Influence of viral genes on the cell-to-cell spread of RNA silencing

The turnip crinkle virus-based vector TCV–GFPDCP had been devised previously to study cell-to-cell and long-distance spread of virus-induced RNA silencing. TCV–GFPDCP, which had been constructed by replacing the coat protein (CP) gene with a green fluorescent protein (GFP) coding sequence, was able to induce RNA silencing in single epidermal cells, from which RNA silencing spread from cell-to-cell. Using this unique local silencing assay together with mutagenesis analysis, two TCV genes, p8 and p9, which were involved in the intercellular spread of virus-induced RNA silencing, were identified. TCV–GFPDCP and its p8- or p9-mutated derivatives, TCVmp8–GFPDCP and TCVmp9–GFPDCP, replicated efficiently but were restricted to single Nicotiana benthamiana epidermal cells. TCV–GFPDCP, TCVmp8–GFPDCP, or TCVmp9–GFPDCP was able to initiate RNA silencing that targeted and degraded recombinant viral RNAs in inoculated leaves of the GFP-expressing N. benthamiana line 16c. However, cell-to-cell spread of silencing to form silencing foci was triggered only by TCV–GFPDCP. Non-replicating TCVmp88–GFPDCP and TCVmp28mp88–GFPDCP with dysfunctional replicase genes, and single-stranded gfp RNA did not induce RNA silencing. Transient expression of the TCV p9 protein could effectively complement TCVmp9–GFPDCP to facilitate intercellular spread of silencing. These data suggest that the plant cellular trafficking machinery could hijack functional viral proteins to permit cell-to-cell movement of RNA silencing

Applications of CORBA in the ATLAS prototype DAQ

This paper presents the experience of using the Common Object Request Broker Architecture (CORBA) in the ATLAS prototype DAQ project. Many communication links in the DAQ system have been designed and implemented using the CORBA standard. A public domain package, called Inter-Language Unification (ILU) has been used to implement CORBA based communications between DAQ components in a local area network (LAN) of heterogeneous computers. The CORBA Naming Service provides the principal mechanism through which most clients of an ORE-based system locate objects that they intend to use. In our project, conventions are employed that meaningfully partition the name space of the Naming Service according to divisions in the DAQ system itself. The Inter Process Communication (IPC) package, implemented in C++ on the top of CORBA/ILU, incorporates this facility and hides the details of the naming schema is described. The development procedure and environment for remote database access using IPC is described. Various end-user interfaces have been implemented using the Java language that communicate with C++ servers via CORBA/ILU. To support such interfaces, a second implementation of IPC in Java has been developed. The design and implementation of such connections are described. An alternative CORBA implementation, ORBacus, has been evaluated and compared with ILU. (24 refs)

Representation and usage of knowledge for initialization of accelerator control equipment

A knowledge based application, called SETUP, to initialize and diagnose the CERN/PS accelerators' control equipment is described. The object model and the general features of control algorithms are presented, together with their relation to the knowledge description of the setting up of the system. The different ways of the integration of the SETUP in the control system are outlined

Effective Practices of Macroprudential Stress Testing as a Tool of Increasing the Stability of Russian Financial System in the Context of Macroeconomic Shocks

The article examines the evolution of the prudential approach to banking regulation, examines the practical contribution of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision to the development and implementation of internationally unified practices and procedures for stress testing and supervision. The authors share the point of view that the existing methods and practices of stress testing still need improvements and methodological improvements, since they regularly allow the practical implementation of adverse scenarios leading to financial shocks and global crises. As a significant disadvantage of many actively used stress testing models, it is noted that they are often focused on complex, highly bureaucratic procedures for the preparation and analysis of financial statements, the main purpose of which is to assess the probabilities and sizes of losses and identify scenarios for the development of the situation for each specific bank, and no risks for the financial system as a whole. The authors come to the conclusion that it is advisable to prioritize the use of alternative stress testing models in crisis and post-crisis conditions, the forecasts within which are based on the actual values of financial market indicators, macroeconomic variables, and other open data. Special attention is paid to the stylized CLASS model, based on simple econometric models, as well as stress testing the current market value of V-lab. Based on the results of the study, the authors come to a number of conclusions that the role of the macroeconomic component in the procedures, methods, and algorithms for macroprudential stress testing used in Russia should increase, the degree of involvement and the sphere of responsibility for its results of key institutional units of the public administration system should expand, and macroprudential stress testing itself should not be limited to supervisory stress testing in everyday practice

Oxidation of n-С5-С8 hydrocarbons and cyclohexane in a reactor with barrier discharge. P. 2. Simulating cyclohexane oxidation reaction

Numerical model of hydrocarbon oxidation kinetics in a reactor with barrier discharge has been proposed by the example of cyclohexane oxidation reaction. The results of calculations with the use of barrier discharge surface model showed that electron energy and other discharge characteristics in pure oxygen and in the mixture of oxygen with cyclohexane vapors slightly differ that allowed using a simplified model of homogeneous discharge for simulating cyclohexane oxidation reaction. The results of calculation showed good fit with the experimental dat