110 research outputs found
Studies of the purine analog associated modulation of human erythrocyte acid phosphatase activity
The activity of the human erythrocyte acid phosphatase is modulated by a series of structural analogs of purine. The unsubstituted purine base does not affect the enzyme activity. Addition of a substituent at the number six position usually generates an analog which activates the enzyme while similar substitutions at the two position usually generate an inhibitor. Pyrimidines are generally ineffective as modulators while several modifications of the imidazole ring of the purine analogs do not abolish the modulator activity of the purine analog. The level of response to all active analogs is isozyme specific. Differences in apparent relative affinities among the modulators are noted. The modulators with a positive effect on enzyme activity, are effective in the presence of methanol which is more effective than H 2 0 as a phosphate acceptor. These analogs act by enhancing the rate of transfer of phosphate to H 2 O, while decreasing the rate of transfer to methanol. The results suggest that the purine analogs may act by altering the rate of hydrolysis of the phosphoenzyme intermediate by H 2 0 or may change the rate-limiting step in the catalytic mechanism.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/45350/1/11010_2004_Article_BF00220780.pd
Near-Threshold Production of omega Mesons in the pp -> pp omega Reaction
The total cross section for omega production in the pp -> pp omega reaction
has been measured at five c.m. excess energies from 3.8 to 30 MeV. The energy
dependence is easily understood in terms of a strong proton-proton final state
interaction combined with a smearing over the width of the state. The ratio of
near-threshold phi and omega production is consistent with the predictions of a
one-pion-exchange model and the degree of violation of the OZI rule is similar
to that found in the pi-p -> n omega/phi reactions.Comment: Report in LaTeX2e. 12 pages with 2 eps figure
Characterization of a series of electrophoretic and enzyme activity variants of human glucose-phosphate isomerase
A total of 3438 cord blood samples were screened for variants of erythrocyte glucose-phosphate isomerase. The five different electrophoretic, three activity/deficiency, and one thermostability variants distributed among 27 unrelated Caucasian families of that population, plus two electrophoretic variants previously described from three Amerindian tribes were subsequently examined for cryptic variation using activity and thermostability criteria. Although thermostability differences were observed between electrophoretic variants, no microheterogeneity within any one class of variant was detected.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47616/1/439_2004_Article_BF00273834.pd
Polarisation of the omega meson in the pd-->3He+omega reaction at 1360 and 1450 MeV
The tensor polarisation of omega mesons produced in the pd-->3He+omega
reaction has been studied at two energies near threshold. The 3He nuclei were
detected in coincidence with the pi0pi+pi- or pi0gamma decay products of the
omega. In contrast to the case of phi meson production, the omega mesons are
found to be unpolarised. This brings into question the applicability of the
Okubo-Zweig-Iizuka rule when comparing the production of vector mesons in low
energy hadronic reactions.Comment: 11 pages, 4 figure
The use of system dynamics modelling methodologies in sheep breeding programs and management systems
System dynamics modelling approach has been widely used in the agriculture sector to describe livestock production systems, livestock health and natural resource management. However, its application in modelling livestock breeding programs and systems is limited. Therefore, this study explores the utility of system dynamics modelling in evaluation of sheep breeding programs and management systems in the Ethiopian highland. A community-based sheep breeding programme was modeled using STELLA software. A weather and resource driven stochastic herd model was developed to evaluate the effect of genetic improvement and change in management system on herd dynamics and profitability. The baseline model was developed using historical rainfall and temperature data. Performance data was extracted from the herd-book of the breeding programme and additional input data were obtained from various sources. The model accounts for pasture growth, nutrient requirement and seasonal variation in animal performance, physiological status and aging chain of the herd. Economic analysis was also done considering the returns and costs of the system. The baseline model was further expanded to account for genetic selection of body size, fattening strategies and alternative management systems to evaluate their effect on herd dynamics and profitability. Technical evaluation and extensive logic testing during the building phases was conducted. The model results were compared to independent calculations to determine whether the model was matching expectations, and to help clarify the relationships between variables. The model demonstrates that balancing the feed supply and demand is crucial. Genetic selection for large body size has resulted in decrease of herd size and higher income. Fattening of young animals has increased the farm income. Increase feed supply by producing improved forage plants increased herd size and farm income. For more economic benefit genetic improvement programs should be coincide with appropriate fattening strategies and resource availability. Overall, system dynamics modelling tools are useful to describe breeding programs and management systems by building simple, flexible and usage driven simulation models
The pd --> ^3He eta pi0 reaction at T_p = 1450 MeV
The cross section for the pd --> ^3He eta pi0 reaction has been measured at a
beam energy of 1450 MeV using the WASA detector at the CELSIUS storage ring and
detecting one ^3He and four photons from the decays of the two photons. The
data indicate that the production mechanism involves the formation of the
Delta(1232) isobar. Although the beam energy does not allow the full peak of
this resonance to be seen, the invariant masses of all three pairs of final
state particles are well reproduced by a phase space Monte Carlo simulation
weighted with the p-wave factor of the square of the pi^0 momentum in the
^3Hepi^0 system.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure
Exclusive Measurements of : the Effect Revisited
Exclusive measurements of the reactions and
have been carried out at GeV at the
CELSIUS storage ring using the WASA detector. The channel
evidences a pronounced enhancement at low invariant masses - as
anticipated from previous inclusive measurements of the ABC effect. This
enhancement is seen to be even much larger in the isoscalar
channel. The differential distributions prove this enhancement to be of
scalar-isoscalar nature. calculations give a good description of
the data, if a boundstate condition is imposed for the intermediate
system.Comment: extended version, 8 pages, 7 figures, theoretical model calculations
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Study of the process in the energy region below 0.98 GeV
The cross section of the process was measured in
the Spherical Neutral Detector (SND) experiment at the VEPP-2M collider in the
energy region below 980 MeV. This measurement was based on about
selected events. The obtained cross section was analyzed
together with the SND and DM2 data in the energy region up to 2
GeV. The -meson parameters: MeV,
MeV and nb were obtained. It was found that the experimental data cannot be
described by a sum of only , , and
resonances contributions. This can be interpreted as a
manifestation of decay, suppressed by -parity, with relative
probability .Comment: 41 pages REVTEX and 34 figure
Near-threshold and meson productions in collisions
Using a relativistic effective Lagrangian at the hadronic level,
near-threshold and meson productions in proton proton ()
collisions, , are studied within the distorted wave
Born approximation. Both initial and final state interactions are
included. In addition to total cross section data, both and
angular distribution data are used to constrain further the model parameters.
For the reaction we consider two different possibilities:
with and without the inclusion of nucleon resonances. The nucleon resonances
are included in a way to be consistent with the
reaction. It is shown that the inclusion of nucleon resonances can describe the
data better overall than without their inclusion. However, the SATURNE data in
the range of excess energies MeV are still underestimated by about a
factor of two. As for the reaction it is found that the
presently limited available data from DISTO can be reproduced by four sets of
values for the vector and tensor coupling constants. Further
measurements of the energy dependence of the total cross section near threshold
energies should help to constrain better the coupling constant.Comment: Latex, 37 pages, 13 figures (14 EPS-figure files), text modified,
version to appear in Phys. ReV.
Factors associated with pastoral community knowledge and occurrence of mycobacterial infections in human-animal interface areas of Nakasongola and Mubende districts, Uganda
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) are emerging opportunistic pathogens whose role in human and animal disease is increasingly being recognized. Major concerns are their role as opportunistic pathogens in HIV/AIDS infections. The role of open natural water sources as source and livestock/wildlife as reservoirs of infections to man are well documented. This presents a health challenge to the pastoral systems in Africa that rely mostly on open natural water sources to meet livestock and human needs. Recent study in the pastoral areas of Uganda showed infections with same genotypes of NTM in pastoralists and their livestock. The aim of this study was to determine the environmental, animal husbandry and socio-demographic factors associated with occurrence and the pastoral community knowledge of mycobacterial infections at the human-environment-livestock/wildlife interface (HELI) areas in pastoral ecosystems of Uganda.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Two hundred and fifty three (253) individuals were subjected to a questionnaire survey across the study districts of Nakasongola and Mubende. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and multivariable logistic regression analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Humans sharing of the water sources with wild animals from the forest compared to savannah ecosystem (OR = 3.3), the tribe of herding pastoral community (OR = 7.9), number of rooms present in household (3-5 vs. 1-2 rooms) (OR = 3.3) were the socio-demographic factors that influenced the level of knowledge on mycobacterial infections among the pastoral communities. Tribe (OR = 6.4), use of spring vs. stream water for domestic use (OR = 4.5), presence of sediments in household water receptacle (OR = 2.32), non separation of water containers for drinking and domestic use (OR = 2.46), sharing of drinking water sources with wild animals (OR = 2.1), duration of involvement of >5 yrs in cattle keeping (OR = 3.7) and distance of household to animal night shelters (>20 meters) (OR = 3.8) were significant socio-demographic factors associated with the risk of occurrence of mycobacterioses among the pastoral communities in Uganda.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The socio-demographic, environmental and household related factors influence the risk of occurrence as well as pastoralists' knowledge of mycobacterial infections in the pastoral households at the human-environment-livestock/wildlife pastoral interface areas of Uganda.</p
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