Quechua mu and the perspective of the speaker

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The immunogenicity of recombinant vaccines based on modified Vaccinia Ankara (MVA) viruses expressing African horse sickness virus VP2 antigens depends on the levels of expressed VP2 protein delivered to the host

African horse sickness (AHS) is a lethal equine disease transmitted by Culicoides biting midges and caused by African horse sickness virus (AHSV). AHS is endemic to sub-Saharan Africa, but devastating outbreaks have been recorded periodically outside this region. The perceived risk of an AHS outbreak occurring in Europe has increased following the frequent epidemics caused in ruminants by bluetongue virus, closely related to AHSV. Attenuated vaccines for AHS are considered unsuitable for use in non-endemic countries due bio-safety concerns. Further, attenuated and inactivated vaccines are not compatible with DIVA (differentiate infected from vaccinated animals) strategies. All these factors stimulated the development of novel AHS vaccines that are safer, more efficacious and DIVA compatible. We showed previously that recombinant modified Vaccinia Ankara virus (MVA) vaccines encoding the outer capsid protein of AHSV (AHSV-VP2) induced virus neutralising antibodies (VNAb) and protection against AHSV in a mouse model and also in the horse. Passive immunisation studies demonstrated that immunity induced by MVA-VP2 was associated with pre-challenge VNAb titres in the vaccinates. Analyses of the inoculum of these MVA-VP2 experimental vaccines showed that they contained pre-formed AHSV-VP2. We continued studying the influence of pre-formed AHSV-VP2, present in the inoculum of MVA-VP2 vaccines, in the immunogenicity of MVA-VP2 vaccines. Thus, we compared correlates of immunity in challenged mice that were previously vaccinated with: a) MVA-VP2 (live); b) MVA-VP2 (live and sucrose gradient purified); c) MVA-VP2 (UV light inactivated); d) MVA-VP2 (UV light inactivated and diluted); e) MVA-VP2 (heat inactivated); f) MVA-VP2 (UV inactivated) + MVA-VP2 (purified); g) MVA-VP2 (heat inactivated) + MVA-VP2 (purified); and h) wild type-MVA (no insert). The results of these experiments showed that protection was maximal using MVA-VP2 (live) vaccine and that the protection conferred by all other vaccines correlated strongly with the levels of pre-formed AHSV-VP2 in the vaccine inoculum

Determination of superconducting anisotropy from magnetization data on random powders as applied to LuNi2_2B2_2C, YNi2_2B2_2C and MgB2_2

The recently discovered intermetallic superconductor MgB2 appears to have a highly anisotopic upper critical field with Hc2(max)/Hc2(min} = \gamma > 5. In order to determine the temperature dependence of both Hc2(max) and Hc2(min) we propose a method of extracting the superconducting anisotropy from the magnetization M(H,T) of randomly oriented powder samples. The method is based on two features in dM/dT the onset of diamagnetism at Tc(max), that is commonly associated with Hc2, and a kink in dM/dT at a lower temperature Tc(min). Results for LuNi2B2C and YNi2B2C powders are in agreement with anisotropic Hc2 obtained from magneto-transport measurements on single crystals. Using this method on four different types of MgB2 powder samples we are able to determine Hc2(max)(T) and Hc2(min)(T) with \gamma \approx 6

Supersymmetric Euler-Heisenberg effective action: Two-loop results

The two-loop Euler-Heisenberg-type effective action for N = 1 supersymmetric QED is computed within the background field approach. The background vector multiplet is chosen to obey the constraints D_\a W_\b = D_{(\a} W_{\b)} = const, but is otherwise completely arbitrary. Technically, this calculation proves to be much more laborious as compared with that carried out in hep-th/0308136 for N = 2 supersymmetric QED, due to a lesser amount of supersymmetry. Similarly to Ritus' analysis for spinor and scalar QED, the two-loop renormalisation is carried out using proper-time cut-off regularisation. A closed-form expression is obtained for the holomorphic sector of the two-loop effective action, which is singled out by imposing a relaxed super self-duality condition.Comment: 27 pages, 2 eps figures, LaTeX; V2: typos corrected, comments and reference adde

Angular dependence of the bulk nucleation field Hc2 of aligned MgB2 crystallites

Studies on the new MgB2 superconductor, with a critical temperature Tc ~ 39 K, have evidenced its potential for applications although intense magnetic relaxation effects limit the critical current density, Jc, at high magnetic fields. This means that effective pinning centers must be added into the material microstructure, in order to halt dissipative flux movements. Concerning the basic microscopic mechanism to explain the superconductivity in MgB2, several experimental and theoretical works have pointed to the relevance of a phonon-mediated interaction, in the framework of the BCS theory. Questions have been raised about the relevant phonon modes, and the gap and Fermi surface anisotropies, in an effort to interpret spectroscopic and thermal data that give values between 2.4 and 4.5 for the gap energy ratio. Preliminary results on the anisotropy of Hc2 have shown a ratio, between the in-plane and perpendicular directions, around 1.7 for aligned MgB2 crystallites and 1.8 for epitaxial thin films. Here we show a study on the angular dependence of Hc2 pointing to a Fermi velocity anisotropy around 2.5. This anisotropy certainly implies the use of texturization techniques to optimize Jc in MgB2 wires and other polycrystalline components.Comment: 10 pages + 4 Figs.; Revised version accepted in Phys. Rev.

Connected Green function approach to ground state symmetry breaking in Φ1+14\Phi^4_{1+1}-theory

Using the cluster expansions for n-point Green functions we derive a closed set of dynamical equations of motion for connected equal-time Green functions by neglecting all connected functions higher than $4^{th}$ order for the $\lambda \Phi^4$-theory in $1+1$ dimensions. We apply the equations to the investigation of spontaneous ground state symmetry breaking, i.e. to the evaluation of the effective potential at temperature $T=0$. Within our momentum space discretization we obtain a second order phase transition (in agreement with the Simon-Griffith theorem) and a critical coupling of $\lambda_{crit}/4m^2=2.446$ as compared to a first order phase transition and $\lambda_{crit}/4m^2=2.568$ from the Gaussian effective potential approach.Comment: 25 Revtex pages, 5 figures available via fpt from the directory ugi-94-11 of [email protected] as one postscript file (there was a bug in our calculations, all numerical results and figures have changed significantly), ugi-94-1

Warp propagation in astrophysical discs

Astrophysical discs are often warped, that is, their orbital planes change with radius. This occurs whenever there is a non-axisymmetric force acting on the disc, for example the Lense-Thirring precession induced by a misaligned spinning black hole, or the gravitational pull of a misaligned companion. Such misalignments appear to be generic in astrophysics. The wide range of systems that can harbour warped discs - protostars, X-ray binaries, tidal disruption events, quasars and others - allows for a rich variety in the disc's response. Here we review the basic physics of warped discs and its implications.Comment: To be published in Astrophysical Black Holes by Haardt et al., Lecture Notes in Physics, Springer 2015. 19 pages, 2 figure

An Overview of the Basic Physical Properties of MgB2_2

The basic physical properties of MgB$_2$ have been well established over the past two years of intensive research. At this point there is a general consensus about the values for the isotope shift, critical fields, most of the salient length scales, and general anisotropies. In this paper we will review the determination of these parameters and set the stage for further, more detailed discussions of specific aspects of the physics of MgB$_2$.Comment: accepted to Physica C, special MgB2 iss

Molecular Sex Differences in Human Serum

Background: Sex is an important factor in the prevalence, incidence, progression, and response to treatment of many medical conditions, including autoimmune and cardiovascular diseases and psychiatric conditions. Identification of molecular differences between typical males and females can provide a valuable basis for exploring conditions differentially affected by sex. Methodology/Principal Findings: Using multiplexed immunoassays, we analyzed 174 serum molecules in 9 independent cohorts of typical individuals, comprising 196 males and 196 females. Sex differences in analyte levels were quantified using a meta-analysis approach and put into biological context using k-means to generate clusters of analytes with distinct biological functions. Natural sex differences were established in these analyte groups and these were applied to illustrate sexually dimorphic analyte expression in a cohort of 22 males and 22 females with Asperger syndrome. Reproducible sex differences were found in the levels of 77 analytes in serum of typical controls, and these comprised clusters of molecules enriched with distinct biological functions. Analytes involved in fatty acid oxidation/hormone regulation, immune cell growth and activation, and cell death were found at higher levels in females, and analytes involved in immune cell chemotaxis and other indistinct functions were higher in males. Comparison of these naturally occurring sex differences against a cohort of people with Asperger syndrome indicated that a cluster of analytes that had functions related to fatty acid oxidation/hormone regulation was associated with sex and the occurren