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In the absence of a dense atmosphere and a general magnetic field around the Moon, solar wind particles reach the lunar surface and are almost completely absorbed. When the Moon passes through the plasma medium of the solar wind magnetic ropes, the electric currents of the rope can strongly change the electric potential of the lunar surface on the day and night surfaces, and in the case when the current density vectors of the rope and the direction to the Sun are close to colinear, there is the possibility of sufficiently strong ring currents, the magnetic field of which tends to displace the magnetic field of the rope and lead to the formation of a plasma layer with a height of the order of the electron Larmor radius.

The results of experiments on radio sounding of near the Sun plasma by the signals of the Mars Express Mars satellite are presented . In the region of heliocentric distances of the proximate point of the line of sight of 8–13 solar radii, frequency fluctuations of transmission radio signals were measured. During the experiments sharp increases in the variance of frequency fluctuations were recorded on both the eastern and western limbs. In measurements near the Earth’s orbit on the Wind spacecraft in adjacent periods with a delay of 5–17 days, increases in the proton concentration and magnetic field strength were recorded at 7–15 times the background values. A comparison between the data related to the inner and near-Earth solar wind indicates that the observed disturbances are associated with the same region of the solar corona rotating with the Sun.

During the SELENE (Kaguya) mission the dual‐spacecraft radio occultation technique was used to investigate the electron population in the vicinity of the lunar surface. One pair of coherent S‐band radio signals from one spacecraft was used to probe the possible electron density enhancement near the Moon, and another signal pair from the other spacecraft measured the solar wind and the terrestrial ionosphere plasma fluctuations, which also exist in the measurement by the former signal pair. The results suggest that any stable ionosphere with densities comparable to the ones observed by the Soviet Luna 19 and 22 missions does not exist near the terminator at high latitudes, although the occurrence of temporal or localized density enhancements cannot be ruled out. Key Points We measured the electron density around the moon by the dual‐spacecraft method Dual‐spacecraft technique can remove the effects of the earth ionosphere Lunar ionosphere can appear temporally, which is associated with the lunar dust

The electron density distribution in the vicinity of the lunar surface was explored with the radio occultation technique using a subsatellite on the SELENE mission. Although the measurements suffer from contamination by the terrestrial ionosphere and interplanetary plasma, an analysis of more than 300 measurements provides adequate statistics and reveals a general trend. The result suggests that a dense ionosphere covering the whole sunlit side, as suggested by the radio occultation measurements on the Soviet Luna 19 and 22 missions, does not exist. However, weak signatures of electron density enhancement with densities on the order of 100 cm−3 are observed below 30 km altitude at solar zenith angles less than 60°. The statistically averaged density reaches a peak at around 15 km altitude and decreases gradually at higher altitudes and toward the surface. Although the suggested electron layer is thinner and less extended horizontally than that reported by Luna 19 and 22, the existence of such an ionized layer is still difficult to explain by conventional ionosphere generation mechanisms. An alternative source of electrons may be required. Key Points Electron density near the lunar surface was measured by radio occultation Repeated observations revealed the dependence on the solar zenith angle Weak signature of density enhancement was observed near sub‐solar region

Statins have previously been shown to reduce the in vitro infection of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) through modulation of Rho GTPase activity and lipid raft formation at the cell surface, as well as by disrupting LFA-1 incorporation into viral particles. Here we demonstrate that treatment of an enriched CD4(+) lymphocyte population with lovastatin (Lov), mevastatin (Mev) and simvastatin (activated and non-activated, Sim(A) and Sim(N), respectively) can reduce the cell surface expression of the CC-chemokine receptor CCR5 (P<0.01 for Sim(A) and Lov). The lowered CCR5 expression was associated with down-regulation of CCR5 mRNA expression. The CC-chemokine RANTES protein and mRNA expression levels were slightly increased in CD4(+) enriched lymphocytes treated with statins. Both R5 and X4 HIV-1 were reduced for their infection of statin-treated cells; however, in cultures where statins were removed and where a decrease in CCR5 expression was observed, there was a preferential inhibition of infection with an R5 versus X4 virus. The results indicate that the modulation of CC-chemokine receptor (CCR5) and CC-chemokine (RANTES) expression levels should be considered as contributing to the anti-viral effects of statins, preferentially inhibiting R5 viruses. This observation, in combination with the immunomodulatory activity exerted by statins, suggests they may possess more potent anti-HIV-1 activity when applied during the early stages of infection or in lowering viral transmission. Alternatively, statin treatment could be considered as a way to modulate immune induction such as during vaccination protocols.

The secondary peptide metabolites produced by the Trichoderma asperellum strain F-1087 were isolated, and their properties were studied. It has been shown these metabolites at concentrations of 0.08 and 0.02 mg/mL inhibit the human prostate cancer cell line by 97 and 34%, respectively.

Although Crohn’s disease (CD) etiology remains unclear, a growing body of evidence suggests that CD may include an infectious component, with Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) being the most likely candidate for this role. However, the molecular mechanism of the MAP involvement in CD pathogenesis remains unclear. The polymorphism of the NOD2 gene, coding for an intracellular pattern recognition receptor, is a factor of predisposition to mycobacterial infections and CD. Recent findings on NOD2 interactions and functions provide the missing pieces in the puzzle of a NOD2-mediated mechanism common for mycobacterial infections and CD. Implications of these new findings for the development of a better understanding and treatments of CD and mycobacterial infections are discussed.

Results are presented of the ground-based VLBI experiments conducted at RadioAstron frequencies between the VLBI sites Simeiz (RT-22)-Yevpatoria (RT-70) and Simeiz (RT-22)-Pushchino (RT-22).

Background This study aimed to clarify interactions of the pattern-recognition receptor DC-SIGN with cells from the HIV-infected peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures. Methods Cells from control and HIV-infected peripheral blood lymphocyte cultures were tested for the surface expression of DC-SIGN ligands. The DC-SIGN ligand expressing cells were analyzed for the role of DC-SIGN-ligand interaction in their functionality. Results In the vast majority of experiments HIV-infected lymphocytes did not express detectable DC-SIGN ligands on their cell surfaces. In contrast, non-infected cells, carrying NK-specific marker CD56, expressed cell surface DC-SIGN ligands. The weakly polysialylated CD56 was identified as a novel DC-SIGN ligand. The treatment of DC-SIGN expressing dendritic cells with anti-DC-SIGN antibodies increased the anti-dendritic cell cytotoxicity of CD56 pos cells. The treatment of CD56 pos cells with a peptide, blocking the weakly polysialylated CD56-specifc trans -homophilic interactions, inhibited their anti-dendritic cells cytotoxicity. Conclusions The interaction between DC-SIGN and CD56 inhibits homotypic intercellular interactions of CD56 pos cells and protects DC-SIGN expressing dendritic cells against CD56 pos cell-mediated cytotoxicity. This finding can have an impact on the development of approaches to HIV infection and cancer therapy as well as in transplantation medicine.

An experiment on VLBI radar of the 2012 DA14 asteroid was carried out on February 15–16, 2011 at the time of its closest approach to the Earth. The research teams of Kharkov (Institute of Radio Astronomy of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine), Evpatoria (National Space Facilities Control and Test Center), Nizhny Novgorod (Radiophysical Research Institute), Bologna (Istituto di Radioastronomia (INAF)), and Ventspils (Ventspils International Radioastronomy Center) took part in the experiment. The asteroid was irradiated by the RT-70 planetary radar (Evpatoria) at a frequency of 5 GHz. The reflected signal was received using two 32-m radio telescopes in Medicina (Italy) and Irbene (Latvia) in radiointerferometric mode. The Doppler frequency shifts in bi-static radar mode and interference frequency in VLBI mode were measured. Accuracy of the VLBI radar method for determining the radial and angular velocities of the asteroid were estimated.