On the exact gravitational lens equation in spherically symmetric and static spacetimes

Lensing in a spherically symmetric and static spacetime is considered, based on the lightlike geodesic equation without approximations. After fixing two radius values r_O and r_S, lensing for an observation event somewhere at r_O and static light sources distributed at r_S is coded in a lens equation that is explicitly given in terms of integrals over the metric coefficients. The lens equation relates two angle variables and can be easily plotted if the metric coefficients have been specified; this allows to visualize in a convenient way all relevant lensing properties, giving image positions, apparent brightnesses, image distortions, etc. Two examples are treated: Lensing by a Barriola-Vilenkin monopole and lensing by an Ellis wormhole.Comment: REVTEX, 11 pages, 12 eps-figures, figures partly improved, minor revision

α-Synuclein-specific T cell reactivity is associated with preclinical and early Parkinson’s disease

A diagnosis of motor Parkinson’s disease (PD) is preceded by a prolonged premotor phase with accumulating neuronal damage. Here we examined the temporal relation between α-synuclein (α-syn) T cell reactivity and PD. A longitudinal case study revealed that elevated α-syn-specific T cell responses were detected prior to the diagnosis of motor PD, and declined after. The relationship between T cell reactivity and early PD in two independent cohorts showed that α-syn-specific T cell responses were highest shortly after diagnosis of motor PD and then decreased. Additional analysis revealed significant association of α-syn-specific T cell responses with age and lower levodopa equivalent dose. These results confirm the presence of α-syn-reactive T cells in PD and show that they are most abundant immediately after diagnosis of motor PD. These cells may be present years before the diagnosis of motor PD, suggesting avenues of investigation into PD pathogenesis and potential early diagnosis

Studies of the S₁ state in a prototypical molecular wire using picosecond time-resolved spectroscopies

Picosecond time-resolved resonance Raman spectroscopy, TR3, reveals an intense acetylenic band in the S1 state of the prototypical molecular wire 1,4-bis(phenylethynyl)benzene

The TCR repertoire of α-synuclein-specific T cells in Parkinson’s disease is surprisingly diverse

The self-antigen α-synuclein (α-syn) was recently shown to be associated with Parkinson’s disease (PD). Here we mapped the T cell receptor (TCR) repertoire of α-syn-specific T cells from six PD patients. The self-antigen α-syn-specific repertoire was compared to the repertoire of T cells specific for pertussis (PT), as a representative foreign antigen that most individuals are exposed to, revealing that the repertoire for α-syn was as diverse as the repertoire for PT. The diversity of PT-specific clonotypes was similar between individuals with PD diagnosis and age-matched healthy controls. We found that the TCR repertoire was specific to each PD patient, and no shared TCRs among patients were defined, likely due to differences in HLA expression that select for different subsets of epitope-specific TCR rearrangements. This study provides the first characterization of α-syn-specific TCR clonotypes in individuals with PD. Antigen-specific TCRs can serve as immunotherapeutics and diagnostics, and means to track longitudinal changes in specific T cells, and disease progression

Reorganization of corticostriatal circuits in healthy G2019S LRRK2 carriers

Contains fulltext : 199453.pdf (publisher's version ) (Closed access)OBJECTIVE: We investigated system-level corticostriatal changes in a human model of premotor Parkinson disease (PD), i.e., healthy carriers of the G2019S LRRK2 mutation that is associated with a markedly increased, age-dependent risk of developing PD. METHODS: We compared 37 asymptomatic LRRK2 G2019S mutation carriers (age range 30-78 years) with 32 matched, asymptomatic nonmutation carriers (age range 30-74 years). Using fMRI, we tested the hypothesis that corticostriatal connectivity in premotor PD shifts from severely affected to less affected striatal subregions, as shown previously in symptomatic PD. Specifically, we predicted that in premotor PD, the shift in corticostriatal connectivity would follow the same gradient of striatal dopamine depletion known from overt PD, with the dorsoposterior putamen being more affected than the ventroanterior putamen. RESULTS: The known parallel topology of corticostriatal loops was preserved in each group, but the topography of putamen connectivity shifted. In LRRK2 G2019S mutation carriers, the right inferior parietal cortex had reduced functional connectivity with the dorsoposterior putamen but increased connectivity with the ventroanterior putamen, as compared with noncarriers. This shift in functional connectivity increased with age in LRRK2 G2019S mutation carriers. CONCLUSIONS: Asymptomatic LRRK2 G2019S mutation carriers show a reorganization of corticostriatal circuits that mirrors findings in idiopathic PD. These changes may reflect premotor basal ganglia dysfunction or circuit-level compensatory changes.8 p

Energy Momentum of Marder Universe in Teleparallel gravity

This paper has been removed by arXiv administrators because of overlap with gr-qc/0408043 and 0706.3245. This paper has excessive overlap with the following papers also written by the authors or their collaborators: gr-qc/0607110, gr-qc/0607126, gr-qc/0608024, gr-qc/0603044, gr-qc/0505078, gr-qc/0502042, gr-qc/0502031, gr-qc/0606028, gr-qc/0508018, gr-qc/0511095, and others.Comment: This submission has been withdrawn by arXiv administrators due to inappropriate text reuse from external source