47 research outputs found
Quenched QCD with fixed-point and chirally improved fermion
In this contribution we present results from quenched QCD simulations with
the parameterized fixed-point (FP) and the chirally improved (CI) Dirac
operator. Both these operators are approximate solutions of the Ginsparg-Wilson
equation and have good chiral properties. We focus our discussion on
observables sensitive to chirality. In particular we explore pion masses down
to 210 MeV in light hadron spectroscopy, quenched chiral logs, the pion decay
constant and the pion scattering length. We discuss finite volume effects,
scaling properties of the FP and CI operators and performance issues in their
numerical implementation.Comment: Lattice2002(chiral), 17 pages, 21 figures, (LaTeX style file
espcrc2.sty and AMS style files
Patients and animal models of CNGβ1-deficient retinitis pigmentosa support gene augmentation approach.
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a major cause of blindness that affects 1.5 million people worldwide. Mutations in cyclic nucleotide-gated channel β 1 (CNGB1) cause approximately 4% of autosomal recessive RP. Gene augmentation therapy shows promise for treating inherited retinal degenerations; however, relevant animal models and biomarkers of progression in patients with RP are needed to assess therapeutic outcomes. Here, we evaluated RP patients with CNGB1 mutations for potential biomarkers of progression and compared human phenotypes with those of mouse and dog models of the disease. Additionally, we used gene augmentation therapy in a CNGβ1-deficient dog model to evaluate potential translation to patients. CNGB1-deficient RP patients and mouse and dog models had a similar phenotype characterized by early loss of rod function and slow rod photoreceptor loss with a secondary decline in cone function. Advanced imaging showed promise for evaluating RP progression in human patients, and gene augmentation using adeno-associated virus vectors robustly sustained the rescue of rod function and preserved retinal structure in the dog model. Together, our results reveal an early loss of rod function in CNGB1-deficient patients and a wide window for therapeutic intervention. Moreover, the identification of potential biomarkers of outcome measures, availability of relevant animal models, and robust functional rescue from gene augmentation therapy support future work to move CNGB1-RP therapies toward clinical trials
Quenched spectroscopy with fixed-point and chirally improved fermions
We present results from quenched spectroscopy calculations with the
parametrized fixed-point and the chirally improved Dirac operators. Both these
operators are approximate solutions of the Ginsparg-Wilson equation and have
good chiral properties. This allows us to work at small quark masses and we
explore pseudoscalar-mass to vector-mass ratios down to 0.28. We discuss meson
and baryon masses, their scaling properties, finite volume effects and compare
our results with recent large scale simulations. We find that the size of
quenching artifacts of the masses is strongly correlated with their
experimentally observed widths and that the gauge and hadronic scales are
consistent.Comment: 66 pages, 33 figures. Published version: minor modifications in the
text, references adde
The SSN ontology of the W3C semantic sensor network incubator group
The W3C Semantic Sensor Network Incubator group (the SSN-XG) produced an OWL 2 ontology to describe sensors and observations ? the SSN ontology, available at http://purl.oclc.org/NET/ssnx/ssn. The SSN ontology can describe sensors in terms of capabilities, measurement processes, observations and deployments. This article describes the SSN ontology. It further gives an example and describes the use of the ontology in recent research projects
Patients and animal models of CNG beta 1-deficient retinitis pigmentosa support gene augmentation approach
Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a major cause of blindness that affects 1.5 million people worldwide. Mutations in cyclic nucleotide-gated channel beta 1 (CNGB1) cause approximately 4% of autosomal recessive RP. Gene augmentation therapy shows promise for treating inherited retinal degenerations;however, relevant animal models and biomarkers of progression in patients with RP are needed to assess therapeutic outcomes. Here, we evaluated RP patients with CNGB1 mutations for potential biomarkers of progression and compared human phenotypes with those of mouse and dog models of the disease. Additionally, we used gene augmentation therapy in a CNG beta 1-deficient dog model to evaluate potential translation to patients. CNGB1-deficient RP patients and mouse and dog models had a similar phenotype characterized by early loss of rod function and slow rod photoreceptor loss with a secondary decline in cone function. Advanced imaging showed promise for evaluating RP progression in human patients, and gene augmentation using adeno-associated virus vectors robustly sustained the rescue of rod function and preserved retinal structure in the dog model. Together, our results reveal an early loss of rod function in CNGB1-deficient patients and a wide window for therapeutic intervention. Moreover, the identification of potential biomarkers of outcome measures, availability of relevant animal models, and robust functional rescue from gene augmentation therapy support future work to move CNGB1-RP therapies toward clinical trials
Modulation of the expression of the transcription factor Max in rat retinal ganglion cells by a recombinant adeno-associated viral vector
Biomarkers of the involvement of mast cells, basophils and eosinophils in asthma and allergic diseases
Biomarkers of the involvement of mast cells, basophils and eosinophils in asthma and allergic diseases
Biomarkers of disease activity have come into wide use in the study of mechanisms of human disease and in clinical medicine to both diagnose and predict disease course; as well as to monitor response to therapeutic intervention. Here we review biomarkers of the involvement of mast cells, basophils, and eosinophils in human allergic inflammation. Included are surface markers of cell activation as well as specific products of these inflammatory cells that implicate specific cell types in the inflammatory process and are of possible value in clinical research as well as within decisions made in the practice of allergy-immunology