HLA topography enforces shared and convergent immunodominant B cell and antibody alloresponses in transplant recipients.

Donor-specific antibody (DSA) responses against human leukocyte antigen (HLA) proteins mismatched between kidney transplant donors and recipients cause allograft loss. The rules governing the immunogenicity of non-self donor HLA are poorly understood. Using single-cell, molecular, structural, and proteomic techniques, we profiled the HLA-specific B cell response in the kidney and blood of a transplant recipient with antibody-mediated rejection (AMR).

Accuracy and Reliability of Single-Camera Measurements of Ankle Clonus and Quadriceps Hyperreflexia.

Objective: To evaluate the accuracy and reliability of a simple, single-camera smartphone-based method, named the Reflex Tracker (RT) system, for measuring reflex threshold angles related to ankle clonus and quadriceps hyperreflexia.

Design: A prospective comparison study using a high-fidelity reference standard was constructed employing a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design, with factors of rater (tester) type (student and experienced physical therapist), joint (ankle and knee), and repetition (2 per condition).

Setting: This multicenter study was conducted at 4 outpatient rehabilitation clinics.

New ^{13}C(α,n)^{16}O Cross Section with Implications for Neutrino Mixing and Geoneutrino Measurements.

Precise antineutrino measurements are very sensitive to proper background characterization. We present an improved measurement of the ^{13}C(α,n)^{16}O reaction cross section which constitutes significant background for large ν[over ¯] detectors. We greatly improve the precision and accuracy by utilizing a setup that is sensitive to the neutron energies while making measurements of the excited state transitions via secondary γ-ray detection.

New Measurement of ^{12}C+^{12}C Fusion Reaction at Astrophysical Energies.

Carbon and oxygen burning reactions, in particular, ^{12}C+^{12}C fusion, are important for the understanding and interpretation of the late phases of stellar evolution as well as the ignition and nucleosynthesis in cataclysmic binary systems such as type Ia supernovae and x-ray superbursts. A new measurement of this reaction has been performed at the University of Notre Dame using particle-γ coincidence techniques with SAND (a silicon detector array) at the high-intensity 5U Pelletron accelerator. New results for ^{12}C+^{12}C fusion at low energies relevant to nuclear astrophysics are reported.

Irradiation-induced reactions at the CeO/SiO/Si interface.

The influence of high-energy (1.6 MeV) Ar irradiation on the interfacial interaction between cerium oxide thin films (∼15 nm) with a SiO/Si substrate is investigated using transmission electron microscopy, ultrahigh vacuum x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and a carbon monoxide (CO) oxidation catalytic reaction using ambient pressure XPS. The combination of these methods allows probing the dynamics of vacancy generation and its relation to chemical interactions at the CeO/SiO/Si interface.