Field Application of a Monoclonal Antibody Panel to Differentiate Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) Isolates

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is recognized as the most economically devastating disease of swine throughout the world. Nucleotide sequencing and serological studies have deomnstrated sustantial antigenic variation amoung PRRS virus (PRRSV) isolates (Murtaugh, et al., 1995; Nelson, et al., 1993, 1996). Recently, European-like PRRSV isolates have been identified in the US (Rossow, et al. 2000) and other new, highly virulent PRRSV isolates have appeared and affect sows at all stages of gestation causing mortality of adult pigs as well as young pigs (Epperson et al., 1997). Therefore, it is even more important to control the spread of these new strains. Clinical signs vary between herds, indicating that viruses may differ in pathogenicity. Furthermore, effective use of vaccines and management approaches to control PRRS has not always been successful

Hypercontractivity on the qq-Araki-Woods algebras

Extending a work of Carlen and Lieb, Biane has obtained the optimal hypercontractivity of the $q$-Ornstein-Uhlenbeck semigroup on the $q$-deformation of the free group algebra. In this note, we look for an extension of this result to the type III situation, that is for the $q$-Araki-Woods algebras. We show that hypercontractivity from $L^p$ to $L^2$ can occur if and only if the generator of the deformation is bounded.Comment: 17 page

Optimal Hypercontractivity for Fermi Fields and Related Non-Commutative Integration

Optimal hypercontractivity bounds for the fermion oscillator semigroup are obtained. These are the fermion analogs of the optimal hypercontractivity bounds for the boson oscillator semigroup obtained by Nelson. In the process, several results of independent interest in the theory of non-commutative integration are established. {}.Comment: 18 p., princeton/ecel/7-12-9

Quantum measurement in a family of hidden-variable theories

The measurement process for hidden-configuration formulations of quantum mechanics is analysed. It is shown how a satisfactory description of quantum measurement can be given in this framework. The unified treatment of hidden-configuration theories, including Bohmian mechanics and Nelson's stochastic mechanics, helps in understanding the true reasons why the problem of quantum measurement can succesfully be solved within such theories.Comment: 16 pages, LaTeX; all special macros are included in the file; a figure is there, but it is processed by LaTe

Vortex Lattice Melting into Disentangled Liquid Followed by the 3D-2D Decoupling Transition in YBa_2Cu_4O_8 Single Crystals

A sharp resistance drop associated with vortex lattice melting was observed in high quality YBa_2Cu_4O_8 single crystals. The melting line is well described well by the anisotropic GL theory. Two thermally activated flux flow regions, which were separated by a crossover line B_cr=1406.5(1-T/T_c)/T (T_c=79.0 K, B_cr in T), were observed in the vortex liquid phase. Activation energy for each region was obtained and the corresponding dissipation mechanism was discussed. Our results suggest that the vortex lattice in YBa_2Cu_4O_8 single crystal melts into disentangled liquid, which then undergoes a 3D-2D decoupling transition.Comment: 5 pages, 4 eps figures, RevTex (Latex2.09

On the Global Existence of Bohmian Mechanics

We show that the particle motion in Bohmian mechanics, given by the solution of an ordinary differential equation, exists globally: For a large class of potentials the singularities of the velocity field and infinity will not be reached in finite time for typical initial values. A substantial part of the analysis is based on the probabilistic significance of the quantum flux. We elucidate the connection between the conditions necessary for global existence and the self-adjointness of the Schr\"odinger Hamiltonian.Comment: 35 pages, LaTe

Incidence and progression of hand osteoarthritis in a large community-based cohort: the Johnston County Osteoarthritis Project

Objective: To describe the incidence and progression of radiographic and symptomatic hand osteoarthritis (rHOA and sxHOA) in a large community-based cohort. Design: Data were from the Johnston County OA Project (1999–2015, 12 ± 1.2 years follow-up, age 45+). Participants had bilateral hand radiographs each visit, read for Kellgren–Lawrence grade (KLG) at 30 joints. We defined rHOA as KLG ≥2 in ≥1 joint. SxHOA was defined in a hand/joint with rHOA and self-reported symptoms or tenderness on exam. Incidence was assessed in those without, while progression was assessed in those with, baseline rHOA. Proportions or medians are reported; differences by sex and race were assessed using models appropriate for dichotomous or continuous definitions, additionally adjusted for age, education, body mass index (BMI), and weight change. Results: Of 800 participants (68% women, 32% African American, mean age 60 years), 327 had baseline rHOA and were older, more often white and female, than those without rHOA (n = 473). The incidence of HOA was high, for rHOA (60%) and for sxHOA (13%). Women were more likely than men to have incident HOA, particularly for distal interphalangeal joint radiographic osteoarthritis (DIP rOA) (adjusted odds ratios (aOR) 1.60 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) [1.03, 2.49]) and sxHOA (aOR 2.98 [1.50, 5.91]). Progressive HOA was more similar by sex, although thumb base rOA progressed more frequently in women than in men (aOR 2.56 [1.44, 4.55]). Particularly HOA incidence, but also progression, was more frequent among whites compared with African Americans. Conclusion: This study provides much needed information about the natural history of HOA, a common and frequently debilitating condition, in the general population

Hsp70 in mitochondrial biogenesis

The family of hsp70 (70 kilodalton heat shock protein) molecular chaperones plays an essential and diverse role in cellular physiology, Hsp70 proteins appear to elicit their effects by interacting with polypeptides that present domains which exhibit non-native conformations at distinct stages during their life in the cell. In this paper we review work pertaining to the functions of hsp70 proteins in chaperoning mitochondrial protein biogenesis. Hsp70 proteins function in protein synthesis, protein translocation across mitochondrial membranes, protein folding and finally the delivery of misfolded proteins to proteolytic enzymes in the mitochondrial matrix

Critical Dynamics of Magnets

We review our current understanding of the critical dynamics of magnets above and below the transition temperature with focus on the effects due to the dipole--dipole interaction present in all real magnets. Significant progress in our understanding of real ferromagnets in the vicinity of the critical point has been made in the last decade through improved experimental techniques and theoretical advances in taking into account realistic spin-spin interactions. We start our review with a discussion of the theoretical results for the critical dynamics based on recent renormalization group, mode coupling and spin wave theories. A detailed comparison is made of the theory with experimental results obtained by different measuring techniques, such as neutron scattering, hyperfine interaction, muon--spin--resonance, electron--spin--resonance, and magnetic relaxation, in various materials. Furthermore we discuss the effects of dipolar interaction on the critical dynamics of three--dimensional isotropic antiferromagnets and uniaxial ferromagnets. Special attention is also paid to a discussion of the consequences of dipolar anisotropies on the existence of magnetic order and the spin--wave spectrum in two--dimensional ferromagnets and antiferromagnets. We close our review with a formulation of critical dynamics in terms of nonlinear Langevin equations.Comment: Review article (154 pages, figures included

A New Approach to Searching for Dark Matter Signals in Fermi-LAT Gamma Rays

Several cosmic ray experiments have measured excesses in electrons and positrons, relative to standard backgrounds, for energies from ~ 10 GeV - 1 TeV. These excesses could be due to new astrophysical sources, but an explanation in which the electrons and positrons are dark matter annihilation or decay products is also consistent. Fortunately, the Fermi-LAT diffuse gamma ray measurements can further test these models, since the electrons and positrons produce gamma rays in their interactions in the interstellar medium. Although the dark matter gamma ray signal consistent with the local electron and positron measurements should be quite large, as we review, there are substantial uncertainties in the modeling of diffuse backgrounds and, additionally, experimental uncertainties that make it difficult to claim a dark matter discovery. In this paper, we introduce an alternative method for understanding the diffuse gamma ray spectrum in which we take the intensity ratio in each energy bin of two different regions of the sky, thereby canceling common systematic uncertainties. For many spectra, this ratio fits well to a power law with a single break in energy. The two measured exponent indices are a robust discriminant between candidate models, and we demonstrate that dark matter annihilation scenarios can predict index values that require "extreme" parameters for background-only explanations.Comment: v1: 11 pages, 7 figures, 1 table, revtex4; v2: 13 pages, 8 figures, 1 table, revtex4, Figure 4 added, minor additions made to text, references added, conclusions unchanged, published versio