Drice restrains Diap2-mediated inflammatory signalling and intestinal inflammation

The Drosophila IAP protein, Diap2, is a key mediator of NF-κB signalling and innate immune responses. Diap2 is required for both local immune activation, taking place in the epithelial cells of the gut and trachea, and for mounting systemic immune responses in the cells of the fat body. We have found that transgenic expression of Diap2 leads to a spontaneous induction of NF-κB target genes, inducing chronic inflammation in the Drosophila midgut, but not in the fat body. Drice is a Drosophila effector caspase known to interact and form a stable complex with Diap2. We have found that this complex formation induces its subsequent degradation, thereby regulating the amount of Diap2 driving NF-κB signalling in the intestine. Concordantly, loss of Drice activity leads to accumulation of Diap2 and to chronic intestinal inflammation. Interestingly, Drice does not interfere with pathogen-induced signalling, suggesting that it protects from immune responses induced by resident microbes. Accordingly, no inflammation was detected in transgenic Diap2 flies and Drice-mutant flies reared in axenic conditions. Hence, we show that Drice, by restraining Diap2, halts unwanted inflammatory signalling in the intestine

Hygrothermal properties of hollow brick masonry used in veneer

The material properties of a brick masonry are important when modelling or comparing different veneers. The effect of mortar joint, however, is somewhat an unknown variable. In this study, two different firing batches of a hollow burnt-clay brick product were tested for thermal conductivity, water vapor permeability, water absorption coefficient and capillary moisture content. Brick and mortar materials were tested both exclusively and as masonry specimens. The effect of brick-mortar interface was within margin of error for the first brick batch with slightly lower density, while batch two water vapor permeability, water absorption coefficient and capillary moisture content were noticeably affected. The effect of brick-mortar interface seems to be dependent on brick properties. The differences in hygric properties between brick batches were large, but below 100 %. Accounting for mortar using area weighted properties can improve modelling accuracy, but other factors such as workmanship, degradation and brick batch differences are likely more important.Peer reviewe

Women's views of continuity of information provided during and after pregnancy: A qualitative interview study

Straightforward transfer of care from pregnancy to the postpartum period is associated with health benefits and is desired by women worldwide. Underpinning this transfer of care is the sharing of information between healthcare professionals and the provision of consistent information to women. In this qualitative study, two aspects of continuity of information were examined; first the information passed on from midwife to health visitor regarding a woman and her baby before the health visitor meets the woman postnatally and second, the consistency of information received by women from these two healthcare professionals (the main healthcare providers during and after pregnancy in England). To be eligible for the study, women had to have had a baby in England within 12 months prior to the interview. Participants also needed to be able to read and speak English and be over 18 years old. Recruitment of participants was via word of mouth and social media. Twenty-nine mothers were interviewed of whom 19 were first time mothers. The interviews took place in the summer and autumn of 2016 and were transcribed verbatim and analysed using Framework Analysis. Two overarching themes were identified: not feeling listened to and information inconsistencies. Women reported little experience of midwives and health visitors sharing information about their care, forcing women to repeat information. This made women feel not listened to and participants recommended that healthcare professionals share information; prioritising information about labour, mental health, and chronic conditions. Women had mixed experiences regarding receiving information from midwives and health visitors, with examples of both consistent and inconsistent information received. To avoid inconsistent information, joint appointments were recommended. Findings from this study clearly suggest that better communication pathways need to be developed and effectively implemented for midwives and health visitors to improve the care that they provide to women

C, N and O abundances in red clump stars of the Milky Way

The Hipparcos orbiting observatory has revealed a large number of helium-core-burning "clump" stars in the Galactic field. These low-mass stars exhibit signatures of extra-mixing processes that require modeling beyond the first dredge-up of standard models. The 12C/13C ratio is the most robust diagnostic of deep mixing, because it is insensitive to the adopted stellar parameters. In this work we present 12C/13C determinations in a sample of 34 Galactic clump stars as well as abundances of nitrogen, carbon and oxygen. Abundances of carbon were studied using the C2 Swan (0,1) band head at 5635.5 A. The wavelength interval 7980-8130 A with strong CN features was analysed in order to determine nitrogen abundances and 12C/13C isotope ratios. The oxygen abundances were determined from the [O I] line at 6300 A. Compared with the Sun and dwarf stars of the Galactic disk, mean abundances in the investigated clump stars suggest that carbon is depleted by about 0.2 dex, nitrogen is enhanced by 0.2 dex and oxygen is close to abundances in dwarfs. Comparisons to evolutionary models show that the stars fall into two groups: the one is of first ascent giants with carbon isotope ratios altered according to the first dredge-up prediction, and the other one is of helium-core-burning stars with carbon isotope ratios altered by extra mixing. The stars investigated fall to these groups in approximately equal numbers.Comment: 8 pages 6 figures Accepted for publication in MNRA

RD39 Status Report 2009

RD39 Status Report 2009. CERN RD39 Collaboration is developing super-radiation hard cryogenic silicon detectors for applications of LHC experiments and their future upgrades. The activities of RD39 Collaboration were focused in 2009 on concept of charge injected detector (CID)

The LBNO long-baseline oscillation sensitivities with two conventional neutrino beams at different baselines

The proposed Long Baseline Neutrino Observatory (LBNO) initially consists of $\sim 20$ kton liquid double phase TPC complemented by a magnetised iron calorimeter, to be installed at the Pyh\"asalmi mine, at a distance of 2300 km from CERN. The conventional neutrino beam is produced by 400 GeV protons accelerated at the SPS accelerator delivering 700 kW of power. The long baseline provides a unique opportunity to study neutrino flavour oscillations over their 1st and 2nd oscillation maxima exploring the $L/E$ behaviour, and distinguishing effects arising from $\delta_{CP}$ and matter. In this paper we show how this comprehensive physics case can be further enhanced and complemented if a neutrino beam produced at the Protvino IHEP accelerator complex, at a distance of 1160 km, and with modest power of 450 kW is aimed towards the same far detectors. We show that the coupling of two independent sub-MW conventional neutrino and antineutrino beams at different baselines from CERN and Protvino will allow to measure CP violation in the leptonic sector at a confidence level of at least $3\sigma$ for 50\% of the true values of $\delta_{CP}$ with a 20 kton detector. With a far detector of 70 kton, the combination allows a $3\sigma$ sensitivity for 75\% of the true values of $\delta_{CP}$ after 10 years of running. Running two independent neutrino beams, each at a power below 1 MW, is more within today's state of the art than the long-term operation of a new single high-energy multi-MW facility, which has several technical challenges and will likely require a learning curve.Comment: 21 pages, 12 figure

Invisible Higgs and Dark Matter

We investigate the possibility that a massive weakly interacting fermion simultaneously provides for a dominant component of the dark matter relic density and an invisible decay width of the Higgs boson at the LHC. As a concrete model realizing such dynamics we consider the minimal walking technicolor, although our results apply more generally. Taking into account the constraints from the electroweak precision measurements and current direct searches for dark matter particles, we find that such scenario is heavily constrained, and large portions of the parameter space are excluded.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:0912.229

Quantum state engineering with Josephson-junction devices

We review recent theoretical and experimental progress in quantum state engineering with Josephson junction devices. The concepts of quantum computing have stimulated an increased activity in the field. Either charges or phases (fluxes) of the Josephson systems can be used as quantum degrees of freedom, and their quantum state can be manipulated coherently by voltage and current pulses. They thus can serve as qubits, and quantum logic gates can be performed. Their phase coherence time, which is limited, e.g., by the electromagnetic fluctuations in the control circuit, is long enough to allow a series of these manipulations. The quantum measurement process performed by a single-electron transistor, a SQUID, or further nanoelectronic devices is analyzed in detail.Comment: An article prepared for Reviews of Modern Physics, 46 pages, 23 figure