The interacting generalized Ricci dark energy model in non-flat universe

We extend our previous analysis and consider the interacting holographic Ricci dark energy (IRDE) model in non-flat universe. We study astrophysical constraints on this model using the recent observations including the type Ia supernovae (SNIa), the baryon acoustic oscillation (BAO), the cosmic microwave background (CMB) anisotropy, and the Hubble parameter. It is shown that the allowed parameter range for the fractional energy density of the curvature is $-0.005$ $\lesssim$ $\Omega_{k0}$ $\lesssim$ $0.015$ in the presence of the interactions between dark energy and matter. Without the interaction, the flat universe is observationally disfavored in this model.Comment: 9 pages, 3 figure

Nanoscale Infrared Imaging Analysis of Carbonaceous Chondrites to Understand Organic-Mineral Interactions During Aqueous Alteration

Organic matter in carbonaceous chondrites is distributed in fine-grained matrix. To understand pre- and postaccretion history of organic matter and its association with surrounding minerals, microscopic techniques are mandatory. Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a useful technique, but the spatial resolution of IR is limited to a few micrometers, due to the diffraction limit. In this study, we applied the high spatial resolution IR imaging method to CM2 carbonaceous chondrites Murchison and Bells, which is based on an atomic force microscopy (AFM) with its tip detecting thermal expansion of a sample resulting from absorption of infrared radiation. We confirmed that this technique permits 30 nm spatial resolution organic analysis for the meteorite samples. The IR imaging results are consistent with the previously reported association of organic matter and phyllosilicates, but our results are at much higher spatial resolution. This observation of heterogeneous distributions of the functional groups of organic matter revealed its association with minerals at 30 nm spatial resolution in meteorite samples by IR spectroscopy

Efficient Detectors for MIMO-OFDM Systems under Spatial Correlation Antenna Arrays

This work analyzes the performance of the implementable detectors for multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) technique under specific and realistic operation system condi- tions, including antenna correlation and array configuration. Time-domain channel model has been used to evaluate the system performance under realistic communication channel and system scenarios, including different channel correlation, modulation order and antenna arrays configurations. A bunch of MIMO-OFDM detectors were analyzed for the purpose of achieve high performance combined with high capacity systems and manageable computational complexity. Numerical Monte-Carlo simulations (MCS) demonstrate the channel selectivity effect, while the impact of the number of antennas, adoption of linear against heuristic-based detection schemes, and the spatial correlation effect under linear and planar antenna arrays are analyzed in the MIMO-OFDM context.Comment: 26 pgs, 16 figures and 5 table

Roles of the WHHL Rabbit in Translational Research on Hypercholesterolemia and Cardiovascular Diseases

Conquering cardiovascular diseases is one of the most important problems in human health. To overcome cardiovascular diseases, animal models have played important roles. Although the prevalence of genetically modified animals, particularly mice and rats, has contributed greatly to biomedical research, not all human diseases can be investigated in this way. In the study of cardiovascular diseases, mice and rats are inappropriate because of marked differences in lipoprotein metabolism, pathophysiological findings of atherosclerosis, and cardiac function. On the other hand, since lipoprotein metabolism and atherosclerotic lesions in rabbits closely resemble those in humans, several useful animal models for these diseases have been developed in rabbits. One of the most famous of these is the Watanabe heritable hyperlipidemic (WHHL) rabbit, which develops hypercholesterolemia and atherosclerosis spontaneously due to genetic and functional deficiencies of the low-density lipoprotein (LDL) receptor. The WHHL rabbit has been improved to develop myocardial infarction, and the new strain was designated the myocardial infarction-prone WHHL (WHHLMI) rabbit. This review summarizes the importance of selecting animal species for translational research in biomedical science, the development of WHHL and WHHLMI rabbits, their application to the development of hypocholesterolemic and/or antiatherosclerotic drugs, and future prospects regarding WHHL and WHHLMI rabbits

Characterization of Bombyx mori Nucleopolyhedrovirus orf68 Gene That Encodes a Novel Structural Protein of Budded Virus

AbstractAll lepidopteran baculovirus genomes sequenced to date encode a homolog of the Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) orf68 gene, suggesting that it performs an important role in the virus life cycle. In this article we describe the characterization of BmNPV orf68 gene. Northern and Western analyses demonstrated that orf68 gene was expressed as a late gene and encoded a structural protein of budded virus (BV). Immunohistochemical analysis by confocal microscopy showed that ORF68 protein was localized mainly in the nucleus of infected cells. To examine the function of orf68 gene, we constructed orf68 deletion mutant (BmD68) and characterized it in BmN cells and larvae of B. mori. BV production was delayed in BmD68-infected cells. The larval bioassays also demonstrated that deletion of orf68 did not reduce the infectivity, but mutant virus took 70 h longer to kill the host than wild-type BmNPV. In addition, dot-blot analysis showed viral DNA accumulated more slowly in mutant infected cells. Further examination suggested that BmD68 was less efficient in entry and budding from cells, although it seemed to possess normal attachment ability. These results suggest that ORF68 is a BV-associated protein involved in secondary infection from cell-to-cell

Prevalência de anticorpos IgG específicos anti Toxoplasma gondii em doadores de sangue no Recife, nordeste do Brasil

Estudo epidemiológico de infecção por Toxoplasma gondii em doadores de sangue foi realizado com vistas ao estabelecimento da soroprevalência em Recife. Soro de 160 indivíduos (119 masculinos e 41 femininos) foram analisados mediante o emprego de ensaio imunoenzimático para a detecção de anticorpos IgG anti-Toxoplasma (Denka Seiken Co., LTD., Tokyo, Japan). O percentual de soropositivos para os indivíduos do sexo masculino (79,0%) foi maior (p < 0,005) do que para os do feminino (63,4%). Esta soropositividade aumentou com a idade, variando de 18,2% para os indivíduos menores de 20 anos até 92,6% para aqueles entre 40 e 50 anos de idade. Para as mulheres na idade fértil (18-40 anos) foi encontrada prevalência de 51,6%.A serological survey of Toxoplasma gondii infection in blood donors was carried out in order to identify seroprevalence in Recife, Brazil. Sera from 160 individuals (119 male and 41 female) were evaluated by using a Toxoplasma IgG-antibody enzyme immunoassay (Denka Seiken Co., LTD., Tokyo, Japan). The seropositive percentual for males (79.0%) showed to be higher (p < 0.05) than for females (63.4%). This percentage increases with age, ranging from 18.2% to 92.6% for individuals aging under 20 and 40-50 years old, respectively. For women of childbearing age (18-40 years) it was found a prevalence of 51.6%