Hypoxia and reoxygenation do not upregulate adhesion molecules and natural killer cell adhesion on human endothelial cells in vitro

Objectives: Ischemia/reperfusion injury is characterized by endothelial cell activation leading to increased expression of adhesion molecules such as inter-cellular adhesion molecule (ICAM)-1, vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM)-1, endothelial- and platelet-selectin (E- and P-selectin), and to the subsequent recruitment of leukocytes. The aim of the present study was to investigate the respective effects of a proinflammatory cytokine (tumor necrosis factor alpha , TNF-α), hypoxia and/or reoxygenation on adhesion molecule expression and natural killer (NK) cell adhesion in an in vitro model of I/R. Methods: Human aortic endothelial cells (HAEC) were stimulated in vitro for 8h with TNF-α (1000 U/ml) and exposed to hypoxia (1% O2), reoxygenation (21% O2) or different combinations thereof. Cell surface expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1 and E-/P-selectin on HAEC was analyzed by flow cytometry, and culture supernatants were tested for soluble adhesion molecules by ELISA. Rolling adhesion of NK cells on HAEC was determined using a rotating assay. Results: Untreated HAEC constitutively expressed ICAM-1 on their surface but neither expressed E-/P-selectin, VCAM-1, nor shedded soluble adhesion molecules. Exposure of HAEC to hypoxia or hypoxia and reoxygenation did not upregulate cell surface expression or shedding of adhesion molecules. In contrast, TNF-α significantly upregulated cell surface expression of ICAM-1, VCAM-1, and E-/P-selectin and led to the shedding of ICAM-1 and E-selectin. Combined treatment of HAEC with TNF-α, hypoxia and reoxygenation reduced E-/P-selectin surface expression and enhanced E-selectin shedding, but did not further influence ICAM-1 and VCAM-1. Soluble VCAM-1 was not detected. NK cell adhesion on HAEC increased 4-fold after TNF-α stimulation, but was not affected by hypoxia or hypoxia and reoxygenation. Conclusions: Both the expression of endothelial adhesion molecules and rolling NK cell adhesion was upregulated by TNF-α but not by hypoxia alone or hypoxia followed by reoxygenation supporting the view that anti-inflammatory treatment may reduce ischemia/reperfusion injur

Measurements of cross sections and resonance structures following electron-impact excitation/ionization of Na-like Kr and Xe

We report high-resolution measurements of electron impact excitation and ionization cross sections for the Na-like ions Kr{sup 25+} and Xe{sup 43+}. Ions with ionization states centered on the Na-like configurations were produced in an electron beam ion trap (EBIT) using electrons with energies below the L shell ionization thresholds. The Na-like ions were exposed to an electron beam with an energy between 3 and 7 keV. The Na- and Ne-like ions were then extracted and their intensities measured as a function of the electron beam energy. Theoretical ionization cross sections were calculated using relativistic distorted wave methods. Complex resonance structures that appear in the computed cross sections are observed in the experimental results. These results are the first experimental observation of resonant-excitation-double-autoionization (REDA) in highly charged high-Z ions

Phases of QCD, Thermal Quasiparticles and Dilepton Radiation from a Fireball

We calculate dilepton production rates from a fireball adapted to the kinematical conditions realized in ultrarelativistic heavy ion collisions over a broad range of beam energies. The freeze-out state of the fireball is fixed by hadronic observables. We use this information combined with the initial geometry of the collision region to follow the space-time evolution of the fireball. Assuming entropy conservation, its bulk thermodynamic properties can then be uniquely obtained once the equation of state (EoS) is specified. The high-temperature (QGP) phase is modelled by a non-perturbative quasiparticle model that incorporates a phenomenological confinement description, adapted to lattice QCD results. For the hadronic phase, we interpolate the EoS into the region where a resonance gas approach seems applicable, keeping track of a possible overpopulation of the pion phase space. In this way, the fireball evolution is specified without reference to dilepton data, thus eliminating it as an adjustable parameter in the rate calculations. Dilepton emission in the QGP phase is then calculated within the quasiparticle model. In the hadronic phase, both temperature and finite baryon density effects on the photon spectral function are incorporated. Existing dilepton data from CERES at 158 and 40 AGeV Pb-Au collisions are well described, and a prediction for the PHENIX setup at RHIC for sqrt(s) = 200 AGeV is given.Comment: 31 pages, 15 figures, final versio

The Fermat-Torricelli problem in normed planes and spaces

We investigate the Fermat-Torricelli problem in d-dimensional real normed spaces or Minkowski spaces, mainly for d=2. Our approach is to study the Fermat-Torricelli locus in a geometric way. We present many new results, as well as give an exposition of known results that are scattered in various sources, with proofs for some of them. Together, these results can be considered to be a minitheory of the Fermat-Torricelli problem in Minkowski spaces and especially in Minkowski planes. This demonstrates that substantial results about locational problems valid for all norms can be found using a geometric approach

Information fusion in multi-agent system based on reliability criterion

The final publication is available at Springer via http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-00369-6_13The paper addresses the problem of information fusion in Multi-Agent System. Since the knowledge of the process state is distributed between agents, the efficiency of the task performance depends on a proper information fusion technique applied to the agents. In this paper we study the case in which each agent has its own sensing device and is able to collect information with some certainty. Since the same information can be detected by multiple agents, the global certainty about the given fact derives from the fusion of information exchanged by interconnecting agents. The key issue in the method proposed, is an assumption that each agent is able to asses its own reliability during the task performance. The method is illustrated by the pick-up-and-collection task example. The effectiveness of the method proposed is evaluated using relevant simulation experiments.Mellado Arteche, M.; Skrzypczyk, K. (2013). Information fusion in multi-agent system based on reliability criterion. En Vision Based Systemsfor UAV Applications. Springer. 207-217. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-00369-6_13S207217Cheng, X., Shen, J., Liu, H., Gu, G.: Multi-robot Cooperation Based on Hierarchical Reinforcement Learning. In: Shi, Y., van Albada, G.D., Dongarra, J., Sloot, P.M.A. (eds.) ICCS 2007, Part III. LNCS, vol. 4489, pp. 90–97. Springer, Heidelberg (2007)Harmati, I., Skrzypczyk, K.: Robot team coordination for target tracking using fuzzy logiccontroller in game theoretic framework. Robotics and Autonomous Systems 57(1) (2009)Jones, C., Mataric, M.: Adaptive Division of Labor in Large-Scale Minimalist Multi-Robot Systems. In: Proc. of IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, Las Vegas, pp. 1969–1974 (2003)Kaminka, G.A., Erusalimchik, D., Kraus, S.: Adaptive Multi-Robot Coordination: A Game-Theoretic Perspective. In: Proc. of IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, Anchorage Convention District, Anchorage, Alaska, USA (2002)Kok, J.R., Spaan, M.T.J., Vlassis, N.: Non-communicative multi-robot coordination in dynamic environments. Robotics and Autonomous Systems 50(2-3), 99–114 (2005)Klusch, M., Gerber, A.: Dynamic coalition formation among rational agents. IEEE Intelligent Systems 17(3), 42–47 (2002)Kraus, S., Winkfeld, J., Zlotkin, G.: Multiagent negotiation under time constraints. Artificial Intelligence 75, 297–345 (1995)Kraus, S.: Negotiation and cooperation in multiagent environments. Artificial Intelligence 94(1-2), 79–98 (1997)Mataric, M., Sukhatme, G., Ostergaard, E.: Multi-Robot Task Allocation in Uncertain Environments. Autonomous Robots 14, 255–263 (2003)Schneider-Fontan, M., Mataric, M.J.: Territorial Multi-Robot Task Division. IEEE Transactionson Robotics and Automation 14(5), 815–822 (1998)Winkfeld, K.J., Zlotkin, G.: Multiagent negotiation under time constraints. Artificial Intelligence (75), 297–345 (1995)Wooldridge, M.: An Introduction to Multiagent Systems. Johnn Wiley and Sons Ltd., UK (2009) ISBN:978-0-470-51946-2Vail, D., Veloso, M.: Dynamic Multi-Robot Coordination. In: Schultz, A., et al. (eds.) Multi Robot Systems: From Swarms to Intelligent Automata, vol. II, pp. 87–98. Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands (2003)Gałuszka, A., Pacholczyk, M., Bereska, D., Skrzypczyk, K.: Planning as Artifficial Intelligence Problem-short introduction and overview. In: Nawrat, A., Simek, K., Świerniak, A. (eds.) Advanced Technologies for Intelligent Systems of National Border Security. SCI, vol. 440, pp. 95–104. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)Jędrasiak, K., Bereska, D., Nawrat, A.: The Prototype of Gyro-Stabilized UAV Gimbal for Day-Night Surveillance. In: Nawrat, A., Simek, K., Świerniak, A. (eds.) Advanced Technologies for Intelligent Systems of National Border Security. SCI, vol. 440, pp. 107–116. Springer, Heidelberg (2013)Galuszka, A., Bereska, D., Simek, K., Skrzypczyk, K., Daniec, K.: Application of graphs theory methods to criminal analysis system. Przeglad Elektrotechniczny 86(9), 278–283 (2010

TrustedPals: Secure Multiparty Computation Implemented with Smart Cards

We study the problem of Secure Multi-party Computation (SMC) in a model where individual processes contain a tamper-proof security module, and introduce the TrustedPals framework, an efficient smart card based implementation of SMC for any number of participating entities in such a model. Security modules can be trusted by other processes and can establish secure channels between each other. However, their availability is restricted by their host, that is, a corrupted party can stop the computation of its own security module as well as drop any message sent by or to its security module. We show that in this model SMC can be implemented by reducing it to a fault-tolerance problem at the level of security modules. Since the critical part of the computation can be executed locally on the smart card, we can compute any function securely with a protocol complexity which is polynomial only in the number of processes (that is, the complexity does not depend on the function which is computed), in contrast to previous approaches

A robust spectral method for solving Heston’s model

In this paper, we consider the Heston’s volatility model (Heston in Rev. Financ. Stud. 6: 327–343, 1993]. We simulate this model using a combination of the spectral collocation method and the Laplace transforms method. To approximate the two dimensional PDE, we construct a grid which is the tensor product of the two grids, each of which is based on the Chebyshev points in the two spacial directions. The resulting semi-discrete problem is then solved by applying the Laplace transform method based on Talbot’s idea of deformation of the contour integral (Talbot in IMA J. Appl. Math. 23(1): 97–120, 1979)

Kondo effect in systems with dynamical symmetries

This paper is devoted to a systematic exposure of the Kondo physics in quantum dots for which the low energy spin excitations consist of a few different spin multiplets $|S_{i}M_{i}>$. Under certain conditions (to be explained below) some of the lowest energy levels $E_{S_{i}}$ are nearly degenerate. The dot in its ground state cannot then be regarded as a simple quantum top in the sense that beside its spin operator other dot (vector) operators ${\bf R}_{n}$ are needed (in order to fully determine its quantum states), which have non-zero matrix elements between states of different spin multiplets $\ne 0$. These "Runge-Lenz" operators do not appear in the isolated dot-Hamiltonian (so in some sense they are "hidden"). Yet, they are exposed when tunneling between dot and leads is switched on. The effective spin Hamiltonian which couples the metallic electron spin ${\bf s}$ with the operators of the dot then contains new exchange terms, $J_{n} {\bf s} \cdot {\bf R}_{n}$ beside the ubiquitous ones $J_{i} {\bf s}\cdot {\bf S}_{i}$. The operators ${\bf S}_{i}$ and ${\bf R}_{n}$ generate a dynamical group (usually SO(n)). Remarkably, the value of $n$ can be controlled by gate voltages, indicating that abstract concepts such as dynamical symmetry groups are experimentally realizable. Moreover, when an external magnetic field is applied then, under favorable circumstances, the exchange interaction involves solely the Runge-Lenz operators ${\bf R}_{n}$ and the corresponding dynamical symmetry group is SU(n). For example, the celebrated group SU(3) is realized in triple quantum dot with four electrons.Comment: 24 two-column page