670 research outputs found
Prominin-1+/CD133+ bone marrow-derived heart-resident cells suppress experimental autoimmune myocarditis
AIMS: Experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM) is a CD4(+) T cell-mediated mouse model of inflammatory heart disease. Tissue-resident bone marrow-derived cells adopt different cellular phenotypes depending on the local milieu. We expanded a specific population of bone marrow-derived prominin-1-expressing progenitor cells (PPC) from healthy heart tissue, analysed their plasticity, and evaluated their capacity to protect mice from EAM and heart failure. METHODS AND RESULTS: PPC were expanded from healthy mouse hearts. Analysis of CD45.1/CD45.2 chimera mice confirmed bone marrow origin of PPC. Depending on in vitro culture conditions, PPC differentiated into macrophages, dendritic cells, or cardiomyocyte-like cells. In vivo, PPC acquired a cardiac phenotype after direct injection into healthy hearts. Intravenous injection of PPC into myosin alpha heavy chain/complete Freund's adjuvant (MyHC-alpha/CFA)-immunized BALB/c mice resulted in heart-specific homing and differentiation into the macrophage phenotype. Histology revealed reduced severity scores for PPC-treated mice compared with control animals [treated with phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) or crude bone marrow at day 21 after MyHC-alpha/CFA immunization]. Echocardiography showed preserved fractional shortening and velocity of circumferential shortening in PPC but not PBS-treated MyHC-alpha/CFA-immunized mice. In vitro and in vivo data suggested that interferon-gamma signalling on PPC was critical for nitric oxide-mediated suppression of heart-specific CD4(+) T cells. Accordingly, PPC from interferon-gamma receptor-deficient mice failed to protect MyHC-alpha/CFA-immunized mice from EAM. CONCLUSION: Prominin-1-expressing, heart-resident, bone marrow-derived cells combine high plasticity, T cell-suppressing capacity, and anti-inflammatory in vivo effect
Suppression of the ferromagnetic state in LaCoO3 films by rhombohedral distortion
Epitaxially strained LaCoO3 (LCO) thin films were grown with different film
thickness, t, on (001) oriented (LaAlO3)0.3(SrAl0.5Ta0.5O3)0.7 (LSAT)
substrates. After initial pseudomorphic growth the films start to relieve their
strain partly by the formation of periodic nano-twins with twin planes
predominantly along the direction. Nano-twinning occurs already at the
initial stage of growth, albeit in a more moderate way. Pseudomorphic grains,
on the other hand, still grow up to a thickness of at least several tenths of
nanometers. The twinning is attributed to the symmetry lowering of the
epitaxially strained pseudo-tetragonal structure towards the relaxed
rhombohedral structure of bulk LCO. However, the unit-cell volume of the
pseudo-tetragonal structure is found to be nearly constant over a very large
range of t. Only films with t > 130 nm show a significant relaxation of the
lattice parameters towards values comparable to those of bulk LCO.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figure
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Muon - proton inelastic scattering
This experiment will examine muon-proton inelastic scattering for virtual-photon energies of 10 to 110 GeV and for |q{sup 2}| values of 0.2 to 20.0 (GeV/c){sup 2}. The virtual-photon total cross sections {sigma}{sub t} + {epsilon}{sigma}{sub s}, or the equivalent expression in W{sub 1} and W{sub 2}, will be measured over this range of virtual-photon energies and q{sup 2} values. Some separation of {sigma}{sub T} and {sigma}{sub S}, or equivalently W{sub 1} and W{sub 2}, will be made. The multiplicity, momentum spectra and angular spectra of the charged hadrons produced in this reaction will be measured. Some channels such as {mu} + P {yields} {mu} + P + P{sup 0} will be isolated and completely analyzed. The experiment uses a hydrogen target, wire spark chambers and an analyzing magnet of conventional design
Search for the Invisible Decay of Neutrons with KamLAND
The Kamioka Liquid scintillator Anti-Neutrino Detector (KamLAND) is used in a
search for single neutron or two neutron intra-nuclear disappearance that would
produce holes in the -shell energy level of C nuclei. Such holes
could be created as a result of nucleon decay into invisible modes (),
e.g. or . The de-excitation of the corresponding
daughter nucleus results in a sequence of space and time correlated events
observable in the liquid scintillator detector. We report on new limits for
one- and two-neutron disappearance: years
and years at 90% CL. These results
represent an improvement of factors of 3 and over previous
experiments.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Measurement of Neutrino Oscillation with KamLAND: Evidence of Spectral Distortion
We present results of a study of neutrino oscillation based on a 766 ton-year
exposure of KamLAND to reactor anti-neutrinos. We observe 258 \nuebar\
candidate events with energies above 3.4 MeV compared to 365.2 events expected
in the absence of neutrino oscillation. Accounting for 17.8 expected background
events, the statistical significance for reactor \nuebar disappearance is
99.998%. The observed energy spectrum disagrees with the expected spectral
shape in the absence of neutrino oscillation at 99.6% significance and prefers
the distortion expected from \nuebar oscillation effects. A two-neutrino
oscillation analysis of the KamLAND data gives \DeltaMSq =
7.9 eV. A global analysis of data from KamLAND
and solar neutrino experiments yields \DeltaMSq =
7.9 eV and \ThetaParam =
0.40, the most precise determination to date.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures; submitted to Phys.Rev.Letter
Photoproduction of eta mesons from the neutron: cross sections and double polarization observable E
Photoproduction of mesons from neutrons} \abstract{Results from
measurements of the photoproduction of mesons from quasifree protons and
neutrons are summarized. The experiments were performed with the CBELSA/TAPS
detector at the electron accelerator ELSA in Bonn using the
decay. A liquid deuterium target was used for the
measurement of total cross sections and angular distributions. The results
confirm earlier measurements from Bonn and the MAMI facility in Mainz about the
existence of a narrow structure in the excitation function of . The current angular distributions show a forward-backward
asymmetry, which was previously not seen, but was predicted by model
calculations including an additional narrow state. Furthermore, data
obtained with a longitudinally polarized, deuterated butanol target and a
circularly polarized photon beam were analyzed to determine the double
polarization observable . Both data sets together were also used to extract
the helicity dependent cross sections and . The
narrow structure in the excitation function of
appears associated with the helicity-1/2 component of the reaction
First Results from KamLAND: Evidence for Reactor Anti-Neutrino Disappearance
KamLAND has been used to measure the flux of 's from distant
nuclear reactors. In an exposure of 162 tonyr (145.1 days) the ratio of
the number of observed inverse -decay events to the expected number of
events without disappearance is for energies 3.4 MeV. The deficit of events is
inconsistent with the expected rate for standard propagation at
the 99.95% confidence level. In the context of two-flavor neutrino oscillations
with CPT invariance, these results exclude all oscillation solutions but the
`Large Mixing Angle' solution to the solar neutrino problem using reactor
sources.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure
Feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of integrated care for COPD patients: a mixed methods evaluation of a pilot community-based programme.
The aim of this study was to assess the feasibility, acceptability and effectiveness of a pilot COPD integrated care programme implemented in Valais, Switzerland.
The programme was adapted from the self-management programme Living Well with COPD, and included the following elements: self-management patient-education group sessions, telephone and medical follow-ups, multidisciplinary teams, training of healthcare professionals, and evidence-based COPD care. A process and outcome evaluation of the pilot phase of the programme was conducted by means of qualitative and quantitative methods. Reach (coverage, participation rates), dosage (interventions carried out), fidelity (delivered as intended) and stakeholders' acceptance of the programme were evaluated through data monitoring and conduct of focus groups with patients and healthcare professionals. Effectiveness was assessed with pre-post analyses (before and after the intervention). The primary outcome measures were; (1) generic and disease-specific quality of life (36-Item Short Form Health Survey, Chronic Respiratory Questionnaire); and (2) hospitalisations (all-cause and for acute exacerbations) in the past 12 months. Secondary outcomes included self-efficacy, number of exacerbations and exercise capacity. Finally, controlled pre-post comparisons were also made with patients from the Swiss COPD Cohort for three common outcome measures (dyspnoea [mMRC score], number of exacerbations and smoking status).
During the first 2 years of the programme, eight series of group-based education sessions were delivered to 57 patients with COPD in three different locations of the canton of Valais. Coverage objectives were achieved and attendance rate at the education sessions was high (83.6%). Patients' and healthcare professionals' reported a high degree of satisfaction, except for multidisciplinarity and transfer of information. Exploration of the effectiveness of this pilot programme suggested positive pre-post results at 12 months, with improvements in terms of health-related quality of life, self-efficacy, exercise capacity, immunisation coverage and Patient Assessment of Chronic Illness Care score. No other outcome, including the number of hospital admissions, differed significantly after 12 months. We observed no differences from the control group.
The evaluation demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of the programme and confirmed the relevance of mixed method process evaluation to adjust and improve programme implementation. The introduction of multidisciplinary teams in a context characterised by fragmentation of care was identified as the main challenge in the programme implementation and could not be achieved as expected. Despite this area for improvement, patients' feedback and early effectiveness results confirmed the benefits of COPD integrated care programmes emphasising self-management education
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