Spaces with local chronological structure and the cosheaf of fundamental semicategories

In the present work, we examine a structure that generalizes the causal structure of a Lorentzian spacetime. In contrast to similar definitions in the literature, we define the chronological relations locally, that is, on open subsets of a topological space. This has the advantage that we do not need to employ causality conditions for the whole space. The space of timelike homotopy classes of paths in such a space $X$ forms an algebraic structure that we call the fundamental semicategory $\Pi^\mathrm{t}(X)$. We provide a van-Kampen theorem for fundamental semicategories, show that the isomorphism class of $\Pi^\mathrm{t}(X)$ determines the topology and isomorphism class of $X$, and put a topology on the total morphism space of $\Pi^\mathrm{t}(X)$ that is locally homeomorphic to $X\times X$

Bounds on new Majoron models from the Heidelberg-Moscow-Experiment

In recent years several new Majoron models were invented to avoid shortcomings of the classical models while leading to observable decay rates in double beta experiments. We give the first experimental half life bounds on double beta decays with new Majoron emission and derive bounds on the effective neutrino--Majoron couplings from the data of the $^{76}Ge$ HEIDELBERG--MOSCOW experiment. While stringent half life limits for all decay modes and the coupling constants of the classical models were obtained, small matrix elements and phase space integrals \cite{hir95,pae95} result in much weaker limits on the effective coupling constants of the new Majoron models.Comment: 8 pages, postscript encoded as uu-fil

Characterization of the murine cytomegalovirus genes encoding the major DNA binding protein and the ICP18.5 homolog

In several herpesviruses the genes for the major DNA binding protein (MDBP), a putative assembly protein, the glycoprotein B (gB), and the viral DNA polymerase (pol) coliocate. In murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV), two members of this gene block, pol (Elliott, Clark, Jaquish, and Spector, 1991, Virology 185, 169-186) and gB (Rapp, Messerle, BOhler, Tannheimer, Keil, and Koszinowski, 1992, J. Virol., 66,4399-4406) have been characterized. Here the two other MCMV genes are characterized, the gene encoding the MDBP and the ICP18.5 homolog encoding a putative assembly protein. Like in human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) the genes order is pol, gB, ICP18.5, and MDBP. The 4.2-kb MDBP mRNA is expressed first in the early phase, whereas the 3.0-kb ICP18.5 mRNA is a late transcript. The open reading frame of the MDBP gene has the capacity of encoding a protein of 1191 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 131.7 kDa. The MCMV ICP18.5 ORF is translated into a polypeptide of 798 amino acids with a calculated molecular mass of 89.1 kDa. Comparison of the amino acid sequences of the predicted proteins of MCMV with the respective proteins of HCMV, Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), and herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1) reveals a striking homology ranging from 72% (HCMV), 50% (EBV), to 45% (HSV-1) for the MDBP sequence and from 74% (HCMV), 51 % (EBV), to 49% (HSV-1) for the ICP18.5 sequence. These results establish the elose relationship of the two cytomegaloviruses, and underline the usefulness of the murine model for studies on the biology of the CMV infection

Structural organization, expression, and functional characterization of the murine cytomegalovirus immediate-early gene 3.

We have previously defined ie3 as a coding region located downstream of the ie1 gene which gives rise to a 2.75-kb immediate-early (IE) transcript. Here we describe the structural organization of the ie3 gene, the amino acid sequence of the gene product, and some of the functional properties of the protein. The 2.75-kb ie3 mRNA is generated by splicing and is composed of four exons. The first three exons, of 300, 111, and 191 nucleotides (nt), are shared with the ie1 mRNA and are spliced to exon 5, which is located downstream of the fourth exon used by the ie1 mRNA. Exon 5 starts 28 nt downstream of the 3' end of the ie1 mRNA and has a length of 1,701 nt. The IE3 protein contains 611 amino acids, the first 99 of which are shared with the ie1 product pp89. The IE3 protein expressed at IE times has a relative mobility of 88 kDa in gels, and a mobility shift to 90 kDa during the early phase is indicative of posttranslational modification. Sequence comparison reveals significant homology of the exon 5-encoded amino acid sequence with the respective sequence of UL 122, a component of the IE1-IE2 complex of human cytomegalovirus (HCMV). This homology is also apparent at the functional level. The IE3 protein is a strong transcriptional activator of the murine cytomegalovirus (MCMV) e1 promoter and shows an autoregulatory function by repression of the MCMV ie1/ie3 promoter. The high degree of conservation between the MCMV ie3 and HCMV IE2 genes and their products with regard to gene structure, amino acid sequence, and protein functions suggests that these genes play a comparable role in the transcriptional control of the two cytomegaloviruses

A new ICP-TOFMS. Measurement and readout of mass spectra with 30 μs time resolution, applied to in-torch LA-ICP-MS

In-torch LA-ICP-MS was implemented into an in-house-built ICP-TOFMS system. The fast data acquisition capabilities of the new configuration allowed simultaneous multi-element measurement and readout of in-torch LA-ICP-MS signals with 30μs time resolution. The measurements confirmed previously observed fine structures of in-torch generated signals and provided new insights in the dynamic processes in the plasma on a microsecond time scale. The new setup is described in detail and first figures of merit are given. Figure Time dependent multi element signal after laser ablation in the torch of an ICP-TOFMS instrumen