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Federal Aviation Administration: Challenges Facing the Agency in Fiscal Year 2008 and Beyond (open access)

Federal Aviation Administration: Challenges Facing the Agency in Fiscal Year 2008 and Beyond

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "FAA operates one of the safest air transportation systems in the world. It is, however, a system under strain. The skies over America are becoming more crowded every day. FAA faces the daunting task of safely integrating a growing influx of passengers and aircraft into the system and simultaneously leading the transition to the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen)--a complicated effort to modernize the system. FAA's broad responsibilities to maintain and modernize the nation's air transportation system must be met in an uncertain budgetary and long-term fiscal environment. GAO's concerns about financing the nation's transportation system, including aviation, led GAO to designate this issue as high-risk."
Date: February 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Trade Adjustment Assistance: Program Provides an Array of Benefits and Services to Trade-Affected Workers (open access)

Trade Adjustment Assistance: Program Provides an Array of Benefits and Services to Trade-Affected Workers

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "Manufacturing workers face an uncertain future as manufacturing employment declines--more than 3 million manufacturing jobs have been lost in this country since 2000, many due to international trade. Furthermore, finding a new job may be harder for these workers because they tend to be older with have fewer transferable skills than other laid-off workers. The Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) program was established in 1962 to assist manufacturing workers who lose their jobs because of international trade. In 2002, the Congress made a number of key changes designed to expand benefits and decrease the time it takes to get workers into services. This testimony draws upon several GAO reports, including our most recently issued TAA report and our case study of five layoffs, and provides an overview of (1) how the TAA program operates, (2) recent trends in the Department of Labor's (Labor) certification of petitions, (3) the extent to which workers participate in training, (4) the extent to which workers take advantage of other TAA benefits, and (5) what is known about TAA program outcomes. We are not making new recommendations at this time. Labor generally agreed with …
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid: Thousands of Medicaid Providers Abuse the Federal Tax System (open access)

Medicaid: Thousands of Medicaid Providers Abuse the Federal Tax System

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, outlays for Medicaid were about $324 billion; about $185 billion was paid by the federal government. Because GAO previously identified abusive and criminal activity associated with government contractors owing billions of dollars in federal taxes, the subcommittee requested GAO expand our work to Medicare and Medicaid providers. Today's testimony covers Medicaid providers who abused the federal tax system from 7 selected states. GAO was asked to (1) determine if Medicaid providers have unpaid federal taxes, and the magnitude of such debts; (2) identify examples of Medicaid providers that have engaged in abusive or related criminal activities; and (3) determine whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the states prevent health care providers with tax problems from enrolling in Medicaid or participating in the continuous levy program to pay federal tax debts. To perform this work, GAO analyzed tax data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Medicaid data from seven selected states and performed investigative activities."
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Coast Guard: Coast Guard Efforts to Improve Management and Address Operational Challenges in the Deepwater Program (open access)

Coast Guard: Coast Guard Efforts to Improve Management and Address Operational Challenges in the Deepwater Program

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Coast Guard's Deepwater program is a 25-year, $24 billion plan to replace or modernize its fleet of vessels and aircraft. While there is widespread acknowledgment that many of the Coast Guard's aging assets need replacement or renovation, concerns exist about the acquisition approach the Coast Guard adopted in launching the Deepwater program. From the outset, GAO has expressed concern about the risks involved with the Coast Guard's acquisition strategy, and continues to review Deepwater program management. This statement discusses (1) the Coast Guard's acquisition approach for the Deepwater program; (2) previous GAO recommendations to the Coast Guard on Deepwater, highlighting the importance of Integrated Product Teams; and (3) operational challenges the Coast Guard is facing because of performance and design problems with Deepwater patrol boats."
Date: February 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Investigative Operations: Use of Covert Testing to Identify Security Vulnerabilities and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (open access)

Investigative Operations: Use of Covert Testing to Identify Security Vulnerabilities and Fraud, Waste, and Abuse

Testimony issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "GAO's Forensic Audits and Special Investigations team (FSI), which was created in 2005 as an interdisciplinary team consisting of investigators, auditors, and analysts, conducts covert tests at the request of the Congress to identify vulnerabilities and internal control weaknesses at executive branch agencies. These vulnerabilities and internal control weaknesses include those that could compromise homeland security, affect public safety, or have a financial impact on taxpayer's dollars. FSI conducts covert tests as "red team" operations, meaning that FSI does not notify agencies in advance about the testing. Recently, concerns have arisen as to whether top management at the U.S. Transportation Security Administration (TSA) were negatively impacting the results of red team operations by leaking information to security screeners at the nation's airports in advance of covert testing operations. Consequently, GAO was asked to (1) briefly explain FSI's processes and procedures concerning covert testing and (2) provide examples of covert activities performed"
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Medicaid: Thousands of Medicaid Providers Abuse the Federal Tax System (open access)

Medicaid: Thousands of Medicaid Providers Abuse the Federal Tax System

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In fiscal year 2006, outlays for Medicaid were about $324 billion; about $185 billion was paid by the federal government. Because GAO previously identified abusive and criminal activity associated with government contractors owing billions of dollars in federal taxes, the subcommittee requested GAO expand our work to Medicaid providers. GAO was asked to (1) determine if Medicaid providers have unpaid federal taxes, and if so, the magnitude of such debts; (2) identify examples of Medicaid providers that have engaged in abusive or criminal activities; and (3) determine whether the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the states prevent health care providers with tax problems from enrolling in Medicaid or participating in the continuous levy program to pay federal tax debts. To perform this work, GAO analyzed tax data from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and Medicaid data from seven selected states based on magnitude of Medicaid payments and geography. GAO also performed additional investigative activities."
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Elections: Action Plans Needed to Fully Address Challenges in Electronic Absentee Voting Initiatives for Military and Overseas Citizens (open access)

Elections: Action Plans Needed to Fully Address Challenges in Electronic Absentee Voting Initiatives for Military and Overseas Citizens

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) protects the rights of military personnel, their dependents, and overseas citizens to vote by absentee ballot. The Department of Defense (DOD) and others have reported that absentee voting, which relies primarily on mail, can be slow and may, in certain circumstances, serve to disenfranchise these voters. In 2004, Congress required DOD to develop an Internet-based absentee voting demonstration project and required the Election Assistance Commission--which reviews election procedures--to develop guidelines for DOD's project. In 2006, Congress required DOD to report, by May 15, 2007, on plans for expanding its use of electronic voting technologies and required GAO to assess efforts by (1) DOD to facilitate electronic absentee voting and (2) the Commission to develop Internet voting guidelines and DOD to develop an Internet-based demonstration project. GAO also assessed DOD's efforts to develop plans to expand its use of electronic voting technologies. GAO interviewed officials and reviewed and analyzed documents related to these efforts."
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Bureau of the Public Debt: Areas for Improvement in Information Security Controls (open access)

Bureau of the Public Debt: Areas for Improvement in Information Security Controls

Correspondence issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "In connection with fulfilling our requirement to audit the financial statements of the U.S. government, we audited and reported on the Schedules of Federal Debt Managed by the Bureau of the Public Debt (BPD) for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2006 and 2005. As part of these audits, we performed a review of the general and application information security controls over key BPD financial systems. In our audit report on the Schedules of Federal Debt for the fiscal years ended September 30, 2006 and 2005, we concluded that BPD maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control relevant to the Schedule of Federal Debt related to financial reporting and compliance with applicable laws and regulations as of September 30, 2006, that provided reasonable assurance that misstatements, losses, or noncompliance material in relation to the Schedule of Federal Debt would be prevented or detected on a timely basis. We found matters involving information security controls that we do not consider to be reportable conditions but that nevertheless warrant BPD management's attention and action. BPD mitigated the potential effect of such issues with physical security measures, a program of …
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Text
System: The UNT Digital Library
Force Structure: Better Management Controls Are Needed to Oversee the Army's Modular Force and Expansion Initiatives and Improve Accountability for Results (open access)

Force Structure: Better Management Controls Are Needed to Oversee the Army's Modular Force and Expansion Initiatives and Improve Accountability for Results

A letter report issued by the Government Accountability Office with an abstract that begins "The Army's modular force restructuring is a multiyear $52.5 billion initiative to redesign operational Army units. The Army also plans to spend $70 billion through fiscal year 2013 to expand the force by 74,200 military personnel. Congress mandated that GAO report annually through fiscal year 2012 on the Army's modular force. For this report, GAO assessed to what extent the Army has (1) implemented and established management controls for its modular force and force expansion initiatives, and (2) assessed its modular unit designs. GAO assessed Army plans and funding requests; visited brigades that were reorganizing; and examined key Army planning documents, performance metrics, and testing plans. Both brigade combat teams and support brigades were visited, including units from the active component Army, Army National Guard, and Army Reserve."
Date: December 14, 2007
Creator: United States. Government Accountability Office.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
LLNL Facility Screening Report (SCR) for B362 (open access)

LLNL Facility Screening Report (SCR) for B362

None
Date: September 14, 2007
Creator: Cooper, G
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gaining analytical control of parton showers (open access)

Gaining analytical control of parton showers

None
Date: May 14, 2007
Creator: Bauer, Christian W. & Tackmann, Frank J.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Gaining analytic control of parton showers (open access)

Gaining analytic control of parton showers

Parton showers are widely used to generate fully exclusive final states needed to compare theoretical models to experimental observations. While, in general, parton showers give a good description of the experimental data, the precise functional form of the probability distribution underlying the event generation is generally not known. The reason is that realistic parton showers are required to conserve four-momentum at each vertex. In this paper we investigate in detail how four-momentum conservation is enforced in a standard parton shower and why this destroysthe analytic control of the probability distribution. We show how to modify a parton shower algorithm such that it conserves four-momentum at each vertex, but for which the full analytic form of the probability distribution is known. We then comment how this analytic control can be used to match matrix element calculations with parton showers, and to estimate effects of power corrections and other uncertainties in parton showers.
Date: May 14, 2007
Creator: Tackmann, Frank; Bauer, Christian W. & Tackmann, Frank J.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Study of the Tau- to Pi- Pi+ Pi- Pi0 Nu/Tau And Tau- to Pi- Pi- Pi+ Eta Nu/Tau Decays Using the BaBar Detector (open access)

Study of the Tau- to Pi- Pi+ Pi- Pi0 Nu/Tau And Tau- to Pi- Pi- Pi+ Eta Nu/Tau Decays Using the BaBar Detector

The {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} and {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{eta}{nu}{sub {tau}} decays have been studied with the BABAR detector. Preliminary branching fractions on the two modes are presented. The {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{eta}{nu}{sub {tau}} mode is found to have a large contribution from the {tau}{sup -} {yields} {omega}{pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay. The {tau}{sup -} {yields} {pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup -}{pi}{sup +}{eta}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay is studied using the {eta} {yields} {gamma}{gamma} mode and the {tau}{sup -} f{sub 1}(1285){pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay is seen to be the primary source of these decays. A 90% confidence level upper limit is placed on the {tau}{sup -} {yields} {eta}{prime}(958){pi}{sup -}{nu}{sub {tau}} decay which proceeds through a second-class current and is expected to be forbidden in the limit of perfect isospin symmetry.
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: Sobie, Randall
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Geometry of non-supersymmetric three-charge bound states (open access)

Geometry of non-supersymmetric three-charge bound states

We study the smooth non-supersymmetric three-charge microstatesof Jejjala, Madden, Ross and Titchener using Kaluza-Klein reductions of the solutions to five and four dimensions. Our aim is to improve our understanding of the relation between these non-supersymmetric solutions and the well-studied supersymmetric cases. We find some surprising qualitative differences. In the five-dimensional description, the solution has orbifold fixed points which break supersymmetry locally, so the geometries cannot be thought of as made up of separate half-BPS centers. In the four-dimensional description, the two singularities in the geometry are connected by a conical singularity, which makes it impossible to treat them independently and assign unambiguous brane charges to these centers.
Date: May 14, 2007
Creator: Gimon, Eric G.; Levi, Thomas S. & Ross, Simon F.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Enhanced High Temperature Corrosion Resistance in Advanced Fossil Energy Systems by Nano-Passive Layer Formation (open access)

Enhanced High Temperature Corrosion Resistance in Advanced Fossil Energy Systems by Nano-Passive Layer Formation

Due to their excellent corrosion resistance, iron aluminum alloys are currently being considered for use as weld claddings in fossil fuel fired power plants. The susceptibility to hydrogen cracking of these alloys at higher aluminum concentrations has highlighted the need for research into the effect of chromium additions on the corrosion resistance of lower aluminum alloys. In the present work, three iron aluminum alloys were exposed to simulated coal combustion environments at 500 C and 700 C for both short (100 hours) and long (5,000 hours) isothermal durations. Scanning electron microscopy was used to analyze the corrosion products. All alloys exhibited excellent corrosion resistance in the short term tests. For longer exposures, increasing the aluminum concentration was beneficial to the corrosion resistance. The addition of chromium to the binary iron aluminum alloy prevented the formation iron sulfide and resulted in lower corrosion kinetics. A classification of the corrosion products that developed on these alloys is presented. Scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM) of the as-corroded coupons revealed that chromium was able to form chromium sulfides only on the higher aluminum alloy, thereby preventing the formation of deleterious iron sulfides. When the aluminum concentration was too low to permit selective oxidation of …
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: Marder, Arnold R.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
HESS J1023-575: Non-Thermal Particle Acceleration Associated With the Young Stellar Cluster Westerlund 2 (open access)

HESS J1023-575: Non-Thermal Particle Acceleration Associated With the Young Stellar Cluster Westerlund 2

The results from H.E.S.S. observations towards Westerlund 2 are presented. The detection of very-high-energy gamma-ray emission towards the young stellar cluster Westerlund 2 in the HII complex RCW49 by H.E.S.S. provides ample evidence that particle acceleration to extreme energies is associated with this region. A variety of possible emission scenarios is mentioned, ranging from high-energy gamma-ray production in the colliding wind zone of the massive Wolf-Rayet binary WR 20a, collective wind scenarios, diffusive shock acceleration at the boundaries of wind-blown bubbles in the stellar cluster, and outbreak phenomena from hot stellar winds into the interstellar medium. These scenarios are briefly compared to the characteristics of the associated new VHE gamma-ray source HESS J1023-575, and conclusions on the validity of the respective emission scenarios for high-energy gamma-ray production in the Westerlund 2 system are drawn.
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: Reimer, O.; /Stanford U., HEPL /KIPAC, Menlo Park; Hinton, J.; U., /Leeds; Hofmann, W.; Hoppe, S. et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
The Performance Effect of Multi-core on ScientificApplications (open access)

The Performance Effect of Multi-core on ScientificApplications

The historical trend of increasing single CPU performancehas given way to roadmap of increasing core count. The challenge ofeffectively utilizing these multi-core chips is just starting to beexplored by vendors and application developers alike. In this study, wepresent some performance measurements of several complete scientificapplications on single and dual core Cray XT3 and XT4 systems with a viewto characterizing the effects of switching to multi-core chips. Weconsider effects within a node by using applications run at lowconcurrencies, and also effects on node-interconnect interaction usinghigher concurrency results. Finally, we construct a simple performancemodel based on the principle on-chip shared resource--memorybandwidth--and use this to predict the performance of the forthcomingquad-core system.
Date: May 14, 2007
Creator: Carter, Jonathan; He, Yun; Shalf, John; Shan, Hongzhang; Strohmaier, Erich & Wasserman, Harvey
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Analysis of cause and mechanism for injection-induced seismicityat the Geysers Geothermal Field, California (open access)

Analysis of cause and mechanism for injection-induced seismicityat the Geysers Geothermal Field, California

We analyzed relative contributions to the cause andmechanism of injection-induced seismicity at The Geysers geothermalfield, California, using coupled thermal-hydrological-mechanicalmodeling. Our analysis shows that the most important cause forinjection-induced seismicity is injection-induced cooling and associatedthermal-elastic shrinkage that changes the stress state in such a waythat mechanical failure and seismicity can be induced. Specifically, thecooling shrinkage results in unloading and associated loss of shearstrength in critically shear-stressed fractures, which are thenreactivated. Thus, our analysis shows that cooling-induced shear slipalong fractures is the dominant mechanism of injection-induced seismicityat The Geysers.
Date: June 14, 2007
Creator: Rutqvist, Jonny & Oldenburg, Curtis
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Task Group 7B: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Biological Aging: The Roles of Nature, Nurture and Chance in the Maintenance of Human Healthspan (open access)

Task Group 7B: Cellular and Molecular Mechanisms of Biological Aging: The Roles of Nature, Nurture and Chance in the Maintenance of Human Healthspan

The degree to which an individual organism maintains healthspan and lifespan is a function of complex interactions between genetic inheritance ('nature'), environment, including cultural inheritance (nurture) and stochastic events ('luck' or 'chance'). This task group will focus upon the role of chance because it is so poorly understood and because it appears to be of major importance in the determination of individual variations in healthspan and lifespan within species. The major factor determining variations in healthspan and lifespan between species is genetic inheritance. Broader aspects of cellular and molecular mechanisms of biological aging will also be considered, given their importance for understanding the cellular and molecular basis of successful aging. The task force will consider the cellular and molecular basis for nature, nurture and chance in healthspan and life span determination. On the basis of comparisons between identical and non-identical twins, geneticists have estimated that genes control no more than about a quarter of the inter-individual differences in lifespan (Herskind 1996). Twin studies of very old individuals, however, show substantially greater genetic contributions to Healthspan (McClearn 2004; Reed 2003). The environment clearly plays an important role in the length and the quality of life. Tobacco smoke, for example has the …
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: Weier, Heinz-Ulrich; Arya, Suresh; Grant, Christine; Miller, Linda; Ono, Santa Jeremy; Patil, Chris et al.
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
ILC Reference Design Report: Accelerator Executive Summary (open access)

ILC Reference Design Report: Accelerator Executive Summary

The International Linear Collider (ILC) is a 200-500 GeV center-of-mass high-luminosity linear electron-positron collider, based on 1.3 GHz superconducting radiofrequency (SCRF) accelerating cavities. The use of the SCRF technology was recommended by the International Technology Recommendation Panel (ITRP) in August 2004 [1], and shortly thereafter endorsed by the International Committee for Future Accelerators (ICFA). In an unprecedented milestone in high-energy physics, the many institutes around the world involved in linear collider R&D united in a common effort to produce a global design for the ILC. In November 2004, the 1st International Linear Collider Workshop was held at KEK, Tsukuba, Japan. The workshop was attended by some 200 accelerator physicists from around the world, and paved the way for the 2nd ILC Workshop in August 2005, held at Snowmass, Colorado, USA, where the ILC Global Design Effort (GDE) was officially formed. The GDE membership reflects the global nature of the collaboration, with accelerator experts from all three regions (Americas, Asia and Europe). The first major goal of the GDE was to define the basic parameters and layout of the machine--the Baseline Configuration. This was achieved at the first GDE meeting held at INFN, Frascati, Italy in December 2005 with the creation …
Date: December 14, 2007
Creator: Phinney, Nan
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library
Science and Technology Review January/February 2008 (open access)

Science and Technology Review January/February 2008

This month's issue has the following articles: (1) The Edward Teller Centennial--Commentary by George H. Miller; (2) Edward Teller's Century: Celebrating the Man and His Vision--Colleagues at the Laboratory remember Edward Teller, cofounder of Lawrence Livermore, adviser to U.S. presidents, and physicist extraordinaire, on the 100th anniversary of his birth; (3) Quark Theory and Today's Supercomputers: It's a Match--Thanks to the power of BlueGene/L, Livermore has become an epicenter for theoretical advances in particle physics; and (4) The Role of Dentin in Tooth Fracture--Studies on tooth dentin show that its mechanical properties degrade with age.
Date: November 14, 2007
Creator: Chinn, D J
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Improved Radiation Dosimetry/Risk Estimates to Facilitate Environmental Management of Plutonium-Contaminated Sites (open access)

Improved Radiation Dosimetry/Risk Estimates to Facilitate Environmental Management of Plutonium-Contaminated Sites

This report summarizes 4 years of research achievements in this Office of Science (BER), U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project. The research described was conducted by scientists and supporting staff at Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute (LRRI)/Lovelace Biomedical and Environmental Research Institute (LBERI) and the Southern Urals Biophysics Institute (SUBI). All project objectives and goals were achieved. A major focus was on obtaining improved cancer risk estimates for exposure via inhalation to plutonium (Pu) isotopes in the workplace (DOE radiation workers) and environment (public exposures to Pu-contaminated soil). A major finding was that low doses and dose rates of gamma rays can significantly suppress cancer induction by alpha radiation from inhaled Pu isotopes. The suppression relates to stimulation of the body's natural defenses, including immunity against cancer cells and selective apoptosis which removes precancerous and other aberrant cells.
Date: December 14, 2007
Creator: Scott, Bobby R.; Tokarskaya, Zoya B.; Zhuntova, Galina V.; Osovets, Sergey V. & Syrchikov, Victor A., Belyaeva, Zinaida D.
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Phases of QCD: Summary of the Rutgers Long Range Plan Town Meeting, January 12-14, 2007 (open access)

Phases of QCD: Summary of the Rutgers Long Range Plan Town Meeting, January 12-14, 2007

This White Paper summarizes the outcome of the Town Meeting on Phases of QCD that took place January 12-14, 2007 at Rutgers University, as part of the NSAC 2007 Long Range Planning process. The meeting was held in conjunction with the Town Meeting on Hadron Structure, including a full day of joint plenary sessions of the two meetings. Appendix A.1 contains the meeting agenda. This Executive Summary presents the prioritized recommendations that were determined at the meeting. Subsequent chapters present the essential background to the recommendations. While this White Paper is not a scholarly article and contains few references, it is intended to provide the non-expert reader
Date: May 14, 2007
Creator: Jacobs, Peter; Kharzeev, Dmitri; Muller, Berndt; Nagle, Jamie; Rajagopal, Krishna & Vigdor, Steve
Object Type: Report
System: The UNT Digital Library
Evaluation of Multiplexed Foot-and-Mouth Disease Nonstructural Protein Antibody Assay Against Standardized Bovine Serum Panel (open access)

Evaluation of Multiplexed Foot-and-Mouth Disease Nonstructural Protein Antibody Assay Against Standardized Bovine Serum Panel

Liquid array technology has previously been used to show proof-of-principle of a multiplexed non structural protein serological assay to differentiate foot-and-mouth infected and vaccinated animals. The current multiplexed assay consists of synthetically produced peptide signatures 3A, 3B and 3D and recombinant protein signature 3ABC in combination with four controls. To determine diagnostic specificity of each signature in the multiplex, the assay was evaluated against a naive population (n = 104) and a vaccinated population (n = 94). Subsequently, the multiplexed assay was assessed using a panel of bovine sera generated by the World Reference Laboratory for foot-and-mouth disease in Pirbright, UK. This sera panel has been used to assess the performance of other singleplex ELISA-based non-structural protein antibody assays. The 3ABC signature in the multiplexed assay showed comparative performance to a commercially available non-structural protein 3ABC ELISA (Cedi test{reg_sign}) and additional information pertaining to the relative diagnostic sensitivity of each signature in the multiplex is acquired in one experiment. The encouraging results of the evaluation of the multiplexed assay against a panel of diagnostically relevant samples promotes further assay development and optimization to generate an assay for routine use in foot-and-mouth disease surveillance.
Date: May 14, 2007
Creator: Perkins, J; Parida, S & Clavijo, A
Object Type: Article
System: The UNT Digital Library