Motion of influential players can support cooperation in Prisoner's Dilemma

We study a spatial Prisoner's dilemma game with two types (A and B) of players located on a square lattice. Players following either cooperator or defector strategies play Prisoner's Dilemma games with their 24 nearest neighbors. The players are allowed to adopt one of their neighbor's strategy with a probability dependent on the payoff difference and type of the given neighbor. Players A and B have different efficiency in the transfer of their own strategy therefore the strategy adoption probability is reduced by a multiplicative factor (w < 1) from the players of type B. We report that the motion of the influential payers (type A) can improve remarkably the maintenance of cooperation even for their low densities.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figure

Improved Splicing of Adeno-Associated Viral (AAV) Capsid Protein-Supplying Pre-mRNAs Leads to Increased Recombinant AAV Vector Production

Adeno-associated viral (AAV) capsid proteins, thought to be a rate-limiting step in the production of recombinant AAV (rAAV), are translated from spliced mRNAs. Improvement of the native AAV nonconsensus donor sequence increases splicing yet leaves the relative levels of VP1- and VP2/3-encoding mRNAs unchanged, and thus provides a means to increase delivery of correct ratios of AAV capsid proteins. This effect is independent of the AAV serotype used, and occurs whether the rep and cap genes supplied in trans are on the same or separate expression vectors. In the split-vector system, replacement of the more traditionally used cytomegalovirus promoter with that of the AAV5 P41 promoter allowed for even greater levels of splicing, and together with an improved intron donor, led to a 10- to 15-fold increase in the levels of splicing, rAAV production, and transduction compared with levels achieved by traditional cotransfection methods. Thus, the enhancement of splicing presents a useful method to enhance rAAV production via transient transfection

Pasteurella multocida detection by 5' Taq nuclease assay: A new tool for use in diagnosing fowl cholera

A 5′ Taq nuclease assay utilising minor groove binder technology and targeting the 16S rRNA gene was designed to detect Pasteurella multocida (the causative agent of fowl cholera) in swabs collected from poultry. The assay was first evaluated using pure cultures. The assay correctly identified four P. multocida taxonomic type strains, 18 P. multocida serovar reference strains and 40 Australian field isolates (17 from poultry, 11 from pigs and 12 from cattle). Representatives of nine other Pasteurella species, 26 other bacterial species (18 being members of the family Pasteurellaceae) and four poultry virus isolates did not react in the assay. The assay detected a minimum of approximately 10\ua0cfu of P. multocida per reaction. Of 79 poultry swabs submitted to the laboratory for routine bacteriological culture, 17 were positive in the 5′ Taq nuclease assay, but only 10 were positive by culture. The other 62 swabs were negative for P. multocida by both 5′ Taq nuclease assay and culture. The assay is suitable for use in diagnosing fowl cholera, is more rapid than bacteriological culture, and may also have application in diagnosing P. multocida infections in cattle and pigs