Molecular epidemiology of African sleeping sickness

Human sleeping sickness in Africa, caused by Trypanosoma brucei spp. raises a number of questions. Despite the widespread distribution of the tsetse vectors and animal trypanosomiasis, human disease is only found in discrete foci which periodically give rise to epidemics followed by periods of endemicity A key to unravelling this puzzle is a detailed knowledge of the aetiological agents responsible for different patterns of disease--knowledge that is difficult to achieve using traditional microscopy. The science of molecular epidemiology has developed a range of tools which have enabled us to accurately identify taxonomic groups at all levels (species, subspecies, populations, strains and isolates). Using these tools, we can now investigate the genetic interactions within and between populations of Trypanosoma brucei and gain an understanding of the distinction between human- and nonhuman-infective subspecies. In this review, we discuss the development of these tools, their advantages and disadvantages and describe how they have been used to understand parasite genetic diversity, the origin of epidemics, the role of reservoir hosts and the population structure. Using the specific case of T.b. rhodesiense in Uganda, we illustrate how molecular epidemiology has enabled us to construct a more detailed understanding of the origins, generation and dynamics of sleeping sickness epidemics

Explorations of the Top Quark Forward-Backward Asymmetry at the Tevatron

We consider the recent measurement of the top quark forward-backward asymmetry at the Fermilab Tevatron, which shows a discrepancy of slightly more than 2$\sigma$ compared to the SM prediction. We find that $t$-channel exchange of a color sextet or triplet scalar particle can explain the measurement, while leaving the cross section for $t \bar{t}$ production within measured uncertainties. Such particles have good discovery prospects by study of the kinematic structure of $t \bar{t}$+jets at the LHC.Comment: 14 pages, 10 figures, 1 tabl

Polymer stabilisation of P. F. Ash

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LIV. On the dissipation of energy

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Cancer therapy-induced PAFR ligand expression: any role for caspase activity?

No abstract available

Wind tunnel testing of a generic telescope enclosure

The design of future large optical telescopes must take into account the wind-induced buffeting of the telescope structure caused by large-scale flow structures and turbulence inside the dome. However, estimating the resulting degradation in image quality is difficult due to our relatively poor understanding of the flow inside the dome. Data has been collected in a scaled wind-tunnel test of a telescope enclosure to understand the flow-field around the region near the dome opening where the secondary mirror and supporting structure would be subjected to wind loads. Digital particle image velocimetry (DPIV) data was collected in a vertical plane near the dome opening to obtain mean velocity and fluctuation kinetic energy. In addition, hotwire data was collected along the telescope axis to obtain temporal spectra of the velocity, and flow visualization was used to determine the general flow patterns. In addition to its direct use in telescope modeling and design, this data is of particular value in validation of computational fluid dynamic (CFD) analyses, so that CFD can be used with confidence in future design work