Deciphering interplay between Salmonella invasion effectors

Bacterial pathogens have evolved a specialized type III secretion system (T3SS) to translocate virulence effector proteins directly into eukaryotic target cells. Salmonellae deploy effectors that trigger localized actin reorganization to force their own entry into non-phagocytic host cells. Six effectors (SipC, SipA, SopE/2, SopB, SptP) can individually manipulate actin dynamics at the plasma membrane, which acts as a ‘signaling hub’ during Salmonella invasion. The extent of crosstalk between these spatially coincident effectors remains unknown. Here we describe trans and cis binary entry effector interplay (BENEFIT) screens that systematically examine functional associations between effectors following their delivery into the host cell. The results reveal extensive ordered synergistic and antagonistic relationships and their relative potency, and illuminate an unexpectedly sophisticated signaling network evolved through longstanding pathogen–host interaction

On the Hadronic Beam Model for Gamma-ray Production in Blazars

We consider, herein, a model for gamma-ray production in blazars in which a relativistic, highly-collimated electron-proton beam interacts with a dense, compact cloud as the jet propagates through the broad and perhaps narrow line regions (BLR and NLR) of active galactic nuclei (AGN). During the propagation of the beam through the cloud, the process of excitation of plasma waves becomes an important energy loss mechanism, especially for mildly relativistic proton beams. We compute the expected spectra of gamma-rays from the decay of neutral pions produced in hadronic collisions of the beam with the cloud, taking into account collisionless losses of the electron-proton beam. This model may explain the X-ray and TeV gamma-ray (both low and high emission states) of Mrk 421 as a result of synchrotron emission of secondary pairs from the decay of charged pions and gamma-ray emission from the decay of neutral pions for the plausible cloud parameters. However clouds can not be too hot and too dense. Otherwise the TeV gamma-rays can be attenuated by the bremsstrahlung radiation in the cloud and the secondary pairs are not able to efficiently produce synchrotron flares because of the dominant role of inverse Compton scattering. The non-variable $\gamma$-ray emission observed from Mrk 421 in the EGRET energy range cannot be described by the $\gamma$-rays from decay of neutral pions provided that the spectrum of protons in the beam is well described by a simple power law. These $\gamma$-rays might only be produced by secondary pairs scattering the soft non-variable X-rays which might originate in the inner part of the accretion disk.Comment: 14 pages,3 figures, latex, submitted to Ap

Production Test Rig for the ATLAS Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger Digital Processors

The Level-1 Calorimeter Trigger is a digital pipelined system, reducing the 40 MHz bunch-crossing rate down to 75 kHz. It consists of a Preprocessor, a Cluster Processor (CP), and a Jet/Energy-sum Processor (JEP). The CP and JEP receive digitised trigger-tower data from the Preprocessor and produce electron/photon, tau, and jet trigger multiplicities, total and missing transverse energies, and Region-of-Interest (RoI) information. Data are read out to the data acquisition (DAQ) system to monitor the trigger by using readout driver modules (ROD). A dedicated backplane has been designed to cope with the demanding requirements of the CP and JEP sub-systems. A number of pre-production boards were manufactured in order to fully populate a crate and test the robustness of the design on a large scale. Dedicated test modules to emulate digitised calorimeter signals have been used. All modules, cables and backplanes on test are final versions for use at the LHC. This test rig represents up to one third of the Level-1 digital processor system. Real-time data between modules were processed and time-slice readout data was transferred to the ROD at a trigger rate up to 100 kHz. Intensive testing consisted of checking the readout data by comparing to hardware simulations of the trigger. Domains of validity of the boards were also measured and dedicated stressful data patterns were used to check the reliability of the system. Tests results have been successful and the Level-1 calorimeter trigger system is proceeding to full production