Identification of two distinct properties of class II major histocompatibility complex-associated peptides

We have examined the interactions of various peptides with the mouse class II major histocompatibility complex molecule I-Ak. The peptides were derived from the model protein hen egg white lysozyme (HEL). The immunodominant peptide of HEL is a 10-mer, residues 52-61. Our previous work established that this sequence contains the key residues for binding and presentation to T cells. Now we show that the binding of this 10-mer sequence resulted in complexes of I-Ak and peptide that, in SDS/PAGE (without boiling the protein), rapidly dissociated from the component alpha and beta chains. The binding interactions were studied in vitro, by incubating purified I-Ak and radiolabeled peptide, or ex vivo, by using antigen-presenting cells incubated with peptides. Peptides with additional residues at either the amino or carboxyl terminus behaved dramatically differently. Complexes of I-Ak with the longer peptides were stable to SDS/PAGE. Very few amino acid additions result in the change from unstable to stable complexes. The important issue here is that when cultured with HEL, antigen-presenting cells selected the HEL peptides containing the 52-61 sequences that favored stability [Nelson, C. A., Roof, R. W., McCourt, D. W. & Unanue, E. R. (1992) Proc. Natl., Acad. Sci. USA 89, 7380-7383]. Also, from other studies, such sequences correlate with a high immunogenicity of the peptide. We conclude that there are structural features of peptides that change the stability of the class II molecule and that are independent of the "core" peptide seen by the T cells.     

钨酸催化氧化环己酮合成己二酸

以钨酸-有机酸性添加剂为催化体系,在无有机溶剂和相转移剂的情况下,催化30%过氧化氢氧化环己酮合成己二酸。当钨酸∶有机酸性添加剂∶环己酮∶过氧化氢=11∶4∶01∶76(摩尔比,钨酸用量为2.5mmol)时,使用有机酸性添加剂来调节钨酸催化活性,结果表明以钨酸-磺酸水杨酸氧化环己酮效果最优,反应8h时己二酸分离产率达86.8%、纯度为99.9%;以间苯二酚或邻苯二酚为添加剂时,己二酸分离产率分别达到85.9%和84.5%,纯度约为100%;而不使用任何添加剂时,己二酸分离产率只有68.1%、纯度为95.2%。当使用磺酸水杨酸、草酸等为有机酸性添加剂时,随反应时间的延长,己二酸分离产率均升高。当磺酸水杨酸用量为2.5mmol时,己二酸分离产率和纯度均较高。钨酸-磺酸水杨酸和钨酸-草酸催化体系重复使用5次后,己二酸分离产率仍分别可达80.2%和80.9%。     

Exploiting equivalence reduction and the sweep-line method for detecting terminal states

State-space exploration is one of the main approaches to computer-aided verification and analysis of finite-state systems. It is used to reason about a wide range of properties during the design phase of a system, including system deadlocks. Unfortunately, state-space exploration needs to handle huge state spaces for most practical systems. Several state-space reduction methods have been developed to tackle this problem. In this paper, we develop algorithms for combining two of these methods: state equivalence class reduction and the sweep-line. The algorithms allow deadlocks to be detected by recording terminal states of the system on-the-fly during state-space exploration. We derive expressions for the complexity of the algorithms and demonstrate their usefulness with an industrial case study. Our results show that the combined method achieves at least a six-fold reduction of the state space for interesting parameter values compared with either method used in isolation while still proving the desired system property of the terminal states. The runtime performance of the combined method is almost the same as that of the equivalence class method over the chosen parameter range. Moreover, the improvement in space reduction increases with increased parameter values.     

Analyzing the relationship between car generation and severity of motor-vehicle crashes in Denmark

While the number of fatalities on Danish roads has decreased in the last 40 years, research has not investigated the contribution of legislation changes, enforcement measures, technological enhancements, infrastructural improvements and human factors to this reduction. In the context of a Danish car market with remarkably high registration tax that causes potential buyers to hold longer onto old cars, the relationship between technological enhancements of vehicles and severity of crashes requires particular attention.     

Indoor emissions of total and fluorescent supermicron particles during HOMEChem

Inhalation of particulate matter is associated with adverse health outcomes. The fluorescent portion of supermicron particulate matter has been used as a proxy for bioaerosols. The sources and emission rates of fluorescent particles in residential environments are not well-understood. Using an ultraviolet aerodynamic particle sizer (UVAPS), emissions of total and fluorescent supermicron particles from common human activities were investigated during the HOMEChem campaign, a test-house investigation of the chemistry of indoor environments. Human occupancy and activities, including cooking and mopping, were found to be considerable sources of indoor supermicron fluorescent particles, which enhanced the indoor particle concentrations by two orders of magnitude above baseline levels. The estimated total (fluorescent) mass emission rates for the activities tested were in the range of 4-30 (1-11) mg per person meal for cooking and 0.1-4.9 (0.05-4.7) mg/h for occupancy and mopping. Model calculations indicate that, once released, the dominant fate of coarse particles (2.5-10 micrometer in diameter) was deposition onto indoor surfaces, allowing for the possibility of subsequent resuspension and consequent exposures over durations much longer than the ventilation time scale. Indoor coarse particle deposition would also contribute to soiling of indoor surfaces.     

水热沉积电压对C-AlPO_4涂层显微结构的影响

以方石英型磷酸铝(C-A1PO4)粉体为原料,异丙醇为溶剂,碘为荷电介质,采用水热电泳沉积方法在涂有SiC涂层的碳纤维增强碳(C/C-SiC复合材料表面制备了C-A1PO4外涂层.借助X射线衍射和扫描电镜表征了涂层的晶相组成和显微结构.研究了沉积电压对C-A1PO4涂层显微结构的影响,并测试了涂层的抗氧化性能.结果表明:在180～220V范围内,水热沉积电压对涂层的显微结构有较大的影响,220V时制备的涂层致密均匀.涂层的沉积量以及涂层与基体的结合强度随着沉积电压的升高而增加;单位面积沉积量与时间的二次方根之间符合线性关系.与包埋法制备的SiC涂层相比,水热电泳沉积法制备的C-A1PO4涂层具有更好的抗氧化性能,涂层样品在1500℃的空气中氧化37h后质量损失仅为0.53%.     

开放式数控系统实验教学平台研究

针对目前机电一体化专业机电综合性实验相对薄弱的问题,构建基于PMAC运动控制器的开放式数控实验教学平台.在此基础上进行伺服随动控制、控制系统校正环节设计、机电系统控制性能分析等实验教学工作,加深了数控实验教学内容,改善了机电综合实验和相关课程的教学效果.