Sample records for absolute expression levels

  1. A novel approach for human whole transcriptome analysis based on absolute gene expression of microarray data.

    PubMed

    Bikel, Shirley; Jacobo-Albavera, Leonor; Sánchez-Muñoz, Fausto; Cornejo-Granados, Fernanda; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Soberón, Xavier; Sotelo-Mundo, Rogerio R; Del Río-Navarro, Blanca E; Mendoza-Vargas, Alfredo; Sánchez, Filiberto; Ochoa-Leyva, Adrian

    2017-01-01

    In spite of the emergence of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), microarrays remain in widespread use for gene expression analysis in the clinic. There are over 767,000 RNA microarrays from human samples in public repositories, which are an invaluable resource for biomedical research and personalized medicine. The absolute gene expression analysis allows the transcriptome profiling of all expressed genes under a specific biological condition without the need of a reference sample. However, the background fluorescence represents a challenge to determine the absolute gene expression in microarrays. Given that the Y chromosome is absent in female subjects, we used it as a new approach for absolute gene expression analysis in which the fluorescence of the Y chromosome genes of female subjects was used as the background fluorescence for all the probes in the microarray. This fluorescence was used to establish an absolute gene expression threshold, allowing the differentiation between expressed and non-expressed genes in microarrays. We extracted the RNA from 16 children leukocyte samples (nine males and seven females, ages 6-10 years). An Affymetrix Gene Chip Human Gene 1.0 ST Array was carried out for each sample and the fluorescence of 124 genes of the Y chromosome was used to calculate the absolute gene expression threshold. After that, several expressed and non-expressed genes according to our absolute gene expression threshold were compared against the expression obtained using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). From the 124 genes of the Y chromosome, three genes (DDX3Y, TXLNG2P and EIF1AY) that displayed significant differences between sexes were used to calculate the absolute gene expression threshold. Using this threshold, we selected 13 expressed and non-expressed genes and confirmed their expression level by RT-qPCR. Then, we selected the top 5% most expressed genes and found that several KEGG pathways were significantly enriched. Interestingly

  2. A novel approach for human whole transcriptome analysis based on absolute gene expression of microarray data

    PubMed Central

    Bikel, Shirley; Jacobo-Albavera, Leonor; Sánchez-Muñoz, Fausto; Cornejo-Granados, Fernanda; Canizales-Quinteros, Samuel; Soberón, Xavier; Sotelo-Mundo, Rogerio R.; del Río-Navarro, Blanca E.; Mendoza-Vargas, Alfredo; Sánchez, Filiberto

    2017-01-01

    Background In spite of the emergence of RNA sequencing (RNA-seq), microarrays remain in widespread use for gene expression analysis in the clinic. There are over 767,000 RNA microarrays from human samples in public repositories, which are an invaluable resource for biomedical research and personalized medicine. The absolute gene expression analysis allows the transcriptome profiling of all expressed genes under a specific biological condition without the need of a reference sample. However, the background fluorescence represents a challenge to determine the absolute gene expression in microarrays. Given that the Y chromosome is absent in female subjects, we used it as a new approach for absolute gene expression analysis in which the fluorescence of the Y chromosome genes of female subjects was used as the background fluorescence for all the probes in the microarray. This fluorescence was used to establish an absolute gene expression threshold, allowing the differentiation between expressed and non-expressed genes in microarrays. Methods We extracted the RNA from 16 children leukocyte samples (nine males and seven females, ages 6–10 years). An Affymetrix Gene Chip Human Gene 1.0 ST Array was carried out for each sample and the fluorescence of 124 genes of the Y chromosome was used to calculate the absolute gene expression threshold. After that, several expressed and non-expressed genes according to our absolute gene expression threshold were compared against the expression obtained using real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR). Results From the 124 genes of the Y chromosome, three genes (DDX3Y, TXLNG2P and EIF1AY) that displayed significant differences between sexes were used to calculate the absolute gene expression threshold. Using this threshold, we selected 13 expressed and non-expressed genes and confirmed their expression level by RT-qPCR. Then, we selected the top 5% most expressed genes and found that several KEGG pathways were

  3. MEERCAT: Multiplexed Efficient Cell Free Expression of Recombinant QconCATs For Large Scale Absolute Proteome Quantification*

    PubMed Central

    Takemori, Nobuaki; Takemori, Ayako; Tanaka, Yuki; Endo, Yaeta; Hurst, Jane L.; Gómez-Baena, Guadalupe; Harman, Victoria M.; Beynon, Robert J.

    2017-01-01

    A major challenge in proteomics is the absolute accurate quantification of large numbers of proteins. QconCATs, artificial proteins that are concatenations of multiple standard peptides, are well established as an efficient means to generate standards for proteome quantification. Previously, QconCATs have been expressed in bacteria, but we now describe QconCAT expression in a robust, cell-free system. The new expression approach rescues QconCATs that previously were unable to be expressed in bacteria and can reduce the incidence of proteolytic damage to QconCATs. Moreover, it is possible to cosynthesize QconCATs in a highly-multiplexed translation reaction, coexpressing tens or hundreds of QconCATs simultaneously. By obviating bacterial culture and through the gain of high level multiplexing, it is now possible to generate tens of thousands of standard peptides in a matter of weeks, rendering absolute quantification of a complex proteome highly achievable in a reproducible, broadly deployable system. PMID:29055021

  4. Absolute Sea-level Changes Derived from Integrated Geodetic Datasets (1955-2016) in the Caribbean Sea

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yang, L.; Wang, G.; Liu, H.

    2017-12-01

    Rising sea level has important direct impacts on coastal and island regions such as the Caribbean where the influence of sea-level rise is becoming more apparent. The Caribbean Sea is a semi-enclosed sea adjacent to the landmasses of South and Central America to the south and west, and the Greater Antilles and the Lesser Antilles separate it from the Atlantic Ocean to the north and east. The work focus on studying the relative and absolute sea-level changes by integrating tide gauge, GPS, and satellite altimetry datasets (1955-2016) within the Caribbean Sea. Further, the two main components of absolute sea-level change, ocean mass and steric sea-level changes, are respectively studied using GRACE, temperature, and salinity datasets (1955-2016). According to the analysis conducted, the sea-level change rates have considerable temporal and spatial variations, and estimates may be subject to the techniques used and observation periods. The average absolute sea-level rise rate is 1.8±0.3 mm/year for the period from 1955 to 2015 according to the integrated tide gauge and GPS observations; the average absolute sea-level rise rate is 3.5±0.6 mm/year for the period from 1993 to 2016 according to the satellite altimetry observations. This study shows that the absolute sea-level change budget in the Caribbean Sea is closed in the periods from 1955 to 2016, in which ocean mass change dominates the absolute sea-level rise. The absolute sea-level change budget is also closed in the periods from 2004 to 2016, in which steric sea-level rise dominates the absolute sea-level rise.

  5. Relative and absolute level populations in beam-foil-excited neutral helium

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davidson, J.

    1975-01-01

    Relative and absolute populations of 19 levels in beam-foil-excited neutral helium at 0.275 MeV have been measured. The singlet angular-momentum sequences show dependences on principal quantum number consistent with n to the -3rd power, but the triplet sequences do not. Singlet and triplet angular-momentum sequences show similar dependences on level excitation energy. Excitation functions for six representative levels were measured in the range from 0.160 to 0.500 MeV. The absolute level populations increase with energy, whereas the neutral fraction of the beam decreases with energy. Further, the P angular-momentum levels are found to be overpopulated with respect to the S and D levels. The overpopulation decreases with increasing principal quantum number.

  6. Determination of absolute expression profiles using multiplexed miRNA analysis

    PubMed Central

    Song, Jee Hoon; Cheng, Yulan; Saeui, Christopher T.; Cheung, Douglas G.; Croce, Carlo M.; Yarema, Kevin J.; Meltzer, Stephen J.; Liu, Kelvin J.; Wang, Tza-Huei

    2017-01-01

    Accurate measurement of miRNA expression is critical to understanding their role in gene expression as well as their application as disease biomarkers. Correct identification of changes in miRNA expression rests on reliable normalization to account for biological and technological variance between samples. Ligo-miR is a multiplex assay designed to rapidly measure absolute miRNA copy numbers, thus reducing dependence on biological controls. It uses a simple 2-step ligation process to generate length coded products that can be quantified using a variety of DNA sizing methods. We demonstrate Ligo-miR’s ability to quantify miRNA expression down to 20 copies per cell sensitivity, accurately discriminate between closely related miRNA, and reliably measure differential changes as small as 1.2-fold. Then, benchmarking studies were performed to show the high correlation between Ligo-miR, microarray, and TaqMan qRT-PCR. Finally, Ligo-miR was used to determine copy number profiles in a number of breast, esophageal, and pancreatic cell lines and to demonstrate the utility of copy number analysis for providing layered insight into expression profile changes. PMID:28704432

  7. The Relation between the Absolute Level of Parenting and Differential Parental Treatment with Adolescent Siblings' Adjustment

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Tamrouti-Makkink, Ilse D.; Dubas, Judith Semon; Gerris, Jan R. M.; van Aken, Marcel A. G.

    2004-01-01

    Background: The present study extends existing studies on the role of differential parental treatment in explaining individual differences in adolescent problem behaviors above the absolute level of parenting and clarifies the function of gender of the child, birth rank and gender constellation of the sibling dyads. Method: The absolute level of…

  8. Absolute gene expression patterns of thioredoxin and glutaredoxin redox systems in mouse.

    PubMed

    Jurado, Juan; Prieto-Alamo, María-José; Madrid-Rísquez, José; Pueyo, Carmen

    2003-11-14

    This work provides the first absolute expression patterns of genes coding for all known components of both thioredoxin (Trx) and glutaredoxin (Grx) systems in mouse: Trx1, Trx2, Grx1, Grx2, TrxR1, TrxR2, thioredoxin/glutathione reductase, and glutathione reductase. We devised a novel assay that, combining the advantages of multiplex and real-time PCR, streamlines the quantitation of the actual mRNA copy numbers in whole-animal experiments. Quantitations reported establish differences among adult organs and embryonic stages, compare mRNA decay rates, explore the significance of alternative mRNA isoforms derived from TrxR1 and Grx2 genes, and examine the time-course expression upon superoxide stress promoted by paraquat. Collectively, these quantitations show: i) unique expression profiles for each transcript and mouse organ examined, yet with some general trends like the higher amounts of mRNA species coding for thioredoxins than those coding for the reductases that control their redox states and activities; ii) continuous expression during embryogenesis with outstanding up-regulations of Trx1 and TrxR1 mRNAs in specific temporal sequences; iii) drastic differences in mRNA stability, liver decay rates range from 2.8 h (thioredoxin/glutathione reductase) to >/= 35 h (Trx1 and Trx2), and directly correlate with mRNA steady-state values; iv) testis-specific differences in the amounts (relative to total isoforms) of transcripts yielding the mitochondrial Grx2a and 67-kDa TrxR1 variants; and v) coordinated up-regulation of TrxR1 and glutathione reductase mRNAs in response to superoxide stress in an organ-specific manner. Further insights into in vivo roles of these redox systems should be gained from more focused studies of the mechanisms underlying the vast differences reported here at the transcript level.

  9. Inner Blood-Retinal Barrier Dominantly Expresses Breast Cancer Resistance Protein: Comparative Quantitative Targeted Absolute Proteomics Study of CNS Barriers in Pig.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Zhengyu; Uchida, Yasuo; Hirano, Satoshi; Ando, Daisuke; Kubo, Yoshiyuki; Auriola, Seppo; Akanuma, Shin-Ichi; Hosoya, Ken-Ichi; Urtti, Arto; Terasaki, Tetsuya; Tachikawa, Masanori

    2017-11-06

    The purpose of this study was to determine absolute protein expression levels of transporters at the porcine inner blood-retinal barrier (BRB) and to compare the transporter protein expression quantitatively among the inner BRB, outer BRB, blood-brain barrier (BBB), and blood-cerebrospinal fluid barrier (BCSFB). Crude membrane fractions of isolated retinal capillaries (inner BRB) and isolated retinal pigment epithelium (RPE, outer BRB) were prepared from porcine eyeballs, while plasma membrane fractions were prepared from isolated porcine brain capillaries (BBB) and isolated choroid plexus (BCSFB). Protein expression levels of 32 molecules, including 16 ATP-binding-cassette (ABC) transporters and 13 solute-carrier (SLC) transporters, were measured using a quantitative targeted absolute proteomic technique. At the inner BRB, five molecules were detected: breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP, ABCG2; 22.8 fmol/μg protein), multidrug resistance protein 1 (MDR1, ABCB1; 8.70 fmol/μg protein), monocarboxylate transporter 1 (MCT1, SLC16A1; 4.83 fmol/μg protein), glucose transporter 1 (GLUT1, SLC2A1; 168 fmol/μg protein), and sodium-potassium adenosine triphosphatase (Na + /K + -ATPase; 53.7 fmol/μg protein). Other proteins were under the limits of quantification. Expression of MCT1 was at least 17.6-, 11.0-, and 19.2-fold greater than those of MCT2, 3, and 4, respectively. The transporter protein expression at the inner BRB was most highly correlated with that at the BBB (R 2 = 0.8906), followed by outer BRB (R 2 = 0.7988) and BCSFB (R 2 = 0.4730). Sodium-dependent multivitamin transporter (SMVT, SLC5A6) and multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 (MRP1, ABCC1) were expressed at the outer BRB (0.378 and 1.03 fmol/μg protein, respectively) but were under the limit of quantification at the inner BRB. These findings may be helpful for understanding differential barrier function.

  10. Validation of Mean Absolute Sea Level of the North Atlantic obtained from Drifter, Altimetry and Wind Data

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Maximenko, Nikolai A.

    2003-01-01

    Mean absolute sea level reflects the deviation of the Ocean surface from geoid due to the ocean currents and is an important characteristic of the dynamical state of the ocean. Values of its spatial variations (order of 1 m) are generally much smaller than deviations of the geoid shape from ellipsoid (order of 100 m) that makes the derivation of the absolute mean sea level a difficult task for gravity and satellite altimetry observations. Technique used by Niiler et al. for computation of the absolute mean sea level in the Kuroshio Extension was then developed into more general method and applied by Niiler et al. (2003b) to the global Ocean. The method is based on the consideration of balance of horizontal momentum.

  11. A study protocol for quantitative targeted absolute proteomics (QTAP) by LC-MS/MS: application for inter-strain differences in protein expression levels of transporters, receptors, claudin-5, and marker proteins at the blood–brain barrier in ddY, FVB, and C57BL/6J mice

    PubMed Central

    2013-01-01

    Proteomics has opened a new horizon in biological sciences. Global proteomic analysis is a promising technology for the discovery of thousands of proteins, post-translational modifications, polymorphisms, and molecular interactions in a variety of biological systems. The activities and roles of the identified proteins must also be elucidated, but this is complicated by the inability of conventional proteomic methods to yield quantitative information for protein expression. Thus, a variety of biological systems remain “black boxes”. Quantitative targeted absolute proteomics (QTAP) enables the determination of absolute expression levels (mol) of any target protein, including low-abundance functional proteins, such as transporters and receptors. Therefore, QTAP will be useful for understanding the activities and roles of individual proteins and their differences, including normal/disease, human/animal, or in vitro/in vivo. Here, we describe the study protocols and precautions for QTAP experiments including in silico target peptide selection, determination of peptide concentration by amino acid analysis, setup of selected/multiple reaction monitoring (SRM/MRM) analysis in liquid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry, preparation of protein samples (brain capillaries and plasma membrane fractions) followed by the preparation of peptide samples, simultaneous absolute quantification of target proteins by SRM/MRM analysis, data analysis, and troubleshooting. An application of QTAP in biological sciences was introduced that utilizes data from inter-strain differences in the protein expression levels of transporters, receptors, tight junction proteins and marker proteins at the blood–brain barrier in ddY, FVB, and C57BL/6J mice. Among 18 molecules, 13 (abcb1a/mdr1a/P-gp, abcc4/mrp4, abcg2/bcrp, slc2a1/glut1, slc7a5/lat1, slc16a1/mct1, slc22a8/oat3, insr, lrp1, tfr1, claudin-5, Na+/K+-ATPase, and γ-gtp) were detected in the isolated brain capillaries, and their

  12. Aided Electrophysiology Using Direct Audio Input: Effects of Amplification and Absolute Signal Level

    PubMed Central

    Billings, Curtis J.; Miller, Christi W.; Tremblay, Kelly L.

    2016-01-01

    Purpose This study investigated (a) the effect of amplification on cortical auditory evoked potentials (CAEPs) at different signal levels when signal-to-noise ratios (SNRs) were equated between unaided and aided conditions, and (b) the effect of absolute signal level on aided CAEPs when SNR was held constant. Method CAEPs were recorded from 13 young adults with normal hearing. A 1000-Hz pure tone was presented in unaided and aided conditions with a linear analog hearing aid. Direct audio input was used, allowing recorded hearing aid noise floor to be added to unaided conditions to equate SNRs between conditions. An additional stimulus was created through scaling the noise floor to study the effect of signal level. Results Amplification resulted in delayed N1 and P2 peak latencies relative to the unaided condition. An effect of absolute signal level (when SNR was constant) was present for aided CAEP area measures, such that larger area measures were found at higher levels. Conclusion Results of this study further demonstrate that factors in addition to SNR must also be considered before CAEPs can be used to clinically to measure aided thresholds. PMID:26953543

  13. Temporal Dynamics of Microbial Rhodopsin Fluorescence Reports Absolute Membrane Voltage

    PubMed Central

    Hou, Jennifer H.; Venkatachalam, Veena; Cohen, Adam E.

    2014-01-01

    Plasma membrane voltage is a fundamentally important property of a living cell; its value is tightly coupled to membrane transport, the dynamics of transmembrane proteins, and to intercellular communication. Accurate measurement of the membrane voltage could elucidate subtle changes in cellular physiology, but existing genetically encoded fluorescent voltage reporters are better at reporting relative changes than absolute numbers. We developed an Archaerhodopsin-based fluorescent voltage sensor whose time-domain response to a stepwise change in illumination encodes the absolute membrane voltage. We validated this sensor in human embryonic kidney cells. Measurements were robust to variation in imaging parameters and in gene expression levels, and reported voltage with an absolute accuracy of 10 mV. With further improvements in membrane trafficking and signal amplitude, time-domain encoding of absolute voltage could be applied to investigate many important and previously intractable bioelectric phenomena. PMID:24507604

  14. SMN transcript levels in leukocytes of SMA patients determined by absolute real-time PCR

    PubMed Central

    Tiziano, Francesco Danilo; Pinto, Anna Maria; Fiori, Stefania; Lomastro, Rosa; Messina, Sonia; Bruno, Claudio; Pini, Antonella; Pane, Marika; D'Amico, Adele; Ghezzo, Alessandro; Bertini, Enrico; Mercuri, Eugenio; Neri, Giovanni; Brahe, Christina

    2010-01-01

    Spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) is an autosomal recessive neuromuscular disorder caused by homozygous mutations of the SMN1 gene. Three forms of SMA are recognized (type I–III) on the basis of clinical severity. All patients have at least one or more (usually 2–4) copies of a highly homologous gene (SMN2), which produces insufficient levels of functional SMN protein, because of alternative splicing of exon 7. Recently, evidence has been provided that SMN2 expression can be enhanced by pharmacological treatment. However, no reliable biomarkers are available to test the molecular efficacy of the treatments. At present, the only potential biomarker is the dosage of SMN products in peripheral blood. However, the demonstration that SMN full-length (SMN-fl) transcript levels are reduced in leukocytes of patients compared with controls remains elusive (except for type I). We have developed a novel assay based on absolute real-time PCR, which allows the quantification of SMN1-fl/SMN2-fl transcripts. For the first time, we have shown that SMN-fl levels are reduced in leukocytes of type II–III patients compared with controls. We also found that transcript levels are related to clinical severity as in type III patients SMN2-fl levels are significantly higher compared with type II and directly correlated with functional ability in type II patients and with age of onset in type III patients. Moreover, in haploidentical siblings with discordant phenotype, the less severely affected individuals showed significantly higher transcript levels. Our study shows that SMN2-fl dosage in leukocytes can be considered a reliable biomarker and can provide the rationale for SMN dosage in clinical trials. PMID:19603064

  15. High-level recombinant protein expression in transgenic plants by using a double-inducible viral vector

    PubMed Central

    Werner, Stefan; Breus, Oksana; Symonenko, Yuri; Marillonnet, Sylvestre; Gleba, Yuri

    2011-01-01

    We describe here a unique ethanol-inducible process for expression of recombinant proteins in transgenic plants. The process is based on inducible release of viral RNA replicons from stably integrated DNA proreplicons. A simple treatment with ethanol releases the replicon leading to RNA amplification and high-level protein production. To achieve tight control of replicon activation and spread in the uninduced state, the viral vector has been deconstructed, and its two components, the replicon and the cell-to-cell movement protein, have each been placed separately under the control of an inducible promoter. Transgenic Nicotiana benthamiana plants incorporating this double-inducible system demonstrate negligible background expression, high (over 0.5 × 104-fold) induction multiples, and high absolute levels of protein expression upon induction (up to 4.3 mg/g fresh biomass). The process can be easily scaled up, supports expression of practically important recombinant proteins, and thus can be directly used for industrial manufacturing. PMID:21825158

  16. Absolute versus relative measures of plasma fatty acids and health outcomes: example of phospholipid omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and all-cause mortality in women.

    PubMed

    Miura, Kyoko; Hughes, Maria Celia B; Ungerer, Jacobus P J; Smith, David D; Green, Adèle C

    2018-03-01

    In a well-characterised community-based prospective study, we aimed to systematically assess the differences in associations of plasma omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acid (FA) status with all-cause mortality when plasma FA status is expressed in absolute concentrations versus relative levels. In a community sample of 564 women aged 25-75 years in Queensland, Australia, baseline plasma phospholipid FA levels were measured using gas chromatography. Specific FAs analysed were eicosapentaenoic acid, docosapentaenoic acid, docosahexaenoic acid, total long-chain omega-3 FAs, linoleic acid, arachidonic acid, and total omega-6 FAs. Levels of each FA were expressed in absolute amounts (µg/mL) and relative levels (% of total FAs) and divided into thirds. Deaths were monitored for 17 years and hazard ratios and 95% confidence intervals calculated to assess risk of death according to absolute versus relative plasma FA levels. In total 81 (14%) women died during follow-up. Agreement between absolute and relative measures of plasma FAs was higher in omega-3 than omega-6 FAs. The results of multivariate analyses for risk of all-cause mortality were generally similar with risk tending to inverse associations with plasma phospholipid omega-3 FAs and no association with omega-6 FAs. Sensitivity analyses examining effects of age and presence of serious medical conditions on risk of mortality did not alter findings. The directions and magnitude of associations with mortality of absolute versus relative FA levels were comparable. However, plasma FA expressed as absolute concentrations may be preferred for ease of comparison and since relative units can be deduced from absolute units.

  17. Absolute Income, Relative Income, and Happiness

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ball, Richard; Chernova, Kateryna

    2008-01-01

    This paper uses data from the World Values Survey to investigate how an individual's self-reported happiness is related to (i) the level of her income in absolute terms, and (ii) the level of her income relative to other people in her country. The main findings are that (i) both absolute and relative income are positively and significantly…

  18. Absolute quantification of microbial taxon abundances.

    PubMed

    Props, Ruben; Kerckhof, Frederiek-Maarten; Rubbens, Peter; De Vrieze, Jo; Hernandez Sanabria, Emma; Waegeman, Willem; Monsieurs, Pieter; Hammes, Frederik; Boon, Nico

    2017-02-01

    High-throughput amplicon sequencing has become a well-established approach for microbial community profiling. Correlating shifts in the relative abundances of bacterial taxa with environmental gradients is the goal of many microbiome surveys. As the abundances generated by this technology are semi-quantitative by definition, the observed dynamics may not accurately reflect those of the actual taxon densities. We combined the sequencing approach (16S rRNA gene) with robust single-cell enumeration technologies (flow cytometry) to quantify the absolute taxon abundances. A detailed longitudinal analysis of the absolute abundances resulted in distinct abundance profiles that were less ambiguous and expressed in units that can be directly compared across studies. We further provide evidence that the enrichment of taxa (increase in relative abundance) does not necessarily relate to the outgrowth of taxa (increase in absolute abundance). Our results highlight that both relative and absolute abundances should be considered for a comprehensive biological interpretation of microbiome surveys.

  19. Absolute color scale for improved diagnostics with wavefront error mapping.

    PubMed

    Smolek, Michael K; Klyce, Stephen D

    2007-11-01

    Wavefront data are expressed in micrometers and referenced to the pupil plane, but current methods to map wavefront error lack standardization. Many use normalized or floating scales that may confuse the user by generating ambiguous, noisy, or varying information. An absolute scale that combines consistent clinical information with statistical relevance is needed for wavefront error mapping. The color contours should correspond better to current corneal topography standards to improve clinical interpretation. Retrospective analysis of wavefront error data. Historic ophthalmic medical records. Topographic modeling system topographical examinations of 120 corneas across 12 categories were used. Corneal wavefront error data in micrometers from each topography map were extracted at 8 Zernike polynomial orders and for 3 pupil diameters expressed in millimeters (3, 5, and 7 mm). Both total aberrations (orders 2 through 8) and higher-order aberrations (orders 3 through 8) were expressed in the form of frequency histograms to determine the working range of the scale across all categories. The standard deviation of the mean error of normal corneas determined the map contour resolution. Map colors were based on corneal topography color standards and on the ability to distinguish adjacent color contours through contrast. Higher-order and total wavefront error contour maps for different corneal conditions. An absolute color scale was produced that encompassed a range of +/-6.5 microm and a contour interval of 0.5 microm. All aberrations in the categorical database were plotted with no loss of clinical information necessary for classification. In the few instances where mapped information was beyond the range of the scale, the type and severity of aberration remained legible. When wavefront data are expressed in micrometers, this absolute scale facilitates the determination of the severity of aberrations present compared with a floating scale, particularly for distinguishing

  20. A Special Application of Absolute Value Techniques in Authentic Problem Solving

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Stupel, Moshe

    2013-01-01

    There are at least five different equivalent definitions of the absolute value concept. In instances where the task is an equation or inequality with only one or two absolute value expressions, it is a worthy educational experience for learners to solve the task using each one of the definitions. On the other hand, if more than two absolute value…

  1. A strategy for absolute proteome quantification with mass spectrometry by hierarchical use of peptide-concatenated standards.

    PubMed

    Kito, Keiji; Okada, Mitsuhiro; Ishibashi, Yuko; Okada, Satoshi; Ito, Takashi

    2016-05-01

    The accurate and precise absolute abundance of proteins can be determined using mass spectrometry by spiking the sample with stable isotope-labeled standards. In this study, we developed a strategy of hierarchical use of peptide-concatenated standards (PCSs) to quantify more proteins over a wider dynamic range. Multiple primary PCSs were used for quantification of many target proteins. Unique "ID-tag peptides" were introduced into individual primary PCSs, allowing us to monitor the exact amounts of individual PCSs using a "secondary PCS" in which all "ID-tag peptides" were concatenated. Furthermore, we varied the copy number of the "ID-tag peptide" in each PCS according to a range of expression levels of target proteins. This strategy accomplished absolute quantification over a wider range than that of the measured ratios. The quantified abundance of budding yeast proteins showed a high reproducibility for replicate analyses and similar copy numbers per cell for ribosomal proteins, demonstrating the accuracy and precision of this strategy. A comparison with the absolute abundance of transcripts clearly indicated different post-transcriptional regulation of expression for specific functional groups. Thus, the approach presented here is a faithful method for the absolute quantification of proteomes and provides insights into biological mechanisms, including the regulation of expressed protein abundance. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  2. A fast signal subspace approach for the determination of absolute levels from phased microphone array measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Sarradj, Ennes

    2010-04-01

    Phased microphone arrays are used in a variety of applications for the estimation of acoustic source location and spectra. The popular conventional delay-and-sum beamforming methods used with such arrays suffer from inaccurate estimations of absolute source levels and in some cases also from low resolution. Deconvolution approaches such as DAMAS have better performance, but require high computational effort. A fast beamforming method is proposed that can be used in conjunction with a phased microphone array in applications with focus on the correct quantitative estimation of acoustic source spectra. This method bases on an eigenvalue decomposition of the cross spectral matrix of microphone signals and uses the eigenvalues from the signal subspace to estimate absolute source levels. The theoretical basis of the method is discussed together with an assessment of the quality of the estimation. Experimental tests using a loudspeaker setup and an airfoil trailing edge noise setup in an aeroacoustic wind tunnel show that the proposed method is robust and leads to reliable quantitative results.

  3. Linking Comparisons of Absolute Gravimeters: A Proof of Concept for a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, H.; Palinkas, V.; Falk, R.; Vaľko, M.

    2016-12-01

    Since decades, absolute gravimeters are compared on a regular basis on an international level, starting at the International Bureau for Weights and Measures (BIPM) in 1981. Usually, these comparisons are based on constant reference values deduced from all accepted measurements acquired during the comparison period. Temporal changes between comparison epochs are usually not considered. Resolution No. 2, adopted by IAG during the IUGG General Assembly in Prague 2015, initiates the establishment of a Global Absolute Gravity Reference System based on key comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) under the International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) in order to establish a common level in the microGal range. A stable and unique reference frame can only be achieved, if different AG are taking part in different kind of comparisons. Systematic deviations between the respective comparison reference values can be detected, if the AG can be considered stable over time. The continuous operation of superconducting gravimeters (SG) on selected stations further supports the temporal link of comparison reference values by establishing a reference function over time. By a homogenous reprocessing of different comparison epochs and including AG and SG time series at selected stations, links between several comparisons will be established and temporal comparison reference functions will be derived. By this, comparisons on a regional level can be traced to back to the level of key comparisons, providing a reference for other absolute gravimeters. It will be proved and discussed, how such a concept can be used to support the future absolute gravity reference system.

  4. Digital encoding of cellular mRNAs enabling precise and absolute gene expression measurement by single-molecule counting.

    PubMed

    Fu, Glenn K; Wilhelmy, Julie; Stern, David; Fan, H Christina; Fodor, Stephen P A

    2014-03-18

    We present a new approach for the sensitive detection and accurate quantitation of messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA) gene transcripts in single cells. First, the entire population of mRNAs is encoded with molecular barcodes during reverse transcription. After amplification of the gene targets of interest, molecular barcodes are counted by sequencing or scored on a simple hybridization detector to reveal the number of molecules in the starting sample. Since absolute quantities are measured, calibration to standards is unnecessary, and many of the relative quantitation challenges such as polymerase chain reaction (PCR) bias are avoided. We apply the method to gene expression analysis of minute sample quantities and demonstrate precise measurements with sensitivity down to sub single-cell levels. The method is an easy, single-tube, end point assay utilizing standard thermal cyclers and PCR reagents. Accurate and precise measurements are obtained without any need for cycle-to-cycle intensity-based real-time monitoring or physical partitioning into multiple reactions (e.g., digital PCR). Further, since all mRNA molecules are encoded with molecular barcodes, amplification can be used to generate more material for multiple measurements and technical replicates can be carried out on limited samples. The method is particularly useful for small sample quantities, such as single-cell experiments. Digital encoding of cellular content preserves true abundance levels and overcomes distortions introduced by amplification.

  5. Nonlinear Dynamics in Gene Regulation Promote Robustness and Evolvability of Gene Expression Levels.

    PubMed

    Steinacher, Arno; Bates, Declan G; Akman, Ozgur E; Soyer, Orkun S

    2016-01-01

    Cellular phenotypes underpinned by regulatory networks need to respond to evolutionary pressures to allow adaptation, but at the same time be robust to perturbations. This creates a conflict in which mutations affecting regulatory networks must both generate variance but also be tolerated at the phenotype level. Here, we perform mathematical analyses and simulations of regulatory networks to better understand the potential trade-off between robustness and evolvability. Examining the phenotypic effects of mutations, we find an inverse correlation between robustness and evolvability that breaks only with nonlinearity in the network dynamics, through the creation of regions presenting sudden changes in phenotype with small changes in genotype. For genotypes embedding low levels of nonlinearity, robustness and evolvability correlate negatively and almost perfectly. By contrast, genotypes embedding nonlinear dynamics allow expression levels to be robust to small perturbations, while generating high diversity (evolvability) under larger perturbations. Thus, nonlinearity breaks the robustness-evolvability trade-off in gene expression levels by allowing disparate responses to different mutations. Using analytical derivations of robustness and system sensitivity, we show that these findings extend to a large class of gene regulatory network architectures and also hold for experimentally observed parameter regimes. Further, the effect of nonlinearity on the robustness-evolvability trade-off is ensured as long as key parameters of the system display specific relations irrespective of their absolute values. We find that within this parameter regime genotypes display low and noisy expression levels. Examining the phenotypic effects of mutations, we find an inverse correlation between robustness and evolvability that breaks only with nonlinearity in the network dynamics. Our results provide a possible solution to the robustness-evolvability trade-off, suggest an explanation for

  6. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates.

    PubMed

    Pfeiffer, R M; Petracci, E

    2011-07-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates.

  7. Variance computations for functional of absolute risk estimates

    PubMed Central

    Pfeiffer, R.M.; Petracci, E.

    2011-01-01

    We present a simple influence function based approach to compute the variances of estimates of absolute risk and functions of absolute risk. We apply this approach to criteria that assess the impact of changes in the risk factor distribution on absolute risk for an individual and at the population level. As an illustration we use an absolute risk prediction model for breast cancer that includes modifiable risk factors in addition to standard breast cancer risk factors. Influence function based variance estimates for absolute risk and the criteria are compared to bootstrap variance estimates. PMID:21643476

  8. Study of the optimum level of electrode placement for the evaluation of absolute lung resistivity with the Mk3.5 EIT system.

    PubMed

    Nebuya, S; Noshiro, M; Yonemoto, A; Tateno, S; Brown, B H; Smallwood, R H; Milnes, P

    2006-05-01

    Inter-subject variability has caused the majority of previous electrical impedance tomography (EIT) techniques to focus on the derivation of relative or difference measures of in vivo tissue resistivity. Implicit in these techniques is the requirement for a reference or previously defined data set. This study assesses the accuracy and optimum electrode placement strategy for a recently developed method which estimates an absolute value of organ resistivity without recourse to a reference data set. Since this measurement of tissue resistivity is absolute, in Ohm metres, it should be possible to use EIT measurements for the objective diagnosis of lung diseases such as pulmonary oedema and emphysema. However, the stability and reproducibility of the method have not yet been investigated fully. To investigate these problems, this study used a Sheffield Mk3.5 system which was configured to operate with eight measurement electrodes. As a result of this study, the absolute resistivity measurement was found to be insensitive to the electrode level between 4 and 5 cm above the xiphoid process. The level of the electrode plane was varied between 2 cm and 7 cm above the xiphoid process. Absolute lung resistivity in 18 normal subjects (age 22.6 +/- 4.9, height 169.1 +/- 5.7 cm, weight 60.6 +/- 4.5 kg, body mass index 21.2 +/- 1.6: mean +/- standard deviation) was measured during both normal and deep breathing for 1 min. Three sets of measurements were made over a period of several days on each of nine of the normal male subjects. No significant differences in absolute lung resistivity were found, either during normal tidal breathing between the electrode levels of 4 and 5 cm (9.3 +/- 2.4 Omega m, 9.6 +/- 1.9 Omega m at 4 and 5 cm, respectively: mean +/- standard deviation) or during deep breathing between the electrode levels of 4 and 5 cm (10.9 +/- 2.9 Omega m and 11.1 +/- 2.3 Omega m, respectively: mean +/- standard deviation). However, the differences in absolute lung

  9. Aircraft noise-induced awakenings are more reasonably predicted from relative than from absolute sound exposure levels.

    PubMed

    Fidell, Sanford; Tabachnick, Barbara; Mestre, Vincent; Fidell, Linda

    2013-11-01

    Assessment of aircraft noise-induced sleep disturbance is problematic for several reasons. Current assessment methods are based on sparse evidence and limited understandings; predictions of awakening prevalence rates based on indoor absolute sound exposure levels (SELs) fail to account for appreciable amounts of variance in dosage-response relationships and are not freely generalizable from airport to airport; and predicted awakening rates do not differ significantly from zero over a wide range of SELs. Even in conjunction with additional predictors, such as time of night and assumed individual differences in "sensitivity to awakening," nominally SEL-based predictions of awakening rates remain of limited utility and are easily misapplied and misinterpreted. Probabilities of awakening are more closely related to SELs scaled in units of standard deviates of local distributions of aircraft SELs, than to absolute sound levels. Self-selection of residential populations for tolerance of nighttime noise and habituation to airport noise environments offer more parsimonious and useful explanations for differences in awakening rates at disparate airports than assumed individual differences in sensitivity to awakening.

  10. Absolute Humidity and the Seasonality of Influenza (Invited)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Shaman, J. L.; Pitzer, V.; Viboud, C.; Grenfell, B.; Goldstein, E.; Lipsitch, M.

    2010-12-01

    Much of the observed wintertime increase of mortality in temperate regions is attributed to seasonal influenza. A recent re-analysis of laboratory experiments indicates that absolute humidity strongly modulates the airborne survival and transmission of the influenza virus. Here we show that the onset of increased wintertime influenza-related mortality in the United States is associated with anomalously low absolute humidity levels during the prior weeks. We then use an epidemiological model, in which observed absolute humidity conditions temper influenza transmission rates, to successfully simulate the seasonal cycle of observed influenza-related mortality. The model results indicate that direct modulation of influenza transmissibility by absolute humidity alone is sufficient to produce this observed seasonality. These findings provide epidemiological support for the hypothesis that absolute humidity drives seasonal variations of influenza transmission in temperate regions. In addition, we show that variations of the basic and effective reproductive numbers for influenza, caused by seasonal changes in absolute humidity, are consistent with the general timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks observed for 2009 A/H1N1 in temperate regions. Indeed, absolute humidity conditions correctly identify the region of the United States vulnerable to a third, wintertime wave of pandemic influenza. These findings suggest that the timing of pandemic influenza outbreaks is controlled by a combination of absolute humidity conditions, levels of susceptibility and changes in population mixing and contact rates.

  11. Standardization approaches in absolute quantitative proteomics with mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Calderón-Celis, Francisco; Encinar, Jorge Ruiz; Sanz-Medel, Alfredo

    2017-07-31

    Mass spectrometry-based approaches have enabled important breakthroughs in quantitative proteomics in the last decades. This development is reflected in the better quantitative assessment of protein levels as well as to understand post-translational modifications and protein complexes and networks. Nowadays, the focus of quantitative proteomics shifted from the relative determination of proteins (ie, differential expression between two or more cellular states) to absolute quantity determination, required for a more-thorough characterization of biological models and comprehension of the proteome dynamism, as well as for the search and validation of novel protein biomarkers. However, the physico-chemical environment of the analyte species affects strongly the ionization efficiency in most mass spectrometry (MS) types, which thereby require the use of specially designed standardization approaches to provide absolute quantifications. Most common of such approaches nowadays include (i) the use of stable isotope-labeled peptide standards, isotopologues to the target proteotypic peptides expected after tryptic digestion of the target protein; (ii) use of stable isotope-labeled protein standards to compensate for sample preparation, sample loss, and proteolysis steps; (iii) isobaric reagents, which after fragmentation in the MS/MS analysis provide a final detectable mass shift, can be used to tag both analyte and standard samples; (iv) label-free approaches in which the absolute quantitative data are not obtained through the use of any kind of labeling, but from computational normalization of the raw data and adequate standards; (v) elemental mass spectrometry-based workflows able to provide directly absolute quantification of peptides/proteins that contain an ICP-detectable element. A critical insight from the Analytical Chemistry perspective of the different standardization approaches and their combinations used so far for absolute quantitative MS-based (molecular and

  12. Lignin-degrading peroxidases in white-rot fungus Trametes hirsuta 072. Absolute expression quantification of full multigene family

    PubMed Central

    Vasina, Daria V.; Moiseenko, Konstantin V.; Fedorova, Tatiana V.; Tyazhelova, Tatiana V.

    2017-01-01

    Ligninolytic heme peroxidases comprise an extensive family of enzymes, which production is characteristic for white-rot Basidiomycota. The majority of fungal heme peroxidases are encoded by multigene families that differentially express closely related proteins. Currently, there were very few attempts to characterize the complete multigene family of heme peroxidases in a single fungus. Here we are focusing on identification and characterization of peroxidase genes, which are transcribed and secreted by basidiomycete Trametes hirsuta 072, an efficient lignin degrader. The T. hirsuta genome contains 18 ligninolytic peroxidase genes encoding 9 putative lignin peroxidases (LiP), 7 putative short manganese peroxidases (MnP) and 2 putative versatile peroxidases (VP). Using ddPCR method we have quantified the absolute expression of the 18 peroxidase genes under different culture conditions and on different growth stages of basidiomycete. It was shown that only two genes (one MnP and one VP) were prevalently expressed as well as secreted into cultural broth under all conditions investigated. However their transcriptome and protein profiles differed in time depending on the effector used. The expression of other peroxidase genes revealed a significant variability, so one can propose the specific roles of these enzymes in fungal development and lifestyle. PMID:28301519

  13. [Effects of berberine on mRNA expression levels of PPARγ and adipocytokines in insulin-resistant adipocytes].

    PubMed

    Tu, Jun; Luo, Xin-Xin; Li, Bing-Tao; Li, Yu; Xu, Guo-Liang

    2016-06-01

    Adipocytokines are closely associated with insulin resistance (IR) in adipose tissues, and they are more and more seriously taken in the study of the development of diabetes. This experiment was mainly to study the effect of berberine on mRNA expression levels of PPARγ and adipocytokines in insulin resistant adipocytes, and investigate the molecular mechanism of berberine in enhancing insulin sensitization and application advantages of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR). ddPCR absolute quantification analysis was taken in this experiment to simply and intuitively determine the appropriate reference genes. ddPCR and quantitative Real-time PCR (qPCR) were used to compare the effect of different doses of berberine (10, 20, 50, 100 μmol•L⁻¹) on mRNA expression levels of PPARγ, adiponectin, resistin and leptin in IR 3T3-L1adipocytes. Antagonist GW9662 was added to study the inherent correlation between PPARγ and adiponectin mRNA expression levels. ddPCR results showed that the expression level of β-actin in adipocytes was stable, and suitable as reference gene for normalization of quantitative PCR data. Both of ddPCR and qPCR results showed that, as compared with IR models, the mRNA expression levels of adiponectin were decreased in the treatment with berberine (10, 20, 50, 100 μmol•L⁻¹) in a dose-dependent manner (P<0.01); the expression of PPARγ was decreased by 20, 50, 100 μmol•L⁻¹ berberine in a dose-dependent manner in qPCR assay (P<0.01) and decreased only by 50 and 100 μmol•L⁻¹ berberine in ddPCR assay (P<0.05). PPARγ specific antagonist GW9662 intervention experiment showed that adiponectin gene expression was directly relevant with PPARγ (P<0.05). ddPCR probe assay showed that various doses of berberine could significantly reduce mRNA expression levels of resistin and leptin (P<0.01) in a dose-dependent manner. In conclusion, berberine enhanced insulin sensitization effect not by up-regulating adiponect in expression of transcriptional

  14. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Moseev, D.; Laqua, H. P.; Marsen, S.; Stange, T.; Braune, H.; Erckmann, V.; Gellert, F.; Oosterbeek, J. W.

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m2 per MW injected beam power is measured.

  15. Absolute calibration of sniffer probes on Wendelstein 7-X.

    PubMed

    Moseev, D; Laqua, H P; Marsen, S; Stange, T; Braune, H; Erckmann, V; Gellert, F; Oosterbeek, J W

    2016-08-01

    Here we report the first measurements of the power levels of stray radiation in the vacuum vessel of Wendelstein 7-X using absolutely calibrated sniffer probes. The absolute calibration is achieved by using calibrated sources of stray radiation and the implicit measurement of the quality factor of the Wendelstein 7-X empty vacuum vessel. Normalized absolute calibration coefficients agree with the cross-calibration coefficients that are obtained by the direct measurements, indicating that the measured absolute calibration coefficients and stray radiation levels in the vessel are valid. Close to the launcher, the stray radiation in the empty vessel reaches power levels up to 340 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power. Furthest away from the launcher, i.e., half a toroidal turn, still 90 kW/m(2) per MW injected beam power is measured.

  16. Regional biases in absolute sea-level estimates from tide gauge data due to residual unmodeled vertical land movement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    King, Matt A.; Keshin, Maxim; Whitehouse, Pippa L.; Thomas, Ian D.; Milne, Glenn; Riva, Riccardo E. M.

    2012-07-01

    The only vertical land movement signal routinely corrected for when estimating absolute sea-level change from tide gauge data is that due to glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA). We compare modeled GIA uplift (ICE-5G + VM2) with vertical land movement at ˜300 GPS stations located near to a global set of tide gauges, and find regionally coherent differences of commonly ±0.5-2 mm/yr. Reference frame differences and signal due to present-day mass trends cannot reconcile these differences. We examine sensitivity to the GIA Earth model by fitting to a subset of the GPS velocities and find substantial regional sensitivity, but no single Earth model is able to reduce the disagreement in all regions. We suggest errors in ice history and neglected lateral Earth structure dominate model-data differences, and urge caution in the use of modeled GIA uplift alone when interpreting regional- and global- scale absolute (geocentric) sea level from tide gauge data.

  17. Assessment of the Absolute Excitatory Level of the Retina by Flicker ERG.

    PubMed

    Tanimoto, Naoyuki; Seeliger, Mathias W

    2018-01-01

    Electroretinography (ERG) is important for functional diagnostics of the retina. Types of information about retinal function obtainable by ERG differ depending on recording conditions, e.g., a combination of light stimulus and adaptation. In terms of stimulation, single-flash and flicker stimuli are frequently used because response properties have been well investigated, allowing an assessment of fundamental retinal functionality; for example, how photoreceptors and bipolar cells, including signal transmission between them, are affected under pathological conditions. Usually, ERGs are recorded with a nonzero lower cutoff frequency of amplifiers to avoid certain artifacts, and additionally, responses are averaged over time so that non-event-related signals are cancelled out. However, the improved signal quality is associated with a loss of information. Especially in steady-state flicker ERG, information about the absolute baseline of recordings is missing because the prestimulus baseline is not included on the recording trace as well as because a zero response is obtained in all cases in which the signal baseline stays constant for a sufficient amount of time. In other words, it is impossible to tell from the conventional flicker ERG whether a zero signal is obtained under conditions of maximal or no excitation of the visual system. In this chapter, we describe a direct current ERG protocol (featuring a lower cutoff frequency of zero) with repetitive single flashes mimicking conventional flicker that contains a defined onset. Using this recording protocol, it is possible to assess not only the absolute excitatory level of the retina but also the development of steady-state responses from the single flash response.

  18. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes

    PubMed Central

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Background: Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. Objective: To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. Materials and Methods: We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Results: Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. Conclusion: These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. SUMMARY Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation.Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus

  19. Effect of Absolute From Hibiscus syriacus L. Flower on Wound Healing in Keratinocytes.

    PubMed

    Yoon, Seok Won; Lee, Kang Pa; Kim, Do-Yoon; Hwang, Dae Il; Won, Kyung-Jong; Lee, Dae Won; Lee, Hwan Myung

    2017-01-01

    Proliferation and migration of keratinocytes are essential for the repair of cutaneous wounds. Hibiscus syriacus L. has been used in Asian medicine; however, research on keratinocytes is inadequate. To establish the dermatological properties of absolute from Hibiscus syriacus L. flower (HSF) and to provide fundamental research for alternative medicine. We identified the composition of HSF absolute using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry analysis. We also examined the effect of HSF absolute in HaCaT cells using the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, sprout-out growth assay, and western blotting. We conducted an in-vivo wound healing assay in rat tail-skin. Ten major active compounds were identified from HSF absolute. As determined by the XTT assay, Boyden chamber assay, and sprout-out growth assay results, HSF absolute exhibited similar effects as that of epidermal growth factor on the proliferation and migration patterns of keratinocytes (HaCaT cells), which were significantly increased after HSF absolute treatment. The expression levels of the phosphorylated signaling proteins relevant to proliferation, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (Erk 1/2) and Akt, were also determined by western blot analysis. These results of our in-vitro and ex-vivo studies indicate that HSF absolute induced cell growth and migration of HaCaT cells by phosphorylating both Erk 1/2 and Akt. Moreover, we confirmed the wound-healing effect of HSF on injury of the rat tail-skin. Therefore, our results suggest that HSF absolute is promising for use in cosmetics and alternative medicine. Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute increases HaCaT cell migration and proliferation. Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute regulates phosphorylation of ERK 1/2 and Akt in HaCaT cell.Treatment with Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower induced sprout outgrowth.The wound in the tail-skin of rat was reduced by Hisbiscus syriacus L. flower absolute Abbreviations used: HSF: Hibiscus syriacus L. flower

  20. Absolute radiometric calibration of advanced remote sensing systems

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.

    1982-01-01

    The distinction between the uses of relative and absolute spectroradiometric calibration of remote sensing systems is discussed. The advantages of detector-based absolute calibration are described, and the categories of relative and absolute system calibrations are listed. The limitations and problems associated with three common methods used for the absolute calibration of remote sensing systems are addressed. Two methods are proposed for the in-flight absolute calibration of advanced multispectral linear array systems. One makes use of a sun-illuminated panel in front of the sensor, the radiance of which is monitored by a spectrally flat pyroelectric radiometer. The other uses a large, uniform, high-radiance reference ground surface. The ground and atmospheric measurements required as input to a radiative transfer program to predict the radiance level at the entrance pupil of the orbital sensor are discussed, and the ground instrumentation is described.

  1. Is an absolute level of cortical beta suppression required for proper movement? Magnetoencephalographic evidence from healthy aging.

    PubMed

    Heinrichs-Graham, Elizabeth; Wilson, Tony W

    2016-07-01

    Previous research has connected a specific pattern of beta oscillatory activity to proper motor execution, but no study to date has directly examined how resting beta levels affect motor-related beta oscillatory activity in the motor cortex. Understanding this relationship is imperative to determining the basic mechanisms of motor control, as well as the impact of pathological beta oscillations on movement execution. In the current study, we used magnetoencephalography (MEG) and a complex movement paradigm to quantify resting beta activity and movement-related beta oscillations in the context of healthy aging. We chose healthy aging as a model because preliminary evidence suggests that beta activity is elevated in older adults, and thus by examining older and younger adults we were able to naturally vary resting beta levels. To this end, healthy younger and older participants were recorded during motor performance and at rest. Using beamforming, we imaged the peri-movement beta event-related desynchronization (ERD) and extracted virtual sensors from the peak voxels, which enabled absolute and relative beta power to be assessed. Interestingly, absolute beta power during the pre-movement baseline was much stronger in older relative to younger adults, and older adults also exhibited proportionally large beta desynchronization (ERD) responses during motor planning and execution compared to younger adults. Crucially, we found a significant relationship between spontaneous (resting) beta power and beta ERD magnitude in both primary motor cortices, above and beyond the effects of age. A similar link was found between beta ERD magnitude and movement duration. These findings suggest a direct linkage between beta reduction during movement and spontaneous activity in the motor cortex, such that as spontaneous beta power increases, a greater reduction in beta activity is required to execute movement. We propose that, on an individual level, the primary motor cortices have an

  2. Dynamically balanced absolute sea level of the global ocean derived from near-surface velocity observations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Niiler, Pearn P.; Maximenko, Nikolai A.; McWilliams, James C.

    2003-11-01

    The 1992-2002 time-mean absolute sea level distribution of the global ocean is computed for the first time from observations of near-surface velocity. For this computation, we use the near-surface horizontal momentum balance. The velocity observed by drifters is used to compute the Coriolis force and the force due to acceleration of water parcels. The anomaly of horizontal pressure gradient is derived from satellite altimetry and corrects the temporal bias in drifter data distribution. NCEP reanalysis winds are used to compute the force due to Ekman currents. The mean sea level gradient force, which closes the momentum balance, is integrated for mean sea level. We find that our computation agrees, within uncertainties, with the sea level computed from the geostrophic, hydrostatic momentum balance using historical mean density, except in the Antarctic Circumpolar Current. A consistent horizontally and vertically dynamically balanced, near-surface, global pressure field has now been derived from observations.

  3. Lifespan metabolic potential of the unicellular organisms expressed by Boltzmann constant, absolute temperature and proton mass

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Atanasov, Atanas Todorov

    2016-12-01

    The unicellular organisms and phages are the first appeared fundamental living organisms on the Earth. The total metabolic energy (Els, J) of these organisms can be expressed by their lifespan metabolic potential (Als, J/kg) and body mass (M, kg): Els =Als M. In this study we found a different expression - by Boltzmann's constant (k, J/K), nucleon mass (mp+, kg) of protons (and neutrons), body mass (M, kg) of organism or mass (Ms) of biomolecules (proteins, nucleotides, polysaccharides and lipids) building organism, and the absolute temperature (T, K). The found equations are: Els= (M/mp+)kT for phages and Els=(Ms/mp+)kT for the unicellular organisms. From these equations the lifespan metabolic potential can be expressed as: Als=Els/M= (k/mp+)T for phages and Als=Els/M= (k/3.3mp+)T for unicellular organisms. The temperature-normated lifespan metabolic potential (Als/T, J/K.kg) is equals to the ratio between Boltzmann's constant and nucleon mass: Als/T=k/mp+ for phages and Als/T=k/3.3mp+ for unicellular organisms. The numerical value of the k/mp+ ratio is equals to 8.254×103 J/K.kg, and the numerical value of k/3.3mp+ ratio is equal to 2.497×103 J/K.kg. These values of temperature-normated lifespan metabolic potential could be considered fundamental for the unicellular organisms.

  4. The absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bosch, Wolfgang; Savcenko, Roman

    The sea surface slopes relative to the geoid (an equipotential surface) basically carry the in-formation on the absolute velocity field of the surface circulation. Pure oceanographic models may remain unspecific with respect to the absolute level of the ocean topography. In contrast, the geodetic approach to estimate the ocean topography as difference between sea level and the geoid gives by definition an absolute dynamic ocean topography (ADOT). This approach requires, however, a consistent treatment of geoid and sea surface heights, the first being usually derived from a band limited spherical harmonic series of the Earth gravity field and the second observed with much higher spectral resolution by satellite altimetry. The present contribution shows a procedure for estimating the ADOT along the altimeter profiles, preserving as much sea surface height details as the consistency w.r.t. the geoid heights will allow. The consistent treatment at data gaps and the coast is particular demanding and solved by a filter correction. The ADOT profiles are inspected for their innocent properties towards the coast and compared to external estimates of the ocean topography or the velocity field of the surface circulation as derived, for example, by ARGO floats.

  5. Teaching Absolute Value Meaningfully

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Wade, Angela

    2012-01-01

    What is the meaning of absolute value? And why do teachers teach students how to solve absolute value equations? Absolute value is a concept introduced in first-year algebra and then reinforced in later courses. Various authors have suggested instructional methods for teaching absolute value to high school students (Wei 2005; Stallings-Roberts…

  6. Absolute and Relative Socioeconomic Health Inequalities across Age Groups

    PubMed Central

    van Zon, Sander K. R.; Bültmann, Ute; Mendes de Leon, Carlos F.; Reijneveld, Sijmen A.

    2015-01-01

    Background The magnitude of socioeconomic health inequalities differs across age groups. It is less clear whether socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by other factors that are known to affect the relation between socioeconomic position and health, like the indicator of socioeconomic position, the health outcome, gender, and as to whether socioeconomic health inequalities are measured in absolute or in relative terms. The aim is to investigate whether absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differ across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Methods The study sample was derived from the baseline measurement of the LifeLines Cohort Study and consisted of 95,432 participants. Socioeconomic position was measured as educational level and household income. Physical and mental health were measured with the RAND-36. Age concerned eleven 5-years age groups. Absolute inequalities were examined by comparing means. Relative inequalities were examined by comparing Gini-coefficients. Analyses were performed for both health outcomes by both educational level and household income. Analyses were performed for all age groups, and stratified by gender. Results Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome, and gender. Absolute inequalities were most pronounced for mental health by household income. They were larger in younger than older age groups. Relative inequalities were most pronounced for physical health by educational level. Gini-coefficients were largest in young age groups and smallest in older age groups. Conclusions Absolute and relative socioeconomic health inequalities differed cross-sectionally across age groups by indicator of socioeconomic position, health outcome and gender. Researchers should critically consider the implications of choosing a specific age group, in addition to the indicator of

  7. Patch testing with serial dilutions and thin-layer chromatograms of oak moss absolutes containing high and low levels of atranol and chloroatranol.

    PubMed

    Mowitz, Martin; Zimerson, Erik; Svedman, Cecilia; Bruze, Magnus

    2013-12-01

    Oak moss absolute (Evernia prunastri extract) contains a large number of substances, among them the potent allergens atranol and chloroatranol. Since 2008, their content in oak moss absolute has been restricted by the International Fragrance Association to a maximum level of 100 ppm each. To compare the elicitation capacities of a traditional (sample A) and a treated (sample B) oak moss absolute containing, in total, 27 000 and 66 ppm of atranol and chloroatranol, respectively, and to investigate reactions to components of oak moss absolute separated by thin-layer chromatography (TLC). Fifteen oak moss-allergic subjects were patch tested with serial dilutions and TLC strips of samples A and B. Fifteen subjects reacted to sample A at concentrations ≤ 2.0%, and 2 subjects reacted to sample B at 2.0% but not to lower concentrations. Among 13 subjects reacting to the TLC strip of sample A, 11 reacted to spots with retardation factor values corresponding to those of atranol and/or chloroatranol, and 11 reacted to other areas on the TLC strip. Only one subject reacted to the TLC strip of sample B. The patch test reactivity of sample B was significantly lower than that of sample A. The TLC patch tests indicate the presence of sensitizers other than atranol and chloroatranol in oak moss absolute. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  8. Longitudinal Changes in AbsoluteVO2peak, Physical Activity Level, Body Mass Index, and Overweightedness among Adolescents in Vocational and Non-Vocational Studies

    PubMed Central

    Lagestad, Pål; Floan, Oddbjørn; Moa, Ivar Fossland

    2017-01-01

    The purpose of the study was to examine differences in physical activity level, physical fitness, body mass index, and overweight among adolescents in vocational and non-vocational studies, at the age of 14, 16, and 19, using a 5-year longitudinal design. Students in sport studies had the highest absoluteVO2peak and higher physical activity levels, than students in vocational subjects and students with a specialization in general studies. However, there were no significant differences between students in vocational subjects and students with a specialization in general studies according to absoluteVO2peak and physical activity levels. Students in vocational subjects were significantly more overweight/obese at 19 years of age, compared with the other students. Our findings support previous research pointing to overweightedness as being more widespread among adolescents in vocational programs than in non-vocational programs. However, differences in the physical activity level and physical fitness do not seem to explain these differences. PMID:28871279

  9. Absolutism and Natural Law Argument: William O. Douglas on Freedom of Expression.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Rodgers, Raymond S.

    Noting that United States Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas has often been characterized as an "absolutist" in terms of First Amendment policy, this paper argues that, in fact, Douglas's policy positions provided for less than absolute freedom to communicate. The paper then reveals, through an anlaysis of 18 of Douglas's opinions,…

  10. Easy Absolute Values? Absolutely

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Taylor, Sharon E.; Mittag, Kathleen Cage

    2015-01-01

    The authors teach a problem-solving course for preservice middle-grades education majors that includes concepts dealing with absolute-value computations, equations, and inequalities. Many of these students like mathematics and plan to teach it, so they are adept at symbolic manipulations. Getting them to think differently about a concept that they…

  11. Multiplex cDNA quantification method that facilitates the standardization of gene expression data

    PubMed Central

    Gotoh, Osamu; Murakami, Yasufumi; Suyama, Akira

    2011-01-01

    Microarray-based gene expression measurement is one of the major methods for transcriptome analysis. However, current microarray data are substantially affected by microarray platforms and RNA references because of the microarray method can provide merely the relative amounts of gene expression levels. Therefore, valid comparisons of the microarray data require standardized platforms, internal and/or external controls and complicated normalizations. These requirements impose limitations on the extensive comparison of gene expression data. Here, we report an effective approach to removing the unfavorable limitations by measuring the absolute amounts of gene expression levels on common DNA microarrays. We have developed a multiplex cDNA quantification method called GEP-DEAN (Gene expression profiling by DCN-encoding-based analysis). The method was validated by using chemically synthesized DNA strands of known quantities and cDNA samples prepared from mouse liver, demonstrating that the absolute amounts of cDNA strands were successfully measured with a sensitivity of 18 zmol in a highly multiplexed manner in 7 h. PMID:21415008

  12. Absolutely relative or relatively absolute: violations of value invariance in human decision making.

    PubMed

    Teodorescu, Andrei R; Moran, Rani; Usher, Marius

    2016-02-01

    Making decisions based on relative rather than absolute information processing is tied to choice optimality via the accumulation of evidence differences and to canonical neural processing via accumulation of evidence ratios. These theoretical frameworks predict invariance of decision latencies to absolute intensities that maintain differences and ratios, respectively. While information about the absolute values of the choice alternatives is not necessary for choosing the best alternative, it may nevertheless hold valuable information about the context of the decision. To test the sensitivity of human decision making to absolute values, we manipulated the intensities of brightness stimuli pairs while preserving either their differences or their ratios. Although asked to choose the brighter alternative relative to the other, participants responded faster to higher absolute values. Thus, our results provide empirical evidence for human sensitivity to task irrelevant absolute values indicating a hard-wired mechanism that precedes executive control. Computational investigations of several modelling architectures reveal two alternative accounts for this phenomenon, which combine absolute and relative processing. One account involves accumulation of differences with activation dependent processing noise and the other emerges from accumulation of absolute values subject to the temporal dynamics of lateral inhibition. The potential adaptive role of such choice mechanisms is discussed.

  13. Integrated analysis of PALSAR/Radarsat-1 InSAR and ENVISAT altimeter data for mapping of absolute water level changes in Louisiana wetlands

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kim, J.-W.; Lu, Z.; Lee, H.; Shum, C.K.; Swarzenski, C.M.; Doyle, T.W.; Baek, S.-H.

    2009-01-01

    Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) has been used to detect relative water level changes in wetlands. We developed an innovative method to integrate InSAR and satellite radar altimetry for measuring absolute or geocentric water level changes and applied the methodology to remote areas of swamp forest in coastal Louisiana. Coherence analysis of InSAR pairs suggested that the HH polarization is preferred for this type of observation, and polarimetric analysis can help to identify double-bounce backscattering areas in the wetland. ENVISAT radar altimeter-measured 18-Hz (along-track sampling of 417 m) water level data processed with regional stackfile method have been used to provide vertical references for water bodies separated by levees. The high-resolution (~ 40 m) relative water changes measured from ALOS PALSAR L-band and Radarsat-1 C-band InSAR are then integrated with ENVISAT radar altimetry to obtain absolute water level. The resulting water level time series were validated with in situ gauge observations within the swamp forest. We anticipate that this new technique will allow retrospective reconstruction and concurrent monitoring of water conditions and flow dynamics in wetlands, especially those lacking gauge networks.

  14. The application of multilevel modeling in the analysis of longitudinal periodontal data--part I: absolute levels of disease.

    PubMed

    Tu, Yu-Kang; Gilthorpe, Mark S; Griffiths, Gareth S; Maddick, Ian H; Eaton, Kenneth A; Johnson, Newell W

    2004-01-01

    Statistical analyses of periodontal data that average site measurements to subject mean values are unable to explore the site-specific nature of periodontal diseases. Multilevel modeling (MLM) overcomes this, taking hierarchical structure into account. MLM was used to investigate longitudinal relationships between the outcomes of lifetime cumulative attachment loss (LCAL) and probing depth (PD) in relation to potential risk factors for periodontal disease progression. One hundred males (mean age 17 years) received a comprehensive periodontal examination at baseline and at 12 and 30 months. The resulting data were analyzed in two stages. In stage one (reported here), the absolute levels of disease were analyzed in relation to potential risk factors; in stage two (reported in a second paper), changes in disease patterns over time were analyzed in relation to the same risk factors. Each approach yielded substantially different insights. For absolute levels of disease, subject-level risk factors (covariates) had limited prediction for LCAL/PD throughout the 30-month observation period. Tooth position demonstrated a near linear relationship for both outcomes, with disease increasing from anterior to posterior teeth. Sites with subgingival calculus and bleeding on probing demonstrated more LCAL and PD, and supragingival calculus had an apparently protective effect. Covariates had more "explanatory power" for the variation in PD than for the variation in LCAL, suggesting that LCAL and PD might be generally associated with a different profile of covariates. This study provides, for a relatively young cohort, considerable insights into the factors associated with early-life periodontal disease and its progression at all levels of the natural hierarchy of sites within teeth within subjects.

  15. Can absolute and proportional anthropometric characteristics distinguish stronger and weaker powerlifters?

    PubMed

    Keogh, Justin W L; Hume, Patria A; Pearson, Simon N; Mellow, Peter J

    2009-11-01

    This study sought to compare the anthropometric profiles of 17 weaker and 17 stronger Australasian and Pacific powerlifters who had competed in a regional-, national-, or international-level powerlifting competition in New Zealand. Stronger lifters were defined as those having a Wilks score greater than 410, whereas those in the weaker group had a Wilks score less than 370. Each powerlifter was assessed for 37 anthropometric dimensions by International Society for the Advancement of Kinanthropometry (ISAK) level II and III accredited anthropometrists. Because all powerlifters were highly mesomorphic and possessed large girths and bone breadths, both in absolute terms and when expressed as Phantom-Z scores compared through the Phantom, relatively few significant anthropometric differences were observed. However, stronger lifters had significantly greater muscle mass and larger muscular girths in absolute terms as well as greater Brugsch Index (chest girth/height) and "Phantom"-normalized muscle mass, upper arm, chest, and forearm girths. In terms of the segment lengths and bone breadths, the only significant difference was that stronger lifters had a significantly shorter lower leg than weaker lifters. Because the majority of the significant differences were for muscle mass and muscular girths, it would appear likely that these differences contributed to the stronger lifters' superior performance. Powerlifters may therefore need to devote some of their training to the development of greater levels of muscular hypertrophy if they wish to continue to improve their performance. To better understand the anthropometric determinants of muscular strength, future research should recruit larger samples (particularly of elite lifters) and follow these subjects prospectively.

  16. Absolute Infrared Calibration of Standard Stars by the Midcourse Space Experiment

    DTIC Science & Technology

    2004-04-01

    analytic expressions have been adopted for limb darkening (see the discussion and references in Neckel, 1996 , for examples) the fact is that the ratio...expression is of little consequence. Spickler, Benner and Russell ( 1996 ) noted that their measurements showed more infrared limb darkening than the...that calculated by Neckel and Labs (1981) from absolute radiances at the center of the Sun. However, Colina, Bohlin and Castelli ( 1996 ) questioned the

  17. Absolute biological needs.

    PubMed

    McLeod, Stephen

    2014-07-01

    Absolute needs (as against instrumental needs) are independent of the ends, goals and purposes of personal agents. Against the view that the only needs are instrumental needs, David Wiggins and Garrett Thomson have defended absolute needs on the grounds that the verb 'need' has instrumental and absolute senses. While remaining neutral about it, this article does not adopt that approach. Instead, it suggests that there are absolute biological needs. The absolute nature of these needs is defended by appeal to: their objectivity (as against mind-dependence); the universality of the phenomenon of needing across the plant and animal kingdoms; the impossibility that biological needs depend wholly upon the exercise of the abilities characteristic of personal agency; the contention that the possession of biological needs is prior to the possession of the abilities characteristic of personal agency. Finally, three philosophical usages of 'normative' are distinguished. On two of these, to describe a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' is to describe it as value-dependent. A description of a phenomenon or claim as 'normative' in the third sense does not entail such value-dependency, though it leaves open the possibility that value depends upon the phenomenon or upon the truth of the claim. It is argued that while survival needs (or claims about them) may well be normative in this third sense, they are normative in neither of the first two. Thus, the idea of absolute need is not inherently normative in either of the first two senses. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. Genomic DNA-based absolute quantification of gene expression in Vitis

    USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

    Many studies in which gene expression is quantified by polymerase chain reaction represent the expression of a gene of interest (GOI) relative to that of a reference gene (RG). Relative expression is founded on the assumptions that RG expression is stable across samples, treatments, organs, etc., an...

  19. Using Peptide-Level Proteomics Data for Detecting Differentially Expressed Proteins.

    PubMed

    Suomi, Tomi; Corthals, Garry L; Nevalainen, Olli S; Elo, Laura L

    2015-11-06

    The expression of proteins can be quantified in high-throughput means using different types of mass spectrometers. In recent years, there have emerged label-free methods for determining protein abundance. Although the expression is initially measured at the peptide level, a common approach is to combine the peptide-level measurements into protein-level values before differential expression analysis. However, this simple combination is prone to inconsistencies between peptides and may lose valuable information. To this end, we introduce here a method for detecting differentially expressed proteins by combining peptide-level expression-change statistics. Using controlled spike-in experiments, we show that the approach of averaging peptide-level expression changes yields more accurate lists of differentially expressed proteins than does the conventional protein-level approach. This is particularly true when there are only few replicate samples or the differences between the sample groups are small. The proposed technique is implemented in the Bioconductor package PECA, and it can be downloaded from http://www.bioconductor.org.

  20. Population-based absolute risk estimation with survey data

    PubMed Central

    Kovalchik, Stephanie A.; Pfeiffer, Ruth M.

    2013-01-01

    Absolute risk is the probability that a cause-specific event occurs in a given time interval in the presence of competing events. We present methods to estimate population-based absolute risk from a complex survey cohort that can accommodate multiple exposure-specific competing risks. The hazard function for each event type consists of an individualized relative risk multiplied by a baseline hazard function, which is modeled nonparametrically or parametrically with a piecewise exponential model. An influence method is used to derive a Taylor-linearized variance estimate for the absolute risk estimates. We introduce novel measures of the cause-specific influences that can guide modeling choices for the competing event components of the model. To illustrate our methodology, we build and validate cause-specific absolute risk models for cardiovascular and cancer deaths using data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Our applications demonstrate the usefulness of survey-based risk prediction models for predicting health outcomes and quantifying the potential impact of disease prevention programs at the population level. PMID:23686614

  1. Jasminum flexile flower absolute from India--a detailed comparison with three other jasmine absolutes.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Kohlenberg, Birgit; Sim, Sherina; Meier, Manfred; Hammerschmidt, Franz-Josef

    2009-09-01

    Jasminum flexile flower absolute from the south of India and the corresponding vacuum headspace (VHS) sample of the absolute were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Three other commercially available Indian jasmine absolutes from the species: J. sambac, J. officinale subsp. grandiflorum, and J. auriculatum and the respective VHS samples were used for comparison purposes. One hundred and twenty-one compounds were characterized in J. flexile flower absolute, with methyl linolate, benzyl salicylate, benzyl benzoate, (2E,6E)-farnesol, and benzyl acetate as the main constituents. A detailed olfactory evaluation was also performed.

  2. Influence of HLA-C Expression Level on HIV Control

    PubMed Central

    Apps, Richard; Qi, Ying; Carlson, Jonathan M.; Chen, Haoyan; Gao, Xiaojiang; Thomas, Rasmi; Yuki, Yuko; Del Prete, Greg Q.; Goulder, Philip; Brumme, Zabrina L.; Brumme, Chanson J.; John, Mina; Mallal, Simon; Nelson, George; Bosch, Ronald; Heckerman, David; Stein, Judy L.; Soderberg, Kelly A.; Moody, M. Anthony; Denny, Thomas N.; Zeng, Xue; Fang, Jingyuan; Moffett, Ashley; Lifson, Jeffrey D.; Goedert, James J.; Buchbinder, Susan; Kirk, Gregory D.; Fellay, Jacques; McLaren, Paul; Deeks, Steven G.; Pereyra, Florencia; Walker, Bruce; Michael, Nelson L.; Weintrob, Amy; Wolinsky, Steven; Liao, Wilson; Carrington, Mary

    2013-01-01

    A variant upstream of human leukocyte antigen C (HLA-C) shows the most significant genome-wide effect on HIV control in European Americans and is also associated with the level of HLA-C expression. We characterized the differential cell surface expression levels of all common HLA-C allotypes and tested directly for effects of HLA-C expression on outcomes of HIV infection in 5243 individuals. Increasing HLA-C expression was associated with protection against multiple outcomes independently of individual HLA allelic effects in both African and European Americans, regardless of their distinct HLA-C frequencies and linkage relationships with HLA-B and HLA-A. Higher HLA-C expression was correlated with increased likelihood of cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses and frequency of viral escape mutation. In contrast, high HLA-C expression had a deleterious effect in Crohn’s disease, suggesting a broader influence of HLA expression levels in human disease. PMID:23559252

  3. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-05-15

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  4. Absolute nuclear material assay

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2010-07-13

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  5. Base composition and expression level of human genes.

    PubMed

    Arhondakis, Stilianos; Auletta, Fabio; Torelli, Giuseppe; D'Onofrio, Giuseppe

    2004-01-21

    It is well known that the gene distribution is non-uniform in the human genome, reaching the highest concentration in the GC-rich isochores. Also the amino acid frequencies, and the hydrophobicity, of the corresponding encoded proteins are affected by the high GC level of the genes localized in the GC-rich isochores. It was hypothesized that the gene expression level as well is higher in GC-rich compared to GC-poor isochores [Mol. Biol. Evol. 10 (1993) 186]. Several features of human genes and proteins, namely expression level, coding and non-coding lengths, and hydrophobicity were investigated in the present paper. The results support the hypothesis reported above, since all the parameters so far studied converge to the same conclusion, that the average expression level of the GC-rich genes is significantly higher than that of the GC-poor genes.

  6. A new multidimensional population health indicator for policy makers: absolute level, inequality and spatial clustering - an empirical application using global sub-national infant mortality data.

    PubMed

    Sartorius, Benn K D; Sartorius, Kurt

    2014-11-01

    The need for a multidimensional measure of population health that accounts for its distribution remains a central problem to guide the allocation of limited resources. Absolute proxy measures, like the infant mortality rate (IMR), are limited because they ignore inequality and spatial clustering. We propose a novel, three-part, multidimensional mortality indicator that can be used as the first step to differentiate interventions in a region or country. The three-part indicator (MortalityABC index) combines absolute mortality rate, the Theil Index to calculate mortality inequality and the Getis-Ord G statistic to determine the degree of spatial clustering. The analysis utilises global sub-national IMR data to empirically illustrate the proposed indicator. The three-part indicator is mapped globally to display regional/country variation and further highlight its potential application. Developing countries (e.g. in sub-Saharan Africa) display high levels of absolute mortality as well as variable mortality inequality with evidence of spatial clustering within certain sub-national units ("hotspots"). Although greater inequality is observed outside developed regions, high mortality inequality and spatial clustering are common in both developed and developing countries. Significant positive correlation was observed between the degree of spatial clustering and absolute mortality. The proposed multidimensional indicator should prove useful for spatial allocation of healthcare resources within a country, because it can prompt a wide range of policy options and prioritise high-risk areas. The new indicator demonstrates the inadequacy of IMR as a single measure of population health, and it can also be adapted to lower administrative levels within a country and other population health measures.

  7. Generation of mammalian cells stably expressing multiple genes at predetermined levels.

    PubMed

    Liu, X; Constantinescu, S N; Sun, Y; Bogan, J S; Hirsch, D; Weinberg, R A; Lodish, H F

    2000-04-10

    Expression of cloned genes at desired levels in cultured mammalian cells is essential for studying protein function. Controlled levels of expression have been difficult to achieve, especially for cell lines with low transfection efficiency or when expression of multiple genes is required. An internal ribosomal entry site (IRES) has been incorporated into many types of expression vectors to allow simultaneous expression of two genes. However, there has been no systematic quantitative analysis of expression levels in individual cells of genes linked by an IRES, and thus the broad use of these vectors in functional analysis has been limited. We constructed a set of retroviral expression vectors containing an IRES followed by a quantitative selectable marker such as green fluorescent protein (GFP) or truncated cell surface proteins CD2 or CD4. The gene of interest is placed in a multiple cloning site 5' of the IRES sequence under the control of the retroviral long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter. These vectors exploit the approximately 100-fold differences in levels of expression of a retrovirus vector depending on its site of insertion in the host chromosome. We show that the level of expression of the gene downstream of the IRES and the expression level and functional activity of the gene cloned upstream of the IRES are highly correlated in stably infected target cells. This feature makes our vectors extremely useful for the rapid generation of stably transfected cell populations or clonal cell lines expressing specific amounts of a desired protein simply by fluorescent activated cell sorting (FACS) based on the level of expression of the gene downstream of the IRES. We show how these vectors can be used to generate cells expressing high levels of the erythropoietin receptor (EpoR) or a dominant negative Smad3 protein and to generate cells expressing two different cloned proteins, Ski and Smad4. Correlation of a biologic effect with the level of expression of the

  8. Towards absolute laser spectroscopic CO2 isotope ratio measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Anyangwe Nwaboh, Javis; Werhahn, Olav; Ebert, Volker

    2017-04-01

    Knowledge of isotope composition of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere is necessary to identify sources and sinks of this key greenhouse gas. In the last years, laser spectroscopic techniques such as cavity ring-down spectroscopy (CRDS) and tunable diode laser absorption spectroscopy (TDLAS) have been shown to perform accurate isotope ratio measurements for CO2 and other gases like water vapour (H2O) [1,2]. Typically, isotope ratios are reported in literature referring to reference materials provided by e.g. the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). However, there could be some benefit if field deployable absolute isotope ratio measurement methods were developed to address issues such as exhausted reference material like the Pee Dee Belemnite (PDB) standard. Absolute isotope ratio measurements would be particularly important for situations where reference materials do not even exist. Here, we present CRDS and TDLAS-based absolute isotope ratios (13C/12C ) in atmospheric CO2. We demonstrate the capabilities of the used methods by measuring CO2 isotope ratios in gas standards. We compare our results to values reported for the isotope certified gas standards. Guide to the expression of uncertainty in measurement (GUM) compliant uncertainty budgets on the CRDS and TDLAS absolute isotope ratio measurements are presented, and traceability is addressed. We outline the current impediments in realizing high accuracy absolute isotope ratio measurements using laser spectroscopic methods, propose solutions and the way forward. Acknowledgement Parts of this work have been carried out within the European Metrology Research Programme (EMRP) ENV52 project-HIGHGAS. The EMRP is jointly funded by the EMRP participating countries within EURAMET and the European Union. References [1] B. Kühnreich, S. Wagner, J. C. Habig,·O. Möhler, H. Saathoff, V. Ebert, Appl. Phys. B 119:177-187 (2015). [2] E. Kerstel, L. Gianfrani, Appl. Phys. B 92, 439-449 (2008).

  9. Electronic Absolute Cartesian Autocollimator

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B.

    2006-01-01

    An electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator performs the same basic optical function as does a conventional all-optical or a conventional electronic autocollimator but differs in the nature of its optical target and the manner in which the position of the image of the target is measured. The term absolute in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of the position measurement, which, unlike in a conventional electronic autocollimator, is based absolutely on the position of the image rather than on an assumed proportionality between the position and the levels of processed analog electronic signals. The term Cartesian in the name of this apparatus reflects the nature of its optical target. Figure 1 depicts the electronic functional blocks of an electronic absolute Cartesian autocollimator along with its basic optical layout, which is the same as that of a conventional autocollimator. Referring first to the optical layout and functions only, this or any autocollimator is used to measure the compound angular deviation of a flat datum mirror with respect to the optical axis of the autocollimator itself. The optical components include an illuminated target, a beam splitter, an objective or collimating lens, and a viewer or detector (described in more detail below) at a viewing plane. The target and the viewing planes are focal planes of the lens. Target light reflected by the datum mirror is imaged on the viewing plane at unit magnification by the collimating lens. If the normal to the datum mirror is parallel to the optical axis of the autocollimator, then the target image is centered on the viewing plane. Any angular deviation of the normal from the optical axis manifests itself as a lateral displacement of the target image from the center. The magnitude of the displacement is proportional to the focal length and to the magnitude (assumed to be small) of the angular deviation. The direction of the displacement is perpendicular to the axis about which the

  10. Absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression in Europe.

    PubMed

    Dudal, Pieter; Bracke, Piet

    2016-09-01

    To investigate (1) the size of absolute and relative educational inequalities in depression, (2) their variation between European countries, and (3) their relationship with underlying prevalence rates. Analyses are based on the European Social Survey, rounds three and six (N = 57,419). Depression is measured using the shortened Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale. Education is coded by use of the International Standard Classification of Education. Country-specific logistic regressions are applied. Results point to an elevated risk of depressive symptoms among the lower educated. The cross-national patterns differ between absolute and relative measurements. For men, large relative inequalities are found for countries including Denmark and Sweden, but are accompanied by small absolute inequalities. For women, large relative and absolute inequalities are found in Belgium, Bulgaria, and Hungary. Results point to an empirical association between inequalities and the underlying prevalence rates. However, the strength of the association is only moderate. This research stresses the importance of including both measurements for comparative research and suggests the inclusion of the level of population health in research into inequalities in health.

  11. Naringin promotes differentiation of bone marrow stem cells into osteoblasts by upregulating the expression levels of microRNA-20a and downregulating the expression levels of PPARγ.

    PubMed

    Fan, Jifeng; Li, Jie; Fan, Qinbo

    2015-09-01

    Naringin is a dihydrotestosterone flavonoid compound that significantly inhibits bone loss, improves bone density, and enhances biomechanical anti‑compression performance. Previous studies have demonstrated that naringin improves the activity levels of osteocalcin (OC) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) in MC3T3‑E1 osteoblast precursor cells. The present study investigated the effects of naringin on osteoblastic differentiation and inhibition of adipocyte formation in bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs). The levels of osteogenesis were modulated via upregulation of the expression levels of microRNA (miR)‑20a, and downregulation of the expression levels of peroxisome proliferator‑activated receptor γ (PPARγ). The results indicated that naringin significantly enhanced BMSC proliferation in a dose‑dependent manner. In addition, naringin significantly increased the mRNA expression levels of OC, ALP, and collagen type I. Furthermore, naringin decreased the protein expression levels of PPARγ, and increased the expression levels of miR‑20a in the BMSCs. These results suggested that miR‑20a may regulate the expression of PPARγ in BMSCs. To our knowledge, this is the first study to report naringin‑induced osteogenesis via upregulation of the expression levels of miR‑20a, and downregulation of the expression levels of PPARγ. These results indicated the important role of naringin in BMSC differentiation.

  12. Characterizing absolute piezoelectric microelectromechanical system displacement using an atomic force microscope

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Evans, J., E-mail: radiant@ferrodevices.com; Chapman, S., E-mail: radiant@ferrodevices.com

    Piezoresponse Force Microscopy (PFM) is a popular tool for the study of ferroelectric and piezoelectric materials at the nanometer level. Progress in the development of piezoelectric MEMS fabrication is highlighting the need to characterize absolute displacement at the nanometer and Ångstrom scales, something Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) might do but PFM cannot. Absolute displacement is measured by executing a polarization measurement of the ferroelectric or piezoelectric capacitor in question while monitoring the absolute vertical position of the sample surface with a stationary AFM cantilever. Two issues dominate the execution and precision of such a measurement: (1) the small amplitude ofmore » the electrical signal from the AFM at the Ångstrom level and (2) calibration of the AFM. The authors have developed a calibration routine and test technique for mitigating the two issues, making it possible to use an atomic force microscope to measure both the movement of a capacitor surface as well as the motion of a micro-machine structure actuated by that capacitor. The theory, procedures, pitfalls, and results of using an AFM for absolute piezoelectric measurement are provided.« less

  13. Comparing the role of absolute sea-level rise and vertical tectonic motions in coastal flooding, Torres Islands (Vanuatu)

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ballu, Valérie; Bouin, Marie-Noëlle; Siméoni, Patricia; Crawford, Wayne C.; Calmant, Stephane; Boré, Jean-Michel; Kanas, Tony; Pelletier, Bernard

    2011-08-01

    Since the late 1990s, rising sea levels around the Torres Islands (north Vanuatu, southwest Pacific) have caused strong local and international concern. In 2002-2004, a village was displaced due to increasing sea incursions, and in 2005 a United Nations Environment Programme press release referred to the displaced village as perhaps the world's first climate change "refugees." We show here that vertical motions of the Torres Islands themselves dominate the apparent sea-level rise observed on the islands. From 1997 to 2009, the absolute sea level rose by 150 + /-20 mm. But GPS data reveal that the islands subsided by 117 + /-30 mm over the same time period, almost doubling the apparent gradual sea-level rise. Moreover, large earthquakes that occurred just before and after this period caused several hundreds of mm of sudden vertical motion, generating larger apparent sea-level changes than those observed during the entire intervening period. Our results show that vertical ground motions must be accounted for when evaluating sea-level change hazards in active tectonic regions. These data are needed to help communities and governments understand environmental changes and make the best decisions for their future.

  14. Comparing the role of absolute sea-level rise and vertical tectonic motions in coastal flooding, Torres Islands (Vanuatu).

    PubMed

    Ballu, Valérie; Bouin, Marie-Noëlle; Siméoni, Patricia; Crawford, Wayne C; Calmant, Stephane; Boré, Jean-Michel; Kanas, Tony; Pelletier, Bernard

    2011-08-09

    Since the late 1990s, rising sea levels around the Torres Islands (north Vanuatu, southwest Pacific) have caused strong local and international concern. In 2002-2004, a village was displaced due to increasing sea incursions, and in 2005 a United Nations Environment Programme press release referred to the displaced village as perhaps the world's first climate change "refugees." We show here that vertical motions of the Torres Islands themselves dominate the apparent sea-level rise observed on the islands. From 1997 to 2009, the absolute sea level rose by 150 + /-20 mm. But GPS data reveal that the islands subsided by 117 + /-30 mm over the same time period, almost doubling the apparent gradual sea-level rise. Moreover, large earthquakes that occurred just before and after this period caused several hundreds of mm of sudden vertical motion, generating larger apparent sea-level changes than those observed during the entire intervening period. Our results show that vertical ground motions must be accounted for when evaluating sea-level change hazards in active tectonic regions. These data are needed to help communities and governments understand environmental changes and make the best decisions for their future.

  15. Estimating the absolute wealth of households.

    PubMed

    Hruschka, Daniel J; Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-07-01

    To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. The median absolute wealth estimates of 1,403,186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723-6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R(2)  = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality.

  16. Coronary calcium predicts events better with absolute calcium scores than age-sex-race/ethnicity percentiles: MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis).

    PubMed

    Budoff, Matthew J; Nasir, Khurram; McClelland, Robyn L; Detrano, Robert; Wong, Nathan; Blumenthal, Roger S; Kondos, George; Kronmal, Richard A

    2009-01-27

    In this study, we aimed to establish whether age-sex-specific percentiles of coronary artery calcium (CAC) predict cardiovascular outcomes better than the actual (absolute) CAC score. The presence and extent of CAC correlates with the overall magnitude of coronary atherosclerotic plaque burden and with the development of subsequent coronary events. MESA (Multi-Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis) is a prospective cohort study of 6,814 asymptomatic participants followed for coronary heart disease (CHD) events including myocardial infarction, angina, resuscitated cardiac arrest, or CHD death. Time to incident CHD was modeled with Cox regression, and we compared models with percentiles based on age, sex, and/or race/ethnicity to categories commonly used (0, 1 to 100, 101 to 400, 400+ Agatston units). There were 163 (2.4%) incident CHD events (median follow-up 3.75 years). Expressing CAC in terms of age- and sex-specific percentiles had significantly lower area under the receiver-operating characteristic curve (AUC) than when using absolute scores (women: AUC 0.73 versus 0.76, p = 0.044; men: AUC 0.73 versus 0.77, p < 0.001). Akaike's information criterion indicated better model fit with the overall score. Both methods robustly predicted events (>90th percentile associated with a hazard ratio [HR] of 16.4, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 9.30 to 28.9, and score >400 associated with HR of 20.6, 95% CI: 11.8 to 36.0). Within groups based on age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific percentiles there remains a clear trend of increasing risk across levels of the absolute CAC groups. In contrast, once absolute CAC category is fixed, there is no increasing trend across levels of age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific categories. Patients with low absolute scores are low-risk, regardless of age-, sex-, and race/ethnicity-specific percentile rank. Persons with an absolute CAC score of >400 are high risk, regardless of percentile rank. Using absolute CAC in standard groups performed

  17. New design and facilities for the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements (AGrav): A support for the Establishment of a new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wziontek, Hartmut; Falk, Reinhard; Bonvalot, Sylvain; Rülke, Axel

    2017-04-01

    After about 10 years of successful joint operation by BGI and BKG, the International Database for Absolute Gravity Measurements "AGrav" (see references hereafter) was under a major revision. The outdated web interface was replaced by a responsive, high level web application framework based on Python and built on top of Pyramid. Functionality was added, like interactive time series plots or a report generator and the interactive map-based station overview was updated completely, comprising now clustering and the classification of stations. Furthermore, the database backend was migrated to PostgreSQL for better support of the application framework and long-term availability. As comparisons of absolute gravimeters (AG) become essential to realize a precise and uniform gravity standard, the database was extended to document the results on international and regional level, including those performed at monitoring stations equipped with SGs. By this it will be possible to link different AGs and to trace their equivalence back to the key comparisons under the auspices of International Committee for Weights and Measures (CIPM) as the best metrological realization of the absolute gravity standard. In this way the new AGrav database accommodates the demands of the new Global Absolute Gravity Reference System as recommended by the IAG Resolution No. 2 adopted in Prague 2015. The new database will be presented with focus on the new user interface and new functionality, calling all institutions involved in absolute gravimetry to participate and contribute with their information to built up a most complete picture of high precision absolute gravimetry and improve its visibility. A Digital Object Identifier (DOI) will be provided by BGI to contributors to give a better traceability and facilitate the referencing of their gravity surveys. Links and references: BGI mirror site : http://bgi.obs-mip.fr/data-products/Gravity-Databases/Absolute-Gravity-data/ BKG mirror site: http

  18. Estimating the absolute wealth of households

    PubMed Central

    Gerkey, Drew; Hadley, Craig

    2015-01-01

    Abstract Objective To estimate the absolute wealth of households using data from demographic and health surveys. Methods We developed a new metric, the absolute wealth estimate, based on the rank of each surveyed household according to its material assets and the assumed shape of the distribution of wealth among surveyed households. Using data from 156 demographic and health surveys in 66 countries, we calculated absolute wealth estimates for households. We validated the method by comparing the proportion of households defined as poor using our estimates with published World Bank poverty headcounts. We also compared the accuracy of absolute versus relative wealth estimates for the prediction of anthropometric measures. Findings The median absolute wealth estimates of 1 403 186 households were 2056 international dollars per capita (interquartile range: 723–6103). The proportion of poor households based on absolute wealth estimates were strongly correlated with World Bank estimates of populations living on less than 2.00 United States dollars per capita per day (R2 = 0.84). Absolute wealth estimates were better predictors of anthropometric measures than relative wealth indexes. Conclusion Absolute wealth estimates provide new opportunities for comparative research to assess the effects of economic resources on health and human capital, as well as the long-term health consequences of economic change and inequality. PMID:26170506

  19. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2011-04-01 2011-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent... are not under a retirement system. An absolute coverage group may include positions which were...

  20. Comparing the role of absolute sea-level rise and vertical tectonic motions in coastal flooding, Torres Islands (Vanuatu)

    PubMed Central

    Ballu, Valérie; Bouin, Marie-Noëlle; Siméoni, Patricia; Crawford, Wayne C.; Calmant, Stephane; Boré, Jean-Michel; Kanas, Tony; Pelletier, Bernard

    2011-01-01

    Since the late 1990s, rising sea levels around the Torres Islands (north Vanuatu, southwest Pacific) have caused strong local and international concern. In 2002–2004, a village was displaced due to increasing sea incursions, and in 2005 a United Nations Environment Programme press release referred to the displaced village as perhaps the world’s first climate change “refugees.” We show here that vertical motions of the Torres Islands themselves dominate the apparent sea-level rise observed on the islands. From 1997 to 2009, the absolute sea level rose by 150 + /-20 mm. But GPS data reveal that the islands subsided by 117 + /-30 mm over the same time period, almost doubling the apparent gradual sea-level rise. Moreover, large earthquakes that occurred just before and after this period caused several hundreds of mm of sudden vertical motion, generating larger apparent sea-level changes than those observed during the entire intervening period. Our results show that vertical ground motions must be accounted for when evaluating sea-level change hazards in active tectonic regions. These data are needed to help communities and governments understand environmental changes and make the best decisions for their future. PMID:21795605

  1. Absolute flux density calibrations of radio sources: 2.3 GHz

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Freiley, A. J.; Batelaan, P. D.; Bathker, D. A.

    1977-01-01

    A detailed description of a NASA/JPL Deep Space Network program to improve S-band gain calibrations of large aperture antennas is reported. The program is considered unique in at least three ways; first, absolute gain calibrations of high quality suppressed-sidelobe dual mode horns first provide a high accuracy foundation to the foundation to the program. Second, a very careful transfer calibration technique using an artificial far-field coherent-wave source was used to accurately obtain the gain of one large (26 m) aperture. Third, using the calibrated large aperture directly, the absolute flux density of five selected galactic and extragalactic natural radio sources was determined with an absolute accuracy better than 2 percent, now quoted at the familiar 1 sigma confidence level. The follow-on considerations to apply these results to an operational network of ground antennas are discussed. It is concluded that absolute gain accuracies within + or - 0.30 to 0.40 db are possible, depending primarily on the repeatability (scatter) in the field data from Deep Space Network user stations.

  2. Absolute and Relative Carnitine Deficiency in Patients on Hemodialysis and Peritoneal Dialysis.

    PubMed

    Naseri, Mitra; Mottaghi Moghadam Shahri, Hasan; Horri, Mohsen; Esmaeeli, Mohammad; Ghaneh Sherbaf, Fatemeh; Jahanshahi, Shohre; Moeenolroayaa, Giti; Rasoli, Zahra; Salemian, Farzaneh; Pour Hasan, Maryam

    2016-01-01

    Carnitine deficiency is commonly seen in dialysis patients. This study assessed the association dialysis and pediatric patients' characteristics with plasma carnitines levels. Plasma carnitine concentrations were measured by tandem mass spectrometry in 46 children on hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis. The total carnitine, free carnitine (FC), and L-acyl carnitine (AC) levels of 40 µmol/L and less, less than 7 µmol/L, and less than 15 µmol/L were defined low, respectively. An FC less than 20 µmol/L and an AC/FC ratio greater than 0.4 were considered as absolute and relative carnitine deficiencies. The correlation between carnitines levels and AC/FC ratio and age, duration of dialysis, characteristics of dialysis, and blood urea nitrogen and serum albumin concentrations were assessed. Absolute carnitine deficiency, low total carnitine, and low AC concentrations were found in 66.7%, 82.6%, and 51% of the patients, respectively. All of the patients had relative carnitine deficiency. Carnitine measurements were not significantly different between the hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis groups. More severe relative carnitine deficiency was found in those with lower blood urea nitrogen levels and those on peritoneal dialysis. No linear correlation was found between carnitine levels and age, duration of dialysis, characteristics of dialysis, serum albumin level, or blood urea nitrogen level. Absolute and relative carnitine deficiencies are common among children on dialysis. Patients with lower blood urea nitrogen levels and peritoneal dialysis patients are more prone to severe relative carnitine deficiency.

  3. Dual transcriptional-translational cascade permits cellular level tuneable expression control

    PubMed Central

    Morra, Rosa; Shankar, Jayendra; Robinson, Christopher J.; Halliwell, Samantha; Butler, Lisa; Upton, Mathew; Hay, Sam; Micklefield, Jason; Dixon, Neil

    2016-01-01

    The ability to induce gene expression in a small molecule dependent manner has led to many applications in target discovery, functional elucidation and bio-production. To date these applications have relied on a limited set of protein-based control mechanisms operating at the level of transcription initiation. The discovery, design and reengineering of riboswitches offer an alternative means by which to control gene expression. Here we report the development and characterization of a novel tunable recombinant expression system, termed RiboTite, which operates at both the transcriptional and translational level. Using standard inducible promoters and orthogonal riboswitches, a multi-layered modular genetic control circuit was developed to control the expression of both bacteriophage T7 RNA polymerase and recombinant gene(s) of interest. The system was benchmarked against a number of commonly used E. coli expression systems, and shows tight basal control, precise analogue tunability of gene expression at the cellular level, dose-dependent regulation of protein production rates over extended growth periods and enhanced cell viability. This novel system expands the number of E. coli expression systems for use in recombinant protein production and represents a major performance enhancement over and above the most widely used expression systems. PMID:26405200

  4. Effect of the absolute statistic on gene-sampling gene-set analysis methods.

    PubMed

    Nam, Dougu

    2017-06-01

    Gene-set enrichment analysis and its modified versions have commonly been used for identifying altered functions or pathways in disease from microarray data. In particular, the simple gene-sampling gene-set analysis methods have been heavily used for datasets with only a few sample replicates. The biggest problem with this approach is the highly inflated false-positive rate. In this paper, the effect of absolute gene statistic on gene-sampling gene-set analysis methods is systematically investigated. Thus far, the absolute gene statistic has merely been regarded as a supplementary method for capturing the bidirectional changes in each gene set. Here, it is shown that incorporating the absolute gene statistic in gene-sampling gene-set analysis substantially reduces the false-positive rate and improves the overall discriminatory ability. Its effect was investigated by power, false-positive rate, and receiver operating curve for a number of simulated and real datasets. The performances of gene-set analysis methods in one-tailed (genome-wide association study) and two-tailed (gene expression data) tests were also compared and discussed.

  5. Comparison of elicitation potential of chloroatranol and atranol--2 allergens in oak moss absolute.

    PubMed

    Johansen, Jeanne D; Bernard, Guillaume; Giménez-Arnau, Elena; Lepoittevin, Jean-Pierre; Bruze, Magnus; Andersen, Klaus E

    2006-04-01

    Chloroatranol and atranol are degradation products of chloroatranorin and atranorin, respectively, and have recently been identified as important contact allergens in the natural fragrance extract, oak moss absolute. Oak moss absolute is widely used in perfumery and is the cause of many cases of fragrance allergic contact dermatitis. Chloroatranol elicits reactions at very low levels of exposure. In oak moss absolute, chloroatranol and atranol are present together and both may contribute to the allergenicity and eliciting capacity of the natural extract. In this study, 10 eczema patients with known sensitization to chloroatranol and oak moss absolute were tested simultaneously to a serial dilution of chloroatranol and atranol in ethanol, in equimolar concentrations (0.0034-1072 microM). Dose-response curves were estimated and analysed by logistic regression. The estimated difference in elicitation potency of chloroatranol relative to atranol based on testing with equimolar concentrations was 217% (95% confidence interval 116-409%). Both substances elicited reactions at very low levels of exposure. It is concluded that the differences in elicitation capacity between the 2 substances are counterbalanced by exposure being greater to atranol than to chloroatranol and that both substances contribute to the clinical problems seen in oak moss absolute-sensitized individuals.

  6. Forecasting Error Calculation with Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khair, Ummul; Fahmi, Hasanul; Hakim, Sarudin Al; Rahim, Robbi

    2017-12-01

    Prediction using a forecasting method is one of the most important things for an organization, the selection of appropriate forecasting methods is also important but the percentage error of a method is more important in order for decision makers to adopt the right culture, the use of the Mean Absolute Deviation and Mean Absolute Percentage Error to calculate the percentage of mistakes in the least square method resulted in a percentage of 9.77% and it was decided that the least square method be worked for time series and trend data.

  7. Repeated Measurement of Absolute and Relative Judgments of Loudness: Clinical Relevance for Prescriptive Fitting of Aided Target Gains for soft, Comfortable, and Loud, But Ok Sound Levels.

    PubMed

    Formby, Craig; Payne, JoAnne; Yang, Xin; Wu, Delphanie; Parton, Jason M

    2017-02-01

    This study was undertaken with the purpose of streamlining clinical measures of loudness growth to facilitate and enhance prescriptive fitting of nonlinear hearing aids. Repeated measures of loudness at 500 and 3,000 Hz were obtained bilaterally at monthly intervals over a 6-month period from three groups of young adult listeners. All volunteers had normal audiometric hearing sensitivity and middle ear function, and all denied problems related to sound tolerance. Group 1 performed judgments of soft and loud, but OK for presentation of ascending sound levels. We defined these judgments operationally as absolute judgments of loudness. Group 2 initially performed loudness judgments across a continuum of seven loudness categories ranging from judgments of very soft to uncomfortably loud for presentation of ascending sound levels per the Contour Test of Loudness; we defined these judgments as relative judgments of loudness. In the same session, they then performed the absolute judgments for soft and loud, but OK sound levels. Group 3 performed the same set of loudness judgments as did group 2, but the task order was reversed such that they performed the absolute judgments initially within each test session followed by the relative judgments. The key findings from this study were as follows: (1) Within group, the absolute and relative tasks yielded clinically similar judgments for soft and for loud, but OK sound levels. These judgments were largely independent of task order, ear, frequency, or trial order within a given session. (2) Loudness judgments increased, on average, by ∼3 dB between the first and last test session, which is consistent with the commonly reported acclimatization effect reported for incremental changes in loudness discomfort levels as a consequence of chronic bilateral hearing aid use. (3) Measured and predicted comfortable judgments of loudness were in good agreement for the individual listener and for groups of listeners. These comfortable

  8. Repeated Measurement of Absolute and Relative Judgments of Loudness: Clinical Relevance for Prescriptive Fitting of Aided Target Gains for soft, Comfortable, and Loud, But Ok Sound Levels

    PubMed Central

    Formby, Craig; Payne, JoAnne; Yang, Xin; Wu, Delphanie; Parton, Jason M.

    2017-01-01

    This study was undertaken with the purpose of streamlining clinical measures of loudness growth to facilitate and enhance prescriptive fitting of nonlinear hearing aids. Repeated measures of loudness at 500 and 3,000 Hz were obtained bilaterally at monthly intervals over a 6-month period from three groups of young adult listeners. All volunteers had normal audiometric hearing sensitivity and middle ear function, and all denied problems related to sound tolerance. Group 1 performed judgments of soft and loud, but OK for presentation of ascending sound levels. We defined these judgments operationally as absolute judgments of loudness. Group 2 initially performed loudness judgments across a continuum of seven loudness categories ranging from judgments of very soft to uncomfortably loud for presentation of ascending sound levels per the Contour Test of Loudness; we defined these judgments as relative judgments of loudness. In the same session, they then performed the absolute judgments for soft and loud, but OK sound levels. Group 3 performed the same set of loudness judgments as did group 2, but the task order was reversed such that they performed the absolute judgments initially within each test session followed by the relative judgments. The key findings from this study were as follows: (1) Within group, the absolute and relative tasks yielded clinically similar judgments for soft and for loud, but OK sound levels. These judgments were largely independent of task order, ear, frequency, or trial order within a given session. (2) Loudness judgments increased, on average, by ∼3 dB between the first and last test session, which is consistent with the commonly reported acclimatization effect reported for incremental changes in loudness discomfort levels as a consequence of chronic bilateral hearing aid use. (3) Measured and predicted comfortable judgments of loudness were in good agreement for the individual listener and for groups of listeners. These comfortable

  9. Absolute calibration of ultraviolet filter photometry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bless, R. C.; Fairchild, T.; Code, A. D.

    1972-01-01

    The essential features of the calibration procedure can be divided into three parts. First, the shape of the bandpass of each photometer was determined by measuring the transmissions of the individual optical components and also by measuring the response of the photometer as a whole. Secondly, each photometer was placed in the essentially-collimated synchrotron radiation bundle maintained at a constant intensity level, and the output signal was determined from about 100 points on the objective. Finally, two or three points on the objective were illuminated by synchrotron radiation at several different intensity levels covering the dynamic range of the photometers. The output signals were placed on an absolute basis by the electron counting technique described earlier.

  10. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

    2014-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2014-04-01 2014-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  11. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

    2013-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2013-04-01 2013-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  12. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2012 CFR

    2012-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2012-04-01 2012-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section... INSURANCE (1950- ) Coverage of Employees of State and Local Governments What Groups of Employees May Be Covered § 404.1205 Absolute coverage groups. (a) General. An absolute coverage group is a permanent...

  13. Multi-level Expression Design Language: Requirement level (MEDL-R) system evaluation

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    1980-01-01

    An evaluation of the Multi-Level Expression Design Language Requirements Level (MEDL-R) system was conducted to determine whether it would be of use in the Goddard Space Flight Center Code 580 software development environment. The evaluation is based upon a study of the MEDL-R concept of requirement languages, the functions performed by MEDL-R, and the MEDL-R language syntax. Recommendations are made for changes to MEDL-R that would make it useful in the Code 580 environment.

  14. Neural Sensitivity to Absolute and Relative Anticipated Reward in Adolescents

    PubMed Central

    Vaidya, Jatin G.; Knutson, Brian; O'Leary, Daniel S.; Block, Robert I.; Magnotta, Vincent

    2013-01-01

    Adolescence is associated with a dramatic increase in risky and impulsive behaviors that have been attributed to developmental differences in neural processing of rewards. In the present study, we sought to identify age differences in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards. To do so, we modified a commonly used monetary incentive delay (MID) task in order to examine brain activity to relative anticipated reward value (neural sensitivity to the value of a reward as a function of other available rewards). This design also made it possible to examine developmental differences in brain activation to absolute anticipated reward magnitude (the degree to which neural activity increases with increasing reward magnitude). While undergoing fMRI, 18 adolescents and 18 adult participants were presented with cues associated with different reward magnitudes. After the cue, participants responded to a target to win money on that trial. Presentation of cues was blocked such that two reward cues associated with $.20, $1.00, or $5.00 were in play on a given block. Thus, the relative value of the $1.00 reward varied depending on whether it was paired with a smaller or larger reward. Reflecting age differences in neural responses to relative anticipated reward (i.e., reference dependent processing), adults, but not adolescents, demonstrated greater activity to a $1 reward when it was the larger of the two available rewards. Adults also demonstrated a more linear increase in ventral striatal activity as a function of increasing absolute reward magnitude compared to adolescents. Additionally, reduced ventral striatal sensitivity to absolute anticipated reward (i.e., the difference in activity to medium versus small rewards) correlated with higher levels of trait Impulsivity. Thus, ventral striatal activity in anticipation of absolute and relative rewards develops with age. Absolute reward processing is also linked to individual differences in Impulsivity. PMID:23544046

  15. Acquired absolute vitamin K deficiency in a patient undergoing warfarin therapy.

    PubMed

    Takada, Hiroaki; Toru, Hifumi; Bunya, Naofumi; Kiriu, Nobuaki; Kato, Hiroshi; Koido, Yuichi; Yasuhiro, Kuroda

    2014-06-01

    We report a case of absolute vitamin K deficiency (VKD) diagnosed by measuring serum VK levels in an elderly woman undergoing warfarin therapy. A 78-year-old woman was admitted to our hospital because of dyspnea and sore throat diagnosed as pharyngitis 1 week before admission. On admission, the sore throat had exacerbated and dyspnea developed. She had history of atrial fibrillation, for which warfarin 1.5 mg/d was started approximately 10 years prior and her international normalized ratio (INR) had been maintained at an acceptable therapeutic level. Blood results revealed unmeasurable INR and abnormally prolonged activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT). She was diagnosed with adenoiditis and warfarin-related coagulopathy and administered intravenous VK (20 mg) and fresh frozen plasma (FFP; 4 U), which improved INR and APTT. Since the coagulopathy responded to intravenous VK administration, the patient was clinically diagnosed with warfarin-related relative VKD. Approximately 1 month later, she returned with complaints of sore throat. Blood results indicated abnormal INR (7.22) and APTT (N80.0 s). She was diagnosed with recurrent adenoiditis and VK deficient coagulopathy. The patient’s serum VK levels were low (VK1 level, 0.13 ng/mL; VK2 levels, 0.85 ng/mL). Initial treatment of VK (20 mg) and FFP followed by intravenous VK (20 mg/d) for 6 days, her symptoms dissipated. Warfarin was suspected to have caused absolute VKD. Severe coagulopathy in patients undergoing warfarin therapy is primarily caused by, relative VKD. However, the possibility of warfarin-related absolute VKD should be suspected when INRis not sufficiently improved by intravenous VK administration.

  16. Low-level image properties in facial expressions.

    PubMed

    Menzel, Claudia; Redies, Christoph; Hayn-Leichsenring, Gregor U

    2018-06-04

    We studied low-level image properties of face photographs and analyzed whether they change with different emotional expressions displayed by an individual. Differences in image properties were measured in three databases that depicted a total of 167 individuals. Face images were used either in their original form, cut to a standard format or superimposed with a mask. Image properties analyzed were: brightness, redness, yellowness, contrast, spectral slope, overall power and relative power in low, medium and high spatial frequencies. Results showed that image properties differed significantly between expressions within each individual image set. Further, specific facial expressions corresponded to patterns of image properties that were consistent across all three databases. In order to experimentally validate our findings, we equalized the luminance histograms and spectral slopes of three images from a given individual who showed two expressions. Participants were significantly slower in matching the expression in an equalized compared to an original image triad. Thus, existing differences in these image properties (i.e., spectral slope, brightness or contrast) facilitate emotion detection in particular sets of face images. Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier B.V.

  17. Modulating ectopic gene expression levels by using retroviral vectors equipped with synthetic promoters.

    PubMed

    Ferreira, Joshua P; Peacock, Ryan W S; Lawhorn, Ingrid E B; Wang, Clifford L

    2011-12-01

    The human cytomegalovirus and elongation factor 1α promoters are constitutive promoters commonly employed by mammalian expression vectors. These promoters generally produce high levels of expression in many types of cells and tissues. To generate a library of synthetic promoters capable of generating a range of low, intermediate, and high expression levels, the TATA and CAAT box elements of these promoters were mutated. Other promoter variants were also generated by random mutagenesis. Evaluation using plasmid vectors integrated at a single site in the genome revealed that these various synthetic promoters were capable of expression levels spanning a 40-fold range. Retroviral vectors were equipped with the synthetic promoters and evaluated for their ability to reproduce the graded expression demonstrated by plasmid integration. A vector with a self-inactivating long terminal repeat could neither reproduce the full range of expression levels nor produce stable expression. Using a second vector design, the different synthetic promoters enabled stable expression over a broad range of expression levels in different cell lines. The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s11693-011-9089-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

  18. Codon usage and amino acid usage influence genes expression level.

    PubMed

    Paul, Prosenjit; Malakar, Arup Kumar; Chakraborty, Supriyo

    2018-02-01

    Highly expressed genes in any species differ in the usage frequency of synonymous codons. The relative recurrence of an event of the favored codon pair (amino acid pairs) varies between gene and genomes due to varying gene expression and different base composition. Here we propose a new measure for predicting the gene expression level, i.e., codon plus amino bias index (CABI). Our approach is based on the relative bias of the favored codon pair inclination among the genes, illustrated by analyzing the CABI score of the Medicago truncatula genes. CABI showed strong correlation with all other widely used measures (CAI, RCBS, SCUO) for gene expression analysis. Surprisingly, CABI outperforms all other measures by showing better correlation with the wet-lab data. This emphasizes the importance of the neighboring codons of the favored codon in a synonymous group while estimating the expression level of a gene.

  19. Absolute Summ

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Phillips, Alfred, Jr.

    Summ means the entirety of the multiverse. It seems clear, from the inflation theories of A. Guth and others, that the creation of many universes is plausible. We argue that Absolute cosmological ideas, not unlike those of I. Newton, may be consistent with dynamic multiverse creations. As suggested in W. Heisenberg's uncertainty principle, and with the Anthropic Principle defended by S. Hawking, et al., human consciousness, buttressed by findings of neuroscience, may have to be considered in our models. Predictability, as A. Einstein realized with Invariants and General Relativity, may be required for new ideas to be part of physics. We present here a two postulate model geared to an Absolute Summ. The seedbed of this work is part of Akhnaton's philosophy (see S. Freud, Moses and Monotheism). Most important, however, is that the structure of human consciousness, manifest in Kenya's Rift Valley 200,000 years ago as Homo sapiens, who were the culmination of the six million year co-creation process of Hominins and Nature in Africa, allows us to do the physics that we do. .

  20. Affective State Level Recognition in Naturalistic Facial and Vocal Expressions.

    PubMed

    Meng, Hongying; Bianchi-Berthouze, Nadia

    2014-03-01

    Naturalistic affective expressions change at a rate much slower than the typical rate at which video or audio is recorded. This increases the probability that consecutive recorded instants of expressions represent the same affective content. In this paper, we exploit such a relationship to improve the recognition performance of continuous naturalistic affective expressions. Using datasets of naturalistic affective expressions (AVEC 2011 audio and video dataset, PAINFUL video dataset) continuously labeled over time and over different dimensions, we analyze the transitions between levels of those dimensions (e.g., transitions in pain intensity level). We use an information theory approach to show that the transitions occur very slowly and hence suggest modeling them as first-order Markov models. The dimension levels are considered to be the hidden states in the Hidden Markov Model (HMM) framework. Their discrete transition and emission matrices are trained by using the labels provided with the training set. The recognition problem is converted into a best path-finding problem to obtain the best hidden states sequence in HMMs. This is a key difference from previous use of HMMs as classifiers. Modeling of the transitions between dimension levels is integrated in a multistage approach, where the first level performs a mapping between the affective expression features and a soft decision value (e.g., an affective dimension level), and further classification stages are modeled as HMMs that refine that mapping by taking into account the temporal relationships between the output decision labels. The experimental results for each of the unimodal datasets show overall performance to be significantly above that of a standard classification system that does not take into account temporal relationships. In particular, the results on the AVEC 2011 audio dataset outperform all other systems presented at the international competition.

  1. Absolute optical metrology : nanometers to kilometers

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Dubovitsky, Serge; Lay, O. P.; Peters, R. D.; Liebe, C. C.

    2005-01-01

    We provide and overview of the developments in the field of high-accuracy absolute optical metrology with emphasis on space-based applications. Specific work on the Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging (MSTAR) sensor is described along with novel applications of the sensor.

  2. Genome-Wide Tuning of Protein Expression Levels to Rapidly Engineer Microbial Traits.

    PubMed

    Freed, Emily F; Winkler, James D; Weiss, Sophie J; Garst, Andrew D; Mutalik, Vivek K; Arkin, Adam P; Knight, Rob; Gill, Ryan T

    2015-11-20

    The reliable engineering of biological systems requires quantitative mapping of predictable and context-independent expression over a broad range of protein expression levels. However, current techniques for modifying expression levels are cumbersome and are not amenable to high-throughput approaches. Here we present major improvements to current techniques through the design and construction of E. coli genome-wide libraries using synthetic DNA cassettes that can tune expression over a ∼10(4) range. The cassettes also contain molecular barcodes that are optimized for next-generation sequencing, enabling rapid and quantitative tracking of alleles that have the highest fitness advantage. We show these libraries can be used to determine which genes and expression levels confer greater fitness to E. coli under different growth conditions.

  3. Absolute Measurements of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor and Interleukin-1-β mRNA Levels Accurately Predict Treatment Response in Depressed Patients.

    PubMed

    Cattaneo, Annamaria; Ferrari, Clarissa; Uher, Rudolf; Bocchio-Chiavetto, Luisella; Riva, Marco Andrea; Pariante, Carmine M

    2016-10-01

    Increased levels of inflammation have been associated with a poorer response to antidepressants in several clinical samples, but these findings have had been limited by low reproducibility of biomarker assays across laboratories, difficulty in predicting response probability on an individual basis, and unclear molecular mechanisms. Here we measured absolute mRNA values (a reliable quantitation of number of molecules) of Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor and interleukin-1β in a previously published sample from a randomized controlled trial comparing escitalopram vs nortriptyline (GENDEP) as well as in an independent, naturalistic replication sample. We then used linear discriminant analysis to calculate mRNA values cutoffs that best discriminated between responders and nonresponders after 12 weeks of antidepressants. As Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor and interleukin-1β might be involved in different pathways, we constructed a protein-protein interaction network by the Search Tool for the Retrieval of Interacting Genes/Proteins. We identified cutoff values for the absolute mRNA measures that accurately predicted response probability on an individual basis, with positive predictive values and specificity for nonresponders of 100% in both samples (negative predictive value=82% to 85%, sensitivity=52% to 61%). Using network analysis, we identified different clusters of targets for these 2 cytokines, with Macrophage Migration Inhibitory Factor interacting predominantly with pathways involved in neurogenesis, neuroplasticity, and cell proliferation, and interleukin-1β interacting predominantly with pathways involved in the inflammasome complex, oxidative stress, and neurodegeneration. We believe that these data provide a clinically suitable approach to the personalization of antidepressant therapy: patients who have absolute mRNA values above the suggested cutoffs could be directed toward earlier access to more assertive antidepressant strategies

  4. A global algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McDougall, T. J.; Jackett, D. R.; Millero, F. J.; Pawlowicz, R.; Barker, P. M.

    2012-12-01

    The International Thermodynamic Equation of Seawater - 2010 has defined the thermodynamic properties of seawater in terms of a new salinity variable, Absolute Salinity, which takes into account the spatial variation of the composition of seawater. Absolute Salinity more accurately reflects the effects of the dissolved material in seawater on the thermodynamic properties (particularly density) than does Practical Salinity. When a seawater sample has standard composition (i.e. the ratios of the constituents of sea salt are the same as those of surface water of the North Atlantic), Practical Salinity can be used to accurately evaluate the thermodynamic properties of seawater. When seawater is not of standard composition, Practical Salinity alone is not sufficient and the Absolute Salinity Anomaly needs to be estimated; this anomaly is as large as 0.025 g kg-1 in the northernmost North Pacific. Here we provide an algorithm for estimating Absolute Salinity Anomaly for any location (x, y, p) in the world ocean. To develop this algorithm, we used the Absolute Salinity Anomaly that is found by comparing the density calculated from Practical Salinity to the density measured in the laboratory. These estimates of Absolute Salinity Anomaly however are limited to the number of available observations (namely 811). In order to provide a practical method that can be used at any location in the world ocean, we take advantage of approximate relationships between Absolute Salinity Anomaly and silicate concentrations (which are available globally).

  5. CCR5 Expression Levels in HIV-Uninfected Women Receiving Hormonal Contraception

    PubMed Central

    Sciaranghella, Gaia; Wang, Cuiwei; Hu, Haihong; Anastos, Kathryn; Merhi, Zaher; Nowicki, Marek; Stanczyk, Frank Z.; Greenblatt, Ruth M.; Cohen, Mardge; Golub, Elizabeth T.; Watts, D. Heather; Alter, Galit; Young, Mary A.; Tsibris, Athe M. N.

    2015-01-01

    Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infectivity increases as receptor/coreceptor expression levels increase. We determined peripheral CD4, CCR5, and CXCR4 expression levels in HIV-uninfected women who used depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA; n = 32), the levonorgestrel-releasing intrauterine device (LNG-IUD; n = 27), oral contraceptive pills (n = 32), or no hormonal contraception (n = 33). The use of LNG-IUD increased the proportion of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells that expressed CCR5; increases in the magnitude of T-cell subset CCR5 expression were observed with DMPA and LNG-IUD use (P < .01 for all comparisons). LNG-IUD and, to a lesser extent, DMPA use were associated with increased peripheral T-cell CCR5 expression. PMID:25895986

  6. Absolute instability of the Gaussian wake profile

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hultgren, Lennart S.; Aggarwal, Arun K.

    1987-01-01

    Linear parallel-flow stability theory has been used to investigate the effect of viscosity on the local absolute instability of a family of wake profiles with a Gaussian velocity distribution. The type of local instability, i.e., convective or absolute, is determined by the location of a branch-point singularity with zero group velocity of the complex dispersion relation for the instability waves. The effects of viscosity were found to be weak for values of the wake Reynolds number, based on the center-line velocity defect and the wake half-width, larger than about 400. Absolute instability occurs only for sufficiently large values of the center-line wake defect. The critical value of this parameter increases with decreasing wake Reynolds number, thereby indicating a shrinking region of absolute instability with decreasing wake Reynolds number. If backflow is not allowed, absolute instability does not occur for wake Reynolds numbers smaller than about 38.

  7. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2010-10-01 2010-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  8. 49 CFR 236.709 - Block, absolute.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-10-01

    ... 49 Transportation 4 2011-10-01 2011-10-01 false Block, absolute. 236.709 Section 236.709 Transportation Other Regulations Relating to Transportation (Continued) FEDERAL RAILROAD ADMINISTRATION... Block, absolute. A block in which no train is permitted to enter while it is occupied by another train. ...

  9. Improvement of expression level of polysaccharide lyases with new tag GAPDH in E. coli.

    PubMed

    Chen, Zhenya; Li, Ye; Sun, Xinxiao; Yuan, Qipeng

    2016-10-20

    Escherichia coli (E. coli) is widely used to express a variety of heterologous proteins. Efforts have been made to enhance the expression level of the desired protein. However, problems still exist to regulate the level of protein expression and therefore, new strategies are needed to overcome those issues. Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GAPDH) which is properly expressed in E. coli might play a leading role and increase the expression levels of the target proteins. In this study, GAPDH was fused with a target enzyme, ChSase ABC I, an endoeliminase and polysaceharide lyase. Our results confirmed this hypothesis and indicated that GAPDH boosted the expression level of ChSase ABC I with an increase of 2.25 times, while the enzymatic activity with an increase of 2.99 times. The hypothesis were also supported by RT-PCR study and GAPDH was more effective in enhancing the expression level and enzymatic activity as compared to MBP, which is commonly used as fused tag and can improve the soluble expression of target protein. addition, the expression level and enzymatic activity of other polysaceharide lyases were also improved in the presence of GAPDH. The findings of this study prove that GAPDH has a strong effect on enhancing the expression level and enzymatic activity of the target proteins. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Isoform-level gene expression patterns in single-cell RNA-sequencing data.

    PubMed

    Vu, Trung Nghia; Wills, Quin F; Kalari, Krishna R; Niu, Nifang; Wang, Liewei; Pawitan, Yudi; Rantalainen, Mattias

    2018-02-27

    RNA sequencing of single cells enables characterization of transcriptional heterogeneity in seemingly homogeneous cell populations. Single-cell sequencing has been applied in a wide range of researches fields. However, few studies have focus on characterization of isoform-level expression patterns at the single-cell level. In this study we propose and apply a novel method, ISOform-Patterns (ISOP), based on mixture modeling, to characterize the expression patterns of isoform pairs from the same gene in single-cell isoform-level expression data. We define six principal patterns of isoform expression relationships and describe a method for differential-pattern analysis. We demonstrate ISOP through analysis of single-cell RNA-sequencing data from a breast cancer cell line, with replication in three independent datasets. We assigned the pattern types to each of 16,562 isoform-pairs from 4,929 genes. Among those, 26% of the discovered patterns were significant (p<0.05), while remaining patterns are possibly effects of transcriptional bursting, drop-out and stochastic biological heterogeneity. Furthermore, 32% of genes discovered through differential-pattern analysis were not detected by differential-expression analysis. The effect of drop-out events, mean expression level, and properties of the expression distribution on the performances of ISOP were also investigated through simulated datasets. To conclude, ISOP provides a novel approach for characterization of isoformlevel preference, commitment and heterogeneity in single-cell RNA-sequencing data. The ISOP method has been implemented as a R package and is available at https://github.com/nghiavtr/ISOP under a GPL-3 license. mattias.rantalainen@ki.se. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  11. Absolute reactivity calibration of accelerator-driven systems after RACE-T experiments

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Jammes, C. C.; Imel, G. R.; Geslot, B.

    2006-07-01

    The RACE-T experiments that were held in november 2005 in the ENEA-Casaccia research center near Rome allowed us to improve our knowledge of the experimental techniques for absolute reactivity calibration at either startup or shutdown phases of accelerator-driven systems. Various experimental techniques for assessing a subcritical level were inter-compared through three different subcritical configurations SC0, SC2 and SC3, about -0.5, -3 and -6 dollars, respectively. The area-ratio method based of the use of a pulsed neutron source appears as the most performing. When the reactivity estimate is expressed in dollar unit, the uncertainties obtained with the area-ratio method were lessmore » than 1% for any subcritical configuration. The sensitivity to measurement location was about slightly more than 1% and always less than 4%. Finally, it is noteworthy that the source jerk technique using a transient caused by the pulsed neutron source shutdown provides results in good agreement with those obtained from the area-ratio technique. (authors)« less

  12. Functional importance of GLP-1 receptor species and expression levels in cell lines.

    PubMed

    Knudsen, Lotte Bjerre; Hastrup, Sven; Underwood, Christina Rye; Wulff, Birgitte Schjellerup; Fleckner, Jan

    2012-04-10

    Of the mammalian species, only the GLP-1 receptors of rat and human origin have been described and characterized. Here, we report the cloning of the homologous GLP-1 receptors from mouse, rabbit, pig, cynomolgus monkey and chimp. The GLP-1 receptor is highly conserved across species, thus underlining the physiological importance of the peptide hormone and its receptor across a wide range of mammals. We expressed the receptors by stable transfection of BHK cells, both in cell lines with high expression levels of the cloned receptors, as well as in cell lines with lower expression levels, more comparable to endogenous expression of these receptors. High expression levels of cloned GLP-1 receptors markedly increased the potency of GLP-1 and other high affinity ligands, whereas the K(d) values were not affected. For a low affinity ligand like the ago-allosteric modulator Compound 2, expression levels of the human GLP-1 receptor were important for maximal efficacy as well as potency. The two natural metabolites of GLP-1, GLP-1(9-37) and GLP-1(9-36)amide were agonists when tested on a cell line with high expression of the recombinant human GLP-1 receptor, whereas they behaved as (low potent) antagonists on a cell line that expressed the receptor endogenously, as well as cells expressing a moderate level of the recombinant human GLP-1 receptor. The amide form was a more potent agonist than the free acid from. In conclusion, receptor expression level is an important parametre for selecting cell lines with cloned GLP-1 receptors for functional characterization of physiological and pharmaceutical ligands. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants.

    PubMed

    Kourtis, Athena P; Bramson, Brian; van der Horst, Charles; Kazembe, Peter; Ahmed, Yusuf; Chasela, Charles; Hosseinipour, Mina; Knight, Rodney; Lugalia, Lebah; Tegha, Gerald; Joaki, George; Jafali, Robert; Jamieson, Denise J

    2005-07-01

    Infants of African origin have a lower normal range of absolute neutrophil counts than white infants; this fact, however, remains under appreciated by clinical researchers in the United States. During the initial stages of a clinical trial in Malawi, the authors noted an unexpectedly high number of infants with absolute neutrophil counts that would be classifiable as neutropenic using the National Institutes of Health's Division of AIDS toxicity tables. The authors argue that the relevant Division of AIDS table does not take into account the available evidence of low absolute neutrophil counts in African infants and that a systematic collection of data from many African settings might help establish the absolute neutrophil count cutpoints to be used for defining neutropenia in African populations.

  14. Absolute colorimetric characterization of a DSLR camera

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Guarnera, Giuseppe Claudio; Bianco, Simone; Schettini, Raimondo

    2014-03-01

    A simple but effective technique for absolute colorimetric camera characterization is proposed. It offers a large dynamic range requiring just a single, off-the-shelf target and a commonly available controllable light source for the characterization. The characterization task is broken down in two modules, respectively devoted to absolute luminance estimation and to colorimetric characterization matrix estimation. The characterized camera can be effectively used as a tele-colorimeter, giving an absolute estimation of the XYZ data in cd=m2. The user is only required to vary the f - number of the camera lens or the exposure time t, to better exploit the sensor dynamic range. The estimated absolute tristimulus values closely match the values measured by a professional spectro-radiometer.

  15. Impact of STAT/SOCS mRNA Expression Levels after Major Injury

    PubMed Central

    Brumann, M.; Matz, M.; Kusmenkov, T.; Stegmaier, J.; Biberthaler, P.; Kanz, K.-G.; Mutschler, W.; Bogner, V.

    2014-01-01

    Background. Fulminant changes in cytokine receptor signalling might provoke severe pathological alterations after multiple trauma. The aim of this study was to evaluate the posttraumatic imbalance of the innate immune system with a special focus on the STAT/SOCS family. Methods. 20 polytraumatized patients were included. Blood samples were drawn 0 h–72 h after trauma; mRNA expression profiles of IL-10, STAT 3, SOCS 1, and SOCS 3 were quantified by qPCR. Results. IL-10 mRNA expression increased significantly in the early posttraumatic period. STAT 3 mRNA expressions showed a significant maximum at 6 h after trauma. SOCS 1 levels significantly decreased 6 h–72 h after trauma. SOCS 3 levels were significantly higher in nonsurvivors 6 h after trauma. Conclusion. We present a serial, sequential investigation in human neutrophil granulocytes of major trauma patients evaluating mRNA expression profiles of IL-10, STAT 3, SOCS 1, and SOCS 3. Posttraumatically, immune disorder was accompanied by a significant increase of IL-10 and STAT 3 mRNA expression, whereas SOCS 1 mRNA levels decreased after injury. We could demonstrate that death after trauma was associated with higher SOCS 3 mRNA levels already at 6 h after trauma. To support our results, further investigations have to evaluate protein levels of STAT/SOCS family in terms of posttraumatic immune imbalance. PMID:24648661

  16. Absolute and functional iron deficiency in professional athletes during training and recovery.

    PubMed

    Reinke, Simon; Taylor, William R; Duda, Georg N; von Haehling, Stephan; Reinke, Petra; Volk, Hans-Dieter; Anker, Stefan D; Doehner, Wolfram

    2012-04-19

    Iron deficiency (ID) is one of the most important metabolic dysfunctions. Athletic performance depends on oxygen transport and mitochondrial efficiency, thus on optimal iron balance. We hypothesised that physical extremes result in ID in elite athletes and that the short recovery period may be insufficient to allow a lasting replenishment of iron reserves. Iron metabolism was examined in 20 elite rowing athletes and 10 professional soccer players at the end of a competitive season, after recuperation and during pre-season training. Absolute ID values were defined as ferritin <30 μg/L, functional ID as ferritin 30-99 μg/L or 100-299 μg/L+transferrin saturation <20%. At the end of season, 27% of all athletes had absolute ID and 70% showed functional ID. Absolute iron depletion was not generally restored after recuperation and observed at all time points in 14% of the athletes. Although athletes with initially low ferritin levels showed a slight increase during recuperation (p<0.09), these increases remained within borderline levels. Furthermore, 10% showed borderline haemoglobin levels, suggestive of mild anaemia, as defined by the World Health Organisation. A significant proportion of professional athletes have ID, independent of the training mode. Although recuperation seems to allow a certain recovery of iron storage, particularly in athletes with initially low ferritin levels, this retrieval was insufficient to fully normalise reduced iron levels. Therefore, iron status should be carefully monitored during the various training and competitive periods in elite athletes. An adequate iron supplementation may be needed to maintain balanced iron stores. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Sertoli cell androgen receptor expression regulates temporal fetal and adult Leydig cell differentiation, function, and population size.

    PubMed

    Hazra, Rasmani; Jimenez, Mark; Desai, Reena; Handelsman, David J; Allan, Charles M

    2013-09-01

    We recently created a mouse model displaying precocious Sertoli cell (SC) and spermatogenic development induced by SC-specific transgenic androgen receptor expression (TgSCAR). Here we reveal that TgSCAR regulates the development, function, and absolute number of Leydig cells (LCs). Total fetal and adult type LC numbers were reduced in postnatal and adult TgSCAR vs control testes, despite normal circulating LH levels. Normal LC to SC ratios found in TgSCAR testes indicate that SC androgen receptor (SCAR)-mediated activity confers a quorum-dependent relationship between total SC and LC numbers. TgSCAR enhanced LC differentiation, shown by elevated ratios of advanced to immature LC types, and reduced LC proliferation in postnatal TgSCAR vs control testes. Postnatal TgSCAR testes displayed up-regulated expression of coupled ligand-receptor transcripts (Amh-Amhr2, Dhh-Ptch1, Pdgfa-Pdgfra) for potential SCAR-stimulated paracrine pathways, which may coordinate LC differentiation. Neonatal TgSCAR testes displayed normal T and dihydrotestosterone levels despite differential changes to steroidogenic gene expression, with down-regulated Star, Cyp11a1, and Cyp17a1 expression contrasting with up-regulated Hsd3b1, Hsd17b3, and Srd5a1 expression. TgSCAR males also displayed elevated postnatal and normal adult serum testosterone levels, despite reduced LC numbers. Enhanced adult-type LC steroidogenic output was revealed by increased pubertal testicular T, dihydrotestosterone, 3α-diol and 3β-diol levels per LC and up-regulated steroidogenic gene (Nr5a1, Lhr, Cyp11a1, Cyp17a1, Hsd3b6, Srd5a1) expression in pubertal or adult TgSCAR vs control males, suggesting regulatory mechanisms maintain androgen levels independently of absolute LC numbers. Our unique gain-of-function TgSCAR model has revealed that SCAR activity controls temporal LC differentiation, steroidogenic function, and population size.

  18. Gene expression levels as endophenotypes in genome-wide association studies of Alzheimer disease

    PubMed Central

    Zou, F.; Carrasquillo, M. M.; Pankratz, V. S.; Belbin, O.; Morgan, K.; Allen, M.; Wilcox, S. L.; Ma, L.; Walker, L. P.; Kouri, N.; Burgess, J. D.; Younkin, L. H.; Younkin, Samuel G.; Younkin, C. S.; Bisceglio, G. D.; Crook, J. E.; Dickson, D. W.; Petersen, R. C.; Graff-Radford, N.; Younkin, Steven G.; Ertekin-Taner, N.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) is a common disorder with a substantial genetic component. We postulate that many disease susceptibility variants act by altering gene expression levels. Methods: We measured messenger RNA (mRNA) expression levels of 12 LOAD candidate genes in the cerebella of 200 subjects with LOAD. Using the genotypes from our LOAD genome-wide association study for the cis-single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (n = 619) of these 12 LOAD candidate genes, we tested for associations with expression levels as endophenotypes. The strongest expression cis-SNP was tested for AD association in 7 independent case-control series (2,280 AD and 2,396 controls). Results: We identified 3 SNPs that associated significantly with IDE (insulin degrading enzyme) expression levels. A single copy of the minor allele for each significant SNP was associated with ∼twofold higher IDE expression levels. The most significant SNP, rs7910977, is 4.2 kb beyond the 3′ end of IDE. The association observed with this SNP was significant even at the genome-wide level (p = 2.7 × 10−8). Furthermore, the minor allele of rs7910977 associated significantly (p = 0.0046) with reduced LOAD risk (OR = 0.81 with a 95% CI of 0.70-0.94), as expected biologically from its association with elevated IDE expression. Conclusions: These results provide strong evidence that IDE is a late-onset Alzheimer disease (LOAD) gene with variants that modify risk of LOAD by influencing IDE expression. They also suggest that the use of expression levels as endophenotypes in genome-wide association studies may provide a powerful approach for the identification of disease susceptibility alleles. GLOSSARY AD = Alzheimer disease; CI = confidence interval; GWAS = genome-wide association study; LOAD = late-onset Alzheimer disease; mRNA = messenger RNA; OR = odds ratio; SNP = single nucleotide polymorphism. PMID:20142614

  19. High-level SLP-2 expression and HER-2/neu protein expression are associated with decreased breast cancer patient survival.

    PubMed

    Cao, Wenfeng; Zhang, Bin; Liu, Yanxue; Li, Hongtao; Zhang, Shiwu; Fu, Li; Niu, Yun; Ning, Liansheng; Cao, Xuchen; Liu, Zhihua; Sun, Baocun

    2007-09-01

    There is sufficient evidence that human stomatin-like protein 2 (SLP-2) is a novel cancer-related gene. Its protein is overexpressed in many human cancers. SLP-2 can contribute to the promotion of cell growth, cell adhesion, and tumorigenesis in esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and lymph node metastasis in laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma. Immunohistochemical detection of SLP-2, estrogen and progesterone receptors, and HER-2/neu were performed on 263 cases of primary invasive breast cancer with a tissue microarray. Of 263 cases, 138 (52.5%) showed high expression of SLP-2 protein, and 125 (47.5%) showed low or absent expression. In addition, there were significant positive associations between tumor stage and size (P = .020), lymph node metastasis (P < .001), clinical stage (P < .001), distant metastasis (P = .002), and HER-2/neu protein expression (P = .037) and high-level SLP-2 expression. High-level SLP-2 expression was associated with decreased overall survival (P = .011) and was more often found in patients with tumors larger than 20 mm, lymph node metastasis, advanced clinical stage, distant metastasis, and HER-2/neu protein-positive expression. More important, lymph node metastasis, HER-2/neu-positive expression, and high-level SLP-2 expression were associated with significantly decreased survival.

  20. Random and Non-Random Monoallelic Expression

    PubMed Central

    Chess, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Monoallelic expression poses an intriguing problem in epigenetics because it requires the unequal treatment of two segments of DNA that are present in the same nucleus and which can have absolutely identical sequences. This review will consider different known types of monoallelic expression. For all monoallelically expressed genes, their respective allele-specific patterns of expression have the potential to affect brain function and dysfunction. PMID:22763620

  1. Random and non-random monoallelic expression.

    PubMed

    Chess, Andrew

    2013-01-01

    Monoallelic expression poses an intriguing problem in epigenetics because it requires the unequal treatment of two segments of DNA that are present in the same nucleus and which can have absolutely identical sequences. This review will consider different known types of monoallelic expression. For all monoallelically expressed genes, their respective allele-specific patterns of expression have the potential to affect brain function and dysfunction.

  2. Cryogenic, Absolute, High Pressure Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chapman, John J. (Inventor); Shams. Qamar A. (Inventor); Powers, William T. (Inventor)

    2001-01-01

    A pressure sensor is provided for cryogenic, high pressure applications. A highly doped silicon piezoresistive pressure sensor is bonded to a silicon substrate in an absolute pressure sensing configuration. The absolute pressure sensor is bonded to an aluminum nitride substrate. Aluminum nitride has appropriate coefficient of thermal expansion for use with highly doped silicon at cryogenic temperatures. A group of sensors, either two sensors on two substrates or four sensors on a single substrate are packaged in a pressure vessel.

  3. Universal Cosmic Absolute and Modern Science

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kostro, Ludwik

    The official Sciences, especially all natural sciences, respect in their researches the principle of methodic naturalism i.e. they consider all phenomena as entirely natural and therefore in their scientific explanations they do never adduce or cite supernatural entities and forces. The purpose of this paper is to show that Modern Science has its own self-existent, self-acting, and self-sufficient Natural All-in Being or Omni-Being i.e. the entire Nature as a Whole that justifies the scientific methodic naturalism. Since this Natural All-in Being is one and only It should be considered as the own scientifically justified Natural Absolute of Science and should be called, in my opinion, the Universal Cosmic Absolute of Modern Science. It will be also shown that the Universal Cosmic Absolute is ontologically enormously stratified and is in its ultimate i.e. in its most fundamental stratum trans-reistic and trans-personal. It means that in its basic stratum. It is neither a Thing or a Person although It contains in Itself all things and persons with all other sentient and conscious individuals as well, On the turn of the 20th century the Science has begun to look for a theory of everything, for a final theory, for a master theory. In my opinion the natural Universal Cosmic Absolute will constitute in such a theory the radical all penetrating Ultimate Basic Reality and will substitute step by step the traditional supernatural personal Absolute.

  4. HER2 over-expressing high grade endometrial cancer expresses high levels of p95HER2 variant.

    PubMed

    Growdon, Whitfield B; Groeneweg, Jolijn; Byron, Virginia; DiGloria, Celeste; Borger, Darrell R; Tambouret, Rosemary; Foster, Rosemary; Chenna, Ahmed; Sperinde, Jeff; Winslow, John; Rueda, Bo R

    2015-04-01

    Subsets of high grade endometrial cancer (EnCa) over-express HER2 (ERBB2), yet clinical trials have failed to demonstrate any anti-tumor activity utilizing trastuzumab, an approved platform for HER2 positive breast cancer (BrCa). A truncated p95HER2 variant lacking the trastuzumab binding site may confer resistance. The objective of this investigation was to characterize the expression of the p95HER2 truncated variant in EnCa. With institutional approval, 86 high grade EnCa tumors were identified with tumor specimens from surgeries performed between 2000 and 2011. Clinical data were collected and all specimens underwent tumor genotyping, HER2 immunohistochemistry (IHC, HercepTest®), HER2 fluorescent in situ hybridization (FISH), along with total HER2 (H2T) and p95HER2 assessment with VeraTag® testing. Regression models were used to compare a cohort of 86 breast tumors selected for equivalent HER2 protein expression. We identified 44 high grade endometrioid and 42 uterine serous carcinomas (USC). IHC identified high HER2 expression (2+ or 3+) in 59% of the tumors. HER2 gene amplification was observed in 16 tumors (12 USC, 4 endometrioid). Both HER2 gene amplification and protein expression correlated with H2T values. High p95HER2 expression above 2.8RF/mm2 was observed in 53% (n=54) with significant correlation with H2T levels. When matched to a cohort of 107 breast tumors based on HercepTest HER2 expression, high grade EnCa presented with higher p95 levels (p<0.001). These data demonstrate that compared to BrCa, high grade EnCa expresses higher levels of p95HER2 possibly providing rationale for the trastuzumab resistance observed in EnCa. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  5. Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from India and China--geographic variations.

    PubMed

    Braun, Norbert A; Sim, Sherina

    2012-05-01

    Seven Jasminum sambac flower absolutes from different locations in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu were analyzed using GC and GC-MS. Focus was placed on 41 key ingredients to investigate geographic variations in this species. These seven absolutes were compared with an Indian bud absolute and commercially available J. sambac flower absolutes from India and China. All absolutes showed broad variations for the 10 main ingredients between 8% and 96%. In addition, the odor of Indian and Chinese J. sambac flower absolutes were assessed.

  6. Expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 in human gastric carcinoma.

    PubMed

    Chen, Su-Zuan; Yao, Huai-Qi; Zhu, Sen-Zhi; Li, Qiu-Yuan; Guo, Guang-Hua; Yu, Jing

    2015-02-01

    The present report investigated the correlation between the expression levels of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in gastric carcinoma patients and the clinicopathological characteristics. Forty-five samples of gastric carcinoma and distal gastric mucosa tissue, and 10 samples of healthy gastric mucosa tissue were analyzed using semi-quantitative polymerase chain reaction, as well as immunohistochemical and hematoxylin and eosin staining. MMP-9 protein levels in serum samples from the same patients were quantified by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The present report identified that MMP-9 expression was markedly higher in the gastric carcinoma tissue (86.67%) than in the adjacent healthy tissue (10.00%). A positive association was identified between the level of MMP-9 protein expression and the depth of cancer invasion (P<0.05). Furthermore, the preoperative serum levels of the MMP-9 protein in the gastric carcinoma tissue were correlated with the tumor-node-metastasis stage and occurrence of lymph node metastasis (P<0.01). Data from the present report indicates that MMP-9 may be key in gastric carcinoma malignancy, and implies that MMP-9 may serve as a novel biomarker in the diagnosis and prognosis of gastric carcinoma.

  7. Advancing Absolute Calibration for JWST and Other Applications

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Rieke, George; Bohlin, Ralph; Boyajian, Tabetha; Carey, Sean; Casagrande, Luca; Deustua, Susana; Gordon, Karl; Kraemer, Kathleen; Marengo, Massimo; Schlawin, Everett; Su, Kate; Sloan, Greg; Volk, Kevin

    2017-10-01

    We propose to exploit the unique optical stability of the Spitzer telescope, along with that of IRAC, to (1) transfer the accurate absolute calibration obtained with MSX on very bright stars directly to two reference stars within the dynamic range of the JWST imagers (and of other modern instrumentation); (2) establish a second accurate absolute calibration based on the absolutely calibrated spectrum of the sun, transferred onto the astronomical system via alpha Cen A; and (3) provide accurate infrared measurements for the 11 (of 15) highest priority stars with no such data but with accurate interferometrically measured diameters, allowing us to optimize determinations of effective temperatures using the infrared flux method and thus to extend the accurate absolute calibration spectrally. This program is integral to plans for an accurate absolute calibration of JWST and will also provide a valuable Spitzer legacy.

  8. Measuring Socioeconomic Inequalities With Predicted Absolute Incomes Rather Than Wealth Quintiles: A Comparative Assessment Using Child Stunting Data From National Surveys.

    PubMed

    Fink, Günther; Victora, Cesar G; Harttgen, Kenneth; Vollmer, Sebastian; Vidaletti, Luís Paulo; Barros, Aluisio J D

    2017-04-01

    To compare the predictive power of synthetic absolute income measures with that of asset-based wealth quintiles in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) using child stunting as an outcome. We pooled data from 239 nationally representative household surveys from LMICs and computed absolute incomes in US dollars based on households' asset rank as well as data on national consumption and inequality levels. We used multivariable regression models to compare the predictive power of the created income measure with the predictive power of existing asset indicator measures. In cross-country analysis, log absolute income predicted 54.5% of stunting variation observed, compared with 20% of variation explained by wealth quintiles. For within-survey analysis, we also found absolute income gaps to be predictive of the gaps between stunting in the wealthiest and poorest households (P < .001). Our results suggest that absolute income levels can greatly improve the prediction of stunting levels across and within countries over time, compared with models that rely solely on relative wealth quintiles.

  9. Reduced GNG2 expression levels in mouse malignant melanomas and human melanoma cell lines

    PubMed Central

    Yajima, Ichiro; Kumasaka, Mayuko Y; Naito, Yuji; Yoshikawa, Toshikazu; Takahashi, Hiro; Funasaka, Yoko; Suzuki, Tamio; Kato, Masashi

    2012-01-01

    Heterotrimeric G protein is composed of a Gα-subunit and a Gβγ-dimer. Previous studies have revealed that Gβγ-dimers including the Gγ2 subunit (Gng2/GNG2) are associated with cell proliferation, differentiation, invasion and angiogenesis. At present, however, there is no information on the expression level of Gng2/GNG2 alone in any kind of tumor. In this study, we performed DNA microarray analysis in a benign melanocytic tumor and a malignant melanoma from RET-transgenic mice (RET-mice). Gng2 transcript expression levels in a malignant melanoma were less than 1/10 of the level in a benign tumor. The difference in Gng2 transcript expression levels between benign tumors and malignant melanomas was greatest among all of the G protein γ subunits examined in this study. Moreover, protein expression levels of Gng2 were decreased in malignant melanomas compared with those in benign melanocytic tumors in RET-mice. Analysis of human malignant melanomas also showed reduced GNG2 protein expression levels in five human malignant melanoma cell lines compared with the expression levels in normal human epithelial melanocytes (NHEM). Thus, we demonstrated for the first time that Gng2/GNG2 expression levels are reduced in malignant melanoma, suggesting that GNG2 could be a novel biomarker for malignant melanoma. PMID:22679562

  10. Self-digitization microfluidic chip for absolute quantification of mRNA in single cells.

    PubMed

    Thompson, Alison M; Gansen, Alexander; Paguirigan, Amy L; Kreutz, Jason E; Radich, Jerald P; Chiu, Daniel T

    2014-12-16

    Quantification of mRNA in single cells provides direct insight into how intercellular heterogeneity plays a role in disease progression and outcomes. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), the current gold standard for evaluating gene expression, is insufficient for providing absolute measurement of single-cell mRNA transcript abundance. Challenges include difficulties in handling small sample volumes and the high variability in measurements. Microfluidic digital PCR provides far better sensitivity for minute quantities of genetic material, but the typical format of this assay does not allow for counting of the absolute number of mRNA transcripts samples taken from single cells. Furthermore, a large fraction of the sample is often lost during sample handling in microfluidic digital PCR. Here, we report the absolute quantification of single-cell mRNA transcripts by digital, one-step reverse transcription PCR in a simple microfluidic array device called the self-digitization (SD) chip. By performing the reverse transcription step in digitized volumes, we find that the assay exhibits a linear signal across a wide range of total RNA concentrations and agrees well with standard curve qPCR. The SD chip is found to digitize a high percentage (86.7%) of the sample for single-cell experiments. Moreover, quantification of transferrin receptor mRNA in single cells agrees well with single-molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization experiments. The SD platform for absolute quantification of single-cell mRNA can be optimized for other genes and may be useful as an independent control method for the validation of mRNA quantification techniques.

  11. Association between absolute tumor burden and serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase in canine appendicular osteosarcoma.

    PubMed

    Sternberg, R A; Pondenis, H C; Yang, X; Mitchell, M A; O'Brien, R T; Garrett, L D; Helferich, W G; Hoffmann, W E; Fan, T M

    2013-01-01

    In dogs with appendicular osteosarcoma (OSA), increased pretreatment serum bone-specific alkaline phosphatase (BALP) activity is a negative prognostic factor, associated with shorter disease-free intervals and survival times, but a biologic basis for observed differential serum BALP activities in canine OSA patients remains incompletely defined. Serum BALP activity will correlate with absolute tumor burden in dogs with OSA. This study included 96 client-owned dogs with appendicular OSA. In canine OSA cell lines, the expression and membranous release of BALP was evaluated in vitro. The correlation between serum BALP activity and radiographic primary tumor size was evaluated in OSA-bearing dogs. In dogs developing visceral OSA metastases, serial changes in serum BALP activities were evaluated in relation to progression of macroscopic metastases, and visceral metastatic OSA cells were evaluated for BALP expression. In vitro, BALP expression was not associated with either tumorigenic or metastatic phenotype, rather the quantity of membranous BALP released was proportional with cell density. In dogs devoid of macroscopic metastases, there was a positive correlation between serum BALP activity and absolute primary tumor size. In dogs with progressive OSA metastases, serum BALP activity increased and coincided with the development of macroscopic metastases. OSA cells derived from visceral metastatic lesions retained BALP expression. Tumor burden is a determinant of serum BALP activity in dogs with appendicular OSA. The association between increased pretreatment BALP activity and negative clinical prognosis may simply be attributed to greater initial tumor burden, and consequently more advanced tumor stage. Copyright © 2013 by the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine.

  12. Absolute x-ray energy calibration and monitoring using a diffraction-based method

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Hong, Xinguo, E-mail: xhong@bnl.gov; Weidner, Donald J.; Duffy, Thomas S.

    2016-07-27

    In this paper, we report some recent developments of the diffraction-based absolute X-ray energy calibration method. In this calibration method, high spatial resolution of the measured detector offset is essential. To this end, a remotely controlled long-translation motorized stage was employed instead of the less convenient gauge blocks. It is found that the precision of absolute X-ray energy calibration (ΔE/E) is readily achieved down to the level of 10{sup −4} for high-energy monochromatic X-rays (e.g. 80 keV). Examples of applications to pair distribution function (PDF) measurements and energy monitoring for high-energy X-rays are presented.

  13. Evaluation of gene expression levels for cytokines in ocular toxoplasmosis.

    PubMed

    Maia, M M; Meira-Strejevitch, C S; Pereira-Chioccola, V L; de Hippólito, D D C; Silva, V O; Brandão de Mattos, C C; Frederico, F B; Siqueira, R C; de Mattos, L C

    2017-10-01

    This study evaluated levels for mRNA expression of 7 cytokines in ocular toxoplasmosis. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients with ocular toxoplasmosis (OT Group, n = 23) and chronic toxoplasmosis individuals (CHR Group, n = 9) were isolated and stimulated in vitro with T. gondii antigen. Negative controls (NC) were constituted of 7 PBMC samples from individuals seronegative for toxoplasmosis. mRNA expression for cytokines was determined by qPCR. Results showed a significant increase in mRNA levels from antigen stimulated PBMCs derived from OT Group for expressing IL-6 (at P < .005 and P < .0005 for CHR and NC groups, respectively), IL-10 (at P < .0005 and P < .005 for CHR and NC groups, respectively) and TGF-β (at P < .005) for NC group. mRNA levels for TNF-α and IL-12 were also upregulated in patients with OT compared to CHR and NC individuals, although without statistical significance. Additionally, mRNA levels for IL-27 and IFN-γ in PBMC of patients with OT were upregulated in comparison with NC individuals. Differences between OT and NC groups were statistically significant at P < .05 and P < .0005, respectively. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. The Case for Absolute Ligand Discrimination: Modeling Information Processing and Decision by Immune T Cells

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    François, Paul; Altan-Bonnet, Grégoire

    2016-03-01

    Some cells have to take decision based on the quality of surroundings ligands, almost irrespective of their quantity, a problem we name "absolute discrimination". An example of absolute discrimination is recognition of not-self by immune T Cells. We show how the problem of absolute discrimination can be solved by a process called "adaptive sorting". We review several implementations of adaptive sorting, as well as its generic properties such as antagonism. We show how kinetic proofreading with negative feedback implement an approximate version of adaptive sorting in the immune context. Finally, we revisit the decision problem at the cell population level, showing how phenotypic variability and feedbacks between population and single cells are crucial for proper decision.

  15. Expression levels of chaperones influence biotransformation activity of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing Micrococcus luteus alcohol dehydrogenase and Pseudomonas putida Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase.

    PubMed

    Baek, A-Hyong; Jeon, Eun-Yeong; Lee, Sun-Mee; Park, Jin-Byung

    2015-05-01

    We demonstrated for the first time that the archaeal chaperones (i.e., γ-prefoldin and thermosome) can stabilize enzyme activity in vivo. Ricinoleic acid biotransformation activity of recombinant Escherichia coli expressing Micrococcus luteus alcohol dehydrogenase and the Pseudomonas putida KT2440 Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenase improved significantly with co-expression of γ-prefoldin or recombinant themosome originating from the deep-sea hyperthermophile archaea Methanocaldococcus jannaschii. Furthermore, the degree of enhanced activity was dependent on the expression levels of the chaperones. For example, whole-cell biotransformation activity was highest at 12 µmol/g dry cells/min when γ-prefoldin expression level was approximately 46% of the theoretical maximum. This value was approximately two-fold greater than that in E. coli, where the γ-prefoldin expression level was zero or set to the theoretical maximum. Therefore, it was assumed that the expression levels of chaperones must be optimized to achieve maximum biotransformation activity in whole-cell biocatalysts. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  16. Optimal quantum error correcting codes from absolutely maximally entangled states

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Raissi, Zahra; Gogolin, Christian; Riera, Arnau; Acín, Antonio

    2018-02-01

    Absolutely maximally entangled (AME) states are pure multi-partite generalizations of the bipartite maximally entangled states with the property that all reduced states of at most half the system size are in the maximally mixed state. AME states are of interest for multipartite teleportation and quantum secret sharing and have recently found new applications in the context of high-energy physics in toy models realizing the AdS/CFT-correspondence. We work out in detail the connection between AME states of minimal support and classical maximum distance separable (MDS) error correcting codes and, in particular, provide explicit closed form expressions for AME states of n parties with local dimension \

  17. Elevated gene expression levels distinguish human from non-human primate brains

    PubMed Central

    Cáceres, Mario; Lachuer, Joel; Zapala, Matthew A.; Redmond, John C.; Kudo, Lili; Geschwind, Daniel H.; Lockhart, David J.; Preuss, Todd M.; Barlow, Carrolee

    2003-01-01

    Little is known about how the human brain differs from that of our closest relatives. To investigate the genetic basis of human specializations in brain organization and cognition, we compared gene expression profiles for the cerebral cortex of humans, chimpanzees, and rhesus macaques by using several independent techniques. We identified 169 genes that exhibited expression differences between human and chimpanzee cortex, and 91 were ascribed to the human lineage by using macaques as an outgroup. Surprisingly, most differences between the brains of humans and non-human primates involved up-regulation, with ≈90% of the genes being more highly expressed in humans. By contrast, in the comparison of human and chimpanzee heart and liver, the numbers of up- and down-regulated genes were nearly identical. Our results indicate that the human brain displays a distinctive pattern of gene expression relative to non-human primates, with higher expression levels for many genes belonging to a wide variety of functional classes. The increased expression of these genes could provide the basis for extensive modifications of cerebral physiology and function in humans and suggests that the human brain is characterized by elevated levels of neuronal activity. PMID:14557539

  18. Investigating Absolute Value: A Real World Application

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kidd, Margaret; Pagni, David

    2009-01-01

    Making connections between various representations is important in mathematics. In this article, the authors discuss the numeric, algebraic, and graphical representations of sums of absolute values of linear functions. The initial explanations are accessible to all students who have experience graphing and who understand that absolute value simply…

  19. Stimulus probability effects in absolute identification.

    PubMed

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-05-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of presentation probability on both proportion correct and response times. The effects were moderated by the ubiquitous stimulus position effect. The accuracy and response time data were predicted by an exemplar-based model of perceptual cognition (Kent & Lamberts, 2005). The bow in discriminability was also attenuated when presentation probability for middle items was relatively high, an effect that will constrain future model development. The study provides evidence for item-specific learning in absolute identification. Implications for other theories of absolute identification are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

  20. A Conceptual Approach to Absolute Value Equations and Inequalities

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ellis, Mark W.; Bryson, Janet L.

    2011-01-01

    The absolute value learning objective in high school mathematics requires students to solve far more complex absolute value equations and inequalities. When absolute value problems become more complex, students often do not have sufficient conceptual understanding to make any sense of what is happening mathematically. The authors suggest that the…

  1. Temperature-dependent Absolute Refractive Index Measurements of Synthetic Fused Silica

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B.; Frey, Bradley J.

    2006-01-01

    Using the Cryogenic, High-Accuracy Refraction Measuring System (CHARMS) at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, we have measured the absolute refractive index of five specimens taken from a very large boule of Corning 7980 fused silica from temperatures ranging from 30 to 310 K at wavelengths from 0.4 to 2.6 microns with an absolute uncertainty of plus or minus 1 x 10 (exp -5). Statistical variations in derived values of the thermo-optic coefficient (dn/dT) are at the plus or minus 2 x 10 (exp -8)/K level. Graphical and tabulated data for absolute refractive index, dispersion, and thermo-optic coefficient are presented for selected wavelengths and temperatures along with estimates of uncertainty in index. Coefficients for temperature-dependent Sellmeier fits of measured refractive index are also presented to allow accurate interpolation of index to other wavelengths and temperatures. We compare our results to those from an independent investigation (which used an interferometric technique for measuring index changes as a function of temperature) whose samples were prepared from the same slugs of material from which our prisms were prepared in support of the Kepler mission. We also compare our results with sparse cryogenic index data from measurements of this material from the literature.

  2. Absolute pitch in a four-year-old boy with autism.

    PubMed

    Brenton, James N; Devries, Seth P; Barton, Christine; Minnich, Heike; Sokol, Deborah K

    2008-08-01

    Absolute pitch is the ability to identify the pitch of an isolated tone. We report on a 4-year-old boy with autism and absolute pitch, one of the youngest reported in the literature. Absolute pitch is thought to be attributable to a single gene, transmitted in an autosomal-dominant fashion. The association of absolute pitch with autism raises the speculation that this talent could be linked to a genetically distinct subset of children with autism. Further, the identification of absolute pitch in even young children with autism may lead to a lifelong skill.

  3. Absolute Quantitation of Water and Metabolites in the Human Brain. II. Metabolite Concentrations

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kreis, R.; Ernst, T.; Ross, B. D.

    A method for determining absolute metabolite concentrations with in vivo1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy is presented. Using the compartmentation model introduced in the preceding paper of this series ( J. Magn. Reson. B102, 1, 1993), it is possible to express NMR results in terms of most commonly used concentration units. The proposed scheme, involving the measurement of an external standard as well as of the localized water signal, is verified on cerebral spectra obtained from 22 subjects. Besides concentrations, longitudinal and transverse relaxation times are determined for parietal white and occipital gray matter. The determination of these quantities crucially depends on the analysis of the T2 signal decay as a function of echo time. The in vivo concentrations of the four metabolites N-acetyl aspartate, creatine plus phosphocreatine, choline, and myo-inositol are in good agreement with biochemical determinations performed in vitro. Two clinical examples emphasize the relevance of absolute quantitation in the investigation of human neuropathology and normal development.

  4. Differential gene expression of wheat progeny with contrasting levels of transpiration efficiency.

    PubMed

    Xue, Gang-Ping; McIntyre, C Lynne; Chapman, Scott; Bower, Neil I; Way, Heather; Reverter, Antonio; Clarke, Bryan; Shorter, Ray

    2006-08-01

    High water use efficiency or transpiration efficiency (TE) in wheat is a desirable physiological trait for increasing grain yield under water-limited environments. The identification of genes associated with this trait would facilitate the selection for genotypes with higher TE using molecular markers. We performed an expression profiling (microarray) analysis of approximately 16,000 unique wheat ESTs to identify genes that were differentially expressed between wheat progeny lines with contrasting TE levels from a cross between Quarrion (high TE) and Genaro 81 (low TE). We also conducted a second microarray analysis to identify genes responsive to drought stress in wheat leaves. Ninety-three genes that were differentially expressed between high and low TE progeny lines were identified. One fifth of these genes were markedly responsive to drought stress. Several potential growth-related regulatory genes, which were down-regulated by drought, were expressed at a higher level in the high TE lines than the low TE lines and are potentially associated with a biomass production component of the Quarrion-derived high TE trait. Eighteen of the TE differentially expressed genes were further analysed using quantitative RT-PCR on a separate set of plant samples from those used for microarray analysis. The expression levels of 11 of the 18 genes were positively correlated with the high TE trait, measured as carbon isotope discrimination (Delta(13)C). These data indicate that some of these TE differentially expressed genes are candidates for investigating processes that underlie the high TE trait or for use as expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) for TE.

  5. The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP)

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Kogut, A. J.

    2010-01-01

    The Absolute Spectrum Polarimeter (ASP) is an Explorer-class mission to map the absolute intensity and linear polarization of the cosmic microwave background and diffuse astrophysical foregrounds over the full sky from 30 GHz to 5 THz. The principal science goal is the detection and characterization of linear polarization from an inflationary epoch in the early universe, with tensor-to-scalar ratio r much greater than 1O(raised to the power of { -3}) and Compton distortion y < 10 (raised to the power of{-6}). We describe the ASP instrument and mission architecture needed to detect the signature of an inflationary epoch in the early universe using only 4 semiconductor bolometers.

  6. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities.

    PubMed

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-06-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1).

  7. The absolute disparity anomaly and the mechanism of relative disparities

    PubMed Central

    Chopin, Adrien; Levi, Dennis; Knill, David; Bavelier, Daphne

    2016-01-01

    There has been a long-standing debate about the mechanisms underlying the perception of stereoscopic depth and the computation of the relative disparities that it relies on. Relative disparities between visual objects could be computed in two ways: (a) using the difference in the object's absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1) or (b) using relative disparities based on the differences in the monocular separations between objects (Hypothesis 2). To differentiate between these hypotheses, we measured stereoscopic discrimination thresholds for lines with different absolute and relative disparities. Participants were asked to judge the depth of two lines presented at the same distance from the fixation plane (absolute disparity) or the depth between two lines presented at different distances (relative disparity). We used a single stimulus method involving a unique memory component for both conditions, and no extraneous references were available. We also measured vergence noise using Nonius lines. Stereo thresholds were substantially worse for absolute disparities than for relative disparities, and the difference could not be explained by vergence noise. We attribute this difference to an absence of conscious readout of absolute disparities, termed the absolute disparity anomaly. We further show that the pattern of correlations between vergence noise and absolute and relative disparity acuities can be explained jointly by the existence of the absolute disparity anomaly and by the assumption that relative disparity information is computed from absolute disparities (Hypothesis 1). PMID:27248566

  8. Absolute spectrum and charge ratio of cosmic ray muons in the energy region from 0.2 GeV to 100 GeV at 600 m above sea level

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    De Pascale, M. P.; Morselli, A.; Picozza, P.; Golden, R. L.; Grimani, C.; Kimbell, B. L.; Stephens, S. A.; Stochaj, S. J.; Webber, W. R.; Basini, G.

    1993-01-01

    We have determined the momentum spectrum and charge ratio of muons in the region from 250 MeV/c to 100 GeV/c using a superconducting magnetic spectrometer. The absolute differential spectrum of muons obtained in this experiment at 600 m above sea level is in good agreement with the previous measurements at sea level. The differential spectrum can be represented by a power law with a varying index, which is consistent with zero below 450 MeV/c and steepens to a value of -2.7 +/- 0.1 between 20 and 100 GeV/c. The integral f1ux of muons measured in this experiment span a very large range of momentum and is in excellent agreement with the earlier results. The positive to negative muon ratio appears to be constant in the entire momentum range covered in this experiment within the errors and the mean value is 1.220 +/- 0.044. The absolute momentum spectrum and the charge ratio measured in this experiment are also consistent with the theoretical expectations. This is the only experiment which covers a wide range of nearly three decades in momentum from a very low momentum.

  9. Absolute Quantification of Selected Proteins in the Human Osteoarthritic Secretome

    PubMed Central

    Peffers, Mandy J.; Beynon, Robert J.; Clegg, Peter D.

    2013-01-01

    Osteoarthritis (OA) is characterized by a loss of extracellular matrix which is driven by catabolic cytokines. Proteomic analysis of the OA cartilage secretome enables the global study of secreted proteins. These are an important class of molecules with roles in numerous pathological mechanisms. Although cartilage studies have identified profiles of secreted proteins, quantitative proteomics techniques have been implemented that would enable further biological questions to be addressed. To overcome this limitation, we used the secretome from human OA cartilage explants stimulated with IL-1β and compared proteins released into the media using a label-free LC-MS/MS-based strategy. We employed QconCAT technology to quantify specific proteins using selected reaction monitoring. A total of 252 proteins were identified, nine were differentially expressed by IL-1 β stimulation. Selected protein candidates were quantified in absolute amounts using QconCAT. These findings confirmed a significant reduction in TIMP-1 in the secretome following IL-1β stimulation. Label-free and QconCAT analysis produced equivocal results indicating no effect of cytokine stimulation on aggrecan, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, fibromodulin, matrix metalloproteinases 1 and 3 or plasminogen release. This study enabled comparative protein profiling and absolute quantification of proteins involved in molecular pathways pertinent to understanding the pathogenesis of OA. PMID:24132152

  10. Compensation for intracellular environment in expression levels of mammalian circadian clock genes

    PubMed Central

    Matsumura, Ritsuko; Okamoto, Akihiko; Node, Koichi; Akashi, Makoto

    2014-01-01

    The circadian clock is driven by transcriptional oscillation of clock genes in almost all body cells. To investigate the effect of cell type-specific intracellular environment on the circadian machinery, we examined gene expression profiles in five peripheral tissues. As expected, the phase relationship between expression rhythms of nine clock genes was similar in all tissues examined. We also compared relative expression levels of clock genes among tissues, and unexpectedly found that quantitative variation remained within an approximately three-fold range, which was substantially smaller than that of metabolic housekeeping genes. Interestingly, circadian gene expression was little affected even when fibroblasts were cultured with different concentrations of serum. Together, these findings support a hypothesis that expression levels of clock genes are quantitatively compensated for the intracellular environment, such as redox potential and metabolite composition. However, more comprehensive studies are required to reach definitive conclusions. PMID:24504324

  11. Introducing the Mean Absolute Deviation "Effect" Size

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gorard, Stephen

    2015-01-01

    This paper revisits the use of effect sizes in the analysis of experimental and similar results, and reminds readers of the relative advantages of the mean absolute deviation as a measure of variation, as opposed to the more complex standard deviation. The mean absolute deviation is easier to use and understand, and more tolerant of extreme…

  12. Monolithically integrated absolute frequency comb laser system

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Wanke, Michael C.

    2016-07-12

    Rather than down-convert optical frequencies, a QCL laser system directly generates a THz frequency comb in a compact monolithically integrated chip that can be locked to an absolute frequency without the need of a frequency-comb synthesizer. The monolithic, absolute frequency comb can provide a THz frequency reference and tool for high-resolution broad band spectroscopy.

  13. Design of chimeric expression elements that confer high-level gene activity in chromoplasts.

    PubMed

    Caroca, Rodrigo; Howell, Katharine A; Hasse, Claudia; Ruf, Stephanie; Bock, Ralph

    2013-02-01

    Non-green plastids, such as chromoplasts, generally have much lower activity of gene expression than chloroplasts in photosynthetically active tissues. Suppression of plastid genes in non-green tissues occurs through a complex interplay of transcriptional and translational control, with the contribution of regulation of transcript abundance versus translational activity being highly variable between genes. Here, we have investigated whether the low expression of the plastid genome in chromoplasts results from inherent limitations in gene expression capacity, or can be overcome by designing appropriate combinations of promoters and translation initiation signals in the 5' untranslated region (5'-UTR). We constructed chimeric expression elements that combine promoters and 5'-UTRs from plastid genes, which are suppressed during chloroplast-to-chromoplast conversion in Solanum lycopersicum (tomato) fruit ripening, either just at the translational level or just at the level of mRNA accumulation. These chimeric expression elements were introduced into the tomato plastid genome by stable chloroplast transformation. We report the identification of promoter-UTR combinations that confer high-level gene expression in chromoplasts of ripe tomato fruits, resulting in the accumulation of reporter protein GFP to up to 1% of total cellular protein. Our work demonstrates that non-green plastids are capable of expressing genes to high levels. Moreover, the chimeric cis-elements for chromoplasts developed here are widely applicable in basic and applied research using transplastomic methods. © 2012 The Authors The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  14. Cloud level winds from UV and IR images obtained by VMC onboard Venus Express

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Khatuntsev, Igor; Patsaeva, Marina; Titov, Dmitri; Ignatiev, Nikolay; Turin, Alexander; Bertaux, Jean-Loup

    2017-04-01

    During eight years Venus Monitoring Camera (VMC) [1] onboard the Venus Express orbiter has observed the upper cloud layer of Venus. The largest set of images was obtained in the UV (365 nm), visible (513 nm) and two infrared channels - 965 nm and 1010 nm. The UV dayside images were used to study the atmospheric circulation at the Venus cloud tops [2], [3]. Mean zonal and meridional profiles of winds and their variability were derived from cloud tracking of UV images. In low latitudes the mean retrograde zonal wind at the cloud top (67±2 km) is about 95 m/s with a maximum of about 102 m/s at 40-50°S. Poleward from 50°S the zonal wind quickly fades out with latitude. The mean poleward meridional wind slowly increases from zero value at the equator to about 10 m/s at 50°S. Poleward from this latitude, the absolute value of the meridional component monotonically decreases to zero at the pole. The VMC observations suggest clear diurnal signature in the wind field. They also indicate a long term trend for the zonal wind speed at low latitudes to increase from 85 m/s in the beginning of the mission to 110 m/s by the middle of 2012. The trend was explained by influence of the surface topography on the zonal flow [4]. Cloud features tracking in the IR images provided information about winds in the middle cloud deck (55±4 km). In the low and middle latitudes (5-65°S) the IR mean retrograde zonal velocity is about 68-70 m/s. In contrast to poleward flow at the cloud tops, equatorward motions dominate in the middle cloud with maximum speed of 5.8±1.2 m/s at latitude 15°S. The meridional speed slowly decreases to 0 at 65-70°S. At low latitudes the zonal and meridional speed demonstrate long term variations. Following [4] we explain the observed long term trend of zonal and meridional components by the influence of surface topography of highland region Aphrodite Terra on dynamic processes in the middle cloud deck through gravity waves. Acknowledgements: I.V. Khatuntsev

  15. Accurate Measurement of Absolute Terahertz Power Using Broadband Calorimeter

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Iida, Hitoshi; Kinoshita, Moto; Amemiya, Kuniaki

    2018-03-01

    This paper presents a highly sensitive terahertz (THz) calorimeter developed using a magnetically loaded epoxy as a broadband absorber. The reflection loss of the absorber, which has a pyramidally textured surface, is less than 0.04, as determined using a THz time-domain spectrometer and a vector network analyzer. The THz calorimeter successfully enabled the measurement of the absolute THz power from a photomixer at microwatt levels at room temperature. The measurement uncertainties at a 95% confidence level were 6.2% for 13 μW at 300 GHz and 5.6% for 1.5 μW at 1 THz, respectively. Details of the evaluation and uncertainty analyses are also presented.

  16. Plasma protein absolute quantification by nano-LC Q-TOF UDMSE for clinical biomarker verification

    PubMed Central

    ILIES, MARIA; IUGA, CRISTINA ADELA; LOGHIN, FELICIA; DHOPLE, VISHNU MUKUND; HAMMER, ELKE

    2017-01-01

    Background and aims Proteome-based biomarker studies are targeting proteins that could serve as diagnostic, prognosis, and prediction molecules. In the clinical routine, immunoassays are currently used for the absolute quantification of such biomarkers, with the major limitation that only one molecule can be targeted per assay. The aim of our study was to test a mass spectrometry based absolute quantification method for the verification of plasma protein sets which might serve as reliable biomarker panels for the clinical practice. Methods Six EDTA plasma samples were analyzed after tryptic digestion using a high throughput data independent acquisition nano-LC Q-TOF UDMSE proteomics approach. Synthetic Escherichia coli standard peptides were spiked in each sample for the absolute quantification. Data analysis was performed using ProgenesisQI v2.0 software (Waters Corporation). Results Our method ensured absolute quantification of 242 non redundant plasma proteins in a single run analysis. The dynamic range covered was 105. 86% were represented by classical plasma proteins. The overall median coefficient of variation was 0.36, while a set of 63 proteins was found to be highly stable. Absolute protein concentrations strongly correlated with values reviewed in the literature. Conclusions Nano-LC Q-TOF UDMSE proteomic analysis can be used for a simple and rapid determination of absolute amounts of plasma proteins. A large number of plasma proteins could be analyzed, while a wide dynamic range was covered with low coefficient of variation at protein level. The method proved to be a reliable tool for the quantification of protein panel for biomarker verification in the clinical practice. PMID:29151793

  17. Exploring the Relationship Between Absolute and Relative Position and Late-Life Depression: Evidence From 10 European Countries

    PubMed Central

    Ladin, Keren; Daniels, Norman; Kawachi, Ichiro

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Socioeconomic inequality has been associated with higher levels of morbidity and mortality. This study explores the role of absolute and relative deprivation in predicting late-life depression on both individual and country levels. Design and Methods: Country- and individual-level inequality indicators were used in multivariate logistic regression and in relative indexes of inequality. Data obtained from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE, Wave 1, Release 2) included 22,777 men and women (aged 50–104 years) from 10 European countries. Late-life depression was measured using the EURO-D scale and corresponding clinical cut point. Absolute deprivation was measured using gross domestic product and median household income at the country level and socioeconomic status at the individual level. Relative deprivation was measured by Gini coefficients at the country level and educational attainment at the individual level. Results: Rates of depression ranged from 18.10% in Denmark to 36.84% in Spain reflecting a clear north–south gradient. Measures of absolute and relative deprivation were significant in predicting depression at both country and individual levels. Findings suggest that the adverse impact of societal inequality cannot be overcome by increased individual-level or country-level income. Increases in individual-level income did not mitigate the effect of country-level relative deprivation. Implications: Mental health disparities persist throughout later life whereby persons exposed to higher levels of country-level inequality suffer greater morbidity compared with those in countries with less inequality. Cross-national variation in the relationship between inequality and depression illuminates the need for further research. PMID:19515635

  18. Predicting Gene Expression Level from Relative Codon Usage Bias: An Application to Escherichia coli Genome

    PubMed Central

    Roymondal, Uttam; Das, Shibsankar; Sahoo, Satyabrata

    2009-01-01

    We present an expression measure of a gene, devised to predict the level of gene expression from relative codon bias (RCB). There are a number of measures currently in use that quantify codon usage in genes. Based on the hypothesis that gene expressivity and codon composition is strongly correlated, RCB has been defined to provide an intuitively meaningful measure of an extent of the codon preference in a gene. We outline a simple approach to assess the strength of RCB (RCBS) in genes as a guide to their likely expression levels and illustrate this with an analysis of Escherichia coli (E. coli) genome. Our efforts to quantitatively predict gene expression levels in E. coli met with a high level of success. Surprisingly, we observe a strong correlation between RCBS and protein length indicating natural selection in favour of the shorter genes to be expressed at higher level. The agreement of our result with high protein abundances, microarray data and radioactive data demonstrates that the genomic expression profile available in our method can be applied in a meaningful way to the study of cell physiology and also for more detailed studies of particular genes of interest. PMID:19131380

  19. Expression Levels of LCORL Are Associated with Body Size in Horses

    PubMed Central

    Metzger, Julia; Schrimpf, Rahel; Philipp, Ute; Distl, Ottmar

    2013-01-01

    Body size is an important characteristic for horses of various breeds and essential for the classification of ponies concerning the limit value of 148 cm (58.27 inches) height at the withers. Genome-wide association analyses revealed the highest associated quantitative trait locus for height at the withers on horse chromosome (ECA) 3 upstream of the candidate gene LCORL. Using 214 Hanoverian horses genotyped on the Illumina equine SNP50 BeadChip and 42 different horse breeds across all size ranges, we confirmed the highly associated single nucleotide polymorphism BIEC2-808543 (−log10P = 8.3) and the adjacent gene LCORL as the most promising candidate for body size. We investigated the relative expression levels of LCORL and its two neighbouring genes NCAPG and DCAF16 using quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). We could demonstrate a significant association of the relative LCORL expression levels with the size of the horses and the BIEC2-808543 genotypes within and across horse breeds. In heterozygous C/T-horses expression levels of LCORL were significantly decreased by 40% and in homozygous C/C-horses by 56% relative to the smaller T/T-horses. Bioinformatic analyses indicated that this SNP T>C mutation is disrupting a putative binding site of the transcription factor TFIID which is important for the transcription process of genes involved in skeletal bone development. Thus, our findings suggest that expression levels of LCORL play a key role for body size within and across horse breeds and regulation of the expression of LCORL is associated with genetic variants of BIEC2-808543. This is the first functional study for a body size regulating polymorphism in horses and a further step to unravel the mechanisms for understanding the genetic regulation of body size in horses. PMID:23418579

  20. Treating kaposiform hemangioendothelioma with Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon by intralesional injection of absolute ethanol.

    PubMed

    Shen, Weimin; Cui, Jie; Chen, Jianbin; Zou, Jijun; Xiaoying, Zhang

    2014-11-01

    Kasabach-Merritt phenomenon (KMP) is characterized by thrombocytopenia, microangiopathic hemolytic anemia, consumptive coagulopathy, and an enlarging vascular lesion. It is a rare and life-threatening disease of vascular tumor. The purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of absolute ethanol in the treatment of KMP. We treated 8 pediatric patients with KMP by using absolute ethanol injections, whose cases failed previously when applied steroid therapy. We reviewed the clinical and laboratory data of these 8 cases at Nanjing Children's Hospital in China. Eight pediatric patients (5 female and 3 male) showed tumor regression after treatments. Core needle biopsy had been performed on the 8 patients, and the results included 7 kaposiform hemangioendotheliomas and one tufted angioma. All patients had an increase in platelet count. All coagulopathies were corrected. Complications included one patient with flush on face, one patient with needle scars, and one patient with a small area of local tissue necrosis. Absolute ethanol therapy presents a safe option in the treatment of KMP. Treatment-associated complications seemed to be reversible and acceptable by severity levels. Direct intralesional injection of absolute ethanol provides a simple and reliable alternative treatment for KMP among infants and may be used as the second-line therapy.

  1. Absolute Calibration of Si iRMs used for Measurements of Si Paleo-nutrient proxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vocke, R. D., Jr.; Rabb, S. A.

    2016-12-01

    Silicon isotope variations (reported as δ30Si and δ29Si, relative to NBS28) in silicic acid dissolved in ocean waters, in biogenic silica and in diatoms are extremely informative paleo-nutrient proxies. The resolution and comparability of such measurements depend on the quality of the isotopic Reference Materials (iRMs) defining the delta scale. We report new absolute Si isotopic measurements on the iRMs NBS28 (RM 8546 - Silica Sand), Diatomite, and Big Batch using the Avogadro measurement approach and comparing them with prior assessments of these iRMs. The Avogadro Si measurement technique was developed by the German Physikalish-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) to provide a precise and highly accurate method to measure absolute isotopic ratios in highly enriched 28Si (99.996%) material. These measurements are part of an international effort to redefine the kg and mole based on the Planck constant h and the Avogadro constant NA, respectively (Vocke et al., 2014 Metrologia 51, 361, Azuma et al., 2015 Metrologia 52 360). This approach produces absolute Si isotope ratio data with lower levels of uncertainty when compared to the traditional "Atomic Weights" method of absolute isotope ratio measurement calibration. This is illustrated in Fig. 1 where absolute Si isotopic measurements on SRM 990, separated by 40+ years of advances in instrumentation, are compared. The availability of this new technique does not say that absolute Si isotopic ratios are or ever will be better for normal Si isotopic measurements when seeking isotopic variations in nature, because they are not. However, by determining the absolute isotopic ratios of all the Si iRM scale artifacts, such iRMs become traceable to the metric system (SI); thereby automatically conferring on all the artifact-based δ30Si and δ29Si measurements traceability to the base SI unit, the mole. Such traceability should help reduce the potential of bias between different iRMs and facilitate the replacement of delta

  2. NORMAL NASAL GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS USING CDNA ARRAY TECHNOLOGY

    EPA Science Inventory

    Normal Nasal Gene Expression Levels Using cDNA Array Technology.

    The nasal epithelium is a target site for chemically-induced toxicity and carcinogenicity. To detect and analyze genetic events which contribute to nasal tumor development, we first defined the gene expressi...

  3. Myosin heavy chain expression in rodent skeletal muscle: effects of exposure to zero gravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Haddad, F.; Herrick, R. E.; Adams, G. R.; Baldwin, K. M.

    1993-01-01

    This study ascertained the effects of 9 days of zero gravity on the relative (percentage of total) and calculated absolute (mg/muscle) content of isomyosin expressed in both antigravity and locomotor skeletal muscle of ground control (CON) and flight-exposed (FL) rats. Results showed that although there were no differences in body weight between FL and CON animals, a significant reduction in muscle mass occurred in the vastus intermedius (VI) (P < 0.05) but not in the vastus lateralis (VL) or the tibialis anterior. Both total muscle protein and myofibril protein content were not different between the muscle regions examined in the FL and CON groups. In the VI, there were trends for reductions in the relative content of type I and IIa myosin heavy chains (MHCs) that were offset by increases in the relative content of both type IIb and possibly type IIx MHC protein (P > 0.05). mRNA levels were consistent with this pattern (P < 0.05). The same pattern held true for the red region of the VL as examined at both the protein and mRNA level (P < 0.05). When the atrophy process was examined, there were net reductions in the absolute content of both type I and IIa MHCs that were offset by calculated increases in type IIb MHC in both VI and red VL. Collectively, these findings suggest that there are both absolute and relative changes occurring in MHC expression in the "red" regions of antigravity skeletal muscle during exposure to zero gravity that could affect muscle function.

  4. Absolute radiometric calibration of Landsat using a pseudo invariant calibration site

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Helder, D.; Thome, K.J.; Mishra, N.; Chander, G.; Xiong, Xiaoxiong; Angal, A.; Choi, Tae-young

    2013-01-01

    Pseudo invariant calibration sites (PICS) have been used for on-orbit radiometric trending of optical satellite systems for more than 15 years. This approach to vicarious calibration has demonstrated a high degree of reliability and repeatability at the level of 1-3% depending on the site, spectral channel, and imaging geometries. A variety of sensors have used this approach for trending because it is broadly applicable and easy to implement. Models to describe the surface reflectance properties, as well as the intervening atmosphere have also been developed to improve the precision of the method. However, one limiting factor of using PICS is that an absolute calibration capability has not yet been fully developed. Because of this, PICS are primarily limited to providing only long term trending information for individual sensors or cross-calibration opportunities between two sensors. This paper builds an argument that PICS can be used more extensively for absolute calibration. To illustrate this, a simple empirical model is developed for the well-known Libya 4 PICS based on observations by Terra MODIS and EO-1 Hyperion. The model is validated by comparing model predicted top-of-atmosphere reflectance values to actual measurements made by the Landsat ETM+ sensor reflective bands. Following this, an outline is presented to develop a more comprehensive and accurate PICS absolute calibration model that can be Système international d'unités (SI) traceable. These initial concepts suggest that absolute calibration using PICS is possible on a broad scale and can lead to improved on-orbit calibration capabilities for optical satellite sensors.

  5. GENE EXPRESSION PROFILES IN ARSENIC-TREATED MCF-7 BREAST CANCER CELLS EXPRESSING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF HSP70

    EPA Science Inventory

    Gene expression profiles in arsenic-treated MCF-7 breast cancer cells expressing different levels of HSP70

    Gail Nelson, Susan Hester, Ernest Winkfield, Jill Barnes, James Allen
    Environmental Carcinogenesis Division, NHEERL, ORD, US Environmental Protection Agency, Rese...

  6. Digital PCR provides absolute quantitation of viral load for an occult RNA virus.

    PubMed

    White, Richard Allen; Quake, Stephen R; Curr, Kenneth

    2012-01-01

    Using a multiplexed LNA-based Taqman assay, RT-digital PCR (RT-dPCR) was performed in a prefabricated microfluidic device that monitored absolute viral load in native and immortalized cell lines, overall precision of detection, and the absolute detection limit of an occult RNA virus GB Virus Type C (GBV-C). RT-dPCR had on average a 10% lower overall coefficient of variation (CV, a measurement of precision) for viral load testing than RT-qPCR and had a higher overall detection limit, able to quantify as low as three 5'-UTR molecules of GBV-C genome. Two commercial high-yield in vitro transcription kits (T7 Ribomax Express by Promega and Ampliscribe T7 Flash by Epicentre) were compared to amplify GBV-C RNA genome with T7-mediated amplification. The Ampliscribe T7 Flash outperformed the T7 Ribomax Express in yield of full-length GBV-C RNA genome. THP-1 cells (a model of monocytic derived cells) were transfected with GBV-C, yielding infectious virions that replicated over a 120h time course and could be infected directly. This study provides the first evidence of GBV-C replication in monocytic derived clonal cells. Thus far, it is the only study using a microfluidic device that measures directly viral load of mammalian RNA virus in a digital format without need for a standard curve. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. FABP4 dynamics in obesity: discrepancies in adipose tissue and liver expression regarding circulating plasma levels.

    PubMed

    Queipo-Ortuño, María Isabel; Escoté, Xavier; Ceperuelo-Mallafré, Victoria; Garrido-Sanchez, Lourdes; Miranda, Merce; Clemente-Postigo, Mercedes; Pérez-Pérez, Rafael; Peral, Belen; Cardona, Fernando; Fernández-Real, Jose Manuel; Tinahones, Francisco J; Vendrell, Joan

    2012-01-01

    FABP4 is predominantly expressed in adipose tissue, and its circulating levels are linked with obesity and a poor atherogenic profile. In patients with a wide BMI range, we analyze FABP4 expression in adipose and hepatic tissues in the settings of obesity and insulin resistance. Associations between FABP4 expression in adipose tissue and the FABP4 plasma level as well as the main adipogenic and lipolytic genes expressed in adipose tissue were also analyzed. The expression of several lipogenic, lipolytic, PPAR family and FABP family genes was analyzed by real time PCR. FABP4 protein expression in total adipose tissues and its fractions were determined by western blot. In obesity FABP4 expression was down-regulated (at both mRNA and protein levels), with its levels mainly predicted by ATGL and inversely by the HOMA-IR index. The BMI appeared as the only determinant of the FABP4 variation in both adipose tissue depots. FABP4 plasma levels showed a significant progressive increase according to BMI but no association was detected between FABP4 circulating levels and SAT or VAT FABP4 gene expression. The gene expression of FABP1, FABP4 and FABP5 in hepatic tissue was significantly higher in tissue from the obese IR patients compared to the non-IR group. The inverse pattern in FABP4 expression between adipose and hepatic tissue observed in morbid obese patients, regarding the IR context, suggests that both tissues may act in a balanced manner. These differences may help us to understand the discrepancies between circulating plasma levels and adipose tissue expression in obesity.

  8. FABP4 Dynamics in Obesity: Discrepancies in Adipose Tissue and Liver Expression Regarding Circulating Plasma Levels

    PubMed Central

    Ceperuelo-Mallafré, Victoria; Garrido-Sanchez, Lourdes; Miranda, Merce; Clemente-Postigo, Mercedes; Pérez-Pérez, Rafael; Peral, Belen; Cardona, Fernando; Fernández-Real, Jose Manuel; Tinahones, Francisco J.; Vendrell, Joan

    2012-01-01

    Background FABP4 is predominantly expressed in adipose tissue, and its circulating levels are linked with obesity and a poor atherogenic profile. Objective In patients with a wide BMI range, we analyze FABP4 expression in adipose and hepatic tissues in the settings of obesity and insulin resistance. Associations between FABP4 expression in adipose tissue and the FABP4 plasma level as well as the main adipogenic and lipolytic genes expressed in adipose tissue were also analyzed. Methods The expression of several lipogenic, lipolytic, PPAR family and FABP family genes was analyzed by real time PCR. FABP4 protein expression in total adipose tissues and its fractions were determined by western blot. Results In obesity FABP4 expression was down-regulated (at both mRNA and protein levels), with its levels mainly predicted by ATGL and inversely by the HOMA-IR index. The BMI appeared as the only determinant of the FABP4 variation in both adipose tissue depots. FABP4 plasma levels showed a significant progressive increase according to BMI but no association was detected between FABP4 circulating levels and SAT or VAT FABP4 gene expression. The gene expression of FABP1, FABP4 and FABP5 in hepatic tissue was significantly higher in tissue from the obese IR patients compared to the non-IR group. Conclusion The inverse pattern in FABP4 expression between adipose and hepatic tissue observed in morbid obese patients, regarding the IR context, suggests that both tissues may act in a balanced manner. These differences may help us to understand the discrepancies between circulating plasma levels and adipose tissue expression in obesity. PMID:23139800

  9. Absolute-gravity stations in Western Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Mäkinen, Jaakko; Rasindra, Ravik; Chand, Uttam; Tiwari, Virendra; Lukin, Valery; Anisimov, Michail; Melvaer, Yngve; Melland, Gudmund; Koivula, Hannu; Näränen, Jyri; Poutanen, Markku

    2013-04-01

    Absolute-gravity stations are an important part of the geodetic infrastructure of the Antarctic. They provide accurate starting values for gravity surveys performed e.g. for the determination of the geoid, for geological studies and for geophysical investigations. The time variation in gravity determined from repeated absolute-gravity measurements provides insights into the Glacial Isostatic Adjustment (GIA) and into solid Earth deformation due to variation in contemporary ice load. Given sufficient joint coverage with International Terrestrial Reference Frame (ITRF) sites, gravity rates in high latitudes could in principle provide an independent check of the geocentricity of the z-dot (velocities in the direction of the rotation axis of the Earth) of the ITRF. We review the absolute gravity stations in Western and Central Dronning Maud Land. The oldest station is at the Finnish base Aboa, with 5 measurements by the Finnish Geodetic Institute (FGI) starting with the FINNARP 1993 expedition. Measurements at Maitri (India) and Novolazarevskaya (Russia) were first performed in 2004 by the National Geophysical Research Institute (NGRI) of India, and by the FGI, respectively. In the season 2010/11 a new station was constructed at Troll (Norway). In the season 2011/12 the aforementioned four sites were occupied by the FG5-221 absolute gravimeter of the FGI. At Sanae IV (South Africa) there are previous occupations by the FG5-221, in 2003/4 and 2005/6. All these bases have continuous GNSS stations. Numerous supporting measurements have been made at the sites: microgravity networks, levelling and GNSS ties to excentres etc., for controlling the stability of the stations. At some sites, nearby glacier elevations were surveyed to monitor the attraction of the variable close-field snow and ice masses. We give a description of the sites and the measurements performed at them. The work has benefited from the co-operation in the COST Action ES0701 "Improved Constraints on Models

  10. Geminivirus vectors for high-level expression of foreign proteins in plant cells.

    PubMed

    Mor, Tsafrir S; Moon, Yong-Sun; Palmer, Kenneth E; Mason, Hugh S

    2003-02-20

    Bean yellow dwarf virus (BeYDV) is a monopartite geminivirus that can infect dicotyledonous plants. We have developed a high-level expression system that utilizes elements of the replication machinery of this single-stranded DNA virus. The replication initiator protein (Rep) mediates release and replication of a replicon from a DNA construct ("LSL vector") that contains an expression cassette for a gene of interest flanked by cis-acting elements of the virus. We used tobacco NT1 cells and biolistic delivery of plasmid DNA for evaluation of replication and expression of reporter genes contained within an LSL vector. By codelivery of a GUS reporter-LSL vector and a Rep-supplying vector, we obtained up to 40-fold increase in expression levels compared to delivery of the reporter-LSL vectors alone. High-copy replication of the LSL vector was correlated with enhanced expression of GUS. Rep expression using a whole BeYDV clone, a cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter driving either genomic rep or an intron-deleted rep gene, or 35S-rep contained in the LSL vector all achieved efficient replication and enhancement of GUS expression. We anticipate that this system can be adapted for use in transgenic plants or plant cell cultures with appropriately regulated expression of Rep, with the potential to greatly increase yield of recombinant proteins. Copyright 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 81: 430-437, 2003.

  11. Connexin-deficiency affects expression levels of glial glutamate transporters within the cerebrum.

    PubMed

    Unger, Tina; Bette, Stefanie; Zhang, Jiong; Theis, Martin; Engele, Jürgen

    2012-01-06

    The glial glutamate transporter subtypes, GLT-1/EAAT-2 and GLAST/EAAT-1 clear the bulk of extracellular glutamate and are severely dysregulated in various acute and chronic brain diseases. Despite the previous identification of several extracellular factors modulating glial glutamate transporter expression, our knowledge of the regulatory network controlling glial glutamate transport in health and disease still remains incomplete. In studies with cultured cortical astrocytes, we previously obtained evidence that glial glutamate transporter expression is also affected by gap junctions/connexins. To assess whether gap junctions would likewise control the in vivo expression of glial glutamate transporters, we have now assessed their expression levels in brains of conditional Cx43 knockout mice, total Cx30 knockouts, as well as Cx43/Cx30 double knockouts. We found that either knocking out Cx30, Cx43, or both increases GLT-1/EAAT-2 protein levels in the cerebral cortex to a similar extent. By contrast, GLAST/EAAT-1 protein levels maximally increased in cerebral cortices of Cx30/Cx43 double knockouts, implying that gap junctions differentially affect the expression of GLT-1/EAAT-2 and GLAST/EAAT-1. Quantitative PCR analysis further revealed that increases in glial glutamate transporter expression are brought about by transcriptional and translational/posttranslational processes. Moreover, GLT-1/EAAT-2- and GLAST/EAAT-1 protein levels remained unchanged in the hippocampi of Cx43/Cx30 double knockouts when compared to Cx43fl/fl controls, indicating brain region-specific effects of gap junctions on glial glutamate transport. Since astrocytic gap junction coupling is affected in various forms of brain injuries, our findings point to gap junctions/connexins as important regulators of glial glutamate turnover in the diseased cerebral cortex. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Absolute rather than relative income is a better socioeconomic predictor of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Swedish adults.

    PubMed

    Axelsson Fisk, Sten; Merlo, Juan

    2017-05-04

    While psychosocial theory claims that socioeconomic status (SES), acting through social comparisons, has an important influence on susceptibility to disease, materialistic theory says that socioeconomic position (SEP) and related access to material resources matter more. However, the relative role of SEP versus SES in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) risk has still not been examined. We investigated the association between SES/SEP and COPD risk among 667 094 older adults, aged 55 to 60, residing in Sweden between 2006 and 2011. Absolute income in five groups by population quintiles depicted SEP and relative income expressed as quintile groups within each absolute income group represented SES. We performed sex-stratified logistic regression models to estimate odds ratios and the area under the receiver operator curve (AUC) to compare the discriminatory accuracy of SES and SEP in relation to COPD. Even though both absolute (SEP) and relative income (SES) were associated with COPD risk, only absolute income (SEP) presented a clear gradient, so the poorest had a three-fold higher COPD risk than the richest individuals. While the AUC for a model including only age was 0.54 and 0.55 when including relative income (SES), it increased to 0.65 when accounting for absolute income (SEP). SEP rather than SES demonstrated a consistent association with COPD. Our study supports the materialistic theory. Access to material resources seems more relevant to COPD risk than the consequences of low relative income.

  13. Representational momentum in dynamic facial expressions is modulated by the level of expressed pain: Amplitude and direction effects.

    PubMed

    Prigent, Elise; Amorim, Michel-Ange; de Oliveira, Armando Mónica

    2018-01-01

    Humans have developed a specific capacity to rapidly perceive and anticipate other people's facial expressions so as to get an immediate impression of their emotional state of mind. We carried out two experiments to examine the perceptual and memory dynamics of facial expressions of pain. In the first experiment, we investigated how people estimate other people's levels of pain based on the perception of various dynamic facial expressions; these differ both in terms of the amount and intensity of activated action units. A second experiment used a representational momentum (RM) paradigm to study the emotional anticipation (memory bias) elicited by the same facial expressions of pain studied in Experiment 1. Our results highlighted the relationship between the level of perceived pain (in Experiment 1) and the direction and magnitude of memory bias (in Experiment 2): When perceived pain increases, the memory bias tends to be reduced (if positive) and ultimately becomes negative. Dynamic facial expressions of pain may reenact an "immediate perceptual history" in the perceiver before leading to an emotional anticipation of the agent's upcoming state. Thus, a subtle facial expression of pain (i.e., a low contraction around the eyes) that leads to a significant positive anticipation can be considered an adaptive process-one through which we can swiftly and involuntarily detect other people's pain.

  14. A new lunar absolute control point: established by images from the landing camera on Chang'e-3

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Fen-Fei; Liu, Jian-Jun; Li, Chun-Lai; Ren, Xin; Mu, Ling-Li; Yan, Wei; Wang, Wen-Rui; Xiao, Jing-Tao; Tan, Xu; Zhang, Xiao-Xia; Zou, Xiao-Duan; Gao, Xing-Ye

    2014-12-01

    The establishment of a lunar control network is one of the core tasks in selenodesy, in which defining an absolute control point on the Moon is the most important step. However, up to now, the number of absolute control points has been very sparse. These absolute control points have mainly been lunar laser ranging retroreflectors, whose geographical location can be observed by observations on Earth and also identified in high resolution lunar satellite images. The Chang'e-3 (CE-3) probe successfully landed on the Moon, and its geographical location has been monitored by an observing station on Earth. Since its positional accuracy is expected to reach the meter level, the CE-3 landing site can become a new high precision absolute control point. We use a sequence of images taken from the landing camera, as well as satellite images taken by CE-1 and CE-2, to identify the location of the CE-3 lander. With its geographical location known, the CE-3 landing site can be established as a new absolute control point, which will effectively expand the current area of the lunar absolute control network by 22%, and can greatly facilitate future research in the field of lunar surveying and mapping, as well as selenodesy.

  15. Functionally distinct roles for different miR-155 expression levels through contrasting effects on gene expression, in acute myeloid leukaemia.

    PubMed

    Narayan, N; Morenos, L; Phipson, B; Willis, S N; Brumatti, G; Eggers, S; Lalaoui, N; Brown, L M; Kosasih, H J; Bartolo, R C; Zhou, L; Catchpoole, D; Saffery, R; Oshlack, A; Goodall, G J; Ekert, P G

    2017-04-01

    Enforced expression of microRNA-155 (miR-155) in myeloid cells has been shown to have both oncogenic or tumour-suppressor functions in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). We sought to resolve these contrasting effects of miR-155 overexpression using murine models of AML and human paediatric AML data sets. We show that the highest miR-155 expression levels inhibited proliferation in murine AML models. Over time, enforced miR-155 expression in AML in vitro and in vivo, however, favours selection of intermediate miR-155 expression levels that results in increased tumour burden in mice, without accelerating the onset of disease. Strikingly, we show that intermediate and high miR-155 expression also regulate very different subsets of miR-155 targets and have contrasting downstream effects on the transcriptional environments of AML cells, including genes involved in haematopoiesis and leukaemia. Furthermore, we show that elevated miR-155 expression detected in paediatric AML correlates with intermediate and not high miR-155 expression identified in our experimental models. These findings collectively describe a novel dose-dependent role for miR-155 in the regulation of AML, which may have important therapeutic implications.

  16. Inducible nitric oxide expression correlates with the level of inflammation in periapical cysts.

    PubMed

    Matsumoto, Mariza Akemi; Ribeiro, Daniel Araki

    2007-10-01

    In an attempt to elucidate if inducible nitric oxide expression (iNOS) is correlated with the level of inflammation in periapical cysts with accuracy, the goal of this study was to evaluate the expression of iNOS in these ones. 30 cases were included in this study being iNOS evaluated by means of immunohistochemistry. Statistical analysis was performed by Kruskal-Wallis non-parametric test followed by the post-hoc Dunn's test. iNOS stain was detected throughout the epithelium, subepithelial fibroblasts and macrophages in all cases, indistinctly. Nevertheless, iNOS immunostaining in periapical cysts was different according to the levels of inflammation, being the strongest effect associated with intense inflammatory infiltrate. Taken together, our results indicate that immunoreactivity of iNOS was expressed in several cellular types present in periapical cyst, being positively correlated with the level of inflammation. Therefore, iNOS expression plays an important role in the pathogenesis of periapical cysts.

  17. Using, Seeing, Feeling, and Doing Absolute Value for Deeper Understanding

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ponce, Gregorio A.

    2008-01-01

    Using sticky notes and number lines, a hands-on activity is shared that anchors initial student thinking about absolute value. The initial point of reference should help students successfully evaluate numeric problems involving absolute value. They should also be able to solve absolute value equations and inequalities that are typically found in…

  18. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Prasad, Mano K.; Snyderman, Neal J.; Rowland, Mark S.

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  19. Planck absolute entropy of a rotating BTZ black hole

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Riaz, S. M. Jawwad

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, the Planck absolute entropy and the Bekenstein-Smarr formula of the rotating Banados-Teitelboim-Zanelli (BTZ) black hole are presented via a complex thermodynamical system contributed by its inner and outer horizons. The redefined entropy approaches zero as the temperature of the rotating BTZ black hole tends to absolute zero, satisfying the Nernst formulation of a black hole. Hence, it can be regarded as the Planck absolute entropy of the rotating BTZ black hole.

  20. Absolute nuclear material assay using count distribution (LAMBDA) space

    DOEpatents

    Prasad, Manoj K [Pleasanton, CA; Snyderman, Neal J [Berkeley, CA; Rowland, Mark S [Alamo, CA

    2012-06-05

    A method of absolute nuclear material assay of an unknown source comprising counting neutrons from the unknown source and providing an absolute nuclear material assay utilizing a model to optimally compare to the measured count distributions. In one embodiment, the step of providing an absolute nuclear material assay comprises utilizing a random sampling of analytically computed fission chain distributions to generate a continuous time-evolving sequence of event-counts by spreading the fission chain distribution in time.

  1. Final report on the Seventh International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG 2005)

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Jiang, Z.; Francis, O.; Vitushkin, L.; Palinkas, V.; Germak, A.; Becker, M.; D'Agostino, G.; Amalvict, M.; Bayer, R.; Bilker-Koivula, M.; Desogus, S.; Faller, J.; Falk, R.; Hinderer, J.; Gagnon, C.; Jakob, T.; Kalish, E.; Kostelecky, J.; Lee, C.; Liard, J.; Lokshyn, Y.; Luck, B.; Makinen, J.; Mizushima, S.; Le, Moigne N.; Origlia, C.; Pujol, E.R.; Richard, P.; Robertsson, L.; Ruess, D.; Schmerge, D.; Stus, Y.; Svitlov, S.; Thies, S.; Ullrich, C.; Van Camp, M.; Vitushkin, A.; Ji, W.; Wilmes, H.

    2011-01-01

    The Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM), S??vres, France, hosted the 7th International Comparison of Absolute Gravimeters (ICAG) and the associated Relative Gravity Campaign (RGC) from August to September 2005. ICAG 2005 was prepared and performed as a metrological pilot study, which aimed: To determine the gravity comparison reference values; To determine the offsets of the absolute gravimeters; and As a pilot study to accumulate experience for the CIPM Key Comparisons. This document presents a complete and extensive review of the technical protocol and data processing procedures. The 1st ICAG-RGC comparison was held at the BIPM in 1980-1981 and since then meetings have been organized every 4 years. In this paper, we present an overview of how the meeting was organized, the conditions of BIPM gravimetric sites, technical specifications, data processing strategy and an analysis of the final results. This 7th ICAG final report supersedes all previously published reports. Readings were obtained from participating instruments, 19 absolute gravimeters and 15 relative gravimeters. Precise levelling measurements were carried out and all measurements were performed on the BIPM micro-gravity network which was specifically designed for the comparison. ?? 2011 BIPM & IOP Publishing Ltd.

  2. Auditory processing in absolute pitch possessors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    McKetton, Larissa; Schneider, Keith A.

    2018-05-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is a rare ability in classifying a musical pitch without a reference standard. It has been of great interest to researchers studying auditory processing and music cognition since it is seldom expressed and sheds light on influences pertaining to neurodevelopmental biological predispositions and the onset of musical training. We investigated the smallest frequency that could be detected or just noticeable difference (JND) between two pitches. Here, we report significant differences in JND thresholds in AP musicians and non-AP musicians compared to non-musician control groups at both 1000 Hz and 987.76 Hz testing frequencies. Although the AP-musicians did better than non-AP musicians, the difference was not significant. In addition, we looked at neuro-anatomical correlates of musicianship and AP using structural MRI. We report increased cortical thickness of the left Heschl's Gyrus (HG) and decreased cortical thickness of the inferior frontal opercular gyrus (IFO) and circular insular sulcus volume (CIS) in AP compared to non-AP musicians and controls. These structures may therefore be optimally enhanced and reduced to form the most efficient network for AP to emerge.

  3. Exploring the Relationship between Absolute and Relative Position and Late-Life Depression: Evidence from 10 European Countries

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ladin, Keren; Daniels, Norman; Kawachi, Ichiro

    2010-01-01

    Purpose: Socioeconomic inequality has been associated with higher levels of morbidity and mortality. This study explores the role of absolute and relative deprivation in predicting late-life depression on both individual and country levels. Design and Methods: Country- and individual-level inequality indicators were used in multivariate logistic…

  4. The Impact of Different Absolute Solar Irradiance Values on Current Climate Model Simulations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rind, David H.; Lean, Judith L.; Jonas, Jeffrey

    2014-01-01

    Simulations of the preindustrial and doubled CO2 climates are made with the GISS Global Climate Middle Atmosphere Model 3 using two different estimates of the absolute solar irradiance value: a higher value measured by solar radiometers in the 1990s and a lower value measured recently by the Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment. Each of the model simulations is adjusted to achieve global energy balance; without this adjustment the difference in irradiance produces a global temperature change of 0.48C, comparable to the cooling estimated for the Maunder Minimum. The results indicate that by altering cloud cover the model properly compensates for the different absolute solar irradiance values on a global level when simulating both preindustrial and doubled CO2 climates. On a regional level, the preindustrial climate simulations and the patterns of change with doubled CO2 concentrations are again remarkably similar, but there are some differences. Using a higher absolute solar irradiance value and the requisite cloud cover affects the model's depictions of high-latitude surface air temperature, sea level pressure, and stratospheric ozone, as well as tropical precipitation. In the climate change experiments it leads to an underestimation of North Atlantic warming, reduced precipitation in the tropical western Pacific, and smaller total ozone growth at high northern latitudes. Although significant, these differences are typically modest compared with the magnitude of the regional changes expected for doubled greenhouse gas concentrations. Nevertheless, the model simulations demonstrate that achieving the highest possible fidelity when simulating regional climate change requires that climate models use as input the most accurate (lower) solar irradiance value.

  5. mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-induced and stem cell-associated genes in human glioblastoma.

    PubMed

    Bache, Matthias; Rot, Swetlana; Keßler, Jacqueline; Güttler, Antje; Wichmann, Henri; Greither, Thomas; Wach, Sven; Taubert, Helge; Söling, Ariane; Bilkenroth, Udo; Kappler, Matthias; Vordermark, Dirk

    2015-06-01

    The roles of hypoxia-induced and stem cell-associated genes in the development of malignancy and tumour progression are well known. However, there are a limited number of studies analysing the impact of mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-induced and stem cell-associated genes in the tissues of brain tumours and glioblastoma patients. In this study, tumour tissues from patients with glioblastoma multiforme and tumour adjacent tissues were analysed. We investigated mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α), hypoxia-inducible factor-2α (HIF-2α), carbonic anhydrase 9 (CA9), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), glucose transporter-1 (GLUT-1) and osteopontin (OPN), and stem cell-associated genes survivin, epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR), human telomerase reverse transcriptase (hTERT), Nanog and octamer binding transcription factor 4 (OCT4) using quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR). Our data revealed higher mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-induced and stem cell-associated genes in tumour tissue than levels in the tumour adjacent tissues in patients with glioblastoma multiforme. A strong positive correlation between the mRNA expression levels of HIF-2α, CA9, VEGF, GLUT-1 and OPN suggests a specific hypoxia-associated profile of mRNA expression in glioblastoma multiforme. Additionally, the results indicate the role of stem-cell-related genes in tumour hypoxia. Kaplan-Maier analysis revealed that high mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-induced markers showed a trend towards shorter overall survival in glioblastoma patients (P=0.061). Our data suggest that mRNA expression levels of hypoxia-induced genes are important tumour markers in patients with glioblastoma multiforme.

  6. Quantitating Antibody Uptake In Vivo: Conditional Dependence on Antigen Expression Levels

    PubMed Central

    Thurber, Greg M.; Weissleder, Ralph

    2010-01-01

    Purpose Antibodies form an important class of cancer therapeutics, and there is intense interest in using them for imaging applications in diagnosis and monitoring of cancer treatment. Despite the expanding body of knowledge describing pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions of antibodies in vivo, discrepancies remain over the effect of antigen expression level on tumoral uptake with some reports indicating a relationship between uptake and expression and others showing no correlation. Procedures Using a cell line with high EpCAM expression and moderate EGFR expression, fluorescent antibodies with similar plasma clearance were imaged in vivo. A mathematical model and mouse xenograft experiments were used to describe the effect of antigen expression on uptake of these high affinity antibodies. Results As predicted by the theoretical model, under subsaturating conditions, uptake of the antibodies in such tumors is similar because localization of both probes is limited by delivery from the vasculature. In a separate experiment, when the tumor is saturated, the uptake becomes dependent on the number of available binding sites. In addition, targeting of small micrometastases is shown to be higher than larger vascularized tumors. Conclusions These results are consistent with the prediction that high affinity antibody uptake is dependent on antigen expression levels for saturating doses and delivery for subsaturating doses. It is imperative for any probe to understand whether quantitative uptake is a measure of biomarker expression or transport to the region of interest. The data provide support for a predictive theoretical model of antibody uptake, enabling it to be used as a starting point for the design of more efficacious therapies and timely quantitative imaging probes. PMID:20809210

  7. Quantitating antibody uptake in vivo: conditional dependence on antigen expression levels.

    PubMed

    Thurber, Greg M; Weissleder, Ralph

    2011-08-01

    Antibodies form an important class of cancer therapeutics, and there is intense interest in using them for imaging applications in diagnosis and monitoring of cancer treatment. Despite the expanding body of knowledge describing pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic interactions of antibodies in vivo, discrepancies remain over the effect of antigen expression level on tumoral uptake with some reports indicating a relationship between uptake and expression and others showing no correlation. Using a cell line with high epithelial cell adhesion molecule expression and moderate epidermal growth factor receptor expression, fluorescent antibodies with similar plasma clearance were imaged in vivo. A mathematical model and mouse xenograft experiments were used to describe the effect of antigen expression on uptake of these high-affinity antibodies. As predicted by the theoretical model, under subsaturating conditions, uptake of the antibodies in such tumors is similar because localization of both probes is limited by delivery from the vasculature. In a separate experiment, when the tumor is saturated, the uptake becomes dependent on the number of available binding sites. In addition, targeting of small micrometastases is shown to be higher than larger vascularized tumors. These results are consistent with the prediction that high affinity antibody uptake is dependent on antigen expression levels for saturating doses and delivery for subsaturating doses. It is imperative for any probe to understand whether quantitative uptake is a measure of biomarker expression or transport to the region of interest. The data provide support for a predictive theoretical model of antibody uptake, enabling it to be used as a starting point for the design of more efficacious therapies and timely quantitative imaging probes.

  8. Isobaric Tags for Relative and Absolute Quantitation-Based Proteomic Analysis of Patent and Constricted Ductus Arteriosus Tissues Confirms the Systemic Regulation of Ductus Arteriosus Closure.

    PubMed

    Hong, Haifa; Ye, Lincai; Chen, Huiwen; Xia, Yu; Liu, Yue; Liu, Jinfen; Lu, Yanan; Zhang, Haibo

    2015-08-01

    We aimed to evaluate global changes in protein expression associated with patency by undertaking proteomic analysis of human constricted and patent ductus arteriosus (DA). Ten constricted and 10 patent human DAs were excised from infants with ductal-dependent heart disease during surgery. Using isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation-based quantitative proteomics, 132 differentially expressed proteins were identified. Of 132 proteins, voltage-gated sodium channel 1.3 (SCN3A), myosin 1d (Myo1d), Rho GTPase activating protein 26 (ARHGAP26), and retinitis pigmentosa 1 (RP1) were selected for validation by Western blot and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction analyses. Significant upregulation of SCN3A, Myo1d, and RP1 messenger RNA, and protein levels was observed in the patent DA group (all P ≤ 0.048). ARHGAP26 messenger RNA and protein levels were decreased in patent DA tissue (both P ≤ 0.018). Immunohistochemistry analysis revealed that Myo1d, ARHGAP26, and RP1 were specifically expressed in the subendothelial region of constricted DAs; however, diffuse expression of these proteins was noted in the patent group. Proteomic analysis revealed global changes in the expression of proteins that regulate oxygen sensing, ion channels, smooth muscle cell migration, nervous system, immune system, and metabolism, suggesting a basis for the systemic regulation of DA patency by diverse signaling pathways, which will be confirmed in further studies.

  9. Relationship between microRNA-146a expression and plasma renalase levels in hemodialyzed patients

    PubMed Central

    Koch, Wojciech; Kukula-Koch, Wirginia; Gaweł, Kinga; Bednarek-Skublewska, Anna; Małecka-Massalska, Teresa; Milanowski, Janusz; Petkowicz, Beata; Solski, Janusz

    2017-01-01

    Background microRNA (miRNA) belongs to the non-coding RNAs family responsible for the regulation of gene expression. Renalase is a protein composed of 342 amino acids, secreted by the kidneys and possibly plays an important role in the regulation of sympathetic tone and blood pressure. The aim of the present study was to investigate plasma renalase concentration, and explore the relationship between miRNA-146a-5p expression and plasma renalase levels in hemodialyzed patients. Methods The study population comprised 55 subjects who succumbed to various cardiac events, 27 women and 28 men, aged 65–70 years. The total RNA including miRNA fraction was isolated using QiagenmiRNEasy Serum/Plasma kit according to the manufacturer’s protocol. The isolated miRNAs were analyzed using a quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR) technique. The plasma renalase levels were measured using a commercial ELISA kit. Results In the group of patients with high levels of renalase, higher miRNA-146a expression was found, compared with those with low concentration of renalase. Patients with simultaneous low miRNA-146a expression and high level of renalase were confirmed to deliver a significantly longer survival time compared with other patients. Conclusions miRNA-146a and plasma renalase levels were estimated as independent prognostic factors of hemodialyzed patients’ survival time. Patients with low miRNA-146a expression demonstrated a significantly longer survival time in contrast to the patients with a high expression level of miRNA-146a. Moreover, a significantly longer survival time was found in patients with high renalase activity compared with patients with low activity of the enzyme. PMID:28614373

  10. Novalis' Poetic Uncertainty: A "Bildung" with the Absolute

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Mika, Carl

    2016-01-01

    Novalis, the Early German Romantic poet and philosopher, had at the core of his work a mysterious depiction of the "absolute." The absolute is Novalis' name for a substance that defies precise knowledge yet calls for a tentative and sensitive speculation. How one asserts a truth, represents an object, and sets about encountering things…

  11. Absolute marine gravimetry with matter-wave interferometry.

    PubMed

    Bidel, Y; Zahzam, N; Blanchard, C; Bonnin, A; Cadoret, M; Bresson, A; Rouxel, D; Lequentrec-Lalancette, M F

    2018-02-12

    Measuring gravity from an aircraft or a ship is essential in geodesy, geophysics, mineral and hydrocarbon exploration, and navigation. Today, only relative sensors are available for onboard gravimetry. This is a major drawback because of the calibration and drift estimation procedures which lead to important operational constraints. Atom interferometry is a promising technology to obtain onboard absolute gravimeter. But, despite high performances obtained in static condition, no precise measurements were reported in dynamic. Here, we present absolute gravity measurements from a ship with a sensor based on atom interferometry. Despite rough sea conditions, we obtained precision below 10 -5  m s -2 . The atom gravimeter was also compared with a commercial spring gravimeter and showed better performances. This demonstration opens the way to the next generation of inertial sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope) based on atom interferometry which should provide high-precision absolute measurements from a moving platform.

  12. PCK1 expression is correlated with the plasma glucose level in the duck.

    PubMed

    Chen, L; Zeng, T; Li, G Q; Liu, R; Tian, Y; Li, Q H; Lu, L Z

    2017-06-01

    Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase 1 (soluble) (PCK1) is a key gene in gluconeogenesis and glyceroneogenesis. Although its functions have been extensively studied in mice, bats and humans, little is known in ducks. Here, PCK1 functions were studied using a duck domestication model and a 48-h fasting experiment. We found PCK1 expression significantly decreased in two breeds of domestic ducks (Jinyun Pockmark ducks and Cherry Valley ducks) as compared with wild ducks (Anas platyrhynchos). Simultaneously, plasma levels of glucose, triglycerides and free fatty acid in domestic ducks were lower than in wild ducks. When compared with fed ducks, the plasma triglyceride level was observed to be significantly decreased, while the glucose and free fatty acid levels remained constant in 48-h fasting ducks. The expression analysis of gluconeogenic genes revealed that fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase genes (FBP1 and FBP2) and the glucose-6-phosphatase gene (G6PC2) were not changed, whereas PCK1 was significantly upregulated. In addition, the reported regulators of PCK1, including forkhead box A2 (FOXA2) gene and orphan nuclear receptor NR4A family genes (NR4A1, NR4A2 and NR4A3), exhibited similar expression levels between 48-h fasting ducks and fed ducks, suggesting that PCK1 is not regulated by these genes in the duck under fasting conditions. In conclusion, PCK1 expression may affect plasma levels of glucose, triglycerides and free fatty acid during the duck domestication process. This work demonstrates for the first time in duck that PCK1 is a key gene in maintaining plasma glucose homeostasis during fasting and that the upregulated expression of PCK1 may be responsible for constant plasma free fatty acid level by the glyceroneogenesis process. © 2017 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

  13. Experimental hyperthyroidism decreases gene expression and serum levels of adipokines in obesity.

    PubMed

    Luvizotto, Renata de Azevedo Melo; do Nascimento, André Ferreira; de Síbio, Maria Teresa; Olímpio, Regiane Marques Castro; Conde, Sandro José; Lima-Leopoldo, Ana Paula; Leopoldo, André Soares; Cicogna, Antonio Carlos; Nogueira, Célia Regina

    2012-01-01

    To analyze the influence of hyperthyroidism on the gene expression and serum concentration of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin in obese animals. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: control (C)-fed with commercial chow ad libitum-and obese (OB)-fed with a hypercaloric diet. After group characterization, the OB rats continued receiving a hypercaloric diet and were randomized into two groups: obese animals (OB) and obese with 25 μg triiodothyronine (T(3))/100 BW (OT). The T(3) dose was administered every day for the last 2 weeks of the study. After 30 weeks the animals were euthanized. Samples of blood and adipose tissue were collected for biochemical and hormonal analyses as well as gene expression of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin. T(3) treatment was effective, increasing fT(3) levels and decreasing fT(4) and TSH serum concentration. Administration of T(3) promotes weight loss, decreases all fat deposits, and diminishes serum levels of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin by reducing their gene expression. Our results suggest that T(3) modulate serum and gene expression levels of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin in experimental model of obesity, providing new insights regarding the relationship between T(3) and adipokines in obesity.

  14. Experimental Hyperthyroidism Decreases Gene Expression and Serum Levels of Adipokines in Obesity

    PubMed Central

    Luvizotto, Renata de Azevedo Melo; do Nascimento, André Ferreira; de Síbio, Maria Teresa; Olímpio, Regiane Marques Castro; Conde, Sandro José; Lima-Leopoldo, Ana Paula; Leopoldo, André Soares; Cicogna, Antonio Carlos; Nogueira, Célia Regina

    2012-01-01

    Aims. To analyze the influence of hyperthyroidism on the gene expression and serum concentration of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin in obese animals. Main Methods. Male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups: control (C)—fed with commercial chow ad libitum—and obese (OB)—fed with a hypercaloric diet. After group characterization, the OB rats continued receiving a hypercaloric diet and were randomized into two groups: obese animals (OB) and obese with 25 μg triiodothyronine (T3)/100 BW (OT). The T3 dose was administered every day for the last 2 weeks of the study. After 30 weeks the animals were euthanized. Samples of blood and adipose tissue were collected for biochemical and hormonal analyses as well as gene expression of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin. Results. T3 treatment was effective, increasing fT3 levels and decreasing fT4 and TSH serum concentration. Administration of T3 promotes weight loss, decreases all fat deposits, and diminishes serum levels of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin by reducing their gene expression. Conclusions. Our results suggest that T3 modulate serum and gene expression levels of leptin, resistin, and adiponectin in experimental model of obesity, providing new insights regarding the relationship between T3 and adipokines in obesity. PMID:22645452

  15. Absolute configuration of a chiral CHD group via neutron diffraction: confirmation of the absolute stereochemistry of the enzymatic formation of malic acid

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Bau, R.; Brewer, I.; Chiang, M.Y.

    Neutron diffraction has been used to monitor the absolute stereochemistry of an enzymatic reaction. (-)(2S)malic-3-d acid was prepared by the action of fumarase on fumaric acid in D/sub 2/O. After a large number of cations were screened, it was found that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylamine forms the large crystals necessary for a neutron diffraction analysis. The subsequent structure determination showed that (+)(R)..cap alpha..-phenylethylammonium (-)(2S)malate-3-d has an absolute configuration of R at the CHD site. This result confirms the absolute stereochemistry of fumarate-to-malate transformation as catalyzed by the enzyme fumarase.

  16. Inflammation, oxidative stress, and higher expression levels of Nrf2 and NQO1 proteins in the airways of women chronically exposed to biomass fuel smoke.

    PubMed

    Mondal, Nandan Kumar; Saha, Hirak; Mukherjee, Bidisha; Tyagi, Neetu; Ray, Manas Ranjan

    2018-01-24

    The study was carried out to examine whether chronic exposure to smoke during daily household cooking with biomass fuel (BMF) elicits changes in airway cytology and expressions of Nrf2 (nuclear factor erythroid 2 [NF-E2]-related factor 2 [Nrf2]), Keap1 (Kelch-like erythroid-cell-derived protein with CNC homology [ECH]-associated protein 1), and NQO1 (NAD(P)H:quinone oxidoreductase 1) proteins in the airways. For this, 282 BMF-using women (median age 34 year) and 236 age-matched women who cooked with liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) were enrolled. Particulate matter with diameters of < 10 µm (PM 10 ) and < 2.5 µm (PM 2.5 ) were measured in indoor air with real-time laser photometer. Routine hematology, sputum cytology, Nrf2, Keap1, NQO1, and generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) along with the levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase were measured in both groups. PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels were significantly higher in BMF-using households compared to LPG. Compared with LPG users, BMF users had 32% more leukocytes in circulation and their sputa were 1.4-times more cellular with significant increase in absolute number of neutrophils, lymphocytes, eosinophils, and alveolar macrophages, suggesting airway inflammation. ROS generation was 1.5-times higher in blood neutrophils and 34% higher in sputum cells of BMF users while erythrocyte SOD was 31% lower and plasma catalase was relatively unchanged, suggesting oxidative stress. In BMF users, Keap1 expression was reduced, the percentage of AEC with nuclear expression of Nrf2 was two- to three-times more, and NQO1 level in sputum cell lysate was two-times higher than that of LPG users. In conclusion, cooking with BMF was associated with Nrf2 activation and elevated NQO1 protein level in the airways. The changes may be adaptive cellular response to counteract biomass smoke-elicited oxidative stress and inflammation-related tissue injury in the airways.

  17. The Absolute Magnitude of the Sun in Several Filters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Willmer, Christopher N. A.

    2018-06-01

    This paper presents a table with estimates of the absolute magnitude of the Sun and the conversions from vegamag to the AB and ST systems for several wide-band filters used in ground-based and space-based observatories. These estimates use the dustless spectral energy distribution (SED) of Vega, calibrated absolutely using the SED of Sirius, to set the vegamag zero-points and a composite spectrum of the Sun that coadds space-based observations from the ultraviolet to the near-infrared with models of the Solar atmosphere. The uncertainty of the absolute magnitudes is estimated by comparing the synthetic colors with photometric measurements of solar analogs and is found to be ∼0.02 mag. Combined with the uncertainty of ∼2% in the calibration of the Vega SED, the errors of these absolute magnitudes are ∼3%–4%. Using these SEDs, for three of the most utilized filters in extragalactic work the estimated absolute magnitudes of the Sun are M B = 5.44, M V = 4.81, and M K = 3.27 mag in the vegamag system and M B = 5.31, M V = 4.80, and M K = 5.08 mag in AB.

  18. Intercellular Variability in Protein Levels from Stochastic Expression and Noisy Cell Cycle Processes

    PubMed Central

    Soltani, Mohammad; Vargas-Garcia, Cesar A.; Antunes, Duarte; Singh, Abhyudai

    2016-01-01

    Inside individual cells, expression of genes is inherently stochastic and manifests as cell-to-cell variability or noise in protein copy numbers. Since proteins half-lives can be comparable to the cell-cycle length, randomness in cell-division times generates additional intercellular variability in protein levels. Moreover, as many mRNA/protein species are expressed at low-copy numbers, errors incurred in partitioning of molecules between two daughter cells are significant. We derive analytical formulas for the total noise in protein levels when the cell-cycle duration follows a general class of probability distributions. Using a novel hybrid approach the total noise is decomposed into components arising from i) stochastic expression; ii) partitioning errors at the time of cell division and iii) random cell-division events. These formulas reveal that random cell-division times not only generate additional extrinsic noise, but also critically affect the mean protein copy numbers and intrinsic noise components. Counter intuitively, in some parameter regimes, noise in protein levels can decrease as cell-division times become more stochastic. Computations are extended to consider genome duplication, where transcription rate is increased at a random point in the cell cycle. We systematically investigate how the timing of genome duplication influences different protein noise components. Intriguingly, results show that noise contribution from stochastic expression is minimized at an optimal genome-duplication time. Our theoretical results motivate new experimental methods for decomposing protein noise levels from synchronized and asynchronized single-cell expression data. Characterizing the contributions of individual noise mechanisms will lead to precise estimates of gene expression parameters and techniques for altering stochasticity to change phenotype of individual cells. PMID:27536771

  19. Preparation of an oakmoss absolute with reduced allergenic potential.

    PubMed

    Ehret, C; Maupetit, P; Petrzilka, M; Klecak, G

    1992-06-01

    Synopsis Oakmoss absolute, an extract of the lichen Evernia prunastri, is known to cause allergenic skin reactions due to the presence of certain aromatic aldehydes such as atranorin, chloratranorin, ethyl hematommate and ethyl chlorohematommate. In this paper it is shown that treatment of Oakmoss absolute with amino acids such as lysine and/or leucine, lowers considerably the content of these allergenic constituents including atranol and chloratranol. The resulting Oakmoss absolute, which exhibits an excellent olfactive quality, was tested extensively in comparative studies on guinea pigs and on man. The results of the Guinea Pig Maximization Test (GPMT) and Human Repeated Insult Patch Test (HRIPT) indicate that, in comparison with the commercial test sample, the allergenicity of this new quality of Oakmoss absolute was considerably reduced, and consequently better skin tolerance of this fragrance for man was achieved.

  20. Physics of negative absolute temperatures.

    PubMed

    Abraham, Eitan; Penrose, Oliver

    2017-01-01

    Negative absolute temperatures were introduced into experimental physics by Purcell and Pound, who successfully applied this concept to nuclear spins; nevertheless, the concept has proved controversial: a recent article aroused considerable interest by its claim, based on a classical entropy formula (the "volume entropy") due to Gibbs, that negative temperatures violated basic principles of statistical thermodynamics. Here we give a thermodynamic analysis that confirms the negative-temperature interpretation of the Purcell-Pound experiments. We also examine the principal arguments that have been advanced against the negative temperature concept; we find that these arguments are not logically compelling, and moreover that the underlying "volume" entropy formula leads to predictions inconsistent with existing experimental results on nuclear spins. We conclude that, despite the counterarguments, negative absolute temperatures make good theoretical sense and did occur in the experiments designed to produce them.

  1. The genetic architecture of gene expression levels in wild baboons.

    PubMed

    Tung, Jenny; Zhou, Xiang; Alberts, Susan C; Stephens, Matthew; Gilad, Yoav

    2015-02-25

    Primate evolution has been argued to result, in part, from changes in how genes are regulated. However, we still know little about gene regulation in natural primate populations. We conducted an RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)-based study of baboons from an intensively studied wild population. We performed complementary expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping and allele-specific expression analyses, discovering substantial evidence for, and surprising power to detect, genetic effects on gene expression levels in the baboons. eQTL were most likely to be identified for lineage-specific, rapidly evolving genes; interestingly, genes with eQTL significantly overlapped between baboons and a comparable human eQTL data set. Our results suggest that genes vary in their tolerance of genetic perturbation, and that this property may be conserved across species. Further, they establish the feasibility of eQTL mapping using RNA-seq data alone, and represent an important step towards understanding the genetic architecture of gene expression in primates.

  2. PanGEA: identification of allele specific gene expression using the 454 technology.

    PubMed

    Kofler, Robert; Teixeira Torres, Tatiana; Lelley, Tamas; Schlötterer, Christian

    2009-05-14

    Next generation sequencing technologies hold great potential for many biological questions. While mainly used for genomic sequencing, they are also very promising for gene expression profiling. Sequencing of cDNA does not only provide an estimate of the absolute expression level, it can also be used for the identification of allele specific gene expression. We developed PanGEA, a tool which enables a fast and user-friendly analysis of allele specific gene expression using the 454 technology. PanGEA allows mapping of 454-ESTs to genes or whole genomes, displaying gene expression profiles, identification of SNPs and the quantification of allele specific gene expression. The intuitive GUI of PanGEA facilitates a flexible and interactive analysis of the data. PanGEA additionally implements a modification of the Smith-Waterman algorithm which deals with incorrect estimates of homopolymer length as occuring in the 454 technology To our knowledge, PanGEA is the first tool which facilitates the identification of allele specific gene expression. PanGEA is distributed under the Mozilla Public License and available at: http://www.kofler.or.at/bioinformatics/PanGEA

  3. PanGEA: Identification of allele specific gene expression using the 454 technology

    PubMed Central

    Kofler, Robert; Teixeira Torres, Tatiana; Lelley, Tamas; Schlötterer, Christian

    2009-01-01

    Background Next generation sequencing technologies hold great potential for many biological questions. While mainly used for genomic sequencing, they are also very promising for gene expression profiling. Sequencing of cDNA does not only provide an estimate of the absolute expression level, it can also be used for the identification of allele specific gene expression. Results We developed PanGEA, a tool which enables a fast and user-friendly analysis of allele specific gene expression using the 454 technology. PanGEA allows mapping of 454-ESTs to genes or whole genomes, displaying gene expression profiles, identification of SNPs and the quantification of allele specific gene expression. The intuitive GUI of PanGEA facilitates a flexible and interactive analysis of the data. PanGEA additionally implements a modification of the Smith-Waterman algorithm which deals with incorrect estimates of homopolymer length as occuring in the 454 technology Conclusion To our knowledge, PanGEA is the first tool which facilitates the identification of allele specific gene expression. PanGEA is distributed under the Mozilla Public License and available at: PMID:19442283

  4. RNA-Seq workflow: gene-level exploratory analysis and differential expression

    PubMed Central

    Love, Michael I.; Anders, Simon; Kim, Vladislav; Huber, Wolfgang

    2015-01-01

    Here we walk through an end-to-end gene-level RNA-Seq differential expression workflow using Bioconductor packages. We will start from the FASTQ files, show how these were aligned to the reference genome, and prepare a count matrix which tallies the number of RNA-seq reads/fragments within each gene for each sample. We will perform exploratory data analysis (EDA) for quality assessment and to explore the relationship between samples, perform differential gene expression analysis, and visually explore the results. PMID:26674615

  5. Using continuous GPS and absolute gravity to separate vertical land movements and changes in sea-level at tide-gauges in the UK.

    PubMed

    Teferle, F N; Bingley, R M; Williams, S D P; Baker, T F; Dodson, A H

    2006-04-15

    Researchers investigating climate change have used historical tide-gauge measurements from all over the world to investigate the changes in sea-level that have occurred over the last century or so. However, such estimates are a combination of any true sea-level variations and any vertical movements of the land at the specific tide-gauge. For a tide- gauge record to be used to determine the climate related component of changes in sea-level, it is therefore necessary to correct for the vertical land movement component of the observed change in sea-level.In 1990, the Institute of Engineering Surveying and Space Geodesy and Proudman Oceanographic Laboratory started developing techniques based on the Global Positioning System (GPS) for measuring vertical land movements (VLM) at tide-gauges in the UK. This paper provides brief details of these early developments and shows how they led to the establishment of continuous GPS (CGPS) stations at a number of tide-gauges. The paper then goes on to discuss the use of absolute gravity (AG), as an independent technique for measuring VLM at tide-gauges. The most recent results, from CGPS time-series dating back to 1997 and AG time-series dating back to 1995/1996, are then used to demonstrate the complementarity of these two techniques and their potential for providing site-specific estimates of VLM at tide-gauges in the UK.

  6. Low-level lasers affect uncoupling protein gene expression in skin and skeletal muscle tissues

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Canuto, K. S.; Sergio, L. P. S.; Paoli, F.; Mencalha, A. L.; Fonseca, A. S.

    2016-03-01

    Wavelength, frequency, power, fluence, and emission mode determine the photophysical, photochemical, and photobiological responses of biological tissues to low-level lasers. Free radicals are involved in these responses acting as second messengers in intracellular signaling processes. Irradiated cells present defenses against these chemical species to avoid unwanted effects, such as uncoupling proteins (UCPs), which are part of protective mechanisms and minimize the effects of free radical generation in mitochondria. In this work UCP2 and UCP3 mRNA gene relative expression in the skin and skeletal muscle tissues of Wistar rats exposed to low-level red and infrared lasers was evaluated. Samples of the skin and skeletal muscle tissue of Wistar rats exposed to low-level red and infrared lasers were withdrawn for total RNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, and the evaluation of gene expression by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. UCP2 and UCP3 mRNA expression was differently altered in skin and skeletal muscle tissues exposed to lasers in a wavelength-dependent effect, with the UCP3 mRNA expression dose-dependent. Alteration on UCP gene expression could be part of the biostimulation effect and is necessary to make cells exposed to red and infrared low-level lasers more resistant or capable of adapting in damaged tissues or diseases.

  7. Absolute gravimetry for monitoring geodynamics in Greenland.

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsen, E.; Strykowski, G.; Forsberg, R.

    2015-12-01

    Here are presented the preliminary results of the absolute gravity measurements done in Greenland by DTU Space with their A10 absolute gravimeter (the A10-019). The purpose, besides establishing and maintaining a national gravity network, is to study geodynamics.The absolute gravity measurements are juxtaposed with the permanent GNET GNSS stations. The first measurements were conducted in 2009 and a few sites have been re-visited. As of present is there a gravity value at 18 GNET sites.There are challenges in interpreting the measurements from Greenland and several signals has to be taken into account, besides the geodynamical signals originating from the changing load of the ice, there is also a clear signal of direct attraction from different masses. Here are presented the preliminary results of our measurements in Greenland and attempts explain them through modelling of the geodynamical signals and the direct attraction from the ocean and ice.

  8. GRIN2A polymorphisms and expression levels are associated with lead-induced neurotoxicity.

    PubMed

    Wu, Yu; Wang, Yiqing; Wang, Miaomiao; Sun, Na; Li, Chunping

    2017-04-01

    Lead acts as an antagonist of the N-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR). GRIN2A encodes an important subunit of NMDARs and may be a critical factor in the mechanism of lead neurotoxicity. Changes in GRIN2A expression levels or gene variants may be mechanisms of lead-induced neurotoxicity. In this study, we hypothesized that GRIN2A might contribute to lead-induced neurotoxicity. A preliminary HEK293 cell experiment was performed to analyze the association between GRIN2A expression and lead exposure. In addition, in a population-based study, serum GRIN2A levels were measured in both lead-exposed and control populations. To detect further the influence of GRIN2A gene single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in lead-induced neurotoxicity, 3 tag SNPs (rs2650429, rs6497540, and rs9302415) were genotyped in a case-control study that included 399 lead-exposed subjects and 398 controls. Lead exposure decreased GRIN2A expression levels in HEK293 cells ( p < 0.001) compared with lead-free cells. Lead-exposed individuals had lower serum GRIN2A levels compared with controls ( p < 0.001), and we found a trend of decreasing GRIN2A level with an increase in blood lead level ( p < 0.001). In addition, we found a significant association between rs2650429 CT and TT genotypes and risk of lead poisoning compared with the rs2650429 CC genotype (adjusted odds ratio = 1.42, 95% confidence interval = 1.01-2.00]. Therefore, changes in GRIN2A expression levels and variants may be important mechanisms in the development of lead-induced neurotoxicity.

  9. Strongly nonlinear theory of rapid solidification near absolute stability

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kowal, Katarzyna N.; Altieri, Anthony L.; Davis, Stephen H.

    2017-10-01

    We investigate the nonlinear evolution of the morphological deformation of a solid-liquid interface of a binary melt under rapid solidification conditions near two absolute stability limits. The first of these involves the complete stabilization of the system to cellular instabilities as a result of large enough surface energy. We derive nonlinear evolution equations in several limits in this scenario and investigate the effect of interfacial disequilibrium on the nonlinear deformations that arise. In contrast to the morphological stability problem in equilibrium, in which only cellular instabilities appear and only one absolute stability boundary exists, in disequilibrium the system is prone to oscillatory instabilities and a second absolute stability boundary involving attachment kinetics arises. Large enough attachment kinetics stabilize the oscillatory instabilities. We derive a nonlinear evolution equation to describe the nonlinear development of the solid-liquid interface near this oscillatory absolute stability limit. We find that strong asymmetries develop with time. For uniform oscillations, the evolution equation for the interface reduces to the simple form f''+(βf')2+f =0 , where β is the disequilibrium parameter. Lastly, we investigate a distinguished limit near both absolute stability limits in which the system is prone to both cellular and oscillatory instabilities and derive a nonlinear evolution equation that captures the nonlinear deformations in this limit. Common to all these scenarios is the emergence of larger asymmetries in the resulting shapes of the solid-liquid interface with greater departures from equilibrium and larger morphological numbers. The disturbances additionally sharpen near the oscillatory absolute stability boundary, where the interface becomes deep-rooted. The oscillations are time-periodic only for small-enough initial amplitudes and their frequency depends on a single combination of physical parameters, including the

  10. Combination treatment with 6-mercaptopurine and allopurinol in HepG2 and HEK293 cells - Effects on gene expression levels and thiopurine metabolism.

    PubMed

    Haglund, Sofie; Vikingsson, Svante; Almer, Sven; Söderman, Jan

    2017-01-01

    Combination treatment with low-dose thiopurine and allopurinol (AP) has successfully been used in patients with inflammatory bowel disease with a so called skewed thiopurine metabolite profile. In red blood cells in vivo, it reduces the concentration of methylated metabolites and increases the concentration of the phosphorylated ones, which is associated with improved therapeutic efficacy. This study aimed to investigate the largely unknown mechanism of AP on thiopurine metabolism in cells with an active thiopurine metabolic pathway using HepG2 and HEK293 cells. Cells were treated with 6-mercaptopurine (6MP) and AP or its metabolite oxypurinol. The expression of genes known to be associated with thiopurine metabolism, and the concentration of thiopurine metabolites were analyzed. Gene expression levels were only affected by AP in the presence of 6MP. The addition of AP to 6MP affected the expression of in total 19 genes in the two cell lines. In both cell lines the expression of the transporter SLC29A2 was reduced by the combined treatment. Six regulated genes in HepG2 cells and 8 regulated genes in HEK293 cells were connected to networks with 18 and 35 genes, respectively, present at known susceptibility loci for inflammatory bowel disease, when analyzed using a protein-protein interaction database. The genes identified as regulated as well as the disease associated interacting genes represent new candidates for further investigation in the context of combination therapy with thiopurines and AP. However, no differences in absolute metabolite concentrations were observed between 6MP+AP or 6MP+oxypurinol vs. 6MP alone in either of the two cell lines. In conclusion; the effect of AP on gene expression levels requires the presence of 6MP, at least in vitro. Previously described AP-effects on metabolite concentrations observed in red blood cells in vivo could not be reproduced in our cell lines in vitro. AP's effects in relation to thiopurine metabolism are complex

  11. An inducible expression system for high-level expression of recombinant proteins in slow growing mycobacteria.

    PubMed

    Leotta, Lisa; Spratt, Joanne M; Kong, Carlyn U; Triccas, James A

    2015-09-01

    A novel protein expression vector utilising the inducible hspX promoter of Mycobacterium tuberculosis was constructed and evaluated in this study. High-level induction of three mycobacterial antigens, comprising up to 9% of bacterial sonicate, was demonstrated in recombinant Mycobacterium bovis BCG when grown under low-oxygen tension, which serves to enhance hspX promoter activity. Recombinant proteins were efficiently purified from bacterial lysates in a soluble form by virtue of a C-terminal 6-histidine tag. Purification of the immunodominant M. tuberculosis Ag85B antigen using this system resulted in a recombinant protein that stimulated significant IFN-γ release from Ag85B-reactive T cells generated after vaccination of mice with an Ag85B-expressing vaccine. Further, the M. tuberculosis L-alanine dehydrogenase (Ald) protein purified from recombinant BCG displayed strong enzymatic activity in recombinant form. This study demonstrated that high levels of native-like recombinant mycobacterial proteins can be produced in mycobacterial hosts, and this may aid the analysis of mycobacterial protein function and the development of new treatments. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  12. Absolute far-ultraviolet spectrophotometry of hot subluminous stars from Voyager

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Holberg, J. B.; Ali, B.; Carone, T. E.; Polidan, R. S.

    1991-01-01

    Observations, obtained with the Voyager ultraviolet spectrometers, are presented of absolute fluxes for two well-known hot subluminous stars: BD + 28 deg 4211, an sdO, and G191 - B2B, a hot DA white dwarf. Complete absolute energy distributions for these two stars, from the Lyman limit at 912 A to 1 micron, are given. For BD + 28 deg 4211, a single power law closely represents the entire observed energy distribution. For G191 - B2B, a pure hydrogen model atmosphere provides an excellent match to the entire absolute energy distribution. Voyager absolute fluxes are discussed in relation to those reported from various sounding rocket experiments, including a recent rocket observation of BD + 28 deg 4211.

  13. Reduced expression levels of PTEN are associated with decreased sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib.

    PubMed

    Zhai, Yang; Zhang, Yanjun; Nan, Kejun; Liang, Xuan

    2017-05-01

    The clinical resistance of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has been linked to EGFR T790M resistance mutations or MET amplifications. Additional mechanisms underlying EGFR-TKI drug resistance remain unclear. The present study demonstrated that icotinib significantly inhibited the proliferation and increased the apoptosis rate of HCC827 cells; the cellular mRNA and protein expression levels of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) were also significantly downregulated. To investigate the effect of PTEN expression levels on the sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib, PTEN expression was silenced using a PTEN-specific small interfering RNA. The current study identified that the downregulation of PTEN expression levels may promote cellular proliferation in addition to decreasing the apoptosis of HCC827 cells, and may reduce the sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib. These results suggested that reduced PTEN expression levels were associated with the decreased sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib. Furthermore, PTEN expression levels may be a useful marker for predicting icotinib resistance and elucidating the resistance mechanisms underlying EGFR-mutated NSCLC.

  14. Reduced expression levels of PTEN are associated with decreased sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib

    PubMed Central

    Zhai, Yang; Zhang, Yanjun; Nan, Kejun; Liang, Xuan

    2017-01-01

    The clinical resistance of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) to epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) has been linked to EGFR T790M resistance mutations or MET amplifications. Additional mechanisms underlying EGFR-TKI drug resistance remain unclear. The present study demonstrated that icotinib significantly inhibited the proliferation and increased the apoptosis rate of HCC827 cells; the cellular mRNA and protein expression levels of phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN) were also significantly downregulated. To investigate the effect of PTEN expression levels on the sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib, PTEN expression was silenced using a PTEN-specific small interfering RNA. The current study identified that the downregulation of PTEN expression levels may promote cellular proliferation in addition to decreasing the apoptosis of HCC827 cells, and may reduce the sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib. These results suggested that reduced PTEN expression levels were associated with the decreased sensitivity of HCC827 cells to icotinib. Furthermore, PTEN expression levels may be a useful marker for predicting icotinib resistance and elucidating the resistance mechanisms underlying EGFR-mutated NSCLC. PMID:28521430

  15. Absolute Calibration of Si iRMs used for Si Paleo-nutrient proxies

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Vocke, Robert; Rabb, Savelas

    2016-04-01

    The Avogadro Project is an ongoing international effort, coordinated by the International Bureau of Weights and Measures (BIPM) and the International Avogadro Coordination (IAC) to redefine the SI unit mole in terms of the Avogadro constant and the SI unit kg in terms of the Planck constant. One of the outgrowths of this effort has been the development of a novel, precise and highly accurate method to measure calibrated (absolute) isotopic ratios that are traceable to the SI (Vocke et al., 2014 Metrologia 51, 361, Azuma et al., 2015 Metrologia 52 360). This approach has also been able to produce absolute Si isotope ratio data with lower levels of uncertainty when compared to the traditional "Atomic Weights" method of absolute isotope ratio measurement. Silicon isotope variations (reported as delta(Si30)and delta(Si29)) in silicic acid dissolved in ocean waters, in biogenic silica and in diatoms are extremely informative paleo-nutrient proxies. The utility and comparability of such measurements however depends on calibration with artifact isotopic Reference Materials (iRMs). We will be reporting new measurements on the iRMs NBS-28 (RM 8546 - Silica Sand), Diatomite, Big Batch and SRM 990 using the Avogadro measurement approach, comparing them with prior assessments of these iRMs.

  16. Robust control design with real parameter uncertainty using absolute stability theory. Ph.D. Thesis

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    How, Jonathan P.; Hall, Steven R.

    1993-01-01

    The purpose of this thesis is to investigate an extension of mu theory for robust control design by considering systems with linear and nonlinear real parameter uncertainties. In the process, explicit connections are made between mixed mu and absolute stability theory. In particular, it is shown that the upper bounds for mixed mu are a generalization of results from absolute stability theory. Both state space and frequency domain criteria are developed for several nonlinearities and stability multipliers using the wealth of literature on absolute stability theory and the concepts of supply rates and storage functions. The state space conditions are expressed in terms of Riccati equations and parameter-dependent Lyapunov functions. For controller synthesis, these stability conditions are used to form an overbound of the H2 performance objective. A geometric interpretation of the equivalent frequency domain criteria in terms of off-axis circles clarifies the important role of the multiplier and shows that both the magnitude and phase of the uncertainty are considered. A numerical algorithm is developed to design robust controllers that minimize the bound on an H2 cost functional and satisfy an analysis test based on the Popov stability multiplier. The controller and multiplier coefficients are optimized simultaneously, which avoids the iteration and curve-fitting procedures required by the D-K procedure of mu synthesis. Several benchmark problems and experiments on the Middeck Active Control Experiment at M.I.T. demonstrate that these controllers achieve good robust performance and guaranteed stability bounds.

  17. From Hubble's NGSL to Absolute Fluxes

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Heap, Sara R.; Lindler, Don

    2012-01-01

    Hubble's Next Generation Spectral Library (NGSL) consists of R-l000 spectra of 374 stars of assorted temperature, gravity, and metallicity. Each spectrum covers the wavelength range, 0.18-1.00 microns. The library can be viewed and/or downloaded from the website, http://archive.stsci.edu/prepds/stisngsll. Stars in the NGSL are now being used as absolute flux standards at ground-based observatories. However, the uncertainty in the absolute flux is about 2%, which does not meet the requirements of dark-energy surveys. We are therefore developing an observing procedure that should yield fluxes with uncertainties less than 1 % and will take part in an HST proposal to observe up to 15 stars using this new procedure.

  18. The use of absolute gravity data for the validation of Global Geopotential Models and for improving quasigeoid heights determined from satellite-only Global Geopotential Models

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Godah, Walyeldeen; Krynski, Jan; Szelachowska, Malgorzata

    2018-05-01

    The objective of this paper is to demonstrate the usefulness of absolute gravity data for the validation of Global Geopotential Models (GGMs). It is also aimed at improving quasigeoid heights determined from satellite-only GGMs using absolute gravity data. The area of Poland, as a unique one, covered with a homogeneously distributed set of absolute gravity data, has been selected as a study area. The gravity anomalies obtained from GGMs were validated using the corresponding ones determined from absolute gravity data. The spectral enhancement method was implemented to overcome the spectral inconsistency in data being validated. The quasigeoid heights obtained from the satellite-only GGM as well as from the satellite-only GGM in combination with absolute gravity data were evaluated with high accuracy GNSS/levelling data. Estimated accuracy of gravity anomalies obtained from GGMs investigated is of 1.7 mGal. Considering omitted gravity signal, e.g. from degree and order 101 to 2190, satellite-only GGMs can be validated at the accuracy level of 1 mGal using absolute gravity data. An improvement up to 59% in the accuracy of quasigeoid heights obtained from the satellite-only GGM can be observed when combining the satellite-only GGM with absolute gravity data.

  19. Cytogenetic, cytotoxic and GC-MS studies on concrete and absolute oils from Taif rose, Saudi Arabia.

    PubMed

    Hagag, Heba A; Bazaid, Salih A; Abdel-Hameed, El-Sayed S; Salman, Mahmood

    2014-12-01

    Taif rose (Rosa damascena trigintipetala Dieck) is a sort of damask rose, which is considered as one of the most important economic products of Taif. In this study, the authors investigated the possible cytotoxic, genotoxic, antimutagenic and anticancer effect of concrete and absolute rose oils. The results showed that both concrete and absolute rose oils were cytotoxically and genotoxically safe at a dose of 10 μg/ml when tested on cultures of normal human blood lymphocytes. Also, the results showed significant antimutagenic activity at p < 0.001 for absolute rose oil at the same dose level when tested on cultures of normal human blood lymphocytes supplemented with 300 ng/ml mitomycin C (MMC). On the other hand, concrete and absolute oils exerted a cytotoxic activity against two kinds of human cancer cell lines: HepG2 and MCF7. Concrete oil showed cytotoxic activity against HepG2 and MCF7 with a half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) of 16.28 and 18.09 μg/ml, respectively, whereas absolute rose oil showed its cytotoxic activity against HepG2 and MCF7 with an IC50 of 24.94 and 19.69, respectively. From this study, it is concluded that concrete and absolute rose oils are cytotoxically and genotoxically safe at a dose of 10 μg/ml when tested on cultures of normal human blood lymphocytes. In addition, absolute oil has an antimutagenic activity at the same dose. Further investigations are needed to study the activity of higher doses of both oils in vitro and in vivo in experimental animals in order to evaluate the capability of using these oils as therapeutic for treatment of some kinds of cancers.

  20. Absolute calibration of optical flats

    DOEpatents

    Sommargren, Gary E.

    2005-04-05

    The invention uses the phase shifting diffraction interferometer (PSDI) to provide a true point-by-point measurement of absolute flatness over the surface of optical flats. Beams exiting the fiber optics in a PSDI have perfect spherical wavefronts. The measurement beam is reflected from the optical flat and passed through an auxiliary optic to then be combined with the reference beam on a CCD. The combined beams include phase errors due to both the optic under test and the auxiliary optic. Standard phase extraction algorithms are used to calculate this combined phase error. The optical flat is then removed from the system and the measurement fiber is moved to recombine the two beams. The newly combined beams include only the phase errors due to the auxiliary optic. When the second phase measurement is subtracted from the first phase measurement, the absolute phase error of the optical flat is obtained.

  1. Absolute counting of neutrophils in whole blood using flow cytometry.

    PubMed

    Brunck, Marion E G; Andersen, Stacey B; Timmins, Nicholas E; Osborne, Geoffrey W; Nielsen, Lars K

    2014-12-01

    Absolute neutrophil count (ANC) is used clinically to monitor physiological dysfunctions such as myelosuppression or infection. In the research laboratory, ANC is a valuable measure to monitor the evolution of a wide range of disease states in disease models. Flow cytometry (FCM) is a fast, widely used approach to confidently identify thousands of cells within minutes. FCM can be optimised for absolute counting using spiked-in beads or by measuring the sample volume analysed. Here we combine the 1A8 antibody, specific for the mouse granulocyte protein Ly6G, with flow cytometric counting in straightforward FCM assays for mouse ANC, easily implementable in the research laboratory. Volumetric and Trucount™ bead assays were optimized for mouse neutrophils, and ANC values obtained with these protocols were compared to ANC measured by a dual-platform assay using the Orphee Mythic 18 veterinary haematology analyser. The single platform assays were more precise with decreased intra-assay variability compared with ANC obtained using the dual protocol. Defining ANC based on Ly6G expression produces a 15% higher estimate than the dual protocol. Allowing for this difference in ANC definition, the flow cytometry counting assays using Ly6G can be used reliably in the research laboratory to quantify mouse ANC from a small volume of blood. We demonstrate the utility of the volumetric protocol in a time-course study of chemotherapy induced neutropenia using four drug regimens. © 2014 International Society for Advancement of Cytometry.

  2. Effects of nutritional level of concentrate-based diets on meat quality and expression levels of genes related to meat quality in Hainan black goats.

    PubMed

    Wang, Dingfa; Zhou, Luli; Zhou, Hanlin; Hou, Guanyu; Shi, Liguang; Li, Mao; Huang, Xianzhou; Guan, Song

    2015-02-01

    The present study investigated the effects of the nutritional levels of diets on meat quality and related gene expression in Hainan black goat. Twenty-four goats were divided into six dietary treatments and were fed a concentrate-based diet with two levels of crude protein (CP) (15% or 17%) and three levels of digestive energy (DE) (11.72, 12.55 or 13.39 MJ/kg DM) for 90 days. Goats fed the concentrate-based diet with 17% CP had significantly (P < 0.05) higher average daily gains (ADG) and better feed conversion rates (FCR). The pH 24h value tended to decrease (P < 0.05) with increasing DE levels. The tenderness of Longissimus dorsi muscle (LD) and Semimembranosus muscle (SM) reduced with increasing CP levels (P < 0.05). With increasing DE levels, tenderness was increased (P < 0.05). The heart fatty acid-binding protein (H-FABP) mRNA expression levels in LD and SM increased with increasing DE levels (P < 0.05), but decreased with increasing CP levels (P < 0.05). The calpastatin (CAST) and μ-calpain mRNA expressions levels in LD and SM were affected significantly (P < 0.05) by CP and DE levels in the diet. Therefore, the nutritional levels of diets affect meat quality and expression levels of genes associated with meat quality in Hainan black goats. © 2014 Japanese Society of Animal Science.

  3. Absolute pitch among American and Chinese conservatory students: prevalence differences, and evidence for a speech-related critical period.

    PubMed

    Deutsch, Diana; Henthorn, Trevor; Marvin, Elizabeth; Xu, HongShuai

    2006-02-01

    Absolute pitch is extremely rare in the U.S. and Europe; this rarity has so far been unexplained. This paper reports a substantial difference in the prevalence of absolute pitch in two normal populations, in a large-scale study employing an on-site test, without self-selection from within the target populations. Music conservatory students in the U.S. and China were tested. The Chinese subjects spoke the tone language Mandarin, in which pitch is involved in conveying the meaning of words. The American subjects were nontone language speakers. The earlier the age of onset of musical training, the greater the prevalence of absolute pitch; however, its prevalence was far greater among the Chinese than the U.S. students for each level of age of onset of musical training. The findings suggest that the potential for acquiring absolute pitch may be universal, and may be realized by enabling infants to associate pitches with verbal labels during the critical period for acquisition of features of their native language.

  4. Accessibility of Nitroxide Side Chains: Absolute Heisenberg Exchange Rates from Power Saturation EPR

    PubMed Central

    Altenbach, Christian; Froncisz, Wojciech; Hemker, Roy; Mchaourab, Hassane; Hubbell, Wayne L.

    2005-01-01

    In site-directed spin labeling, the relative solvent accessibility of spin-labeled side chains is taken to be proportional to the Heisenberg exchange rate (Wex) of the nitroxide with a paramagnetic reagent in solution. In turn, relative values of Wex are determined by continuous wave power saturation methods and expressed as a proportional and dimensionless parameter Π. In the experiments presented here, NiEDDA is characterized as a paramagnetic reagent for solvent accessibility studies, and it is shown that absolute values of Wex can be determined from Π, and that the proportionality constant relating them is independent of the paramagnetic reagent and mobility of the nitroxide. Based on absolute exchange rates, an accessibility factor is defined (0 < ρ < 1) that serves as a quantitative measure of side-chain solvent accessibility. The accessibility factors for a nitroxide side chain at 14 different sites in T4 lysozyme are shown to correlate with a structure-based accessibility parameter derived from the crystal structure of the protein. These results provide a useful means for relating crystallographic and site-directed spin labeling data, and hence comparing crystal and solution structures. PMID:15994891

  5. Integrated Navigation System Design for Micro Planetary Rovers: Comparison of Absolute Heading Estimation Algorithms and Nonlinear Filtering

    PubMed Central

    Ilyas, Muhammad; Hong, Beomjin; Cho, Kuk; Baeg, Seung-Ho; Park, Sangdeok

    2016-01-01

    This paper provides algorithms to fuse relative and absolute microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) navigation sensors, suitable for micro planetary rovers, to provide a more accurate estimation of navigation information, specifically, attitude and position. Planetary rovers have extremely slow speed (~1 cm/s) and lack conventional navigation sensors/systems, hence the general methods of terrestrial navigation may not be applicable to these applications. While relative attitude and position can be tracked in a way similar to those for ground robots, absolute navigation information is hard to achieve on a remote celestial body, like Moon or Mars, in contrast to terrestrial applications. In this study, two absolute attitude estimation algorithms were developed and compared for accuracy and robustness. The estimated absolute attitude was fused with the relative attitude sensors in a framework of nonlinear filters. The nonlinear Extended Kalman filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) were compared in pursuit of better accuracy and reliability in this nonlinear estimation problem, using only on-board low cost MEMS sensors. Experimental results confirmed the viability of the proposed algorithms and the sensor suite, for low cost and low weight micro planetary rovers. It is demonstrated that integrating the relative and absolute navigation MEMS sensors reduces the navigation errors to the desired level. PMID:27223293

  6. Integrated Navigation System Design for Micro Planetary Rovers: Comparison of Absolute Heading Estimation Algorithms and Nonlinear Filtering.

    PubMed

    Ilyas, Muhammad; Hong, Beomjin; Cho, Kuk; Baeg, Seung-Ho; Park, Sangdeok

    2016-05-23

    This paper provides algorithms to fuse relative and absolute microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) navigation sensors, suitable for micro planetary rovers, to provide a more accurate estimation of navigation information, specifically, attitude and position. Planetary rovers have extremely slow speed (~1 cm/s) and lack conventional navigation sensors/systems, hence the general methods of terrestrial navigation may not be applicable to these applications. While relative attitude and position can be tracked in a way similar to those for ground robots, absolute navigation information is hard to achieve on a remote celestial body, like Moon or Mars, in contrast to terrestrial applications. In this study, two absolute attitude estimation algorithms were developed and compared for accuracy and robustness. The estimated absolute attitude was fused with the relative attitude sensors in a framework of nonlinear filters. The nonlinear Extended Kalman filter (EKF) and Unscented Kalman filter (UKF) were compared in pursuit of better accuracy and reliability in this nonlinear estimation problem, using only on-board low cost MEMS sensors. Experimental results confirmed the viability of the proposed algorithms and the sensor suite, for low cost and low weight micro planetary rovers. It is demonstrated that integrating the relative and absolute navigation MEMS sensors reduces the navigation errors to the desired level.

  7. Absolute measurements of large mirrors

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Su, Peng

    The ability to produce mirrors for large astronomical telescopes is limited by the accuracy of the systems used to test the surfaces of such mirrors. Typically the mirror surfaces are measured by comparing their actual shapes to a precision master, which may be created using combinations of mirrors, lenses, and holograms. The work presented here develops several optical testing techniques that do not rely on a large or expensive precision, master reference surface. In a sense these techniques provide absolute optical testing. The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT) has been designed with a 350 m 2 collecting area provided by a 25 m diameter primary mirror made out from seven circular independent mirror segments. These segments create an equivalent f/0.7 paraboloidal primary mirror consisting of a central segment and six outer segments. Each of the outer segments is 8.4 m in diameter and has an off-axis aspheric shape departing 14.5 mm from the best-fitting sphere. Much of the work in this dissertation is motivated by the need to measure the surfaces or such large mirrors accurately, without relying on a large or expensive precision reference surface. One method for absolute testing describing in this dissertation uses multiple measurements relative to a reference surface that is located in different positions with respect to the test surface of interest. The test measurements are performed with an algorithm that is based on the maximum likelihood (ML) method. Some methodologies for measuring large flat surfaces in the 2 m diameter range and for measuring the GMT primary mirror segments were specifically developed. For example, the optical figure of a 1.6-m flat mirror was determined to 2 nm rms accuracy using multiple 1-meter sub-aperture measurements. The optical figure of the reference surface used in the 1-meter sub-aperture measurements was also determined to the 2 nm level. The optical test methodology for a 1.7-m off axis parabola was evaluated by moving several

  8. Probative value of absolute and relative judgments in eyewitness identification.

    PubMed

    Clark, Steven E; Erickson, Michael A; Breneman, Jesse

    2011-10-01

    It is well-accepted that eyewitness identification decisions based on relative judgments are less accurate than identification decisions based on absolute judgments. However, the theoretical foundation for this view has not been established. In this study relative and absolute judgments were compared through simulations of the WITNESS model (Clark, Appl Cogn Psychol 17:629-654, 2003) to address the question: Do suspect identifications based on absolute judgments have higher probative value than suspect identifications based on relative judgments? Simulations of the WITNESS model showed a consistent advantage for absolute judgments over relative judgments for suspect-matched lineups. However, simulations of same-foils lineups showed a complex interaction based on the accuracy of memory and the similarity relationships among lineup members.

  9. Counting the Photons: Determining the Absolute Storage Capacity of Persistent Phosphors

    PubMed Central

    Rodríguez Burbano, Diana C.; Capobianco, John A.

    2017-01-01

    The performance of a persistent phosphor is often determined by comparing luminance decay curves, expressed in cd/m2. However, these photometric units do not enable a straightforward, objective comparison between different phosphors in terms of the total number of emitted photons, as these units are dependent on the emission spectrum of the phosphor. This may lead to incorrect conclusions regarding the storage capacity of the phosphor. An alternative and convenient technique of characterizing the performance of a phosphor was developed on the basis of the absolute storage capacity of phosphors. In this technique, the phosphor is incorporated in a transparent polymer and the measured afterglow is converted into an absolute number of emitted photons, effectively quantifying the amount of energy that can be stored in the material. This method was applied to the benchmark phosphor SrAl2O4:Eu,Dy and to the nano-sized phosphor CaS:Eu. The results indicated that only a fraction of the Eu ions (around 1.6% in the case of SrAl2O4:Eu,Dy) participated in the energy storage process, which is in line with earlier reports based on X-ray absorption spectroscopy. These findings imply that there is still a significant margin for improving the storage capacity of persistent phosphors. PMID:28773228

  10. Determination of Absolute Zero Using a Computer-Based Laboratory

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Amrani, D.

    2007-01-01

    We present a simple computer-based laboratory experiment for evaluating absolute zero in degrees Celsius, which can be performed in college and undergraduate physical sciences laboratory courses. With a computer, absolute zero apparatus can help demonstrators or students to observe the relationship between temperature and pressure and use…

  11. Using Poisson mixed-effects model to quantify transcript-level gene expression in RNA-Seq.

    PubMed

    Hu, Ming; Zhu, Yu; Taylor, Jeremy M G; Liu, Jun S; Qin, Zhaohui S

    2012-01-01

    RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) is a powerful new technology for mapping and quantifying transcriptomes using ultra high-throughput next-generation sequencing technologies. Using deep sequencing, gene expression levels of all transcripts including novel ones can be quantified digitally. Although extremely promising, the massive amounts of data generated by RNA-Seq, substantial biases and uncertainty in short read alignment pose challenges for data analysis. In particular, large base-specific variation and between-base dependence make simple approaches, such as those that use averaging to normalize RNA-Seq data and quantify gene expressions, ineffective. In this study, we propose a Poisson mixed-effects (POME) model to characterize base-level read coverage within each transcript. The underlying expression level is included as a key parameter in this model. Since the proposed model is capable of incorporating base-specific variation as well as between-base dependence that affect read coverage profile throughout the transcript, it can lead to improved quantification of the true underlying expression level. POME can be freely downloaded at http://www.stat.purdue.edu/~yuzhu/pome.html. yuzhu@purdue.edu; zhaohui.qin@emory.edu Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  12. Inflammation-related microRNA expression level in the bovine milk is affected by mastitis.

    PubMed

    Lai, Yu-Chang; Fujikawa, Takuro; Maemura, Tadashi; Ando, Takaaki; Kitahara, Go; Endo, Yasuyuki; Yamato, Osamu; Koiwa, Masateru; Kubota, Chikara; Miura, Naoki

    2017-01-01

    MicroRNA (miRNA) in tissue and liquid samples have been shown to be associated with many diseases including inflammation. We aimed to identify inflammation-related miRNA expression level in the bovine mastitis milk. Expression level of inflammation-related miRNA in milk from mastitis-affected and normal cows was analyzed using qPCR. We found that expression level of miR-21, miR-146a, miR-155, miR-222, and miR-383 was significantly upregulated in California mastitis test positive (CMT+) milk. We further analyzed these miRNA using a chip-based QuantStudio Digital PCR System. The digital PCR results correlated with those of qPCR, demonstrating upregulation of miR-21, miR-146a, miR-155, miR-222, and miR-383 in CMT+ milk. In conclusion, we identified miRNA that are upregulated in CMT+ milk. These miRNA exhibited sensitivity and specificity greater than 80% for differentiating between CMT+ milk and normal milk. Our findings suggest that inflammation-related miRNA expression level in the bovine milk was affected by mastitis, and miRNA in milk have potential for use as biomarkers of bovine mastitis.

  13. A novel variant associated with HDL-C levels by modifying DAGLB expression levels: An annotation-based genome-wide association study.

    PubMed

    Zhou, Dan; Zhang, Dandan; Sun, Xiaohui; Li, Zhiqiang; Ni, Yaqin; Shan, Zhongyan; Li, Hong; Liu, Chengguo; Zhang, Shuai; Liu, Yi; Zheng, Ruizhi; Pan, Feixia; Zhu, Yimin; Shi, Yongyong; Lai, Maode

    2018-06-01

    Although numbers of genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have been performed for serum lipid levels, limited heritability has been explained. Studies showed that combining data from GWAS and expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) signals can both enhance the discovery of trait-associated SNPs and gain a better understanding of the mechanism. We performed an annotation-based, multistage genome-wide screening for serum-lipid-level-associated loci in totally 6863 Han Chinese. A serum high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) associated variant rs1880118 (hg19 chr7:g. 6435220G>C) was replicated (P combined  = 1.4E-10). rs1880118 was associated with DAGLB (diacylglycerol lipase, beta) expression levels in subcutaneous adipose tissue (P = 5.9E-42) and explained 47.7% of the expression variance. After the replication, an active segment covering variants tagged by rs1880118 near 5' of DAGLB was annotated using histone modification and transcription factor binding signals. The luciferase report assay revealed that the segment containing the minor alleles showed increased transcriptional activity compared with segment contains the major alleles, which was consistent with the eQTL analyses. The expression-trait association tests indicated the association between the DAGLB and serum HDL-C levels using gene-based approaches called "TWAS" (P = 3.0E-8), "SMR" (P = 1.1E-4), and "Sherlock" (P = 1.6E-6). To summarize, we identified a novel HDL-C-associated variant which explained nearly half of the expression variance of DAGLB. Integrated analyses established a genotype-gene-phenotype three-way association and expanded our knowledge of DAGLB in lipid metabolism.

  14. Computationally Aided Absolute Stereochemical Determination of Enantioenriched Amines.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jun; Gholami, Hadi; Ding, Xinliang; Chun, Minji; Vasileiou, Chrysoula; Nehira, Tatsuo; Borhan, Babak

    2017-03-17

    A simple and efficient protocol for sensing the absolute stereochemistry and enantiomeric excess of chiral monoamines is reported. Preparation of the sample requires a single-step reaction of the 1,1'-(bromomethylene)dinaphthalene (BDN) with the chiral amine. Analysis of the exciton coupled circular dichroism generated from the BDN-derivatized chiral amine sample, along with comparison to conformational analysis performed computationally, yields the absolute stereochemistry of the parent chiral monoamine.

  15. Use of Absolute and Comparative Performance Feedback in Absolute and Comparative Judgments and Decisions

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Moore, Don A.; Klein, William M. P.

    2008-01-01

    Which matters more--beliefs about absolute ability or ability relative to others? This study set out to compare the effects of such beliefs on satisfaction with performance, self-evaluations, and bets on future performance. In Experiment 1, undergraduate participants were told they had answered 20% correct, 80% correct, or were not given their…

  16. Structure elucidation and absolute stereochemistry of isomeric monoterpene chromane esters.

    PubMed

    Batista, João M; Batista, Andrea N L; Mota, Jonas S; Cass, Quezia B; Kato, Massuo J; Bolzani, Vanderlan S; Freedman, Teresa B; López, Silvia N; Furlan, Maysa; Nafie, Laurence A

    2011-04-15

    Six novel monoterpene chromane esters were isolated from the aerial parts of Peperomia obtusifolia (Piperaceae) using chiral chromatography. This is the first time that chiral chromane esters of this kind, ones with a tethered chiral terpene, have been isolated in nature. Due to their structural features, it is not currently possible to assess directly their absolute stereochemistry using any of the standard classical approaches, such as X-ray crystallography, NMR, optical rotation, or electronic circular dichroism (ECD). Herein we report the absolute configuration of these molecules, involving four chiral centers, using vibrational circular dichroism (VCD) and density functional theory (DFT) (B3LYP/6-31G*) calculations. This work further reinforces the capability of VCD to determine unambiguously the absolute configuration of structurally complex molecules in solution, without crystallization or derivatization, and demonstrates the sensitivity of VCD to specify the absolute configuration for just one among a number of chiral centers. We also demonstrate the sufficiency of using the so-called inexpensive basis set 6-31G* compared to the triple-ζ basis set TZVP for absolute configuration analysis of larger molecules using VCD. Overall, this work extends our knowledge of secondary metabolites in plants and provides a straightforward way to determine the absolute configuration of complex natural products involving a chiral parent moiety combined with a chiral terpene adduct.

  17. The genetic architecture of gene expression levels in wild baboons

    PubMed Central

    Tung, Jenny; Zhou, Xiang; Alberts, Susan C; Stephens, Matthew; Gilad, Yoav

    2015-01-01

    Primate evolution has been argued to result, in part, from changes in how genes are regulated. However, we still know little about gene regulation in natural primate populations. We conducted an RNA sequencing (RNA-seq)-based study of baboons from an intensively studied wild population. We performed complementary expression quantitative trait locus (eQTL) mapping and allele-specific expression analyses, discovering substantial evidence for, and surprising power to detect, genetic effects on gene expression levels in the baboons. eQTL were most likely to be identified for lineage-specific, rapidly evolving genes; interestingly, genes with eQTL significantly overlapped between baboons and a comparable human eQTL data set. Our results suggest that genes vary in their tolerance of genetic perturbation, and that this property may be conserved across species. Further, they establish the feasibility of eQTL mapping using RNA-seq data alone, and represent an important step towards understanding the genetic architecture of gene expression in primates. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04729.001 PMID:25714927

  18. Bio-Inspired Stretchable Absolute Pressure Sensor Network

    PubMed Central

    Guo, Yue; Li, Yu-Hung; Guo, Zhiqiang; Kim, Kyunglok; Chang, Fu-Kuo; Wang, Shan X.

    2016-01-01

    A bio-inspired absolute pressure sensor network has been developed. Absolute pressure sensors, distributed on multiple silicon islands, are connected as a network by stretchable polyimide wires. This sensor network, made on a 4’’ wafer, has 77 nodes and can be mounted on various curved surfaces to cover an area up to 0.64 m × 0.64 m, which is 100 times larger than its original size. Due to Micro Electro-Mechanical system (MEMS) surface micromachining technology, ultrathin sensing nodes can be realized with thicknesses of less than 100 µm. Additionally, good linearity and high sensitivity (~14 mV/V/bar) have been achieved. Since the MEMS sensor process has also been well integrated with a flexible polymer substrate process, the entire sensor network can be fabricated in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner. Moreover, an accurate pressure contour can be obtained from the sensor network. Therefore, this absolute pressure sensor network holds significant promise for smart vehicle applications, especially for unmanned aerial vehicles. PMID:26729134

  19. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch.

    PubMed

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them.

  20. On the Perceptual Subprocess of Absolute Pitch

    PubMed Central

    Kim, Seung-Goo; Knösche, Thomas R.

    2017-01-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability of musicians to identify the pitch of tonal sound without external reference. While there have been behavioral and neuroimaging studies on the characteristics of AP, how the AP is implemented in human brains remains largely unknown. AP can be viewed as comprising of two subprocesses: perceptual (processing auditory input to extract a pitch chroma) and associative (linking an auditory representation of pitch chroma with a verbal/non-verbal label). In this review, we focus on the nature of the perceptual subprocess of AP. Two different models on how the perceptual subprocess works have been proposed: either via absolute pitch categorization (APC) or based on absolute pitch memory (APM). A major distinction between the two views is that whether the AP uses unique auditory processing (i.e., APC) that exists only in musicians with AP or it is rooted in a common phenomenon (i.e., APM), only with heightened efficiency. We review relevant behavioral and neuroimaging evidence that supports each notion. Lastly, we list open questions and potential ideas to address them. PMID:29085275

  1. Moral absolutism and ectopic pregnancy.

    PubMed

    Kaczor, C

    2001-02-01

    If one accepts a version of absolutism that excludes the intentional killing of any innocent human person from conception to natural death, ectopic pregnancy poses vexing difficulties. Given that the embryonic life almost certainly will die anyway, how can one retain one's moral principle and yet adequately respond to a situation that gravely threatens the life of the mother and her future fertility? The four options of treatment most often discussed in the literature are non-intervention, salpingectomy (removal of tube with embryo), salpingostomy (removal of embryo alone), and use of methotrexate (MXT). In this essay, I review these four options and introduce a fifth (the milking technique). In order to assess these options in terms of the absolutism mentioned, it will also be necessary to discuss various accounts of the intention/foresight distinction. I conclude that salpingectomy, salpingostomy, and the milking technique are compatible with absolutist presuppositions, but not the use of methotrexate.

  2. Absolute irradiance of the Moon for on-orbit calibration

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Stone, T.C.; Kieffer, H.H.; ,

    2002-01-01

    The recognized need for on-orbit calibration of remote sensing imaging instruments drives the ROLO project effort to characterize the Moon for use as an absolute radiance source. For over 5 years the ground-based ROLO telescopes have acquired spatially-resolved lunar images in 23 VNIR (Moon diameter ???500 pixels) and 9 SWIR (???250 pixels) passbands at phase angles within ??90 degrees. A numerical model for lunar irradiance has been developed which fits hundreds of ROLO images in each band, corrected for atmospheric extinction and calibrated to absolute radiance, then integrated to irradiance. The band-coupled extinction algorithm uses absorption spectra of several gases and aerosols derived from MODTRAN to fit time-dependent component abundances to nightly observations of standard stars. The absolute radiance scale is based upon independent telescopic measurements of the star Vega. The fitting process yields uncertainties in lunar relative irradiance over small ranges of phase angle and the full range of lunar libration well under 0.5%. A larger source of uncertainty enters in the absolute solar spectral irradiance, especially in the SWIR, where solar models disagree by up to 6%. Results of ROLO model direct comparisons to spacecraft observations demonstrate the ability of the technique to track sensor responsivity drifts to sub-percent precision. Intercomparisons among instruments provide key insights into both calibration issues and the absolute scale for lunar irradiance.

  3. High-resolution absolute position detection using a multiple grating

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Schilling, Ulrich; Drabarek, Pawel; Kuehnle, Goetz; Tiziani, Hans J.

    1996-08-01

    To control electro-mechanical engines, high-resolution linear and rotary encoders are needed. Interferometric methods (grating interferometers) promise a resolution of a few nanometers, but have an ambiguity range of some microns. Incremental encoders increase the absolute measurement range by counting the signal periods starting from a defined initial point. In many applications, however, it is not possible to move to this initial point, so that absolute encoders have to be used. Absolute encoders generally have a scale with two or more tracks placed next to each other. Therefore, they use a two-dimensional grating structure to measure a one-dimensional position. We present a new method, which uses a one-dimensional structure to determine the position in one dimension. It is based on a grating with a large grating period up to some millimeters, having the same diffraction efficiency in several predefined diffraction orders (multiple grating). By combining the phase signals of the different diffraction orders, it is possible to establish the position in an absolute range of the grating period with a resolution like incremental grating interferometers. The principal functionality was demonstrated by applying the multiple grating in a heterodyne grating interferometer. The heterodyne frequency was generated by a frequency modulated laser in an unbalanced interferometer. In experimental measurements an absolute range of 8 mm was obtained while achieving a resolution of 10 nm.

  4. Absolute GPS Positioning Using Genetic Algorithms

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ramillien, G.

    A new inverse approach for restoring the absolute coordinates of a ground -based station from three or four observed GPS pseudo-ranges is proposed. This stochastic method is based on simulations of natural evolution named genetic algorithms (GA). These iterative procedures provide fairly good and robust estimates of the absolute positions in the Earth's geocentric reference system. For comparison/validation, GA results are compared to the ones obtained using the classical linearized least-square scheme for the determination of the XYZ location proposed by Bancroft (1985) which is strongly limited by the number of available observations (i.e. here, the number of input pseudo-ranges must be four). The r.m.s. accuracy of the non -linear cost function reached by this latter method is typically ~10-4 m2 corresponding to ~300-500-m accuracies for each geocentric coordinate. However, GA can provide more acceptable solutions (r.m.s. errors < 10-5 m2), even when only three instantaneous pseudo-ranges are used, such as a lost of lock during a GPS survey. Tuned GA parameters used in different simulations are N=1000 starting individuals, as well as Pc=60-70% and Pm=30-40% for the crossover probability and mutation rate, respectively. Statistical tests on the ability of GA to recover acceptable coordinates in presence of important levels of noise are made simulating nearly 3000 random samples of erroneous pseudo-ranges. Here, two main sources of measurement errors are considered in the inversion: (1) typical satellite-clock errors and/or 300-metre variance atmospheric delays, and (2) Geometrical Dilution of Precision (GDOP) due to the particular GPS satellite configuration at the time of acquisition. Extracting valuable information and even from low-quality starting range observations, GA offer an interesting alternative for high -precision GPS positioning.

  5. Combination treatment with 6-mercaptopurine and allopurinol in HepG2 and HEK293 cells – Effects on gene expression levels and thiopurine metabolism

    PubMed Central

    Haglund, Sofie; Vikingsson, Svante; Almer, Sven; Söderman, Jan

    2017-01-01

    Combination treatment with low-dose thiopurine and allopurinol (AP) has successfully been used in patients with inflammatory bowel disease with a so called skewed thiopurine metabolite profile. In red blood cells in vivo, it reduces the concentration of methylated metabolites and increases the concentration of the phosphorylated ones, which is associated with improved therapeutic efficacy. This study aimed to investigate the largely unknown mechanism of AP on thiopurine metabolism in cells with an active thiopurine metabolic pathway using HepG2 and HEK293 cells. Cells were treated with 6-mercaptopurine (6MP) and AP or its metabolite oxypurinol. The expression of genes known to be associated with thiopurine metabolism, and the concentration of thiopurine metabolites were analyzed. Gene expression levels were only affected by AP in the presence of 6MP. The addition of AP to 6MP affected the expression of in total 19 genes in the two cell lines. In both cell lines the expression of the transporter SLC29A2 was reduced by the combined treatment. Six regulated genes in HepG2 cells and 8 regulated genes in HEK293 cells were connected to networks with 18 and 35 genes, respectively, present at known susceptibility loci for inflammatory bowel disease, when analyzed using a protein-protein interaction database. The genes identified as regulated as well as the disease associated interacting genes represent new candidates for further investigation in the context of combination therapy with thiopurines and AP. However, no differences in absolute metabolite concentrations were observed between 6MP+AP or 6MP+oxypurinol vs. 6MP alone in either of the two cell lines. In conclusion; the effect of AP on gene expression levels requires the presence of 6MP, at least in vitro. Previously described AP-effects on metabolite concentrations observed in red blood cells in vivo could not be reproduced in our cell lines in vitro. AP’s effects in relation to thiopurine metabolism are complex

  6. The effects of laughter on post-prandial glucose levels and gene expression in type 2 diabetic patients.

    PubMed

    Hayashi, Takashi; Murakami, Kazuo

    2009-07-31

    This report mainly summarizes the results of our study in which the physiological effects of laughter--as a positive emotional expression--were analyzed with respect to gene expression changes to demonstrate the hypothesis that the mind and genes mutually influence each other. We observed that laughter suppressed 2-h postprandial blood glucose level increase in patients with type 2 diabetes and analyzed gene expression changes. Some genes showed specific changes in their expression. In addition, we revealed that laughter decreased the levels of prorenin in blood; prorenin is involved in the onset of diabetic complications. Further, laughter normalized the expression of the prorenin receptor gene on peripheral blood leukocytes, which had been reduced in diabetic patients; this demonstrated that the inhibitory effects of laughter on the onset/deterioration of diabetic complications at the gene-expression level. In a subsequent study, we demonstrated the effects of laughter by discriminating 14 genes, related to natural killer (NK) cell activity, to exhibit continuous increases in expression as a result of laughter. Our results supported NK cell-mediated improvement in glucose tolerance at the gene-expression level. In this report, we also review other previous studies on laughter.

  7. Pixel-based absolute surface metrology by three flat test with shifted and rotated maps

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zhai, Dede; Chen, Shanyong; Xue, Shuai; Yin, Ziqiang

    2018-03-01

    In traditional three flat test, it only provides the absolute profile along one surface diameter. In this paper, an absolute testing algorithm based on shift-rotation with three flat test has been proposed to reconstruct two-dimensional surface exactly. Pitch and yaw error during shift procedure is analyzed and compensated in our method. Compared with multi-rotation method proposed before, it only needs a 90° rotation and a shift, which is easy to carry out especially in condition of large size surface. It allows pixel level spatial resolution to be achieved without interpolation or assumption to the test surface. In addition, numerical simulations and optical tests are implemented and show the high accuracy recovery capability of the proposed method.

  8. Absolute Distance Measurement with the MSTAR Sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lay, Oliver P.; Dubovitsky, Serge; Peters, Robert; Burger, Johan; Ahn, Seh-Won; Steier, William H.; Fetterman, Harrold R.; Chang, Yian

    2003-01-01

    The MSTAR sensor (Modulation Sideband Technology for Absolute Ranging) is a new system for measuring absolute distance, capable of resolving the integer cycle ambiguity of standard interferometers, and making it possible to measure distance with sub-nanometer accuracy. The sensor uses a single laser in conjunction with fast phase modulators and low frequency detectors. We describe the design of the system - the principle of operation, the metrology source, beamlaunching optics, and signal processing - and show results for target distances up to 1 meter. We then demonstrate how the system can be scaled to kilometer-scale distances.

  9. TP53 and ATM mRNA expression in skin and skeletal muscle after low-level laser exposure.

    PubMed

    Guedes de Almeida, Luciana; Sergio, Luiz Philippe da Silva; de Paoli, Flavia; Mencalha, Andre Luiz; da Fonseca, Adenilson de Souza

    2017-08-01

    Low-level lasers are widespread in regenerative medicine, but the molecular mechanisms involved in their biological effects are not fully understood, particularly those on DNA stability. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate mRNA expression of genes related to DNA genomic stability in skin and skeletal muscle tissue from Wistar rats exposed to low-level red and infrared lasers. For this, TP53 (Tumor Protein 53) and ATM (Ataxia Telangiectasia Mutated gene) mRNA expressions were evaluated by real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) technique 24 hours after low-level red and infrared laser exposure. Our data showed that relative TP53 mRNA expression was not significantly altered in both tissues exposed to lasers. For ATM, relative mRNA expression in skin tissue was not significantly altered, but in muscle tissue, laser exposure increased relative ATM mRNA expression. Low-level red and infrared laser radiations alter ATM mRNA expression related to DNA stability in skeletal muscle tissue.

  10. Relationship between Legible Handwriting and Level of Success of Third Grade Students in Written Expression

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Bayat, Seher; Küçükayar, Hasan

    2016-01-01

    This study aims to identify third-grade students' performance levels for written expression and handwriting and to find the relationship between these performances. The study is based on relational screening model. It is carried out with 110 third grade students. Students' levels of success in handwriting and in written expression are evaluated…

  11. A Java program for LRE-based real-time qPCR that enables large-scale absolute quantification.

    PubMed

    Rutledge, Robert G

    2011-03-02

    Linear regression of efficiency (LRE) introduced a new paradigm for real-time qPCR that enables large-scale absolute quantification by eliminating the need for standard curves. Developed through the application of sigmoidal mathematics to SYBR Green I-based assays, target quantity is derived directly from fluorescence readings within the central region of an amplification profile. However, a major challenge of implementing LRE quantification is the labor intensive nature of the analysis. Utilizing the extensive resources that are available for developing Java-based software, the LRE Analyzer was written using the NetBeans IDE, and is built on top of the modular architecture and windowing system provided by the NetBeans Platform. This fully featured desktop application determines the number of target molecules within a sample with little or no intervention by the user, in addition to providing extensive database capabilities. MS Excel is used to import data, allowing LRE quantification to be conducted with any real-time PCR instrument that provides access to the raw fluorescence readings. An extensive help set also provides an in-depth introduction to LRE, in addition to guidelines on how to implement LRE quantification. The LRE Analyzer provides the automated analysis and data storage capabilities required by large-scale qPCR projects wanting to exploit the many advantages of absolute quantification. Foremost is the universal perspective afforded by absolute quantification, which among other attributes, provides the ability to directly compare quantitative data produced by different assays and/or instruments. Furthermore, absolute quantification has important implications for gene expression profiling in that it provides the foundation for comparing transcript quantities produced by any gene with any other gene, within and between samples.

  12. Some things ought never be done: moral absolutes in clinical ethics.

    PubMed

    Pellegrino, Edmund D

    2005-01-01

    Moral absolutes have little or no moral standing in our morally diverse modern society. Moral relativism is far more palatable for most ethicists and to the public at large. Yet, when pressed, every moral relativist will finally admit that there are some things which ought never be done. It is the rarest of moral relativists that will take rape, murder, theft, child sacrifice as morally neutral choices. In general ethics, the list of those things that must never be done will vary from person to person. In clinical ethics, however, the nature of the physician-patient relationship is such that certain moral absolutes are essential to the attainment of the good of the patient - the end of the relationship itself. These are all derivatives of the first moral absolute of all morality: Do good and avoid evil. In the clinical encounter, this absolute entails several subsidiary absolutes - act for the good of the patient, do not kill, keep promises, protect the dignity of the patient, do not lie, avoid complicity with evil. Each absolute is intrinsic to the healing and helping ends of the clinical encounter.

  13. Changes in Hepatic TRβ Protein Expression, Lipogenic Gene Expression, and Long-Chain Acylcarnitine Levels During Chronic Hyperthyroidism and Triiodothyronine Withdrawal in a Mouse Model.

    PubMed

    Ohba, Kenji; Sinha, Rohit Anthony; Singh, Brijesh Kumar; Iannucci, Liliana Felicia; Zhou, Jin; Kovalik, Jean-Paul; Liao, Xiao-Hui; Refetoff, Samuel; Sng, Judy Chia Ghee; Leow, Melvin Khee-Shing; Yen, Paul Michael

    2017-06-01

    Thyroid hormone (TH) has important roles in regulating hepatic metabolism. It was previously reported that most hepatic genes activated by a single triiodothyronine (T3) injection became desensitized after multiple injections, and that approximately 10% of target genes did not return to basal expression levels after T3 withdrawal, despite normalization of serum TH and thyrotropin (TSH) levels. To determine the possible mechanism(s) for desensitization and incomplete recovery of hepatic target gene transcription and their effects on metabolism, mRNA and/or protein expression levels of key regulators of TH action were measured, as well as metabolomic changes after chronic T3 treatment and withdrawal. Adult male mice were treated with daily injections of T3 (20 μg/100 g body weight) for 14 days followed by the cessation of T3 for 10 days. Livers were harvested at 6 hours, 24 hours, and 14 days after the first T3 injection, and at 10 days after withdrawal, and then analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and metabolomics. Although TH receptor (TRα and TRβ) mRNAs decreased slightly after chronic T3 treatment, only TRβ protein decreased before returning to basal expression level after withdrawal. The expression of other regulators of TH action was unchanged. TRβ protein expression was also decreased in adult male monocarboxylate transporter-8 (Mct8)-knockout mice, an in vivo model of chronic intrahepatic hyperthyroidism. Previously, increased hepatic long-chain acylcarnitine levels were found after acute TH treatment. However, in this study, long-chain acylcarnitine levels were unchanged after chronic T3, and paradoxically increased after T3 withdrawal. Pathway analyses of the previous microarray results showed upregulation of lipogenic genes after acute T3 treatment and withdrawal. Phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase also decreased after T3 withdrawal. Decreased hepatic TRβ protein expression occurred

  14. Changes in Hepatic TRβ Protein Expression, Lipogenic Gene Expression, and Long-Chain Acylcarnitine Levels During Chronic Hyperthyroidism and Triiodothyronine Withdrawal in a Mouse Model

    PubMed Central

    Ohba, Kenji; Sinha, Rohit Anthony; Singh, Brijesh Kumar; Iannucci, Liliana Felicia; Zhou, Jin; Kovalik, Jean-Paul; Liao, Xiao-Hui; Refetoff, Samuel; Sng, Judy Chia Ghee; Leow, Melvin Khee-Shing; Yen, Paul Michael

    2017-01-01

    Background: Thyroid hormone (TH) has important roles in regulating hepatic metabolism. It was previously reported that most hepatic genes activated by a single triiodothyronine (T3) injection became desensitized after multiple injections, and that approximately 10% of target genes did not return to basal expression levels after T3 withdrawal, despite normalization of serum TH and thyrotropin (TSH) levels. To determine the possible mechanism(s) for desensitization and incomplete recovery of hepatic target gene transcription and their effects on metabolism, mRNA and/or protein expression levels of key regulators of TH action were measured, as well as metabolomic changes after chronic T3 treatment and withdrawal. Methods: Adult male mice were treated with daily injections of T3 (20 μg/100 g body weight) for 14 days followed by the cessation of T3 for 10 days. Livers were harvested at 6 hours, 24 hours, and 14 days after the first T3 injection, and at 10 days after withdrawal, and then analyzed by quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction, Western blotting, and metabolomics. Results: Although TH receptor (TRα and TRβ) mRNAs decreased slightly after chronic T3 treatment, only TRβ protein decreased before returning to basal expression level after withdrawal. The expression of other regulators of TH action was unchanged. TRβ protein expression was also decreased in adult male monocarboxylate transporter-8 (Mct8)-knockout mice, an in vivo model of chronic intrahepatic hyperthyroidism. Previously, increased hepatic long-chain acylcarnitine levels were found after acute TH treatment. However, in this study, long-chain acylcarnitine levels were unchanged after chronic T3, and paradoxically increased after T3 withdrawal. Pathway analyses of the previous microarray results showed upregulation of lipogenic genes after acute T3 treatment and withdrawal. Phosphorylation of acetyl-CoA carboxylase also decreased after T3 withdrawal. Conclusions: Decreased

  15. Beef quality with different intramuscular fat content and proteomic analysis using isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantitation of differentially expressed proteins.

    PubMed

    Mao, Yanwei; Hopkins, David L; Zhang, Yimin; Li, Peng; Zhu, Lixian; Dong, Pengcheng; Liang, Rongrong; Dai, Jin; Wang, Xiaoyun; Luo, Xin

    2016-08-01

    Intramuscular fat (IMF) is an important trait for beef eating quality. The mechanism of how IMF is deposited in beef cattle muscle is not clear at the molecular level. The muscle (M. longissimus lumborum: LL) of a group of Xiangxi yellow×Angus cattle with high fat levels (HF), was compared to the muscle of a low fat group (LF). The meat quality and the expressed protein patterns were compared. It was shown that LL from the HF animals had a greater fat content (P<0.05) and lower moisture content (P<0.05) than LL from LF animals. Forty seven sarcoplasmic proteins were differentially expressed and identified between the two groups. These proteins are involved in 6 molecular functions and 16 biological processes, and affect the Mitogen-activated protein kinases pathway, insulin pathway and c-Jun N-terminal kinases leading to greater IMF deposition. Cattle in the HF group had greater oxidative capacity and lower glycolytic levels suggesting a greater energetic efficiency. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. A Theoretical Lower Bound for Selection on the Expression Levels of Proteins

    DOE PAGES

    Price, Morgan N.; Arkin, Adam P.

    2016-06-11

    We use simple models of the costs and benefits of microbial gene expression to show that changing a protein's expression away from its optimum by 2-fold should reduce fitness by at least [Formula: see text], where P is the fraction the cell's protein that the gene accounts for. As microbial genes are usually expressed at above 5 parts per million, and effective population sizes are likely to be above 10(6), this implies that 2-fold changes to gene expression levels are under strong selection, as [Formula: see text], where Ne is the effective population size and s is the selection coefficient.more » Thus, most gene duplications should be selected against. On the other hand, we predict that for most genes, small changes in the expression will be effectively neutral.« less

  17. A Theoretical Lower Bound for Selection on the Expression Levels of Proteins

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Price, Morgan N.; Arkin, Adam P.

    We use simple models of the costs and benefits of microbial gene expression to show that changing a protein's expression away from its optimum by 2-fold should reduce fitness by at least [Formula: see text], where P is the fraction the cell's protein that the gene accounts for. As microbial genes are usually expressed at above 5 parts per million, and effective population sizes are likely to be above 10(6), this implies that 2-fold changes to gene expression levels are under strong selection, as [Formula: see text], where Ne is the effective population size and s is the selection coefficient.more » Thus, most gene duplications should be selected against. On the other hand, we predict that for most genes, small changes in the expression will be effectively neutral.« less

  18. Relativistic Absolutism in Moral Education.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Vogt, W. Paul

    1982-01-01

    Discusses Emile Durkheim's "Moral Education: A Study in the Theory and Application of the Sociology of Education," which holds that morally healthy societies may vary in culture and organization but must possess absolute rules of moral behavior. Compares this moral theory with current theory and practice of American educators. (MJL)

  19. Determining absolute protein numbers by quantitative fluorescence microscopy.

    PubMed

    Verdaasdonk, Jolien Suzanne; Lawrimore, Josh; Bloom, Kerry

    2014-01-01

    Biological questions are increasingly being addressed using a wide range of quantitative analytical tools to examine protein complex composition. Knowledge of the absolute number of proteins present provides insights into organization, function, and maintenance and is used in mathematical modeling of complex cellular dynamics. In this chapter, we outline and describe three microscopy-based methods for determining absolute protein numbers--fluorescence correlation spectroscopy, stepwise photobleaching, and ratiometric comparison of fluorescence intensity to known standards. In addition, we discuss the various fluorescently labeled proteins that have been used as standards for both stepwise photobleaching and ratiometric comparison analysis. A detailed procedure for determining absolute protein number by ratiometric comparison is outlined in the second half of this chapter. Counting proteins by quantitative microscopy is a relatively simple yet very powerful analytical tool that will increase our understanding of protein complex composition. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. Absolute Effect of Prostate Cancer Screening: Balance of benefits and harms by center within the European Randomized Study of Prostate Cancer Screening

    PubMed Central

    Auvinen, Anssi; Moss, Sue M; Tammela, Teuvo L J; Taari, Kimmo; Roobol, Monique J; Schröder, Fritz H; Bangma, Chris H; Carlsson, Sigrid; Aus, Gunnar; Zappa, Marco; Puliti, Donella; Denis, Louis J; Nelen, Vera; Kwiatkowski, Maciej; Randazzo, Marco; Paez, Alvaro; Lujan, Marcos; Hugosson, Jonas

    2016-01-01

    Purpose The balance of benefits and harms in prostate cancer screening has not been sufficiently characterized. We related indicators of mortality reduction and overdetection by center within the European Randomized Study of Prostate Cancer Screening. Experimental Design We analyzed the absolute mortality reduction expressed as number needed to invite (NNI=1/absolute risk reduction; indicating how many men had to be randomized to screening arm to avert a prostate cancer death) for screening and the absolute excess of prostate cancer detection as number needed for overdetection (NNO=1/absolute excess incidence; indicating the number of men invited per additional prostate cancer case), and compared their relationship across the seven ERSPC centers. Results Both absolute mortality reduction (NNI) and absolute overdetection (NNO) varied widely between the centers: NNI 200-7000 and NNO 16-69. Extent of overdiagnosis and mortality reduction were closely associated (correlation coefficient r=0.76, weighted linear regression coefficient β=33, 95% 5-62, R2=0.72). For an averted prostate cancer death at 13 years of follow-up, 12-36 excess cases had to be detected in various centers. Conclusions The differences between the ERSPC centers likely reflect variations in prostate cancer incidence and mortality, as well as in screening protocol and performance. The strong interrelation between the benefits and harms suggests that efforts to maximize the mortality effect are bound to increase overdiagnosis, and might be improved by focusing on high-risk populations. The optimal balance between screening intensity and risk of overdiagnosis remains unclear. PMID:26289069

  1. Novel gene sets improve set-level classification of prokaryotic gene expression data.

    PubMed

    Holec, Matěj; Kuželka, Ondřej; Železný, Filip

    2015-10-28

    Set-level classification of gene expression data has received significant attention recently. In this setting, high-dimensional vectors of features corresponding to genes are converted into lower-dimensional vectors of features corresponding to biologically interpretable gene sets. The dimensionality reduction brings the promise of a decreased risk of overfitting, potentially resulting in improved accuracy of the learned classifiers. However, recent empirical research has not confirmed this expectation. Here we hypothesize that the reported unfavorable classification results in the set-level framework were due to the adoption of unsuitable gene sets defined typically on the basis of the Gene ontology and the KEGG database of metabolic networks. We explore an alternative approach to defining gene sets, based on regulatory interactions, which we expect to collect genes with more correlated expression. We hypothesize that such more correlated gene sets will enable to learn more accurate classifiers. We define two families of gene sets using information on regulatory interactions, and evaluate them on phenotype-classification tasks using public prokaryotic gene expression data sets. From each of the two gene-set families, we first select the best-performing subtype. The two selected subtypes are then evaluated on independent (testing) data sets against state-of-the-art gene sets and against the conventional gene-level approach. The novel gene sets are indeed more correlated than the conventional ones, and lead to significantly more accurate classifiers. The novel gene sets are indeed more correlated than the conventional ones, and lead to significantly more accurate classifiers. Novel gene sets defined on the basis of regulatory interactions improve set-level classification of gene expression data. The experimental scripts and other material needed to reproduce the experiments are available at http://ida.felk.cvut.cz/novelgenesets.tar.gz.

  2. Note: An absolute X-Y-Θ position sensor using a two-dimensional phase-encoded binary scale

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kim, Jong-Ahn; Kim, Jae Wan; Kang, Chu-Shik; Jin, Jonghan

    2018-04-01

    This Note presents a new absolute X-Y-Θ position sensor for measuring planar motion of a precision multi-axis stage system. By analyzing the rotated image of a two-dimensional phase-encoded binary scale (2D), the absolute 2D position values at two separated points were obtained and the absolute X-Y-Θ position could be calculated combining these values. The sensor head was constructed using a board-level camera, a light-emitting diode light source, an imaging lens, and a cube beam-splitter. To obtain the uniform intensity profiles from the vignette scale image, we selected the averaging directions deliberately, and higher resolution in the angle measurement could be achieved by increasing the allowable offset size. The performance of a prototype sensor was evaluated in respect of resolution, nonlinearity, and repeatability. The sensor could resolve 25 nm linear and 0.001° angular displacements clearly, and the standard deviations were less than 18 nm when 2D grid positions were measured repeatedly.

  3. Establishing Ion Ratio Thresholds Based on Absolute Peak Area for Absolute Protein Quantification using Protein Cleavage Isotope Dilution Mass Spectrometry

    PubMed Central

    Loziuk, Philip L.; Sederoff, Ronald R.; Chiang, Vincent L.; Muddiman, David C.

    2014-01-01

    Quantitative mass spectrometry has become central to the field of proteomics and metabolomics. Selected reaction monitoring is a widely used method for the absolute quantification of proteins and metabolites. This method renders high specificity using several product ions measured simultaneously. With growing interest in quantification of molecular species in complex biological samples, confident identification and quantitation has been of particular concern. A method to confirm purity or contamination of product ion spectra has become necessary for achieving accurate and precise quantification. Ion abundance ratio assessments were introduced to alleviate some of these issues. Ion abundance ratios are based on the consistent relative abundance (RA) of specific product ions with respect to the total abundance of all product ions. To date, no standardized method of implementing ion abundance ratios has been established. Thresholds by which product ion contamination is confirmed vary widely and are often arbitrary. This study sought to establish criteria by which the relative abundance of product ions can be evaluated in an absolute quantification experiment. These findings suggest that evaluation of the absolute ion abundance for any given transition is necessary in order to effectively implement RA thresholds. Overall, the variation of the RA value was observed to be relatively constant beyond an absolute threshold ion abundance. Finally, these RA values were observed to fluctuate significantly over a 3 year period, suggesting that these values should be assessed as close as possible to the time at which data is collected for quantification. PMID:25154770

  4. Implications of an Absolute Simultaneity Theory for Cosmology and Universe Acceleration

    PubMed Central

    Kipreos, Edward T.

    2014-01-01

    An alternate Lorentz transformation, Absolute Lorentz Transformation (ALT), has similar kinematics to special relativity yet maintains absolute simultaneity in the context of a preferred reference frame. In this study, it is shown that ALT is compatible with current experiments to test Lorentz invariance only if the proposed preferred reference frame is locally equivalent to the Earth-centered non-rotating inertial reference frame, with the inference that in an ALT framework, preferred reference frames are associated with centers of gravitational mass. Applying this theoretical framework to cosmological data produces a scenario of universal time contraction in the past. In this scenario, past time contraction would be associated with increased levels of blueshifted light emissions from cosmological objects when viewed from our current perspective. The observation that distant Type Ia supernovae are dimmer than predicted by linear Hubble expansion currently provides the most direct evidence for an accelerating universe. Adjusting for the effects of time contraction on a redshift–distance modulus diagram produces a linear distribution of supernovae over the full redshift spectrum that is consistent with a non-accelerating universe. PMID:25536116

  5. Implications of an absolute simultaneity theory for cosmology and universe acceleration.

    PubMed

    Kipreos, Edward T

    2014-01-01

    An alternate Lorentz transformation, Absolute Lorentz Transformation (ALT), has similar kinematics to special relativity yet maintains absolute simultaneity in the context of a preferred reference frame. In this study, it is shown that ALT is compatible with current experiments to test Lorentz invariance only if the proposed preferred reference frame is locally equivalent to the Earth-centered non-rotating inertial reference frame, with the inference that in an ALT framework, preferred reference frames are associated with centers of gravitational mass. Applying this theoretical framework to cosmological data produces a scenario of universal time contraction in the past. In this scenario, past time contraction would be associated with increased levels of blueshifted light emissions from cosmological objects when viewed from our current perspective. The observation that distant Type Ia supernovae are dimmer than predicted by linear Hubble expansion currently provides the most direct evidence for an accelerating universe. Adjusting for the effects of time contraction on a redshift-distance modulus diagram produces a linear distribution of supernovae over the full redshift spectrum that is consistent with a non-accelerating universe.

  6. Essential Oils, Part VI: Sandalwood Oil, Ylang-Ylang Oil, and Jasmine Absolute.

    PubMed

    de Groot, Anton C; Schmidt, Erich

    In this article, some aspects of sandalwood oil, ylang-ylang oil, and jasmine absolute are discussed including their botanical origin, uses of the plants and the oils and absolute, chemical composition, contact allergy to and allergic contact dermatitis from these essential oils and absolute, and their causative allergenic ingredients.

  7. Microfabricated Collector-Generator Electrode Sensor for Measuring Absolute pH and Oxygen Concentrations.

    PubMed

    Dengler, Adam K; Wightman, R Mark; McCarty, Gregory S

    2015-10-20

    Fast-scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) has attracted attention for studying in vivo neurotransmission due to its subsecond temporal resolution, selectivity, and sensitivity. Traditional FSCV measurements use background subtraction to isolate changes in the local electrochemical environment, providing detailed information on fluctuations in the concentration of electroactive species. This background subtraction removes information about constant or slowly changing concentrations. However, determination of background concentrations is still important for understanding functioning brain tissue. For example, neural activity is known to consume oxygen and produce carbon dioxide which affects local levels of oxygen and pH. Here, we present a microfabricated microelectrode array which uses FSCV to detect the absolute levels of oxygen and pH in vitro. The sensor is a collector-generator electrode array with carbon microelectrodes spaced 5 μm apart. In this work, a periodic potential step is applied at the generator producing transient local changes in the electrochemical environment. The collector electrode continuously performs FSCV enabling these induced changes in concentration to be recorded with the sensitivity and selectivity of FSCV. A negative potential step applied at the generator produces a transient local pH shift at the collector. The generator-induced pH signal is detected using FSCV at the collector and correlated to absolute solution pH by postcalibration of the anodic peak position. In addition, in oxygenated solutions a negative potential step at the generator produces hydrogen peroxide by reducing oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide is detected with FSCV at the collector electrode, and the magnitude of the oxidative peak is proportional to absolute oxygen concentrations. Oxygen interference on the pH signal is minimal and can be accounted for with a postcalibration.

  8. Assessment of type 1 and type 3 deiodinase expression levels in depressive disorders.

    PubMed

    Gałecka, Elżbieta; Kumor-Kisielewska, Anna; Orzechowska, Agata; Maes, Michael; Górski, Paweł; Szemraj, Janusz

    2017-01-01

    A depressive disorder is a disease characterized by a heterogenous background. The important processes observed and diagnosed in depressed patients indicate that the etiology of depression may include disturbances in thyroid hormone (TH) levels and the occurrence of immune-inflammatory activation. Type 1 (DIO1) and type 3 (DIO3) iodothyronine deiodinases are the enzymes which determine the peripheral and tissue levels of TH, but also interfere with immunological cells and inflammatory processes. We aimed to investigate the levels of DIO1 and DIO3 in the patients suffering from recurrent depressive disorders (rDD). Data collected from 91 rDD patients and 105 healthy controls were analyzed. The diagnoses were made based on the ICD-10 criteria (F33.0-F33.8). The expression levels of DIO1 and DIO3 were estimated using the polymerase chain reaction method and the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The expression of DIO1 on mRNA/protein levels in the rDD patients was reduced in comparison to the control subjects, while the expression of DIO3 was higher in the patients suffering from depression. No significant relationship was found between the investigated DIOs and other clinical parameters. Our results indicate and suggest a role of DIO1 and DIO3-related pathways in the pathophysiology of depression. The results represent a promising way to investigate the biological markers of depression.

  9. Association of microRNA-200c expression levels with clinicopathological factors and prognosis in endometrioid endometrial cancer.

    PubMed

    Wilczynski, Milosz; Danielska, Justyna; Domanska-Senderowska, Daria; Dzieniecka, Monika; Szymanska, Bozena; Malinowski, Andrzej

    2018-05-01

    MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are regulators of gene expression, which play an important role in many critical cellular processes including apoptosis, proliferation and cell differentiation. Aberrant miRNA expression has been reported in a variety of human malignancies. Therefore, miRNAs may be potentially used as cancer biomarkers. miRNA-200c, which is a member of the miRNA-200 family, might play an essential role in tumor progression. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prognostic and clinical significance of miRNA-200c in women with endometrioid endometrial cancer. Total RNA extraction from 90 archival formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of endometri-oid endometrial cancer and 10 normal endometrium samples was performed. After cDNA synthesis, real-time polymerase chain reaction was conducted and relative expression of miRNA-200c was assessed. Then, miRNA-200c expression levels were evaluated with regard to clinicopathological characteristics. The expression levels of miRNA-200c were significantly increased in endometrioid endometrial cancer samples. Expression of miRNA-200c maintained at significantly higher levels in the early stage endometrioid endometrial cancer compared with more advanced stages. In the Kaplan-Meier analysis, lower levels of miRNA-200c expression were associated with inferior survival. Expression levels of miRNA-200c might be associated with clinicopathological factors and survival in endometrioid endometrial cancer. © 2018 Nordic Federation of Societies of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  10. Epigallocatechin gallate induces a hepatospecific decrease in the CYP3A expression level by altering intestinal flora.

    PubMed

    Ikarashi, Nobutomo; Ogawa, Sosuke; Hirobe, Ryuta; Kon, Risako; Kusunoki, Yoshiki; Yamashita, Marin; Mizukami, Nanaho; Kaneko, Miho; Wakui, Nobuyuki; Machida, Yoshiaki; Sugiyama, Kiyoshi

    2017-03-30

    In previous studies, we showed that a high-dose intake of green tea polyphenol (GP) induced a hepatospecific decrease in the expression and activity of the drug-metabolizing enzyme cytochrome P450 3A (CYP3A). In this study, we examined whether this decrease in CYP3A expression is induced by epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which is the main component of GP. After a diet containing 1.5% EGCG was given to mice, the hepatic CYP3A expression was measured. The level of intestinal bacteria of Clostridium spp., the concentration of lithocholic acid (LCA) in the feces, and the level of the translocation of pregnane X receptor (PXR) to the nucleus in the liver were examined. A decrease in the CYP3A expression level was observed beginning on the second day of the treatment with EGCG. The level of translocation of PXR to the nucleus was significantly lower in the EGCG group. The fecal level of LCA was clearly decreased by the EGCG treatment. The level of intestinal bacteria of Clostridium spp. was also decreased by the EGCG treatment. It is clear that the hepatospecific decrease in the CYP3A expression level observed after a high-dose intake of GP was caused by EGCG. Because EGCG, which is not absorbed from the intestine, causes a decrease in the level of LCA-producing bacteria in the colon, the level of LCA in the liver decreases, resulting in a decrease in the nuclear translocation of PXR, which in turn leads to the observed decrease in the expression level of CYP3A. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. Calpain expression in lymphoid cells. Increased mRNA and protein levels after cell activation.

    PubMed

    Deshpande, R V; Goust, J M; Chakrabarti, A K; Barbosa, E; Hogan, E L; Banik, N L

    1995-02-10

    Although calpain is ubiquitously present in human tissues and is thought to play a role in demyelination, its activity is very low in resting normal lymphocytes. To determine the nature of calpain expression at the mRNA and protein levels in human lymphoid cells, we studied human T lymphocytic, B lymphocytic, and monocytic lines as well as peripheral blood mononuclear cells. Stimulation of cells with the phorbol ester phorbol myristate acetate and the calcium ionophore A23187 resulted in increased calpain mRNA and protein expression. Calpain mRNA expression is also increased in human T cells stimulated with anti-CD3. A dissociation between the increases of RNA and protein suggested that calpain could be released from the cells; the subsequent experiments showed its presence in the extracellular environment. 5,6-Dichloro-1b-D-ribofuranosylbenzimidazole, a reversible inhibitor of mRNA synthesis, reduced calpain mRNA levels by 50-67% and protein levels by 72-91%. Its removal resulted in resumption of both calpain mRNA and protein synthesis. Cycloheximide, a translational inhibitor, reduced calpain protein levels by 77-81% and calpain mRNA levels by 96% in activated THP-1 cells. Interferon-gamma induced calpain mRNA and protein in U-937 and THP-1 cells. Dexamethasone increased mRNA expression in THP-1 cells. Our results indicate that activation of lymphoid cells results in de novo synthesis and secretion of calpain.

  12. Absolute plate motions relative to deep mantle plumes

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wang, Shimin; Yu, Hongzheng; Zhang, Qiong; Zhao, Yonghong

    2018-05-01

    Advances in whole waveform seismic tomography have revealed the presence of broad mantle plumes rooted at the base of the Earth's mantle beneath major hotspots. Hotspot tracks associated with these deep mantle plumes provide ideal constraints for inverting absolute plate motions as well as testing the fixed hotspot hypothesis. In this paper, 27 observed hotspot trends associated with 24 deep mantle plumes are used together with the MORVEL model for relative plate motions to determine an absolute plate motion model, in terms of a maximum likelihood optimization for angular data fitting, combined with an outlier data detection procedure based on statistical tests. The obtained T25M model fits 25 observed trends of globally distributed hotspot tracks to the statistically required level, while the other two hotspot trend data (Comores on Somalia and Iceland on Eurasia) are identified as outliers, which are significantly incompatible with other data. For most hotspots with rate data available, T25M predicts plate velocities significantly lower than the observed rates of hotspot volcanic migration, which cannot be fully explained by biased errors in observed rate data. Instead, the apparent hotspot motions derived by subtracting the observed hotspot migration velocities from the T25M plate velocities exhibit a combined pattern of being opposite to plate velocities and moving towards mid-ocean ridges. The newly estimated net rotation of the lithosphere is statistically compatible with three recent estimates, but differs significantly from 30 of 33 prior estimates.

  13. aCNViewer: Comprehensive genome-wide visualization of absolute copy number and copy neutral variations

    PubMed Central

    Wang-Renault, Shu-Fang; Letouzé, Eric; Imbeaud, Sandrine; Zucman-Rossi, Jessica; Deleuze, Jean-François; How-Kit, Alexandre

    2017-01-01

    Motivation Copy number variations (CNV) include net gains or losses of part or whole chromosomal regions. They differ from copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (cn-LOH) events which do not induce any net change in the copy number and are often associated with uniparental disomy. These phenomena have long been reported to be associated with diseases and particularly in cancer. Losses/gains of genomic regions are often correlated with lower/higher gene expression. On the other hand, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and cn-LOH are common events in cancer and may be associated with the loss of a functional tumor suppressor gene. Therefore, identifying recurrent CNV and cn-LOH events can be important as they may highlight common biological components and give insights into the development or mechanisms of a disease. However, no currently available tools allow a comprehensive whole-genome visualization of recurrent CNVs and cn-LOH in groups of samples providing absolute quantification of the aberrations leading to the loss of potentially important information. Results To overcome these limitations, we developed aCNViewer (Absolute CNV Viewer), a visualization tool for absolute CNVs and cn-LOH across a group of samples. aCNViewer proposes three graphical representations: dendrograms, bi-dimensional heatmaps showing chromosomal regions sharing similar abnormality patterns, and quantitative stacked histograms facilitating the identification of recurrent absolute CNVs and cn-LOH. We illustrated aCNViewer using publically available hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) Affymetrix SNP Array data (Fig 1A). Regions 1q and 8q present a similar percentage of total gains but significantly different copy number gain categories (p-value of 0.0103 with a Fisher exact test), validated by another cohort of HCCs (p-value of 5.6e-7) (Fig 2B). Availability and implementation aCNViewer is implemented in python and R and is available with a GNU GPLv3 license on GitHub https

  14. aCNViewer: Comprehensive genome-wide visualization of absolute copy number and copy neutral variations.

    PubMed

    Renault, Victor; Tost, Jörg; Pichon, Fabien; Wang-Renault, Shu-Fang; Letouzé, Eric; Imbeaud, Sandrine; Zucman-Rossi, Jessica; Deleuze, Jean-François; How-Kit, Alexandre

    2017-01-01

    Copy number variations (CNV) include net gains or losses of part or whole chromosomal regions. They differ from copy neutral loss of heterozygosity (cn-LOH) events which do not induce any net change in the copy number and are often associated with uniparental disomy. These phenomena have long been reported to be associated with diseases and particularly in cancer. Losses/gains of genomic regions are often correlated with lower/higher gene expression. On the other hand, loss of heterozygosity (LOH) and cn-LOH are common events in cancer and may be associated with the loss of a functional tumor suppressor gene. Therefore, identifying recurrent CNV and cn-LOH events can be important as they may highlight common biological components and give insights into the development or mechanisms of a disease. However, no currently available tools allow a comprehensive whole-genome visualization of recurrent CNVs and cn-LOH in groups of samples providing absolute quantification of the aberrations leading to the loss of potentially important information. To overcome these limitations, we developed aCNViewer (Absolute CNV Viewer), a visualization tool for absolute CNVs and cn-LOH across a group of samples. aCNViewer proposes three graphical representations: dendrograms, bi-dimensional heatmaps showing chromosomal regions sharing similar abnormality patterns, and quantitative stacked histograms facilitating the identification of recurrent absolute CNVs and cn-LOH. We illustrated aCNViewer using publically available hepatocellular carcinomas (HCCs) Affymetrix SNP Array data (Fig 1A). Regions 1q and 8q present a similar percentage of total gains but significantly different copy number gain categories (p-value of 0.0103 with a Fisher exact test), validated by another cohort of HCCs (p-value of 5.6e-7) (Fig 2B). aCNViewer is implemented in python and R and is available with a GNU GPLv3 license on GitHub https://github.com/FJD-CEPH/aCNViewer and Docker https

  15. Expression of fas protein on CD4+T cells irradiated by low level He-Ne

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nie, Fan; Zhu, Jing; Zhang, Hui-Guo

    2005-07-01

    Objective: To investigate the influence on the Expression of Fas protein on CD4+ T cells irradiated by low level He-Ne laser in the cases of psoriasis. Methods:the expression of CD4+ T Fas protein was determined in the casee of psoriasis(n=5) pre and post-low level laser irradiation(30 min、60min and 120min)by flow cytometry as compared withthe control(n=5). Results:In the cases of psoriasis,the expression of CD4+T FAS protein 21.4+/-3.1% was increased significantly than that of control group 16.8+/-2.1% pre-irradiation, p<0.05in the control,there is no difference between pre and post- irradiation,p>0.05in the cases , the expression of CD4+T Fas protein wae positively corelated to the irradiation times, when the energy density arrived to 22.92J/cm2(60 minutes)and 45.84J/cm2(120minutes), the expression of CD4+ T Fas protein was increased significantly as compared with pre-irradiation,p<0.05.Conclusion: The expression of CD4+T Fas protein may be increased by low level He-Ne laser irradiation ,the uncontrolled status of apoptosis could be corrected.

  16. Impaired thymic selection in mice expressing altered levels of the SLP-76 adaptor protein.

    PubMed

    Ramsey, Kimberley; Luckashenak, Nancy; Koretzky, Gary A; Clements, James L

    2008-02-01

    Intracellular signaling initiated by ligation of the TCR influences cell fate at multiple points during the lifespan of a T cell. This is especially evident during thymic selection, where the nature of TCR-dependent signaling helps to establish a MHC-restricted, self-tolerant T cell repertoire. The Src homology 2 domain-containing leukocyte-specific phosphoprotein of 76 kDa (SLP-76) adaptor protein is a required intermediate in multiple signaling pathways triggered by TCR engagement, several of which have been implicated in dictating the outcome of thymic selection (e.g., intracellular calcium flux and activation of ERK family MAPKs). To determine if thymocyte maturation and selection at later stages of development are sensitive to perturbations in SLP-76 levels, we analyzed these crucial events using several transgenic (Tg) lines of mice expressing altered levels of SLP-76 in the thymus. In Tg mice expressing low levels of SLP-76 in preselection thymocytes, the CD4:CD8 ratio in the thymus and spleen was skewed in a manner consistent with impaired selection and/or maturation of CD4+ thymocytes. Low SLP-76 expression also correlated with reduced CD5 expression on immature thymocytes, consistent with reduced TCR signaling potential. In contrast, reconstitution of SLP-76 at higher levels resulted in normal thymic CD5 expression and CD4:CD8 ratios in the thymus and periphery. It is curious that thymic deletion of TCR-Tg (HY) thymocytes was markedly impaired in both lines of Tg-reconstituted SLP-76-/- mice. Studies using chimeric mice indicate that the defect in deletion of HY+ thymocytes is intrinsic to the developing thymocyte, suggesting that maintenance of sufficient SLP-76 expression from the endogenous locus is a key element in the selection process.

  17. Analysis of gene expression levels in individual bacterial cells without image segmentation

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Kwak, In Hae; Son, Minjun; Hagen, Stephen J., E-mail: sjhagen@ufl.edu

    2012-05-11

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We present a method for extracting gene expression data from images of bacterial cells. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The method does not employ cell segmentation and does not require high magnification. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Fluorescence and phase contrast images of the cells are correlated through the physics of phase contrast. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer We demonstrate the method by characterizing noisy expression of comX in Streptococcus mutans. -- Abstract: Studies of stochasticity in gene expression typically make use of fluorescent protein reporters, which permit the measurement of expression levels within individual cells by fluorescence microscopy. Analysis of such microscopy images is almost invariably based on amore » segmentation algorithm, where the image of a cell or cluster is analyzed mathematically to delineate individual cell boundaries. However segmentation can be ineffective for studying bacterial cells or clusters, especially at lower magnification, where outlines of individual cells are poorly resolved. Here we demonstrate an alternative method for analyzing such images without segmentation. The method employs a comparison between the pixel brightness in phase contrast vs fluorescence microscopy images. By fitting the correlation between phase contrast and fluorescence intensity to a physical model, we obtain well-defined estimates for the different levels of gene expression that are present in the cell or cluster. The method reveals the boundaries of the individual cells, even if the source images lack the resolution to show these boundaries clearly.« less

  18. 242Pu absolute neutron-capture cross section measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Buckner, M. Q.; Wu, C. Y.; Henderson, R. A.; Bucher, B.; Chyzh, A.; Bredeweg, T. A.; Baramsai, B.; Couture, A.; Jandel, M.; Mosby, S.; O'Donnell, J. M.; Ullmann, J. L.

    2017-09-01

    The absolute neutron-capture cross section of 242Pu was measured at the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center using the Detector for Advanced Neutron-Capture Experiments array along with a compact parallel-plate avalanche counter for fission-fragment detection. During target fabrication, a small amount of 239Pu was added to the active target so that the absolute scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section could be set according to the known 239Pu(n,f) resonance at En,R = 7.83 eV. The relative scale of the 242Pu(n,γ) cross section covers four orders of magnitude for incident neutron energies from thermal to ≈ 40 keV. The cross section reported in ENDF/B-VII.1 for the 242Pu(n,γ) En,R = 2.68 eV resonance was found to be 2.4% lower than the new absolute 242Pu(n,γ) cross section.

  19. Rachiplusia nu larva as a biofactory to achieve high level expression of horseradish peroxidase.

    PubMed

    Romero, Lucía Virginia; Targovnik, Alexandra Marisa; Wolman, Federico Javier; Cascone, Osvaldo; Miranda, María Victoria

    2011-05-01

    A process based on orally-infected Rachiplusia nu larvae as biological factories for expression and one-step purification of horseradish peroxidase isozyme C (HRP-C) is described. The process allows obtaining high levels of pure HRP-C by membrane chromatography purification. The introduction of the partial polyhedrin homology sequence element in the target gene increased HRP-C expression level by 2.8-fold whereas it increased 1.8-fold when the larvae were reared at 27 °C instead of at 24 °C, summing up a 4.6-fold overall increase in the expression level. Additionally, HRP-C purification by membrane chromatography at a high flow rate greatly increase D the productivity without affecting the resolution. The V(max) and K(m) values of the recombinant HRP-C were similar to those of the HRP from Armoracia rusticana roots. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

  20. Large-scale multiplex absolute protein quantification of drug-metabolizing enzymes and transporters in human intestine, liver, and kidney microsomes by SWATH-MS: Comparison with MRM/SRM and HR-MRM/PRM.

    PubMed

    Nakamura, Kenji; Hirayama-Kurogi, Mio; Ito, Shingo; Kuno, Takuya; Yoneyama, Toshihiro; Obuchi, Wataru; Terasaki, Tetsuya; Ohtsuki, Sumio

    2016-08-01

    The purpose of the present study was to examine simultaneously the absolute protein amounts of 152 membrane and membrane-associated proteins, including 30 metabolizing enzymes and 107 transporters, in pooled microsomal fractions of human liver, kidney, and intestine by means of SWATH-MS with stable isotope-labeled internal standard peptides, and to compare the results with those obtained by MRM/SRM and high resolution (HR)-MRM/PRM. The protein expression levels of 27 metabolizing enzymes, 54 transporters, and six other membrane proteins were quantitated by SWATH-MS; other targets were below the lower limits of quantitation. Most of the values determined by SWATH-MS differed by less than 50% from those obtained by MRM/SRM or HR-MRM/PRM. Various metabolizing enzymes were expressed in liver microsomes more abundantly than in other microsomes. Ten, 13, and eight transporters listed as important for drugs by International Transporter Consortium were quantified in liver, kidney, and intestinal microsomes, respectively. Our results indicate that SWATH-MS enables large-scale multiplex absolute protein quantification while retaining similar quantitative capability to MRM/SRM or HR-MRM/PRM. SWATH-MS is expected to be useful methodology in the context of drug development for elucidating the molecular mechanisms of drug absorption, metabolism, and excretion in the human body based on protein profile information. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. The Expression Level of Septin12 Is Critical for Spermiogenesis

    PubMed Central

    Lin, Ying-Hung; Lin, Yung-Ming; Wang, Ya-Yun; Yu, I-Shing; Lin, Yi-Wen; Wang, Yun-Han; Wu, Ching-Ming; Pan, Hsien-An; Chao, Shin-Chih; Yen, Pauline H.; Lin, Shu-Wha; Kuo, Pao-Lin

    2009-01-01

    Septins belong to a family of polymerizing GTP-binding proteins that are required for many cellular functions, such as membrane compartmentalization, vesicular trafficking, mitosis, and cytoskeletal remodeling. One family member, septin12, is expressed specifically in the testis. In this study, we found septin12 expressed in multiple subcellular compartments during terminal differentiation of mouse germ cells. In humans, the testicular tissues of men with either hypospermatogenesis or maturation arrest had lower levels of SEPTIN12 transcripts than normal men. In addition, increased numbers of spermatozoa with abnormal head, neck, and tail morphologies lacked SEPT12 immunostaining signals, as compared with normal spermatozoa. To elucidate the role of septin12, we generated 129 embryonic stem cells containing a septin12 mutant allele with a deletion in the exons that encode the N-terminal GTP-binding domain. Most chimeras derived from the targeted embryonic stem cells were infertile, and the few fertile chimeras only produced offspring with a C57BL/6 background. Semen analysis of the infertile chimeras showed a decreased sperm count, decreased sperm motility, and spermatozoa with defects involving all subcellular compartments. The testicular phenotypes included maturation arrest of germ cells at the spermatid stage, sloughing of round spermatids, and increased apoptosis of germ cells. Electron microscopic examination of spermatozoa showed misshapen nuclei, disorganized mitochondria, and broken acrosomes. Our data indicate that Septin12 expression levels are critical for mammalian spermiogenesis. PMID:19359518

  2. [Prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia].

    PubMed

    Szerafin, László; Jakó, János; Riskó, Ferenc

    2015-04-01

    The low peripheral absolute lymphocyte and high monocyte count have been reported to correlate with poor clinical outcome in various lymphomas and other cancers. However, a few data known about the prognostic value of absolute monocyte count in chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. The aim of the authors was to investigate the impact of absolute monocyte count measured at the time of diagnosis in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia on the time to treatment and overal survival. Between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2012, 223 patients with newly-diagnosed chronic lymphocytic leukaemia were included. The rate of patients needing treatment, time to treatment, overal survival and causes of mortality based on Rai stages, CD38, ZAP-70 positivity and absolute monocyte count were analyzed. Therapy was necessary in 21.1%, 57.4%, 88.9%, 88.9% and 100% of patients in Rai stage 0, I, II, III an IV, respectively; in 61.9% and 60.8% of patients exhibiting CD38 and ZAP-70 positivity, respectively; and in 76.9%, 21.2% and 66.2% of patients if the absolute monocyte count was <0.25 G/l, between 0.25-0.75 G/l and >0.75 G/l, respectively. The median time to treatment and the median overal survival were 19.5, 65, and 35.5 months; and 41.5, 65, and 49.5 months according to the three groups of monocyte counts. The relative risk of beginning the therapy was 1.62 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count <0.25 G/l or >0.75 G/l, as compared to those with 0.25-0.75 G/l, and the risk of overal survival was 2.41 (p<0.01) in patients with absolute monocyte count lower than 0.25 G/l as compared to those with higher than 0.25 G/l. The relative risks remained significant in Rai 0 patients, too. The leading causes of mortality were infections (41.7%) and the chronic lymphocytic leukaemia (58.3%) in patients with low monocyte count, while tumours (25.9-35.3%) and other events (48.1 and 11.8%) occurred in patients with medium or high monocyte counts. Patients with low and high monocyte

  3. Absolute configuration of (-)-myrtenal by vibrational circular dichroism.

    PubMed

    Burgueño-Tapia, Eleuterio; Zepeda, L Gerardo; Joseph-Nathan, Pedro

    2010-07-01

    The VCD spectrum of the monoterpene (-)-myrtenal (1) was compared with theoretical spectra using ab initio density functional theory (DFT) calculations at the B3LYP/6-31G(d,p), B3LYP/6-31G+(d,p), B3LYP/6-311G+(d,p), B3LYP/DGDZVP, and B3PW91/DGTZVP levels of theory. Conformational analysis of 1 indicated that the lowest energy conformer was s-trans-C2-C10, which contributes more than 98.5% to the total conformational population regardless of the employed level of theory. The use of a recently developed confidence level algorithm demonstrated that VCD spectra calculated for the main conformer, using the indicated hybrid functionals and basis set, gave no significant changes, from where it follows that B3LYP/DGDZVP calculations provide a superior balance between computer cost and VCD spectral accuracy. The DGDZVP basis set demanded around a quarter the time than the 6-311G+(d,p) basis set while providing similar results. The spectral comparison also provided evidence that the levorotatory enantiomer of myrtenal has the 1R absolute configuration. 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  4. [The level of superoxide dismutase expression in primary and metastatic colorectal cancer cells in hypoxia and tissue normoxia].

    PubMed

    Skrzycki, Michał; Czeczot, Hanna; Chrzanowska, Alicja; Otto-Ślusarczyk, Dagmara

    2015-11-01

    Superoxide oxidase (SOD) is a key antioxidant enzyme protecting cells against oxidative stress, which might induce cancerogenesis. In tumor cells SOD influences the level of the reactive oxygen species (ROS) allowing for survival and proliferation. High rate of cells proliferation in tumor leads to their temporary hypoxia due to lower rate of angiogenesis. Therefore during tumor development, cancer cells function in conditions of hypoxia or tissue normoxia. The aim of study was to evaluate of SOD isoenzymes (SOD1 and SOD2) expression level in cell lines of primary (SW 480) and metastatic (SW 620) colorectal cancer, cultured in hypoxia (1% oxygen), tissue normoxia (10% oxygen), and atmospheric normoxia (21% oxygen). Cells were cultured in MEM medium in different oxygen concentrations (1%, 10%, 21%) in hypoxic chamber with oxygenation regulator. The number of living cells in lines SW 480 and 620 was determined by trypan blue method. Expression of SOD1 and SOD2 at the mRNA level was determined by RT-PCR and PCR. In both studied cell lines (SW 480 and SW 620), the number of living cells (viability) was increased in hypoxia and atmospheric normoxia. The expression level of SOD1 and SOD2 in studied cell lines was different. The lowest level of expression of both SOD isoenzymes was observed in hypoxia. In conditions of atmospheric normoxia the expression level of SOD1 in SW480 cell line was increased, and similar in SW620 cell line comparing to tissue normoxia. Whereas the SOD2 expression level in atmospheric normoxia conditions in both cell lines was significantly increased. Observed differences were statistically significant (p ≤ 0,05). The profile of expression of SOD1 and SOD2 in cell lines SW480 and SW620 indicates differentiated response of tumor cells depending on access to oxygen. Low level of SOD isoenzymes expression in SW480 and SW620 cells in hypoxia indicates decreased production of ROS. Differences of SOD isoenzymes expression level in tissue normoxia

  5. Confidence-Accuracy Calibration in Absolute and Relative Face Recognition Judgments

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weber, Nathan; Brewer, Neil

    2004-01-01

    Confidence-accuracy (CA) calibration was examined for absolute and relative face recognition judgments as well as for recognition judgments from groups of stimuli presented simultaneously or sequentially (i.e., simultaneous or sequential mini-lineups). When the effect of difficulty was controlled, absolute and relative judgments produced…

  6. A part toolbox to tune genetic expression in Bacillus subtilis

    PubMed Central

    Guiziou, Sarah; Sauveplane, Vincent; Chang, Hung-Ju; Clerté, Caroline; Declerck, Nathalie; Jules, Matthieu; Bonnet, Jerome

    2016-01-01

    Libraries of well-characterised components regulating gene expression levels are essential to many synthetic biology applications. While widely available for the Gram-negative model bacterium Escherichia coli, such libraries are lacking for the Gram-positive model Bacillus subtilis, a key organism for basic research and biotechnological applications. Here, we engineered a genetic toolbox comprising libraries of promoters, Ribosome Binding Sites (RBS), and protein degradation tags to precisely tune gene expression in B. subtilis. We first designed a modular Expression Operating Unit (EOU) facilitating parts assembly and modifications and providing a standard genetic context for gene circuits implementation. We then selected native, constitutive promoters of B. subtilis and efficient RBS sequences from which we engineered three promoters and three RBS sequence libraries exhibiting ∼14 000-fold dynamic range in gene expression levels. We also designed a collection of SsrA proteolysis tags of variable strength. Finally, by using fluorescence fluctuation methods coupled with two-photon microscopy, we quantified the absolute concentration of GFP in a subset of strains from the library. Our complete promoters and RBS sequences library comprising over 135 constructs enables tuning of GFP concentration over five orders of magnitude, from 0.05 to 700 μM. This toolbox of regulatory components will support many research and engineering applications in B. subtilis. PMID:27402159

  7. Reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach for 3D measurement

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Yu, Shuang; Zhang, Jing; Yu, Xiaoyang; Sun, Xiaoming; Wu, Haibin; Chen, Deyun

    2017-11-01

    The wrapped phase of phase-shifting approach can be unwrapped by using Gray code, but both the wrapped phase error and Gray code decoding error can result in period jump error, which will lead to gross measurement error. Therefore, this paper presents a reliable absolute analog code retrieval approach. The combination of unequal-period Gray code and phase shifting patterns at high frequencies are used to obtain high-frequency absolute analog code, and at low frequencies, the same unequal-period combination patterns are used to obtain the low-frequency absolute analog code. Next, the difference between the two absolute analog codes was employed to eliminate period jump errors, and a reliable unwrapped result can be obtained. Error analysis was used to determine the applicable conditions, and this approach was verified through theoretical analysis. The proposed approach was further verified experimentally. Theoretical analysis and experimental results demonstrate that the proposed approach can perform reliable analog code unwrapping.

  8. Analysis of gene expression levels in individual bacterial cells without image segmentation.

    PubMed

    Kwak, In Hae; Son, Minjun; Hagen, Stephen J

    2012-05-11

    Studies of stochasticity in gene expression typically make use of fluorescent protein reporters, which permit the measurement of expression levels within individual cells by fluorescence microscopy. Analysis of such microscopy images is almost invariably based on a segmentation algorithm, where the image of a cell or cluster is analyzed mathematically to delineate individual cell boundaries. However segmentation can be ineffective for studying bacterial cells or clusters, especially at lower magnification, where outlines of individual cells are poorly resolved. Here we demonstrate an alternative method for analyzing such images without segmentation. The method employs a comparison between the pixel brightness in phase contrast vs fluorescence microscopy images. By fitting the correlation between phase contrast and fluorescence intensity to a physical model, we obtain well-defined estimates for the different levels of gene expression that are present in the cell or cluster. The method reveals the boundaries of the individual cells, even if the source images lack the resolution to show these boundaries clearly. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Auditory working memory predicts individual differences in absolute pitch learning.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Koch, Rachelle; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2015-07-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is typically defined as the ability to label an isolated tone as a musical note in the absence of a reference tone. At first glance the acquisition of AP note categories seems like a perceptual learning task, since individuals must assign a category label to a stimulus based on a single perceptual dimension (pitch) while ignoring other perceptual dimensions (e.g., loudness, octave, instrument). AP, however, is rarely discussed in terms of domain-general perceptual learning mechanisms. This is because AP is typically assumed to depend on a critical period of development, in which early exposure to pitches and musical labels is thought to be necessary for the development of AP precluding the possibility of adult acquisition of AP. Despite this view of AP, several previous studies have found evidence that absolute pitch category learning is, to an extent, trainable in a post-critical period adult population, even if the performance typically achieved by this population is below the performance of a "true" AP possessor. The current studies attempt to understand the individual differences in learning to categorize notes using absolute pitch cues by testing a specific prediction regarding cognitive capacity related to categorization - to what extent does an individual's general auditory working memory capacity (WMC) predict the success of absolute pitch category acquisition. Since WMC has been shown to predict performance on a wide variety of other perceptual and category learning tasks, we predict that individuals with higher WMC should be better at learning absolute pitch note categories than individuals with lower WMC. Across two studies, we demonstrate that auditory WMC predicts the efficacy of learning absolute pitch note categories. These results suggest that a higher general auditory WMC might underlie the formation of absolute pitch categories for post-critical period adults. Implications for understanding the mechanisms that underlie the

  10. A Java Program for LRE-Based Real-Time qPCR that Enables Large-Scale Absolute Quantification

    PubMed Central

    Rutledge, Robert G.

    2011-01-01

    Background Linear regression of efficiency (LRE) introduced a new paradigm for real-time qPCR that enables large-scale absolute quantification by eliminating the need for standard curves. Developed through the application of sigmoidal mathematics to SYBR Green I-based assays, target quantity is derived directly from fluorescence readings within the central region of an amplification profile. However, a major challenge of implementing LRE quantification is the labor intensive nature of the analysis. Findings Utilizing the extensive resources that are available for developing Java-based software, the LRE Analyzer was written using the NetBeans IDE, and is built on top of the modular architecture and windowing system provided by the NetBeans Platform. This fully featured desktop application determines the number of target molecules within a sample with little or no intervention by the user, in addition to providing extensive database capabilities. MS Excel is used to import data, allowing LRE quantification to be conducted with any real-time PCR instrument that provides access to the raw fluorescence readings. An extensive help set also provides an in-depth introduction to LRE, in addition to guidelines on how to implement LRE quantification. Conclusions The LRE Analyzer provides the automated analysis and data storage capabilities required by large-scale qPCR projects wanting to exploit the many advantages of absolute quantification. Foremost is the universal perspective afforded by absolute quantification, which among other attributes, provides the ability to directly compare quantitative data produced by different assays and/or instruments. Furthermore, absolute quantification has important implications for gene expression profiling in that it provides the foundation for comparing transcript quantities produced by any gene with any other gene, within and between samples. PMID:21407812

  11. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in incidence of acute myocardial infarction: a cohort study quantifying age- and gender-specific differences in relative and absolute terms.

    PubMed

    Koopman, Carla; van Oeffelen, Aloysia A M; Bots, Michiel L; Engelfriet, Peter M; Verschuren, W M Monique; van Rossem, Lenie; van Dis, Ineke; Capewell, Simon; Vaartjes, Ilonca

    2012-08-07

    Socioeconomic status has a profound effect on the risk of having a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Information on socioeconomic inequalities in AMI incidence across age-gender-groups is lacking. Our objective was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of AMI considering both relative and absolute measures of risk differences, with a particular focus on age and gender. We identified all patients with a first AMI from 1997 to 2007 through linked hospital discharge and death records covering the Dutch population. Relative risks (RR) of AMI incidence were estimated by mean equivalent household income at neighbourhood-level for strata of age and gender using Poisson regression models. Socioeconomic inequalities were also shown within the stratified age-gender groups by calculating the total number of events attributable to socioeconomic disadvantage. Between 1997 and 2007, 317,564 people had a first AMI. When comparing the most deprived socioeconomic quintile with the most affluent quintile, the overall RR for AMI was 1.34 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.32-1.36) in men and 1.44 (95 % CI: 1.42-1.47) in women. The socioeconomic gradient decreased with age. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were most apparent in men under 35 years and in women under 65 years. The largest number of events attributable to socioeconomic inequalities was found in men aged 45-74 years and in women aged 65-84 years. The total proportion of AMIs that was attributable to socioeconomic inequalities in the Dutch population of 1997 to 2007 was 14 % in men and 18 % in women. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities were observed in AMI incidence in the Netherlands, but the magnitude across age-gender groups depended on whether inequality was expressed in relative or absolute terms. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were high in young persons and women, where the absolute burden of AMI was low. Absolute socioeconomic inequalities in AMI were highest in

  12. Complex interactions between cis-regulatory modules in native conformation are critical for Drosophila snail expression

    PubMed Central

    Dunipace, Leslie; Ozdemir, Anil; Stathopoulos, Angelike

    2011-01-01

    It has been shown in several organisms that multiple cis-regulatory modules (CRMs) of a gene locus can be active concurrently to support similar spatiotemporal expression. To understand the functional importance of such seemingly redundant CRMs, we examined two CRMs from the Drosophila snail gene locus, which are both active in the ventral region of pre-gastrulation embryos. By performing a deletion series in a ∼25 kb DNA rescue construct using BAC recombineering and site-directed transgenesis, we demonstrate that the two CRMs are not redundant. The distal CRM is absolutely required for viability, whereas the proximal CRM is required only under extreme conditions such as high temperature. Consistent with their distinct requirements, the CRMs support distinct expression patterns: the proximal CRM exhibits an expanded expression domain relative to endogenous snail, whereas the distal CRM exhibits almost complete overlap with snail except at the anterior-most pole. We further show that the distal CRM normally limits the increased expression domain of the proximal CRM and that the proximal CRM serves as a `damper' for the expression levels driven by the distal CRM. Thus, the two CRMs interact in cis in a non-additive fashion and these interactions may be important for fine-tuning the domains and levels of gene expression. PMID:21813571

  13. Method and apparatus for two-dimensional absolute optical encoding

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Leviton, Douglas B. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    This invention presents a two-dimensional absolute optical encoder and a method for determining position of an object in accordance with information from the encoder. The encoder of the present invention comprises a scale having a pattern being predetermined to indicate an absolute location on the scale, means for illuminating the scale, means for forming an image of the pattern; and detector means for outputting signals derived from the portion of the image of the pattern which lies within a field of view of the detector means, the field of view defining an image reference coordinate system, and analyzing means, receiving the signals from the detector means, for determining the absolute location of the object. There are two types of scale patterns presented in this invention: grid type and starfield type.

  14. Unstable Expression of Commonly Used Reference Genes in Rat Pancreatic Islets Early after Isolation Affects Results of Gene Expression Studies.

    PubMed

    Kosinová, Lucie; Cahová, Monika; Fábryová, Eva; Týcová, Irena; Koblas, Tomáš; Leontovyč, Ivan; Saudek, František; Kříž, Jan

    2016-01-01

    The use of RT-qPCR provides a powerful tool for gene expression studies; however, the proper interpretation of the obtained data is crucially dependent on accurate normalization based on stable reference genes. Recently, strong evidence has been shown indicating that the expression of many commonly used reference genes may vary significantly due to diverse experimental conditions. The isolation of pancreatic islets is a complicated procedure which creates severe mechanical and metabolic stress leading possibly to cellular damage and alteration of gene expression. Despite of this, freshly isolated islets frequently serve as a control in various gene expression and intervention studies. The aim of our study was to determine expression of 16 candidate reference genes and one gene of interest (F3) in isolated rat pancreatic islets during short-term cultivation in order to find a suitable endogenous control for gene expression studies. We compared the expression stability of the most commonly used reference genes and evaluated the reliability of relative and absolute quantification using RT-qPCR during 0-120 hrs after isolation. In freshly isolated islets, the expression of all tested genes was markedly depressed and it increased several times throughout the first 48 hrs of cultivation. We observed significant variability among samples at 0 and 24 hrs but substantial stabilization from 48 hrs onwards. During the first 48 hrs, relative quantification failed to reflect the real changes in respective mRNA concentrations while in the interval 48-120 hrs, the relative expression generally paralleled the results determined by absolute quantification. Thus, our data call into question the suitability of relative quantification for gene expression analysis in pancreatic islets during the first 48 hrs of cultivation, as the results may be significantly affected by unstable expression of reference genes. However, this method could provide reliable information from 48 hrs onwards.

  15. Quantum Bath Refrigeration towards Absolute Zero: Challenging the Unattainability Principle

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kolář, M.; Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, D.; Alicki, R.; Kurizki, G.

    2012-08-01

    A minimal model of a quantum refrigerator, i.e., a periodically phase-flipped two-level system permanently coupled to a finite-capacity bath (cold bath) and an infinite heat dump (hot bath), is introduced and used to investigate the cooling of the cold bath towards absolute zero (T=0). Remarkably, the temperature scaling of the cold-bath cooling rate reveals that it does not vanish as T→0 for certain realistic quantized baths, e.g., phonons in strongly disordered media (fractons) or quantized spin waves in ferromagnets (magnons). This result challenges Nernst’s third-law formulation known as the unattainability principle.

  16. Quantum bath refrigeration towards absolute zero: challenging the unattainability principle.

    PubMed

    Kolář, M; Gelbwaser-Klimovsky, D; Alicki, R; Kurizki, G

    2012-08-31

    A minimal model of a quantum refrigerator, i.e., a periodically phase-flipped two-level system permanently coupled to a finite-capacity bath (cold bath) and an infinite heat dump (hot bath), is introduced and used to investigate the cooling of the cold bath towards absolute zero (T=0). Remarkably, the temperature scaling of the cold-bath cooling rate reveals that it does not vanish as T→0 for certain realistic quantized baths, e.g., phonons in strongly disordered media (fractons) or quantized spin waves in ferromagnets (magnons). This result challenges Nernst's third-law formulation known as the unattainability principle.

  17. 237Np absolute delayed neutron yield measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Doré, D.; Ledoux, X.; Nolte, R.; Gagnon-Moisan, F.; Thulliez, L.; Litaize, O.; Roettger, S.; Serot, O.

    2017-09-01

    237Np absolute delayed neutron yields have been measured at different incident neutron energies from 1.5 to 16 MeV. The experiment was performed at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) facility where the Van de Graaff accelerator and the cyclotron CV28 delivered 9 different neutron energy beams using p+T, d+D and d+T reactions. The detection system is made up of twelve 3He tubes inserted into a polyethylene cylinder. In this paper, the experimental setup and the data analysis method are described. The evolution of the absolute DN yields as a function of the neutron incident beam energies are presented and compared to experimental data found in the literature and data from the libraries.

  18. An absolute measure for a key currency

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Oya, Shunsuke; Aihara, Kazuyuki; Hirata, Yoshito

    It is generally considered that the US dollar and the euro are the key currencies in the world and in Europe, respectively. However, there is no absolute general measure for a key currency. Here, we investigate the 24-hour periodicity of foreign exchange markets using a recurrence plot, and define an absolute measure for a key currency based on the strength of the periodicity. Moreover, we analyze the time evolution of this measure. The results show that the credibility of the US dollar has not decreased significantly since the Lehman shock, when the Lehman Brothers bankrupted and influenced the economic markets, and has increased even relatively better than that of the euro and that of the Japanese yen.

  19. [Expression levels of Cdc2 and Cdc25A mRNA in cattle, yak, and cattle-yak testis].

    PubMed

    Dong, Li-Yan; Li, Qi-Fa; Qu, Xu-Guang; Li, Yin-Xia; Li, Xin-Fu; Hu, Hong-Tao; Xie, Zhuang

    2009-05-01

    The infertility of cattle-yak, which is the hybrid offspring of cattle and yak, is a difficult problem in crossbreeding and improvement of yak. Cdc2 and Cdc25A are the key genes of meiosis. The decline of their expression levels will cause the spermatogenesis failure and lead to infertility. Therefore, this study was conducted to study the relationship between the infertility of cattle-yak and the expression levels of Cdc2/Cdc25A genes. The expression profiles were obtained by RT-PCR. Cdc2 and Cdc25A genes were widely expressed in many tissues, which confirmed their important role in cell division and the progression of cell cycle. Real-time quantitative PCR analysis indicated that the expression levels of Cdc2 and Cdc25A in cattle and yak testis were higher than those in cattle-yak (P<0.05). Therefore, low expression levels of Cdc2 and Cdc25A genes may have a relationship with the infertility of cattle-yak.

  20. Gene expression levels of heat shock proteins in the soleus and plantaris muscles of rats after hindlimb suspension or spaceflight.

    PubMed

    Ishihara, Akihiko; Fujino, Hidemi; Nagatomo, Fumiko; Takeda, Isao; Ohira, Yoshinobu

    2008-12-01

    Gene expression levels of heat shock proteins (HSPs) in the slow-twitch soleus and fast-twitch plantaris muscles of rats were determined after hindlimb suspension or spaceflight. Male rats were hindlimb-suspended for 14 d or exposed to microgravity for 9 d. The mRNA expression levels of HSP27, HSP70, and HSP84 in the hindlimb-suspended and microgravity-exposed groups were compared with those in the controls. The mRNA expression levels of the 3 HSPs in the soleus muscle under normal conditions were higher compared with those in the plantaris muscle. The mRNA expression levels of the 3 HSPs in the soleus muscle were inhibited by hindlimb suspension and spaceflight. The mRNA expression levels of the 3 HSPs in the plantaris muscle did not change after hindlimb suspension. It is suggested that the mRNA expression levels of the 3 HSPs are regulated by the mechanical and neural activity levels, and therefore the decreased mRNA expression levels of HSPs in the slow-twitch muscle following hindlimb suspension and spaceflight are related to a reduction in the mechanical and neural activity levels.

  1. Non-Invasive Method of Determining Absolute Intracranial Pressure

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Yost, William T. (Inventor); Cantrell, John H., Jr. (Inventor); Hargens, Alan E. (Inventor)

    2004-01-01

    A method is presented for determining absolute intracranial pressure (ICP) in a patient. Skull expansion is monitored while changes in ICP are induced. The patient's blood pressure is measured when skull expansion is approximately zero. The measured blood pressure is indicative of a reference ICP value. Subsequently, the method causes a known change in ICP and measured the change in skull expansion associated therewith. The absolute ICP is a function of the reference ICP value, the known change in ICP and its associated change in skull expansion; and a measured change in skull expansion.

  2. Lipocalin-2 expression and serum levels as early predictors of type 2 diabetes mellitus in obese women.

    PubMed

    Rashad, Nearmeen M; El-Shal, Amal S; Etewa, Rasha L; Wadea, Fady M

    2017-02-01

    Obesity and diabetes are increasing in epidemic proportions globally. Lipocalin-2 (LCN-2) is an inflammatory adipocytokine and obesity-related marker of low-grade inflammation. We aimed to investigate, for first time, the possible role of LCN-2 expression and serum levels in prediction of impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) among obese Egyptian women. This study included 188 obese women and 180 controls. Obese women were subdivided into three subgroups according to their fasting blood glucose, normal glucose tolerance (NGT), IGT and T2DM. Circulating LCN-2 expression levels were determined by real time polymerase chain reaction. Serum LCN-2 concentrations were assessed by ELISA. Our findings revealed that LCN-2 expression and serum levels were higher in obese women compared to lean controls. They were higher in IGT and T2DM obese cases than in NGT obese women. Receiver operating characteristic analyses revealed that LCN-2 expression level was a useful biomarker discriminating IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women (AUC were 0.735 and 0.740, respectively). It was an independent predictor of IGT and T2DM among obese women. Serum LCN-2 level was a useful biomarker discriminating IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women (AUC were 0.705 and 0.728, respectively). It was independent predictor of T2DM without predicting IGT among obese women. The power of combined LCN-2 serum levels and expression in discriminating between IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women was high (AUC = 0.717 and 0.741, respectively). In conclusion, LCN-2 expression and serum levels could discriminate IGT from NGT and T2DM from IGT obese women and early predicting T2DM among obese women. While, LCN-2 expression level was the independent predictor of IGT in obese women. Combination of both LCN-2 expression and serum levels improved their diagnostic value in early detection of IGT and T2DM among obese women. © 2017 IUBMB Life, 69(2):88-97, 2017. © 2017

  3. Tocopherol levels in different mango varieties correlate with MiHPPD expression and its over-expression elevates tocopherols in transgenic Arabidopsis and tomato.

    PubMed

    Singh, Rajesh K; Chaurasia, Akhilesh K; Bari, Rupesh; Sane, Vidhu A

    2017-10-01

    Mango fruit tocopherol levels vary in different varieties during ripening. This study shows that tocopherol accumulation is highly correlated with its p-hydroxyphenyl pyruvate dioxygenase ( MiHPPD ) gene expression during ripening. MiHPPD transcript is ethylene induced and differentially expressed in four mango varieties used in this study. Higher/lower accumulation of tocopherol (mainly α-tocopherol) was achieved by heterologous expression of MiHPPD in Arabidopsis and tomato. The results suggest that tocopherol accumulation in mango fruit is correlated to MiHPPD gene expression. Over-expression of MiHPPD gene channelizes the flux towards tocophreol biosynthesis and could be used as a potential tool for metabolic engineering.

  4. Debiased estimates for NEO orbits, absolute magnitudes, and source regions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Granvik, Mikael; Morbidelli, Alessandro; Jedicke, Robert; Bolin, Bryce T.; Bottke, William; Beshore, Edward C.; Vokrouhlicky, David; Nesvorny, David; Michel, Patrick

    2017-10-01

    The debiased absolute-magnitude and orbit distributions as well as source regions for near-Earth objects (NEOs) provide a fundamental frame of reference for studies on individual NEOs as well as on more complex population-level questions. We present a new four-dimensional model of the NEO population that describes debiased steady-state distributions of semimajor axis (a), eccentricity (e), inclination (i), and absolute magnitude (H). We calibrate the model using NEO detections by the 703 and G96 stations of the Catalina Sky Survey (CSS) during 2005-2012 corresponding to objects with 17absolute sense using the biases computed for CSS (Jedicke et al. 2016, Icarus 266, 173). The model makes use of six source regions or escape routes from the main asteroid belt as identified by Granvik et al. (2017, A&A 598, A52) in addition to Jupiter-family comets: Hungaria and Phocaea asteroids, and main-belt asteroids escaping through the ν6, 3:1J, 5:2J and 2:1J resonance complexes. We account for the destruction of asteroids with small perihelion distances (Granvik et al. 2016, Nature 530, 303) by fitting a penalty function in perihelion distance. Our model accurately reproduces the observed distribution of NEOs and the predicted numbers, particularly for the larger NEOs, are in agreement with other contemporary estimates. Our model also provides updated estimates for the likelihood of the various source regions and escape routes as a function of NEO (a,e,i,H) parameters. We present the model and its predictions, and discuss them in the context of other contemporary estimates.

  5. Entrenched geographical and socioeconomic disparities in child mortality: trends in absolute and relative inequalities in Cambodia.

    PubMed

    Jimenez-Soto, Eliana; Durham, Jo; Hodge, Andrew

    2014-01-01

    Cambodia has made considerable improvements in mortality rates for children under the age of five and neonates. These improvements may, however, mask considerable disparities between subnational populations. In this paper, we examine the extent of the country's child mortality inequalities. Mortality rates for children under-five and neonates were directly estimated using the 2000, 2005 and 2010 waves of the Cambodian Demographic Health Survey. Disparities were measured on both absolute and relative scales using rate differences and ratios, and where applicable, slope and relative indices of inequality by levels of rural/urban location, regions and household wealth. Since 2000, considerable reductions in under-five and to a lesser extent in neonatal mortality rates have been observed. This mortality decline has, however, been accompanied by an increase in relative inequality in both rates of child mortality for geography-related stratifying markers. For absolute inequality amongst regions, most trends are increasing, particularly for neonatal mortality, but are not statistically significant. The only exception to this general pattern is the statistically significant positive trend in absolute inequality for under-five mortality in the Coastal region. For wealth, some evidence for increases in both relative and absolute inequality for neonates is observed. Despite considerable gains in reducing under-five and neonatal mortality at a national level, entrenched and increased geographical and wealth-based inequality in mortality, at least on a relative scale, remain. As expected, national progress seems to be associated with the period of political and macroeconomic stability that started in the early 2000s. However, issues of quality of care and potential non-inclusive economic growth might explain remaining disparities, particularly across wealth and geography markers. A focus on further addressing key supply and demand side barriers to accessing maternal and child

  6. ORMDL3 expression levels have no influence on the activity of serine palmitoyltransferase.

    PubMed

    Zhakupova, Assem; Debeuf, Nincy; Krols, Michiel; Toussaint, Wendy; Vanhoutte, Leen; Alecu, Irina; Kutalik, Zoltán; Vollenweider, Peter; Ernst, Daniela; von Eckardstein, Arnold; Lambrecht, Bart N; Janssens, Sophie; Hornemann, Thorsten

    2016-12-01

    ORMDL proteins are believed to be negative regulators of serine palmitoyltransferase (SPT), which catalyzes the first and rate limiting step in sphingolipid (SL) de novo synthesis. Several single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that are close to the ORMDL3 locus have been reported to increase ORMDL3 expression and to be associated with an elevated risk for early childhood asthma; however, the direct effect of ORMDL3 expression on SPT activity and its link to asthma remains elusive. In this study, we investigated whether ORMDL3 expression is associated with changes in SPT activity and total SL levels. Ormdl3-knockout (Ormdl3 -/- ) and transgenic (Ormdl3 Tg/wt ) mice were generated to study the effect of ORMDL3 on total SL levels in plasma and tissues. Cellular SPT activity was measured in mouse embryonic fibroblasts from Ormdl3 -/- mice, as well as in HEK293 cells in which ORMDL3 was overexpressed and silenced. Furthermore, we analyzed the association of the reported ORMDL3 asthma SNPs with plasma sphingoid bases in a population-based cohort of 971 individuals. Total C 18 -long chain bases were not significantly altered in the plasma and tissues of Ormdl3 -/- mice, whereas C 18 -sphinganine showed a small and significant increase in plasma, lung, and liver tissues. Mouse embryonic fibroblast cells from Ormdl3 -/- mice did not show an altered SPT activity compared with Ormdl3 +/- and Ormdl3 +/+ mice. Overexpression or knockdown of ORMDL3 in HEK293 cells did not alter SPT activity; however, parallel knockdown of all 3 ORMDL isoforms increased enzyme activity significantly. A significant association of the annotated ORMDL3 asthma SNPs with plasma long-chain sphingoid base levels could not be confirmed. ORMDL3 expression levels seem not to be directly associated with changes in SPT activity. ORMDL3 might influence de novo sphingolipid metabolism downstream of SPT.-Zhakupova, A., Debeuf, N., Krols, M., Toussaint, W., Vanhoutte, L., Alecu, I., Kutalik, Z., Vollenweider, P

  7. A highly accurate absolute gravimetric network for Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Ullrich, Christian; Ruess, Diethard; Butta, Hubert; Qirko, Kristaq; Pavicevic, Bozidar; Murat, Meha

    2016-04-01

    The objective of this project is to establish a basic gravity network in Albania, Kosovo and Montenegro to enable further investigations in geodetic and geophysical issues. Therefore the first time in history absolute gravity measurements were performed in these countries. The Norwegian mapping authority Kartverket is assisting the national mapping authorities in Kosovo (KCA) (Kosovo Cadastral Agency - Agjencia Kadastrale e Kosovës), Albania (ASIG) (Autoriteti Shtetëror i Informacionit Gjeohapësinor) and in Montenegro (REA) (Real Estate Administration of Montenegro - Uprava za nekretnine Crne Gore) in improving the geodetic frameworks. The gravity measurements are funded by Kartverket. The absolute gravimetric measurements were performed from BEV (Federal Office of Metrology and Surveying) with the absolute gravimeter FG5-242. As a national metrology institute (NMI) the Metrology Service of the BEV maintains the national standards for the realisation of the legal units of measurement and ensures their international equivalence and recognition. Laser and clock of the absolute gravimeter were calibrated before and after the measurements. The absolute gravimetric survey was carried out from September to October 2015. Finally all 8 scheduled stations were successfully measured: there are three stations located in Montenegro, two stations in Kosovo and three stations in Albania. The stations are distributed over the countries to establish a gravity network for each country. The vertical gradients were measured at all 8 stations with the relative gravimeter Scintrex CG5. The high class quality of some absolute gravity stations can be used for gravity monitoring activities in future. The measurement uncertainties of the absolute gravity measurements range around 2.5 micro Gal at all stations (1 microgal = 10-8 m/s2). In Montenegro the large gravity difference of 200 MilliGal between station Zabljak and Podgorica can be even used for calibration of relative gravimeters

  8. Abnormal mRNA Expression Levels of Telomere-Binding Proteins Represent Biomarkers in Myelodysplastic Syndromes: A Case-Control Study.

    PubMed

    Liu, Baoshan; Yan, Rongdi; Zhang, Jie; Wang, Bin; Sun, Hu; Cui, Xing

    2017-08-02

    As evidence was shown that abnormal shortening of telomeres begins to accumulate in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) patients, this study was conducted to determine the relationship between the mRNA expression levels of telomere-binding proteins (TRF1/TRF2/TIN2/TPP1/POT1/RAP1) and the risk level in MDS. There were 40 patients with MDS and 40 normal controls in this study. Methods including telomere content assays and quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction were used to examine the mRNA levels of TRF1/TRF2/TIN2/TPP1/POT1/RAP1 in patients with MDS. Compared to the normal group used as a control, the mRNA expression levels of RAP1/POT1/TPP1 of the patients with MDS were decreased, whereas their levels of TRF1/TRF2 and TIN2 were increased. A positive correlation was found between the TRF1, TRF2, and TIN2 mRNA expression levels and the risk level of the International Prognostic Scoring System (IPSS) and the World Health Organization Prognostic Scoring System (WPSS) criteria; however, a negative correlation was found between RAP1/POT1/TPP1 mRNA expression levels and the risk levels of IPSS and WPSS criteria. Because the reduction of TRF1/TRF2/TIN2 mRNA expression and the increase of RAP1/POT1/TPP1 mRNA expression are closely related to the risk levels of the IPSS and WPSS criteria in MDS, it is thought that these telomere-binding proteins could lead to abnormal telomere length and function, which cause chromosomal abnormalities in MDS. With this evidence, we suggest that those proteins' mRNA expressions could be used as biomarkers for the assessment of the risk degree of MDS patients.

  9. Chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil.

    PubMed

    Perriot, Rodolphe; Breme, Katharina; Meierhenrich, Uwe J; Carenini, Elise; Ferrando, Georges; Baldovini, Nicolas

    2010-02-10

    Since decades mimosa (Acacia dealbata) absolute oil has been used in the flavor and perfume industry. Today, it finds an application in over 80 perfumes, and its worldwide industrial production is estimated five tons per year. Here we report on the chemical composition of French mimosa absolute oil. Straight-chain analogues from C6 to C26 with different functional groups (hydrocarbons, esters, aldehydes, diethyl acetals, alcohols, and ketones) were identified in the volatile fraction. Most of them are long-chain molecules: (Z)-heptadec-8-ene, heptadecane, nonadecane, and palmitic acid are the most abundant, and constituents such as 2-phenethyl alcohol, methyl anisate, and ethyl palmitate are present in smaller amounts. The heavier constituents were mainly triterpenoids such as lupenone and lupeol, which were identified as two of the main components. (Z)-Heptadec-8-ene, lupenone, and lupeol were quantified by GC-MS in SIM mode using external standards and represents 6%, 20%, and 7.8% (w/w) of the absolute oil. Moreover, odorant compounds were extracted by SPME and analyzed by GC-sniffing leading to the perception of 57 odorant zones, of which 37 compounds were identified by their odorant description, mass spectrum, retention index, and injection of the reference compound.

  10. Measurement of absolute gravity acceleration in Firenze

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    de Angelis, M.; Greco, F.; Pistorio, A.; Poli, N.; Prevedelli, M.; Saccorotti, G.; Sorrentino, F.; Tino, G. M.

    2011-01-01

    This paper reports the results from the accurate measurement of the acceleration of gravity g taken at two separate premises in the Polo Scientifico of the University of Firenze (Italy). In these laboratories, two separate experiments aiming at measuring the Newtonian constant and testing the Newtonian law at short distances are in progress. Both experiments require an independent knowledge on the local value of g. The only available datum, pertaining to the italian zero-order gravity network, was taken more than 20 years ago at a distance of more than 60 km from the study site. Gravity measurements were conducted using an FG5 absolute gravimeter, and accompanied by seismic recordings for evaluating the noise condition at the site. The absolute accelerations of gravity at the two laboratories are (980 492 160.6 ± 4.0) μGal and (980 492 048.3 ± 3.0) μGal for the European Laboratory for Non-Linear Spectroscopy (LENS) and Dipartimento di Fisica e Astronomia, respectively. Other than for the two referenced experiments, the data here presented will serve as a benchmark for any future study requiring an accurate knowledge of the absolute value of the acceleration of gravity in the study region.

  11. Absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Jian; Zhou, Tingting; Yuan, Bo; Wang, Liqiang

    2015-08-01

    A new encoding method for absolute angular encoder based on optical diffraction was proposed in the present study. In this method, an encoder disc is specially designed that a series of elements are uniformly spaced in one circle and each element is consisted of four diffraction gratings, which are tilted in the directions of 30°, 60°, -60° and -30°, respectively. The disc is illuminated by a coherent light and the diffractive signals are received. The positions of diffractive spots are used for absolute encoding and their intensities are for subdivision, which is different from the traditional optical encoder based on transparent/opaque binary principle. Since the track's width in the disc is not limited in the diffraction pattern, it provides a new way to solve the contradiction between the size and resolution, which is good for minimization of encoder. According to the proposed principle, the diffraction pattern disc with a diameter of 40 mm was made by lithography in the glass substrate. A prototype of absolute angular encoder with a resolution of 20" was built up. Its maximum error was tested as 78" by comparing with a small angle measuring system based on laser beam deflection.

  12. High-level expression of recombinant beta-galactosidases in Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus sakei using a Sakacin P-based expression system.

    PubMed

    Halbmayr, Elisabeth; Mathiesen, Geir; Nguyen, Thu-Ha; Maischberger, Thomas; Peterbauer, Clemens K; Eijsink, Vincent G H; Haltrich, Dietmar

    2008-06-25

    This work presents the cloning and expression of the genes encoding heterodimeric beta-galactosidases from Lactobacillus reuteri L103, Lactobacillus acidophilus R22, Lactobacillus plantarum WCFS1, and Lactobacillus sakei Lb790. These enzymes consist of two subunits of approximately 73 and 35 kDa, which are encoded by two overlapping genes, lacL and lacM, respectively. We have cloned these genes into the lactobacillal expression vectors pSIP403 and pSIP409, which are based on the sakacin P operon of L. sakei ( Sørvig et al. Microbiology 2005, 151, 2439- 2449 ), and expressed them in the host strains L. plantarum WCFS1 and L. sakei Lb790. Results varied considerably, ranging from 2.23 to 61.1 U/mg of beta-galactosidase activity, depending on the origin of the lacLM genes, the host strain, and the expression vector used. Highest expression levels were obtained in a laboratory cultivation of L. plantarum WCFS1 harboring the plasmid pEH3R containing the lacLM gene from L. reuteri L103. These cultivations yielded approximately 23 000 U of beta-galactosidase activity per liter, corresponding to the formation of roughly 100 mg of recombinant protein per liter of fermentation medium, and beta-galactosidase levels amounted to 55% of the total intracellular protein of the host organism. To further verify the suitability of this expression system, recombinant beta-galactosidase from L. reuteri was purified to apparent homogeneity. The properties of the purified enzyme were essentially identical with the properties of purified native beta-galactosidase from L. reuteri L103. The presented results lead the way to efficient overproduction of beta-galactosidase in a food-grade expression system, which is of high interest for applications in food industry.

  13. Cell type specific gene expression analysis of prostate needle biopsies resolves tumor tissue heterogeneity

    PubMed Central

    Krönig, Malte; Walter, Max; Drendel, Vanessa; Werner, Martin; Jilg, Cordula A.; Richter, Andreas S.; Backofen, Rolf; McGarry, David; Follo, Marie; Schultze-Seemann, Wolfgang; Schüle, Roland

    2015-01-01

    A lack of cell surface markers for the specific identification, isolation and subsequent analysis of living prostate tumor cells hampers progress in the field. Specific characterization of tumor cells and their microenvironment in a multi-parameter molecular assay could significantly improve prognostic accuracy for the heterogeneous prostate tumor tissue. Novel functionalized gold-nano particles allow fluorescence-based detection of absolute mRNA expression levels in living cells by fluorescent activated flow cytometry (FACS). We use of this technique to separate prostate tumor and benign cells in human prostate needle biopsies based on the expression levels of the tumor marker alpha-methylacyl-CoA racemase (AMACR). We combined RNA and protein detection of living cells by FACS to gate for epithelial cell adhesion molecule (EPCAM) positive tumor and benign cells, EPCAM/CD45 double negative mesenchymal cells and CD45 positive infiltrating lymphocytes. EPCAM positive epithelial cells were further sub-gated into AMACR high and low expressing cells. Two hundred cells from each population and several biopsies from the same patient were analyzed using a multiplexed gene expression profile to generate a cell type resolved profile of the specimen. This technique provides the basis for the clinical evaluation of cell type resolved gene expression profiles as pre-therapeutic prognostic markers for prostate cancer. PMID:25514598

  14. A Description of Methodologies Used in Estimation of A-Weighted Sound Levels for FAA Advisory Circular AC-36-3B.

    DTIC Science & Technology

    1982-01-01

    second) Dia propeller diameter (expressed in inches) T°F air temperature in degrees Farenheit T°C air temperature in degrees Celsius T:dBA total dBA...eMpiriC31 function to the absolute noise level ordinate. The term 240 log ( MH is the most sensitive and important part of the equation. The constant (240...standard day, zero wind, dry, zero gradient runway, at a sea level airport. 2. All aircraft operate at maximum takeoff gross weight. 3. All aircraft climb

  15. Greater absolute risk for all subtypes of breast cancer in the US than Malaysia.

    PubMed

    Horne, Hisani N; Beena Devi, C R; Sung, Hyuna; Tang, Tieng Swee; Rosenberg, Philip S; Hewitt, Stephen M; Sherman, Mark E; Anderson, William F; Yang, Xiaohong R

    2015-01-01

    Hormone receptor (HR) negative breast cancers are relatively more common in low-risk than high-risk countries and/or populations. However, the absolute variations between these different populations are not well established given the limited number of cancer registries with incidence rate data by breast cancer subtype. We, therefore, used two unique population-based resources with molecular data to compare incidence rates for the 'intrinsic' breast cancer subtypes between a low-risk Asian population in Malaysia and high-risk non-Hispanic white population in the National Cancer Institute's surveillance, epidemiology, and end results 18 registries database (SEER 18). The intrinsic breast cancer subtypes were recapitulated with the joint expression of the HRs (estrogen receptor and progesterone receptor) and human epidermal growth factor receptor-2 (HER2). Invasive breast cancer incidence rates overall were fivefold greater in SEER 18 than in Malaysia. The majority of breast cancers were HR-positive in SEER 18 and HR-negative in Malaysia. Notwithstanding the greater relative distribution for HR-negative cancers in Malaysia, there was a greater absolute risk for all subtypes in SEER 18; incidence rates were nearly 7-fold higher for HR-positive and 2-fold higher for HR-negative cancers in SEER 18. Despite the well-established relative breast cancer differences between low-risk and high-risk countries and/or populations, there was a greater absolute risk for HR-positive and HR-negative subtypes in the US than Malaysia. Additional analytical studies are sorely needed to determine the factors responsible for the elevated risk of all subtypes of breast cancer in high-risk countries like the United States.

  16. Determination of the Absolute Number of Cytokine mRNA Molecules within Individual Activated Human T Cells

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Karr, Laurel J.; Marshall, Gwen; Hockett, Richard D.; Bucy, R. Pat; Curreri, Peter A. (Technical Monitor)

    2002-01-01

    A primary function of activated T cells is the expression and subsequent secretion of cytokines, which orchestrate the differentiation of other lymphocytes, modulate antigen presenting cell activity, and alter vascular endothelium to mediate an immune response. Since many features of immune regulation probably result from modest alterations of endogenous rates of multiple interacting processes, quantitative analysis of the frequency and specific activity of individual T cells is critically important. Using a coordinated set of quantitative methods, the absolute number of molecules of several key cytokine mRNA species in individual T cells has been determined. The frequency of human blood T cells activated in vitro by mitogens and recall protein antigens was determined by intracellular cytokine protein staining, in situ hybridization for cytokine mRNA, and by limiting dilution analysis for cytokine mRNA+ cells. The absolute number of mRNA molecules was simultaneously determined in both homogenates of the entire population of cells and in individual cells obtained by limiting dilution, using a quantitative, competitive RT-PCR assay. The absolute numbers of mRNA molecules in a population of cells divided by the frequency of individual positive cells, yielded essentially the same number of mRNA molecules per cell as direct analysis of individual cells by limiting dilution analysis. Mean numbers of mRNA per positive cell from both mitogen and antigen activated T cells, using these stimulation conditions, were 6000 for IL-2, 6300 for IFN-gamma, and 1600 for IL-4.

  17. Absolute Radiometric Calibration of EUNIS-06

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Thomas, R. J.; Rabin, D. M.; Kent, B. J.; Paustian, W.

    2007-01-01

    The Extreme-Ultraviolet Normal-Incidence Spectrometer (EUNIS) is a soundingrocket payload that obtains imaged high-resolution spectra of individual solar features, providing information about the Sun's corona and upper transition region. Shortly after its successful initial flight last year, a complete end-to-end calibration was carried out to determine the instrument's absolute radiometric response over its Longwave bandpass of 300 - 370A. The measurements were done at the Rutherford-Appleton Laboratory (RAL) in England, using the same vacuum facility and EUV radiation source used in the pre-flight calibrations of both SOHO/CDS and Hinode/EIS, as well as in three post-flight calibrations of our SERTS sounding rocket payload, the precursor to EUNIS. The unique radiation source provided by the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) had been calibrated to an absolute accuracy of 7% (l-sigma) at 12 wavelengths covering our bandpass directly against the Berlin electron storage ring BESSY, which is itself a primary radiometric source standard. Scans of the EUNIS aperture were made to determine the instrument's absolute spectral sensitivity to +- 25%, considering all sources of error, and demonstrate that EUNIS-06 was the most sensitive solar E W spectrometer yet flown. The results will be matched against prior calibrations which relied on combining measurements of individual optical components, and on comparisons with theoretically predicted 'insensitive' line ratios. Coordinated observations were made during the EUNIS-06 flight by SOHO/CDS and EIT that will allow re-calibrations of those instruments as well. In addition, future EUNIS flights will provide similar calibration updates for TRACE, Hinode/EIS, and STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI.

  18. Precise integration of inducible transcriptional elements (PrIITE) enables absolute control of gene expression.

    PubMed

    Pinto, Rita; Hansen, Lars; Hintze, John; Almeida, Raquel; Larsen, Sylvester; Coskun, Mehmet; Davidsen, Johanne; Mitchelmore, Cathy; David, Leonor; Troelsen, Jesper Thorvald; Bennett, Eric Paul

    2017-07-27

    Tetracycline-based inducible systems provide powerful methods for functional studies where gene expression can be controlled. However, the lack of tight control of the inducible system, leading to leakiness and adverse effects caused by undesirable tetracycline dosage requirements, has proven to be a limitation. Here, we report that the combined use of genome editing tools and last generation Tet-On systems can resolve these issues. Our principle is based on precise integration of inducible transcriptional elements (coined PrIITE) targeted to: (i) exons of an endogenous gene of interest (GOI) and (ii) a safe harbor locus. Using PrIITE cells harboring a GFP reporter or CDX2 transcription factor, we demonstrate discrete inducibility of gene expression with complete abrogation of leakiness. CDX2 PrIITE cells generated by this approach uncovered novel CDX2 downstream effector genes. Our results provide a strategy for characterization of dose-dependent effector functions of essential genes that require absence of endogenous gene expression. © The Author(s) 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  19. Laser interferometry method for absolute measurement of the acceleration of gravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Hudson, O. K.

    1971-01-01

    Gravimeter permits more accurate and precise absolute measurement of g without reference to Potsdam values as absolute standards. Device is basically Michelson laser beam interferometer in which one arm is mass fitted with corner cube reflector.

  20. Interplay between Selenium Levels, Selenoprotein Expression, and Replicative Senescence in WI-38 Human Fibroblasts*

    PubMed Central

    Legrain, Yona; Touat-Hamici, Zahia; Chavatte, Laurent

    2014-01-01

    Selenium is an essential trace element, which is incorporated as selenocysteine into at least 25 selenoproteins using a unique translational UGA-recoding mechanism. Selenoproteins are important enzymes involved in antioxidant defense, redox homeostasis, and redox signaling pathways. Selenium levels decline during aging, and its deficiency is associated with a marked increase in mortality for people over 60 years of age. Here, we investigate the relationship between selenium levels in the culture medium, selenoprotein expression, and replicative life span of human embryonic lung fibroblast WI-38 cells. Selenium levels regulate the entry into replicative senescence and modify the cellular markers characteristic for senescent cells. Whereas selenium supplementation extends the number of population doublings, its deficiency impairs the proliferative capacity of WI-38 cells. We observe that the expression of several selenoproteins involved in antioxidant defense is specifically affected in response to cellular senescence. Their expression is selectively controlled by the modulation of mRNA levels and translational recoding efficiencies. Our data provide novel mechanistic insights into how selenium impacts the replicative life span of mammalian cells by identifying several selenoproteins as new targets of senescence. PMID:24425862

  1. Absolute Coefficients and the Graphical Representation of Airfoil Characteristics

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Munk, Max

    1921-01-01

    It is argued that there should be an agreement as to what conventions to use in determining absolute coefficients used in aeronautics and in how to plot those coefficients. Of particular importance are the absolute coefficients of lift and drag. The author argues for the use of the German method over the kind in common use in the United States and England, and for the Continental over the usual American and British method of graphically representing the characteristics of an airfoil. The author notes that, on the whole, it appears that the use of natural absolute coefficients in a polar diagram is the logical method for presentation of airfoil characteristics, and that serious consideration should be given to the advisability of adopting this method in all countries, in order to advance uniformity and accuracy in the science of aeronautics.

  2. Peripheral absolute threshold spectral sensitivity in retinitis pigmentosa.

    PubMed Central

    Massof, R W; Johnson, M A; Finkelstein, D

    1981-01-01

    Dark-adapted spectral sensitivities were measured in the peripheral retinas of 38 patients diagnosed as having typical retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and in 3 normal volunteers. The patients included those having autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive inheritance patterns. Results were analysed by comparisons with the CIE standard scotopic spectral visibility function and with Judd's modification of the photopic spectral visibility function, with consideration of contributions from changes in spectral transmission of preretinal media. The data show 3 general patterns. One group of patients had absolute threshold spectral sensitivities that were fit by Judd's photopic visibility curve. Absolute threshold spectral sensitivities for a second group of patients were fit by a normal scotopic spectral visibility curve. The third group of patients had absolute threshold spectral sensitivities that were fit by a combination of scotopic and photopic spectral visibility curves. The autosomal dominant and autosomal recessive modes of inheritance were represented in each group of patients. These data indicate that RP patients have normal rod and/or cone spectral sensitivities, and support the subclassification of patients described previously by Massof and Finkelstein. PMID:7459312

  3. Comprehensive analysis of Arabidopsis expression level polymorphisms with simple inheritance

    PubMed Central

    Plantegenet, Stephanie; Weber, Johann; Goldstein, Darlene R; Zeller, Georg; Nussbaumer, Cindy; Thomas, Jérôme; Weigel, Detlef; Harshman, Keith; Hardtke, Christian S

    2009-01-01

    In Arabidopsis thaliana, gene expression level polymorphisms (ELPs) between natural accessions that exhibit simple, single locus inheritance are promising quantitative trait locus (QTL) candidates to explain phenotypic variability. It is assumed that such ELPs overwhelmingly represent regulatory element polymorphisms. However, comprehensive genome-wide analyses linking expression level, regulatory sequence and gene structure variation are missing, preventing definite verification of this assumption. Here, we analyzed ELPs observed between the Eil-0 and Lc-0 accessions. Compared with non-variable controls, 5′ regulatory sequence variation in the corresponding genes is indeed increased. However, ∼42% of all the ELP genes also carry major transcription unit deletions in one parent as revealed by genome tiling arrays, representing a >4-fold enrichment over controls. Within the subset of ELPs with simple inheritance, this proportion is even higher and deletions are generally more severe. Similar results were obtained from analyses of the Bay-0 and Sha accessions, using alternative technical approaches. Collectively, our results suggest that drastic structural changes are a major cause for ELPs with simple inheritance, corroborating experimentally observed indel preponderance in cloned Arabidopsis QTL. PMID:19225455

  4. Genome-Level Longitudinal Expression of Signaling Pathways and Gene Networks in Pediatric Septic Shock

    PubMed Central

    Shanley, Thomas P; Cvijanovich, Natalie; Lin, Richard; Allen, Geoffrey L; Thomas, Neal J; Doctor, Allan; Kalyanaraman, Meena; Tofil, Nancy M; Penfil, Scott; Monaco, Marie; Odoms, Kelli; Barnes, Michael; Sakthivel, Bhuvaneswari; Aronow, Bruce J; Wong, Hector R

    2007-01-01

    We have conducted longitudinal studies focused on the expression profiles of signaling pathways and gene networks in children with septic shock. Genome-level expression profiles were generated from whole blood-derived RNA of children with septic shock (n = 30) corresponding to day one and day three of septic shock, respectively. Based on sequential statistical and expression filters, day one and day three of septic shock were characterized by differential regulation of 2,142 and 2,504 gene probes, respectively, relative to controls (n = 15). Venn analysis demonstrated 239 unique genes in the day one dataset, 598 unique genes in the day three dataset, and 1,906 genes common to both datasets. Functional analyses demonstrated time-dependent, differential regulation of genes involved in multiple signaling pathways and gene networks primarily related to immunity and inflammation. Notably, multiple and distinct gene networks involving T cell- and MHC antigen-related biology were persistently downregulated on both day one and day three. Further analyses demonstrated large scale, persistent downregulation of genes corresponding to functional annotations related to zinc homeostasis. These data represent the largest reported cohort of patients with septic shock subjected to longitudinal genome-level expression profiling. The data further advance our genome-level understanding of pediatric septic shock and support novel hypotheses. PMID:17932561

  5. Radar prediction of absolute rain fade distributions for earth-satellite paths and general methods for extrapolation of fade statistics to other locations

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Goldhirsh, J.

    1982-01-01

    The first absolute rain fade distribution method described establishes absolute fade statistics at a given site by means of a sampled radar data base. The second method extrapolates absolute fade statistics from one location to another, given simultaneously measured fade and rain rate statistics at the former. Both methods employ similar conditional fade statistic concepts and long term rain rate distributions. Probability deviations in the 2-19% range, with an 11% average, were obtained upon comparison of measured and predicted levels at given attenuations. The extrapolation of fade distributions to other locations at 28 GHz showed very good agreement with measured data at three sites located in the continental temperate region.

  6. Decreased expression levels of Nurr1 are associated with chronic inflammation in patients with type 2 diabetes.

    PubMed

    Xu, Ying; Huang, Qi; Zhang, Wenfang; Wang, Yaping; Zeng, Qingling; He, Chunyan; Xue, Junli; Chen, Jin; Hu, Xuemei; Xu, Yancheng

    2015-10-01

    Chronic inflammation is associated with insulin resistance, a characteristic of type 2 diabetes (T2D). Nuclear receptor‑related protein 1 (Nurr1) can regulate inflammation, dependent on the nature of individual diseases. However, whether Nurr1 regulates chronic inflammation during the pathogenic process of T2D in humans remains to be fully elucidated. The present study aimed to investigate the potential association between the expression of Nurr1 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) and inflammation in patients with T2D. The levels of plasma tumor necrosis factor (TNF)α and interleukin (IL)‑6, the relative expression levels of Nurr1, and glycogen synthase kinase (GSK)‑3β phosphorylation in PBMCs from 40 patients with T2D and 40 healthy controls (HC group) were examined, and their potential association with clinical measures were analyzed. The expression levels of Nurr1, induced by high glucose and palmitic acid, were assessed in the PBMCs from the HC group. Compared with the HC group, significantly higher levels of plasma TNFα and IL‑6 were correlated positively with the degree of insulin resistance in the T2D patients. However, significantly lower expression levels of Nurr1 and GSK‑3β phosphorylation in the PBMCs were correlated negatively with the levels of TNFα, IL‑6, fasting insulin and insulin resistance in the T2D patients. Treatment of the PBMCs with high glucose or palmitic acid inhibited the expression of Nurr1 in a dose‑ and time‑dependent manner. Therefore, decreased expression levels of Nurr1 were associated with chronic inflammation and insulin resistance in patients with T2D.

  7. Strategies for achieving high-level expression of genes in Escherichia coli.

    PubMed Central

    Makrides, S C

    1996-01-01

    Progress in our understanding of several biological processes promises to broaden the usefulness of Escherichia coli as a tool for gene expression. There is an expanding choice of tightly regulated prokaryotic promoters suitable for achieving high-level gene expression. New host strains facilitate the formation of disulfide bonds in the reducing environment of the cytoplasm and offer higher protein yields by minimizing proteolytic degradation. Insights into the process of protein translocation across the bacterial membranes may eventually make it possible to achieve robust secretion of specific proteins into the culture medium. Studies involving molecular chaperones have shown that in specific cases, chaperones can be very effective for improved protein folding, solubility, and membrane transport. Negative results derived from such studies are also instructive in formulating different strategies. The remarkable increase in the availability of fusion partners offers a wide range of tools for improved protein folding, solubility, protection from proteases, yield, and secretion into the culture medium, as well as for detection and purification of recombinant proteins. Codon usage is known to present a potential impediment to high-level gene expression in E. coli. Although we still do not understand all the rules governing this phenomenon, it is apparent that "rare" codons, depending on their frequency and context, can have an adverse effect on protein levels. Usually, this problem can be alleviated by modification of the relevant codons or by coexpression of the cognate tRNA genes. Finally, the elucidation of specific determinants of protein degradation, a plethora of protease-deficient host strains, and methods to stabilize proteins afford new strategies to minimize proteolytic susceptibility of recombinant proteins in E. coli. PMID:8840785

  8. Assessing epistemic sophistication by considering domain-specific absolute and multiplicistic beliefs separately.

    PubMed

    Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

    2016-06-01

    Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as disagreement with absolute statements. This article suggests considering absolutism and multiplicism as separate dimensions. Following our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a cautious and reluctant endorsement of both positions, we assume evaluativism (a contextually adaptive view of knowledge as personally constructed and evidence-based) to be reflected by low agreement with both generalized absolute and generalized multiplicistic statements. Three studies with a total sample size of N = 416 psychology students were conducted. A domain-specific inventory containing both absolute and multiplicistic statements was developed. Expectations were tested by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis, and correlational analyses. Results revealed a two-factor solution with an absolute and a multiplicistic factor. Criterion validity of both factors was confirmed. Cross-sectional analyses revealed that agreement to generalized multiplicistic statements decreases with study progress. Moreover, consistent with our understanding of epistemic sophistication as a reluctant attitude towards generalized epistemic statements, evidence for a negative relationship between epistemic sophistication and need for cognitive closure was found. We recommend including multiplicistic statements into epistemic belief questionnaires and considering them as a separate dimension, especially when investigating individuals in later stages of epistemic development (i.e., in higher education). © 2015 The British Psychological Society.

  9. Measurement of OEF and absolute CMRO2: MRI-based methods using interleaved and combined hypercapnia and hyperoxia

    PubMed Central

    Wise, Richard G.; Harris, Ashley D.; Stone, Alan; Murphy, Kevin

    2014-01-01

    Blood oxygenation level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (FMRI) is most commonly used in a semi-quantitative manner to infer changes in brain activity. Despite the basis of the image contrast lying in the cerebral venous blood oxygenation level, quantification of absolute cerebral metabolic rate of oxygen consumption (CMRO2) has only recently been demonstrated. Here we examine two approaches to the calibration of FMRI signal to measure absolute CMRO2 using hypercapnic and hyperoxic respiratory challenges. The first approach is to apply hypercapnia and hyperoxia separately but interleaved in time and the second is a combined approach in which we apply hyperoxic challenges simultaneously with different levels of hypercapnia. Eleven healthy volunteers were studied at 3T using a dual gradient-echo spiral readout pulsed arterial spin labelling (ASL) imaging sequence. Respiratory challenges were conducted using an automated system of dynamic end-tidal forcing. A generalised BOLD signal model was applied, within a Bayesian estimation framework, that aims to explain the effects of modulation of CBF and arterial oxygen content to estimate venous deoxyhaemoglobin concentration ([dHb]0). Using CBF measurements combined with the estimated oxygen extraction fraction (OEF), absolute CMRO2 was calculated. The interleaved approach to hypercapnia and hyperoxia, as well as yielding estimates of CMRO2 and OEF demonstrated a significant increase in regional CBF, venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) (a decrease in OEF) and absolute CMRO2 in visual cortex in response to a continuous (20 minute) visual task, demonstrating the potential for the method in measuring long term changes in CMRO2. The combined approach to oxygen and carbon dioxide modulation, as well as taking less time to acquire data, yielded whole brain grey matter estimates of CMRO2 and OEF of 184±45 μmol/100g/min and 0.42±0.12 respectively, along with additional estimates of the vascular parameters

  10. The Global Error Assessment (GEA) model for the selection of differentially expressed genes in microarray data.

    PubMed

    Mansourian, Robert; Mutch, David M; Antille, Nicolas; Aubert, Jerome; Fogel, Paul; Le Goff, Jean-Marc; Moulin, Julie; Petrov, Anton; Rytz, Andreas; Voegel, Johannes J; Roberts, Matthew-Alan

    2004-11-01

    Microarray technology has become a powerful research tool in many fields of study; however, the cost of microarrays often results in the use of a low number of replicates (k). Under circumstances where k is low, it becomes difficult to perform standard statistical tests to extract the most biologically significant experimental results. Other more advanced statistical tests have been developed; however, their use and interpretation often remain difficult to implement in routine biological research. The present work outlines a method that achieves sufficient statistical power for selecting differentially expressed genes under conditions of low k, while remaining as an intuitive and computationally efficient procedure. The present study describes a Global Error Assessment (GEA) methodology to select differentially expressed genes in microarray datasets, and was developed using an in vitro experiment that compared control and interferon-gamma treated skin cells. In this experiment, up to nine replicates were used to confidently estimate error, thereby enabling methods of different statistical power to be compared. Gene expression results of a similar absolute expression are binned, so as to enable a highly accurate local estimate of the mean squared error within conditions. The model then relates variability of gene expression in each bin to absolute expression levels and uses this in a test derived from the classical ANOVA. The GEA selection method is compared with both the classical and permutational ANOVA tests, and demonstrates an increased stability, robustness and confidence in gene selection. A subset of the selected genes were validated by real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR). All these results suggest that GEA methodology is (i) suitable for selection of differentially expressed genes in microarray data, (ii) intuitive and computationally efficient and (iii) especially advantageous under conditions of low k. The GEA code for R

  11. Measured and modelled absolute gravity in Greenland

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Nielsen, E.; Forsberg, R.; Strykowski, G.

    2012-12-01

    Present day changes in the ice volume in glaciated areas like Greenland will change the load on the Earth and to this change the lithosphere will respond elastically. The Earth also responds to changes in the ice volume over a millennial time scale. This response is due to the viscous properties of the mantle and is known as Glaical Isostatic Adjustment (GIA). Both signals are present in GPS and absolute gravity (AG) measurements and they will give an uncertainty in mass balance estimates calculated from these data types. It is possible to separate the two signals if both gravity and Global Positioning System (GPS) time series are available. DTU Space acquired an A10 absolute gravimeter in 2008. One purpose of this instrument is to establish AG time series in Greenland and the first measurements were conducted in 2009. Since then are 18 different Greenland GPS Network (GNET) stations visited and six of these are visited more then once. The gravity signal consists of three signals; the elastic signal, the viscous signal and the direct attraction from the ice masses. All of these signals can be modelled using various techniques. The viscous signal is modelled by solving the Sea Level Equation with an appropriate ice history and Earth model. The free code SELEN is used for this. The elastic signal is modelled as a convolution of the elastic Greens function for gravity and a model of present day ice mass changes. The direct attraction is the same as the Newtonian attraction and is calculated as this. Here we will present the preliminary results of the AG measurements in Greenland. We will also present modelled estimates of the direct attraction, the elastic and the viscous signals.

  12. Absolute photon-flux measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Samson, J. A. R.; Haddad, G. N.

    1974-01-01

    Absolute photon-flux measurements in the vacuum ultraviolet have extended to short wavelengths by use of rare-gas ionization chambers. The technique involves the measurement of the ion current as a function of the gas pressure in the ion chamber. The true value of the ion current, and hence the absolute photon flux, is obtained by extrapolating the ion current to zero gas pressure. Examples are given at 162 and 266 A. The short-wavelength limit is determined only by the sensitivity of the current-measuring apparatus and by present knowledge of the photoionization processes that occur in the rate gases.

  13. Stimulus Probability Effects in Absolute Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Kent, Christopher; Lamberts, Koen

    2016-01-01

    This study investigated the effect of stimulus presentation probability on accuracy and response times in an absolute identification task. Three schedules of presentation were used to investigate the interaction between presentation probability and stimulus position within the set. Data from individual participants indicated strong effects of…

  14. Absolute gravity measurements in California

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Zumberge, M. A.; Sasagawa, G.; Kappus, M.

    1986-08-01

    An absolute gravity meter that determines the local gravitational acceleration by timing a freely falling mass with a laser interferometer has been constructed. The instrument has made measurements at 11 sites in California, four in Nevada, and one in France. The uncertainty in the results is typically 10 microgal. Repeated measurements have been made at several of the sites; only one shows a substantial change in gravity.

  15. Expression of DNA repair genes in burned skin exposed to low-level red laser.

    PubMed

    Trajano, Eduardo Tavares Lima; Mencalha, Andre Luiz; Monte-Alto-Costa, Andréa; Pôrto, Luís Cristóvão; de Souza da Fonseca, Adenilson

    2014-11-01

    Although red laser lights lie in the region of non-ionizing radiations in the electromagnetic spectrum, there are doubts whether absorption of these radiations causes lesions in the DNA molecule. Our aim was to investigate the expression of the genes involved with base excision and nucleotide excision repair pathways in skin tissue submitted to burn injury and exposed to low-level red laser. Wistar rats were divided as follows: control group-rats burned and not irradiated, laser group-rats burned and irradiated 1 day after injury for five consecutive days, and later laser group-rats injured and treated 4 days after injury for five consecutive days. Irradiation was performed according to a clinical protocol (20 J/cm(2), 100 mW, continuous wave emission mode). The animals were sacrificed on day 10, and scarred tissue samples were withdrawn for total RNA extraction, complementary DNA (cDNA) synthesis, and evaluation of gene expression by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Low-level red laser exposure (1) reduces the expression of APE1 messenger (mRNA), (2) increases the expression of OGG1 mRNA, (3) reduces the expression of XPC mRNA, and (4) increases the expression of XPA mRNA both in laser and later laser groups. Red laser exposure at therapeutic fluences alters the expression of genes related to base excision and nucleotide excision pathways of DNA repair during wound healing of burned skin.

  16. Relational versus absolute representation in categorization.

    PubMed

    Edwards, Darren J; Pothos, Emmanuel M; Perlman, Amotz

    2012-01-01

    This study explores relational-like and absolute-like representations in categorization. Although there is much evidence that categorization processes can involve information about both the particular physical properties of studied instances and abstract (relational) properties, there has been little work on the factors that lead to one kind of representation as opposed to the other. We tested 370 participants in 6 experiments, in which participants had to classify new items into predefined artificial categories. In 4 experiments, we observed a predominantly relational-like mode of classification, and in 2 experiments we observed a shift toward an absolute-like mode of classification. These results suggest 3 factors that promote a relational-like mode of classification: fewer items per group, more training groups, and the presence of a time delay. Overall, we propose that less information about the distributional properties of a category or weaker memory traces for the category exemplars (induced, e.g., by having smaller categories or a time delay) can encourage relational-like categorization.

  17. [High-level expression of heterologous protein based on increased copy number in Saccharomyces cerevisiae].

    PubMed

    Zhang, Xinjie; He, Peng; Tao, Yong; Yang, Yi

    2013-11-04

    High-level expression system of heterologous protein mediated by internal ribosome entry site (IRES) in Saccharomyces cerevisiae was constructed, which could be used for other applications of S. cerevisiae in metabolic engineering. We constructed co-expression cassette (promoter-mCherry-TIF4631 IRES-URA3) containing promoters Pilv5, Padh2 and Ptdh3 and recombined the co-expression cassette into the genome of W303-1B-A. The URA3+ transformants were selected. By comparing the difference in the mean florescence value of mCherry in transformants, the effect of three promoters was detected in the co-expression cassette. The copy numbers of the interested genes in the genome were determined by Real-Time PCR. We analyzed genetic stability by continuous subculturing transformants in the absence of selection pressure. To verify the application of co-expression cassette, the ORF of mCherry was replaced by beta-galactosidase (LACZ) and xylose reductase (XYL1). The enzyme activities and production of beta-galactosidase and xylose reductase were detected. mCherry has been expressed in the highest-level in transformants with co-expression cassette containing Pilv5 promoter. The highest copy number of DNA fragment integrating in the genome was 47 in transformants containing Pilv5. The engineering strains showed good genetic stability. Xylose reductase was successfully expressed in the co-expression cassette containing Pilv5 promoter and TIF4631 IRES. The highest enzyme activity was 0. 209 U/mg crude protein in the transformants WIX-10. Beta-galactosidase was also expressed successfully. The transformants that had the highest enzyme activity was WIL-1 and the enzyme activity was 12.58 U/mg crude protein. The system mediated by Pilv5 promoter and TIF4631 IRES could express heterologous protein efficiently in S. cerevisiae. This study offered a new strategy for expression of heterologous protein in S. cerevisiae and provided sufficient experimental evidence for metabolic engineering

  18. Probe-level linear model fitting and mixture modeling results in high accuracy detection of differential gene expression.

    PubMed

    Lemieux, Sébastien

    2006-08-25

    The identification of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) from Affymetrix GeneChips arrays is currently done by first computing expression levels from the low-level probe intensities, then deriving significance by comparing these expression levels between conditions. The proposed PL-LM (Probe-Level Linear Model) method implements a linear model applied on the probe-level data to directly estimate the treatment effect. A finite mixture of Gaussian components is then used to identify DEGs using the coefficients estimated by the linear model. This approach can readily be applied to experimental design with or without replication. On a wholly defined dataset, the PL-LM method was able to identify 75% of the differentially expressed genes within 10% of false positives. This accuracy was achieved both using the three replicates per conditions available in the dataset and using only one replicate per condition. The method achieves, on this dataset, a higher accuracy than the best set of tools identified by the authors of the dataset, and does so using only one replicate per condition.

  19. Importance of correlation between gene expression levels: application to the type I interferon signature in rheumatoid arthritis.

    PubMed

    Reynier, Frédéric; Petit, Fabien; Paye, Malick; Turrel-Davin, Fanny; Imbert, Pierre-Emmanuel; Hot, Arnaud; Mougin, Bruno; Miossec, Pierre

    2011-01-01

    The analysis of gene expression data shows that many genes display similarity in their expression profiles suggesting some co-regulation. Here, we investigated the co-expression patterns in gene expression data and proposed a correlation-based research method to stratify individuals. Using blood from rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients, we investigated the gene expression profiles from whole blood using Affymetrix microarray technology. Co-expressed genes were analyzed by a biclustering method, followed by gene ontology analysis of the relevant biclusters. Taking the type I interferon (IFN) pathway as an example, a classification algorithm was developed from the 102 RA patients and extended to 10 systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and 100 healthy volunteers to further characterize individuals. We developed a correlation-based algorithm referred to as Classification Algorithm Based on a Biological Signature (CABS), an alternative to other approaches focused specifically on the expression levels. This algorithm applied to the expression of 35 IFN-related genes showed that the IFN signature presented a heterogeneous expression between RA, SLE and healthy controls which could reflect the level of global IFN signature activation. Moreover, the monitoring of the IFN-related genes during the anti-TNF treatment identified changes in type I IFN gene activity induced in RA patients. In conclusion, we have proposed an original method to analyze genes sharing an expression pattern and a biological function showing that the activation levels of a biological signature could be characterized by its overall state of correlation.

  20. The Constrained Maximal Expression Level Owing to Haploidy Shapes Gene Content on the Mammalian X Chromosome.

    PubMed

    Hurst, Laurence D; Ghanbarian, Avazeh T; Forrest, Alistair R R; Huminiecki, Lukasz

    2015-12-01

    X chromosomes are unusual in many regards, not least of which is their nonrandom gene content. The causes of this bias are commonly discussed in the context of sexual antagonism and the avoidance of activity in the male germline. Here, we examine the notion that, at least in some taxa, functionally biased gene content may more profoundly be shaped by limits imposed on gene expression owing to haploid expression of the X chromosome. Notably, if the X, as in primates, is transcribed at rates comparable to the ancestral rate (per promoter) prior to the X chromosome formation, then the X is not a tolerable environment for genes with very high maximal net levels of expression, owing to transcriptional traffic jams. We test this hypothesis using The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and data from the Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome (FANTOM5) project. As predicted, the maximal expression of human X-linked genes is much lower than that of genes on autosomes: on average, maximal expression is three times lower on the X chromosome than on autosomes. Similarly, autosome-to-X retroposition events are associated with lower maximal expression of retrogenes on the X than seen for X-to-autosome retrogenes on autosomes. Also as expected, X-linked genes have a lesser degree of increase in gene expression than autosomal ones (compared to the human/Chimpanzee common ancestor) if highly expressed, but not if lowly expressed. The traffic jam model also explains the known lower breadth of expression for genes on the X (and the Z of birds), as genes with broad expression are, on average, those with high maximal expression. As then further predicted, highly expressed tissue-specific genes are also rare on the X and broadly expressed genes on the X tend to be lowly expressed, both indicating that the trend is shaped by the maximal expression level not the breadth of expression per se. Importantly, a limit to the maximal expression level explains biased tissue of expression

  1. The Constrained Maximal Expression Level Owing to Haploidy Shapes Gene Content on the Mammalian X Chromosome

    PubMed Central

    Hurst, Laurence D.; Ghanbarian, Avazeh T.; Forrest, Alistair R. R.; Huminiecki, Lukasz

    2015-01-01

    X chromosomes are unusual in many regards, not least of which is their nonrandom gene content. The causes of this bias are commonly discussed in the context of sexual antagonism and the avoidance of activity in the male germline. Here, we examine the notion that, at least in some taxa, functionally biased gene content may more profoundly be shaped by limits imposed on gene expression owing to haploid expression of the X chromosome. Notably, if the X, as in primates, is transcribed at rates comparable to the ancestral rate (per promoter) prior to the X chromosome formation, then the X is not a tolerable environment for genes with very high maximal net levels of expression, owing to transcriptional traffic jams. We test this hypothesis using The Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) and data from the Functional Annotation of the Mammalian Genome (FANTOM5) project. As predicted, the maximal expression of human X-linked genes is much lower than that of genes on autosomes: on average, maximal expression is three times lower on the X chromosome than on autosomes. Similarly, autosome-to-X retroposition events are associated with lower maximal expression of retrogenes on the X than seen for X-to-autosome retrogenes on autosomes. Also as expected, X-linked genes have a lesser degree of increase in gene expression than autosomal ones (compared to the human/Chimpanzee common ancestor) if highly expressed, but not if lowly expressed. The traffic jam model also explains the known lower breadth of expression for genes on the X (and the Z of birds), as genes with broad expression are, on average, those with high maximal expression. As then further predicted, highly expressed tissue-specific genes are also rare on the X and broadly expressed genes on the X tend to be lowly expressed, both indicating that the trend is shaped by the maximal expression level not the breadth of expression per se. Importantly, a limit to the maximal expression level explains biased tissue of expression

  2. High-level expression of two thermophilic β-mannanases in Yarrowialipolytica.

    PubMed

    YaPing, Wang; Ben, Rao; Ling, Zhang; Lixin, Ma

    2017-05-01

    Two thermophilic β-mannanases (ManA and ManB)were successfully expressed in Yarrowialipolytica using vector pINA1296I. The sequences of manA from Aspergillus niger CBS 513.88 and manB from Bacillus subtilis BCC41051 were optimized based on codon-usage bias in Y.lipolytica and synthesized by overlapping polymerase chain reaction (PCR). We utilized the pINA1296I vector, which allows inserting and expression of multiple copies of an expression cassette, to engineer recombinant strains containing multiple copies of manA or manB. Following verification of target-gene expression by quantitative PCR, fermentation experiments indicated that recombinant protein levels and enzyme activity increased along with increasing manA/manB copy number.After production in a 10 l fermenter, we obtained maximum enzyme activity from strains YLA6 and YLB6 of3024 U/mL and 1024 U/mL, respectively. Additionally, purification and characterization results revealed that the optimum pH and temperature for manA activity were pH∼5 and ∼70 °C, and for manB activity were pH∼7 and 60 °C, respectively. These results indicated that the thermo stabilities of these two enzymes were higher than most other mannanases, making them potentially useful for industrial applications. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  3. Evaluating Fumonisin Gene Expression in Fusarium verticillioides.

    PubMed

    Scala, Valeria; Visentin, Ivan; Cardinale, Francesca

    2017-01-01

    Transcript levels of key genes in a biosynthetic pathway are often taken as a proxy for metabolite production. This is the case of FUM1, encoding the first dedicated enzyme in the metabolic pathway leading to the production of the mycotoxins Fumonisins by fungal species belonging to the genus Fusarium. FUM1 expression can be quantified by different methods; here, we detail a protocol based on quantitative reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR), by which relative or absolute transcript abundance can be estimated in Fusaria grown in vitro or in planta. As very seldom commercial kits for RNA extraction and cDNA synthesis are optimized for fungal samples, we developed a protocol tailored for these organisms, which stands alone but can be also easily integrated with specific reagents and kits commercially available.

  4. Helios expression and Foxp3 TSDR methylation of IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg from kidney transplant recipients with good long-term graft function.

    PubMed

    Trojan, Karina; Unterrainer, Christian; Weimer, Rolf; Bulut, Nuray; Morath, Christian; Aly, Mostafa; Zhu, Li; Opelz, Gerhard; Daniel, Volker

    2017-01-01

    There is circumstantial evidence that IFNy+ Treg might have clinical relevance in transplantation. IFNy+ Treg express IFNy receptors and are induced by IFNy. In the present study we investigated in kidney transplant recipients with good long-term stable graft function the absolute cell counts of IFNy+ Treg subsets and whether their expression of Foxp3 is stable or transient. Helios expression determined by eight-color-fluorescence flow cytometry and methylation status of the Foxp3 Treg specific demethylation region (TSDR) served as indicators for stability of Foxp3 expression. Methylation status was investigated in enriched IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg preparations originating from peripheral blood using high resolution melt analysis. A total of 136 transplant recipients and 52 healthy controls were studied. Proportions of IFNy+ Treg were similar in patients and healthy controls (0.05% and 0.04% of all CD4+ lymphocytes; p = n.s.). Patients also had similar absolute counts of IFNy producing Helios+ and Helios- Treg (p = n.s.). Most of the IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg in transplant recipients had a methylated Foxp3 TSDR, however, there was a sizeable proportion of IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg with demethylated Foxp3 TSDR. Male and female patients showed more frequently methylated IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg than male and female controls (all p<0.05). Kidney transplant recipients with good long-term stable graft function have similar levels of IFNy+ Treg as healthy controls. IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg subsets in patients consist of cells with stable and cells with transient Foxp3 expression; however, patients showed more frequently methylated IFNy+ and IFNy- Treg than controls. The data show increased levels of Treg subsets with stable as well as transient Foxp3 expression in patients with stable allograft acceptance compared to healthy controls.

  5. Changes in relative and absolute concentrations of plasma phospholipid fatty acids observed in a randomized trial of Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation in Uganda.

    PubMed

    Song, Xiaoling; Diep, Pho; Schenk, Jeannette M; Casper, Corey; Orem, Jackson; Makhoul, Zeina; Lampe, Johanna W; Neuhouser, Marian L

    2016-11-01

    Expressing circulating phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) in relative concentrations has some limitations: the total of all fatty acids are summed to 100%; therefore, the values of individual fatty acid are not independent. In this study we examined if both relative and absolute metrics could effectively measure changes in circulating PLFA concentrations in an intervention trial. 66 HIV and HHV8 infected patients in Uganda were randomized to take 3g/d of either long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (1856mg EPA and 1232mg DHA) or high-oleic safflower oil in a 12-week double-blind trial. Plasma samples were collected at baseline and end of trial. Relative weight percentage and absolute concentrations of 41 plasma PLFAs were measured using gas chromatography. Total cholesterol was also measured. Intervention-effect changes in concentrations were calculated as differences between end of 12-week trial and baseline. Pearson correlations of relative and absolute concentration changes in individual PLFAs were high (>0.6) for 37 of the 41 PLFAs analyzed. In the intervention arm, 17 PLFAs changed significantly in relative concentration and 16 in absolute concentration, 15 of which were identical. Absolute concentration of total PLFAs decreased 95.1mg/L (95% CI: 26.0, 164.2; P=0.0085), but total cholesterol did not change significantly in the intervention arm. No significant change was observed in any of the measurements in the placebo arm. Both relative weight percentage and absolute concentrations could effectively measure changes in plasma PLFA concentrations. EPA and DHA supplementation changes the concentrations of multiple plasma PLFAs besides EPA and DHA.Both relative weight percentage and absolute concentrations could effectively measure changes in plasma phospholipid fatty acid (PLFA) concentrations. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. The fading American dream: Trends in absolute income mobility since 1940.

    PubMed

    Chetty, Raj; Grusky, David; Hell, Maximilian; Hendren, Nathaniel; Manduca, Robert; Narang, Jimmy

    2017-04-28

    We estimated rates of "absolute income mobility"-the fraction of children who earn more than their parents-by combining data from U.S. Census and Current Population Survey cross sections with panel data from de-identified tax records. We found that rates of absolute mobility have fallen from approximately 90% for children born in 1940 to 50% for children born in the 1980s. Increasing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth rates alone cannot restore absolute mobility to the rates experienced by children born in the 1940s. However, distributing current GDP growth more equally across income groups as in the 1940 birth cohort would reverse more than 70% of the decline in mobility. These results imply that reviving the "American dream" of high rates of absolute mobility would require economic growth that is shared more broadly across the income distribution. Copyright © 2017, American Association for the Advancement of Science.

  7. 34 CFR 648.33 - What priorities and absolute preferences does the Secretary establish?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

    2011-07-01

    ... 34 Education 3 2011-07-01 2011-07-01 false What priorities and absolute preferences does the... AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED How Does the Secretary Make an Award? § 648.33 What priorities and absolute... area of national need and gives absolute preference to one or more of the general disciplines and sub...

  8. 34 CFR 648.33 - What priorities and absolute preferences does the Secretary establish?

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-07-01

    ... 34 Education 3 2010-07-01 2010-07-01 false What priorities and absolute preferences does the... AREAS OF NATIONAL NEED How Does the Secretary Make an Award? § 648.33 What priorities and absolute... area of national need and gives absolute preference to one or more of the general disciplines and sub...

  9. Quantitative targeted absolute proteomic analysis of transporters, receptors and junction proteins for validation of human cerebral microvascular endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 as a human blood-brain barrier model.

    PubMed

    Ohtsuki, Sumio; Ikeda, Chiemi; Uchida, Yasuo; Sakamoto, Yumi; Miller, Florence; Glacial, Fabienne; Decleves, Xavier; Scherrmann, Jean-Michel; Couraud, Pierre-Olivier; Kubo, Yoshiyuki; Tachikawa, Masanori; Terasaki, Tetsuya

    2013-01-07

    Human cerebral microvascular endothelial cell line hCMEC/D3 is an established model of the human blood-brain barrier (BBB). The purpose of the present study was to determine, by means of quantitative targeted absolute proteomics, the protein expression levels in hCMEC/D3 cells of multiple transporters, receptors and junction proteins for comparison with our previously reported findings in isolated human brain microvessels. Among 91 target molecules, 12 transporters, 2 receptors, 1 junction protein and 1 membrane marker were present at quantifiable levels in plasma membrane fraction of hCMEC/D3 cells. ABCA2, MDR1, MRP4, BCRP, GLUT1, 4F2hc, MCT1, ENT1, transferrin and insulin receptors and claudin-5 were detected in both hCMEC/D3 cells and human brain microvessels. After normalization based on Na(+)/K(+) ATPase expression, the differences in protein expression levels between hCMEC/D3 cells and human brain microvessels were within 4-fold for these proteins, with the exceptions of ENT1, transferrin receptor and claudin-5. ABCA8, LAT1, LRP1 and γ-GTP were below the limit of quantification in the cells, but were found in human brain microvessels. ABCA3, ABCA6, MRP1 and ATA1 were found only in hCMEC/D3 cells. Furthermore, compared with human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) as reference nonbrain endothelial cells, MDR1 was found only in hCMEC/D3 cells, and GLUT1 expression was 15-fold higher in hCMEC/D3 cells than in HUVECs. In conclusion, this is the first study to examine the suitability and limitations of the hCMEC/D3 cell line as a BBB functional model in terms of quantitative expression levels of transporters, receptors and tight junction proteins.

  10. Levels of Lycopene β-Cyclase 1 Modulate Carotenoid Gene Expression and Accumulation in Daucus carota

    PubMed Central

    Moreno, Juan Camilo; Pizarro, Lorena; Fuentes, Paulina; Handford, Michael; Cifuentes, Victor; Stange, Claudia

    2013-01-01

    Plant carotenoids are synthesized and accumulated in plastids through a highly regulated pathway. Lycopene β-cyclase (LCYB) is a key enzyme involved directly in the synthesis of α-carotene and β-carotene through the cyclization of lycopene. Carotenoids are produced in both carrot (Daucus carota) leaves and reserve roots, and high amounts of α-carotene and β-carotene accumulate in the latter. In some plant models, the presence of different isoforms of carotenogenic genes is associated with an organ-specific function. D. carota harbors two Lcyb genes, of which DcLcyb1 is expressed in leaves and storage roots during carrot development, correlating with an increase in carotenoid levels. In this work, we show that DcLCYB1 is localized in the plastid and that it is a functional enzyme, as demonstrated by heterologous complementation in Escherichia coli and over expression and post transcriptional gene silencing in carrot. Transgenic plants with higher or reduced levels of DcLcyb1 had incremented or reduced levels of chlorophyll, total carotenoids and β-carotene in leaves and in the storage roots, respectively. In addition, changes in the expression of DcLcyb1 are accompanied by a modulation in the expression of key endogenous carotenogenic genes. Our results indicate that DcLcyb1 does not possess an organ specific function and modulate carotenoid gene expression and accumulation in carrot leaves and storage roots. PMID:23555569

  11. Reduced beta 2-microglobulin mRNA levels in transgenic mice expressing a designed hammerhead ribozyme.

    PubMed Central

    Larsson, S; Hotchkiss, G; Andäng, M; Nyholm, T; Inzunza, J; Jansson, I; Ahrlund-Richter, L

    1994-01-01

    We have generated three artificial hammerhead ribozymes, denoted 'Rz-b', 'Rz-c' and 'Rz-d', with different specificities for exon II of the mouse beta-2-microglobulin (beta 2M) mRNA. In this study we tested for ribozyme mediated reduction of beta 2M mRNA in a cell line and in transgenic mice. Transfections of either of the Rz-b, Rz-c or Rz-d plasmids into a mouse cell-line (NIH/3T3) revealed reductions of beta 2M mRNA substrate in each case. Ribozyme expression in individual transfected clones was accompanied with an up to 80% reduction of beta 2M mRNA levels. Rz-c was selected for a transgenic study. Seven Rz-c transgenic founder animals were identified from which three ribozyme expressing families were established and analysed. Expression of the ribozyme transgene was tested for and detected in lung, kidney and spleen. Expression was accompanied with reduction of the beta 2M mRNA levels of heterozygous (Rz+/-) animals compared to non-transgenic litter mates. The effect was most pronounced in lung with more than 90% beta 2M mRNA reduction in individual mice. In summary, expression of our ribozymes in a cell free system, in a cell-line and in transgenic mice were all accompanied with reductions of beta 2M mRNA levels. Images PMID:8036151

  12. Absolute branching fraction measurements of exclusive D+ semileptonic decays.

    PubMed

    Huang, G S; Miller, D H; Pavlunin, V; Sanghi, B; Shipsey, I P J; Adams, G S; Chasse, M; Cravey, M; Cummings, J P; Danko, I; Napolitano, J; He, Q; Muramatsu, H; Park, C S; Park, W; Thorndike, E H; Coan, T E; Gao, Y S; Liu, F; Artuso, M; Boulahouache, C; Blusk, S; Butt, J; Dambasuren, E; Dorjkhaidav, O; Li, J; Menaa, N; Mountain, R; Nandakumar, R; Randrianarivony, K; Redjimi, R; Sia, R; Skwarnicki, T; Stone, S; Wang, J C; Zhang, K; Csorna, S E; Bonvicini, G; Cinabro, D; Dubrovin, M; Briere, R A; Chen, G P; Chen, J; Ferguson, T; Tatishvili, G; Vogel, H; Watkins, M E; Rosner, J L; Adam, N E; Alexander, J P; Berkelman, K; Cassel, D G; Crede, V; Duboscq, J E; Ecklund, K M; Ehrlich, R; Fields, L; Gibbons, L; Gittelman, B; Gray, R; Gray, S W; Hartill, D L; Heltsley, B K; Hertz, D; Hsu, L; Jones, C D; Kandaswamy, J; Kreinick, D L; Kuznetsov, V E; Mahlke-Krüger, H; Meyer, T O; Onyisi, P U E; Patterson, J R; Peterson, D; Phillips, E A; Pivarski, J; Riley, D; Ryd, A; Sadoff, A J; Schwarthoff, H; Shi, X; Shepherd, M R; Stroiney, S; Sun, W M; Urner, D; Weaver, K M; Wilksen, T; Weinberger, M; Athar, S B; Avery, P; Breva-Newell, L; Patel, R; Potlia, V; Stoeck, H; Yelton, J; Rubin, P; Cawlfield, C; Eisenstein, B I; Gollin, G D; Karliner, I; Kim, D; Lowrey, N; Naik, P; Sedlack, C; Selen, M; Williams, J; Wiss, J; Edwards, K W; Besson, D; Pedlar, T K; Cronin-Hennessy, D; Gao, K Y; Gong, D T; Hietala, J; Kubota, Y; Klein, T; Lang, B W; Li, S Z; Poling, R; Scott, A W; Smith, A; Dobbs, S; Metreveli, Z; Seth, K K; Tomaradze, A; Zweber, P; Ernst, J; Mahmood, A H; Severini, H; Asner, D M; Dytman, S A; Love, W; Mehrabyan, S; Mueller, J A; Savinov, V; Li, Z; Lopez, A; Mendez, H; Ramirez, J

    2005-10-28

    Using data collected at the psi(3770) resonance with the CLEO-c detector at the Cornell e+e- storage ring, we present improved measurements of the absolute branching fractions of D+decays to K0e+ve, pi0e+ve, K*0e+ve, and p0e+ve, and the first observation and absolute branching fraction measurement of D+ --> omega e+ve. We also report the most precise tests to date of isospin invariance in semileptonic D0 and D+ decays.

  13. Correlation of Cell Surface Biomarker Expression Levels with Adhesion Contact Angle Measured by Lateral Microscopy.

    PubMed

    Walz, Jenna A; Mace, Charles R

    2018-06-05

    Immunophenotyping is typically achieved using flow cytometry, but any influence a biomarker may have on adhesion or surface recognition cannot be determined concurrently. In this manuscript, we demonstrate the utility of lateral microscopy for correlating cell surface biomarker expression levels with quantitative descriptions of cell morphology. With our imaging system, we observed single cells from two T cell lines and two B cell lines adhere to antibody-coated substrates and quantified this adhesion using contact angle measurements. We found that SUP-T1 and CEM CD4+ cells, both of which express similar levels of CD4, experienced average changes in contact angle that were not statistically different from one another on surfaces coated in anti-CD4. However, MAVER-1 and BJAB K20 cells, both of which express different levels of CD20, underwent average changes in contact angle that were significantly different from one another on surfaces coated in anti-CD20. Our results indicate that changes in cell contact angles on antibody-coated substrates reflect the expression levels of corresponding antigens on the surfaces of cells as determined by flow cytometry. Our lateral microscopy approach offers a more reproducible and quantitative alternative to evaluate adhesion compared to commonly used wash assays and can be extended to many additional immunophenotyping applications to identify cells of interest within heterogeneous populations.

  14. A comparison of brain gene expression levels in domesticated and wild animals.

    PubMed

    Albert, Frank W; Somel, Mehmet; Carneiro, Miguel; Aximu-Petri, Ayinuer; Halbwax, Michel; Thalmann, Olaf; Blanco-Aguiar, Jose A; Plyusnina, Irina Z; Trut, Lyudmila; Villafuerte, Rafael; Ferrand, Nuno; Kaiser, Sylvia; Jensen, Per; Pääbo, Svante

    2012-09-01

    Domestication has led to similar changes in morphology and behavior in several animal species, raising the question whether similarities between different domestication events also exist at the molecular level. We used mRNA sequencing to analyze genome-wide gene expression patterns in brain frontal cortex in three pairs of domesticated and wild species (dogs and wolves, pigs and wild boars, and domesticated and wild rabbits). We compared the expression differences with those between domesticated guinea pigs and a distant wild relative (Cavia aperea) as well as between two lines of rats selected for tameness or aggression towards humans. There were few gene expression differences between domesticated and wild dogs, pigs, and rabbits (30-75 genes (less than 1%) of expressed genes were differentially expressed), while guinea pigs and C. aperea differed more strongly. Almost no overlap was found between the genes with differential expression in the different domestication events. In addition, joint analyses of all domesticated and wild samples provided only suggestive evidence for the existence of a small group of genes that changed their expression in a similar fashion in different domesticated species. The most extreme of these shared expression changes include up-regulation in domesticates of SOX6 and PROM1, two modulators of brain development. There was almost no overlap between gene expression in domesticated animals and the tame and aggressive rats. However, two of the genes with the strongest expression differences between the rats (DLL3 and DHDH) were located in a genomic region associated with tameness and aggression, suggesting a role in influencing tameness. In summary, the majority of brain gene expression changes in domesticated animals are specific to the given domestication event, suggesting that the causative variants of behavioral domestication traits may likewise be different.

  15. A Comparison of Brain Gene Expression Levels in Domesticated and Wild Animals

    PubMed Central

    Albert, Frank W.; Somel, Mehmet; Carneiro, Miguel; Aximu-Petri, Ayinuer; Halbwax, Michel; Thalmann, Olaf; Blanco-Aguiar, Jose A.; Trut, Lyudmila; Villafuerte, Rafael; Ferrand, Nuno; Kaiser, Sylvia; Jensen, Per; Pääbo, Svante

    2012-01-01

    Domestication has led to similar changes in morphology and behavior in several animal species, raising the question whether similarities between different domestication events also exist at the molecular level. We used mRNA sequencing to analyze genome-wide gene expression patterns in brain frontal cortex in three pairs of domesticated and wild species (dogs and wolves, pigs and wild boars, and domesticated and wild rabbits). We compared the expression differences with those between domesticated guinea pigs and a distant wild relative (Cavia aperea) as well as between two lines of rats selected for tameness or aggression towards humans. There were few gene expression differences between domesticated and wild dogs, pigs, and rabbits (30–75 genes (less than 1%) of expressed genes were differentially expressed), while guinea pigs and C. aperea differed more strongly. Almost no overlap was found between the genes with differential expression in the different domestication events. In addition, joint analyses of all domesticated and wild samples provided only suggestive evidence for the existence of a small group of genes that changed their expression in a similar fashion in different domesticated species. The most extreme of these shared expression changes include up-regulation in domesticates of SOX6 and PROM1, two modulators of brain development. There was almost no overlap between gene expression in domesticated animals and the tame and aggressive rats. However, two of the genes with the strongest expression differences between the rats (DLL3 and DHDH) were located in a genomic region associated with tameness and aggression, suggesting a role in influencing tameness. In summary, the majority of brain gene expression changes in domesticated animals are specific to the given domestication event, suggesting that the causative variants of behavioral domestication traits may likewise be different. PMID:23028369

  16. Increased Bone Marrow (BM) Plasma Level of Soluble CD30 and Correlations with BM Plasma Level of Interferon (IFN)-γ, CD4/CD8 T-Cell Ratio and Disease Severity in Aplastic Anemia

    PubMed Central

    Shi, Jun; Ge, Meili; Li, Xingxin; Shao, Yingqi; Yao, Jianfeng; Zheng, Yizhou

    2014-01-01

    Idiopathic aplastic anemia (AA) is an immune-mediated bone marrow failure syndrome. Immune abnormalities such as decreased lymphocyte counts, inverted CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio and increased IFN-γ-producing T cells have been found in AA. CD30, a surface protein belonging to the tumor necrosis factor receptor family and releasing from cell surface as a soluble form (sCD30) after activation, marks a subset of activated T cells secreting IFN-γ when exposed to allogeneic antigens. Our study found elevated BM plasma levels of sCD30 in patients with SAA, which were closely correlated with disease severity, including absolute lymphocyte count (ALC) and absolute netrophil count (ANC). We also noted that sCD30 levels were positively correlated with plasma IFN-γ levels and CD4/CD8 T-cell ratio in patients with SAA. In order to explain these phenomena, we stimulated T cells with alloantigen in vitro and found that CD30+ T cells were the major source of IFN-γ, and induced CD30+ T cells from patients with SAA produced significantly more IFN-γ than that from healthy individuals. In addition, increased proportion of CD8+ T cells in AA showed enhanced allogeneic response by the fact that they expressed more CD30 during allogeneic stimulation. sCD30 levels decreased in patients responded to immunosuppressive therapy. In conclusion, elevated BM plasma levels of sCD30 reflected the enhanced CD30+ T cell-mediated immune response in SAA. CD30 as a molecular marker that transiently expresses on IFN-γ-producing T cells, may participate in mediating bone marrow failure in AA, which also can facilitate our understanding of AA pathogenesis to identify new therapeutic targets. PMID:25383872

  17. Relationships between central arterial stiffness, lean body mass, and absolute and relative strength in young and older men and women.

    PubMed

    Fahs, Christopher A; Thiebaud, Robert S; Rossow, Lindy M; Loenneke, Jeremy P; Bemben, Debra A; Bemben, Michael G

    2017-08-16

    Relationships between muscular strength and arterial stiffness as well as between muscle mass and arterial stiffness have been observed suggesting a link between the neuromuscular system and vascular health. However, the relationship between central arterial stiffness and absolute and relative strength along with muscle mass has not been investigated in both sexes across a broad age range. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between central arterial stiffness and absolute and relative strength as well as between central arterial stiffness and lean body mass (LBM) in men and women across a broad age range. LBM, central arterial stiffness and strength were measured on 36 men and 35 women between the ages of 18 and 75 years. Strength was measured on five machine resistance exercises and summed as one measure of overall strength (absolute strength). Relative strength was calculated as total strength divided by LBM (relative strength). Central arterial stiffness was inversely related to both absolute (r = -0·230; P = 0·029) and relative strength (r = -0·484; P < 0·001) but not LBM (r = 0·097; P = 0·213). The relationship between central arterial stiffness and relative strength was attenuated but still present when controlling for either age, per cent body fat, LBM or mean arterial pressure. These results suggest that, across a wide age range, the expression of relative muscular strength has a stronger relationship with central arterial stiffness compared to either LBM or absolute strength. This suggests that muscle function more than muscle mass may be coupled with vascular health. © 2017 Scandinavian Society of Clinical Physiology and Nuclear Medicine. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  18. On the correct representation of bending and axial deformation in the absolute nodal coordinate formulation with an elastic line approach

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Gerstmayr, Johannes; Irschik, Hans

    2008-12-01

    In finite element methods that are based on position and slope coordinates, a representation of axial and bending deformation by means of an elastic line approach has become popular. Such beam and plate formulations based on the so-called absolute nodal coordinate formulation have not yet been verified sufficiently enough with respect to analytical results or classical nonlinear rod theories. Examining the existing planar absolute nodal coordinate element, which uses a curvature proportional bending strain expression, it turns out that the deformation does not fully agree with the solution of the geometrically exact theory and, even more serious, the normal force is incorrect. A correction based on the classical ideas of the extensible elastica and geometrically exact theories is applied and a consistent strain energy and bending moment relations are derived. The strain energy of the solid finite element formulation of the absolute nodal coordinate beam is based on the St. Venant-Kirchhoff material: therefore, the strain energy is derived for the latter case and compared to classical nonlinear rod theories. The error in the original absolute nodal coordinate formulation is documented by numerical examples. The numerical example of a large deformation cantilever beam shows that the normal force is incorrect when using the previous approach, while a perfect agreement between the absolute nodal coordinate formulation and the extensible elastica can be gained when applying the proposed modifications. The numerical examples show a very good agreement of reference analytical and numerical solutions with the solutions of the proposed beam formulation for the case of large deformation pre-curved static and dynamic problems, including buckling and eigenvalue analysis. The resulting beam formulation does not employ rotational degrees of freedom and therefore has advantages compared to classical beam elements regarding energy-momentum conservation.

  19. The effect of modeled absolute timing variability and relative timing variability on observational learning.

    PubMed

    Grierson, Lawrence E M; Roberts, James W; Welsher, Arthur M

    2017-05-01

    There is much evidence to suggest that skill learning is enhanced by skill observation. Recent research on this phenomenon indicates a benefit of observing variable/erred demonstrations. In this study, we explore whether it is variability within the relative organization or absolute parameterization of a movement that facilitates skill learning through observation. To do so, participants were randomly allocated into groups that observed a model with no variability, absolute timing variability, relative timing variability, or variability in both absolute and relative timing. All participants performed a four-segment movement pattern with specific absolute and relative timing goals prior to and following the observational intervention, as well as in a 24h retention test and transfers tests that featured new relative and absolute timing goals. Absolute timing error indicated that all groups initially acquired the absolute timing, maintained their performance at 24h retention, and exhibited performance deterioration in both transfer tests. Relative timing error revealed that the observation of no variability and relative timing variability produced greater performance at the post-test, 24h retention and relative timing transfer tests, but for the no variability group, deteriorated at absolute timing transfer test. The results suggest that the learning of absolute timing following observation unfolds irrespective of model variability. However, the learning of relative timing benefits from holding the absolute features constant, while the observation of no variability partially fails in transfer. We suggest learning by observing no variability and variable/erred models unfolds via similar neural mechanisms, although the latter benefits from the additional coding of information pertaining to movements that require a correction. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. A New Gimmick for Assigning Absolute Configuration.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Ayorinde, F. O.

    1983-01-01

    A five-step procedure is provided to help students in making the assignment absolute configuration less bothersome. Examples for both single (2-butanol) and multi-chiral carbon (3-chloro-2-butanol) molecules are included. (JN)

  1. Absolute Equilibrium Entropy

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Shebalin, John V.

    1997-01-01

    The entropy associated with absolute equilibrium ensemble theories of ideal, homogeneous, fluid and magneto-fluid turbulence is discussed and the three-dimensional fluid case is examined in detail. A sigma-function is defined, whose minimum value with respect to global parameters is the entropy. A comparison is made between the use of global functions sigma and phase functions H (associated with the development of various H-theorems of ideal turbulence). It is shown that the two approaches are complimentary though conceptually different: H-theorems show that an isolated system tends to equilibrium while sigma-functions allow the demonstration that entropy never decreases when two previously isolated systems are combined. This provides a more complete picture of entropy in the statistical mechanics of ideal fluids.

  2. Protein pheromone expression levels predict and respond to the formation of social dominance networks

    PubMed Central

    Nelson, Adam C.; Cunningham, Christopher B.; Ruff, James S.; Potts, Wayne K.

    2015-01-01

    Communication signals are key regulators of social networks, and are thought to be under selective pressure to honestly reflect social status, including dominance status. The odors of dominants and nondominants differentially influence behavior, and identification of the specific pheromones associated with, and predictive of, dominance status is essential for understanding the mechanisms of network formation and maintenance. In mice, major urinary proteins (MUPs) are excreted in extraordinary large quantities and expression level has been hypothesized to provide an honest signal of dominance status. Here, we evaluate whether MUPs are associated with dominance in wild-derived mice by analyzing expression levels before, during, and after competition for reproductive resources over three days. During competition, dominant males have 24% greater urinary MUP expression than nondominants. The MUP darcin, a pheromone that stimulates female attraction, is predictive of dominance status: dominant males have higher darcin expression before competition. Dominants also have a higher ratio of darcin to other MUPs before and during competition. These differences appear transient, because there are no differences in MUPs or darcin after competition. We also find MUP expression is affected by sire dominance status: socially naive sons of dominant males have lower MUP expression, but this apparent repression is released during competition. A requisite condition for the evolution of communication signals is honesty, and we provide novel insight into pheromones and social networks by showing that MUP and darcin expression is a reliable signal of dominance status, a primary determinant of male fitness in many species. PMID:25867293

  3. Absolute and Functional Iron Deficiency Is a Common Finding in Patients With Heart Failure and After Heart Transplantation.

    PubMed

    Przybylowski, P; Wasilewski, G; Golabek, K; Bachorzewska-Gajewska, H; Dobrzycki, S; Koc-Zorawska, E; Malyszko, J

    2016-01-01

    Anemia is relatively common in patients with heart failure and heart transplant recipients. Both absolute and functional iron deficiency may contribute to the anemia in these populations. Functional iron deficiency (defined as ferritin greater than 200 ng/mL with TSAT (Transferrin saturation) less than 20%) is characterized by the presence of adequate iron stores as defined by conventional criteria, but with insufficient iron mobilization to adequately support. The aim of this study was to determine prevalence of absolute and functional iron deficiency in patients with heart failure (n = 269) and after heart transplantation (n = 130) and their relation to parameters of iron status and inflammation. Iron status, complete blood count, and creatinine levels were assessed using standard laboratory methods. C-reactive protein, hepcidin and hemojuvelin were measured using commercially available kits. Absolute iron deficiency was present in 15% of patients with heart failure and 30% in heart transplant recipients, whereas functional iron deficiency was present in 18% of patients with heart failure and 17% in heart transplant recipients. Functional iron deficiency was associated with significantly higher C-reactive protein and hepcidin levels in heart failure patients, and higher hepcidin and lower estimate glomerular filtration rates in heart transplant recipients. Prevalence of anemia (according to the World Health Organization) was significantly higher in heart transplant recipients (40% vs 22%, P < .001), they were also younger, but with worse kidney function than patients with heart failure. Both absolute and functional iron deficiency were present in a considerable group of patients. This population should be carefully screened for possible reversible causes of inflammation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  4. Absolute instabilities of travelling wave solutions in a Keller-Segel model

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Davis, P. N.; van Heijster, P.; Marangell, R.

    2017-11-01

    We investigate the spectral stability of travelling wave solutions in a Keller-Segel model of bacterial chemotaxis with a logarithmic chemosensitivity function and a constant, sublinear, and linear consumption rate. Linearising around the travelling wave solutions, we locate the essential and absolute spectrum of the associated linear operators and find that all travelling wave solutions have parts of the essential spectrum in the right half plane. However, we show that in the case of constant or sublinear consumption there exists a range of parameters such that the absolute spectrum is contained in the open left half plane and the essential spectrum can thus be weighted into the open left half plane. For the constant and sublinear consumption rate models we also determine critical parameter values for which the absolute spectrum crosses into the right half plane, indicating the onset of an absolute instability of the travelling wave solution. We observe that this crossing always occurs off of the real axis.

  5. [Effect of acute intra-peritoneal infection on leptin expression levels in peripheral blood and vital organs of rats].

    PubMed

    Lin, Ji; Yan, Guang-Tao; Wang, Lu-Huan

    2008-02-01

    To explore the effect of acute intra-peritoneal infection on leptin expression levels in peripheral blood and vital organs, and find out the role leptin plays in acute inflammation. A cecal ligation and perforation model of rats was established, setting groups of sham-operation, intralipid injection, injury, estradiol injection and insulin injection. A rat leptin radioimmunoassay was used to check serum leptin concentrations at 12 h after the injury, and RT-PCR was also used to detect leptin mRNA expressions in adipose tissue, lung and liver. Compared with serum leptin level of sham-operation group after injury, that of all the other four groups showed no significant difference, while the level of intralipid group was significantly higher than that of injury group and estradiol group. Compared with leptin mRNA expression level of sham-operation group after injury, that of the other four groups had different changes. Leptin mRNA expression of intralipid group was significantly increased in adipose tissue but decreased in lung and liver. Leptin expression levels may be affected by the changes of energy metabolism and neuroendocrine function after injury, which suggests a possible protective role for leptin in the recovery of body homeostasis.

  6. Lunar eclipse photometry: absolute luminance measurements and modeling.

    PubMed

    Hernitschek, Nina; Schmidt, Elmar; Vollmer, Michael

    2008-12-01

    The Moon's time-dependent luminance was determined during the 9 February 1990 and 3 March 2007 total lunar eclipses by using calibrated, industry standard photometers. After the results were corrected to unit air mass and to standard distances for both Moon and Sun, an absolute calibration was accomplished by using the Sun's known luminance and a pre-eclipse lunar albedo of approximately 13.5%. The measured minimum level of brightness in the total phase of both eclipses was relatively high, namely -3.32 m(vis) and -1.7 m(vis), which hints at the absence of pronounced stratospheric aerosol. The light curves were modeled in such a way as to let the Moon move through an artificial Earth shadow composed of a multitude of disk and ring zones, containing a relative luminance data set from an atmospheric radiative transfer calculation.

  7. Earth Mover's Distance (EMD): A True Metric for Comparing Biomarker Expression Levels in Cell Populations.

    PubMed

    Orlova, Darya Y; Zimmerman, Noah; Meehan, Stephen; Meehan, Connor; Waters, Jeffrey; Ghosn, Eliver E B; Filatenkov, Alexander; Kolyagin, Gleb A; Gernez, Yael; Tsuda, Shanel; Moore, Wayne; Moss, Richard B; Herzenberg, Leonore A; Walther, Guenther

    2016-01-01

    Changes in the frequencies of cell subsets that (co)express characteristic biomarkers, or levels of the biomarkers on the subsets, are widely used as indices of drug response, disease prognosis, stem cell reconstitution, etc. However, although the currently available computational "gating" tools accurately reveal subset frequencies and marker expression levels, they fail to enable statistically reliable judgements as to whether these frequencies and expression levels differ significantly between/among subject groups. Here we introduce flow cytometry data analysis pipeline which includes the Earth Mover's Distance (EMD) metric as solution to this problem. Well known as an informative quantitative measure of differences between distributions, we present three exemplary studies showing that EMD 1) reveals clinically-relevant shifts in two markers on blood basophils responding to an offending allergen; 2) shows that ablative tumor radiation induces significant changes in the murine colon cancer tumor microenvironment; and, 3) ranks immunological differences in mouse peritoneal cavity cells harvested from three genetically distinct mouse strains.

  8. Intra and Interspecific Variations of Gene Expression Levels in Yeast Are Largely Neutral: (Nei Lecture, SMBE 2016, Gold Coast).

    PubMed

    Yang, Jian-Rong; Maclean, Calum J; Park, Chungoo; Zhao, Huabin; Zhang, Jianzhi

    2017-09-01

    It is commonly, although not universally, accepted that most intra and interspecific genome sequence variations are more or less neutral, whereas a large fraction of organism-level phenotypic variations are adaptive. Gene expression levels are molecular phenotypes that bridge the gap between genotypes and corresponding organism-level phenotypes. Yet, it is unknown whether natural variations in gene expression levels are mostly neutral or adaptive. Here we address this fundamental question by genome-wide profiling and comparison of gene expression levels in nine yeast strains belonging to three closely related Saccharomyces species and originating from five different ecological environments. We find that the transcriptome-based clustering of the nine strains approximates the genome sequence-based phylogeny irrespective of their ecological environments. Remarkably, only ∼0.5% of genes exhibit similar expression levels among strains from a common ecological environment, no greater than that among strains with comparable phylogenetic relationships but different environments. These and other observations strongly suggest that most intra and interspecific variations in yeast gene expression levels result from the accumulation of random mutations rather than environmental adaptations. This finding has profound implications for understanding the driving force of gene expression evolution, genetic basis of phenotypic adaptation, and general role of stochasticity in evolution. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  9. Divergent prion strain evolution driven by PrPC expression level in transgenic mice

    PubMed Central

    Le Dur, Annick; Laï, Thanh Lan; Stinnakre, Marie-George; Laisné, Aude; Chenais, Nathalie; Rakotobe, Sabine; Passet, Bruno; Reine, Fabienne; Soulier, Solange; Herzog, Laetitia; Tilly, Gaëlle; Rézaei, Human; Béringue, Vincent; Vilotte, Jean-Luc; Laude, Hubert

    2017-01-01

    Prions induce a fatal neurodegenerative disease in infected host brain based on the refolding and aggregation of the host-encoded prion protein PrPC into PrPSc. Structurally distinct PrPSc conformers can give rise to multiple prion strains. Constrained interactions between PrPC and different PrPSc strains can in turn lead to certain PrPSc (sub)populations being selected for cross-species transmission, or even produce mutation-like events. By contrast, prion strains are generally conserved when transmitted within the same species, or to transgenic mice expressing homologous PrPC. Here, we compare the strain properties of a representative sheep scrapie isolate transmitted to a panel of transgenic mouse lines expressing varying levels of homologous PrPC. While breeding true in mice expressing PrPC at near physiological levels, scrapie prions evolve consistently towards different strain components in mice beyond a certain threshold of PrPC overexpression. Our results support the view that PrPC gene dosage can influence prion evolution on homotypic transmission. PMID:28112164

  10. Changes in relative and absolute concentrations of plasma phospholipid fatty acids observed in a randomized trial of Omega-3 fatty acids supplementation in Uganda

    PubMed Central

    Song, Xiaoling; Diep, Pho; Schenk, Jeannette M; Casper, Corey; Orem, Jackson; Makhoul, Zeina; Lampe, Johanna W; Neuhouser, Marian L.

    2016-01-01

    Expressing circulating phospholipid fatty acids (PLFAs) in relative concentrations has some limitations: the total of all fatty acids are summed to 100%; therefore, the values of individual fatty acid are not independent. In this study we examined if both relative and absolute metrics could effectively measure changes in circulating PLFA concentrations in an intervention trial. 66 HIV and HHV8 infected patients in Uganda were randomized to take 3g/d of either long-chain omega-3 fatty acids (1,856 mg EPA and 1,232 mg DHA) or high—oleic safflower oil in a 12-week double-blind trial. Plasma samples were collected at baseline and end of trial. Relative weight percentage and absolute concentrations of 41 plasma PLFAs were measured using gas chromatography. Total cholesterol was also measured. Intervention-effect changes in concentrations were calculated as differences between end of 12-week trial and baseline. Pearson correlations of relative and absolute concentration changes in individual PLFAs were high (>0.6) for 37 of the 41 PLFAs analyzed. In the intervention arm, 17 PLFAs changed significantly in relative concentration and 16 in absolute concentration, 15 of which were identical. Absolute concentration of total PLFAs decreased 95.1 mg/L (95% CI: 26.0, 164.2; P = 0.0085), but total cholesterol did not change significantly in the intervention arm. No significant change was observed in any of the measurements in the placebo arm. Both relative weight percentage and absolute concentrations could effectively measure changes in plasma PLFA concentrations. EPA and DHA supplementation changes the concentrations of multiple plasma PLFAs besides EPA and DHA. PMID:27926458

  11. NIST Stars: Absolute Spectrophotometric Calibration of Vega and Sirius

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deustua, Susana; Woodward, John T.; Rice, Joseph P.; Brown, Steven W.; Maxwell, Stephen E.; Alberding, Brian G.; Lykke, Keith R.

    2018-01-01

    Absolute flux calibration of standard stars, traceable to SI (International System of Units) standards, is essential for 21st century astrophysics. Dark energy investigations that rely on observations of Type Ia supernovae and precise photometric redshifts of weakly lensed galaxies require a minimum accuracy of 0.5 % in the absolute color calibration. Studies that aim to address fundamental stellar astrophysics also benefit. In the era of large telescopes and all sky surveys well-calibrated standard stars that do not saturate and that are available over the whole sky are needed. Significant effort has been expended to obtain absolute measurements of the fundamental standards Vega and Sirius (and other stars) in the visible and near infrared, achieving total uncertainties between1% and 3%, depending on wavelength, that do not meet the needed accuracy. The NIST Stars program aims to determine the top-of-the-atmosphere absolute spectral irradiance of bright stars to an uncertainty less than 1% from a ground-based observatory. NIST Stars has developed a novel, fully SI-traceable laboratory calibration strategy that will enable achieving the desired accuracy. This strategy has two key components. The first is the SI-traceable calibration of the entire instrument system, and the second is the repeated spectroscopic measurement of the target star throughout the night. We will describe our experimental strategy, present preliminary results for Vega and Sirius and an end-to-end uncertainty budget

  12. An Integrated Model of Choices and Response Times in Absolute Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Brown, Scott D.; Marley, A. A. J.; Donkin, Christopher; Heathcote, Andrew

    2008-01-01

    Recent theoretical developments in the field of absolute identification have stressed differences between relative and absolute processes, that is, whether stimulus magnitudes are judged relative to a shorter term context provided by recently presented stimuli or a longer term context provided by the entire set of stimuli. The authors developed a…

  13. Colony-level behavioural variation correlates with differences in expression of the foraging gene in red imported fire ants.

    PubMed

    Bockoven, Alison A; Coates, Craig J; Eubanks, Micky D

    2017-11-01

    Among social insects, colony-level variation is likely to be widespread and has significant ecological consequences. Very few studies, however, have documented how genetic factors relate to behaviour at the colony level. Differences in expression of the foraging gene have been associated with differences in foraging and activity of a wide variety of organisms. We quantified expression of the red imported fire ant foraging gene (sifor) in workers from 21 colonies collected across the natural range of Texas fire ant populations, but maintained under standardized, environmentally controlled conditions. Colonies varied significantly in their behaviour. The most active colonies had up to 10 times more active foragers than the least active colony and more than 16 times as many workers outside the nest. Expression differences among colonies correlated with this colony-level behavioural variation. Colonies with higher sifor expression in foragers had, on average, significantly higher foraging activity, exploratory activity and recruitment to nectar than colonies with lower expression. Expression of sifor was also strongly correlated with worker task (foraging vs. working in the interior of the nest). These results provide insight into the genetic and physiological processes underlying collective differences in social behaviour. Quantifying variation in expression of the foraging gene may provide an important tool for understanding and predicting the ecological consequences of colony-level behavioural variation. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  14. Metabolite ratios to assumed stable creatine level may confound the quantification of proton brain MR spectroscopy.

    PubMed

    Li, Belinda S Y; Wang, Hao; Gonen, Oded

    2003-10-01

    In localized brain proton MR spectroscopy ((1)H-MRS), metabolites' levels are often expressed as ratios, rather than as absolute concentrations. Frequently, their denominator is the creatine [Cr], which level is explicitly assumed to be stable in normal as well as in many pathologic states. The rationale is that ratios self-correct for imager and localization method differences, gain instabilities, regional susceptibility variations and partial volume effects. The implicit assumption is that these benefits are worth their cost(w)-(w) propagation of the individual variation of each of the ratio's components. To test this hypothesis, absolute levels of N-acetylaspartate [NAA], choline [Cho] and [Cr] were quantified in various regions of the brains of 8 volunteers, using 3-dimensional (3D) (1)H-MRS at 1.5 T. The results show that in over 50% of approximately 2000 voxels examined, [NAA]/[Cr] and [Cho]/[Cr] exhibited higher coefficients of variations (CV) than [NAA] and [Cho] individually. Furthermore, in approximately 33% of these voxels, the ratios' CVs exceeded even the combined constituents' CVs. Consequently, basing metabolite quantification on ratios and assuming stable [Cr] introduces more variability into (1)H-MRS than it prevents. Therefore, its cost exceeds the benefit.

  15. Expression levels of brown/beige adipocyte-related genes in fat depots of vitamin A-restricted fattening cattle.

    PubMed

    Chen, Hsuan-Ju; Ihara, Tsubasa; Yoshioka, Hidetugu; Itoyama, Erina; Kitamura, Shoko; Nagase, Hiroshi; Murakami, Hiroaki; Hoshino, Yoichiro; Murakami, Masaru; Tomonaga, Shozo; Matsui, Tohru; Funaba, Masayuki

    2018-06-15

    Brown/beige adipocytes dissipate energy as heat. We previously showed that brown/beige adipocytes are present in white adipose tissue (WAT) of fattening cattle. The present study examined the effect of vitamin A restriction on mRNA expression of brown/beige adipocyte-related genes. In Japan, fattening cattle are conventionally fed a vitamin A-restricted diet to improve beef marbling. Twelve Japanese Black steers aged 10 months were fed control feed (n=6) or vitamin A-restricted feed (n=6) for 20 months. Subcutaneous WAT (scWAT) and mesenteric WAT (mesWAT) were collected, and mRNA expression levels of molecules related to function of brown/beige adipocytes (Ucp1, Cidea, Dio2, Cox7a and Cox8b) as well as transcriptional regulators related to brown/beige adipogenesis (Zfp516, Nfia, Prdm16, and Pgc-1α) were evaluated. The vitamin A restriction significantly increased or tended to increase expression levels of Cidea and Pgc-1α in scWAT, and Cidea, Dio2, and Nfia in mesWAT. Previous studies revealed that the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) pathway was responsible for commitment of mesenchymal stem cells to brown/beige adipocyte-lineage cells. The vitamin A restriction increased expression of Bmp7 and some Bmp receptors in WAT. The interrelationship between gene expression levels indicated that expression levels of Nfia, Prdm16, and Pgc-1α were closely related to those of genes related to function of brown/beige adipocytes in scWAT. Also, expression levels of Nfia, Prdm16, and Pgc-1α were highly correlated with those of Alk3 in scWAT. In summary, the present results suggest that the vitamin A restriction increases the number or activity of brown/beige adipocytes through regulatory expression of transcriptional regulators to induce brown/beige adipogenesis especially in scWAT of fattening cattle, which may be governed by the Bmp pathway.

  16. Diagnostic investigations of DKK-1 and PDCD5 expression levels as independent prognostic markers of human chondrosarcoma.

    PubMed

    Zarea, Mojtaba; Mohammadian Bajgiran, Amirhossein; Sedaghati, Farnoush; Hatami, Negin; Taheriazam, Afshin; Yahaghi, Emad; Shakeri, Mohammadreza

    2016-07-01

    In this study, we investigated the expression levels of Dickkopf-1 (DKK-1) and programmed cell death 5 (PDCD5) by using quantitative real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry in patients with chondrosarcoma. The DKK-1 mRNA levels were significantly higher in chondrosarcoma when compared with the corresponding nontumor tissues (mean ± SD: 4.23 ± 1.54; 1.54 ± 0.87; P = 0.001). PDCD5 mRNA levels were remarkably deceased in tumor tissues when compared with corresponding nontumor tissues (mean ± SD: 1.94 ± 0.73; 5.42 ± 1.73; P = 0.001). The high and moderate DKK-1 expressions were observed for 60% of chondrosarcoma samples in comparison with 27.5% of corresponding nontumor tissues (P  =  0.001). Moreover, low expression of PDCD5 was found in 67.5% of the tumor tissues when compared with the nontumor tissues (32.5%; P = 0.002). The results of this study showed that high DKK-1 expression levels were strongly related to MSTS stage (P = 0.011) and the advancement of histological grade (P < 0.001). Furthermore, the PDCD5 expression levels were correlated with histological grade (P < 0.001), MSTS stage (P = 0.016), and distant metastasis (P = 0.001). Kaplan-Meier survival and log-rank survival showed that patients with high DKK-1 levels and low PDCD5 levels were correlated with shorter overall survival (log-rank test P < 0.001). PDCD5 levels, histological grade, and tumor stage were independent predictors of overall survival. In conclusion, DKK-1 and PDCD5 can be independent predictors of overall survival in patients suffering from chondrosarcoma. © 2016 IUBMB Life, 68(7):597-601, 2016. © 2016 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology.

  17. Striking Similarity in the Gene Expression Levels of Individual Myc Module Members among ESCs, EpiSCs, and Partial iPSCs

    PubMed Central

    Hirasaki, Masataka; Hiraki-Kamon, Keiko; Kamon, Masayoshi; Suzuki, Ayumu; Katano, Miyuki; Nishimoto, Masazumi; Okuda, Akihiko

    2013-01-01

    Predominant transcriptional subnetworks called Core, Myc, and PRC modules have been shown to participate in preservation of the pluripotency and self-renewality of embryonic stem cells (ESCs). Epiblast stem cells (EpiSCs) are another cell type that possesses pluripotency and self-renewality. However, the roles of these modules in EpiSCs have not been systematically examined to date. Here, we compared the average expression levels of Core, Myc, and PRC module genes between ESCs and EpiSCs. EpiSCs showed substantially higher and lower expression levels of PRC and Core module genes, respectively, compared with those in ESCs, while Myc module members showed almost equivalent levels of average gene expression. Subsequent analyses revealed that the similarity in gene expression levels of the Myc module between these two cell types was not just overall, but striking similarities were evident even when comparing the expression of individual genes. We also observed equivalent levels of similarity in the expression of individual Myc module genes between induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and partial iPSCs that are an unwanted byproduct generated during iPSC induction. Moreover, our data demonstrate that partial iPSCs depend on a high level of c-Myc expression for their self-renewal properties. PMID:24386274

  18. Absolute branching fraction measurements of exclusive D0 semileptonic decays.

    PubMed

    Coan, T E; Gao, Y S; Liu, F; Artuso, M; Boulahouache, C; Blusk, S; Butt, J; Dambasuren, E; Dorjkhaidav, O; Li, J; Menaa, N; Mountain, R; Nandakumar, R; Redjimi, R; Sia, R; Skwarnicki, T; Stone, S; Wang, J C; Zhang, K; Csorna, S E; Bonvicini, G; Cinabro, D; Dubrovin, M; Briere, R A; Chen, G P; Chen, J; Ferguson, T; Tatishvili, G; Vogel, H; Watkins, M E; Rosner, J L; Adam, N E; Alexander, J P; Berkelman, K; Cassel, D G; Crede, V; Duboscq, J E; Ecklund, K M; Ehrlich, R; Fields, L; Gibbons, L; Gittelman, B; Gray, R; Gray, S W; Hartill, D L; Heltsley, B K; Hertz, D; Hsu, L; Jones, C D; Kandaswamy, J; Kreinick, D L; Kuznetsov, V E; Mahlke-Krüger, H; Meyer, T O; Onyisi, P U E; Patterson, J R; Peterson, D; Pivarski, J; Phillips, E A; Riley, D; Ryd, A; Sadoff, A J; Schwarthoff, H; Shepherd, M R; Stroiney, S; Sun, W M; Urner, D; Wilksen, T; Weinberger, M; Athar, S B; Avery, P; Breva-Newell, L; Patel, R; Potlia, V; Stoeck, H; Yelton, J; Rubin, P; Cawlfield, C; Eisenstein, B I; Gollin, G D; Karliner, I; Kim, D; Lowrey, N; Naik, P; Sedlack, C; Selen, M; Williams, J; Wiss, J; Edwards, K W; Besson, D; Pedlar, T K; Cronin-Hennessy, D; Gao, K Y; Gong, D T; Kubota, Y; Klein, T; Lang, B W; Li, S Z; Poling, R; Scott, A W; Smith, A; Dobbs, S; Metreveli, Z; Seth, K K; Tomaradze, A; Zweber, P; Ernst, J; Mahmood, A H; Severini, H; Asner, D M; Dytman, S A; Love, W; Mehrabyan, S; Mueller, J A; Savinov, V; Li, Z; Lopez, A; Mendez, H; Ramirez, J; Huang, G S; Miller, D H; Pavlunin, V; Sanghi, B; Shibata, E I; Shipsey, I P J; Adams, G S; Chasse, M; Cravey, M; Cummings, J P; Danko, I; Napolitano, J; He, Q; Muramatsu, H; Park, C S; Park, W; Thorndike, E H

    2005-10-28

    With the first data sample collected by the CLEO-c detector at the psi(3770) resonance we have studied four exclusive semileptonic decays of the D0 meson. Our results include the first observation and absolute branching fraction measurement for D0 --> p-e+ve and improved measurements of the absolute branching fractions for D0 decays to K-e+ve, pi-e+ve, and K*-e+ve.

  19. Improvements in absolute seismometer sensitivity calibration using local earth gravity measurements

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Anthony, Robert E.; Ringler, Adam; Wilson, David

    2018-01-01

    The ability to determine both absolute and relative seismic amplitudes is fundamentally limited by the accuracy and precision with which scientists are able to calibrate seismometer sensitivities and characterize their response. Currently, across the Global Seismic Network (GSN), errors in midband sensitivity exceed 3% at the 95% confidence interval and are the least‐constrained response parameter in seismic recording systems. We explore a new methodology utilizing precise absolute Earth gravity measurements to determine the midband sensitivity of seismic instruments. We first determine the absolute sensitivity of Kinemetrics EpiSensor accelerometers to 0.06% at the 99% confidence interval by inverting them in a known gravity field at the Albuquerque Seismological Laboratory (ASL). After the accelerometer is calibrated, we install it in its normal configuration next to broadband seismometers and subject the sensors to identical ground motions to perform relative calibrations of the broadband sensors. Using this technique, we are able to determine the absolute midband sensitivity of the vertical components of Nanometrics Trillium Compact seismometers to within 0.11% and Streckeisen STS‐2 seismometers to within 0.14% at the 99% confidence interval. The technique enables absolute calibrations from first principles that are traceable to National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) measurements while providing nearly an order of magnitude more precision than step‐table calibrations.

  20. Absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical.

    PubMed

    Taatjes, Craig A; Osborn, David L; Selby, Talitha M; Meloni, Giovanni; Fan, Haiyan; Pratt, Stephen T

    2008-10-02

    The absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical has been measured using two completely independent methods. The CH3 photoionization cross-section was determined relative to that of acetone and methyl vinyl ketone at photon energies of 10.2 and 11.0 eV by using a pulsed laser-photolysis/time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry method. The time-resolved depletion of the acetone or methyl vinyl ketone precursor and the production of methyl radicals following 193 nm photolysis are monitored simultaneously by using time-resolved synchrotron photoionization mass spectrometry. Comparison of the initial methyl signal with the decrease in precursor signal, in combination with previously measured absolute photoionization cross-sections of the precursors, yields the absolute photoionization cross-section of the methyl radical; sigma(CH3)(10.2 eV) = (5.7 +/- 0.9) x 10(-18) cm(2) and sigma(CH3)(11.0 eV) = (6.0 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2). The photoionization cross-section for vinyl radical determined by photolysis of methyl vinyl ketone is in good agreement with previous measurements. The methyl radical photoionization cross-section was also independently measured relative to that of the iodine atom by comparison of ionization signals from CH3 and I fragments following 266 nm photolysis of methyl iodide in a molecular-beam ion-imaging apparatus. These measurements gave a cross-section of (5.4 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.460 eV, (5.5 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.466 eV, and (4.9 +/- 2.0) x 10(-18) cm(2) at 10.471 eV. The measurements allow relative photoionization efficiency spectra of methyl radical to be placed on an absolute scale and will facilitate quantitative measurements of methyl concentrations by photoionization mass spectrometry.

  1. Differential cellular responses by oncogenic levels of c-Myc expression in long-term confluent retinal pigment epithelial cells.

    PubMed

    Wang, Yiping; Cheng, Xiangdong; Samma, Muhammad Kaleem; Kung, Sam K P; Lee, Clement M; Chiu, Sung Kay

    2018-06-01

    c-Myc is a highly pleiotropic transcription factor known to control cell cycle progression, apoptosis, and cellular transformation. Normally, ectopic expression of c-Myc is associated with promoting cell proliferation or triggering cell death via activating p53. However, it is not clear how the levels of c-Myc lead to different cellular responses. Here, we generated a series of stable RPE cell clones expressing c-Myc at different levels, and found that consistent low level of c-Myc induced cellular senescence by activating AP4 in post-confluent RPE cells, while the cells underwent cell death at high level of c-Myc. In addition, high level of c-Myc could override the effect of AP4 on cellular senescence. Further knockdown of AP4 abrogated senescence-like phenotype in cells expressing low level of c-Myc, and accelerated cell death in cells with medium level of c-Myc, indicating that AP4 was required for cellular senescence induced by low level of c-Myc.

  2. Absolute Stability Analysis of a Phase Plane Controlled Spacecraft

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Jang, Jiann-Woei; Plummer, Michael; Bedrossian, Nazareth; Hall, Charles; Jackson, Mark; Spanos, Pol

    2010-01-01

    Many aerospace attitude control systems utilize phase plane control schemes that include nonlinear elements such as dead zone and ideal relay. To evaluate phase plane control robustness, stability margin prediction methods must be developed. Absolute stability is extended to predict stability margins and to define an abort condition. A constrained optimization approach is also used to design flex filters for roll control. The design goal is to optimize vehicle tracking performance while maintaining adequate stability margins. Absolute stability is shown to provide satisfactory stability constraints for the optimization.

  3. Quantitative [Fe]MRI of PSMA-targeted SPIONs specifically discriminates among prostate tumor cell types based on their PSMA expression levels.

    PubMed

    Sillerud, Laurel O

    2016-01-01

    We report the development, experimental verification, and application of a general theory called [Fe]MRI (pronounced fem-ree) for the non-invasive, quantitative molecular magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of added magnetic nanoparticles or other magnetic contrast agents in biological tissues and other sites. [Fe]MRI can easily be implemented on any MRI instrument, requiring only measurements of the background nuclear magnetic relaxation times (T1, T2) of the tissue of interest, injection of the magnetic particles, and the subsequent acquisition of a pair of T1-weighted and T2-weighted images. These images, converted into contrast images, are subtracted to yield a contrast difference image proportional to the absolute nanoparticle, iron concentration, ([Fe]) image. [Fe]MRI was validated with the samples of superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles (SPIONs) both in agarose gels and bound to human prostate tumor cells. The [Fe]MRI measurement of the binding of anti-prostate specific membrane antigen (PSMA) conjugated SPIONs to PSMA-positive LNCaP and PSMA-negative DU145 cells in vitro allowed a facile discrimination among prostate tumor cell types based on their PSMA expression level. The low [Fe] detection limit of ~2 μM for SPIONs allows sensitive MRI of added iron at concentrations considerably below the US Food and Drug Administration's human iron dosage guidelines (<90 μM, 5 mg/kg).

  4. Monoallelic Gene Expression in Mammals.

    PubMed

    Chess, Andrew

    2016-11-23

    Monoallelic expression not due to cis-regulatory sequence polymorphism poses an intriguing problem in epigenetics because it requires the unequal treatment of two segments of DNA that are present in the same nucleus and that can indeed have absolutely identical sequences. Here, I focus on a few recent developments in the field of monoallelic expression that are of particular interest and raise interesting questions for future work. One development is regarding analyses of imprinted genes, in which recent work suggests the possibility that intriguing networks of imprinted genes exist and are important for genetic and physiological studies. Another issue that has been raised in recent years by a number of publications is the question of how skewed allelic expression should be for it to be designated as monoallelic expression and, further, what methods are appropriate or inappropriate for analyzing genomic data to examine allele-specific expression. Perhaps the most exciting recent development in mammalian monoallelic expression is a clever and carefully executed analysis of genetic diversity of autosomal genes subject to random monoallelic expression (RMAE), which provides compelling evidence for distinct evolutionary forces acting on random monoallelically expressed genes.

  5. Absolute Points for Multiple Assignment Problems

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Adlakha, V.; Kowalski, K.

    2006-01-01

    An algorithm is presented to solve multiple assignment problems in which a cost is incurred only when an assignment is made at a given cell. The proposed method recursively searches for single/group absolute points to identify cells that must be loaded in any optimal solution. Unlike other methods, the first solution is the optimal solution. The…

  6. The PMA Catalogue: 420 million positions and absolute proper motions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Akhmetov, V. S.; Fedorov, P. N.; Velichko, A. B.; Shulga, V. M.

    2017-07-01

    We present a catalogue that contains about 420 million absolute proper motions of stars. It was derived from the combination of positions from Gaia DR1 and 2MASS, with a mean difference of epochs of about 15 yr. Most of the systematic zonal errors inherent in the 2MASS Catalogue were eliminated before deriving the absolute proper motions. The absolute calibration procedure (zero-pointing of the proper motions) was carried out using about 1.6 million positions of extragalactic sources. The mean formal error of the absolute calibration is less than 0.35 mas yr-1. The derived proper motions cover the whole celestial sphere without gaps for a range of stellar magnitudes from 8 to 21 mag. In the sky areas where the extragalactic sources are invisible (the avoidance zone), a dedicated procedure was used that transforms the relative proper motions into absolute ones. The rms error of proper motions depends on stellar magnitude and ranges from 2-5 mas yr-1 for stars with 10 mag < G < 17 mag to 5-10 mas yr-1 for faint ones. The present catalogue contains the Gaia DR1 positions of stars for the J2015 epoch. The system of the PMA proper motions does not depend on the systematic errors of the 2MASS positions, and in the range from 14 to 21 mag represents an independent realization of a quasi-inertial reference frame in the optical and near-infrared wavelength range. The Catalogue also contains stellar magnitudes taken from the Gaia DR1 and 2MASS catalogues. A comparison of the PMA proper motions of stars with similar data from certain recent catalogues has been undertaken.

  7. The level of HER2 expression is a predictor of antibody-HER2 trafficking behavior in cancer cells

    PubMed Central

    Ram, Sripad; Kim, Dongyoung; Ober, Raimund J; Ward, E Sally

    2014-01-01

    The receptor tyrosine kinase HER2 is known to play a central role in mitogenic signaling, motivating the development of targeted, HER2-specific therapies. However, despite the longstanding use of antibodies to target HER2, controversies remain concerning antibody/HER2 trafficking behavior in cancer cells. Understanding this behavior has direct relevance to the mechanism of action and effective design of such antibodies. In the current study, we analyzed the intracellular dynamics of trastuzumab, a marketed HER2-targeting antibody, in a panel of breast and prostate cancer cell lines that have a wide range of HER2 expression levels. Our results reveal distinct post-endocytic trafficking behavior of antibody-HER2 complexes in cells with different HER2 expression levels. In particular, HER2-overexpressing cells exhibit efficient HER2 recycling and limited reductions in HER2 levels upon antibody treatment, and consequently display a high level of antibody persistence on their plasma membrane. By contrast, in cells with low HER2 expression, trastuzumab treatment results in rapid antibody clearance from the plasma membrane combined with substantial decreases in HER2 levels and undetectable levels of recycling. A cell line with intermediate levels of HER2 expression exhibits both antibody recycling and clearance from the cell surface. Significantly, these analyses demonstrate that HER2 expression levels, rather than cell origin (breast or prostate), is a determinant of subcellular trafficking properties. Such studies have relevance to optimizing the design of antibodies to target HER2. PMID:25517306

  8. Development and validation of a cerebral oximeter capable of absolute accuracy.

    PubMed

    MacLeod, David B; Ikeda, Keita; Vacchiano, Charles; Lobbestael, Aaron; Wahr, Joyce A; Shaw, Andrew D

    2012-12-01

    Cerebral oximetry may be a valuable monitor, but few validation data are available, and most report the change from baseline rather than absolute accuracy, which may be affected by individuals whose oximetric values are outside the expected range. The authors sought to develop and validate a cerebral oximeter capable of absolute accuracy. An in vivo research study. A university human physiology laboratory. Healthy human volunteers were enrolled in calibration and validation studies of 2 cerebral oximetric sensors, the Nonin 8000CA and 8004CA. The 8000CA validation study identified 5 individuals with atypical cerebral oxygenation values; their data were used to design the 8004CA sensor, which subsequently underwent calibration and validation. Volunteers were taken through a stepwise hypoxia protocol to a minimum saturation of peripheral oxygen. Arteriovenous saturation (70% jugular bulb venous saturation and 30% arterial saturation) at 6 hypoxic plateaus was used as the reference value for the cerebral oximeter. Absolute accuracy was defined using a combination of the bias and precision of the paired saturations (A(RMS)). In the validation study for the 8000CA sensor (n = 9, 106 plateaus), relative accuracy was an A(RMS) of 2.7, with an absolute accuracy of 8.1, meeting the criteria for a relative (trend) monitor, but not an absolute monitor. In the validation study for the 8004CA sensor (n = 11, 119 plateaus), the A(RMS) of the 8004CA was 4.1, meeting the prespecified success criterion of <5.0. The Nonin cerebral oximeter using the 8004CA sensor can provide absolute data on regional cerebral saturation compared with arteriovenous saturation, even in subjects previously shown to have values outside the normal population distribution curves. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities in incidence of acute myocardial infarction: a cohort study quantifying age- and gender-specific differences in relative and absolute terms

    PubMed Central

    2012-01-01

    Background Socioeconomic status has a profound effect on the risk of having a first acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Information on socioeconomic inequalities in AMI incidence across age- gender-groups is lacking. Our objective was to examine socioeconomic inequalities in the incidence of AMI considering both relative and absolute measures of risk differences, with a particular focus on age and gender. Methods We identified all patients with a first AMI from 1997 to 2007 through linked hospital discharge and death records covering the Dutch population. Relative risks (RR) of AMI incidence were estimated by mean equivalent household income at neighbourhood-level for strata of age and gender using Poisson regression models. Socioeconomic inequalities were also shown within the stratified age-gender groups by calculating the total number of events attributable to socioeconomic disadvantage. Results Between 1997 and 2007, 317,564 people had a first AMI. When comparing the most deprived socioeconomic quintile with the most affluent quintile, the overall RR for AMI was 1.34 (95 % confidence interval (CI): 1.32 – 1.36) in men and 1.44 (95 % CI: 1.42 – 1.47) in women. The socioeconomic gradient decreased with age. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were most apparent in men under 35 years and in women under 65 years. The largest number of events attributable to socioeconomic inequalities was found in men aged 45–74 years and in women aged 65–84 years. The total proportion of AMIs that was attributable to socioeconomic inequalities in the Dutch population of 1997 to 2007 was 14 % in men and 18 % in women. Conclusions Neighbourhood socioeconomic inequalities were observed in AMI incidence in the Netherlands, but the magnitude across age-gender groups depended on whether inequality was expressed in relative or absolute terms. Relative socioeconomic inequalities were high in young persons and women, where the absolute burden of AMI was low. Absolute

  10. The ESR1 and GPX1 gene expression level in human malignant and non-malignant breast tissues.

    PubMed

    Król, Magdalena B; Galicki, Michał; Grešner, Peter; Wieczorek, Edyta; Jabłońska, Ewa; Reszka, Edyta; Morawiec, Zbigniew; Wąsowicz, Wojciech; Gromadzińska, Jolanta

    2018-01-01

    The aim of this study was to establish whether the gene expression of estrogen receptor alpha (encoded by ESR1) correlates with the expression of glutathione peroxidase 1 (encoded by GPX1) in the tumor and adjacent tumor-free breast tissue, and whether this correlation is affected by breast cancer. Such relationships may give further insights into breast cancer pathology with respect to the status of estrogen receptor. We used the quantitative real-time PCR technique to analyze differences in the expression levels of the ESR1 and GPX1 genes in paired malignant and non-malignant tissues from breast cancer patients. ESR1 and GPX1 expression levels were found to be significantly down-regulated by 14.7% and 7.4% (respectively) in the tumorous breast tissue when compared to the non-malignant one. Down-regulation of these genes was independent of the tumor histopathology classification and clinicopathological factors, while the ESR1 mRNA level was reduced with increasing tumor grade (G1: 103% vs. G2: 85.8% vs. G3: 84.5%; p<0.05). In the non-malignant and malignant breast tissues, the expression levels of ESR1 and GPX1 were significantly correlated with each other (Rs=0.450 and Rs=0.360; respectively). Our data suggest that down-regulation of ESR1 and GPX1 was independent of clinicopathological factors. Down-regulation of ESR1 gene expression was enhanced by the development of the disease. Moreover, GPX1 and ESR1 gene expression was interdependent in the malignant breast tissue and further work is needed to determine the mechanism underlying this relationship.

  11. A high-level prokaryotic expression system: synthesis of human interleukin 1 alpha and its receptor antagonist.

    PubMed

    Birikh, K R; Lebedenko, E N; Boni, I V; Berlin, Y A

    1995-10-27

    Synthetic intronless genes, coding for human interleukin 1 alpha (IL 1 alpha) and interleukin 1 receptor antagonist (IL1ra), have been expressed efficiently in a specially designed prokaryotic vector, pGMCE (a pGEM1 derivative), where the target gene forms the second part of a two-cistron system. The first part of the system is a translation enhancer-containing mini-cistron, whose termination codon overlaps the start codon of the target gene. In the case of the IL1 alpha gene, the high expression level is largely due to the direct efficient translation initiation at the second cistron, whereas with the IL1ra gene in the same system, the proximal translation initiation region (TIR) provides a high level of coupled expression of the target gene. Thus, pGMCE is a potentially versatile vector for direct prokaryotic expression.

  12. Absolute and convective instabilities in combined Couette-Poiseuille flow past a neo-Hookean solid

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Patne, Ramkarn; Shankar, V.

    2017-12-01

    Temporal and spatio-temporal stability analyses are carried out to characterize the occurrence of convective and absolute instabilities in combined Couette-Poiseuille flow of a Newtonian fluid past a deformable, neo-Hookean solid layer in the creeping-flow limit. Plane Couette flow of a Newtonian fluid past a neo-Hookean solid becomes temporally unstable in the inertia-less limit when the parameter Γ = V η/(GR) exceeds a critical value. Here, V is the velocity of the top plate, η is the fluid viscosity, G is the shear modulus of the solid layer, and R is the fluid layer thickness. The Kupfer-Bers method is employed to demarcate regions of absolute and convective instabilities in the Γ-H parameter space, where H is the ratio of solid to fluid thickness in the system. For certain ranges of the thickness ratio H, we find that the flow could be absolutely unstable, and the critical Γ required for absolute instability is very close to that for temporal instability, thus making the flow absolutely unstable at the onset of temporal instability. In some cases, there is a gap in the parameter Γ between the temporal and absolute instability boundaries. The present study thus shows that absolute instabilities are possible, even at very low Reynolds numbers in flow past deformable solid surfaces. The presence of absolute instabilities could potentially be exploited in the enhancement of mixing at low Reynolds numbers in flow through channels with deformable solid walls.

  13. Sex differences in facial emotion recognition across varying expression intensity levels from videos.

    PubMed

    Wingenbach, Tanja S H; Ashwin, Chris; Brosnan, Mark

    2018-01-01

    There has been much research on sex differences in the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotions, with results generally showing a female advantage in reading emotional expressions from the face. However, most of the research to date has used static images and/or 'extreme' examples of facial expressions. Therefore, little is known about how expression intensity and dynamic stimuli might affect the commonly reported female advantage in facial emotion recognition. The current study investigated sex differences in accuracy of response (Hu; unbiased hit rates) and response latencies for emotion recognition using short video stimuli (1sec) of 10 different facial emotion expressions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, contempt, pride, embarrassment, neutral) across three variations in the intensity of the emotional expression (low, intermediate, high) in an adolescent and adult sample (N = 111; 51 male, 60 female) aged between 16 and 45 (M = 22.2, SD = 5.7). Overall, females showed more accurate facial emotion recognition compared to males and were faster in correctly recognising facial emotions. The female advantage in reading expressions from the faces of others was unaffected by expression intensity levels and emotion categories used in the study. The effects were specific to recognition of emotions, as males and females did not differ in the recognition of neutral faces. Together, the results showed a robust sex difference favouring females in facial emotion recognition using video stimuli of a wide range of emotions and expression intensity variations.

  14. Sex differences in facial emotion recognition across varying expression intensity levels from videos

    PubMed Central

    2018-01-01

    There has been much research on sex differences in the ability to recognise facial expressions of emotions, with results generally showing a female advantage in reading emotional expressions from the face. However, most of the research to date has used static images and/or ‘extreme’ examples of facial expressions. Therefore, little is known about how expression intensity and dynamic stimuli might affect the commonly reported female advantage in facial emotion recognition. The current study investigated sex differences in accuracy of response (Hu; unbiased hit rates) and response latencies for emotion recognition using short video stimuli (1sec) of 10 different facial emotion expressions (anger, disgust, fear, sadness, surprise, happiness, contempt, pride, embarrassment, neutral) across three variations in the intensity of the emotional expression (low, intermediate, high) in an adolescent and adult sample (N = 111; 51 male, 60 female) aged between 16 and 45 (M = 22.2, SD = 5.7). Overall, females showed more accurate facial emotion recognition compared to males and were faster in correctly recognising facial emotions. The female advantage in reading expressions from the faces of others was unaffected by expression intensity levels and emotion categories used in the study. The effects were specific to recognition of emotions, as males and females did not differ in the recognition of neutral faces. Together, the results showed a robust sex difference favouring females in facial emotion recognition using video stimuli of a wide range of emotions and expression intensity variations. PMID:29293674

  15. A vibration correction method for free-fall absolute gravimeters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Qian, J.; Wang, G.; Wu, K.; Wang, L. J.

    2018-02-01

    An accurate determination of gravitational acceleration, usually approximated as 9.8 m s-2, has been playing an important role in the areas of metrology, geophysics, and geodetics. Absolute gravimetry has been experiencing rapid developments in recent years. Most absolute gravimeters today employ a free-fall method to measure gravitational acceleration. Noise from ground vibration has become one of the most serious factors limiting measurement precision. Compared to vibration isolators, the vibration correction method is a simple and feasible way to reduce the influence of ground vibrations. A modified vibration correction method is proposed and demonstrated. A two-dimensional golden section search algorithm is used to search for the best parameters of the hypothetical transfer function. Experiments using a T-1 absolute gravimeter are performed. It is verified that for an identical group of drop data, the modified method proposed in this paper can achieve better correction effects with much less computation than previous methods. Compared to vibration isolators, the correction method applies to more hostile environments and even dynamic platforms, and is expected to be used in a wider range of applications.

  16. An absolute photometric system at 10 and 20 microns

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Rieke, G. H.; Lebofsky, M. J.; Low, F. J.

    1985-01-01

    Two new direct calibrations at 10 and 20 microns are presented in which terrestrial flux standards are referred to infrared standard stars. These measurements give both good agreement and higher accuracy when compared with previous direct calibrations. As a result, the absolute calibrations at 10 and 20 microns have now been determined with accuracies of 3 and 8 percent, respectively. A variety of absolute calibrations based on extrapolation of stellar spectra from the visible to 10 microns are reviewed. Current atmospheric models of A-type stars underestimate their fluxes by about 10 percent at 10 microns, whereas models of solar-type stars agree well with the direct calibrations. The calibration at 20 microns can probably be determined to about 5 percent by extrapolation from the more accurate result at 10 microns. The photometric system at 10 and 20 microns is updated to reflect the new absolute calibration, to base its zero point directly on the colors of A0 stars, and to improve the accuracy in the comparison of the standard stars.

  17. Wide-field absolute transverse blood flow velocity mapping in vessel centerline

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Wu, Nanshou; Wang, Lei; Zhu, Bifeng; Guan, Caizhong; Wang, Mingyi; Han, Dingan; Tan, Haishu; Zeng, Yaguang

    2018-02-01

    We propose a wide-field absolute transverse blood flow velocity measurement method in vessel centerline based on absorption intensity fluctuation modulation effect. The difference between the light absorption capacities of red blood cells and background tissue under low-coherence illumination is utilized to realize the instantaneous and average wide-field optical angiography images. The absolute fuzzy connection algorithm is used for vessel centerline extraction from the average wide-field optical angiography. The absolute transverse velocity in the vessel centerline is then measured by a cross-correlation analysis according to instantaneous modulation depth signal. The proposed method promises to contribute to the treatment of diseases, such as those related to anemia or thrombosis.

  18. On determining absolute entropy without quantum theory or the third law of thermodynamics

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Steane, Andrew M.

    2016-04-01

    We employ classical thermodynamics to gain information about absolute entropy, without recourse to statistical methods, quantum mechanics or the third law of thermodynamics. The Gibbs-Duhem equation yields various simple methods to determine the absolute entropy of a fluid. We also study the entropy of an ideal gas and the ionization of a plasma in thermal equilibrium. A single measurement of the degree of ionization can be used to determine an unknown constant in the entropy equation, and thus determine the absolute entropy of a gas. It follows from all these examples that the value of entropy at absolute zero temperature does not need to be assigned by postulate, but can be deduced empirically.

  19. Exposure to arsenic at levels found inU.S. drinking water modifies expression in the mouse lung.

    PubMed

    Andrew, Angeline S; Bernardo, Viviane; Warnke, Linda A; Davey, Jennifer C; Hampton, Thomas; Mason, Rebecca A; Thorpe, Jessica E; Ihnat, Michael A; Hamilton, Joshua W

    2007-11-01

    The mechanisms of action of drinking water arsenic in the lung and the threshold for biologic effects remain controversial. Our study utilizes Affymetrix 22,690 transcript oligonucleotide microarrays to assess the long-term effects of increasing doses of drinking water arsenic on expression levels in the mouse lung. Mice were exposed at levels commonly found in contaminated drinking water wells in the United States (0, 0.1, 1 ppb), as well as the 50 ppb former maximum contaminant level, for 5 weeks. The expression profiles revealed modification of a number of important signaling pathways, many with corroborating evidence of arsenic responsiveness. We observed statistically significant expression changes for transcripts involved in angiogenesis, lipid metabolism, oxygen transport, apoptosis, cell cycle, and immune response. Validation by reverse transcription-PCR and immunoblot assays confirmed expression changes for a subset of transcripts. These data identify arsenic-modified signaling pathways that will help guide investigations into mechanisms of arsenic's health effects and clarify the threshold for biologic effects and potential disease risk.

  20. Concurrent hypothalamic gene expression under acute and chronic long days: Implications for initiation and maintenance of photoperiodic response in migratory songbirds.

    PubMed

    Mishra, Ila; Bhardwaj, Sanjay K; Malik, Shalie; Kumar, Vinod

    2017-01-05

    Hypothalamic expression of the thyroid hormone (TH) responsive gonadostimulatory (eya3, cga, tshβ, dio2, dio3, gnrh, gnih) and neurosteroid pathway genes (androgen receptor [ar], aromatase [cyp19], estrogen receptor [er] α and β) was examined in photosensitive redheaded buntings exposed to 2 (acute, experiment 1) or 12 (chronic, experiment 2) long days (16L:8D). Experiment 2 also included a photorefractory group. Acute long days caused a significant increase in eya3, cga, tshβ, dio2 and gnrh and decrease in dio3 mRNA levels. eya3, cga and tshβ expressions were unchanged after the chronic long days. We also found increased cyp19, erα and erβ mRNA levels after acute, and increased cyp19 and decreased erβ levels after the chronic long-day exposure. Photorefractory buntings showed expression patterns similar to that in the photosensitive state, except for high gnrh and gnih and low dio3 mRNA levels. Consistent with gene expression patterns, there were changes in fat deposition, body mass, testis size, and plasma levels of testosterone, tri-iodothyronine and thyroxine. These results show concurrent photostimulation of the TH-signalling and neurosteroid pathways, and extend the idea, based on differences in gene expression, that transitions in seasonal photoperiodic states are accomplished at the transcriptional levels in absolute photorefractory species. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Fingerprints of flower absolutes using supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry.

    PubMed

    Santerre, Cyrille; Vallet, Nadine; Touboul, David

    2018-06-02

    Supercritical fluid chromatography hyphenated with high resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-HRMS) was developed for fingerprint analysis of different flower absolutes commonly used in cosmetics field, especially in perfumes. Supercritical fluid chromatography-atmospheric pressure photoionization-high resolution mass spectrometry (SFC-APPI-HRMS) technique was employed to identify the components of the fingerprint. The samples were separated with a porous graphitic carbon (PGC) Hypercarb™ column (100 mm × 2.1 mm, 3 μm) by gradient elution using supercritical CO 2 and ethanol (0.0-20.0 min (2-30% B), 20.0-25.0 min (30% B), 25.0-26.0 min (30-2% B) and 26.0-30.0 min (2% B)) as mobile phase at a flow rate of 1.5 mL/min. In order to compare the SFC fingerprints between five different flower absolutes: Jasminum grandiflorum absolutes, Jasminum sambac absolutes, Narcissus jonquilla absolutes, Narcissus poeticus absolutes, Lavandula angustifolia absolutes from different suppliers and batches, the chemometric procedure including principal component analysis (PCA) was applied to classify the samples according to their genus and their species. Consistent results were obtained to show that samples could be successfully discriminated. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  2. The relationship between insight and the level of expressed emotion in patients with obsessive-compulsive disorder.

    PubMed

    Ozkiris, Ayse; Essizoglu, Altan; Gulec, Gulcan; Aksaray, Gokay

    2015-04-01

    The aim of this study is firstly to compare the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) patients with good insight and OCD patients with poor insight in terms of socio-demographic and clinical features; to investigate the relation between insight and the level of the expressed emotion (EE) in the patients; and lastly to specify the factors that predict level of insight. OCD patients with good insight and patients with poor insight were compared in terms of clinical features and the perceived EE level of the patients and the individuals that they live with in order to specify the factors that predict the insight level, and to investigate the relationship between insight level and EE. It was found that the total Expressed Emotion Scale, total Level of Expressed Emotion (LEE), LEE-Emotional Response and LEE-Tolerance/Expectation subscale scores of the group comprised of patients with poor insight are higher than the other group. The results also show that the duration of illness and Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) total score predict insight level. This study shows that the level of EE perceived by the patients with poor insight and the person that he/she lives with, is higher than the group with good insight. The studies that investigate the relationship between the factors of insight level and EE level, which are indicated to determine the level of the illness severity and its chronicity, will enable the researchers to understand the importance of the role of the family on the treatment processes of OCD.

  3. Telling in-tune from out-of-tune: widespread evidence for implicit absolute intonation.

    PubMed

    Van Hedger, Stephen C; Heald, Shannon L M; Huang, Alex; Rutstein, Brooke; Nusbaum, Howard C

    2017-04-01

    Absolute pitch (AP) is the rare ability to name or produce an isolated musical note without the aid of a reference note. One skill thought to be unique to AP possessors is the ability to provide absolute intonation judgments (e.g., classifying an isolated note as "in-tune" or "out-of-tune"). Recent work has suggested that absolute intonation perception among AP possessors is not crystallized in a critical period of development, but is dynamically maintained by the listening environment, in which the vast majority of Western music is tuned to a specific cultural standard. Given that all listeners of Western music are constantly exposed to this specific cultural tuning standard, our experiments address whether absolute intonation perception extends beyond AP possessors. We demonstrate that non-AP listeners are able to accurately judge the intonation of completely isolated notes. Both musicians and nonmusicians showed evidence for absolute intonation recognition when listening to familiar timbres (piano and violin). When testing unfamiliar timbres (triangle and inverted sine waves), only musicians showed weak evidence of absolute intonation recognition (Experiment 2). Overall, these results highlight a previously unknown similarity between AP and non-AP possessors' long-term musical note representations, including evidence of sensitivity to frequency.

  4. Codon influence on protein expression in E. coli correlates with mRNA levels

    PubMed Central

    Boël, Grégory; Wong, Kam-Ho; Su, Min; Luff, Jon; Valecha, Mayank; Everett, John K.; Acton, Thomas B.; Xiao, Rong; Montelione, Gaetano T.; Aalberts, Daniel P.; Hunt, John F.

    2016-01-01

    Degeneracy in the genetic code, which enables a single protein to be encoded by a multitude of synonymous gene sequences, has an important role in regulating protein expression, but substantial uncertainty exists concerning the details of this phenomenon. Here we analyze the sequence features influencing protein expression levels in 6,348 experiments using bacteriophage T7 polymerase to synthesize messenger RNA in Escherichia coli. Logistic regression yields a new codon-influence metric that correlates only weakly with genomic codon-usage frequency, but strongly with global physiological protein concentrations and also mRNA concentrations and lifetimes in vivo. Overall, the codon content influences protein expression more strongly than mRNA-folding parameters, although the latter dominate in the initial ~16 codons. Genes redesigned based on our analyses are transcribed with unaltered efficiency but translated with higher efficiency in vitro. The less efficiently translated native sequences show greatly reduced mRNA levels in vivo. Our results suggest that codon content modulates a kinetic competition between protein elongation and mRNA degradation that is a central feature of the physiology and also possibly the regulation of translation in E. coli. PMID:26760206

  5. Gli2 protein expression level is a feasible marker of ligand-dependent hedgehog activation in pancreatic neoplasms.

    PubMed

    Sugiyama, Y; Sasajima, J; Mizukami, Y; Koizumi, K; Kawamoto, T; Ono, Y; Karasaki, H; Tanabe, H; Fujiya, M; Kohgo, Y

    2016-06-01

    The hedgehog pathway is known to promote proliferation of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDA) and has been shown to restrain tumor progression. To understand how hedgehog causes these effects, we sought to carefully examine protein expression of hedgehog signaling components during different tumor stages. Genetically engineered mice, Pdx1-Cre;LSL-KrasG12D and Pdx1-Cre;LSL-KrasG12D;p53lox/+, were utilized to model distinct phases of tumorigenesis, pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasm (PanIN) and PDA. Human pancreatic specimens of intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) and PDA were also employed. PanIN and IPMN lesions highly express Sonic Hedgehog, at a level that is slightly higher than that observed in PDA. GLI2 protein is also expressed in both PanIN/IPMN and PDA. Although there was no difference in the nuclear staining, the cytoplasmic GLI2 level in PDA was modest in comparison to that in PanIN/IPMN. Hedgehog interacting protein was strongly expressed in the precursors, whereas the level in PDA was significantly attenuated. There were no differences in expression of Patched1 at early and late stages. Finally, a strong correlation between Sonic Hedgehog and GLI2 staining was found in both human and murine pancreatic tumors. The results indicate that the GLI2 protein level could serve as a feasible marker of ligand-dependent hedgehog activation in pancreatic neoplasms.

  6. Improved Absolute Radiometric Calibration of a UHF Airborne Radar

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Chapin, Elaine; Hawkins, Brian P.; Harcke, Leif; Hensley, Scott; Lou, Yunling; Michel, Thierry R.; Moreira, Laila; Muellerschoen, Ronald J.; Shimada, Joanne G.; Tham, Kean W.; hide

    2015-01-01

    The AirMOSS airborne SAR operates at UHF and produces fully polarimetric imagery. The AirMOSS radar data are used to produce Root Zone Soil Moisture (RZSM) depth profiles. The absolute radiometric accuracy of the imagery, ideally of better than 0.5 dB, is key to retrieving RZSM, especially in wet soils where the backscatter as a function of soil moisture function tends to flatten out. In this paper we assess the absolute radiometric uncertainty in previously delivered data, describe a method to utilize Built In Test (BIT) data to improve the radiometric calibration, and evaluate the improvement from applying the method.

  7. Absolute metrology for space interferometers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Salvadé, Yves; Courteville, Alain; Dändliker, René

    2017-11-01

    The crucial issue of space-based interferometers is the laser interferometric metrology systems to monitor with very high accuracy optical path differences. Although classical high-resolution laser interferometers using a single wavelength are well developed, this type of incremental interferometer has a severe drawback: any interruption of the interferometer signal results in the loss of the zero reference, which requires a new calibration, starting at zero optical path difference. We propose in this paper an absolute metrology system based on multiplewavelength interferometry.

  8. Absolute and Convective Instability of a Liquid Jet in Microgravity

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Lin, Sung P.; Vihinen, I.; Honohan, A.; Hudman, Michael D.

    1996-01-01

    The transition from convective to absolute instability is observed in the 2.2 second drop tower of the NASA Lewis Research Center. In convective instability the disturbance grows spatially as it is convected downstream. In absolute instability the disturbance propagates both downstream and upstream, and manifests itself as an expanding sphere. The transition Reynolds numbers are determined for two different Weber numbers by use of Glycerin and a Silicone oil. Preliminary comparisons with theory are made.

  9. System and method for calibrating a rotary absolute position sensor

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Davis, Donald R. (Inventor); Permenter, Frank Noble (Inventor); Radford, Nicolaus A (Inventor)

    2012-01-01

    A system includes a rotary device, a rotary absolute position (RAP) sensor generating encoded pairs of voltage signals describing positional data of the rotary device, a host machine, and an algorithm. The algorithm calculates calibration parameters usable to determine an absolute position of the rotary device using the encoded pairs, and is adapted for linearly-mapping an ellipse defined by the encoded pairs to thereby calculate the calibration parameters. A method of calibrating the RAP sensor includes measuring the rotary position as encoded pairs of voltage signals, linearly-mapping an ellipse defined by the encoded pairs to thereby calculate the calibration parameters, and calculating an absolute position of the rotary device using the calibration parameters. The calibration parameters include a positive definite matrix (A) and a center point (q) of the ellipse. The voltage signals may include an encoded sine and cosine of a rotary angle of the rotary device.

  10. The inhibitor of kappa B kinase-epsilon regulates MMP-3 expression levels and can promote lung metastasis.

    PubMed

    Seccareccia, E; Pinard, M; Wang, N; Li, S; Burnier, J; Dankort, D; Brodt, P

    2014-08-18

    The factors that determine the ability of metastatic tumor cells to expand and grow in specific secondary site(s) are not yet fully understood. Matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) were identified as potential regulators of the site-specificity of metastasis. We found that lung carcinoma cells ectopically expressing high levels of the receptor for the type I insulin like growth factor receptor (M27(R) cells) had a significant reduction in MMP-3 expression levels and this coincided with reduced metastasis to the lung. We used these cells to further investigate signaling pathways regulating MMP-3 expression and the role that MMP-3 plays in lung metastasis. We show that ectopic IκB kinase ɛ (IKKɛ) expression in these cells partly restored MMP-3 expression levels and also sensitized MMP-3 transcription to induction by phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA). This increase in MMP-3 production was due to increased activation of several signal transduction mediators, including protein kinase C alpha, ERK2, Akt and the transcription factor p65. Furthermore, reconstitution of MMP-3 expression in M27(R) cells restored their ability to colonize the lung whereas silencing of MMP-3 in M27 cells reduced metastases. Collectively, our results implicate IKKɛ as a central regulator of PMA-induced cell signaling and MMP-3 expression and identify MMP-3 as an enabler of tumor cell expansion in the lung.Oncogenesis (2014) 3, e116; doi:10.1038/oncsis.2014.28; published online 18 August 2014.

  11. Decreased miR-17-92 cluster expression level in serum and granulocytes preceding onset of antithyroid drug-induced agranulocytosis.

    PubMed

    Yang, Jing; Lv, Yuncheng; Zhang, Yi; Li, Jiaoyang; Chen, Yajun; Liu, Chang; Zhong, Jing; Xiao, Xinhua; Liu, Jianghua; Wen, Gebo

    2018-01-01

    We aimed to determine changes in miR-17-92 cluster expression in serum and granulocytes from patients with antithyroid drug (ATD)-induced agranulocytosis. In this study, real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) was used to detect serum miR-17-92 expression levels in 20 ATD-induced agranulocytosis and 16 control patients. Importantly, dynamic changes in neutrophil counts from granulocytopenia to agranulocytosis were observed in 6 of the 20 patients. miR-17-92 expression levels in granulocytes of those six patients under the granulocytopenia condition were measured and compared with corresponding granulocyte samples after recovery. Additionally, the expression levels of these miRNAs in patients with type I or type II bone marrow characteristics were analyzed, and the correlation between miR-17-92 and serum free thyroxine level was analyzed. We found that levels of miR-17-92 expression decreased in both serum and pre-agranulocytosis granulocytes from patients with ATD-induced agranulocytosis compared with those in serum and granulocytes from both recovered patients and control patients. However, no difference among patients with either type of bone marrow characteristics was observed, and no correlation between serum miR-17-92 and free thyroxine levels was found. In ATD-induced agranulocytosis, expression of the miR-17-92 cluster is reduced in both serum and granulocytes, though this alteration does not correlate with bone marrow characteristics or thyroid function.

  12. Patterns of expression and normalized levels of the five Arabidopsis phytochromes.

    PubMed

    Sharrock, Robert A; Clack, Ted

    2002-09-01

    Using monoclonal antibodies specific for each apoprotein and full-length purified apoprotein standards, the levels of the five Arabidopsis phytochromes and their patterns of expression in seedlings and mature plants and under different light conditions have been characterized. Phytochrome levels are normalized to the DNA content of the various tissue extracts to approximate normalization to the number of cells in the tissue. One phytochrome, phytochrome A, is highly light labile. The other four phytochromes are much more light stable, although among these, phytochromes B and C are reduced 4- to 5-fold in red- or white-light-grown seedlings compared with dark-grown seedlings. The total amount of extractable phytochrome is 23-fold lower in light-grown than dark-grown tissues, and the percent ratios of the five phytochromes, A:B:C:D:E, are measured as 85:10:2:1.5:1.5 in etiolated seedlings and 5:40:15:15:25 in seedlings grown in continuous white light. The four light-stable phytochromes are present at nearly unchanging levels throughout the course of development of mature rosette and reproductive-stage plants and are present in leaves, stems, roots, and flowers. Phytochrome protein expression patterns over the course of seed germination and under diurnal and circadian light cycles are also characterized. Little cycling in response to photoperiod is observed, and this very low amplitude cycling of some phytochrome proteins is out of phase with previously reported cycling of PHY mRNA levels. These studies indicate that, with the exception of phytochrome A, the family of phytochrome photoreceptors in Arabidopsis constitutes a quite stable and very broadly distributed array of sensory molecules.

  13. High-level expression of Camelid nanobodies in Nicotiana benthamiana.

    PubMed

    Teh, Yi-Hui Audrey; Kavanagh, Tony A

    2010-08-01

    Nanobodies (or VHHs) are single-domain antigen-binding fragments derived from Camelid heavy chain-only antibodies. Their small size, monomeric behaviour, high stability and solubility, and ability to bind epitopes not accessible to conventional antibodies make them especially suitable for many therapeutic and biotechnological applications. Here we describe high-level expression, in Nicotiana benthamiana, of three versions of an anti-hen egg white lysozyme (HEWL) nanobody which include the original VHH from an immunized library (cAbLys3), a codon-optimized derivative, and a codon-optimized hybrid nanobody comprising the CDRs of cAbLys3 grafted onto an alternative 'universal' nanobody framework. His6- and StrepII-tagged derivatives of each nanobody were targeted for accumulation in the cytoplasm, chloroplast and apoplast using different pre-sequences. When targeted to the apoplast, intact functional nanobodies accumulated at an exceptionally high level (up to 30% total leaf protein), demonstrating the great potential of plants as a nanobody production system.

  14. Levels at gaging stations

    USGS Publications Warehouse

    Kenney, Terry A.

    2010-01-01

    Operational procedures at U.S. Geological Survey gaging stations include periodic leveling checks to ensure that gages are accurately set to the established gage datum. Differential leveling techniques are used to determine elevations for reference marks, reference points, all gages, and the water surface. The techniques presented in this manual provide guidance on instruments and methods that ensure gaging-station levels are run to both a high precision and accuracy. Levels are run at gaging stations whenever differences in gage readings are unresolved, stations may have been damaged, or according to a pre-determined frequency. Engineer's levels, both optical levels and electronic digital levels, are commonly used for gaging-station levels. Collimation tests should be run at least once a week for any week that levels are run, and the absolute value of the collimation error cannot exceed 0.003 foot/100 feet (ft). An acceptable set of gaging-station levels consists of a minimum of two foresights, each from a different instrument height, taken on at least two independent reference marks, all reference points, all gages, and the water surface. The initial instrument height is determined from another independent reference mark, known as the origin, or base reference mark. The absolute value of the closure error of a leveling circuit must be less than or equal to ft, where n is the total number of instrument setups, and may not exceed |0.015| ft regardless of the number of instrument setups. Closure error for a leveling circuit is distributed by instrument setup and adjusted elevations are determined. Side shots in a level circuit are assessed by examining the differences between the adjusted first and second elevations for each objective point in the circuit. The absolute value of these differences must be less than or equal to 0.005 ft. Final elevations for objective points are determined by averaging the valid adjusted first and second elevations. If final elevations

  15. Life Satisfaction among Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants in the Netherlands: The Role of Absolute and Relative Income

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Gokdemir, Ozge; Dumludag, Devrim

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we investigate the role of several socio-economic and non-economic factors such as absolute and relative income, education and religion to explain the differences of happiness levels of Turkish and Moroccan Immigrants in the Netherlands by using ordered logit model. We focus on members of the Moroccan and Turkish communities, as…

  16. Corsica: A Multi-Mission Absolute Calibration Site

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bonnefond, P.; Exertier, P.; Laurain, O.; Guinle, T.; Femenias, P.

    2013-09-01

    In collaboration with the CNES and NASA oceanographic projects (TOPEX/Poseidon and Jason), the OCA (Observatoire de la Côte d'Azur) developed a verification site in Corsica since 1996, operational since 1998. CALibration/VALidation embraces a wide variety of activities, ranging from the interpretation of information from internal-calibration modes of the sensors to validation of the fully corrected estimates of the reflector heights using in situ data. Now, Corsica is, like the Harvest platform (NASA side) [14], an operating calibration site able to support a continuous monitoring with a high level of accuracy: a 'point calibration' which yields instantaneous bias estimates with a 10-day repeatability of 30 mm (standard deviation) and mean errors of 4 mm (standard error). For a 35-day repeatability (ERS, Envisat), due to a smaller time series, the standard error is about the double ( 7 mm).In this paper, we will present updated results of the absolute Sea Surface Height (SSH) biases for TOPEX/Poseidon (T/P), Jason-1, Jason-2, ERS-2 and Envisat.

  17. Qualitative analysis of the helical electronic energy of inherently chiral calix[4]arenes: an approach to effectively assign their absolute configuration.

    PubMed

    Zheng, Shuang; Chang, Ming-Liang; Zhou, Jing; Fu, Jing-Wei; Zhang, Qing-Wei; Li, Shao-Yong; Qiao, Wei; Liu, Jun-Min

    2014-06-03

    For all microhelices on aromatic rings of inherently chiral calix[4]arene, an expression was derived from one approximation and one hypothesis on the basis of the electron-on-a-helix model of Tinoco and Woody as follows: 1/E = μ(H - KΔα2), where μ = 1 for the right-handed microhelix and μ = -1 for the left-handed microhelix; and H and K are constant and greater than zero. The expression correlates microhelical electronic energy (E) with the atom polarizability difference (Δα) on both microhelix ends, which intuitively and clearly shows the impact of helical substituent polarizability on helical electronic energy. The case analysis almost entirely proves that the qualitative analysis of the helical electronic energy of inherently chiral calix[4]arenes with the expression is scientific and can be used to effectively assign their absolute configuration.

  18. Quantitative proteomics identifies 38 proteins that are differentially expressed in cucumber in response to cucumber green mottle mosaic virus infection.

    PubMed

    Liu, Hua-Wei; Liang, Chao-Qiong; Liu, Peng-Fei; Luo, Lai-Xin; Li, Jian-Qiang

    2015-12-15

    Since it was first reported in 1935, Cucumber green mottle mosaic virus (CGMMV) has become a serious pathogen in a range of cucurbit crops. The virus is generally transmitted by propagation materials, and to date no effective chemical or cultural methods of control have been developed to combat its spread. The current study presents a preliminary analysis of the pathogenic mechanisms from the perspective of protein expression levels in an infected cucumber host, with the objective of elucidating the infection process and potential strategies to reduce both the economic and yield losses associated with CGMMV. Isobaric tags for relative and absolute quantitation (iTRAQ) technology coupled with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric (LC-MS/MS) were used to identify the differentially expressed proteins in cucumber plants infected with CGMMV compared with mock-inoculated plants. The functions of the proteins were deduced by functional annotation and their involvement in metabolic processes explored by KEGG pathway analysis to identify their interactions during CGMMV infection, while their in vivo expression was further verified by qPCR. Infection by CGMMV altered both the expression level and absolute quantity of 38 proteins (fold change >0.6) in cucumber hosts. Of these, 23 were found to be up-regulated, while 15 were down-regulated. Gene ontology (GO) analysis revealed that 22 of the proteins had a combined function and were associated with molecular function (MF), biological process (BP) and cellular component (CC). Several other proteins had a dual function with 1, 7, and 2 proteins being associated with BP/CC, BP/MF, CC/MF, respectively. The remaining 3 proteins were only involved in MF. In addition, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) analysis identified 18 proteins that were involved in 13 separate metabolic pathways. These pathways were subsequently merged to generate three network diagrams illustrating the interactions between the different

  19. Linear ultrasonic motor for absolute gravimeter.

    PubMed

    Jian, Yue; Yao, Zhiyuan; Silberschmidt, Vadim V

    2017-05-01

    Thanks to their compactness and suitability for vacuum applications, linear ultrasonic motors are considered as substitutes for classical electromagnetic motors as driving elements in absolute gravimeters. Still, their application is prevented by relatively low power output. To overcome this limitation and provide better stability, a V-type linear ultrasonic motor with a new clamping method is proposed for a gravimeter. In this paper, a mechanical model of stators with flexible clamping components is suggested, according to a design criterion for clamps of linear ultrasonic motors. After that, an effect of tangential and normal rigidity of the clamping components on mechanical output is studied. It is followed by discussion of a new clamping method with sufficient tangential rigidity and a capability to facilitate pre-load. Additionally, a prototype of the motor with the proposed clamping method was fabricated and the performance tests in vertical direction were implemented. Experimental results show that the suggested motor has structural stability and high dynamic performance, such as no-load speed of 1.4m/s and maximal thrust of 43N, meeting the requirements for absolute gravimeters. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Integration of Quantitative Positron Emission Tomography Absolute Myocardial Blood Flow Measurements in the Clinical Management of Coronary Artery Disease.

    PubMed

    Gewirtz, Henry; Dilsizian, Vasken

    2016-05-31

    In the >40 years since planar myocardial imaging with(43)K-potassium was introduced into clinical research and management of patients with coronary artery disease (CAD), diagnosis and treatment have undergone profound scientific and technological changes. One such innovation is the current state-of-the-art hardware and software for positron emission tomography myocardial perfusion imaging, which has advanced it from a strictly research-oriented modality to a clinically valuable tool. This review traces the evolving role of quantitative positron emission tomography measurements of myocardial blood flow in the evaluation and management of patients with CAD. It presents methodology, currently or soon to be available, that offers a paradigm shift in CAD management. Heretofore, radionuclide myocardial perfusion imaging has been primarily qualitative or at best semiquantitative in nature, assessing regional perfusion in relative terms. Thus, unlike so many facets of modern cardiovascular practice and CAD management, which depend, for example, on absolute values of key parameters such as arterial and left ventricular pressures, serum lipoprotein, and other biomarker levels, the absolute levels of rest and maximal myocardial blood flow have yet to be incorporated into routine clinical practice even in most positron emission tomography centers where the potential to do so exists. Accordingly, this review focuses on potential value added for improving clinical CAD practice by measuring the absolute level of rest and maximal myocardial blood flow. Physiological principles and imaging fundamentals necessary to understand how positron emission tomography makes robust, quantitative measurements of myocardial blood flow possible are highlighted. © 2016 American Heart Association, Inc.

  1. Association of genetic variants and expression levels of porcine FABP4 and FABP5 genes.

    PubMed

    Ballester, M; Puig-Oliveras, A; Castelló, A; Revilla, M; Fernández, A I; Folch, J M

    2017-12-01

    The FABP4 and FABP5 genes, coding for fatty acid transport proteins, have long been studied as positional candidate genes for SSC4 QTL affecting fat deposition and composition traits in pigs. Polymorphisms in these genes, FABP4:g.2634_2635insC and FABP5:g.3000T>G, have previously been associated with fatness traits in an Iberian by Landrace cross (IBMAP). The aim of the present work was to evaluate the functional implication of these genetic variants. For this purpose, FABP4 and FABP5 mRNA expression levels in 114 BC1_LD animals (25% Iberian × 75% Landrace) were analyzed using real-time quantitative PCR in backfat and muscle. FABP4 gene expression in backfat, but not in muscle, was associated with FABP4:g.2634_2635insC. In contrast, FABP5:g.3000T>G was not associated with gene expression levels. An expression-based genome-wide association study highlighted the FABP4:g.2634_2635insC polymorphism as the polymorphism most associated with FABP4 gene expression in backfat. Furthermore, other genomic regions associated in trans with the mRNA expression of FABP4 in backfat and FABP5 in muscle were also identified. Finally, two putative transcription binding sites for PPARG and NR4A2 may be affected by the FABP4:g.2634_2635insC polymorphism, modifying FABP4 gene expression. Our results reinforce FABP4 as a candidate gene for fatness traits on SSC4. © 2017 Stichting International Foundation for Animal Genetics.

  2. Expression levels of DNA replication and repair genes predict regional somatic repeat instability in the brain but are not altered by polyglutamine disease protein expression or age.

    PubMed

    Mason, Amanda G; Tomé, Stephanie; Simard, Jodie P; Libby, Randell T; Bammler, Theodor K; Beyer, Richard P; Morton, A Jennifer; Pearson, Christopher E; La Spada, Albert R

    2014-03-15

    Expansion of CAG/CTG trinucleotide repeats causes numerous inherited neurological disorders, including Huntington's disease (HD), several spinocerebellar ataxias and myotonic dystrophy type 1. Expanded repeats are genetically unstable with a propensity to further expand when transmitted from parents to offspring. For many alleles with expanded repeats, extensive somatic mosaicism has been documented. For CAG repeat diseases, dramatic instability has been documented in the striatum, with larger expansions noted with advancing age. In contrast, only modest instability occurs in the cerebellum. Using microarray expression analysis, we sought to identify the genetic basis of these regional instability differences by comparing gene expression in the striatum and cerebellum of aged wild-type C57BL/6J mice. We identified eight candidate genes enriched in cerebellum, and validated four--Pcna, Rpa1, Msh6 and Fen1--along with a highly associated interactor, Lig1. We also explored whether expression levels of mismatch repair (MMR) proteins are altered in a line of HD transgenic mice, R6/2, that is known to show pronounced regional repeat instability. Compared with wild-type littermates, MMR expression levels were not significantly altered in R6/2 mice regardless of age. Interestingly, expression levels of these candidates were significantly increased in the cerebellum of control and HD human samples in comparison to striatum. Together, our data suggest that elevated expression levels of DNA replication and repair proteins in cerebellum may act as a safeguard against repeat instability, and may account for the dramatically reduced somatic instability present in this brain region, compared with the marked instability observed in the striatum.

  3. Evaluation of the miRNA-146a and miRNA-155 Expression Levels in Patients with Oral Lichen Planus.

    PubMed

    Ahmadi-Motamayel, Fatemeh; Bayat, Zeynab; Hajilooi, Mehrdad; Shahryar-Hesami, Soroosh; Mahdavinezhad, Ali; Samie, Lida; Solgi, Ghasem

    2017-12-01

    Oral Lichen Planus (OLP) is a chronic autoimmune disease that could be considered as a potential premalignant status. To evaluate the miRNA-146a and miRNA-155 expression levels in patients with oral Lichen planus lesions compared to healthy subjects with normal oral mucosa. Forty patients with oral lichen planus and 18 healthy age and gender-matched controls were recruited in this case-control study. Oral lichen planus was diagnosed clinically and pathologically. The expression levels of two miRNAs in peripheral blood samples were determined using commercial TaqMan MicroRNA Assays. Relative quantification of gene expression was calculated by the 2-ΔΔct method. The expression levels of miRNA-146a and miRNA-155 in patients with oral Lichen planus were significantly higher than those of healthy controls. Also, a direct but insignificant correlation was found between miRNA-155 and miRNA-146a expression levels among the patient group. Our findings indicate that miRNA-146a and miRNA-155 could be potential biomarkers for the immunopathogenesis of oral lichen planus.

  4. Absolute surface reconstruction by slope metrology and photogrammetry

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Dong, Yue

    Developing the manufacture of aspheric and freeform optical elements requires an advanced metrology method which is capable of inspecting these elements with arbitrary freeform surfaces. In this dissertation, a new surface measurement scheme is investigated for such a purpose, which is to measure the absolute surface shape of an object under test through its surface slope information obtained by photogrammetric measurement. A laser beam propagating toward the object reflects on its surface while the vectors of the incident and reflected beams are evaluated from the four spots they leave on the two parallel transparent windows in front of the object. The spots' spatial coordinates are determined by photogrammetry. With the knowledge of the incident and reflected beam vectors, the local slope information of the object surface is obtained through vector calculus and finally yields the absolute object surface profile by a reconstruction algorithm. An experimental setup is designed and the proposed measuring principle is experimentally demonstrated by measuring the absolute surface shape of a spherical mirror. The measurement uncertainty is analyzed, and efforts for improvement are made accordingly. In particular, structured windows are designed and fabricated to generate uniform scattering spots left by the transmitted laser beams. Calibration of the fringe reflection instrument, another typical surface slope measurement method, is also reported in the dissertation. Finally, a method for uncertainty analysis of a photogrammetry measurement system by optical simulation is investigated.

  5. A novel capacitive absolute positioning sensor based on time grating with nanometer resolution

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Pu, Hongji; Liu, Hongzhong; Liu, Xiaokang; Peng, Kai; Yu, Zhicheng

    2018-05-01

    The present work proposes a novel capacitive absolute positioning sensor based on time grating. The sensor includes a fine incremental-displacement measurement component combined with a coarse absolute-position measurement component to obtain high-resolution absolute positioning measurements. A single row type sensor was proposed to achieve fine displacement measurement, which combines the two electrode rows of a previously proposed double-row type capacitive displacement sensor based on time grating into a single row. To achieve absolute positioning measurement, the coarse measurement component is designed as a single-row type displacement sensor employing a single spatial period over the entire measurement range. In addition, this component employs a rectangular induction electrode and four groups of orthogonal discrete excitation electrodes with half-sinusoidal envelope shapes, which were formed by alternately extending the rectangular electrodes of the fine measurement component. The fine and coarse measurement components are tightly integrated to form a compact absolute positioning sensor. A prototype sensor was manufactured using printed circuit board technology for testing and optimization of the design in conjunction with simulations. Experimental results show that the prototype sensor achieves a ±300 nm measurement accuracy with a 1 nm resolution over a displacement range of 200 mm when employing error compensation. The proposed sensor is an excellent alternative to presently available long-range absolute nanometrology sensors owing to its low cost, simple structure, and ease of manufacturing.

  6. Simulation of absolute amplitudes of ultrasound signals using equivalent circuits.

    PubMed

    Johansson, Jonny; Martinsson, Pär-Erik; Delsing, Jerker

    2007-10-01

    Equivalent circuits for piezoelectric devices and ultrasonic transmission media can be used to cosimulate electronics and ultrasound parts in simulators originally intended for electronics. To achieve efficient system-level optimization, it is important to simulate correct, absolute amplitude of the ultrasound signal in the system, as this determines the requirements on the electronics regarding dynamic range, circuit noise, and power consumption. This paper presents methods to achieve correct, absolute amplitude of an ultrasound signal in a simulation of a pulse-echo system using equivalent circuits. This is achieved by taking into consideration loss due to diffraction and the effect of the cable that connects the electronics and the piezoelectric transducer. The conductive loss in the transmission line that models the propagation media of the ultrasound pulse is used to model the loss due to diffraction. Results show that the simulated amplitude of the echo follows measured values well in both near and far fields, with an offset of about 10%. The use of a coaxial cable introduces inductance and capacitance that affect the amplitude of a received echo. Amplitude variations of 60% were observed when the cable length was varied between 0.07 m and 2.3 m, with simulations predicting similar variations. The high precision in the achieved results show that electronic design and system optimization can rely on system simulations alone. This will simplify the development of integrated electronics aimed at ultrasound systems.

  7. Study on relationship between expression level and molecular conformations of gene drugs targeting to hepatoma cells in vitro

    PubMed Central

    Yang, Dong-Ye; Lu, Fang-Gen; Tang, Xi-Xiang; Zhao, Shui-Ping; Ouyang, Chun-Hui; Wu, Xiao-Ping; Liu, Xiao-Wei; Wu, Xiao-Ying

    2003-01-01

    AIM: To increase exogenous gene expression level by modulating molecular conformations of targeting gene drugs. METHODS: The full length cDNAs of both P40 and P35 subunits of human interleukin 12 were amplified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and cloned into eukaryotic expressing vectors pcDNA3.1 (±) to construct plasmids of P (+)/IL-12, P (+)/P40 and P (-)/P35. These plasmids were combined with ASOR-PLL to form two targeting gene drugs [ASOR-PLL-P (+)/IL-12 and ASOR-PLL-P (+)/P40 + ASOR-PLL-P (-)/P35] in optimal ratios. The conformations of these two drugs at various concentrations adjuvant were examined under electron microscope (EM) and the drugs were transfected into HepG2 (ASGr+) cells. Semi-quantitative reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) was performed with total RNA extracted from the transfected cells to determine the hIL12 mRNA transcript level. The hIL12 protein in the cultured supernatant was measured with enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) 48 hours after transfection. RESULTS: Targeting gene drugs, whose structures were granular and circle-like and diameters ranged from 25 nm to 150 nm, had the highest hIL-12 expression level. The hIL-12 expression level in the group co-transfected with ASOR-PLL-P (+)/P40 and ASOR-PLL-P (-)/P35 was higher than that of ASOR-PLL-P (+)/IL-12 transfected group. CONCLUSION: The molecular conformations of targeting gene drugs play an important role in exogenous gene expression level, the best structures are granular and circle-like and their diameters range from 25 nm to 150 nm. The sizes and linking styles of exogenous genes also have some effects on their expression level. PMID:12970883

  8. Correlation between protein expression of FOXP3 and level of FOXP3 promoter methylation in recurrent spontaneous abortion.

    PubMed

    Hou, Wenhui; Li, Zhuyu; Li, Yinguang; Fang, Liyuan; Li, Jie; Huang, Jia; Li, Xiaoqing; You, Zeshan

    2016-11-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the level of Forkhead box P3 (FOXP3) promoter methylation and protein expression in recurrent spontaneous abortion and to elucidate the pathogenesis of unexplained recurrent spontaneous abortion (URSA). We assessed a total of 56 URSA patients with a normal embryo, 24 recurrent spontaneous abortion (RSA) patients with an abnormal embryo (as control group 1), and 39 normal pregnant women (as control group 2). The expression of FOXP3 protein in deciduas was assessed through Western blot, and the level of FOXP3 promoter methylation was detected using bisulfite-assisted genomic sequencing polymerase chain reaction. The expressing quantity of FOXP3 protein in the URSA group was significantly lower than that in control groups 1 and 2, both with a P-value < 0.05. By contrast, no statistical difference was observed in the expressing quantity of FOXP3 protein of the two control groups (P = 0.212). The FOXP3 promoter methylation level in the URSA group was significantly higher than that in the two control groups, both of which exhibited a statistical difference of P-values < 0.05. Meanwhile, no statistical difference was observed in the FOXP3 promoter methylation level of the two control groups (P = 0.141). A negative correlation was found between the FOXP3 promoter methylation level and the expressing quantity of FOXP3 protein (r = -0.861, P < 0.05). Increasing FOXP3 promoter methylation levels may cause abnormal immune tolerance through the downregulation expression of the FOXP3 protein, which in turn leads to URSA. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology Research published by John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd on behalf of Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

  9. Transfer of absolute and relative predictiveness in human contingency learning.

    PubMed

    Kattner, Florian

    2015-03-01

    Previous animal-learning studies have shown that the effect of the predictive history of a cue on its associability depends on whether priority was set to the absolute or relative predictiveness of that cue. The present study tested this assumption in a human contingency-learning task. In both experiments, one group of participants was trained with predictive and nonpredictive cues that were presented according to an absolute-predictiveness principle (either continuously or partially reinforced cue configurations), whereas a second group was trained with co-occurring cues that differed in predictiveness (emphasizing the relative predictive validity of the cues). In both groups, later test discriminations were learned more readily if the discriminative cues had been predictive in the previous learning stage than if they had been nonpredictive. These results imply that both the absolute and relative predictiveness of a cue lead positive transfer with regard to its associability. The data are discussed with respect to attentional models of associative learning.

  10. Neutron activation analysis of certified samples by the absolute method

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Kadem, F.; Belouadah, N.; Idiri, Z.

    2015-07-01

    The nuclear reactions analysis technique is mainly based on the relative method or the use of activation cross sections. In order to validate nuclear data for the calculated cross section evaluated from systematic studies, we used the neutron activation analysis technique (NAA) to determine the various constituent concentrations of certified samples for animal blood, milk and hay. In this analysis, the absolute method is used. The neutron activation technique involves irradiating the sample and subsequently performing a measurement of the activity of the sample. The fundamental equation of the activation connects several physical parameters including the cross section that is essential for the quantitative determination of the different elements composing the sample without resorting to the use of standard sample. Called the absolute method, it allows a measurement as accurate as the relative method. The results obtained by the absolute method showed that the values are as precise as the relative method requiring the use of standard sample for each element to be quantified.

  11. Absolute versus convective helical magnetorotational instability in a Taylor-Couette flow.

    PubMed

    Priede, Jānis; Gerbeth, Gunter

    2009-04-01

    We analyze numerically the magnetorotational instability of a Taylor-Couette flow in a helical magnetic field [helical magnetorotational instability (HMRI)] using the inductionless approximation defined by a zero magnetic Prandtl number (Pr_{m}=0) . The Chebyshev collocation method is used to calculate the eigenvalue spectrum for small-amplitude perturbations. First, we carry out a detailed conventional linear stability analysis with respect to perturbations in the form of Fourier modes that corresponds to the convective instability which is not in general self-sustained. The helical magnetic field is found to extend the instability to a relatively narrow range beyond its purely hydrodynamic limit defined by the Rayleigh line. There is not only a lower critical threshold at which HMRI appears but also an upper one at which it disappears again. The latter distinguishes the HMRI from a magnetically modified Taylor vortex flow. Second, we find an absolute instability threshold as well. In the hydrodynamically unstable regime before the Rayleigh line, the threshold of absolute instability is just slightly above the convective one although the critical wavelength of the former is noticeably shorter than that of the latter. Beyond the Rayleigh line the lower threshold of absolute instability rises significantly above the corresponding convective one while the upper one descends significantly below its convective counterpart. As a result, the extension of the absolute HMRI beyond the Rayleigh line is considerably shorter than that of the convective instability. The absolute HMRI is supposed to be self-sustained and, thus, experimentally observable without any external excitation in a system of sufficiently large axial extension.

  12. Assessing Epistemic Sophistication by Considering Domain-Specific Absolute and Multiplicistic Beliefs Separately

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Peter, Johannes; Rosman, Tom; Mayer, Anne-Kathrin; Leichner, Nikolas; Krampen, Günter

    2016-01-01

    Background: Particularly in higher education, not only a view of science as a means of finding absolute truths (absolutism), but also a view of science as generally tentative (multiplicism) can be unsophisticated and obstructive for learning. Most quantitative epistemic belief inventories neglect this and understand epistemic sophistication as…

  13. Absolute gravimetry as an operational tool for geodynamics research

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Torge, W.

    Relative gravimetric techniques have been used for nearly 30 years for measuring non-tidal gravity variations with time, and thus have contributed to geodynamics research by monitoring vertical crustal movements and internal mass shifts. With today's accuracy of about ± 0.05µms-2 (or 5µGal), significant results have been obtained in numerous control nets of local extension, especially in connection with seismic and volcanic events. Nevertheless, the main drawbacks of relative gravimetry, which are deficiencies in absolute datum and calibration, set a limit for its application, especially with respect to large-scale networks and long-term investigations. These problems can now be successfully attacked by absolute gravimetry, with transportable gravimeters available since about 20 years. While the absolute technique during the first two centuries of gravimetry's history was based on the pendulum method, the free-fall method can now be employed taking advantage of laser-interferometry, electronic timing, vacuum and shock absorbing techniques, and on-line computer-control. The accuracy inherent in advanced instruments is about ± 0.05 µms-2. In field work, generally an accuracy of ±0.1 µms-2 may be expected, strongly depending on local environmental conditions.

  14. Solving Absolute Value Equations Algebraically and Geometrically

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Shiyuan, Wei

    2005-01-01

    The way in which students can improve their comprehension by understanding the geometrical meaning of algebraic equations or solving algebraic equation geometrically is described. Students can experiment with the conditions of the absolute value equation presented, for an interesting way to form an overall understanding of the concept.

  15. Low BRAF and NRAS expression levels are associated with clinical benefit from DTIC therapy and prognosis in metastatic melanoma.

    PubMed

    Birkeland, Einar; Busch, Christian; Berge, Elisabet Ognedal; Geisler, Jürgen; Jönsson, Göran; Lillehaug, Johan Richard; Knappskog, Stian; Lønning, Per Eystein

    2013-10-01

    Metastatic melanoma is characterized by a poor response to chemotherapy. Furthermore, there is a lack of established predictive and prognostic markers. In this single institution study, we correlated mutation status and expression levels of BRAF and NRAS to dacarbazine (DTIC) treatment response as well as progression-free and overall survival in a cohort of 85 patients diagnosed with advanced melanoma. Neither BRAF nor NRAS mutation status correlated to treatment response. However, patients with tumors harboring NRAS mutations had a shorter overall survival (p < 0.001) compared to patients with tumors wild-type for NRAS. Patients having a clinical benefit (objective response or stable disease at 3 months) on DTIC therapy had lower BRAF and NRAS expression levels compared to patients progressing on therapy (p = 0.037 and 0.003, respectively). For BRAF expression, this association was stronger among patients with tumors wild-type for BRAF (p = 0.005). Further, low BRAF as well as NRAS expression levels were associated with a longer progression-free survival in the total population (p = 0.004 and <0.001, respectively). Contrasting low NRAS expression levels, which were associated with improved overall survival in the total population (p = 0.01), low BRAF levels were associated with improved overall survival only among patients with tumors wild-type for BRAF (p = 0.013). These findings indicate that BRAF and NRAS expression levels may influence responses to DTIC as well as prognosis in patients with advanced melanoma.

  16. Independent and high-level dual-gene expression in adult stem-progenitor cells from a single lentiviral vector.

    PubMed

    Tian, J; Andreadis, S T

    2009-07-01

    Expression of multiple genes from the same target cell is required in several technological and therapeutic applications such as quantitative measurements of promoter activity or in vivo tracking of stem cells. In spite of such need, reaching independent and high-level dual-gene expression cannot be reliably accomplished by current gene transfer vehicles. To address this issue, we designed a lentiviral vector carrying two transcriptional units separated by polyadenylation, terminator and insulator sequences. With this design, the expression level of both genes was as high as that yielded from lentiviral vectors containing only a single transcriptional unit. Similar results were observed with several promoters and cell types including epidermal keratinocytes, bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells and hair follicle stem cells. Notably, we demonstrated quantitative dynamic monitoring of gene expression in primary cells with no need for selection protocols suggesting that this optimized lentivirus may be useful in high-throughput gene expression profiling studies.

  17. Achieving Climate Change Absolute Accuracy in Orbit

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Wielicki, Bruce A.; Young, D. F.; Mlynczak, M. G.; Thome, K. J; Leroy, S.; Corliss, J.; Anderson, J. G.; Ao, C. O.; Bantges, R.; Best, F.; hide

    2013-01-01

    The Climate Absolute Radiance and Refractivity Observatory (CLARREO) mission will provide a calibration laboratory in orbit for the purpose of accurately measuring and attributing climate change. CLARREO measurements establish new climate change benchmarks with high absolute radiometric accuracy and high statistical confidence across a wide range of essential climate variables. CLARREO's inherently high absolute accuracy will be verified and traceable on orbit to Système Internationale (SI) units. The benchmarks established by CLARREO will be critical for assessing changes in the Earth system and climate model predictive capabilities for decades into the future as society works to meet the challenge of optimizing strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change. The CLARREO benchmarks are derived from measurements of the Earth's thermal infrared spectrum (5-50 micron), the spectrum of solar radiation reflected by the Earth and its atmosphere (320-2300 nm), and radio occultation refractivity from which accurate temperature profiles are derived. The mission has the ability to provide new spectral fingerprints of climate change, as well as to provide the first orbiting radiometer with accuracy sufficient to serve as the reference transfer standard for other space sensors, in essence serving as a "NIST [National Institute of Standards and Technology] in orbit." CLARREO will greatly improve the accuracy and relevance of a wide range of space-borne instruments for decadal climate change. Finally, CLARREO has developed new metrics and methods for determining the accuracy requirements of climate observations for a wide range of climate variables and uncertainty sources. These methods should be useful for improving our understanding of observing requirements for most climate change observations.

  18. Identification of cis-elements conferring high levels of gene expression in non-green plastids.

    PubMed

    Zhang, Jiang; Ruf, Stephanie; Hasse, Claudia; Childs, Liam; Scharff, Lars B; Bock, Ralph

    2012-10-01

    Although our knowledge about the mechanisms of gene expression in chloroplasts has increased substantially over the past decades, next to nothing is known about the signals and factors that govern expression of the plastid genome in non-green tissues. Here we report the development of a quantitative method suitable for determining the activity of cis-acting elements for gene expression in non-green plastids. The in vivo assay is based on stable transformation of the plastid genome and the discovery that root length upon seedling growth in the presence of the plastid translational inhibitor kanamycin is directly proportional to the expression strength of the resistance gene nptII in transgenic tobacco plastids. By testing various combinations of promoters and translation initiation signals, we have used this experimental system to identify cis-elements that are highly active in non-green plastids. Surprisingly, heterologous expression elements from maize plastids were significantly more efficient in conferring high expression levels in root plastids than homologous expression elements from tobacco. Our work has established a quantitative method for characterization of gene expression in non-green plastid types, and has led to identification of cis-elements for efficient plastid transgene expression in non-green tissues, which are valuable tools for future transplastomic studies in basic and applied research. © 2012 The Authors. The Plant Journal © 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

  19. Directly relating gas-phase cluster measurements to solution-phase hydrolysis, the absolute standard hydrogen electrode potential, and the absolute proton solvation energy.

    PubMed

    Donald, William A; Leib, Ryan D; O'Brien, Jeremy T; Williams, Evan R

    2009-06-08

    Solution-phase, half-cell potentials are measured relative to other half-cell potentials, resulting in a thermochemical ladder that is anchored to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), which is assigned an arbitrary value of 0 V. A new method for measuring the absolute SHE potential is demonstrated in which gaseous nanodrops containing divalent alkaline-earth or transition-metal ions are reduced by thermally generated electrons. Energies for the reactions 1) M(H(2)O)(24)(2+)(g) + e(-)(g)-->M(H(2)O)(24)(+)(g) and 2) M(H(2)O)(24)(2+)(g) + e(-)(g)-->MOH(H(2)O)(23)(+)(g) + H(g) and the hydrogen atom affinities of MOH(H(2)O)(23)(+)(g) are obtained from the number of water molecules lost through each pathway. From these measurements on clusters containing nine different metal ions and known thermochemical values that include solution hydrolysis energies, an average absolute SHE potential of +4.29 V vs. e(-)(g) (standard deviation of 0.02 V) and a real proton solvation free energy of -265 kcal mol(-1) are obtained. With this method, the absolute SHE potential can be obtained from a one-electron reduction of nanodrops containing divalent ions that are not observed to undergo one-electron reduction in aqueous solution.

  20. Directly Relating Gas-Phase Cluster Measurements to Solution-Phase Hydrolysis, the Absolute Standard Hydrogen Electrode Potential, and the Absolute Proton Solvation Energy

    PubMed Central

    Donald, William A.; Leib, Ryan D.; O’Brien, Jeremy T.; Williams, Evan R.

    2009-01-01

    Solution-phase, half-cell potentials are measured relative to other half-cell potentials, resulting in a thermochemical ladder that is anchored to the standard hydrogen electrode (SHE), which is assigned an arbitrary value of 0 V. A new method for measuring the absolute SHE potential is demonstrated in which gaseous nanodrops containing divalent alkaline-earth or transition-metal ions are reduced by thermally generated electrons. Energies for the reactions 1) M-(H2O)242+(g)+e−(g)→M(H2O)24+(g) and 2) M(H2O)242+(g)+e−(g)→MOH(H2O)23+(g)+H(g) and the hydrogen atom affinities of MOH(H2O)23+(g) are obtained from the number of water molecules lost through each pathway. From these measurements on clusters containing nine different metal ions and known thermochemical values that include solution hydrolysis energies, an average absolute SHE potential of +4.29 V vs. e−(g) (standard deviation of 0.02 V) and a real proton solvation free energy of −265 kcal mol−1 are obtained. With this method, the absolute SHE potential can be obtained from a one-electron reduction of nanodrops containing divalent ions that are not observed to undergo one-electron reduction in aqueous solution. PMID:19440999

  1. Articulated Multimedia Physics, Lesson 14, Gases, The Gas Laws, and Absolute Temperature.

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    New York Inst. of Tech., Old Westbury.

    As the fourteenth lesson of the Articulated Multimedia Physics Course, instructional materials are presented in this study guide with relation to gases, gas laws, and absolute temperature. The topics are concerned with the kinetic theory of gases, thermometric scales, Charles' law, ideal gases, Boyle's law, absolute zero, and gas pressures. The…

  2. Temperature and pressure dependence of the absolute rate constant for the reactions of NH2 radicals with acetylene and ethylene

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Bosco, S. R.; Nava, D. F.; Brobst, W. D.; Stief, L. J.

    1984-01-01

    The absolute rate constants for the reaction between the NH2 free radical and acetylene and ethylene is measured experimentally using a flash photolysis technique. The constant is considered to be a function of temperature and pressure. At each temperature level of the experiment, the observed pseudo-first-order rate constants were assumed to be independent of flash intensity. The results of the experiment indicate that the bimolecular rate constant for the NH2 + C2H2 reaction increases with pressure at 373 K and 459 K but not at lower temperatures. Results near the pressure limit conform to an Arrhenius expression of 1.11 (+ or -) 0.36 x 10 to the -13th over the temperature range from 241 to 459 K. For the reaction NH2 + C2H4, a smaller rate of increase in the bimolecular rate constant was observed over the temperature range 250-465 K. The implications of these results for current theoretical models of NH2 + C2H2 (or H4) reactions in the atmospheres of Jupiter and Saturn are discussed.

  3. Developmental changes in the hypothalamic mRNA expression levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor and serum leptin levels: Their responses to fasting in male and female rats.

    PubMed

    Iwasa, Takeshi; Matsuzaki, Toshiya; Yano, Kiyohito; Munkhzaya, Munkhsaikhan; Tungalagsuvd, Altankhuu; Yiliyasi, Maira; Kuwahara, Akira; Irahara, Minoru

    2016-11-01

    The actions and responses of hypothalamic appetite regulatory factors change markedly during the neonatal to pre-pubertal period in order to maintain appropriate metabolic and nutritional conditions. In this study, we examined the developmental changes in the hypothalamic mRNA levels of brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF), which is a potent anorectic factor and the changes in the sensitivity of the hypothalamic expression of this factor to fasting during the neonatal to pre-pubertal period. Under fed conditions, hypothalamic BDNF mRNA expression decreased during development in both male and female rats. Similarly, the serum levels of leptin, which is a positive regulator of hypothalamic BDNF expression, also tended to fall during the developmental period. The serum leptin level and the hypothalamic BDNF mRNA level were found to be positively correlated in both sexes under the fed conditions. Hypothalamic BDNF mRNA expression was decreased by 24h fasting (separating the rats from their mothers) in the early neonatal period (postnatal day 10) in both males and females, but no such changes were seen at postnatal day 20. Twenty-four hours' fasting (food deprivation) did not affect hypothalamic BDNF mRNA expression in the pre-pubertal period (postnatal day 30). On the other hand, the rats' serum leptin levels were decreased by 24h fasting (separating the rats from their mothers at postnatal day 10 and 20, and food deprivation at postnatal day 30) throughout the early neonatal to pre-pubertal period. The correlation between serum leptin and hypothalamic BDNF mRNA levels was not significant under the fasted conditions. It can be speculated that leptin partially regulates hypothalamic BDNF mRNA levels, but only in fed conditions. Such changes in hypothalamic BDNF expression might play a role in maintaining appropriate metabolic and nutritional conditions and promoting normal physical development. In addition, because maternal separation induces a negative energy

  4. [Evaluation of leptin levels in plasma and their reliance on other hormonal factors affecting tissue fat levels in people with various levels of endogenous cotisol].

    PubMed

    Robaczyk, Maciej G

    2002-01-01

    The discovery of leptin (LEP) shed new light on mechanisms regulating body fat mass (BFM). In this aspect, interactions between LEP and glucocorticoids at hypothalamic level may be of great importance. Factors that influence plasma LEP levels have not been fully recognized and available data on LEP levels are often inconsistent. The aim of this study was to evaluate absolute and BFM-corrected plasma LEP levels and their diurnal variation, as well as to assess the relationship between LEP levels, body fat distribution, and hormones influencing body fat in subjects with various levels of endogenous cortisol and different nutritional status. Group I was composed of 14 women aged 14-58 yrs, BMI of 23.9-37.1 kg/m2, with hypercortisolism due to ACTH-dependent and ACTH-independent Cushing's syndrome (CUS). 17 women with visceral obesity (OTY) and normal or disturbed carbohydrate metabolism, i.e. impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and diabetes mellitus (DM), aged 24 do 50 yrs, BMI 30.0-46.1 kg/m2, were included in group II. Group III consisted of 14 women with Addison's disease (AD), aged 18 do 63 yrs, BMI 15.4-31.6 kg/m2. The control group IV (KON) included 17 healthy women with normal BMI. BMI, WHR, body composition, and body fat distribution (DEXA method) were assessed in all subjects. Basal plasma levels of LEP, beta-endorphin (B-EP), cortisol (F), insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) were measured with RIA test kits. Plasma adrenocorticotrophin (ACTH) levels, serum levels of insulin (IRI) and growth hormone (GH) were measured with IRMA test kits. Blood glucose (G) concentration was determined with an enzymatic method. Adiposity-corrected LEP levels were expressed as LEP/BFM and LEP/%BF indices. Fasting insulin resistance index (FIRI) was also calculated. Higher BFM and %BF values were found in the OTY group as compared with CUS KON and AD groups. BFM distribution did not differ in KON and AD groups whereas CUS subjects exhibited a higher accumulation of fat in the trunk

  5. Ratio measures in leading medical journals: structured review of accessibility of underlying absolute risks

    PubMed Central

    Schwartz, Lisa M; Dvorin, Evan L; Welch, H Gilbert

    2006-01-01

    Objective To examine the accessibility of absolute risk in articles reporting ratio measures in leading medical journals. Design Structured review of abstracts presenting ratio measures. Setting Articles published between 1 June 2003 and 1 May 2004 in Annals of Internal Medicine, BMJ, Journal of the American Medical Association, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Lancet, and New England Journal of Medicine. Participants 222 articles based on study designs in which absolute risks were directly calculable (61 randomised trials, 161 cohort studies). Main outcome measure Accessibility of the absolute risks underlying the first ratio measure in the abstract. Results 68% of articles (150/222) failed to report the underlying absolute risks for the first ratio measure in the abstract (range 55−81% across the journals). Among these articles, about half did report the underlying absolute risks elsewhere in the article (text, table, or figure) but half did not report them anywhere. Absolute risks were more likely to be reported in the abstract for randomised trials compared with cohort studies (62% v 21%; relative risk 3.0, 95% confidence interval 2.1 to 4.2) and for studies reporting crude compared with adjusted ratio measures (62% v 21%; relative risk 3.0, 2.1 to 4.3). Conclusion Absolute risks are often not easily accessible in articles reporting ratio measures and sometimes are missing altogether—this lack of accessibility can easily exaggerate readers' perceptions of benefit or harm. PMID:17060338

  6. Regulation of theta-antigen expression by agents altering cyclic AMP level and by thymic factor.

    PubMed

    Bach, M A; Fournier, C; Bach, J F

    1975-02-28

    Thymic factor, cyclic AMP, and products increasing its cellular level, such as Prostaglandin E1, induce the appearance of the theta-antigen on T-cell precursors whether assessed by a rossette-inhibition assay or a cytotoxic assay after cell fractionation on BSA discontinuous gradiet. Synergism has been demonstrated between cyclic AMPT and TF for that effect. Conversely, decrease of theta expression has been obtained by altering cyclic AMP level in theta-positive cells either increasing it by dibutyryl cAMP treatment or decreasing it by indomethacin treatment. Finally, these data suggest the involvement of cyclic AMP in the regulation of theta expression under thymic hormone control.

  7. 20 CFR 404.1205 - Absolute coverage groups.

    Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

    2010-04-01

    ... 20 Employees' Benefits 2 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Absolute coverage groups. 404.1205 Section 404.1205 Employees' Benefits SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION FEDERAL OLD-AGE, SURVIVORS AND DISABILITY... grouping of employees, e.g., all the employees of a city or town. It is a coverage group for coverage and...

  8. On Relative and Absolute Conviction in Mathematics

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Weber, Keith; Mejia-Ramos, Juan Pablo

    2015-01-01

    Conviction is a central construct in mathematics education research on justification and proof. In this paper, we claim that it is important to distinguish between absolute conviction and relative conviction. We argue that researchers in mathematics education frequently have not done so and this has lead to researchers making unwarranted claims…

  9. Correlation of mRNA and protein levels: Cell type-specific gene expression of cluster designation antigens in the prostate

    PubMed Central

    Pascal, Laura E; True, Lawrence D; Campbell, David S; Deutsch, Eric W; Risk, Michael; Coleman, Ilsa M; Eichner, Lillian J; Nelson, Peter S; Liu, Alvin Y

    2008-01-01

    Background: Expression levels of mRNA and protein by cell types exhibit a range of correlations for different genes. In this study, we compared levels of mRNA abundance for several cluster designation (CD) genes determined by gene arrays using magnetic sorted and laser-capture microdissected human prostate cells with levels of expression of the respective CD proteins determined by immunohistochemical staining in the major cell types of the prostate – basal epithelial, luminal epithelial, stromal fibromuscular, and endothelial – and for prostate precursor/stem cells and prostate carcinoma cells. Immunohistochemical stains of prostate tissues from more than 50 patients were scored for informative CD antigen expression and compared with cell-type specific transcriptomes. Results: Concordance between gene and protein expression findings based on 'present' vs. 'absent' calls ranged from 46 to 68%. Correlation of expression levels was poor to moderate (Pearson correlations ranged from 0 to 0.63). Divergence between the two data types was most frequently seen for genes whose array signals exceeded background (> 50) but lacked immunoreactivity by immunostaining. This could be due to multiple factors, e.g. low levels of protein expression, technological sensitivities, sample processing, probe set definition or anatomical origin of tissue and actual biological differences between transcript and protein abundance. Conclusion: Agreement between these two very different methodologies has great implications for their respective use in both molecular studies and clinical trials employing molecular biomarkers. PMID:18501003

  10. The absolute radiometric calibration of the advanced very high resolution radiometer

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.; Teillet, P. M.; Ding, Y.

    1988-01-01

    The need for independent, redundant absolute radiometric calibration methods is discussed with reference to the Thematic Mapper. Uncertainty requirements for absolute calibration of between 0.5 and 4 percent are defined based on the accuracy of reflectance retrievals at an agricultural site. It is shown that even very approximate atmospheric corrections can reduce the error in reflectance retrieval to 0.02 over the reflectance range 0 to 0.4.

  11. Pixel-by-pixel absolute phase retrieval using three phase-shifted fringe patterns without markers

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Jiang, Chufan; Li, Beiwen; Zhang, Song

    2017-04-01

    This paper presents a method that can recover absolute phase pixel by pixel without embedding markers on three phase-shifted fringe patterns, acquiring additional images, or introducing additional hardware component(s). The proposed three-dimensional (3D) absolute shape measurement technique includes the following major steps: (1) segment the measured object into different regions using rough priori knowledge of surface geometry; (2) artificially create phase maps at different z planes using geometric constraints of structured light system; (3) unwrap the phase pixel by pixel for each region by properly referring to the artificially created phase map; and (4) merge unwrapped phases from all regions into a complete absolute phase map for 3D reconstruction. We demonstrate that conventional three-step phase-shifted fringe patterns can be used to create absolute phase map pixel by pixel even for large depth range objects. We have successfully implemented our proposed computational framework to achieve absolute 3D shape measurement at 40 Hz.

  12. Improved Strategies and Optimization of Calibration Models for Real-time PCR Absolute Quantification

    EPA Science Inventory

    Real-time PCR absolute quantification applications rely on the use of standard curves to make estimates of DNA target concentrations in unknown samples. Traditional absolute quantification approaches dictate that a standard curve must accompany each experimental run. However, t...

  13. Role of endogenous cortistatin in the regulation of ghrelin system expression at pancreatic level under normal and obese conditions.

    PubMed

    Chanclón, Belén; Luque, Raúl M; Córdoba-Chacón, José; Gahete, Manuel D; Pozo-Salas, Ana I; Castaño, Justo P; Gracia-Navarro, Francisco; Martínez-Fuentes, Antonio J

    2013-01-01

    Ghrelin-system components [native ghrelin, In1-ghrelin, Ghrelin-O-acyltransferase enzyme (GOAT) and receptors (GHS-Rs)] are expressed in a wide variety of tissues, including the pancreas, where they exert different biological actions including regulation of neuroendocrine secretions, food intake and pancreatic function. The expression of ghrelin system is regulated by metabolic conditions (fasting/obesity) and is associated with the progression of obesity and insulin resistance. Cortistatin (CORT), a neuropeptide able to activate GHS-R, has emerged as an additional link in gut-brain interplay. Indeed, we recently reported that male CORT deficient mice (cort-/-) are insulin-resistant and present a clear dysregulation in the stomach ghrelin-system. The present work was focused at analyzing the expression pattern of ghrelin-system components at pancreas level in cort-/- mice and their control littermates (cort +/+) under low- or high-fat diet. Our data reveal that all the ghrelin-system components are expressed at the mouse pancreatic level, where, interestingly, In1-ghrelin was expressed at higher levels than native-ghrelin. Thus, GOAT mRNA levels were significantly lower in cort-/- mice compared with controls while native ghrelin, In1-ghrelin and GHS-R transcript levels remained unaltered under normal metabolic conditions. Moreover, under obese condition, a significant increase in pancreatic expression of native-ghrelin, In1-ghrelin and GHS-R was observed in obese cort+/+ but not in cort-/- mice. Interestingly, insulin expression and release was elevated in obese cort+/+, while these changes were not observed in obese cort-/- mice. Altogether, our results indicate that the ghrelin-system expression is clearly regulated in the pancreas of cort+/+ and cort -/- under normal and/or obesity conditions suggesting that this system may play relevant roles in the endocrine pancreas. Most importantly, our data demonstrate, for the first time, that endogenous CORT is essential

  14. Increasing Capacity: Practice Effects in Absolute Identification

    ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

    Dodds, Pennie; Donkin, Christopher; Brown, Scott D.; Heathcote, Andrew

    2011-01-01

    In most of the long history of the study of absolute identification--since Miller's (1956) seminal article--a severe limit on performance has been observed, and this limit has resisted improvement even by extensive practice. In a startling result, Rouder, Morey, Cowan, and Pfaltz (2004) found substantially improved performance with practice in the…

  15. Sequence variations and two levels of MCT1 and CD147 expression in red blood cells and gluteus muscle of horses.

    PubMed

    Koho, N M; Mykkänen, A K; Reeben, M; Raekallio, M R; Ilves, M; Pösö, A R

    2012-01-01

    MCT1-CD147 complex is the prime lactate transporter in mammalian plasma membranes. In equine red blood cells (RBCs), activity of the complex and expression of MCT1 and CD147 is bimodal; high in 70% and low in 30%. We studied whether sequence variations contribute to the bimodal expression of MCT1 and CD147. Samples of blood and cremaster muscle were collected in connection of castration from 24 horses. Additional gluteus muscle samples were collected from 15 Standardbreds of which seven were known to express low amounts of CD147 in RBCs. The cDNA of MCT1 and CD147 together with a promoter region of CD147 was sequenced. The amounts of MCT1 and CD147 expressed in RBC and muscle membranes were measured by Western blot and mRNA levels in muscles by qPCR. MCT1 and CD147 were expressed in 20 castrates, and in four only were traces found. Sequence variations found in MCT1 were not linked to MCT1 expression. In CD147 linked heterozygous single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) 389A>G (Met(125)Val) and 990C>T (3'-UTR) were associated to low expression of CD147. Also a mutation 168A>G (Ile(51)Val) in CD147 was associated to low MCT1 and CD147 expression. Low MCT1 and CD147 mRNA levels in gluteus were found in Standardbreds with low CD147 expression in RBCs. The results suggest that sequence variations affect the expression level of CD147, but do not explain its bimodality. The levels of MCT1 and CD147 mRNA correlated with the expression of CD147 and suggest that bimodality of their expression is regulated at transcriptional level. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. Expression levels of MHC class I molecules are inversely correlated with promiscuity of peptide binding

    PubMed Central

    Chappell, Paul E; Meziane, El Kahina; Harrison, Michael; Magiera, Łukasz; Hermann, Clemens; Mears, Laura; Wrobel, Antoni G; Durant, Charlotte; Nielsen, Lise Lotte; Buus, Søren; Ternette, Nicola; Mwangi, William; Butter, Colin; Nair, Venugopal; Ahyee, Trudy; Duggleby, Richard; Madrigal, Alejandro; Roversi, Pietro; Lea, Susan M; Kaufman, Jim

    2015-01-01

    Highly polymorphic major histocompatibility complex (MHC) molecules are at the heart of adaptive immune responses, playing crucial roles in many kinds of disease and in vaccination. We report that breadth of peptide presentation and level of cell surface expression of class I molecules are inversely correlated in both chickens and humans. This relationship correlates with protective responses against infectious pathogens including Marek's disease virus leading to lethal tumours in chickens and human immunodeficiency virus infection progressing to AIDS in humans. We propose that differences in peptide binding repertoire define two groups of MHC class I molecules strategically evolved as generalists and specialists for different modes of pathogen resistance. We suggest that differences in cell surface expression level ensure the development of optimal peripheral T cell responses. The inverse relationship of peptide repertoire and expression is evidently a fundamental property of MHC molecules, with ramifications extending beyond immunology and medicine to evolutionary biology and conservation. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.05345.001 PMID:25860507

  17. Improvement of Gaofen-3 Absolute Positioning Accuracy Based on Cross-Calibration

    PubMed Central

    Deng, Mingjun; Li, Jiansong

    2017-01-01

    The Chinese Gaofen-3 (GF-3) mission was launched in August 2016, equipped with a full polarimetric synthetic aperture radar (SAR) sensor in the C-band, with a resolution of up to 1 m. The absolute positioning accuracy of GF-3 is of great importance, and in-orbit geometric calibration is a key technology for improving absolute positioning accuracy. Conventional geometric calibration is used to accurately calibrate the geometric calibration parameters of the image (internal delay and azimuth shifts) using high-precision ground control data, which are highly dependent on the control data of the calibration field, but it remains costly and labor-intensive to monitor changes in GF-3’s geometric calibration parameters. Based on the positioning consistency constraint of the conjugate points, this study presents a geometric cross-calibration method for the rapid and accurate calibration of GF-3. The proposed method can accurately calibrate geometric calibration parameters without using corner reflectors and high-precision digital elevation models, thus improving absolute positioning accuracy of the GF-3 image. GF-3 images from multiple regions were collected to verify the absolute positioning accuracy after cross-calibration. The results show that this method can achieve a calibration accuracy as high as that achieved by the conventional field calibration method. PMID:29240675

  18. Quantification of multiple gene expression in individual cells.

    PubMed

    Peixoto, António; Monteiro, Marta; Rocha, Benedita; Veiga-Fernandes, Henrique

    2004-10-01

    Quantitative gene expression analysis aims to define the gene expression patterns determining cell behavior. So far, these assessments can only be performed at the population level. Therefore, they determine the average gene expression within a population, overlooking possible cell-to-cell heterogeneity that could lead to different cell behaviors/cell fates. Understanding individual cell behavior requires multiple gene expression analyses of single cells, and may be fundamental for the understanding of all types of biological events and/or differentiation processes. We here describe a new reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) approach allowing the simultaneous quantification of the expression of 20 genes in the same single cell. This method has broad application, in different species and any type of gene combination. RT efficiency is evaluated. Uniform and maximized amplification conditions for all genes are provided. Abundance relationships are maintained, allowing the precise quantification of the absolute number of mRNA molecules per cell, ranging from 2 to 1.28 x 10(9) for each individual gene. We evaluated the impact of this approach on functional genetic read-outs by studying an apparently homogeneous population (monoclonal T cells recovered 4 d after antigen stimulation), using either this method or conventional real-time RT-PCR. Single-cell studies revealed considerable cell-to-cell variation: All T cells did not express all individual genes. Gene coexpression patterns were very heterogeneous. mRNA copy numbers varied between different transcripts and in different cells. As a consequence, this single-cell assay introduces new and fundamental information regarding functional genomic read-outs. By comparison, we also show that conventional quantitative assays determining population averages supply insufficient information, and may even be highly misleading.

  19. MPL expression on AML blasts predicts peripheral blood neutropenia and thrombocytopenia.

    PubMed

    Rauch, Philipp J; Ellegast, Jana M; Widmer, Corinne C; Fritsch, Kristin; Goede, Jeroen S; Valk, Peter J M; Löwenberg, Bob; Takizawa, Hitoshi; Manz, Markus G

    2016-11-03

    Although the molecular pathways that cause acute myeloid leukemia (AML) are increasingly well understood, the pathogenesis of peripheral blood cytopenia, a major cause of AML mortality, remains obscure. A prevailing assumption states that AML spatially displaces nonleukemic hematopoiesis from the bone marrow. However, examining an initial cohort of 223 AML patients, we found no correlation between bone marrow blast content and cytopenia, questioning the displacement theory. Measuring serum concentration of thrombopoietin (TPO), a key regulator of hematopoietic stem cells and megakaryocytes, revealed loss of physiologic negative correlation with platelet count in AML cases with blasts expressing MPL, the thrombopoietin (scavenging) receptor. Mechanistic studies demonstrated that MPL hi blasts could indeed clear TPO, likely therefore leading to insufficient cytokine levels for nonleukemic hematopoiesis. Microarray analysis in an independent multicenter study cohort of 437 AML cases validated MPL expression as a central predictor of thrombocytopenia and neutropenia in AML. Moreover, t(8;21) AML cases demonstrated the highest average MPL expression and lowest average platelet and absolute neutrophil counts among subgroups. Our work thus explains the pathophysiology of peripheral blood cytopenia in a relevant number of AML cases. © 2016 by The American Society of Hematology.

  20. Absolute Gravity Datum in the Age of Cold Atom Gravimeters

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Childers, V. A.; Eckl, M. C.

    2014-12-01

    The international gravity datum is defined today by the International Gravity Standardization Net of 1971 (IGSN-71). The data supporting this network was measured in the 1950s and 60s using pendulum and spring-based gravimeter ties (plus some new ballistic absolute meters) to replace the prior protocol of referencing all gravity values to the earlier Potsdam value. Since this time, gravimeter technology has advanced significantly with the development and refinement of the FG-5 (the current standard of the industry) and again with the soon-to-be-available cold atom interferometric absolute gravimeters. This latest development is anticipated to provide improvement in the range of two orders of magnitude as compared to the measurement accuracy of technology utilized to develop ISGN-71. In this presentation, we will explore how the IGSN-71 might best be "modernized" given today's requirements and available instruments and resources. The National Geodetic Survey (NGS), along with other relevant US Government agencies, is concerned about establishing gravity control to establish and maintain high order geodetic networks as part of the nation's essential infrastructure. The need to modernize the nation's geodetic infrastructure was highlighted in "Precise Geodetic Infrastructure, National Requirements for a Shared Resource" National Academy of Science, 2010. The NGS mission, as dictated by Congress, is to establish and maintain the National Spatial Reference System, which includes gravity measurements. Absolute gravimeters measure the total gravity field directly and do not involve ties to other measurements. Periodic "intercomparisons" of multiple absolute gravimeters at reference gravity sites are used to constrain the behavior of the instruments to ensure that each would yield reasonably similar measurements of the same location (i.e. yield a sufficiently consistent datum when measured in disparate locales). New atomic interferometric gravimeters promise a significant

  1. Absolute limit on rotation of gravitationally bound stars

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Glendenning, N. K.

    1994-03-01

    The authors seek an absolute limit on the rotational period for a neutron star as a function of its mass, based on the minimal constraints imposed by Einstein's theory of relativity, Le Chatelier's principle, causality, and a low-density equation of state, uncertainties which can be evaluated as to their effect on the result. This establishes a limiting curve in the mass-period plane below which no pulsar that is a neutron star can lie. For example, the minimum possible Kepler period, which is an absolute limit on rotation below which mass-shedding would occur, is 0.33 ms for a M = 1.442 solar mass neutron star (the mass of PSR1913+16). If the limit were found to be broken by any pulsar, it would signal that the confined hadronic phase of ordinary nucleons and nuclei is only metastable.

  2. Absolute quantification methods in tissue near-infrared spectroscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Matcher, Steven J.; Kirkpatrick, Peter J.; Nahid, K.; Cope, Mark; Delpy, David T.

    1995-05-01

    Recent work aimed at providing an absolute measurement of tissue haemoglobin saturation and a new instrument development, the spatially resolved spectrometer (SRS), are discussed. The theoretical basis of operation of this device and its hardware implementation are described and the results of validation studies on tissue simulating phantoms are presented as are preliminary measurements on human volunteers and observations on patients undergoing neurosurgery. In its present form the instrument appears to produce absolute haemoglobin saturation values for resting human skeletal muscle and the normally perfused human head which are rather low based on physiological expectations. However, we obtained a tight correlation between the saturation values measured by the SRS instrument and those obtained from blood-gas analysis of samples drawn from a jugular bulb catheter in one neurosurgery subject during clamping of the right carotid arteries.

  3. The absolute threshold of cone vision

    PubMed Central

    Koeing, Darran; Hofer, Heidi

    2013-01-01

    We report measurements of the absolute threshold of cone vision, which has been previously underestimated due to sub-optimal conditions or overly strict subjective response criteria. We avoided these limitations by using optimized stimuli and experimental conditions while having subjects respond within a rating scale framework. Small (1′ fwhm), brief (34 msec), monochromatic (550 nm) stimuli were foveally presented at multiple intensities in dark-adapted retina for 5 subjects. For comparison, 4 subjects underwent similar testing with rod-optimized stimuli. Cone absolute threshold, that is, the minimum light energy for which subjects were just able to detect a visual stimulus with any response criterion, was 203 ± 38 photons at the cornea, ∼0.47 log units lower than previously reported. Two-alternative forced-choice measurements in a subset of subjects yielded consistent results. Cone thresholds were less responsive to criterion changes than rod thresholds, suggesting a limit to the stimulus information recoverable from the cone mosaic in addition to the limit imposed by Poisson noise. Results were consistent with expectations for detection in the face of stimulus uncertainty. We discuss implications of these findings for modeling the first stages of human cone vision and interpreting psychophysical data acquired with adaptive optics at the spatial scale of the receptor mosaic. PMID:21270115

  4. Investigation of apoptosis-related gene expression levels in preimplantation biopsies as predictors of delayed kidney graft function.

    PubMed

    Goncalves-Primo, Amador; Mourão, Tuíla B; Andrade-Oliveira, Vinícius; Campos, Erika F; Medina-Pestana, José O; Tedesco-Silva, Hélio; Gerbase-DeLima, Maria

    2014-06-27

    The purpose of this study was to investigate the expression of the gene coding for the antiapoptotic molecule Bcl-2, the proapoptotic molecule Bax, and the apoptosis executor enzyme caspase-3 in preimplantation renal biopsies (PIB) as markers for delayed graft function. In this prospective single-center study, gene expression levels were evaluated using real-time TaqMan polymerase chain reaction in PIB of kidneys from 72 deceased donors (DDs) and 18 living donors (LDs). CASP3 and BAX expression levels were higher, whereas those of BCL2 were lower, in DD than in LD PIB. In biopsies from DD, BCL2 levels were lower in cases with DGF, whereas no differences were observed concerning CASP3 and BAX. The BAX/BCL2 gene expression ratio greater than 2.29 associated with DGF with an odds ratio of 2.00. A multiple regression analysis including data of TLR4 expression in the first day posttransplant PB from a previous study of our group conducted in the same patients revealed a very strong association of the combination of BAX/BCL2 greater than 2.3 in PIB and TLR4 of 0.95 uRE or lesser in PB with the occurrence of DGF, with OR of 120 and positive and negative predictive values of 91% and 92%, respectively. The power to predict DGF of the combination of high BAX/BCL2 expression in PIB and low TLR4 expression in the first day posttransplant peripheral blood observed in the present study is extremely high, in comparison to any other marker or combinations of markers so far published in the literature.

  5. Absolute calibration of Kodak Biomax-MS film response to x rays in the 1.5- to 8-keV energy range

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Marshall, F. J.; Knauer, J. P.; Anderson, D.; Schmitt, B. L.

    2006-10-01

    The absolute response of Kodak Biomax-MS film to x rays in the range from 1.5- to 8-keV has been measured using a laboratory electron-beam generated x-ray source. The measurements were taken at specific line energies by using Bragg diffraction to produce monochromatic beams of x rays. Multiple exposures were taken on Biomax MS film up to levels exceeding optical densities of 2 as measured by a microdensitometer. The absolute beam intensity for each exposure was measured with a Si (Li) detector. Additional response measurements were taken with Kodak direct exposure film (DEF) so as to compare the results of this technique to previously published calibrations. The Biomax-MS results have been fitted to a semiempirical mathematical model (Knauer et al., these proceedings). Users of the model can infer absolute fluences from observed exposure levels at either interpolated or extrapolated energies. To summarize the results: Biomax MS has comparable sensitivity to DEF film below 3keV but has reduced sensitivity above 3keV (˜50%). The lower exposure results from thinner emulsion layers, designed for use with phosphor screens. The ease with which Biomax-MS can be used in place of DEF (same format film, same developing process, and comparable sensitivity) makes it a good replacement.

  6. The importance and attainment of accurate absolute radiometric calibration

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Slater, P. N.

    1984-01-01

    The importance of accurate absolute radiometric calibration is discussed by reference to the needs of those wishing to validate or use models describing the interaction of electromagnetic radiation with the atmosphere and earth surface features. The in-flight calibration methods used for the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) and the Systeme Probatoire d'Observation de la Terre, Haute Resolution visible (SPOT/HRV) systems are described and their limitations discussed. The questionable stability of in-flight absolute calibration methods suggests the use of a radiative transfer program to predict the apparent radiance, at the entrance pupil of the sensor, of a ground site of measured reflectance imaged through a well characterized atmosphere. The uncertainties of such a method are discussed.

  7. Absolute magnitude calibration using trigonometric parallax - Incomplete, spectroscopic samples

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Ratnatunga, Kavan U.; Casertano, Stefano

    1991-01-01

    A new numerical algorithm is used to calibrate the absolute magnitude of spectroscopically selected stars from their observed trigonometric parallax. This procedure, based on maximum-likelihood estimation, can retrieve unbiased estimates of the intrinsic absolute magnitude and its dispersion even from incomplete samples suffering from selection biases in apparent magnitude and color. It can also make full use of low accuracy and negative parallaxes and incorporate censorship on reported parallax values. Accurate error estimates are derived for each of the fitted parameters. The algorithm allows an a posteriori check of whether the fitted model gives a good representation of the observations. The procedure is described in general and applied to both real and simulated data.

  8. High-performance multi-channel fiber-based absolute distance measuring interferometer system

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Deck, Leslie L.

    2009-08-01

    I describe the principle of operation and performance of a fiber-based absolute distance measuring interferometer system with 60 independent simultaneous channels. The system was designed for demanding applications requiring passive, electrically immune sensors with an extremely long MTTF. In addition to providing better than 0.3nm measurement repeatability at 5KHz for all channels, the system demonstrated absolute distance uncertainty of less than 5nm over a 500 micron measurement range.

  9. Influence of haplotypes, gene expression and soluble levels of L-selectin on the risk of acute coronary syndrome.

    PubMed

    Sandoval-Pinto, Elena; Padilla-Gutiérrez, Jorge Ramón; Hernández-Bello, Jorge; Martínez-Fernández, Diana Emilia; Valdés-Alvarado, Emmanuel; Muñoz-Valle, José Francisco; Flores-Salinas, H E; Valle, Yeminia

    2017-08-20

    L-selectin gene (SELL) is a candidate gene for the development of acute coronary syndrome (ACS) that contributes to endothelial dysfunction. The -642C>T (rs2205849) and 725C>T (rs2229569) polymorphisms have been associated with changes in gene expression, ligand affinity and increased risk of cardiovascular disease. The aim of this study was to investigate the association between the haplotypes constructed with the -642C>T and 725C>T polymorphisms of the SELL gene, the expression levels of its mRNA and the serum levels of soluble L-selectin with ACS. We recruited 615 individuals of Mexican origin matched by age, including 342 patients with ACS and 273 individuals without personal history of ischemic cardiopathy as control group (CG). Genotyping was performed by PCR-RFLP. The qPCR technique was used to analyze the expression of mRNA using TaqMan® UPL probes. The levels of soluble L-selectin were measured with ELISA. The allele variants in both polymorphisms were over-represented in the CG compared to the ACS (OR range: 0.371-0.716, p<0.006). The CT and TT haplotypes had a protective effect against the development of ACS (OR=0.401, p<0.0001; OR=0.628, p<0.0001, respectively). SELL expression was 3.076 times higher in the ACS group compared to CG (p<0.001). The levels of soluble L-selectin were similar between ACS and CG. Both polymorphisms had no effect on mRNA expression and soluble protein levels. The polymorphisms -642C>T and 725C>T of the SELL gene are protective factors against the development of ACS. There is an increased gene expression of L-selectin in ACS compared to CG in the population of Western Mexico. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  10. Nanomolar detection of hypochlorite by a rhodamine-based chiral hydrazide in absolute aqueous media: application in tap water analysis with live-cell imaging.

    PubMed

    Goswami, Shyamaprosad; Das, Avijit Kumar; Manna, Abhishek; Maity, Anup Kumar; Saha, Partha; Quah, Ching Kheng; Fun, Hoong-Kun; Abdel-Aziz, Hatem A

    2014-07-01

    By employing the oxidation property of hypochlorite (OCl(-)), a novel rhodamine-based hydrazide of the chiral acid ((S)-(-)-2-pyrrolidone-5-carboxylic acid) (RHHP) was designed and synthesized for detection of OCl(-) absolutely in aqueous medium at nanomolar level. The structure of the chiral sensor was also proved by the X-ray crystallography. The bioactivity and the application of the probe for detection of OCl(-) in natural water system have been demonstrated. A plausible mechanism for oxidation of the sensor followed by hydrolysis is also proposed. The sensibility of the receptor toward OCl(-) was studied in absolute aqueous media, and the detection limit of hypochlorite-mediated oxidation to the receptor in nanomolar level makes this platform (RHHP) an ultrasensitive and unique system for OCl(-) oxidation.

  11. Circulating promyelocytes and low levels of CD16 expression on polymorphonuclear leukocytes accompany early-onset periodontitis.

    PubMed Central

    Nemoto, E; Nakamura, M; Shoji, S; Horiuchi, H

    1997-01-01

    Early-onset periodontitis (EOP) is characterized by rapidly progressive alveolar bone loss, chemotactic defects of neutrophils, and significant familial aggregation. We found immature myeloid lineage cells, defined as promyelocytes, in the peripheral blood in patients with EOP. A hematological examination of peripheral blood cells showed normal reference values regarding cell proportions. Flow cytometry revealed significantly lower expression of CD16, a glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored protein, on peripheral neutrophils in patients compared with those in age- and sex-matched healthy controls, whereas the levels of CD11a and CD11b expression were similar. The chemotactic response of neutrophils was lower toward not only formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine but also complement fragment C5a than that of healthy controls. The expression of another GPI-anchored protein, CD14, was equally expressed by controls and patients. Therefore, the low level of CD16 expression was not due to the incomplete synthesis of the GPI anchor. GPI anchors of CD16 on neutrophils from controls and patients were both partially resistant to phosphatidylinositol-specific phospholipase C. The presence of promyelocytes in peripheral blood, low expression of CD16, and low chemotactic response of neutrophils suggest that patients with EOP have an abnormal maturation system in myeloid lineage cells in the bone marrow, which may be associated with the onset and course of EOP. PMID:9284170

  12. Ectopic expression of a fruit phytoene synthase from Citrus paradisi Macf. promotes abiotic stress tolerance in transgenic tobacco.

    PubMed

    Cidade, Luciana C; de Oliveira, Tahise M; Mendes, Amanda F S; Macedo, Amanda F; Floh, Eny I S; Gesteira, Abelmon S; Soares-Filho, Walter S; Costa, Marcio G C

    2012-12-01

    Abscisic acid (ABA) is an important regulator of plant responses to environmental stresses and an absolute requirement for stress tolerance. Recently, a third phytoene synthase (PSY3) gene paralog was identified in monocots and demonstrated to play a specialized role in stress-induced ABA formation, thus suggesting that the first committed step in carotenogenesis is a key limiting step in ABA biosynthesis. To examine whether the ectopic expression of PSY, other than PSY3, would similarly affect ABA level and stress tolerance, we have produced transgenic tobacco containing a fruit-specific PSY (CpPSY) of grapefruit (Citrus paradisi Macf.). The transgenic plants contained a single- or double-locus insertion and expressed CpPSY at varying transcript levels. In comparison with the wild-type plants, the CpPSY expressing transgenic plants showed a significant increase on root length and shoot biomass under PEG-, NaCl- and mannitol-induced osmotic stress. The enhanced stress tolerance of transgenic plants was correlated with the increased endogenous ABA level and expression of stress-responsive genes, which in turn was correlated with the CpPSY copy number and expression level in different transgenic lines. Collectively, these results provide further evidence that PSY is a key enzyme regulating ABA biosynthesis and that the altered expression of other PSYs in transgenic plants may provide a similar function to that of the monocot's PSY3 in ABA biosynthesis and stress tolerance. The results also pave the way for further use of CpPSY, as well as other PSYs, as potential candidate genes for engineering tolerance to drought and salt stress in crop plants.

  13. Zinc Fortification Decreases ZIP1 Gene Expression of Some Adolescent Females with Appropriate Plasma Zinc Levels

    PubMed Central

    Méndez, Rosa O.; Santiago, Alejandra; Yepiz-Plascencia, Gloria; Peregrino-Uriarte, Alma B.; de la Barca, Ana M. Calderón; García, Hugo S.

    2014-01-01

    Zinc homeostasis is achieved after intake variation by changes in the expression levels of zinc transporters. The aim of this study was to evaluate dietary intake (by 24-h recall), absorption, plasma zinc (by absorption spectrophotometry) and the expression levels (by quantitative PCR), of the transporters ZIP1 (zinc importer) and ZnT1 (zinc exporter) in peripheral white blood cells from 24 adolescent girls before and after drinking zinc-fortified milk for 27 day. Zinc intake increased (p < 0.001) from 10.5 ± 3.9 mg/day to 17.6 ± 4.4 mg/day, and its estimated absorption from 3.1 ± 1.2 to 5.3 ± 1.3 mg/day. Mean plasma zinc concentration remained unchanged (p > 0.05) near 150 µg/dL, but increased by 31 µg/dL (p < 0.05) for 6/24 adolescents (group A) and decreased by 25 µg/dL (p < 0.05) for other 6/24 adolescents (group B). Expression of ZIP1 in blood leukocytes was reduced 1.4-fold (p < 0.006) in group A, while for the expression of ZnT1 there was no difference after intervention (p = 0.39). An increase of dietary zinc after 27-days consumption of fortified-milk did not increase (p > 0.05) the plasma level of adolescent girls but for 6/24 participants from group A in spite of the formerly appropriation, which cellular zinc uptake decreased as assessed by reduction of the expression of ZIP1. PMID:24922175

  14. Absolute detector calibration using twin beams.

    PubMed

    Peřina, Jan; Haderka, Ondřej; Michálek, Václav; Hamar, Martin

    2012-07-01

    A method for the determination of absolute quantum detection efficiency is suggested based on the measurement of photocount statistics of twin beams. The measured histograms of joint signal-idler photocount statistics allow us to eliminate an additional noise superimposed on an ideal calibration field composed of only photon pairs. This makes the method superior above other approaches presently used. Twin beams are described using a paired variant of quantum superposition of signal and noise.

  15. Fluctuation theorems in feedback-controlled open quantum systems: Quantum coherence and absolute irreversibility

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Murashita, Yûto; Gong, Zongping; Ashida, Yuto; Ueda, Masahito

    2017-10-01

    The thermodynamics of quantum coherence has attracted growing attention recently, where the thermodynamic advantage of quantum superposition is characterized in terms of quantum thermodynamics. We investigate the thermodynamic effects of quantum coherent driving in the context of the fluctuation theorem. We adopt a quantum-trajectory approach to investigate open quantum systems under feedback control. In these systems, the measurement backaction in the forward process plays a key role, and therefore the corresponding time-reversed quantum measurement and postselection must be considered in the backward process, in sharp contrast to the classical case. The state reduction associated with quantum measurement, in general, creates a zero-probability region in the space of quantum trajectories of the forward process, which causes singularly strong irreversibility with divergent entropy production (i.e., absolute irreversibility) and hence makes the ordinary fluctuation theorem break down. In the classical case, the error-free measurement ordinarily leads to absolute irreversibility, because the measurement restricts classical paths to the region compatible with the measurement outcome. In contrast, in open quantum systems, absolute irreversibility is suppressed even in the presence of the projective measurement due to those quantum rare events that go through the classically forbidden region with the aid of quantum coherent driving. This suppression of absolute irreversibility exemplifies the thermodynamic advantage of quantum coherent driving. Absolute irreversibility is shown to emerge in the absence of coherent driving after the measurement, especially in systems under time-delayed feedback control. We show that absolute irreversibility is mitigated by increasing the duration of quantum coherent driving or decreasing the delay time of feedback control.

  16. Infrared mapping of ultrasound fields generated by medical transducers: Feasibility of determining absolute intensity levels

    PubMed Central

    Khokhlova, Vera A.; Shmeleva, Svetlana M.; Gavrilov, Leonid R.; Martin, Eleanor; Sadhoo, Neelaksh; Shaw, Adam

    2013-01-01

    Considerable progress has been achieved in the use of infrared (IR) techniques for qualitative mapping of acoustic fields of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducers. The authors have previously developed and demonstrated a method based on IR camera measurement of the temperature rise induced in an absorber less than 2 mm thick by ultrasonic bursts of less than 1 s duration. The goal of this paper was to make the method more quantitative and estimate the absolute intensity distributions by determining an overall calibration factor for the absorber and camera system. The implemented approach involved correlating the temperature rise measured in an absorber using an IR camera with the pressure distribution measured in water using a hydrophone. The measurements were conducted for two HIFU transducers and a flat physiotherapy transducer of 1 MHz frequency. Corresponding correction factors between the free field intensity and temperature were obtained and allowed the conversion of temperature images to intensity distributions. The system described here was able to map in good detail focused and unfocused ultrasound fields with sub-millimeter structure and with local time average intensity from below 0.1 W/cm2 to at least 50 W/cm2. Significantly higher intensities could be measured simply by reducing the duty cycle. PMID:23927199

  17. Infrared mapping of ultrasound fields generated by medical transducers: feasibility of determining absolute intensity levels.

    PubMed

    Khokhlova, Vera A; Shmeleva, Svetlana M; Gavrilov, Leonid R; Martin, Eleanor; Sadhoo, Neelaksh; Shaw, Adam

    2013-08-01

    Considerable progress has been achieved in the use of infrared (IR) techniques for qualitative mapping of acoustic fields of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) transducers. The authors have previously developed and demonstrated a method based on IR camera measurement of the temperature rise induced in an absorber less than 2 mm thick by ultrasonic bursts of less than 1 s duration. The goal of this paper was to make the method more quantitative and estimate the absolute intensity distributions by determining an overall calibration factor for the absorber and camera system. The implemented approach involved correlating the temperature rise measured in an absorber using an IR camera with the pressure distribution measured in water using a hydrophone. The measurements were conducted for two HIFU transducers and a flat physiotherapy transducer of 1 MHz frequency. Corresponding correction factors between the free field intensity and temperature were obtained and allowed the conversion of temperature images to intensity distributions. The system described here was able to map in good detail focused and unfocused ultrasound fields with sub-millimeter structure and with local time average intensity from below 0.1 W/cm(2) to at least 50 W/cm(2). Significantly higher intensities could be measured simply by reducing the duty cycle.

  18. An absolute calibration system for millimeter-accuracy APOLLO measurements

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Adelberger, E. G.; Battat, J. B. R.; Birkmeier, K. J.; Colmenares, N. R.; Davis, R.; Hoyle, C. D.; Huang, L. R.; McMillan, R. J.; Murphy, T. W., Jr.; Schlerman, E.; Skrobol, C.; Stubbs, C. W.; Zach, A.

    2017-12-01

    Lunar laser ranging provides a number of leading experimental tests of gravitation—important in our quest to unify general relativity and the standard model of physics. The apache point observatory lunar laser-ranging operation (APOLLO) has for years achieved median range precision at the  ∼2 mm level. Yet residuals in model-measurement comparisons are an order-of-magnitude larger, raising the question of whether the ranging data are not nearly as accurate as they are precise, or if the models are incomplete or ill-conditioned. This paper describes a new absolute calibration system (ACS) intended both as a tool for exposing and eliminating sources of systematic error, and also as a means to directly calibrate ranging data in situ. The system consists of a high-repetition-rate (80 MHz) laser emitting short (< 10 ps) pulses that are locked to a cesium clock. In essence, the ACS delivers photons to the APOLLO detector at exquisitely well-defined time intervals as a ‘truth’ input against which APOLLO’s timing performance may be judged and corrected. Preliminary analysis indicates no inaccuracies in APOLLO data beyond the  ∼3 mm level, suggesting that historical APOLLO data are of high quality and motivating continued work on model capabilities. The ACS provides the means to deliver APOLLO data both accurate and precise below the 2 mm level.

  19. Increased SHP-1 Protein Expression by High Glucose Levels Reduces Nephrin Phosphorylation in Podocytes*

    PubMed Central

    Denhez, Benoit; Lizotte, Farah; Guimond, Marie-Odile; Jones, Nina; Takano, Tomoko; Geraldes, Pedro

    2015-01-01

    Nephrin, a critical podocyte membrane component that is reduced in diabetic nephropathy, has been shown to activate phosphotyrosine signaling pathways in human podocytes. Nephrin signaling is important to reduce cell death induced by apoptotic stimuli. We have shown previously that high glucose level exposure and diabetes increased the expression of SHP-1, causing podocyte apoptosis. SHP-1 possesses two Src homology 2 domains that serve as docking elements to dephosphorylate tyrosine residues of target proteins. However, it remains unknown whether SHP-1 interacts with nephrin and whether its elevated expression affects the nephrin phosphorylation state in diabetes. Here we show that human podocytes exposed to high glucose levels exhibited elevated expression of SHP-1, which was associated with nephrin. Coexpression of nephrin-CD16 and SHP-1 reduced nephrin tyrosine phosphorylation in transfected human embryonic kidney 293 cells. A single tyrosine-to-phenylalanine mutation revealed that rat nephrin Tyr1127 and Tyr1152 are required to allow SHP-1 interaction with nephrin. Overexpression of dominant negative SHP-1 in human podocytes prevented high glucose-induced reduction of nephrin phosphorylation. In vivo, immunoblot analysis demonstrated that nephrin expression and phosphorylation were decreased in glomeruli of type 1 diabetic Akita mice (Ins2+/C96Y) compared with control littermate mice (Ins2+/+), and this was associated with elevated SHP-1 and cleaved caspase-3 expression. Furthermore, immunofluorescence analysis indicated increased colocalization of SHP-1 with nephrin in diabetic mice compared with control littermates. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that high glucose exposure increases SHP-1 interaction with nephrin, causing decreased nephrin phosphorylation, which may, in turn, contribute to diabetic nephropathy. PMID:25404734

  20. Post-harvest light treatment increases expression levels of recombinant proteins in transformed plastids of potato tubers.

    PubMed

    Larraya, Luis M; Fernández-San Millán, Alicia; Ancín, María; Farran, Inmaculada; Veramendi, Jon

    2015-09-01

    Plastid genetic engineering represents an attractive system for the production of foreign proteins in plants. Although high expression levels can be achieved in leaf chloroplasts, the results for non-photosynthetic plastids are generally discouraging. Here, we report the expression of two thioredoxin genes (trx f and trx m) from the potato plastid genome to study transgene expression in amyloplasts. As expected, the highest transgene expression was detected in the leaf (up to 4.2% of TSP). The Trx protein content in the tuber was approximately two to three orders of magnitude lower than in the leaf. However, we demonstrate that a simple post-harvest light treatment of microtubers developed in vitro or soil-grown tubers induces up to 55 times higher accumulation of the recombinant protein in just seven to ten days. After the applied treatment, the Trx f levels in microtubers and soil-grown tubers increased to 0.14% and 0.11% of TSP, respectively. Moreover, tubers stored for eight months maintained the capacity of increasing the foreign protein levels after the light treatment. Post-harvest cold induction (up to five times) at 4°C was also detected in microtubers. We conclude that plastid transformation and post-harvest light treatment could be an interesting approach for the production of foreign proteins in potato. Copyright © 2015 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  1. Antiausterity activity of arctigenin enantiomers: importance of (2R,3R)-absolute configuration.

    PubMed

    Awale, Suresh; Kato, Mamoru; Dibwe, Dya Fita; Li, Feng; Miyoshi, Chika; Esumi, Hiroyasu; Kadota, Shigetoshi; Tezuka, Yasuhiro

    2014-01-01

    From a MeOH extract of powdered roots of Wikstroemia indica, six dibenzyl-gamma-butyrolactone-type lignans with (2S,3S)-absolute configuration [(+)-arctigenin (1), (+)-matairesinol (2), (+)-trachelogenin (3), (+)-nortrachelogenin (4), (+)-hinokinin (5), and (+)-kusunokinin (6)] were isolated, whereas three dibenzyl-gamma-butyrolactone-type lignans with (2R,3R)-absolute configuration [(-)-arctigenin (1*), (-)-matairesinol (2*), (-)-trachelogenin (3*)] were isolated from Trachelospermum asiaticum. The in vitro preferential cytotoxic activity of the nine compounds was evaluated against human pancreatic PANC-1 cancer cells in nutrient-deprived medium (NDM), but none of the six lignans (1-6) with (2S,3S)-absolute configuration showed preferential cytotoxicity. On the other hand, three lignans (1*-3*) with (2R,3R)-absolute configuration exhibited preferential cytotoxicity in a concentration-dependent manner with PC50 values of 0.54, 6.82, and 5.85 microM, respectively. Furthermore, the effect of (-)- and (+)-arctigenin was evaluated against the activation of Akt, which is a key process in the tolerance to nutrition starvation. Interestingly, only (-)-arctigenin (1*) strongly suppressed the activation of Akt. These results indicate that the (2R,3R)-absolute configuration of (-)-enantiomers should be required for the preferential cytotoxicity through the inhibition of Akt activation.

  2. Expression of Estrogen Receptors in Relation to Hormone Levels and the Nottingham Prognostic Index.

    PubMed

    Fahlén, Mia; Zhang, Hua; Löfgren, Lars; Masironi, Britt; VON Schoultz, Eva; VON Schoultz, B O; Sahlin, Lena

    2016-06-01

    Estrogen hormones have a large impact on both normal development and tumorigenesis of the breast. Breast tissue samples from 49 women undergoing surgery were included. The estrogen receptors (ERα and ERβ), ERα36 and G-coupled estrogen receptor-1 (GPER) were determined in benign and malignant breast tissue. The ERα36 and ERα mRNA levels were highest in malignant tumors. Stromal ERβ immunostaining in benign tumors was higher than in the paired normal tissue. GPER expression was lowest in benign tumors. In the malignant tumors, the Nottingham Prognostic Index (NPI) correlated positively with stromal GPER and the serum testosterone level. The serum insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) level correlated negatively with GPER mRNA and glandular ERα. The expression of ERα36 is stronger in malignant breast tissue. The strong positive correlation between NPI and GPER in malignant breast stroma indicates an important role for GPER in breast cancer prognosis. Copyright© 2016 International Institute of Anticancer Research (Dr. John G. Delinassios), All rights reserved.

  3. Protein Expression Level of Skin Wrinkle-Related Factors in Hairless Mice Fed Hyaluronic Acid.

    PubMed

    Yun, Min-Kyu; Lee, Sung-Jin; Song, Hye-Jin; Yu, Heui-Jong; Rha, Chan Su; Kim, Dae-Ok; Choe, Soo-Young; Sohn, Johann

    2017-04-01

    The aim of this study was to evaluate the wrinkle improving effect of hyaluronic acid intakes. Wrinkles were induced by exposing the skin of hairless mice to ultraviolet B (UVB) irradiation for 14 weeks. Hyaluronic acid was administered to the mice for 14 weeks including 4 weeks before experiments. Skin tissue was assayed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay to determine protein expression of wrinkle-related markers. The group supplemented with high concentrations of hyaluronic acid appeared significantly better than control group for collagen, matrix metalloproteinase 1, interleukin (IL)-1β, and IL-6 assay. Transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and hyaluronic acid synthase 2 (HAS-2) were not shown to be significantly different. In conclusion, hyaluronic acid administration regulated expression levels of proteins associated with skin integrity, and improved the wrinkle level in skin subjected to UVB irradiation.

  4. Modeling absolute plate and plume motions

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Bodinier, G. P.; Wessel, P.; Conrad, C. P.

    2016-12-01

    Paleomagnetic evidence for plume drift has made modeling of absolute plate motions challenging, especially since direct observations of plume drift are lacking. Predictions of plume drift arising from mantle convection models and broadly satisfying observed paleolatitudes have so far provided the only framework for deriving absolute plate motions over moving hotspots. However, uncertainties in mantle rheology, temperature, and initial conditions make such models nonunique. Using simulated and real data, we will show that age progressions along Pacific hotspot trails provide strong constraints on plume motions for all major trails, and furthermore that it is possible to derive models for relative plume drift from these data alone. Relative plume drift depends on the inter-hotspot distances derived from age progressions but lacks a fixed reference point and orientation. By incorporating paleolatitude histories for the Hawaii and Louisville chains we add further constraints on allowable plume motions, yet one unknown parameter remains: a longitude shift that applies equally to all plumes. To obtain a solution we could restrict either the Hawaii or Louisville plume to have latitudinal motion only, thus satisfying paleolatitude constraints. Yet, restricting one plume to latitudinal motion while all others move freely is not realistic. Consequently, it is only possible to resolve the motion of hotspots relative to an overall and unknown longitudinal shift as a function of time. Our plate motions are therefore dependent on the same shift via an unknown rotation about the north pole. Yet, as plume drifts are consequences of mantle convection, our results place strong constraints on the pattern of convection. Other considerations, such as imposed limits on plate speed, plume speed, proximity to LLSVP edges, model smoothness, or relative plate motions via ridge-spotting may add further constraints that allow a unique model of Pacific absolute plate and plume motions to be

  5. Absolute measurement of the extreme UV solar flux

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Carlson, R. W.; Ogawa, H. S.; Judge, D. L.; Phillips, E.

    1984-01-01

    A windowless rare-gas ionization chamber has been developed to measure the absolute value of the solar extreme UV flux in the 50-575-A region. Successful results were obtained on a solar-pointing sounding rocket. The ionization chamber, operated in total absorption, is an inherently stable absolute detector of ionizing UV radiation and was designed to be independent of effects from secondary ionization and gas effusion. The net error of the measurement is + or - 7.3 percent, which is primarily due to residual outgassing in the instrument, other errors such as multiple ionization, photoelectron collection, and extrapolation to the zero atmospheric optical depth being small in comparison. For the day of the flight, Aug. 10, 1982, the solar irradiance (50-575 A), normalized to unit solar distance, was found to be 5.71 + or - 0.42 x 10 to the 10th photons per sq cm sec.

  6. Automated absolute phase retrieval in across-track interferometry

    NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

    Madsen, Soren N.; Zebker, Howard A.

    1992-01-01

    Discussed is a key element in the processing of topographic radar maps acquired by the NASA/JPL airborne synthetic aperture radar configured as an across-track interferometer (TOPSAR). TOPSAR utilizes a single transmit and two receive antennas; the three-dimensional target location is determined by triangulation based on a known baseline and two measured slant ranges. The slant range difference is determined very accurately from the phase difference between the signals received by the two antennas. This phase is measured modulo 2pi, whereas it is the absolute phase which relates directly to the difference in slant range. It is shown that splitting the range bandwidth into two subbands in the processor and processing each individually allows for the absolute phase. The underlying principles and system errors which must be considered are discussed, together with the implementation and results from processing data acquired during the summer of 1991.

  7. Maternal high-fat diet and offspring expression levels of vitamin K-dependent proteins.

    PubMed

    Lanham, S A; Cagampang, F R; Oreffo, R O C

    2014-12-01

    Studies suggest that bone growth and development and susceptibility to vascular disease in later life are influenced by maternal nutrition during intrauterine and early postnatal life. There is evidence for a role of vitamin K-dependent proteins (VKDPs) including osteocalcin, matrix Gla protein, periostin, and growth-arrest specific- protein 6, in both bone and vascular development. We have examined whether there are alterations in these VKDPs in bone and vascular tissue from offspring of mothers subjected to a nutritional challenge: a high-fat diet during pregnancy and postnatally, using 6-week-old mouse offspring. Bone site-specific and sex-specific differences across femoral and vertebral bone in male and female offspring were observed. Overall a high-fat maternal diet and offspring diet exacerbated the bone changes observed. Sex-specific differences and tissue-specific differences were observed in VKDP levels in aorta tissue from high-fat diet-fed female offspring from high-fat diet-fed mothers displaying increased levels of Gas6 and Ggcx compared with those of female controls. In contrast, differences were seen in VKDP levels in femoral bone of female offspring with lower expression levels of Mgp in offspring of mothers fed a high-fat diet compared with those of controls. We observed a significant correlation in Mgp expression levels within the femur to measures of bone structure of the femur and vertebra, particularly in the male offspring cohort. In summary, the current study has highlighted the importance of maternal nutrition on offspring bone development and the correlation of VKDPs to bone structure.

  8. New experimental methodology, setup and LabView program for accurate absolute thermoelectric power and electrical resistivity measurements between 25 and 1600 K: application to pure copper, platinum, tungsten, and nickel at very high temperatures.

    PubMed

    Abadlia, L; Gasser, F; Khalouk, K; Mayoufi, M; Gasser, J G

    2014-09-01

    In this paper we describe an experimental setup designed to measure simultaneously and very accurately the resistivity and the absolute thermoelectric power, also called absolute thermopower or absolute Seebeck coefficient, of solid and liquid conductors/semiconductors over a wide range of temperatures (room temperature to 1600 K in present work). A careful analysis of the existing experimental data allowed us to extend the absolute thermoelectric power scale of platinum to the range 0-1800 K with two new polynomial expressions. The experimental device is controlled by a LabView program. A detailed description of the accurate dynamic measurement methodology is given in this paper. We measure the absolute thermoelectric power and the electrical resistivity and deduce with a good accuracy the thermal conductivity using the relations between the three electronic transport coefficients, going beyond the classical Wiedemann-Franz law. We use this experimental setup and methodology to give new very accurate results for pure copper, platinum, and nickel especially at very high temperatures. But resistivity and absolute thermopower measurement can be more than an objective in itself. Resistivity characterizes the bulk of a material while absolute thermoelectric power characterizes the material at the point where the electrical contact is established with a couple of metallic elements (forming a thermocouple). In a forthcoming paper we will show that the measurement of resistivity and absolute thermoelectric power characterizes advantageously the (change of) phase, probably as well as DSC (if not better), since the change of phases can be easily followed during several hours/days at constant temperature.

  9. New experimental methodology, setup and LabView program for accurate absolute thermoelectric power and electrical resistivity measurements between 25 and 1600 K: Application to pure copper, platinum, tungsten, and nickel at very high temperatures

    DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

    Abadlia, L.; Mayoufi, M.; Gasser, F.

    2014-09-15

    In this paper we describe an experimental setup designed to measure simultaneously and very accurately the resistivity and the absolute thermoelectric power, also called absolute thermopower or absolute Seebeck coefficient, of solid and liquid conductors/semiconductors over a wide range of temperatures (room temperature to 1600 K in present work). A careful analysis of the existing experimental data allowed us to extend the absolute thermoelectric power scale of platinum to the range 0-1800 K with two new polynomial expressions. The experimental device is controlled by a LabView program. A detailed description of the accurate dynamic measurement methodology is given in thismore » paper. We measure the absolute thermoelectric power and the electrical resistivity and deduce with a good accuracy the thermal conductivity using the relations between the three electronic transport coefficients, going beyond the classical Wiedemann-Franz law. We use this experimental setup and methodology to give new very accurate results for pure copper, platinum, and nickel especially at very high temperatures. But resistivity and absolute thermopower measurement can be more than an objective in itself. Resistivity characterizes the bulk of a material while absolute thermoelectric power characterizes the material at the point where the electrical contact is established with a couple of metallic elements (forming a thermocouple). In a forthcoming paper we will show that the measurement of resistivity and absolute thermoelectric power characterizes advantageously the (change of) phase, probably as well as DSC (if not better), since the change of phases can be easily followed during several hours/days at constant temperature.« less

  10. Dysregulation of gene expression in the striatum of BACHD rats expressing full-length mutant huntingtin and associated abnormalities on molecular and protein levels.

    PubMed

    Yu-Taeger, Libo; Bonin, Michael; Stricker-Shaver, Janice; Riess, Olaf; Nguyen, Hoa Huu Phuc

    2017-05-01

    Huntington disease (HD) is an autosomal dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disorder caused by a CAG repeat expansion in the gene coding for the huntingtin protein (HTT). Mutant HTT (mHTT) has been proposed to cause neuronal dysfunction and neuronal loss through multiple mechanisms. Transcriptional changes may be a core pathogenic feature of HD. Utilizing the Affymetrix platform we performed a genome-wide RNA expression analysis in two BACHD transgenic rat lines (TG5 and TG9) at 12 months of age, both of which carry full-length human mHTT but with different expression levels. By defining the threshold of significance at p < 0.01, we found 1608 genes and 871 genes differentially expressed in both TG5 and TG9 rats when compared to the wild type littermates, respectively. We only chose the highly up-/down-regulated genes for further analysis by setting an additional threshold of 1.5 fold change. Comparing gene expression profiles of human HD brains and BACHD rats revealed a high concordance in both functional and IPA (Ingenuity Pathway Analysis) canonical pathways relevant to HD. In addition, we investigated the causes leading to gene expression changes at molecular and protein levels in BACHD rats including the involvement of polyQ-containing transcription factors TATA box-binding protein (TBP), Sp1 and CBP as well as the chromatin structure. We demonstrate that the BACHD rat model recapitulates the gene expression changes of the human disease supporting its role as a preclinical research animal model. We also show for the first time that TFIID complex formation is reduced, while soluble TBP is increased in an HD model. This finding suggests that mHTT is a competitor instead of a recruiter of polyQ-containing transcription factors in the transcription process in HD. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Early diagnosis of myocardial infarction using absolute and relative changes in cardiac troponin concentrations.

    PubMed

    Irfan, Affan; Reichlin, Tobias; Twerenbold, Raphael; Meister, Marc; Moehring, Berit; Wildi, Karin; Bassetti, Stefano; Zellweger, Christa; Gimenez, Maria Rubini; Hoeller, Rebeca; Murray, Karsten; Sou, Seoung Mann; Mueller, Mira; Mosimann, Tamina; Reiter, Miriam; Haaf, Philip; Ziller, Ronny; Freidank, Heike; Osswald, Stefan; Mueller, Christian

    2013-09-01

    Absolute changes in high-sensitivity cardiac troponin T (hs-cTnT) seem to have higher diagnostic accuracy in the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction compared with relative changes. It is unknown whether the same applies to high-sensitivity cardiac troponin I (hs-cTnI) assays and whether the combination of absolute and relative change might further increase accuracy. In a prospective, international multicenter study, high-sensitivity cardiac troponin (hs-cTn) was measured with 3 novel assays (hs-cTnT, Roche Diagnostics Corp, Indianapolis, Ind; hs-cTnI, Beckman Coulter Inc, Brea, Calif; hs-cTnI, Siemens, Munich, Germany) in a blinded fashion at presentation and after 1 and 2 hours in a blinded fashion in 830 unselected patients with suspected acute myocardial infarction. The final diagnosis was adjudicated by 2 independent cardiologists. The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for diagnosing acute myocardial infarction was significantly higher for 1- and 2-hour absolute versus relative hs-cTn changes for all 3 assays (P < .001). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the combination of 2-hour absolute and relative change (hs-cTnT 0.98 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.97-0.99]; hs-cTnI, Beckman Coulter Inc, 0.97 [95% CI, 0.96-0.99]; hs-cTnI, Siemens, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.93-0.99]) were high and provided some benefit compared with the use of absolute change alone for hs-cTnT, but not for the hs-cTnI assays. Reclassification analysis confirmed the superiority of absolute changes versus relative changes. Absolute changes seem to be the preferred metrics for both hs-cTnT and hs-cTnI in the early diagnosis of acute myocardial infarction. The combination of absolute and relative changes provides a small added value for hs-cTnT, but not for hs-cTnI. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. Absolute quantitation of low abundance plasma APL1β peptides at sub-fmol/mL Level by SRM/MRM without immunoaffinity enrichment.

    PubMed

    Sano, Shozo; Tagami, Shinji; Hashimoto, Yuuki; Yoshizawa-Kumagaye, Kumiko; Tsunemi, Masahiko; Okochi, Masayasu; Tomonaga, Takeshi

    2014-02-07

    Selected/multiple reaction monitoring (SRM/MRM) has been widely used for the quantification of specific proteins/peptides, although it is still challenging to quantitate low abundant proteins/peptides in complex samples such as plasma/serum. To overcome this problem, enrichment of target proteins/peptides is needed, such as immunoprecipitation; however, this is labor-intense and generation of antibodies is highly expensive. In this study, we attempted to quantify plasma low abundant APLP1-derived Aβ-like peptides (APL1β), a surrogate marker for Alzheimer's disease, by SRM/MRM using stable isotope-labeled reference peptides without immunoaffinity enrichment. A combination of Cibacron Blue dye mediated albumin removal and acetonitrile extraction followed by C18-strong cation exchange multi-StageTip purification was used to deplete plasma proteins and unnecessary peptides. Optimal and validated precursor ions to fragment ion transitions of APL1β were developed on a triple quadruple mass spectrometer, and the nanoliquid chromatography gradient for peptide separation was optimized to minimize the biological interference of plasma. Using the stable isotope-labeled (SI) peptide as an internal control, absolute concentrations of plasma APL1β peptide could be quantified as several hundred amol/mL. To our knowledge, this is the lowest detection level of endogenous plasma peptide quantified by SRM/MRM.

  13. Inverse correlation between HPSE gene single nucleotide polymorphisms and heparanase expression: possibility of multiple levels of heparanase regulation

    PubMed Central

    Ostrovsky, Olga; Korostishevsky, Michael; Shafat, Itay; Mayorov, Margarita; Ilan, Neta; Vlodavsky, Israel; Nagler, Arnon

    2009-01-01

    Heparanase is an endo-β-glucuronidase that specifically cleaves the saccharide chains of heparan sulfate proteoglycans. Heparanase plays important roles in processes such as angiogenesis, tumor metastasis, tissue repair and remodeling, inflammation and autoimmunity. Genetic variations of the heparanase gene (HPSE) have been associated with heparanase transcription level. The present study was undertaken to identify haplotype or single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) genotype combinations that correlate with heparanase expression both at the mRNA and protein levels. For this purpose, 11 HPSE gene SNPs were genotyped among 108 healthy individuals. Five out of the eleven polymorphisms revealed an association between the SNPs and heparanase expression. SNP rs4693608 exhibited a strong evidence of association. Analysis of haplotypes distribution revealed that the combination of two SNPs (rs4693608 and rs4364254) disclosed the most significant result. This approach allowed segregation of possible genotype combinations to three groups that correlate with low (LR: GG-CC, GG-CT, GG-TT, GA-CC), intermediate (MR: GA-CT, GA-TT) and high (HR: AA-TT, AA-CT) heparanase expression. Unexpectedly, LR genotype combinations were associated with low mRNA expressions level and high heparanase concentration in plasma, while HR genotype combinations were associated with high expression of mRNA and low plasma protein level. Because the main site of activity of secreted active heparanase is the extracellular matrix and cell surface, the origin and functional significance of plasma heparanase remain to be investigated. The current study indicates that rs4693608 and rs4364254 SNPs are involved in the regulation of heparanase expression and provides the basis for further studies on the association between HPSE gene SNPs and disease outcome. PMID:19406828

  14. Remote ultrasound palpation for robotic interventions using absolute elastography.

    PubMed

    Schneider, Caitlin; Baghani, Ali; Rohling, Robert; Salcudean, Septimiu

    2012-01-01

    Although robotic surgery has addressed many of the challenges presented by minimally invasive surgery, haptic feedback and the lack of knowledge of tissue stiffness is an unsolved problem. This paper presents a system for finding the absolute elastic properties of tissue using a freehand ultrasound scanning technique, which utilizes the da Vinci Surgical robot and a custom 2D ultrasound transducer for intraoperative use. An external exciter creates shear waves in the tissue, and a local frequency estimation method computes the shear modulus. Results are reported for both phantom and in vivo models. This system can be extended to any 6 degree-of-freedom tracking method and any 2D transducer to provide real-time absolute elastic properties of tissue.

  15. Mapping absolute tissue endogenous fluorophore concentrations with chemometric wide-field fluorescence microscopy

    NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

    Xu, Zhang; Reilley, Michael; Li, Run; Xu, Min

    2017-06-01

    We report chemometric wide-field fluorescence microscopy for imaging the spatial distribution and concentration of endogenous fluorophores in thin tissue sections. Nonnegative factorization aided by spatial diversity is used to learn both the spectral signature and the spatial distribution of endogenous fluorophores from microscopic fluorescence color images obtained under broadband excitation and detection. The absolute concentration map of individual fluorophores is derived by comparing the fluorescence from "pure" fluorophores under the identical imaging condition following the identification of the fluorescence species by its spectral signature. This method is then demonstrated by characterizing the concentration map of endogenous fluorophores (including tryptophan, elastin, nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, and flavin adenine dinucleotide) for lung tissue specimens. The absolute concentrations of these fluorophores are all found to decrease significantly from normal, perilesional, to cancerous (squamous cell carcinoma) tissue. Discriminating tissue types using the absolute fluorophore concentration is found to be significantly more accurate than that achievable with the relative fluorescence strength. Quantification of fluorophores in terms of the absolute concentration map is also advantageous in eliminating the uncertainties due to system responses or measurement details, yielding more biologically relevant data, and simplifying the assessment of competing imaging approaches.

  16. Comparative Assessment of Vitamin-B12, Folic Acid and Homocysteine Levels in Relation to p53 Expression in Megaloblastic Anemia.

    PubMed

    Yadav, Manish K; Manoli, Nandini M; Madhunapantula, SubbaRao V

    2016-01-01

    Megaloblastic anemia (MBA), also known as macrocytic anemia, is a type of anemia characterized by decreased number of RBCs as well as the presence of unusually large, abnormal and poorly developed erythrocytes (megaloblasts), which fail to enter blood circulation due to their larger size. Lack of vitamin-B12 (VB12) and / or folate (Vitamin-B9, VB9) with elevated homocysteine is the key factor responsible for megaloblastic anemia. Prior studies have demonstrated the induction of apoptosis in these abnormal under-developed erythrocytes. However, it is not clear whether this apoptosis induction is due to elevated p53 level or due to any other mechanism. Furthermore, it is also not fully known whether decreased vitamin-B12 and / or folate are responsible for apoptosis induction mediated by p53 in pre-erythroblasts. Levels of serum VB9, VB12 and homocysteine in 50 patients suffering from MBA were compared with 50 non-megaloblastic anemia control subjects, who were referred by the clinicians for bone marrow examination for medical conditions other than MBA. Next, we have measured the p53 expression in the paraffin embedded blocks prepared from bone marrow biopsy, using immunohistochemistry, and the expression levels correlated with VB9 and VB12 levels. Out of 50 MBA patients 40 (80%) and 44 (88%) subjects had very low VB12 and VB9 levels respectively. In contrast, only 2 (4%) and 12 (24%) non-megaloblastic anemia controls, out of 50 subjects, had low VB12 and VB9 respectively. Correlating with low vitamin B9 and B12, the homocysteine levels were high in 80% cases. But, only 20% non-megaloblastic controls exhibited high homocysteine in plasma. Immunohistochemical analysis for p53 expression showed a significantly high level of expression in MBA cases and no-or very low-expression in control subjects. Our correlation studies comparing the VB12 and VB9 levels with p53 expression concludes unusually high p53 levels in patients suffering from VB12 and VB9 deficiency induced

  17. Comparative Assessment of Vitamin-B12, Folic Acid and Homocysteine Levels in Relation to p53 Expression in Megaloblastic Anemia

    PubMed Central

    Yadav, Manish K.; Manoli, Nandini M.

    2016-01-01

    Background Megaloblastic anemia (MBA), also known as macrocytic anemia, is a type of anemia characterized by decreased number of RBCs as well as the presence of unusually large, abnormal and poorly developed erythrocytes (megaloblasts), which fail to enter blood circulation due to their larger size. Lack of vitamin-B12 (VB12) and / or folate (Vitamin-B9, VB9) with elevated homocysteine is the key factor responsible for megaloblastic anemia. Prior studies have demonstrated the induction of apoptosis in these abnormal under-developed erythrocytes. However, it is not clear whether this apoptosis induction is due to elevated p53 level or due to any other mechanism. Furthermore, it is also not fully known whether decreased vitamin-B12 and / or folate are responsible for apoptosis induction mediated by p53 in pre-erythroblasts. Methods Levels of serum VB9, VB12 and homocysteine in 50 patients suffering from MBA were compared with 50 non-megaloblastic anemia control subjects, who were referred by the clinicians for bone marrow examination for medical conditions other than MBA. Next, we have measured the p53 expression in the paraffin embedded blocks prepared from bone marrow biopsy, using immunohistochemistry, and the expression levels correlated with VB9 and VB12 levels. Results Out of 50 MBA patients 40 (80%) and 44 (88%) subjects had very low VB12 and VB9 levels respectively. In contrast, only 2 (4%) and 12 (24%) non-megaloblastic anemia controls, out of 50 subjects, had low VB12 and VB9 respectively. Correlating with low vitamin B9 and B12, the homocysteine levels were high in 80% cases. But, only 20% non-megaloblastic controls exhibited high homocysteine in plasma. Immunohistochemical analysis for p53 expression showed a significantly high level of expression in MBA cases and no—or very low—expression in control subjects. Our correlation studies comparing the VB12 and VB9 levels with p53 expression concludes unusually high p53 levels in patients suffering from VB

  18. Relative and absolute reliability of measures of linoleic acid-derived oxylipins in human plasma.

    PubMed

    Gouveia-Figueira, Sandra; Bosson, Jenny A; Unosson, Jon; Behndig, Annelie F; Nording, Malin L; Fowler, Christopher J

    2015-09-01

    Modern analytical techniques allow for the measurement of oxylipins derived from linoleic acid in biological samples. Most validatory work has concerned extraction techniques, repeated analysis of aliquots from the same biological sample, and the influence of external factors such as diet and heparin treatment upon their levels, whereas less is known about the relative and absolute reliability of measurements undertaken on different days. A cohort of nineteen healthy males were used, where samples were taken at the same time of day on two occasions, at least 7 days apart. Relative reliability was assessed using Lin's concordance correlation coefficients (CCC) and intraclass correlation coefficients (ICC). Absolute reliability was assessed by Bland-Altman analyses. Nine linoleic acid oxylipins were investigated. ICC and CCC values ranged from acceptable (0.56 [13-HODE]) to poor (near zero [9(10)- and 12(13)-EpOME]). Bland-Altman limits of agreement were in general quite wide, ranging from ±0.5 (12,13-DiHOME) to ±2 (9(10)-EpOME; log10 scale). It is concluded that relative reliability of linoleic acid-derived oxylipins varies between lipids with compounds such as the HODEs showing better relative reliability than compounds such as the EpOMEs. These differences should be kept in mind when designing and interpreting experiments correlating plasma levels of these lipids with factors such as age, body mass index, rating scales etc. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Ecdysteroids regulate the levels of Molt-Inhibiting Hormone (MIH) expression in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus.

    PubMed

    Techa, Sirinart; Chung, J Sook

    2015-01-01

    Arthropod molt is coordinated through the interplay between ecdysteroids and neuropeptide hormones. In crustaceans, changes in the activity of Y-organs during the molt cycle have been regulated by molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH) and crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH). Little has been known of the mode of direct effects of ecdysteroids on the levels of MIH and CHH in the eyestalk ganglia during the molt cycle. This study focused on a putative feedback of ecdysteroids on the expression levels of MIH transcripts using in vitro incubation study with ecdysteroids and in vivo RNAi in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Our results show a specific expression of ecdysone receptor (EcR) in which EcR1 is the major isoform in eyestalk ganglia. The initial elevation of MIH expression at the early premolt stages is replicated by in vitro incubations of eyestalk ganglia with ecdysteroids that mimic the intrinsic conditions of D0 stage: the concentration (75 ng/ml) and composition (ponasterone A and 20-hydroxyecdysone at a 3:1 (w:w) ratio). Additionally, multiple injections of EcR1-dsRNA reduce MIH expression by 67%, compared to the controls. Our data provide evidence on a putative feedback mechanism of hormonal regulation during molting cycle, specifically how the molt cycle is repeated during the life cycle of crustaceans. The elevated concentrations of ecdysteroids at early premolt stage may act positively on the levels of MIH expression in the eyestalk ganglia. Subsequently, the increased MIH titers in the hemolymph at postmolt would inhibit the synthesis and release of ecdysteroids by Y-organs, resulting in re-setting the subsequent molt cycle.

  20. Ecdysteroids Regulate the Levels of Molt-Inhibiting Hormone (MIH) Expression in the Blue Crab, Callinectes sapidus

    PubMed Central

    Techa, Sirinart; Chung, J. Sook

    2015-01-01

    Arthropod molt is coordinated through the interplay between ecdysteroids and neuropeptide hormones. In crustaceans, changes in the activity of Y-organs during the molt cycle have been regulated by molt-inhibiting hormone (MIH) and crustacean hyperglycemic hormone (CHH). Little has been known of the mode of direct effects of ecdysteroids on the levels of MIH and CHH in the eyestalk ganglia during the molt cycle. This study focused on a putative feedback of ecdysteroids on the expression levels of MIH transcripts using in vitro incubation study with ecdysteroids and in vivo RNAi in the blue crab, Callinectes sapidus. Our results show a specific expression of ecdysone receptor (EcR) in which EcR1 is the major isoform in eyestalk ganglia. The initial elevation of MIH expression at the early premolt stages is replicated by in vitro incubations of eyestalk ganglia with ecdysteroids that mimic the intrinsic conditions of D0 stage: the concentration (75 ng/ml) and composition (ponasterone A and 20-hydroxyecdysone at a 3:1 (w:w) ratio). Additionally, multiple injections of EcR1-dsRNA reduce MIH expression by 67%, compared to the controls. Our data provide evidence on a putative feedback mechanism of hormonal regulation during molting cycle, specifically how the molt cycle is repeated during the life cycle of crustaceans. The elevated concentrations of ecdysteroids at early premolt stage may act positively on the levels of MIH expression in the eyestalk ganglia. Subsequently, the increased MIH titers in the hemolymph at postmolt would inhibit the synthesis and release of ecdysteroids by Y-organs, resulting in re-setting the subsequent molt cycle. PMID:25849453