300 research outputs found
Peptide mimics selected from immune sera using phage display technology can replace native antigens in the diagnosis of Epstein–Barr virus infection
There is an expanding area of small molecule discovery, especially in the area of peptide mimetics. Peptide sequences can be used to substitute for the entire native antigen for use in diagnostic assays. Our approach is to select peptides that mimic epitopes of the natural immune response to Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) that may be recognised by antibodies typically produced after infection with EBV. We screened a random peptide library on sera from rabbits immunised with a crude preparation of EBV and serum antibodies from a patient with a high titer of EBV antibodies. We selected four peptides (Eb1–4) with the highest relative binding affinity with immune rabbit sera and a single peptide with high affinity to human serum antibodies. The peptides were coupled to the carrier molecule BSA and the recognition of the peptides by IgM antibodies in clinical samples after infection with EBV was measured. The sensitivities were Eb1 94%, Eb2, 3, 4 88%, H1 81% and all had 100% specificity. This study illustrates that the phage display approach to select epitope mimics can be applied to polyclonal antibodies and peptides that represent several diagnostically important epitopes can be selected simultaneously. This panel of EBV peptides representing a wide coverage of immunodominant epitopes could replace crude antigen preparations currently used for capture in commercial diagnostic tests for EBV
A Detailed Monte-Carlo Simulation for the Belle TOF System
We have developed a detailed Monte Carlo simulation program for the Belle TOF
system. Based on GEANT simulation, it takes account of all physics processes in
the TOF scintillation counters and readout electronics. The simulation
reproduces very well the performance of the Belle TOF system, including the
dE/dx response, the time walk effect, the time resolution, and the hit
efficiency due to beam background. In this report, we will describe the Belle
TOF simulation program in detail.Comment: To be submitted to NI
Dynamics of Simple Balancing Models with State Dependent Switching Control
Time-delayed control in a balancing problem may be a nonsmooth function for a
variety of reasons. In this paper we study a simple model of the control of an
inverted pendulum by either a connected movable cart or an applied torque for
which the control is turned off when the pendulum is located within certain
regions of phase space. Without applying a small angle approximation for
deviations about the vertical position, we see structurally stable periodic
orbits which may be attracting or repelling. Due to the nonsmooth nature of the
control, these periodic orbits are born in various discontinuity-induced
bifurcations. Also we show that a coincidence of switching events can produce
complicated periodic and aperiodic solutions.Comment: 36 pages, 12 figure
Elastic and inelastic SU(3)-breaking final-state interactions in B decays to pseudoscalar mesons
We discuss all contributions from Zweig-rule-satisfying SU(3)-breaking final
state interactions (FSIs)in the B -> PP decays (neglecting charmed intermediate
states), where PP=pi pi, pi K, KK, pi eta (eta'), and K eta (eta'). First,
effects of SU(3) breaking in rescattering through Pomeron exchange are studied.
Then, after making a plausible assumption concerning the pattern of SU(3)
breaking in non-Pomeron FSIs, we give general formulas for how the latter
modify short-distance (SD) amplitudes. In the SU(3) limit, these formulas
depend on three effective parameters characterizing the strength of all
non-Pomeron rescattering effects. We point out that the experimental bounds on
the B -> K^+K^- branching ratio may limit the value of only one of these FSI
parameters. Thus, the smallness of the B -> K^+K^- decay rate does not imply
negligible rescattering effects in other decays. Assuming a vanishing value of
this parameter, we perform various fits to the available B -> PP branching
ratios. The fits determine the quark-diagram SD amplitudes, the two remaining
FSI parameters and the weak angle gamma. While the set of all B -> PP branching
ratios is well described with gamma around its expected SM value, the fits
permit other values of gamma as well. For a couple of such good fits, we
predict asymmetries for the B -> K pi, pi^+ eta (eta'), K^+ eta (eta') decays
as well as the values of the CP-violating parameters S_{pi pi} and C_{pi pi}
for the time-dependent rate of B^0(t) -> pi^+ pi^-. Apart from a problem with
the recent B^+ -> pi^+ eta asymmetry measurement, comparison with the data
seems to favour the values of gamma in accordance with SM expectations.Comment: 27 pages, 5 figure
The natural capital accounting opportunity: Let s really do the numbers
This work was conducted as a part of the “Accounting for U.S. Ecosystem Services at National and Subnational Scales” working group supported by the National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center under funding received from the National Science Foundation (grant no. DBI-1052875) and the US Geological Survey John Wesley Powell Center for Analysis and Synthesis (grant no. GX16EW00ECSV00)
Observing Direct CP Violation in Untagged B-Meson Decays
Direct CP violation can exist in untagged B-meson decays to self-conjugate,
three-particle final states; it would be realized as a population asymmetry in
the untagged decay rate across the mirror line of the Dalitz plot of the
three-body decay. We explore the numerical size of this direct CP-violating
effect in a variety of B-meson decays to three pseudoscalar mesons; we show
that the resulting asymmetry is comparable to the partial rate asymmetry in the
analogous tagged decays, making the search for direct CP violation in the
untagged decay rate, for which greater statistics accrue, advantageous.Comment: 31 pages, REVTeX4, 1 eps figure, references added, typos corrected,
version to appear in PR
Beyond the Shade of the Oak Tree: The Recent Growth of Johannine Studies
The recent growth within Johannine studies has developed as a result of several factors. First, the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls led to an appreciation of the Jewishness of John’s origin. Second, new approaches to John’s composition have emerged, followed by a larger set of inquiries as to the Johannine tradition’s relation to parallel traditions. This has been accompanied by a fourth interest: the history of the Johannine situation. Fifth, new literary studies have posed new horizons for interpretation, and sixth, theories continue to abound on the identity of the Beloved Disciple. A seventh development involves new ways of conceiving John’s theological features, leading to an eighth: reconsidering John’s historical features and re-envisioning its historical contributions in new perspective
Measurement of the Branching Fraction for B->eta' K and Search for B->eta'pi+
We report measurements for two-body charmless B decays with an eta' meson in
the final state. Using 11.1X10^6 BBbar pairs collected with the Belle detector,
we find BF(B^+ ->eta'K^+)=(79^+12_-11 +-9)x10^-6 and BF(B^0 ->
eta'K^0)=(55^+19_-16 +-8)x10^-6, where the first and second errors are
statistical and systematic, respectively. No signal is observed in the mode B^+
-> eta' pi^+, and we set a 90% confidence level upper limit of BF(B^+->
eta'pi^+) eta'K^+- decays is
investigated and a limit at 90% confidence level of -0.20<Acp<0.32 is obtained.Comment: Submitted to Physics Letters
37<sup>th</sup> plenary meeting report of the scientific, technical and economic committee for fisheries (PLEN-11-02)
The Scientific, Technical and Economic Committee for Fisheries hold its 37th plenary on 11-15 July 2011 in Copenhagen (Denmark). The terms of reference included both issues assessments of STECF Expert Working Group reports and additional requests submitted to the STECF by the Commission. Topics dealt with ranged from fisheries economics to management plan evaluation issues
Determination of |Vcb| using the semileptonic decay \bar{B}^0 --> D^{*+}e^-\bar{\nu}
We present a measurement of the Cabibbo-Kobayashi-Maskawa (CKM) matrix
element |Vcb| using a 10.2 fb^{-1} data sample recorded at the \Upsilon(4S)
resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric e^+e^- storage ring.
By extrapolating the differential decay width of the \bar{B}^0 -->
D^{*+}e^-\bar{\nu} decay to the kinematic limit at which the D^{*+} is at rest
with respect to the \bar{B}^0, we extract the product of |Vcb| with the
normalization of the decay form factor F(1), |Vcb |F(1)=
(3.54+/-0.19+/-0.18)x10^{-2}, where the first error is statistical and the
second is systematic. A value of |Vcb| = (3.88+/-0.21+/-0.20+/-0.19)x10^{-2} is
obtained using a theoretical calculation of F(1), where the third error is due
to the theoretical uncertainty in the value of F(1). The branching fraction
B(\bar{B}^0 --> D^{*+}e^-\bar{\nu}) is measured to be
(4.59+/-0.23+/-0.40)x10^{-2}.Comment: 20 pages, 6 figures, elsart.cls, submitted to PL
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