Publications by authors named "I Borthwick"

A perturbed steady-state rate-equation model has been developed for the cw laser collisionally induced fluorescence (LCIF) produced by excitation on one of the 1s-2p noble gas transitions. This work is one part of a wider complementary modeling program which includes cw optogalvanic spectroscopy, optical emission spectroscopy, and optical absorption spectroscopy, with the overall aim of testing all of these models with the same stringently assembled atomic and discharge data set. Our aim here is to demonstrate the principal features of our cw LCIF model by using it to describe our experimental observations produced by pumping transitions originating on the 1s(5) metastable and 1s(4) resonance states of neon atoms in the positive column of a normal glow discharge at 2.

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Background: Hepatitis G Virus (HGV)/GB Virus-C (GBV-C) is a newly discovered RNA virus. Nucleotide sequence comparison and phylogenetic studies of the 5' untranslated region (5'UTR) within the viral genome have identified at least three different types which have provisionally been classified as type 1 (West African origin), type 2 (North American origin) and type 3 (Asian origin).

Methods And Results: The products of RT-PCR were sequenced by using blood donors and patients infected with HGV/GBV-C in Australia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands to investigate the genotype distribution in this area of the world.

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Background: The epidemiology and disease association for the GB virus type C (GBV-C) or hepatitis G virus (HGV) are poorly understood.

Study Design And Methods: This study describes the exposure rates to GBV-C/HGV in diverse Australian population groups by testing for current infection and evidence of past infection with a reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction and an anti-E2 enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, respectively. Subjects included volunteer blood donors, hepatitis C antibody (anti-HCV)-positive donors, children, hemodialysis patients, pregnant women attending a prenatal clinic, injecting drug users (IVDUs), and adult hemophiliacs.

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We have sequenced a genomic DNA fragment containing the promoter and 5'-flanking region of the alpha 2MR/LRP. A cluster of five Sp1 sites situated over 600 base pairs away from the putative transcription start site doubles the activity of the promoter. A similar increase in activity was observed when this region was replaced by the SV40 enhancer, but the presence of both the cluster of Sp1 sites and SV40 enhancer gave no more transcription than either region alone.

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The housekeeping enzyme 5-aminolevulinate synthase (ALAS) regulates the supply of heme for respiratory cytochromes. Here we report on the isolation of a genomic clone for the rat ALAS gene. The 5'-flanking region was fused to the chloramphenicol acetyltransferase gene and transient expression analysis revealed the presence of both positive and negative cis-acting sequences.

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