Cloning and characterization of a trypsin-encoding cDNA of the human body louse Pediculus humanus

Abstract From a cDNA library of the whole insect, a trypsin gene of Pediculus humanus has been cloned and sequenced. The 908 bp clone has an open reading frame of 759 bp, which encodes a pre-proenzyme with 253 amino acid residues. A sixteen-residue N-terminal signal peptide is followed by a twelve-residue activation peptide with putative cleavage sites at Gly16 and Tyr28. The deduced amino acid sequence has several features typical of trypsin proteases and an overall identity of 35 -43% with the trypsins of several haematophagous Diptera. The 1.0 kb genomic trypsin gene contains three introns of 102, 79 and 80 nucleotides following the codons for Gly16, Gln74 and Ala155, respectively. Only a single gene seems to be present. In Northern blot analysis, unfed first instar larvae have an identical or slightly lower level of trypsin mRNA than fed adult lice, and in adults 2-24 h after the bloodmeal this gene shows a constitutive expression. After in vitro transcription and translation, the activation peptide is cleaved by chymotrypsin, a so far unreported phenomenon in trypsin activation

Testing new-physics models with global comparisons to collider measurements: the Contur toolkit

Measurements at particle collider experiments, even if primarily aimed at understanding Standard Model processes, can have a high degree of model independence, and implicitly contain information about potential contributions from physics beyond the Standard Model. The Contur package allows users to benefit from the hundreds of measurements preserved in the Rivet library to test new models against the bank of LHC measurements to date. This method has proven to be very effective in several recent publications from the Contur team, but ultimately, for this approach to be successful, the authors believe that the Contur tool needs to be accessible to the wider high energy physics community. As such, this manual accompanies the first user-facing version: Contur v2. It describes the design choices that have been made, as well as detailing pitfalls and common issues to avoid. The authors hope that with the help of this documentation, external groups will be able to run their own Contur studies, for example when proposing a new model, or pitching a new search

Bromocriptine treatment associated with recovery from peripartum cardiomyopathy in siblings: two case reports

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Introduction</p> <p>Peripartum cardiomyopathy is a rare form of cardiomyopathy, with heterogeneous presentation occurring in women between one-month antepartum and six months postpartum. It carries a poor prognosis and a high risk of mortality.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We report the development of peripartum cardiomyopathy in two sisters, 27- and 35-year-old African women, one of whom presented with a large left ventricular thrombus. Subsequently, both patients were treated with bromocriptine, heparin and standard therapy for heart failure (angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, beta-blockers and diuretics). During follow-up, the left ventricular thrombus observed in one patient degraded. Neither patient experienced a thrombotic event, and both experienced continuous improvements in cardiac function and New York Heart Association stage.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The development of peripartum cardiomyopathy in two sisters indicates that there may be a genetic basis for this type of cardiomyopathy, and that women with a positive family history for peripartum cardiomyopathy may have an increased risk of developing the disease. This is also the first report of a patient experiencing degradation of a large left ventricular thrombus under standard therapy for heart failure with bromocriptine. It suggests that the use of bromocriptine in association with adequate anti-coagulation and heart failure therapy may be beneficial and safe.</p

Static and Dynamic Lung Volumes in Swimmers and Their Ventilatory Response to Maximal Exercise

Purpose While the static and dynamic lung volumes of active swimmers is often greater than the predicted volume of similarly active non-swimmers, little is known if their ventilatory response to exercise is also different. Methods Three groups of anthropometrically matched male adults were recruited, daily active swimmers (n = 15), daily active in fields sport (Rugby and Football) (n = 15), and recreationally active (n = 15). Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), and maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) was measured before and after exercise to volitional exhaustion. Results Swimmers had significantly larger FVC (6.2 ± 0.6 l, 109 ± 9% pred) than the other groups (5.6 ± 0.5 l, 106 ± 13% pred, 5.5 ± 0.8, 99% pred, the sportsmen and recreational groups, respectively). FEV1 and MVV were not different. While at peak exercise, all groups reached their ventilatory reserve (around 20%), the swimmers had a greater minute ventilation rate than the recreational group (146 ± 19 vs 120 ± 87 l/min), delivering this volume by breathing deeper and slower. Conclusions The swimmers utilised their larger static volumes (FVC) differently during exercise by meeting their ventilation volume through long and deep breaths

Measurement of the energy asymmetry in tt¯ j production at 13 TeV with the ATLAS experiment and interpretation in the SMEFT framework

A measurement of the energy asymmetry in jet-associated top-quark pair production is presented using 139fb-1 of data collected by the ATLAS detector at the Large Hadron Collider during pp collisions at s=13TeV. The observable measures the different probability of top and antitop quarks to have the higher energy as a function of the jet scattering angle with respect to the beam axis. The energy asymmetry is measured in the semileptonic tt¯ decay channel, and the hadronically decaying top quark must have transverse momentum above 350GeV. The results are corrected for detector effects to particle level in three bins of the scattering angle of the associated jet. The measurement agrees with the SM prediction at next-to-leading-order accuracy in quantum chromodynamics in all three bins. In the bin with the largest expected asymmetry, where the jet is emitted perpendicular to the beam, the energy asymmetry is measured to be - 0.043 ± 0.020 , in agreement with the SM prediction of - 0.037 ± 0.003. Interpreting this result in the framework of the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT), it is shown that the energy asymmetry is sensitive to the top-quark chirality in four-quark operators and is therefore a valuable new observable in global SMEFT fits