BACKGROUND The Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus replicon system was used to produce virus-like replicon particles (VRP) packaged with a number of different VEE-derived glycoprotein (GP) coats. The GP coat is believed to be responsible for the cellular tropism noted for VRP and it is possible that different VEE GP coats may have different affinities for cells. We examined VRP packaged ...

X-ray geometries of monocycloalkenobenzenes with a fused-ring size of r = 5, 6 were obtained by the use of the Cambridge Structural Database. In contrast to Allen's study [Acta Cryst. (1981), B37, 900-906], the data were not averaged over exact or imposed m(ad) symmetry (m(ad) is the mirror plane going through the midpoint of the aromatic ring fusion bond and the aromatic bond parallel to it). ...

Specific and sensitive reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) assays were developed for the detection of eastern, western, and Venezuelan equine encephalitis viruses (EEE, WEE, and VEE, respectively). Tests for specificity included all known alphavirus species. The EEE-specific RT-PCR amplified a 464-bp region of the E2 gene exclusively from 10 different EEE strains from South and North America wit...

Experimental studies were undertaken to compare the vector competence of Culex (Melanoconion) taeniopus Dyar and Knab, Culex (Melanoconion) ocossa Dyar and Knab, and Psorophora confinnis (Lynch Arribalzalga) from Central America for epizootic (IAB) and enzootic (IE) strains of Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) virus. Virus infection and dissemination rates were significantly higher in Cx. ta...

During the 1971 epidemic of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) in south Texas, 203 suspect VEE cases were evaluated by the Center for Disease Control. Sixty-seven were confirmed as cases of VEE. Laboratory confirmation was accomplished by isolation of VEE virus from a serum specimen taken during the acute illness in 50 (75%) of the confirmed cases. Serological confirmation was obtained i...

Cross-protection between Venezuelan, Eastern, and Western equine encephalomyelitis (VEE, EEE, WEE) viruses was studied in the hamster by using challenge responses and neutralizing antibody titers as indexes of protection. Formalin-inactivated vaccines induced only homologous protection regardless of the sequence of vaccination or the combination of vaccines employed. Use of attenuated VEE vacci...

Experimental studies were undertaken to ascertain the vector potential of North American (Houston and Alsace) and South American (Sao Paulo and Santa Teresa) strains of Aedes albopictus (Skuse) for an epizootic (Trinidad donkey) strain of Venezuelan equine encephalomyelitis (VEE) virus. Infection rates were similar in all four strains of Ae. albopictus tested after ingestion of VEE virus from a...

Venezuelan equine encephalitis (VEE) epidemics and equine epizootics occurred periodically in the Americas from the 1920s until the early 1970s, when the causative viruses, subtypes IAB and IC, were postulated to have become extinct. Recent outbreaks in Columbia and Venezuela have renewed interest in the source of epidemic/epizootic viruses and their mechanism of interepizootic maintenance. We ...

A real binary tensor consists of $2^d$ entries arranged into hypercube format $2^{\times d}$. For $d=2$, a is $2\times 2$ matrix with two singular values. Their product the determinant. We generalize this formula for any $d\ge 2$. Given partition $\mu\vdash d$ and $\mu$-symmetric $t$, we study distance function from $t$ to variety $X_{\mu,\mathbb{R}}$ tensors rank one. The local minima related ...