3,160 research outputs found
Cholesterol-sensing liver X receptors stimulate Th2-driven allergic eosinophilic asthma in mice
Introduction: Liver X receptors (LXRs) are nuclear receptors that function as cholesterol sensors and regulate cholesterol homeostasis. High cholesterol has been recognized as a risk factor in asthma; however, the mechanism of this linkage is not known.
Methods: To explore the importance of cholesterol homeostasis for asthma, we investigated the contribution of LXR activity in an ovalbumin- and a house dust mite-driven eosinophilic asthma mouse model.
Results: In both models, airway inflammation, airway hyper-reactivity, and goblet cell hyperplasia were reduced in mice deficient for both LXR and LXR isoforms (LXR-/--/-) as compared to wild-type mice. Inversely, treatment with the LXR agonist GW3965 showed increased eosinophilic airway inflammation. LXR activity contributed to airway inflammation through promotion of type 2 cytokine production as LXR-/--/- mice showed strongly reduced protein levels of IL-5 and IL-13 in the lungs as well as reduced expression of these cytokines by CD4(+) lung cells and lung-draining lymph node cells. In line herewith, LXR activation resulted in increased type 2 cytokine production by the lung-draining lymph node cells.
Conclusions: In conclusion, our study demonstrates that the cholesterol regulator LXR acts as a positive regulator of eosinophilic asthma in mice, contributing to airway inflammation through regulation of type 2 cytokine production
Women with early maltreatment experience show increased resting-state functional connectivity in the theory of mind (ToM) network.
Background: Experience of childhood maltreatment significantly increases the risk for the development of psychopathology and is associated with impairments in socio-cognitive skills including theory-of-mind (ToM). In turn, neural alterations in ToM processing might then influence future interpersonal interaction and social-emotional understanding. Objective: To assess resting-state activity in the theory-of-mind network in traumatized and non-traumatized persons. Methods: Thirty-five women with a history of childhood maltreatment and 31 unaffected women completed a resting-state scan and a ToM localizer task. The peak coordinates from the localizer were used as the seed regions for the resting-state functional connectivity (RSFC) analyses (temporo-parietal junction, dorsomedial prefrontal cortex, middle temporal gyrus and precuneus). Results: Child abuse was associated with increased RSFC between various ToM regions including the precuneus and the brainstem suggesting altered hierarchical processing in ToM regions. Number of types of abuse was driving the effect for the temporo-parietal junction and the brainstem, while the severity of abuse was linked to increased RSFC between the middle temporal gyrus and the frontal cortex. Post-hoc analyses of brainstem regions indicated the involvement of the serotonergic system (dorsal raphe). Conclusions: The data indicate a lasting impact of childhood maltreatment on the neural networks involved in social information processing that are integral to understanding others' emotional states. Indeed, such altered neural networks may account for some of the interpersonal difficulties victims of childhood maltreatment experience
Evolving Music with Emotional Feedback
This research aims to develop evolutionary methods that automate the synthesis of a diverse range of complex consonant digital music with minimal user interaction. The key notion is that such music evolution is mainly directed by physiological feedback from the user’s parasympathetic responses to evolving music
Abundances and rotational temperatures of the C2 interstellar molecule towards six reddened early-type stars
Using high-resolution (~85000) and high signal-to-noise ratio (~200) optical
spectra acquired with the European Southern Observatory Ultraviolet and Visual
Echelle Spectrograph, we have determined the interstellar column densities of
C2 for six Galactic lines of sight with E(B- V) ranging from 0.33 to 1.03. For
our purposes, we identified and measured absorption lines belonging to the (1,
0), (2, 0) and (3, 0) Phillips bands A1{\Pi}u-X1{\Sigma}+g. We report on the
identification of a few lines of the C2 (4, 0) Phillips system towards HD
147889. The curve-of-growth method is applied to the equivalent widths to
determine the column densities of the individual rotational levels of C2. The
excitation temperature is extracted from the rotational diagrams. The physical
parameters of the intervening molecular clouds (e.g. gas kinetic temperatures
and densities of collision partners) were estimated by comparison with the
theoretical model of excitation of C2.Comment: 11 pages, 3 figures, MNRAS 201
CO emission and variable CH and CH+ absorption towards HD34078: evidence for a nascent bow shock ?
The runaway star HD34078, initially selected to investigate small scale
structure in a foreground diffuse cloud has been shown to be surrounded by
highly excited H2. We first search for an association between the foreground
cloud and HD34078. Second, we extend previous investigations of temporal
absorption line variations (CH, CH+, H2) in order to better characterize them.
We have mapped the CO(2-1) emission at 12 arcsec resolution around HD34078's
position, using the 30 m IRAM antenna. The follow-up of CH and CH+ absorption
lines has been extended over 5 more years. In parallel, CH absorption towards
the reddened star Zeta Per have been monitored to check the homogeneity of our
measurements. Three more FUSE spectra have been obtained to search for N(H2)
variations. CO observations show a pronounced maximum near HD34078's position,
clearly indicating that the star and diffuse cloud are associated. The optical
spectra confirm the reality of strong, rapid and correlated CH and CH+
fluctuations. On the other hand, N(H2, J=0) has varied by less than 5 % over 4
years. We also discard N(CH) variations towards Zeta Per at scales less than 20
AU. Observational constraints from this work and from 24 micron dust emission
appear to be consistent with H2 excitation but inconsistent with steady-state
bow shock models and rather suggest that the shell of compressed gas
surrounding HD34078, is seen at an early stage of the interaction. The CH and
CH+ time variations as well as their large abundances are likely due to
chemical structure in the shocked gas layer located at the stellar wind/ambient
cloud interface. Finally, the lack of variations for both N(H2, J=0) towards
HD34078 and N(CH) towards Zeta Per suggests that quiescent molecular gas is not
subject to pronounced small-scale structure.Comment: 19 pages, 15 figures, accepted for publication in A&
Transport on Directed Percolation Clusters
We study random lattice networks consisting of resistor like and diode like
bonds. For investigating the transport properties of these random resistor
diode networks we introduce a field theoretic Hamiltonian amenable to
renormalization group analysis. We focus on the average two-port resistance at
the transition from the nonpercolating to the directed percolating phase and
calculate the corresponding resistance exponent to two-loop order.
Moreover, we determine the backbone dimension of directed percolation
clusters to two-loop order. We obtain a scaling relation for that is in
agreement with well known scaling arguments.Comment: 4 page
Multifractal properties of resistor diode percolation
Focusing on multifractal properties we investigate electric transport on
random resistor diode networks at the phase transition between the
non-percolating and the directed percolating phase. Building on first
principles such as symmetries and relevance we derive a field theoretic
Hamiltonian. Based on this Hamiltonian we determine the multifractal moments of
the current distribution that are governed by a family of critical exponents
. We calculate the family to two-loop order in a
diagrammatic perturbation calculation augmented by renormalization group
methods.Comment: 21 pages, 5 figures, to appear in Phys. Rev.
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