3,806 research outputs found
Molecular analysis of avian H7 influenza viruses circulating in Eurasia in 1999-2005: detection of multiple reassortant virus genotypes.
Avian influenza infections by high and low pathogenicity H7 influenza viruses have caused several outbreaks in European poultry in recent years, also resulting in human infections. Although in some cases the source of H7 strains from domestic poultry was shown to be the viruses circulating in the wild bird reservoir, a thorough characterization of the entire genome of H7 viruses from both wild and domestic Eurasian birds, and their evolutionary relationships, has not been conducted. In our study, we have analysed low pathogenicity H7 influenza strains isolated from wild and domestic ducks in Italy and southern China and compared them with those from reared terrestrial poultry such as chicken and turkey. Phylogenetic analysis demonstrated that the H7 haemagglutinin genes were all closely related to each other, whereas the remaining genes could be divided into two or more phylogenetic groups. Almost each year different H7 reassortant viruses were identified and in at least two different years more than one H7 genotype co-circulated. A recent precursor in wild waterfowl was identified for most of the gene segments of terrestrial poultry viruses. Our data suggest that reassortment allows avian influenza viruses, in their natural reservoir, to increase their genetic diversity. In turn this might help avian influenza viruses colonize a wider range of hosts, including domestic poultry
Aging characterization of metals for exhaust systems
The mechanical characteristics of four materials used in automotive exhaust systems have been compared after an aging treatment to evaluate the combined effects of thermo-mechanical fatigue and corrosion. For this purpose, an experimental aging procedure has been developed. This procedure is composed of chemical, thermal and mechanical cycles, which are combined and repeated to simulate the actual operating conditions of automotive exhaust systems. Three austenitic steels (AISI 309, AISI 316Ti, and AISI 321) and a nickel-based alloy (Inconel 625) are tested. The results show that Inconel 625 and AISI 309 are less affected by the aging process than the other material
Characterization of a Human Cell Line Stably Over-Expressing the Candidate Oncogene, Dual Specificity Phosphatase 12
Analysis of chromosomal rearrangements within primary tumors has been influential in the identification of novel oncogenes. Identification of the "driver" gene(s) within cancer-derived amplicons is, however, hampered by the fact that most amplicons contain many gene products. Amplification of 1q21-1q23 is strongly associated with liposarcomas and microarray-based comparative genomic hybridization narrowed down the likely candidate oncogenes to two: the activating transcription factor 6 (atf6) and the dual specificity phosphatase 12 (dusp12). While atf6 is an established transcriptional regulator of the unfolded protein response, the potential role of dusp12 in cancer remains uncharacterized.To evaluate the oncogenic potential of dusp12, we established stable cell lines that ectopically over-express dusp12 in isolation and determined whether this cell line acquired properties frequently associated with transformed cells. Here, we demonstrate that cells over-expressing dusp12 display increased cell motility and resistance to apoptosis. Additionally, over-expression of dusp12 promoted increased expression of the c-met proto-oncogene and the collagen and laminin receptor intergrin alpha 1 (itga1) which is implicated in metastasis.Collectively, these results suggest that dusp12 is oncologically relevant and exposes a potential association between dusp12 and established oncogenes that could be therapeutically targeted
Results from the first use of low radioactivity argon in a dark matter search
Liquid argon is a bright scintillator with potent particle identification
properties, making it an attractive target for direct-detection dark matter
searches. The DarkSide-50 dark matter search here reports the first WIMP search
results obtained using a target of low-radioactivity argon. DarkSide-50 is a
dark matter detector, using two-phase liquid argon time projection chamber,
located at the Laboratori Nazionali del Gran Sasso. The underground argon is
shown to contain Ar-39 at a level reduced by a factor (1.4 +- 0.2) x 10^3
relative to atmospheric argon. We report a background-free null result from
(2616 +- 43) kg d of data, accumulated over 70.9 live-days. When combined with
our previous search using an atmospheric argon, the 90 % C.L. upper limit on
the WIMP-nucleon spin-independent cross section based on zero events found in
the WIMP search regions, is 2.0 x 10^-44 cm^2 (8.6 x 10^-44 cm^2, 8.0 x 10^-43
cm^2) for a WIMP mass of 100 GeV/c^2 (1 TeV/c^2 , 10 TeV/c^2).Comment: Accepted by Phys. Rev.
The Orexigenic Effect of Ghrelin Is Mediated through Central Activation of the Endogenous Cannabinoid System
INTRODUCTION
Ghrelin and cannabinoids stimulate appetite, this effect possibly being mediated by the activation of hypothalamic AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), a key enzyme in appetite and metabolism regulation. The cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1) antagonist rimonabant can block the orexigenic effect of ghrelin. In this study, we have elucidated the mechanism of the putative ghrelin-cannabinoid interaction.
METHODS
The effects of ghrelin and CB1 antagonist rimonabant in wild-type mice, and the effect of ghrelin in CB1-knockout animals, were studied on food intake, hypothalamic AMPK activity and endogenous cannabinoid content. In patch-clamp electrophysiology experiments the effect of ghrelin was assessed on the synaptic inputs in parvocellular neurons of the hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, with or without the pre-administration of a CB1 antagonist or of cannabinoid synthesis inhibitors.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONS
Ghrelin did not induce an orexigenic effect in CB1-knockout mice. Correspondingly, both the genetic lack of CB1 and the pharmacological blockade of CB1 inhibited the effect of ghrelin on AMPK activity. Ghrelin increased the endocannabinoid content of the hypothalamus in wild-type mice and this effect was abolished by rimonabant pre-treatment, while no effect was observed in CB1-KO animals. Electrophysiology studies showed that ghrelin can inhibit the excitatory inputs on the parvocellular neurons of the paraventricular nucleus, and that this effect is abolished by administration of a CB1 antagonist or an inhibitor of the DAG lipase, the enzyme responsible for 2-AG synthesis. The effect is also lost in the presence of BAPTA, an intracellular calcium chelator, which inhibits endocannabinoid synthesis in the recorded parvocellular neuron and therefore blocks the retrograde signaling exerted by endocannabinoids. In summary, an intact cannabinoid signaling pathway is necessary for the stimulatory effects of ghrelin on AMPK activity and food intake, and for the inhibitory effect of ghrelin on paraventricular neurons
Expression of proteins in Escherichia coli as fusions with maltose-binding protein to rescue non-expressed targets in a high-throughput protein-expression and purification pipeline
The rescue of protein-expression levels by cloning genes into MBP-fusion vector is described
Measurement of eta_c(1S), eta_c(2S) and non-resonant eta' pi+ pi- production via two-photon collisions
We report the measurement of gamma gamma to eta_c(1S), eta_c(2S) to eta' pi+
pi- with eta' decays to gamma rho and eta pi+ pi- using 941 fb^{-1} of data
collected with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e- collider.
The eta_c(1S) mass and width are measured to be M = [2984.6\pm0.7 (stat.)\pm2.2
(syst.)] MeV/c^{2} and \Gamma = [30.8^{+2.3}_{-2.2}~(stat.) \pm 2.5~(syst.)]
MeV, respectively. First observation of eta_c(2S) to eta' pi+ pi- with a
significance of 5.5sigma including systematic error is obtained, and the
eta_c(2S) mass is measured to be M = [3635.1\pm3.7~(stat.)\pm2.9~(syst.)]
MeV/c^{2}. The products of the two-photon decay width and branching fraction
(B) of decays to eta'pi+ pi- are determined to be \Gamma_{gamma gamma}B =
[65.4\pm2.6~(stat.)\pm6.9~(syst.)] eV for eta_c(1S) and
[5.6^{+1.2}_{-1.1}~(stat.)\pm1.1~(syst.)] eV for eta_c(2S). A new decay mode
for the eta_c(1S) to eta'f_0(2080) with f_0(2080) to pi+ pi- is observed with a
statistical significance of 20sigma. The f_0(2080) mass and width are
determined to be M = [2083^{+63}_{-66}~(stat.)\pm 32~(syst.)] MeV/c^{2} and
\Gamma = [178^{+60}_{-178}~(stat.) \pm 55~(syst.)] MeV. The cross sections for
gamma gamma to eta' pi+ pi- and eta'f_{2}(1270) are measured for the first
time.Comment: 19 pages, 14 figure
Measurement of the Branching Fraction of the Decay in Fully Reconstructed Events at Belle
We present an analysis of the exclusive
decay, where represents an
electron or a muon, with the assumption of charge-conjugation symmetry and
lepton universality. The analysis uses the full data sample
collected by the Belle detector, corresponding to 711 fb of integrated
luminosity. We select the events by fully reconstructing one meson in
hadronic decay modes, subsequently determining the properties of the other
meson. We extract the signal yields using a binned maximum-likelihood fit to
the missing-mass squared distribution in bins of the invariant mass of the two
pions or the momentum transfer squared. We measure a total branching fraction
of , where the
uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively. This result is the
first reported measurement of this decay.Comment: 23 pages, 19 figure
Measurement of Branching Fractions of Hadronic Decays of the Baryon
Using a data sample of 980 of annihilation data
taken with the Belle detector operating at the KEKB asymmetric-energy
collider, we report the results of a study of the decays of the
charmed baryon into hadronic final states. We report the most precise
measurements to date of the relative branching fractions of the
into , , , and
, as well as the first measurements of the branching fractions
of the into , , and , all with respect to the decay. In
addition, we investigate the resonant substructure of these modes. Finally, we
present a limit on the branching fraction for the decay
- …