[en] We present an H I absorption survey of the central 250 pc of the Galaxy. Very Large Array observations were made at 21 cm in the DnC and CnB configurations and have a resolution of ∼15'' (0.6 pc at the Galactic center (GC) distance) and a velocity resolution of ∼2.5 km s^-1. This study provides H I data with high spatial resolution, comparable with the many high-resolution observations which have been made of GC sources over the past 10 years. Here we present an overview of the H I absorption toward ∼40 well-known continuum sources and a detailed comparison of the ionized, atomic, and molecular components of the interstellar medium for the Sgr B, Radio Arc, and Sgr C regions. In these well-known regions, the atomic gas appears to be closely correlated in both velocity and distribution to the ionized and molecular gas, indicating that it resides in photodissociation regions related to the H II regions in the GC. Toward the majority of the radio continuum sources, H I absorption by the 3 kpc arm is detected, constraining these sources to lie beyond a 5 kpc distance in the Galaxy.

[en] Rasmussen et al. (1980) described low-altitude reflections observed with a VLF/LF ionospheric sounder, apparently from a C layer, which could be interpreted as having come from ionospheric layers of constant conductivity. In the example given in their paper, they found a layer that extended from 63 to 69 km in height. This brief paper presents an improved method for calculating such layers which shows that, in fact, the best fitting layer for their example extends from 60 to 66 km

[en] Temperature and radiation dose dependences of the thermoluminescence, photo-transferred luminescence signals from BeO ceramics were investigated using blue-green stimulation (420-550nm). Several deep traps that act as sources for the photo-transferred luminescence signals, located in 400-625 deg. C region of the TL glow curve, were distinguished

[en] Highlights: ► A novel soluble TCR composed of TCR V and C regions with Ig Fc region is generated. ► TCR-Fc protein immobilized by an anti-Cβ antibody bound to a p/MHC tetramer. ► Binding affinity of TCR-Fc was markedly increased by binding with anti-Cβ antibody. -- Abstract: The identification and cloning of tumor antigen-specific T cell receptors (TCRs) and the production of the soluble form of the TCR (sTCR) contributed to the development of diagnostic and therapeutic tools for cancer. Recently, several groups have reported the development of technologies for the production of sTCRs. The native sTCR has a very low binding affinity for the antigenic peptide/MHC (p/MHC) complex. In this study, we established a technology to produce high affinity, functional sTCRs. We generated a novel sTCR-Fc fusion protein composed of the TCR V and C regions of the TCR linked to the immunoglobulin (Ig) Fc region. A Western blot analysis revealed that the molecular weight of the fusion protein was approximately 60 kDa under reducing conditions and approximately 100–200 kDa under non-reducing conditions. ELISAs using various antibodies showed that the structure of each domain of the TCR-Fc protein was intact. The TCR-Fc protein immobilized by an anti-Cβ antibody effectively bound to a p/MHC tetramer. An SPR analysis showed that the TCR-Fc protein had a low binding affinity (KD; 1.1 × 10⁻⁵ M) to the p/MHC monomer. Interestingly, when the TCR-Fc protein was pre-incubated with an anti-Cβ antibody, its binding affinity for p/MHC increased by 5-fold (2.2 × 10⁻⁶ M). We demonstrated a novel method for constructing a functional soluble TCR using the Ig Fc region and showed that the binding affinity of the functional sTCR-Fc was markedly increased by an anti-Cβ antibody, which is probably due to the stabilization of the Vα/Vβ region of the TCR. These findings provide new insights into the binding of sTCRs to p/MHCs and will hopefully be instrumental in establishing functional sTCR as a diagnostic and therapeutic tool for cancer.

[en] Sponges are important constituents of coral reef ecosystems, including those around the Arabian Peninsula. Despite their importance, our knowledge on demosponge diversity in this area is insufficient to recognize, for example, faunal changes caused by anthropogenic disturbances. We here report the first assessment of demosponge molecular biodiversity from Arabia, with focus on the Saudi Arabian Red Sea, based on mitochondrial and nuclear ribosomal molecular markers gathered in the framework of the Sponge Barcoding Project. We use a rapid molecular screening approach on Arabian demosponge collections and analyze results in comparison against published material in terms of biodiversity. We use a variable region of 28S rDNA, applied for the first time in the assessment of demosponge molecular diversity. Our data constitutes a solid foundation for a future more comprehensive understanding of sponge biodiversity of the Red Sea and adjacent waters. - Highlights: •First assessment of demosponge molecular biodiversity from Arabia •Rapid molecular screening approach on Arabian demosponge collections •Assessment of 28S 'C-Region' for demosponge barcoding •Data for a future comprehensive understanding of sponge biodiversity of the Red Sea

[en] We investigate anew the distribution of absolute carbon abundance, A (C) = log ϵ (C), for carbon-enhanced metal-poor (CEMP) stars in the halo of the Milky Way, based on high-resolution spectroscopic data for a total sample of 305 CEMP stars. The sample includes 147 CEMP- s (and CEMP- r / s ) stars, 127 CEMP-no stars, and 31 CEMP stars that are unclassified, based on the currently employed [Ba/Fe] criterion. We confirm previous claims that the distribution of A (C) for CEMP stars is (at least) bimodal, with newly determined peaks centered on A (C) = 7.96 (the high-C region) and A (C) = 6.28 (the low-C region). A very high fraction of CEMP- s (and CEMP- r / s ) stars belongs to the high-C region, while the great majority of CEMP-no stars resides in the low-C region. However, there exists complexity in the morphology of the A (C)-[Fe/H] space for the CEMP-no stars, a first indication that more than one class of first-generation stellar progenitors may be required to account for their observed abundances. The two groups of CEMP-no stars we identify exhibit clearly different locations in the A (Na)- A (C) and A (Mg)- A (C) spaces, also suggesting multiple progenitors. The clear distinction in A (C) between the CEMP- s (and CEMP- r / s ) stars and the CEMP-no stars appears to be as successful, and likely more astrophysically fundamental, for the separation of these sub-classes as the previously recommended criterion based on [Ba/Fe] (and [Ba/Eu]) abundance ratios. This result opens the window for its application to present and future large-scale low- and medium-resolution spectroscopic surveys.

[en] Increasing evidence identifies dicarbonyl stress from reactive glucose metabolites, such as methylglyoxal (MG), as a major pathogenic link between hyperglycemia and complications of diabetes. MG covalently modifies arginine residues, yet the site specificity of this modification has not been thoroughly investigated. Sites of MG adduction in the plasma proteome were identified using LC–MS/MS analysis in vitro following incubation of plasma proteins with MG. Treatment of plasma proteins with MG yielded 14 putative MG hotspots from five plasma proteins (albumin [nine hotspots], serotransferrin, haptoglobin [2 hotspots], hemopexin, and Ig lambda-2 chain C regions). The search results revealed two versions of MG-arginine modification, dihydroxyimidazolidine (R + 72) and hydroimidazolone (R + 54) adducts. One of the sites identified was R257 in human serum albumin, which is a critical residue located in drug binding site I. This site was validated as a target for MG modification by a fluorescent probe displacement assay, which revealed significant drug dissociation at 300 μM MG from a prodan–HSA complex (75 μM). Moreover, twelve human plasma samples (six male, six female, with two type 2 diabetic subjects from both genders) were analyzed using multiple reaction monitoring (MRM) tandem mass spectrometry and revealed the presence of the MG-modified albumin R257 peptide. These data provide insights into the nature of the site-specificity of MG modification of arginine, which may be useful for therapeutic treatments that aim to prevent MG-mediated adverse responses in patients. - Highlights: • Methylglyoxal (MG) selectively modifies arginine sites in human plasma proteome. • Dihydroxyimidazolidine and hydroimidazolone adducts on serum albumin identified • MG modification on albumin R257 associated with loss of drug site I binding capacity • MRM-tandem mass spectrometry enables sensitive detection of albumin MG-R257. • Site-specific MG modification may represent a useful monitor of effective therapy of T2DM.

[en] In the present work the primary differential energy spectrum of protons and other groups of cosmic ray nuclei not only in the range III (E = 3.1-² GeV/nucl - 30 MeV/nucl), but also in the whole range IV (E = 30 MeV/nucl - 1 MeV/nucl) are obtained analytically. Experimental data for six different energy levels is presented. For the energies < 390 MeV a strong modulation of the cosmic rays intensity is calculated. For each energy between 1.8 MeV - 10 GeV four values of the solar activity are given. The first results from the computation for the differential energy spectrum of primary protons - the predominant component in the composition of the galactic rays are given. The obtained improved spectrum presents well the 11-year variations of galactic cosmic rays which are one of the most important ionization sources in the Earth environment. The differential spectrum can be used for the computation of the electron production rate profiles in the ionospheric C-layer both for middle and high latitudes, at which the anomalous component of the cosmic rays is also taken into account

[en] We report the detection of extremely broad emission toward two molecular clumps in the Galactic central molecular zone. We have mapped the Sagittarius C complex (–0.°61 < l < –0.°27, –0.°29 < b < 0.°04) in the HCN J = 4-3, ¹³CO J = 3-2, and H¹³CN J = 1-0 lines with the ASTE 10 m and NRO 45 m telescopes, detecting bright emission with 80-120 km s^–1 velocity width (in full-width at zero intensity) toward CO–0.30–0.07 and CO–0.40–0.22, which are high velocity compact clouds (HVCCs) identified with our previous CO J = 3-2 survey. Our data reveal an interesting internal structure of CO–0.30–0.07 comprising a pair of high velocity lobes. The spatial-velocity structure of CO–0.40–0.22 can be also understood as a multiple velocity component, or a velocity gradient across the cloud. They are both located on the rims of two molecular shells of about 10 pc in radius. Kinetic energies of CO–0.30–0.07 and CO–0.40–0.22 are (0.8-2) × 10⁴⁹ erg and (1-4) × 10⁴⁹ erg, respectively. We propose several interpretations of their broad emission: collision between clouds associated with the shells, bipolar outflow, expansion driven by supernovae (SNe), and rotation around a dark massive object. These scenarios cannot be discriminated because of the insufficient angular resolution of our data, though the absence of a visible energy source associated with the HVCCs seems to favor the cloud-cloud collision scenario. Kinetic energies of the two molecular shells are 1 × 10⁵¹ erg and 0.7 × 10⁵¹ erg, which can be furnished by multiple SN or hypernova explosions in 2 × 10⁵ yr. These shells are candidates of molecular superbubbles created after past active star formation.

[en] A steady-state model is presented which has been shown to give good results for the case of the disturbed, solar proton event D-region in less than one minute of computer operation, and includes 21 positive and eight negative ions. The model is now applied to the case of the normal, quiet D-region, whose deduced quiet electron profile contains a lower-altitude portion where ionization by cosmic rays is dominant and which may correspond to the C-layer. It is noted that recent studies by York et al (1979), which suggest theoretical modifications to certain in situ probe data, lead to electron profiles that are in agreement with model predictions. A typical computed profile shows a C-layer upper boundary near 65 km, with an electron concentration of about 75/cu cm. This region may vanish if: (1) NO is enhanced in the D-region (2) ionization from precipitating particles is present and (3) the solar zenith angle decreases. The height of the layer rises to about 80 km at night