Class A scavenger receptor 1 (MSR1) restricts hepatitis C virus replication by mediating toll-like receptor 3 recognition of viral RNAs produced in neighboring cells

Persistent infections with hepatitis C virus (HCV) may result in life-threatening liver disease, including cirrhosis and cancer, and impose an important burden on human health. Understanding how the virus is capable of achieving persistence in the majority of those infected is thus an important goal. Although HCV has evolved multiple mechanisms to disrupt and block cellular signaling pathways involved in the induction of interferon (IFN) responses, IFN-stimulated gene (ISG) expression is typically prominent in the HCV-infected liver. Here, we show that Toll-like receptor 3 (TLR3) expressed within uninfected hepatocytes is capable of sensing infection in adjacent cells, initiating a local antiviral response that partially restricts HCV replication. We demonstrate that this is dependent upon the expression of class A scavenger receptor type 1 (MSR1). MSR1 binds extracellular dsRNA, mediating its endocytosis and transport toward the endosome where it is engaged by TLR3, thereby triggering IFN responses in both infected and uninfected cells. RNAi-mediated knockdown of MSR1 expression blocks TLR3 sensing of HCV in infected hepatocyte cultures, leading to increased cellular permissiveness to virus infection. Exogenous expression of Myc-MSR1 restores TLR3 signaling in MSR1-depleted cells with subsequent induction of an antiviral state. A series of conserved basic residues within the carboxy-terminus of the collagen superfamily domain of MSR1 are required for binding and transport of dsRNA, and likely facilitate acidification-dependent release of dsRNA at the site of TLR3 expression in the endosome. Our findings reveal MSR1 to be a critical component of a TLR3-mediated pattern recognition receptor response that exerts an antiviral state in both infected and uninfected hepatocytes, thereby limiting the impact of HCV proteins that disrupt IFN signaling in infected cells and restricting the spread of HCV within the liver

Water vapor radiometry research and development phase

This report describes the research and development phase for eight dual-channel water vapor radiometers constructed for the Crustal Dynamics Project at the Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, and for the NASA Deep Space Network. These instruments were developed to demonstrate that the variable path delay imposed on microwave radio transmissions by atmospheric water vapor can be calibrated, particularly as this phenomenon affects very long baseline interferometry measurement systems. Water vapor radiometry technology can also be used in systems that involve moist air meteorology and propagation studies

Pressure-induced phase transition and bi-polaronic sliding in a hole-doped Cu_2O_3 ladder system

We study a hole-doped two-leg ladder system including metal ions, oxygen, and electron-lattice interaction, as a model for Sr_{14-x}Ca_xCu_{24}O_{41-\delta}. Single- and bi-polaronic states at 1/4-hole doping are modeled as functions of pressure by applying an unrestricted Hartree-Fock approximation to a multiband Peierls-Hubbard Hamiltonian. We find evidence for a pressure-induced phase transition between single-polaron and bi-polaron states. The electronic and phononic excitations in those states, including distinctive local lattice vibrational modes, are calculated by means of a direct-space Random Phase approximation. Finally, as a function of pressure, we identify a transition between site- and bond-centered bi-polarons, accompanied by a soft mode and a low-energy charge-sliding mode. We suggest comparisons with available experimented data

Anyonic Realization of the Quantum Affine Lie Superalgebra U_q(A(M,N)^{(1)})

We give a realization of the quantum affine Lie superalgebras U_q(A(M,N))^(1) in terms of anyons defined on a one or two-dimensional lattice, the deformation parameter q being related to the statistical parameter $\nu$ of the anyons by q = exp(i\pi\nu). The construction uses anyons contructed from usual fermionic oscillators and deformed bosonic oscillators. As a byproduct, realization deformed in any sector of the quantum superalgebras U_q(A(M,N)) is obtained.Comment: 14p LaTeX Document (should be run twice

Lax Operator for the Quantised Orthosymplectic Superalgebra U_q[osp(2|n)]

Each quantum superalgebra is a quasi-triangular Hopf superalgebra, so contains a \textit{universal $R$-matrix} in the tensor product algebra which satisfies the Yang-Baxter equation. Applying the vector representation $\pi$, which acts on the vector module $V$, to one side of a universal $R$-matrix gives a Lax operator. In this paper a Lax operator is constructed for the $C$-type quantum superalgebras $U_q[osp(2|n)]$. This can in turn be used to find a solution to the Yang-Baxter equation acting on $V \otimes V \otimes W$ where $W$ is an arbitrary $U_q[osp(2|n)]$ module. The case $W=V$ is included here as an example.Comment: 15 page

Spectrum in multi-species asymmetric simple exclusion process on a ring

The spectrum of Hamiltonian (Markov matrix) of a multi-species asymmetric simple exclusion process on a ring is studied. The dynamical exponent concerning the relaxation time is found to coincide with the one-species case. It implies that the system belongs to the Kardar-Parisi-Zhang or Edwards-Wilkinson universality classes depending on whether the hopping rate is asymmetric or symmetric, respectively. Our derivation exploits a poset structure of the particle sectors, leading to a new spectral duality and inclusion relations. The Bethe ansatz integrability is also demonstrated.Comment: 46 pages, 9 figure

Expressional regulation of PpDAM5 and PpDAM6, peach (Prunus persica) dormancy-associated MADS-box genes, by low temperature and dormancy-breaking reagent treatment

The present study investigated the expressional regulation of PpDAM5 and PpDAM6, two of the six peach (Prunus persica) dormancy-associated MADS-box genes, in relation to lateral bud endodormancy. PpDAM5 and PpDAM6 were originally identified as homologues of Arabidopsis SHORT VEGETATIVE PHASE/AGAMOUS-LIKE 24 identified in the EVERGROWING locus of peach. Furthermore, PpDAM5 and PpDAM6 have recently been suggested to be involved in terminal bud dormancy. In this study, seasonal expression analyses using leaves, stems, and lateral buds of high-chill and low-chill peaches in field conditions indicated that both genes were up-regulated during the endodormancy period and down-regulated with endodormancy release. Controlled environment experiments showed that the expression of both PpDAM5 and PpDAM6 were up-regulated by ambient cool temperatures in autumn, while they were down-regulated by the prolonged period of cold temperatures in winter. A negative correlation between expression levels of PpDAM5 and PpDAM6 and bud burst percentage was found in the prolonged cold temperature treatment. Application of the dormancy-breaking reagent cyanamide to endo/ecodormant lateral buds induced early bud break and down-regulation of PpDAM5 and PpDAM6 expression at the same time. These results collectively suggest that PpDAM5 and PpDAM6 may function in the chilling requirement of peach lateral buds through growth-inhibiting functions for bud break

A Liapunov functional for a matrix neutral difference-differential equation with one delay

AbstractFor the matrix neutral difference-differential equation ẋ(t) + Aẋ(t − τ)  Bx(t) + Cx(t − τ) we construct a quadratic Liapunov functional which gives necessary and sufficient conditions for the asymptotic stability of the solutions of that equation. We consider a difference equation approximation of the difference-differential equation, and for this difference equation we construct a Liapunov function from which we obtain the desired Liapunov functional by an appropriate limiting process. The Liapunov functional thus obtained gives the best possible estimate for the rates of growth or decay of the solutions of the matrix neutral difference-differential equation. The results obtained are natural generalizations of previous results obtained for a matrix retarded difference-differential equation with one delay