Fluctuation Dominated Josephson Tunneling with a Scanning Tunneling Microscope

We demonstrate Josephson tunneling in vacuum tunnel junctions formed between a superconducting scanning tunneling microscope tip and a Pb film, for junction resistances in the range 50-300 k$\Omega$. We show that the superconducting phase dynamics is dominated by thermal fluctuations, and that the Josephson current appears as a peak centered at small finite voltages. In the presence of microwave fields (f=15.0 GHz) the peak decreases in magnitude and shifts to higher voltages with increasing rf power, in agreement with theory.Comment: 4 pages, REVTeX, submitted to PR

Effects of Isoproterenol on Histamine Release Induced from Monodispersed Guinea-Pig Lung Cells by Different Secretagogues1 2

ABSTRACT The effects of isoproterenol on histamine release induced by specific antige

Evaluation of Dry Distillers Grains Plus Solubles Inclusion on Performance and Economics of Finishing Beef Steers

A 167-d feedlot study was conducted to evaluate feeding increasing levels of dry distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) to finishing cattle and the impact on performance and profitability. Crossbred steer calves (n = 240, BW = 306 ± 24.5 kg) were used in 30 pens with dietary treatments of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40% DDGS dietary inclusion (DM basis). Quadratic relationships (P \u3c 0.05) were observed for final BW and ADG as dietary DDGS increased, with the greatest ADG observed at 20% inclusion. The DMI was not affected (P \u3e 0.15) by DDGS level, but G:F tended to be quadratic (P = 0.10) as 20% DM inclusion had the greatest value, although steers fed all levels of DDGS had numerically greater G:F compared with steers fed no DDGS. Carcass characteristics, other than hot carcass weight, were not affected by DDGS treatment. Energy value of DDGS at 10 to 40% dietary inclusion resulted in a quadratic trend (P = 0.10) and remained above corn, with the highest values at 10 and 20% inclusion averaging 127% of corn. When DDGS was priced equally to corn, all levels of DDGS from 10 to 40% inclusion resulted in higher profits compared with a dry-rolled corn based diet regardless of corn price. The greatest returns were observed when cattle were fed 20% DDGS. These data indicate that DDGS can be fed up to 40% DM to improve cattle performance and result in economic profits, with optimum levels at 20 to 30% diet DM

Evaluation of Dry Distillers Grains Plus Solubles Inclusion on Performance and Economics of Finishing Beef Steers

A 167-d feedlot study was conducted to evaluate feeding increasing levels of dry distillers grains plus solubles (DDGS) to finishing cattle and the impact on performance and profitability. Crossbred steer calves (n = 240, BW = 306 ± 24.5 kg) were used in 30 pens with dietary treatments of 0, 10, 20, 30, and 40% DDGS dietary inclusion (DM basis). Quadratic relationships (P \u3c 0.05) were observed for final BW and ADG as dietary DDGS increased, with the greatest ADG observed at 20% inclusion. The DMI was not affected (P \u3e 0.15) by DDGS level, but G:F tended to be quadratic (P = 0.10) as 20% DM inclusion had the greatest value, although steers fed all levels of DDGS had numerically greater G:F compared with steers fed no DDGS. Carcass characteristics, other than hot carcass weight, were not affected by DDGS treatment. Energy value of DDGS at 10 to 40% dietary inclusion resulted in a quadratic trend (P = 0.10) and remained above corn, with the highest values at 10 and 20% inclusion averaging 127% of corn. When DDGS was priced equally to corn, all levels of DDGS from 10 to 40% inclusion resulted in higher profits compared with a dry-rolled corn based diet regardless of corn price. The greatest returns were observed when cattle were fed 20% DDGS. These data indicate that DDGS can be fed up to 40% DM to improve cattle performance and result in economic profits, with optimum levels at 20 to 30% diet DM

T Cells Contain an RNase-Insensitive Inhibitor of APOBEC3G Deaminase Activity

The deoxycytidine deaminase APOBEC3G (A3G) is expressed in human T cells and inhibits HIV-1 replication. When transfected into A3G-deficient epithelial cell lines, A3G induces catastrophic hypermutation by deaminating the HIV-1 genome. Interestingly, studies suggest that endogenous A3G in T cells induces less hypermutation than would be expected. However, to date, the specific deaminase activity of endogenous A3G in human CD4+ T cells has not been examined directly. Here, we compared deaminase activity of endogenous and exogenous A3G in various human cell lines using a standard assay and a novel, quantitative, high-throughput assay. Exogenous A3G in epithelial cell lysates displayed deaminase activity only following RNase treatment, as expected given that A3G is known to form an enzymatically inactive RNA-containing complex. Surprisingly, comparable amounts of endogenous A3G from T cell lines or from resting or activated primary CD4+ T cells exhibited minimal deaminase activity, despite RNase treatment. Specific deaminase activity of endogenous A3G in H9, CEM, and other T cell lines was up to 36-fold lower than specific activity of exogenous A3G in epithelial-derived cell lines. Furthermore, RNase-treated T cell lysates conferred a dose-dependent inhibition to epithelial cell lysates expressing enzymatically active A3G. These studies suggest that T cells, unlike epithelial-derived cell lines, express an unidentified RNase-resistant factor that inhibits A3G deaminase activity. This factor could be responsible for reduced levels of hypermutation in T cells, and its identification and blockade could offer a means for increasing antiretroviral intrinsic immunity of T cells

The Politics of Commerce : The Congress of Chambers of Commerce of the Empire, 1886-1914

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Comparison of the Vidas C-difficile GDH Automated Enzyme-Linked Fluorescence Immunoassay (ELFA) with Another Commercial Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA) (Quik Chek-60), Two Selective Media, and a PCR Assay for gluD for Detection of Clostridium difficile in Fecal Samples

Prevention and management of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) can be improved by rapid and reliable diagnostics. The Vidas C. difficile glutamate dehydrogenase assay had performance comparable to that of the Quik Chek-60 assay (overall agreement, 95%) and a sensitivity of >93%; thus, it is suitable as the first test in two-stage algorithms for a CDI diagnosis

Mitogenomics supports an unexpected taxonomic relationship for the extinct diving duck Chendytes lawi and definitively places the extinct Labrador Duck

Chendytes lawi, an extinct flightless diving anseriform from coastal California, was traditionally classified as a sea duck, tribe Mergini, based on similarities in osteological characters. We recover and analyze mitochondrial genomes of C. lawi and five additional Mergini species, including the extinct Labrador Duck, Camptorhyncus labradorius. Despite its diving morphology, C. lawi is reconstructed as an ancient relictual lineage basal to the dabbling ducks (tribe Anatini), revealing an additional example of convergent evolution of characters related to feeding behavior among ducks. The Labrador Duck is sister to Steller’s Eider which may provide insights into the evolution and ecology of this poorly known extinct species. Our results demonstrate that inclusion of full length mitogenomes, from taxonomically distributed ancient and modern sources can improve phylogeny reconstruction of groups previously assessed with shorter single-gene mitochondrial sequences