Immunoregulatory effects of AFP domains on monocyte-derived dendritic cell function

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) is a tumor-associated glycoprotein that functions in regulation of both ontogenic and oncogenic growth. Recent study showed that AFP can induce apoptosis or impair monocyte-derived dendritic cell (MDDC) function. However, it is still unclear which AFP domain (D-AFP) plays major role in this function.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>As expected monocytes cultured in the presence of Granulocyte Macrophage-Colony Stimulating Factor (GM-CSF) and Interleukin-4 (IL-4) developed into MDDC. Up-regulation of HLA-DR and CD11c as well as loss of CD14 molecules could be observed. Full length AFP (FL-AFP), domain 2 AFP (D2-AFP) and D3-AFP, but not D1-AFP, significantly inhibited the expression of HLA-DR^high/CD11c^highand CD80⁺/CD86^highmolecules. In contrast, CD83 expression was substantially down-regulated in all samples. Expression of CD40 was significantly suppressed by FL-AFP but not by any D-AFPs. Finally, both FL-AFP and D-AFP impaired the MDDC ability to secrete IL-12 (p70).</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>D2- and D3- but not D1-AFP extensively suppresses the MDDC function. All the recombinant AFP proteins impaired the ability of MDDC to secrete IL-12.</p

70-річчя члена-кореспондента НАН України В.П. Моторного

28 липня виповнилося 70 років видатному математику членові-кореспондентові НАН України Віталію Павловичу Моторному

BMI Development of Normal Weight and Overweight Children in the PIAMA Study

Background: There is evidence that rapid weight gain during the first year of life is associated with overweight later in life. However, results from studies exploring other critical periods for the development of overweight are inconsistent. Objective: The objective was to investigate BMI development to assess at what ages essential differences between normal weight and overweight children occur, and to assess which age intervals the most strongly influence the risk of overweight at 8 years of age. Methods: Longitudinal weight and height data

Soluble CD40 ligand and prolactin levels in migraine patients during interictal period

The relationship of migraine with cardiovascular diseases has been clarified by many studies, and currently, migraine is suggested to be a systematic vasculopathy. Inflammation, thrombosis and impaired vascular reactivity are the underlying pathophysiological mechanisms of the vasculopathy. In the present study, we aimed to investigate the relationship between prolactin levels and subclinical atherosclerosis risk factors such as soluble CD40 ligand (sCD40L) and high-sensitivity CRP (hsCRP) in migraine patients during interictal period. Fifty female migraine patients and age-matched 25 female control cases were enrolled in the study. Migraine diagnosis was settled according to the ICHD-II diagnostic criteria. A questionnaire was completed about the existence of vascular risk factors. Serum samples were used to measure sCD40L, hsCRP and prolactin levels. No difference was found between the prolactin levels of the migraine patients and the controls. The sCD40L levels were significantly higher in migraine patients (p < 0.001). High-sensitivity CRP levels showed no difference between the groups. There was no correlation between prolactin, sCD40L, and hs-CRP levels in migraine patients. We consider that the migraine patients are prone to subclinical atherosclerosis, but this tendency is independent of prolactin levels

Effects of Data Quality Vetoes on a Search for Compact Binary Coalescences in Advanced LIGO's First Observing Run

The first observing run of Advanced LIGO spanned 4 months, from September 12, 2015 to January 19, 2016, during which gravitational waves were directly detected from two binary black hole systems, namely GW150914 and GW151226. Confident detection of gravitational waves requires an understanding of instrumental transients and artifacts that can reduce the sensitivity of a search. Studies of the quality of the detector data yield insights into the cause of instrumental artifacts and data quality vetoes specific to a search are produced to mitigate the effects of problematic data. In this paper, the systematic removal of noisy data from analysis time is shown to improve the sensitivity of searches for compact binary coalescences. The output of the PyCBC pipeline, which is a python-based code package used to search for gravitational wave signals from compact binary coalescences, is used as a metric for improvement. GW150914 was a loud enough signal that removing noisy data did not improve its significance. However, the removal of data with excess noise decreased the false alarm rate of GW151226 by more than two orders of magnitude, from 1 in 770 years to less than 1 in 186000 years.Comment: 27 pages, 13 figures, published versio

Supplement: "Localization and broadband follow-up of the gravitational-wave transient GW150914" (2016, ApJL, 826, L13)

This Supplement provides supporting material for Abbott et al. (2016a). We briefly summarize past electromagnetic (EM) follow-up efforts as well as the organization and policy of the current EM follow-up program. We compare the four probability sky maps produced for the gravitational-wave transient GW150914, and provide additional details of the EM follow-up observations that were performed in the different bands

GW190412: Observation of a Binary-Black-Hole Coalescence with Asymmetric Masses

We report the observation of gravitational waves from a binary-black-hole coalescence during the first two weeks of LIGO’s and Virgo’s third observing run. The signal was recorded on April 12, 2019 at 05∶30∶44 UTC with a network signal-to-noise ratio of 19. The binary is different from observations during the first two observing runs most notably due to its asymmetric masses: a ∼30 M_⊙ black hole merged with a ∼8 M_⊙ black hole companion. The more massive black hole rotated with a dimensionless spin magnitude between 0.22 and 0.60 (90% probability). Asymmetric systems are predicted to emit gravitational waves with stronger contributions from higher multipoles, and indeed we find strong evidence for gravitational radiation beyond the leading quadrupolar order in the observed signal. A suite of tests performed on GW190412 indicates consistency with Einstein’s general theory of relativity. While the mass ratio of this system differs from all previous detections, we show that it is consistent with the population model of stellar binary black holes inferred from the first two observing runs

Properties and Astrophysical Implications of the 150 M_⊙ Binary Black Hole Merger GW190521

The gravitational-wave signal GW190521 is consistent with a binary black hole (BBH) merger source at redshift 0.8 with unusually high component masses, 85⁺²¹₋₁₄ M_⊙ and 66⁺¹⁷₋₁₈ M_⊙, compared to previously reported events, and shows mild evidence for spin-induced orbital precession. The primary falls in the mass gap predicted by (pulsational) pair-instability supernova theory, in the approximate range 65–120 M_⊙. The probability that at least one of the black holes in GW190521 is in that range is 99.0%. The final mass of the merger 142⁺²⁸₋₁₆ M_⊙) classifies it as an intermediate-mass black hole. Under the assumption of a quasi-circular BBH coalescence, we detail the physical properties of GW190521's source binary and its post-merger remnant, including component masses and spin vectors. Three different waveform models, as well as direct comparison to numerical solutions of general relativity, yield consistent estimates of these properties. Tests of strong-field general relativity targeting the merger-ringdown stages of the coalescence indicate consistency of the observed signal with theoretical predictions. We estimate the merger rate of similar systems to be 0.13_(-0.11)^(+0.30) Gpc⁻³ yr⁻¹. We discuss the astrophysical implications of GW190521 for stellar collapse and for the possible formation of black holes in the pair-instability mass gap through various channels: via (multiple) stellar coalescences, or via hierarchical mergers of lower-mass black holes in star clusters or in active galactic nuclei. We find it to be unlikely that GW190521 is a strongly lensed signal of a lower-mass black hole binary merger. We also discuss more exotic possible sources for GW190521, including a highly eccentric black hole binary, or a primordial black hole binary