1,245 research outputs found

    Mode-coupling and nonlinear Landau damping effects in auroral Farley-Buneman turbulence

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    The fundamental problem of Farley-Buneman turbulence in the auroral EE-region has been discussed and debated extensively in the past two decades. In the present paper we intend to clarify the different steps that the auroral EE-region plasma has to undergo before reaching a steady state. The mode-coupling calculation, for Farley-Buneman turbulence, is developed in order to place it in perspective and to estimate its magnitude relative to the anomalous effects which arise through the nonlinear wave-particle interaction. This nonlinear effect, known as nonlinear ``Landau damping'' is due to the coupling of waves which produces other waves which in turn lose energy to the bulk of the particles by Landau damping. This leads to a decay of the wave energy and consequently a heating of the plasma. An equation governing the evolution of the field spectrum is derived and a physical interpration for each of its terms is provided

    Reduction of circulating cholesterol and apolipoprotein levels during sepsis

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    Sepsis with multiple organ failure is frequently associated with a substantial decrease of cholesterol levels. This decrease of cholesterol is strongly associated with mortality suggesting a direct relation between inflammatory conditions and altered cholesterol homeostasis. The host response during sepsis is mediated by cytokines and growth factors, which are capable of influencing lipid metabolism. Conversely lipoproteins are also capable of modulating cytokine production during the inflammatory response. Therefore the decrease in circulating cholesterol levels seems to play a crucial role in the pathophysiology of sepsis. In this review the interaction between cytokines and lipid metabolism and its clinical consequences will be discussed

    Fas-positive T cells regulate the resolution of airway inflammation in a murine model of asthma

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    Persistent airway inflammation, mucus production, and airway hyperreactivity are the major contributors to the frequency and severity of asthma. Why lung inflammation persists in asthmatics remains unclear. It has been proposed that Fas-mediated apoptosis of inflammatory cells is a fundamental mechanism involved in the resolution of eosinophilic airway inflammation. Because infiltrating eosinophils are highly sensitive to Fas-mediated apoptosis, it has been presumed that direct ligation of Fas on eosinophils is involved. Here, we utilize adoptive transfers of T cells to demonstrate that the delayed resolution of eosinophilia in Fas-deficient mice is a downstream effect of Fas deficiency on T cells, not eosinophils. Interestingly, the mice that received Fas-deficient T cells, but not the controls, developed a persistent phase of inflammation that failed to resolve even 6 wk after the last challenge. This persistent phase correlated with decreased interferon (IFN)γ production by Fas-deficient T cells and could be reproduced with adoptive transfer of IFNγ-deficient T cells. These data demonstrate that Fas deficiency on T cells is sufficient for the development of long-term allergic airway disease in mice and implies that deregulation of death receptors such as Fas on human T cells could be an important factor in the development and/or chronic nature of asthma

    The Vacuum Structure, Special Relativity and Quantum Mechanics Revisited: a Field Theory No-Geometry Approach within the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian Formalisms. Part 2

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    The main fundamental principles characterizing the vacuum field structure are formulated and the modeling of the related vacuum medium and charged point particle dynamics by means of devised field theoretic tools are analyzed. The work is devoted to studying the vacuum structure, special relativity, electrodynamics of interacting charged point particles and quantum mechanics, and is a continuation of \cite{BPT,BRT1}. Based on the vacuum field theory no-geometry approach, the Lagrangian and Hamiltonian reformulation of some alternative classical electrodynamics models is devised. The Dirac type quantization procedure, based on the canonical Hamiltonian formulation, is developed for some alternative electrodynamics models. Within an approach developed a possibility of the combined description both of electrodynamics and gravity is analyzed.Comment: 11 page

    Semiclassical force for electroweak baryogenesis: three-dimensional derivation

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    We derive a semiclassical transport equation for fermions propagating in the presence of a CP-violating planar bubble wall at a first order electroweak phase transition. Starting from the Kadanoff-Baym (KB) equation for the two-point (Wightman) function we perform an expansion in gradients, or equivalently in the Planck constant h-bar. We show that to first order in h-bar the KB equations have a spectral solution, which allows for an on-shell description of the plasma excitations. The CP-violating force acting on these excitations is found to be enhanced by a boost factor in comparison with the 1+1-dimensional case studied in a former paper. We find that an identical semiclassical force can be obtained by the WKB method. Applications to the MSSM are also mentioned.Comment: 19 page

    Spontaneous supercrystal formation during a strain-engineered metal-insulator transition

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    Mott metal-insulator transitions possess electronic, magnetic, and structural degrees of freedom promising next generation energy-efficient electronics. We report a previously unknown, hierarchically ordered state during a Mott transition and demonstrate correlated switching of functional electronic properties. We elucidate in-situ formation of an intrinsic supercrystal in a Ca2RuO4 thin film. Machine learning-assisted X-ray nanodiffraction together with electron microscopy reveal multi-scale periodic domain formation at and below the film transition temperature (TFilm ~ 200-250 K) and a separate anisotropic spatial structure at and above TFilm. Local resistivity measurements imply an intrinsic coupling of the supercrystal orientation to the material's anisotropic conductivity. Our findings add an additional degree of complexity to the physical understanding of Mott transitions, opening opportunities for designing materials with tunable electronic properties

    Chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis is associated with detrimental bacterial dysbiosis.

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    BACKGROUND: Gastrointestinal mucosal injury (mucositis), commonly affecting the oral cavity, is a clinically significant yet incompletely understood complication of cancer chemotherapy. Although antineoplastic cytotoxicity constitutes the primary injury trigger, the interaction of oral microbial commensals with mucosal tissues could modify the response. It is not clear, however, whether chemotherapy and its associated treatments affect oral microbial communities disrupting the homeostatic balance between resident microorganisms and the adjacent mucosa and if such alterations are associated with mucositis. To gain knowledge on the pathophysiology of oral mucositis, 49 subjects receiving 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) or doxorubicin-based chemotherapy were evaluated longitudinally during one cycle, assessing clinical outcomes, bacterial and fungal oral microbiome changes, and epithelial transcriptome responses. As a control for microbiome stability, 30 non-cancer subjects were longitudinally assessed. Through complementary in vitro assays, we also evaluated the antibacterial potential of 5-FU on oral microorganisms and the interaction of commensals with oral epithelial tissues. RESULTS: Oral mucositis severity was associated with 5-FU, increased salivary flow, and higher oral granulocyte counts. The oral bacteriome was disrupted during chemotherapy and while antibiotic and acid inhibitor intake contributed to these changes, bacteriome disruptions were also correlated with antineoplastics and independently and strongly associated with oral mucositis severity. Mucositis-associated bacteriome shifts included depletion of common health-associated commensals from the genera Streptococcus, Actinomyces, Gemella, Granulicatella, and Veillonella and enrichment of Gram-negative bacteria such as Fusobacterium nucleatum and Prevotella oris. Shifts could not be explained by a direct antibacterial effect of 5-FU, but rather resembled the inflammation-associated dysbiotic shifts seen in other oral conditions. Epithelial transcriptional responses during chemotherapy included upregulation of genes involved in innate immunity and apoptosis. Using a multilayer epithelial construct, we show mucositis-associated dysbiotic shifts may contribute to aggravate mucosal damage since the mucositis-depleted Streptococcus salivarius was tolerated as a commensal, while the mucositis-enriched F. nucleatum displayed pro-inflammatory and pro-apoptotic capacity. CONCLUSIONS: Altogether, our work reveals that chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis is associated with bacterial dysbiosis and demonstrates the potential for dysbiotic shifts to aggravate antineoplastic-induced epithelial injury. These findings suggest that control of oral bacterial dysbiosis could represent a novel preventive approach to ameliorate oral mucositis
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