PURIFIED PROTEIN DERIVATIVE OF TUBERCULIN INDUCES IMMUNOGLOBULIN PRODUCTION IN NORMAL MOUSE SPLEEN CELLS

Purified protein derivative (PPD) tuberculin induced immunoglobulin production in cultures of nonimmune mouse spleen cells, as measured by plaque-forming cells (PFC) against sheep erythrocytes (SRBC), horse erythrocytes, and 4-hydroxy-3,5-dinitrophenacetyl-SRBC. The increase started between 15 and 20 h of culture and reached a peak at 48–72 h. Higher PPD concentrations resulted in earlier peak responses than low concentrations. The Ig produced was mainly 19S and of very low avidity. The response elicited by PPD was of the same type as that caused by lipopolysaccharide of bacterial origin. Mitomycin treatment of cells before culture did not change the numbers of PFC/106 recovered cells but the cell recovery was considerably lower. Also injection of PPD in vivo resulted in increased numbers of PFC. On the basis of these results it is suggested that PPD nonspecifically activates a majority of the B cell population to proliferation and immunoglobulin synthesis

What is eHealth (6)? Development of a Conceptual Model for eHealth: Qualitative Study with Key Informants

©Tim Shaw, Deborah McGregor, Melissa Brunner, Melanie Keep, Anna Janssen, Stewart Barnet. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 24.10.2017. BACKGROUND: Despite rapid growth in eHealth research, there remains a lack of consistency in defining and using terms related to eHealth. More widely cited definitions provide broad understanding of eHealth but lack sufficient conceptual clarity to operationalize eHealth and enable its implementation in health care practice, research, education, and policy. Definitions that are more detailed are often context or discipline specific, limiting ease of translation of these definitions across the breadth of eHealth perspectives and situations. A conceptual model of eHealth that adequately captures its complexity and potential overlaps is required. This model must also be sufficiently detailed to enable eHealth operationalization and hypothesis testing.OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to develop a conceptual practice-based model of eHealth to support health professionals in applying eHealth to their particular professional or discipline contexts.METHODS: We conducted semistructured interviews with key informants (N=25) from organizations involved in health care delivery, research, education, practice, governance, and policy to explore their perspectives on and experiences with eHealth. We used purposeful sampling for maximum diversity. Interviews were coded and thematically analyzed for emergent domains.RESULTS: Thematic analyses revealed 3 prominent but overlapping domains of eHealth: (1) health in our hands (using eHealth technologies to monitor, track, and inform health), (2) interacting for health (using digital technologies to enable health communication among practitioners and between health professionals and clients or patients), and (3) data enabling health (collecting, managing, and using health data). These domains formed a model of eHealth that addresses the need for clear definitions and a taxonomy of eHealth while acknowledging the fluidity of this area and the strengths of initiatives that span multiple eHealth domains.CONCLUSIONS: This model extends current understanding of eHealth by providing clearly defined domains of eHealth while highlighting the benefits of using digital technologies in ways that cross several domains. It provides the depth of perspectives and examples of eHealth use that are lacking in previous research. On the basis of this model, we suggest that eHealth initiatives that are most impactful would include elements from all 3 domains

Elliptic Curves over Real Quadratic Fields are Modular

We prove that all elliptic curves defined over real quadratic fields are modular.Comment: 38 pages. Magma scripts available as ancillary files with this arXiv versio

SimSchool: An Opportunity for Using Serious Gaming for Training Teachers in Rural Areas

This article examines the use of simSchool as a training tool for educators working with students with special needs in rural districts. SimSchool is a game which emulates a classroom utilizing a virtual environment. The theory supporting simSchool is explored and current research associated with simSchool is reviewed. The issues surrounding retaining quality special educators in rural districts are discussed. The potential for using simSchool for working with rural special education teachers is explored

Optical Stern Gerlach Effect beyond the rotating wave approximation

We show that the inclusion of counter rotating terms, usually dropped, in the interaction Hamiltonian of the electric dipole of a two level atom with an electromagnetic field leads to significant modification of the splitting of an atomic beam known as Optical Stern Gerlach Effect which now acquires a fine structure.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Generally Deformed Oscillator, Isospectral Oscillator System and Hermitian Phase Operator

The generally deformed oscillator (GDO) and its multiphoton realization as well as the coherent and squeezed vacuum states are studied. We discuss, in particular, the GDO depending on a complex parameter q (therefore we call it q-GDO) together with the finite dimensional cyclic representations. As a realistic physical system of GDO the isospectral oscillator system is studied and it is found that its coherent and squeezed vacuum states are closely related to those of the oscillator. It is pointed out that starting from the q-GDO with q root of unity one can define the hermitian phase operators in quantum optics consistently and algebraically. The new creation and annihilation operators of the Pegg-Barnett type phase operator theory are defined by using the cyclic representations and these operators degenerate to those of the ordinary oscillator in the classical limit q->1.Comment: 21 pages, latex, no figure

Competitiveness and communication for effective inoculation byRhizobium, Bradyrhizobium and vesicular-arbuscular mycorrhiza fungi

After a short summary on the ecology and rhizosphere biology of symbiotic bacteria and vesicular-arbuscular (VA) mycorrhiza fungi and their application as microbial inocula, results on competitiveness and communication are summarized. Stress factors such as high temperature, low soil pH, aluminium concentrations and phytoalexins produced by the host plants were studied withRhizobium leguminosarum bv.phaseoli andRhizobium tropici onPhaseolus beans. Quantitative data for competitiveness were obtained by usinggus + (glucoronidase) labelled strains, which produce blue-coloured nodules. ForPhaseolus-nodulating rhizobia, a group specific DNA probe was also developed, which did not hybridize with more than 20 other common soil and rhizosphere bacteria. Results from several laboratories contributing to knowledge of signal exchange and communication in theRhizobium/Bradyrhizobium legume system are summarized in a new scheme, including also defense reactions at the early stages of legume nodule initiation. Stimulating effects of flavonoids on germination and growth of VA mycorrhiza fungi were also found. A constitutive antifungal compound in pea roots, -isoxazolinonyl-alanine, was characterized

CP Violation in Neutrinoless Double Beta Decay and Neutrino Oscillation

Taking account of possible CP violation, we discuss about the constraints on the lepton mixing angles from the neutrinoless double beta decay and from the neutrino oscillation for the three flavour Majorana neutrinos. From the CHORUS oscillation experiment, combined with the data of neutrinoless double beta decay, we show that the large angle solution of (\theta_{23}) is improbable if the neutrino mass (m_3) of the third generation is a candidate of hot dark matters.Comment: 14pp, REVTeX, 6 Figure

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory: Instrumentation and Online Systems

The IceCube Neutrino Observatory is a cubic-kilometer-scale high-energy neutrino detector built into the ice at the South Pole. Construction of IceCube, the largest neutrino detector built to date, was completed in 2011 and enabled the discovery of high-energy astrophysical neutrinos. We describe here the design, production, and calibration of the IceCube digital optical module (DOM), the cable systems, computing hardware, and our methodology for drilling and deployment. We also describe the online triggering and data filtering systems that select candidate neutrino and cosmic ray events for analysis. Due to a rigorous pre-deployment protocol, 98.4% of the DOMs in the deep ice are operating and collecting data. IceCube routinely achieves a detector uptime of 99% by emphasizing software stability and monitoring. Detector operations have been stable since construction was completed, and the detector is expected to operate at least until the end of the next decade.Comment: 83 pages, 50 figures; updated with minor changes from journal review and proofin

Which Kubo formula gives the exact conductance of a mesoscopic disordered system?

In both research and textbook literature one often finds two ``different'' Kubo formulas for the zero-temperature conductance of a non-interacting Fermi system. They contain a trace of the product of velocity operators and single-particle (retarded and advanced) Green operators: $\text{Tr} (\hat{v}_x \hat{G}^r \hat{v}_x \hat{G}^a)$ or $\text{Tr} (\hat{v}_x \text{Im} \hat{G} \hat{v}_x \text{Im} \hat{G})$. The study investigates the relationship between these expressions, as well as the requirements of current conservation, through exact evaluation of such quantum-mechanical traces for a nanoscale (containing 1000 atoms) mesoscopic disordered conductor. The traces are computed in the semiclassical regime (where disorder is weak) and, more importantly, in the nonperturbative transport regime (including the region around localization-delocalization transition) where concept of mean free path ceases to exist. Since quantum interference effects for such strong disorder are not amenable to diagrammatic or nonlinear $\sigma$-model techniques, the evolution of different Green function terms with disorder strength provides novel insight into the development of an Anderson localized phase.Comment: 7 pages, 5 embedded EPS figures, final published version (note: PRB article has different title due to editorial censorship