Group A streptococcus (GAS) is an important human pathogen that produces several extracellular exotoxins to facilitate invasion and infection. Streptococcal pyrogenic exotoxin B (SPE B) has been demonstrated to be an important virulence factor of GAS. Our previous studies indicate that SPE B cleaves complement 3 (C3) and inhibits the activation of complement pathways. In this study, we construc...

Research results for a five year project on the development of improved modeling techniques for nonconventional (e.g., horizontal, deviated, multilateral or “smart”) wells are presented. The overall program entails the development of enhanced well modeling and general simulation capabilities. The development and features of a new general purpose research simulator (GPRS) are described. The simu...

This paper describes how to construct Software Performance Engineering (SPE) models of multitier client/server interactions with middleware such as MQSeries. It covers typical performance problems in distributed systems of this type and gives a brief review of the SPE modeling approach. A case study illustrates how to create the SPE models, detect and correct performance problems early in the l...

Contrary to common perceptions about systems produced in Single–Pomeron– Exchange (SPE) pp interactions, the hard diffractive process discovered at the CERN Sp̄pS–Collider leads to dominant central production of Higgs bosons at the LHC. The rate for SPE production of Higgs bosons is calculated to be 7-9% of the total inclusive Higgs rate. In addition, an SPE measurement program of dijet events i...

This paper presents a technique for approximating, up to any precision, the set of subgame-perfect equilibria (SPE) in repeated games with discounting. The process starts with a single hypercube approximation of the set of SPE payoff profiles. Then the initial hypercube is gradually partitioned on to a set of smaller adjacent hypercubes, while those hypercubes that cannot contain any SPE point ...

This paper examines simultaneous versus sequential choice of effort in a twoplayer contest with a general contest success function. The timing of moves, determined in a pre-play stage prior to the contest-subgame, as well as the value of the prize is allowed to be endogenous. Contrary to endogenous timing models with an exogenously fixed prize the present paper finds the following. (1) Players ...

In this paper, the multi-walled carbon nanotubes modified screen-printed electrode (MWCNTs/SPE) was prepared and the MWCNTs/SPE was employed for the electrochemical determination of the antioxidant substance chlorogenic acids (CGAs). A pair of well-defined redox peaks of CGA was observed at the MWCNTs/SPE in 0.10 mol/L acetic acid-sodium acetate buffer (pH 6.2) and the electrode process was ads...

A screening method using gas chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC-QTOF/MS) combined with mini solid-phase extraction (mini-SPE) was established for the quantification and validation of multiclass pesticide residues in tobacco. The quicker easier, sample purity higher than that obtained by traditional SPE dispersed-SPE. Box-Behnken design, an experimental design respons...

A solid-phase extraction (SPE) method for sample clean-up and preconcentration followed by reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (RP-HPLC) with uv detection is reported for determination of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the caspian seawater. A good resolution was obtained using acetonitrile:water (40:60) as mobile-phase for separation of these compounds. The eff...

Abstract Prominent excursions in the number of cosmogenic nuclides (e.g., 10 Be) around 774 CE/775 document most severe solar proton event (SPE) throughout Holocene. Its manifestation ice cores is valuable for geochronology, but also solar‐terrestrial physics and climate modeling. Using ECHAM/MESSy Atmospheric Chemistry (EMAC) model combination with Warning System Aviation Exposure to SEP (WASA...