We present an improved analysis of the final data set from the QUaD experiment. Using an improved technique to remove ground contamination, we double the effective sky area and hence increase the ...precision of our cosmic microwave background (CMB) power spectrum measurements by ~30% versus that previously reported. In addition, we have improved our modeling of the instrument beams and have reduced our absolute calibration uncertainty from 5% to 3.5% in temperature. The robustness of our results is confirmed through extensive jackknife tests, and by way of the agreement that we find between our two fully independent analysis pipelines. For the standard six-parameter Delta *LCDM model, the addition of QUaD data marginally improves the constraints on a number of cosmological parameters over those obtained from the WMAP experiment alone. The impact of QUaD data is significantly greater for a model extended to include either a running in the scalar spectral index, or a possible tensor component, or both. Adding both the QUaD data and the results from the Arcminute Cosmology Bolometer Array Receiver experiment, the uncertainty in the spectral index running is reduced by ~25% compared to WMAP alone, while the upper limit on the tensor-to-scalar ratio is reduced from r < 0.48 to r < 0.33 (95% c.l.). This is the strongest limit on tensors to date from the CMB alone. We also use our polarization measurements to place constraints on parity-violating interactions to the surface of last scattering, constraining the energy scale of Lorentz violating interactions to <1.5 X 10-43 GeV (68% c.l.). Finally, we place a robust upper limit on the strength of the lensing B-mode signal. Assuming a single flat band power between = 200 and = 2000, we constrain the amplitude of B-modes to be <0.57 Delta *mK2 (95% c.l.).
Single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) generation is a crucial step in several molecular biology applications, such as sequencing or DNA chip and microarray technology. Molecules of ssDNA also play a key role ...in the selection of ssDNA aptamers through Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment (SELEX). With particular interest for this application, herein we present a comparative study of the most used methods for generation of ssDNA used in SELEX, such as asymmetric PCR, enzyme digestion and magnetic separation with streptavidin beads. In addition, we evaluate a new technique that combines asymmetric PCR and enzyme digestion with the aim to achieve the maximum efficiency in ssDNA generation. The methods studied were compared in terms of quality of ssDNA using electrophoretic analysis and generated ssDNA yields were quantitatively measured using an Enzyme-Linked OligoNucleotide Assay (ELONA).
We report results from the second and third seasons of observation with the QUaD experiment. Angular power spectra of the cosmic microwave background are derived for both temperature and polarization ...at both 100 GHz and 150 GHz, and as cross-frequency spectra. All spectra are subjected to an extensive set of jackknife tests to probe for possible systematic contamination. For the implemented data cuts and processing technique such contamination is undetectable. We analyze the difference map formed between the 100 and 150 GHz bands and find no evidence of foreground contamination in polarization. The spectra are then combined to form a single set of results which are shown to be consistent with the prevailing LCDM model. The sensitivity of the polarization results is considerably better than that of any previous experiment-for the first time multiple acoustic peaks are detected in the E-mode power spectrum at high significance.
The development of drug dependence requires prior initiation. What is the relationship between the risk factors for initiation and dependence?
Using smoking as a model addiction, we assessed smoking ...initiation (SI) and nicotine dependence (ND) by personal interview in 1898 female twins from the population-based Virginia Twin Registry. We developed a twin structural equation model that estimates the correlation between the liability to SI and the liability to ND, given SI.
The liabilities to SI and ND were substantially correlated but not identical. Heritable factors played an important aetiological role in SI and in ND. While the majority of genetic risk factors for ND were shared with SI, a distinct set of familial factors, which were probably partly genetic, solely influenced the risk for ND. SI was associated with low levels of education and religiosity, high levels of neuroticism and extroversion and a history of a wide range of psychiatric disorders. ND was associated with low levels of education, extroversion, mastery, and self-esteem, high levels of neuroticism and dependency and a history of mood and alcohol use disorders.
The aetiological factors that influence SI and ND, while overlapping, are not perfectly correlated. One set of genetic factors plays a significant aetiological role in both SI and ND, while another set of familial factors, probably in part genetic, solely influences ND. Some risk factors for SI and ND impact similarly on both stages, some act at only one stage and others impact differently and even in opposite directions at the two stages. The pathway to substance dependence is complex and involves multiple genetic and environmental risk factors.
There has been a marked increase in the use of the discrete element method (DEM) in geomechanics in recent years. The way in which DEM simulations are set up can have a noticeable influence on the ...observed response. The conditions for quasi-static shearing in DEM simulations of granular materials were studied here within the critical-state framework of the soil behaviour. Thirty-two constant-p′ triaxial simulations were carried out from which the critical-state relationships were defined in the void ratio-mean effective stress and deviator fabric-mechanical coordination number planes. Clear trends were observed for the void ratio, the coordination number, and the deviatoric fabric at the critical state as the inertial number, I, was varied. The critical state relationships were aligned along distinct loci for each value of I. The critical state framework was used to show that there is an upper bound to the I values below which the simulation is quasi-static and that the observed behaviour is independent of the strain rate. The parameter I was shown to be a useful measure for assessing the quality of quasi-static DEM simulations.
Poly (
n-butyl cyanoacrylate) (PBCA) nanoparticles were prepared by a dispersion polymerisation process in water at pH 3 and using dextran as a stabilising agent. The drug insulin was introduced ...during the latter stages of particle synthesis and was found not to interfere with the polymer structure, molecular weight, and the particle size. Nanoparticles were exposed to the enzyme esterase in phosphate buffered saline solution at 37°C for time periods up to 4
h. Esterase catalyses the degradation of the PBCA through hydrolysis of the side chain on the repeat unit with the release of butanol, and this was monitored as an indicator of degradation. The release of both butanol and insulin occurred via similar biphasic processes, with an initial burst release from the surface, followed by a slower diffusionally hindered release associated with particle erosion. Hydrolysis of the nanoparticle polymer was confirmed by infrared spectroscopy. Particle size reduces with time of exposure to esterase, but is greatest in the first 30
min of exposure. Despite the hydrolysis reaction, and reduction in particle size, there was no reduction in residual polymer molecular weight suggesting a progressive loss of entire chains from the active surface. Polymer loss is thought to occur through either solvation of degradation residue or through complete depolymerisation of hydrolysed chains.
Evidence about the impact of marital status before hematopoietic cell transplantation (hct) on outcomes after hct is conflicting.
We identified patients 40 years of age and older within the Center ...for International Blood and Marrow Transplant Research registry who underwent hct between January 2008 and December 2015. Marital status before hct was declared as one of: married or living with a partner, single (never married), separated or divorced, and widowed. We performed a multivariable analysis to determine the association of marital status with outcomes after hct.
We identified 10,226 allogeneic and 5714 autologous hct cases with, respectively, a median follow-up of 37 months (range: 1-102 months) and 40 months (range: 1-106 months). No association between marital status and overall survival was observed in either the allogeneic (
= 0.58) or autologous (
= 0.17) setting. However, marital status was associated with grades 2-4 acute graft-versus-host disease (gvhd),
< 0.001, and chronic gvhd,
= 0.04. The risk of grades 2-4 acute gvhd was increased in separated compared with married patients hazard ratio (hr): 1.13; 95% confidence interval (ci): 1.03 to 1.24, and single patients had a reduced risk of grades 2-4 acute gvhd (hr: 0.87; 95% ci: 0.77 to 0.98). The risk of chronic gvhd was lower in widowed compared with married patients (hr: 0.82; 95% ci: 0.67 to 0.99).
Overall survival after hct is not influenced by marital status, but associations were evident between marital status and grades 2-4 acute and chronic gvhd. To better appreciate the effects of marital status and social support, future research should consider using validated scales to measure social support and patient and caregiver reports of caregiver commitment, and to assess health-related quality of life together with health care utilization.
Summary
Human infection with Trypanosoma cruzi leads to Chagas disease, which presents as several different clinical conditions ranging from an asymptomatic form to a severe dilated cardiomyopathy. ...Several studies have demonstrated that T cells play a critical role in the development of cardiac pathology, as well as in immunoregulation during chronic disease. However, the mechanisms that drive protective or pathogenic T cell response are not known. We have shown that CD4+ T cells from chagasic patients preferentially express T cell receptor (TCR) β‐chain variable region (Vβ) 5. The aim of this work was to determine whether T cells expressing this particular Vβ region displayed variable or restricted CDR3 sequences, as an indicator of the nature of the stimulus leading to the activation of these T cells in vivo. Additionally, we aimed to evaluate phenotypic characteristics of these cells that might be associated with pathology. CDR3 junctional region sequencing of Vβ5·1 expressing CD4+ T cells revealed the occurrence of a highly homologous CDR3 region with conserved TCR Jβ region usage among patients with cardiac, but not indeterminate, Chagas disease. Moreover, correlation analysis indicated that the frequency of CD4+Vβ5·1+ cells is associated with granzyme A expression, suggesting that these cells might display cytotoxic function. Together these results provide new insight into T cell recognition of antigens involved in Chagas disease and suggest that these cells may be implicated in the pathogenesis of chagasic cardiomyopathy.
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