526 research outputs found
Linking anthropogenic resources to wildlife-pathogen dynamics: a review and meta-analysis
Urbanisation and agriculture cause declines for many wildlife, but some species beneïŹt from novelresources, especially food, provided in human-dominated habitats. Resulting shifts in wildlife ecol-ogy can alter infectious disease dynamics and create opportunities for cross-species transmission,yet predicting hostâpathogen responses to resource provisioning is challenging. Factors enhancingtransmission, such as increased aggregation, could be offset by better host immunity due toimproved nutrition. Here, we conduct a review and meta-analysis to show that food provisioningresults in highly heterogeneous infection outcomes that depend on pathogen type and anthropo-genic food source. We also ïŹnd empirical support for behavioural and immune mechanismsthrough which human-provided resources alter host exposure and tolerance to pathogens. Areview of recent theoretical models of resource provisioning and infection dynamics shows thatchanges in host contact rates and immunity produce strong non-linear responses in pathogen inva-sion and prevalence. By integrating results of our meta-analysis back into a theoretical frame-work, we ïŹnd provisioning ampliïŹes pathogen invasion under increased host aggregation andtolerance, but reduces transmission if provisioned food decreases dietary exposure to parasites.These results carry implications for wildlife disease management and highlight areas for futurework, such as how resource shifts might affect virulence evolution
Quark zero modes in intersecting center vortex gauge fields
The zero modes of the Dirac operator in the background of center vortex gauge
field configurations in and are examined. If the net flux in D=2
is larger than 1 we obtain normalizable zero modes which are mainly localized
at the vortices. In D=4 quasi-normalizable zero modes exist for intersecting
flat vortex sheets with the Pontryagin index equal to 2. These zero modes are
mainly localized at the vortex intersection points, which carry a topological
charge of . To circumvent the problem of normalizability the
space-time manifold is chosen to be the (compact) torus \T^2 and \T^4,
respectively. According to the index theorem there are normalizable zero modes
on \T^2 if the net flux is non-zero. These zero modes are localized at the
vortices. On \T^4 zero modes exist for a non-vanishing Pontryagin index. As
in these zero modes are localized at the vortex intersection points.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX2e, references added, treatment of ideal
vortices on the torus shortene
Influenza A H5N1 Detection
We developed a sensitive and rapid real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) assay to detect influenza A H5N1 virus in clinical samples. This assay was evaluated with samples from H5N1-infected patients and demonstrated greater sensitivity and faster turnaround time than nested RT-PCR
Hydrodynamical analysis of symmetric nucleus-nucleus collisions at CERN/SPS energies
We present a coherent theoretical study of ultrarelativistic heavy-ion data
obtained at the CERN/SPS by the NA35/NA49 Collaborations using 3+1-dimensional
relativistic hydrodynamics. We find excellent agreement with the rapidity
spectra of negative hadrons and protons and with the correlation measurements
in two experiments: at 200 and at 160 (preliminary
results). Within our model this implies that for () a
quark-gluon-plasma of initial volume 174 (24 ) with a lifetime 3.4
(1.5 ) was formed. It is found that the Bose-Einstein correlation
measurements do not determine the maximal effective radii of the hadron sources
because of the large contributions from resonance decay at small momenta. Also
within this study we present an NA49 acceptance corrected two-pion
Bose-Einstein correlation function in the invariant variable, .Comment: 21 pages, 11 Postscript figures (1 File, 775654 Bytes, has to be
requested for submission via e.mail from [email protected]
Mutations of the BRAF gene in human cancer
Cancers arise owing to the accumulation of mutations in critical genes that alter normal programmes of cell proliferation, differentiation and death. As the first stage of a systematic genome-wide screen for these genes, we have prioritized for analysis signalling pathways in which at least one gene is mutated in human cancer. The RAS RAF MEK ERK MAP kinase pathway mediates cellular responses to growth signals. RAS is mutated to an oncogenic form in about 15% of human cancer. The three RAF genes code for cytoplasmic serine/threonine kinases that are regulated by binding RAS. Here we report BRAF somatic missense mutations in 66% of malignant melanomas and at lower frequency in a wide range of human cancers. All mutations are within the kinase domain, with a single substitution (V599E) accounting for 80%. Mutated BRAF proteins have elevated kinase activity and are transforming in NIH3T3 cells. Furthermore, RAS function is not required for the growth of cancer cell lines with the V599E mutation. As BRAF is a serine/threonine kinase that is commonly activated by somatic point mutation in human cancer, it may provide new therapeutic opportunities in malignant melanoma
In medium T-matrix for superfluid nuclear matter
We study a generalized ladder resummation in the superfluid phase of the
nuclear matter. The approach is based on a conserving generalization of the
usual T-matrix approximation including also anomalous self-energies and
propagators. The approximation here discussed is a generalization of the usual
mean-field BCS approach and of the in medium T-matrix approximation in the
normal phase. The numerical results in this work are obtained in the
quasi-particle approximation. Properties of the resulting self-energy,
superfluid gap and spectral functions are studied.Comment: 38 pages, 19 figures, Introduction rewritten, Refs. adde
Potential Added Value of Psychological Capital in Predicting Work Attitudes
Meeting the challenge of effectively managing human resources requires new thinking and approaches. To extend the traditional perspective of economic capital, increasing recognition is being given to human capital and more recently social capital, this article proposes and empirically tests the potential added value that psychological capital may have for employee attitudes of satisfaction and commitment. After first providing the background and theory of PsyCap, this article reports a study of manufacturing employees (N = 74) that found a significant relationship between PsyCap and job satisfaction (r=.373) and organization commitment (r=.313). Importantly, the employeesâ PsyCap had a significant added impact over human and social capital on these work attitudes. Future research and practical implications conclude the article
Grain Surface Models and Data for Astrochemistry
AbstractThe cross-disciplinary field of astrochemistry exists to understand the formation, destruction, and survival of molecules in astrophysical environments. Molecules in space are synthesized via a large variety of gas-phase reactions, and reactions on dust-grain surfaces, where the surface acts as a catalyst. A broad consensus has been reached in the astrochemistry community on how to suitably treat gas-phase processes in models, and also on how to present the necessary reaction data in databases; however, no such consensus has yet been reached for grain-surface processes. A team of âŒ25 experts covering observational, laboratory and theoretical (astro)chemistry met in summer of 2014 at the Lorentz Center in Leiden with the aim to provide solutions for this problem and to review the current state-of-the-art of grain surface models, both in terms of technical implementation into models as well as the most up-to-date information available from experiments and chemical computations. This review builds on the results of this workshop and gives an outlook for future directions
- âŠ