Search

Stars provide an enormous gain for interstellar communications at their gravitational focus, perhaps as part of an interstellar network. If the Sun is part of such a network, there should be probes at the gravitational foci of nearby stars. If there are probes within the solar system connected to such a network, we might detect them by intercepting transmissions from relays at these foci. Here, we demonstrate a search across a wide bandwidth for interstellar communication relays beyond the Sun's innermost gravitational focus at 550 AU using the Green Bank Telescope (GBT) and Breakthrough Listen (BL) backend. As a first target, we searched for a relay at the focus of the Alpha Centauri AB system while correcting for the parallax due to Earth's orbit around the Sun. We searched for radio signals directed at the inner solar system from such a source in the L and S bands. Our analysis, utilizing the turboSETI software developed by BL, did not detect any signal indicative of a non-human-made artificial origin. Further analysis excluded false negatives and signals from the nearby target HD 13908. Assuming a conservative gain of 10^3 in L-band and roughly 4 times that in S-band, a ~1 meter directed transmitter would be detectable by our search above 7 W at 550 AU or 23 W at 1000 AU in L-band, and above 2 W at 550 AU or 7 W at 1000 AU in S-band. Finally, we discuss the application of this method to other frequencies and targets., Comment: 20 pages, 9 figures, accepted to AJ

Several recent works have proposed "stellar relay" transmission systems in which a spacecraft at the focus of a star's gravitational lens achieves dramatic boosts in the gain of an outgoing or incoming interstellar transmission. We examine some of the engineering requirements of a stellar relay system, evaluate the long-term sustainability of a gravitational relay, and describe the perturbations and drifts that must be actively countered to maintain a relay-star-target alignment. The major perturbations on a relay-Sun-target alignment are the inwards gravity of the Sun and the reflex motion of the Sun imparted by the planets. These approx. m/s/yr accelerations can be countered with modern propulsion systems over century-long timescales. This examination is also relevant for telescope designs aiming to use the Sun as a focusing element. We additionally examine prospects for an artifact SETI search to observe stellar relays placed around the Sun by an extraterrestrial intelligence and suggest certain nearby stars that are relatively unperturbed by planetary systems as favorable nodes for a stellar relay communications system., 13 pages, 1 figure, 2 tables; updated with proofing edits

We conduct X-ray spectral fits on 184 likely counterparts to Fermi-LAT 3FGL unassociated sources. Characterization and classification of these sources allows for more complete population studies of the high-energy sky. Most of these X-ray spectra are well fit by an absorbed power law model, as expected for a population dominated by blazars and pulsars. A small subset of 7 X-ray sources have spectra unlike the power law expected from a blazar or pulsar and may be linked to coincident stars or background emission. We develop a multiwavelength machine learning classifier to categorize unassociated sources into pulsars and blazars using gamma- and X-ray observations. Training a random forest procedure with known pulsars and blazars, we achieve a cross-validated classification accuracy of 98.6%. Applying the random forest routine to the unassociated sources returned 126 likely blazar candidates (defined as $ P_{bzr} > 90 \% $) and 5 likely pulsar candidates ($ P_{bzr} < 10 \% $). Our new X-ray spectral analysis does not drastically alter the random forest classifications of these sources compared to previous works, but it builds a more robust classification scheme and highlights the importance of X-ray spectral fitting. Our procedure can be further expanded with UV, visual, or radio spectral parameters or by measuring flux variability., 11 pages text, 4 figures, 4 tables (2 in-text, 2 in 11-page appendix), accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journal

BACKGROUND Evaluation of assay performance on postmortem blood specimens (obtained after cessation of the heartbeat) presents unique scientific and regulatory challenges. In the United States, assay performance is evaluated in part by spiking postmortem specimens. METHODS Fifty-four specimens obtained from decedents known to be infected with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), or hepatitis B virus (HBV), including some coinfections, were tested for each virus using Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-licensed donor screening tests for nucleic acid, antibody, and antigen. RESULTS For each disease, >95% of subjects who were reported to have an infection at the time of death had a positive test result on at least one of the donor screening assays for that infection. CONCLUSION Licensed donor screening tests were positive on postmortem specimens obtained within 24 hours of death from individuals dying with HIV, HCV, and/or HBV, and were able to detect presence of the virus. The use of multiple tests (including antibody and direct viral detection methods) is necessary to adequately evaluate donors.

A combinatorial, phage-display library of human Fab antibody fragments was generated from IgG heavy chain (HC) and light chain (LC) genes cloned from the lymphocytes of a vaccinia virus (VACV)-immune donor. To ascertain the complexity of the library, nucleotide sequences of the variable regions of the HC and LC genes were determined. Fourteen distinct HC and 18 distinct LC (7 κ and 11 λ) that formed a combinatorial library of 22 Fabs were identified. Immune-precipitation of radiolabeled VACV revealed that at least six different VACV proteins were recognized by the antibodies. Plaque-reduction neutralization demonstrated that six of the Fabs neutralized VACV in the presence of anti-human antibody. ELISA studies indicated that 15 of the Fabs were cross-reactive with monkeypox virus.

Differentiation of the megakaryocytic leukemia cells, CMK, was induced by long-term (12 day) treatment with the combination of IL-3 and the nucleoside analogue ribavirin (RV), which reduces cellular GTP levels. In a previous report we demonstrated the induction of early messages and antigens, as well as the formation of giant polyploid cells in the cultures (Majumdar et al., 1994, J. Cell. Physiol., 160:29–39). Here we show high level induction of messages for the late markers, Platelet Factor 4, GMP140 (P-Selectin), thrombospondin, and beta thromboglobulin. The induced cells are also positive for these antigens by immunocytochemical analysis. The high level message induction resulted from synergy between the inducers. Pretreatment of the cells with IL-3 could accelerate the rise in message seen with the inducer combination. The increase in differentiation markers was accompanied by a reduction of the proliferative capacity of the cells. Riboguanosine, which has anti differentiation activity, blocked the induction of early and late antigens by the inducer combination, and also by IL-3 acting alone, but did not block the reduction in proliferative competence. In this model of megakaryocytic differentiation IL-3 treatment yields and initial stimulation of growth followed by growth supperssion, and is the principal driver of the differentiation process. RV functions primarily as a stimulator of message and protein expression in synergy with IL-3. © 1995 Wiley-Liss Inc.

Megakaryocyte differentiation is a lengthy process with cells moving through a continuum delineated by the sequential expression of specific gene products. The limited number of primary cells available from marrow for analysis has brought attention to some leukemic cell lines which show enhanced megakaryocyte marker expression following incubation with inducing agents, the most common of which is phorbol myristate acetate (PMA). We developed an alternative induction protocol for the megakaryocytic leukemic cell line CMK, which involved incubation of the cells with IL-3 and the nucleoside analog, ribavirin, for 1–2 weeks. This treatment was neither toxic nor cytostatic and yielded increased levels of the surface glycoproteins GPIIb/IIIA and GPIb-IX. Levels of some megakaryocytic messages (GPIIIa, GPIX) showed a marked rise by 12 days of incubation in the inducer combination. This was due to a synergistic interaction between IL-3 and ribavirin which influenced both transcriptional and posttranscriptional events. Light and electron microscopy demonstrated the presence of large polyploid cells, with morphological features similar to those of megakaryocytes, in the induced cultures. Analysis of the heterogeneity of response in the cell population to the induction regimen after several days of treatment suggested that cells which failed to display surface markers had been stimulated by the inducers but did not have sufficient time to complete expression of that marker. The results were consistent with the view that the cells in the starting population were distributed along a temporal expression pathway, and those which were first to express the earliest marker would also lead in the expression of a later marker. The order of expression was the same as that during normal megakaryocyte development. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

A multiplex polymerase chain reaction assay was developed for the rapid simultaneous detection of category A select bacterial agents (Bacillus anthracis and Yersinia pestis) and parasitic pathogens (Leishmania species) in blood using the Cepheid Smart Cycler platform. B. anthracis (Sterne) and Yersinia. pseudotuberculosis were used in the assay for optimization for B. anthracis and Y. pestis, respectively. The specificity of the target amplicons [protective antigen gene of B. anthracis and rRNA genes of other pathogens or human (internal control)] was evaluated by staining the amplicons with SYBR Green I and determining their individual melting temperatures (T(m)). As a novel approach for pathogen semiquantitation, the Tm peak height of the amplicon was correlated with a known standard curve of pathogen-spiked samples. This assay was able to detect DNA in blood spiked with less than 50 target cells/ml for all of the pathogens. The sensitivity of this assay in blood was 100% for the detection of Leishmania donovani from leishmaniasis patients and B. anthracis (Sterne) from symptomatic mice. The time necessary for performing this assay including sample preparation was less than 1.5 hours, making this a potentially useful method for rapidly diagnosing and monitoring the efficacy of drugs or vaccines in infected individuals.