Th1 Th2, Tc1 Tc2 cells of patients with otolaryngological diseases

ABSTRACTCytokines are important regulatory mediators secreted by T cells and other immunoactive cells. Based on the cytokine synthesis patterns, CD4 T cells can often be classified into at least two populations with different immune regulatory functions. The Th1 cells, producing interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)-γ, are often associated with cell-mediated immune responses such as delayed type hypersensitivity (DTH), whereas Th2 cells, secreting IL-4, IL-5 and IL-13, usually provide B cell help and enhance allergic reactions. Naïve CD8 T cells, similar to CD4 T cells, can differentiate into at least two subsets of cytolytic effector cells with distinct cytokine patterns. The Tc1 cells secrete a Th 1 - like cytokine pattern, including IL-2 and IFN-γ. The Tc2 cells produce Th2 cytokines, including IL-4, IL-5 and 11—10. There is increasing evidence that Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 cytokine imbalance has been of patho- genetic importance in various diseases, such as allergic and autoimmune diseases. The present review article focuses on the evidence that the imbalance of Th1/Th2 and Tc1/Tc2 cytokines plays an important role in various otolaryngological diseases, such as Kimura's disease, Wegener's granulomatosism, acute perceptive hearing loss and Meniere's disease. It is concluded that the predominance of Th 1 or Th2 and Tc1 or Tc2 cells may contribute to the mechanism in the pathogenesis of these otolaryngological diseases

Analysis of chironomid allergens using specific T cell lines and clones in humans.

To analyze the possible major T cell recognition site(s) of chironomid antigens, we established human T cell lines and clones (CD3+ 4+ 8-) reactive to soluble extracts of the adult midge of Tokunagayusurika akamusi (TAA) and/or Chironomus yoshimatsui (CYA). All T cell lines and clones proliferated heavily in response to relatively large molecular weight fractions of TAA (MW greater than or equal to 15,000). Nine clones reactive to TAA were classified into 3 groups according to reactivity, indicating the existence of at least 3 distinct T cell recognition sites in TAA. Five T cell clones responded to both TAA and CYA, although the two chironomid antigens were serologically distinct. We conclude that T cell recognition sites of chironomid antigens are different from B cell recognition sites in humans.</p

Boiling heat transfer characteristics of immiscible liquid mixtures

Paper presented at the 9th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Malta, 16-18 July, 2012.Cooling technology becomes more important because of the increase in heat generation density of semiconductor chips. Boiling and two-phase flow is expected as one of the most effective methods to cool the electronic devices because of its superior heat transfer characteristics. Because the boiling heat transfer depends on the selection of coolant, the development of liquid mixtures and their components optimized for the individual cooling systems becomes very important. Most of the existing researches on nucleate boiling of binary mixtures clarify the heat transfer characteristics peculiar to the miscible ones, while the studies for immiscible mixtures were very limited. Pool boiling experiments on nucleate boiling of immiscible mixture FC72/Water are performed in a closed vessel at 0.1MPa. The experimental data is acquired under the steady-state conditions at heat flux ranging from those for the boiling incipience to CHF or to the highest possible value under the restriction of the available cooling. Before the experiments, the height of liquid layers on the horizontal heating surface is kept at a constant value of 100mm, and the thickness of FC72 layer above the heating surface is varied at three different values of 5mm, 10mm and 50mm. A new phenomena of “intermediate burnout” due to the evaporation of FC72 is observed provided that the layer thickness of FC72 is not large. At heat flux higher than that for intermediate burnout, the immiscible mixture decreases the surface temperature from that for pure water and simultaneously increases CHF. The immiscible mixture has a potential to realize high performance heat exchange systems by the self-sustaining subcooling of components under the constant system pressure.dc201

Serum Concentrations of Eosinophil Cationic Protein and Eosinophils of Patients with Kimura's Disease

ABSTRACTBackground: To clarify the role of eosinophils in the pathogenesis of Kimura's disease and the values of measuring serum levels of eosinophil cationic protein (ECP) for monitoring disease activity might be very important, but there are few reports about this matter.Methods: A total 14 serum and 7 tissue samples from patients with Kimura's disease were studied. The concentrations of ECP and cytokines (interleukin-4 (IL-4), granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), and interleukin 5 (IL-5)) in sera from patients with Kimura's disease were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The density of eosinophils and the degree of activation of eosinophils in the tissue were also studied immunohistochemically.Results: The concentration of ECP in sera from patients with Kimura's disease was significantly higher than that in the control group (p<0.05). At the time of the remission, a significant decrease of ECP was observed. In interfollicular areas, most infiltrated eosinophils were positive for EG2 antibody (64.0-94.0%) and the mean percentage of EG2-positive eosinophils was 75.7%. The concentrations of IL-4, gM-CSF, and IL-5 in sera from patients with Kimura's disease were within normal ranges or below the detectable level in all sera examined.Conclusions: Our findings suggest that eosinophils play an important role in the pathogenesis of Kimura's disease and ECP may be used as an additional parameter of disease activity

Brain Abscess as a Rare Complication of Primary Extranodal Nasal-type Natural Killer/T-cell Lymphoma

We present the case of a 58-year-old Japanese woman with a natural killer T (NK/T)-cell lymphoma complicated by brain abscess. NK/T-cell lymphomas represent a rare type of lymphoma derived from either activated NK cells or, rarely, cytotoxic T cells. They are aggressive Epstein-Barr virus (EBV)-associated lymphomas that involve mainly the nasal cavity. Brain abscess associated with primary extranodal nasal-type NK/T-cell lymphoma is extremely uncommon: to our knowledge, this is the first reported case of this lymphoma with brain abscess as the initial clinical manifestation. Endoscopic surgery was performed for definitive diagnosis under intraoperative navigation system. Chemotherapy followed by radiotherapy was performed and was effective: 72 months later the tumor has not recurred. Recommendations of endoscopic management for diagnosis and treatment of this rare neoplasm are discussed

Clustering of red Galaxies near the Radio-loud Quasar 1335.8+2834 at z=1.1

We have obtained new deep optical and near-infrared images of the field of the radio-loud quasar 1335.8+2834 at $z=1.086$ where an excess in the surface number density of galaxies was reported by Hutchings et al. [AJ, 106, 1324] from optical data. We found a significant clustering of objects with very red optical-near infrared colors, $4 \lesssim R-K \lesssim 6$ and $3 \lesssim I-K \lesssim 5$ near the quasar. The colors and magnitudes of the reddest objects are consistent with those of old (12 Gyr old at z=0) passively-evolving elliptical galaxies seen at $z=1.1$, clearly defining a `red envelope' like that found in galaxy clusters at similar or lower redshifts. This evidence strongly suggests that the quasar resides in a moderately-rich cluster of galaxies (richness-class $\geq 0$). There is also a relatively large fraction of objects with moderately red colors ($3.5 < R-K < 4.5$) which have a distribution on the sky similar to that of the reddest objects. They may be interpreted as cluster galaxies with some recent or on-going star formation.Comment: 14 pages text, 5 PostScript figures, 1 GIF figure, and 1 combined PS file. Accepted for ApJ, Letter

IL-18 with IL-2 protects against Strongyloides venezuelensis infection by activating mucosal mast cell–dependent type 2 innate immunity

C57BL/6 (B6) and B6 background STAT6−/− mice pretreated with IL-18 plus IL-2 showed prominent intestinal mastocytosis and rapidly expelled implanted adult worms of the gastrointestinal nematode Strongyloides venezuelensis. In contrast, identically pretreated mast cell–deficient W/Wv mice failed to do so. Thus, activated mucosal mast cells (MMC) are crucial for parasite expulsion. B6 mice infected with S. venezuelensis third-stage larvae (L3) completed parasite expulsion by day 12 after infection, whereas IL-18−/− or IL-18Rα−/− B6 mice exhibited marked impairment in parasite expulsion, suggesting a substantial contribution of IL-18–dependent MMC activation to parasite expulsion. Compared with IL-18−/− or IL-18Rα−/− mice, S. venezuelensis L3–infected STAT6−/− mice have poorly activated MMC and sustained infection; although their IL-18 production is normal. Neutralization of IL-18 and IL-2 further reduces expulsion in infected STAT6−/− mice. These results suggest that collaboration between IL-18–dependent and Th2 cell–dependent mastocytosis is important for prompt parasite expulsion

Risk of transmission of viral haemorrhagic fevers and the insecticide susceptibility status of aedes aegypti (linnaeus) in some sites in Accra, Ghana

Background: Dengue is one of the emerging diseases that can mostly only be controlled by vector control since there is no vaccine for the disease. Although, Dengue has not been reported in Ghana, movement of people from neighbouring countries where the disease has been reported can facilitate transmission of the disease. Objective: This study was carried on the University of Ghana campus to determine the risk of transmission of viral haemorrhagic fevers and the insecticide susceptibility status of Ae. aegypti in some sites in Accra, Ghana. Design: Larval surveys were carried to inspect containers within households and estimate larval indices and adult Aedes mosquitoes were collected using human landing collection technique. WHO tube assays was used to assess the insecticide susceptibility status of Aedes mosquitoes. Results: Ae. aegypti were the most prevalent species, 75.5% and followed by Ae. vittatus, 23.9 %. Ae. albopictus and Ae. granti were in smaller numbers. Household index (HI), Breteau index (BI), and container index were calculated as 8.2%, 11.2% and 10.3% respectively with man-vector contact rate of 0.67 bites/man-hour estimated for the area. The mortalities recorded for Ae. aegypti from WHO tube assays was 88%, 94%, 80% and 99% for DDT (4%), deltamethrin (0.05%), lambdacyhalothrin (0.05%) and permethrin (0.75%) respectively.Conclusion: The survey results indicated that the density of Aedes mosquitoes was considered to be sufficient to promote an outbreak of viral haemorrhagic fevers on Legon Campus. Aedes mosquitoes were found to be resistant to DDT, deltamethrin and lamdacyhalothrin, but susceptible to permethrin. Funding: This study was supported in part by Japan Initiative for Global Research Network on Infectious Diseases(J-Grid).Keywords: Mosquitoes, Aedes aegypti, insecticide, risk, VHF transmission, Ghan