106 research outputs found
Cosmological Relativity: A General-Relativistic Theory for the Accelerating Expanding Universe
Recent observations of distant supernovae imply, in defiance of expectations,
that the universe growth is accelerating, contrary to what has always been
assumed that the expansion is slowing down due to gravity. In this paper a
general-relativistic cosmological theory that gives a direct relationship
between distances and redshifts in an expanding universe is presented. The
theory is actually a generalization of Hubble's law taking gravity into account
by means of Einstein's theory of general relativity. The theory predicts that
the universe can have three phases of expansion, decelerating, constant and
accelerating, but it is shown that at present the first two cases are excluded,
although in the past it had experienced them. Our theory shows that the
universe now is definitely in the stage of accelerating expansion, confirming
the recent experimental results
Quaternionic Salkowski Curves and Quaternionic Similar Curves
In this paper, we give the definitions and characterizations of quaternionic
Salkowski, quaternionic anti-Salkowski and quaternionic similar curves in the
Euclidean spaces E^3 and E^4. We obtain relationships between these curves and
some special quaternionic curves such as quaternionic slant helices and
quaternionic B2-slant helices.Comment: 17 page
Neural Decision Boundaries for Maximal Information Transmission
We consider here how to separate multidimensional signals into two
categories, such that the binary decision transmits the maximum possible
information transmitted about those signals. Our motivation comes from the
nervous system, where neurons process multidimensional signals into a binary
sequence of responses (spikes). In a small noise limit, we derive a general
equation for the decision boundary that locally relates its curvature to the
probability distribution of inputs. We show that for Gaussian inputs the
optimal boundaries are planar, but for non-Gaussian inputs the curvature is
nonzero. As an example, we consider exponentially distributed inputs, which are
known to approximate a variety of signals from natural environment.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure
Dimensionality and dynamics in the behavior of C. elegans
A major challenge in analyzing animal behavior is to discover some underlying
simplicity in complex motor actions. Here we show that the space of shapes
adopted by the nematode C. elegans is surprisingly low dimensional, with just
four dimensions accounting for 95% of the shape variance, and we partially
reconstruct "equations of motion" for the dynamics in this space. These
dynamics have multiple attractors, and we find that the worm visits these in a
rapid and almost completely deterministic response to weak thermal stimuli.
Stimulus-dependent correlations among the different modes suggest that one can
generate more reliable behaviors by synchronizing stimuli to the state of the
worm in shape space. We confirm this prediction, effectively "steering" the
worm in real time.Comment: 9 pages, 6 figures, minor correction
Short-Lived IFN-Ξ³ Effector Responses, but Long-Lived IL-10 Memory Responses, to Malaria in an Area of Low Malaria Endemicity
Immunity to malaria is widely believed to wane in the absence of reinfection, but direct evidence for the presence or absence of durable immunological memory to malaria is limited. Here, we analysed malaria-specific CD4+ T cell responses of individuals living in an area of low malaria transmission in northern Thailand, who had had a documented clinical attack of P. falciparum and/or P. vivax in the past 6 years. CD4+ T cell effector memory (CD45RO+) IFN-Ξ³ (24 hours ex vivo restimulation) and cultured IL-10 (6 day secretion into culture supernatant) responses to malaria schizont antigens were detected only in malaria-exposed subjects and were more prominent in subjects with long-lived antibodies or memory B cells specific to malaria antigens. The number of IFN-Ξ³-producing effector memory T cells declined significantly over the 12 months of the study, and with time since last documented malaria infection, with an estimated half life of the response of 3.3 (95% CI 1.9β10.3) years. In sharp contrast, IL-10 responses were sustained for many years after last known malaria infection with no significant decline over at least 6 years. The observations have clear implications for understanding the immunoepidemiology of naturally acquired malaria infections and for malaria vaccine development
Time-aging time-stress superposition in soft glass under tensile deformation field
We have studied the tensile deformation behaviour of thin films of aging
aqueous suspension of Laponite, a model soft glassy material, when subjected to
a creep flow field generated by a constant engineering normal stress. Aqueous
suspension of Laponite demonstrates aging behaviour wherein it undergoes time
dependent enhancement of its elastic modulus as well as its characteristic
relaxation time. However, under application of the normal stress, the rate of
aging decreases and in the limit of high stress, the aging stops with the
suspension now undergoing a plastic deformation. Overall, it is observed that
the aging that occurs over short creep times at small normal stresses is same
as the aging that occurs over long creep times at large normal stresses. This
observation allows us to suggest an aging time - process time - normal stress
superposition principle, which can predict rheological behaviour at longer
times by carrying out short time tests.Comment: 26 pages, 7 figures, To appear in Rheologica Act
The Breadth, but Not the Magnitude, of Circulating Memory B Cell Responses to P. falciparum Increases with Age/Exposure in an Area of Low Transmission
BACKGROUND: Malaria caused by Plasmodium falciparum remains a major cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa. Immunity against symptoms of malaria requires repeated exposure, suggesting either that the parasite is poorly immunogenic or that the development of effective immune responses to malaria may be impaired. METHODS: We carried out two age-stratified cross-sectional surveys of anti-malarial humoral immune responses in a Gambian village where P. falciparum malaria transmission is low and sporadic. Circulating antibodies and memory B cells (MBC) to four malarial antigens were measured using ELISA and cultured B cell ELISpot. FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS: The proportion of individuals with malaria-specific MBC and antibodies, and the average number of antigens recognised by each individual, increased with age but the magnitude of these responses did not. Malaria-specific antibody levels did not correlate with either the prevalence or median number of MBC, indicating that these two assays are measuring different aspects of the humoral immune response. Among those with immunological evidence of malaria exposure (defined as a positive response to at least one malarial antigen either by ELISA or ELISPOT), the median number of malaria-specific MBC was similar to median numbers of diphtheria-specific MBC, suggesting that the circulating memory cell pool for malaria antigens is of similar size to that for other antigens
Social Algorithms
This article concerns the review of a special class of swarm intelligence
based algorithms for solving optimization problems and these algorithms can be
referred to as social algorithms. Social algorithms use multiple agents and the
social interactions to design rules for algorithms so as to mimic certain
successful characteristics of the social/biological systems such as ants, bees,
bats, birds and animals.Comment: Encyclopedia of Complexity and Systems Science, 201
Longevity and Composition of Cellular Immune Responses Following Experimental Plasmodium falciparum Malaria Infection in Humans
Cellular responses to Plasmodium falciparum parasites, in particular interferon-gamma (IFNΞ³) production, play an important role in anti-malarial immunity. However, clinical immunity to malaria develops slowly amongst naturally exposed populations, the dynamics of cellular responses in relation to exposure are difficult to study and data about the persistence of such responses are controversial. Here we assess the longevity and composition of cellular immune responses following experimental malaria infection in human volunteers. We conducted a longitudinal study of cellular immunological responses to sporozoites (PfSpz) and asexual blood-stage (PfRBC) malaria parasites in naΓ―ve human volunteers undergoing single (nβ=β5) or multiple (nβ=β10) experimental P. falciparum infections under highly controlled conditions. IFNΞ³ and interleukin-2 (IL-2) responses following in vitro re-stimulation were measured by flow-cytometry prior to, during and more than one year post infection. We show that cellular responses to both PfSpz and PfRBC are induced and remain almost undiminished up to 14 months after even a single malaria episode. Remarkably, not only βadaptiveβ but also βinnateβ lymphocyte subsets contribute to the increased IFNΞ³ response, including Ξ±Ξ²T cells, Ξ³Ξ΄T cells and NK cells. Furthermore, results from depletion and autologous recombination experiments of lymphocyte subsets suggest that immunological memory for PfRBC is carried within both the Ξ±Ξ²T cells and Ξ³Ξ΄T compartments. Indeed, the majority of cytokine producing T lymphocytes express an CD45RO+ CD62L- effector memory (EM) phenotype both early and late post infection. Finally, we demonstrate that malaria infection induces and maintains polyfunctional (IFNΞ³+IL-2+) EM responses against both PfRBC and PfSpz, previously found to be associated with protection. These data demonstrate that cellular responses can be readily induced and are long-lived following infection with P. falciparum, with a persisting contribution by not only adaptive but also (semi-)innate lymphocyte subsets. The implications hereof are positive for malaria vaccine development, but focus attention on those factors potentially inhibiting such responses in the field
Long-Lived Antibody and B Cell Memory Responses to the Human Malaria Parasites, Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax
Antibodies constitute a critical component of the naturally acquired immunity that develops following frequent exposure to malaria. However, specific antibody titres have been reported to decline rapidly in the absence of reinfection, supporting the widely perceived notion that malaria infections fail to induce durable immunological memory responses. Currently, direct evidence for the presence or absence of immune memory to malaria is limited. In this study, we analysed the longevity of both antibody and B cell memory responses to malaria antigens among individuals who were living in an area of extremely low malaria transmission in northern Thailand, and who were known either to be malaria naΓ―ve or to have had a documented clinical attack of P. falciparum and/or P. vivax in the past 6 years. We found that exposure to malaria results in the generation of relatively avid antigen-specific antibodies and the establishment of populations of antigen-specific memory B cells in a significant proportion of malaria-exposed individuals. Both antibody and memory B cell responses to malaria antigens were stably maintained over time in the absence of reinfection. In a number of cases where antigen-specific antibodies were not detected in plasma, stable frequencies of antigen-specific memory B cells were nonetheless observed, suggesting that circulating memory B cells may be maintained independently of long-lived plasma cells. We conclude that infrequent malaria infections are capable of inducing long-lived antibody and memory B cell responses
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