BRD4 expression in microglia supports recruitment of T cells into the CNS and exacerbates EAE.

Unlabelled: In EAE, a mouse model of multiple sclerosis, immunization with MOG autoantigen results in the generation of Th1/Th17 T cells in the periphery. MOG-specific T cells then invade into the central nervous system (CNS), resulting in neuronal demyelination. Microglia, innate immune cells in the CNS are known to regulate various neuronal diseases.

Optimizing the cost of the STEP programme.

The Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production (STEP) programme is a world-leading fusion power plant programme that has embedded a cost conscience in its design from the early phases. This firmly addresses the attitude of cost complacency of which many major infrastructure projects have historically been accused. While a detailed and highly accurate whole life cycle cost analysis is not possible, or even valuable, during the conceptual design stage, this early design phase is still the most critical programme phase where a focus on costs can drive longer term reductions and impact whole life cycle costs at the high level.

Veterinary students' proximity to and interpretation of a simulated "aggressive" dog before and after training.

Dog "aggression" in the veterinary practice is commonplace. Therefore, student knowledge and education about dog behaviour and the ability to interpret "aggressive" behaviour is important from a human injury prevention and dog welfare perspective. The study aimed to compare first-year veterinary students' perceived safest proximity to both an "aggressive" and non-reactive simulated dog, both before and after a teaching intervention about canine behaviour and a handling practical.

Anisotropic Melting of Frustrated Ising Antiferromagnets.

Magnetic frustrations and dimensionality play an important role in determining the nature of the magnetic long-range order and how it melts at temperatures above the ordering transition T_{N}. In this Letter, we use large-scale Monte Carlo simulations to study these phenomena in a class of frustrated Ising spin models in two spatial dimensions. We find that the melting of the magnetic long-range order into an isotropic gaslike paramagnet proceeds via an intermediate stage where the classical spins remain anisotropically correlated.

Crosstalk between ILC2s and Th2 cells varies among mouse models.

Type 2 T helper (Th2) cells and group 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) provide protection against helminth infection and are involved in allergic responses. However, their relative importance and crosstalk during type 2 immune responses are still controversial. By generating and utilizing mouse strains that are deficient in either ILC2s or Th2 cells, we report that interleukin (IL)-33-mediated ILC2 activation promotes the Th2 cell response to papain; however, the Th2 cell response to ovalbumin (OVA)/alum immunization is thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP) dependent but independent of ILC2s.

and : Novel murine reporter alleles for identifying and studying Th2 cells and ILC2s .

T helper-2 (Th2) cells and type 2 innate lymphoid cells (ILC2s) play crucial roles during type 2 immune responses; the transcription factor GATA3 is essential for the differentiation and functions of these cell types. It has been demonstrated that GATA3 is critical for maintaining Th2 and ILC2 phenotype ; GATA3 not only positively regulates type 2 lymphocyte-associated genes, it also negatively regulates many genes associated with other lineages. However, such functions cannot be easily verified because the expression of the markers for identifying Th2 and ILC2s depends on GATA3.

A pilot study investigating human behaviour towards DAVE (Dog Assisted Virtual Environment) and interpretation of non-reactive and aggressive behaviours during a virtual reality exploration task.

Dog aggression is a public health concern because dog bites often lead to physical and psychological trauma in humans. It is also a welfare concern for dogs. To prevent aggressive behaviours, it is important to understand human behaviour towards dogs and our ability to interpret signs of dog aggression.

Recent advances in understanding the Th1/Th2 effector choice.

For over 35 years since Mosmann and Coffman proposed the seminal "type 1 T helper (Th1)/type 2 T helper (Th2)" hypothesis in 1986, the immunological community has appreciated that naïve CD4 T cells need to make important decisions upon their activation, namely to differentiate towards a Th1, Th2, Th17 (interleukin-17-producing T helper), follicular T helper (Tfh), or regulatory T cell (Treg) fate to orchestrate a variety of adaptive immune responses. The major molecular underpinnings of the Th1/Th2 effector fate choice had been initially characterized using excellent reductionist culture systems, through which the transcription factors T-bet and GATA3 were identified as the master regulators for the differentiation of Th1 and Th2 cells, respectively. However, Th1/Th2 cell differentiation and their cellular heterogeneity are usually determined by a combinatorial expression of multiple transcription factors, particularly , where dendritic cell (DC) and innate lymphoid cell (ILC) subsets can also influence T helper lineage choices.

Characterization of Islet Leukocyte Populations in Human and Murine Islets by Flow Cytometry.

An increasing body of evidence indicates that a local islet immune response is not only limited to type 1 diabetes, but also is associated with islet dysfunction in type 2 diabetes. Recently, the presence of pancreatic CD68 macrophages within islet tissues was demonstrated by RT-PCR and immunohistochemical methods. However, the precise profile and activation status of intraislet leukocytes, which are present in both murine and human islets, are poorly defined.

Atherosclerosis-Driven Treg Plasticity Results in Formation of a Dysfunctional Subset of Plastic IFNγ+ Th1/Tregs.

Rationale: Forkhead box P3 T regulatory cells (Tregs) are key players in maintaining immune homeostasis. Evidence suggests that Tregs respond to environmental cues to permit or suppress inflammation. In atherosclerosis, Th1-driven inflammation affects Treg homeostasis, but the mechanisms governing this phenomenon are unclear.

Smooth Muscle Cell-Derived Interleukin-17C Plays an Atherogenic Role via the Recruitment of Proinflammatory Interleukin-17A+ T Cells to the Aorta.

Objective: Atherosclerosis is characterized by frequent communication between infiltrating leukocytes and vascular cells, through chemokine and cytokine networks. Interleukin-17C (IL-17C) is detectable within atherosclerotic lesions; however, the potential involvement of this cytokine has not been examined. Thus, we sought to investigate the role of IL-17C in atherosclerosis.

CXCR6 regulates the recruitment of pro-inflammatory IL-17A-producing T cells into atherosclerotic aortas.

The adaptive immune response is involved in the development and progression of atherosclerosis and IL-17A(+) cells play a role in this disease. Although elevated number of CD4(+) IL-17A(+) (Th17) and IL-17A(+)TCRγδ(+) T cells are found within murine atherosclerotic aortas and human plaques, the mechanisms governing IL-17A(+) T-cell migration to atherosclerotic lesions are unclear. The chemokine receptor CXCR6 is expressed on several T-cell subsets and plays a pro-atherogenic role in atherosclerosis.

Bariatric surgery decreases monocyte-platelet aggregates in blood: a pilot study.

Morbid obesity is accompanied by platelet hyperactivity, leading to thrombotic events including myocardial infarction and stroke. Bariatric surgery is an effective intervention to reduce cardiovascular risk in obesity. However, the effect of bariatric surgery on platelet function is largely unknown.

The dynamic lives of macrophage and dendritic cell subsets in atherosclerosis.

Atherosclerosis, the major pathological process through which arterial plaques are formed, is a dynamic chronic inflammatory disease of large- and medium-sized arteries in which the vasculature, lipid metabolism, and the immune system all play integral roles. Both the innate and adaptive immune systems are involved in the development and progression of atherosclerosis but myeloid cells represent the major component of the burgeoning atherosclerotic plaque. Various myeloid cells, including monocytes, macrophages (MΦs), and dendritic cells (DCs) can be found within the healthy and atherosclerotic arterial wall, where they can contribute to or regulate inflammation.

Association of proinflammatory cytokines and islet resident leucocytes with islet dysfunction in type 2 diabetes.

Aims/hypothesis: Chronic inflammation in type 2 diabetes is proposed to affect islets as well as insulin target organs. However, the nature of islet inflammation and its effects on islet function in type 2 diabetes remain unclear. Moreover, the immune cell profiles of human islets in healthy and type 2 diabetic conditions are undefined.

Adenoma malignum detected on a trauma CT.

Adenoma malignum is a rare subtype of cervical adenocarcinoma. Clinical presentation is variable with watery vaginal discharge being the most commonly associated finding. We report a case of adenoma malignum incidentally detected on pelvic computed tomography (CT) performed for a trauma patient.

Phenotypic and functional heterogeneity of macrophages and dendritic cell subsets in the healthy and atherosclerosis-prone aorta.

Atherosclerosis continues to be the leading cause of cardiovascular disease. Development of atherosclerosis depends on chronic inflammation in the aorta and multiple immune cells are involved in this process. Importantly, resident macrophages and dendritic cells (DCs) are present within the healthy aorta, but the functions of these cells remain poorly characterized.

The IL-17A/IL-17RA axis plays a proatherogenic role via the regulation of aortic myeloid cell recruitment.

Rationale: Atherosclerosis is a disease of large- and medium-sized arteries that is characterized by chronic vascular inflammation. While the role of Th1, Th2, and T-regulatory subsets in atherogenesis is established, the involvement of IL-17A-producing cells remains unclear.

Objective: To investigate the role of the IL-17A/IL-17RA axis in atherosclerosis.

Accelerated atherosclerosis in Apoe-/- mice heterozygous for the insulin receptor and the insulin receptor substrate-1.

Objective: Prediabetic states are associated with accelerated atherosclerosis, but the availability of mouse models to study connections between these diseases has been limited. The aim of this study was to test the selective role of impaired insulin receptor/insulin receptor substrate-1 signaling on atherogenesis.

Methods And Results: To address the effects of impaired insulin signaling associated with hyperinsulinemia on atherosclerosis in the absence of obesity and hyperglycemia, we generated insulin receptor (Insr)/insulin receptor substrate-1 (Insr1) double heterozygous apolipoprotein (Apoe)-knockout mice (Insr(+/-)Irs1(+/-)Apoe(-/-)) mice.

Flow cytometry analysis of immune cells within murine aortas.

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory process of medium and large size vessels that is characterized by the formation of plaques consisting of foam cells, immune cells, vascular endothelial and smooth muscle cells, platelets, extracellular matrix, and a lipid-rich core with extensive necrosis and fibrosis of surrounding tissues.(1) The innate and adaptive arms of the immune response are involved in the initiation, development and persistence of atherosclerosis.(2, 3) There is a significant body of evidence that different subsets of the immune cells, such as macrophages, dendritic cells, T and B lymphocytes, are present within the aortas of healthy and atherosclerosis-prone mice(4).

Evaluation of potential relationships between chemical contaminants in sediments and aquatic organisms from the lower Passaic River, New Jersey, USA.

The lower Passaic River, New Jersey, USA, a tidal tributary to Newark Bay and part of the New York and New Jersey Harbor Estuary, is contaminated with a variety of persistent organic pollutants (POPs) due to nearly two centuries of heavy industrialization and urbanization. Resident aquatic organisms are exposed to, and can bioaccumulate, a variety of chemical contaminants from sediments, water and other organisms. In the present study, the relationships between selected POPs detected in both surface sediments and aquatic organisms are examined statistically along with the efficacy of using empirical biota-sediment accumulation factors (BSAFs) to describe such relationships.

Blockade of interleukin-17A results in reduced atherosclerosis in apolipoprotein E-deficient mice.

Background: T cells play an important role during the immune response that accompanies atherosclerosis. To date, the role for interleukin (IL)-17A in atherogenesis is not well defined. Here, we tested the hypothesis that atherosclerosis-prone conditions induce the differentiation of IL-17A-producing T cells, which in turn promote atherosclerosis.