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S Rajasekar

Publications and source records attributed to S Rajasekar.

7 recordsLinked to original sources

Diffusion in a periodically driven damped and undamped pendulum.

We study the diffusion process in a periodically driven damped and undamped pendulum. The effect of angular frequency omega of the external periodic force on the diffusion process is investigated. We show the occurrence of normal and anomalous diffusions in the undamped system. In the presence of damping, normal chaotic diffusion is found. Near certain bifurcation points, the phase velocity is found to be intermittent and the diffusion coefficient is found to exhibit power-law divergence. We argue that the divergence of the diffusion coefficient near the bifurcation points is similar to that of the average laminar lengths near them. The effect of bias on the dynamics is also discussed.

Journal Article↗

Vaccination with HIV-1 gp120 DNA induces immune responses that are boosted by a recombinant gp120 protein subunit.

Small animals were immunized with plasmid DNA encoding HIV-1 envelope gp120 either intramuscularly by needle injection (mice and guinea pigs) or epidermally with the Accell gene gun (guinea pits). Subsequently, the animals were boosted with a recombinant gp120 protein subunit vaccine in an oil-in-water based adjuvant, MF59. Antibodies and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) immune responses to the HIV envelope glycoprotein were observed in animals immunized with gp120 DNA derived from the HIV-1SF2 laboratory strain or from HIV-1 field isolates. Titers of ELISA antibodies and serum neutralizing antibodies against the HIV-1SF2 laboratory isolate were substantially increased in DNA-immunized animals following a single boost with recombinant gp120 protein subunit. This DNA prime/protein subunit boost immunization approach may be important for vaccination against infectious agents such as HIV for which it is difficult to raise strong antiviral humoral responses with DNA vaccination alone.

AIDS Vaccines↗

Bifurcation, chaos and suppression of chaos in FitzHugh-Nagumo nerve conduction model equation.

We study the effect of constant and periodic membrane currents in neuronal axons described by the FitzHugh-Nagumo equation in its wave form. Linear stability analysis is carried out in the absence of periodic membrane current. Occurrence of chaotic motion, (i) in the absence of both constant and periodic membrane currents, (ii) with constant current only, (iii) with periodic membrane current only, and (iv) with both constant and periodic currents is investigated for specific parametric choices. We show how chaos sets in through a cascade of period doubling bifurcations. We then demonstrate the possibility of control of chaos using various control mechanisms. Specifically, we show the control of chaos by (i) adaptive control mechanism, (ii) periodic parametric perturbation and (iii) stabilization of unstable periodic orbits.

Animals↗

Degradation of CD4 following phorbol-induced internalization in human T lymphocytes. Evidence for distinct endocytic routing of CD4 and CD3.

Exposure of T lymphocytes to phorbol esters induces endocytosis of CD4 and the CD3/T-cell receptor complex. We compared the pathway of CD4 internalization to that of CD3 following activation of human T lymphocytes with phorbol 12,13-dibutyrate (PDBu). Both CD3 and CD4 were rapidly internalized in response to PDBu, but only CD3, and not CD4, was recycled to the cell surface after removal of PDBu. In support of a degradative fate for internalized CD4, radioimmuno-precipitation studies revealed that the total amount of cellular CD4 was reduced by greater than 90% after exposure to PDBu for 4 h, whereas total CD3 remained constant. PDBu induced CD4 capping and localization consistent with sequestration in intracellular vesicles, presumably lysosomes, prior to becoming degraded. Lysosomotropic agents, such as NH4Cl, chloroquine, and monensin inhibited CD4 degradation, consistent with a lysosomal fate for CD4. Internalization and degradation of CD4 was blocked by staurosporine, an inhibitor of protein kinase C suggestive of a role for protein kinase C in the endocytic fate of CD4. The results of this study demonstrate that CD3 and CD4 follow distinct endocytic pathways which may be relevant to their having distinct roles in T cell activation and function.

Alkaloids↗