2,235 research outputs found
Rise of the BQ.1.1.37 SARS-CoV-2 Sublineage, Italy
No full text: BQ.1.1 has dominated the Europe and Americas COVID-19 wave across the 2022-2023 winter, and further viral evolution is expected to escape the consolidating immune responses. We report here the emergence of the BQ.1.1.37 variant in Italy, peaking in January 2022 before suffering competition by XBB.1.*. We attempted to correlate the potential fitness of BQ.1.1.37 with a unique two-amino acid insertion within the Spike protein.BQ.1.1 has dominated the Europe and Americas COVID-19 wave across the 2022-2023 winter, and further viral evolution is expected to escape the consolidating immune responses. We report here the emergence of the BQ.1.1.37 variant in Italy, peaking in January 2022 before suffering competition by XBB.1.*. We attempted to correlate the potential fitness of BQ.1.1.37 with a unique two-amino acid insertion within the Spike protein
BQ Ind: a double-mode SX Phoenicis star?
No full textFrom time-series photometry of BQ Ind we derive a primary f₁ = 12.1951 d⁻¹ and a secondary frequency f₂ = 15.7686 d⁻¹ . The period ratio P₂/P₁ = 0.7734 suggests that BQ Ind is a double-mode SX Phoenicis Star. With f₁ the fundamental mode and f₂ the first overtone, this ratio leads to an estimate of the mass M ≃ 1.40M☉
Nutev anomaly & strange-antistrange asymmetry
No full textThe NuTeV Collaboration reported a value of sin(2)theta(w) measured in neutrino-nucleon deep inelastic scattering, and found that the value is three standard deviations from the world average value of other electroweak measurements. If this result cannot be explained within conventional physics, it must imply some novel physics beyond the standard model. We report the correction from the asymmetric strange-antistrange sea by using both the light-cone meson-baryon model and the chiral quark model, and show that a significant part of the NuTeV anomaly can be explained by the strange-antistrange asymmetry.Physics, Particles & FieldsCPCI-S(ISTP)
Genetic and Structural Data on the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BQ.1 Variant Reveal Its Low Potential for Epidemiological Expansion
No full textThe BQ.1 SARS-CoV-2 variant, also known as Cerberus, is one of the most recent Omicron descendant lineages. Compared to its direct progenitor BA.5, BQ.1 has some additional spike mutations in some key antigenic sites, which confer further immune escape ability over other circulating lineages. In such a context, here, we perform a genome-based survey aimed at obtaining a complete-as-possible nuance of this rapidly evolving Omicron subvariant. Genetic data suggest that BQ.1 represents an evolutionary blind background, lacking the rapid diversification that is typical of a dangerous lineage. Indeed, the evolutionary rate of BQ.1 is very similar to that of BA.5 (7.6 x 10(-4) and 7 x 10(-4) subs/site/year, respectively), which has been circulating for several months. The Bayesian Skyline Plot reconstruction indicates a low level of genetic variability, suggesting that the peak was reached around 3 September 2022. Concerning the affinity for ACE2, structure analyses (also performed by comparing the properties of BQ.1 and BA.5 RBD) indicate that the impact of the BQ.1 mutations may be modest. Likewise, immunoinformatic analyses showed moderate differences between the BQ.1 and BA5 potential B-cell epitopes. In conclusion, genetic and structural analyses on SARS-CoV-2 BQ.1 suggest no evidence of a particularly dangerous or high expansion capability. Genome-based monitoring must continue uninterrupted for a better understanding of its descendants and all other lineages
The protective effects of endothelin-A receptor antagonist BQ-123 in pentylenetetrazole-induced seizure in rats
No full textEndothelin-1 has been shown to increase neuronal activity and glutaminergic synaptic transmission by endothelin-A receptors (ETAR) in the nucleus tractus solitarius neurons that play an important role in epileptic seizures. Therefore, BQ-I23 as an ETAR antagonist might attenuate neuronal excitability and glutaminergic synaptic transmission. The main purpose of the present study is to investigate the protective effect of acute BQ-123 treatment against pentylenetetrazole (PTZ)-induced tonic-clonic seizures. Wistar albino rats were divided into three groups: control, PTZ, and PTZ + BQ-123 groups. BQ-123 (3 mg/kg, intravenously) was administered for 15 min before injecting with PTZ (50 mg/kg, intraperitoneally). We determined a delay resulting from BQ-123 in duration of the seizure onset. Number of rats with major seizure also decreased according to scoring with video camera in PTZ + BQ-123 group. In BQ-123-treated group, there were eight rats without a major seizure, but only one rat had a delayed major seizure. The brain tissue glutathione peroxidase activity was significantly decreased in the PTZ and PTZ BQ-123 groups. According to the results of the control group, there was a significant increase in the protein carbonyl levels of the PTZ group and a significant increase in the nitric oxide levels of the PTZ + BQ-123 group. Histological examination showed an increase in the number of neuronal hyperchromatic nucleus especially in hippocampal gyrus dentatus region of BQ-123-treated group. We concluded that BQ-123 impeded the formation and spread of seizure to a great degree. The beneficial effects of BQ-I23 were comparatively supported with biochemical parameters and histological examinations.Scientific Research Fund of Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, TurkeyGaziosmanpasa UniversityThis research was supported and approved by The Scientific Research Fund of Gaziosmanpasa University, Tokat, Turkey
DAPP-BQ - Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology - Basic Questionnaire
No full textOstendorf F. DAPP-BQ - Dimensional Assessment of Personality Pathology - Basic Questionnaire. In: Geue K, Strauß B, Brähler E, eds. Diagnostische Verfahren in der Psychotherapie. Diagnostik für Klinik und Praxis. Diagnostik für Klinik und Praxis. Vol 1. 3rd ed. Göttingen: Hogrefe; 2016: 107-112
Unified parametrization of quark and lepton mixing matrices
No full textWe present a unified parametrization of quark and lepton mixing matrices. By using some simple relations between the mixing angles of quarks and leptons, i.e., the quark-lepton complementarity, we parametrize the lepton mixing matrix with the Wolfenstein parameters lambda and A of the quark mixing matrix. It is shown that the Wolfenstein parameter lambda can measure both the deviation of the quark mixing matrix from the unit matrix, and the deviation of the lepton mixing matrix from the exactly bimaximal mixing pattern.Astronomy & AstrophysicsPhysics, Particles & FieldsSCI(E)0ARTICLE9null7
Endothelin-A receptor antagonist BQ-610 blocks cigarette smoke-induced mitogenesis in rat airways and vessels
No full text To ascertain whether endothelin may play a role in cigarette smoke-induced cell proliferation in the airways and arterial vasculature of the lung, we exposed groups of seven Sprague-Dawley rats to either room air (control) plus saline infusion, an intravenous infusion of the selective endothelin A antagonist BQ-610 (control BQ-610), the smoke of 10 cigarettes (smoke only), or the smoke of 10 cigarettes after intravenous BQ-610 infusion (smoke + BQ-610). Cell proliferation was quantified by determining the percentage of cell nuclei labeled by 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine. We separately evaluated the cells in the epithelium and wall components of the bronchioles, and endothelium and wall components of the peribronchiolar and perialveolar ductular arteries. We found that cigarette smoke produced significant cell proliferation in the airway epithelium and wall, in the peribronchiolar arterial endothelial compartment, and in both the endothelial and wall compartments of the perialveolar ductular arteries. Pretreatment with BQ-610 reduced the peribronchiolar arterial endothelial and the perialveolar ductular arterial wall proliferation to control lev- els and reduced but did not totally abrogate the smoke-in- duced proliferation of the airway epithelial, airway wall, and perialveolar ductular arterial endothelial compartments. We conclude that cigarette smoke-induced cell proliferation of the airways and pulmonary arterial vessels is at least partially mediated through stimulation of the endothelin-A receptors. </jats:p
Genetic and Structural Data on the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BQ.1 Variant Reveal Its Low Potential for Epidemiological Expansion
No full textThe BQ.1 SARS-CoV-2 variant, also known as Cerberus, is one of the most recent Omicron descendant lineages. Compared to its direct progenitor BA.5, BQ.1 has some additional spike mutations in some key antigenic sites, which confer further immune escape ability over other circulating lineages. In such a context, here, we perform a genome-based survey aimed at obtaining a complete-as-possible nuance of this rapidly evolving Omicron subvariant. Genetic data suggest that BQ.1 represents an evolutionary blind background, lacking the rapid diversification that is typical of a dangerous lineage. Indeed, the evolutionary rate of BQ.1 is very similar to that of BA.5 (7.6 × 10−4 and 7 × 10−4 subs/site/year, respectively), which has been circulating for several months. The Bayesian Skyline Plot reconstruction indicates a low level of genetic variability, suggesting that the peak was reached around 3 September 2022. Concerning the affinity for ACE2, structure analyses (also performed by comparing the properties of BQ.1 and BA.5 RBD) indicate that the impact of the BQ.1 mutations may be modest. Likewise, immunoinformatic analyses showed moderate differences between the BQ.1 and BA5 potential B-cell epitopes. In conclusion, genetic and structural analyses on SARS-CoV-2 BQ.1 suggest no evidence of a particularly dangerous or high expansion capability. Genome-based monitoring must continue uninterrupted for a better understanding of its descendants and all other lineages
NuTeV anomaly versus strange-antistrange asymmetry
No full textWe report the correction from the asymmetric strange- antistrange sea of the nucleon by using both the light-cone baryon-meson fluctuation model and the chiral quark model, and show that a significant part of the NuTeV anomaly can be explained by the strange-antistrange asymmetry. We also show that the calculated s/(s) over bar asymmetry are compatible with the NuTeV data by including some additional symmetric s/(s) over bar quark contribution.Physics, NuclearPhysics, Particles & FieldsSCI(E)CPCI-S(ISTP)
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