll-like receptor-mediated inflammatory responses. However, the relationship between the endocannabinoid system and innate immune system may not be one-sided. Innate immune cells express cannabinoid receptors and produce endogenous cannabinoids. Hence, innate immune cells may play a role in regulating endocannabinoid homeostasis, and, in turn, the endocannabinoid system modulates local inflammatory responses. Studies designed to probe the interaction between the innate immune system and the endocannabinoid system may identify new potential molecular targets in developing therapeutic strategies for chronic inflammatory diseases. This review discusses the endocannabinoid system and Toll-like receptor family and evaluates the interaction between them
Character varieties of once-punctured torus bundles with tunnel number one
We determine the PSL_2(C) and SL_2(C) character varieties of the
once-punctured torus bundles with tunnel number one, i.e. the once-punctured
torus bundles that arise from filling one boundary component of the Whitehead
link exterior. In particular, we determine `natural' models for these algebraic
sets, identify them up to birational equivalence with smooth models, and
compute the genera of the canonical components. This enables us to compare
dilatations of the monodromies of these bundles with these genera. We also
determine the minimal polynomials for the trace fields of these manifolds.
Additionally we study the action of the symmetries of these manifolds upon
their character varieties, identify the characters of their lens space
fillings, and compute the twisted Alexander polynomials for their
representations to SL_2(C).Comment: 49 pages, 6 figure
Equidistribution of Algebraic Numbers of Norm One in Quadratic Number Fields
Given a fixed quadratic extension K of Q, we consider the distribution of
elements in K of norm 1 (denoted N). When K is an imaginary quadratic
extension, N is naturally embedded in the unit circle in C and we show that it
is equidistributed with respect to inclusion as ordered by the absolute Weil
height. By Hilbert's Theorem 90, an element in N can be written as
\alpha/\bar{\alpha} for some \alpha \in O_K, which yields another ordering of
\mathcal N given by the minimal norm of the associated algebraic integers. When
K is imaginary we also show that N is equidistributed in the unit circle under
this norm ordering. When K is a real quadratic extension, we show that N is
equidistributed with respect to norm, under the map \beta \mapsto \log| \beta |
\bmod{\log | \epsilon^2 |} where \epsilon is a fundamental unit of O_K.Comment: 19 pages, 2 figures, comments welcome
How to Cut a Third of Your Journal Subscriptions (and Keep Faculty Happy)
When faced with a 0% budget increase for fiscal year 2010, librarians at Gettysburg College designed a comprehensive review of journal subscriptions. Library staff began by gathering data about format(s), price, publisher, and more. Then subject librarians consulted with academic departments and asked faculty to review titles for relevance to current research and curriculum. 100% of departments cooperated with the review with a mixture of enthusiasm and concern; in the end, most offered to cancel about a third of their journal titles. By trimming multiple format subscriptions, relying on aggregator databases for full text content, cancelling titles that no longer support the curriculum, and cancelling a small number of high-cost subscriptions in favor of document delivery, the library met – and exceeded – its savings target. More importantly, by involving the faculty in every stage of the review process and sharing all available information, the library received absolutely no complaints about cancellations. This poster presentation will include a flow chart of the entire review process, sample review spreadsheets used by faculty in academic departments, and graphs showing cancellations by department. This journal review model is transferable to other academic libraries
Equidistribution of Elements of Norm 1 in Cyclic Extensions
Upon quotienting by units, the elements of norm 1 in a number field form
a countable subset of a torus of dimension where and
are the numbers of real and pairs of complex embeddings. When is
Galois with cyclic Galois group we demonstrate that this countable set is
equidistributed in this torus with respect to a natural partial ordering.Comment: 7 page
IMPACTS OF INCREASED CLIMATE VARIABILITY ON THE PROFITABILITY OF MIDWEST AGRICULTURE
Approximate profit functions are estimated using time-series, cross-sectional, county level data for 12 midwest states. Measures of climate variability are included in the profit functions. Simulated impacts of climate changes on profits are derived. Results show that inclusion of measures of climate variation are important for measuring the impact of changes in mean temperature and precipitation levels. Failure to account for the impact of differences in variability leads to an overestimate of damages. If global warming increases diurnal variation, such increases would have negative impacts on the profitability of midwest agriculture.climate change, climate variability, Midwest, profit function, Farm Management,
Policy-induced Internal Migration: An Empirical Investigation of the Canadian Case
We investigate the influence of public policy on interprovincial migration in Canada using new aggregated migration data for 1974-1996, the longest period studied so far. We consider the consequences of regional variation in a variety of policies, and also investigate the effects of certain extraordinary events in Quebec and in the Atlantic provinces. The results indicate that while the changing bias in the unemployment insurance system may have induced some people to move to the relatively high unemployment Atlantic region, the resulting flows are likely too small to have altered regional unemployment rates. In contrast, political events in Quebec in the 1970's and the closing of the cod fishery in 1992 appear to be associated with large changes in migration patterns.migration, regional disparity, public policy, unemployment insurance, conditional logit, taxation data
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