315 research outputs found
Leukotrienes provide an NFAT-dependent signal that synergizes with IL-33 to activate ILC2s.
Group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) and type 2 helper T cells (Th2 cells) are the primary source of interleukin 5 (IL-5) and IL-13 during type 2 (allergic) inflammation in the lung. In Th2 cells, T cell receptor (TCR) signaling activates the transcription factors nuclear factor of activated T cells (NFAT), nuclear factor ÎșB (NF-ÎșB), and activator protein 1 (AP-1) to induce type 2 cytokines. ILC2s lack a TCR and respond instead to locally produced cytokines such as IL-33. Although IL-33 induces AP-1 and NF-ÎșB, NFAT signaling has not been described in ILC2s. In this study, we report a nonredundant NFAT-dependent role for lipid-derived leukotrienes (LTs) in the activation of lung ILC2s. Using cytokine reporter and LT-deficient mice, we find that complete disruption of LT signaling markedly diminishes ILC2 activation and downstream responses during type 2 inflammation. Type 2 responses are equivalently attenuated in IL-33- and LT-deficient mice, and optimal ILC2 activation reflects potent synergy between these pathways. These findings expand our understanding of ILC2 regulation and may have important implications for the treatment of airways disease
Uptake to a community based chronic illness rehabilitation programme (CBCIR): Is there a gender disparity?
Background: Multi-morbidity and chronic conditions pose a threat to population health. Despite known benefits of rehabilitation using structured exercise, uptake to such programmes remain sub-optimal. The aim of this study is to identify the psychosocial and health related fitness correlates of uptake to a CBCIR in men and women, with the secondary aim of identifying the rate of uptake. Methods: Participants referred to a CBCIR via GPs and hospitals completed an induction process. This introduced them to the CBCIR programme and got them to complete a multi-section questionnaire (including instruments on physical activity, exercise self-efficacy, intentions for exercise, and perceived family/friend social support) and complete a battery of physical health measures (including the Incremental shuttle walk test (ISWT), a lower body strength test and body mass index (BMI)). Post induction participants who attended an exercise class were classified as âUptakersâ, whilst those who never came back were classified as âNon-Uptakersâ. Class attendance was objectively monitored by the researchers. Data were analysed using SPSS, and are presented using means, standard deviations and proportions, group differences are examined via t-tests and logistic regression was used to predict uptake. Results: A total of 441 participants (56% male; average age 64.3 ±12 years completed induction measures. Overall, 77% were identified as Uptakers (81% female, 74% male, p=0.068, 2-sided). Among men, Uptakers reported more days of 30mins moderate to vigorous physical activity (t(111) = -2.499,
Integrity Testing of Pile Cover Using Distributed Fibre Optic Sensing.
The integrity of cast-in-place foundation piles is a major concern in geotechnical engineering. In this study, distributed fibre optic sensing (DFOS) cables, embedded in a pile during concreting, are used to measure the changes in concrete curing temperature profile to infer concrete cover thickness through modelling of heat transfer processes within the concrete and adjacent ground. A field trial was conducted at a high-rise building construction site in London during the construction of a 51 m long test pile. DFOS cables were attached to the reinforcement cage of the pile at four different axial directions to obtain distributed temperature change data along the pile. The monitoring data shows a clear development of concrete hydration temperature with time and the pattern of the change varies due to small changes in concrete cover. A one-dimensional axisymmetric heat transfer finite element (FE) model is used to estimate the pile geometry with depth by back analysing the DFOS data. The results show that the estimated pile diameter varies with depth in the range between 1.40 and 1.56 m for this instrumented pile. This average pile diameter profile compares well to that obtained with the standard Thermal Integrity Profiling (TIP) method. A parametric study is conducted to examine the sensitivity of concrete and soil thermal properties on estimating the pile geometry
Hypervelocity Stars from the Andromeda Galaxy
Hypervelocity stars (HVSs) discovered in the Milky Way (MW) halo are thought
to be ejected from near the massive black hole (MBH) at the galactic centre. In
this paper we investigate the spatial and velocity distributions of the HVSs
which are expected to be similarly produced in the Andromeda galaxy (M31). We
consider three different HVS production mechanisms: (i) the disruption of
stellar binaries by the galactocentric MBH; (ii) the ejection of stars by an
in-spiraling intermediate mass black hole; and (iii) the scattering of stars
off a cluster of stellar-mass black holes orbiting around the MBH. While the
first two mechanisms would produce large numbers of HVSs in M31, we show that
the third mechanism would not be effective in M31. We numerically calculate
1.2*10^6 trajectories of HVSs from M31 within a simple model of the Local Group
and hence infer the current distribution of these stars. Gravitational focusing
of the HVSs by the MW and the diffuse Local Group medium leads to high
densities of low mass (~ solar mass) M31 HVSs near the MW. Within the
virialized MW halo, we expect there to be of order 1000 HVSs for the first
mechanism and a few hundred HVSs for the second mechanism; many of these stars
should have distinctively large approach velocities (< -500 km/s). In addition,
we predict ~5 hypervelocity RGB stars within the M31 halo which could be
identified observationally. Future MW astrometric surveys or searches for
distant giants could thus find HVSs from M31.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, changed to match version accepted by MNRA
A between sex analysis of self and proxy efficacy and its relationship with attendance at a community based chronic illness rehabilitation programme.
Background: Physical activity is a principal intervention in primary and secondary prevention of chronic
illness. While the benefits of community based rehabilitation is acknowledged,the rate of attendance and adherence remains sub optimal. Self-efficacy is acknowledged to be a key factor relating to adherence in rehabilitation but the construct of proxy efficacy, defined as oneâs confidence in the skills and abilities of a third party to function effectively on anotherâs behalf, is less often studied. This paper examines the relationship between gender and âselfâ and âproxy-efficacyâ and their potential role in attendance to a community based chronic illness rehabiliation (CBCIR) programme.
Methods: Participants attending induction at the programme completed a questionnaire assessing demographics and both self (9 items) and proxy efficacy for exercise (9 items) which was assessed on a Likert scale from 0 (not confident at all) to 10 (very confident), with a higher score indicating greater efficacy. Subsequently, attendance was objectively monitored by researchers at exercise sessions for 24 weeks.
Results: 69 participants (M age=65.5 +9.8 years, 56% Male) completed all measures. Mean proxy-efficacy and mean self-efficacy is significantly greater in women compared to men (p<0.05).
Mean proxy-efficacy was found to be higher than mean self-efficacy in both males (proxy-efficacy=8.7+1.2, self efficacy=8.3+1.8) and females (proxyefficacy= 7.7+2.2, self-efficacy=6.5+2.0) with no correlation between the variables. Correlational analyses found a moderate significant positive correlation between proxy efficacy and number of weeks attended in the 24 weeks (r=.440,p<.05) in women with no correlation observed between self-efficacy and weeks attended. No correlations are observed between either form of efficacy and attendance in men.
Discussion: Participants report greater confidence in the proxy agent than themselves as the agent. This was furthered in women with an association identified between proxy efficacy and 24-week attendance. These results suggest the importance of the proxy for women in a CBCIR setting but further longitudinal research should be carried out in the area of proxy efficacy and attendance at community based chronic illness rehabilitation programmes.
Implications: An understanding of these variables help CBCIR programme facilitators intervene to ensure greater attendance
Phase transition in exotic nuclei along the line
The abrupt structure change from the nuclei of to those of is investigated by means of shell model calculations. The basic
features of the even-even and odd-odd nuclei under consideration are nicely
reproduced. A sudden jump of nucleons into the upper shell at
is found to be the main reason that causes the qualitative structure
difference. It is argued that the structure change can be viewed as a decisive
change of the mean field, or a phase transition, along the line.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. Let
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A Literature Review on Technology Development Process (TDP) Models
Interaction of Recoiling Supermassive Black Holes with Stars in Galactic Nuclei
Supermassive black hole binaries (SMBHBs) are the products of frequent galaxy
mergers. The coalescence of the SMBHBs is a distinct source of gravitational
wave (GW) radiation. The detections of the strong GW radiation and their
possible electromagnetic counterparts are essential. Numerical relativity
suggests that the post-merger supermassive black hole (SMBH) gets a kick
velocity up to 4000 km/s due to the anisotropic GW radiations. Here we
investigate the dynamical co-evolution and interaction of the recoiling SMBHs
and their galactic stellar environments with one million direct N-body
simulations including the stellar tidal disruption by the recoiling SMBHs. Our
results show that the accretion of disrupted stars does not significantly
affect the SMBH dynamical evolution. We investigate the stellar tidal
disruption rates as a function of the dynamical evolution of oscillating SMBHs
in the galactic nuclei. Our simulations show that most of stellar tidal
disruptions are contributed by the unbound stars and occur when the oscillating
SMBHs pass through the galactic center. The averaged disruption rate is
~10^{-6} M_\odot yr^{-1}, which is about an order of magnitude lower than that
by a stationary SMBH at similar galactic nuclei. Our results also show that a
bound star cluster is around the oscillating SMBH of about ~ 0.7% the black
hole mass. In addition, we discover a massive cloud of unbound stars following
the oscillating SMBH. We also investigate the dependence of the results on the
SMBH masses and density slopes of the galactic nuclei.Comment: 38 pages, 10 figues; accepted for publication in Ap
Stratus Ocean Reference Station (20ËS, 85ËW) mooring recovery and deployment cruise STRATUS 8 R/V Ronald H. Brown cruise 07-09 October 9, 2007âNovember 6, 2007
The Ocean Reference Station at 20°S, 85°W under the stratus clouds west of northern Chile is
being maintained to provide ongoing climate-quality records of surface meteorology (air-sea
fluxes of heat, freshwater, and momentum), and of upper ocean temperature, salinity, and
velocity variability. The Stratus Ocean Reference Station (ORS Stratus) is supported by the
National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrationâs (NOAA) Climate Observation Program. It
is recovered and redeployed annually, with cruises between October and December.
During the October 2007 cruise on the NOAA ship Ronald H. Brown to the ORS Stratus site, the
primary activities were recovery of the Stratus 7 WHOI surface mooring that had been deployed
in October 2006, deployment of a new (Stratus 8) WHOI surface mooring at that site; in-situ
calibration of the buoy meteorological sensors by comparison with instrumentation put on board
the ship by staff of the NOAA Earth System Research Laboratory (ESRL); and observations of
the stratus clouds and lower atmosphere by NOAA ESRL. Meteorological sensors on a buoy for
the Pacific tsunami warning system were also serviced, in collaboration with the Hydrographic
and Oceanographic Service of the Chilean Navy (SHOA). The DART (Deep-Ocean Assessment
and Reporting of Tsunami) carries IMET sensors and subsurface oceanographic instruments. A
new DART II buoy was deployed north of the STRATUS buoy, by personnel from the National
Data Buoy Center (NDBC) Argo floats and drifters were launched, and CTD casts carried out
during the cruise.
The ORS Stratus buoys are equipped with two Improved Meteorological (IMET) systems, which
provide surface wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric
pressure, incoming shortwave radiation, incoming longwave radiation, precipitation rate, and sea
surface temperature. Additionally, the Stratus 8 buoy received a partial pressure of CO2 detector
from the Pacific Marine Environmental Laboratory (PMEL). IMET data are made available in
near real time using satellite telemetry. The mooring line carries instruments to measure ocean
salinity, temperature, and currents.
The ESRL instrumentation used during the 2007 cruise included cloud radar, radiosonde
balloons, and sensors for mean and turbulent surface meteorology. Finally, the cruise hosted a
teacher participating in NOAAâs Teacher at Sea Program.Funding was provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
under Grant No. NA17RJ1223 for the Cooperative Institute for Climate and Ocean Research (CICOR)
Understanding female careerism
Horner's fear of success construct rests on the assumption that women react negatively to achievements which violate their definition of appropriate gender-role behavior. Consistent with this assumption, the present investigation attempted to determine whether fear of success imagery expressed in response to different achievement-related cues would covary with (a) a woman's own gender-role orientation and/or (b) the perceived gender-role norms of her significant male. One hundred female honors students completed the Maferr Inventory of Feminine Values and responded to projective cues depicting competitive success characterized as (a) traditionally male, (b) traditionally female, (3) socialâdomestic, and (d) vicarious. Only one relationship reached significance. Women who perceived the significant male in their life as endorsing nontraditional gender-role behavior were more likely to respond negatively to vicarious success. Fear of success bore no relationship to the gender role of the subject herself. In view of these findings it is considered unwise to regard fear of success as the single, most powerful determinant of a woman's role choices. A more generalized cognitive model which incorporates additional intrapsychic as well as situational factors is proposed.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45588/1/11199_2004_Article_BF00287653.pd
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