Detection and measurement of paracaspase MALT1 activity.

The paracaspase MALT1 is a Cys-dependent, Arg-specific protease that plays an essential role in the activation and proliferation of lymphocytes during the immune response. Oncogenic activation of MALT1 is associated with the development of specific forms of B-cell lymphomas. Through specific cleavage of its substrates, MALT1 controls various aspects of lymphocyte activation, including the activation of transcriptional pathways, the stabilization of mRNAs, and an increase in cellular adhesion. In lymphocytes, the activity of MALT1 is tightly controlled by its inducible monoubiquitination, which promotes the dimerization of MALT1. Here, we describe both in vitro and in vivo assays that have been developed to assess MALT1 activity

Attempting to Feed America: Examining the Many Stakeholders Involved within the Food Banking System

University of Minnesota Duluth 2015 UROP pape

Exactly solvable models in 2D semiclassical dilaton gravity and extremal black holes

Previously known exactly solvable models of 2D semiclassical dilaton gravity admit, in the general case, only non-extreme black holes. It is shown that there exist exceptional degenerate cases, that can be obtained by some limiting transitions from the general exact solution, which include, in particular, extremal and ultraextremal black holes. We also analyze properties of extreme black holes without demanding exact solvability and show that for such solutions quantum backreaction forbids the existence of ultraextreme black holes. The conditions,under which divergencies of quantum stresses in a free falling frame can disappear, are found. We derive the closed equation with respect to the metric as a function of the dilaton field that enables one, choosing the form of the metric, to restore corresponding Lagrangian. It is demonstrated that exactly solvable models, found earlier, can be extended to include an electric charge only in two cases: either the dilaton-gravitation coupling is proportional to the potential term, or the latter vanishes. The second case leads to the effective potential with a negative amplitude and we analyze, how this fact affects the structure of spacetime. We also discuss the role of quantum backreaction in the relationship between extremal horizons and the branch of solutions with a constant dilaton.Comment: 31 pages. In v.2 typo in Ref. [2] corrected, 4 references added. Accepted in Class. Quant. Gra

Generalized 2d dilaton gravity with matter fields

We extend the classical integrability of the CGHS model of 2d dilaton gravity [1] to a larger class of models, allowing the gravitational part of the action to depend more generally on the dilaton field and, simultaneously, adding fermion- and U(1)-gauge-fields to the scalar matter. On the other hand we provide the complete solution of the most general dilaton-dependent 2d gravity action coupled to chiral fermions. The latter analysis is generalized to a chiral fermion multiplet with a non-abelian gauge symmetry as well as to the (anti-)self-dual sector df = *df (df = -*df) of a scalar field f.Comment: 37 pages, Latex; typos and Eqs. (44,45) corrected; paragraph on p. 26, referring to a work of S. Solodukhin, reformulated; references adde

Keeping the driver in the loop through semi-automated or manual lane changes in conditionally automated driving

In the current study we investigated if drivers of conditionally automated vehicles can be kept in the loop through lane change maneuvers. More specifically, we examined whether involving drivers in lane-changes during a conditionally automated ride can influence critical take-over behavior and keep drivers' gaze on the road. In a repeated measures driving simulator study (n = 85), drivers drove the same route three times, each trial containing four lane changes that were all either (1) automated, (2) semi-automated or (3) manual. Each ride ended with a critical take-over situation that could be solved by braking and/or steering. Critical take-over reactions were analyzed with a linear mixed model and parametric accelerated failure time survival analysis. As expected, semi-automated and manual lane changes throughout the ride led to 13.5% and 17.0% faster maximum deceleration compared to automated lane changes. Additionally, semi-automated and manual lane changes improved the quality of the take-over by significantly decreasing standard deviation of the steering wheel angle. Unexpectedly, drivers in the semi-automated condition were slowest to start the braking maneuver. This may have been caused by the drivers' confusion as to how the semi-automated system would react. Additionally, the percentage gaze off-the-road was significantly decreased by the semi-automated (6.0%) and manual (6.6%) lane changes. Taken together, the results suggest that semi-automated and manual transitions may be an alarm-free instrument which developers could use to help maintain drivers' perception-action loop and improve automated driving safety