244 research outputs found
Multifunctional cytokine production reveals functional superiority of memory CD4 T cells
T cell protective immunity is associated with multifunctional memory cells that produce several different cytokines. Currently, our understanding of when and how these cells are generated is limited. We have used an influenza virus mouse infection model to investigate whether the cytokine profile of memory T cells is reflective of primary responding cells or skewed towards a distinct profile. We found that, in comparison to primary cells, memory T cells tended to make multiple cytokines simultaneously. Analysis of the timings of release of cytokine by influenza virusâspecific T cells, demonstrated that primary responding CD4 T cells from lymphoid organs were unable to produce a sustained cytokine response. In contrast CD8 T cells, memory CD4 T cells, and primary responding CD4 T cells from the lung produced a sustained cytokine response throughout the restimulation period. Moreover, memory CD4 T cells were more resistant than primary responding CD4 T cells to inhibitors that suppress T cell receptor signalling. Together, these data suggest that memory CD4 T cells display superior cytokine responses compared to primary responding cells. These data are key to our ability to identify the cues that drive the generation of protective memory CD4 T cells following infection
Modern African nuclear detector laboratory: Development of state-of-the-art in-house detector facility at the University of the Western Cape
The upcoming detector facility aims at developing new state-of-the-art particle detectors as well as providing hands-on training to postgraduate students using both analog and digital signal processing from nuclear radiation detectors. The project is two-fold and aims at developing: 1) ancillary detectors to be coupled with the new GAMKA array at iThemba LABS. Of particular interest to our group is the determination of nuclear shapes, which depend on the hyperfine splitting of magnetic substates; 2) PET scanners for cancer imaging using a cheaper technology. Performance of NaI(Tl) inorganic scintillator detectors has been evaluated using PIXIE-16 modules from XIA digital electronics. Gamma-ray energy spectra were acquired from 60Co and 137Cs radioactive sources to calculate the detector resolution as well as to optimize the digital parameters. The present study focuses on improving and optimizing the slow and fast filter parameters for NaI(Tl) detectors which can eventually be used in the list mode of data aquisition
Perspectives in visual imaging for marine biology and ecology: from acquisition to understanding
Durden J, Schoening T, Althaus F, et al. Perspectives in Visual Imaging for Marine Biology and Ecology: From Acquisition to Understanding. In: Hughes RN, Hughes DJ, Smith IP, Dale AC, eds. Oceanography and Marine Biology: An Annual Review. 54. Boca Raton: CRC Press; 2016: 1-72
Developing a predictive modelling capacity for a climate change-vulnerable blanket bog habitat: Assessing 1961-1990 baseline relationships
Aim: Understanding the spatial distribution of high priority habitats and
developing predictive models using climate and environmental variables to
replicate these distributions are desirable conservation goals. The aim of this
study was to model and elucidate the contributions of climate and topography to
the distribution of a priority blanket bog habitat in Ireland, and to examine how
this might inform the development of a climate change predictive capacity for
peat-lands in Ireland.
Methods: Ten climatic and two topographic variables were recorded for grid
cells with a spatial resolution of 1010 km, covering 87% of the mainland
land surface of Ireland. Presence-absence data were matched to these variables
and generalised linear models (GLMs) fitted to identify the main climatic and
terrain predictor variables for occurrence of the habitat. Candidate predictor
variables were screened for collinearity, and the accuracy of the final fitted GLM
was evaluated using fourfold cross-validation based on the area under the curve
(AUC) derived from a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) plot. The GLM
predicted habitat occurrence probability maps were mapped against the actual
distributions using GIS techniques.
Results: Despite the apparent parsimony of the initial GLM using only climatic
variables, further testing indicated collinearity among temperature and precipitation
variables for example. Subsequent elimination of the collinear variables and
inclusion of elevation data produced an excellent performance based on the AUC
scores of the final GLM. Mean annual temperature and total mean annual
precipitation in combination with elevation range were the most powerful
explanatory variable group among those explored for the presence of blanket
bog habitat.
Main conclusions: The results confirm that this habitat distribution in general
can be modelled well using the non-collinear climatic and terrain variables tested
at the grid resolution used. Mapping the GLM-predicted distribution to the
observed distribution produced useful results in replicating the projected
occurrence of the habitat distribution over an extensive area. The methods
developed will usefully inform future climate change predictive modelling for
Irelan
Reproductive aging-associated common genetic variants and the risk of breast cancer
Introduction: A younger age at menarche and an older age at menopause are well established risk factors for breast cancer. Recent genome-wide association studies have identified several novel genetic loci associated with these two traits. However, the association between these loci and breast cancer risk is unknown.Methods: In this study, we investigated 19 and 17 newly identified single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) from the ReproGen Consortium that have been associated with age at menarche and age at natural menopause, respectively, and assessed their associations with breast cancer risk in 6 population-based studies among up to 3,683 breast cancer cases and 34,174 controls in white women of European ancestry. In addition, we used these SNPs to calculate genetic risk scores (GRSs) based on their associations with each trait.Results: After adjusting for age and potential population stratification, two age at menarche associated SNPs (rs1079866 and rs7821178) and one age at natural menopause associated SNP (rs2517388) were associated with breast cancer risk (p values, 0.003, 0.009 and 0.023, respectively). The odds ratios for breast cancer corresponding to per-risk-allele were 1.14 (95% CI, 1.05 to 1.24), 1.08 (95% CI, 1.02 to 1.15) and 1.10 (95% CI, 1.01 to 1.20), respectively, and were in the direction predicted by their associations with age at menarche or age at natural menopause. These associations did not appear to be attenuated by further controlling for self-reported age at menarche, age at natural menopause, or known breast cancer susceptibility loci. Although we did not observe a statistically significant association between any GRS for reproductive aging and breast cancer risk, the 4 th and 5 th highest quintiles of the younger age at menarche GRS had odds ratios of 1.14 (95% CI, 1.01 to 1.28) and 1.13 (95% CI, 1.00 to 1.27), respectively, compared to the lowest quintile.Conclusions: Our study suggests that three genetic variants, independent of their associations with age at menarche or age at natural menopause, were associated with breast cancer risk and may contribute modestly to breast cancer risk prediction; however, the combination of the 19 age at
Solar parameters for modeling interplanetary background
The goal of the Fully Online Datacenter of Ultraviolet Emissions (FONDUE)
Working Team of the International Space Science Institute in Bern, Switzerland,
was to establish a common calibration of various UV and EUV heliospheric
observations, both spectroscopic and photometric. Realization of this goal
required an up-to-date model of spatial distribution of neutral interstellar
hydrogen in the heliosphere, and to that end, a credible model of the radiation
pressure and ionization processes was needed. This chapter describes the solar
factors shaping the distribution of neutral interstellar H in the heliosphere.
Presented are the solar Lyman-alpha flux and the solar Lyman-alpha resonant
radiation pressure force acting on neutral H atoms in the heliosphere, solar
EUV radiation and the photoionization of heliospheric hydrogen, and their
evolution in time and the still hypothetical variation with heliolatitude.
Further, solar wind and its evolution with solar activity is presented in the
context of the charge exchange ionization of heliospheric hydrogen, and in the
context of dynamic pressure variations. Also the electron ionization and its
variation with time, heliolatitude, and solar distance is presented. After a
review of all of those topics, we present an interim model of solar wind and
the other solar factors based on up-to-date in situ and remote sensing
observations of solar wind. Results of this effort will further be utilised to
improve on the model of solar wind evolution, which will be an invaluable asset
in all heliospheric measurements, including, among others, the observations of
Energetic Neutral Atoms by the Interstellar Boundary Explorer (IBEX).Comment: Chapter 2 in the planned "Cross-Calibration of Past and Present Far
UV Spectra of Solar System Objects and the Heliosphere", ISSI Scientific
Report No 12, ed. R.M. Bonnet, E. Quemerais, M. Snow, Springe
Ï production in pâPb collisions at âsNN=8.16 TeV
Ï production in pâPb interactions is studied at the centre-of-mass energy per nucleonânucleon collision âsNN = 8.16 TeV with the ALICE detector at the CERN LHC. The measurement is performed reconstructing bottomonium resonances via their dimuon decay channel, in the centre-of-mass rapidity intervals 2.03 < ycms < 3.53 and â4.46 < ycms < â2.96, down to zero transverse momentum. In this work, results on the Ï(1S) production cross section as a function of rapidity and transverse momentum are presented. The corresponding nuclear modification factor shows a suppression of the Ï(1S) yields with respect to pp collisions, both at forward and backward rapidity. This suppression is stronger in the low transverse momentum region and shows no significant dependence on the centrality of the interactions. Furthermore, the Ï(2S) nuclear modification factor is evaluated, suggesting a suppression similar to that of the Ï(1S). A first measurement of the Ï(3S) has also been performed. Finally, results are compared with previous ALICE measurements in pâPb collisions at âsNN = 5.02 TeV and with theoretical calculations.publishedVersio
(Anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions at 1as=13TeV
The study of (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions has proven to be a powerful tool to investigate the formation mechanism of loosely bound states in high-energy hadronic collisions. In this paper the production of (anti-)deuterons is studied as a function of the charged particle multiplicity in inelastic pp collisions at s=13 TeV using the ALICE experiment. Thanks to the large number of accumulated minimum bias events, it has been possible to measure (anti-)deuteron production in pp collisions up to the same charged particle multiplicity (d Nch/ d \u3b7 3c 26) as measured in p\u2013Pb collisions at similar centre-of-mass energies. Within the uncertainties, the deuteron yield in pp collisions resembles the one in p\u2013Pb interactions, suggesting a common formation mechanism behind the production of light nuclei in hadronic interactions. In this context the measurements are compared with the expectations of coalescence and statistical hadronisation models (SHM)
Hepatitis C in patients co-infected with human immunodeficiency virus. A review and experience of a Brazilian ambulatory
- âŠ