Antibody Repertoire Analysis of Hepatitis C Virus Infections Identifies Immune Signatures Associated With Spontaneous Clearance.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a major public health concern, with over 70 million people infected worldwide, who are at risk for developing life-threatening liver disease. No vaccine is available, and immunity against the virus is not well-understood. Following the acute stage, HCV usually causes chronic infections.

PEG-Phospholipids Coated Quantum Rods as Amplifiers of the Photosensitization Process by FRET.

Singlet oxygen ((1)O2) generated upon photostimulation of photosensitizer molecules is a highly reactive specie which is utilized in photodynamic therapy. Recent studies have shown that semiconductor nanoparticles can be used as donors in fluorescence resonance energy transfer (FRET) process to excite attached photosensitizer molecules. In these studies, their unique properties, such as low nanoscale size, long-term photostability, wide broad absorbance band, large absorption cross section, and narrow and tunable emission bands were used to provide advantages over the traditional methods to produce singlet oxygen.

Synchronization by elastic neuronal latencies.

Psychological and physiological considerations entail that formation and functionality of neuronal cell assemblies depend upon synchronized repeated activation such as zero-lag synchronization. Several mechanisms for the emergence of this phenomenon have been suggested, including the global network quantity, the greatest common divisor of neuronal circuit delay loops. However, they require strict biological prerequisites such as precisely matched delays and connectivity, and synchronization is represented as a stationary mode of activity instead of a transient phenomenon.