We present improved fits to our treatment of suppression of dielectronic recombination at intermediate densities. At low densities, most recombined excited states eventually decay to the ground ...state, and therefore the total dielectronic recombination rate to all levels is preserved. At intermediate densities, on the other hand, collisions can lead to ionization of higher-lying excited states, thereby suppressing the dielectronic recombination rate. The improved suppression factors presented here, although highly approximate, allow summed recombination rate coefficients to be used to intermediate densities. There have been several technical improvements to our previously presented fits. For H- through B-like ions the activation log densities have been adjusted to better reproduce existing data. For B-, C-, Al-, and Si-like ions secondary autoionization is now included. The treatment of density discontinuity in electron excitations out of ground state H-, He-, and Ne-like ions has been improved. These refined dielectronic recombination suppression factors are used in the most recent version of the plasma simulation code Cloudy. We show how the ionization and emission spectrum change when this physics is included. Although these suppression factors improve the treatment of intermediate densities, they are highly approximate and are not a substitution for a complete collisional-radiative model of the ionization balance.
Obesity affects 40% of U.S. adults, is associated with a proinflammatory state, and presents a significant risk factor for the development of severe coronavirus disease (COVID-19). To date, there is ...limited information on how obesity might affect immune cell responses in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection.
To determine the impact of obesity on respiratory tract immunity in COVID-19 across the human lifespan.
We analyzed single-cell transcriptomes from BAL in three ventilated adult cohorts with (
= 24) or without (
= 9) COVID-19 from nasal immune cells in children with (
= 14) or without (
= 19) COVID-19, and from peripheral blood mononuclear cells in an independent adult COVID-19 cohort (
= 42), comparing obese and nonobese subjects.
Surprisingly, we found that obese adult subjects had attenuated lung immune or inflammatory responses in SARS-CoV-2 infection, with decreased expression of IFN-α, IFN-γ, and TNF-α (tumor necrosis factor α) response gene signatures in almost all lung epithelial and immune cell subsets, and lower expression of
and
in specific lung immune cells. Peripheral blood immune cells in an independent adult cohort showed a similar but less marked reduction in type-I IFN and IFNγ response genes, as well as decreased serum IFNα, in obese patients with SARS-CoV-2. Nasal immune cells from obese children with COVID-19 also showed reduced enrichment of IFN-α and IFN-γ response genes.
These findings show blunted tissue immune responses in obese patients with COVID-19, with implications for treatment stratification, supporting the specific application of inhaled recombinant type-I IFNs in this vulnerable subset.
Context. We present a theoretical investigation of dielectronic recombination (DR) of Ar-like ions that sheds new light on the behavior of the rate coefficient at low-temperatures where these ions ...form in photoionized plasmas. Aims. We provide results for the total and partial Maxwellian-averaged DR rate coefficients from the initial ground level of K ii–Zn xiii ions. It is expected that these new results will advance the accuracy of the ionization balance for Ar-like M-shell ions and pave the way towards a detailed modeling of astrophysically relevant X-ray absorption features. Methods. We utilize the AUTOSTRUCTURE computer code to obtain the accurate core-excitation thresholds in target ions and carry out multiconfiguration Breit-Pauli (MCBP) calculations of the DR cross section in the independent-processes, isolated-resonance, distorted-wave (IPIRDW) approximation. Results. Our results mediate the complete absence of direct DR calculations for certain Ar-like ions and question the reliability of the existing empirical rate formulas, often inferred from renormalized data within this isoelectronic sequence.
Persistent radiological lung abnormalities are evident in many survivors of acute coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Consolidation and ground glass opacities are interpreted to indicate subacute ...inflammation whereas reticulation is thought to reflect fibrosis. We sought to identify differences at molecular and cellular level, in the local immunopathology of post-COVID inflammation and fibrosis.
We compared single-cell transcriptomic profiles and T cell receptor (TCR) repertoires of bronchoalveolar cells obtained from convalescent individuals with each radiological pattern, targeting lung segments affected by the predominant abnormality.
CD4 central memory T cells and CD8 effector memory T cells were significantly more abundant in those with inflammatory radiology. Clustering of similar TCRs from multiple donors was a striking feature of both phenotypes, consistent with tissue localised antigen-specific immune responses. There was no enrichment for known SARS-CoV-2-reactive TCRs, raising the possibility of T cell-mediated immunopathology driven by failure in immune self-tolerance.
Post-COVID radiological inflammation and fibrosis show evidence of shared antigen-specific T cell responses, suggesting a role for therapies targeting T cells in limiting post-COVID lung damage.
Cellular therapies with tolerogenic antigen-presenting cells (tolAPC) show great promise for the treatment of autoimmune diseases and for the prevention of destructive immune responses after ...transplantation. The methodologies for generating tolAPC vary greatly between different laboratories, making it difficult to compare data from different studies; thus constituting a major hurdle for the development of standardised tolAPC therapeutic products. Here we describe an initiative by members of the tolAPC field to generate a minimum information model for tolAPC (MITAP), providing a reporting framework that will make differences and similarities between tolAPC products transparent. In this way, MITAP constitutes a first but important step towards the production of standardised and reproducible tolAPC for clinical application.
Shrinking technology and growing complexity of the contemporary system on chip designs require high performance and reliable interconnection architecture. Binary CDMA on-chip bus permits simultaneous ...use of the shared communication medium by multiple data streams and alleviates contention and queuing delays experienced by a conventional time-division multiplexing shared bus. In this paper, we present an encoding scheme for improving reliability of the on-chip interconnect system based on a binary CDMA bus. Without adding extra wires to the bus, the proposed encoding method replaces the standard binary encoding with a non-weighted code which tolerates single-bit error at any bus wire within the timing window of a single CDMA transaction. In addition, we derive constraints for a codeword selection under which the single-bit error tolerance is achieved and provide a recursive algorithm for code construction. Simulation results show that the proposed encoding scheme significantly improves the post-decoding bit error rate performance of the binary CDMA bus under a binary symmetric channel model.
Scope
Hops contain the phytoestrogen, 8‐prenylnaringenin, and the cytoprotective compound, xanthohumol (XH). XH induces the detoxification enzyme, NAD(P)H‐quinone oxidoreductase (NQO1) in vitro; ...however, the tissue distribution of XH and 8‐prenylnaringenin and their tissue‐specific activity have not been analyzed.
Methods and results
An orally administered hop extract and subcutaneously injected XH were administered to Sprague–Dawley rats over 4 days. LC‐MS‐MS analysis of plasma, liver, and mammary gland revealed that XH accumulated in liver and mammary glands. Compared with the low level in the original extract, 8‐prenylnaringenin was enriched in the tissues. Hops and XH‐induced NQO1 in the liver, while only hops reduced NQO1 activity in the mammary gland. Mechanistic studies revealed that hops modulated NQO1 through three mechanisms. In liver cells, (i) XH modified Kelch‐like ECH‐associated protein leading to nuclear factor (erythroid‐derived 2)‐like 2 (Nrf2) translocation and antioxidant response element (ARE) activation; (ii) hop‐mediated ARE induction was partially mediated through phosphorylation of Nrf2 by PKC; (iii) in breast cells, 8‐prenylnaringenin reduced NQO1 likely through binding to estrogen receptorα, recruiting Nrf2, and downregulating ARE‐regulated genes.
Conclusion
XH and 8‐prenylnaringenin in dietary hops are bioavailable to the target tissues. While hops and XH might be cytoprotective in the liver, 8‐prenylnaringenin seems responsible for hop‐mediated NQO1 reduction in the mammary gland.
Far infrared reflectivity spectra of single crystal PbTe doped with Bi were measured and numerically analyzed using a fitting procedure based on a modified plasmon–phonon interaction model with two ...additional oscillators at about 140 and 219 cm⁻¹ which represents local Bi impurity modes. The position of observed plasma minimum and the values of the calculated parameters were compared with the literature data for pure single crystal PbTe which shows that bismuth improved the basic properties of the host crystal a lot.
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