2,452 research outputs found
Contribution of extracellular negatively charged residues to ATP action and zinc modulation of rat P2X 2 receptors
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/65506/1/j.1471-4159.2008.05228.x.pd
An econometric analysis of SARS and Avian flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia
This paper compares the impacts of SARS and human deaths arising from Avian Flu on international tourist arrivals to Asia. The effects of SARS and human deaths from Avian Flu will be compared directly according to human deaths. The nature of the short run and long run relationship is examined empirically by estimating a static line fixed effect model and a difference transformation dynamic model, respectively. Empirical results from the static fixed effect and difference transformation dynamic models are consistent, and indicate that both the short run and long run SARS effect have a more significant impact on international tourist arrivals than does Avian Flu. In addition, the effects of deaths arising from both SARS and Avian Flu suggest that SARS is more important to international tourist arrivals than is Avian Flu. Thus, while Avian Flu is here to stay, its effect is currently not as significant as that of SARS
The Association of Virulence Factors with Genomic Islands
Background: It has been noted that many bacterial virulence factor genes are located within genomic islands (GIs; clusters of genes in a prokaryotic genome of probable horizontal origin). However, such studies have been limited to single genera or isolated observations. We have performed the first large-scale analysis of multiple diverse pathogens to examine this association. We additionally identified genes found predominantly in pathogens, but not non-pathogens, across multiple genera using 631 complete bacterial genomes, and we identified common trends in virulence for genes in GIs. Furthermore, we examined the relationship between GIs and clustered regularly interspaced palindromic repeats (CRISPRs) proposed to confer resistance to phage. Methodology/Principal Findings: We show quantitatively that GIs disproportionately contain more virulence factors than the rest of a given genome (p,1E-40 using three GI datasets) and that CRISPRs are also over-represented in GIs. Virulence factors in GIs and pathogen-associated virulence factors are enriched for proteins having more ‘‘offensive’ ’ functions, e.g. active invasion of the host, and are disproportionately components of type III/IV secretion systems or toxins. Numerous hypothetical pathogen-associated genes were identified, meriting further study. Conclusions/Significance: This is the first systematic analysis across diverse genera indicating that virulence factors are disproportionately associated with GIs. ‘‘Offensive’ ’ virulence factors, as opposed to host-interaction factors, may more ofte
Extensive HST Ultraviolet Spectra and Multi-wavelength Observations of SN 2014J in M82 Indicate Reddening and Circumstellar Scattering by Typical Dust
SN 2014J in M82 is the closest detected Type Ia supernova (SN Ia) in at least
28 years and perhaps in 410 years. Despite its small distance of 3.3 Mpc, SN
2014J is surprisingly faint, peaking at V = 10.6 mag, and assuming a typical SN
Ia luminosity, we infer an observed visual extinction of A_V = 2.0 +/- 0.1 mag.
But this picture, with R_V = 1.6 +/- 0.2, is too simple to account for all
observations. We combine 10 epochs (spanning a month) of HST/STIS ultraviolet
through near-infrared spectroscopy with HST/WFC3, KAIT, and FanCam photometry
from the optical to the infrared and 9 epochs of high-resolution TRES
spectroscopy to investigate the sources of extinction and reddening for SN
2014J. We argue that the wide range of observed properties for SN 2014J is
caused by a combination of dust reddening, likely originating in the
interstellar medium of M82, and scattering off circumstellar material. For this
model, roughly half of the extinction is caused by reddening from typical dust
(E(B-V ) = 0.45 mag and R_V = 2.6) and roughly half by scattering off LMC-like
dust in the circumstellar environment of SN 2014J.Comment: 17 pages (excluding references and tables), 15 figures, accepted to
MNRAS. A high-resolution HST image of SN 2014J in M82 is available upon
reques
Vacuum ultraviolet photoabsorption spectra of nitrile ices for their identification on Pluto
Icy bodies, such as Pluto, are known to harbor simple and complex molecules. The recent New Horizons flyby of Pluto has revealed a complex surface composed of bright and dark ice surfaces, indicating a rich chemistry based on nitrogen (N2), methane (CH4), and carbon monoxide (CO). Nitrile (CN) containing molecules such as acetonitrile (CH3CN), propionitrile (CH3CH2CN), butyronitrile (CH3CH2CH2CN), and isobutyronitrile ((CH3)2CHCN) are some of the nitrile molecules that are known to be synthesized by radiative processing of such simple ices. Through the provision of a spectral atlas for such compounds we propose that such nitriles may be identified from the ALICE payload on board New Horizons</i
Peptides identify multiple hotspots within the ligand binding domain of the TNF receptor 2
BACKGROUND: Hotspots are defined as the minimal functional domains involved in protein:protein interactions and sufficient to induce a biological response. RESULTS: Here we describe the use of complex and high diversity phage display libraries to isolate peptides (called Hotspot Ligands or HSPLs) which sub-divide the ligand binding domain of the tumor necrosis factor receptor 2 (TNFR2; p75) into multiple hotspots. We have shown that these libraries could generate HSPLs which not only subdivide hotspots on protein and non-protein targets but act as agonists or antagonists. Using this approach, we generated peptides which were specific for human TNFR2, could be competed by the natural ligands, TNFα and TNFβ and induced an unexpected biological response in a TNFR2-specific manner. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge, this is the first report describing the dissection of the TNFR2 into biologically active hotspots with the concomitant identification of a novel and unexpected biological activity
MicrobeDB: a locally maintainable database of microbial genomic sequences
Summary: Analysis of microbial genomes often requires the general organization and comparison of tens to thousands of genomes both from public repositories and unpublished sources. MicrobeDB provides a foundation for such projects by the automation of downloading published, completed bacterial and archaeal genomes from key sources, parsing annotations of all genomes (both public and private) into a local database, and allowing interaction with the database through an easy to use programming interface. MicrobeDB creates a simple to use, easy to maintain, centralized local resource for various large-scale comparative genomic analyses and a back-end for future microbial application design
A surrogate-based approach for post-genomic partner identification
BACKGROUND: Modern drug discovery is concerned with identification and validation of novel protein targets from among the 30,000 genes or more postulated to be present in the human genome. While protein-protein interactions may be central to many disease indications, it has been difficult to identify new chemical entities capable of regulating these interactions as either agonists or antagonists. RESULTS: In this paper, we show that peptide complements (or surrogates) derived from highly diverse random phage display libraries can be used for the identification of the expected natural biological partners for protein and non-protein targets. Our examples include surrogates isolated against both an extracellular secreted protein (TNFβ) and intracellular disease related mRNAs. In each case, surrogates binding to these targets were obtained and found to contain partner information embedded in their amino acid sequences. Furthermore, this information was able to identify the correct biological partners from large human genome databases by rapid and integrated computer based searches. CONCLUSIONS: Modified versions of these surrogates should provide agents capable of modifying the activity of these targets and enable one to study their involvement in specific biological processes as a means of target validation for downstream drug discovery
Kaon photoproduction: background contributions, form factors and missing resonances
The photoproduction p(gamma, K+)Lambda process is studied within a
field-theoretic approach. It is shown that the background contributions
constitute an important part of the reaction dynamics. We compare predictions
obtained with three plausible techniques for dealing with these background
contributions. It appears that the extracted resonance parameters drastically
depend on the applied technique. We investigate the implications of the
corrections to the functional form of the hadronic form factor in the contact
term, recently suggested by Davidson and Workman (Phys. Rev. C 63, 025210). The
role of background contributions and hadronic form factors for the
identification of the quantum numbers of ``missing'' resonances is discussed.Comment: 11 pages, 7 eps figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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