Development of a Radioimmunoassay for Pig Pancreatic Kallikrein

Peer Reviewe

Study of high altitude plume impingement

Computer program has been developed as analytical tool to predict severity of effects of exhaust of rocket engines on adjacent spacecraft surfaces. Program computes forces, moments, pressures, and heating rates on surfaces immersed in or subjected to exhaust plume environments. Predictions will be useful in design of systems where such problems are anticipated

Utilization of Polyspecific Antiserum for Specific Radioimmunoassays: Radioimmunoassays for Rat Fetuin and Bikunin Were Developed by Using Antiserum Against Total Rat Serum Proteins

Polyspecific antiserum against total rat serum proteins was used to develop specific and sensitive radioimmunoassays for fetuin and bikunin, two minor protein components of rat plasma. The radioimmunoassays proved to be highly useful to trace bikunin and fetuin in the course of developing isolation procedures, since neither specific functional assays nor monospecific antisera were available. The two examples demonstrate that, in general, it will be possible to develop a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay with antiserum raised against a crude antigen preparation, such as a body fluid or a tissue extract, provided that a minute amount of pure antigen is available for preparing the radioiodinated antigen

Total scattering descriptions of local and cooperative distortions in the oxide spinel (Mg,Cu)Cr2O4 with dilute Jahn-Teller ions

The normal spinel oxide MgCr2O4 is cubic at room temperature while the normal spinel CuCr2O4 is tetragonal as a consequence of the Jahn-Teller nature of Cu2+ on the tetrahedral sites. Despite different end-member structures, complete solid solutions of Mg_{1-x}Cu_xCr2O4 can be prepared that display a first-order structural transition with composition x = 0.43 at room temperature. Reverse Monte Carlo analysis of total neutron scattering on data acquired between 300 K and 15 K on samples with x = 0.10, 0.20, and 0.43 provides unbiased local and average structure descriptions of the samples, including an understanding of the transition from local Jahn-Teller distortions in the cubic phase to cooperative distortions that result in a tetragonal structure. Distributions of continuous symmetry measures help to understand and distinguish distorted and undistorted coordination around the tetrahedral site in the solid solutions. Magnetic exchange bias is observed in field-cooled hysteresis loops of samples with dilute Cu2+ concentration and in samples with tetragonal--cubic phase coexistence around 300 K.Comment: 10 pages, 14 figure

The effect of distance on observed mortality, childhood pneumonia and vaccine efficacy in rural Gambia.

We investigated whether straight-line distance from residential compounds to healthcare facilities influenced mortality, the incidence of pneumonia and vaccine efficacy against pneumonia in rural Gambia. Clinical surveillance for pneumonia was conducted on 6938 children living in the catchment areas of the two largest healthcare facilities. Deaths were monitored by three-monthly home visits. Children living >5 km from the two largest healthcare facilities had a 2·78 [95% confidence interval (CI) 1·74-4·43] times higher risk of all-cause mortality compared to children living within 2 km of these facilities. The observed rate of clinical and radiological pneumonia was lower in children living >5 km from these facilities compared to those living within 2 km [rate ratios 0·65 (95% CI 0·57-0·73) and 0·74 (95% CI 0·55-0·98), respectively]. There was no association between distance and estimated pneumococcal vaccine efficacy. Geographical access to healthcare services is an important determinant of survival and pneumonia in children in rural Gambia

Potential Alteration of Analogue Regolith by X-Ray Computed Tomography

The Mars 2020 rover mission will collect and cache samples from the martian surface for possible retrieval and subsequent return to Earth. Mars Returned Samples may provide definitive information about the presence of organic compounds that could shed light on the existence of past or present life on Mars. Post-mission analyses will depend on the development of a set of reliable sample handling and analysis procedures that cover the full range of materials which may or may not contain evidence of past or present martian life [1]

Static Versus Dynamic Friction: The Role of Coherence

A simple model for solid friction is analyzed. It is based on tangential springs representing interlocked asperities of the surfaces in contact. Each spring is given a maximal strain according to a probability distribution. At their maximal strain the springs break irreversibly. Initially all springs are assumed to have zero strain, because at static contact local elastic stresses are expected to relax. Relative tangential motion of the two solids leads to a loss of coherence of the initial state: The springs get out of phase due to differences in their sizes. This mechanism alone is shown to lead to a difference between static and dynamic friction forces already. We find that in this case the ratio of the static and dynamic coefficients decreases with increasing relative width of the probability distribution, and has a lower bound of 1 and an upper bound of 2.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, revtex

'Parasitic invasions' or sources of good governance: constraining foreign competition in Hong Kong banking, 1956-81

This paper investigates the operation and impact of the moratorium on new banking licences imposed in Hong Kong in 1965 and the claims that foreign banks destabilised the banking system and drained resources from the colony. First it examines foreign banks' attempts to circumvent the moratorium through claims of special circumstances and buying interests in local banks, and secondly it examines the efforts of incumbents to extend barriers to non-bank financial institutions and to branches of foreign banks. The general conclusions are that while the moratorium was aimed at increasing the stability of the banking system, it had the effect of decreasing the regulatory breadth of the government, and reducing incentives for mergers and acquisitions that might have improved governance

Impact histories of Vesta and Vestoids inferred from howardites, eucrites and diogenites

The parent body of the howardites, eucrites and diogenites (HEDs) is thought to be asteroid (4) Vesta [1]. However, several eucrites have now been recognized, like NWA 011 and Ibitira, with major element compositions and mineralogy like normal eucrites but with different oxygen isotope compositions and minor element concentrations suggesting they are not from the same body [2, 3]. The discoveries of abnormal eucrites and V-type asteroids that are probably not from Vesta [see 4] raise the question whether the HEDs with normal oxygen isotopes are coming from Vesta [3]. To address this issue and understand more about the evolution of Vesta in preparation for the arrival of the Dawn spacecraft, we integrate fresh insights from Ar-Ar dating and oxygen isotope analyses of HEDs, radiometric dating of differentiated meteorites, as well as dynamical and astronomical studies of Vesta, the Vesta asteroid family (i.e., the Vestoids), and other V-type asteroids