Circumventing antivector immunity: potential use of nonhuman adenoviral vectors

Adenoviruses are efficient gene delivery vectors based on their ability to transduce a wide variety of cell types and drive high-level transient transgene expression. While there have been advances in modifying human adenoviral (HAdV) vectors to increase their safety profile, there are still pitfalls that need to be further addressed. Preexisting humoral and cellular immunity against common HAdV serotypes limits the efficacy of gene transfer and duration of transgene expression. As an alternative, nonhuman AdV (NHAdV) vectors can circumvent neutralizing antibodies against HAdVs in immunized mice and monkeys and in human sera, suggesting that NHAdV vectors could circumvent preexisting humoral immunity against HAdVs in a clinical setting. Consequently, there has been an increased interest in developing NHAdV vectors for gene delivery in humans. In this review, we outline the recent advances and limitations of HAdV vectors for gene therapy and describe examples of NHAdV vectors focusing on their immunogenicity, tropism, and potential as effective gene therapy vehicles

A Monitor of Beam Polarization Profiles for the TRIUMF Parity Experiment

TRIUMF experiment E497 is a study of parity violation in pp scattering at an energy where the leading term in the analyzing power is expected to vanish, thus measuring a unique combination of weak-interaction flavour conserving terms. It is desired to reach a level of sensitivity of 2x10^-8 in both statistical and systematic errors. The leading systematic errors depend on transverse polarization components and, at least, the first moment of transverse polarization. A novel polarimeter that measures profiles of both transverse components of polarization as a function of position is described.Comment: 19 pages LaTeX, 10 PostScript figures. To appear in Nuclear Instruments and Methods in Physics Research, Section

Parity Violation in Proton-Proton Scattering

Measurements of parity-violating longitudinal analyzing powers (normalized asymmetries) in polarized proton-proton scattering provide a unique window on the interplay between the weak and strong interactions between and within hadrons. Several new proton-proton parity violation experiments are presently either being performed or are being prepared for execution in the near future: at TRIUMF at 221 MeV and 450 MeV and at COSY (Kernforschungsanlage Juelich) at 230 MeV and near 1.3 GeV. These experiments are intended to provide stringent constraints on the set of six effective weak meson-nucleon coupling constants, which characterize the weak interaction between hadrons in the energy domain where meson exchange models provide an appropriate description. The 221 MeV is unique in that it selects a single transition amplitude (3P2-1D2) and consequently constrains the weak meson-nucleon coupling constant h_rho{pp}. The TRIUMF 221 MeV proton-proton parity violation experiment is described in some detail. A preliminary result for the longitudinal analyzing power is Az = (1.1 +/-0.4 +/-0.4) x 10^-7. Further proton-proton parity violation experiments are commented on. The anomaly at 6 GeV/c requires that a new multi-GeV proton-proton parity violation experiment be performed.Comment: 13 Pages LaTeX, 5 PostScript figures, uses espcrc1.sty. Invited talk at QULEN97, International Conference on Quark Lepton Nuclear Physics -- Nonperturbative QCD Hadron Physics & Electroweak Nuclear Processes --, Osaka, Japan May 20--23, 199

Non-Abelian dynamics and heavy multiquarks, Steiner-tree confinement in hadron spectroscopy

A brief review is first presented of attempts to predict stable multiquark states within current models of hadron spectroscopy. Then a model combining flip-flop and connected Steiner trees is introduced and shown to lead to stable multiquarks, in particular for some configurations involving several heavy quarks and bearing exotic quantum numbers.Comment: 8 pages, 5 figures, Invited talk at the 21st European Conference on Few-Body Problems in Physics, Salamanca, Spain, August 29th--September 3rd, 2010, to appear in the Proceedings, ed.~A.~Valcarce et al., to appear in Few-Body Syste

In situ observation of calcium oxide treatment of inclusions in molten steel by confocal microscopy

Calcium treatment of aluminum killed steel was observed in situ using high-temperature confocal scanning laser microscope (HT-CSLM). This technique along with a novel experimental design enables continuous observation of clustering behavior of inclusions before and after the calcium treatment. Results show that the increase in average inclusion size in non-calcium-treated condition was much faster compared to calcium-treated condition. Results also show that the magnitude of attractive capillary force between inclusion particles in non-treated condition was about 10−15 N for larger particles (10 µm) and 10−16 N for smaller particles (5 µm) and acting length of force was about 30 µm. In the case of calcium-treated condition, the magnitude and acting length of force was reduced to 10−16 N and 10 µm, respectively, for particles of all sizes. This change in attractive capillary attractive force is due to change in inclusion morphology from solid alumina disks to liquid lens particles during calcium treatment

Parity Violation in Proton-Proton Scattering at 221 MeV

TRIUMF experiment 497 has measured the parity violating longitudinal analyzing power, A_z, in pp elastic scattering at 221.3 MeV incident proton energy. This paper includes details of the corrections, some of magnitude comparable to A_z itself, required to arrive at the final result. The largest correction was for the effects of first moments of transverse polarization. The addition of the result, A_z=(0.84 \pm 0.29 (stat.) \pm 0.17 (syst.)) \times 10^{-7}, to the pp parity violation experimental data base greatly improves the experimental constraints on the weak meson-nucleon coupling constants h^{pp}_\rho and h^{pp}_\omega, and has implications for the interpretation of electron parity violation experiments.Comment: 17 pages RevTeX, 14 PostScript figures. Revised version with additions suggested by Phys. Rev.

"The fruits of independence": Satyajit Ray, Indian nationhood and the spectre of empire

Challenging the longstanding consensus that Satyajit Ray's work is largely free of ideological concerns and notable only for its humanistic richness, this article shows with reference to representations of British colonialism and Indian nationhood that Ray's films and stories are marked deeply and consistently by a distinctively Bengali variety of liberalism. Drawn from an ongoing biographical project, it commences with an overview of the nationalist milieu in which Ray grew up and emphasizes the preoccupation with colonialism and nationalism that marked his earliest unfilmed scripts. It then shows with case studies of Kanchanjangha (1962), Charulata (1964), First Class Kamra (First-Class Compartment, 1981), Pratidwandi (The Adversary, 1970), Shatranj ke Khilari (The Chess Players, 1977), Agantuk (The Stranger, 1991) and Robertsoner Ruby (Robertson's Ruby, 1992) how Ray's mature work continued to combine a strongly anti-colonial viewpoint with a shifting perspective on Indian nationhood and an unequivocal commitment to cultural cosmopolitanism. Analysing how Ray articulated his ideological positions through the quintessentially liberal device of complexly staged debates that were apparently free, but in fact closed by the scenarist/director on ideologically specific notes, this article concludes that Ray's reputation as an all-forgiving, ‘everybody-has-his-reasons’ humanist is based on simplistic or even tendentious readings of his work

Energy and decay width of the pi-K atom

The energy and decay width of the pi-K atom are evaluated in the framework of the quasipotential-constraint theory approach. The main electromagnetic and isospin symmetry breaking corrections to the lowest-order formulas for the energy shift from the Coulomb binding energy and for the decay width are calculated. They are estimated to be of the order of a few per cent. We display formulas to extract the strong interaction S-wave pi-K scattering lengths from future experimental data concerning the pi-K atom.Comment: 37 pages, 5 figures, uses Axodra