82 research outputs found
Linear B-cell epitopes of the NS3-NS4-NS5 proteins of the hepatitis C virusas modeled with synthetic peptides
AbstractA set of 150 synthetic peptides spanning the proteins NS3-NS4-NS5 of the hepatitis C virus (HCV) was synthesizedand tested with a panel of 20 sera obtained from HCV-infected patients. Of 62 peptides prepared from the NS3 region, none exhibited strong antigenic reactivity. Rather, five peptides from this region demonstrated specific reactivity with only 5–10% of anti-HCV-positive sera. Nonetheless, it is well known that the NS3 region contains strong antigenic epitopes. These epitopes appear to be modeled in a functionally active manner with recombinant proteins and cannot be mimicked properly with short synthetic peptides. This finding suggests that the major NS3 antigenic epitopes are conformationally dependent. Seven of 20 peptides prepared from the NS4 region were immunoreactive. Five peptides from this region demonstrated very strong HCV-specific antigenic reactivity. Four of the five peptides belong to the recognized immunoreactive 5-1-1 region located inside the C100-3 antigen. One peptide demonstrating immunoreactivity with approximately 90% of anti-HCV-positive sera was found outside the C100-3 region at the C-terminal part of the NS4 protein. Of 68 peptides synthesized from the NS5 protein, 30 were immunoreactive. Six of the 30 demonstrated immunoreactivity with 35–50% of anti-HCV-positive sera. Thus, the NS4 and NS5 regions of the HCV polyprotein contain a large number of specific, broadly reactive, linear antigenic epitopes. The highly antigenic reactivity of the NS5 region suggests that this protein may have significant diagnostic potential
The yields of r-process elements and chemical evolution of the Galaxy
The supernova yields of r-process elements are obtained as a function of the
mass of their progenitor stars from the abundance patterns of extremely
metal-poor stars on the left-side [Ba/Mg]-[Mg/H] boundary with a procedure
proposed by Tsujimoto and Shigeyama. The ejected masses of r-process elements
associated with stars of progenitor mass are infertile
sources and the SNe II with 20are the
dominant source of r-process nucleosynthesis in the Galaxy. The ratio of these
stars 20 with compared to the all massive
stars is about 18%. In this paper, we present a simple model that
describes a star's [r/Fe] in terms of the nucleosynthesis yields of r-process
elements and the number of SN II explosions. Combined the r-process yields
obtained by our procedure with the scatter model of the Galactic halo, the
observed abundance patterns of the metal-poor stars can be well reproducedComment: 7 pages, 6 figures, Accepted for publication in Astrophysics and
Space Scienc
Using behavior-analytic implicit tests to assess sexual interests among normal and sex-offender populations
The development of implicit tests for measuring biases and behavioral predispositions is a recent development within psychology. While such tests are usually researched within a social-cognitive paradigm, behavioral researchers have also begun to view these tests as potential tests of conditioning histories, including in the sexual domain.
The objective of this paper is to illustrate the utility of a behavioral approach to implicit testing and means by which implicit tests can be built to the standards of behavioral psychologists.
Research findings illustrating the short history of implicit testing within the experimental analysis of behavior are reviewed. Relevant parallel and overlapping research findings from the field of social cognition and on the Implicit Association Test are also outlined.
New preliminary data obtained with both normal and sex offender populations are described in order to illustrate how behavior-analytically conceived implicit tests may have potential as investigative tools for assessing histories of sexual arousal conditioning and derived stimulus associations.
It is concluded that popular implicit tests are likely sensitive to conditioned and derived stimulus associations in the history of the test-taker rather than 'unconscious cognitions', per se
Primordial Nucleosynthesis for the New Cosmology: Determining Uncertainties and Examining Concordance
Big bang nucleosynthesis (BBN) and the cosmic microwave background (CMB) have
a long history together in the standard cosmology. The general concordance
between the predicted and observed light element abundances provides a direct
probe of the universal baryon density. Recent CMB anisotropy measurements,
particularly the observations performed by the WMAP satellite, examine this
concordance by independently measuring the cosmic baryon density. Key to this
test of concordance is a quantitative understanding of the uncertainties in the
BBN light element abundance predictions. These uncertainties are dominated by
systematic errors in nuclear cross sections. We critically analyze the cross
section data, producing representations that describe this data and its
uncertainties, taking into account the correlations among data, and explicitly
treating the systematic errors between data sets. Using these updated nuclear
inputs, we compute the new BBN abundance predictions, and quantitatively
examine their concordance with observations. Depending on what deuterium
observations are adopted, one gets the following constraints on the baryon
density: OmegaBh^2=0.0229\pm0.0013 or OmegaBh^2 = 0.0216^{+0.0020}_{-0.0021} at
68% confidence, fixing N_{\nu,eff}=3.0. Concerns over systematics in helium and
lithium observations limit the confidence constraints based on this data
provide. With new nuclear cross section data, light element abundance
observations and the ever increasing resolution of the CMB anisotropy, tighter
constraints can be placed on nuclear and particle astrophysics. ABRIDGEDComment: 54 pages, 20 figures, 5 tables v2: reflects PRD version minor changes
to text and reference
An analysis of the deinstitutionalization of inflation-adjusted accounting practices in Brazilian companies
Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) and Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) Conceptual Design Report Volume 2: The Physics Program for DUNE at LBNF
The Physics Program for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) at the Fermilab Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF) is described
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WallstentR esophageal prosthesis: Post-market surveillance study
Adipokinetic hormone of the true armyworm, Pseudaletia unipuncta: immunohistochemistry, amino acid analysis, quantification and bioassay
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Acclerator R&D for a Linear Collider
The goal of this project was to perform simulations of beam transport in linear colliders, with an emphasis on emittance dilution, spin polarization transport, and development and testing of beam based tuning algorithms. Our simulations are based on an existing object-oriented particle-tracking library, Bmad. To facilitate the efficient development of simulations, an accelerator design and analysis program based on Bmad has been developed called Tao (Tool for Accelerator Optics). The three beam-based alignment algorithms, Dispersion Free Steering, Ballistic Alignment (BA), and the Kubo Method have been implemented in Tao. We have studied the effects of magnet misalignments, BPM resolution, beam jitter, stray fields, BPM and steering magnet failure and the effects of various cavity shape wakefields. A parametric study has been conducted in the presence of the above types of errors for all three alignment algorithms. We find that BPM resolution has only modest impact on the effectiveness of beam based alignment. The DFS correction algorithm was found to be very robust in situations where there were BPM and/or steering magnet failures. The wakefields in the main linac are very weak and cause negligible emittance growth. Spin tracking was extended to study all accelerator components between the damping ring and the interaction point, including RF cavities and the helical undulator. We find that there is no significant depolarization in the RTML, main linac or beam delivery system and that the polarization is relatively insensitive to misalignment. We have developed an effective spin rotator. During the final year of the grant we exploited the computing power of our new linux cluster, along with the modeling codes that we had developed, to investigate damping ring physics and design, specifically as it relates to the CESR Test Accelerator project
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