Phi meson production in near threshold proton-nucleus collisions

The cross section for production of Phi mesons in proton-nucleus reactions is calculated as a function of the target mass. The decay width of the Phi meson is affected by the change of the masses of the Phi, K+ and K- mesons in the medium. A strong attractive K- potential leads to a measurable change of the behavior of the cross section as a function of of the target mass. Comparison between the kaon and electron decay modes are made.Comment: 4 pages, 1figure, new figure, new reference

Transport theories for heavy ion collisions in the 1 AGeV regime

We compare multiplicities as well as rapidity and transverse momentum distributions of protons, pions and kaons calculated within presently available transport approaches for heavy ion collisions around 1 AGeV. For this purpose, three reactions have been selected: Au+Au at 1 and 1.48 AGeV and Ni+Ni at 1.93 AGeV

Information-Theoretic Active Learning for Content-Based Image Retrieval

We propose Information-Theoretic Active Learning (ITAL), a novel batch-mode active learning method for binary classification, and apply it for acquiring meaningful user feedback in the context of content-based image retrieval. Instead of combining different heuristics such as uncertainty, diversity, or density, our method is based on maximizing the mutual information between the predicted relevance of the images and the expected user feedback regarding the selected batch. We propose suitable approximations to this computationally demanding problem and also integrate an explicit model of user behavior that accounts for possible incorrect labels and unnameable instances. Furthermore, our approach does not only take the structure of the data but also the expected model output change caused by the user feedback into account. In contrast to other methods, ITAL turns out to be highly flexible and provides state-of-the-art performance across various datasets, such as MIRFLICKR and ImageNet.Comment: GCPR 2018 paper (14 pages text + 2 pages references + 6 pages appendix

Integration of a virus membrane protein into the lipid bilayer of target cells as a prerequisite for immune cytolysis

Structural requirements for membrane antigens on target cells to mediate immune cytolysis were studied in a model system with purified membrane proteins from Semliki Forest virus (SFV). These SFV spike proteins were isolated in the form of detergent- and lipid-free protein micelles (29S complexes) or, after reconstitution into lipid vesicles, in the form of virosomes. Both the 29S complexes and the virosomes were found to bind well to murine tumor cells (P815 or Eb). When these cells, however, were used as target cells in complement-dependent lysis or in antibody-dependent cell- mediated cytotoxicity assays in the presence of anti-SFV serum, they were not lysed, although they effectively bound the antibody and consumed complement. The same tumor cells infected with SFV served as positive controls in both assays. Different results were obtained when inactivated Sendai virus was added as a fusion reagent to the cells coated with either virosomes or 29S complexes. Under these conditions the virosome-coated cells became susceptible to SFV- specific lysis, whereas the 29S complex-coated cells remained resistant. Evidence that the susceptibility to lysis ofvirosome-coated cells was dependent on active fusion and, therefore, integration of the viral antigens into the lipid bilayer of the target cells was derived from control experiments with enzyme-treated Sendai virus preparations. The 29S complexes and the virosomes partially and selectively blocked the target cell lysis by anti-H-2 sera but not by anti-non-H-2 sera confirming our previous finding that major histocompatibility antigens serve as receptors for SFV. The general significance of these findings for mechanisms of immune cytolysis is dicussed

Direct nucleonemission from hot and dense regions described in the hydrodynamical model of relativistic heavy ion collisions

The collision process is described by hydrodynamical equations. The escape of nucleons which do not take part in the thermal equilibrium is considered by including drain terms in these equations. The energy spectra of the escaped nucleons and of nucleons evaporated after the breakup of the fluid are compared. NUCLEAR REACTIONS Relativistic heavy ion reactions, nuclear hydrodynamics, nucleon spectra

Poly-Sarcosine and Poly(ethylene-glycol) interactions with proteins investigated using molecular dynamics simulations

Nanoparticles coated with hydrophilic polymers often show a reduction in unspecific interactions with the biological environment, which improves their biocompatibility. The molecular determinants of this reduction are not very well understood yet, and their knowledge may help improving nanoparticle design. Here we address, using molecular dynamics simulations, the interactions of human serum albumin, the most abundant serum protein, with two promising hydrophilic polymers used for the coating of therapeutic nanoparticles, poly(ethylene-glycol) and poly-sarcosine. By simulating the protein immersed in a polymer-water mixture, we show that the two polymers have a very similar affinity for the protein surface, both in terms of the amount of polymer adsorbed and also in terms of the type of amino acids mainly involved in the interactions. We further analyze the kinetics of adsorption and how it affects the polymer conformations. Minor differences between the polymers are observed in the thickness of the adsorption layer, that are related to the different degree of flexibility of the two molecules. In comparison poly-alanine, an isomer of poly-sarcosine known to self-aggregate and induce protein aggregation, shows a significantly larger affinity for the protein surface than PEG and PSar, which we show to be related not to a different patterns of interactions with the protein surface, but to the different way the polymer interacts with water

Calculations of K+, K- and phi Production in Near-Threshold Proton-Nucleus Collisions

K+, K- and \phi meson production in proton-nucleus (pA) collisions has been calculated within a BUU transport model. It is shown that the nucleon-hyperon strangeness transfer channel is essential. The role of three-body reactions has been investigated within the medium. The targetmass dependence of $\phi$ production is predicted to give important information on the in-medium properties of all three mesons.Comment: Talk presented by H.W.B. at the Budapest 2004 workshop on 'Hot and Dense Matter in Relativistic Heavy Ion Collisions', March 24-27, 2004, Budapest, Hungar

Can the meson cloud explain the nucleon strangeness?

We use the meson cloud model, including the kaon and the $K^*$ contributions, to estimate the electric and magnetic strange form factors of the nucleon. We compare our results with the recent measurements of the strange quark contribution to parity-violating asymmetries in the forward G0 electron-proton scattering experiment. We conclude that it is not possible to explain the data using this model.Comment: version accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.