10,708 research outputs found
A novel approach to probe host-pathogen interactions of bovine digital dermatitis, a model of a complex polymicrobial infection
Background: Polymicrobial infections represent a great challenge for the clarification of disease etiology and the development of comprehensive diagnostic or therapeutic tools, particularly for fastidious and difficult-to-cultivate bacteria. Using bovine digital dermatitis (DD) as a disease model, we introduce a novel strategy to study the pathogenesis of complex infections. Results: The strategy combines meta-transcriptomics with high-density peptide-microarray technology to screen for in vivo-expressed microbial genes and the host antibody response at the site of infection. Bacterial expression patterns supported the assumption that treponemes were the major DD pathogens but also indicated the active involvement of other phyla (primarily Bacteroidetes). Bacterial genes involved in chemotaxis, flagellar synthesis and protection against oxidative and acidic stress were among the major factors defining the disease. Conclusions: The extraordinary diversity observed in bacterial expression, antigens and host antibody responses between individual cows pointed toward microbial variability as a hallmark of DD. Persistence of infection and DD reinfection in the same individual is common; thus, high microbial diversity may undermine the host's capacity to mount an efficient immune response and maintain immunological memory towards DD. The common antigenic markers identified here using a high-density peptide microarray address this issue and may be useful for future preventive measures against DD.Fil: Marcatili, Paolo. Technical University of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Nielsen, Martin W.. Technical University of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Sicheritz Ponten, Thomas. Technical University of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Jensen, Tim K.. Technical University of Denmark; DinamarcaFil: Schafer Nielsen, Claus. Schafer-N ApS; DinamarcaFil: Boye, Mette. Hospital of Southern Jutland; DinamarcaFil: Nielsen, Morten. Technical University of Denmark; Dinamarca. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones CientĂficas y TĂ©cnicas. Centro CientĂfico TecnolĂłgico Conicet - La Plata. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas. Instituto de Investigaciones BiotecnolĂłgicas ; ArgentinaFil: Klitgaard, Kirstine. Technical University of Denmark; Dinamarc
Frequency, type, and distribution of EST-SSRs from three genotypes of Lolium perenne, and their conservation across orthologous sequences of Festuca arundinacea, Brachypodium distachyon, and Oryza sativa
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers are highly informative and widely used for genetic and breeding studies in several plant species. They are used for cultivar identification, variety protection, as anchor markers in genetic mapping, and in marker-assisted breeding. Currently, a limited number of SSR markers are publicly available for perennial ryegrass (<it>Lolium perenne</it>). We report on the exploitation of a comprehensive EST collection in <it>L. perenne </it>for SSR identification. The objectives of this study were 1) to analyse the frequency, type, and distribution of SSR motifs in ESTs derived from three genotypes of <it>L. perenne</it>, 2) to perform a comparative analysis of SSR motif polymorphisms between allelic sequences, 3) to conduct a comparative analysis of SSR motif polymorphisms between orthologous sequences of <it>L. perenne</it>, <it>Festuca arundinacea, Brachypodium distachyon</it>, and <it>O. sativa</it>, 4) to identify functionally associated EST-SSR markers for application in comparative genomics and breeding.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>From 25,744 ESTs, representing 8.53 megabases of nucleotide information from three genotypes of <it>L. perenne</it>, 1,458 ESTs (5.7%) contained one or more SSRs. Of these SSRs, 955 (3.7%) were non-redundant. Tri-nucleotide repeats were the most abundant type of repeats followed by di- and tetra-nucleotide repeats. The EST-SSRs from the three genotypes were analysed for allelic- and/or genotypic SSR motif polymorphisms. Most of the SSR motifs (97.7%) showed no polymorphisms, whereas 22 EST-SSRs showed allelic- and/or genotypic polymorphisms. All polymorphisms identified were changes in the number of repeat units. Comparative analysis of the <it>L. perenne </it>EST-SSRs with sequences of <it>Festuca arundinacea</it>, <it>Brachypodium distachyon</it>, and <it>Oryza sativa </it>identified 19 clusters of orthologous sequences between these four species. Analysis of the clusters showed that the SSR motif generally is conserved in the closely related species <it>F. arundinacea</it>, but often differs in length of the SSR motif. In contrast, SSR motifs are often lost in the more distant related species <it>B. distachyon </it>and <it>O. sativa</it>.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The results indicate that the <it>L. perenne </it>EST-SSR markers are a valuable resource for genetic mapping, as well as evaluation of co-location between QTLs and functionally associated markers.</p
Quantum non-demolition measurements of single donor spins in semiconductors
We propose a technique for measuring the state of a single donor electron
spin using a field-effect transistor induced two-dimensional electron gas and
electrically detected magnetic resonance techniques. The scheme is facilitated
by hyperfine coupling to the donor nucleus. We analyze the potential
sensitivity and outline experimental requirements. Our measurement provides a
single-shot, projective, and quantum non-demolition measurement of an
electron-encoded qubit state.Comment: 8+ pages. 4 figures. Published versio
Call Day 2023
Call Day Placement Service on Wednesday April 26th at Concordia Seminary St. Louis.https://scholar.csl.edu/callday/1096/thumbnail.jp
Quantum Fluctuations in Josephson Junction Comparators
We have developed a method for calculation of quantum fluctuation effects, in
particular of the uncertainty zone developing at the potential curvature sign
inversion, for a damped harmonic oscillator with arbitrary time dependence of
frequency and for arbitrary temperature, within the Caldeira-Leggett model. The
method has been applied to the calculation of the gray zone width Delta Ix of
Josephson-junction balanced comparators driven by a specially designed
low-impedance RSFQ circuit. The calculated temperature dependence of Delta Ix
in the range 1.5 to 4.2K is in a virtually perfect agreement with experimental
data for Nb-trilayer comparators with critical current densities of 1.0 and 5.5
kA/cm^2, without any fitting parameters.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, submitted to Physical Review Letter
Multi-elemental speciation analysis of barley genotypes diering in tolerance to cadmium toxicity using SEC-ICP-MS and ESI-TOF-MS
Plants respond to Cd exposure by synthesizing heavy-metal-binding oligopeptides, called phytochelatins (PCs). These peptides reduce the activity of Cd2+ ions in the plant tissues by forming Cd chelates. The main objective of the present work was to develop an analytical technique, which allowed identication of the most prominent Cd species in plant tissue by SEC-ICP-MS and ESI-TOF-MS. An integrated part of the method development was to test the hypothesis that dierential Cd tolerance between two barley genotypes was linked to dierences in Cd speciation. Only one fraction of Cd species, ranging from 7001800 Da, was detected in the shoots of both genotypes. In the roots, two additional fractions ranging from 29004600 and 670015 000 Da were found. The Cd-rich SEC fractions were heart-cut, de-salted and demetallized using reversed-phase chromatography (RPC), followed by ESI-MS-TOF to identify the ligands. Three dierent families of PCs, viz. (gGlu-Cys)n-Gly (PCn), (gGlu-Cys)n-Ser (iso-PCn) and Cys-(gGlu-Cys)n-Gly (des-gGlu-PCn), the last lacking the N-terminal amino acid, were identied. The PCs induced by Cd toxicity also bound several essential trace elements in plants, including Zn, Cu, and Ni, whereas no Mn species were detected. Zn, Cu and Ni-species were distributed between the 7001800 Da and 670015 000 Da fractions, whereas only Cd species were found in the 29004600 Da fraction dominated by PC3 ligands. Although the total tissue concentration of Cd was similar for the two species, the tolerant barley genotype synthesized signicantly more CdPC3 species with a high Cd specicity than the intolerant genotype, clearly indicating a correlation between Cd tolerance and the CdPC speciation
Fidelity of Quantum Interferometers
For a generic interferometer, the conditional probability density
distribution, , for the phase given measurement outcome ,
will generally have multiple peaks. Therefore, the phase sensitivity of an
interferometer cannot be adequately characterized by the standard deviation,
such as (the standard limit), or (the Heisenberg limit). We propose an alternative measure of phase
sensitivity--the fidelity of an interferometer--defined as the Shannon mutual
information between the phase shift \ and the measurement outcomes .
As an example application of interferometer fidelity, we consider a generic
optical Mach-Zehnder interferometer, used as a sensor of a classical field. We
find the surprising result that an entangled {\it N00N} state input leads to a
lower fidelity than a Fock state input, for the same photon number.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figure
Simulating Hamiltonians in Quantum Networks: Efficient Schemes and Complexity Bounds
We address the problem of simulating pair-interaction Hamiltonians in n node
quantum networks where the subsystems have arbitrary, possibly different,
dimensions. We show that any pair-interaction can be used to simulate any other
by applying sequences of appropriate local control sequences. Efficient schemes
for decoupling and time reversal can be constructed from orthogonal arrays.
Conditions on time optimal simulation are formulated in terms of spectral
majorization of matrices characterizing the coupling parameters. Moreover, we
consider a specific system of n harmonic oscillators with bilinear interaction.
In this case, decoupling can efficiently be achieved using the combinatorial
concept of difference schemes. For this type of interactions we present optimal
schemes for inversion.Comment: 19 pages, LaTeX2
Synthesis of sp3-rich scaffolds for molecular libraries through complexity-generating cascade reactions
An efficient strategy for the synthesis of complex small molecules from simple building blocks is presented.</p
Temporal Aspects of Endogenous Pain Modulation During a Noxious Stimulus Prolonged for 1 Day
Background
This study investigated (a) if a prolonged noxious stimulus (24âhr topical capsaicin) in healthy adults would impair central pain inhibitory and facilitatory systems measured as a reduction in conditioned pain modulation (CPM) and enhancement of temporal summation of pain (TSP) and (b) if acute pain relief or exacerbation (cooling and heating the capsaicin patch) during the prolonged noxious stimulus would affect central pain modulation. Methods
Twentyâeight participants (26.2 ± 1.0 years; 12 women) wore a transdermal 8% capsaicin patch on the forearm for 24 hr. Data were collected at baseline (Day 0), 1 hr, 3 hr, Day 1 (postâcapsaicin application) and Day 3/4 (postâcapsaicin removal) that included capsaicinâevoked pain intensity, heat pain thresholds (HPTs), TSP (10 painful cuff pressure stimuli on leg) and CPM (cuff pressure pain threshold on the leg prior vs. during painful cuff pressure conditioning on contralateral leg). After 3 hr, cold (12°C) and heat (42°C) stimuli were applied to the capsaicin patch to transiently increase and decrease pain intensity. Results
Participants reported moderate pain scores at 1 hr (2.5 ± 2.0), 3 hr (3.7 ± 2.4), and Day 1 (2.4 ± 1.8). CPM decreased 3âhr postâcapsaicin (p = .001) compared to Day 0 and remained diminished while the capsaicin pain score was reduced (0.4 ± 0.7, p \u3c .001) and increased (6.6 ± 2.2, p \u3c .001) by patch cooling and heating. No significant differences occurred for CPM during patch cooling or heating compared to initial 3HR; however, CPM during patch heating was reduced compared with patch cooling (p = .01). TSP and HPT did not change. Conclusions
This prolonged experimental pain model is useful to provide insight into subacute pain conditions and may provide insight into the transition from acute to chronic pain. Significance
During the early hours of a prolonged noxious stimulus in healthy adults, CPM efficacy was reduced and did not recover by temporarily removing the ongoing pain indicating a less dynamic neuroplastic process
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