978 research outputs found

    UTICAJ BAKTERIJSKE KONTAMINACIJE STOČNE HRANE NA ZDRAVLJE ĆœIVOTINJA

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    The authors thank the European Union (Marie Curie ITN SusPhos, grant agreement no. 317404) for financial support.An efficient modular method towards the synthesis of a library of polystyrene supported diphosphine ligands by combining solid-phase synthesis with rational ligand design has been developed. These supported ligands, obtained in quantitative yield, were efficiently and effectively screened in Rh-catalysed asymmetric hydrogenation of several benchmark substrates.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

    Artificial Metalloenzymes as Catalysts for Oxidative Lignin Degradation

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    We report novel artificial metalloenzymes (ArMs), containing tris­(pyridylmethyl)­amine (TPA), for the atom economic oxidation of lignin ÎČ-O-4 model compounds, using hydrogen peroxide. The protein scaffold alters the selectivity of the reaction from a low yielding cleavage reaction when using the parent Fe-tpa complex to a high yielding benzylic alcohol oxidation when using the complex incorporated into a protein scaffold, SCP-2L A100C. Engineering the protein scaffold to incorporate glutamic acid was found to improve the ArM activity, showing that rational design of the protein environment using metal binding amino acids can be a first step toward improving the overall activity of an artificial metalloenzyme

    The Mitochondrial Ca(2+) Uniporter: Structure, Function, and Pharmacology.

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    Mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake is crucial for an array of cellular functions while an imbalance can elicit cell death. In this chapter, we briefly reviewed the various modes of mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake and our current understanding of mitochondrial Ca(2+) homeostasis in regards to cell physiology and pathophysiology. Further, this chapter focuses on the molecular identities, intracellular regulators as well as the pharmacology of mitochondrial Ca(2+) uniporter complex

    A Single Amino Acid Change in nsP1 Attenuates Neurovirulence of the Sindbis-Group Alphavirus S.A.AR86

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    S.A.AR86, a member of the Sindbis group of alphaviruses, is neurovirulent in adult mice and has a unique threonine at position 538 of nsP1; nonneurovirulent members of this group of alphaviruses encode isoleucine. Isoleucine was introduced at position 538 in the wild-type S.A.AR86 infectious clone, ps55, and virus derived from this mutant clone, ps51, was significantly attenuated for neurovirulence compared to that derived from ps55. Intracranial (i.c.) s55 infection resulted in severe disease, including hind limb paresis, conjunctivitis, weight loss, and death in 89% of animals. In contrast, s51 caused fewer clinical signs and no mortality. Nevertheless, comparison of the virus derived from the mutant (ps51) and wild-type (ps55) S.A.AR86 molecular clones demonstrated that s51 grew as well as or better than the wild-type s55 virus in tissue culture and that viral titers in the brain following i.c. infection with s51 were equivalent to those of wild-type s55 virus. Analysis of viral replication within the brain by in situ hybridization revealed that both viruses established infection in similar regions of the brain at early times postinfection (12 to 72 h). However, at late times postinfection, the wild-type s55 virus had spread throughout large areas of the brain, while the s51 mutant exhibited a restricted pattern of replication. This suggests that s51 is either defective in spreading throughout the brain at late times postinfection or is cleared more rapidly than s55. Further evidence for the contribution of nsP1 Thr 538 to S.A.AR86 neurovirulence was provided by experiments in which a threonine residue was introduced at nsP1 position 538 of Sindbis virus strain TR339, which is nonneurovirulent in weanling mice. The resulting virus, 39ns1, demonstrated significantly increased neurovirulence and morbidity, including weight loss and hind limb paresis. These results demonstrate a role for alphavirus nonstructural protein genes in adult mouse neurovirulence

    The undebated issue of justice: silent discourses in Dutch flood risk management

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    Flood risk for all types of flooding is projected to increase based on climate change projections and increases in damage potential. These challenges are likely to aggravate issues of justice in flood risk management (henceforth FRM). Based on a discursive-institutionalist perspective, this paper explores justice in Dutch FRM: how do institutions allocate the responsibilities and costs for FRM for different types of flooding? What are the underlying conceptions of justice? What are the future challenges with regard to climate change? The research revealed that a dichotomy is visible in the Dutch approach to FRM: despite an abundance of rules, regulations and resources spent, flood risk or its management, are only marginally discussed in terms of justice. Despite that the current institutional arrangement has material outcomes that treat particular groups of citizens differently, depending on the type of flooding they are prone to, area they live in (unembanked/embanked) or category of user (e.g. household, industry, farmer). The paper argues that the debate on justice will (re)emerge, since the differences in distributional outcomes are likely to become increasingly uneven as a result of increasing flood risk. The Netherlands should be prepared for this debate by generating the relevant facts and figures. An inclusive debate on the distribution of burdens of FRM could contribute to more effective and legitimate FRM

    Identification and reconstruction of low-energy electrons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector

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    Measurements of electrons from Îœe\nu_e interactions are crucial for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) neutrino oscillation program, as well as searches for physics beyond the standard model, supernova neutrino detection, and solar neutrino measurements. This article describes the selection and reconstruction of low-energy (Michel) electrons in the ProtoDUNE-SP detector. ProtoDUNE-SP is one of the prototypes for the DUNE far detector, built and operated at CERN as a charged particle test beam experiment. A sample of low-energy electrons produced by the decay of cosmic muons is selected with a purity of 95%. This sample is used to calibrate the low-energy electron energy scale with two techniques. An electron energy calibration based on a cosmic ray muon sample uses calibration constants derived from measured and simulated cosmic ray muon events. Another calibration technique makes use of the theoretically well-understood Michel electron energy spectrum to convert reconstructed charge to electron energy. In addition, the effects of detector response to low-energy electron energy scale and its resolution including readout electronics threshold effects are quantified. Finally, the relation between the theoretical and reconstructed low-energy electron energy spectrum is derived and the energy resolution is characterized. The low-energy electron selection presented here accounts for about 75% of the total electron deposited energy. After the addition of lost energy using a Monte Carlo simulation, the energy resolution improves from about 40% to 25% at 50~MeV. These results are used to validate the expected capabilities of the DUNE far detector to reconstruct low-energy electrons.Comment: 19 pages, 10 figure

    Impact of cross-section uncertainties on supernova neutrino spectral parameter fitting in the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment

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    A primary goal of the upcoming Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) is to measure the O(10)\mathcal{O}(10) MeV neutrinos produced by a Galactic core-collapse supernova if one should occur during the lifetime of the experiment. The liquid-argon-based detectors planned for DUNE are expected to be uniquely sensitive to the Îœe\nu_e component of the supernova flux, enabling a wide variety of physics and astrophysics measurements. A key requirement for a correct interpretation of these measurements is a good understanding of the energy-dependent total cross section σ(EÎœ)\sigma(E_\nu) for charged-current Îœe\nu_e absorption on argon. In the context of a simulated extraction of supernova Îœe\nu_e spectral parameters from a toy analysis, we investigate the impact of σ(EÎœ)\sigma(E_\nu) modeling uncertainties on DUNE's supernova neutrino physics sensitivity for the first time. We find that the currently large theoretical uncertainties on σ(EÎœ)\sigma(E_\nu) must be substantially reduced before the Îœe\nu_e flux parameters can be extracted reliably: in the absence of external constraints, a measurement of the integrated neutrino luminosity with less than 10\% bias with DUNE requires σ(EÎœ)\sigma(E_\nu) to be known to about 5%. The neutrino spectral shape parameters can be known to better than 10% for a 20% uncertainty on the cross-section scale, although they will be sensitive to uncertainties on the shape of σ(EÎœ)\sigma(E_\nu). A direct measurement of low-energy Îœe\nu_e-argon scattering would be invaluable for improving the theoretical precision to the needed level.Comment: 25 pages, 21 figure

    A Search for a Narrow Radial Excitation of the D∗±D^{*\pm} Meson

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    A sample of 3.73 million hadronic Z decays, recorded with the OPAL detector at LEP in the years 1991-95, has been used to search for a narrow resonance corresponding to the decay of the D*'+/-(2629) meson into D*+/- pi+ pi-. The D*+ mesons are reconstructed in the decay channel D*+ -> D0 pi+ with D0 -> K- pi+. No evidence for a narrow D*'+/-(2629) resonance is found. A limit on the production of D*'+/-(2629) in hadronic Z decays is derived: f(Z -> D*'+/-(2629)) x Br(D*'+ -> D*+ pi+ pi-) D0 pi+ with D0 -> K- pi+. No evidence for a narrow D*'+/-(2629) resonance is found. A limit on the production of D*'+/-(2629) in hadronic Z decays is derived: f(Z -> D*'+/-(2629)) x Br(D*'+ -> D*+ pi+ pi-) < 3.1 x 10^{-3} (95% C.L.
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