3,952 research outputs found
Evolution of replication efficiency following infection with a molecularly cloned feline immunodeficiency virus of low virulence
The development of an effective vaccine against human immunodeficiency virus is considered to be the most practicable means of controlling the advancing global AIDS epidemic. Studies with the domestic cat have demonstrated that vaccinal immunity to infection can be induced against feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV); however, protection is largely restricted to laboratory strains of FIV and does not extend to primary strains of the virus. We compared the pathogenicity of two prototypic vaccine challenge strains of FIV derived from molecular clones; the laboratory strain PET<sub>F14</sub> and the primary strain GL8<sub>414</sub>. PET<sub>F14</sub> established a low viral load and had no effect on CD4<sup>+</sup>- or CD8<sup>+</sup>- lymphocyte subsets. In contrast, GL8<sub>414</sub> established a high viral load and induced a significant reduction in the ratio of CD4<sup>+</sup> to CD8<sup>+</sup> lymphocytes by 15 weeks postinfection, suggesting that PET<sub>F14</sub> may be a low-virulence-challenge virus. However, during long-term monitoring of the PET<sub>F14</sub>-infected cats, we observed the emergence of variant viruses in two of three cats. Concomitant with the appearance of the variant viruses, designated 627<sub>W135</sub> and 628<sub>W135</sub>, we observed an expansion of CD8<sup>+</sup>-lymphocyte subpopulations expressing reduced CD8 ß-chain, a phenotype consistent with activation. The variant viruses both carried mutations that reduced the net charge of the V3 loop (K409Q and K409E), giving rise to a reduced ability of the Env proteins to both induce fusion and to establish productive infection in CXCR4-expressing cells. Further, following subsequent challenge of naïve cats with the mutant viruses, the viruses established higher viral loads and induced more marked alterations in CD8<sup>+</sup>-lymphocyte subpopulations than did the parent F14 strain of virus, suggesting that the E409K mutation in the PET<sub>F14</sub> strain contributes to the attenuation of the virus
Co-NMR Knight Shift of NaxCoO2 \dot yH2O Studied in Both Superconducting Regions of the Tc-nuQ3 Phase Diagram Divided by the Nonsuperconducting Phase
In the temperature (T)-nuQ3 phase diagram of NaxCoO2 \dot yH2O, there exist
two superconducting regions of nuQ3 separated by the nonsuperconducting region,
where nuQ3 is usually estimated from the peak position of the 59Co-NQR spectra
of the 5/2-7/2 transition and well-approximated here as nuQ3~3nuQ,nuQ being the
interaction energy between the nuclear quadrupole moment and the electric field
gradient. We have carried out measurements of the 59Co-NMR Knight shift (K) for
a single crystal in the higher-nuQ3 superconducting phase and found that K
begins to decrease with decreasing T at Tc for both magnetic field directions
parallel and perpendicular to CoO2-planes. The result indicates together with
the previous ones that the superconducting pairs are in the spin-singlet state
in both phases, excluding the possibility of the spin-triplet superconductivity
in this phase diagram. The superconductivity of this system spreads over the
wide nuQ3 regions, but is suppressed in the narrow region located at the middle
point of the region possibly due to charge instability.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, submitted to J. Phys. Soc. Jp
Orbital-dependent modifications of electronic structure across magneto-structural transition in BaFe2As2
Laser angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES) is employed to
investigate the temperature (T) dependence of the electronic structure in
BaFe2As2 across the magneto-structural transition at TN ~ 140 K. A drastic
transformation in Fermi surface (FS) shape across TN is observed, as expected
by first-principles band calculations. Polarization-dependent ARPES and band
calculations consistently indicate that the observed FSs at kz ~ pi in the
low-T antiferromagnetic (AF) state are dominated by the Fe3dzx orbital, leading
to the two-fold electronic structure. These results indicate that
magneto-structural transition in BaFe2As2 accompanies orbital-dependent
modifications in the electronic structure.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figures. accepted by Physical Review Letter
Bulk and surface-sensitive high-resolution photoemission study of Mott-Hubbard systems SrVO and CaVO
We study the electronic structure of Mott-Hubbard systems SrVO and
CaVO with bulk and surface-sensitive high-resolution photoemission
spectroscopy (PES), using a VUV laser, synchrotron radiation and a discharge
lamp ( = 7 - 21 eV). A systematic suppression of the density of states
(DOS) within 0.2 eV of the Fermi level () is found on decreasing
photon energy i.e. on increasing bulk sensitivity. The coherent band in
SrVO and CaVO is shown to consist of surface and bulk derived
features, separated in energy. The stronger distortion on surface of CaVO
compared to SrVO leads to higher surface metallicity in the coherent DOS
at , consistent with recent theory.Comment: 4 pages 5 figures (including 2 auxiliary figures); A complete
analysis of the spectra based on the surface and bulk analysis shows in
auxiliary figures Fig. A1 and A
Doping-dependence of nodal quasiparticle properties in high- cuprates studied by laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy
We investigate the doping dependent low energy, low temperature ( = 5 K)
properties of nodal quasiparticles in the d-wave superconductor
BiSrCaCuO (Bi2212). By utilizing ultrahigh
resolution laser-excited angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we obtain
precise band dispersions near , mean free paths and scattering rates
() of quasiparticles. For optimally and overdoped, we obtain very sharp
quasiparticle peaks of 8 meV and 6 meV full-width at half-maximum,
respectively, in accord with terahertz conductivity. For all doping levels, we
find the energy-dependence of , while () shows a monotonic increase from overdoping to underdoping. The doping
dependence suggests the role of electronic inhomogeneity on the nodal
quasiparticle scattering at low temperature (5 K \lsim 0.07T_{\rm c}),
pronounced in the underdoped region
Sign-reversal of the in-plane resistivity anisotropy in hole-doped iron pnictides
The in-plane anisotropy of the electrical resistivity across the coupled
orthorhombic and magnetic transitions of the iron pnictides has been
extensively studied in the parent and electron-doped compounds. All these
studies universally show that the resistivity across the long
orthorhombic axis - along which the spins couple antiferromagnetically
below the magnetic transition temperature - is smaller than the resistivity
of the short orthorhombic axis , i. e. .
Here we report that in the hole-doped compounds
BaKFeAs, as the doping level increases, the
resistivity anisotropy initially becomes vanishingly small, and eventually
changes sign for sufficiently large doping, i. e. . This
observation is in agreement with a recent theoretical prediction that considers
the anisotropic scattering of electrons by spin-fluctuations in the
orthorhombic/nematic state.Comment: This paper has been replaced by the new version offering new
explanation of the experimental results first reported her
Coadministration of tacrolimus with corticosteroid accelerates recovery in refractory patients with polymyositis/ dermatomyositis: a retrospective study
Selective expansion of viral variants following experimental transmission of a reconstituted feline immunodeficiency virus quasispecies
Following long-term infection with virus derived from the pathogenic GL8 molecular clone of feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV), a range of viral variants emerged with distinct modes of interaction with the viral receptors CD134 and CXCR4, and sensitivities to neutralizing antibodies. In order to assess whether this viral diversity would be maintained following subsequent transmission, a synthetic quasispecies was reconstituted comprising molecular clones bearing envs from six viral variants and its replicative capacity compared in vivo with a clonal preparation of the parent virus. Infection with either clonal (Group 1) or diverse (Group 2) challenge viruses, resulted in a reduction in CD4+ lymphocytes and an increase in CD8+ lymphocytes. Proviral loads were similar in both study groups, peaking by 10 weeks post-infection, a higher plateau (set-point) being achieved and maintained in study Group 1. Marked differences in the ability of individual viral variants to replicate were noted in Group 2; those most similar to GL8 achieved higher viral loads while variants such as the chimaeras bearing the B14 and B28 Envs grew less well. The defective replication of these variants was not due to suppression by the humoral immune response as virus neutralising antibodies were not elicited within the study period. Similarly, although potent cellular immune responses were detected against determinants in Env, no qualitative differences were revealed between animals infected with either the clonal or the diverse inocula. However, in vitro studies indicated that the reduced replicative capacity of variants B14 and B28 in vivo was associated with altered interactions between the viruses and the viral receptor and co-receptor. The data suggest that viral variants with GL8-like characteristics have an early, replicative advantage and should provide the focus for future vaccine development
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