610 research outputs found
Remapping the Holy Land from the margins:How a Jordanian Evangelical church juggles the ‘local’ and the ‘global’ in the Syrian refugee response
Leukemia inhibitory factor promotes human first trimester extravillous trophoblast adhesion to extracellular matrix and secretion of tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 and -2
BACKGROUND: Leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) is a pleiotropic cytokine that is essential for blastocyst implantation in mice. It has been suggested that LIF may play a role in human first trimester extravillous trophoblast (EVT) invasion. The aim of the present study was to establish whether LIF induces changes in EVT function related to invasiveness. METHODS: Primary first trimester human EVT cell cultures were treated with/without LIF and the effects on cell adhesion to fibronectin (FN), vitronectin (VN) and laminin (LN) were assessed. Transcript levels of integrin subunits that mediate cell adhesion to these extracellular matrix (ECM) elements were determined by real-time RT-PCR. Matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)2 and MMP9 secretion was assessed by gelatine zymography and tissue inhibitors matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP) -1 and TIMP-2 secretion by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: EVT cells showed increased adhesion to FN, VN and LN ECM elements in response to LIF (20, 20 and 29%, respectively, P < 0.05 FN and VN compared to control; and P < 0.001 LN compared to control). Integrin beta(4) mRNA levels decreased by 50% following LIF treatment (P < 0.001 versus control). MMP2 and MMP9 secretion was not affected by LIF but LIF did increase secretion of TIMP-1 and -2 (P < 0.001 versus control). LIF stimulated the phosphorylation of signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 3 protein while it did not affect STAT3 protein abundance. The addition of a LIF inhibitor attenuated the LIF-induced STAT3 phosphorylation in EVT. CONCLUSION: The results suggest that LIF can regulate EVT invasion, suggesting an important role in early placental development
Tau Neutrinos Favored over Sterile Neutrinos in Atmospheric Muon Neutrino Oscillations
The previously published atmospheric neutrino data did not distinguish
whether muon neutrinos were oscillating into tau neutrinos or sterile
neutrinos, as both hypotheses fit the data. Using data recorded in 1100
live-days of the Super-Kamiokande detector, we use three complementary data
samples to study the difference in zenith angle distribution due to neutral
currents and matter effects. We find no evidence favoring sterile neutrinos,
and reject the hypothesis at the 99% confidence level. On the other hand, we
find that oscillation between muon and tau neutrinos suffices to explain all
the results in hand.Comment: 9 pages with 2 figures, submitted to PR
Constraints on Neutrino Oscillations Using 1258 Days of Super-Kamiokande Solar Neutrino Data
We report the result of a search for neutrino oscillations using precise
measurements of the recoil electron energy spectrum and zenith angle variations
of the solar neutrino flux from 1258 days of neutrino-electron scattering data
in Super-Kamiokande. The absence of significant zenith angle variation and
spectrum distortion places strong constraints on neutrino mixing and mass
difference in a flux-independent way. Using the Super-Kamiokande flux
measurement in addition, two allowed regions at large mixing are found.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures, submitted to PR
Solar 8B and hep Neutrino Measurements from 1258 Days of Super-Kamiokande Data
Solar neutrino measurements from 1258 days of data from the Super-Kamiokande
detector are presented. The measurements are based on recoil electrons in the
energy range 5.0-20.0MeV. The measured solar neutrino flux is 2.32 +-
0.03(stat.) +0.08-0.07(sys.)*10^6cm^{-2}s^{-1}, which is
45.1+-0.5(stat.)+1.6-1.4(sys.)% of that predicted by the BP2000 SSM. The day vs
night flux asymmetry is 0.033+-0.022(stat.)+0.013-0.012(sys.). The recoil
electron energy spectrum is consistent with no spectral distortion
(\chi^2/d.o.f. = 19.0/18). The seasonal variation of the flux is consistent
with that expected from the eccentricity of the Earth's orbit (\chi^2/d.o.f. =
3.7/7). For the hep neutrino flux, we set a 90% C.L. upper limit of 40
*10^3cm^{-2}s^{-1}, which is 4.3 times the BP2000 SSM prediction.Comment: 7 pages, 5 figures, submitted to PRL (part of this paper
Search for coherent charged pion production in neutrino-carbon interactions
We report the result from a search for charged-current coherent pion
production induced by muon neutrinos with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV. The data
are collected with a fully active scintillator detector in the K2K
long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. No evidence for coherent pion
production is observed and an upper limit of is set on
the cross section ratio of coherent pion production to the total
charged-current interaction at 90% confidence level. This is the first
experimental limit for coherent charged pion production in the energy region of
a few GeV.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Evidence for muon neutrino oscillation in an accelerator-based experiment
We present results for muon neutrino oscillation in the KEK to Kamioka (K2K)
long-baseline neutrino oscillation experiment. K2K uses an accelerator-produced
muon neutrino beam with a mean energy of 1.3 GeV directed at the
Super-Kamiokande detector. We observed the energy dependent disappearance of
muon neutrino, which we presume have oscillated to tau neutrino. The
probability that we would observe these results if there is no neutrino
oscillation is 0.0050% (4.0 sigma).Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure
Modelling collective cell behaviour
The classical mean-field approach to modelling biological systems makes a number of simplifying assumptions which typically lead to coupled systems of reaction-diffusion partial differential equations. While these models have been very useful in allowing us to gain important insights into the behaviour of many biological systems, recent experimental advances in our ability to track and quantify cell behaviour now allow us to build more realistic models which relax some of the assumptions previously made. This brief review aims to illustrate the type of models obtained using this approach
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