Analysis of a functional serotonin transporter promoter polymorphism in psoriasis vulgaris

Serotonin is a monoamine acting as a neuromediator in the central and peripheral nervous system. Recently, serotonin has also been shown to influence T- and B-cell function. The serotonin transporter is central in the regulation of the serotonergic system and widely expressed on cells of the immune system. A functional length polymorphism in the promoter of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) has been implicated in the genetic background of depression. Psoriasis is a complex disease with a polygenetic inheritance. In light of the role of T-cell mediated inflammation in psoriasis and the increased prevalence of depression in psoriatic patients, we analyzed the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism in 309 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 315 healthy control individuals. No significant differences in genotype distribution and allele frequencies were found. There was also no difference in the score of the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression in patients with psoriasis (n = 137) characterized by carriage of different 5-HTTLPR genotypes. These findings argue against a major contribution of the 5-HTTLPR polymorphism to psoriasis susceptibility and the occurrence of depressive symptoms among psoriatic patients

Методичні матеріали для семінарських занять з курсу "Порівняльна стилістика українського та англійського наукового мовлення"

Затверджено до видання редакційною радою НГУ за поданням методичної комісії зі спеціальності 8.020303 Переклад (протокол № 2 від 26.09.2014). Подано методичні рекомендації для організації семінарських та практичних занять з курсу “ Порівняльна стилістика українського та англійського наукового мовлення”. Він містить перелик основних питань, що повинні розглядатись на семінарах курсу , деякі додаткові матеріали та літературні посилання. Призначено для студентів з напрямку підготовки «Філологія», спеціальності «Переклад». Питання до семінарських занять умовно поділені на дві частини – перша відноситься до загальних питань стилістичного аналізу тексту, друга – до особливостей наукового мовлення

Manifestation of palmoplantar pustulosis during or after infliximab therapy for plaque-type psoriasis: report on five cases

Infliximab is a monoclonal antibody directed against TNF-α. It has been approved for use in rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, inflammatory bowel disease, psoriatic arthritis and plaque-type psoriasis. In case reports, positive effects on pustular variants of psoriasis have also been reported. However, paradoxically, manifestation of pustular psoriasis and plaque-type psoriasis has been reported in patients treated with TNF antagonists including infliximab for other indications. Here, we report on 5 patients with chronic plaque-type psoriasis who developed palmoplantar pustulosis during or after discontinuation of infliximab therapy. In two of the five cases, manifestation of palmoplantar pustulosis was not accompanied by worsening of plaque-type psoriasis. Possibly, site-specific factors or a differential contribution of immunological processes modulated by TNF inhibitors to palmoplantar pustulosis and plaque-type psoriasis may have played a role

Correlations in STAR: interferometry and event structure

STAR observes a complex picture of RHIC collisions where correlation effects of different origins -- initial state geometry, semi-hard scattering, hadronization, as well as final state interactions such as quantum intensity interference -- coexist. Presenting the measurements of flow, mini-jet deformation, modified hadronization, and the Hanbury Brown and Twiss effect, we trace the history of the system from the initial to the final state. The resulting picture is discussed in the context of identifying the relevant degrees of freedom and the likely equilibration mechanism.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figures, plenary talk at the 5th International Conference on Physics and Astrophysics of Quark Gluon Plasma, to appear in Journal of Physics G (http://www.iop.org

Strangelet search at RHIC

Two position sensitive Shower Maximum Detector (SMDs) for Zero-Degree Calorimeters (ZDCs) were installed by STAR before run 2004 at both upstream and downstream from the interaction point along the beam axis where particles with small rigidity are swept away by strong magnetic field. The ZDC-SMDs provides information about neutral energy deposition as a function of transverse position in ZDCs. We report the preliminary results of strangelet search from a triggered data-set sampling 100 million Au+Au collisions at top RHIC energy.Comment: Strange Quark Matter 2004 conference proceedin

Neutral Kaon Interferometry in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 200 GeV

We present the first statistically meaningful results from two-K0s interferometry in heavy-ion collisions. A model that takes the effect of the strong interaction into account has been used to fit the measured correlation function. The effects of single and coupled channel were explored. At the mean transverse mass m_T = 1.07 GeV, we obtain the values R = 4.09 +/- 0.46 (stat.) +/- 0.31 (sys) fm and lambda = 0.92 +/- 0.23 (stat) +/- 0.13 (sys), where R and lambda are the invariant radius and chaoticity parameters respectively. The results are qualitatively consistent with m_T systematics established with pions in a scenario characterized by a strong collective flow.Comment: 11 pages, 10 figure

Azimuthal anisotropy and correlations at large transverse momenta in p+p and Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN] = 200 GeV

Results on high transverse momentum charged particle emission with respect to the reaction plane are presented for Au+Au collisions at sqrt[sNN]=200 GeV. Two- and four-particle correlations results are presented as well as a comparison of azimuthal correlations in Au+Au collisions to those in p+p at the same energy. The elliptic anisotropy v2 is found to reach its maximum at pt~3 GeV/c, then decrease slowly and remain significant up to pt ~ 7-10 GeV/c. Stronger suppression is found in the back-to-back high-pt particle correlations for particles emitted out of plane compared to those emitted in plane. The centrality dependence of v2 at intermediate pt is compared to simple models based on jet quenching