Elevated levels of antibodies to 60 kDa heat shock proteins are associated with severe coronary heart disease and carotid atherosclerosis. The presence of self hsp60-reacting antibodies can only be ...partially explained by microbial infections and induction by bacterial hsp65 proteins, since important differences (including the epitope specificity and complement activating ability) between hsp60 and hsp65 reacting antibodies have been shown. The aim of this study was to investigate the possible effects of genetic polymorphisms of different genes of proinflammatory cytokines on anti-hsp60 autoantibody levels. One hundred and seventy-six male blood donors were recruited and antibody levels to human hsp60 and Mycobacterium bovis hsp65 were determined by ELISA. Also in these donors, polymorphisms of the promoter of the IL-6 gene at position -174, the biallelic base exchange of the IL-1 beta gene at the -511 position and the IL-1 alpha gene at position -889 were investigated by PCR. A strong association between IL-6 -174 polymorphism and anti-hsp60 antibody levels was seen; the effect on anti-hsp65 antibody was less marked. Carriers of allele C at this position had significantly lower levels of anti-hsp60 and anti-hsp65 antibodies. A lack of associations between IL-1 beta and IL-1 alpha gene polymorphisms and antibody levels was detected. This is the first study in which associations between genetic polymorphisms and autoantibody levels have been described in healthy subjects. Further studies are needed to gain insight into the detailed mechanism of how the IL-6 gene polymorphism at position -174 influences anti-hsp60 autoantibody levels.
Efficient transfer of therapeutic genes into nondividing human cells can be accomplished by inserting the genes into lentiviruses and infecting the cells with the modified viruses. The most developed ...lentivirus gene transfer systems are based on HIV-1, but because of the widespread HIV epidemic, the use of HIV-based vectors for gene therapy may be associated with a safety risk. In an attempt to find another lentivirus which can transduce human cells and might be safer than HIV-1, we generated gene transfer constructs based on the sheep lentivirus Visna. Molecular analysis of the constructs in a transient production system indicated that Visna produced as many mature virus particles as did HIV-1. Moreover, the virus particles incorporated a heterologous surface protein marker-gene-containing vector RNAs as efficiently as did HIV-1. However, the Visna virus transduced target cells poorly because of defects in reverse transcription and integration of the vector. Further modifications must be made to the Visna gene transfer system if the system is to be used in clinical gene therapy applications.
The Southeast United States (US) might not have warmed as much as the rest of the country over the past 50-100 years. Providing an improved understanding of this potential anomaly, and specifically ...the roles played by aerosols, was one of the main goals for the Southeast Atmosphere Study (SAS). Natural emissions of ozone-and-aerosol-precursor gases such as isoprene and monoterpenes are high in the southeast of the US. In addition, anthropogenic emissions are significant inthe Southeast US and summertime photochemistry is rapid. The NOAA-led SENEX (Southeast Nexus) aircraft campaign was one of the major components of the SAS studyand was focused on studying the interactions between biogenic and anthropogenic emissions to form secondary pollutants. During SENEX, the NOAA WP-3D aircraft conducted 20 research flights between 27 May and 10 July 2013 based out of Smyrna, TN. Here we describe the experimental approach, the science goals and early results of the NOAA SENEX campaign. The aircraft, its capabilities and standard measurements are described. The instrument payload is summarized including detection limits, accuracy, precision and time resolutions for all gas-and-aerosol phase instruments. The inter-comparisons of compounds measured with multiple instruments on the NOAA WP-3D are presented and were almost all within the stated uncertainties. The SENEX flights included day- and nighttime flights in the Southeast as well as flights over areas with intense shale gas extraction (Marcellus, Fayetteville and Haynesville shale). We present one example flight on 16 June 2013, which was a daytime flight over the Atlanta region, where several crosswind transects of plumes from the city and nearby point sources, such as power plants, paper mills and landfills, were flown. The area around Atlanta has large biogenic isoprene emissions, which provided an excellent case for studying the interactions between biogenic and anthropogenic emissions. In this example flight, chemistry in and outside the Atlanta plumes was observed for several hours after emission. The analysis of this flight showcases the strategies implemented to answer some of the main SENEX science questions.
Abstract
Due to zirconia and titania additions carbon‐free fine grained alumina ceramics are produced with superior thermal shock performance. The decomposition of Al
2
TiO
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in the alumina doped ...matrix dominates during thermal shock attack and leads to higher strengths in comparison to the as sintered samples after thermal shock. EDX, EBSD, and XRD investigations describe the phase evolution before and after quenching the samples from 950 to 1200 °C in water, respectively.
The photosynthetic pigments and photochemical efficiency of photosystem 2 (PS2) were studied in four constitutive species (Achillea millefolium L., Festuca pseudovina Hack. ex Wiesb., Potentilla ...arenaria Borkh., and Thymus degenianus Lyka) of a semiarid grassland in South-eastern Hungary. Every species displayed typical sun-adapted traits and substantial plasticity in the composition and functioning of the photosynthetic apparatus. The contents of chlorophylls (Chls) and carotenoids (Cars) on a dry matter basis declined from May to July, however, the amount of total Cars on a Chl basis increased. This increase was the largest in Potentilla (48 %) and the smallest in Achillea (14 %). The pool of xanthophylls (VAZ) was between 25 % and 45 % of the total Car content and was larger in July than in May. The content of β-carotene increased by July, but lutein content did not change significantly. The Chl fluorescence ratio Fv/Fm was reduced by 3–10 % at noon, reflecting the down-regulation of PS2 in the period of high irradiance and high temperature. The occurrence of minimal values of ΔF/Fm’ showed close correlation to the de-epoxidation rate of violaxanthin. Hence in natural habitats these species developed a considerable capacity to dissipate excess excitation energy in the summer period in their photosynthetic apparatus through the xanthophyll cycle pool and a related photoprotective mechanism, when the photochemical utilization of photon energy was down-regulated.
Kaons and protons carry large parts of two conserved quantities, strangeness and baryon number. It is argued that their correlation and thus also fluctuations are sensitive to conditions prevailing ...at the anticipated parton-hadron phase boundary. Fluctuations of the \((\mathrm{K}^+ + \mathrm{K}^-)/(\mathrm{p}+\bar{\mathrm{p}})\) and \(\mathrm{K}^+/\mathrm{p}\) ratios have been measured for the first time by NA49 in central Pb+Pb collisions at 5 SPS energies between \(\sqrt{s_{NN}}\)= 6.3 GeV and 17.3 GeV. Both ratios exhibit a change of sign in \(\sigma_{\mathrm{dyn}}\), a measure of non-statistical fluctuations, around \(\sqrt{s_{NN}}\) = 8 GeV. Below this energy, \(\sigma_{\mathrm{dyn}}\) is positive, indicating higher fluctuation compared to a mixed event background sample, while for higher energies, \(\sigma_{\mathrm{dyn}}\) is negative, indicating correlated emission of kaons and protons. The results are compared to UrQMD calculations which which give a good description at the higher SPS energies, but fail to reproduce the transition to positive values.
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