3,004 research outputs found
Spread of Infectious Diseases with a Latent Period
Infectious diseases spread through human networks.
Susceptible-Infected-Removed (SIR) model is one of the epidemic models to
describe infection dynamics on a complex network connecting individuals. In the
metapopulation SIR model, each node represents a population (group) which has
many individuals. In this paper, we propose a modified metapopulation SIR model
in which a latent period is taken into account. We call it SIIR model. We
divide the infection period into two stages: an infected stage, which is the
same as the previous model, and a seriously ill stage, in which individuals are
infected and cannot move to the other populations. The two infectious stages in
our modified metapopulation SIR model produce a discontinuous final size
distribution. Individuals in the infected stage spread the disease like
individuals in the seriously ill stage and never recover directly, which makes
an effective recovery rate smaller than the given recovery rate.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figure
Evaluation of the Atlas of Honduras (Atlas Mitch)
In October 1998, the Seeds of Hope project contributed to the production of 2,000 copies of the “Mitch Atlas”, containing fundamental maps on population, land use, roads, rivers, topography, and soils. The Atlas was freely distributed to institutions for post-Hurricane Mitch emergency response and reconstruction. Two years later, the Seeds of Hope project conducted an impact assessment of the Atlas in order to gauge the role of geographic information on decision-making. The results of this impact assessment are presented in this report. The methods used to assess the impact of the Atlas combined case study analysis and descriptive statistics. We interviewed 20 Atlas users and received 43 completed questionnaires. Based on user responses, the Atlas of Honduras made a significant contribution to disaster response, agricultural development, and natural resource management in Honduras. Overall, 97.7% of the respondents said they thought the Atlas was a useful tool, and 84.8% thought the Atlas was the best compilation of geographic information available in Honduras. Seventy four percent of the respondents found the Atlas easy to use, and 90.5% used the Atlas interface itself, rather than copying the data to be used with their own GIS software. This indicates that the interface itself was well designed. The Atlas was used for a range of applications, from basic mapping to more strategic planning, predominantly within the agricultural and natural resources management sectors. Nearly all those who participated in this evaluation indicated that the Atlas improved the quality and efficiency of decision-making. However, a number of Atlas users mentioned that the Atlas was one of a range of tools and information sources, so they were reluctant to assert that the Atlas had a direct impact on their decision-making. The Atlas was instrumental in raising awareness of the value of geographic information and need to share information. With the Atlas now 2 years old, 100% of the users sampled expressed an interest in having an updated version produced, and 92.7% said they would be willing to contribute to it. 88.1% of the sampled users said they expect to use geographic information frequently in the next five years, indicating that geographic information will have a prominent role in the future
Ubiquitinylation of α-Synuclein by Carboxyl Terminus Hsp70-Interacting Protein (CHIP) Is Regulated by Bcl-2-Associated Athanogene 5 (BAG5)
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a common neurodegenerative condition in which abnormalities in protein homeostasis, or proteostasis, may lead to accumulation of the protein α-synuclein (α-syn). Mutations within or multiplications of the gene encoding α-syn are known to cause genetic forms of PD and polymorphisms in the gene are recently established risk factors for idiopathic PD. α-syn is a major component of Lewy bodies, the intracellular proteinaceous inclusions which are pathological hallmarks of most forms of PD. Recent evidence demonstrates that α-syn can self associate into soluble oligomeric species and implicates these α-syn oligomers in cell death. We have previously shown that carboxyl terminus of Hsp70-interacting protein (CHIP), a co-chaperone molecule with E3 ubiquitin ligase activity, may reduce the levels of toxic α-syn oligomers. Here we demonstrate that α-syn is ubiquitinylated by CHIP both in vitro and in cells. We find that the products from ubiquitinylation by CHIP include both monoubiquitinylated and polyubiquitinylated forms of α-syn. We also demonstrate that CHIP and α-syn exist within a protein complex with the co-chaperone bcl-2-associated athanogene 5 (BAG5) in brain. The interaction of CHIP with BAG5 is mediated by Hsp70 which binds to the tetratricopeptide repeat domain of CHIP and the BAG domains of BAG5. The Hsp70-mediated association of BAG5 with CHIP results in inhibition of CHIP E3 ubiquitin ligase activity and subsequently reduces α-syn ubiquitinylation. Furthermore, we use a luciferase-based protein-fragment complementation assay of α-syn oligomerization to investigate regulation of α-syn oligomers by CHIP in living cells. We demonstrate that BAG5 mitigates the ability of CHIP to reduce α-syn oligomerization and that non-ubiquitinylated α-syn has an increased propensity for oligomerization. Thus, our results identify CHIP as an E3 ubiquitin ligase of α-syn and suggest a novel function for BAG5 as a modulator of CHIP E3 ubiquitin ligase activity with implications for CHIP-mediated regulation of α-syn oligomerization
Monte Carlo calculation of the current-voltage characteristics of a two dimensional lattice Coulomb gas
We have studied the nonlinear current-voltage characteristic of a two
dimensional lattice Coulomb gas by Monte Carlo simulation. We present three
different determinations of the power-law exponent of the nonlinear
current-voltage characteristic, . The determinations rely on
both equilibrium and non-equilibrium simulations. We find good agreement
between the different determinations, and our results also agree closely with
experimental results for Hg-Xe thin film superconductors and for certain single
crystal thin-film high temperature superconductors.Comment: late
Role of mitochondria in the pheromone- and amiodarone-induced programmed death of yeast
Although programmed cell death (PCD) is extensively studied in multicellular organisms, in recent years it has been shown that a unicellular organism, yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, also possesses death program(s). In particular, we have found that a high doses of yeast pheromone is a natural stimulus inducing PCD. Here, we show that the death cascades triggered by pheromone and by a drug amiodarone are very similar. We focused on the role of mitochondria during the pheromone/amiodarone-induced PCD. For the first time, a functional chain of the mitochondria-related events required for a particular case of yeast PCD has been revealed: an enhancement of mitochondrial respiration and of its energy coupling, a strong increase of mitochondrial membrane potential, both events triggered by the rise of cytoplasmic [Ca2+], a burst in generation of reactive oxygen species in center o of the respiratory chain complex III, mitochondrial thread-grain transition, and cytochrome c release from mitochondria. A novel mitochondrial protein required for thread-grain transition is identified
A Study of The Formation of Stationary Localized States Due to Nonlinear Impurities Using The Discrete Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equation
The Discrete Nonlinear Schrdinger Equation is used to study the
formation of stationary localized states due to a single nonlinear impurity in
a Caley tree and a dimeric nonlinear impurity in the one dimensional system.
The rotational nonlinear impurity and the impurity of the form where is arbitrary and is the nonlinearity
parameter are considered. Furthermore, represents the absolute
value of the amplitude. Altogether four cases are studies. The usual Greens
function approach and the ansatz approach are coherently blended to obtain
phase diagrams showing regions of different number of states in the parameter
space. Equations of critical lines separating various regions in phase diagrams
are derived analytically. For the dimeric problem with the impurity , three values of , namely, , at and and
for are obtained. Last two values are lower than the
existing values. Energy of the states as a function of parameters is also
obtained. A model derivation for the impurities is presented. The implication
of our results in relation to disordered systems comprising of nonlinear
impurities and perfect sites is discussed.Comment: 10 figures available on reques
Beta-decay branching ratios of 62Ga
Beta-decay branching ratios of 62Ga have been measured at the IGISOL facility
of the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of Jyvaskyla. 62Ga is one of
the heavier Tz = 0, 0+ -> 0+ beta-emitting nuclides used to determine the
vector coupling constant of the weak interaction and the Vud quark-mixing
matrix element. For part of the experimental studies presented here, the
JYFLTRAP facility has been employed to prepare isotopically pure beams of 62Ga.
The branching ratio obtained, BR= 99.893(24)%, for the super-allowed branch is
in agreement with previous measurements and allows to determine the ft value
and the universal Ft value for the super-allowed beta decay of 62Ga
Biharmonic pattern selection
A new model to describe fractal growth is discussed which includes effects
due to long-range coupling between displacements . The model is based on the
biharmonic equation in two-dimensional isotropic defect-free
media as follows from the Kuramoto-Sivashinsky equation for pattern formation
-or, alternatively, from the theory of elasticity. As a difference with
Laplacian and Poisson growth models, in the new model the Laplacian of is
neither zero nor proportional to . Its discretization allows to reproduce a
transition from dense to multibranched growth at a point in which the growth
velocity exhibits a minimum similarly to what occurs within Poisson growth in
planar geometry. Furthermore, in circular geometry the transition point is
estimated for the simplest case from the relation
such that the trajectories become stable at the growing surfaces in a
continuous limit. Hence, within the biharmonic growth model, this transition
depends only on the system size and occurs approximately at a distance far from a central seed particle. The influence of biharmonic patterns on
the growth probability for each lattice site is also analysed.Comment: To appear in Phys. Rev. E. Copies upon request to
[email protected]
Precision measurement of the half-life and the decay branches of 62Ga
In an experiment performed at the Accelerator Laboratory of the University of
Jyvaskyla, the beta-decay half-life of 62Ga has been studied with high
precision using the IGISOL technique. A half-life of T1/2 = 116.09(17)ms was
measured. Using beta-gamma coincidences, the gamma intensity of the 954keV
transition and an upper limit of the beta-decay feeding of the 0+_2 state have
been extracted. The present experimental results are compared to previous
measurements and their impact on our understanding of the weak interaction is
discussed.Comment: 7 pages, 7 figures, submitted to EPJ
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