Canine distemper virus neutralization activity is low in human serum and it is sensitive to an amino acid substitution in the hemagglutinin protein

© 2015 Elsevier Inc.Serum was analyzed from 146 healthy adult volunteers in eastern Africa to evaluate measles virus (MV) and canine distemper virus (CDV) neutralizing antibody (nAb) prevalence and potency. MV plaque reduction neutralization test (PRNT) results indicated that all sera were positive for MV nAbs. Furthermore, the 50% neutralizing dose (ND50) for the majority of sera corresponded to antibody titers induced by MV vaccination. CDV nAbs titers were low and generally were detected in sera with high MV nAb titers. A mutant CDV was generated that was less sensitive to neutralization by human serum. The mutant virus genome had 10 nucleotide substitutions, which coded for single amino acid substitutions in the fusion (F) and hemagglutinin (H) glycoproteins and two substitutions in the large polymerase (L) protein. The H substitution occurred in a conserved region involved in receptor interactions among morbilliviruses, implying that this region is a target for cross-reactive neutralizing antibodies

Rancang Bangun dan Analisis Kinerja Rumah Pengering Kopi Tipe Efek Rumah Kaca dengan Mekanisme Konveksi Paksa

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk merancang rumah pengering kopi menggunakan plastik ultra violet (UV Solar Dryer) dengan mekanisme konveksi paksa dan menguji performansi rumah pengering kopi. Penelitian ini dilakukan dengan melakukan perancangan rumah pengering biji kopi terlebih dahulu dan kemudian dilakukan uji performansi dari rumah pengering tersebut. Desain rumah pengering dengan ukuran 5,5 x 2,9 x 1,9 meter menggunakan cover berupa plastik ultra violet. Di dalam rumah pengering terdapat tiga buah rak permanen dengan ukuran masing-masing rak adalah 3,5 x 0,5 x 0,85 meter. Untuk mempercepat proses pengeringan, meratakan suhu bahan serta menguapkan air bahan maka dipasanglah dua buah exhaust fan dengan ukuran 0,35 x 0,22 x 0,395 meter. Uji performansi dilakukan dengan tiga variasi kecepatan udara pada exhaust fan yaitu 0,5 ; 1,0 ; dan 1,36 m/s. Besaran-besaran penting yang dianalisis adalah laju pengeringan bahan, konsumsi energi spesifik (KES) dan efisiensi penggunaan energi. Analisis teknik menunjukkan bahwa rumah pengering kopi layak untuk  digunakan dalam usaha pengeringan kopi. Hal ini didasarkan pada nilai  efisiensi pengeringan yang dicapai pada pengujian di pukul 14.00 dengan kecepatan udara 1,0 m/s cenderung lebih besar dari pada pengujian dengan kecepatan 1,36 m/s dan 0,5 m/s di pukul 11.00, 12.00, 13.00 dan 15.00 dengan nilai efisiensi tertinggi 19,448 %. Sedangkan untuk nilai konsumsi energi spesifik (KES) tertinggi pada pengujian di pukul 12.00 dengan kecepatan udara 0,5 m/s adalah 93824,19 kJ/kg.This study aims to design a coffee dryer house using ultra violet plastic (UV Solar Dryer) with a forced convection mechanism and to test the performance of the coffee dryer house. This research was conducted by designing the coffee bean drying house and testing the performance of the drying house. The design of the dryer house with a size of 5.5 x 2.9 x 1.9 meters uses a cover in the form of ultra violet plastic. Inside the dryer house there are three permanent racks with a size of 3.5 x 0.5 x 0.85 meters each. To speed up the drying process, equalize the temperature of the material and evaporate the material water, two exhaust fans are installed with a size of 0.35 x 0.22 x 0.395 meters. The performance test was carried out with three variations of air velocity at the exhaust fan, namely 0.5; 1.0; and 1.36 m/s. The important quantities analyzed are the drying rate of the material, the specific energy consumption and the efficiency of energy use. Technical analysis shows that the coffee dryer house is suitable for use in the coffee drying business. This is based on the drying efficiency value achieved in the test at 14.00 with an air velocity of 1.0 m/s which tends to be greater than the test with a speed of 1.36 m/s and 0.5 m/s at 11.00, 12.00, 13.00 and 15.00 with the highest efficiency value of 19.448%. Meanwhile, the highest value of specific energy consumption in the test at 12.00 with an air velocity of 0.5 m/s was 93824.19 kJ/k

Selective inhibition of phosphodiesterase 7 enzymes reduces motivation for nicotine use through modulation of mesolimbic dopaminergic transmission

Approximately 5 million people die from diseases related to nicotine addiction and tobacco use each year. The nicotine-induced increase of corticomesolimbic dopaminergic (DAergic) transmission and hypodopaminergic conditions occurring during abstinence are important for maintaining drug-use habits. We examined the notion of reequilibrating DAergic transmission by inhibiting phosphodiesterase 7 (PDE7), an intracellular enzyme highly expressed in the corticomesolimbic circuitry and responsible for the degradation of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP), the main second messenger modulated by DA receptor activation. Using selective PDE7 inhibitors, we demonstrated in male rats that systemic PDE7 enzyme inhibition reduced nicotine self-administration and prevented reinstatement to nicotine seeking evoked by cues or by the pharmacological stressor yohimbine. The effect was also observed by direct application of the PDE7 inhibitors into the nucleus accumbens (NAc) shell but not into the core. Inhibition of PDE7 resulted in increased DA- and cAMP-regulated neuronal phosphoprotein and cAMP response element-binding protein and their phosphorylated forms in the NAc. It also enhanced the DA D1 receptor agonism-mediated effects, indicating potentiation of protein kinase A–dependent transmission downstream of D1 receptor activation. In electrophysiological recordings from DA neurons in the lateral posterior ventral tegmental area, the PDE7 inhibitors attenuated the spontaneous activity of DA neurons. This effect was exerted through the potentiation of D1 receptor signaling and the subsequent facilitation of c-aminobutyric acid transmission. The PDE7 inhibitors did not elicit conditioned place preference and did not induce intravenous self-administration, indicating lack of reinforcing properties. Thus, PDE7 inhibitors have the potential to treat nicotine abuse

Graph neural networks for reconstruction and classification in KM3NeT

Instrumentatio

All-sky Search for High-Energy Neutrinos from Gravitational Wave Event GW170104 with the ANTARES Neutrino Telescope

Advanced LIGO detected a significant gravitational wave signal (GW170104) originating from the coalescence of two black holes during the second observation run on January 4$^{\textrm{th}}$, 2017. An all-sky high-energy neutrino follow-up search has been made using data from the ANTARES neutrino telescope, including both upgoing and downgoing events in two separate analyses. No neutrino candidates were found within $\pm500$ s around the GW event time nor any time clustering of events over an extended time window of $\pm3$ months. The non-detection is used to constrain isotropic-equivalent high-energy neutrino emission from GW170104 to less than $\sim4\times 10^{54}$ erg for a $E^{-2}$ spectrum

The ANTARES Collaboration: Contributions to ICRC 2017 Part I: Neutrino astronomy (diffuse fluxes and point sources)

Papers on neutrino astronomy (diffuse fluxes and point sources, prepared for the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017, Busan, South Korea) by the ANTARES Collaboratio

The ANTARES Collaboration: Contributions to ICRC 2017 Part III: Searches for dark matter and exotics, neutrino oscillations and detector calibration

Papers on the searches for dark matter and exotics, neutrino oscillations and detector calibration, prepared for the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017, Busan, South Korea) by the ANTARES Collaboratio

The ANTARES Collaboration: Contributions to ICRC 2017 Part II: The multi-messenger program

Papers on the ANTARES multi-messenger program, prepared for the 35th International Cosmic Ray Conference (ICRC 2017, Busan, South Korea) by the ANTARES Collaboratio