2,011 research outputs found
Natural regulatory (CD4+CD25+FOXP+) T cells control the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines during Plasmodium chabaudi adami infection and do not contribute to immune evasion.
Different functions have been attributed to natural regulatory CD4+CD25+FOXP+ (Treg) cells during malaria infection. Herein, we assessed the role for Treg cells during infections with lethal (DS) and non-lethal (DK) Plasmodium chabaudi adami parasites, comparing the levels of parasitemia, inflammation and anaemia. Independent of parasite virulence, the population of splenic Treg cells expanded during infection, and the absolute numbers of activated CD69+ Treg cells were higher in DS-infected mice. In vivo depletion of CD25+ T cells, which eliminated 80% of CD4+FOXP3+CD25+ T cells and 60â70% of CD4+FOXP3+ T cells, significantly decreased the number of CD69+ Treg cells in mice with lethal malaria. As a result, higher parasite burden and morbidity were measured in the latter, whereas the kinetics of infection with non-lethal parasites remained unaffected. In the absence of Treg cells, parasite-specific IFN-Îł responses by CD4+ T cells increased significantly, both in mice with lethal and non-lethal infections, whereas IL-2 production was only stimulated in mice with non-lethal malaria. Following the depletion of CD25+ T cells, the production of IL-10 by CD90â cells was also enhanced in infected mice. Interestingly, a potent induction of TNF- and IFN-Îł production by CD4+ and CD90â lymphocytes was measured in DS-infected mice, which also suffered severe anaemia earlier than non-depleted infected controls. Taken together, our data suggest that the expansion and activation of natural Treg cells represent a counter-regulatory response to the overwhelming inflammation associated with lethal P.c. adami. This response to infection involves TH1 lymphocytes as well as cells from the innate immune system
Insights on neutrino lensing
We discuss the gravitational lensing of neutrinos by astrophysical objects.
Unlike photons, neutrinos can cross a stellar core; as a result, the lens
quality improves. We also estimate the depletion of the neutrino flux after
crossing a massive object and the signal amplification expected. While Uranians
alone would benefit from this effect in the Sun, similar effects could be
considered for binary systems.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures, to be published in Phys. Lett.
Comment on "On the Origin of the Highest Energy Cosmic Rays"
We show that the photodisintegration of heavy cosmic ray nuclei with energies
above 10^20 eV is dominated by interactions with photons from the cosmic
microwave background radiation, rather than from infrared ones. This implies
that the observed air shower events with energies 2-3 10^20 eV cannot originate
from Fe nuclei coming from distances beyond 10 MpcComment: 1 page, 2 figure
Neutrino Bremsstrahlung Process in highly degenerate magnetized electron gas
In this article the neutrino bremsstrahlung process is considered in presence
of strong magnetic field, though the calculations for this process in absence
of magnetic field are also carried out simultaneously. The electrons involved
in this process are supposed to be highly degenerate and relativistic. The
scattering cross sections and energy loss rates for both cases, in presence and
absence of magnetic field, are calculated in the extreme-relativistic limit.
Two results are compared in the range of temperature K K and magnetic field G at a fixed density
, a typical environment during the cooling of magnetized
neutron star. The interpretation of our result is briefly discussed and the
importance of this process during the stellar evolution is speculated.Comment: 12 pages including 2 figures and 1 tabl
Can continental bogs with stand the pressure due to climate change?
Not all peatlands are alike. Theoretical and process based models suggest that ombrogenic, oligotrophic peatlands can withstand the pressures due to climate change because of the feedbacks among ecosystem production, decomposition and water storage. Although there have been many inductive explanations inferring from paleo-records, there is a lack of deductive empirical tests of the models predictions of these systemsâ stability and there are few records of the changes in the net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) of peatlands that are long enough to examine the dynamics of the NECB in relation to climate variability. Continuous measurements of all the components of the NECB and the associated general climatic and environmental conditions have been made at the Mer Bleue (MB) peatland, a large, 28 km2, 5 m deep, raised ombro-oligotrophic, shrub and Sphagnum covered bog, near Ottawa, Canada from May 1, 1998 until the present. The sixteen-year daily CO2, CH4, and DOC flux and NECB covers a wide range of variability in peatland water storage from very dry to very wet growing seasons. We used the MB data to test the extent of MB peatlandâs stability and the strength of the underlying key feedback between the NECB and changes in water storage projected by the models. In 2007 we published a six-year (1999-2004) net ecosystem carbon balance (NECB) for MB of âŒ22 ± 40 g C m-2 yr-1, but we have since recalculated the 1998-2004 NECB to be 32 ± 40 g C m-2 yr-1 based on a reanalyzed average NEP of 51 ± 41 g C m-2 yr-1. Over the same period the net loss of C via the CH4 and DOC fluxes were -4 ± 1 and -15 ± 3 g C m-2 yr-1. The 1998-2004 six-year MB average NECB is similar to the long-term C accumulation rate, estimated from MB peat cores, for the last 3,000 years. The post 2004 MB NEP has increased to an average of âŒ96 ± 32 g C m-2 yr-1 largely to there being generally wetter growing seasons. The losses of C via DOC (18 ± 1 g C m-2 yr-1) and CH4 (7 ± 4 g C m-2 yr-1) while showing considerable year-to-year variability are not significantly different post 2004. Hence, the proportional loss of C as DOC and CH4 in the MB NECB is slightly less post-2004 than it was before 2004 though the cumulative errors preclude statistically differences. As a result the MB NECB has increased to 79 ± 29 g C m-2 yr-1 post 2004 yielding a 14 year contemporary NECB of 56 ± 36 g C m-2 yr-1, which is double the long-term accumulation rate of C. The variability in the annual NECB and growing season mean NEP for the MB bog can be explained (r2 = 0.35, p \u3c 0.01) by the variability in growing season water table depth. These results suggest the carbon balance â water table feedback is sufficient enough to create stability in continental bogs so they will withstand a considerable amount of climate change
Gravitational lensing as folds in the sky
We revisit the gravitational lensing phenomenon using a new visualization
technique. It consists in projecting the observers sky into the source plane,
what gives rise to a folded and stretched surface. This provides a clear
graphical tool to visualize some interesting well-known effects, such as the
development of multiple images of a source, the structure of the caustic
curves, the parity of the images and their magnification as a function of the
source position.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figure
Estimates of multipolar coefficients to search for cosmic ray anisotropies with non-uniform or partial sky coverage
We study the possibility to extract the multipolar moments of an underlying
distribution from a set of cosmic rays observed with non-uniform or even
partial sky coverage. We show that if the degree is assumed to be upper bounded
by , each multipolar moment can be recovered whatever the coverage, but with
a variance increasing exponentially with the bound if the coverage is zero
somewhere. Despite this limitation, we show the possibility to test predictions
of a model without any assumption on by building an estimate of the
covariance matrix seen through the exposure function.Comment: 20 pages, 8 figure
Electrical properties of silicon-implanted furnace-annealed silicon-on-sapphire devices
The crystalline quality of s.o.s. layers can be improved near the silicon-sapphire interface by silicon implantation followed by recrystallisation. Device performance on such layers is markedly improved as to n-channel m.o.s.t. noise and leakage current, reverse diode current and lateral bipolar transistor gain. Minority-carrier lifetimes up to 50 ns are deduced
- âŠ