100,423 research outputs found
Letter, [Author unclear] to Paulina T. Merritt
Handwritten letter to Paulina Merritt from an unknown author, October 1, 1876.
Handwritten biographical information on Paulina T. McClung Merritt
A handwritten biography of Paulina T. McClung Merritt by an unknown author, 1892.
Heterogeneous and tissue-specific regulation of effector T cell responses by IFN-gamma during Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection.
IFN-γ and T cells are both required for the development of experimental cerebral malaria during Plasmodium berghei ANKA infection. Surprisingly, however, the role of IFN-γ in shaping the effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cell response during this infection has not been examined in detail. To address this, we have compared the effector T cell responses in wild-type and IFN-γ(-/-) mice during P. berghei ANKA infection. The expansion of splenic CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells during P. berghei ANKA infection was unaffected by the absence of IFN-γ, but the contraction phase of the T cell response was significantly attenuated. Splenic T cell activation and effector function were essentially normal in IFN-γ(-/-) mice; however, the migration to, and accumulation of, effector CD4(+) and CD8(+) T cells in the lung, liver, and brain was altered in IFN-γ(-/-) mice. Interestingly, activation and accumulation of T cells in various nonlymphoid organs was differently affected by lack of IFN-γ, suggesting that IFN-γ influences T cell effector function to varying levels in different anatomical locations. Importantly, control of splenic T cell numbers during P. berghei ANKA infection depended on active IFN-γ-dependent environmental signals--leading to T cell apoptosis--rather than upon intrinsic alterations in T cell programming. To our knowledge, this is the first study to fully investigate the role of IFN-γ in modulating T cell function during P. berghei ANKA infection and reveals that IFN-γ is required for efficient contraction of the pool of activated T cells
Dispelling the Myths Behind First-author Citation Counts
We conducted a full-scale evaluative citation analysis study of scholars in the XML research field to explore just how different from each other author rankings resulting from different citation counting methods actually are, and to demonstrate the capability of emerging data and tools on the Web in supporting more realistic citation counting methods. Our results contest some common arguments for the continued
use of first-author citation counts in the evaluation of scholars, such as high correlations between author rankings by first-author citation counts and other citation
counting methods, and high costs of using more realistic citation counting methods that are not well-supported by the ISI databases. It is argued that increasingly available digital full text research papers make it possible for citation analysis studies to go beyond what the ISI databases have directly supported and to employ more
sophisticated methods
Pelevin’s Trinity in the novel “t”: author – protagonist – reader
The article attempts to interpret Pelevin's artistic strategy in the novel "T" by exploring its subject organization and addressing the key problems of the author, the protagonist, and the reader as they are seen by the researcher. The article analyzes the peculiarities of constructing the narrative reality in the novel "T", and goes on to discuss Pelevin's philosophic models of the development of the humankind, and the emergence of his new anthropology
Measuring industry-science links through inventor-author relations: A profiling method
In this pilot study we examine the performance of text-based profiling in recovering a set of validated inventor-author links. In a first step we match patents and publications solely based on their similarity in content. Next, we compare inventor and author names on the highest ranked matches for the occurrence of name matches. Finally, we compare these candidate matches with the names listed in a validated set of inventor-author names. Our text-based profile methodology performs significantly better than a random matching of patents and publications, suggesting that text-based profiling is a valuable complementary tool to the name searches used in previous studies.innovation; industry-science links; text-based profiling;
Wave turbulence of a rotating array of quantized vortices in the T → 0 temperature limit
The dynamics of quantized vortices in the zero temperature limit is currently of great interest, particularly in the case of the Fermi superfluid He-B. Here we study wave turbulence, generated by the librating motion of a rotating cylindrical container filled with He-B, in the limit of vanishing viscous forces at temperatures . The polarization of the quantized vortices with respect to the axis of rotation is measured using non-invasive NMR techniques. We observe a decrease of the polarization when the librating motion is started, and a two-stage relaxation process when the modulation of the rotation velocity is stopped. The first relaxation process is associated with the dissipation of large-scale flow stored in inertial waves and the solid body rotation of the vortex array. From the decay of these energy reservoirs we determine the rate of energy dissipation of large-scale flow. The later second process is related to the relaxation of Kelvin waves on individual vortices. This process is monitored by the recovery of the polarization. The existence of a Kelvin wave cascade at the lowest temperatures is currently a central open question. We supply some evidence for the cascade
DNA fusion gene vaccination mobilizes effective anti-leukemic cytotoxic T lymphocytes from a tolerized repertoire
The majority of known human tumor-associated antigens derive from non-mutated self proteins. T cell tolerance, essential to prevent autoimmunity, must therefore be cautiously circumvented to generate cytotoxic T cell responses against these targets. Our strategy uses DNA fusion vaccines to activate high levels of peptide-specific CTL. Key foreign sequences from tetanus toxin activate tolerance-breaking CD4+ T cell help. Candidate MHC class Ibinding tumor peptide sequences are fused to the C terminus for optimal processing and presentation. To model performance against a leukemia-associated antigen in a tolerized setting, we constructed a fusion vaccine encoding an immunodominant CTL epitopederived from Friend murine leukemia virus gag protein (FMuLVgag) and vaccinated tolerant FMuLVgag-transgenic (gag-Tg) mice. Vaccination with the construct induced epitopespecificIFN-c-producing CD8+ T cells in normal and gag-Tg mice. The frequency and avidity of activated cells were reduced in gag-Tg mice, and no autoimmune injury resulted. However, these CD8+ T cells did exhibit gag-specific cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo. Also, epitope-specific CTL killed FBL-3 leukemia cells expressing endogenous FMuLVgag antigen and protected against leukemia challenge in vivo. These results demonstrate a simple strategy to engage anti-microbial T cell help to activate epitope-specific polyclonal CD8+ T cell responses from a residual tolerized repertoire
Acoustic radiation due to scattering of T-S wave by the mean-flow distortion induced by steady local suction
Substantial sound waves can be generated by boundary-layer instability modes when the latter are scattered by a rapid mean-flow distortion. This is a rather generic mechanism and operates when an oncoming T-S wave is scattered by a steady local suction slot. This paper focuses on this problem by extending a recently developed Local Scattering Theory (Wu & Dong, J. Fluid Mech. submitted), where a so-called transmission coefficient, defined as the ratio of the T-S wave amplitude downstream of the scatter to that upstream, is introduced to characterize the effect of a local scatter on boundary-layer instability and transition. As in the earlier work, the mathematical formulation is based on triple-deck formulism, but in order to accommodate the acoustic far field, which was not considered in the paper mentioned, the unsteady terms in the upper deck, which play a leading-order role in radiation, are retained, and the influence of the radiated sound on the near-wall perturbation is included. The upper deck equation for the pressure is the Helmholtz equation rather than the Laplace equation. This leads to a modified pressure-displacement relation, which is coupled with the linearized boundary-layer equations in the lower deck. Discretization of the whole system formulates a generalized eigenvalue problem, which is solved numerically. It is found that suction suppresses oncoming T-S waves, and this effect increases with the suction velocity and the slot width. The directivity is ndependent of the flow parameters only when the Mach number is low. The intensity of the radiated sound in general increases with the frequency, the suction velocity and the width of the suction slot. Interestingly, for O(1) suction velocities, the radiated sound is very weak, indicating that the gain of stabilizing effect does not cause aeroacoustic penalty
NANOMETRSKE CELULOZNE PLASTI ZA SPECIFIČNO ADSORPCIJO POLISAHARIDOV IN IMOBILIZACIJO BIOAKTIVNIH MOLEKUL
The aim of the thesis is to investigate the applicability of nanometric amorphous cellulose model films for the immobilization of functional DNA molecules and to apply this knowledge in the field of DNA microarray preparation. To achieve this aim, the whole thesis work is divided into three major parts, namely part I (partly and fully regenerated cellulose film preparation and its characterization), part II (functional polysaccharide conjugates preparation) and part III (DNA microarray preparation from polysaccharide functional conjugates).
The first part of the work mainly focuses on the preparation of cellulose model films from spin coated trimethylsilyl cellulose (TMSC) using an in-situ and ex-situ regeneration methods and its characterization. In the in-situ method, the conversion of TMSC to pure cellulose via acid vapor hydrolysis is investigated at the gas-solid interface in real time and at ambient conditions employing quartz crystal microbalance with dissipation (QCM-D). For this purpose, a permanent flow of gaseous HCl is employed which reacts with TMSC coated surface to form pure cellulose. The kinetics behind this reaction is elucidated and reveals first order. Moreover, the influence of the acid concentration on the kinetics and on changes in mass and film thickness of TMSC is studied.
In the case of an ex-situ method, partly and fully regenerated cellulose model films are prepared from spin coated TMSC films through acid vapor phase hydrolysis. This is done by exposing the TMSC films placed in a closed container to vapors of HCl. The regeneration is carried out on one hand by exposing the films to different time intervals and on the other hand to different volume of HCl. The changes in surface morphology, structure, surface composition and film thickness in the course of regeneration (i.e. desilylation) is studied by using various surface analytical techniques like atomic force microscopy (AFM), attenuated total reflectance infrared spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ‘Sarfus’-technique. In order to gain detailed insight into the desilylation reaction of the films the results from ATR-IR, XPS and thickness measurements are compared with data from static contact angle (SCA) and surface free energy (SFE) determination.
Besides, to verify the completion of regeneration of cellulose from TMSC the partly and fully regenerated films prepared using ex-situ method are interacted with cellulase enzymes from Trichoderma viride using QCM-D technique. The changes in mass and energy dissipation due to the interaction of the enzymes with the substrates are correlated with the surface wettability and elemental composition of the regenerated films. The enzymatic degradation rate correlated well to the rate of regeneration. It is demonstrated that capillary zone electrophoresis (CZE) can be used to support QCM-D data via the detection of enzyme hydrolysis products in the eluates of the QCM-D cells. It is also shown that a combination of QCM-D together with enzymatic digestion is a reliable method to monitor the time dependent regeneration of TMSC to pure cellulose.
Furthermore, the effect of heat treatment on partly and fully regenerated cellulose films prepared using ex-situ method is investigated by exposing the films to elevated temperature (105 °C) for a prolonged time (6 hours). Upon heating, a structural rearrangement in the films from a featureless to a fibrillar-like structure is observed as evidenced by AFM. Several analytical methods, namely GIXRD, ATR-IR, Sarfus, XPS and SCA data are employed to analyze the alteration in the structure, surface composition, film thickness, wettability and SFE of the time dependent regenerated films before and after heat treatment. Results from solvent (D2O/H2O) exchange studies proved that water content and water uptake capacity of heat treated cellulose films are significantly reduced compared to non heated films.Additionally, a new method is developed to structure nanometric cellulose films via vapor phase acid hydrolysis and enzymatNamen predstavljenega doktorskega dela je razvoj nanometrskih amorfnih celuloznih modelnih filmov za imobilizacijo funkcionalnih DNA molekul in uporaba pridobljenega znanja za pripravo DNA mikromrež. Doktorska disertacija je razdeljena v tri dele in sicerpriprava in karakterizacija delno in popolnoma regeneriranih celuloznih filmovpriprava funkcionalnih polisaharidnih konjugatov in priprava DNA mikromrež s polisaharidnimi funkcionalnimi konjugati.
Prvi del se nanasa predvsem na in-situ in ex-situ regeneracijo celuloznih filmov in njihovo karakterizacijo. Z uporabo kremenove mikrotehtnice (QCM-D metoda) smo podrobno spremljali hidrolizo in konverzijo trimetilsililne celuloze (TMSC) v celulozo v hlapih klorovodikove kisline. Plinasta HCl v neprekinjenem dotoku reagira s plastjo TMSC in na taksen nacin tvori plast celuloze. Raziskali smo kinetiko procesa regeneracije in dolocili reakcijo prvega reda. Poleg tega smo raziskali tudi vpliv koncentracije kisline na kinetiko reakcije ter na maso in debelino formiranega sloja celuloze.
Za potrebe študija ex-situ regeneracije smo prav tako pripravili TMSC filme s tehniko \u27\u27spin coat\u27\u27. V nasprotju z in-situ metodo regeneracije smo v tem primeru položili substrate s TMSC filmi v zaprto posodo, kjer so bili izpostavljeni hlapom klorovodikove kisline. Postopek regeneracije je potekal pri različnih časih izpostavitve kislinskim hlapom ter volumnih kisline. Spremembe v strukturi, debelini filmov, površinski elementni sestavi ter površinski prosti energiji regeneriranih celuloznih filmov (pri različnih časih regeneracije) smo raziskali z uporabo, ATR-IR, Sarfus, XPS tehnik ter z merjenjem stičnih kotov.
Z interakcijo med delno ter popolnoma regeneriranimi celuloznimi filmi in encimom celulazo (Trichoderma viride) smo dodatno raziskali stopnjo hidrolize TMSC filmov in posledično stopnjo njihove regeneracije. Spremembe v masi filma in disipaciji energije, kot posledice delovanja celulaze, smo korelirali s sposobnostjo omakanja filmov in njihovo elementno sestavo. Stopnja encimske razgradnje regeneriranih celuloznih filmov je v dobri korelaciji s stopnjo regeneracije. V kombinaciji s kvarčno mikrotehtnico smo uporabili tudi kapilarno consko elektroforezo, s katero smo določili razgradne produkte encimske hidrolize celuloznih filmov. Kombinacija QCM-D tehnike in postopek encimske razgradnje celuloznih filmov se je izkazala koz zanesljiva metoda spremljanja regeneracije TMSC filmov v odvisnosti od časa.
Vpliv toplotne obdelave na tako pripravljene filme smo dolocili z naknadno izpostavitvijo celuloznih filmov povišani temperaturi za daljši čas (6 ur). Segrevanje povzroci preureditev filmov, ki se ne ponašajo s posebnimi strukturnimi artefakti, v fibrilarno strukturo, kar je razvidno iz AFM posnetkov. Uporabili smo različne analitske metode, s katerimi smo raziskali spremembe v strukturi, elementni sestavi, debelini, sposobnosti omakanja ter prosti površinski energiji regeneriranih celuloznih filmov pred in po toplotni obdelaviGIXRD, ATR-IR, Sarfus tehnika, XPS in goniometrija. Z izvedbo postopka izmenjave topila (D2O/H2O) smo dokazali, da se vsebnost vode in sposobnost navzemanja vode toplotno obdelanih regeneriranih celuloznih filmov občutno zmanjša v primerjavi z neobdelanimi filmi..
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