1,171 research outputs found
Curcumin Ingestion Inhibits Mastocytosis and Suppresses Intestinal Anaphylaxis in a Murine Model of Food Allergy
IgE antibodies and mast cells play critical roles in the establishment of allergic responses to food antigens. Curcumin, the active ingredient of the curry spice turmeric, has anti-inflammatory properties, and thus may have the capacity to regulate Th2 cells and mucosal mast cell function during allergic responses. We assessed whether curcumin ingestion during oral allergen exposure can modulate the development of food allergy using a murine model of ovalbumin (OVA)-induced intestinal anaphylaxis. Herein, we demonstrate that frequent ingestion of curcumin during oral OVA exposure inhibits the development of mastocytosis and intestinal anaphylaxis in OVA-challenged allergic mice. Intragastric (i.g.) exposure to OVA in sensitized BALB/c mice induced a robust IgE-mediated response accompanied by enhanced OVA-IgE levels, intestinal mastocytosis, elevated serum mMCP-1, and acute diarrhea. In contrast, mice exposed to oral curcumin throughout the experimental regimen appeared to be normal and did not exhibit intense allergic diarrhea or a significant enhancement of OVA-IgE and intestinal mast cell expansion and activation. Furthermore, allergic diarrhea, mast cell activation and expansion, and Th2 responses were also suppressed in mice exposed to curcumin during the OVA-challenge phase alone, despite the presence of elevated levels of OVA-IgE, suggesting that curcumin may have a direct suppressive effect on intestinal mast cell activation and reverse food allergy symptoms in allergen-sensitized individuals. This was confirmed by observations that curcumin attenuated the expansion of both adoptively transferred bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs), and inhibited their survival and activation during cell culture. Finally, the suppression of intestinal anaphylaxis by curcumin was directly linked with the inhibition of NF-kappaB activation in curcumin-treated allergic mice, and curcumin inhibited the phosphorylation of the p65 subunit of NF-kappaB in BMMCs. In summary, our data demonstrates a protective role for curcumin during allergic responses to food antigens, suggesting that frequent ingestion of this spice may modulate the outcome of disease in susceptible individuals
Momentum flux density, kinetic energy density and their fluctuations for one-dimensional confined gases of non-interacting fermions
We present a Green's function method for the evaluation of the particle
density profile and of the higher moments of the one-body density matrix in a
mesoscopic system of N Fermi particles moving independently in a linear
potential. The usefulness of the method is illustrated by applications to a
Fermi gas confined in a harmonic potential well, for which we evaluate the
momentum flux and kinetic energy densities as well as their quantal mean-square
fluctuations. We also study some properties of the kinetic energy functional
E_{kin}[n(x)] in the same system. Whereas a local approximation to the kinetic
energy density yields a multi-valued function, an exact single-valued
relationship between the density derivative of E_{kin}[n(x)] and the particle
density n(x) is demonstrated and evaluated for various values of the number of
particles in the system.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Autoantibodies to aS1-Casein Are Induced by Breast-Feeding
Background: The generation of antibodies is impaired in newborns due to an immature immune system and reduced exposure to pathogens due to maternally derived antibodies and placental functions. During nursing, the immune system of newborns is challenged with multiple milk-derived proteins. Amongst them, caseins are the main constituent. In particular, human aS1-casein (CSN1S1) was recently shown to possess immunomodulatory properties. We were thus interested to determine if auto-antibodies to CSN1S1 are induced by breast-feeding and may be sustained into adulthood.
Methods: 62 sera of healthy adult individuals who were (n = 37) or were not (n = 25) breast-fed against human CSN1S1 were investigated by a new SD (surface display)-ELISA. For cross-checking, these sera were tested for anti Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) antibodies by a commercial ELISA.
Results: IgG-antibodies were predominantly detected in individuals who had been nursed. At a cut-off value of 0.4, the SDELISA identified individuals with a history of having been breast-fed with a sensitivity of 80% and a specificity of 92%. Under these conditions, 35 out of 37 sera from healthy donors, who where breast-fed, reacted positively but only 5 sera of the 25 donors who were not breast-fed. The duration of breast-feeding was of no consequence to the antibody reaction as some healthy donors were only short term breast-fed (5 days minimum until 6 weeks maximum), but exhibited significant serum reaction against human CSN1S1 nonetheless.
Conclusion: We postulate that human CSN1S1 is an autoantigen. The antigenicity is orally determined, caused by breastfeeding, and sustained into adulthood
Índices De Qualidade Da água E De Estado Trófico Do Rio Caiabi, Mt
The objective of this study was to evaluate the water quality of the Caiabi River based upon the water quality index (WQI) and the trophic state index (TSI), considering seasonal and spatial variations, with the aim of determining the most appropriate monitoring design for this study site. Sampling for water quality monitoring was conducted at five points on theCaiabi River from July 2012 to June 2013. Quality parameters quantified were as follows: pH, temperature, conductivity, dissolved oxygen, total and thermotolerant coliforms, turbidity, Kjeldahl nitrogen, nitrite, nitrate, total phosphorus, biochemical oxygen demand, series of solids, and chlorophyll a. Sampling procedures and analysis followed the methods recommended by the Standard Methods for the Examination of Water and Wastewater. The WQI results showed that the quality of the Caiabi River water is good. TSI results demonstrated the low risk of eutrophication in the Caiabi River, indicating an ultra- oligotrophic lotic environment. Analysis of variance showed that 10 of the 16 monitored quality parameters presented differences of means between the dry and rainy seasons or among the monitored points or in the interaction between seasons and points. These results indicate that two annual sampling collections at two points may be sufficient to describe the water quality behavior in the basin, as long as the conditions of land use are stable. © 2016, Institute for Environmental Research in Hydrographic Basins (IPABHi). All rights reserved.11116217
Detailed study of null and time-like geodesics in the Alcubierre Warp spacetime
The Alcubierre warp spacetime yields a fascinating chance for comfortable
interstellar travel between arbitrary distant places without the time dilation
effect as in special relativistic flights. Even though the warp spacetime needs
exotic matter for its construction and is thus far from being physically
feasible, it offers a rich playground for studying geodesics in the general
theory of relativity. This paper is addressed to graduate students who have
finished a first course in general relativity to give them a deeper inside in
the calculation of non-affinely parametrized null and time-like geodesics and a
straightforward approach to determine the gravitational lensing effect due to
curved spacetime by means of the Jacobi equation. Both topics are necessary for
a thorough discussion of the visual effects as observed by a traveller inside
the warp bubble or a person looking from outside. The visual effects of the
traveller can be reproduced with an interactive Java application
Decoherence in trapped ions due to polarization of the residual background gas
We investigate the mechanism of damping and heating of trapped ions
associated with the polarization of the residual background gas induced by the
oscillating ions themselves. Reasoning by analogy with the physics of surface
electrons in liquid helium, we demonstrate that the decay of Rabi oscillations
observed in experiments on 9Be+ can be attributed to the polarization phenomena
investigated here. The measured sensitivity of the damping of Rabi oscillations
with respect to the vibrational quantum number of a trapped ion is also
predicted in our polarization model.Comment: 26 pdf pages with 5 figures, http://www.df.ufscar.br/~quantum
Probabilistic Anonymity
The concept of anonymity comes into play in
a wide range of situations, varying from voting
and anonymous donations to postings on bulletin
boards and sending mails. A formal definition of
this concept has been given in literature in
terms of nondeterminism. In this paper, we
investigate a notion of anonymity based on
probability theory, and we we discuss the relation
with the nondeterministic one. We then formulate
this definition in terms of observables for
processes in the probabilistic -calculus, and
propose a method to verify automatically the
anonymity property. We illustrate the method by
using the example of the dining cryptographers
Neutrino Interferometry In Curved Spacetime
Gravitational lensing introduces the possibility of multiple (macroscopic)
paths from an astrophysical neutrino source to a detector. Such a multiplicity
of paths can allow for quantum mechanical interference to take place that is
qualitatively different to neutrino oscillations in flat space. After an
illustrative example clarifying some under-appreciated subtleties of the phase
calculation, we derive the form of the quantum mechanical phase for a neutrino
mass eigenstate propagating non-radially through a Schwarzschild metric. We
subsequently determine the form of the interference pattern seen at a detector.
We show that the neutrino signal from a supernova could exhibit the
interference effects we discuss were it lensed by an object in a suitable mass
range. We finally conclude, however, that -- given current neutrino detector
technology -- the probability of such lensing occurring for a
(neutrino-detectable) supernova is tiny in the immediate future.Comment: 25 pages, 1 .eps figure. Updated version -- with simplified notation
-- accepted for publication in Phys.Rev.D. Extra author adde
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