T Cell-Induced Colitis Is Exacerbated by Prolonged Stress: A Comparison in Male and Female Mice.

Psychological stress exposure is well recognized to exacerbate inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) but the mechanisms involved remain poorly understood. In this study, chronic T cell-mediated colitis was induced by adoptively transferring CD4CD45RB splenic T cells from C57BL/6 WT donor mice into mice. Two weeks after T cell transfer, mice were exposed to a prolonged restraint stressor (RST) for 8 h per day for 6 consecutive days.

Human Complement C4B Allotypes and Deficiencies in Selected Cases With Autoimmune Diseases.

Human complement C4 is one of the most diverse but heritable effectors for humoral immunity. To help understand the roles of C4 in the defense and pathogenesis of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases, we determined the bases of polymorphisms including the frequent genetic deficiency of C4A and/or C4B isotypes. We demonstrated the diversities of C4A and C4B proteins and their gene copy number variations (CNVs) in healthy subjects and patients with autoimmune disease, such as type 1 diabetes, systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and encephalitis.

Effects of a temperature-dependent viscosity on thermal convection in binary mixtures.

We investigate the effect of a temperature-dependent viscosity on the onset of thermal convection in a horizontal layer of a binary fluid mixture that is heated from below. For an exponential temperature dependence of the viscosity, we find, in binary mixtures as a function of a positive separation ratio ψ and beyond a certain viscosity contrast, a discontinuous transition between two stationary convection modes having different wavelengths. In the range of negative values of the separation ratio ψ, a (continuous or discontinuous) transition from an oscillatory to a stationary onset of convection occurs beyond a certain viscosity contrast, and for large values of the viscosity ratio, the oscillatory onset of convection is suppressed.

Convection in nanofluids with a particle-concentration-dependent thermal conductivity.

Thermal convection in nanofluids is investigated by means of a continuum model for binary-fluid mixtures, with a thermal conductivity depending on the local concentration of colloidal particles. The applied temperature difference between the upper and the lower boundary leads via the Soret effect to a variation of the colloid concentration and, therefore, to a spatially varying heat conductivity. An increasing difference between the heat conductivity of the mixture near the colder and the warmer boundary results in a shift of the onset of convection to higher values of the Rayleigh number for positive values of the separation ratio ψ>0 and to smaller values in the range ψ<0.

Convection in colloidal suspensions with particle-concentration-dependent viscosity.

The onset of thermal convection in a horizontal layer of a colloidal suspension is investigated in terms of a continuum model for binary-fluid mixtures where the viscosity depends on the local concentration of colloidal particles. With an increasing difference between the viscosity at the warmer and the colder boundary the threshold of convection is reduced in the range of positive values of the separation ratio psi with the onset of stationary convection as well as in the range of negative values of psi with an oscillatory Hopf bifurcation. Additionally the convection rolls are shifted downwards with respect to the center of the horizontal layer for stationary convection psi>0 and upwards for the Hopf bifurcation (psi<0.

Hexagonal, square, and stripe patterns of the ion channel density in biomembranes.

Transmembrane ion flow through channel proteins undergoing density fluctuations may cause lateral gradients of the electrical potential across the membrane giving rise to electrophoresis of charged channels. A model for the dynamics of the channel density and the voltage drop across the membrane (cable equation) coupled to a binding-release reaction with the cell skeleton [P. Fromherz and W.

Stripe-hexagon competition in forced pattern-forming systems with broken up-down symmetry.

We investigate the response of two-dimensional pattern-forming systems with a broken up-down symmetry, such as chemical reactions, to spatially resonant forcing and propose related experiments. The nonlinear behavior immediately above threshold is analyzed in terms of amplitude equations suggested for a 1:2 and 1:1 ratio between the wavelength of the spatial periodic forcing and the wavelength of the pattern of the respective system. Both sets of coupled amplitude equations are derived by a perturbative method from the Lengyel-Epstein model describing a chemical reaction showing Turing patterns, which gives us the opportunity to relate the generic response scenarios to a specific pattern-forming system.

Differences in immediacy between traditional and nontraditional students.

Reported differences between 83 traditional and 44 nontraditional college students on immediacy were nonsignificant.

A methodological note on mail survey response rates.

Five mail surveys of broadcast managers during the 1990s yielded consistently low response rates. Implications for research are discussed.

The new topical steroid ciclesonide is effective in the treatment of allergic rhinitis.

A randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind crossover study was performed to investigate the efficacy of ciclesonide nasal spray in allergic rhinitis at the dose level of 200 micrograms per nostril. Twenty-four subjects (13 males, 11 females; median age: 28 years) with a history of allergic rhinitis but free of symptoms at screening entered the study. Ciclesonide and placebo were given for 7 days each with a washout period of at least 14 days in between.

The Kogan Attitudes Toward Old People scale: is it time for a revision?

The Kogan Attitudes Toward Old People scale scale has been used in gerontological research for more than 35 years. Criticisms of the scale, including dated wording and response bias, have increased in the 1990s. Researchers must examine the scale and decide whether a revision is now necessary.

Epidemiology of gambling and depression in an adult sample.

As a relationship has been reported between pathological gambling and depression, the objective of this study was to explore whether there was a relationship between gambling and depression in a sample of 400 adults. No relationship was found.

Television news and elderly persons.

Previous studies concerning elderly people have examined either use of all media by older adults or their depiction in television entertainment programs. What has been overlooked has been television news and its effects on elderly people. Careful research is needed to gauge this.

Scanning molecular sieve chromatography of interacting protein systems: nonlinear least-squares analysis of small zone experiments.

A simple routine for nonlinear least-squares analysis is applied to small zone scanning data, where calibration of the gel column requires the use of fully characterized markers of known molecular size. Application of nonlinear least-squares analysis eliminates the difficulty encountered because of scarcity of calibrating markers for gels whose porosities span certain size ranges by providing a sensitive measure of changes in molecular size of the interacting protein system, in order to determine the interaction parameters, size heterogeneity, and the centroid position for time difference chromatographic experiments.