Subdominant H60 antigen-specific CD8 T-cell response precedes dominant H4 antigen-specific response during the initial phase of allogenic skin graft rejection

In allogeneic transplantation, including the B6 anti-BALB.B settings, H60 and H4 are two representative dominant minor histocompatibility antigens that induce strong CD8 T-cell responses. With different distribution patterns, H60 expression is restricted to hematopoietic cells, whereas H4 is ubiquitously expressed. H60-specific CD8 T-cell response has been known to be dominant in most cases of B6 anti-BALB.B allo-responses, except in the case of skin transplantation. To understand the mechanism underlying the subdominance of H60 during allogeneic skin transplantation, we investigated the dynamics of the H60-specific CD8 T cells in B6 mice transplanted with allogeneic BALB.B tail skin. Unexpectedly, longitudinal bioluminescence imaging and flow cytometric analyses revealed that H60-specific CD8 T cells were not always subdominant to H4-specific cells but instead showed a brief dominance before the H4 response became predominant. H60-specific CD8 T cells could expand in the draining lymph node and migrate to the BALB.B allografts, indicating their active participation in the anti-BALB.B allo-response. Enhancing the frequencies of H60-reactive CD8 T cells prior to skin transplantation reversed the immune hierarchy between H60 and H4. Additionally, H60 became predominant when antigen presentation was limited to the direct pathway. However, when antigen presentation was restricted to the indirect pathway, the expansion of H60-specific CD8 T cells was limited, whereas H4-specific CD8 T cells expanded significantly, suggesting that the temporary immunodominance and eventual subdominance of H60 could be due to their reliance on the direct antigen presentation pathway. These results enhance our understanding of the immunodominance phenomenon following allogeneic tissue transplantation.     

Association between the microbiomes of tonsil and saliva samples isolated from pediatric patients subjected to tonsillectomy for the treatment of tonsillar hyperplasia

Oral microbes have the capacity to spread throughout the gastrointestinal system and are strongly associated with multiple diseases. Given that tonsils are located between the oral cavity and the laryngopharynx at the gateway of the alimentary and respiratory tracts, tonsillar tissue may also be affected by microbiota from both the oral cavity (saliva) and the alimentary tract. Here, we analyzed the distribution and association of the microbial communities in the saliva and tonsils of Korean children subjected to tonsillectomy because of tonsil hyperplasia (n = 29). The microbiome profiles of saliva and tonsils were established via 16S rRNA gene sequencing. Based on the alpha diversity indices, the microbial communities of the two groups showed high similarities. According to Spearman’s ranking correlation analysis, the distribution of Treponema, the causative bacterium of periodontitis, in saliva and tonsils was found to have a significant positive correlation. Two representative microbes, Prevotella in saliva and Alloprevotella in tonsils, were negatively correlated, while Treponema 2 showed a strong positive correlation between saliva and tonsils. Taken together, strong similarities in the microbial communities of the tonsils and saliva are evident in terms of diversity and composition. The saliva microbiome is expected to significantly affect the tonsil microbiome. Furthermore, we suggest that our study creates an opportunity for tonsillar microbiome research to facilitate the development of novel microbiome-based therapeutic strategies.Subject terms: Comparative genomics, Metagenomics     

On the efficacy of charging a battery using a chaotic energy harvester

Nonlinear Dynamics - Introduction of stiffness nonlinearities to broaden the frequency bandwidth of vibratory energy harvesters has the adverse influence of complicating the response behavior of...     

Patterns and Symmetries in the Visual Cortex and in Natural Images

As borders between different entities, lines are an important element of natural images. Indeed, the neurons of the mammalian visual cortex are tuned to respond best to lines of a given orientation. This preferred orientation varies continuously across most of the cortex, but also has vortex-like singularities known as pinwheels. In attempting to describe such patterns of orientation preference, we are led to consider underlying rotation symmetries: Oriented segments in natural images tend to be collinear; neurons are more likely to be connected if their preferred orientations are aligned to their topographic separation. These are indications of a reduced symmetry requiring joint rotations of both orientation preference and the underlying topography. This is verified by direct statistical tests in both natural images and in cortical maps. Using the statistics of natural scenes we construct filters that are best suited to extracting information from such images, and find qualitative similarities to mammalian vision. PACS84.35+i 89.70.+c 87.57.Nk     

WKB Wave Function of the General Time-Dependent Quadratic Hamiltonian System

We derived the WKB wave function for the general time-dependent quadratic Hamiltonian system using a unitary transformation method. We applied our research to sinusodially drived Caldirola–Kanai oscillator and confirmed that the time evolution of our approximated WKB wave function is similar to that of the exact one. This wave function can be used to analyze the interference between the probability amplitudes contributed by the area of overlap in phase space of quantum states.     

A non‐linear and non‐local boundary condition for a diffusion equation in petroleum engineering

This article deals with a boundary value problem for Laplace equation with a non‐linear and non‐local boundary condition. This problem comes from petroleum engineering and is used to obtain an estimation of well productivity. The non‐linear and non‐local boundary condition is written on the well boundary. On the outer reservoir boundaries, we have both Dirichlet and Neumann conditions. In this paper, we prove the existence and uniqueness of a solution to this problem. The existence is proved by Schauder theorem and the uniqueness is obtained under more restricted conditions, when the involved operator is a contraction. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Advances in late transition metal catalysts for olefin polymerization/oligomerizarion

In this review article, we have consolidated our recent studies on late transition metal catalysts (mainly Fe, Co) for olefin polymerization/oligomerization. A series of bisiminopyridyl Co(II) and Fe(II) complexes were synthesized. These catalysts when activated with MAO in aromatic or aliphatic hydrocarbon solvents, oligomerize or polymerize ethylene to α-olefins or high molecular weight polymers with exceptionally high activities and selectivities. The electronic and steric effects of allyloxy and benzyloxy substituted bisiminopyridyl Fe(II) and Co(II) complexes were also investigated. The influence of catalyst structure and temperature on the polymerization activity, thermal properties and molecular weight were discussed. The effects of heterogenization of these catalysts on silica and modified SBA-15 were analyzed. The polymerization of polar monomers such as vinyl ethers and methyl methacrylate was tested and no specific trends in activity and polymer molecular weight with changes in steric bulkiness around the metal center were observed with the same catalyst system.     

Preparation and characterization of acrylic‐based black particles of poly(methyl methacrylate‐co‐ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) by dispersion polymerization for electrophoretic displays

Ultrafine black particles, ranging in diameter from 1 to 3 μm, were prepared by dispersion polymerization in a methanol/water mixture with vinyl monomers, nonpolymerizable Sudan black B dyes, and fluorescein isothiocyanate labeled charge control additives. Both the ratio of the methanol to the water dispersion medium and the polymeric stabilizer concentration had significant effects on the particle size. The important role of the stabilizer concentration lay in the particle formation step, during which it determined the particle stability and final particle size. These could affect the extent of the aggregation of nuclei by changing the adsorption rate of the stabilizer and the viscosity of the dispersion medium, resulting in smaller particles. The fluorescent‐labeled charge control additives strongly affected the electrophoretic mobility. A small concentration of fluorescent‐labeled charge control additives increased the electrophoretic mobility. However, a further addition reduced the electrophoretic mobility of the polymer particles. The concentration dependence of the fluorescent‐labeled charge control additives on the deposition behavior in the polymer particles was successfully imaged and thereafter quantified by image analysis. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 42: 5608–5616, 2004