328 research outputs found
COVID-19 and emerging viral infections: The case for interferon lambda
With the first reports on coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by the novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the scientific community working in the field of type III IFNs (IFN-λ) realized that this class of IFNs could play an important role in this and other emerging viral infections. In this Viewpoint, we present our opinion on the benefits and potential limitations of using IFN-λ to prevent, limit, and treat these dangerous viral infections
Cmr is a redox-responsive regulator of DosR that contributes to M. tuberculosis virulence.
Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) is the causative agent of pulmonary tuberculosis (TB). MTb colonizes the human lung, often entering a non-replicating state before progressing to life-threatening active infections. Transcriptional reprogramming is essential for TB pathogenesis. In vitro, Cmr (a member of the CRP/FNR super-family of transcription regulators) bound at a single DNA site to act as a dual regulator of cmr transcription and an activator of the divergent rv1676 gene. Transcriptional profiling and DNA-binding assays suggested that Cmr directly represses dosR expression. The DosR regulon is thought to be involved in establishing latent tuberculosis infections in response to hypoxia and nitric oxide. Accordingly, DNA-binding by Cmr was severely impaired by nitrosation. A cmr mutant was better able to survive a nitrosative stress challenge but was attenuated in a mouse aerosol infection model. The complemented mutant exhibited a ∼2-fold increase in cmr expression, which led to increased sensitivity to nitrosative stress. This, and the inability to restore wild-type behaviour in the infection model, suggests that precise regulation of the cmr locus, which is associated with Region of Difference 150 in hypervirulent Beijing strains of Mtb, is important for TB pathogenesis
A Measurement of the Decay Asymmetry Parameters in \Xi_{c}^{0}\to \X^{-}\pi^{+}
Using the CLEO II detector at the Cornell Electron Storage Ring we have
measured the decay asymmetry parameter in the decay . We find , using the world average value of
we obtain . The physically allowed range of a decay
asymmetry parameter is . Our result prefers a negative value:
is at the 90% CL. The central value occupies the
middle of the theoretically expected range but is not yet precise enough to
choose between models.Comment: 10 pages postscript, also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
An Integrated TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource to Drive High-Quality Survival Outcome Analytics
For a decade, The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) program collected clinicopathologic annotation data along with multi-platform molecular profiles of more than 11,000 human tumors across 33 different cancer types. TCGA clinical data contain key features representing the democratized nature of the data collection process. To ensure proper use of this large clinical dataset associated with genomic features, we developed a standardized dataset named the TCGA Pan-Cancer Clinical Data Resource (TCGA-CDR), which includes four major clinical outcome endpoints. In addition to detailing major challenges and statistical limitations encountered during the effort of integrating the acquired clinical data, we present a summary that includes endpoint usage recommendations for each cancer type. These TCGA-CDR findings appear to be consistent with cancer genomics studies independent of the TCGA effort and provide opportunities for investigating cancer biology using clinical correlates at an unprecedented scale. Analysis of clinicopathologic annotations for over 11,000 cancer patients in the TCGA program leads to the generation of TCGA Clinical Data Resource, which provides recommendations of clinical outcome endpoint usage for 33 cancer types
Heavy Quarks and Heavy Quarkonia as Tests of Thermalization
We present here a brief summary of new results on heavy quarks and heavy
quarkonia from the PHENIX experiment as presented at the "Quark Gluon Plasma
Thermalization" Workshop in Vienna, Austria in August 2005, directly following
the International Quark Matter Conference in Hungary.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Quark Gluon Plasma Thermalization Workshop
(Vienna August 2005) Proceeding
Proximity effect at superconducting Sn-Bi2Se3 interface
We have investigated the conductance spectra of Sn-Bi2Se3 interface junctions
down to 250 mK and in different magnetic fields. A number of conductance
anomalies were observed below the superconducting transition temperature of Sn,
including a small gap different from that of Sn, and a zero-bias conductance
peak growing up at lower temperatures. We discussed the possible origins of the
smaller gap and the zero-bias conductance peak. These phenomena support that a
proximity-effect-induced chiral superconducting phase is formed at the
interface between the superconducting Sn and the strong spin-orbit coupling
material Bi2Se3.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figure
Centrality Dependence of the High p_T Charged Hadron Suppression in Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN) = 130 GeV
PHENIX has measured the centrality dependence of charged hadron p_T spectra
from central Au+Au collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=130 GeV. The truncated mean p_T
decreases with centrality for p_T > 2 GeV/c, indicating an apparent reduction
of the contribution from hard scattering to high p_T hadron production. For
central collisions the yield at high p_T is shown to be suppressed compared to
binary nucleon-nucleon collision scaling of p+p data. This suppression is
monotonically increasing with centrality, but most of the change occurs below
30% centrality, i.e. for collisions with less than about 140 participating
nucleons. The observed p_T and centrality dependence is consistent with the
particle production predicted by models including hard scattering and
subsequent energy loss of the scattered partons in the dense matter created in
the collisions.Comment: 7 pages text, LaTeX, 6 figures, 2 tables, 307 authors, resubmitted to
Phys. Lett. B. Revised to address referee concerns. Plain text data tables
for the points plotted in figures for this and previous PHENIX publications
are publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/phenix/WWW/run/phenix/papers.htm
Single Electrons from Heavy Flavor Decays in p+p Collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV
The invariant differential cross section for inclusive electron production in
p+p collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV has been measured by the PHENIX experiment
at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider over the transverse momentum range $0.4
<= p_T <= 5.0 GeV/c at midrapidity (eta <= 0.35). The contribution to the
inclusive electron spectrum from semileptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy
flavor, i.e. charm quarks or, at high p_T, bottom quarks, is determined via
three independent methods. The resulting electron spectrum from heavy flavor
decays is compared to recent leading and next-to-leading order perturbative QCD
calculations. The total cross section of charm quark-antiquark pair production
is determined as sigma_(c c^bar) = 0.92 +/- 0.15 (stat.) +- 0.54 (sys.) mb.Comment: 329 authors, 6 pages text, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.
Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and
previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Nuclear Modification of Electron Spectra and Implications for Heavy Quark Energy Loss in Au+Au Collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV
The PHENIX experiment has measured mid-rapidity transverse momentum spectra
(0.4 < p_T < 5.0 GeV/c) of electrons as a function of centrality in Au+Au
collisions at sqrt(s_NN)=200 GeV. Contributions from photon conversions and
from light hadron decays, mainly Dalitz decays of pi^0 and eta mesons, were
removed. The resulting non-photonic electron spectra are primarily due to the
semi-leptonic decays of hadrons carrying heavy quarks. Nuclear modification
factors were determined by comparison to non-photonic electrons in p+p
collisions. A significant suppression of electrons at high p_T is observed in
central Au+Au collisions, indicating substantial energy loss of heavy quarks.Comment: 330 authors, 6 pages text, 3 figures. Submitted to Phys. Rev. Lett.
Plain text data tables for the points plotted in figures for this and
previous PHENIX publications are (or will be) publicly available at
http://www.phenix.bnl.gov/papers.htm
Radiative Decay Modes of the Meson
Using data recorded by the CLEO-II detector at CESR we have searched for four
radiative decay modes of the meson: ,
, , and . We
obtain 90% CL upper limits on the branching ratios of these modes of , , and
respectively.Comment: 15 page postscript file, postscript file also available through
http://w4.lns.cornell.edu/public/CLN
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