Detection of eight different tospovirus species by a monoclonal antibody against the common epitope of NSs protein

Rabbit antisera against the nucleocapsid protein (NP) have been commonly used for detection of tospoviruses and classification into serogroups or serotypes. Mouse monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) with high specificity to the NPs have also been widely used to identify tospovirus species. Recently, a serogroup-specific MAb against the NSs protein of Watermelon silver mottle virus (WSMoV) was produced by our laboratory to react with five members of WSMoV serogroup, i.e., WSMoV, Capsicum chlorosis virus (CaCV), Calla lily chlorotic spot virus (CCSV), Peanut bud necrosis virus (PBNV) and Watermelon bud necrosis virus (WBNV). The epitope recognized by the NSs MAb was determined and the comparison with the reported sequences of tospoviral NSs proteins revealed that the epitope is highly conserved at the N-terminal region of NSs proteins among members of WSMoV and Iris yellow spot virus (IYSV) serogroups, and Melon yellow spot virus (MYSV) serotype. When the NSs MAb was further used to react with the crude antigens of MYSV serotype, IYSV and Tomato yellow ring virus (TYRV) of IYSV serogroup, strong serological reactions, both in ELISA and western blotting, were observed. Thus, our results indicated that the NSs MAb is a useful and convenient tool for detection of the eight tospovirus species. It is also suggested that these eight Asian-type tospoviruses, i.e., WSMoV, CaCV, CCSV, PBNV, WBNV, MYSV, IYSV and TYRV, may share a common evolutionary ancesto

PP-wave Black holes and The Matrix Model

We discuss the sizes of a black hole in the M theory pp-wave background, and how the transverse size can be reproduced in the matrix model.Comment: 12 pages, harvmac. v2: final version to be published in JHEP, refs. adde

A splice intervention therapy for autosomal recessive juvenile Parkinson’s disease arising from Parkin mutations

Parkin-type autosomal recessive juvenile-onset Parkinson’s disease is caused by mutations in the PRKN gene and accounts for 50% of all autosomal recessive Parkinsonism cases. Parkin is a neuroprotective protein that has dual functions as an E3 ligase in the ubiquitin–proteasome system and as a transcriptional repressor of p53. While genomic deletions of PRKN exon 3 disrupt the mRNA reading frame and result in the loss of functional parkin protein, deletions of both exon 3 and 4 maintain the reading frame and are associated with a later onset, milder disease progression, indicating this particular isoform retains some function. Here, we describe in vitro evaluation of antisense oligomers that restore functional parkin expression in cells derived from a Parkinson’s patient carrying a heterozygous PRKN exon 3 deletion, by inducing exon 4 skipping to correct the reading frame. We show that the induced PRKN transcript is translated into a shorter but semi-functional parkin isoform able to be recruited to depolarised mitochondria, and also transcriptionally represses p53 expression. These results support the potential use of antisense oligomers as a disease-modifying treatment for selected pathogenic PRKN mutations

Targeted molecular therapeutics for Parkinson's Disease: A role for antisense oligonucleotides?

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a prevalent neurodegenerative disorder characterized by marked heterogeneity in clinical symptoms and a complex genetic background..

Low Mach number effect in simulation of high Mach number flow

In this note, we relate the two well-known difficulties of Godunov schemes: the carbuncle phenomena in simulating high Mach number flow, and the inaccurate pressure profile in simulating low Mach number flow. We introduced two simple low-Mach-number modifications for the classical Roe flux to decrease the difference between the acoustic and advection contributions of the numerical dissipation. While the first modification increases the local numerical dissipation, the second decreases it. The numerical tests on the double-Mach reflection problem show that both modifications eliminate the kinked Mach stem suffered by the original flux. These results suggest that, other than insufficient numerical dissipation near the shock front, the carbuncle phenomena is strongly relevant to the non-comparable acoustic and advection contributions of the numerical dissipation produced by Godunov schemes due to the low Mach number effect.Comment: 9 pages, 1 figur

Spin polarization of the conduction bands and secondary electrons of Gd(0001)

Angle- and spin-resolved photoemission was utilized to investigate the 5d bulk bands and the surface state of Gd(0001) in the temperature range. of 130 - 350 K The bulk bands at 1-2 eV below the Fermi energy E{sub F} show Stoner-like behavior, while the temperature dependence of the surface state near E{sub F} indicates spin-mixing behavior due to fluctuating local 5d moments. The secondary electron spectra of the Gd surfaces both before and after initial oxygen adsorption show a polarization dip at low kinetic energies due to the extra scattering channel for minority electrons via the unoccupied 4f level. The temperature dependences of the surface and bulk magnetization are separated using the spin polarization of the surface state and the bulk exchange splitting

Growth, immunity and ammonia excretion of albino and normal Apostichopus japonicus (Selenka) feeding with various experimental diets

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of six experimental diets on growth performance, ammonia excretion and immunity of albino and normal Apostichopus japonicus. A factorial design was used, the factors being type of diets (six levels) and colour of A. japonicus (two levels). A total of 30 randomly selected albino A. japonicus were housed in each (60 × 50 × 30 cm3) of 18 blue plastic aquaria to form six groups in triplicate, and the same set-up was used for the normal A. japonicus. Each group of animals was fed with one of the six experimental diets. Apparent dry matter digestibility (ADMD) and apparent crude protein digestibility (ACPD) were analysed using acid-insoluble ash (AIA) content method. At the end of the experiment, all A. japonicus were harvested and weighed to calculate growth parameters. After weighing, six individuals from each aquarium were randomly sampled for immune indices. Results indicated that all growth parameters of A. japonicus increased with decreasing nutrient content in their diets (p < .01), whereas an opposite result was observed in case of the ammonia-nitrogen production by A. japonicus. Normal A. japonicus grew better (p < .01) and produced lower (p < .01) quantity of ammonia nitrogen compared to the albino A. japonicus. Immunity particularly superoxide dismutase and lysozyme activities was higher (p < .05) in normal compared to albino A. japonicus. Considering all measured variables, D1 (diet containing crude protein, crude lipid, carbohydrate and crude ash 51.8, 8.7, 231.3, 708.2 g/kg, respectively) was the best diet among all experimental diets. More research is still needed to optimize nutrients in the diet of A. japonicus, as this study does not provide information about critical threshold level of nutrients in diets. Until then, diet D1 can be recommended for A. japonicus aquaculture

Bianchi type II models in the presence of perfect fluid and anisotropic dark energy

Spatially homogeneous but totally anisotropic and non-flat Bianchi type II cosmological model has been studied in general relativity in the presence of two minimally interacting fluids; a perfect fluid as the matter fluid and a hypothetical anisotropic fluid as the dark energy fluid. The Einstein's field equations have been solved by applying two kinematical ans\"{a}tze: we have assumed the variation law for the mean Hubble parameter that yields a constant value of deceleration parameter, and one of the components of the shear tensor has been considered proportional to the mean Hubble parameter. We have particularly dwelled on the accelerating models with non-divergent expansion anisotropy as the Universe evolves. Yielding anisotropic pressure, the fluid we consider in the context of dark energy, can produce results that can be produced in the presence of isotropic fluid in accordance with the \Lambda CDM cosmology. However, the derived model gives additional opportunities by being able to allow kinematics that cannot be produced in the presence of fluids that yield only isotropic pressure. We have obtained well behaving cases where the anisotropy of the expansion and the anisotropy of the fluid converge to finite values (include zero) in the late Universe. We have also showed that although the metric we consider is totally anisotropic, the anisotropy of the dark energy is constrained to be axially symmetric, as long as the overall energy momentum tensor possesses zero shear stress.Comment: 15 pages; 5 figures; matches the version published in The European Physical Journal Plu

Mental Health in China: Stigma, Family Obligations, and the Potential of Peer Support

Some people with mental illness in China do not receive treatment. We explored how stigma and familial obligation influenced accessibility of social support for patients with depression in China and the potential acceptability of peer support programs. Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with five psychiatrists and 16 patients receiving care for depression from a large psychiatric hospital in Jining, Shandong Province of China. Patients with mental illness reported barriers that prevented them from (a) receiving treatment and (b) relying on informal social support from family members, including stigma, somatization, and community norms. Circumventing these barriers, peer support (i.e., support from others with depression) was viewed by patients as an acceptable means of exchanging information and relying on others for support. Formative research on peer support programs to examine programming and activities may help reduce the burden of unmet mental health care needs in China

Studies Of The Over-Rotating BMPV Solution

We study unphysical features of the BMPV black hole and how each can be resolved using the enhancon mechanism. We begin by reviewing how the enhancon mechanism resolves a class of repulson singularities which arise in the BMPV geometry when D--branes are wrapped on K3. In the process, we show that the interior of an enhancon shell can be a time machine due to non-vanishing rotation. We link the resolution of the time machine to the recently proposed resolution of the BMPV naked singularity / "over-rotating" geometry through the expansion of strings in the presence of RR flux. We extend the analysis to include a general class of BMPV black hole configurations, showing that any attempt to "over-rotate" a causally sound BMPV black hole will be thwarted by the resolution mechanism. We study how it may be possible to lower the entropy of a black hole due to the non-zero rotation. This process is prevented from occurring through the creation of a family of resolving shells. The second law of thermodynamics is thereby enforced in the rotating geometry - even when there is no risk of creating a naked singularity or closed time-like curves