Sofia University

About: Sofia University is a education organization based out in Sofia, Bulgaria. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Large Hadron Collider & Standard Model. The organization has 8533 authors who have published 15730 publications receiving 306320 citations. The organization is also known as: University of Sofia & BFUS.

Modular Organization of the Carboxyl-Terminal, Globular Head Region of Human C1q A, B, and C Chains

Abstract: The first step in the activation of the classical complement pathway, by immune complexes, involves the binding of the globular heads of C1q to the Fc regions of aggregated IgG or IgM. Located C-terminal to the collagen region, each globular head is composed of the C-terminal halves of one A (ghA), one B (ghB), and one C chain (ghC). To dissect their structural and functional autonomy, we have expressed ghA, ghB, and ghC in Escherichia coli as soluble proteins linked to maltose-binding protein (MBP). The affinity-purified fusion proteins (MBP-ghA, -ghB, and -ghC) bound differentially to heat-aggregated IgG and IgM, and also to three known C1q-binding peptides, derived from HIV-1, HTLV-I, and β-amyloid. In the ELISAs, the MBP-ghA bound to heat-aggregated IgG and IgM as well as to the HIV-1 gp41 peptide; the MBP-ghB bound preferentially to IgG rather than IgM, in addition to binding β-amyloid peptide, whereas the MBP-ghC showed a preference for IgM and the HTLV-I gp21 peptide. Both MBP-ghA and MBP-ghB also inhibited C1q-dependent hemolysis of IgG- and IgM-sensitized sheep erythrocytes. However, for IgM-coated erythrocytes, MBP-ghC was a better inhibitor of C1q than MBP-ghB. The recombinant forms of ghA, ghB, and ghC also bound specifically to apoptotic PBMCs. We conclude that the C1q globular head region is likely to have a modular organization, being composed of three structurally and functionally independent modules, which retains multivalency in the form of a heterotrimer. The heterotrimeric organization thus offers functional flexibility and versatility to the whole C1q molecule.

Long-range and short-range dihadron angular correlations in central PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center of mass energy of 2.76 TeV

Abstract: First measurements of dihadron correlations for charged particles are presented for central PbPb collisions at a nucleon-nucleon center-of-mass energy of 2.76 TeV over a broad range in relative pseudorapidity, Delta(eta), and the full range of relative azimuthal angle, Delta(phi). The data were collected with the CMS detector, at the LHC. A broadening of the away-side (Delta(phi) approximately pi) azimuthal correlation is observed at all Delta(eta), as compared to the measurements in pp collisions. Furthermore, long-range dihadron correlations in Delta(eta) are observed for particles with similar phi values. This phenomenon, also known as the "ridge", persists up to at least |Delta(eta)| = 4. For particles with transverse momenta (pt) of 2-4 GeV/c, the ridge is found to be most prominent when these particles are correlated with particles of pt = 2-6 GeV/c, and to be much reduced when paired with particles of pt = 10-12 GeV/c.

Performance of CMS muon reconstruction in cosmic-ray events

Abstract: The performance of muon reconstruction in CMS is evaluated using a large data sample of cosmic-ray muons recorded in 2008. Efficiencies of various high-level trigger, identification, and reconstruction algorithms have been measured for a broad range of muon momenta, and were found to be in good agreement with expectations from Monte Carlo simulation. The relative momentum resolution for muons crossing the barrel part of the detector is better than 1% at 10 GeV/c and is about 8% at 500 GeV/c, the latter being only a factor of two worse than expected with ideal alignment conditions. Muon charge misassignment ranges from less than 0.01% at 10 GeV/c to about 1% at 500 GeV/c.

Sol-gel processing of titanium-containing thin coatings

Abstract: Using tetrabutylorthotitanate as a precursor, titanate coatings with and without modifiers such as SnO2 and Fe2O3 have been successfully obtained. The hydrolysis and polycondensation mechanism is discussed in relation to the sol-gel transition. The gel-formation region was obtained as well as stable-layer formation and phase-separation regions in the Ti(OBun)4-C2H5OH-H2O system. Coatings deposited on glass substrates exhibited a strong tendency to aggregate and with increasing temperature to crystallize in anatase or rutile phases (500 and 1000 °C, respectively). Structural characteristics of the gel products were investigated by SEM, X-ray and electron diffraction measurements, as well as by small-angle X-ray scattering. It was established that after thermal treatment at 500 °C for 10 min, spherical aggregates were formed in the coatings, having an average radius of approximately 5.1 nm.

A Universal Approach To Determine the Free Energy Diagram of an Electrocatalytic Reaction

Abstract: Extended Tafel plots at various temperatures for an electrocatalyzed reaction and (possibly) its reversed reaction on single-crystalline model electrodes allow for constructing the (essential part of the) free energy surface, in particular the free energies of the transition states (TS). Free energies of the reaction intermediates (RIs) including the chemical nature of active surface sites (S) are hardly accessible to experiment and need therefore to be taken from constrained ab initio thermodynamics calculations. The compact compilation of experimental kinetic data in the form of a free energy diagram enables a critical assessment and validation of theoretical free energy landscapes based on first-principles kinetics. For three prototypical electrocatalyzed reactions, namely the chlorine evolution reaction (CER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) over RuO2(110) as well as hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) on Pt(111), we exemplify this universal approach and discuss potential benefits for theoretical mod...