Comparison of immunoassay and real-time PCR methods for the detection of Jembrana disease virus infection in Bali cattle

A sensitive diagnostic assay for the detection of infections with the bovine lentivirus Jembrana disease virus (JDV) is required in Indonesia to control the spread of Jembrana disease. Immunoassays are used routinely but are compromised by cross-reactive epitopes in the capsid (CA) protein of JDV and the genetically related bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV). JDV gag-specific primers were tested in a real-time PCR assay to detect proviral DNA in peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 165 cattle from the Tabanan district of Bali. JDV-specific amplicons were detected in 9% of the cattle and only 33% of the real-time PCR positive cattle were seropositive. The delayed seroconversion that occurs after infection with JDV could explain the low concordance between these assays but other factors may be responsible. BIV proviral DNA was not detected in any of the PBMC DNA samples. A high concordance value of 98.6% was found between the JDV plasma-derived antigen Western blot and the JDV p26-his recombinant protein ELISA. Only 21% of the seropositive cattle had detectable levels of proviral DNA suggesting that the proviral load in recovered cattle is low. A combination of real-time PCR and JDV p26-his ELISA is recommended for the detection of infection with JDV in Indonesia

A Group Defense Incident Involving Juvenile Striped Skunks, Mephitis mephitis

Striped Skunks (Mephitis mephitis) occasionally fall prey to various predators. To reduce the risk of predation, Striped Skunks have evolved multiple defensive behaviors and aposematic coloration. Several types of defensive behaviors have been reported for individual Striped Skunks, but never for a group of skunks. We describe a group defense incident in an encounter between four juvenile Striped Skunks and a perceived predator—a man on a motorcycle

Turbulence Model Implementation and Verification in the SENSEI CFD Code

This paper outlines the implementation and verification of the negative Spalart-Allmaras turbulence model into the SENSEI CFD code. The SA-neg turbulence model is implemented in a flexible, object-oriented framework where additional turbulence models can be easily added. In addition to outlining the new turbulence modeling framework in SENSEI, an overview of the other general improvements to SENSEI is provided. The results for four 2D test cases are compared to results from CFL3D and FUN3D to verify that the turbulence models are implemented properly. Several differences in the results from SENSEI, CFL3D, and FUN3D are identified and are attributed to differences in the implementation and discretization order of the boundary conditions as well as the order of discretization of the turbulence model. When a solid surface is located near or intersects an inflow or outflow boundary, higher order boundary conditions should be used to limit their effect on the forces on the surface. When the turbulence equations are discretized using second order spatial accuracy, the edge of the eddy viscosity profile seems to be sharper than when a first order discretization is used. However, the discretization order of the turbulence equation does not have a significant impact on output quantities of interest, such as pressure and viscous drag, for the cases studied

Overeating Behavior and Striatal Dopamine with 6-[18F]-Fluoro-L-m-Tyrosine PET

Eating behavior may be affected by dopamine synthesis capacity. In this study, 6-[18F]-fluoro-L-m-tyrosine (FMT) positron emission tomography (PET) uptake in striatal subregions was correlated with BMI (kg/m2) and an estimate of the frequency of prior weight loss attempts in 15 healthy subjects. BMI was negatively correlated with FMT uptake in the dorsal caudate. Although the association between BMI and FMT uptake in the dorsal caudate was not significant upon correction for age and sex, the association fell within the range of a statistical trend. Weight loss attempts divided by years trying was also negatively correlated with FMT uptake in the dorsal putamen (P = .05). These results suggest an association between low dorsal striatal presynaptic dopamine synthesis capacity and overeating behavior

Search for low lying dipole strength in the neutron rich nucleus 26^{26}Ne

Coulomb excitation of the exotic neutron-rich nucleus $^{26}$Ne on a $^{nat}$Pb target was measured at 58 A.MeV in order to search for low-lying E1 strength above the neutron emission threshold. Data were also taken on an $^{nat}$Al target to estimate the nuclear contribution. The radioactive beam was produced by fragmentation of a 95 A.MeV $^{40}$Ar beam delivered by the RIKEN Research Facility. The set-up included a NaI gamma-ray array, a charged fragment hodoscope and a neutron wall. Using the invariant mass method in the $^{25}$Ne+n channel, we observe a sizable amount of E1 strength between 6 and 10 MeV. The reconstructed $^{26}$Ne angular distribution confirms its E1 nature. A reduced dipole transition probability of B(E1)=0.49$\pm$0.16 $e^2fm^2$ is deduced. For the first time, the decay pattern of low-lying strength in a neutron-rich nucleus is obtained. The results are discussed in terms of a pygmy resonance centered around 9 MeV

Nucleon Axial Form Factor from Lattice QCD

Results for the isovector axial form factors of the proton from a lattice QCD calculation are presented for both point-split and local currents. They are obtained on a quenched $16^{3} \times 24$ lattice at $\beta= 6.0$ with Wilson fermions for a range of quark masses from strange to charm. We determine the finite lattice renormalization for both the local and point-split currents of heavy quarks. Results extrapolated to the chiral limit show that the $q^2$ dependence of the axial form factor agrees reasonably well with experiment. The axial coupling constant $g_A$ calculated for the local and the point-split currents is about 6\% and 12\% smaller than the experimental value respectively.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures (included in part 2), UK/93-0