Toll-Like Receptor 7 Is Required for Lacrimal Gland Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes Development in Male Nonobese Diabetic Mice

Sjögren syndrome (SS) is an immunologically complex, chronic autoimmune disease targeting lacrimal and salivary glands. Nonobese diabetic (NOD) mice spontaneously develop inflammation of lacrimal and salivary glands with histopathological features similar to SS in humans including focal lymphocytic infiltrates in the affected glands. The innate immune signals driving lymphocytic infiltration of these glands are not well-defined. Here we evaluate the role of Toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 in the development of SS-like manifestations in NOD mice. We created a Tlr7 knockout NOD mouse strain and performed histological and gene expression studies to characterize the effects of TLR7 on autoimmunity development. TLR7 was required for male-specific lacrimal gland inflammation but not for female-specific salivary gland inflammation. Moreover, TLR7 was required for type 1 diabetes development in male but not female NOD mice. RNA sequencing demonstrated that TLR7 was associated with a type I interferon (IFN) response and a type I IFN-independent B cell response in the lacrimal glands. Together these studies identify a previously unappreciated pathogenic role for TLR7 in lacrimal gland autoimmunity and T1D development in male NOD mice adding to the growing body of evidence supporting sex differences in mechanisms of autoimmune disease in NOD mice.     

One-Piece Stainless-Steel 3D Printed Minichannel Evaporators using Flow Boiling Carbon Dioxide

New concepts are required for high-performance minichannel evaporators with low mass and reduced size involved in the cooling of cylindrical or conical surfaces. The development of one-piece stainless-steel evaporators using flow boiling CO₂ for the cooling of conical copper test specimens heated by a foil heater element is presented. The specimens mimic a mobile cooling device used in high-energy and particle physics. The stainless-steel evaporators were manufactured with a state-of-the-art 3D stainless-steel printer via selective laser melting. The computer-aided design and the construction of this new type of evaporators are described. A dedicated two-phase accumulator controlled loop filled with liquid CO₂ was developed, it allowed for operating four parallel connected evaporators. Cooling efficiency and manufacture reproducibility were experimentally investigated by applying different thermal loads and refrigerant mass flows.     

The effect of labeling on the perceived quality of HDR video transmission

Cognition, Technology & Work - At the time of this paper, high dynamic range (HDR) visualization has already emerged in both the industry and the commercial sector, with HDR displays already...     

Seeker—Autonomous Long‐range Rover Navigation for Remote Exploration

Under the umbrella of the European Space Agency (ESA) StarTiger program, a rapid prototyping study called Seeker was initiated. A range of partners from space and nonspace sectors were brought together to develop a prototype Mars rover system capable of autonomously exploring several kilometers of highly representative Mars terrain over a three‐day period. This paper reports on our approach and the final field trials that took place in the Atacama Desert, Chile. Long‐range navigation and the associated remote rover field trials are a new departure for ESA, and this activity therefore represents a novel initiative in this area. The primary focus was to determine if current computer vision and artificial intelligence based software could enable such a capability on Mars, given the current limit of around 200 m per Martian day. The paper does not seek to introduce new theoretical techniques or compare various approaches, but it offers a unique perspective on their behavior in a highly representative environment. The final system autonomously navigated 5.05 km in highly representative terrain during one day. This work is part of a wider effort to achieve a step change in autonomous capability for future Mars/lunar exploration rover platforms.     

Some effects of discrepant role expectations on interviewee verbal behavior in the initial interview.

Tested the hypothesis that discrepancy between an interviewee's expectations regarding the interviewer's role and actual role encountered causes strain in the communication system. 8 male and 8 female undergraduates were assigned to each of 2 groups. The experimental group was given accurate expectations about interviewer role before the 1st interview, but inaccurate ones before the 2nd interview. The control group manifested an increase in verbal productivity from the 1st to the 2nd interview (p     

An approach toward 25-percent efficient GaAs heteroface solar cells

To approach one-sun 25% efficiency in GaAs solar cells, it is necessary to improve the basic understanding of internal loss mechanisms by a combination of characterization techniques and computer models. A methodology is developed to measure and evaluate minority-carrier transport properties such as lifetime and recombination velocity throughout the device structure in a 21.2% GaAs cell. It is found that this cell has a recombination velocity of 1.25×10⁵ cm/s at the AlGaAs/GaAs interface and a base minority-carrier lifetime of 8 ns. Guidelines are provided to increase the efficiency of this cell to 24% with slightly increased surface passivation and base lifetime using effective recombination velocity and device modeling computer programs. Further device modeling is performed to show that efficiencies of 25% can be obtained using a modified heteroface structure with a moderate surface recombination and their relation to device design are fully understood     

Evidence of a strong, positive association between atopy and the HLA class II alleles DR4 and DR7

BACKGROUND: Atopy, with or without associated asthma, provides a useful model for evaluating the genetic factors that control human immune responsiveness. HLA class II gene products are involved in the control of immune responses. OBJECTIVES: We investigated whether susceptibility or resistance to the disease was associated with HLA class II genes. METHODS: Blood samples were obtained from two groups of unrelated European-born white adults: 56 atopic patients (52 of them with asthma) and 39 healthy controls with no personal or familial history of asthma or atopy. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood lymphocytes. The exons of DQA1, DQB1, DRB and DPB1 genes were selectively amplified by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) method. Genotyping was carried out by digestion of the amplified DNA products with allele-specific endonucleases (PCR-RFLP), which can recognize allelic variations in the polymorphic exon. RESULTS: We found no significant differences in the frequency of DPB1 alleles between patients and controls. HLA class II DR4 and DR7 alleles were present in 39.2% of the patients and in 2.5% of the healthy subjects (Pc*2 < or = 3.9 10(-3)). Conversely, DQA1*0103 and DQB1*0502 alleles were more frequent in the control subjects. These results confirm a previous study of an extended pedigree, which showed that DR4 and DR7 alleles were absent in all healthy members of the family and were frequently observed in atopic and/or in asthmatic subjects. CONCLUSION: We observed that HLA-DR 4 and DR7 alleles are significantly implicated in their susceptibility to the disease and suggest that this susceptibility is more related to atopy than to specific responses to allergens. According to previous studies, we could also submit that in atopic patients with asthma, DR4 alleles at the least, could be more closely associated with atopy than with asthma per se. Conversely, we suggest that some allelic DQA1 and DQB1 sequences might confer protection against the disease.     

A study of polycrystalline Cd(Zn,Mn)Te/Cds films and interfaces

Polycrystalline films of Cd_1-x Zn _x Te (x = 0–0.4) and Cd_1-x Mn _x Te (x = 0–0.25) were grown by MBE and MOCVD, respectively, on CdS/SnO₂/glass substrates to investigate their feasibility for solar cell applications. The compositional uniformity and interface quality of the films were analyzed by x-ray diffraction, surface photovoltage, and Auger depth profile measurements to establish a correlation between growth conditions and lattice constant, atomic concentration, and bandgap of the ternary films. MBE-grown polycrystalline Cd_1-x Zn _x Te films showed a linear dependence between Zn/(Cd + Zn) beam flux ratio, Zn concentration in the film, and the bandgap. Polycrystalline Cd_1-x Zn _x Te films grown at 300° C showed good compositional uniformity in contrast to compositionally non-uniform Cd_1-x Mn _x Te films grown by MOCVD in the temperature range of 420–450° C. The MBE-grown Cd_1-x Zn _x Te interface also showed significantly less interdiffusion compared to the MOCVD-grown Cd_1-x Mn _x Te/CdS interface, where preferential exchange between Cd from the CdS layer and Mn from the Cd_1-x Mn _x Te film was observed. The compositional uniformity of MOCVD-grown polycrystalline Cd_1-x Mn _x Te films grown on CdS/SnO₂/glass substrates was found to be a strong function of the growth conditions as well as the Mn source.     

One person and two person psychologies and the method of psychoanalysis.

The distinction between a monadic theory of mind (a one-person psychology) and a relational theory of mind (a two-person psychology) is crucial in understanding psychoanalytic concepts. However, some psychoanalytic theorists see these two models as essentially complementary whereas others see them as contradictory and irreconcilable. I argue that the artificial distinction between clinical theory and metapsychology obscures the recognition that the most fundamental psychoanalytic clinical concepts and procedures were formulated and historically understood as one-person phenomena. Transference was not conceptualized as an interpersonal event occurring between two people but was rather understood as a process occurring within the mind of the analysand. The article attempts to extricate fundamental clinical concepts from the quasibiological drive theory that has dominated both our metapsychology and our clinical theory, and to reexamine the value of these clinical concepts within a relational, contextual, and intersubjective framework. The article examines the method of free association in order to illustrate the different implications of one-person and two-person psychologies. I propose that a two-person or relational field theory does not need to neglect or minimize the... (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)