Villous B Cells of the Small Intestine Are Specialized for Invariant NK T Cell Dependence

B cells are important in mucosal microbial homeostasis through their well-known role in secretory IgA production and their emerging role in mucosal immunoregulation. Several specialized intraintestinal B cell compartments have been characterized, but the nature of conventional B cells in the lamina propria is poorly understood. In this study, we identify a B cell population predominantly composed of surface IgM+IgD+cells residing in villi of the small intestine and superficial lamina propria of the large intestine, but distinct from the intraepithelial compartment or organized intestinal lymphoid structures. Small intestinal (villous) B cells are diminished in genotypes that alter the strength of BCR signaling (Bruton tyrosine kinasexid, Gαi2−/−), and in mice lacking cognate BCR specificity. They are not dependent on enteric microbial sensing, because they are abundant in mice that are germfree or genetically deficient in TLR signaling. However, villous B cells are reduced in the absence of invariant NK T cells (Jα18−/− or CD1d−/− mice). These findings define a distinct population of conventional B cells in small intestinal villi, and suggest an immunologic link between CD1-restricted invariant NK T cells and this B cell population

Materializing digital collecting: an extended view of digital materiality

If digital objects are abundant and ubiquitous, why should consumers pay for, much less collect them? The qualities of digital code present numerous challenges for collecting, yet digital collecting can and does occur. We explore the role of companies in constructing digital consumption objects that encourage and support collecting behaviours, identifying material configuration techniques that materialise these objects as elusive and authentic. Such techniques, we argue, may facilitate those pleasures of collecting otherwise absent in the digital realm. We extend theories of collecting by highlighting the role of objects and the companies that construct them in materialising digital collecting. More broadly, we extend theories of digital materiality by highlighting processes of digital material configuration that occur in the pre-objectification phase of materialisation, acknowledging the role of marketing and design in shaping the qualities exhibited by digital consumption objects and consequently related consumption behaviours and experiences

. Contrast energy of the solid and outline O's compared (transform performed in 256 pixel image to avoid edge artifacts). Energy

Using a visual acuity criterion for legibility, outline fonts are about 82% less legible than their solid counterparts. Crowding effects are similar for the two types of fonts. Both sets of results can be adequately explained by contrast sensitivity of visual channels serving 1-4 c/character. Keywords Legibility, visual acuity, reading, typography. Introduction Several studies in recent years have demonstrated strong effects of typography on text legibility [1-6]. The approach taken in this laboratory has been to assess the effects of typographic variables by comparing legibility of fonts that vary only in the dimension of interest (e.g. stroke width, spacing). While in the past we have used reading speed as a legibility criterion [3,7], our recent work has defined legibility as the smallest letter size that can be effectively read. In the present study we examine the legibility of outline fonts relative to their solid counterparts, under conditions of wide and close spacing. Outli..