Host Responses to the Phenolic-Glycolipid-1 Antigen of Mycobacterium Leprae (Elisa, Leprosy, Epidemiology, Armadillo, Human).

Antibody responses to the apparently species specific phenolic-glycolipid-1 (Phen-Gl-1) antigen of Mycobacterium leprae were examined in humans and armadillos using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). Statistical definitions for the interpretation of positive and negative reactions were derived. A retrospective serological survey of armadillos indicated that leprosy in the wild armadillo is a naturally acquired zoonosis. Presently 12.5% of the armadillos in 2 parishes in south central Louisiana have detectable IgM antibodies to Phen-Gl-1. Approximately 2.7% of these histologically exhibit clinical disease. Antibodies were not detected in Florida armadillo sera. Variations in prevalence rates were noted, and may be due to environmental conditions, population characteristics or some intricacies in the transmission of leprosy. Naturally acquired leprosy in the armadillo may be used as a model to study transmission and baseline data have been derived. The ELISA was shown to have application in the management of experimental leprosy infections in armadillos. Resistant armadillos were noted to have an irregular or absent antibody response to the Phen-Gl-1 antigen over the course of an experimental infection. Armadillos infected in the wild also had an irregular IgM response. Susceptible armadillos appeared to have a long-term IgM antibody response to Phen-Gl-1 becoming detectable some 186 days post-experimental infection. This antibody remained detectable for up to 1140 days post-infection. Antibody responses of susceptible armadillos correlated with the harvestable load of M. leprae in liver tissues and ELISA absorbances successfully predicted a harvest result 97% of the time. IgM antibodies to Phen-Gl-1 were earlier and more reliable than other indicators of infection previously applied. IgM, IgA, and IgG antibodies to Phen-Gl-1 were detected in leprosy patients and contacts. IgM appeared to be the predominate isotype detectable. Human patients showed no significant correlation of antibody relative their clinical status. IgM antibodies to Phen-Gl-1 were depressed as a result of therapy with thalidomide. Monitoring Phen-Gl-1 antibodies in human patients is not predictive of patient status or reaction and does not seem indicated for clinical management

3-Body Problems, Hidden Constants, Trojans and WIMPs

This work includes two new results - principally two new constants of motion for the linearised restricted 3-body problem (e.g. for the Trojan asteroids) and an important isosceles triangle generalisation of Lagrange's equilateral triangle solution of the restricted case leading to hidden constants for Hildans as well as Trojans. Both of these results are classical, but we also have included new results on Newtonian quantum gravity emanating from the asymptotics relevant for WIMPish particles, explaining the origin of systems like that of the Trojans. The latter result uses a generalisation of our semi-classical mechanics for Schr\"odinger equations involving vector as well as scalar potentials, presented here for the first time, thereby providing an acid test of our ideas in predicting the quantum curvature and torsion of WIMPish trajectories for our astronomical elliptic states. The combined effect is to give a new celestial mechanics for WIMPs in gravitational systems as well as new results for classical problems. As we shall explain, we believe these results could help to see how spiral galaxies evolve into elliptical ones. A simple classical consequence of our isosceles triangle result gives a Keplerian type $4^{\textrm{th}}$ Law for 3-body problems. This is confined to the Appendix.Comment: 43 pages, no figure

Feeder Cattle Costs and Returns, 1940-1952

Farm Management,

The Divine Clockwork: Bohr's correspondence principle and Nelson's stochastic mechanics for the atomic elliptic state

We consider the Bohr correspondence limit of the Schrodinger wave function for an atomic elliptic state. We analyse this limit in the context of Nelson's stochastic mechanics, exposing an underlying deterministic dynamical system in which trajectories converge to Keplerian motion on an ellipse. This solves the long standing problem of obtaining Kepler's laws of planetary motion in a quantum mechanical setting. In this quantum mechanical setting, local mild instabilities occur in the Kelperian orbit for eccentricities greater than 1/\sqrt{2} which do not occur classically.Comment: 42 pages, 18 figures, with typos corrected, updated abstract and updated section 6.

In vivo Partial Reprogramming by Bacteria Promotes Adult Liver Organ Growth without Fibrosis and Tumorigenesis

Ideal therapies for regenerative medicine or healthy aging require healthy organ growth and rejuvenation, but no organ-level approach is currently available. Using Mycobacterium leprae (ML) with natural partial cellular reprogramming capacity and its animal host nine-banded armadillos, we present an evolutionarily refined model of adult liver growth and regeneration. In infected armadillos, ML reprogram the entire liver and significantly increase total liver/body weight ratio by increasing healthy liver lobules, including hepatocyte proliferation and proportionate expansion of vasculature, and biliary systems. ML-infected livers are microarchitecturally and functionally normal without damage, fibrosis, or tumorigenesis. Bacteria-induced reprogramming reactivates liver progenitor/developmental/fetal genes and upregulates growth-, metabolism-, and anti-aging-associated markers with minimal change in senescence and tumorigenic genes, suggesting bacterial hijacking of homeostatic, regeneration pathways to promote de novo organogenesis. This may facilitate the unraveling of endogenous pathways that effectively and safely re-engage liver organ growth, with broad therapeutic implications including organ regeneration and rejuvenation

Regulation of forward and backward locomotion through intersegmental feedback circuits in Drosophila larvae

Abstract: Animal locomotion requires spatiotemporally coordinated contraction of muscles throughout the body. Here, we investigate how contractions of antagonistic groups of muscles are intersegmentally coordinated during bidirectional crawling of Drosophila larvae. We identify two pairs of higher-order premotor excitatory interneurons present in each abdominal neuromere that intersegmentally provide feedback to the adjacent neuromere during motor propagation. The two feedback neuron pairs are differentially active during either forward or backward locomotion but commonly target a group of premotor interneurons that together provide excitatory inputs to transverse muscles and inhibitory inputs to the antagonistic longitudinal muscles. Inhibition of either feedback neuron pair compromises contraction of transverse muscles in a direction-specific manner. Our results suggest that the intersegmental feedback neurons coordinate contraction of synergistic muscles by acting as delay circuits representing the phase lag between segments. The identified circuit architecture also shows how bidirectional motor networks could be economically embedded in the nervous system