1,967 research outputs found
Proteinase-activated receptor-2 modulates human macrophage differentiation andeffector function
Proteinase-activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) was shown to influence immune regulation; however, its role in human macrophage subset development and function has not been addressed. Here, PAR-2 expression and activation was investigated on granulocyte macrophage (GM)-CSF(M1) and macrophage (M)-CSF(M2) macrophages. In both macrophages, the PAR-2-activating peptide, SLIGKV, increased PAR-2 expression and regulated TNF-α and IL-10 secretion in a manner similar to LPS. In addition, HLA-DR on M1 cells also increased. Monocytes matured to an M1 phenotype in the presence of SLIGKV had reduced cell area, and released less TNF-α after LPS challenge compared with vehicle (P < 0.05, n = 3). Cells matured to an M2 phenotype with SLIGKV also had a reduced cell area and made significantly more TNF-α after LPS exposure compared to vehicle (P < 0.05, n = 3) with reduced IL-10 secretion (P < 0.05, n = 3). Thus, PAR-2 activation on macrophage subsets regulates HLA-DR and PAR-2 surface expression, and drives cytokine production. In contrast, PAR-2 activation during M1 or M2 maturation induces altered cell morphology and skewing of phenotype, as evidenced by cytokine secretion. These data suggest a complex role for PAR-2 in macrophage biology and may have implications for macrophage-driven disease in which proteinase-rich environments can influence the immune process directly
Genralized Robustness of Entanglement
The robustness of entanglement results of Vidal and Tarrach considered the
problem whereby an entangled state is mixed with a separable state so that the
overall state becomes non-entangled. In general it is known that there are also
cases when entangled states are mixed with other entangled states and where the
sum is separable. In this paper, we treat the more general case where entangled
states can be mixed with any states so that the resulting mixture is
unentangled. It is found that entangled pure states for this generalized case
have the same robustness as the restricted case of Vidal and Tarrach.Comment: Final version. Editorial changes and references added to independent
wor
Two cases of fungal keratitis caused by Metarhizium anisopliae
We present two cases of keratitis due to Metarhizium anisopliae in geographically separated areas of the United States. The isolates were microscopically similar but morphologically different and were identified by ribosomal DNA sequencing. Both isolates had low minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values to caspofungin and micafungin, but high MIC values to amphotericin B. The morphologic and antifungal susceptibility differences between the two isolates indicate possible polyphylogeny of the group. Keywords: Metarhizium, Fungal keratitis, Keratomycosis, Antifungal susceptibilit
Design Research Units and Small to Medium Enterprises (SMEs): An Approach for Advancing Technology and Competitive Strength in Australia
© 2018 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This paper makes the case that small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in the manufacturing sector have the potential to benefit from connections with design research units operating within universities. It points out some of the challenges associated with research and development for SMEs, and argues design research units can allow SMEs to better meet these challenges. Additive Manufacturing is used as an exemplary emerging technology that makes explicit the new possibilities and instability of the contemporary manufacturing landscape. A case study is used to articulate the potentials and limitations of industry and university partnerships in design. In conclusion, two alternative models are analysed in order to highlight different ends to which the practitioner-based research can be put
Microfabrication of Optically Flat Silicon Micro-Mirrors for Fully Programmable Micro-Diffraction Gratings
AbstractWe have fabricated and characterized a Fully Programmable Micro-Diffraction Grating (FPMDG) with 64 silicon micro-mirrors for spectral shaping in the visible and near-infrared wavelength range. The FPMDG arrays of 50μm and 80μm wide and 700μm long silicon micro-mirrors have been fabricated in a process based on anodic bonding of an 8μm-SOI wafer and a borosilicate glass wafer. The detrimental bending of the micro-mirrors during electrostatic actuation has been minimized through separation of the mechanical and optical sections of the device. Flexures incorporating serpentine structures have been used to reduce the actuation dependence on length and thickness. Independent addressing of the micro-mirrors with negligible cross-talk and with bending of the micro-mirrors smaller than 0.14μm over 700μm have been demonstrated
HST/WFC3 Observations of an Off-Nuclear Superbubble in Arp 220
We present a high spatial resolution optical and infrared study of the
circumnuclear region in Arp 220, a late-stage galaxy merger. Narrowband imaging
using HST/WFC3 has resolved the previously observed peak in H+[NII]
emission into a bubble-shaped feature. This feature measures 1.6" in diameter,
or 600 pc, and is only 1" northwest of the western nucleus. The bubble is
aligned with the western nucleus and the large-scale outflow axis seen in
X-rays. We explore several possibilities for the bubble origin, including a jet
or outflow from a hidden active galactic nucleus (AGN), outflows from high
levels of star formation within the few hundred pc nuclear gas disk, or an
ultraluminous X-ray source. An obscured AGN or high levels of star formation
within the inner 100 pc of the nuclei are favored based on the alignment
of the bubble and energetics arguments.Comment: Accepted for publication in ApJ. 12 pages, 10 figure
A Multi-Frequency Radio Study of Supernova Remnant G292.0+1.8 and its Pulsar Wind Nebula
(Abridged) We present a detailed radio study of the young supernova remnant
(SNR) G292.0+1.8 and its associated pulsar PSR J1124-5916, using the Australia
Telescope Compact Array at observing wavelengths of 20, 13 and 6 cm. We find
that the radio morphology of the source consists of three main components: a
polarized flat-spectrum central core coincident with the pulsar J1124-5916, a
surrounding circular steep-spectrum plateau with sharp outer edges and,
superimposed on the plateau, a series of radial filaments with spectra
significantly flatter than their surroundings. HI absorption argues for a lower
limit on the distance to the system of 6 kpc.
The core clearly corresponds to radio emission from a pulsar wind nebula
powered by PSR J1124-5916, while the plateau represents the surrounding SNR
shell. The plateau's sharp outer rim delineates the SNR's forward shock, while
the thickness of the plateau region demonstrates that the forward and reverse
shocks are well-separated. Assuming a distance of 6 kpc and an age for the
source of 2500 yr, we infer an expansion velocity for the SNR of ~1200 km/s and
an ambient density ~0.9 cm^-3. We interpret the flat-spectrum radial filaments
superimposed on the steeper-spectrum plateau as Rayleigh-Taylor unstable
regions between the forward and reverse shocks of the SNR. The flat radio
spectrum seen for these features results from efficient second-order Fermi
acceleration in strongly amplified magnetic fields.Comment: 11 pages of text, plus 7 embedded EPS figures. Accepted to ApJ. Added
missing units on x-axis of Fig
Nonlinear software sensor for monitoring genetic regulation processes with noise and modeling errors
Nonlinear control techniques by means of a software sensor that are commonly
used in chemical engineering could be also applied to genetic regulation
processes. We provide here a realistic formulation of this procedure by
introducing an additive white Gaussian noise, which is usually found in
experimental data. Besides, we include model errors, meaning that we assume we
do not know the nonlinear regulation function of the process. In order to
illustrate this procedure, we employ the Goodwin dynamics of the concentrations
[B.C. Goodwin, Temporal Oscillations in Cells, (Academic Press, New York,
1963)] in the simple form recently applied to single gene systems and some
operon cases [H. De Jong, J. Comp. Biol. 9, 67 (2002)], which involves the
dynamics of the mRNA, given protein, and metabolite concentrations. Further, we
present results for a three gene case in co-regulated sets of transcription
units as they occur in prokaryotes. However, instead of considering their full
dynamics, we use only the data of the metabolites and a designed software
sensor. We also show, more generally, that it is possible to rebuild the
complete set of nonmeasured concentrations despite the uncertainties in the
regulation function or, even more, in the case of not knowing the mRNA
dynamics. In addition, the rebuilding of concentrations is not affected by the
perturbation due to the additive white Gaussian noise and also we managed to
filter the noisy output of the biological systemComment: 21 pages, 7 figures; also selected in vjbio of August 2005; this
version corrects a misorder in the last three references of the published
versio
- …