Effect of crystalline family and orientation on stimulated Brillouin scattering in whispering-gallery mode resonators.

Ultra-high Q whispering-gallery mode resonators pumped by a continuous-wave laser are known to enhance stimulated Brillouin scattering when optimal resonance and phase-matching conditions are met. In crystalline resonators, this process depends critically on the crystal orientation and family, which impose the elastic constants defining the velocity of the acoustic waves. In this article, we investigate the effect of crystalline orientation and family on this velocity which is proportional to the Brillouin frequency down-shift.

Prenatal diagnosis of exophytic nevus sebaceous of the scalp.

Nevus sebaceous is a complex hamartoma most commonly found on the scalp, face, and neck and is often present at birth, although some may be diagnosed later in infancy. We report the first prenatal diagnosis of isolated nevus sebaceous that presented at 19 weeks' gestation as a large and exophytic tumor of the scalp. This case emphasizes the crucial role of ultrasound examination performed with high-frequency probes, which revealed associated diffuse lesions of the face.

Extremely low loss phonon-trapping cryogenic acoustic cavities for future physical experiments.

Low loss Bulk Acoustic Wave devices are considered from the point of view of the solid state approach as phonon-confining cavities. We demonstrate effective design of such acoustic cavities with phonon-trapping techniques exhibiting extremely high quality factors for trapped longitudinally-polarized phonons of various wavelengths. Quality factors of observed modes exceed 1 billion, with a maximum Q-factor of 8 billion and Q × f product of 1.

Outer membrane protein A (OmpA) activates human epidermal Langerhans cells.

Outer membrane protein (Omp)A is highly represented and conserved in the Enterobacteriaceae family. Using a recombinant OmpA from Klebsiella pneumoniae (kpOmpA), we have analysed the interaction between this bacterial cell wall protein and human Langerhans cells (LC), the antigen-presenting cells of the epidermis and mucosa. We showed that biotinylated kpOmpA binds to human LC freshly isolated from epidermis.

Enhanced pulmonary immunopathology following neonatal priming with formalin-inactivated respiratory syncytial virus but not with the BBG2NA vaccine candidate.

Prevention of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) disease will implicate neonatal priming. However, neonatal antigen exposure frequently results into Th2-like responses, some of which are critical for formalin-inactivated RSV (FI-RSV)-associated lung immunopathology. Neonatal immunization of mice may thus represent a more stringent model of RSV-enhanced pathology than adults.

Expression of recombinant proteins in a lipid A mutant of Escherichia coli BL21 with a strongly reduced capacity to induce dendritic cell activation and maturation.

Mutations in the Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Salmonella lpxM gene have been shown to result in strains which grow normally and which produce a non-myristoylated lipopolysaccharide (nmLPS) with strongly reduced endotoxicity. Using homologous recombination, we inactivated the lpxM gene in BL21 (DE3), a strain widely used for the production of recombinant proteins.

Gamma interferon-dependent protection of the mouse upper respiratory tract following parenteral immunization with a respiratory syncytial virus G protein fragment.

The protective mechanisms induced in the mouse upper respiratory tract (URT) after intraperitoneal immunization with G2Na, a recombinant respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) G protein fragment (amino acid residues 130 to 230), were investigated. This protection was recently shown to be mediated by CD4(+) T cells and to be critically dependent on the cysteines and amino acids 193 and 194 (H. Plotnicky-Gilquin, A.

The sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide inhibits LPS- but not TNF-alpha-induced maturation of human monocyte-derived dendritic cells by inhibition of the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.

Background: Dendritic cells (DCs) are the most potent antigen-presenting cells, and the manipulation of DC maturation provides a strategy for the treatment of allergic and inflammatory diseases.

Objective: In this study we examined the effect of the anti-inflammatory sesquiterpene lactone parthenolide (PTL) on DC maturation induced by LPS or TNF-alpha.

Methods: Human monocyte-derived DCs generated by means of culture with GM-CSF and IL-4 were pretreated with PTL and subsequently stimulated with LPS or TNF-alpha.

Measurement of nuclear factor-kappa B translocation on lipopolysaccharide-activated human dendritic cells by confocal microscopy and flow cytometry.

Background: Nuclear factor kappa B (NF-kappaB) is a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor that regulates cytokine and immunoglobulin (Ig) gene expression. In most cell types, the inactive p50/p65 NF-kappaB heterodimer is located in the cytoplasm, complexed to its IkappaB inhibitory unit. Stimulation of cells by various reagents such as bacterial endotoxin or cytokines leads to a dissociation of NF-kappaB from IkappaB and a rapid translocation of free NF-kappaB to the nucleus.

A role for CD147 in thymic development.

We have previously identified a mAb that binds to a molecule expressed preferentially on the surface of cycling thymocytes. In this study the molecule recognized by this mAb has been identified in the mouse as CD147 (basigin) by expression cloning. We show that CD147 expression correlates with cycling of immature thymocytes even in the absence of TCRbeta selection and that ligation of this molecule on immature fetal thymocytes inhibits their further development into mature T cells.