The clustering of galaxies with pseudo bulge and classical bulge in the local Universe

We investigate the clustering properties and close neighbour counts for galaxies with different types of bulges and stellar masses. We select samples of "classical" and "pseudo" bulges, as well as "bulge-less" disk galaxies, based on the bulge/disk decomposition catalog of SDSS galaxies provided by Simard et al. (2011). For a given galaxy sample we estimate: the projected two-point cross-correlation function with respect to a spectroscopic reference sample, w_p(r_p), and the average background-subtracted neighbour count within a projected separation using a photometric reference sample, N_neighbour(<r_p). We compare the results with the measurements of control samples matched in color, concentration and redshift. We find that, when limited to a certain stellar mass range and matched in color and concentration, all the samples present similar clustering amplitudes and neighbour counts on scales above ~0.1h^{-1}Mpc. This indicates that neither the presence of a central bulge, nor the bulge type is related to intermediate-to-large scale environments. On smaller scales, in contrast, pseudo-bulge and pure-disk galaxies similarly show strong excess in close neighbour count when compared to control galaxies, at all masses probed. For classical bulges, small-scale excess is also observed but only for M_stars < 10^{10} M_sun; at higher masses, their neighbour counts are similar to that of control galaxies at all scales. These results imply strong connections between galactic bulges and galaxy-galaxy interactions in the local Universe, although it is unclear how they are physically linked in the current theory of galaxy formation.Comment: 14 pages, 16 figures, accepted for publication in MNRA

Experimental study on the nucleate boiling heat transfer characteristics of a water-based multi-walled carbon nanotubes nanofluid in a confined space

Experimental investigation of nucleate boiling heat transfer of a water-based multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) nanofluid in a confined space is presented in this study. First, the effects of four different surfactants on the stability of the nanofluids were investigated and the suitable surfactant gum acacia (GA) was selected for the boiling experiments. Then, the boiling experiments of the nanofluids with various volume fractions (0.005–0.2%) of the MWCNTs were conducted at a sub-atmospheric pressure of 1 × 10−3 Pa and the test heat fluxes are from 100 to 740 kW/m2. Furthermore, GA with four different mass fractions was respectively dissolved in the nanofluids to investigate the effect of the GA concentration on the boiling heat transfer. The effects of the heat flux, the concentrations of the MWCNTs and surfactants, the bubble behaviors and the surface conditions after the boiling processes have been analyzed. The results show that the MWCNTs nanofluid can enhance boiling heat transfer as compared to the base fluid. This is mainly caused by the nanoparticles deposition on the boiling surface result in increasing the surface roughness and reducing surface contact angle. It is also found that addition of GA can inhibit the deposition of the nanoparticles but may reduce the boiling heat transfer coefficient of the nanofluids. According to the experimental results, the maximum heat transfer coefficient enhancement ratio can reach 40.53%. It is also noticed that the heat transfer enhancement ratio decreases with increasing the heat flux at lower heat fluxes from 100 to 340 kW/m2 while it increases with increasing the heat flux at higher fluxes from 340 to 740 kW/m2. At the lower heat fluxes, the deposition layer increases the frequency of bubble formation and thus the boiling heat transfer is strengthened. While at the high heat fluxes, the increasing heat flux may strengthen the capability of the nanoparticles deposition and the disturbance of the nanoparticles and increase the enhancement ratio of heat transfer coefficient

Histological Evaluation of Corneal Scar Formation in Pseudophakic Bullous Keratopathy

PURPOSE: To evaluate histological changes in the corneal stroma in pseudophakic bullous keratopathy. METHODS: Twenty-eight patients (28 eyes) with pseudophakic bullous keratopathy underwent therapeutic penetrating keratoplasty at Shandong Eye Institute between January 2006 and November 2011. The patients were divided into two groups according to the duration of bullous keratopathy (<1.0 year group or >1.0 year group), and three buttons from enucleated eyes with choroidal melanoma served as a control. In vivo confocal microscopy examination, hematoxylin-eosin, Masson's trichrome stain and Van Gieson staining were used for microscopic examination. The histological evaluation and scoring of the buttons for morphological changes, including the degree of stromal scars, neovascularization and inflammatory cells within the corneal buttons, were compared. To study the underlying mechanism, connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) and TGF-β immunohistochemistry were performed. RESULTS: Confocal microscopy examination and histological evaluation and scoring of the buttons showed that compared with the <1.0 year group, stromal scars, neovascularization and inflammatory cells were more severe in the >1.0 year group (P<0.05). There was an increase in CTGF- and TGF-β1-positive stromal cells in the >1.0 year group. CONCLUSIONS: During the progression of pseudophakic bullous keratopathy, stromal scars occurred more often in the patients that had a longer duration of disease. Cytokines such as CTGF and TGF-β1 may play a role in this pathological process and deserve further investigation

Effectiveness and safety of pneumococcal vaccines used alone or combined with influenza vaccination in dialysis patients: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: A lower conversion vaccination rate and a more rapid decline in antibody titers over time in dialysis patients raise concerns about the effectiveness of pneumococcal vaccination (PV) in this population, which has not been systematically reviewed. METHODS: We searched PubMed, Cochrane Library, Embase and three Chinese databases from inception until February 29th, 2020 for interventional, cohort and case-control studies evaluating PV alone or combined with influenza vaccination (IV) on outcomes (all-cause mortality, pneumonia, cardiovascular events, antibody response and safety). Independent reviewers completed citation screening, data extraction, risk assessment, meta-analysis, and GRADE rating of the quality of evidence. RESULTS: Five cohort studies and one quasirandomized control trial enrolling 394,299 dialysis patients with high to moderate quality were included. Compared with unvaccinated individuals, those receiving PV had lower risk of all-cause mortality [Adjusted relative risk (RR) 0.73, 95% CI 0.67-0.79, I2 = 31.1%, GRADE low certainty] and cardiovascular events (adjusted RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.69-0.93, I2 = 47.2%, GRADE low certainty) without serious adverse effect reported. Compared with no vaccination, lower all-cause mortality was observed in those receiving PV combined with IV (Adjusted RR 0.71, 95%CI 0.67-0.75, I2 = 63.3%), PV alone (Adjusted RR 0.86, 95% CI 0.78-0.94,I2 = 0%], and IV alone (Adjusted RR 0.76, 95% CI 0.73-0.79, I2 = 0%]. There was no difference between pneumococcal vaccinated patients vs non-vaccinated patients with respect to pneumonia. Immune response to pneumococcal conjugate vaccine-13 was weaker in polysaccharide pneumococcal vaccine-23-pre-vaccinated compared with vaccine-naive patients. CONCLUSIONS: The use of pneumococcal vaccine especially combined with influenza vaccination is associated with lower risks of all-cause mortality but may be affected by residual confounding/healthy vaccinee bias

Sin1 phosphorylation impairs mTORC2 complex integrity and inhibits downstream Akt signaling to suppress tumorigenesis

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) functions as a critical regulator of cellular growth and metabolism by forming multi-component, yet functionally distinct complexes mTORC1 and mTORC2. Although mTORC2 has been implicated in mTORC1 activation, little is known about how mTORC2 is regulated. Here we report that phosphorylation of Sin1 at T86 and T398 suppresses mTORC2 kinase activity by dissociating Sin1 from mTORC2. Importantly, Sin1 phosphorylation, triggered by S6K or Akt, in a cellular context-dependent manner, inhibits not only insulin/IGF-1-mediated, but also PDGF or EGF-induced Akt phosphorylation by mTORC2, demonstrating a negative regulation of mTORC2 independent of IRS-1 and Grb10. Lastly, a cancer patient-derived Sin1-R81T mutation impairs Sin1 phosphorylation, leading to hyper-mTORC2 activation via bypassing this negative regulation. Together, our work reveals a Sin1 phosphorylation-dependent mTORC2 regulation, providing a potential molecular mechanism by which mutations in the mTORC1/S6K/Sin1 signaling axis might cause aberrant hyper-activation of mTORC2/Akt that facilitates tumorigenesis

Glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibodies are dominant but insufficient to identify most Chinese with adult-onset non-insulin requiring autoimmune diabetes: LADA China study 5.

AIMS: Adult-onset autoimmune diabetes is prevalent in China, in contrast to childhood-onset type 1 diabetes mellitus. Islet autoantibodies are the most important immune biomarkers to diagnose autoimmune diabetes. We assayed four different islet autoantibodies in recently diagnosed adult non-insulin-requiring diabetes Chinese subjects to investigate the best antibody assay strategy for the correct diagnosis of these subjects. METHODS: LADA China study is a nation-wide multicenter study conducted in diabetes patients from 46 university-affiliated hospitals in China. Non-insulin-treated newly diagnosed adult diabetes patients (n = 2388) were centrally assayed for glutamic acid decarboxylase autoantibody (GADA), protein tyrosine phosphatase-2 autoantibody (IA-2A), and zinc transporter 8 autoantibody (ZnT8A) by radioligand assay and insulin autoantibody (IAA) by microtiter plate radioimmunoassay. Clinical data were determined locally. RESULTS: Two hundred and six (8.63 %) subjects were autoantibody positive, of which GADA identified 5.78 % (138/2388) of the total, but only 67 % (138/206) of the autoimmune cases. IA-2A, ZnT8A, and IAA were found in 1.51, 1.84, and 1.26 % of the total study subjects, respectively. When assaying three islet autoantibodies, the most effective strategy was the combination of GADA, ZnT8A, and IAA, which could identify 92.2 % (190/206) autoimmune diabetes patients. The clinical data showed that those subjects with positive GADA had lower random C-peptide than autoantibody negative subjects (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: As with Europeans, GADA is the dominant autoantibody in this form of autoimmune diabetes in China, but in contrast to Europeans, screening should include other diabetes-associated autoantibodies