Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Demographic Change in Early Modern Japan

Sexually Transmitted Diseases and Demographic Change in Early Modern Japa

Microconical interface fitting and interface grasping tool

A small and light weight microconical interface fitting may be attached to the surface of a space vehicle or equipment to provide an attachment device for an astronaut or robot to capture the space vehicle or equipment. The microconical interface fitting of the present invention has an axisymmetrical conical body having a base portion with a torque reaction surface for preventing rotation of the interface grasping tool; a cavitated, sunken or hollowed out intermediate locking portion which has a cavity shaped for receiving the latches of the grasping tool and an upper guiding portion for guiding the grasping tool into axial alignment with the microconical interface fitting. The capture is accomplished with an interface grasping tool. The grasping tool comprises an outer sleeve with a handle attached, an inner sleeve which may be raised and lowered within the outer sleeve with a plurality of latches supported at the lower end and a cam to raise and lower the inner sleeve. When the inner sleeve is at its lowest position, the latches form the largest diameter opening for surrounding the microconical fitting and the latches form the smallest diameter or a locking, grasping position when raised to the highest position within the outer sleeve. The inner sleeve may be at an intermediate, capture position which permits the latches to be biased outwardly when contacting the microconical fitting under very low forces to grasp the fitting and permits capture (soft docking) without exact alignment of the fitting and the tool

Attenuation of Sindbis virus variants incorporating uncleaved PE2 glycoprotein is correlated with attachment to cell-surface heparan sulfate

Sindbis virus virions incorporating uncleaved precursor envelope protein PE2 bind efficiently to cell-surface heparan sulfate (HS) because the furin cleavage site (a consensus HS-binding domain) is retained in the mature virus particle. However, they are essentially nonviable. Resuscitating mutations selected in the E3 or E2 protein preserve the PE2 noncleaving phenotype and HS binding, but facilitate fusion, and thereby restore wild-type infectivity on cultured cells. Here, we have demonstrated that the resuscitated PE2 noncleaving virus was almost avirulent in vivo, but mutated during the infection. Mutants had increased virulence and cleavage of PE2, with reduced HS binding capacity. We hypothesize that HS binding leads to sequestration of PE2 noncleaving virus particles and suppression of serum viremia, thereby selecting for evolution of the virus into a PE2-cleaving, low HS-binding phenotype

Fax/Modem Capabilities; Technology Alert, August 1994

https://egrove.olemiss.edu/aicpa_news/2852/thumbnail.jp

Attenuation of Sindbis virus variants incorporating uncleaved PE2 glycoprotein is correlated with attachment to cell-surface heparan sulfate

Sindbis virus virions incorporating uncleaved precursor envelope protein PE2 bind efficiently to cell-surface heparan sulfate (HS) because the furin cleavage site (a consensus HS-binding domain) is retained in the mature virus particle. However, they are essentially nonviable. Resuscitating mutations selected in the E3 or E2 protein preserve the PE2 noncleaving phenotype and HS binding, but facilitate fusion, and thereby restore wild-type infectivity on cultured cells. Here, we have demonstrated that the resuscitated PE2 noncleaving virus was almost avirulent in vivo, but mutated during the infection. Mutants had increased virulence and cleavage of PE2, with reduced HS binding capacity. We hypothesize that HS binding leads to sequestration of PE2 noncleaving virus particles and suppression of serum viremia, thereby selecting for evolution of the virus into a PE2-cleaving, low HS-binding phenotype

The electrical conductivity of the tissues near the heart and its bearing on the distribution of the cardiac action currents

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/32587/1/0000716.pd

Multiple sulfur isotope signatures of sulfite and thiosulfate reduction by the model dissimilatory sulfate-reducer, Desulfovibrio alaskensis str. G20

Dissimilatory sulfate reduction serves as a key metabolic carbon remineralization process in anoxic marine environments. Sulfate reducing microorganisms can impart a wide range in mass-dependent sulfur isotopic fractionation. As such, the presence and relative activity of these organisms is identifiable from geological materials. By extension, sulfur isotope records are used to infer the redox balance of marine sedimentary environments, and the oxidation state of Earth's oceans and atmosphere. However, recent work suggests that our understanding of microbial sulfate reduction (MSRs) may be missing complexity associated with the presence and role of key chemical intermediates in the reductive process. This study provides a test of proposed metabolic models of sulfate reduction by growing an axenic culture of the well-studied MSRs, Desulfovibrio alaskensis strain G20, under electron donor limited conditions on the terminal electron acceptors sulfate, sulfite or thiosulfate, and tracking the multiple S isotopic consequences of each condition set. The dissimilatory reduction of thiosulfate and sulfite produce unique minor isotope effects, as compared to the reduction of sulfate. Further, these experiments reveal a complex biochemistry associated with sulfite reduction. That is, under high sulfite concentrations, sulfur is shuttled to an intermediate pool of thiosulfate. Site-specific isotope fractionation (within thiosulfate) is very large (34ε ~ 30‰) while terminal product sulfide carries only a small fractionation from the initial sulfite (34ε < 10‰): a signature similar in magnitude to sulfate and thiosulfate reduction. Together these findings show that microbial sulfate reduction (MSR) is highly sensitive to the concentration of environmentally important sulfur-cycle intermediates (sulfite and thiosulfate), especially when thiosulfate and the large site-specific isotope effects are involved

Feral honey bees in pine forest landscapes of east Texas

In 1990 the Africanized honey bee, a descendent of Apis mellifera scutellata, was identified in south Texas [Hunter, L.A., Jackman, J.A., Sugden,E.A., 1992.Detection records of Africanized honey bees inTexas during 1990, 1991 and 1992. Southwestern Entomol. 18, 79–89]. The potential impact of this immigrant on feral and managed colonies was the subject of considerable speculation. The goal of this study was to investigate the diversity of feral honey bee races in pine forest landscapes of east Texas, subsequent to immigration of A. m. scutellata. The specific objectives were (i) to assess the immigration of A. m. scutellata into east Texas pine forest landscapes and (ii) to evaluate the suitability of the pine forest landscape to feral honey bees. This mesoscale landscape study was conducted on the SamHouston National Forest in east Texas. Swarm traps and aerial pitfall traps were used to monitor feral honey bees. Spatial databases were used to evaluate suitability of the pine forest landscape for honey bees. Scoring mitochondrial DNA type (mitotypes), we found representatives of A. mellifera scutellata, eastern European, western European, and A. mellifera lamarckii races in pine forest landscapes of east Texas. The conclusions that follow from this aspect of the investigation are (i) honey bees are a ubiquitous component of the pine forest landscape in east Texas, (ii) mitotype diversity persists subsequent to the immigration of A. m. scutellata, and (iii) A. m. scutellata is an added element of the mitotype diversity in the landscape. To evaluate quantitatively the suitability of the pine forest to feral honey bees, we used a spatial database for the study area and FRAGSTATS. The landscape structure in 1256 ha units surrounding six swarms of honey bees captured in the swarm traps was examined. The metrics used to characterize the kind, number, size, shape, and configuration of elements forming the landscape, defined a heterogeneous environment for honey bees that included sufficient food and habitat resources needed for survival, growth, and reproduction. The conclusions that follow from this aspect of the investigation are (1) although classified as a pine forest, management practices and other human activities have altered the landscape and thereby created food and habitat resources suitable for honey bees, (2) the forestry practices associated specifically with road corridor maintenance, stream side corridor protection, RCW management, and Wilderness Area management introduce structural heterogeneity to the forest landscape which enriches the diversity and abundance of early successional flowering plants and provides cavity sites needed by honey bees, (3) ranching, farming, and urbanization within the study area also create these conditions, and (4) based on inferences from melissopalynology, honey bees provide pollination services for a broad representation of native and introduced flowering plant species of the pineywoods ecoregion

Adaptation of Sindbis Virus to BHK Cells Selects for Use of Heparan Sulfate as an Attachment Receptor

Attachment of Sindbis virus to the cell surface glycosaminoglycan heparan sulfate (HS) and the selection of this phenotype by cell culture adaptation were investigated. Virus (TR339) was derived from a cDNA clone representing the consensus sequence of strain AR339 (K. L. McKnight, D. A. Simpson, S. C. Lin, T. A. Knott, J. M. Polo, D. F. Pence, D. B. Johannsen, H. W. Heidner, N. L. Davis, and R. E. Johnston, J. Virol. 70:1981–1989, 1996) and from mutant clones containing either one or two dominant cell culture adaptations in the E2 structural glycoprotein (Arg instead of Ser at E2 position 1 [designated TRSB]) or this mutation plus Arg for Ser at E2 114 [designated TRSB-R114]). The consensus virus, TR339, bound to baby hamster kidney (BHK) cells very poorly. The mutation in TRSB increased binding 10- to 50-fold, and the additional mutation in TRSB-R114 increased binding 3- to 5-fold over TRSB. The magnitude of binding was positively correlated with the degree of cell culture adaptation and with attenuation of these viruses in neonatal mice. HS was identified as the attachment receptor for the mutant viruses by the following experimental results. (i) Low concentrations of soluble heparin inhibited plaque formation on and binding of mutant viruses to BHK cells by >95%. In contrast, TR339 showed minimal inhibition at high concentrations. (ii) Binding and infectivity of TRSB-R114 was sensitive to digestion of cell surface HS with heparinase III, and TRSB was sensitive to both heparinase I and heparinase III. TR339 infectivity was only slightly affected by either digestion. (iii) Radiolabeled TRSB and TRSB-R114 attached efficiently to heparin-agarose beads in binding assays, while TR339 showed virtually no binding. (iv) Binding and infectivity of TRSB and TRSB-R114, but not TR339, were greatly reduced on Chinese hamster ovary cells deficient in HS specifically or all glycosaminoglycans. (v) High-multiplicity-of-infection passage of TR339 on BHK cell cultures resulted in rapid coselection of high-affinity binding to BHK cells and attachment to heparin-agarose beads. Sequencing of the passaged virus population revealed a mutation from Glu to Lys at E2 70, a mutation common to many laboratory strains of Sindbis virus. These results suggest that TR339, the most virulent virus tested, attaches to cells through a low-affinity, primarily HS-independent mechanism. Adaptive mutations, selected during cell culture growth of Sindbis virus, enhance binding and infectivity by allowing the virus to attach by an alternative mechanism that is dependent on the presence of cell surface HS