Superantigens (SAgs) are toxins capable of inducing a massive immune response, leading to severe disease. They are secreted by the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes, which produce the staphylococcal enterotoxins and streptococcal pyogenic exotoxins, respectively. Our immune system has evolved to protect us against foreign threats, such as bacteria and viruses. By engulfing

Cellobiose dehydrogenase (CDH) is a fascinating extracellular fungal enzyme that consists of two domains, one carrying a flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and the other a cytochrome-type heme b group as cofactors. The two domains are interconnected by a linker and electrons can shuttle from the FAD to the heme group by intramolecular electron transfer. Electron transfer between CDH and an electrod

A parametrized model in addition to the control and state-space variables depends on time-independent design parameters, which essentially define a family of models. The goal of parametrized model reduction is to approximate this family of models. In this paper, a reduction method for linear time-invariant (LTI) parametrized models is presented, which constitutes the development of a recently prop

The broadband capacity of the twisted-pair lines strongly varies within the copper access network. It is therefore important to assess the ability of a digital subscriber line (DSL) to support the DSL services prior to deployment. This task is handled by the line qualification procedures, where the identification of the line topology is an important part. This paper presents a new method, denoted

For flying animals aerodynamic theory predicts that mechanical power required to fly scales as P proportional, variant m (7/6) in a series of isometric birds, and that the flight metabolic scope (P/BMR; BMR is basal metabolic rate) scales as P (scope) proportional, variant m (5/12). I tested these predictions by using phylogenetic independent contrasts from a set of 20 bird species, where flight m

Partially premixed combustion (PPC) has the potential of high efficiency and simultaneous low soot and NOx emissions. Running the engine in PPC mode with high octane number fuels has the advantage of a longer premix period of fuel and air which reduces soot emissions, even at higher loads. The problem is the ignitability at low load and idle operating conditions. The objective of this study is in

Semiconductor nanowire arrays offer significant potential for biosensing applications with optical read-out due to their high surface area and due to the unique optical properties of one-dimensional materials. A challenge for optical read-out of analyte-binding to the nanowires is the need to efficiently collect and detect light from a three-dimensional volume. Here we show that light from fluorop

Microbial activity in soil is usually limited by the availability of carbon (C). Adding an easily available C source, like glucose, has therefore been a common approach to study alleviation of resource limitations. Most such studies have relied on respiration to study microbial dynamics, with few following the explicit growth response. We determined the response in bacterial and fungal growth, as

This Letter reports a measurement of the muon charge asymmetry from W bosons produced in proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 7 TeV with the ATLAS experiment at the LHC. The asymmetry is measured in the W -> mu nu decay mode as a function of the muon pseudorapidity using a data sample corresponding to a total integrated luminosity of 31 pb(-1). The results are compared to predict

Synucleinopathies, characterized by intracellular aggregation of α-synuclein protein, share a number of features in pathology and disease progression. However, the vulnerable cell population differs significantly between the disorders, despite being caused by the same protein. While the vulnerability of dopamine cells in the substantia nigra to α-synuclein over-expression, and its link to Parkinso

Aims: Ventilator-induced lung injury (VILI) contributes to mortality in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome, the most severe form of acute lung injury (ALI). Absence of activating transcription factor 3 (ATF3) confers susceptibility to ALI/VILI. To identify cell-specific ATF3-dependent mechanisms of susceptibility to ALI/VILI, we generated ATF3 chimera by adoptive bone marrow (BM) tr

Arid soils in Egypt display large variability in solute transport properties, causing problems in soil management. To characterize this variability, dye infiltration experiments were conducted on four plots representing three main soil types in northeastern Egypt. The plots represented both cultivated and uncultivated land use. The observed dye patterns displayed a large variability and especially

Organ trafficking is an illegal means of meeting the shortage of transplants. The activity flourishes for several interacting reasons, such as medical needs, poverty and criminality. Other factors are fundamental conceptual structures such as the dream of the regenerative body as well as the view of the body as an object of utility and an object of value. The article aims to go behind the normativ

Metabolic labeling of proteins with a stable isotope ((15)N) in intact Arabidopsis plants was used for accurate determination by mass spectrometry of differences in protein abundance between plasma membranes isolated from leaves and roots. In total, 703 proteins were identified, of which 188 were predicted to be integral membrane proteins. Major classes were transporters, receptors, proteins invol

RNA–lipid interactions are central to structure and function in biological systems as well as to the development of new applications in medicine and biotechnology. We have studied adsorption and base pairing of short RNA oligonucleotides at model lipid membranes with different compositions by means of QCM-D, confocal microscopy and ITC. The major finding is that base pairing of short complementary

BACKGROUND: Pluripotency and self-renewal of human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) is mediated by a complex interplay between extra- and intracellular signaling pathways, which regulate the expression of pluripotency-specific transcription factors. The homeodomain transcription factor NANOG plays a central role in maintaining hESC pluripotency, but the precise role and regulation of NANOG are not wel