Search results for "Multidisciplinary"

Response to Comment on "Ancient DNA from the First European Farmers in 7500-Year-Old Neolithic Sites"

2006

The discovery of mitochondrial type N1a in Central European Neolithic skeletons at a high frequency enabled us to answer the question of whether the modern population is maternally descended from the early farmers instead of addressing the traditional question of the origin of early European farmers.

2014

Pandemic and seasonal influenza viruses cause considerable morbidity and mortality in the general human population. Protection from severe disease may result from vaccines that activate antigen-presenting DC for effective stimulation of influenza-specific memory T cells. Special attention is paid to vaccine-induced CD8+ T-cell responses, because they are mainly directed against conserved internal influenza proteins thereby presumably mediating cross-protection against circulating seasonal as well as emerging pandemic virus strains. Our study showed that influenza whole virus vaccines of major seasonal A and B strains activated DC more efficiently than those of pandemic swine-origin H1N1 and…

Two-photon excitation microscopy of tryptophan-containing proteins.

2002

We have examined the feasibility of observing single protein molecules by means of their intrinsic tryptophan emission after two-photon excitation. A respiratory protein from spiders, the 24-meric hemocyanin, containing 148 tryptophans, was studied in its native state under almost in vivo conditions. In this specific case, the intensity of the tryptophan emission signals the oxygen load, allowing one to investigate molecular cooperativity. As a system with even higher tryptophan content, we also investigated latex spheres covered with the protein avidin, resulting in 340 tryptophans per sphere. The ratio of the fluorescence quantum efficiency to the bleaching efficiency was found to vary b…

A Discrete-Time Hazard Model for Loans: Some Evidence from Italian Banking System

2012

Problem statement: The probability of default, PD, is a crucial probl em for banks. In the last years international accords (Basel, Basel 2 an d Basel 3) have incentived banks to adopt objective s systems to evaluating and monitoring risk of defaul t in order to predict PD for new loans based on borrower's characteristics. The aim of this study i s to introduce a discrete survival model to study t he risk of default and to propose the empirical eviden ce by the Italian banking system. Approach: Survival analysis is used if we are interested in w hether and when an event occurs. In this context th e event occurrence represents a borrower's transition from one state, loan in bonis that is not…

Association Study of Genetic Variants in the 14q11 - 14q13 Proteasomal Genes Cluster with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) in Latvian Population

2009

Association Study of Genetic Variants in the 14q11 - 14q13 Proteasomal Genes Cluster with Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) in Latvian Population The possible role of proteasomes in the development of autoimmune diseases was hypothesised after discovery of the involvement of proteasomal LMP2 and LMP7 subunits in antigene processing. The objective of this study was to determine the association between allelic variants of the genes encoding proteasomal proteins PSME1, PSME2 and PSMA6 and juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) in the Latvian population. One Indel G-4543 CA-4544 →GA and four SNPs related to the PSMA6 gene (A-2486 →G and C-1910 →T, upstream promoter, C-110 →A of promoter, and C-8…

2016

BACKGROUND: While noise annoyance has become recognized as an important environmental stressor, its association to mental health has hardly been studied. We therefore determined the association of noise annoyance to anxiety and depression and explored the contribution of diverse environmental sources to overall noise annoyance. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We investigated cross-sectional data of n = 15.010 participants of the Gutenberg Health Study (GHS), a population-based, prospective, single-center cohort study in Mid-Germany (age 35 to 74 years). Noise annoyance was assessed separately for road traffic, aircraft, railways, industrial, neighborhood indoor and outdoor noise ("during the day"; "i…

Strong temporal variation of consumer δ13C value in an oligotrophic reservoir is related to water level fluctuation

2023

Using stable carbon and nitrogen isotope analysis (δ 13 C and δ 15 N) to assess trophic interactions in freshwater ecosystems is a well established method, providing insight into ecosystem functioning. However, the spatial and temporal variability of isotope values, driven by environmental fluctuation is poorly understood and can complicate interpretations. We investigated how the temporal variation of stable isotopes in consumers (fish, crayfish and macrozoobenthos) of a canyon-shaped oligotrophic reservoir is associated with environmental factors such as water temperature, transparency, flooded area, and water quality measures. Consumers and their putative food sources were sampled and an…

Real-time observation of the charge transfer to solvent dynamics

2013

Intermolecular electron-transfer reactions have a crucial role in biology, solution chemistry and electrochemistry. The first step of such reactions is the expulsion of the electron to the solvent, whose mechanism is determined by the structure and dynamical response of the latter. Here we visualize the electron transfer to water using ultrafast fluorescence spectroscopy with polychromatic detection from the ultraviolet to the visible region, upon photo-excitation of the so-called charge transfer to solvent states of aqueous iodide. The initial emission is short lived (similar to 60 fs) and it relaxes to a broad distribution of lower-energy charge transfer to solvent states upon rearrangeme…

Sugar moiety has a direct influence on the secondary structure and properties of sturgeon gonadotropin

2009

Sugar moiety has a direct influence on the secondary structure and properties of sturgeon gonadotropin Sturgeon Acipenser güldenstädti Br. gonadotropic hormone (GTH) β-subunit (β-GTH) was selectively chemically deglycosylated (dg) by anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and trifluoromethane sulfonic acid. Two dgβ-GTH molecular forms retaining 35% (dgβ-GTH1) and 13% (dgβ-GTH2) of their initial carbohydrates were obtained. Investigation of the reassociated α-β hybrid dimers (recombinants) α-GTH+dgβ-GTH1 and α-GTH+dgβ-GTH2 showed that the immunoreactivity with antiserum raised against standard GTH dropped by 22.5%. Hybrid dimers were recognised by the standard GTH antibodies, which indicated that the s…

Salmon lice in the Pacific Ocean show evidence of evolved resistance to parasiticide treatment

2022

AbstractParasitic salmon lice (Lepeophtheirus salmonis) threaten the economic and ecological sustainability of salmon farming, and their evolved resistance to treatment with emamectin benzoate (EMB) has been a major problem for salmon farming in the Atlantic Ocean. In contrast, the Pacific Ocean, where wild salmon are far more abundant, has not seen widespread evolution of EMB-resistant lice. Here, we use EMB bioassays and counts of lice on farms from the Broughton Archipelago, Canada—a core region of salmon farming in the Pacific—to show that EMB sensitivity has dramatically decreased since 2010, concurrent with marked decrease in the field efficacy of EMB treatments. Notably, these bioass…