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Sample records for bacterial chondroitinase abc

  1. Trafficking and processing of bacterial proteins by mammalian cells: Insights from chondroitinase ABC.

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    Muir, Elizabeth; Raza, Mansoor; Ellis, Clare; Burnside, Emily; Love, Fiona; Heller, Simon; Elliot, Matthew; Daniell, Esther; Dasgupta, Debayan; Alves, Nuno; Day, Priscilla; Fawcett, James; Keynes, Roger

    2017-01-01

    There is very little reported in the literature about the relationship between modifications of bacterial proteins and their secretion by mammalian cells that synthesize them. We previously reported that the secretion of the bacterial enzyme Chondroitinase ABC by mammalian cells requires the strategic removal of at least three N-glycosylation sites. The aim of this study was to determine if it is possible to enhance the efficacy of the enzyme as a treatment for spinal cord injury by increasing the quantity of enzyme secreted or by altering its cellular location. To determine if the efficiency of enzyme secretion could be further increased, cells were transfected with constructs encoding the gene for chondroitinase ABC modified for expression by mammalian cells; these contained additional modifications of strategic N-glycosylation sites or alternative signal sequences to direct secretion of the enzyme from the cells. We show that while removal of certain specific N-glycosylation sites enhances enzyme secretion, N-glycosylation of at least two other sites, N-856 and N-773, is essential for both production and secretion of active enzyme. Furthermore, we find that the signal sequence directing secretion also influences the quantity of enzyme secreted, and that this varies widely amongst the cell types tested. Last, we find that replacing the 3'UTR on the cDNA encoding Chondroitinase ABC with that of β-actin is sufficient to target the enzyme to the neuronal growth cone when transfected into neurons. This also enhances neurite outgrowth on an inhibitory substrate. Some intracellular trafficking pathways are adversely affected by cryptic signals present in the bacterial gene sequence, whilst unexpectedly others are required for efficient secretion of the enzyme. Furthermore, targeting chondroitinase to the neuronal growth cone promotes its ability to increase neurite outgrowth on an inhibitory substrate. These findings are timely in view of the renewed prospects for

  2. Trafficking and processing of bacterial proteins by mammalian cells: Insights from chondroitinase ABC.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Elizabeth Muir

    Full Text Available There is very little reported in the literature about the relationship between modifications of bacterial proteins and their secretion by mammalian cells that synthesize them. We previously reported that the secretion of the bacterial enzyme Chondroitinase ABC by mammalian cells requires the strategic removal of at least three N-glycosylation sites. The aim of this study was to determine if it is possible to enhance the efficacy of the enzyme as a treatment for spinal cord injury by increasing the quantity of enzyme secreted or by altering its cellular location.To determine if the efficiency of enzyme secretion could be further increased, cells were transfected with constructs encoding the gene for chondroitinase ABC modified for expression by mammalian cells; these contained additional modifications of strategic N-glycosylation sites or alternative signal sequences to direct secretion of the enzyme from the cells. We show that while removal of certain specific N-glycosylation sites enhances enzyme secretion, N-glycosylation of at least two other sites, N-856 and N-773, is essential for both production and secretion of active enzyme. Furthermore, we find that the signal sequence directing secretion also influences the quantity of enzyme secreted, and that this varies widely amongst the cell types tested. Last, we find that replacing the 3'UTR on the cDNA encoding Chondroitinase ABC with that of β-actin is sufficient to target the enzyme to the neuronal growth cone when transfected into neurons. This also enhances neurite outgrowth on an inhibitory substrate.Some intracellular trafficking pathways are adversely affected by cryptic signals present in the bacterial gene sequence, whilst unexpectedly others are required for efficient secretion of the enzyme. Furthermore, targeting chondroitinase to the neuronal growth cone promotes its ability to increase neurite outgrowth on an inhibitory substrate. These findings are timely in view of the renewed

  3. Chondroitinase ABC plus bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells for repair of spinal cord injury☆

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    Zhang, Chun; He, Xijing; Li, Haopeng; Wang, Guoyu

    2013-01-01

    As chondroitinase ABC can improve the hostile microenvironment and cell transplantation is proven to be effective after spinal cord injury, we hypothesized that their combination would be a more effective treatment option. At 5 days after T8 spinal cord crush injury, rats were injected with bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell suspension or chondroitinase ABC 1 mm from the edge of spinal cord damage zone. Chondroitinase ABC was first injected, and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell suspension was injected on the next day in the combination group. At 14 days, the mean Basso, Beattie and Bresnahan score of the rats in the combination group was higher than other groups. Hematoxylin-eosin staining showed that the necrotic area was significantly reduced in the combination group compared with other groups. Glial fibrillary acidic protein-chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan double staining showed that the damage zone of astrocytic scars was significantly reduced without the cavity in the combination group. Glial fibrillary acidic protein/growth associated protein-43 double immunostaining revealed that positive fibers traversed the damage zone in the combination group. These results suggest that the combination of chondroitinase ABC and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cell transplantation contributes to the repair of spinal cord injury. PMID:25206389

  4. Sustained Delivery of Chondroitinase ABC from Hydrogel System

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    Filippo Rossi

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available In the injured spinal cord, chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs are the principal responsible of axon growth inhibition and they contribute to regenerative failure, promoting glial scar formation. Chondroitinase ABC (chABC is known for being able to digest proteoglycans, thus degrading glial scar and favoring axonal regrowth. However, its classic administration is invasive, infection-prone and clinically problematic. An agarose-carbomer (AC1 hydrogel, already used in SCI repair strategies, was here investigated as a delivery system capable of an effective chABC administration: the material ability to include chABC within its pores and the possibility to be injected into the target tissue were firstly proved. Subsequently, release kinetic and the maintenance of enzymatic activity were positively assessed: AC1 hydrogel was thus confirmed to be a feasible tool for chABC delivery and a promising device for spinal cord injury topic repair strategies.

  5. Preparation and purification of Flavobacterium heparinum chondroitinases AC and B by hydrophobic interaction chromatography

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    Aguiar J.A.K.

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available Flavobacterium heparinum is a soil bacterium that produces several mucopolysaccharidases such as heparinase, heparitinases I and II, and chondroitinases AC, B, C and ABC. The purpose of the present study was to optimize the preparation of F. heparinum chondroitinases, which are very useful tools for the identification and structural characterization of chondroitin and dermatan sulfates. We observed that during the routine procedure for cell disruption (ultrasound, 100 kHz, 5 min some of the chondroitinase B activity was lost. Using milder conditions (2 min, most of the chondroitinase B and AC protein was solubilized and the enzyme activities were preserved. Tryptic soy broth without glucose was the best culture medium both for bacterial growth and enzyme induction. Chondroitinases AC and B were separated from each other and also from glucuronidases and sulfatases by hydrophobic interaction chromatography on HP Phenyl-Sepharose. A rapid method for screening of the column fractions was also developed based on the metachromatic shift of the color of dimethylmethylene blue.

  6. Effects of Chondroitinase ABC-Mediated Proteoglycan Digestion on Decellularization and Recellularization of Articular Cartilage.

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    Catherine A Bautista

    Full Text Available Articular cartilage has a limited capacity to heal itself and thus focal defects often result in the development of osteoarthritis. Current cartilage tissue engineering strategies seek to regenerate injured tissue by creating scaffolds that aim to mimic the unique structure and composition of native articular cartilage. Decellularization is a novel strategy that aims to preserve the bioactive factors and 3D biophysical environment of the native extracellular matrix while removing potentially immunogenic factors. The purpose of this study was to develop a procedure that can enable decellularization and recellularization of intact articular cartilage matrix. Full-thickness porcine articular cartilage plugs were decellularized with a series of freeze-thaw cycles and 0.1% (w/v sodium dodecyl sulfate detergent cycles. Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC was applied before the detergent cycles to digest glycosaminoglycans in order to enhance donor chondrocyte removal and seeded cell migration. Porcine synovium-derived mesenchymal stem cells were seeded onto the decellularized cartilage scaffolds and cultured for up to 28 days. The optimized decellularization protocol removed 94% of native DNA per sample wet weight, while collagen content and alignment were preserved. Glycosaminoglycan depletion prior to the detergent cycles increased removal of nuclear material. Seeded cells infiltrated up to 100 μm into the cartilage deep zone after 28 days in culture. ChABC treatment enhances decellularization of the relatively dense, impermeable articular cartilage by reducing glycosaminoglycan content. ChABC treatment did not appear to affect cell migration during recellularization under static, in vitro culture, highlighting the need for more dynamic seeding methods.

  7. Strategies for neurotrophin-3 and chondroitinase ABC release from freeze-cast chitosan-alginate nerve-guidance scaffolds.

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    Francis, Nicola L; Hunger, Philipp M; Donius, Amalie E; Wegst, Ulrike G K; Wheatley, Margaret A

    2017-01-01

    Freeze casting, or controlled unidirectional solidification, can be used to fabricate chitosan-alginate (C-A) scaffolds with highly aligned porosity that are suitable for use as nerve-guidance channels. To augment the guidance of growth across a spinal cord injury lesion, these scaffolds are now evaluated in vitro to assess their ability to release neurotrophin-3 (NT-3) and chondroitinase ABC (chABC) in a controlled manner. Protein-loaded microcapsules were incorporated into C-A scaffolds prior to freeze casting without affecting the original scaffold architecture. In vitro protein release was not significantly different when comparing protein loaded directly into the scaffolds with release from scaffolds containing incorporated microcapsules. NT-3 was released from the C-A scaffolds for 8 weeks in vitro, while chABC was released for up to 7 weeks. Low total percentages of protein released from the scaffolds over this time period were attributed to limitation of diffusion by the interpenetrating polymer network matrix of the scaffold walls. NT-3 and chABC released from the scaffolds retained bioactivity, as determined by a neurite outgrowth assay, and the promotion of neurite growth across an inhibitory barrier of chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans. This demonstrates the potential of these multifunctional scaffolds for enhancing axonal regeneration through growth-inhibiting glial scars via the sustained release of chABC and NT-3. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  8. Chondroitinase C Selectively Degrades Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans that Inhibit Axonal Growth within the Endoneurium of Peripheral Nerve.

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    Graham, James B; Muir, David

    2016-01-01

    The success of peripheral nerve regeneration is highly dependent on the regrowth of axons within the endoneurial basal lamina tubes that promote target-oriented pathfinding and appropriate reinnervation. Restoration of nerve continuity at this structural level after nerve transection injury by direct repair and nerve grafting remains a major surgical challenge. Recently, biological approaches that alter the balance of growth inhibitors and promoters in nerve have shown promise to improve appropriate axonal regeneration and recovery of peripheral nerve function. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are known inhibitors of axonal growth. This growth inhibition is mainly associated with a CSPG's glycosaminoglycan chains. Enzymatic degradation of these chains with chondroitinase eliminates this inhibitory activity and, when applied in vivo, can improve the outcome of nerve repair. To date, these encouraging findings were obtained with chondroitinase ABC (a pan-specific chondroitinase). The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of CSPG subtypes in rodent, rabbit, and human peripheral nerve and to test more selective biological enzymatic approaches to improve appropriate axonal growth within the endoneurium and minimize aberrant growth. Here we provide evidence that the endoneurium, but not the surrounding epineurium, is rich in CSPGs that have glycosaminoglycan chains readily degraded by chondroitinase C. Biochemical studies indicate that chondroitinase C has degradation specificity for 6-sulfated glycosaminoglycans found in peripheral nerve. We found that chondroitinase C degrades and inactivates inhibitory CSPGs within the endoneurium but not so much in the surrounding nerve compartments. Cryoculture bioassays (neurons grown on tissue sections) show that chondroitinase C selectively and significantly enhanced neuritic growth associated with the endoneurial basal laminae without changing growth-inhibiting properties of the surrounding epineurium

  9. Chondroitinase C Selectively Degrades Chondroitin Sulfate Glycosaminoglycans that Inhibit Axonal Growth within the Endoneurium of Peripheral Nerve.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    James B Graham

    Full Text Available The success of peripheral nerve regeneration is highly dependent on the regrowth of axons within the endoneurial basal lamina tubes that promote target-oriented pathfinding and appropriate reinnervation. Restoration of nerve continuity at this structural level after nerve transection injury by direct repair and nerve grafting remains a major surgical challenge. Recently, biological approaches that alter the balance of growth inhibitors and promoters in nerve have shown promise to improve appropriate axonal regeneration and recovery of peripheral nerve function. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs are known inhibitors of axonal growth. This growth inhibition is mainly associated with a CSPG's glycosaminoglycan chains. Enzymatic degradation of these chains with chondroitinase eliminates this inhibitory activity and, when applied in vivo, can improve the outcome of nerve repair. To date, these encouraging findings were obtained with chondroitinase ABC (a pan-specific chondroitinase. The aim of this study was to examine the distribution of CSPG subtypes in rodent, rabbit, and human peripheral nerve and to test more selective biological enzymatic approaches to improve appropriate axonal growth within the endoneurium and minimize aberrant growth. Here we provide evidence that the endoneurium, but not the surrounding epineurium, is rich in CSPGs that have glycosaminoglycan chains readily degraded by chondroitinase C. Biochemical studies indicate that chondroitinase C has degradation specificity for 6-sulfated glycosaminoglycans found in peripheral nerve. We found that chondroitinase C degrades and inactivates inhibitory CSPGs within the endoneurium but not so much in the surrounding nerve compartments. Cryoculture bioassays (neurons grown on tissue sections show that chondroitinase C selectively and significantly enhanced neuritic growth associated with the endoneurial basal laminae without changing growth-inhibiting properties of the surrounding

  10. Purification, characterization of Chondroitinase ABC from Sphingomonas paucimobilis and in vitro cardiocytoprotection of the enzymatically degraded CS-A.

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    Fu, Jingyun; Jiang, Zhiwen; Chang, Jing; Han, Baoqin; Liu, Wanshun; Peng, Yanfei

    2018-04-24

    An extracellular chondroitinase ABC (ChSase ABC) produced by Sphingomonas paucimobilis was purified to homogeneity through ammonium sulfate precipitation, DEAE-Sepharose Fast Flow and Sephadex G-100 chromatography. The molecular weight was 82.3 kDa. It showed specific lyase activity toward chondroitin sulfate A (CS-A), CS-B, CS-C and hyaluronan (HA). Using CS-A as substrate, the specific activity was 98.04 U/mg, the maximal reaction rate (V max ) and Michaelis-Menten constant (K m ) were 0.49 μmol/min/ml and 0.79 mg/ml, respectively. Highest activity was obtained at pH 6.5 and 40 °C, and Hg 2+ could strongly inhibit the enzyme activity. Mass spectrometry analysis indicated CS-A was degraded to unsaturated disaccharides by ChSase ABC. In vitro cytotoxic tests showed that CS-A oligosaccharide at the concentration of 50 and 100 μg/ml could promote the proliferation of normal H9c2 myocardial cells, decrease the damage induced by isoproterenol (ISO) and accelerate the recovery of cells injured by ISO. These findings suggested that ChSase ABC from Sphingomonas paucimobilis could be a promising tool for the structural analysis and bioactive oligosaccharide preparation of glucosaminoglycans. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  11. A chondroitinase-ABC and TGF-β1 treatment regimen for enhancing the mechanical properties of tissue engineered fibrocartilage

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    MacBarb, Regina F.; Makris, Eleftherios A.; Hu, Jerry C.; Athanasiou, Kyriacos A.

    2012-01-01

    The development of functionally equivalent fibrocartilage remains elusive despite efforts to engineer tissues such as the knee menisci, intervertebral disc, and TMJ disc. Attempts to engineer these structures often fail to create tissues with mechanical properties on par with native tissue, resulting in constructs unsuitable for clinical applications. The objective of this study was to engineer a spectrum of biomimetic fibrocartilages representative of the distinct functional properties found in native tissues. Using the self-assembly process, different co-cultures of meniscus cells (MCs) and articular chondrocytes (ACs) were seeded into agarose wells and treated with the catabolic agent chondroitinase-ABC (C-ABC) and the anabolic agent transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) via a two-factor (cell ratio and bioactive treatment), full factorial study design. Application of both C-ABC and TGF-β1 resulted in a beneficial or positive increase in the collagen content of treated constructs compared to controls. Significant increases in both the collagen density and fiber diameter were also seen with this treatment, increasing these values 32% and 15%, respectively, over control values. Mechanical testing found the combined bioactive treatment to synergistically increase the Young’s modulus and ultimate tensile strength of the engineered fibrocartilages compared to controls, with values reaching the lower spectrum of those found in native tissues. Together, these data demonstrate that C-ABC and TGF-β1 interact to develop a denser collagen matrix better able to withstand tensile loading. This study highlights a way to optimize the tensile properties of engineered fibrocartilage using a biochemical and biophysical agent together to create distinct fibrocartilages with functional properties mimicking those of native tissue. PMID:23041782

  12. Large-scale chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan digestion with chondroitinase gene therapy leads to reduced pathology and modulates macrophage phenotype following spinal cord contusion injury

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Bartus, Katalin; James, Nicholas D; Didangelos, Athanasios; Bosch, Karen D; Verhaagen, J.; Yáñez-Muñoz, Rafael J; Rogers, John H; Schneider, Bernard L; Muir, Elizabeth M; Bradbury, Elizabeth J

    2014-01-01

    Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs) inhibit repair following spinal cord injury. Here we use mammalian-compatible engineered chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) delivered via lentiviral vector (LV-ChABC) to explore the consequences of large-scale CSPG digestion for spinal cord repair. We demonstrate

  13. IGF-1 and Chondroitinase ABC Augment Nerve Regeneration after Vascularized Composite Limb Allotransplantation.

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    Nataliya V Kostereva

    Full Text Available Impaired nerve regeneration and inadequate recovery of motor and sensory function following peripheral nerve repair remain the most significant hurdles to optimal functional and quality of life outcomes in vascularized tissue allotransplantation (VCA. Neurotherapeutics such as Insulin-like Growth Factor-1 (IGF-1 and chondroitinase ABC (CH have shown promise in augmenting or accelerating nerve regeneration in experimental models and may have potential in VCA. The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of low dose IGF-1, CH or their combination (IGF-1+CH on nerve regeneration following VCA. We used an allogeneic rat hind limb VCA model maintained on low-dose FK506 (tacrolimus therapy to prevent rejection. Experimental animals received neurotherapeutics administered intra-operatively as multiple intraneural injections. The IGF-1 and IGF-1+CH groups received daily IGF-1 (intramuscular and intraneural injections. Histomorphometry and immunohistochemistry were used to evaluate outcomes at five weeks. Overall, compared to controls, all experimental groups showed improvements in nerve and muscle (gastrocnemius histomorphometry. The IGF-1 group demonstrated superior distal regeneration as confirmed by Schwann cell (SC immunohistochemistry as well as some degree of extrafascicular regeneration. IGF-1 and CH effectively promote nerve regeneration after VCA as confirmed by histomorphometric and immunohistochemical outcomes.

  14. A chondroitinase-ABC and TGF-β1 treatment regimen for enhancing the mechanical properties of tissue-engineered fibrocartilage.

    Science.gov (United States)

    MacBarb, Regina F; Makris, Eleftherios A; Hu, Jerry C; Athanasiou, Kyriacos A

    2013-01-01

    The development of functionally equivalent fibrocartilage remains elusive despite efforts to engineer tissues such as knee meniscus, intervertebral disc and temporomandibular joint disc. Attempts to engineer these structures often fail to create tissues with mechanical properties on a par with native tissue, resulting in constructs unsuitable for clinical applications. The objective of this study was to engineer a spectrum of biomimetic fibrocartilages representative of the distinct functional properties found in native tissues. Using the self-assembly process, different co-cultures of meniscus cells and articular chondrocytes were seeded into agarose wells and treated with the catabolic agent chondroitinase-ABC (C-ABC) and the anabolic agent transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) via a two-factor (cell ratio and bioactive treatment), full factorial study design. Application of both C-ABC and TGF-β1 resulted in a beneficial or positive increase in the collagen content of treated constructs compared to controls. Significant increases in both the collagen density and fiber diameter were also seen with this treatment, increasing these values by 32 and 15%, respectively, over control values. Mechanical testing found the combined bioactive treatment to synergistically increase the Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength of the engineered fibrocartilages compared to controls, with values reaching the lower spectrum of those found in native tissues. Together, these data demonstrate that C-ABC and TGF-β1 interact to develop a denser collagen matrix better able to withstand tensile loading. This study highlights a way to optimize the tensile properties of engineered fibrocartilage using a biochemical and a biophysical agent together to create distinct fibrocartilages with functional properties mimicking those of native tissue. Copyright © 2012 Acta Materialia Inc. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  15. Improvement of activity and stability of Chondroitinase ABC I by introducing an aromatic cluster at the surface of protein.

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    Shahaboddin, Mohammad Esmaeil; Khajeh, Khosro; Maleki, Monireh; Golestani, Abolfazl

    2017-10-01

    Chondroitinase ABC I (ChABC I) has been shown to depolymerize a variety of glycosaminoglycan substrates and promote regeneration of damaged spinal cord. However, to date, intrathecal delivery methods have been suboptimal largely due to enzyme instability which necessitates repeated administration to the injured loci. Among the aromatic amino acids, tyrosine has been shown to be more effective in creation of stable clusters and further stabilize of the proteins. Bioinformatics approaches have been used to examine the effect of an extra aromatic cluster at the surface of ChABC I. In this study two amino acids i.e., Asn 806 and Gln 810 were mutated to tyrosine and to alanine as negative control. In this way, four variants i.e., N806Y/Q810Y, N806A/Q810Y, N806Y/Q810A and N806A/Q810A were created. The results showed that N806Y/Q810Y mutation improved both activity and thermal stability of the enzyme while Ala substitution reduced the enzyme activity and destabilized it. Structural analysis of mutants showed an increase in intrinsic fluorescence intensity and secondary structure content of N806Y/Q810Y mutant when compared to the wild type enzyme indicating a more rigid structure of this variant. Moreover, the N806Y/Q810Y enzyme displayed a remarkable resistance against trypsin degradation with a half-life (t 1/2 ) of 45.0min versus 32.5min of wild-type. In conclusion, the data revealed that structural features and activity of ChABC I can be improved by introducing appropriate aromatic clusters at the surface of the enzyme. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  16. Porous silicon nanoparticle as a stabilizing support for chondroitinase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daneshjou, Sara; Dabirmanesh, Bahareh; Rahimi, Fereshteh; Khajeh, Khosro

    2017-01-01

    Chondroitinase ABCI (cABCI) from Proteus vulgaris is a drug enzyme that can be used to treat spinal cord injuries. One of the main problems of chondroitinase ABC1 is its low thermal stability. The objective of the current study was to stabilize the enzyme through entrapment within porous silicon (pSi) nanoparticles. pSi was prepared by an electrochemical etch of p-type silicon using hydrofluoric acid/ethanol. The size of nanoparticles were determined 180nm by dynamic light scattering and the mean pore diameter was in the range of 40-60nm obtained by scanning electron microscopy. Enzymes were immobilized on porouse silicon nanoparticles by entrapment. The capacity of matrix was 35μg enzyme per 1mg of silicon. The immobilized enzyme displayed lower V max values compared to the free enzyme, but Km values were the same for both enzymes. Immobilization significantly increased the enzyme stability at various temperatures (-20, 4, 25 and 37°C). For example, at 4°C, the free enzyme (in 10mM imidazole) retained 20% of its activity after 100min, while the immobilized one retained 50% of its initial activity. Nanoparticles loading capacity and the enzyme release rate showed that the selected particles could be a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for chondroitinase. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  17. Examination of the Combined Effects of Chondroitinase ABC, Growth Factors and Locomotor Training following Compressive Spinal Cord Injury on Neuroanatomical Plasticity and Kinematics

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    Alluin, Olivier; Fehlings, Michael G.; Rossignol, Serge; Karimi-Abdolrezaee, Soheila

    2014-01-01

    While several cellular and pharmacological treatments have been evaluated following spinal cord injury (SCI) in animal models, it is increasingly recognized that approaches to address the glial scar, including the use of chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), can facilitate neuroanatomical plasticity. Moreover, increasing evidence suggests that combinatorial strategies are key to unlocking the plasticity that is enabled by ChABC. Given this, we evaluated the anatomical and functional consequences of ChABC in a combinatorial approach that also included growth factor (EGF, FGF2 and PDGF-AA) treatments and daily treadmill training on the recovery of hindlimb locomotion in rats with mid thoracic clip compression SCI. Using quantitative neuroanatomical and kinematic assessments, we demonstrate that the combined therapy significantly enhanced the neuroanatomical plasticity of major descending spinal tracts such as corticospinal and serotonergic-spinal pathways. Additionally, the pharmacological treatment attenuated chronic astrogliosis and inflammation at and adjacent to the lesion with the modest synergistic effects of treadmill training. We also observed a trend for earlier recovery of locomotion accompanied by an improvement of the overall angular excursions in rats treated with ChABC and growth factors in the first 4 weeks after SCI. At the end of the 7-week recovery period, rats from all groups exhibited an impressive spontaneous recovery of the kinematic parameters during locomotion on treadmill. However, although the combinatorial treatment led to clear chronic neuroanatomical plasticity, these structural changes did not translate to an additional long-term improvement of locomotor parameters studied including hindlimb-forelimb coupling. These findings demonstrate the beneficial effects of combined ChABC, growth factors and locomotor training on the plasticity of the injured spinal cord and the potential to induce earlier neurobehavioral recovery. However, additional

  18. Examination of the combined effects of chondroitinase ABC, growth factors and locomotor training following compressive spinal cord injury on neuroanatomical plasticity and kinematics.

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    Olivier Alluin

    Full Text Available While several cellular and pharmacological treatments have been evaluated following spinal cord injury (SCI in animal models, it is increasingly recognized that approaches to address the glial scar, including the use of chondroitinase ABC (ChABC, can facilitate neuroanatomical plasticity. Moreover, increasing evidence suggests that combinatorial strategies are key to unlocking the plasticity that is enabled by ChABC. Given this, we evaluated the anatomical and functional consequences of ChABC in a combinatorial approach that also included growth factor (EGF, FGF2 and PDGF-AA treatments and daily treadmill training on the recovery of hindlimb locomotion in rats with mid thoracic clip compression SCI. Using quantitative neuroanatomical and kinematic assessments, we demonstrate that the combined therapy significantly enhanced the neuroanatomical plasticity of major descending spinal tracts such as corticospinal and serotonergic-spinal pathways. Additionally, the pharmacological treatment attenuated chronic astrogliosis and inflammation at and adjacent to the lesion with the modest synergistic effects of treadmill training. We also observed a trend for earlier recovery of locomotion accompanied by an improvement of the overall angular excursions in rats treated with ChABC and growth factors in the first 4 weeks after SCI. At the end of the 7-week recovery period, rats from all groups exhibited an impressive spontaneous recovery of the kinematic parameters during locomotion on treadmill. However, although the combinatorial treatment led to clear chronic neuroanatomical plasticity, these structural changes did not translate to an additional long-term improvement of locomotor parameters studied including hindlimb-forelimb coupling. These findings demonstrate the beneficial effects of combined ChABC, growth factors and locomotor training on the plasticity of the injured spinal cord and the potential to induce earlier neurobehavioral recovery. However

  19. Combined use of chondroitinase-ABC, TGF-β1, and collagen crosslinking agent lysyl oxidase to engineer functional neotissues for fibrocartilage repair.

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    Makris, Eleftherios A; MacBarb, Regina F; Paschos, Nikolaos K; Hu, Jerry C; Athanasiou, Kyriacos A

    2014-08-01

    Patients suffering from damaged or diseased fibrocartilages currently have no effective long-term treatment options. Despite their potential, engineered tissues suffer from inferior biomechanical integrity and an inability to integrate in vivo. The present study identifies a treatment regimen (including the biophysical agent chondroitinase-ABC, the biochemical agent TGF-β1, and the collagen crosslinking agent lysyl oxidase) to prime highly cellularized, scaffold-free neofibrocartilage implants, effecting continued improvement in vivo. We show these agents drive in vitro neofibrocartilage matrix maturation toward synergistically enhanced Young's modulus and ultimate tensile strength values, which were increased 245% and 186%, respectively, over controls. Furthermore, an in vitro fibrocartilage defect model found this treatment regimen to significantly increase the integration tensile properties between treated neofibrocartilage and native tissue. Through translating this technology to an in vivo fibrocartilage defect model, our results indicate, for the first time, that a pre-treatment can prime neofibrocartilage for significantly enhanced integration potential in vivo, with interfacial tensile stiffness and strength increasing by 730% and 745%, respectively, compared to integration values achieved in vitro. Our results suggest that specifically targeting collagen assembly and organization is a powerful means to augment overall neotissue mechanics and integration potential toward improved clinical feasibility. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  20. Neuronal glycosylation differentials in normal, injured and chondroitinase-treated environments

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kilcoyne, Michelle; Sharma, Shashank; McDevitt, Niamh; O’Leary, Claire; Joshi, Lokesh; McMahon, Siobhán S.

    2012-01-01

    Highlights: ► Carbohydrates are important in the CNS and ChABC has been used for spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment. ► Neuronal glycosylation in injury and after ChABC treatment is unknown. ► In silico mining verified that glyco-related genes were differentially regulated after SCI. ► In vitro model system revealed abnormal sialylation in an injured environment. ► The model indicated a return to normal neuronal glycosylation after ChABC treatment. -- Abstract: Glycosylation is found ubiquitously throughout the central nervous system (CNS). Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are a group of molecules heavily substituted with glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and are found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell surfaces. Upon CNS injury, a glial scar is formed, which is inhibitory for axon regeneration. Several CSPGs are up-regulated within the glial scar, including NG2, and these CSPGs are key inhibitory molecules of axonal regeneration. Treatment with chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) can neutralise the inhibitory nature of NG2. A gene expression dataset was mined in silico to verify differentially regulated glycosylation-related genes in neurons after spinal cord injury and identify potential targets for further investigation. To establish the glycosylation differential of neurons that grow in a healthy, inhibitory and ChABC-treated environment, we established an indirect co-culture system where PC12 neurons were grown with primary astrocytes, Neu7 astrocytes (which overexpress NG2) and Neu7 astrocytes treated with ChABC. After 1, 4 and 8 days culture, lectin cytochemistry of the neurons was performed using five fluorescently-labelled lectins (ECA MAA, PNA, SNA-I and WFA). Usually α-(2,6)-linked sialylation scarcely occurs in the CNS but this motif was observed on the neurons in the injured environment only at day 8. Treatment with ChABC was successful in returning neuronal glycosylation to normal conditions at all timepoints for MAA, PNA and SNA-I staining

  1. Neuronal glycosylation differentials in normal, injured and chondroitinase-treated environments

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kilcoyne, Michelle; Sharma, Shashank [Glycoscience Group, National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science, National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland); McDevitt, Niamh; O' Leary, Claire [Anatomy, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland); Joshi, Lokesh [Glycoscience Group, National Centre for Biomedical Engineering Science, National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland); McMahon, Siobhan S., E-mail: siobhan.mcmahon@nuigalway.ie [Anatomy, School of Medicine, National University of Ireland, Galway (Ireland)

    2012-04-13

    Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Carbohydrates are important in the CNS and ChABC has been used for spinal cord injury (SCI) treatment. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Neuronal glycosylation in injury and after ChABC treatment is unknown. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer In silico mining verified that glyco-related genes were differentially regulated after SCI. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer In vitro model system revealed abnormal sialylation in an injured environment. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The model indicated a return to normal neuronal glycosylation after ChABC treatment. -- Abstract: Glycosylation is found ubiquitously throughout the central nervous system (CNS). Chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans (CSPGs) are a group of molecules heavily substituted with glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and are found in the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell surfaces. Upon CNS injury, a glial scar is formed, which is inhibitory for axon regeneration. Several CSPGs are up-regulated within the glial scar, including NG2, and these CSPGs are key inhibitory molecules of axonal regeneration. Treatment with chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) can neutralise the inhibitory nature of NG2. A gene expression dataset was mined in silico to verify differentially regulated glycosylation-related genes in neurons after spinal cord injury and identify potential targets for further investigation. To establish the glycosylation differential of neurons that grow in a healthy, inhibitory and ChABC-treated environment, we established an indirect co-culture system where PC12 neurons were grown with primary astrocytes, Neu7 astrocytes (which overexpress NG2) and Neu7 astrocytes treated with ChABC. After 1, 4 and 8 days culture, lectin cytochemistry of the neurons was performed using five fluorescently-labelled lectins (ECA MAA, PNA, SNA-I and WFA). Usually {alpha}-(2,6)-linked sialylation scarcely occurs in the CNS but this motif was observed on the neurons in the injured environment only at day 8. Treatment

  2. [Treatment of lumbar intervertebral disc displacement with chondroitinase ABC--experimental basis for clinical application].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takahashi, Toyomi

    2004-07-01

    After single intradiscal injection of C-ABC in rabbit inter-vertebral discs, water content in the matrix of nucleus pulposus diminished clearly. After similar injection of C-ABC in sheep discs, disc inner pressure was diminished. After single intradiscal injection of C-ABC in dog inter-vertebral discs suffering disc herniation, the syndromes coming from the herniation diminished or disappeared. Based on these observations C-ABC is expected to be a chemonucleolytic agent and a human clinical trial is now in progress.

  3. Inactivation of the Ecs ABC Transporter of Staphylococcus aureus Attenuates Virulence by Altering Composition and Function of Bacterial Wall

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jonsson, Ing-Marie; Juuti, Jarmo T.; Francois, Patrice; AlMajidi, Rana; Pietiainen, Milla; Girard, Myriam; Lindholm, Catharina; Saller, Manfred J.; Driessen, Arnold J. M.; Kuusela, Pentti; Bokarewa, Maria; Schrenzel, Jacques; Kontinen, Vesa P.

    2010-01-01

    Background: Ecs is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter present in aerobic and facultative anaerobic Gram-positive Firmicutes. Inactivation of Bacillus subtilis Ecs causes pleiotropic changes in the bacterial phenotype including inhibition of intramembrane proteolysis. The molecule(s)

  4. Not all lubricin isoforms are substituted with a glycosaminoglycan chain

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lord, Megan S; Estrella, Ruby P; Chuang, Christine Y

    2012-01-01

    antibodies (MAb) 2-B-6 and MAb 3-B-3 after chondroitinase ABC treatment and keratan sulfate (KS) that was detected by MAb 5-D-4. Further analysis of lubricin-containing fractions that eluted from an anion exchange column indicated that the major population of lubricin could be separated from the CS and KS...... stubs which indicated that this fraction of lubricin was not decorated with glycosaminoglycan chain and was the glycoprotein form of lubricin. Lubricin present in fractions that also contained CS was found to be decorated with CS structures which were reactive with MAb 3-B-3 after chondroitinase ABC...

  5. The ABC transporters in Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Wenlin; Cong, Qian; Pei, Jimin; Kinch, Lisa N; Grishin, Nick V

    2012-11-01

    Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (Ca. L. asiaticus) is a Gram-negative bacterium and the pathogen of Citrus Greening disease (Huanglongbing, HLB). As a parasitic bacterium, Ca. L. asiaticus harbors ABC transporters that play important roles in exchanging chemical compounds between Ca. L. asiaticus and its host. Here, we analyzed all the ABC transporter-related proteins in Ca. L. asiaticus. We identified 14 ABC transporter systems and predicted their structures and substrate specificities. In-depth sequence and structure analysis including multiple sequence alignment, phylogenetic tree reconstruction, and structure comparison further support their function predictions. Our study shows that this bacterium could use these ABC transporters to import metabolites (amino acids and phosphates) and enzyme cofactors (choline, thiamine, iron, manganese, and zinc), resist to organic solvent, heavy metal, and lipid-like drugs, maintain the composition of the outer membrane (OM), and secrete virulence factors. Although the features of most ABC systems could be deduced from the abundant experimental data on their orthologs, we reported several novel observations within ABC system proteins. Moreover, we identified seven nontransport ABC systems that are likely involved in virulence gene expression regulation, transposon excision regulation, and DNA repair. Our analysis reveals several candidates for further studies to understand and control the disease, including the type I virulence factor secretion system and its substrate that are likely related to Ca. L. asiaticus pathogenicity and the ABC transporter systems responsible for bacterial OM biosynthesis that are good drug targets. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  6. Involvement and Regulation of Heparanase in Prostate Cancer Progression

    Science.gov (United States)

    2007-02-01

    side chains; (ii) resistant to further digestion with papain and chondroitinase ABC; and (iii) susceptible to deamination by nitrous acid (Vlodavsky et...they were 5- to 6-fold smaller than intact heparan sulfate side chains, resistant to further digestion with papain and chondroiti- nase ABC, and

  7. Evolutionary Trajectories of Entomopathogenic Fungi ABC Transporters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baral, Bikash

    2017-01-01

    The ABC protein superfamily-also called traffic ATPases-are energy-dependent ubiquitous proteins, representing one of the crucial and the largest family in the fungal genomes. The ATP-binding cassette endows a characteristic 200-250 amino acids and is omnipresent in all organisms ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Unlike in bacteria with nutrient import functions, ABC transporters in fungal entomopathogens serve as effective efflux pumps that are largely involved in the shuttle of metabolites across the biological membranes. Thus, the search for ABC proteins may prove of immense importance in elucidating the functional and molecular mechanism at the host-pathogen (insect-fungus) interface. Their sequence homology, domain topology, and functional traits led to the actual identification of nine different families in fungal entomopathogens. Evolutionary relationships within the ABC superfamily are discussed, concentrating on computational approaches for comparative identification of ABC transporters in insect-pathogenic fungi (entomopathogens) with those of animals, plants, and their bacterial orthologs. Ancestors of some fungal candidates have duplicated extensively in some phyla, while others were lost in one lineage or the other, and predictions for the cause of their duplications and/or loss in some phyla are made. ABC transporters of fungal insect-pathogens serve both defensive and offensive functions effective against land-dwelling and ground foraging voracious insects. This study may help to unravel the molecular cascades of ABC proteins to illuminate the means through which insects cope with fungal infection and fungal-related diseases. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  8. Inactivation of the Ecs ABC transporter of Staphylococcus aureus attenuates virulence by altering composition and function of bacterial wall.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ing-Marie Jonsson

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Ecs is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporter present in aerobic and facultative anaerobic gram-positive Firmicutes. Inactivation of Bacillus subtilis Ecs causes pleiotropic changes in the bacterial phenotype including inhibition of intramembrane proteolysis. The molecule(s transported by Ecs is (are still unknown.In this study we mutated the ecsAB operon in two Staphylococcus aureus strains, Newman and LS-1. Phenotypic and functional characterization of these Ecs deficient mutants revealed a defect in growth, increased autolysis and lysostaphin sensitivity, altered composition of cell wall proteins including the precursor form of staphylokinase and an altered bacterial surface texture. DNA microarray analysis indicated that the Ecs deficiency changed expression of the virulence factor regulator protein Rot accompanied by differential expression of membrane transport proteins, particularly ABC transporters and phosphate-specific transport systems, protein A, adhesins and capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis proteins. Virulence of the ecs mutants was studied in a mouse model of hematogenous S. aureus infection. Mice inoculated with the ecs mutant strains developed markedly milder infections than those inoculated with the wild-type strains and had consequently lower mortality, less weight loss, milder arthritis and decreased persistence of staphylococci in the kidneys. The ecs mutants had higher susceptibility to ribosomal antibiotics and plant alkaloids chelerythrine and sanguinarine.Our results show that Ecs is essential for staphylococcal virulence and antimicrobial resistance probably since the transport function of Ecs is essential for the normal structure and function of the cell wall. Thus targeting Ecs may be a new approach in combating staphylococcal infection.

  9. Inactivation of the Ecs ABC transporter of Staphylococcus aureus attenuates virulence by altering composition and function of bacterial wall.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jonsson, Ing-Marie; Juuti, Jarmo T; François, Patrice; AlMajidi, Rana; Pietiäinen, Milla; Girard, Myriam; Lindholm, Catharina; Saller, Manfred J; Driessen, Arnold J M; Kuusela, Pentti; Bokarewa, Maria; Schrenzel, Jacques; Kontinen, Vesa P

    2010-12-02

    Ecs is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter present in aerobic and facultative anaerobic gram-positive Firmicutes. Inactivation of Bacillus subtilis Ecs causes pleiotropic changes in the bacterial phenotype including inhibition of intramembrane proteolysis. The molecule(s) transported by Ecs is (are) still unknown. In this study we mutated the ecsAB operon in two Staphylococcus aureus strains, Newman and LS-1. Phenotypic and functional characterization of these Ecs deficient mutants revealed a defect in growth, increased autolysis and lysostaphin sensitivity, altered composition of cell wall proteins including the precursor form of staphylokinase and an altered bacterial surface texture. DNA microarray analysis indicated that the Ecs deficiency changed expression of the virulence factor regulator protein Rot accompanied by differential expression of membrane transport proteins, particularly ABC transporters and phosphate-specific transport systems, protein A, adhesins and capsular polysaccharide biosynthesis proteins. Virulence of the ecs mutants was studied in a mouse model of hematogenous S. aureus infection. Mice inoculated with the ecs mutant strains developed markedly milder infections than those inoculated with the wild-type strains and had consequently lower mortality, less weight loss, milder arthritis and decreased persistence of staphylococci in the kidneys. The ecs mutants had higher susceptibility to ribosomal antibiotics and plant alkaloids chelerythrine and sanguinarine. Our results show that Ecs is essential for staphylococcal virulence and antimicrobial resistance probably since the transport function of Ecs is essential for the normal structure and function of the cell wall. Thus targeting Ecs may be a new approach in combating staphylococcal infection.

  10. Hamiltonian ABC

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Meeds, E.; Leenders, R.; Welling, M.; Meila, M.; Heskes, T.

    2015-01-01

    Approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) is a powerful and elegant framework for performing inference in simulation-based models. However, due to the difficulty in scaling likelihood estimates, ABC remains useful for relatively lowdimensional problems. We introduce Hamiltonian ABC (HABC), a set of

  11. Evidence for an ABC-Type Riboflavin Transporter System in Pathogenic Spirochetes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Deka, Ranjit K.; Brautigam, Chad A.; Biddy, Brent A.; Liu, Wei Z.; Norgard, Michael V.

    2013-01-01

    ABSTRACT Bacterial transporter proteins are involved in the translocation of many essential nutrients and metabolites. However, many of these key bacterial transport systems remain to be identified, including those involved in the transport of riboflavin (vitamin B2). Pathogenic spirochetes lack riboflavin biosynthetic pathways, implying reliance on obtaining riboflavin from their hosts. Using structural and functional characterizations of possible ligand-binding components, we have identified an ABC-type riboflavin transport system within pathogenic spirochetes. The putative lipoprotein ligand-binding components of these systems from three different spirochetes were cloned, hyperexpressed in Escherichia coli, and purified to homogeneity. Solutions of all three of the purified recombinant proteins were bright yellow. UV-visible spectra demonstrated that these proteins were likely flavoproteins; electrospray ionization mass spectrometry and thin-layer chromatography confirmed that they contained riboflavin. A 1.3-Å crystal structure of the protein (TP0298) encoded by Treponema pallidum, the syphilis spirochete, demonstrated that the protein’s fold is similar to the ligand-binding components of ABC-type transporters. The structure also revealed other salient details of the riboflavin binding site. Comparative bioinformatics analyses of spirochetal genomes, coupled with experimental validation, facilitated the discovery of this new ABC-type riboflavin transport system(s). We denote the ligand-binding component as riboflavin uptake transporter A (RfuA). Taken together, it appears that pathogenic spirochetes have evolved an ABC-type transport system (RfuABCD) for survival in their host environments, particularly that of the human host. PMID:23404400

  12. Aggrecan structure in amphibian cartilage

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Covizi D.Z.

    2000-01-01

    Full Text Available The structure of the large proteoglycan present in the bullfrog epiphyseal cartilage was studied by immunochemical and biochemical methods. The isolated monomer showed a polydisperse behavior on Sepharose CL2B, with a peak at Kav = 0.14. Chondroitin sulfate chains were identified by HPLC analysis of the products formed by chondroitinase digestion and mercuric acetate treatment. These chains have approximately 38 disaccharides, a Di45:Di68 ratio of 1.6 and GalNAc4S + GalNAc4,6S are the main non-reducing terminals. Keratan sulfate was identified by the use of two monoclonal antibodies in Western blots after chondroitinase ABC treatment. A keratan sulfate-rich region (~110 kDa was isolated by sequential treatment with chondroitinase ABC and proteases. We also employed antibodies in Western blotting experiments and showed that the full length deglycosylated core protein is about 300 kDa after SDS-PAGE. Domain-specific antibodies revealed the presence of immunoreactive sites corresponding to G1/G2 and G3 globular domains and the characterization of this large proteoglycan as aggrecan. The results indicate the high conservation of the aggrecan domain structure in this lower vertebrate.

  13. Isolation and Characterization of the Colletotrichum acutatum ABC Transporter CaABC1

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suyoung Kim

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Fungi tolerate exposure to various abiotic stresses, including cytotoxic compounds and fungicides, via their ATP-driven efflux pumps belonging to ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporters. To clarify the molecular basis of interaction between the fungus and various abiotic stresses including fungicides, we constructed a cDNA library from germinated conidia of Colletotrichum acutatum, a major anthracnose pathogen of pepper (Capsicum annum L.. Over 1,000 cDNA clones were sequenced, of which single clone exhibited significant nucleotide sequence homology to ABC transporter genes. We isolated three fosmid clones containing the C. acutatum ABC1 (CaABC1 gene in full-length from genomic DNA library screening. The CaABC1 gene consists of 4,059 bp transcript, predicting a 1,353-aa protein. The gene contains the typical ABC signature and Walker A and B motifs. The 5′-flanking region contains a CAAT motif, a TATA box, and a Kozak region. Phylogenetic and structural analysis suggested that the CaABC1 is a typical ABC transporter gene highly conserved in various fungal species, as well as in Chromista, Metazoans, and Viridiplantae. We also found that CaABC1 was up-regulated during conidiation and a minimal medium condition. Moreover, CaABC1 was induced in iprobenfos, kresoxim-methyl, thiophanate-methyl, and hygromycin B. These results demonstrate that CaABC1 is necessary for conidiation, abiotic stress, and various fungicide resistances. These results will provide the basis for further study on the function of ABC transporter genes in C. acutatum.

  14. Structural studies on sulfated oligosaccharides derived from the carbohydrate-protein linkage region of chondroitin 6-sulfate proteoglycans of shark cartilage. (II.) Seven compounds containing 2 or 3 sulfate residues.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Vliegenthart, J.F.G.; Waard, P. de; Harada, T.; Sugahara, K.

    1992-01-01

    Shark cartilage proteoglycans bear predominantly chondroitin 6-sulfate. After exhaustive protease digestion, reductive beta-elimination and subsequent chondroitinase ABC digestion, 13 hexasaccharide alditols were obtained from the carbohydrate-protein linkage region and six of them contain 0 or 1

  15. Asymmetric switching in a homodimeric ABC transporter: a simulation study.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jussi Aittoniemi

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available ABC transporters are a large family of membrane proteins involved in a variety of cellular processes, including multidrug and tumor resistance and ion channel regulation. Advances in the structural and functional understanding of ABC transporters have revealed that hydrolysis at the two canonical nucleotide-binding sites (NBSs is co-operative and non-simultaneous. A conserved core architecture of bacterial and eukaryotic ABC exporters has been established, as exemplified by the crystal structure of the homodimeric multidrug exporter Sav1866. Currently, it is unclear how sequential ATP hydrolysis arises in a symmetric homodimeric transporter, since it implies at least transient asymmetry at the NBSs. We show by molecular dynamics simulation that the initially symmetric structure of Sav1866 readily undergoes asymmetric transitions at its NBSs in a pre-hydrolytic nucleotide configuration. MgATP-binding residues and a network of charged residues at the dimer interface are shown to form a sequence of putative molecular switches that allow ATP hydrolysis only at one NBS. We extend our findings to eukaryotic ABC exporters which often consist of two non-identical half-transporters, frequently with degeneracy substitutions at one of their two NBSs. Interestingly, many residues involved in asymmetric conformational switching in Sav1866 are substituted in degenerate eukaryotic NBS. This finding strengthens recent suggestions that the interplay of a consensus and a degenerate NBS in eukaroytic ABC proteins pre-determines the sequence of hydrolysis at the two NBSs.

  16. Production and characterization of monoclonal antibodies directed against connective tissue proteoglycans

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Caterson, B; Christner, J E; Baker, J R

    1985-01-01

    distribution of 4- and 6-sulfated and unsulfated proteoglycans in tissue sections of cartilage and other noncartilaginous tissues. Digestion with chondroitinase ABC or ACII can be used to differentiate between chondroitin sulfate and dermatan sulfate proteoglycan in different connective tissues. In addition...

  17. Abc1: a new ABC transporter from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, P U; Davis, K; Nielsen, O

    1997-01-01

    We have isolated the abc1 gene from the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Sequence analysis suggests that the Abc1 protein is a member of the ABC superfamily of transporters and is composed of two structurally homologous halves, each consisting of a hydrophobic region of six transmembrane...

  18. Effect of SOS-induced levels of imuABC on spontaneous and damage-induced mutagenesis in Caulobacter crescentus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alves, Ingrid R; Lima-Noronha, Marco A; Silva, Larissa G; Fernández-Silva, Frank S; Freitas, Aline Luiza D; Marques, Marilis V; Galhardo, Rodrigo S

    2017-11-01

    imuABC (imuAB dnaE2) genes are responsible for SOS-mutagenesis in Caulobacter crescentus and other bacterial species devoid of umuDC. In this work, we have constructed operator-constitutive mutants of the imuABC operon. We used this genetic tool to investigate the effect of SOS-induced levels of these genes upon both spontaneous and damage-induced mutagenesis. We showed that constitutive expression of imuABC does not increase spontaneous or damage-induced mutagenesis, nor increases cellular resistance to DNA-damaging agents. Nevertheless, the presence of the operator-constitutive mutation rescues mutagenesis in a recA background, indicating that imuABC are the only genes required at SOS-induced levels for translesion synthesis (TLS) in C. crescentus. Furthermore, these data also show that TLS mediated by ImuABC does not require RecA, unlike umuDC-dependent mutagenesis in E. coli. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Characterization of a dermatan sulfate proteoglycan synthesized by murine parietal yolk sac (PYS-2) cells

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Couchman, J R; Woods, A; Höök, M

    1985-01-01

    -polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of chondroitinase ABC-treated 125I-labeled proteoglycan reveals two polypeptides with molecular weights of 34,000 and 27,000. Results from papain digestion of the proteoglycan suggest that most of the polysaccharide chains are clustered at a papain-resistant segment of the core...

  20. Cloning, characterization and tissue distribution of the rat ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter ABC2/ABCA2.

    OpenAIRE

    Zhao, L X; Zhou, C J; Tanaka, A; Nakata, M; Hirabayashi, T; Amachi, T; Shioda, S; Ueda, K; Inagaki, N

    2000-01-01

    The ABC1 (ABCA) subfamily of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily has a structural feature that distinguishes it from other ABC transporters. Here we report the cloning, molecular characterization and tissue distribution of ABC2/ABCA2, which belongs to the ABC1 subfamily. Rat ABC2 is a protein of 2434 amino acids that has 44.5%, 40.0% and 40.8% identity with mouse ABC1/ABCA1, human ABC3/ABCA3 and human ABCR/ABCA4 respectively. Immunoblot analysis showed that proteins of 260 ...

  1. ABC-F Proteins Mediate Antibiotic Resistance through Ribosomal Protection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sharkey, Liam K R; Edwards, Thomas A; O'Neill, Alex J

    2016-03-22

    Members of the ABC-F subfamily of ATP-binding cassette proteins mediate resistance to a broad array of clinically important antibiotic classes that target the ribosome of Gram-positive pathogens. The mechanism by which these proteins act has been a subject of long-standing controversy, with two competing hypotheses each having gained considerable support: antibiotic efflux versus ribosomal protection. Here, we report on studies employing a combination of bacteriological and biochemical techniques to unravel the mechanism of resistance of these proteins, and provide several lines of evidence that together offer clear support to the ribosomal protection hypothesis. Of particular note, we show that addition of purified ABC-F proteins to anin vitrotranslation assay prompts dose-dependent rescue of translation, and demonstrate that such proteins are capable of displacing antibiotic from the ribosomein vitro To our knowledge, these experiments constitute the first direct evidence that ABC-F proteins mediate antibiotic resistance through ribosomal protection.IMPORTANCEAntimicrobial resistance ranks among the greatest threats currently facing human health. Elucidation of the mechanisms by which microorganisms resist the effect of antibiotics is central to understanding the biology of this phenomenon and has the potential to inform the development of new drugs capable of blocking or circumventing resistance. Members of the ABC-F family, which includelsa(A),msr(A),optr(A), andvga(A), collectively yield resistance to a broader range of clinically significant antibiotic classes than any other family of resistance determinants, although their mechanism of action has been controversial since their discovery 25 years ago. Here we present the first direct evidence that proteins of the ABC-F family act to protect the bacterial ribosome from antibiotic-mediated inhibition. Copyright © 2016 Sharkey et al.

  2. Enhancing the ABC Cross

    OpenAIRE

    Euske, K.J.; Vercio, Alan

    2007-01-01

    The purpose of the ABC Cross was to portray both a cost and process view of an organization as simply as possible. Unfortunately, the model’s simplified form does not capture the real value of activity-based costing (ABC) for cost accounting that emerged in the mid-1980s. Here we present several ABC models that can help functional and process managers make better decisions.

  3. Sustaining an Effective ABC-ABM System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gary COKINS

    2011-02-01

    Full Text Available The purpose of this paper is to describe the Activity- Based Costing (ABC and Activity-Based Management (ABM system and techniques to sustain them as a permanent and repeatable production reporting system, not just for one-off analysis. A comparison is made between ABC/ABM modeling software that extracts source data and business systems that include ABC/ABM modeling features. There are presented the stages of updating, running and rerunning the ABC/ABM system. The resulting information calculated and provided by the ABC/ABM system are analyzed and interpreted in terms of a multidimensional data analysis. The article ends with the authors' conclusions about the benefits of continued operation of sustaining the ABC/ABM system.

  4. ABC at Insteel Industries

    OpenAIRE

    V.G. Narayanan; Ratna G. Sarkar

    1999-01-01

    In this paper, we seek to provide empirical documentation of the effect of Activity-Based Costing (ABC) information on product and customer-related decisions made by managers in a company. Proponents of ABC argue that when an entity implements ABC, it reaps at least two important benefits: process improvements that promote more efficient use of resources and hence reduce costs, and a set of overhead cost numbers that, relative to traditional volume-based methods of costing, better represent t...

  5. Comparing the accuracy of ABC and time-driven ABC in complex and dynamic environments: a simulation analysis

    OpenAIRE

    S. HOOZÉE; M. VANHOUCKE; W. BRUGGEMAN; -

    2010-01-01

    This paper compares the accuracy of traditional ABC and time-driven ABC in complex and dynamic environments through simulation analysis. First, when unit times in time-driven ABC are known or can be flawlessly estimated, time-driven ABC coincides with the benchmark system and in this case our results show that the overall accuracy of traditional ABC depends on (1) existing capacity utilization, (2) diversity in the actual mix of productive work, and (3) error in the estimated percentage mix. ...

  6. Antibiotic Resistance Mediated by the MacB ABC Transporter Family: A Structural and Functional Perspective

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicholas P. Greene

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The MacB ABC transporter forms a tripartite efflux pump with the MacA adaptor protein and TolC outer membrane exit duct to expel antibiotics and export virulence factors from Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we review recent structural and functional data on MacB and its homologs. MacB has a fold that is distinct from other structurally characterized ABC transporters and uses a unique molecular mechanism termed mechanotransmission. Unlike other bacterial ABC transporters, MacB does not transport substrates across the inner membrane in which it is based, but instead couples cytoplasmic ATP hydrolysis with transmembrane conformational changes that are used to perform work in the extra-cytoplasmic space. In the MacAB-TolC tripartite pump, mechanotransmission drives efflux of antibiotics and export of a protein toxin from the periplasmic space via the TolC exit duct. Homologous tripartite systems from pathogenic bacteria similarly export protein-like signaling molecules, virulence factors and siderophores. In addition, many MacB-like ABC transporters do not form tripartite pumps, but instead operate in diverse cellular processes including antibiotic sensing, cell division and lipoprotein trafficking.

  7. Antibiotic Resistance Mediated by the MacB ABC Transporter Family: A Structural and Functional Perspective

    Science.gov (United States)

    Greene, Nicholas P.; Kaplan, Elise; Crow, Allister; Koronakis, Vassilis

    2018-01-01

    The MacB ABC transporter forms a tripartite efflux pump with the MacA adaptor protein and TolC outer membrane exit duct to expel antibiotics and export virulence factors from Gram-negative bacteria. Here, we review recent structural and functional data on MacB and its homologs. MacB has a fold that is distinct from other structurally characterized ABC transporters and uses a unique molecular mechanism termed mechanotransmission. Unlike other bacterial ABC transporters, MacB does not transport substrates across the inner membrane in which it is based, but instead couples cytoplasmic ATP hydrolysis with transmembrane conformational changes that are used to perform work in the extra-cytoplasmic space. In the MacAB-TolC tripartite pump, mechanotransmission drives efflux of antibiotics and export of a protein toxin from the periplasmic space via the TolC exit duct. Homologous tripartite systems from pathogenic bacteria similarly export protein-like signaling molecules, virulence factors and siderophores. In addition, many MacB-like ABC transporters do not form tripartite pumps, but instead operate in diverse cellular processes including antibiotic sensing, cell division and lipoprotein trafficking. PMID:29892271

  8. Mating in the Closest Living Relatives of Animals Is Induced by a Bacterial Chondroitinase.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Woznica, Arielle; Gerdt, Joseph P; Hulett, Ryan E; Clardy, Jon; King, Nicole

    2017-09-07

    We serendipitously discovered that the marine bacterium Vibrio fischeri induces sexual reproduction in one of the closest living relatives of animals, the choanoflagellate Salpingoeca rosetta. Although bacteria influence everything from nutrition and metabolism to cell biology and development in eukaryotes, bacterial regulation of eukaryotic mating was unexpected. Here, we show that a single V. fischeri protein, the previously uncharacterized EroS, fully recapitulates the aphrodisiac-like activity of live V. fischeri. EroS is a chondroitin lyase; although its substrate, chondroitin sulfate, was previously thought to be an animal synapomorphy, we demonstrate that S. rosetta produces chondroitin sulfate and thus extend the ancestry of this important glycosaminoglycan to the premetazoan era. Finally, we show that V. fischeri, purified EroS, and other bacterial chondroitin lyases induce S. rosetta mating at environmentally relevant concentrations, suggesting that bacteria likely regulate choanoflagellate mating in nature. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  9. A 6-Nucleotide Regulatory Motif within the AbcR Small RNAs of Brucella abortus Mediates Host-Pathogen Interactions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sheehan, Lauren M; Caswell, Clayton C

    2017-06-06

    In Brucella abortus , two small RNAs (sRNAs), AbcR1 and AbcR2, are responsible for regulating transcripts encoding ABC-type transport systems. AbcR1 and AbcR2 are required for Brucella virulence, as a double chromosomal deletion of both sRNAs results in attenuation in mice. Although these sRNAs are responsible for targeting transcripts for degradation, the mechanism utilized by the AbcR sRNAs to regulate mRNA in Brucella has not been described. Here, two motifs (M1 and M2) were identified in AbcR1 and AbcR2, and complementary motif sequences were defined in AbcR-regulated transcripts. Site-directed mutagenesis of M1 or M2 or of both M1 and M2 in the sRNAs revealed transcripts to be targeted by one or both motifs. Electrophoretic mobility shift assays revealed direct, concentration-dependent binding of both AbcR sRNAs to a target mRNA sequence. These experiments genetically and biochemically characterized two indispensable motifs within the AbcR sRNAs that bind to and regulate transcripts. Additionally, cellular and animal models of infection demonstrated that only M2 in the AbcR sRNAs is required for Brucella virulence. Furthermore, one of the M2-regulated targets, BAB2_0612, was found to be critical for the virulence of B. abortus in a mouse model of infection. Although these sRNAs are highly conserved among Alphaproteobacteria , the present report displays how gene regulation mediated by the AbcR sRNAs has diverged to meet the intricate regulatory requirements of each particular organism and its unique biological niche. IMPORTANCE Small RNAs (sRNAs) are important components of bacterial regulation, allowing organisms to quickly adapt to changes in their environments. The AbcR sRNAs are highly conserved throughout the Alphaproteobacteria and negatively regulate myriad transcripts, many encoding ABC-type transport systems. In Brucella abortus , AbcR1 and AbcR2 are functionally redundant, as only a double abcR1 abcR2 ( abcR1 / 2 ) deletion results in attenuation in

  10. Phylogenetic analysis of fungal ABC transporters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalchuk, Andriy; Driessen, Arnold J M

    2010-03-16

    The superfamily of ABC proteins is among the largest known in nature. Its members are mainly, but not exclusively, involved in the transport of a broad range of substrates across biological membranes. Many contribute to multidrug resistance in microbial pathogens and cancer cells. The diversity of ABC proteins in fungi is comparable with those in multicellular animals, but so far fungal ABC proteins have barely been studied. We performed a phylogenetic analysis of the ABC proteins extracted from the genomes of 27 fungal species from 18 orders representing 5 fungal phyla thereby covering the most important groups. Our analysis demonstrated that some of the subfamilies of ABC proteins remained highly conserved in fungi, while others have undergone a remarkable group-specific diversification. Members of the various fungal phyla also differed significantly in the number of ABC proteins found in their genomes, which is especially reduced in the yeast S. cerevisiae and S. pombe. Data obtained during our analysis should contribute to a better understanding of the diversity of the fungal ABC proteins and provide important clues about their possible biological functions.

  11. Sustaining an Effective ABC-ABM System

    OpenAIRE

    Gary COKINS; Sorinel CĂPUŞNEANU

    2011-01-01

    The purpose of this paper is to describe the Activity- Based Costing (ABC) and Activity-Based Management (ABM) system and techniques to sustain them as a permanent and repeatable production reporting system, not just for one-off analysis. A comparison is made between ABC/ABM modeling software that extracts source data and business systems that include ABC/ABM modeling features. There are presented the stages of updating, running and rerunning the ABC/ABM system. The resul...

  12. The ABC and AUSSAT.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McGarritty, Ian

    1985-01-01

    Discusses the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's (ABC) utilization of the AUSSAT telecommunications satellite to extend its television and radio transmission range to reach remote Australian audiences; the satellite's program gathering and interchange capabilities; and ABC's generation of other benefits to offset cost of satellite services.…

  13. ABC Kinga kauplused = ABC King shoe stores

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    2011-01-01

    Tallinnas Kristiine keskuses, Tartu Kaubamajas ja Pärnus Port Artur 2 asuvate ABC Kinga kaupluste sisekujundusest. Sisearhitekid Andres Labi ja Janno Roos (Ruumilabor OÜ), loetletud nende ühiselt tehtud töid

  14. The ABC transporter Rv1272c of Mycobacterium tuberculosis enhances the import of long-chain fatty acids in Escherichia coli.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Martin, Audrey; Daniel, Jaiyanth

    2018-02-05

    Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb), which causes tuberculosis, is capable of accumulating triacylglycerol (TAG) by utilizing fatty acids from host cells. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are involved in transport processes in all organisms. Among the classical ABC transporters in Mtb none have been implicated in fatty acid import. Since the transport of fatty acids from the host cell is important for dormancy-associated TAG synthesis in the pathogen, mycobacterial ABC transporter(s) could potentially be involved in this process. Based on sequence identities with a bacterial ABC transporter that mediates fatty acid import for TAG synthesis, we identified Rv1272c, a hitherto uncharacterized ABC-transporter in Mtb that also shows sequence identities with a plant ABC transporter involved in fatty acid transport. We expressed Rv1272c in E. coli and show that it enhances the import of radiolabeled fatty acids. We also show that Rv1272c causes a significant increase in the metabolic incorporation of radiolabeled long-chain fatty acids into cardiolipin, a tetra-acylated phospholipid, and phosphatidylglycerol in E. coli. This is the first report on the function of Rv1272c showing that it displays a long-chain fatty acid transport function. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  15. The role of the atypical kinases ABC1K7 and ABC1K8 in abscisic acid responses

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anna eManara

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The ABC1K family of atypical kinases (activity of bc1 complex kinase is represented in bacteria, archaea and eukaryotes. In plants they regulate diverse physiological processes in the chloroplasts and mitochondria, but their precise functions are poorly defined. ABC1K7 and ABC1K8 are probably involved in oxidative stress responses, isoprenyl lipid synthesis and distribution of iron within chloroplasts. Because reactive oxygen species take part in abscisic acid (ABA-mediated processes, we investigated the functions of ABC1K7 and ABC1K8 during germination, stomatal movement and leaf senescence. Both genes were upregulated by ABA treatment and some ABA-responsive physiological processes were affected in abc1k7 and abc1k8 mutants. Germination was more severely affected by ABA, osmotic stress and salt stress in the single and double mutants; the stomatal aperture was smaller in the mutants under standard growth conditions and was not further reduced by exogenous ABA application; ABA-induced senescence symptoms were more severe in the leaves of the single and double mutants compared to wild type leaves. Taken together, our results suggest that ABC1K7 and ABC1K8 might be involved in the cross-talk between ABA and ROS signaling.

  16. Chondroitin-6-sulfate-containing proteoglycan: a new component of human skin dermoepidermal junction

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fine, J D; Couchman, J R

    1988-01-01

    chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan is present in adult, neonatal, and/or fetal skin, and if present, its ultrastructural localization. Indirect immunofluorescence was performed on human adult, neonatal, and fetal skin. To detect the antigen, specimens were pretreated with chondroitinase ABC; absence of enzyme...... treatment served as negative control. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan was detectable in linear homogeneous array along the dermoepidermal junction and within vascular (and when present, adnexal) basement membranes in both adult and neonatal skin. In fetal skin, basement membrane staining was noted as early...... as 54 gestational days. Indirect immunoelectron microscopy and NaCl-split skin studies were performed to ultrastructurally localize the antigen; immune deposits were detectable within the lamina densa in chondroitinase-treated skin. These findings demonstrate that chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan...

  17. Diversity and evolution of ABC proteins in basidiomycetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalchuk, Andriy; Lee, Yong-Hwan; Asiegbu, Fred O

    2013-01-01

    ABC proteins constitute one of the largest families of proteins. They are implicated in wide variety of cellular processes ranging from ribosome biogenesis to multidrug resistance. With the advance of fungal genomics, the number of known fungal ABC proteins increases rapidly but the information on their biological functions remains scarce. In this work we extended the previous analysis of fungal ABC proteins to include recently sequenced species of basidiomycetes. We performed an identification and initial cataloging of ABC proteins from 23 fungal species representing 10 orders within class Agaricomycotina. We identified more than 1000 genes coding for ABC proteins. Comparison of sets of ABC proteins present in basidiomycetes and ascomycetes revealed the existence of two groups of ABC proteins specific for basidiomycetes. Results of survey should contribute to the better understanding of evolution of ABC proteins in fungi and support further experimental work on their characterization.

  18. IMG-ABC: new features for bacterial secondary metabolism analysis and targeted biosynthetic gene cluster discovery in thousands of microbial genomes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadjithomas, Michalis; Chen, I-Min A; Chu, Ken; Huang, Jinghua; Ratner, Anna; Palaniappan, Krishna; Andersen, Evan; Markowitz, Victor; Kyrpides, Nikos C; Ivanova, Natalia N

    2017-01-04

    Secondary metabolites produced by microbes have diverse biological functions, which makes them a great potential source of biotechnologically relevant compounds with antimicrobial, anti-cancer and other activities. The proteins needed to synthesize these natural products are often encoded by clusters of co-located genes called biosynthetic gene clusters (BCs). In order to advance the exploration of microbial secondary metabolism, we developed the largest publically available database of experimentally verified and predicted BCs, the Integrated Microbial Genomes Atlas of Biosynthetic gene Clusters (IMG-ABC) (https://img.jgi.doe.gov/abc/). Here, we describe an update of IMG-ABC, which includes ClusterScout, a tool for targeted identification of custom biosynthetic gene clusters across 40 000 isolate microbial genomes, and a new search capability to query more than 700 000 BCs from isolate genomes for clusters with similar Pfam composition. Additional features enable fast exploration and analysis of BCs through two new interactive visualization features, a BC function heatmap and a BC similarity network graph. These new tools and features add to the value of IMG-ABC's vast body of BC data, facilitating their in-depth analysis and accelerating secondary metabolite discovery. © The Author(s) 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  19. Bioinformatic survey of ABC transporters in dermatophytes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gadzalski, Marek; Ciesielska, Anita; Stączek, Paweł

    2016-01-15

    ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters constitute a very large and ubiquitous superfamily of membrane proteins. They are responsible for ATP hydrolysis driven translocation of countless substrates. Being a very old and diverse group of proteins present in all organisms they share a common feature, which is the presence of an evolutionary conservative nucleotide binding domain (NBD)--the engine that drives the transport. Another common domain is a transmembrane domain (TMD) which consists of several membrane-spanning helices. This part of protein is substrate-specific, thus it is much more variable. ABC transporters are known for driving drug efflux in many pathogens and cancer cells, therefore they are the subject of extensive studies. There are many examples of conferring a drug resistance phenotype in fungal pathogens by ABC transporters, however, little is known about these proteins in dermatophytes--a group of fungi causing superficial mycoses. So far only a single ABC transporter has been extensively studied in this group of pathogens. We analyzed available genomic sequences of seven dermatophyte species in order to provide an insight into dermatophyte ABC protein inventory. Phylogenetic studies of ABC transporter genes and their products were conducted and included ABC transporters of other fungi. Our results show that each dermatophyte genome studied possesses a great variety of ABC transporter genes. Detailed analysis of selected genes and their products indicates that relatively recent duplication of ABC transporter genes could lead to novel substrate specificity. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. Enterprise Architecture Data Pada Hotel ABC

    OpenAIRE

    Soesatyo, Stephanie; Wibowo, Adi; Handojo, Andreas

    2015-01-01

    Hotel ABC is a company engaged in hospitality management, i.e. room rental, rental of meeting rooms and coffee shop. Hotel ABC has a branch that has the same specifications of the hotel. In business process, Hotel ABC has information systems to support existing business processes. However, existing information systems have not been integrated as a whole. Based on the condition stated above, analysis and design of enterprise architecture information system is created for the company. The proce...

  1. Molecular characterization of feline infectious peritonitis virus strain DF-2 and studies of the role of ORF3abc in viral cell tropism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bálint, Ádám; Farsang, Attila; Zádori, Zoltán; Hornyák, Ákos; Dencso, László; Almazán, Fernando; Enjuanes, Luis; Belák, Sándor

    2012-06-01

    The full-length genome of the highly lethal feline infectious peritonitis virus (FIPV) strain DF-2 was sequenced and cloned into a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) to study the role of ORF3abc in the FIPV-feline enteric coronavirus (FECV) transition. The reverse genetic system allowed the replacement of the truncated ORF3abc of the original FIPV DF-2 genome with the intact ORF3abc of the canine coronavirus (CCoV) reference strain Elmo/02. The in vitro replication kinetics of these two viruses was studied in CrFK and FCWF-4 cell lines, as well as in feline peripheral blood monocytes. Both viruses showed similar replication kinetics in established cell lines. However, the strain with a full-length ORF3 showed markedly lower replication of more than 2 log(10) titers in feline peripheral blood monocytes. Our results suggest that the truncated ORF3abc plays an important role in the efficient macrophage/monocyte tropism of type II FIPV.

  2. The ABC-paradox: is Time Driven ABC relevant for small and Medium sized enterprises (SME)?

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fladkjær, Henrik Find; Jensen, Erling

    Several articles suggest that Activity Based Costing (ABC) has failed to succeed in practical use. It is even argued that we have an ABC-paradox. Activity Based Costing has won theoretically in nu-merous articles in journals, through books, being included in all major Business Accounting text-books...

  3. Export of recombinant proteins in Escherichia coli using ABC transporter with an attached lipase ABC transporter recognition domain (LARD

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Moon Yuseok

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background ATP binding cassette (ABC transporter secretes the protein through inner and outer membranes simultaneously in gram negative bacteria. Thermostable lipase (TliA of Pseudomonas fluorescens SIK W1 is secreted through the ABC transporter. TliA has four glycine-rich repeats (GGXGXD in its C-terminus, which appear in many ABC transporter-secreted proteins. From a homology model of TliA derived from the structure of P. aeruginosa alkaline protease (AprA, lipase ABC transporter domains (LARDs were designed for the secretion of fusion proteins. Results The LARDs included four glycine-rich repeats comprising a β-roll structure, and were added to the C-terminus of test proteins. Either Pro-Gly linker or Factor Xa site was added between fusion proteins and LARDs. We attached different length of LARDs such as LARD0, LARD1 or whole TliA (the longest LARD to three types of proteins; green fluorescent protein (GFP, epidermal growth factor (EGF and cytoplasmic transduction peptide (CTP. These fusion proteins were expressed in Escherichia coli together with ABC transporter of either P. fluorescens or Erwinia chrysanthemi. Export of fusion proteins with the whole TliA through the ABC transporter was evident on the basis of lipase enzymatic activity. Upon supplementation of E. coli with ABC transporter, GFP-LARDs and EGF-LARDs were excreted into the culture supernatant. Conclusion The LARDs or whole TliA were attached to C-termini of model proteins and enabled the export of the model proteins such as GFP and EGF in E. coli supplemented with ABC transporter. These results open the possibility for the extracellular production of recombinant proteins in Pseudomonas using LARDs or TliA as a C-terminal signal sequence.

  4. abc: An extensible AspectJ compiler

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Avgustinov, Pavel; Christensen, Aske Simon; Hendren, Laurie

    2005-01-01

    checking and code generation, as well as data flow and control flow analyses. The AspectBench Compiler (abc) is an implementation of such a workbench. The base version of abc implements the full AspectJ language. Its frontend is built, using the Polyglot framework, as a modular extension of the Java...... language. The use of Polyglot gives flexibility of syntax and type checking. The backend is built using the Soot framework, to give modular code generation and analyses. In this paper, we outline the design of abc, focusing mostly on how the design supports extensibility. We then provide a general overview...

  5. Implementation of ABC method in real company

    OpenAIRE

    Kazhimova, Dina

    2014-01-01

    The aim of this Bachelor thesis is a thorough analysis of the modern calculation method Activity-based costing (ABC), that identifies the activities that a firm performs, and then assigns indirect costs to products. An ABC system recognizes the relationship between costs, activities and products, and through this relationship assigns indirect costs to products less arbitrarily than traditional methods. Comparison ABC method with traditional methods of cost allocation. Basing on the knowledge ...

  6. Playware ABC: Engineering Play for Everybody

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Henrik Hautop

    2017-01-01

    This paper describes the Playware ABC concept, and how it allows anybody, anywhere, anytime to be building bodies and brains, which facilitates users to construct, combine and create. The Playware ABC concept focuses engineering and IT system development on creating solutions that are usable by a...

  7. An ABC analysis for power generation project

    OpenAIRE

    Batool Hasani; Younos Vakilalroaia

    2013-01-01

    One of the primary concerns on performance measurement is to know how much a particular project cost. However, using traditional method on project-based products often leads to inappropriate results. In this paper, we re-examine this issue by comparing the cost of a power station construction project using ABC versus traditional method. The results of survey show that ABC method is capable of providing better estimates for overhead costs compared with traditional method. In other words, ABC m...

  8. Costeo ABC - Gestión ABM

    OpenAIRE

    Cuevas Villegas, Carlos Fernando

    2010-01-01

    El presente artículo pretende mostrar en forma práctica la problemática de los sistemas actuales de costeo y plantear la alternativa conocida como costeo ABC, sus fundamentos, dificultades y utilidad. Así mismo se enfatiza el uso de la llamada Gerencia ABM, como complemento del costeo ABC.

  9. Rapid Identification of Bacterial Virulence Factors

    Science.gov (United States)

    2014-04-15

    protein sorting and transport. F/’/wyi-deletion mutants had decreased invasiveness of HeLa cells when compared to their parental strain, and it has...mileux. Bacteria with intracellular life styles and have reductive genomes often have many different ABC transporters. This is certainly the case in...34 Microbiology 151:2975-2986. Newman , R.M., P. Salunkhe, A. Godzik, J.C. Reed. 2006. Identification and Characterization of a Novel Bacterial

  10. Mouse ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) Transporters Conferring Multi-Drug Resistance

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shuaizhang, L I; Zhang, Wen; Yin, Xuejiao; Xing, Shilai; Xie, Qunhui; Cao, Zhengyu; Zhao, Bin

    2015-04-28

    The ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporter is one of the largest and most ancient protein families with members functioning from protozoa to human. The resistance of cancer and tumor cells to anticancer drugs is due to the over-expression of some ABC transporters, which may finally lead to chemotherapy failure. The mouse ABC transporters are classified into seven subfamilies by phylogenetic analysis. The mouse ABC transporter gene, alias, chromosomal location and function have been determined. Within the ABC super-family, the MDR transporters (Abcb1, Abcc1, Abcg2) in mouse models have been proved to be valuable to investigate the biochemistry and physiological functions. This review concentrates on the multidrug resistance of mouse ABC transporters in cancer and tumor cells.

  11. The Bacterial Sequential Markov Coalescent.

    Science.gov (United States)

    De Maio, Nicola; Wilson, Daniel J

    2017-05-01

    Bacteria can exchange and acquire new genetic material from other organisms directly and via the environment. This process, known as bacterial recombination, has a strong impact on the evolution of bacteria, for example, leading to the spread of antibiotic resistance across clades and species, and to the avoidance of clonal interference. Recombination hinders phylogenetic and transmission inference because it creates patterns of substitutions (homoplasies) inconsistent with the hypothesis of a single evolutionary tree. Bacterial recombination is typically modeled as statistically akin to gene conversion in eukaryotes, i.e. , using the coalescent with gene conversion (CGC). However, this model can be very computationally demanding as it needs to account for the correlations of evolutionary histories of even distant loci. So, with the increasing popularity of whole genome sequencing, the need has emerged for a faster approach to model and simulate bacterial genome evolution. We present a new model that approximates the coalescent with gene conversion: the bacterial sequential Markov coalescent (BSMC). Our approach is based on a similar idea to the sequential Markov coalescent (SMC)-an approximation of the coalescent with crossover recombination. However, bacterial recombination poses hurdles to a sequential Markov approximation, as it leads to strong correlations and linkage disequilibrium across very distant sites in the genome. Our BSMC overcomes these difficulties, and shows a considerable reduction in computational demand compared to the exact CGC, and very similar patterns in simulated data. We implemented our BSMC model within new simulation software FastSimBac. In addition to the decreased computational demand compared to previous bacterial genome evolution simulators, FastSimBac provides more general options for evolutionary scenarios, allowing population structure with migration, speciation, population size changes, and recombination hotspots. FastSimBac is

  12. Evolutionary relationships of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) uptake porters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zheng, Wei Hao; Västermark, Åke; Shlykov, Maksim A; Reddy, Vamsee; Sun, Eric I; Saier, Milton H

    2013-05-06

    The ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) functional superfamily includes integral transmembrane exporters that have evolved three times independently, forming three families termed ABC1, ABC2 and ABC3, upon which monophyletic ATPases have been superimposed for energy-coupling purposes [e.g., J Membr Biol 231(1):1-10, 2009]. The goal of the work reported in this communication was to understand how the integral membrane constituents of ABC uptake transporters with different numbers of predicted or established transmembrane segments (TMSs) evolved. In a few cases, high resolution 3-dimensional structures were available, and in these cases, their structures plus primary sequence analyses allowed us to predict evolutionary pathways of origin. All of the 35 currently recognized families of ABC uptake proteins except for one (family 21) were shown to be homologous using quantitative statistical methods. These methods involved using established programs that compare native protein sequences with each other, after having compared each sequence with thousands of its own shuffled sequences, to gain evidence for homology. Topological analyses suggested that these porters contain numbers of TMSs ranging from four or five to twenty. Intragenic duplication events occurred multiple times during the evolution of these porters. They originated from a simple primordial protein containing 3 TMSs which duplicated to 6 TMSs, and then produced porters of the various topologies via insertions, deletions and further duplications. Except for family 21 which proved to be related to ABC1 exporters, they are all related to members of the previously identified ABC2 exporter family. Duplications that occurred in addition to the primordial 3 → 6 duplication included 5 → 10, 6 → 12 and 10 → 20 TMSs. In one case, protein topologies were uncertain as different programs gave discrepant predictions. It could not be concluded with certainty whether a 4 TMS ancestral protein or a 5 TMS ancestral protein

  13. The ABC of ABC : An analysis of attribute-based credentials in the light of data protection, privacy and identity.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Korenhof, P.E.I.; Koning, Merel; Alpár, Gergely; Hoepman, J.H.; Padullés, Joan Balcells; i Martínez, Agustí Cerrillo; Poch, Miquel Peguera; López, Ismael Peña; de Moner, María José Pifarré; Solana, Mònica Vilasau

    2014-01-01

    Our networked society increasingly needs secure identity sys- tems. The Attribute-based credential (ABC) technology is designed to be privacy-friendlier than contemporary authentication methods, which often suffer from information leakage. So far, however, some of the wider implications of ABC have

  14. ABCE1 is a highly conserved RNA silencing suppressor.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kairi Kärblane

    Full Text Available ATP-binding cassette sub-family E member 1 (ABCE1 is a highly conserved protein among eukaryotes and archaea. Recent studies have identified ABCE1 as a ribosome-recycling factor important for translation termination in mammalian cells, yeast and also archaea. Here we report another conserved function of ABCE1. We have previously described AtRLI2, the homolog of ABCE1 in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana, as an endogenous suppressor of RNA silencing. In this study we show that this function is conserved: human ABCE1 is able to suppress RNA silencing in Nicotiana benthamiana plants, in mammalian HEK293 cells and in the worm Caenorhabditis elegans. Using co-immunoprecipitation and mass spectrometry, we found a number of potential ABCE1-interacting proteins that might support its function as an endogenous suppressor of RNA interference. The interactor candidates are associated with epigenetic regulation, transcription, RNA processing and mRNA surveillance. In addition, one of the identified proteins is translin, which together with its binding partner TRAX supports RNA interference.

  15. Removal of glycosaminoglycans from bovine granulosa cells contributes to increased binding of hydrogen-3 heparin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ax, R.L.; Stodd, C.M.; Boehm, S.K.; Bellin, M.E.

    1986-02-01

    Granulosa cells from small or large bovine follicles were pretreated with enzymes that hydrolyze various glycosaminoglycans, and binding of (/sup 3/H)-heparin to the granulosa was measured. Binding of (/sup 3/H) heparin increased significantly after enzymatic pretreatments with chondroitinase ABC and fungal hyaluronidase, and similar results were obtained with granulosa from small and large follicles. No changes in binding of (/sup 3/H) heparin were detected after hydrolyses with chondroitinase AC and heparinase in either follicle size. Heparitinase, which hydrolyzes heparan sulfate, led to a significant 50% increase in binding of (/sup 3/H) heparin to granulosa from large follicles but was without effect in small follicles. These results suggest that the lower binding of (/sup 3/H) heparin, which has been reported with follicular enlargement, may be due to heparan sulfate occupying or obstructing binding sites for heparin on granulosa from large follicles.

  16. The AbcA Transporter of Staphylococcus aureus Affects Cell Autolysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schrader-Fischer, Gesine; Berger-Bächi, Brigitte

    2001-01-01

    Increased production of penicillin-binding protein PBP 4 is known to increase peptidoglycan cross-linking and contributes to methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus. The pbp4 gene shares a 400-nucleotide intercistronic region with the divergently transcribed abcA gene, encoding an ATP-binding cassette transporter of unknown function. Our study revealed that methicillin stimulated abcA transcription but had no effects on pbp4 transcription. Analysis of abcA expression in mutants defective for global regulators showed that abcA is under the control of agr. Insertional inactivation of abcA by an erythromycin resistance determinant did not influence pbp4 transcription, nor did it alter resistance to methicillin and other cell wall-directed antibiotics. However, abcA mutants showed spontaneous partial lysis on plates containing subinhibitory concentrations of methicillin due to increased spontaneous autolysis. Since the autolytic zymograms of cell extracts were identical in mutants and parental strains, we postulate an indirect role of AbcA in control of autolytic activities and in protection of the cells against methicillin. PMID:11158733

  17. Diversity and evolution of ABC proteins in mycorrhiza-forming fungi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kovalchuk, Andriy; Kohler, Annegret; Martin, Francis; Asiegbu, Fred O

    2015-12-28

    Transporter proteins are predicted to have an important role in the mycorrhizal symbiosis, due to the fact that this type of an interaction between plants and fungi requires a continuous nutrient and signalling exchange. ABC transporters are one of the large groups of transporter proteins found both in plants and in fungi. The crucial role of plant ABC transporters in the formation of the mycorrhizal symbiosis has been demonstrated recently. Some of the fungal ABC transporter-encoding genes are also induced during the mycorrhiza formation. However, no experimental evidences of the direct involvement of fungal ABC transporters in this process are available so far. To facilitate the identification of fungal ABC proteins with a potential role in the establishment of the mycorrhizal symbiosis, we have performed an inventory of the ABC protein-encoding genes in the genomes of 25 species of mycorrhiza-forming fungi. We have identified, manually annotated and curated more than 1300 gene models of putative ABC protein-encoding genes. Out of those, more than 1000 models are predicted to encode functional proteins, whereas about 300 models represent gene fragments or putative pseudogenes. We have also performed the phylogenetic analysis of the identified sequences. The sets of ABC proteins in the mycorrhiza-forming species were compared to the related saprotrophic or plant-pathogenic fungal species. Our results demonstrate the high diversity of ABC genes in the genomes of mycorrhiza-forming fungi. Via comparison of transcriptomics data from different species, we have identified candidate groups of ABC transporters that might have a role in the process of the mycorrhiza formation. Results of our inventory will facilitate the identification of fungal transporters with a role in the mycorrhiza formation. We also provide the first data on ABC protein-coding genes for the phylum Glomeromycota and for orders Pezizales, Atheliales, Cantharellales and Sebacinales, contributing to

  18. Polymorphism in ABC transporter genes of Dirofilaria immitis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Thangadurai Mani

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Dirofilaria immitis, a filarial nematode, causes dirofilariasis in dogs, cats and occasionally in humans. Prevention of the disease has been mainly by monthly use of the macrocyclic lactone (ML endectocides during the mosquito transmission season. Recently, ML resistance has been confirmed in D. immitis and therefore, there is a need to find new classes of anthelmintics. One of the mechanisms associated with ML resistance in nematodes has been the possible role of ATP binding cassette (ABC transporters in reducing drug concentrations at receptor sites. ABC transporters, mainly from sub-families B, C and G, may contribute to multidrug resistance (MDR by active efflux of drugs out of the cell. Gene products of ABC transporters may thus serve as the targets for agents that may modulate susceptibility to drugs, by inhibiting drug transport. ABC transporters are believed to be involved in a variety of physiological functions critical to the parasite, such as sterol transport, and therefore may also serve as the target for drugs that can act as anthelmintics on their own. Knowledge of polymorphism in these ABC transporter genes in nematode parasites could provide useful information for the process of drug design. We have identified 15 ABC transporter genes from sub-families A, B, C and G, in D. immitis, by comparative genomic approaches and analyzed them for polymorphism. Whole genome sequencing data from four ML susceptible (SUS and four loss of efficacy (LOE pooled populations were used for single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP genotyping. Out of 231 SNPs identified in those 15 ABC transporter genes, 89 and 75 of them were specific to the SUS or LOE populations, respectively. A few of the SNPs identified may affect gene expression, protein function, substrate specificity or resistance development and may be useful for transporter inhibitor/anthelmintic drug design, or in order to anticipate resistance development. Keywords: Dirofilaria immitis

  19. Inventory and analysis of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) systems in Brugia malayi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ardelli, B F; Stitt, L E; Tompkins, J B

    2010-07-01

    ABC systems are one of the largest described protein superfamilies. These systems have a domain organization that may contain 1 or more transmembrane domains (ABC_TM1F) and 1 or 2 ATP-binding domains (ABC_2). The functions (e.g., import, export and DNA repair) of these proteins distinguish the 3 classes of ABC systems. Mining and PCR-based cloning were used to identify 33 putative ABC systems from the Brugia malayi genome. There were 31 class 2 genes, commonly called ABC transporters, and 2 class 3 genes. The ABC transporters were divided into subfamilies. Three belonged to subfamily A, 16 to subfamily B, 5 to subfamily C, 1 to subfamily E and 3 to subfamilies F and G, respectively. None were placed in subfamilies D and H. Similar to other ABC systems, the ABC_2 domain of B. malayi genes was conserved and contained the Walker A and B motifs, the signature sequence/linker region and the switch region with the conserved histidine. The ABC_TM1F domain was less conserved. The relative abundance of ABC systems was quantified using real-time reverse transcription PCR and was significantly higher in female adults of B. malayi than in males and microfilaria, particularly those in subfamilies B and C, which are associated with drug resistance.

  20. Dashboard Auditing of Activity-Based Costing (ABC)

    OpenAIRE

    Sorinel Capusneanu

    2009-01-01

    This article aims to define the dashboard auditing according to the specifics of Activity-Based Costing method (ABC). It describes the main objectives of dashboard auditing, the criteria that a dashboard auditor should meet and the step-by-step stages of the entire dashboard auditing process according to the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC).

  1. An ABC analysis for power generation project

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Batool Hasani

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available One of the primary concerns on performance measurement is to know how much a particular project cost. However, using traditional method on project-based products often leads to inappropriate results. In this paper, we re-examine this issue by comparing the cost of a power station construction project using ABC versus traditional method. The results of survey show that ABC method is capable of providing better estimates for overhead costs compared with traditional method. In other words, ABC method helps reduce some of the unnecessary overhead cost items and increase on some other cost components. This helps increase the relative efficiency of the system by reducing total cost of project.

  2. Dashboard Auditing of Activity-Based Costing (ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sorinel Capusneanu

    2009-03-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to define the dashboard auditing according to the specifics of Activity-Based Costing method (ABC. It describes the main objectives of dashboard auditing, the criteria that a dashboard auditor should meet and the step-by-step stages of the entire dashboard auditing process according to the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC.

  3. ABC/2 Method Does not Accurately Predict Cerebral Arteriovenous Malformation Volume.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roark, Christopher; Vadlamudi, Venu; Chaudhary, Neeraj; Gemmete, Joseph J; Seinfeld, Joshua; Thompson, B Gregory; Pandey, Aditya S

    2018-02-01

    Stereotactic radiosurgery (SRS) is a treatment option for cerebral arteriovenous malformations (AVMs) to prevent intracranial hemorrhage. The decision to proceed with SRS is usually based on calculated nidal volume. Physicians commonly use the ABC/2 formula, based on digital subtraction angiography (DSA), when counseling patients for SRS. To determine whether AVM volume calculated using the ABC/2 method on DSA is accurate when compared to the exact volume calculated from thin-cut axial sections used for SRS planning. Retrospective search of neurovascular database to identify AVMs treated with SRS from 1995 to 2015. Maximum nidal diameters in orthogonal planes on DSA images were recorded to determine volume using ABC/2 formula. Nidal target volume was extracted from operative reports of SRS. Volumes were then compared using descriptive statistics and paired t-tests. Ninety intracranial AVMs were identified. Median volume was 4.96 cm3 [interquartile range (IQR) 1.79-8.85] with SRS planning methods and 6.07 cm3 (IQR 1.3-13.6) with ABC/2 methodology. Moderate correlation was seen between SRS and ABC/2 (r = 0.662; P ABC/2 (t = -3.2; P = .002). When AVMs were dichotomized based on ABC/2 volume, significant differences remained (t = 3.1, P = .003 for ABC/2 volume ABC/2 volume > 7 cm3). The ABC/2 method overestimates cerebral AVM volume when compared to volumetric analysis from SRS planning software. For AVMs > 7 cm3, the overestimation is even greater. SRS planning techniques were also significantly different than values derived from equations for cones and cylinders. Copyright © 2017 by the Congress of Neurological Surgeons

  4. abc: An Extensible AspectJ Compiler

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Avgustinov, Pavel; Christensen, Aske Simon; Hendren, Laurie J.

    2006-01-01

    checking and code generation, as well as data flow and control flow analyses. The AspectBench Compiler (abc) is an implementation of such a workbench. The base version of abc implements the full AspectJ language. Its front end is built using the Polyglot framework, as a modular extension of the Java...... language. The use of Polyglot gives flexibility of syntax and type checking. The back end is built using the Soot framework, to give modular code generation and analyses. In this paper, we outline the design of abc, focusing mostly on how the design supports extensibility. We then provide a general...

  5. [Glycosaminoglycans in subepithelial opacity after excimer laser keratectomy].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nakayasu, K; Gotoh, T; Ishikawa, T; Kanai, A

    1996-05-01

    We evaluated histochemically the characteristics of glycosaminoglycans and proteoglycans in the corneal subepithelial opacity after excimer laser keratectomy on rabbit corneas. We also performed the same evaluations on the cornea after mechanical keratectomy. Twenty days after the operations, the area immediately subjacent to the epithelium showed strong staining with toluidine blue, alcian blue, and colloidal iron. However, after treatment with chondroitinase ABC or chondroitinase AC, alcian blue staining in this area decreased dramatically. Antilarge proteoglycan antibody also reacted strongly in this area. Histochemical and immunohistochemical examination of the cornea where mechanical keratectomy was done showed basically similar findings with the cornea of excimer laser keratectomy. These results suggest that large-molecula proteoglycans with chondroitine sulfate side chains become localized in the subepithelial area after two different kinds of keratectomies. We presume from histochemical and immunohistochemical observations that the subepithelial opacity observed after excimer laser keratectomy is not a special reaction to excimer laser but simply a corneal scar formed after stromal resection.

  6. INTEGRATING ABC AND EVA TO EVALUATE INVESTMENT DECISIONS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    N. Chiadamrong

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available The significance of investment is transparent in the world of competitive business. Traditional costing systems in which their emphasizes are for short term savings rather than long term benefits have shown some lacking in providing accurate and reliable cost data for the investment decisions. Activity-based Costing (ABC, which is developed to satisfy some of the weaknesses of the traditional costing systems, can provide valuable insights into the operating processes and come up with more accurate cost data. In this paper, ABC is used to provide significant information for investment decisions. Although, the ABC method provides accurate operating product costs, it does not identify which products are economic valued added creators and so contribute to companies’ wealth. This drawback can be overcome by applying Economic Value Added (EVA. The adoption of ABC and EVA can represent a considerable change in the managerial thinking and to corporate strategies and business performance.

  7. Preconceptual ABC design definition and system configuration layout: Appendix A

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1995-03-01

    The mission of the ABC system is to destroy as effectively as possible the fissile material inserted into the core without producing any new fissile material. The contents of this report are as follows: operating conditions for the steam-cycle ABC system; flow rates and component dimensions; drawings of the ABC layout; and impact of core design parameters on containment size

  8. Genome-wide comparative analysis of ABC systems in the Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Nan; Chen, Huan; Williams, Henry N

    2015-05-10

    Bdellovibrio-and-like organisms (BALOs) are gram-negative, predatory bacteria with wide variations in genome sizes and GC content and ecological habitats. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) systems have been identified in several prokaryotes, fungi and plants and have a role in transport of materials in and out of cells and in cellular processes. However, knowledge of the ABC systems of BALOs remains obscure. A total of 269 putative ABC proteins were identified in BALOs. The genes encoding these ABC systems occupy nearly 1.3% of the gene content in freshwater Bdellovibrio strains and about 0.7% in their saltwater counterparts. The proteins found belong to 25 ABC system families based on their structural characteristics and functions. Among these, 16 families function as importers, 6 as exporters and 3 are involved in various cellular processes. Eight of these 25 ABC system families were deduced to be the core set of ABC systems conserved in all BALOs. All Bacteriovorax strains have 28 or less ABC systems. On the contrary, the freshwater Bdellovibrio strains have more ABC systems, typically around 51. In the genome of Bdellovibrio exovorus JSS (CP003537.1), 53 putative ABC systems were detected, representing the highest number among all the BALO genomes examined in this study. Unexpected high numbers of ABC systems involved in cellular processes were found in all BALOs. Phylogenetic analysis suggests that the majority of ABC proteins can be assigned into many separate families with high bootstrap supports (>50%). In this study, a general framework of sequence-structure-function connections for the ABC systems in BALOs was revealed providing novel insights for future investigations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  9. ABCs of Being Smart: S Is for Supporting

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foster, Joanne

    2014-01-01

    Joanne Foster's article "R We There Yet?" was first published in "Parenting for High Potential" ("PHP") in 2006, which became the springboard for the "ABCs of Being Smart" series of columns. At that time, Foster invited "PHP" readers to think about their own versions of the "ABCs of Being…

  10. A Compute Environment of ABC95 Array Computer Based on Multi-FPGA Chip

    Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

    2000-01-01

    ABC95 array computer is a multi-function network's computer based on FPGA technology, The multi-function network supports processors conflict-free access data from memory and supports processors access data from processors based on enhanced MESH network.ABC95 instruction's system includes control instructions, scalar instructions, vectors instructions.Mostly net-work instructions are introduced.A programming environment of ABC95 array computer assemble language is designed.A programming environment of ABC95 array computer for VC++ is advanced.It includes load function of ABC95 array computer program and data, store function, run function and so on.Specially, The data type of ABC95 array computer conflict-free access is defined.The results show that these technologies can develop programmer of ABC95 array computer effectively.

  11. The multidrug ABC transporter BmrC/BmrD of Bacillus subtilis is regulated via a ribosome-mediated transcriptional attenuation mechanism

    OpenAIRE

    Reilman, E.; Mars, R. A. T.; van Dijl, J. M.; Denham, Emma

    2014-01-01

    Expression of particular drug transporters in response to antibiotic pressure is a critical element in the development of bacterial multidrug resistance, and represents a serious concern for human health. To obtain a better understanding of underlying regulatory mechanisms, we have dissected the transcriptional activation of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter BmrC/BmrD of the Gram-positive model bacterium Bacillus subtilis. By using promoter-GFP fusions and live cell array technology,...

  12. ABC transporters in fish species: a review

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marta eFerreira

    2014-07-01

    Full Text Available ATP-binding cassette (ABC proteins were first recognized for their role in multidrug resistance (MDR in chemotherapeutic treatments, which is a major impediment for the successful treatment of many forms of malignant tumors in humans. These proteins, highly conserved throughout vertebrate species, were later related to cellular detoxification and accounted as responsible for protecting aquatic organisms from xenobiotic insults in the so-called multixenobiotic resistance mechanism (MXR. In recent years, research on these proteins in aquatic species has highlighted their importance in the detoxification mechanisms in fish thus it is of extreme added value to continue these studies. Several transporters have been pointed out as relevant in the ecotoxicological context associated to the transport of xenobiotics, such as P-glycoproteins (Pgps, multidrug-resistance-associated proteins (MRPs 1-5 and breast resistance associated protein (BCRP. In mammals, several nuclear receptors have been identified as mediators of phase I and II metabolizing enzymes and ABC transporters. In aquatic species, knowledge on co-regulation of detoxification mechanism is scarce and needs to be addressed. The interaction of emergent contaminants, with chemosensitizer potential, with ABC transporters in aquatic organisms can compromise detoxification processes and have population effects and should be studied in more detail. This review intends to summarize the recent advances in research on MXR mechanisms in fish species, focusing in 1 regulation and functioning of ABC proteins; 2 cooperation with phase I and II biotransformation enzymes; and 3 ecotoxicological relevance and information on emergent pollutants with ability to modulate ABC transporters expression and activity. Several lines of evidence are clear suggesting the important role of these transporters in detoxification mechanisms and must be further investigated in fish.

  13. ABC versus CAB for cardiopulmonary resuscitation: a prospective, randomized simulator-based trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsch, Stephan; Tschan, Franziska; Semmer, Norbert K; Zobrist, Roger; Hunziker, Patrick R; Hunziker, Sabina

    2013-09-06

    After years of advocating ABC (Airway-Breathing-Circulation), current guidelines of cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) recommend CAB (Circulation-Airway-Breathing). This trial compared ABC with CAB as initial approach to CPR from the arrival of rescuers until the completion of the first resuscitation cycle. 108 teams, consisting of two physicians each, were randomized to receive a graphical display of either the ABC algorithm or the CAB algorithm. Subsequently teams had to treat a simulated cardiac arrest. Data analysis was performed using video recordings obtained during simulations. The primary endpoint was the time to completion of the first resuscitation cycle of 30 compressions and two ventilations. The time to execution of the first resuscitation measure was 32 ± 12 seconds in ABC teams and 25 ± 10 seconds in CAB teams (P = 0.002). 18/53 ABC teams (34%) and none of the 55 CAB teams (P = 0.006) applied more than the recommended two initial rescue breaths which caused a longer duration of the first cycle of 30 compressions and two ventilations in ABC teams (31 ± 13 vs.23 ± 6 sec; P = 0.001). Overall, the time to completion of the first resuscitation cycle was longer in ABC teams (63 ± 17 vs. 48 ± 10 sec; P ABC with an earlier start of CPR and a shorter time to completion of the first 30:2 resuscitation cycle. These findings endorse the change from ABC to CAB in international resuscitation guidelines.

  14. Politseiniku lustlik ABC / Pekka Erelt

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Erelt, Pekka, 1965-

    1999-01-01

    Politsei on välja andnud 'Politseiniku ABC', mis antakse igale politseinikule. Karikaturist Heiki Ernits on peaaegu igale taskuraamatu leheküljele joonistanud pildikese mundrimeestest kentsakates situatsioonides.

  15. Optimization of Straight Cylindrical Turning Using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithm

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasanth, Rajanampalli Seshasai Srinivasa; Hans Raj, Kandikonda

    2017-04-01

    Artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm, that mimics the intelligent foraging behavior of honey bees, is increasingly gaining acceptance in the field of process optimization, as it is capable of handling nonlinearity, complexity and uncertainty. Straight cylindrical turning is a complex and nonlinear machining process which involves the selection of appropriate cutting parameters that affect the quality of the workpiece. This paper presents the estimation of optimal cutting parameters of the straight cylindrical turning process using the ABC algorithm. The ABC algorithm is first tested on four benchmark problems of numerical optimization and its performance is compared with genetic algorithm (GA) and ant colony optimization (ACO) algorithm. Results indicate that, the rate of convergence of ABC algorithm is better than GA and ACO. Then, the ABC algorithm is used to predict optimal cutting parameters such as cutting speed, feed rate, depth of cut and tool nose radius to achieve good surface finish. Results indicate that, the ABC algorithm estimated a comparable surface finish when compared with real coded genetic algorithm and differential evolution algorithm.

  16. Application of activity-based costing (ABC) for a Peruvian NGO healthcare provider.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Waters, H; Abdallah, H; Santillán, D

    2001-01-01

    This article describes the application of activity-based costing (ABC) to calculate the unit costs of the services for a health care provider in Peru. While traditional costing allocates overhead and indirect costs in proportion to production volume or to direct costs, ABC assigns costs through activities within an organization. ABC uses personnel interviews to determine principal activities and the distribution of individual's time among these activities. Indirect costs are linked to services through time allocation and other tracing methods, and the result is a more accurate estimate of unit costs. The study concludes that applying ABC in a developing country setting is feasible, yielding results that are directly applicable to pricing and management. ABC determines costs for individual clinics, departments and services according to the activities that originate these costs, showing where an organization spends its money. With this information, it is possible to identify services that are generating extra revenue and those operating at a loss, and to calculate cross subsidies across services. ABC also highlights areas in the health care process where efficiency improvements are possible. Conclusions about the ultimate impact of the methodology are not drawn here, since the study was not repeated and changes in utilization patterns and the addition of new clinics affected applicability of the results. A potential constraint to implementing ABC is the availability and organization of cost information. Applying ABC efficiently requires information to be readily available, by cost category and department, since the greatest benefits of ABC come from frequent, systematic application of the methodology in order to monitor efficiency and provide feedback for management. The article concludes with a discussion of the potential applications of ABC in the health sector in developing countries.

  17. The endogenous proteoglycan-degrading enzyme ADAMTS-4 promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tauchi Ryoji

    2012-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans are major inhibitory molecules for neural plasticity under both physiological and pathological conditions. The chondroitin sulfate degrading enzyme chondroitinase ABC promotes functional recovery after spinal cord injury, and restores experience-dependent plasticity, such as ocular dominance plasticity and fear erasure plasticity, in adult rodents. These data suggest that the sugar chain in a proteoglycan moiety is essential for the inhibitory activity of proteoglycans. However, the significance of the core protein has not been studied extensively. Furthermore, considering that chondroitinase ABC is derived from bacteria, a mammalian endogenous enzyme which can inactivate the proteoglycans' activity is desirable for clinical use. Methods The degradation activity of ADAMTS-4 was estimated for the core proteins of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans, that is, brevican, neurocan and phosphacan. To evaluate the biological significance of ADMATS-4 activity, an in vitro neurite growth assay and an in vivo neuronal injury model, spinal cord contusion injury, were employed. Results ADAMTS-4 digested proteoglycans, and reversed their inhibition of neurite outgrowth. Local administration of ADAMTS-4 significantly promoted motor function recovery after spinal cord injury. Supporting these findings, the ADAMTS-4-treated spinal cord exhibited enhanced axonal regeneration/sprouting after spinal cord injury. Conclusions Our data suggest that the core protein in a proteoglycan moiety is also important for the inhibition of neural plasticity, and provides a potentially safer tool for the treatment of neuronal injuries.

  18. The use of active breathing control (ABC) to reduce margin for breathing motion

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wong, John W.; Sharpe, Michael B.; Jaffray, David A.; Kini, Vijay R.; Robertson, John M.; Stromberg, Jannifer S.; Martinez, Alavro A.

    1999-01-01

    Purpose: For tumors in the thorax and abdomen, reducing the treatment margin for organ motion due to breathing reduces the volume of normal tissues that will be irradiated. A higher dose can be delivered to the target, provided that the risk of marginal misses is not increased. To ensure safe margin reduction, we investigated the feasibility of using active breathing control (ABC) to temporarily immobilize the patient's breathing. Treatment planning and delivery can then be performed at identical ABC conditions with minimal margin for breathing motion. Methods and Materials: An ABC apparatus is constructed consisting of 2 pairs of flow monitor and scissor valve, 1 each to control the inspiration and expiration paths to the patient. The patient breathes through a mouth-piece connected to the ABC apparatus. The respiratory signal is processed continuously, using a personal computer that displays the changing lung volume in real-time. After the patient's breathing pattern becomes stable, the operator activates ABC at a preselected phase in the breathing cycle. Both valves are then closed to immobilize breathing motion. Breathing motion of 12 patients were held with ABC to examine their acceptance of the procedure. The feasibility of applying ABC for treatment was tested in 5 patients by acquiring volumetric scans with a spiral computed tomography (CT) scanner during active breath-hold. Two patients had Hodgkin's disease, 2 had metastatic liver cancer, and 1 had lung cancer. Two intrafraction ABC scans were acquired at the same respiratory phase near the end of normal or deep inspiration. An additional ABC scan near the end of normal expiration was acquired for 2 patients. The ABC scans were also repeated 1 week later for a Hodgkin's patient. In 1 liver patient, ABC scans were acquired at 7 different phases of the breathing cycle to facilitate examination of the liver motion associated with ventilation. Contours of the lungs and livers were outlined when applicable

  19. Frequent down-regulation of ABC transporter genes in prostate cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Demidenko, Rita; Razanauskas, Deividas; Daniunaite, Kristina; Lazutka, Juozas Rimantas; Jankevicius, Feliksas; Jarmalaite, Sonata

    2015-10-12

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are transmembrane proteins responsible for the efflux of a wide variety of substrates, including steroid metabolites, through the cellular membranes. For better characterization of the role of ABC transporters in prostate cancer (PCa) development, the profile of ABC transporter gene expression was analyzed in PCa and noncancerous prostate tissues (NPT). TaqMan Low Density Array (TLDA) human ABC transporter plates were used for the gene expression profiling in 10 PCa and 6 NPT specimens. ABCB1 transcript level was evaluated in a larger set of PCa cases (N = 78) and NPT (N = 15) by real-time PCR, the same PCa cases were assessed for the gene promoter hypermethylation by methylation-specific PCR. Expression of eight ABC transporter genes (ABCA8, ABCB1, ABCC6, ABCC9, ABCC10, ABCD2, ABCG2, and ABCG4) was significantly down-regulated in PCa as compared to NPT, and only two genes (ABCC4 and ABCG1) were up-regulated. Down-regulation of ABC transporter genes was prevalent in the TMPRSS2-ERG-negative cases. A detailed analysis of ABCB1 expression confirmed TLDA results: a reduced level of the transcript was identified in PCa in comparison to NPT (p = 0.048). Moreover, the TMPRSS2-ERG-negative PCa cases showed significantly lower expression of ABCB1 in comparison to NPT (p = 0.003) or the fusion-positive tumors (p = 0.002). Promoter methylation of ABCB1 predominantly occurred in PCa and was rarely detected in NPT (p ABC transporter genes in PCa, especially in the TMPRSS2-ERG-negative tumors.

  20. Temporal dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities in a genetically modified (GM) rice ecosystem.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lee, Seung-Hoon; Kim, Chang-Gi; Kang, Hojeong

    2011-04-01

    We assessed the temporal dynamics of bacterial and fungal communities in a soil ecosystem supporting genetically modified (GM) rice (Oryza sativa L., ABC-TPSP; fusion of trehalose-6-phosphate synthase and phosphatase). Using terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and real-time quantitative PCR, we compared bacterial and fungal communities in the soils underlying GM rice (ABC-TPSP), and its host cultivar (Nakdong) during growing seasons and non-growing seasons. Overall, the soils supporting GM and non-GM rice did not differ significantly in diversity indices, including ribotype numbers, for either bacteria or fungi. The diversity index (H) in both the bacterial and fungal communities was correlated with water content, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and ammonium nitrogen, and the correlation was stronger in fungi than in bacteria. Multivariate analysis showed no differences in microbial community structures between the two crop genotypes, but such differences did appear in time, with significant changes observed after harvest. Gene copy number was estimated as 10(8)~10(11) and 10(5)~10(7) per gram of soil for bacteria and fungi, respectively. As observed for community structure, the rice genotypes did not differ significantly in either bacterial- or fungal-specific gene copy numbers, although we observed a seasonal change in number. We summarize the results of this study as follows. (1) GM rice did not influence soil bacterial and fungal community structures as compared to non-GM rice in our system, (2) both bacterial and fungal communities changed with the growth stage of either rice genotype, (3) fungal communities were less variable than bacterial communities, and (4) although several environmental factors, including ammonium nitrogen and DOC correlated with shifts in microbial community structure, no single factor stood out.

  1. Anticipated Benefits of Care (ABC): psychometrics and predictive value in psychiatric disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warden, D; Trivedi, M H; Carmody, T J; Gollan, J K; Kashner, T M; Lind, L; Crismon, M L; Rush, A J

    2010-06-01

    Attitudes and expectations about treatment have been associated with symptomatic outcomes, adherence and utilization in patients with psychiatric disorders. No measure of patients' anticipated benefits of treatment on domains of everyday functioning has previously been available. The Anticipated Benefits of Care (ABC) is a new, 10-item questionnaire used to measure patient expectations about the impact of treatment on domains of everyday functioning. The ABC was collected at baseline in adult out-patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) (n=528), bipolar disorder (n=395) and schizophrenia (n=447) in the Texas Medication Algorithm Project (TMAP). Psychometric properties of the ABC were assessed, and the association of ABC scores with treatment response at 3 months was evaluated. Evaluation of the ABC's internal consistency yielded Cronbach's alpha of 0.90-0.92 for patients across disorders. Factor analysis showed that the ABC was unidimensional for all patients and for patients with each disorder. For patients with MDD, lower anticipated benefits of treatment was associated with less symptom improvement and lower odds of treatment response [odds ratio (OR) 0.72, 95% confidence interval (CI) 0.57-0.87, p=0.0011]. There was no association between ABC and symptom improvement or treatment response for patients with bipolar disorder or schizophrenia, possibly because these patients had modest benefits with treatment. The ABC is the first self-report that measures patient expectations about the benefits of treatment on everyday functioning, filling an important gap in available assessments of attitudes and expectations about treatment. The ABC is simple, easy to use, and has acceptable psychometric properties for use in research or clinical settings.

  2. Object Detection Based on Template Matching through Use of Best-So-Far ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anan Banharnsakun

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Best-so-far ABC is a modified version of the artificial bee colony (ABC algorithm used for optimization tasks. This algorithm is one of the swarm intelligence (SI algorithms proposed in recent literature, in which the results demonstrated that the best-so-far ABC can produce higher quality solutions with faster convergence than either the ordinary ABC or the current state-of-the-art ABC-based algorithm. In this work, we aim to apply the best-so-far ABC-based approach for object detection based on template matching by using the difference between the RGB level histograms corresponding to the target object and the template object as the objective function. Results confirm that the proposed method was successful in both detecting objects and optimizing the time used to reach the solution.

  3. ABC Technology Development Program

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    1994-01-01

    The Accelerator-Based Conversion (ABC) facility will be designed to accomplish the following mission: 'Provide a weapon's grade plutonium disposition capability in a safe, economical, and environmentally sound manner on a prudent schedule for [50] tons of weapon's grade plutonium to be disposed on in [20] years.' This mission is supported by four major objectives: provide a reliable plutonium disposition capability within the next [15] years; provide a level of safety and of safety assurance that meets or exceeds that afforded to the public by modern commercial nuclear power plants; meet or exceed all applicable federal, state, and local regulations or standards for environmental compliance; manage the program in a cost effective manner. The ABC Technology Development Program defines the technology development activities that are required to accomplish this mission. The technology development tasks are related to the following topics: blanket system; vessel systems; reactivity control systems; heat transport system components; energy conversion systems; shutdown heat transport systems components; auxiliary systems; technology demonstrations - large scale experiments

  4. The ABC of handover: impact on shift handover in the emergency department.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farhan, Maisse; Brown, Ruth; Vincent, Charles; Woloshynowych, Maria

    2012-12-01

    A study was undertaken to test the impact of a new tool for shift handover, 'The ABC of Handover', in the emergency department (ED). The impact on shift handover following implementation of this structured tool, the effect on clinical and organisational aspects of the subsequent shift and the opinions of users of this new tool are reported. A prospective observational before and after study was performed to explore the effect of implementing 'The ABC of Handover' on clinical and organisational practice using a questionnaire. 41 handovers were observed before implementation of 'The ABC of Handover' and 42 were observed after. The new tool was successfully implemented and resulted in a change of practice which led to a significant increase in the operational issues mentioned at handover from a mean of 34% to a mean of 86% of essential items with the ABC method. Over the study period, middle-grade staff demonstrated improved situational awareness as they adopted proactive management of operational issues such as staffing or equipment shortages. All participants reported that 'The ABC of Handover' improved handover regardless of the seniority of the doctor giving it, and found the ABC method easy to learn. Successful implementation of 'The ABC of Handover' led to a change of practice in the ED. Improving handover resulted in better organisation of the shift and heightened awareness of potential patient safety issues. The ABC method provides a framework for organising the shift and preparing for events in the subsequent shift.

  5. Frequent down-regulation of ABC transporter genes in prostate cancer

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Demidenko, Rita; Razanauskas, Deividas; Daniunaite, Kristina; Lazutka, Juozas Rimantas; Jankevicius, Feliksas; Jarmalaite, Sonata

    2015-01-01

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are transmembrane proteins responsible for the efflux of a wide variety of substrates, including steroid metabolites, through the cellular membranes. For better characterization of the role of ABC transporters in prostate cancer (PCa) development, the profile of ABC transporter gene expression was analyzed in PCa and noncancerous prostate tissues (NPT). TaqMan Low Density Array (TLDA) human ABC transporter plates were used for the gene expression profiling in 10 PCa and 6 NPT specimens. ABCB1 transcript level was evaluated in a larger set of PCa cases (N = 78) and NPT (N = 15) by real-time PCR, the same PCa cases were assessed for the gene promoter hypermethylation by methylation-specific PCR. Expression of eight ABC transporter genes (ABCA8, ABCB1, ABCC6, ABCC9, ABCC10, ABCD2, ABCG2, and ABCG4) was significantly down-regulated in PCa as compared to NPT, and only two genes (ABCC4 and ABCG1) were up-regulated. Down-regulation of ABC transporter genes was prevalent in the TMPRSS2-ERG-negative cases. A detailed analysis of ABCB1 expression confirmed TLDA results: a reduced level of the transcript was identified in PCa in comparison to NPT (p = 0.048). Moreover, the TMPRSS2-ERG-negative PCa cases showed significantly lower expression of ABCB1 in comparison to NPT (p = 0.003) or the fusion-positive tumors (p = 0.002). Promoter methylation of ABCB1 predominantly occurred in PCa and was rarely detected in NPT (p < 0.001). The study suggests frequent down-regulation of the ABC transporter genes in PCa, especially in the TMPRSS2-ERG-negative tumors. The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12885-015-1689-8) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

  6. Note on the ABC Conjecture

    OpenAIRE

    Carella, N. A.

    2006-01-01

    This note imparts heuristic arguments and theorectical evidences that contradict the abc conjecture over the rational numbers. In addition, the rudimentary datails for transforming this problem into the doimain of equidistribution theory are provided.

  7. ABC optimized RBF network for classification of EEG signal for epileptic seizure identification

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sandeep Kumar Satapathy

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available The brain signals usually generate certain electrical signals that can be recorded and analyzed for detection in several brain disorder diseases. These small signals are expressly called as Electroencephalogram (EEG signals. This research work analyzes the epileptic disorder in human brain through EEG signal analysis by integrating the best attributes of Artificial Bee Colony (ABC and radial basis function networks (RBFNNs. We have used Discrete Wavelet Transform (DWT technique for extraction of potential features from the signal. In our study, for classification of these signals, in this paper, the RBFNNs have been trained by a modified version of ABC algorithm. In the modified ABC, the onlooker bees are selected based on binary tournament unlike roulette wheel selection of ABC. Additionally, kernels such as Gaussian, Multi-quadric, and Inverse-multi-quadric are used for measuring the effectiveness of the method in numerous mixtures of healthy segments, seizure-free segments, and seizure segments. Our experimental outcomes confirm that RBFNN with inverse-multi-quadric kernel trained with modified ABC is significantly better than RBFNNs with other kernels trained by ABC and modified ABC.

  8. Abrasive wear behavior of heat-treated ABC-silicon carbide

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Xiao Feng; Lee, Gun Y.; Chen, Da; Ritchie, Robert O.; De Jonghe, Lutgard C.

    2002-06-17

    Hot-pressed silicon carbide, containing aluminum, boron, and carbon additives (ABC-SiC), was subjected to three-body and two-body wear testing using diamond abrasives over a range of sizes. In general, the wear resistance of ABC-SiC, with suitable heat treatment, was superior to that of commercial SiC.

  9. A burst of ABC genes in the genome of the polyphagous spider mite Tetranychus urticae.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dermauw, Wannes; Osborne, Edward John; Clark, Richard M; Grbić, Miodrag; Tirry, Luc; Van Leeuwen, Thomas

    2013-05-10

    The ABC (ATP-binding cassette) gene superfamily is widespread across all living species. The majority of ABC genes encode ABC transporters, which are membrane-spanning proteins capable of transferring substrates across biological membranes by hydrolyzing ATP. Although ABC transporters have often been associated with resistance to drugs and toxic compounds, within the Arthropoda ABC gene families have only been characterized in detail in several insects and a crustacean. In this study, we report a genome-wide survey and expression analysis of the ABC gene superfamily in the spider mite, Tetranychus urticae, a chelicerate ~ 450 million years diverged from other Arthropod lineages. T. urticae is a major agricultural pest, and is among of the most polyphagous arthropod herbivores known. The species resists a staggering array of toxic plant secondary metabolites, and has developed resistance to all major classes of pesticides in use for its control. We identified 103 ABC genes in the T. urticae genome, the highest number discovered in a metazoan species to date. Within the T. urticae ABC gene set, all members of the eight currently described subfamilies (A to H) were detected. A phylogenetic analysis revealed that the high number of ABC genes in T. urticae is due primarily to lineage-specific expansions of ABC genes within the ABCC, ABCG and ABCH subfamilies. In particular, the ABCC subfamily harbors the highest number of T. urticae ABC genes (39). In a comparative genomic analysis, we found clear orthologous relationships between a subset of T. urticae ABC proteins and ABC proteins in both vertebrates and invertebrates known to be involved in fundamental cellular processes. These included members of the ABCB-half transporters, and the ABCD, ABCE and ABCF families. Furthermore, one-to-one orthologues could be distinguished between T. urticae proteins and human ABCC10, ABCG5 and ABCG8, the Drosophila melanogaster sulfonylurea receptor and ecdysone-regulated transporter E

  10. A burst of ABC genes in the genome of the polyphagous spider mite Tetranychus urticae

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dermauw, W.; Osborne, E.J.; Clark, R.M.; Grbić, M.; Tirry, L.; Van Leeuwen, T.

    2013-01-01

    Background: The ABC (ATP-binding cassette) gene superfamily is widespread across all living species. The majority of ABC genes encode ABC transporters, which are membrane-spanning proteins capable of transferring substrates across biological membranes by hydrolyzing ATP. Although ABC transporters

  11. MetaABC--an integrated metagenomics platform for data adjustment, binning and clustering.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Su, Chien-Hao; Hsu, Ming-Tsung; Wang, Tse-Yi; Chiang, Sufeng; Cheng, Jen-Hao; Weng, Francis C; Kao, Cheng-Yan; Wang, Daryi; Tsai, Huai-Kuang

    2011-08-15

    MetaABC is a metagenomic platform that integrates several binning tools coupled with methods for removing artifacts, analyzing unassigned reads and controlling sampling biases. It allows users to arrive at a better interpretation via series of distinct combinations of analysis tools. After execution, MetaABC provides outputs in various visual formats such as tables, pie and bar charts as well as clustering result diagrams. MetaABC source code and documentation are available at http://bits2.iis.sinica.edu.tw/MetaABC/ CONTACT: dywang@gate.sinica.edu.tw; hktsai@iis.sinica.edu.tw Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.

  12. Phase behavior of model ABC triblock copolymers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chatterjee, Joon

    The phase behavior of poly(isoprene-b-styrene- b-ethylene oxide) (ISO), a model ABC triblock copolymer has been studied. This class of materials exhibit self-assembly, forming a large array of ordered morphologies at length scales of 5-100 nm. The formation of stable three-dimensionally continuous network morphologies is of special interest in this study. Since these nanostructures considerably impact the material properties, fundamental knowledge for designing ABC systems have high technological importance for realizing applications in the areas of nanofabrication, nanoporous media, separation membranes, drug delivery and high surface area catalysts. A comprehensive framework was developed to describe the phase behavior of the ISO triblock copolymers at weak to intermediate segregation strengths spanning a wide range of composition. Phases were characterized through a combination of characterization techniques, including small angle x-ray scattering, dynamic mechanical spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and birefringence measurements. Combined with previous investigations on ISO, six different stable ordered state symmetries have been identified: lamellae (LAM), Fddd orthorhombic network (O70), double gyroid (Q230), alternating gyroid (Q214), hexagonal (HEX), and body-centered cubic (BCC). The phase map was found to be somewhat asymmetric around the fI = fO isopleth. This work provides a guide for theoretical studies and gives insight into the intricate effects of various parameters on the self-assembly of ABC triblock copolymers. Experimental SAXS data evaluated with a simple scattering intensity model show that local mixing varies continuously across the phase map between states of two- and three-domain segregation. Strategies of blending homopolymers with ISO triblock copolymer were employed for studying the swelling properties of a lamellar state. Results demonstrate that lamellar domains swell or shrink depending upon the type of homopolymer that

  13. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in normal and pathological lung

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    van der Deen, M; de Vries, EGE; Timens, W; Scheper, RJ; Timmer-Bosscha, H; Postma, DS

    2005-01-01

    ATP-binding cassette ( ABC) transporters are a family of transmembrane proteins that can transport a wide variety of substrates across biological membranes in an energy-dependent manner. Many ABC transporters such as P-glycoprotein ( P-gp), multidrug resistance-associated protein 1 ( MRP1) and

  14. A Neisseria meningitidis fbpABC mutant is incapable of using nonheme iron for growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khun, H H; Kirby, S D; Lee, B C

    1998-05-01

    The neisserial fbpABC locus has been proposed to act as an iron-specific ABC transporter system. To confirm this assigned function, we constructed an fbpABC mutant in Neisseria meningitidis by insertional inactivation of fbpABC with a selectable antibiotic marker. The mutant was unable to use iron supplied from human transferrin, human lactoferrin, or iron chelates. However, the use of iron from heme and human hemoglobin was unimpaired. These results support the obligatory participation of fbpABC in neisserial periplasmic iron transport and do not indicate a role for this genetic locus in the heme iron pathway.

  15. Implementation of the ABC Model in a Company Dealing with Extraction of Raw Materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Radoslav Bajus

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available ABC method is a new system for accurate product pricing, cost analysis of the causes of individual products and their optimization. The prices of products are accurately taken into account according to all relevant overhead costs in their actual context and relationships. Except of product costs, ABC method follows costs regarding customers, suppliers, distribution, transport, manufacturing, operational and security processes, management processes and other business activities. ABC method sees the company as a complex of interrelated activities and processes. ABC method represents more precise cost calculation for the product. The aim of the present article is to highlight the introduction of the ABC method to the enterprise and compare it with the traditional method. The result is to reduce costs by introducing ABC method to the enterprise.

  16. abc: The AspectBench Compiler for AspectJ

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Allan, Chris; Avgustinov, Pavel; Christensen, Aske Simon

    2005-01-01

    abc is an extensible, optimising compiler for AspectJ. It has been designed as a workbench for experimental research in aspect-oriented programming languages and compilers. We outline a programme of research in these areas, and we review how abc can help in achieving those research goals...

  17. Dashboard auditing of ABC (Activity-Based Costing). Theoretical approaches

    OpenAIRE

    Căpuşneanu, Sorinel/I

    2009-01-01

    This article aims to define the dashboard auditing according to the specifics of Activity-Based Costing method (ABC). It describes the main objectives of dashboard auditing, the criteria that a dashboard auditor should meet and the step-by-step stages of the entire dashboard auditing process of an enterprise from steel industry according to the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC).

  18. Second-order nonlinear optical metamaterials: ABC-type nanolaminates

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Alloatti, L.; Kieninger, C.; Lauermann, M.; Köhnle, K.; Froelich, A.; Wegener, M.; Frenzel, T.; Freude, W.; Leuthold, J.; Koos, C.

    2015-01-01

    We demonstrate a concept for second-order nonlinear metamaterials that can be obtained from non-metallic centrosymmetric constituents with inherently low optical absorption. The concept is based on iterative atomic-layer deposition of three different materials, A = Al 2 O 3 , B = TiO 2 , and C = HfO 2 . The centrosymmetry of the resulting ABC stack is broken since the ABC and the inverted CBA sequences are not equivalent—a necessary condition for non-zero second-order nonlinearity. In our experiments, we find that the bulk second-order nonlinear susceptibility depends on the density of interfaces, leading to a nonlinear susceptibility of 0.26 pm/V at a wavelength of 800 nm. ABC-type nanolaminates can be deposited on virtually any substrate and offer a promising route towards engineering of second-order optical nonlinearities at both infrared and visible wavelengths

  19. SU-E-T-401: Feasibility Study of Using ABC to Gate Lung SBRT Treatment

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cao, D; Xie, X; Shepard, D

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: The current SBRT treatment techniques include free breathing (FB) SBRT and gated FB SBRT. Gated FB SBRT has smaller target and less lung toxicity with longer treatment time. The recent development of direct connectivity between the ABC and linac allowing for automated beam gating. In this study, we have examined the feasibility of using ABC system to gate the lung SBRT treatment. Methods: A CIRS lung phantom with a 3cm sphere-insert and a moving chest plate was used in this study. Sinusoidal motion was used for the FB pattern. An ABC signal was imported to simulate breath holds. 4D-CT was taken in FB mode and average-intensity-projection (AIP) was used to create FB and 50% gated FB SBRT planning CT. A manually gated 3D CT scan was acquired for ABC gated SBRT planning.An SBRT plan was created for each treatment option. A surface-mapping system was used for 50% gating and ABC system was used for ABC gating. A manually gated CBCT scan was also performed to verify setup. Results: Among three options, the ABC gated plan has the smallest PTV of 35.94cc, which is 35% smaller comparing to that of the FB plan. Consequently, the V20 of the left lung reduced by 15% and 23% comparing to the 50% gated FB and FB plans, respectively. The FB plan took 4.7 minutes to deliver, while the 50% gated FB plan took 18.5 minutes. The ABC gated plan delivery took only 10.6 minutes. A stationary target with 3cm diameter was also obtained from the manually gated CBCT scan. Conclusion: A strategy for ABC gated lung SBRT was developed. ABC gating can significantly reduce the lung toxicity while maintaining the target coverage. Comparing to the 50% gated FB SBRT, ABC gated treatment can also provide less lung toxicity as well as improved delivery efficiency. This research is funded by Elekta

  20. Creating an iPhone Application for Collecting Continuous ABC Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whiting, Seth W.; Dixon, Mark R.

    2012-01-01

    This paper provides an overview and task analysis for creating a continuous ABC data- collection application using Xcode on a Mac computer. Behavior analysts can program an ABC data collection system, complete with a customized list of target clients, antecedents, behaviors, and consequences to be recorded, and have the data automatically sent to…

  1. The Nucleotide-Free State of the Multidrug Resistance ABC Transporter LmrA: Sulfhydryl Cross-Linking Supports a Constant Contact, Head-to-Tail Configuration of the Nucleotide-Binding Domains.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Peter M Jones

    Full Text Available ABC transporters are integral membrane pumps that are responsible for the import or export of a diverse range of molecules across cell membranes. ABC transporters have been implicated in many phenomena of medical importance, including cystic fibrosis and multidrug resistance in humans. The molecular architecture of ABC transporters comprises two transmembrane domains and two ATP-binding cassettes, or nucleotide-binding domains (NBDs, which are highly conserved and contain motifs that are crucial to ATP binding and hydrolysis. Despite the improved clarity of recent structural, biophysical, and biochemical data, the seemingly simple process of ATP binding and hydrolysis remains controversial, with a major unresolved issue being whether the NBD protomers separate during the catalytic cycle. Here chemical cross-linking data is presented for the bacterial ABC multidrug resistance (MDR transporter LmrA. These indicate that in the absence of nucleotide or substrate, the NBDs come into contact to a significant extent, even at 4°C, where ATPase activity is abrogated. The data are clearly not in accord with an inward-closed conformation akin to that observed in a crystal structure of V. cholerae MsbA. Rather, they suggest a head-to-tail configuration 'sandwich' dimer similar to that observed in crystal structures of nucleotide-bound ABC NBDs. We argue the data are more readily reconciled with the notion that the NBDs are in proximity while undergoing intra-domain motions, than with an NBD 'Switch' mechanism in which the NBD monomers separate in between ATP hydrolysis cycles.

  2. The ABC gene family in arthropods: comparative genomics and role in insecticide transport and resistance.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dermauw, Wannes; Van Leeuwen, Thomas

    2014-02-01

    About a 100 years ago, the Drosophila white mutant marked the birth of Drosophila genetics. The white gene turned out to encode the first well studied ABC transporter in arthropods. The ABC gene family is now recognized as one of the largest transporter families in all kingdoms of life. The majority of ABC proteins function as primary-active transporters that bind and hydrolyze ATP while transporting a large diversity of substrates across lipid membranes. Although extremely well studied in vertebrates for their role in drug resistance, less is known about the role of this family in the transport of endogenous and exogenous substances in arthropods. The ABC families of five insect species, a crustacean and a chelicerate have been annotated in some detail. We conducted a thorough phylogenetic analysis of the seven arthropod and human ABC protein subfamilies, to infer orthologous relationships that might suggest conserved function. Most orthologous relationships were found in the ABCB half transporter, ABCD, ABCE and ABCF subfamilies, but specific expansions within species and lineages are frequently observed and discussed. We next surveyed the role of ABC transporters in the transport of xenobiotics/plant allelochemicals and their involvement in insecticide resistance. The involvement of ABC transporters in xenobiotic resistance in arthropods is historically not well documented, but an increasing number of studies using unbiased differential gene expression analysis now points to their importance. We give an overview of methods that can be used to link ABC transporters to resistance. ABC proteins have also recently been implicated in the mode of action and resistance to Bt toxins in Lepidoptera. Given the enormous interest in Bt toxicology in transgenic crops, such findings will provide an impetus to further reveal the role of ABC transporters in arthropods. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  3. Anger and the ABC model underlying Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegler, Daniel J; Smith, Phillip N

    2004-06-01

    The ABC model underlying Ellis's Rational-Emotive Behavior Therapy predicts that people who think more irrationally should display greater trait anger than do people who think less irrationally. This study tested this prediction regarding the ABC model. 186 college students were administered the Survey of Personal Beliefs and the State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory-Second Edition to measure irrational thinking and trait anger, respectively. Students who scored higher on Overall Irrational Thinking and Low Frustration Tolerance scored significantly higher on Trait Anger than did those who scored lower on Overall Irrational Thinking and Low Frustration Tolerance. This indicates support for the ABC model, especially Ellis's construct of irrational beliefs which is central to the model.

  4. Genome-wide identification of whole ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in the intertidal copepod Tigriopus japonicus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Chang-Bum; Kim, Bo-Mi; Lee, Jae-Seong; Rhee, Jae-Sung

    2014-08-05

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter superfamily is one of the largest transporter gene families and is observed in all animal taxa. Although a large set of transcriptomic data was recently assembled for several species of crustaceans, identification and annotation of the large ABC transporter gene family have been very challenging. In the intertidal copepod Tigriopus japonicus, 46 putative ABC transporters were identified using in silico analysis, and their full-length cDNA sequences were characterized. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the 46 T. japonicus ABC transporters are classified into eight subfamilies (A-H) that include all the members of all ABC subfamilies, consisting of five ABCA, five ABCB, 17 ABCC, three ABCD, one ABCE, three ABCF, seven ABCG, and five ABCH subfamilies. Of them, unique isotypic expansion of two clades of ABCC1 proteins was observed. Real-time RT-PCR-based heatmap analysis revealed that most T. japonicus ABC genes showed temporal transcriptional expression during copepod development. The overall transcriptional profile demonstrated that half of all T. japonicus ABC genes were strongly associated with at least one developmental stage. Of them, transcripts TJ-ABCH_88708 and TJ-ABCE1 were highly expressed during all developmental stages. The whole set of T. japonicus ABC genes and their phylogenetic relationships will provide a better understanding of the comparative evolution of essential gene family resources in arthropods, including the crustacean copepods.

  5. ABC+SCM=Sant?

    OpenAIRE

    Dahl, Jonas; Porelius, Jesper

    2006-01-01

    Background: Companies of today commonly search to gain competitive advantages throughout different forms of co-operation, one of which is referred to as Supply Chain Management. Although little research has been assigned to the topic of how to manage and control this type of relation, lately a growing number of academics has been arguing that ABC is an appropriate mean of controlling this type of relationships. Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to investigate to what degree the ongoing d...

  6. Phylodynamic Inference with Kernel ABC and Its Application to HIV Epidemiology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poon, Art F Y

    2015-09-01

    The shapes of phylogenetic trees relating virus populations are determined by the adaptation of viruses within each host, and by the transmission of viruses among hosts. Phylodynamic inference attempts to reverse this flow of information, estimating parameters of these processes from the shape of a virus phylogeny reconstructed from a sample of genetic sequences from the epidemic. A key challenge to phylodynamic inference is quantifying the similarity between two trees in an efficient and comprehensive way. In this study, I demonstrate that a new distance measure, based on a subset tree kernel function from computational linguistics, confers a significant improvement over previous measures of tree shape for classifying trees generated under different epidemiological scenarios. Next, I incorporate this kernel-based distance measure into an approximate Bayesian computation (ABC) framework for phylodynamic inference. ABC bypasses the need for an analytical solution of model likelihood, as it only requires the ability to simulate data from the model. I validate this "kernel-ABC" method for phylodynamic inference by estimating parameters from data simulated under a simple epidemiological model. Results indicate that kernel-ABC attained greater accuracy for parameters associated with virus transmission than leading software on the same data sets. Finally, I apply the kernel-ABC framework to study a recent outbreak of a recombinant HIV subtype in China. Kernel-ABC provides a versatile framework for phylodynamic inference because it can fit a broader range of models than methods that rely on the computation of exact likelihoods. © The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution.

  7. Energy Coupling Factor-Type ABC Transporters for Vitamin Uptake in Prokaryotes

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Erkens, Guus B.; Dosz-Majsnerowska, Maria; ter Beek, Josy; Slotboom, Dirk Jan

    2012-01-01

    Energy coupling factor (ECF) transporters are a subgroup of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters involved in the uptake of vitamins and micronutrients in prokaryotes. In contrast to classical ABC importers, ECF transporters do not make use of water-soluble substrate binding proteins or domains

  8. Step 2: Know Your Diabetes ABCs

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... please turn JavaScript on. Feature: Type 2 Diabetes Step 2: Know Your Diabetes ABCs Past Issues / Fall ... 2 Diabetes" Articles Diabetes Is Serious But Manageable / Step 1: Learn About Diabetes / Step 2: Know Your ...

  9. The ABCs of Student Engagement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Parsons, Seth A.; Nuland, Leila Richey; Parsons, Allison Ward

    2014-01-01

    Student engagement is an important consideration for teachers and administrators because it is explicitly associated with achievement. What the authors call the ABC's of engagement they outline as: Affective engagement, Behavioral engagement, and Cognitive engagement. They also present "Three Things Every Teacher Needs to Know about…

  10. A Survey of the ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) Gene Superfamily in the Salmon Louse (Lepeophtheirus salmonis).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Carmona-Antoñanzas, Greta; Carmichael, Stephen N; Heumann, Jan; Taggart, John B; Gharbi, Karim; Bron, James E; Bekaert, Michaël; Sturm, Armin

    2015-01-01

    Salmon lice, Lepeophtheirus salmonis (Krøyer, 1837), are fish ectoparasites causing significant economic damage in the mariculture of Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar Linnaeus, 1758. The control of L. salmonis at fish farms relies to a large extent on treatment with anti-parasitic drugs. A problem related to chemical control is the potential for development of resistance, which in L. salmonis is documented for a number of drug classes including organophosphates, pyrethroids and avermectins. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) gene superfamily is found in all biota and includes a range of drug efflux transporters that can confer drug resistance to cancers and pathogens. Furthermore, some ABC transporters are recognised to be involved in conferral of insecticide resistance. While a number of studies have investigated ABC transporters in L. salmonis, no systematic analysis of the ABC gene family exists for this species. This study presents a genome-wide survey of ABC genes in L. salmonis for which, ABC superfamily members were identified through homology searching of the L. salmonis genome. In addition, ABC proteins were identified in a reference transcriptome of the parasite generated by high-throughput RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) of a multi-stage RNA library. Searches of both genome and transcriptome allowed the identification of a total of 33 genes / transcripts coding for ABC proteins, of which 3 were represented only in the genome and 4 only in the transcriptome. Eighteen sequences were assigned to ABC subfamilies known to contain drug transporters, i.e. subfamilies B (4 sequences), C (11) and G (2). The results suggest that the ABC gene family of L. salmonis possesses fewer members than recorded for other arthropods. The present survey of the L. salmonis ABC gene superfamily will provide the basis for further research into potential roles of ABC transporters in the toxicity of salmon delousing agents and as potential mechanisms of drug resistance.

  11. Functional analysis of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene family of Tribolium castaneum.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Broehan, Gunnar; Kroeger, Tobias; Lorenzen, Marcé; Merzendorfer, Hans

    2013-01-16

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters belong to a large superfamily of proteins that have important physiological functions in all living organisms. Most are integral membrane proteins that transport a broad spectrum of substrates across lipid membranes. In insects, ABC transporters are of special interest because of their role in insecticide resistance. We have identified 73 ABC transporter genes in the genome of T. castaneum, which group into eight subfamilies (ABCA-H). This coleopteran ABC family is significantly larger than those reported for insects in other taxonomic groups. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that this increase is due to gene expansion within a single clade of subfamily ABCC. We performed an RNA interference (RNAi) screen to study the function of ABC transporters during development. In ten cases, injection of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) into larvae caused developmental phenotypes, which included growth arrest and localized melanization, eye pigmentation defects, abnormal cuticle formation, egg-laying and egg-hatching defects, and mortality due to abortive molting and desiccation. Some of the ABC transporters we studied in closer detail to examine their role in lipid, ecdysteroid and eye pigment transport. The results from our study provide new insights into the physiological function of ABC transporters in T. castaneum, and may help to establish new target sites for insect control.

  12. Parents' Perspectives on Braille Literacy: Results from the ABC Braille Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kamei-Hannan, Cheryl; Sacks, Sharon Zell

    2012-01-01

    Introduction: Parents who were the primary caretakers of children in the Alphabetic and Contracted Braille Study (ABC Braille Study) revealed their perspectives about braille literacy. Methods: A 30-item questionnaire was constructed by the ABC Braille research team, and researchers conducted telephone interviews with 31 parents who were the…

  13. ABC model and the management of costs

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pravdić Predrag

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available When a company has multiple objectives at the same time, they all must be considered and balanced when making any business decisions. Linking the markets, capital and resources so as to thus ensure the highest yield is, In fact, the search for competitive advantage as a basic condition for survival in a market economy. In highly detailed systems based on the management of costs or ABC (activity based costing systems, the cost of activities often result in erroneous evaluation of aggregate costs of the action. Improvements in information technology and monitoring decrease of technology costs enabled the ABC system to become a feasible system calculating costs in many organizations.

  14. Genome-wide analysis of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in the sweetpotato whitefly, Bemisia tabaci.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tian, Lixia; Song, Tianxue; He, Rongjun; Zeng, Yang; Xie, Wen; Wu, Qingjun; Wang, Shaoli; Zhou, Xuguo; Zhang, Youjun

    2017-04-26

    ABC transporter superfamily is one of the largest and ubiquitous groups of proteins. Because of their role in detoxification, insect ABC transporters have gained more attention in recent years. In this study, we annotated ABC transporters from a newly sequenced sweetpotato whitefly genome. Bemisia tabaci Q biotype is an emerging global invasive species that has caused extensive damages to field crops as well as ornamental plants. A total of 55 ABC transporters containing all eight described subfamilies (A to H) were identified in the B. tabaci Q genome, including 8 ABCAs, 3 ABCBs, 6 ABCCs, 2 ABCDs, 1 ABCE, 3 ABCFs, 23 ABCGs and 9 ABCHs. In comparison to other species, subfamilies G and H in both phloem- and blood-sucking arthropods are expanded. The temporal expression profiles of these 55 ABC transporters throughout B. tabaci developmental stages and their responses to imidacloprid, a neonicotinoid insecticide, were investigated using RNA-seq analysis. Furthermore, the mRNA expression of 24 ABC transporters (44% of the total) representing all eight subfamilies was confirmed by the quantitative real-time PCR (RT-qPCR). Furthermore, mRNA expression levels estimated by RT-qPCR and RNA-seq analyses were significantly correlated (r = 0.684, p analysis of the entire repertoire of ABC transporters in B. tabaci. The identification of these ABC transporters, their temporal expression profiles during B. tabaci development, and their response to a neonicotinoid insecticide lay the foundation for functional genomic understanding of their contribution to the invasiveness of B. tabaci.

  15. The ABCs of particle physics

    CERN Document Server

    Biron, Lauren

    2016-01-01

    For lovers of rhymes and anthropomorphic Higgs bosons, Symmetry presents its first published board book, The ABCs of Particle Physics. Use it as an illustrated guide to basic particle- and astrophysics terms, or read it to your infant at bedtime, if you don’t mind their first word being “quark.”

  16. fbpABC gene cluster in Neisseria meningitidis is transcribed as an operon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khun, H H; Deved, V; Wong, H; Lee, B C

    2000-12-01

    The neisserial fbpABC locus has been proposed to constitute a single transcriptional unit. To confirm this operonic arrangement, transcription assays using reverse transcriptase PCR amplification were conducted with Neisseria meningitidis. The presence of fbpAB and fbpBC transcripts obtained by priming cDNA synthesis with an fbpC-sequence-specific oligonucleotide indicates that fbpABC is organized as a single expression unit. The ratio of fbpA to fbpABC mRNA was approximately between 10- to 20-fold, as determined by real-time quantitative PCR.

  17. Volume-Dependent Overestimation of Spontaneous Intracerebral Hematoma Volume by the ABC/2 Formula

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chih-Wei Wang; Chun-Jung Juan; Hsian-He Hsu; Hua-Shan Liu; Cheng-Yu Chen; Chun-Jen Hsueh; Hung-Wen Kao; Guo-Shu Huang; Yi-Jui Liu; Chung-Ping Lo

    2009-01-01

    Background: Although the ABC/2 formula has been widely used to estimate the volume of intracerebral hematoma (ICH), the formula tends to overestimate hematoma volume. The volume-related imprecision of the ABC/2 formula has not been documented quantitatively. Purpose: To investigate the volume-dependent overestimation of the ABC/2 formula by comparing it with computer-assisted volumetric analysis (CAVA). Material and Methods: Forty patients who had suffered spontaneous ICH and who had undergone non-enhanced brain computed tomography scans were enrolled in this study. The ICH volume was estimated based on the ABC/2 formula and also calculated by CAVA. Based on the ICH volume calculated by the CAVA method, the patients were divided into three groups: group 1 consisted of 17 patients with an ICH volume of less than 20 ml; group 2 comprised 13 patients with an ICH volume of 20 to 40 ml; and group 3 was composed of 10 patients with an ICH volume larger than 40 ml. Results: The mean estimated hematoma volume was 43.6 ml when using the ABC/2 formula, compared with 33.8 ml when using the CAVA method. The mean estimated difference was 1.3 ml, 4.4 ml, and 31.4 ml for groups 1, 2, and 3, respectively, corresponding to an estimation error of 9.9%, 16.7%, and 37.1% by the ABC/2 formula (P<0.05). Conclusion: The ABC/2 formula significantly overestimates the volume of ICH. A positive association between the estimation error and the volume of ICH is demonstrated

  18. Applying Activity Based Costing (ABC) Method to Calculate Cost Price in Hospital and Remedy Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rajabi, A; Dabiri, A

    2012-01-01

    Activity Based Costing (ABC) is one of the new methods began appearing as a costing methodology in the 1990's. It calculates cost price by determining the usage of resources. In this study, ABC method was used for calculating cost price of remedial services in hospitals. To apply ABC method, Shahid Faghihi Hospital was selected. First, hospital units were divided into three main departments: administrative, diagnostic, and hospitalized. Second, activity centers were defined by the activity analysis method. Third, costs of administrative activity centers were allocated into diagnostic and operational departments based on the cost driver. Finally, with regard to the usage of cost objectives from services of activity centers, the cost price of medical services was calculated. The cost price from ABC method significantly differs from tariff method. In addition, high amount of indirect costs in the hospital indicates that capacities of resources are not used properly. Cost price of remedial services with tariff method is not properly calculated when compared with ABC method. ABC calculates cost price by applying suitable mechanisms but tariff method is based on the fixed price. In addition, ABC represents useful information about the amount and combination of cost price services.

  19. Insight into Two ABC Transporter Families Involved in Lantibiotic Resistance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rebecca Clemens

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Antimicrobial peptides, which contain (methyl-lanthionine-rings are called lantibiotics. They are produced by several Gram-positive bacteria and are mainly active against these bacteria. Although these are highly potent antimicrobials, some human pathogenic bacteria express specific ABC transporters that confer resistance and counteract their antimicrobial activity. Two distinct ABC transporter families are known to be involved in this process. These are the Cpr- and Bce-type ABC transporter families, named after their involvement in cationic peptide resistance in Clostridium difficile, and bacitracin efflux in Bacillus subtilis, respectively. Both resistance systems differentiate to each other in terms of the proteins involved. Here, we summarize the current knowledge and describe the divergence as well as the common features present in both the systems to confer lantibiotic resistance.

  20. Preliminary lifetime predictions for 304 stainless steel as the LANL ABC blanket material

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Park, J.J.; Buksa, J.J.; Houts, M.G.; Arthur, E.D.

    1997-11-01

    The prediction of materials lifetime in the preconceptual Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Accelerator-Based Conversion of Plutonium (ABC) is of utmost interest. Because Hastelloy N showed good corrosion resistance to the Oak Ridge National Laboratory Molten Salt Reactor Experiment fuel salt that is similar to the LANL ABC fuel salt, Hastelloy N was originally proposed for the LANL ABC blanket material. In this paper, the possibility of using 304 stainless steel as a replacement for the Hastelloy N is investigated in terms of corrosion issues and fluence-limit considerations. An attempt is made, based on the previous Fast Flux Test Facility design data, to predict the preliminary lifetime estimate of the 304 stainless steel used in the blanket region of the LANL ABC

  1. Single liposome analysis of peptide translocation by the ABC transporter TAPL.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zollmann, Tina; Moiset, Gemma; Tumulka, Franz; Tampé, Robert; Poolman, Bert; Abele, Rupert

    2015-02-17

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters use ATP to drive solute transport across biological membranes. Members of this superfamily have crucial roles in cell physiology, and some of the transporters are linked to severe diseases. However, understanding of the transport mechanism, especially of human ABC exporters, is scarce. We reconstituted the human lysosomal polypeptide ABC transporter TAPL, expressed in Pichia pastoris, into lipid vesicles (liposomes) and performed explicit transport measurements. We analyzed solute transport at the single liposome level by monitoring the coincident fluorescence of solutes and proteoliposomes in the focal volume of a confocal microscope. We determined a turnover number of eight peptides per minute, which is two orders of magnitude higher than previously estimated from macroscopic measurements. Moreover, we show that TAPL translocates peptides against a large concentration gradient. Maximal filling is not limited by an electrochemical gradient but by trans-inhibition. Countertransport and reversibility studies demonstrate that peptide translocation is a strictly unidirectional process. Altogether, these data are included in a refined model of solute transport by ABC exporters.

  2. APLICATION OF ABC METHOD FROM AN OPERATOR OF WATER AND SEWERAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    FÜLÖP ÁRPÁD-ZOLTÁN

    2016-12-01

    Full Text Available At the time of the appearance of the ABC method, many specialists considered that they found the most opportune method of calculation to allocate the overhead costs on the cost objects, otherwise said to be able to calculate the total cost of a product or service. Because the method is based on determining the total cost, we can consider that the ABC method is not a method of costing, but rather a method of cost management. Unfortunately, in the specialized literature of Roumania there are many approaches which consider that the ABC method is a method of costing in the traditional way, although in our opinion it is not. Application of ABC method to a regional operator of water and sewerage shows us the possibilities of the method, the possibilities that are offered in the field of cost and administration overhead management, respectively of the establishment of the accounting result on the different cost objects. In case of the regional operator the calculation object is the city or township in which provides the services of water and sewage.

  3. ABC estimation of unit costs for emergency department services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Holmes, R L; Schroeder, R E

    1996-04-01

    Rapid evolution of the health care industry forces managers to make cost-effective decisions. Typical hospital cost accounting systems do not provide emergency department managers with the information needed, but emergency department settings are so complex and dynamic as to make the more accurate activity-based costing (ABC) system prohibitively expensive. Through judicious use of the available traditional cost accounting information and simple computer spreadsheets. managers may approximate the decision-guiding information that would result from the much more costly and time-consuming implementation of ABC.

  4. Metodologia ABC: implantação numa microempresa ABC methodology: implementation on a micro firm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Orlando Duran

    2000-08-01

    Full Text Available Este trabalho relata a implantação da metodologia de custos baseados em atividades numa microempresa do ramo metalúrgico. A proposta pretende demonstrar a viabilidade de aplicar esta técnica em empresas sem importar seu tamanho, só realizando algumas adaptações que garantam baixo investimento e curto espaço de tempo para obter os resultados. Na parte final do trabalho se realiza uma análise dos resultados obtidos verificando-se o potencial da informação gerada pela metodologia e seu uso como ferramenta de gestão.This paper presents an implementation of the activity based costing (ABC methodology in a small firm. The approach presented is intended to demonstrate the feasibility of applying the ABC methodology at any sized firm, only through few adaptations for ensuring low investments fees and speed in obtaining results and information from the system. Discussion about the results obtained during the implementation case are presented and the potential of using the information generated from the system as a managing tool is commented.

  5. The ABCs of Activity-Based Costing: A Cost Containment and Reallocation Tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Turk, Frederick J.

    1992-01-01

    This article describes activity-based costing (ABC) and how this tool may help management understand the costs of major activities and identify possible alternatives. Also discussed are the traditional costing systems used by higher education and ways of applying ABC to higher education. (GLR)

  6. Effects of deletion of the Streptococcus pneumoniae lipoprotein diacylglyceryl transferase gene lgt on ABC transporter function and on growth in vivo.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Suneeta Chimalapati

    Full Text Available Lipoproteins are an important class of surface associated proteins that have diverse roles and frequently are involved in the virulence of bacterial pathogens. As prolipoproteins are attached to the cell membrane by a single enzyme, prolipoprotein diacylglyceryl transferase (Lgt, deletion of the corresponding gene potentially allows the characterisation of the overall importance of lipoproteins for specific bacterial functions. We have used a Δlgt mutant strain of Streptococcus pneumoniae to investigate the effects of loss of lipoprotein attachment on cation acquisition, growth in media containing specific carbon sources, and virulence in different infection models. Immunoblots of triton X-114 extracts, flow cytometry and immuno-fluorescence microscopy confirmed the Δlgt mutant had markedly reduced lipoprotein expression on the cell surface. The Δlgt mutant had reduced growth in cation depleted medium, increased sensitivity to oxidative stress, reduced zinc uptake, and reduced intracellular levels of several cations. Doubling time of the Δlgt mutant was also increased slightly when grown in medium with glucose, raffinose and maltotriose as sole carbon sources. These multiple defects in cation and sugar ABC transporter function for the Δlgt mutant were associated with only slightly delayed growth in complete medium. However the Δlgt mutant had significantly reduced growth in blood or bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and a marked impairment in virulence in mouse models of nasopharyngeal colonisation, sepsis and pneumonia. These data suggest that for S. pneumoniae loss of surface localisation of lipoproteins has widespread effects on ABC transporter functions that collectively prevent the Δlgt mutant from establishing invasive infection.

  7. Identification of ABC transporters acting in vitamin B12 metabolism in Caenorhabditis elegans.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McDonald, Megan K; Fritz, Julie-Anne; Jia, Dongxin; Scheuchner, Deborah; Snyder, Floyd F; Stanislaus, Avalyn; Curle, Jared; Li, Liang; Stabler, Sally P; Allen, Robert H; Mains, Paul E; Gravel, Roy A

    2017-12-01

    Vitamin B 12 (cobalamin, Cbl) is a micronutrient essential to human health. Cbl is not utilized as is but must go through complex subcellular and metabolic processing to generate two cofactor forms: methyl-Cbl for methionine synthase, a cytosolic enzyme; and adenosyl-Cbl for methylmalonyl-CoA mutase, a mitochondrial enzyme. Some 10-12 human genes have been identified responsible for the intracellular conversion of Cbl to cofactor forms, including genes that code for ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters acting at the lysosomal and plasma membranes. However, the gene for mitochondrial uptake is not known. We hypothesized that ABC transporters should be candidates for other uptake and efflux functions, including mitochondrial transport, and set out to screen ABC transporter mutants for blocks in Cbl utilization using the nematode roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans. Thirty-seven mutant ABC transporters were screened for the excretion of methylmalonic acid (MMA), which should result from loss of Cbl transport into the mitochondria. One mutant, wht-6, showed elevated MMA excretion and reduced [ 14 C]-propionate incorporation, pointing to a functional block in methylmalonyl-CoA mutase. In contrast, the wht-6 mutant appeared to have a normal cytosolic pathway based on analysis of cystathionine excretion, suggesting that cytosolic methionine synthase was functioning properly. Further, the MMA excretion in wht-6 could be partially reversed by including vitamin B 12 in the assay medium. The human ortholog of wht-6 is a member of the G family of ABC transporters. We propose wht-6 as a candidate for the transport of Cbl into mitochondria and suggest that a member of the corresponding ABCG family of ABC transporters has this role in humans. Our ABC transporter screen also revealed that mrp-1 and mrp-2 mutants excreted lower MMA than wild type, suggesting they were concentrating intracellular Cbl, consistent with the cellular efflux defect proposed for the mammalian MRP1 ABC

  8. Molybdate transporter ModABC is important for Pseudomonas aeruginosa chronic lung infection.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Périnet, Simone; Jeukens, Julie; Kukavica-Ibrulj, Irena; Ouellet, Myriam M; Charette, Steve J; Levesque, Roger C

    2016-01-12

    Mechanisms underlying the success of Pseudomonas aeruginosa in chronic lung infection among cystic fibrosis (CF) patients are poorly defined. The modA gene was previously linked to in vivo competitiveness of P. aeruginosa by a genetic screening in the rat lung. This gene encodes a subunit of transporter ModABC, which is responsible for extracellular uptake of molybdate. This compound is essential for molybdoenzymes, including nitrate reductases. Since anaerobic growth conditions are known to occur during CF chronic lung infection, inactivation of a molybdate transporter could inhibit proliferation through the inactivation of denitrification enzymes. Hence, we performed phenotypic characterization of a modA mutant strain obtained by signature-tagged mutagenesis (STM_modA) and assessed its virulence in vivo with two host models. The STM_modA mutant was in fact defective for anaerobic growth and unable to use nitrates in the growth medium for anaerobic respiration. Bacterial growth and nitrate usage were restored when the medium was supplemented with molybdate. Most significantly, the mutant strain showed reduced virulence compared to wild-type strain PAO1 according to a competitive index in the rat model of chronic lung infection and a predation assay with Dictyostelium discoideum amoebae. As the latter took place in aerobic conditions, the in vivo impact of the mutation in modA appears to extend beyond its effect on anaerobic growth. These results support the modABC-encoded transporter as important for the pathogenesis of P. aeruginosa, and suggest that enzymatic machinery implicated in anaerobic growth during chronic lung infection in CF merits further investigation as a potential target for therapeutic intervention.

  9. Analysis of ABC (D) stratification for screening patients with gastric cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kudo, Tomohiro; Kakizaki, Satoru; Sohara, Naondo; Onozato, Yasuhiro; Okamura, Shinichi; Inui, Yoshikatsu; Mori, Masatomo

    2011-11-21

    To evaluate the value of ABC (D) stratification [combination of serum pepsinogen and Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) antibody] of patients with gastric cancer. Ninety-five consecutive patients with gastric cancer were enrolled into the study. The serum pepsinogen I (PG I)/pepsinogen II (PG II) and H. pylori antibody levels were measured. Patients were classified into five groups of ABC (D) stratification according to their serological status. Endoscopic findings of atrophic gastritis and histological differentiation were also analyzed in relation to the ABC (D) stratification. The mean patient age was (67.9 ± 8.9) years. Three patients (3.2%) were classified into group A, 7 patients (7.4%) into group A', 27 patients (28.4%) into group B, 54 patients (56.8%) into group C, and 4 patients (4.2%) into group D, respectively. There were only three cases in group A when the patients taking acid proton pump inhibitors and those who had undergone eradication therapy for H. pylori (group A') were excluded. These three cases had mucosal atrophy in the grey zone according to the diagnostic manual of ABC (D) stratification. Histologically, the mean age of the patients with well differentiated adenocarcinoma was significantly higher than that of the patients with poorly differentiated adenocarcinoma (P ABC (D) stratification is a good method for screening patients with gastric cancers. Endoscopy is needed for grey zone cases to check the extent of mucosal atrophy.

  10. Phylogenetic analysis of fungal ABC transporters

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kovalchuk, A.; Driessen, A.J.M.

    2010-01-01

    Background: The superfamily of ABC proteins is among the largest known in nature. Its members are mainly, but not exclusively, involved in the transport of a broad range of substrates across biological membranes. Many contribute to multidrug resistance in microbial pathogens and cancer cells. The

  11. Sulfated glycosaminoglycans in cultured endothelial cells from capillaries and large vessels of human and bovine origin

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bar, R.S.; Dake, B.L.; Spanheimer, R.G.

    1985-01-01

    The ( 35 S)glycosaminoglycans (( 35 S)GAG) synthesized by capillary endothelial cells were analyzed and compared to GAG synthesized by endothelial cells cultured from 4 larger vessels. Two separate cultures of endothelial cells were established from bovine fat capillaries and from 4 larger vessels of human origin (umbilical vein) and bovine origin (pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein and aorta). After incubation with 35 SO 4 for 72 h, the ( 35 S)glycosaminoglycans (GAG) composition of the media, pericellular and cellular fractions of each culture were determined by selective degradation with nitrous acid, chondroitinase ABC and chondroitinase AC. All endothelial cells produced large amounts of ( 35 S)GAG with increased proportions of heparinoids (heparan sulfate and heparin) in the cellular and pericellular fractions. Each culture showed a distinct distribution of ( 35 S)GAG in the media, pericellular and cellular fractions with several specific differences found among the 5 cultures. The differences in GAG content were confirmed in a second group of separate cultures from each of the 5 vessels indicating that, although having several features of GAG metabolism in common, each endothelial cell culture demonstrated a characteristic complement of synthesized, secreted and cell surface-sulfated glycosaminoglycans. (author)

  12. 75 FR 49549 - ABC & D Recycling, Inc.-Lease and Operation Exemption-a Line of Railroad in Ware, MA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-08-13

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [Docket No. FD 35397] ABC & D Recycling, Inc.--Lease and Operation Exemption--a Line of Railroad in Ware, MA ABC & D Recycling, Inc. (ABC & D..., ABC & D Recycling, Inc.--Lease and Operation Exemption--a Line of Railroad in Ware, Massachusetts (STB...

  13. Strategic analysis of ABC Systems and its potential future product

    OpenAIRE

    Lam, Nancy M.

    2006-01-01

    ABC Systems Limited is a provider of data communication software. Its main product line is protocol conversion software. ABC has developed several other products including some hardware products, but the main success remains the protocol conversion software developed over 10 years ago. The company is having difficulties discovering and developing a profitable and achievable new product and target market. The need for the protocol conversion software is diminishing as the standard of TCP/IP is...

  14. Calculating the tumor volume of acoustic neuromas: comparison of ABC/2 formula with planimetry method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yu, Yi-Lin; Lee, Meei-Shyuan; Juan, Chun-Jung; Hueng, Dueng-Yuan

    2013-08-01

    The ABC/2 equation is commonly applied to measure the volume of intracranial hematoma. However, the precision of ABC/2 equation in estimating the tumor volume of acoustic neuromas is less addressed. The study is to evaluate the accuracy of the ABC/2 formula by comparing with planimetry method for estimating the tumor volumes. Thirty-two patients diagnosed with acoustic neuroma received contrast-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging of brain were recruited. The volume was calculated by the ABC/2 equation and planimetry method (defined as exact volume) at the same time. The 32 patients were divided into three groups by tumor volume to avoid volume-dependent overestimation (6 ml). The tumor volume by ABC/2 method was highly correlated to that calculated by planimetry method using linear regression analysis (R2=0.985). Pearson correlation coefficient (r=0.993, pABC/2 formula is an easy method in estimating the tumor volume of acoustic neuromas that is not inferior to planimetry method. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) Transporter Genes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Xiang; Li, Shangqi; Peng, Wenzhu; Feng, Shuaisheng; Feng, Jianxin; Mahboob, Shahid; Al-Ghanim, Khalid A; Xu, Peng

    2016-01-01

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) gene family is considered to be one of the largest gene families in all forms of prokaryotic and eukaryotic life. Although the ABC transporter genes have been annotated in some species, detailed information about the ABC superfamily and the evolutionary characterization of ABC genes in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) are still unclear. In this research, we identified 61 ABC transporter genes in the common carp genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that they could be classified into seven subfamilies, namely 11 ABCAs, six ABCBs, 19 ABCCs, eight ABCDs, two ABCEs, four ABCFs, and 11 ABCGs. Comparative analysis of the ABC genes in seven vertebrate species including common carp, showed that at least 10 common carp genes were retained from the third round of whole genome duplication, while 12 duplicated ABC genes may have come from the fourth round of whole genome duplication. Gene losses were also observed for 14 ABC genes. Expression profiles of the 61 ABC genes in six common carp tissues (brain, heart, spleen, kidney, intestine, and gill) revealed extensive functional divergence among the ABC genes. Different copies of some genes had tissue-specific expression patterns, which may indicate some gene function specialization. This study provides essential genomic resources for future studies in common carp.

  16. Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) Transporter Genes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio)

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Wenzhu; Feng, Shuaisheng; Feng, Jianxin; Mahboob, Shahid; Al-Ghanim, Khalid A.

    2016-01-01

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) gene family is considered to be one of the largest gene families in all forms of prokaryotic and eukaryotic life. Although the ABC transporter genes have been annotated in some species, detailed information about the ABC superfamily and the evolutionary characterization of ABC genes in common carp (Cyprinus carpio) are still unclear. In this research, we identified 61 ABC transporter genes in the common carp genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that they could be classified into seven subfamilies, namely 11 ABCAs, six ABCBs, 19 ABCCs, eight ABCDs, two ABCEs, four ABCFs, and 11 ABCGs. Comparative analysis of the ABC genes in seven vertebrate species including common carp, showed that at least 10 common carp genes were retained from the third round of whole genome duplication, while 12 duplicated ABC genes may have come from the fourth round of whole genome duplication. Gene losses were also observed for 14 ABC genes. Expression profiles of the 61 ABC genes in six common carp tissues (brain, heart, spleen, kidney, intestine, and gill) revealed extensive functional divergence among the ABC genes. Different copies of some genes had tissue-specific expression patterns, which may indicate some gene function specialization. This study provides essential genomic resources for future studies in common carp. PMID:27058731

  17. Genome-Wide Identification, Characterization and Phylogenetic Analysis of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC Transporter Genes in Common Carp (Cyprinus carpio.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Liu

    Full Text Available The ATP-binding cassette (ABC gene family is considered to be one of the largest gene families in all forms of prokaryotic and eukaryotic life. Although the ABC transporter genes have been annotated in some species, detailed information about the ABC superfamily and the evolutionary characterization of ABC genes in common carp (Cyprinus carpio are still unclear. In this research, we identified 61 ABC transporter genes in the common carp genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that they could be classified into seven subfamilies, namely 11 ABCAs, six ABCBs, 19 ABCCs, eight ABCDs, two ABCEs, four ABCFs, and 11 ABCGs. Comparative analysis of the ABC genes in seven vertebrate species including common carp, showed that at least 10 common carp genes were retained from the third round of whole genome duplication, while 12 duplicated ABC genes may have come from the fourth round of whole genome duplication. Gene losses were also observed for 14 ABC genes. Expression profiles of the 61 ABC genes in six common carp tissues (brain, heart, spleen, kidney, intestine, and gill revealed extensive functional divergence among the ABC genes. Different copies of some genes had tissue-specific expression patterns, which may indicate some gene function specialization. This study provides essential genomic resources for future studies in common carp.

  18. Playware ABC 2: a Disruptive Technology for Global Development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Lund, Henrik Hautop

    2017-01-01

    , anytime. The paper gives examples of how playware becomes a disruptive technology for global development, for instance in the health sector. For instance, in Tanzania doctors and community-based rehabilitation workers are constructing and combining modular playware tiles to easily create the right kind......The Playware ABC concept is used to create solutions that are usable by all kinds of users and contexts in our globalized society. In this paper, the Playware ABC can be exemplified with the development of the modular interactive tiles for health prevention and rehabilitation of anybody, anywhere...

  19. mRMR-ABC: A Hybrid Gene Selection Algorithm for Cancer Classification Using Microarray Gene Expression Profiling

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hala Alshamlan

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available An artificial bee colony (ABC is a relatively recent swarm intelligence optimization approach. In this paper, we propose the first attempt at applying ABC algorithm in analyzing a microarray gene expression profile. In addition, we propose an innovative feature selection algorithm, minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR, and combine it with an ABC algorithm, mRMR-ABC, to select informative genes from microarray profile. The new approach is based on a support vector machine (SVM algorithm to measure the classification accuracy for selected genes. We evaluate the performance of the proposed mRMR-ABC algorithm by conducting extensive experiments on six binary and multiclass gene expression microarray datasets. Furthermore, we compare our proposed mRMR-ABC algorithm with previously known techniques. We reimplemented two of these techniques for the sake of a fair comparison using the same parameters. These two techniques are mRMR when combined with a genetic algorithm (mRMR-GA and mRMR when combined with a particle swarm optimization algorithm (mRMR-PSO. The experimental results prove that the proposed mRMR-ABC algorithm achieves accurate classification performance using small number of predictive genes when tested using both datasets and compared to previously suggested methods. This shows that mRMR-ABC is a promising approach for solving gene selection and cancer classification problems.

  20. mRMR-ABC: A Hybrid Gene Selection Algorithm for Cancer Classification Using Microarray Gene Expression Profiling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Alshamlan, Hala; Badr, Ghada; Alohali, Yousef

    2015-01-01

    An artificial bee colony (ABC) is a relatively recent swarm intelligence optimization approach. In this paper, we propose the first attempt at applying ABC algorithm in analyzing a microarray gene expression profile. In addition, we propose an innovative feature selection algorithm, minimum redundancy maximum relevance (mRMR), and combine it with an ABC algorithm, mRMR-ABC, to select informative genes from microarray profile. The new approach is based on a support vector machine (SVM) algorithm to measure the classification accuracy for selected genes. We evaluate the performance of the proposed mRMR-ABC algorithm by conducting extensive experiments on six binary and multiclass gene expression microarray datasets. Furthermore, we compare our proposed mRMR-ABC algorithm with previously known techniques. We reimplemented two of these techniques for the sake of a fair comparison using the same parameters. These two techniques are mRMR when combined with a genetic algorithm (mRMR-GA) and mRMR when combined with a particle swarm optimization algorithm (mRMR-PSO). The experimental results prove that the proposed mRMR-ABC algorithm achieves accurate classification performance using small number of predictive genes when tested using both datasets and compared to previously suggested methods. This shows that mRMR-ABC is a promising approach for solving gene selection and cancer classification problems.

  1. Critérios para aplicação de ABC (Activity Based Costing na indústria naval Criteria for applying Activity Based Costing (ABC in the naval construction industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nélio Achão Filho

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available O presente trabalho tem por objetivo conceituar o que é ABC (Activity Based Costing e apresentar, de forma sistemática, uma sugestão de critérios para aplicação em empresa de construção naval. Basicamente, o estudo pretende contribuir, através do efeito demonstração do estudo de caso, para a conscientização quanto as dificuldades e oportunidades oferecidas pela implementação de um sistema ABC, numa área carente de novas metodologias gerenciais.The objective of this article is to evaluate what ABC (Activity Based Costing is, and to present, in a systematic form, a suggestion for the implantation of criteria for aplication at a naval construction company. Basically, the study intends, through the case study demo, make executives aware of the dificulties and oportunities offered by the implementation of an ABC system, in an area in need of new managerial methods.

  2. ABCs of Oral Health: Nutrition - Children

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... for gum inflammation and cavities. More ABCs of Oral Health A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | All Nutrition - Adults Nutrition - Children Home | InfoBites | Find a Dentist | ...

  3. Cutting edge SRU control : improved environmental compliance with Jacobs advanced burner control+ (ABC+)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Molenaar, G. [Jacobs Canada Inc., Calgary, AB (Canada); Henning, A.; Kobussen, S. [Jacobs Nederland BV, Hoogvliet (Netherlands)

    2009-07-01

    Oil sands bitumen contains approximately 4 to 5 per cent sulphur by weight and the bitumen is upgraded to produce lighter fractions. During coking the bitumen is heated and cracked into lighter molecules and a mixture of kerosene, naphtha and gas oil is recovered via fractionation. Then, the vapors leaving the fractionator are processed through hydrodesulphurization, followed by removal by amine based sweetening units. The acid gas from the ASUs is sent to the sulphur recovery units (SRUs) where most of the sulphur is recovered as elemental sulphur. The oil sands industry faces many challenges with respect to environmental impact, energy use and greenhouse gas emissions including the recovery of sulphur and minimizing hydrogen sulfide (H{sub 2}S) and sulphur dioxide (SO{sub 2}) emissions from the oil sands production facilities. In order to improve the SRU control response to acid gas feed variations, Jacobs Comprimo Sulphur Solutions implemented advanced burner control+ (ABC+) at Suncor's Simonette Gas Plant's SRU in northern Alberta. This control system used an acid gas feed analyzer and dynamic algorithms to control the combustion air to the reaction furnace. The analyzer measures H{sub 2}S, total hydrocarbons, carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}) and water (H{sub 2}O) accurately and quickly, which is important for having effective and fast air-to-acid gas ratio control. The paper provided background information on the Suncor Simonette Gas Plant and discussed ABC+ versus conventional control. An overview of the simplified ABC and ABC+ systems was then illustrated and presented. The ABB multiwave process photometer was also explained. Last, a dynamic simulation of the potential benefits of ABC+ was discussed and the ABC+ benefits for oil sands were presented. It was concluded that ABC+ provides improved SRU performance, reduced SO{sub 2} emissions and violations, and reduced flaring. 1 tab., 3 figs.

  4. Effects of the use of ABC weapons

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Karl-Rueckert, E.

    1980-01-01

    The effects of ABC-weapons are presented. The various classes of chemical weapons and their effects are discussed. It is pointed out that there is hardly a means of protection against these weapons. (MG) [de

  5. A new highly conserved antibiotic sensing/resistance pathway in firmicutes involves an ABC transporter interplaying with a signal transduction system.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Stéphanie Coumes-Florens

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Signal transduction systems and ABC transporters often contribute jointly to adaptive bacterial responses to environmental changes. In Bacillus subtilis, three such pairs are involved in responses to antibiotics: BceRSAB, YvcPQRS and YxdJKLM. They are characterized by a histidine kinase belonging to the intramembrane sensing kinase family and by a translocator possessing an unusually large extracytoplasmic loop. It was established here using a phylogenomic approach that systems of this kind are specific but widespread in Firmicutes, where they originated. The present phylogenetic analyses brought to light a highly dynamic evolutionary history involving numerous horizontal gene transfers, duplications and lost events, leading to a great variety of Bce-like repertories in members of this bacterial phylum. Based on these phylogenetic analyses, it was proposed to subdivide the Bce-like modules into six well-defined subfamilies. Functional studies were performed on members of subfamily IV comprising BceRSAB from B. subtilis, the expression of which was found to require the signal transduction system as well as the ABC transporter itself. The present results suggest, for the members of this subfamily, the occurrence of interactions between one component of each partner, the kinase and the corresponding translocator. At functional and/or structural levels, bacitracin dependent expression of bceAB and bacitracin resistance processes require the presence of the BceB translocator loop. Some other members of subfamily IV were also found to participate in bacitracin resistance processes. Taken together our study suggests that this regulatory mechanism might constitute an important common antibiotic resistance mechanism in Firmicutes. [Supplemental material is available online at http://www.genome.org.].

  6. An Efficient ABC_DE_Based Hybrid Algorithm for Protein–Ligand Docking

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Boxin Guan

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Protein–ligand docking is a process of searching for the optimal binding conformation between the receptor and the ligand. Automated docking plays an important role in drug design, and an efficient search algorithm is needed to tackle the docking problem. To tackle the protein–ligand docking problem more efficiently, An ABC_DE_based hybrid algorithm (ADHDOCK, integrating artificial bee colony (ABC algorithm and differential evolution (DE algorithm, is proposed in the article. ADHDOCK applies an adaptive population partition (APP mechanism to reasonably allocate the computational resources of the population in each iteration process, which helps the novel method make better use of the advantages of ABC and DE. The experiment tested fifty protein–ligand docking problems to compare the performance of ADHDOCK, ABC, DE, Lamarckian genetic algorithm (LGA, running history information guided genetic algorithm (HIGA, and swarm optimization for highly flexible protein–ligand docking (SODOCK. The results clearly exhibit the capability of ADHDOCK toward finding the lowest energy and the smallest root-mean-square deviation (RMSD on most of the protein–ligand docking problems with respect to the other five algorithms.

  7. Glycolysis inhibition inactivates ABC transporters to restore drug sensitivity in malignant cells.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ayako Nakano

    Full Text Available Cancer cells eventually acquire drug resistance largely via the aberrant expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporters, ATP-dependent efflux pumps. Because cancer cells produce ATP mostly through glycolysis, in the present study we explored the effects of inhibiting glycolysis on the ABC transporter function and drug sensitivity of malignant cells. Inhibition of glycolysis by 3-bromopyruvate (3BrPA suppressed ATP production in malignant cells, and restored the retention of daunorubicin or mitoxantrone in ABC transporter-expressing, RPMI8226 (ABCG2, KG-1 (ABCB1 and HepG2 cells (ABCB1 and ABCG2. Interestingly, although side population (SP cells isolated from RPMI8226 cells exhibited higher levels of glycolysis with an increased expression of genes involved in the glycolytic pathway, 3BrPA abolished Hoechst 33342 exclusion in SP cells. 3BrPA also disrupted clonogenic capacity in malignant cell lines including RPMI8226, KG-1, and HepG2. Furthermore, 3BrPA restored cytotoxic effects of daunorubicin and doxorubicin on KG-1 and RPMI8226 cells, and markedly suppressed subcutaneous tumor growth in combination with doxorubicin in RPMI8226-implanted mice. These results collectively suggest that the inhibition of glycolysis is able to overcome drug resistance in ABC transporter-expressing malignant cells through the inactivation of ABC transporters and impairment of SP cells with enhanced glycolysis as well as clonogenic cells.

  8. Accuracy of the ABC/2 Score for Intracerebral Hemorrhage: Systematic Review and Analysis of MISTIE, CLEAR-IVH, and CLEAR III.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Webb, Alastair J S; Ullman, Natalie L; Morgan, Tim C; Muschelli, John; Kornbluth, Joshua; Awad, Issam A; Mayo, Stephen; Rosenblum, Michael; Ziai, Wendy; Zuccarrello, Mario; Aldrich, Francois; John, Sayona; Harnof, Sagi; Lopez, George; Broaddus, William C; Wijman, Christine; Vespa, Paul; Bullock, Ross; Haines, Stephen J; Cruz-Flores, Salvador; Tuhrim, Stan; Hill, Michael D; Narayan, Raj; Hanley, Daniel F

    2015-09-01

    The ABC/2 score estimates intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) volume, yet validations have been limited by small samples and inappropriate outcome measures. We determined accuracy of the ABC/2 score calculated at a specialized reading center (RC-ABC) or local site (site-ABC) versus the reference-standard computed tomography-based planimetry (CTP). In Minimally Invasive Surgery Plus Recombinant Tissue-Type Plasminogen Activator for Intracerebral Hemorrhage Evacuation-II (MISTIE-II), Clot Lysis Evaluation of Accelerated Resolution of Intraventricular Hemorrhage (CLEAR-IVH) and CLEAR-III trials. ICH volume was prospectively calculated by CTP, RC-ABC, and site-ABC. Agreement between CTP and ABC/2 was defined as an absolute difference up to 5 mL and relative difference within 20%. Determinants of ABC/2 accuracy were assessed by logistic regression. In 4369 scans from 507 patients, CTP was more strongly correlated with RC-ABC (r(2)=0.93) than with site-ABC (r(2)=0.87). Although RC-ABC overestimated CTP-based volume on average (RC-ABC, 15.2 cm(3); CTP, 12.7 cm3), agreement was reasonable when categorized into mild, moderate, and severe ICH (κ=0.75; PABC (84% within 5 mL; 48% of scans within 20%) than for site-ABC (81% within 5 mL; 41% within 20%). RC-ABC had moderate accuracy for detecting ≥5 mL change in CTP volume between consecutive scans (sensitivity, 0.76; specificity, 0.86) and was more accurate with smaller ICH, thalamic hemorrhage, and homogeneous clots. ABC/2 scores at local or central sites are sufficiently accurate to categorize ICH volume and assess eligibility for the CLEAR-III and MISTIE III studies and moderately accurate for change in ICH volume. However, accuracy decreases with large, irregular, or lobar clots. URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: MISTIE-II NCT00224770; CLEAR-III NCT00784134. © 2015 American Heart Association, Inc.

  9. A test of the ABC model underlying rational emotive behavior therapy.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ziegler, Daniel J; Leslie, Yvonne M

    2003-02-01

    The ABC model underlying Ellis's Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy predicts that people who think more irrationally should respond to daily stressors or hassles differently than do people who think less irrationally. This study tested this aspect of the ABC model. 192 college students were administered the Survey of Personal Beliefs and the Hassles Scale to measure irrational thinking and daily hassles, respectively. Students who scored higher on overall irrational thinking reported a significantly higher frequency of hassles than did those who scored lower on overall irrational thinking, while students who scored higher on awfulizing and low frustration tolerance reported a significantly greater intensity of hassles than did those who scored lower on awfulizing and low frustration tolerance. This indicates support for the ABC model, especially Ellis's construct of irrational beliefs central to this model.

  10. Applying the Post-Modern Double ABC-X Model to Family Food Insecurity

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hutson, Samantha; Anderson, Melinda; Swafford, Melinda

    2015-01-01

    This paper develops the argument that using the Double ABC-X model in family and consumer sciences (FCS) curricula is a way to educate nutrition and dietetics students regarding a family's perceptions of food insecurity. The Double ABC-X model incorporates ecological theory as a basis to explain family stress and the resulting adjustment and…

  11. The reproducibility of organ position using active breathing control (ABC) during liver radiotherapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dawson, Laura A.; Brock, Kristy K.; Kazanjian, Sahira; Fitch, Dwight; McGinn, Cornelius J.; Lawrence, Theodore S.; Haken, Randall K. ten; Balter, James

    2001-01-01

    Purpose: To evaluate the intrafraction and interfraction reproducibility of liver immobilization using active breathing control (ABC). Methods and Materials: Patients with unresectable intrahepatic tumors who could comfortably hold their breath for at least 20 s were treated with focal liver radiation using ABC for liver immobilization. Fluoroscopy was used to measure any potential motion during ABC breath holds. Preceding each radiotherapy fraction, with the patient setup in the nominal treatment position using ABC, orthogonal radiographs were taken using room-mounted diagnostic X-ray tubes and a digital imager. The radiographs were compared to reference images using a 2D alignment tool. The treatment table was moved to produce acceptable setup, and repeat orthogonal verification images were obtained. The positions of the diaphragm and the liver (assessed by localization of implanted radiopaque intra-arterial microcoils) relative to the skeleton were subsequently analyzed. The intrafraction reproducibility (from repeat radiographs obtained within the time period of one fraction before treatment) and interfraction reproducibility (from comparisons of the first radiograph for each treatment with a reference radiograph) of the diaphragm and the hepatic microcoil positions relative to the skeleton with repeat breath holds using ABC were then measured. Caudal-cranial (CC), anterior-posterior (AP), and medial-lateral (ML) reproducibility of the hepatic microcoils relative to the skeleton were also determined from three-dimensional alignment of repeat CT scans obtained in the treatment position. Results: A total of 262 fractions of radiation were delivered using ABC breath holds in 8 patients. No motion of the diaphragm or hepatic microcoils was observed on fluoroscopy during ABC breath holds. From analyses of 158 sets of positioning radiographs, the average intrafraction CC reproducibility (σ) of the diaphragm and hepatic microcoil position relative to the skeleton

  12. astroABC : An Approximate Bayesian Computation Sequential Monte Carlo sampler for cosmological parameter estimation

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jennings, E.; Madigan, M.

    2017-04-01

    Given the complexity of modern cosmological parameter inference where we arefaced with non-Gaussian data and noise, correlated systematics and multi-probecorrelated data sets, the Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) method is apromising alternative to traditional Markov Chain Monte Carlo approaches in thecase where the Likelihood is intractable or unknown. The ABC method is called"Likelihood free" as it avoids explicit evaluation of the Likelihood by using aforward model simulation of the data which can include systematics. Weintroduce astroABC, an open source ABC Sequential Monte Carlo (SMC) sampler forparameter estimation. A key challenge in astrophysics is the efficient use oflarge multi-probe datasets to constrain high dimensional, possibly correlatedparameter spaces. With this in mind astroABC allows for massive parallelizationusing MPI, a framework that handles spawning of jobs across multiple nodes. Akey new feature of astroABC is the ability to create MPI groups with differentcommunicators, one for the sampler and several others for the forward modelsimulation, which speeds up sampling time considerably. For smaller jobs thePython multiprocessing option is also available. Other key features include: aSequential Monte Carlo sampler, a method for iteratively adapting tolerancelevels, local covariance estimate using scikit-learn's KDTree, modules forspecifying optimal covariance matrix for a component-wise or multivariatenormal perturbation kernel, output and restart files are backed up everyiteration, user defined metric and simulation methods, a module for specifyingheterogeneous parameter priors including non-standard prior PDFs, a module forspecifying a constant, linear, log or exponential tolerance level,well-documented examples and sample scripts. This code is hosted online athttps://github.com/EliseJ/astroABC

  13. DEVELOPMENT OF A STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT TOOL IN A THERMAL POWER PLANT USING ABC AND BSC MODELS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rishi Dwivedi

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available In today’s dynamic, uncertain and highly competitive business environment, the long term success of an organization critically depends on the perceptions, choices and actions of its managers regarding their strategies. Activity based costing (ABC and balanced scorecard (BSC are the modern day management approaches acknowledged as reliable tools for strategy formulation and implementation in an organization. In this paper, ABC and BSC models are separately proposed and applied in the merry-go-round (MGR department of an Indian thermal power plant. The results elicited from adoption of these two models in the said power plant provide more accurate, timely, and reliable operational and financial information at different activity levels of the organization, which would help in effective strategic and tactical decision making. Even though, there are limited published research papers related to application of ABC model in power plants, none of them has adopted ABC and BSC techniques in an Indian contextual environment. Additionally, an integrated ABC-BSC model is designed to harness the complementary synergies of both ABC and BSC models.

  14. Tissue-specific transcript profiling for ABC transporters in the sequestering larvae of the phytophagous leaf beetle Chrysomela populi.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Anja S Strauss

    Full Text Available Insects evolved ingenious adaptations to use extraordinary food sources. Particularly, the diet of herbivores enriched with noxious plant secondary metabolites requires detoxification mechanisms. Sequestration, which involves the uptake, transfer, and concentration of occasionally modified phytochemicals into specialized tissues or hemolymph, is one of the most successful detoxification strategies found in most insect orders. Due to the ability of ATP-binding cassette (ABC carriers to transport a wide range of molecules including phytochemicals and xenobiotics, it is highly likely that they play a role in this sequestration process. To shed light on the role of ABC proteins in sequestration, we describe an inventory of putative ABC transporters in various tissues in the sequestering juvenile poplar leaf beetle, Chrysomela populi.In the transcriptome of C. populi, we predicted 65 ABC transporters. To link the proteins with a possible function, we performed comparative phylogenetic analyses with ABC transporters of other insects and of humans. While tissue-specific profiling of each ABC transporter subfamily suggests that ABCB, C and G influence the plant metabolite absorption in the gut, ABCC with 14 members is the preferred subfamily responsible for the excretion of these metabolites via Malpighian tubules. Moreover, salicin, which is sequestered from poplar plants, is translocated into the defensive glands for further deterrent production. In these glands and among all identified ABC transporters, an exceptionally high transcript level was observed only for Cpabc35 (Cpmrp. RNAi revealed the deficiency of other ABC pumps to compensate the function of CpABC35, demonstrating its key role during sequestration.We provide the first comprehensive phylogenetic study of the ABC family in a phytophagous beetle species. RNA-seq data from different larval tissues propose the importance of ABC pumps to achieve a homeostasis of plant-derived compounds and

  15. Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of an archaeal ABC-ATPase

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Verdon, Grégory; Albers, Sonja-V.; Dijkstra, Bauke W.; Driessen, Arnold J.M.; Thunnissen, Andy-Mark W.H.

    2002-01-01

    In the archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus glucose uptake is mediated by an ABC transport system. The ABC-ATPase of this transporter (GlcV) has been overproduced in Escherichia coli and purified. Crystals of GlcV suitable for data collection were obtained in the absence of nucleotide by microseeding

  16. Transcriptomic insights on the ABC transporter gene family in the salmon louse Caligus rogercresseyi.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valenzuela-Muñoz, Valentina; Sturm, Armin; Gallardo-Escárate, Cristian

    2015-04-09

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein family encode for membrane proteins involved in the transport of various biomolecules through the cellular membrane. These proteins have been identified in all taxa and present important physiological functions, including the process of insecticide detoxification in arthropods. For that reason the ectoparasite Caligus rogercresseyi represents a model species for understanding the molecular underpinnings involved in insecticide drug resistance. llumina sequencing was performed using sea lice exposed to 2 and 3 ppb of deltamethrin and azamethiphos. Contigs obtained from de novo assembly were annotated by Blastx. RNA-Seq analysis was performed and validated by qPCR analysis. From the transcriptome database of C. rogercresseyi, 57 putative members of ABC protein sequences were identified and phylogenetically classified into the eight subfamilies described for ABC transporters in arthropods. Transcriptomic profiles for ABC proteins subfamilies were evaluated throughout C. rogercresseyi development. Moreover, RNA-Seq analysis was performed for adult male and female salmon lice exposed to the delousing drugs azamethiphos and deltamethrin. High transcript levels of the ABCB and ABCC subfamilies were evidenced. Furthermore, SNPs mining was carried out for the ABC proteins sequences, revealing pivotal genomic information. The present study gives a comprehensive transcriptome analysis of ABC proteins from C. rogercresseyi, providing relevant information about transporter roles during ontogeny and in relation to delousing drug responses in salmon lice. This genomic information represents a valuable tool for pest management in the Chilean salmon aquaculture industry.

  17. Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of weapons plutonium: Plant layout study and related design issues

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cowell, B.S.; Fontana, M.H.; Krakowski, R.A.; Beard, C.A.; Buksa, J.J.; Davidson, J.W.; Sailor, W.C.; Williamson, M.A.

    1995-01-01

    In preparation for and in support of a detailed R and D Plan for the Accelerator-Based Conversion (ABC) of weapons plutonium, an ABC Plant Layout Study was conducted at the level of a pre-conceptual engineering design. The plant layout is based on an adaptation of the Molten-Salt Breeder Reactor (MSBR) detailed conceptual design that was completed in the early 1070s. Although the ABC Plant Layout Study included the Accelerator Equipment as an essential element, the engineering assessment focused primarily on the Target; Primary System (blanket and all systems containing plutonium-bearing fuel salt); the Heat-Removal System (secondary-coolant-salt and supercritical-steam systems); Chemical Processing; Operation and Maintenance; Containment and Safety; and Instrumentation and Control systems. Although constrained primarily to a reflection of an accelerator-driven (subcritical) variant of MSBR system, unique features and added flexibilities of the ABC suggest improved or alternative approaches to each of the above-listed subsystems; these, along with the key technical issues in need of resolution through a detailed R ampersand D plan for ABC are described on the bases of the ''strawman'' or ''point-of-departure'' plant layout that resulted from this study

  18. Sensitive and specific fluorescent probes for functional analysis of the three major types of mammalian ABC transporters.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lebedeva, Irina V; Pande, Praveen; Patton, Wayne F

    2011-01-01

    An underlying mechanism for multi drug resistance (MDR) is up-regulation of the transmembrane ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter proteins. ABC transporters also determine the general fate and effect of pharmaceutical agents in the body. The three major types of ABC transporters are MDR1 (P-gp, P-glycoprotein, ABCB1), MRP1/2 (ABCC1/2) and BCRP/MXR (ABCG2) proteins. Flow cytometry (FCM) allows determination of the functional expression levels of ABC transporters in live cells, but most dyes used as indicators (rhodamine 123, DiOC(2)(3), calcein-AM) have limited applicability as they do not detect all three major types of ABC transporters. Dyes with broad coverage (such as doxorubicin, daunorubicin and mitoxantrone) lack sensitivity due to overall dimness and thus may yield a significant percentage of false negative results. We describe two novel fluorescent probes that are substrates for all three common types of ABC transporters and can serve as indicators of MDR in flow cytometry assays using live cells. The probes exhibit fast internalization, favorable uptake/efflux kinetics and high sensitivity of MDR detection, as established by multidrug resistance activity factor (MAF) values and Kolmogorov-Smirnov statistical analysis. Used in combination with general or specific inhibitors of ABC transporters, both dyes readily identify functional efflux and are capable of detecting small levels of efflux as well as defining the type of multidrug resistance. The assay can be applied to the screening of putative modulators of ABC transporters, facilitating rapid, reproducible, specific and relatively simple functional detection of ABC transporter activity, and ready implementation on widely available instruments.

  19. ABC transporters in Arthropods: genomic comparison and role in insecticide transport and resistance

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dermauw, W.; Van Leeuwen, T.

    2014-01-01

    About a 100 years ago, the Drosophila white mutant marked the birth of Drosophila genetics. The white gene turned out to encode the first well studied ABC transporter in arthropods. The ABC gene family is now recognized as one of the largest transporter families in all kingdoms of life. The majority

  20. The short version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale: its validity, reliability, and relationship to balance impairment and falls in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schepens, Stacey; Goldberg, Allon; Wallace, Melissa

    2010-01-01

    A shortened version of the ABC 16-item scale (ABC-16), the ABC-6, has been proposed as an alternative balance confidence measure. We investigated whether the ABC-6 is a valid and reliable measure of balance confidence and examined its relationship to balance impairment and falls in older adults. Thirty-five community-dwelling older adults completed the ABC-16, including the 6 questions of the ABC-6. They also completed the following clinical balance tests: unipedal stance time (UST), functional reach (FR), Timed Up and Go (TUG), and maximum step length (MSL). Participants reported 12-month falls history. Balance confidence on the ABC-6 was significantly lower than on the ABC-16, however scores were highly correlated. Fallers reported lower balance confidence than non-fallers as measured by the ABC-6 scale, but confidence did not differ between the groups with the ABC-16. The ABC-6 significantly correlated with all balance tests assessed and number of falls. The ABC-16 significantly correlated with all balance tests assessed, but not with number of falls. Test-retest reliability for the ABC-16 and ABC-6 was good to excellent. The ABC-6 is a valid and reliable measure of balance confidence in community-dwelling older adults, and shows stronger relationships to falls than does the ABC-16. The ABC-6 may be a more useful balance confidence assessment tool than the ABC-16. Copyright 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  1. Evolutionary Pattern of N-Glycosylation Sequon Numbers  in Eukaryotic ABC Protein Superfamilies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    R. Shyama Prasad Rao

    2010-02-01

    Full Text Available Many proteins contain a large number of NXS/T sequences (where X is any amino acid except proline which are the potential sites of asparagine (N linked glycosylation. However, the patterns of occurrence of these N-glycosylation sequons in related proteins or groups of proteins and their underlying causes have largely been unexplored. We computed the actual and probabilistic occurrence of NXS/T sequons in ABC protein superfamilies from eight diverse eukaryotic organisms. The ABC proteins contained significantly higher NXS/T sequon numbers compared to respective genome-wide average, but the sequon density was significantly lower owing to the increase in protein size and decrease in sequon specific amino acids. However, mammalian ABC proteins have significantly higher sequon density, and both serine and threonine containing sequons (NXS and NXT have been positively selected—against the recent findings of only threonine specific Darwinian selection of sequons in proteins. The occurrence of sequons was positively correlated with the frequency of sequon specific amino acids and negatively correlated with proline and the NPS/T sequences. Further, the NPS/T sequences were significantly higher than expected in plant ABC proteins which have the lowest number of NXS/T sequons. Accord- ingly, compared to overall proteins, N-glycosylation sequons in ABC protein superfamilies have a distinct pattern of occurrence, and the results are discussed in an evolutionary perspective.

  2. ABC transporters affect the elimination and toxicity of CdTe quantum dots in liver and kidney cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, Mingli; Yin, Huancai; Bai, Pengli [CAS Key Lab of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163 (China); Miao, Peng [CAS Key Lab of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Deng, Xudong [Department of Chemical Engineering, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4L7 (Canada); Xu, Yingxue [CAS Key Lab of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163 (China); University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Hu, Jun [CAS Key Lab of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163 (China); Yin, Jian, E-mail: yinj@sibet.ac.cn [CAS Key Lab of Bio-Medical Diagnostics, Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Suzhou, Jiangsu 215163 (China)

    2016-07-15

    This paper aimed to investigate the role of adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transporters on the efflux and the toxicity of nanoparticles in liver and kidney cells. In this study, we synthesized CdTe quantum dots (QDs) that were monodispersed and emitted green fluorescence (maximum peak at 530 nm). Such QDs tended to accumulate in human hepatocellular carcinoma cells (HepG2), human kidney cells 2 (HK-2), and Madin-Darby canine kidney (MDCK) cells, and cause significant toxicity in all the three cell lines. Using specific inhibitors and inducers of P-glycoprotein (Pgp) and multidrug resistance associated proteins (Mrps), the cellular accumulation and subsequent toxicity of QDs in HepG2 and HK-2 cells were significantly affected, while only slight changes appeared in MDCK cells, corresponding well with the functional expressions of ABC transporters in cells. Moreover, treatment of QDs caused concentration- and time- dependent induction of ABC transporters in HepG2 and HK-2 cells, but such phenomenon was barely found in MDCK cells. Furthermore, the effects of CdTe QDs on ABC transporters were found to be greater than those of CdCl{sub 2} at equivalent concentrations of cadmium, indicating that the effects of QDs should be a combination of free Cd{sup 2+} and specific properties of QDs. Overall, these results indicated a strong dependence between the functional expressions of ABC transporters and the efflux of QDs, which could be an important reason for the modulation of QDs toxicity by ABC transporters. - Highlights: • ABC transporters contributed actively to the cellular efflux of CdTe quantum dots. • ABC transporters affected the cellular toxicity of CdTe quantum dots. • Treatment of CdTe quantum dots induced the gene expression of ABC transporters. • Free Cd{sup 2+} should be partially involved in the effects of QDs on ABC transporters. • Cellular efflux of quantum dots could be an important modulator for its toxicity.

  3. IMG-ABC: A Knowledge Base To Fuel Discovery of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters and Novel Secondary Metabolites.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hadjithomas, Michalis; Chen, I-Min Amy; Chu, Ken; Ratner, Anna; Palaniappan, Krishna; Szeto, Ernest; Huang, Jinghua; Reddy, T B K; Cimermančič, Peter; Fischbach, Michael A; Ivanova, Natalia N; Markowitz, Victor M; Kyrpides, Nikos C; Pati, Amrita

    2015-07-14

    In the discovery of secondary metabolites, analysis of sequence data is a promising exploration path that remains largely underutilized due to the lack of computational platforms that enable such a systematic approach on a large scale. In this work, we present IMG-ABC (https://img.jgi.doe.gov/abc), an atlas of biosynthetic gene clusters within the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system, which is aimed at harnessing the power of "big" genomic data for discovering small molecules. IMG-ABC relies on IMG's comprehensive integrated structural and functional genomic data for the analysis of biosynthetic gene clusters (BCs) and associated secondary metabolites (SMs). SMs and BCs serve as the two main classes of objects in IMG-ABC, each with a rich collection of attributes. A unique feature of IMG-ABC is the incorporation of both experimentally validated and computationally predicted BCs in genomes as well as metagenomes, thus identifying BCs in uncultured populations and rare taxa. We demonstrate the strength of IMG-ABC's focused integrated analysis tools in enabling the exploration of microbial secondary metabolism on a global scale, through the discovery of phenazine-producing clusters for the first time in Alphaproteobacteria. IMG-ABC strives to fill the long-existent void of resources for computational exploration of the secondary metabolism universe; its underlying scalable framework enables traversal of uncovered phylogenetic and chemical structure space, serving as a doorway to a new era in the discovery of novel molecules. IMG-ABC is the largest publicly available database of predicted and experimental biosynthetic gene clusters and the secondary metabolites they produce. The system also includes powerful search and analysis tools that are integrated with IMG's extensive genomic/metagenomic data and analysis tool kits. As new research on biosynthetic gene clusters and secondary metabolites is published and more genomes are sequenced, IMG-ABC will continue to

  4. Transportomics: screening for substrates of ABC transporters in body fluids using vesicular transport assays.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Krumpochova, P; Sapthu, S.; Brouwers, J.F.H.M.; de Haas, M.; de Vos, R.; Borst, P.; van de Wetering, K.

    2013-01-01

    ABSTRACT The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) genes encode the largest family of transmembrane proteins. ABC transporters translocate a wide variety of substrates across membranes, but their physiological function is often incompletely understood. We describe a new method to study the substrate spectrum

  5. Dual repression of the multidrug efflux pump CmeABC by CosR and CmeR in Campylobacter jejuni

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tara Grinnage-Pulley

    2016-07-01

    Full Text Available During transmission and intestinal colonization, Campylobacter jejuni, a major foodborne human pathogen, experiences oxidative stress. CosR, a response regulator in C. jejuni, modulates the oxidative stress response and represses expression of the CmeABC multidrug efflux pump. CmeABC, a key component in resistance to toxic compounds including antimicrobials and bile salts, is also under negative regulation by CmeR, a TetR family transcriptional regulator. How CosR and CmeR interact in binding to the cmeABC promoter and how CosR senses oxidative stress are still unknown. To answer these questions, we conducted various experiments utilizing electrophoretic mobility shift assays and transcriptional fusion assays. CosR and CmeR bound independently to two separate sites of the cmeABC promoter, simultaneously repressing cmeABC expression. This dual binding of CosR and CmeR is optimal with a 17 base pair space between the two binding sites as mutations that shortened the distance between the binding sites decreased binding by CmeR and enhanced cmeABC expression. Additionally, the single cysteine residue (C218 of CosR was sensitive to oxidation, which altered the DNA-binding activity of CosR and dissociated CosR from the cmeABC promoter as determined by electrophoretic mobility shift assay. Replacement of C218 with serine rendered CosR insensitive to oxidation, suggesting a potential role of C218 in sensing oxidative stress and providing a possible mechanism for CosR-mediated response to oxidative stress. These findings reveal a dual regulatory role of CosR and CmeR in modulating cmeABC expression and suggest a potential mechanism that may explain overexpression of cmeABC in response to oxidative stress. Differential expression of cmeABC mediated by CmeR and CosR in response to different signals may facilitate adaptation of Campylobacter to various environmental conditions.

  6. Genome-wide identification, characterization and phylogenetic analysis of 50 catfish ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Shikai; Li, Qi; Liu, Zhanjiang

    2013-01-01

    Although a large set of full-length transcripts was recently assembled in catfish, annotation of large gene families, especially those with duplications, is still a great challenge. Most often, complexities in annotation cause mis-identification and thereby much confusion in the scientific literature. As such, detailed phylogenetic analysis and/or orthology analysis are required for annotation of genes involved in gene families. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene superfamily is a large gene family that encodes membrane proteins that transport a diverse set of substrates across membranes, playing important roles in protecting organisms from diverse environment. In this work, we identified a set of 50 ABC transporters in catfish genome. Phylogenetic analysis allowed their identification and annotation into seven subfamilies, including 9 ABCA genes, 12 ABCB genes, 12 ABCC genes, 5 ABCD genes, 2 ABCE genes, 4 ABCF genes and 6 ABCG genes. Most ABC transporters are conserved among vertebrates, though cases of recent gene duplications and gene losses do exist. Gene duplications in catfish were found for ABCA1, ABCB3, ABCB6, ABCC5, ABCD3, ABCE1, ABCF2 and ABCG2. The whole set of catfish ABC transporters provide the essential genomic resources for future biochemical, toxicological and physiological studies of ABC drug efflux transporters. The establishment of orthologies should allow functional inferences with the information from model species, though the function of lineage-specific genes can be distinct because of specific living environment with different selection pressure.

  7. Genome-wide analysis of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene family in the silkworm, Bombyx mori.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xie, Xiaodong; Cheng, Tingcai; Wang, Genhong; Duan, Jun; Niu, Weihuan; Xia, Qingyou

    2012-07-01

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily is a larger protein family with diverse physiological functions in all kingdoms of life. We identified 53 ABC transporters in the silkworm genome, and classified them into eight subfamilies (A-H). Comparative genome analysis revealed that the silkworm has an expanded ABCC subfamily with more members than Drosophila melanogaster, Caenorhabditis elegans, or Homo sapiens. Phylogenetic analysis showed that the ABCE and ABCF genes were highly conserved in the silkworm, indicating possible involvement in fundamental biological processes. Five multidrug resistance-related genes in the ABCB subfamily and two multidrug resistance-associated-related genes in the ABCC subfamily indicated involvement in biochemical defense. Genetic variation analysis revealed four ABC genes that might be evolving under positive selection. Moreover, the silkworm ABCC4 gene might be important for silkworm domestication. Microarray analysis showed that the silkworm ABC genes had distinct expression patterns in different tissues on day 3 of the fifth instar. These results might provide new insights for further functional studies on the ABC genes in the silkworm genome.

  8. A Quantitative Analysis of the Behavioral Checklist of the Movement ABC Motor Test

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz, Luis Miguel; Gomez, Marta; Graupera, Jose Luis; Gutierrez, Melchor; Linaza, Jose Luis

    2007-01-01

    The fifth section of the Henderson and Sugden's Movement ABC Checklist is part of the general Checklist that accompanies The Movement ABC Battery. The authors maintain that the analysis of this section must be mainly qualitative instead of quantitative. The main objective of this study was to employ a quantitative analysis of this behavioural…

  9. Investigating the dynamic nature of the ABC transporters: ABCB1 and MsbA as examples for the potential synergies of MD theory and EPR applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stockner, Thomas; Mullen, Anna; MacMillan, Fraser

    2015-10-01

    ABC transporters are primary active transporters found in all kingdoms of life. Human multidrug resistance transporter ABCB1, or P-glycoprotein, has an extremely broad substrate spectrum and confers resistance against chemotherapy drug treatment in cancer cells. The bacterial ABC transporter MsbA is a lipid A flippase and a homolog to the human ABCB1 transporter, with which it partially shares its substrate spectrum. Crystal structures of MsbA and ABCB1 have been solved in multiple conformations, providing a glimpse into the possible conformational changes the transporter could be going through during the transport cycle. Crystal structures are inherently static, while a dynamic picture of the transporter in motion is needed for a complete understanding of transporter function. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy can provide structural information on ABC transporters, but the strength of these two methods lies in the potential to characterise the dynamic regime of these transporters. Information from the two methods is quite complementary. MD simulations provide an all atom dynamic picture of the time evolution of the molecular system, though with a narrow time window. EPR spectroscopy can probe structural, environmental and dynamic properties of the transporter in several time regimes, but only through the attachment sites of an exogenous spin label. In this review the synergistic effects that can be achieved by combining the two methods are highlighted, and a brief methodological background is also presented. © 2015 Authors; published by Portland Press Limited.

  10. Staggering in the cleavage pattern of E. coli ABC-excinuclease

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Myles, G.M.; Van Houten, B.; Sancar, A.

    1986-01-01

    E. coli ABC excinuclease is a complex of three proteins encoded by the uvrA, uvrB, and uvrC genes. The enzyme repairs DNA mono and diadducts by the single strand cleavage of DNA eight phosphodiester bond 5' and four or five phosphodiester bonds 3' to a DNA lesion and facilitates the removal of the resulting twelve or thirteen nucleotide fragment. In this study, the authors have investigated the excision pattern for ultraviolet (UV) induced diadducts, i.e. cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers and pyrimidine-pyrimidone (6-4) photoproducts. Terminally (5' or 3') labeled DNA was irradiated with 254nm UV and treated with ABC excinuclease before and after photoreactivation of cyclobutane dimers by E. coli DNA photolyase. In this way, the authors were able to differentiate between the cleavage pattern of pyrimidine dimers and of (6-4) photoproducts. Their results show that certain TT cyclobutane dimers and rare TT (6-4) photoproducts are excised by cleavage seven and, less frequently, six phosphodiester bonds to the 5' side of the DNA lesion in addition to the primary cutting site at the eight 5' phosphodiester bond. The 3' cleavage sites are maintained at the fourth and fifth phosphodiester bonds for the these UV induced lesions. These data indicate that the cleavage pattern of the ABC excinuclease may be dependent upon both the type of DNA lesion as well as it surrounding nucleotide sequence. In addition, the authors analysis shows that (6-4) photoproducts are much better substrates for ABC excinuclease than are pyrimidine dimers

  11. ASPECTS OF OBSTACLES FOR APPLYING ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC SYSTEM IN EGYPTIAN FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Petru STEFEA

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available The following investigation aims to determine the aspects of obstacles for applying Activity Based Costing (ABC system in the Egyptian case and the significant differences among the effects of such obstacles . The Study used the survey method to describe and analyze the obstacles in some Egyptian firms. The population of the study is Egyptian manufacturing firms. This survey used the number of 392 questionnaires that were used throughout the total of 23 Egyptian manufacturing firms, during the first half of 2013. Finally, the study found some influencing obstacles for applying this system (ABC and there were significant differences among the aspects of obstacles for applying ABC system in the Egyptian manufacturing firms.

  12. Basic fibroblast growth factor binds to subendothelial extracellular matrix and is released by heparitinase and heparin-like molecules

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bashkin, P.; Doctrow, S.; Klagsbrun, M.; Svahn, C.M.; Folkman, J.; Vlodavsky, I.

    1989-01-01

    Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) exhibits specific binding to the extracellular matrix (ECM) produced by cultured endothelial cells. Binding was saturable as a function both of time and of concentration of 125 I-bFGF. Scatchard analysis of FGF binding revealed the presence of about 1.5 x 10 12 binding sites/mm 2 ECM with an apparent k D of 610 nM. FGF binds to heparan sulfate (HS) in ECM as evidenced by (i) inhibition of binding in the presence of heparin or HS at 0.1-1 μg/mL, but not by chondroitin sulfate, keratan sulfate, or hyaluronic acid at 10 μg/mL, (ii) lack of binding to ECM pretreated with heparitinase, but not with chondroitinase ABC, and (iii) rapid release of up to 90% of ECM-bound FGF by exposure to heparin, HS, or heparitinase, but not to chondroitin sulfate, keratan sulfate, hyaluronic acid, or chondroitinase ABC. Oligosaccharides derived from depolymerized heparin, and as small as the tetrasaccharide, released the ECM-bound FGF, but there was little or no release of FGF by modified nonanticoagulant heparins such as totally desulfated heparin, N-desulfated heparin, and N-acetylated heparin. FGF released from ECM was biologically active, as indicated by its stimulation of cell proliferation and DNA synthesis in vascular endothelial cells and 3T3 fibroblasts. Similar results were obtained in studies on release of endogenous FGF-like mitogenic activity from Descement's membranes of bovine corneas. It is suggested that ECM storage and release of bFGF provide a novel mechanism for regulation of capillary blood vessel growth. Whereas ECM-bound FGF may be prevented from acting on endothelial cells, its displacement by heparin-like molecules and/or HS-degrading enzymes may elicit a neovascular response

  13. Plant ABC transporters enable many unique aspects of a terrestrial plant's lifestyle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Hwang, Jae-Ung; Song, Won-Yong; Hong, Daewoong

    2016-01-01

    Terrestrial plants have two to four times more ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter genes than other organisms, including their ancestral microalgae. Recent studies found that plants harboring mutations in these transporters exhibit dramatic phenotypes, many of which are related to developmental...... to propose that diverse ABC transporters enabled many unique and essential aspects of a terrestrial plant's lifestyle, by transporting various compounds across specific membranes of the plant....

  14. Effective removal of a range of Ti/Ri plasmids using a pBBR1-type vector having a repABC operon and a lux reporter system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yamamoto, Shinji; Sakai, Ayako; Agustina, Vita; Moriguchi, Kazuki; Suzuki, Katsunori

    2018-02-01

    Ti and Ri plasmids of pathogenic Agrobacterium strains are stably maintained by the function of a repABC operon and have been classified into four incompatibility groups, namely, incRh1, incRh2, incRh3, and incRh4. Removal of these plasmids from their bacterial cells is an important step in determining strain-specific virulence characteristics and to construct strains useful for transformation. Here, we developed two powerful tools to improve this process. We first established a reporter system to detect the presence and absence of Ti/Ri plasmids in cells by using an acetosyringone (AS)-inducible promoter of the Ti2 small RNA and luxAB from Vibrio harveyi. This system distinguished a Ti/Ri plasmid-free cell colony among plasmid-harboring cell colonies by causing the latter colonies to emit light in response to AS. We then constructed new "Ti/Ri eviction plasmids," each of which carries a repABC from one of four Ti/Ri plasmids that belonged to incRh1, incRh2, incRh3, and incRh4 groups in the suicidal plasmid pK18mobsacB and in a broad-host-range pBBR1 vector. Introduction of the new eviction plasmids into Agrobacterium cells harboring the corresponding Ti/Ri plasmids led to Ti/Ri plasmid-free cells in every incRh group. The Ti/Ri eviction was more effective by plasmids with the pBBR1 backbone than by those with the pK18mobsacB backbone. Furthermore, the highly stable cryptic plasmid pAtC58 in A. tumefaciens C58 was effectively evicted by the introduction of a pBBR1 vector containing the repABC of pAtC58. These results indicate that the set of pBBR1-repABC plasmids is a powerful tool for the removal of stable rhizobial plasmids.

  15. Reliability and validity of the German short version of the Activities specific Balance Confidence (ABC-D6) scale in older adults.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schott, Nadja

    2014-01-01

    The Activities specific Balance Confidence (ABC) is a questionnaire which was developed to assess falls-associated self-efficacy. The aim of this study was to evaluate reliability and validity of the German abbreviated 6-item version of the ABC scores in community-dwelling older people. The study sample included 384 subjects (age 71.1 ± 9.7). In order to determine the psychometric properties, reliability and validity were assessed through administration of the German adaptation of the ABC-D16 to participants twice, 10 days apart, and comparison of the ABC-D16 and the ABC-D6 with functional measures of balance and mobility (one-leg stance; 10 m walk; TUG; Fullerton Advanced Balance Scale (FAB)), physical activity (Physical Activity Scale for the Elderly (PASE)), physical fitness (30s arm curl, 30s chair stand, 6 min walk), cognition (Trail-Making-Test (TMT)), falls status, and quality of life (SF36). Factor analyses suggested a 1-factor solution for the ABC-D6 scale (explained variance 79.8%). Internal consistency (.95) and test-retest reliability (.98) for the ABC-D6 scores were excellent. Scores on the ABC-D6 were significantly lower than on the ABC-D16, but ABC-D16 and ABC-D6 scores were highly correlated (.94). There was an increasing difference in the ABC-scores between men and women with increasing age. Fallers reported lower balance confidence than non-fallers. The ABC-D6 score significantly correlated with functional measures of balance and mobility, physical activity, physical fitness, cognition, and quality of life (-.698valid instrument to asses falls-associated self-efficacy and may be used in future research projects and clinical trials. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

  16. Simulation-based estimation of mean and standard deviation for meta-analysis via Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kwon, Deukwoo; Reis, Isildinha M

    2015-08-12

    When conducting a meta-analysis of a continuous outcome, estimated means and standard deviations from the selected studies are required in order to obtain an overall estimate of the mean effect and its confidence interval. If these quantities are not directly reported in the publications, they must be estimated from other reported summary statistics, such as the median, the minimum, the maximum, and quartiles. We propose a simulation-based estimation approach using the Approximate Bayesian Computation (ABC) technique for estimating mean and standard deviation based on various sets of summary statistics found in published studies. We conduct a simulation study to compare the proposed ABC method with the existing methods of Hozo et al. (2005), Bland (2015), and Wan et al. (2014). In the estimation of the standard deviation, our ABC method performs better than the other methods when data are generated from skewed or heavy-tailed distributions. The corresponding average relative error (ARE) approaches zero as sample size increases. In data generated from the normal distribution, our ABC performs well. However, the Wan et al. method is best for estimating standard deviation under normal distribution. In the estimation of the mean, our ABC method is best regardless of assumed distribution. ABC is a flexible method for estimating the study-specific mean and standard deviation for meta-analysis, especially with underlying skewed or heavy-tailed distributions. The ABC method can be applied using other reported summary statistics such as the posterior mean and 95 % credible interval when Bayesian analysis has been employed.

  17. 75 FR 11991 - ABC & D Recycling, Inc.-Lease and Operation Exemption-a Line of Railroad in Ware, MA

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-03-12

    ... DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION Surface Transportation Board [STB Finance Docket No. 35356] ABC & D Recycling, Inc.--Lease and Operation Exemption--a Line of Railroad in Ware, MA ABC & D Recycling, Inc. (ABC & D), a noncarrier, has filed a verified notice of exemption under 49 CFR 1150.31 to lease from O...

  18. Targeting of ECM molecules and their metabolizing enzymes and receptors for the treatment of CNS diseases

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Berezin, Vladimir; Walmod, Peter Schledermann; Filippov, Mikhail

    2014-01-01

    Extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules, their receptors at the cell surface, and cell adhesion molecules (CAMs) involved in cell-cell or cell-ECM interactions are implicated in processes related to major diseases of the central nervous system including Alzheimer's disease (AD), epilepsy......, schizophrenia, addiction, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, and cancer. There are multiple strategies for targeting the ECM molecules and their metabolizing enzymes and receptors with antibodies, peptides, glycosaminoglycans, and other natural and synthetic compounds. ECM-targeting treatments include...... chondroitinase ABC, heparin/heparan sulfate-mimicking oligosaccharides, ECM cross-linking antibodies, and drugs stimulating expression of ECM molecules. The amount or activity of ECM-degrading enzymes like matrix metalloproteinases can be modulated indirectly via the regulation of endogenous inhibitors like...

  19. New Enhanced Artificial Bee Colony (JA-ABC5 Algorithm with Application for Reactive Power Optimization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Noorazliza Sulaiman

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available The standard artificial bee colony (ABC algorithm involves exploration and exploitation processes which need to be balanced for enhanced performance. This paper proposes a new modified ABC algorithm named JA-ABC5 to enhance convergence speed and improve the ability to reach the global optimum by balancing exploration and exploitation processes. New stages have been proposed at the earlier stages of the algorithm to increase the exploitation process. Besides that, modified mutation equations have also been introduced in the employed and onlooker-bees phases to balance the two processes. The performance of JA-ABC5 has been analyzed on 27 commonly used benchmark functions and tested to optimize the reactive power optimization problem. The performance results have clearly shown that the newly proposed algorithm has outperformed other compared algorithms in terms of convergence speed and global optimum achievement.

  20. New enhanced artificial bee colony (JA-ABC5) algorithm with application for reactive power optimization.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sulaiman, Noorazliza; Mohamad-Saleh, Junita; Abro, Abdul Ghani

    2015-01-01

    The standard artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm involves exploration and exploitation processes which need to be balanced for enhanced performance. This paper proposes a new modified ABC algorithm named JA-ABC5 to enhance convergence speed and improve the ability to reach the global optimum by balancing exploration and exploitation processes. New stages have been proposed at the earlier stages of the algorithm to increase the exploitation process. Besides that, modified mutation equations have also been introduced in the employed and onlooker-bees phases to balance the two processes. The performance of JA-ABC5 has been analyzed on 27 commonly used benchmark functions and tested to optimize the reactive power optimization problem. The performance results have clearly shown that the newly proposed algorithm has outperformed other compared algorithms in terms of convergence speed and global optimum achievement.

  1. Incorporation of 35S-sulfate and 3H-glucosamine into heparan and chondroitin sulfates during the cell cycle of B16-F10 cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Blair, O.C.; Sartorelli, A.C.

    1984-01-01

    Changes in glycosaminoglycan composition occurring during the cell cycle were determined in B16-F10 cells sorted flow cytometrically with respect to DNA content. Incorporation of 35 S-sulfate into heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate of unsorted and G1,S, and G2 +M sorted cells was determined following chondroitinase ABC or nitrous acid treatment; the incorporation into surface material was measured as the difference between the radioactivity of control and trypsin-treated cells. Incorporation of 35 S-sulfate and 3 H-glucosamine into cetyl pyridinium chloride (CPC)-precipitable material was characterized before and after chondroitinase or nitrous acid treatment by Sephadex G50 chromatography. Long-term (48 h) and short-term (1 h) labeling studies demonstrate that (a) the amount of total cellular chondroitin sulfate is greater than that of heparan sulfate, with larger amounts of unsulfated heparan than chondroitin being present; (b) the rate of turnover of heparan sulfate is greater than that of chondroitin sulfate; (c) greatest short-term incorporation of 3H-glucosamine into CPC-precipitable material occurs during S phase; and (d) the rate of turnover of both heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate is decreased in S phase relative to G1 and G2 + M

  2. Sulfated glycosaminoglycans in cultured endothelial cells from capillaries and large vessels of human and bovine origin

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bar, R.S.; Dake, B.L.; Spanheimer, R.G.

    1985-07-01

    The (/sup 35/S)glycosaminoglycans ((/sup 35/S)GAG) synthesized by capillary endothelial cells were analyzed and compared to GAG synthesized by endothelial cells cultured from 4 larger vessels. Two separate cultures of endothelial cells were established from bovine fat capillaries and from 4 larger vessels of human origin (umbilical vein) and bovine origin (pulmonary artery, pulmonary vein and aorta). After incubation with /sup 35/SO/sub 4/ for 72 h, the (/sup 35/S)glycosaminoglycans (GAG) composition of the media, pericellular and cellular fractions of each culture were determined by selective degradation with nitrous acid, chondroitinase ABC and chondroitinase AC. All endothelial cells produced large amounts of (/sup 35/S)GAG with increased proportions of heparinoids (heparan sulfate and heparin) in the cellular and pericellular fractions. Each culture showed a distinct distribution of (/sup 35/S)GAG in the media, pericellular and cellular fractions with several specific differences found among the 5 cultures. The differences in GAG content were confirmed in a second group of separate cultures from each of the 5 vessels indicating that, although having several features of GAG metabolism in common, each endothelial cell culture demonstrated a characteristic complement of synthesized, secreted and cell surface-sulfated glycosaminoglycans. (author). 16 refs.

  3. STRUCTURAL ORGANIZATION OF BACTERIAL UREASES

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lisnyak YuV

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This brief review concerns the basic principles of structural organization of multi-subunit bacterial ureases and formation of their quaternary structure. Urease is a nickel-containing enzyme (urea amidohydrolase, ЕС 3.5.1.5 that catalyses the hydrolysis of urea to get ammonia and carbamate which then decomposes with water to get ammonia and carbon dioxide. Urease is produced by bacteria, fungi, yeast and plants. On the basis of similarities in amino acid sequences, ureases assumed to have a similar structure and conservative catalytic mechanism. Within past two decades bacterial ureases have gained much attention in research field as a virulence factor in human and animal infections. The first crystal structure of urease has been determined for that from Klebsiella aerogenes. The native enzyme consists of three subunits, UreA (α-chain, UreB (β-chain and UreC (γ-chain, and contains four structural domains: two in α-chain (α-domain 1 and α-domain-2, one in β- and one in γ-chain. These three chains form a T-shaped heterotrimer αβγ. Three αβγ heterotrimers form quaternary complex (αβγ3. In case of Helicobacter pilori, the analogous trimers of corresponding dimeric subunits (αβ3 form tetrameric structure ((αβ34 in which four trimers are situated at the vertexes of the regular triangle pyramid. Active center is located in α-domain 1 and contains two atoms of nickel coordinated by residues His134, His136, carboxylated Lys217, His 246, His272 and Asp360, as well as residues involved in binding (His219 and catalysis (His320. Active site is capped by a flap that controls substrate ingress to and product egress from the dinickel center. Urease requires accessory proteins (UreD, UreF, UreG and UreE for the correct assembly of their Ni-containing metallocenters. The accessory proteins UreD, UreF, and UreG sequentially bind to the apoprotein (UreABC3 to finally form (UreABC-UreDFG3 activation complex. UreE metallochaperone delivers

  4. Inventory and general analysis of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) gene superfamily in maize (Zea mays L.).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pang, Kaiyuan; Li, Yanjiao; Liu, Menghan; Meng, Zhaodong; Yu, Yanli

    2013-09-10

    The metabolic functions of ATP-binding cassette (or ABC) proteins, one of the largest families of proteins presented in all organisms, have been investigated in many protozoan, animal and plant species. To facilitate more systematic and complicated studies on maize ABC proteins in the future, we present the first complete inventory of these proteins, including 130 open reading frames (ORFs), and provide general descriptions of their classifications, basic structures, typical functions, evolution track analysis and expression profiles. The 130 ORFs were assigned to eight subfamilies based on their structures and homological features. Five of these subfamilies consist of 109 proteins, containing transmembrane domains (TM) performing as transporters. The rest three subfamilies contain 21 soluble proteins involved in various functions other than molecular transport. A comparison of ABC proteins among nine selected species revealed either convergence or divergence in each of the ABC subfamilies. Generally, plant genomes contain far more ABC genes than animal genomes. The expression profiles and evolution track of each maize ABC gene were further investigated, the results of which could provide clues for analyzing their functions. Quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction experiments (PCR) were conducted to detect induced expression in select ABC genes under several common stresses. This investigation provides valuable information for future research on stress tolerance in plants and potential strategies for enhancing maize production under stressful conditions. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. The Role of Activity Based Costing (ABC) in Educational Support Services: A White Paper.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edds, Daniel B.

    Many front-line managers who are assuming more financial responsibility for their organizations find traditional cost accounting inadequate for their needs and are turning to Activity Based Costing (ABC). ABC is not a financial reporting system to serve the needs of regulatory agencies, but a tool that tracks costs from the general ledger…

  6. Transcriptional expression analysis of ABC efflux transporters and xenobiotic-metabolizing enzymes in the Chinese rare minnow.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yuan, Lilai; Lv, Biping; Zha, Jinmiao; Wang, Zijian

    2014-05-01

    In the present study, the cDNA fragments of five ABC transporter genes (ABCB1, ABCB11, ABCC1, ABCC2, and ABCG2) in the rare minnow were cloned, and their tissue-specific expression patterns were evaluated across eight rare minnow tissues (liver, gill, intestine, kidney, spleen, brain, skin, and muscle). Furthermore, the transcriptional effects on these ABC transporter genes and five xenobiotic-metabolizing enzyme genes (CYP1A, GSTm, GSTp1, GCLC, and UGT1a) were determined in the rare minnow liver after 12 days of pyrene exposure. Basal expression analysis showed that the tissues with high expression of the ABC transporters included the liver, kidney, and intestine. Moreover, the most highly expressed of the ABC genes were ABCB1 and ABCC2 in all eight of the tissues tested. The ABCB11 gene was almost exclusively expressed in the liver of the rare minnow, whereas ABCC1 and ABCG2 showed weak expression in all eight tissues compared to ABCB1 and ABCC2. Our results provide the first thorough examination of the expression patterns of toxicologically relevant ABC transporters in the rare minnow and serve as a necessary basis for further studies of these ABC transporters in fish. Furthermore, synergistic up-regulation of CYP1A, GSTp1, GCLC, UGT1a, and ABCC2 was observed in the rare minnow liver following pyrene exposure, while GSTm, ABCB1, ABCB11, ABCC1, and ABCG2 were not significantly affected (p ABC transporters by pyrene suggests a possible involvement and cooperation of these genes in the detoxification process in rare minnows. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  7. Assessment of the ABC/2 Method of Epidural Hematoma Volume Measurement as Compared to Computer-Assisted Planimetric Analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Ting-Ting; Yan, Ling; Yan, Peng-Fei; Wang, Xuan; Yue, Ge-Fen

    2016-01-01

    Epidural hematoma volume (EDHV) is an independent predictor of prognosis in patients with epidural hematoma (EDH) and plays a central role in treatment decision making. This study's objective was to determine the accuracy and reliability of the widely used volume measurement method ABC/2 in estimating EDHV by comparing it to the computer-assisted planimetric method. A data set of computerized tomography (CT) scans of 35 patients with EDH was evaluated to determine the accuracy of ABC/2 method, using computer-assisted planimetric technique to establish the reference criterion of EDHV for each patient. Another data set was constructed by randomly selecting 5 patients then replicating each case twice to yield 15 patients. Intra- and interobserver reliability were evaluated by asking four observers to independently estimate EDHV for the latter data set using the ABC/2 method. Estimation of EDHV using the ABC/2 method showed high intra- and interobserver reliability (intra-class correlation coefficient = .99). These estimates were closely correlated with planimetric measures (r = .99). But the ABC/2 method generally overestimated EDHV, especially in the nonellipsoid-like group. The difference between the ABC/2 measures and planimetric measures was statistically significant (p ABC/2 method could be used for EDHV measurement, which would contribute to treatment decision making as well as clinical outcome prediction. However, clinicians should be aware that the ABC/2 method results in a general volume overestimation. Future studies focusing on justification of the technique to improve its accuracy would be of practical value. © The Author(s) 2015.

  8. Lipid dependence of ABC transporter localization and function

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Klappe, Karin; Hummel, Ina; Hoekstra, Dick; Kok, Jan Willem

    2009-01-01

    Lipid rafts have been implicated in many cellular functions, including protein and lipid transport and signal transduction. ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters have also been localized in these membrane domains. In this review the evidence for this specific localization will be evaluated and

  9. ABC transporters of the wheat pathogen Mycosphaerella graminicola

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zwiers, L.H.

    2002-01-01

    A TP- b inding c assette (ABC) transporters belong to one of the largest protein families known. They play a role in numerous vital processes in the cell and are characterised by their

  10. Ensemble inequivalence: Landau theory and the ABC model

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Cohen, O; Mukamel, D

    2012-01-01

    It is well known that systems with long-range interactions may exhibit different phase diagrams when studied within two different ensembles. In many of the previously studied examples of ensemble inequivalence, the phase diagrams differ only when the transition in one of the ensembles is first order. By contrast, in a recent study of a generalized ABC model, the canonical and grand-canonical ensembles of the model were shown to differ even when they both exhibit a continuous transition. Here we show that the order of the transition where ensemble inequivalence may occur is related to the symmetry properties of the order parameter associated with the transition. This is done by analyzing the Landau expansion of a generic model with long-range interactions. The conclusions drawn from the generic analysis are demonstrated for the ABC model by explicit calculation of its Landau expansion. (paper)

  11. Una mirada al 23 F. Los editoriales de El País y ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Aitor Pérez Blázquez

    2013-10-01

    Full Text Available En el presente artículo pretendemos realizar un acercamiento a uno de los hechos más graves de la democracía española. Nos referimos al fallido intento de golpe de estado del 23 de Febrero. Nos hemos fijado en las líneas editoriales de dos periodicos, ABC y EL Pais, para observar como percibieron y se posicionaron durante los días claves tras el golpe militar.Palabras clave: 23F; Editoriales; El País; ABC 23F, editorials, El País, ABC_________________A look to 23 F. The editorials of El País and ABCAbstract:In the present paper we try to realize an approximation to one of the most serious facts of the Spanish democracy. We refer to 23 F. We have concentrated on the publishing lines of two newspapers, ABC and El País, to observe since they perceived and were positioned during the key days after the militar strike.Keywords:

  12. ABC transporters as multidrug resistance mechanisms and the development of chemosensitizers for their reversal

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Choi Cheol-Hee

    2005-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract One of the major problems related with anticancer chemotherapy is resistance against anticancer drugs. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporters are a family of transporter proteins that are responsible for drug resistance and a low bioavailability of drugs by pumping a variety of drugs out cells at the expense of ATP hydrolysis. One strategy for reversal of the resistance of tumor cells expressing ABC transporters is combined use of anticancer drugs with chemosensitizers. In this review, the physiological functions and structures of ABC transporters, and the development of chemosensitizers are described focusing on well-known proteins including P-glycoprotein, multidrug resistance associated protein, and breast cancer resistance protein.

  13. Knock-down of ABCE1 gene induces G1/S arrest in human oral cancer cells

    OpenAIRE

    Wang, Lei; Zhang, Mei; Liu, Dong-Xu

    2014-01-01

    Purpose: This study aims to explore the clinical characteristics of ATP binding cassette E1 (ABCE1) in oral squamous cell carcinomas (OSCC) and its roles in the proliferation, invasiveness, migration and apoptosis of the human oral squamous cell carcinoma cells CAL-27. Methods: The expression of ABCE1 and its target protein-RNase L, were first studied in tumor tissues of OSCC and adjacent non-tumor tissues. Moreover, CAL-27cells were transfected by ABCE1-specific shRNA, then MTT assay, the tr...

  14. ABC transporters from Aspergillus nidulans are involved in protection against cytotoxic agents and antibiotic production

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Andrade, A.C.; Nistelrooy, van J.G.M.; Peery, R.B.; Skatrud, P.L.; Waard, de M.A.

    2000-01-01

    This paper describes the characterization of atrC and atrD (ABC transporters C and D), two novel ABC transporter-encoding genes from the filamentous fungus Aspergillus nidulans, and provides evidence for the involvement of atrD in multidrug transport and antibiotic production. BLAST analysis of the

  15. Classification of E-Nose Aroma Data of Four Fruit Types by ABC-Based Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Fatih Adak

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Electronic nose technology is used in many areas, and frequently in the beverage industry for classification and quality-control purposes. In this study, four different aroma data (strawberry, lemon, cherry, and melon were obtained using a MOSES II electronic nose for the purpose of fruit classification. To improve the performance of the classification, the training phase of the neural network with two hidden layers was optimized using artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC, which is known to be successful in exploration. Test data were given to two different neural networks, each of which were trained separately with backpropagation (BP and ABC, and average test performances were measured as 60% for the artificial neural network trained with BP and 76.39% for the artificial neural network trained with ABC. Training and test phases were repeated 30 times to obtain these average performance measurements. This level of performance shows that the artificial neural network trained with ABC is successful in classifying aroma data.

  16. Classification of E-Nose Aroma Data of Four Fruit Types by ABC-Based Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Adak, M Fatih; Yumusak, Nejat

    2016-02-27

    Electronic nose technology is used in many areas, and frequently in the beverage industry for classification and quality-control purposes. In this study, four different aroma data (strawberry, lemon, cherry, and melon) were obtained using a MOSES II electronic nose for the purpose of fruit classification. To improve the performance of the classification, the training phase of the neural network with two hidden layers was optimized using artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC), which is known to be successful in exploration. Test data were given to two different neural networks, each of which were trained separately with backpropagation (BP) and ABC, and average test performances were measured as 60% for the artificial neural network trained with BP and 76.39% for the artificial neural network trained with ABC. Training and test phases were repeated 30 times to obtain these average performance measurements. This level of performance shows that the artificial neural network trained with ABC is successful in classifying aroma data.

  17. Genome-wide analysis of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter gene family in sea lamprey and Japanese lamprey.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ren, Jianfeng; Chung-Davidson, Yu-Wen; Yeh, Chu-Yin; Scott, Camille; Brown, Titus; Li, Weiming

    2015-06-06

    Lampreys are extant representatives of the jawless vertebrate lineage that diverged from jawed vertebrates around 500 million years ago. Lamprey genomes contain information crucial for understanding the evolution of gene families in vertebrates. The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) gene family is found from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. The recent availability of two lamprey draft genomes from sea lamprey Petromyzon marinus and Japanese lamprey Lethenteron japonicum presents an opportunity to infer early evolutionary events of ABC genes in vertebrates. We conducted a genome-wide survey of the ABC gene family in two lamprey draft genomes. A total of 37 ABC transporters were identified and classified into seven subfamilies; namely seven ABCA genes, 10 ABCB genes, 10 ABCC genes, three ABCD genes, one ABCE gene, three ABCF genes, and three ABCG genes. The ABCA subfamily has expanded from three genes in sea squirts, seven and nine in lampreys and zebrafish, to 13 and 16 in human and mouse. Conversely, the multiple copies of ABCB1-, ABCG1-, and ABCG2-like genes found in sea squirts have contracted in the other species examined. ABCB2 and ABCB3 seem to be new additions in gnathostomes (not in sea squirts or lampreys), which coincides with the emergence of the gnathostome-specific adaptive immune system. All the genes in the ABCD, ABCE and ABCF subfamilies were conserved and had undergone limited duplication and loss events. In the sea lamprey transcriptomes, the ABCE and ABCF gene subfamilies were ubiquitously and highly expressed in all tissues while the members in other gene subfamilies were differentially expressed. Thirteen more lamprey ABC transporter genes were identified in this study compared with a previous study. By concatenating the same gene sequences from the two lampreys, more full length sequences were obtained, which significantly improved both the assignment of gene names and the phylogenetic trees compared with a previous analysis using partial sequences. The ABC

  18. Accuracy of shock index versus ABC score to predict need for massive transfusion in trauma patients.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schroll, Rebecca; Swift, David; Tatum, Danielle; Couch, Stuart; Heaney, Jiselle B; Llado-Farrulla, Monica; Zucker, Shana; Gill, Frances; Brown, Griffin; Buffin, Nicholas; Duchesne, Juan

    2018-01-01

    Various scoring systems have been developed to predict need for massive transfusion in traumatically injured patients. Assessments of Blood Consumption (ABC) score and Shock Index (SI) have been shown to be reliable predictors for Massive Transfusion Protocol (MTP) activation. However, no study has directly compared these two scoring systems to determine which is a better predictor for MTP activation. The primary objective was to determine whether ABC or SI better predicted the need for MTP in adult trauma patients with severe hemorrhage. This was a retrospective cohort study which included all injured patients who were trauma activations between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2013 at an urban Level I trauma center. Patients ABC and SI were calculated for each patient. MTP was defined as need for >10 units PRBC transfusion within 24h of emergency department arrival. Sensitivity, specificity, and area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) were used to evaluate scoring systems' ability to predict effective MTP utilization. A total of 645 patients had complete data for analysis. Shock Index ≥1 had sensitivity of 67.7% (95% CI 49.5%-82.6%) and specificity of 81.3% (95% CI 78.0%-84.3%) for predicting MTP, and ABC score ≥2 had sensitivity of 47.0% (95% CI 29.8%-64.9%) and specificity of 89.8% (95% CI 87.2%-92.1%). AUROC analyses showed SI to be the strongest predictor followed by ABC score with AUROC values of 0.83 and 0.74, respectively. SI had a significantly greater sensitivity (P=0.035), but a significantly weaker specificity (PABC score. ABC score and Shock Index can both be used to predict need for massive transfusion in trauma patients, however SI is more sensitive and requires less technical skill than ABC score. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  19. ANALISIS BEBAN KERJA DENGAN MENGGUNAKAN METODE CVL DAN NASATLX DI PT. ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Renty Anugerah Mahaji Puteri

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available PT. ABC merupakan perusahaan Jepang yang bergerak di bidang usaha jasa konstruksi mekanikal, elektrikal, dan system komunikasi. Sebagai perusahaan jasa konstruksi, PT. ABC dituntut untuk mencapai tujuan / target perusahaan tiap tahunnya yaitu mendapatkan tender proyek, maka tak jarang karyawannya dituntut untuk lembur. Seringnya karyawan lembur, maka menimbulkan masalah kelelahan terhadap para karyawannya sehingga target tidak tercapai. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengevaluasi beban kerja yang dialami oleh engineer leader pada Departemen DesaindanOperasional di PT. ABC. Beban kerja yang diukur adalah beban kerja fisik dan mental. Beban kerja fisik diukur berdasarkan cardiovascular load (CVL. Beban kerja mental diukur dengan menggunakan metode NASA-Task Load Index (NASA-TLX. Berdasarkan hasil analisis CVL, beban kerja fisik yang diterima engineer proyek memiliki presentase CVL sebesar 31,16%, denganhasilperbaikanmenjadi 23,38%. Sedangkan dari hasil analisis NASA-TLX, beban kerja mental yang diterima engineer proyek yaitu dengan skor NASA-TLX 74,2% denganhasilperbaikanmenjadi 51,6%, sedangkan skor NASA-TLX engineer head office 61,5% denganhasilperbaikanmenjadi 47,66%.

  20. The short version of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) scale: Its validity, reliability, and relationship to balance impairment and falls in older adults

    OpenAIRE

    Schepens, Stacey; Goldberg, Allon; Wallace, Melissa

    2009-01-01

    A shortened version of the ABC 16-item scale (ABC-16), the ABC-6, has been proposed as an alternative balance confidence measure. We investigated whether the ABC-6 is a valid and reliable measure of balance confidence and examined its relationship to balance impairment and falls in older adults. Thirty-five community-dwelling older adults completed the ABC-16, including the six questions of the ABC-6. They also completed the following clinical balance tests: unipedal stance time (UST), functi...

  1. The A-B-C of recycling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Thøgersen, John; Ølander, Carl Folke

    specifically the source separation of compostable kitchen waste. The investigation was carried out before and after the introduction of a system, facilitating such separation, in a Danish community. Hypotheses derived from the A-B-C model, predicting that changes over time in the correlation between attitude...... and behaviour would be influenced by (a) the introduction of the system, and (b) the pre-intervention structural conditions for different groups of households, were supported....

  2. Purification and biochemical characterisation of the yeast ABC transporter Pdr11p

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Laub, Katrine Rude

    Sterols constitute an essential lipid class in eukaryotic membranes where intracellular distributions are highly regulated. In the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae sterol uptake has been attributed to the two plasma membrane-localised ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, Aus1p and Pdr11p...... of the yeast ABC transporter Pdr11p. This includes optimising its overexpression utilising the galactose induction system in S. cerevisiae, screening for the best detergent to extract the protein from the membrane, and establishing purification and reconstitution protocols. By providing a purification...

  3. Custeio ABC no ambiente hospitalar: um estudo nos hospitais universitários e de ensino brasileiros ABC costing in hospital environment: a study in brazilian university hospitals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gilberto José Miranda

    2007-08-01

    Full Text Available O Custeio Baseado em Atividades tem se mostrado como uma alternativa promissora para fazer frente à complexidade que caracteriza os custos hospitalares. Nos últimos dez anos, somente na Plataforma Lattes, foram encontrados mais de uma centena de estudos dessa natureza. Este trabalho tem como objetivo, conhecer, empiricamente, a utilização do Custeio ABC nos hospitais universitários e de ensino brasileiros e comparar os resultados, conforme as possibilidades, com as pesquisas realizadas nas maiores empresas brasileiras pelos autores: Khoury (1999, Beuren e Roedel (2002 e Azevedo, Santos e Pamplona (2004. Dos 115 questionários enviados aos hospitais universitários, 34 foram respondidos. O estudo levou a conclusões importantes, como: Os sistemas de custos atuais dos hospitais têm poucas condições de fornecer informações úteis à gestão; o Custeio ABC é bastante conhecido no ambiente, mas o número de usuários ainda é relativamente pequeno: apenas 15% da amostra; mas existe expectativa por parte de 44% dos hospitais com relação ao uso futuro da abordagem. As principais causas apresentadas para a não-utilização do Sistema ABC foram: (a o sistema utilizado atende às necessidades da organização e (b o Custeio Baseado em Atividades é muito complexo.The Cost Based Activity has been a promising alternative to deal with the complexity that characterizes hospital costs. In the last ten years, only in the Plataforma Lattes, more than a hundred studies of this nature had been found. This work aims to find out, empirically, the use of ABC Costing in Brazilian university hospitals and to compare the results, according to the possibilities, with the researches that have been made in the biggest Brazilian companies by the authors: Khoury (1999, Beuren and Roedel (2002 and Azevedo, Santos and Pamplona (2004. A hundred and fifteen questionnaires were sent to the university hospitals, 34 had been answered. The study relates important

  4. Differential contributions of five ABC transporters to mutidrug resistance, antioxidion and virulence of Beauveria bassiana, an entomopathogenic fungus.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ting-Ting Song

    Full Text Available Multidrug resistance (MDR confers agrochemical compatibility to fungal cells-based mycoinsecticdes but mechanisms involved in MDR remain poorly understood for entomopathogenic fungi, which have been widely applied as biocontrol agents against arthropod pests. Here we characterized the functions of five ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporters, which were classified to the subfamilies ABC-B (Mdr1, ABC-C (Mrp1 and ABC-G (Pdr1, Pdr2 and Pdr5 and selected from 54 full-size ABC proteins of Beauveria bassiana based on their main domain architecture, membrane topology and transcriptional responses to three antifungal inducers. Disruption of each transporter gene resulted in significant reduction in resistance to four to six of eight fungicides or antifungal drugs tested due to their differences in structure and function. Compared with wild-type and complemented (control strains, disruption mutants of all the five transporter genes became significantly less tolerant to the oxidants menadione and H₂O₂ based on 22-41% and 10-31% reductions of their effective concentrations required for the suppression of 50% colony growth at 25°C. Under a standardized spray, the killing actions of ΔPdr5 and ΔMrp1 mutants against Spodoptera litura second-instar larvae were delayed by 59% and 33% respectively. However, no significant virulence change was observed in three other delta mutants. Taken together, the examined five ABC transporters contribute differentially to not only the fungal MDR but antioxidant capability, a phenotype rarely associated with ABC efflux pumps in previous reports; at least some of them are required for the full virulence of B. bassiana, thereby affecting the fungal biocontrol potential. Our results indicate that ABC pump-dependent MDR mechanisms exist in entomopathogenic fungi as do in yeasts and human and plant pathogenic fungi.

  5. Osabc1k8, an abc1-like kinase gene, mediates abscisic acid sensitivity and dehydration tolerance response in rice seedlings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu, Y.; Li, T.; Yang, C.

    2015-01-01

    The activity of bc1 complex kinase (ABC1K) protein family, which widely exists in prokaryotes and eukaryotes, consists of 15 members in rice, and the role of this family in plants has not yet been studied in details. In this study, a novel function of OsABC1K8 (LOC-Os06g48770), a member of rice ABC1K family, was characterized. The transcript level of OsABC1K8 changes in response to salt, dehydration, cold, PEG, oxidative (H/sub 2/O/sub 2/) stresses, or abscisic acid (ABA) treatment. Overexpression of OsABC1K8 significantly increased sensitivity to dehydration and reduced sensitivity to ABA. In the contrast, RNAi transgenic lines displayed significantly reduced sensitivity to dehydration stress and increased sensitivity to ABA. Furthermore, the transcriptional levels of several ABA/stress-regulated responsive genes were suppressed in OsABC1K8 over-expressing plants under dehydration stress. In conclusion, our results suggested that OsABC1K8 is a negative regulator in response to dehydration stress through an ABA-dependent pathway. (author)

  6. Activity-based Costing (ABC and Activity-based Management(ABMImplementation – Is This the Solution for Organizations to Gain Profitability?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ildikó Réka CARDOS

    2011-06-01

    Full Text Available Adherents of ABC/ABM systems claimed traditional management accounting systems generated misleading costs in a contemporary, tumultuous, often changing business environment and implementing ABC/ABM would remedy this. That is why activity-based costing (ABC and activity-based management (ABM represents the symbol of improved competitiveness and efficiency in every organization.The purpose of this article – after analyzing the existing literature in the field – is to emphasize that new cost systems such as ABC and ABM could be a strong couple that assures competitiveness and efficiency for each company. Another objective is to present that, besides its disadvantages, firms implement the ABC/ABM system because it permits better tracing of costs to objects, superior allocation of overheads to cost objects, financial and non-financial analysis and measures useful to managers and management accountants in the decision-making process.

  7. The ABC of Biofilm Drug Tolerance: the MerR-Like Regulator BrlR Is an Activator of ABC Transport Systems, with PA1874-77 Contributing to the Tolerance of Pseudomonas aeruginosa Biofilms to Tobramycin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Poudyal, Bandita; Sauer, Karin

    2018-02-01

    A hallmark of biofilms is their tolerance to killing by antimicrobial agents. In Pseudomonas aeruginosa , biofilm drug tolerance requires the c-di-GMP-responsive MerR transcriptional regulator BrlR. However, the mechanism by which BrlR mediates biofilm drug tolerance has not been elucidated. Here, we demonstrate that BrlR activates the expression of at least 7 ABC transport systems, including the PA1874-PA1875-PA1876-PA1877 (PA1874-77) operon, with chromatin immunoprecipitation and DNA binding assays confirming BrlR binding to the promoter region of PA1874-77. Insertional inactivation of the 7 ABC transport systems rendered P. aeruginosa PAO1 biofilms susceptible to tobramycin or norfloxacin. Susceptibility was linked to drug accumulation, with BrlR contributing to norfloxacin accumulation in a manner dependent on multidrug efflux pumps and the PA1874-77 ABC transport system. Inactivation of the respective ABC transport system, furthermore, eliminated the recalcitrance of biofilms to killing by tobramycin but not norfloxacin, indicating that drug accumulation is not linked to biofilm drug tolerance. Our findings indicate for the first time that BrlR, a MerR-type transcriptional activator, activates genes encoding several ABC transport systems, in addition to multiple multidrug efflux pump genes. Moreover, our data confirm a BrlR target contributing to drug tolerance, likely countering the prevailing dogma that biofilm tolerance arises from a multiplicity of factors. Copyright © 2018 American Society for Microbiology.

  8. Piperlongumine selectively suppresses ABC-DLBCL through inhibition of NF-κB p65 subunit nuclear import

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Niu, Mingshan [Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Shen, Yangling; Xu, Xiaoyu [Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Yao, Yao; Fu, Chunling [Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Yan, Zhiling [Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Wu, Qingyun [Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Cao, Jiang; Sang, Wei [Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Zeng, Lingyu [Blood Diseases Institute, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Bone Marrow Stem Cell, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Li, Zhenyu [Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); Liu, Xuejiao, E-mail: liuxuejiao0923@126.com [Insititute of Nervous System Diseases, Xuzhou Medical College, Xuzhou, Jiangsu (China); and others

    2015-07-10

    Constitutive NF-κB activation is required for survival of activated B cell-like subtype of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL). However, current NF-κB targeting strategies lack cancer cell specificity. Here, we identified a novel inhibitor, piperlongumine, features direct binding to NF-κB p65 subunit and suppression of p65 nuclear import. This was accompanied by NF-κB reporter activity suppression and NF-κB target gene downregulation. Moreover, mutation of Cys{sup 38} to Ser in p65 abolished this effect of piperlongumine on inhibition of p65 nuclear import. Furthermore, we show that piperlongumine selectively inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of ABC-DLBCL cells. Most notably, it has been reported that piperlongumine did not affect normal cells even at high doses and was nontoxic to animals. Hence, our current study provides new insight into piperlongumine's mechanism of action and novel approach to ABC-DLBCL target therapy. - Highlights: • Current NF-κB targeting strategies lack cancer cell specificity. • Piperlongumine inhibits NF-κB p65 subunit nuclear import via directly binding to p65. • Piperlongumine selectively inhibits proliferation of ABC-DLBCL cells. • This study provides a novel approach to ABC-DLBCL target therapy.

  9. Piperlongumine selectively suppresses ABC-DLBCL through inhibition of NF-κB p65 subunit nuclear import

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Niu, Mingshan; Shen, Yangling; Xu, Xiaoyu; Yao, Yao; Fu, Chunling; Yan, Zhiling; Wu, Qingyun; Cao, Jiang; Sang, Wei; Zeng, Lingyu; Li, Zhenyu; Liu, Xuejiao

    2015-01-01

    Constitutive NF-κB activation is required for survival of activated B cell-like subtype of diffuse large B cell lymphoma (ABC-DLBCL). However, current NF-κB targeting strategies lack cancer cell specificity. Here, we identified a novel inhibitor, piperlongumine, features direct binding to NF-κB p65 subunit and suppression of p65 nuclear import. This was accompanied by NF-κB reporter activity suppression and NF-κB target gene downregulation. Moreover, mutation of Cys 38 to Ser in p65 abolished this effect of piperlongumine on inhibition of p65 nuclear import. Furthermore, we show that piperlongumine selectively inhibited proliferation and induced apoptosis of ABC-DLBCL cells. Most notably, it has been reported that piperlongumine did not affect normal cells even at high doses and was nontoxic to animals. Hence, our current study provides new insight into piperlongumine's mechanism of action and novel approach to ABC-DLBCL target therapy. - Highlights: • Current NF-κB targeting strategies lack cancer cell specificity. • Piperlongumine inhibits NF-κB p65 subunit nuclear import via directly binding to p65. • Piperlongumine selectively inhibits proliferation of ABC-DLBCL cells. • This study provides a novel approach to ABC-DLBCL target therapy

  10. Similarities and dissimilarities between the movement ABC-2 and the Zurich neuromotor assessment in children with suspected developmental coordination disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kakebeeke, Tanja H; Egloff, Kristin; Caflisch, Jon; Chaouch, Aziz; Rousson, Valentin; Largo, Remo H; Jenni, Oskar G

    2014-11-01

    An established tool for the assessment of motor performance in children with developmental coordination disorder (DCD) is the Movement-ABC-2 (M-ABC-2). The Zurich Neuromotor Assessment (ZNA) is also widely used for the evaluation of children's motor performance, but has not been compared with the M-ABC-2. Fifty-one children (39 males) between 5 and 7 years of age with suspected DCD were assessed using the M-ABC-2 and the ZNA. Rank correlations between scores of different test components were calculated. The structure of the tests was explored using canonical-correlation analysis. The correlation between total scores of the two motor tests was reasonable (0.66; pABC-2, due to poor performance in the fine motor adaptive component and increased contralateral associated movements (CAM). The canonical-correlation analysis revealed that ZNA measures components like pure motor skills and CAM that are not represented in the M-ABC-2. Furthermore, there was also no equivalent for the aiming and catching items of the M-ABC-2 in ZNA. The two tests measure different motor characteristics in children with suspected DCD and, thus, can be used complementary for the diagnosis of the disorder. Copyright © 2014. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

  11. An Analysis of the Factors Influencing the Adoption of Activity Based Costing (ABC in the Financial Sector in Jamaica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Phillip C. James

    2013-07-01

    Full Text Available Financial institutions are increasingly operating in a highly competitively environment and therefore cost management has become an imperative. This paper investigates the factors influencing the adoption of activity-based costing (ABC methodology within the financial sector in Jamaica. Quantitative analysis was done using the generalized linear logistic regression model. The results show that there are three main factors that are statistically significant in the decision to implement an ABC system, these are: companies perception of the ability of ABC to assist in cost control, the proportion of overhead to total cost and finally, the action of competitors, that is, whether a competitor adopts the ABC methodology

  12. Structure of the nucleotide-binding domain of a dipeptide ABC transporter reveals a novel iron-sulfur cluster-binding domain.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Xiaolu; Zhuo, Wei; Yu, Jie; Ge, Jingpeng; Gu, Jinke; Feng, Yue; Yang, Maojun; Wang, Linfang; Wang, Na

    2013-02-01

    Dipeptide permease (Dpp), which belongs to an ABC transport system, imports peptides consisting of two or three L-amino acids from the matrix to the cytoplasm in microbes. Previous studies have indicated that haem competes with dipeptides to bind DppA in vitro and in vivo and that the Dpp system can also translocate haem. Here, the crystal structure of DppD, the nucleotide-binding domain (NBD) of the ABC-type dipeptide/oligopeptide/nickel-transport system from Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis, bound with ATP, Mg(2+) and a [4Fe-4S] iron-sulfur cluster is reported. The N-terminal domain of DppD shares a similar structural fold with the NBDs of other ABC transporters. Interestingly, the C-terminal domain of DppD contains a [4Fe-4S] cluster. The UV-visible absorbance spectrum of DppD was consistent with the presence of a [4Fe-4S] cluster. A search with DALI revealed that the [4Fe-4S] cluster-binding domain is a novel structural fold. Structural analysis and comparisons with other ABC transporters revealed that this iron-sulfur cluster may act as a mediator in substrate (dipeptide or haem) binding by electron transfer and may regulate the transport process in Dpp ABC transport systems. The crystal structure provides a basis for understanding the properties of ABC transporters and will be helpful in investigating the functions of NBDs in the regulation of ABC transporter activity.

  13. Learning the ABCs: Activity based costing in waste operations

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zocher, Marc A.

    1992-01-01

    The United States Department of Energy (DOE) is facing a challenging new national role based on current world events, changing public perception and awareness, and a legacy of wastes generated in the past. Clearly, the DOE must put mechanisms in place to comply with environmental rules, regulations, and good management practices so that public health risk is minimized while programmatic costs are controlled. DOE has begun this process and has developed a Five-Year Plan to describe the activities necessary to comply with both cleanup, or environmental restoration, and waste management of existing waste streams. The focus of this paper is how to best manage the treatment, storage, disposal, and transportation of waste throughout the DOE weapons complex by using Activity Based Costing (ABC) to both plan and control expenditures in DOE Waste Management (WM). The basics of ABC, along with an example, will be detailed. (author)

  14. Surface roughness optimization in machining of AZ31 magnesium alloy using ABC algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Abhijith

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Magnesium alloys serve as excellent substitutes for materials traditionally used for engine block heads in automobiles and gear housings in aircraft industries. AZ31 is a magnesium alloy finds its applications in orthopedic implants and cardiovascular stents. Surface roughness is an important parameter in the present manufacturing sector. In this work optimization techniques namely firefly algorithm (FA, particle swarm optimization (PSO and artificial bee colony algorithm (ABC which are based on swarm intelligence techniques, have been implemented to optimize the machining parameters namely cutting speed, feed rate and depth of cut in order to achieve minimum surface roughness. The parameter Ra has been considered for evaluating the surface roughness. Comparing the performance of ABC algorithm with FA and PSO algorithm, which is a widely used optimization algorithm in machining studies, the results conclude that ABC produces better optimization when compared to FA and PSO for optimizing surface roughness of AZ 31.

  15. Pneumococcal lipoproteins involved in bacterial fitness, virulence, and immune evasion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kohler, Sylvia; Voß, Franziska; Gómez Mejia, Alejandro; Brown, Jeremy S; Hammerschmidt, Sven

    2016-11-01

    Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) has evolved sophisticated strategies to survive in several niches within the human body either as a harmless commensal or as a serious pathogen causing a variety of diseases. The dynamic interaction between pneumococci and resident host cells during colonization of the upper respiratory tract and at the site of infection is critical for bacterial survival and the development of disease. Pneumococcal lipoproteins are peripherally anchored membrane proteins and have pivotal roles in bacterial fitness including envelope stability, cell division, nutrient acquisition, signal transduction, transport (as substrate-binding proteins of ABC transporter systems), resistance to oxidative stress and antibiotics, and protein folding. In addition, lipoproteins are directly involved in virulence-associated processes such as adhesion, colonization, and persistence through immune evasion. Conversely, lipoproteins are also targets for the host response both as ligands for toll-like receptors and as targets for acquired antibodies. This review summarizes the multifaceted roles of selected pneumococcal lipoproteins and how this knowledge can be exploited to combat pneumococcal infections. © 2016 Federation of European Biochemical Societies.

  16. On minimal coupling of the ABC-superparticle to supergravity background

    OpenAIRE

    Galajinsky, A. V.; Gitman, D. M.

    1998-01-01

    By rigorous application of the Hamiltonian methods we show that the ABC-formulation of the Siegel superparticle admits consistent minimal coupling to external supergravity. The consistency check proves to involve all the supergravity constraints.

  17. Finanční analýza účetní jednotky ABC/Financial Analysis of Company ABC

    OpenAIRE

    Kaprálová, Aneta

    2009-01-01

    This thesis is focused on financial analysis of company ABC that works in rubber industry. First part is aimed at theoretical interpretation of financial analysis, its goals, history, users and sources. Attention is paid to sources of information especially financial statements. Further basic methods are defined, which financial analysis uses. Ratios are described in this thesis above all. At the close there is practical display of financial analysis based on data from financial statements of...

  18. Brain barriers and functional interfaces with sequential appearance of ABC efflux transporters during human development

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møllgård, Kjeld; Dziegielewska, Katarzyna M.; Holst, Camilla B.

    2017-01-01

    Adult brain is protected from entry of drugs and toxins by specific mechanisms such as ABC (ATP-binding Cassette) efflux transporters. Little is known when these appear in human brain during development. Cellular distribution of three main ABC transporters (ABCC1, ABCG2, ABCB1) was determined...... at blood-brain barriers and interfaces in human embryos and fetuses in first half of gestation. Antibodies against claudin-5 and-11 and antibodies to α-fetoprotein were used to describe morphological and functional aspects of brain barriers. First exchange interfaces to be established, probably at 4...... three transporters. Results provide evidence for sequential establishment of brain exchange interfaces and spatial and temporal timetable for three main ABC transporters in early human brain....

  19. The chemistry of ABC

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jensen, R.J. [Los Alamos National Laboratory, NM (United States)

    1995-10-01

    ABC stand for accelerator based conversion of Pu. It is a unique approach to Pu destruction that allows for a well controlled and complete burn of Pu as may be required by treaty or policy. The central idea of the approach is to provide a spallation source of neutrons that allows the operation of a fissioning system without a critical mass and at a K effective less than one. Material to be fissioned is suspended in a molten salt medium for high temperature control and on-line removal of neutron absorbing fission products. This paper discusses the issues associated with the selection and operation of a molten salt chemical system: redox control, product removal, material feed, solubilities, deposition control, and a host of operational procedures.

  20. Analysis of behavioral intention on ABC system adoption: Model of information systems technology and success acceptance

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Baiq Nensi Veni Indipenrian

    2015-12-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to examine the effect of individual behavioral change on the adoption of activity- based costing (ABC system and its usage, using Unified Theory of Accep-tance and Use of Technology (UTAUT and Information System Success Model. The sample involves 78 respondents who have positions as financial manager, controller manager, accounting manager, and production manager in mid-sized manufacturing companies in East java. The data were collected by survey method. This study used a Partial Least Square (PLS as the data analysis method. It was found that not all of the main UTAUT models were supported, because performance expectancy and effort expectancy have no effect on behavioral intention and use behavior to adopt ABC system. Whereas, social factors, information quality and facilitating conditions had a positive effect on behavioral intention and use behavior to adopt ABC system. The different results of this study with several previous studies are probably caused by the differences in the context of system, culture and characteristics of the sample. The implication of this study is not only to propose a theoretical framework for researches in future, but also useful for companies to optimize the use of ABC system that should be supported by top level and mid-level management and the readiness of the individu-als to accept the adoption of the ABC system.

  1. Linearmycins Activate a Two-Component Signaling System Involved in Bacterial Competition and Biofilm Morphology

    Science.gov (United States)

    2017-01-01

    ABSTRACT Bacteria use two-component signaling systems to adapt and respond to their competitors and changing environments. For instance, competitor bacteria may produce antibiotics and other bioactive metabolites and sequester nutrients. To survive, some species of bacteria escape competition through antibiotic production, biofilm formation, or motility. Specialized metabolite production and biofilm formation are relatively well understood for bacterial species in isolation. How bacteria control these functions when competitors are present is not well studied. To address fundamental questions relating to the competitive mechanisms of different species, we have developed a model system using two species of soil bacteria, Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces sp. strain Mg1. Using this model, we previously found that linearmycins produced by Streptomyces sp. strain Mg1 cause lysis of B. subtilis cells and degradation of colony matrix. We identified strains of B. subtilis with mutations in the two-component signaling system yfiJK operon that confer dual phenotypes of specific linearmycin resistance and biofilm morphology. We determined that expression of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter yfiLMN operon, particularly yfiM and yfiN, is necessary for biofilm morphology. Using transposon mutagenesis, we identified genes that are required for YfiLMN-mediated biofilm morphology, including several chaperones. Using transcriptional fusions, we found that YfiJ signaling is activated by linearmycins and other polyene metabolites. Finally, using a truncated YfiJ, we show that YfiJ requires its transmembrane domain to activate downstream signaling. Taken together, these results suggest coordinated dual antibiotic resistance and biofilm morphology by a single multifunctional ABC transporter promotes competitive fitness of B. subtilis. IMPORTANCE DNA sequencing approaches have revealed hitherto unexplored diversity of bacterial species in a wide variety of environments that

  2. Preclinical properties and human in vivo assessment of 123 I-ABC577 as a novel SPECT agent for imaging amyloid-β

    Science.gov (United States)

    Okumura, Yuki; Kobayashi, Ryohei; Onishi, Takako; Shoyama, Yoshinari; Barret, Olivier; Alagille, David; Jennings, Danna; Marek, Kenneth; Seibyl, John; Tamagnan, Gilles; Tanaka, Akihiro; Shirakami, Yoshifumi

    2016-01-01

    Abstract Non-invasive imaging of amyloid-β in the brain, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease, may support earlier and more accurate diagnosis of the disease. In this study, we assessed the novel single photon emission computed tomography tracer 123 I-ABC577 as a potential imaging biomarker for amyloid-β in the brain. The radio-iodinated imidazopyridine derivative 123 I-ABC577 was designed as a candidate for a novel amyloid-β imaging agent. The binding affinity of 123 I-ABC577 for amyloid-β was evaluated by saturation binding assay and in vitro autoradiography using post-mortem Alzheimer’s disease brain tissue. Biodistribution experiments using normal rats were performed to evaluate the biokinetics of 123 I-ABC577. Furthermore, to validate 123 I-ABC577 as a biomarker for Alzheimer’s disease, we performed a clinical study to compare the brain uptake of 123 I-ABC577 in three patients with Alzheimer’s disease and three healthy control subjects. 123 I-ABC577 binding was quantified by use of the standardized uptake value ratio, which was calculated for the cortex using the cerebellum as a reference region. Standardized uptake value ratio images were visually scored as positive or negative. As a result, 123 I-ABC577 showed high binding affinity for amyloid-β and desirable pharmacokinetics in the preclinical studies. In the clinical study, 123 I-ABC577 was an effective marker for discriminating patients with Alzheimer’s disease from healthy control subjects based on visual images or the ratio of cortical-to-cerebellar binding. In patients with Alzheimer’s disease, 123 I-ABC577 demonstrated clear retention in cortical regions known to accumulate amyloid, such as the frontal cortex, temporal cortex, and posterior cingulate. In contrast, less, more diffuse, and non-specific uptake without localization to these key regions was observed in healthy controls. At 150 min after injection, the cortical standardized uptake value ratio increased by ∼60% in patients

  3. Evolution of mal ABC transporter operons in the Thermococcales and Thermotogales

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gogarten J Peter

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The mal genes that encode maltose transporters have undergone extensive lateral transfer among ancestors of the archaea Thermococcus litoralis and Pyrococcus furiosus. Bacterial hyperthermophiles of the order Thermotogales live among these archaea and so may have shared in these transfers. The genome sequence of Thermotoga maritima bears evidence of extensive acquisition of archaeal genes, so its ancestors clearly had the capacity to do so. We examined deep phylogenetic relationships among the mal genes of these hyperthermophiles and their close relatives to look for evidence of shared ancestry. Results We demonstrate that the two maltose ATP binding cassette (ABC transporter operons now found in Tc. litoralis and P. furiosus (termed mal and mdx genes, respectively are not closely related to one another. The Tc. litoralis and P. furiosus mal genes are most closely related to bacterial mal genes while their respective mdx genes are archaeal. The genes of the two mal operons in Tt. maritima are not related to genes in either of these archaeal operons. They are highly similar to one another and belong to a phylogenetic lineage that includes mal genes from the enteric bacteria. A unique domain of the enteric MalF membrane spanning proteins found also in these Thermotogales MalF homologs supports their relatively close relationship with these enteric proteins. Analyses of genome sequence data from other Thermotogales species, Fervidobacterium nodosum, Thermosipho melanesiensis, Thermotoga petrophila, Thermotoga lettingae, and Thermotoga neapolitana, revealed a third apparent mal operon, absent from the published genome sequence of Tt. maritima strain MSB8. This third operon, mal3, is more closely related to the Thermococcales' bacteria-derived mal genes than are mal1 and mal2. F. nodosum, Ts. melanesiensis, and Tt. lettingae have only one of the mal1-mal2 paralogs. The mal2 operon from an unknown species of Thermotoga appears to

  4. Why activity based costing (ABC) is still tagging behind the traditional costing in Malaysia?

    OpenAIRE

    Rasiah, Devinaga

    2011-01-01

    This study compares activity-based costing (ABC) model and traditional costing method in Malaysia. Activity based costing (ABC) which was developed into the manufacturing/service sectors in Malaysia. It calculates the cost and performance of activities, resources and cost objects. It can be considered as an alternative model to Traditional Cost-based accounting systems. In this study the results indicated that most operations managers believed that their present cost systems were adequate for...

  5. The multidrug ABC transporter BmrC/BmrD of Bacillus subtilis is regulated via a ribosome-mediated transcriptional attenuation mechanism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reilman, Ewoud; Mars, Ruben A T; van Dijl, Jan Maarten; Denham, Emma L

    2014-10-01

    Expression of particular drug transporters in response to antibiotic pressure is a critical element in the development of bacterial multidrug resistance, and represents a serious concern for human health. To obtain a better understanding of underlying regulatory mechanisms, we have dissected the transcriptional activation of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter BmrC/BmrD of the Gram-positive model bacterium Bacillus subtilis. By using promoter-GFP fusions and live cell array technology, we demonstrate a temporally controlled transcriptional activation of the bmrCD genes in response to antibiotics that target protein synthesis. Intriguingly, bmrCD expression only occurs during the late-exponential and stationary growth stages, irrespective of the timing of the antibiotic challenge. We show that this is due to tight transcriptional control by the transition state regulator AbrB. Moreover, our results show that the bmrCD genes are co-transcribed with bmrB (yheJ), a small open reading frame immediately upstream of bmrC that harbors three alternative stem-loop structures. These stem-loops are apparently crucial for antibiotic-induced bmrCD transcription. Importantly, the antibiotic-induced bmrCD expression requires translation of bmrB, which implies that BmrB serves as a regulatory leader peptide. Altogether, we demonstrate for the first time that a ribosome-mediated transcriptional attenuation mechanism can control the expression of a multidrug ABC transporter. © The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Nucleic Acids Research.

  6. Acid mine water reclamation using the ABC process

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    De Beer, Morris

    2010-09-01

    Full Text Available of about 2 to 4.5 g/L of sulphate, 250 to 1200 mg/L of Ferrous iron, 60 to 175 mg/L of Mn and 120 mg/L of Mg. The CSIR ABC desalination process, developed for AMD neutralisation and the removal of total dissolved solids from 2 600 to 360 mg/L...

  7. Preconceptual ABC design definition and system configuration layout

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barthold, W.

    1995-03-01

    This document is the conceptual design document for the follow-on to the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor, known as the ABC type reactor. It addresses blanket design options, containment options, off-gas systems, drainage systems, and components/layouts of the primary, secondary, and tertiary systems, and it contains a number of diagrams for the configuration of the major systems

  8. Whole-transcriptome survey of the putative ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter family genes in the latex-producing laticifers of Hevea brasiliensis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhiyi, Nie; Guijuan, Kang; Yu, Li; Longjun, Dai; Rizhong, Zeng

    2015-01-01

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins or transporters constitute a large protein family in plants and are involved in many different cellular functions and processes, including solute transportation, channel regulation and molecular switches, etc. Through transcriptome sequencing, a transcriptome-wide survey and expression analysis of the ABC protein genes were carried out using the laticiferous latex from Hevea brasiliensis (rubber tree). A total of 46 putative ABC family proteins were identified in the H. brasiliensis latex. These consisted of 12 'full-size', 21 'half-size' and 13 other putative ABC proteins, and all of them showed strong conservation with their Arabidopsis thaliana counterparts. This study indicated that all eight plant ABC protein paralog subfamilies were identified in the H. brasiliensis latex, of which ABCB, ABCG and ABCI were the most abundant. Real-time quantitative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction assays demonstrated that gene expression of several latex ABC proteins was regulated by ethylene, jasmonic acid or bark tapping (a wound stress) stimulation, and that HbABCB15, HbABCB19, HbABCD1 and HbABCG21 responded most significantly of all to the abiotic stresses. The identification and expression analysis of the latex ABC family proteins could facilitate further investigation into their physiological involvement in latex metabolism and rubber biosynthesis by H. brasiliensis.

  9. Computed ABC Analysis for Rational Selection of Most Informative Variables in Multivariate Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ultsch, Alfred; Lötsch, Jörn

    2015-01-01

    Multivariate data sets often differ in several factors or derived statistical parameters, which have to be selected for a valid interpretation. Basing this selection on traditional statistical limits leads occasionally to the perception of losing information from a data set. This paper proposes a novel method for calculating precise limits for the selection of parameter sets. The algorithm is based on an ABC analysis and calculates these limits on the basis of the mathematical properties of the distribution of the analyzed items. The limits implement the aim of any ABC analysis, i.e., comparing the increase in yield to the required additional effort. In particular, the limit for set A, the "important few", is optimized in a way that both, the effort and the yield for the other sets (B and C), are minimized and the additional gain is optimized. As a typical example from biomedical research, the feasibility of the ABC analysis as an objective replacement for classical subjective limits to select highly relevant variance components of pain thresholds is presented. The proposed method improved the biological interpretation of the results and increased the fraction of valid information that was obtained from the experimental data. The method is applicable to many further biomedical problems including the creation of diagnostic complex biomarkers or short screening tests from comprehensive test batteries. Thus, the ABC analysis can be proposed as a mathematically valid replacement for traditional limits to maximize the information obtained from multivariate research data.

  10. Selections from the ABC 2011 Annual Convention, Montreal, Canada

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whalen, D. Joel; Andersen, Ken; Campbell, Gloria; Crenshaw, Cheri; Cross, Geoffrey A.; Grinols, Anne Bradstreet; Hildebrand, John; Newman, Amy; Ortiz, Lorelei A.; Paulson, Edward; Phillabaum, Melinda; Powell, Elizabeth A.; Sloan, Ryan

    2012-01-01

    The 12 Favorite Assignments featured in this article were presented at the 2011 Annual Convention of the Association for Business Communication (ABC), Montreal, Canada. A variety of learning objectives are featured: delivering bad news, handling difficult people, persuasion, reporting financial analysis, electronic media, face-to-face…

  11. Selections from the ABC 2012 Annual Convention, Honolulu, Hawaii

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whalen, D. Joel

    2013-01-01

    The 13 Favorite Assignments featured here were presented at the 2012 Association for Business Communication (ABC) Annual Convention, Honolulu, Hawaii. A variety of learning objectives are featured, including the following: enhancing resume's visual impact, interpersonal skills, social media, team building, web design, community service projects,…

  12. Is the ABC pain scale reliable for premature babies?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bellieni, Cv; Maffei, M; Ancora, G; Cordelli, D; Mastrocola, M; Faldella, G; Ferretti, E; Buonocore, G

    2007-07-01

    We recently developed the ABC scale to assess pain in term newborns. The aim of the present study was to assess the reliability of the scale in preterm babies. The scale consists of three cry parameters: (a) pitch of the first cry, (b) rhythmicity of the bout of crying and (c) cry constancy. Changes in these parameters were previously found to distinguish medium and high levels of pain as evaluated by spectral analysis of crying. We enrolled 72 babies to perform the steps usually requested to validate a scale, namely the study of the concurrent validity, specificity and sensibility. Moreover, we assessed the interjudge reliability and the clinical utility and ease of the scale. A good correlation (r = 0.68; r(2)= 0.45; p babies who underwent pain and babies who underwent non-painful stimulus.) Interobserver reliability was good: Cohen's kappa = 0.7. The good correlation between the two scales shows that the ABC scale is also reliable for premature babies.

  13. Inhibition or knockdown of ABC transporters enhances susceptibility of adult and juvenile schistosomes to Praziquantel.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ravi S Kasinathan

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available Parasitic flatworms of the genus Schistosoma cause schistosomiasis, a neglected tropical disease that affects hundreds of millions. Treatment of schistosomiasis depends almost entirely on the drug praziquantel (PZQ. Though essential to treating and controlling schistosomiasis, a major limitation of PZQ is that it is not active against immature mammalian-stage schistosomes. Furthermore, there are reports of field isolates with heritable reductions in PZQ susceptibility, and researchers have selected for PZQ-resistant schistosomes in the laboratory. P-glycoprotein (Pgp; ABCB1 and other ATP binding cassette (ABC transporters remove a wide variety of toxins and xenobiotics from cells, and have been implicated in multidrug resistance (MDR. Changes in ABC transporter structure or expression levels are also associated with reduced drug susceptibility in parasitic helminths, including schistosomes. Here, we show that the activity of PZQ against schistosome adults and juveniles ex vivo is potentiated by co-administration of either the highly potent Pgp inhibitor tariquidar or combinations of inhibitors targeting multiple ABC multidrug transporters. Adult worms exposed to sublethal PZQ concentrations remain active, but co-administration of ABC transporter inhibitors results in complete loss of motility and disruption of the tegument. Notably, juvenile schistosomes (3-4 weeks post infection, normally refractory to 2 µM PZQ, become paralyzed when transporter inhibitors are added in combination with the PZQ. Experiments using the fluorescent PZQ derivative (R-PZQ-BODIPY are consistent with the transporter inhibitors increasing effective intraworm concentrations of PZQ. Adult worms in which expression of ABC transporters has been suppressed by RNA interference show increased responsiveness to PZQ and increased retention of (R-PZQ-BODIPY consistent with an important role for these proteins in setting levels of PZQ susceptibility. These results indicate that

  14. IMG-ABC: An Atlas of Biosynthetic Gene Clusters to Fuel the Discovery of Novel Secondary Metabolites

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Chen, I-Min; Chu, Ken; Ratner, Anna; Palaniappan, Krishna; Huang, Jinghua; Reddy, T. B.K.; Cimermancic, Peter; Fischbach, Michael; Ivanova, Natalia; Markowitz, Victor; Kyrpides, Nikos; Pati, Amrita

    2014-10-28

    In the discovery of secondary metabolites (SMs), large-scale analysis of sequence data is a promising exploration path that remains largely underutilized due to the lack of relevant computational resources. We present IMG-ABC (https://img.jgi.doe.gov/abc/) -- An Atlas of Biosynthetic gene Clusters within the Integrated Microbial Genomes (IMG) system1. IMG-ABC is a rich repository of both validated and predicted biosynthetic clusters (BCs) in cultured isolates, single-cells and metagenomes linked with the SM chemicals they produce and enhanced with focused analysis tools within IMG. The underlying scalable framework enables traversal of phylogenetic dark matter and chemical structure space -- serving as a doorway to a new era in the discovery of novel molecules.

  15. Vipsi ABC Grupp teatas kavatsusest börsile minna / Anne Oja

    Index Scriptorium Estoniae

    Oja, Anne, 1970-

    2010-01-01

    Kaubanduskontsern ABC Grupp maksis tagasi 97,2 mln. krooni eest võlakirju, juhatuse esimehe teatel kasutab ettevõtte meeskond saadud kogemusi naasmaks tulevikus avaliku ettevõtte staatusesse juba aktsiaemitendina

  16. Comparing the results of DAADD and ABC of children included in autism spectrum disorders.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barbosa, Milene Rossi Pereira; Fernandes, Fernanda Dreux Miranda

    2014-01-01

    To verify if there are characteristic behaviors of the different diagnosis included in the autism spectrum according to the Differential Assessment of Autism and Other Developmental Disorders (DAADD) and to the Autism Behavior Checklist (ABC). Participants were 45 individuals and their respective speech-language therapists. All therapists are graduate students working with the children for at least 1 year. This time was considered sufficient to the therapists to have the information required by the DAADD questionnaire. It is comprised by 3 protocols specifically designed to children with 2 to 4 years, 4 to 6 years and 6 to 8 years, the same criteria used to separate the research groups, G1, G2 and G3, respectively. Data referring to the ABC were retrieved from the subject's files at the Laboratório de Investigação Fonoaudiológica nos Distúrbios do Espectro do Autismo (Research Laboratory on Language Disorders in the Autism Spectrum) of the School of Medicine, Universidade de São Paulo, where it is routinely applied during the annual assessment. Answers to the different areas of DAADD are similar to the different areas of ABC. These data show data the diagnosis by DAADD is easier in older children. Although there is no significant difference, the large occurrence of Rett's syndrome diagnosis according to the DAADD was associated to higher risk for autism according to the ABC in G1. With increasing age this tendency decreases and either in G2 and G3 Autism is the most frequent diagnosis. Although the results of both questionnaires tend to agree more with increasing age, the DAADD is more sensitive in the different ages while the ABC if more specific only to older children.

  17. Activity-Based Costing (ABC and Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing (TDABC: Applicable Methods for University Libraries?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kate-Riin Kont

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Objective – This article provides an overview of how university libraries research and adapt new cost accounting models, such as “activity-based costing” (ABC and “time-driven activity-based costing” (TDABC, focusing on the strengths and weaknesses of both methods to determine which of these two is suitable for application in university libraries.Methods – This paper reviews and summarizes the literature on cost accounting and costing practices of university libraries. A brief overview of the history of cost accounting, costing, and time and motion studies in libraries is also provided. The ABC and the TDABC method, designed as a revised and easier version of the ABC by Kaplan and Anderson (Kaplan & Anderson 2004 at the beginning of the 21st century, as well as the adoption and adaptation of these methods by university libraries are described, and their strengths and weaknesses, as well as their suitability for university libraries, are analyzed. Results – Cost accounting and costing studies in libraries have a long history, the first of these dating back to 1877. The development of cost accounting and time and motion studies can be seen as a natural evolution of techniques which were created to solve management problems. The ABC method is the best-known management accounting innovation of the last 20 years, and is already widely used in university libraries around the world. However, setting up an ABC system can be very costly, and the system needs to be regularly updated, which further increases its costs. The TDABC system can not only be implemented more quickly (and thus more cheaply, but also can be updated more easily than the traditional ABC, which makes the TDABC the more suitable method for university libraries.Conclusion – Both methods are suitable for university libraries. However, the ABC method can only be implemented in collaboration with an accounting department. The TDABC method can be tested and implemented by

  18. ABC of physics a very brief guide

    CERN Document Server

    Okun, Lev Borisovich

    2012-01-01

    This little book concentrates on the foundations of modern physics (its "ABC's") and its most fundamental constants: c - the velocity of light and ? - the quantum of action. First of all, the book is addressed to professional physicists, but in order to achieve maximal concentration and clarity it uses the simplest (high school) mathematics. As a result many pages of the book will be useful to college students and may appeal to a more general audience.

  19. Deficiency of Functional Iron-Sulfur Domains in ABCE1 Inhibits the Proliferation and Migration of Lung Adenocarcinomas By Regulating the Biogenesis of Beta-Actin In Vitro

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qian Yu

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available Background/Aims: ATP-binding cassette transporter E1 (ABCE1, a unique ABC superfamily member that bears two Fe-S clusters, is essential for metastatic progression in lung cancer. Fe-S clusters within ABCE1 are crucial for ribosome dissociation and translation reinitiation; however, whether these clusters promote tumor proliferation and migration is unclear. Methods: The interaction between ABCE1 and β-actin was confirmed using GST pull-down. The lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD cell line A549 was transduced with lentiviral packaging vectors overexpressing either wild-type ABCE1 or ABCE1 with Fe-S cluster deletions (ΔABCE1. The role of Fe-S clusters in the viability and migration of cancer cells was evaluated using clonogenic, MTT, Transwell and wound healing assays. Cytoskeletal rearrangement was determined using immunofluorescent techniques. Results: Fe-S clusters were the key domains in ABCE1 involved in binding to β-actin. The proliferative and migratory capacity increased in cells overexpressing ABCE1. However, the absence of Fe-S clusters reversed these effects. A549 cells overexpressing ABCE1 exhibited irregular morphology and increased levels of cytoskeletal polymerization as indicated by the immunofluorescence images. In contrast, cells expressing the Fe-S cluster deletion mutant presented opposing effects. Conclusion: These results demonstrate the indispensable role of Fe-S clusters when ABCE1 participates in the proliferation and migration of LUADs by interacting with β-actin. The Fe-S clusters of ABCE1 may be potential targets for the prevention of lung cancer metastasis.

  20. Rasch Analysis of the Activities-specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale in Older Adults Seeking Outpatient Rehabilitation Services.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Ying-Chih; Sindhu, Bhagwant; Lehman, Leigh; Li, Xiaoyan; Yen, Sheng-Che; Kapellusch, Jay

    2018-03-30

    Study Design Cross-sectional study of 5,012 older patients seeking outpatient rehabilitation therapy in 123 clinics. Background The Activities-Specific Balance Confidence (ABC) Scale measures confidence in performing various ambulatory activities without falling or experiencing a sense of unsteadiness. Objectives Our purposes were to: (1) examine the ABC Scale (0-100) using the Rasch analysis, (2) assess statistically reliable change, and (3) develop a functional staging to guide clinical interpretation of the patient's improvement. Methods We examined rating scale structure, item difficulty hierarchy, item fit, person-item match, separation index, differential item functioning (DIF), test precision, and unidimensionality. Additionally, we estimated the minimal detectable change (MDC) and developed a functional staging. Results Item 'walking outside on icy sidewalks' was the most difficult item, while 'reach for a small can off a shelf at eye level' was the easiest item. Overall, average patient ability estimates of 56.2 (20.3) was slightly higher than the average item difficulty estimates of 45.9 (7.8). With a separation index equaled to 3.65, the ABC items can differentiate persons into 5.2 statistically distinct strata. Most ABC items were free of DIF. For example, 'walk outside on icy sidewalks' was easier for patients who was underweight. Results supported unidimensionality of the ABC Scale, with the first factor explained 77% of the total variance. The estimated MDC was 15 points. We provided an example of functional staging application. Conclusion Results supported sound psychometric properties and clinical usage of the ABC Scale for older adults seeking outpatient rehabilitation therapy. Level of Evidence 2c. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther, Epub 30 Mar 2018. doi:10.2519/jospt.2018.8023.

  1. The jABC Approach to Rigorous Collaborative Development of SCM Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hörmann, Martina; Margaria, Tiziana; Mender, Thomas; Nagel, Ralf; Steffen, Bernhard; Trinh, Hong

    Our approach to the model-driven collaborative design of IKEA's P3 Delivery Management Process uses the jABC [9] for model driven mediation and choreography to complement a RUP-based (Rational Unified Process) development process. jABC is a framework for service development based on Lightweight Process Coordination. Users (product developers and system/software designers) easily develop services and applications by composing reusable building-blocks into (flow-) graph structures that can be animated, analyzed, simulated, verified, executed, and compiled. This way of handling the collaborative design of complex embedded systems has proven to be effective and adequate for the cooperation of non-programmers and non-technical people, which is the focus of this contribution, and it is now being rolled out in the operative practice.

  2. Accelerated bridge construction (ABC) decision making and economic modeling tool.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-12-01

    In this FHWA-sponsored pool funded study, a set of decision making tools, based on the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was developed. This tool set is prepared for transportation specialists and decision-makers to determine if ABC is more effective ...

  3. The Value of Green Technology at ABC Community College

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAllister, Bernadette

    2012-01-01

    A challenge facing community colleges nationwide is to reduce the carbon footprint of campuses by initiating green technology initiatives. This case study assessed the effect of switching from paper assignments to a learning management system at ABC Community College. The topic is important because federal and state funding, as well as…

  4. A Short Proof of Euler's Inequality R ≥ 2r Theorem. Let ∆ ABC be an ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    IAS Admin

    A Short Proof of Euler's Inequality R ≥ 2r. Theorem. Let ∆ ABC be an arbitrary triangle with circumradius R and inradius r. Then R ≥ 2r with equality holding if and only if ∆ABC is equilateral. This was first published by Euler in 1765. Since then several proofs have followed, some geometric and some algebraic. We will use ...

  5. Activity-based Costing (ABC) and Activity-based Management(ABM)Implementation – Is This the Solution for Organizations to Gain Profitability?

    OpenAIRE

    Ildikó Réka CARDOS; Stefan PETE

    2011-01-01

    Adherents of ABC/ABM systems claimed traditional management accounting systems generated misleading costs in a contemporary, tumultuous, often changing business environment and implementing ABC/ABM would remedy this. That is why activity-based costing (ABC) and activity-based management (ABM) represents the symbol of improved competitiveness and efficiency in every organization.The purpose of this article – after analyzing the existing literature in the field – is to emphasize that new cost s...

  6. Role for chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycan in NEDD9-mediated breast cancer cell growth.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Iida, Joji; Dorchak, Jesse; Clancy, Rebecca; Slavik, Juliana; Ellsworth, Rachel; Katagiri, Yasuhiro; Pugacheva, Elena N; van Kuppevelt, Toin H; Mural, Richard J; Cutler, Mary Lou; Shriver, Craig D

    2015-01-15

    There are lines of evidence demonstrating that NEDD9 (Cas-L, HEF-1) plays a key role in the development, progression, and metastasis of breast cancer cells. We previously reported that NEDD9 plays a critical role for promoting migration and growth of MDA-MB-231. In order to further characterize the mechanisms of NEDD9-mediated cancer migration and growth, stable cells overexpressing NEDD9 were generated using HCC38 as a parental cell line which expresses low level of endogenous NEDD9. Microarray studies demonstrated that core proteins of CD44 and Serglycin were markedly upregulated in HCC38(NEDD9) cells compared to HCC38(Vector) cells, while those of Syndecan-1, Syndecan-2, and Versican were downregulated in HCC38(NEDD9). Importantly, enzymes generating chondroitin sulfate glycosaminoglycans (CS) such as CHST11, CHST15, and CSGALNACT1 were upregulated in HCC38(NEDD9) compared to HCC38(Vector). Immunofluorescence studies using specific antibody, GD3G7, confirmed the enhanced expression of CS-E subunit in HCC38(NEDD9). Immunoprecipitation and western blotting analysis demonstrated that CS-E was attached to CD44 core protein. We demonstrated that removing CS by chondroitinase ABC significantly inhibited anchorage-independent colony formation of HCC38(NEDD9) in methylcellulose. Importantly, the fact that GD3G7 significantly inhibited colony formation of HCC38(NEDD9) cells suggests that CS-E subunit plays a key role in this process. Furthermore, treatment of HCC38(NEDD9) cells with chondroitinase ABC or GD3G7 significantly inhibited mammosphere formation. Exogenous addition of CS-E enhanced colony formation and mammosphere formation of HCC38 parental and HCC38(Vector) cells. These results suggest that NEDD9 regulates the synthesis and expression of tumor associated glycocalyx structures including CS-E, which plays a key role in promoting and regulating breast cancer progression and metastasis and possibly stem cell phenotypes. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights

  7. IMPLEMENTATION OF THE ABC COSTING IN A SERVICES PROVIDER COMPANY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Ricardo Aguena Jacintho Gil de Castro

    2012-12-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the implementation of the Activity-Based Cost (ABC method in a company of taxes and accounting services and outlines the positive and negative aspects encountered during implementation. It should be taken into account that this work has been developed in the fiscal area of cost verification. Bibliographical references, internal company documents and interviews with industry officials and the administrator responsible for the company were used. In the evolving of operations, the costs of the fiscal area and their main activities have been described monthly and through this information, drivers have been developed and the ABC (Activity-Based Costing method has been adopted. With the implementation it became clear that the system provides better visualization for the decision making process, it also provided learning for the company, so that the method should be used for an undetermined period of time.

  8. Starting with ABC and Finishing with XYZ: What Financial Reporting Model Best Fits a Faculty and Why?

    Science.gov (United States)

    Berry, Prudence Jane

    2014-01-01

    This article looks at the range of financial reporting models available for use in the Australian higher education sector, the possible application of activity-based costing (ABC) in faculties and the eventual rejection of ABC in favour of a more qualitative model designed specifically for use in one institution, in a particular Faculty. The…

  9. Describing the role of Drosophila melanogaster ABC transporters in insecticide biology using CRISPR-Cas9 knockouts.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Denecke, Shane; Fusetto, Roberto; Batterham, Philip

    2017-12-01

    ABC transporters have a well-established role in drug resistance, effluxing xenobiotics from cells and tissues within the organism. More recently, research has been dedicated to understanding the role insect ABC transporters play in insecticide toxicity, but progress in understanding the contribution of specific transporters has been hampered by the lack of functional genetic tools. Here, we report knockouts of three Drosophila melanogaster ABC transporter genes, Mdr49, Mdr50, and Mdr65, that are homologous to the well-studied mammalian ABCB1 (P-glycoprotein). Each knockout mutant was created in the same wild type background and tested against a panel of insecticides representing different chemical classes. Mdr65 knockouts were more susceptible to all neuroactive insecticides tested, but Mdr49 and Mdr50 knockouts showed increased susceptibility or resistance depending on the insecticide used. Mdr65 was chosen for further analysis. Calculation of LC 50 values for the Mdr65 knockout allowed the substrate specificity of this transporter to be examined. No obvious distinguishing structural features were shared among MDR65 substrates. A role for Mdr65 in insecticide transport was confirmed by testing the capacity of the knockout to synergize with the ABC inhibitor verapamil and by measuring the levels of insecticide retained in the body of knockout flies. These data unambiguously establish the influence of ABC transporters on the capacity of wild type D. melanogaster to tolerate insecticide exposure and suggest that both tissue and substrate specificity underpin this capacity. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  10. Molecular characterization of ABC transporters in marine ciliate, Euplotes crassus: Identification and response to cadmium and benzo[a]pyrene.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Hokyun; Yim, Bora; Kim, Jisoo; Kim, Haeyeon; Lee, Young-Mi

    2017-11-30

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters participate in transporting various substances, including xenobiotics, in or out of cells. However, their genetic information and function in ciliates remain still unclear. In this study, we sequenced and characterized two ABC transporter genes (EcABCB and EcABCC), and investigated the effect of cadmium (Cd) and benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) on their function and gene expression, using efflux assay and real-time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR), respectively, in the marine ciliate, Euplotes crassus. Sequencing analysis and efflux assay showed that EcABCB and EcABCC are typical ABC transporters, possessing conserved function. Exposure to Cd (≥5mg/L) and B[a]P (≥50.5μg/L) enhanced accumulation of a substrate. A significant increase in the expression of EcABCB and EcABC mRNA was observed at lower concentration in response to Cd and B[a]P. Our findings indicate that Cd and B[a]P could inhibit the efflux function of ABC transporters, leading to cellular toxicity in the ciliate. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  11. Alzheimer's and ABC transporters--new opportunities for diagnostics and treatment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pahnke, Jens; Langer, Oliver; Krohn, Markus

    2014-12-01

    Much has been said about the increasing number of demented patients and the main risk factor 'age'. Frustratingly, we do not know the precise pattern and all modulating factors that provoke the pathologic changes in the brains of affected elderly. We have to diagnose early to be able to stop the progression of diseases that irreversibly destroy brain substance. Familiar AD cases have mislead some researchers for almost 20 years, which has unfortunately narrowed the scientific understanding and has, thus, lead to insufficient funding of independent approaches. Therefore, basic researchers hardly have been able to develop causative treatments and clinicians still do not have access to prognostic and early diagnostic tools. During the recent years it became clear that insufficient Aβ export, physiologically facilitated by the ABC transporter superfamily at the brain's barriers, plays a fundamental role in disease initiation and progression. Furthermore, export mechanisms that are deficient in affected elderly are new targets for activation and, thus, treatment, but ideally also for prevention. In sporadic AD disturbed clearance of β-amyloid from the brain is so far the most important factor for its accumulation in the parenchyma and vessel walls. Here, we review findings about the contribution of ABC transporters and of the perivascular drainage/glymphatic system on β-amyloid clearance. We highlight their potential value for innovative early diagnostics using PET and describe recently described, effective ABC transporter-targeting agents as potential causative treatment for neurodegenerative proteopathies/dementias. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  12. aprABC: A Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex-specific locus that modulates pH-driven adaptation to the macrophage phagosome

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abramovitch, Robert B.; Rohde, Kyle H.; Hsu, Fong-Fu; Russell, David G.

    2011-01-01

    Summary Following phagocytosis by macrophages, Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) senses the intracellular environment and remodels its gene expression for growth in the phagosome. We have identified an Acid and Phagosome Regulated (aprABC) locus that is unique to the Mtb complex and whose gene expression is induced during growth in acidic environments in vitro and in macrophages. Using the aprA promoter, we generated a strain that exhibits high levels of inducible fluorescence in response to growth in acidic medium in vitro and in macrophages. aprABC expression is dependent on the two-component regulator phoPR, linking phoPR signaling to pH sensing. Deletion of the aprABC locus causes defects in gene expression that impact aggregation, intracellular growth, and the relative levels of storage and cell wall lipids. We propose a model where phoPR senses the acidic pH of the phagosome and induces aprABC expression to fine-tune processes unique for intracellular adaptation of Mtb complex bacteria. PMID:21401735

  13. Quantitative Assessment of the Association between ABC Polymorphisms and Osteosarcoma Response: a Meta-analysis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Xu; Jiang, Min; Zhao, Rui-Ke; Gu, Guo-Hao

    2015-01-01

    ABC proteins are one key type of transport superfamilies which undertake majority of drug transport, which affect the osteosarcoma response to chemotherapeutics. Previous studies have suggested the association between ABC polymorphisms and osteosarcoma response. However, the results of previous studies remain controversial. Therefore, we perform a meta-analysis to get a more precise estimation of this association. The association between ABC polymorphisms and osteosarcoma response was assessed by odds ratios (ORs) together with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Three polymorphisms of ABC including ABCB1 rs1128503, ABCC3 rs4148416 and ABCC2 rs717620 polymorphism were investigated. Overall, significant association was observed between ABCC3 rs4148416 polymorphism and osteosarcoma response under allele contrast (T vs. C: OR=1.73, 95%CI=1.09-2.74, P=0.019), homozygote comparison (TT vs. CC: OR=2.00, 95%CI=1.25-3.23, P=0.004), recessive genetic model (TT vs. OR=1.80, 95%CI=1.14-2.84, P=0.011) and dominant genetic model (TT/TC vs. CC: OR=1.70, 95%CI=1.20-2.42, P=0.003). Moreover, significant association was also observed in Caucasian population rather than Asian population for ABCB1 rs1128503 polymorphism. We conclude that ABCC3 rs4148416 polymorphism was significantly associated with poor osteosarcoma response and ABCB1 rs1128503 polymorphism was significantly associated with good osteosarcoma response in Caucasian population rather than Asian population.

  14. Demonstration of immunogenic keratan sulphate in commercial chondroitin 6-sulphate from shark cartilage. Implications for ELISA assays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, H J; Møller-Pedersen, T; Damsgaard, T E

    1995-01-01

    The prototype monoclonal keratan sulphate (KS) antibody 5D4 that is widely used for detection of KS in tissues and biological fluids reacts strongly with commercial low grade shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate. Characterization of the immunogenic material by chondroitinase ABC digestion, ELISA...... cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate is an easy accessible source of immunogenic KS that can be used as a reference standard and as coating antigen in KS-ELISAs. The concentration of immunogenic KS in synovial fluid measured with an ELISA based solely on reagents of shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate...... correlated well (r = 0.90) with the concentrations obtained with a traditional KS-ELISA that uses purified aggrecan as standard and coating antigen, and KS in both serum and synovial fluid could be measured with sufficient linearity....

  15. ABC- and SLC-Transporters in Murine and Bovine Mammary Epithelium

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Yagdiran, Yagmur; Oskarsson, Agneta; Knight, Christopher H.

    2016-01-01

    Some chemicals are ligands to efflux transporters which may result in high concentrations in milk. Limited knowledge is available on the influence of maternal exposure to chemicals on the expression and function of transporters in the lactating mammary gland. We determined gene expression of ABC ...

  16. ABC transporters from Botrytis cinerea in biotic and abiotic interactions

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schoonbeek, H.

    2004-01-01

    Botrytis cinereais the causal agent of grey mould disease on a wide variety of crop plants. It is relatively insensitive to natural and synthetic fungitoxic compounds. This thesis describes how ABC (ATP-binding cassette) transporters contribute to protection by actively

  17. SOME IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING EVOLUTION OF ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC) SYSTEM IN EGYPTIAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS

    OpenAIRE

    Karim MAMDOUH ABBAS

    2014-01-01

    The present investigation aims to determine the factors affecting evolution of Activity Based Costing (ABC) system in Egyptian case. The study used the survey method to describe and analyze these factors in some Egyptian firms. The population of the study is Egyptian manufacturing firms. Accordingly, the number of received questionnaires was 392 (23 Egyptian manufacturing firms) in the first half of 2013. Finally, the study stated some influencing factors for evolution this system (ABC) in Eg...

  18. ABC and VED Analysis of the Pharmacy Store of a Tertiary Care Teaching, Research and Referral Healthcare Institute of India.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Devnani, M; Gupta, Ak; Nigah, R

    2010-04-01

    The ABC and VED (vital, essential, desirable) analysis of the pharmacy store of Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India, was conducted to identify the categories of items needing stringent management control. The annual consumption and expenditure incurred on each item of pharmacy for the year 2007-08 was analyzed and inventory control techniques, i.e. ABC, VED and ABC-VED matrix analysis, were applied. The drug formulary of the pharmacy consisted of 421 items. The total annual drug expenditure (ADE) on items issued in 2007-08 was Rs. 40,012,612. ABC analysis revealed 13.78%, 21.85% and 64.37% items as A, B and C category items, respectively, accounting for 69.97%, 19.95% and 10.08% of ADE of the pharmacy. VED analysis showed 12.11%, 59.38% and 28.51% items as V, E, and D category items, respectively, accounting for 17.14%, 72.38% and 10.48% of ADE of the pharmacy. On ABC-VED matrix analysis, 22.09%, 54.63% and 23.28% items were found to be category I, II and III items, respectively, accounting for 74.21%, 22.23% and 3.56% of ADE of the pharmacy. The ABC and VED techniques need to be adopted as a routine practice for optimal use of resources and elimination of out-of-stock situations in the hospital pharmacy.

  19. Downregulation of miR-29a/b/c in placenta accreta inhibits apoptosis of implantation site intermediate trophoblast cells by targeting MCL1.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gu, Yongzhong; Bian, Yuehong; Xu, Xiaofei; Wang, Xietong; Zuo, Changting; Meng, Jinlai; Li, Hongyan; Zhao, Shigang; Ning, Yunnan; Cao, Yongzhi; Huang, Tao; Yan, Junhao; Chen, Zi-Jiang

    2016-12-01

    Placenta accreta is defined as abnormal adhesion of placental villi to the uterine myometrium. Although this condition has become more common as a result of the increasing rate of cesarean sections, the underlying causative mechanism(s) remain elusive. Because microRNA-29a/b/c (miR-29a/b/c) have been shown to play important roles in placental development, this study evaluated the roles of these microRNAs in placenta accreta. Expression of miR-29a/b/c and myeloid cell leukemia-1 (MCL1) were quantified in patient tissues and HTR8/SVneo trophoblast cells using the real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Western blotting was used to analyze expression of the MCL1 protein in HTR8/SVneo trophoblast cells with altered expression of miR-29a/b/c. To determine their role in apoptosis, miR-29a/b/c were overexpressed in HTR-8/SVneo cells, and levels of apoptosis were analyzed by flow cytometry. Luciferase activity assays were used to determine whether MCL1 is a target gene of miR-29a/b/c. Expression of miR-29a/b/c was significantly lower in creta sites compared to noncreta sites (p = 0.018, 0.041, and 0.022, respectively), but expression of MCL1 was upregulated in creta sites (p = 0.039). MCL1 expression was significantly downregulated in HTR-8/SVneo cells overexpressing miR-29a/b/c (p = 0.002, 0.008, and 0.013, respectively). Luciferase activity assays revealed that miR-29a/b/c directly target the 3' untranslated region of MCL1 in 293T cells. Over-expression of miR-29a/b/c induced apoptosis in the HTR-8/SVneo trophoblast cell line. Moreover, histopathological evaluation revealed that the number of implantation site intermediate trophoblast (ISIT) cells was increased in creta sites and that these cells were positive for MCL1. Our results demonstrate that in placenta accreta, miR-29a/b/c inhibits apoptosis of ISIT cells by targeting MCL1. These findings provide new insights into the pathogenesis of placenta accreta. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  20. Association of ABC (HbA1c, blood pressure, LDL-cholesterol) goal attainment with depression and health-related quality of life among adults with type 2 diabetes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shah, Bijal M; Mezzio, Dylan J; Ho, Jackie; Ip, Eric J

    2015-08-01

    To determine the relationship between ABC goal attainment, depression, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among a national sample of patients with type 2 diabetes (T2DM). A retrospective, cross-sectional analysis was performed examining 808 non-pregnant patients ≥20 years old with T2DM from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) 2007-2012. ABC goals were defined as HbA1cABC goal attainment were examined. Overall, 23.7% of participants achieved simultaneous ABC goals. Severe depression was significantly associated with lower rates of ABC goal attainment compared to those with no depression (5.0% vs. 25.4%, p=0.048). ABC goal attainment rates were lower among females, Hispanic and non-Hispanic black minority groups, and patients with a duration of diabetes over five years, while increased visits with health care professionals were significantly associated with meeting all three ABC goals for patients with T2DM. The relationship between simultaneous ABC goal attainment, depression and HRQoL is complex. Patients with T2DM unable to meet ABC goals may benefit from increased contact with health care professionals. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. The possibility of fuel cycle design for ABC/ATW complex with molten fuel on LiF-BeF2 basis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naumov, V.S.; Bychkov, A.V.

    1995-01-01

    The experience gained in the field of the development of molten salt reactors (MSR) can be made a basis of chemical processing of the ABC/ATW liquid fuel. The following combination of two processing principles are proposed for the ABC/ATW fuel (LiF-BeF 2 -PuF 3,(4) - MAF n ): - continious removal of radioactive gases, volatile impurities and 'noble fission products'; - portion-by-portion electrochemical processing with removal of rare earth elements and some other fission products at an autonomous plant. After processing the fuel salt is brought back to the blanket of the ABC/ATW complex. The analysis of information previously published in different countries allows for a safe assumption that the ABC/ATW fuel cycle with liquid fuel salt is feasible and can be demonstrated experimentally

  2. The possibility of fuel cycle design for ABC/ATW complex with molten fuel on LiF-BeF2 basis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Naumov, V. S.; Bychkov, A. V.

    1995-01-01

    The experience gained in the field of the development of molten salt reactors (MSR) can be made a basis of chemical processing of the ABC/ATW liquid fuel. The following combination of two processing principles are proposed for the ABC/ATW fuel (LiF-BeF2-PuF3,(4)-MAFn): -continious removal of radioactive gases, volatile impurities and 'noble fission products'; -portion-by-portion electrochemical processing with removal of rare earth elements and some other fission products at an autonomous plant. After processing the fuel salt is brought back to the blanket of the ABC/ATW complex. The analysis of information previously published in different countries allows for a safe assumption that the ABC/ATW fuel cycle with liquid fuel salt is feasible and can be demonstrated experimentally

  3. As Easy as ABC: Re-engineering the Cost Accounting System.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Trussel, John M.; Bitner, Larry N.

    1996-01-01

    To be useful for management decision making, the college or university's cost accounting system must capture and measure improvements. Activity-based costing (ABC), which determines more accurately the full costs of services and products, tracks improvements and should proceed alongside reengineering of institutional accounting. Guidelines are…

  4. 1993 ABC of Sexually Transmitted Diseases· Introduction to Minimal ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    covering the major sexually transmitted disease syndromes such as urethral and vaginal discharges and genital ... will certainly be a worthwhile investment. J. Terblanche. ABC of Brainstem Death· ... In the early 1980's the cultural implications of brainstem death were largely unexplored. Today the criteria must be.

  5. THE IMPACT OF ACQUISITION ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF PT. ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Novian Zen

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This study aimed to analyze the financial performance of the subsidiary company (PT ABC before and after acquired by the holding company (PT XYZ. The examined ratios of the financial performance were profitability and capital structure for the period of 2010-2014. This study utilized the t test tool. In the first and second year after the acquisition, the result shows that with the existence of business synergy, there was a change in financial performance although it was insignificant. Furthermore, in the third year, there was absolutely no change; however, in the fourth year, there was an insignifant change. The implications of this research indicates the motive or objective of the shareholders (K-State-owned Enterprises in assigning the holding company (XYZ to restructure the financial performance and improve capital structure of its subsidiary company (PT ABC by conducting a business synergy has not been reached.Keywords: acquisition, financial performance, improved capital structure, business synergy and financial reports

  6. Marketing Research of Construction Sites based on ABC-XYZ Analysis and Relational Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Konikov Aleksandr

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available ABC-XYZ analysis is well known in marketing. It allows identifying sites that yield maximum profits when sold, sites that enjoy stable demand, or sites have both qualities specified above. However, the methods are quite abstract and are not designed to study specific factors that impact the results of ABC-XYZ analysis. Meanwhile, for some applications, particularly for marketing research of construction sites, it is critical not only to identify high-profit and stable sites but also to find out what combination of technical parameters, factors related to their location, transport accessibility, etc. are typical of them. This work suggests an approach to address the issue.

  7. SOME IMPORTANT FACTORS AFFECTING EVOLUTION OF ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC SYSTEM IN EGYPTIAN MANUFACTURING FIRMS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karim MAMDOUH ABBAS

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available The present investigation aims to determine the factors affecting evolution of Activity Based Costing (ABC system in Egyptian case. The study used the survey method to describe and analyze these factors in some Egyptian firms. The population of the study is Egyptian manufacturing firms. Accordingly, the number of received questionnaires was 392 (23 Egyptian manufacturing firms in the first half of 2013. Finally, the study stated some influencing factors for evolution this system (ABC in Egyptian manufacturing firms.

  8. Total Ionizing Dose Testing of the ABC130 ASIC for the ATLAS Phase-II Semiconductor Tracker Upgrade

    CERN Document Server

    Morningstar, Alan

    2015-01-01

    The Large Hadron Collider's (LHC) current inner detector was not built to withstand the radiation damage from the 3000 $\\text{fb}^{-1}$ of integrated luminosity that is planned for the high luminosity LHC (HL-LHC). Therefore, the ATLAS inner detector (ID) must be completely upgraded. As a part of this upgrade, the semiconductor tracker (SCT) and transition radiation tracker (TRT) will be replaced with new silicon microstrip sensors {[}1{]}. These silicon strips will be read out by the ABC130 chip and thus the ABC130 must be able to withstand an expected 30 Mrad of radiation over 10 years. The ABC130 chip was irradiated with 70 Mrad of x-ray radiation over the course of 2 days and the results are discussed in this report.

  9. Degree of Suppression of Mouse Myoblast Cell Line C₂C12 Differentiation Varies According to Chondroitin Sulfate Subtype.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Warita, Katsuhiko; Oshima, Nana; Takeda-Okuda, Naoko; Tamura, Jun-Ichi; Hosaka, Yoshinao Z

    2016-10-21

    Chondroitin sulfate (CS), a type of glycosaminoglycan (GAG), is a factor involved in the suppression of myogenic differentiation. CS comprises two repeating sugars and has different subtypes depending on the position and number of bonded sulfate groups. However, the effect of each subtype on myogenic differentiation remains unclear. In this study, we spiked cultures of C₂C 12 myoblasts, cells which are capable of undergoing skeletal muscle differentiation, with one of five types of CS (CS-A, -B, -C, -D, or -E) and induced differentiation over a fixed time. After immunostaining of the formed myotubes with an anti-MHC antibody, we counted the number of nuclei in the myotubes and then calculated the fusion index (FI) as a measure of myotube differentiation. The FI values of all the CS-treated groups were lower than the FI value of the control group, especially the group treated with CS-E, which displayed notable suppression of myotube formation. To confirm that the sugar chain in CS-E is important in the suppression of differentiation, chondroitinase ABC (ChABC), which catabolizes CS, was added to the media. The addition of ChABC led to the degradation of CS-E, and neutralized the suppression of myotube formation by CS-E. Collectively, it can be concluded that the degree of suppression of differentiation depends on the subtype of CS and that CS-E strongly suppresses myogenic differentiation. We conclude that the CS sugar chain has inhibitory action against myoblast cell fusion.

  10. The product of the ABC half-transporter gene ABCG2 (BCRP/MXR/ABCP) is expressed in the plasma membrane

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Rocchi, E; Khodjakov, A; Volk, E L

    2000-01-01

    by Western blot and immunohistochemistry. This protein is highly overexpressed in several drug-resistant cell lines and localizes predominantly to the plasma membrane, instead of to intracellular membranes as seen with all other known half-transporters. Therefore, BCRP/MXR is unique among the ABC half......The products of the ABC gene family can be generally classified as either full-transporters of half-transporters. Full-transporters are expressed in the plasma membrane, whereas half-transporters are usually found in intracellular membranes. Recently, an ABC half-transporter, the ABCG2 gene product......-transporters by being localized to the plasma membrane....

  11. ABC transporters van Botrytis cinerea in biotische en abiotische interacties

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schoonbeek, H.

    2005-01-01

    Op 29 november 2004 promoveerde Henk-jan Schoonbeek aan Wageningen Universiteit op het proefschrift getiteld 'ABC transporters from Botrytis cinerea in biotic and abiotic interactions'. Promotor was Prof. dr. ir. P.J.G.M. de Wit en co-promotor was dr.ir. M.A. de Waard, leerstoelgroep Fytopathologie,

  12. Differences in context sensitivity for second-learned inhibitory and excitatory stimuli in AAB and ABC designs

    OpenAIRE

    Elgueta, Tito

    2014-01-01

    Bouton (1997) proposed a model to explain Pavlovian conditioning according to which the order of the associations (first-learned or second-learned), not the valence of the associations (inhibitory or excitatory), determines context sensitivity in AAB and ABC renewal designs. As a consequence, Bouton’s model does not predict important differences in context sensitivity between AAB and ABC designs. However, evidence suggests that there are indeed differences in context sensitivity between these...

  13. Gangliosides do not affect ABC transporter function in human neuroblastoma cells

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Dijkhuis, Anne-Jan; Klappe, Karin; Kamps, Willem; Sietsma, Hannie; Kok, Jan Willem

    Previous studies have indicated a role for glucosylceramide synthase (GCS) in multidrug resistance (MDR), either related to turnover of ceramide (Cer) or generation of gangliosides, which modulate apoptosis and/or the activity of ABC transporters. This study challenges the hypothesis that

  14. The Effect of Shopping Mall's Attributes Toward Customer Satisfaction of ABC Mall and Xyz Mall

    OpenAIRE

    Astono, Cynthia

    2014-01-01

    With the tight competition among shopping malls in Surabaya, it lead towards the concept war between them to stay longer within the industry. Currently, there are two shopping malls, which are in the middle of tight competition; they are ABC Mall and XYZ Mall. Although ABC Mall is the newest entrant of shopping mall in Surabaya, XYZ Mall as the old player is still developing. Thus, this research aims to analyze and find out which shopping malls' attribute that able to increase the customer...

  15. O controle urbano nas favelas urbanizadas : o caso da Região do ABC

    OpenAIRE

    Nakamura, Milton Susumu

    2014-01-01

    Orientadora: Profa. Dra. Rosana Denaldi Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Federal do ABC, Programa de Pós-Graduação em Planejamento e Gestão do Território, 2014. Este trabalho trata do controle urbano nas favelas urbanizadas, a partir do estudo das experiências realizadas em municípios do ABC. A pesquisa procura analisar os processos de urbanização e regularização de favelas nos municípios de Diadema, Santo André e São Bernardo do Campo e identifica o arcabouço jurídico estabelecido...

  16. Dynamics of 'abc' and 'qd' constant parameters induction generator model

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Fajardo-R, L.A.; Medina, A.; Iov, F.

    2009-01-01

    In this paper, parametric sensibility effects on dynamics of the induction generator in the presence of local perturbations are investigated. The study is conducted in a 3x2 MW wind park dealing with abc, qd0 and qd reduced order, induction generator model respectively, and with fluxes as state...

  17. The Reign of Confusion: ABC and the "Crisis in Iran."

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmerton, Patricia R.

    A study examined reports broadcast by ABC News between November 8, 1979 and December 7, 1979 in its series entitled "Crisis in Iran: America Held Hostage." Transcripts of approximately 50% of actual broadcasts were subjected to rhetorical critical analysis, from which the finding emerged that confusion was the predominant characteristic…

  18. Double pionic fusion. Towards an understanding of the ABC puzzle by exclusive measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bashkanov, M.

    2006-01-01

    The ABC effect is a huge unexpected enhancement at twice the pion mass in the invariant mass spectrum of two pions, which are generated in double-pionic fusion to bound nuclear systems. This peculiar phenomenon has been missing a conclusive explanation all the time since it has been discovered 1960 in single-arm measurements of 3 He ejectiles in the reaction pd→ 3 HeX. One reason for this failure has been that all measurements to this subject have been inclusive, i.e., lacking the full experimentally accessible information. Hence exclusive measurements were performed at CELSIUS/WASA at an energy of T p =0.895 GeV, where the ABC effect is expected to be strongest. For the first time exclusive data of solid statistics for both the pd→ 3 Heπ 0 π 0 and pd→ 3 Heπ + π - reactions were obtained including also results for the three-pion production total cross-section. The new data are consistent with the previous inclusive data. They provide, however, much more additional information, which rule out all previous explications of the ABC effect. The now available kinematically complete set of data reveals that the low ππ-mass enhancement (ABC-effect): - is not necessarily associated with a high ππ-mass enhancement, - is always connected with the simultaneous excitation of two Δ resonances, - is of scalar-isoscalar nature, i.e. a σ-channel phenomenon, - requires dynamics in the reaction system, which has not been considered hitherto. Various possible solutions are discussed, however, all of them demand a high attraction in the ΔΔ system - a point, which has never been touched so far in theoretical and experimental investigations. For this data analysis new powerful methods based on neural nets have been developed. Their current and possible future applications are discussed. (orig.)

  19. The $abc$-problem for Gabor systems

    CERN Document Server

    Dai, Xin-Rong

    2016-01-01

    A longstanding problem in Gabor theory is to identify time-frequency shifting lattices a\\mathbb{Z}\\times b\\mathbb{Z} and ideal window functions \\chi_I on intervals I of length c such that \\{e^{-2\\pi i n bt} \\chi_I(t- m a):\\ (m, n)\\in \\mathbb{Z}\\times \\mathbb{Z}\\} are Gabor frames for the space of all square-integrable functions on the real line. In this paper, the authors create a time-domain approach for Gabor frames, introduce novel techniques involving invariant sets of non-contractive and non-measure-preserving transformations on the line, and provide a complete answer to the above abc-problem for Gabor systems.

  20. ABC-model analysis of gain-switched pulse characteristics in low-dimensional semiconductor lasers

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bao, Xumin; Liu, Yuejun; Weng, Guoen; Hu, Xiaobo; Chen, Shaoqiang

    2018-01-01

    The gain-switching dynamics of low-dimensional semiconductor lasers is simulated numerically by using a two-dimensional rate-equation model. Use is also made of the ABC model, where the carrier recombination rate is described by a function of carrier densities including Shockley - Read - Hall (SRH) recombination coefficient A, spontaneous emission coefficient B and Auger recombination coefficient C. Effects of the ABC parameters on the ultrafast gain-switched pulse characteristics with high-density pulse excitation are analysed. It is found that while the parameter A has almost no obvious effects, the parameters B and C have distinctly different effects: B influences significantly the delay time of the gain-switched pulse, while C affects mainly the pulse intensity.

  1. Single liposome analysis of peptide translocation by the ABC transporter TAPL

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zollmann, Tina; Moiset Coll, Gemma; Tumulka, Franz; Tampé, Robert; Poolman, Bert; Abele, Rupert

    2015-01-01

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters use ATP to drive solute transport across biological membranes. Members of this superfamily have crucial roles in cell physiology, and some of the transporters are linked to severe diseases. However, understanding of the transport mechanism, especially of human

  2. Armpits, Belly Buttons and Chronic Wounds: The ABCs of Our Body Bacteria

    Science.gov (United States)

    ... and Chronic Wounds: The ABCs of Our Body Bacteria By Alisa Machalek and Allison MacLachlan Posted April ... treating skin and other conditions. Chronic Wounds and Bacteria Bacteria from human skin grown on agar in ...

  3. Bacterial PerO Permeases Transport Sulfate and Related Oxyanions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hoffmann, Marie-Christine; Pfänder, Yvonne; Tintel, Marc; Masepohl, Bernd

    2017-07-15

    Rhodobacter capsulatus synthesizes the high-affinity ABC transporters CysTWA and ModABC to specifically import the chemically related oxyanions sulfate and molybdate, respectively. In addition, R. capsulatus has the low-affinity permease PerO acting as a general oxyanion transporter, whose elimination increases tolerance to molybdate and tungstate. Although PerO-like permeases are widespread in bacteria, their function has not been examined in any other species to date. Here, we present evidence that PerO permeases from the alphaproteobacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens , Dinoroseobacter shibae , Rhodobacter sphaeroides , and Sinorhizobium meliloti and the gammaproteobacterium Pseudomonas stutzeri functionally substitute for R. capsulatus PerO in sulfate uptake and sulfate-dependent growth, as shown by assimilation of radioactively labeled sulfate and heterologous complementation. Disruption of perO genes in A. tumefaciens , R. sphaeroides , and S. meliloti increased tolerance to tungstate and, in the case of R. sphaeroides , to molybdate, suggesting that heterometal oxyanions are common substrates of PerO permeases. This study supports the view that bacterial PerO permeases typically transport sulfate and related oxyanions and, hence, form a functionally conserved permease family. IMPORTANCE Despite the widespread distribution of PerO-like permeases in bacteria, our knowledge about PerO function until now was limited to one species, Rhodobacter capsulatus In this study, we showed that PerO proteins from diverse bacteria are functionally similar to the R. capsulatus prototype, suggesting that PerO permeases form a conserved family whose members transport sulfate and related oxyanions. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  4. Goethe and the ABC model of flower development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Coen, E

    2001-06-01

    About 10 years ago, the ABC model for the genetic control of flower development was proposed. This model was initially based on the analysis of mutant flowers but has subsequently been confirmed by molecular analysis. This paper describes the 200-year history behind this model, from the late 18th century when Goethe arrived at his idea of plant metamorphosis, to the genetic studies on flower mutants carried out on Arabidopsis and Antirrhinum in the late 20th century.

  5. Variations on a theme: changes in the floral ABCs in angiosperms.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rijpkema, A.S.; Vandenbussche, M.; Koes, R.E.; Heijmans, K.; Gerats, T.

    2010-01-01

    Angiosperms display a huge variety of floral forms. The development of the ABC-model for floral organ identity, almost 20 years ago, has created an excellent basis for comparative floral development (evo-devo) studies. These have resulted in an increasingly more detailed understanding of the

  6. Variations on a theme: changes in the floral ABCs in angiosperms.

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rijpkema, A.S.; Vandenbussche, M.; Koes, R.E.; Heijmans, K.; Gerats, T.

    2009-01-01

    Angiosperms display a huge variety of floral forms. The development of the ABC-model for floral organ identity, almost 20 years ago, has created an excellent basis for comparative floral development (evo-devo) studies. These have resulted in an increasingly more detailed understanding of the

  7. The possibility of fuel cycle design for ABC/ATW complex with molten fuel on LiF-BeF{sub 2} basis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Naumov, V.S.; Bychkov, A.V. [Research Institute of Atomic Reactors, Dimitrovgrad (Russian Federation)

    1995-10-01

    The experience gained in the field of the development of molten salt reactors (MSR) can be made a basis of chemical processing of the ABC/ATW liquid fuel. The following combination of two processing principles are proposed for the ABC/ATW fuel (LiF-BeF{sub 2}-PuF{sub 3,(4)} - MAF{sub n}): - continious removal of radioactive gases, volatile impurities and {open_quotes}noble fission products{close_quotes}; - portion-by-portion electrochemical processing with removal of rare earth elements and some other fission products at an autonomous plant. After processing the fuel salt is brought back to the blanket of the ABC/ATW complex. The analysis of information previously published in different countries allows for a safe assumption that the ABC/ATW fuel cycle with liquid fuel salt is feasible and can be demonstrated experimentally.

  8. Dubbel ABC-analys av inrednings- och gåvoartiklar för en blombutik

    OpenAIRE

    Ruokolainen, Daniela

    2016-01-01

    Kirkkonummen Kukkapiste är en blombutik i Kyrkslätt centrum, som år 2012 utvidgade sitt sortiment av inrednings- och gåvoartiklar. Konkurrensen är hög och en ABC-analys kan hjälpa företagare att identifiera vilka faktorer i ett företag som det lönar sig att lägga tid och resurser på, vilket i sin tur effektiverar verksamheten. Syftet med detta arbete är att med hjälp av en dubbel ABC-analys för Kirkkonummen Kukkapiste ta reda på vilka inrednings- och gåvoartiklar som binder mest kapital och v...

  9. Fuzzy Continuous Review Inventory Model using ABC Multi-Criteria Classification Approach: A Single Case Study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Meriastuti - Ginting

    2015-07-01

    Full Text Available Abstract. Inventory is considered as the most expensive, yet important,to any companies. It representsapproximately 50% of the total investment. Inventory cost has become one of the majorcontributorsto inefficiency, therefore it should be managed effectively. This study aims to propose an alternative inventory model,  by using ABC multi-criteria classification approach to minimize total cost. By combining FANP (Fuzzy Analytical Network Process and TOPSIS (Technique of Order Preferences by Similarity to the Ideal Solution, the ABC multi-criteria classification approach identified 12 items of 69 inventory items as “outstanding important class” that contributed to 80% total inventory cost. This finding  is then used as the basis to determine the proposed continuous review inventory model.This study found that by using fuzzy trapezoidal cost, the inventory  turnover ratio can be increased, and inventory cost can be decreased by 78% for each item in “class A” inventory.Keywords:ABC multi-criteria classification, FANP-TOPSIS, continuous review inventory model lead-time demand distribution, trapezoidal fuzzy number 

  10. Demonstration of immunogenic keratan sulphate in commercial chondroitin 6-sulphate from shark cartilage. Implications for ELISA assays

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Møller, H J; Møller-Pedersen, T; Damsgaard, T E

    1995-01-01

    The prototype monoclonal keratan sulphate (KS) antibody 5D4 that is widely used for detection of KS in tissues and biological fluids reacts strongly with commercial low grade shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate. Characterization of the immunogenic material by chondroitinase ABC digestion, ELISA...... inhibition studies, immunoblotting and HPLC analyses confirmed the presence of substantial amounts of KS, probably as a large proteoglycan (> 120 kDa). Commercial and heterogenic glycosaminoglycan preparations therefore must be used with great caution in immunological analyses. On the other hand the shark...... cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate is an easy accessible source of immunogenic KS that can be used as a reference standard and as coating antigen in KS-ELISAs. The concentration of immunogenic KS in synovial fluid measured with an ELISA based solely on reagents of shark cartilage chondroitin 6-sulphate...

  11. Facile analysis of contents and compositions of the chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate hybrid chain in shark and ray tissues.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Takeda, Naoko; Horai, Sawako; Tamura, Jun-ichi

    2016-04-07

    The chondroitin sulfate (CS)/dermatan sulfate (DS) hybrid chain was extracted from specific tissues of several kinds of sharks and rays. The contents and sulfation patterns of the CS/DS hybrid chain were precisely analyzed by digestion with chondroitinases ABC and AC. All samples predominantly contained the A- and C-units. Furthermore, all samples characteristically contained the D-unit. Species-specific differences were observed in the contents of the CS/DS hybrid chain, which were the highest in Mako and Blue sharks and Sharpspine skates, but were lower in Hammerhead sharks. Marked differences were observed in the ratio of the C-unit/A-unit between sharks and rays. The contents of the CS/DS hybrid chain and the ratio of the C-unit/A-unit may be related to an oxidative stress-decreasing ability. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  12. Assessment of the accuracy of ABC/2 variations in traumatic epidural hematoma volume estimation: a retrospective study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pengfei Yan

    2016-04-01

    Full Text Available Background. The traumatic epidural hematoma (tEDH volume is often used to assist in tEDH treatment planning and outcome prediction. ABC/2 is a well-accepted volume estimation method that can be used for tEDH volume estimation. Previous studies have proposed different variations of ABC/2; however, it is unclear which variation will provide a higher accuracy. Given the promising clinical contribution of accurate tEDH volume estimations, we sought to assess the accuracy of several ABC/2 variations in tEDH volume estimation. Methods. The study group comprised 53 patients with tEDH who had undergone non-contrast head computed tomography scans. For each patient, the tEDH volume was automatically estimated by eight ABC/2 variations (four traditional and four newly derived with an in-house program, and results were compared to those from manual planimetry. Linear regression, the closest value, percentage deviation, and Bland-Altman plot were adopted to comprehensively assess accuracy. Results. Among all ABC/2 variations assessed, the traditional variations y = 0.5 × A1B1C1 (or A2B2C1 and the newly derived variations y = 0.65 × A1B1C1 (or A2B2C1 achieved higher accuracy than the other variations. No significant differences were observed between the estimated volume values generated by these variations and those of planimetry (p > 0.05. Comparatively, the former performed better than the latter in general, with smaller mean percentage deviations (7.28 ± 5.90% and 6.42 ± 5.74% versus 19.12 ± 6.33% and 21.28 ± 6.80%, respectively and more values closest to planimetry (18/53 and 18/53 versus 2/53 and 0/53, respectively. Besides, deviations of most cases in the former fell within the range of 20% (90.57% and 96.23, respectively. Discussion. In the current study, we adopted an automatic approach to assess the accuracy of several ABC/2 variations for tEDH volume estimation. Our initial results showed that the variations y = 0.5 × A1B1C1 (or A2B2C1

  13. Use of TD ABC method for cost management in an accredited laboratory for physical and chemical testiry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Živković-Gabaldo Aleksandra N.

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Accreditation of a laboratory is verification of the competence of a laboratory regarding methods and procedures applied, personnel, the equipment used and working conditions. The main goal is establishment of customer trust in accuracy and precision of laboratory test results. Accredited laboratory has more specific costs than laboratory which is not accredited. To survive on the market, regardless the laboratory is independent or it is a part of a bigger system, the laboratory needs to establish resource management, especially effective cost management. Cost management describes approaches and short-term and long-term management activities, which make value for the customer, according to his known, reported or obligatory requirements and needs. In modern approach, there are different methods for cost calculation. One of them is ABC (Activity-Based Costing method which adds activity costs to products and services trough activities needed for their finalization. In this paper, there is presented improved ABC method for obračun costs, affirmed as activity based cost calculation based on time - TD ABC (Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing. The method uses time as a primary base for costs allocation on products, porudžbine, customers. This is the way for simpler and less expansive getting of information's about costs. This paper describes TD ABC method implemented in accredited Laboratory for physical and chemical testing, which is a part of company Galenika Fitofarmacija a.d. The scope of testing in this laboratory are pesticide materials, meaning technical substances and finished products, within quality control for different internal customers. By using TD ABC method it is possible to define real costs, generated during the laboratory testing, and also effectiveness of specific activities in this process.

  14. Genome-wide identification of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters and their roles in response to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the copepod Paracyclopina nana.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jeong, Chang-Bum; Kim, Duck-Hyun; Kang, Hye-Min; Lee, Young Hwan; Kim, Hui-Su; Kim, Il-Chan; Lee, Jae-Seong

    2017-02-01

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein superfamily is one of the largest gene families and is highly conserved in all domains. The ABC proteins play roles in several biological processes, including multi-xenobiotic resistance (MXR), by functioning as transporters in the cellular membrane. They also mediate the cellular efflux of a wide range of substrates against concentration gradients. In this study, 37 ABC genes belonging to eight distinct subfamilies were identified in the marine copepod Paracyclopina nana and annotated based on a phylogenetic analysis. Also, the functions of P-glycoproteins (P-gp) and multidrug resistance-associated proteins (MRPs), conferring MXR, were verified using fluorescent substrates and specific inhibitors. The activities of MXR-mediated ABC proteins and their transcriptional level were examined in response to polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), main components of the water-accommodated fraction. This study increases the understanding of the protective role of MXR in response to PAHs over the comparative evolution of ABC gene families. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  15. ABC gene-ranking for prediction of drug-induced cholestasis in rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yauheniya Cherkas

    Full Text Available As legacy toxicogenomics databases have become available, improved data mining approaches are now key to extracting and visualizing subtle relationships between toxicants and gene expression. In the present study, a novel “aggregating bundles of clusters” (ABC procedure was applied to separate cholestatic from non-cholestatic drugs and model toxicants in the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen rat liver toxicogenomics database [3]. Drug-induced cholestasis is an important issue, particularly when a new compound enters the market with this liability, with standard preclinical models often mispredicting this toxicity. Three well-characterized cholestasis-responsive genes (Cyp7a1, Mrp3 and Bsep were chosen from a previous in-house Janssen gene expression signature; these three genes show differing, non-redundant responses across the 90+ paradigm compounds in our database. Using the ABC procedure, extraneous contributions were minimized in comparisons of compound gene responses. All genes were assigned weights proportional to their correlations with Cyp7a1, Mrp3 and Bsep, and a resampling technique was used to derive a stable measure of compound similarity. The compounds that were known to be associated with rat cholestasis generally had small values of this measure relative to each other but also had large values of this measure relative to non-cholestatic compounds. Visualization of the data with the ABC-derived signature showed a very tight, essentially identically behaving cluster of robust human cholestatic drugs and experimental cholestatic toxicants (ethinyl estradiol, LPS, ANIT and methylene dianiline, disulfiram, naltrexone, methapyrilene, phenacetin, alpha-methyl dopa, flutamide, the NSAIDs–—indomethacin, flurbiprofen, diclofenac, flufenamic acid, sulindac, and nimesulide, butylated hydroxytoluene, piperonyl butoxide, and bromobenzene, some slightly less active compounds (3′-acetamidofluorene, amsacrine, hydralazine, tannic acid, some

  16. My Favorite Assignment: From the ABC 2010 Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois

    Science.gov (United States)

    Whalen, D. Joel

    2011-01-01

    The seven Favorite Assignments featured in this article were originally presented at the 2010 ABC Annual Convention, Chicago, Illinois. The reader can consider a variety of learning objectives from team building to persuasion, application of electronic media to face-to-face communication, and much more. Some Favorite Assignments take a full…

  17. Double pionic fusion. Towards an understanding of the ABC puzzle by exclusive measurements

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bashkanov, M.

    2006-07-01

    The ABC effect is a huge unexpected enhancement at twice the pion mass in the invariant mass spectrum of two pions, which are generated in double-pionic fusion to bound nuclear systems. This peculiar phenomenon has been missing a conclusive explanation all the time since it has been discovered 1960 in single-arm measurements of {sup 3}He ejectiles in the reaction pd{yields} {sup 3}HeX. One reason for this failure has been that all measurements to this subject have been inclusive, i.e., lacking the full experimentally accessible information. Hence exclusive measurements were performed at CELSIUS/WASA at an energy of T{sub p}=0.895 GeV, where the ABC effect is expected to be strongest. For the first time exclusive data of solid statistics for both the pd{yields}{sup 3}He{pi}{sup 0}{pi}{sup 0} and pd{yields}{sup 3}He{pi}{sup +}{pi}{sup -} reactions were obtained including also results for the three-pion production total cross-section. The new data are consistent with the previous inclusive data. They provide, however, much more additional information, which rule out all previous explications of the ABC effect. The now available kinematically complete set of data reveals that the low {pi}{pi}-mass enhancement (ABC-effect): - is not necessarily associated with a high {pi}{pi}-mass enhancement, - is always connected with the simultaneous excitation of two {delta} resonances, - is of scalar-isoscalar nature, i.e. a {sigma}-channel phenomenon, - requires dynamics in the reaction system, which has not been considered hitherto. Various possible solutions are discussed, however, all of them demand a high attraction in the {delta}{delta} system - a point, which has never been touched so far in theoretical and experimental investigations. For this data analysis new powerful methods based on neural nets have been developed. Their current and possible future applications are discussed. (orig.)

  18. Surface charge-specific interactions between polymer nanoparticles and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bhattacharjee, Sourav, E-mail: sourav.bhattacharjee@wur.nl [Wageningen University, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (Netherlands); Opstal, Edward J. van; Alink, Gerrit M. [Wageningen University, Division of Toxicology (Netherlands); Marcelis, Antonius T. M.; Zuilhof, Han [Wageningen University, Laboratory of Organic Chemistry (Netherlands); Rietjens, Ivonne M. C. M. [Wageningen University, Division of Toxicology (Netherlands)

    2013-06-15

    The surface charge-dependent transport of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) across Caco-2 monolayers grown on transwell culture systems as an in vitro model for intestinal transport was tested. The transport of well-characterized, monodisperse, and fluorescent tri-block copolymer nanoparticles (TCNPs/size {approx}45 nm) and polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs/size {approx}50 nm), with different surface charges (positive and negative), was quantified. The positive PNPs showed a higher intracellular uptake and flux across the Caco-2 monolayers than the negative PNPs. Multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp), a specific ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, was found to play a major role in the cellular efflux of positive PNPs, whereas the multidrug resistance protein 1 took part in the efflux of negative PNPs from Caco-2 cells. The positive PNPs also caused an increased cellular uptake and apical to basolateral transport of the carcinogen PhIP across the Caco-2 monolayer. The flavonoid quercetin, which is known to interact with ABC transporters, promoted the intracellular uptake of different PNPs and interfered with the normal distribution patterns of PNPs in the transwell system. These results indicate that PNPs display surface charge-specific interactions with ABC transporters and can even affect the bioavailability of toxic food-borne compounds (like pro-carcinogens).

  19. Surface charge-specific interactions between polymer nanoparticles and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bhattacharjee, Sourav; van Opstal, Edward J.; Alink, Gerrit M.; Marcelis, Antonius T. M.; Zuilhof, Han; Rietjens, Ivonne M. C. M.

    2013-06-01

    The surface charge-dependent transport of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) across Caco-2 monolayers grown on transwell culture systems as an in vitro model for intestinal transport was tested. The transport of well-characterized, monodisperse, and fluorescent tri-block copolymer nanoparticles (TCNPs/size 45 nm) and polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs/size 50 nm), with different surface charges (positive and negative), was quantified. The positive PNPs showed a higher intracellular uptake and flux across the Caco-2 monolayers than the negative PNPs. Multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp), a specific ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, was found to play a major role in the cellular efflux of positive PNPs, whereas the multidrug resistance protein 1 took part in the efflux of negative PNPs from Caco-2 cells. The positive PNPs also caused an increased cellular uptake and apical to basolateral transport of the carcinogen PhIP across the Caco-2 monolayer. The flavonoid quercetin, which is known to interact with ABC transporters, promoted the intracellular uptake of different PNPs and interfered with the normal distribution patterns of PNPs in the transwell system. These results indicate that PNPs display surface charge-specific interactions with ABC transporters and can even affect the bioavailability of toxic food-borne compounds (like pro-carcinogens).

  20. Surface charge-specific interactions between polymer nanoparticles and ABC transporters in Caco-2 cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bhattacharjee, Sourav; Opstal, Edward J. van; Alink, Gerrit M.; Marcelis, Antonius T. M.; Zuilhof, Han; Rietjens, Ivonne M. C. M.

    2013-01-01

    The surface charge-dependent transport of polymeric nanoparticles (PNPs) across Caco-2 monolayers grown on transwell culture systems as an in vitro model for intestinal transport was tested. The transport of well-characterized, monodisperse, and fluorescent tri-block copolymer nanoparticles (TCNPs/size ∼45 nm) and polystyrene nanoparticles (PSNPs/size ∼50 nm), with different surface charges (positive and negative), was quantified. The positive PNPs showed a higher intracellular uptake and flux across the Caco-2 monolayers than the negative PNPs. Multidrug resistance/P-glycoprotein (MDR1/P-gp), a specific ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter, was found to play a major role in the cellular efflux of positive PNPs, whereas the multidrug resistance protein 1 took part in the efflux of negative PNPs from Caco-2 cells. The positive PNPs also caused an increased cellular uptake and apical to basolateral transport of the carcinogen PhIP across the Caco-2 monolayer. The flavonoid quercetin, which is known to interact with ABC transporters, promoted the intracellular uptake of different PNPs and interfered with the normal distribution patterns of PNPs in the transwell system. These results indicate that PNPs display surface charge-specific interactions with ABC transporters and can even affect the bioavailability of toxic food-borne compounds (like pro-carcinogens).

  1. Evaluation of Cutting Performance of Diamond Saw Machine Using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masoud Akhyani

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Artificial Intelligence (AI techniques are used for solving the intractable engineering problems. In this study, it is aimed to study the application of artificial bee colony algorithm for predicting the performance of circular diamond saw in sawing of hard rocks. For this purpose, varieties of fourteen types of hard rocks were cut in laboratory using a cutting rig at 5 mm depth of cut, 40 cm/min feed rate and 3000 rpm peripheral speed. Four major mechanical and physical properties of studied rocks such as uniaxial compressive strength (UCS, Schimazek abrasivity factor (SF-a, Mohs hardness (Mh, and Young’s modulus (Ym were determined in rock mechanic laboratory. Artificial bee colony (ABC was used to classify the performance of circular diamond saw based on mentioned mechanical properties of rocks. Ampere consumption and wear rate of diamond saw were selected as criteria to evaluate the result of ABC algorithm. Ampere consumption was determined during cutting process and the average wear rate of diamond saw was calculated from width, length and height loss. The results of comparison between ABC’s results and cutting performance (ampere consumption and wear rate of diamond saw indicated the ability of metaheuristic algorithm such as ABC to evaluate the cutting performance.

  2. Influence of detergents on the activity of the ABC transporter LmrA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Infed, Nacera; Hanekop, Nils; Driessen, Arnold J. M.; Smits, Sander H. J.; Schmitt, Lutz

    The ABC transporter LmrA from Lactococcus lactis has been intensively studied and a role in multidrug resistance was proposed. Here, we performed a comprehensive detergent screen to analyze the impact of detergents for a successful solubilization, purification and retention of functional properties

  3. Analyses of test beam data for the ATLAS upgrade readout chip (ABC130)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Peschke, Richard [DESY, Hamburg (Germany); Collaboration: ATLAS-Collaboration

    2015-07-01

    As part of the ATLAS phase II upgrade it is planned to replace the current tracker with an all silicon tracker. The outer part of the new tracker will consist of silicon strip detectors. For the readout of the strip detector a new Analog to Binary Converter chip (ABC130) was designed. The chip is processed in the 130 nm technology. In laboratory measurements the preamplifier of the new ABC130 showed a significant lower gain than expected. From the measurements in the laboratory it was not possible to distinguish if the malfunction is in the preamplifier or in the test circuit. Therefore an unbiased test was mandatory. Among other measurements, one was a test beam campaign at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Collider (SLAC). The result of measurement is shown in the presentation.

  4. The Application of Activity-based Costing (ABC) and Job Order Costing (JOC) at Wisata Bahari Restaurant Manado

    OpenAIRE

    Pangemanan, Sifrid; Ramintang, Jessica

    2016-01-01

    ABC is used to determine more accurate product costs by tracing activities required, especially for the purpose of decision making. ABC can show to management about the high cost of low-volume products. Smokie Crab and Grilled Squid from Wisata Bahari Restaurant, Manado, are the sample. The purpose of this research is make more accurate calculation of the cost, which can provide information on the cost of production is more clear for owner of Wisata Bahari Restaurant Manado, so as to obtain ...

  5. ABCs of foveal vision

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matchko, Roy M.; Gerhart, Grant R.

    2001-12-01

    This paper presents a simple mathematical performance model of the human foveal vision system based on an extensive analysis of the Blackwell-McCready (BM) data set. It includes a closed-form equation, the (ABC)t law, that allows the analyst to predict the entire range of BM threshold data. Relationships are derived among the four fundamental parameters of foveal vision: target area A, background luminance B, threshold contrast C, and stimulus presentation time t. Hyperbolic-curve fits on log-log plots of the data lead to the well-known laws of Ricco, Blackwell, Weber and Fechner, and Bloch. This paper unifies important relationships associated with target and background scene parameters as they relate to the human foveal vision process. The process of detecting a BM target, using foveal vision, is reduced to the total temporal summation of light energy modified by a multiplicative energy ratio. A stochastic model of human observer performance is presented in terms of a cumulative Gaussian distribution, which is a function of the apparent and BM contrast threshold values.

  6. Differentiation of foot-and-mouth disease virus infected animals from vaccinated animals using a blocking ELISA based on baculovirus expressed FMDV 3ABC antigen and a 3ABC monoclonal antibody

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sørensen, K.J.; de Stricker, K.; Dyrting, K.C.

    2005-01-01

    A blocking ELISA that differentiated foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) infected animals from vaccinated animals was developed which uses baculovirus expressed FMDV 3ABC non-structural protein as antigen and monoclonal antibody against FMDV 3ABC non-structural protein as capture and detector...... infected with all seven serotypes of FMDV. The test detected antibodies from days 7 or 9 following experimental infection of non-vaccinated cattle and sheep, and in cattle strong positive reactions persisted for up to 395 days after infection. In vaccinated cattle that became carriers after challenge...... with homologous FMDV, positive reactions were obtained in all but one case. In some of these cattle the antibody response was detected late in comparison to the non-vaccinated infected cattle. The test gave results that compared favourably with two commercial ELISA's when used to test sera from cattle, pigs...

  7. A STUDY ON THE ABC APPROACH IN COST MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Violeta ISAI

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available Activity-based costing (ABC, an alternative approach to traditional accounting, represents a costing methodology that identifies the main cost drivers, or the main activities in an organization, thus assigning the cost of the products and services according to the number of specific activities or transactions used in the development process of a product or service. This system is based on the measurement of all the activities performed within an organization and provides the companies with the opportunity to efficiently improve their activity or to reduce the costs with no quality loss for their customers. The primary aim of ABC method was to implement a logical system of additional allocation with a better information and improvement in the field of managerial policies, a real cost structure on the basis of which strategic managerial decisions could be further adopted. Under the terms of a continuous growth of fixed cost weighting, we will become more interested in the calculation system of process costing. This costs calculation method can bring on important benefits, especially for service provider companies, considering the high share of common- indirect costs (overhead, in their unit.

  8. Regionally variant collagen alignment correlates with viscoelastic properties of the disc of the human temporomandibular joint.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gutman, Shawn; Kim, Daniel; Tarafder, Solaiman; Velez, Sergio; Jeong, Julia; Lee, Chang H

    2018-02-01

    To determine the regionally variant quality of collagen alignment in human TMJ discs and its statistical correlation with viscoelastic properties. For quantitative analysis of the quality of collagen alignment, horizontal sections of human TMJ discs with Pricrosirius Red staining were imaged under circularly polarized microscopy. Mean angle and angular deviation of collagen fibers in each region were analyzed using a well-established automated image-processing for angular gradient. Instantaneous and relaxation moduli of each disc region were measured under stress-relaxation test both in tensile and compression. Then Spearman correlation analysis was performed between the angular deviation and the moduli. To understand the effect of glycosaminoglycans on the correlation, TMJ disc samples were treated by chondroitinase ABC (C-ABC). Our imaging processing analysis showed the region-variant direction of collagen alignment, consistently with previous findings. Interestingly, the quality of collagen alignment, not only the directions, was significantly different in between the regions. The angular deviation of fiber alignment in the anterior and intermediate regions were significantly smaller than the posterior region. Medial and lateral regions showed significantly bigger angular deviation than all the other regions. The regionally variant angular deviation values showed statistically significant correlation with the tensile instantaneous modulus and the relaxation modulus, partially dependent on C-ABC treatment. Our findings suggest the region-variant degree of collagen fiber alignment is likely attributed to the heterogeneous viscoelastic properties of TMJ disc that may have significant implications in development of regenerative therapy for TMJ disc. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  9. An ABC for decision making

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Garcia, Luiz Henrique Costa, E-mail: luiz_mogi@yahoo.com.br [Associacao de Medicina Intensiva Brasileira (AMIB), Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Irmandade da Santa Casa de Misericordia de Sao Paulo, SP (Brazil); Ferreira, Bruna Cortez [Hospital de Base de Sao Jose do Rio Preto, SP (Brazil)

    2015-03-15

    The present study was aimed at proposing a systematic evaluation of cranial computed tomography, identifying the main aspects to be analyzed in order to facilitate the decision making process regarding diagnosis and management in emergency settings. The present descriptive study comprised a literature review at the following databases: Access Medicine and Access Emergency Medicine (McGraw-Hill Education); British Medical Journal Evidence Center; UptoDate; Bireme; PubMed; Lilacs; SciELO; ProQuest; Micromedex (Thomson Reuters); Embase. Once the literature review was completed, the authors identified the main diseases with tomographic repercussions and proposed the present system to evaluate cranial computed tomography images. An easy-to-memorize ABC system will facilitate the decision making in emergency settings, as it covers the main diseases encountered by intensivists and emergency physicians, and provides a sequential guidance about anatomical structures to be investigated as well as their respective alterations. (author)

  10. An ABC for decision making

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Garcia, Luiz Henrique Costa; Ferreira, Bruna Cortez

    2015-01-01

    The present study was aimed at proposing a systematic evaluation of cranial computed tomography, identifying the main aspects to be analyzed in order to facilitate the decision making process regarding diagnosis and management in emergency settings. The present descriptive study comprised a literature review at the following databases: Access Medicine and Access Emergency Medicine (McGraw-Hill Education); British Medical Journal Evidence Center; UptoDate; Bireme; PubMed; Lilacs; SciELO; ProQuest; Micromedex (Thomson Reuters); Embase. Once the literature review was completed, the authors identified the main diseases with tomographic repercussions and proposed the present system to evaluate cranial computed tomography images. An easy-to-memorize ABC system will facilitate the decision making in emergency settings, as it covers the main diseases encountered by intensivists and emergency physicians, and provides a sequential guidance about anatomical structures to be investigated as well as their respective alterations. (author)

  11. An ABC for decision making

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Henrique Costa Garcia

    2015-04-01

    Full Text Available The present study was aimed at proposing a systematic evaluation of cranial computed tomography, identifying the main aspects to be analyzed in order to facilitate the decision making process regarding diagnosis and management in emergency settings. The present descriptive study comprised a literature review at the following databases: Access Medicine and Access Emergency Medicine (McGraw- Hill Education; British Medical Journal Evidence Center; UptoDate; Bireme; PubMed; Lilacs; SciELO; ProQuest; Micromedex (Thomson Reuters; Embase. Once the literature review was completed, the authors identified the main diseases with tomographic repercussions and proposed the present system to evaluate cranial computed tomography images. An easy-to-memorize ABC system will facilitate the decision making in emergency settings, as it covers the main diseases encountered by intensivists and emergency physicians, and provides a sequential guidance about anatomical structures to be investigated as well as their respective alterations.

  12. Penerapan Sistem ABC (Activity Based Costing System) Sebagai Alternatif Dasar Pembebanan Biaya Overhead Pabrik (Studi Kasus Pada PT. Wonojati Wijoyo Kediri Jawa Timur)”

    OpenAIRE

    Ahmad Putri, Dian Rahmawati; Saifi, Muhammad; Hidayat, Raden Rustam

    2016-01-01

    The purpose of this study to determine the company's factory overhead charges and to find out the imposition of factory overhead costs using ABC System (Activity Based Costing System).This type of research used in this research is descriptive case study approach. ABC System (Activity Based Costing System) is a way to replace the traditional cost accounting methods have many disadvantages in determining overhead costs ,because in the application of the ABC System (Activity Based Costing System...

  13. The Role of RaxST, a Prokaryotic Sulfotransferase, and RaxABC, a Putative Type I Secretion System, in Activation of the Rice XA21-Mediated Immune Response

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pamela C. Ronald

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Tyrosine sulfation is an important posttranslational modification that determines the outcome of serious diseases in plants and animals. We have recently demonstrated that the plant pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo carries a functional sulfotransferase (RaxST. raxST is required for activation of rice Xa21-mediated immunity indicating the critical, but unknown, function of raxST in mediating the Xoo/rice interaction. The raxST gene resides in the same operon (raxSTAB as components of a predicted type I secretion and processing system (RaxA and RaxB. These observations suggest a model where RaxST sulfates a molecule that contains a leader peptide, which is cleaved by the peptidase domain of the RaxB protein and secreted outside the bacterial cell by the RaxABC T1SS.

  14. Introduction of argon beam coagulation functionality to robotic procedures using the ABC D-Flex probe: equivalency to an existing laparoscopic instrument

    Science.gov (United States)

    Merchel, Renée. A.; Barnes, Kelli S.; Taylor, Kenneth D.

    2015-03-01

    INTRODUCTION: The ABC® D-Flex Probe utilizes argon beam coagulation (ABC) technology to achieve hemostasis during minimally invasive surgery. A handle on the probe allows for integration with robotic surgical systems and introduces ABC to the robotic toolbox. To better understand the utility of D-Flex, this study compares the performance of the D-Flex probe to an existing ABC laparoscopic probe through ex vivo tissue analysis. METHODS: Comparisons were performed to determine the effect of four parameters: ABC device, tissue type, activation duration, and distance from tissue. Ten ABC D-Flex probes were used to create 30 burn samples for each comparison. Ex vivo bovine liver and porcine muscle were used as tissue models. The area and depth of each burn was measured using a light microscope. The resulting dimensional data was used to correlate tissue effect with each variable. RESULTS: D-Flex created burns which were smaller in surface area than the laparoscopic probe at all power levels. Additionally, D-Flex achieved thermal penetration levels equivalent to the laparoscopic probe. CONCLUSION: D-Flex implements a small 7F geometry which creates a more focused beam. When used with robotic precision, quick localized superficial hemostasis can be achieved with minimal collateral damage. Additionally, D-Flex achieved equivalent thermal penetration levels at lower power and argon flow-rate settings than the laparoscopic probe.

  15. The Yeast Plasma Membrane ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) Transporter Aus1

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marek, Magdalena; Milles, Sigrid; Schreiber, Gabriele; Daleke, David L.; Dittmar, Gunnar; Herrmann, Andreas; Müller, Peter; Pomorski, Thomas Günther

    2011-01-01

    The ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter Aus1 is expressed under anaerobic growth conditions at the plasma membrane of the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae and is required for sterol uptake. These observations suggest that Aus1 promotes the translocation of sterols across membranes, but the precise transport mechanism has yet to be identified. In this study, an extraction and purification procedure was developed to characterize the Aus1 transporter. The detergent-solubilized protein was able to bind and hydrolyze ATP. Mutagenesis of the conserved lysine to methionine in the Walker A motif abolished ATP hydrolysis. Likewise, ATP hydrolysis was inhibited by classical inhibitors of ABC transporters. Upon reconstitution into proteoliposomes, the ATPase activity of Aus1 was specifically stimulated by phosphatidylserine (PS) in a stereoselective manner. We also found that Aus1-dependent sterol uptake, but not Aus1 expression and trafficking to the plasma membrane, was affected by changes in cellular PS levels. These results suggest a direct interaction between Aus1 and PS that is critical for the activity of the transporter. PMID:21521689

  16. An Analysis of the Romanian General Accounting Plan. Opportunities for Adaptation to the Activity-Based Costing (ABC Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Irina-Alina Preda

    2008-11-01

    Full Text Available In this article, we analyze the causes that have led to the improvement of the Romanian general accounting plan according to the Activity- Based Costing (ABC method. We explain the advantages presented by the dissociated organization of management accounting, in contrast with the tabular- statistical form. The article also describes the methodological steps to be taken in the process of recording book entries, according to the Activity-Based Costing (ABC method in Romania.

  17. Agreement of manual cell counts and automated counts of the scil Vet abc Plus(+) hematology analyzer for analysis of equine synovial fluid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Van de Water, Eline; Oosterlinck, Maarten; Duchateau, Luc; Pille, Frederik

    2016-06-01

    The purpose of this study was to determine whether the scil Vet abc Plus(+) (SCIL Animal Care Company, Altorf, France), an impedance hematology analyzer, can accurately quantify and differentiate nucleated blood cells (NBCs) in equine synovial fluid. Synovial fluid samples (n=242) in different stages of experimentally induced inflammation were analyzed with and without hyaluronidase pretreatment and compared to manual hemocytometer counts and smear reviews. No significant effect of hyaluronidase pretreatment was observed. Total nucleated cell counts of the scil Vet abc Plus(+) were significantly higher compared to the manual method (P=0.02), yet the difference was small and clinically irrelevant (ratio manual/automated count equal to 0.97 with 95% CI [0.95, 1.00]). Differential cell counts of the scil Vet abc Plus(+) were not accurate. In conclusion, the scil Vet abc Plus(+) hematology analyzer is highly accurate for quantification, but not accurate for differentiation of NBCs in equine synovial fluid. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  18. Effectiveness of Runoff Control Legislation and Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC Waters Design Features in Singapore

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xue Ping Goh

    2017-08-01

    Full Text Available Storm water management in Singapore has always been a challenge due to intense rainfall in a flat, low-lying and urbanised catchment. PUB’s (Singapore’s National Water Agency recent runoff control regulation limits the runoff coefficient to 0.55 for developments larger than or equal to 0.2 ha. The use of Active, Beautiful, Clean (ABC Waters design features are encouraged to attain peak runoff reduction. Hence the paper focuses on (i determining the actual hydrological response regime of Singapore using the relationship between runoff coefficient (C, land use and slope; and (ii investigating the effectiveness of ABC Waters design features in delaying and reducing peak runoff using a modelling approach. Based on a Storm Water Management Model (SWMM model and using elevation, land use and soil data as inputs, the peak C-values were obtained for 50 m × 50 m grid cells. The results show that for the same land use, the one with steeper slope resulted in a higher runoff coefficient. Simulations were carried out in two study areas, Green Walk District and Tengah Subcatchment, where ABC Waters design features (such as porous pavements, green roofs, rain gardens and detention tanks were incorporated to reduce C-values. Results showed that peak C-values can be reduced to less than 0.55 after increasing the green areas and constructing detention facilities. Reduction in peak discharge (22% to 63% and a delay in peak discharge by up to 30 min were also observed. Hence, it is recommended to consider the relationship between slope and land use while determining runoff coefficients; and to incorporate ABC Waters design features in urban design to reduce the peak flow and runoff coefficient (C.

  19. ABC transporters and xenobiotic defense systems in early life stages of rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kropf, Christian; Segner, Helmut; Fent, Karl

    2016-01-01

    Embryos of oviparous fish, in contrast to (ovo) viviparous species, develop in the aquatic environment, and therefore need solute transport systems at their body surfaces for maintaining internal homeostasis and defending against potentially harmful substances. We hypothesized that solute transporters undergo changes in tissue distribution from the embryo to the larval stage. We therefore studied the mRNA profiles of eight ABC transporters (abcb1a, abcb1b, abcc1, abcc2, abcc3, abcc4, abcc5, abcg2) and three solute carriers (oatp1d, putative oatp2 putative, mate1) in different body regions (head, yolk sac epithelium, abdominal viscera, skin/muscles) of developing rainbow trout. Additionally, we investigated mRNA levels of phase I (cyp1a, cyp3a) and phase II (gstp, putative ugt1, putative ugt2) biotransformation enzymes. The study covered the developmental period from the eleuthero-embryo stage to the first-feeding larval stage (1-20days post-hatch, dph). At 1dph, transcripts of abcc2, abcc4, abcg2, cyp3a, gstp, putative mate1, and putative oatp2 occurred primarily in the yolk sac epithelium, whereas at later stages expression of these genes was predominantly observed in the abdominal viscera. The functional activity of ABC transporters in fish early life stages was assessed by rhodamine B accumulation assays. Finally, we investigated the potential impact of xenobiotics (clotrimazole, clofibric acid) on the ABC and biotransformation systems of trout early life stages. While clofibric acid had no effect, clotrimazole lead to an increased rhodamine B accumulation. The results provide evidence that the transition from the eleuthero-embryo to the larval stage is accompanied by a major alteration in tissue expression of ABC transporters. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  20. An operon from Lactobacillus helveticus composed of a proline iminopeptidase gene (pepI) and two genes coding for putative members of the ABC transporter family of proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Varmanen, P; Rantanen, T; Palva, A

    1996-12-01

    A proline iminopeptidase gene (pepI) of an industrial Lactobacillus helveticus strain was cloned and found to be organized in an operon-like structure of three open reading frames (ORF1, ORF2 and ORF3). ORF1 was preceded by a typical prokaryotic promoter region, and a putative transcription terminator was found downstream of ORF3, identified as the pepI gene. Using primer-extension analyses, only one transcription start site, upstream of ORF1, was identifiable in the predicted operon. Although the size of mRNA could not be judged by Northern analysis either with ORF1-, ORF2- or pepI-specific probes, reverse transcription-PCR analyses further supported the operon structure of the three genes. ORF1, ORF2 and ORF3 had coding capacities for 50.7, 24.5 and 33.8 kDa proteins, respectively. The ORF3-encoded PepI protein showed 65% identity with the PepI proteins from Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. lactis. The ORF1-encoded protein had significant homology with several members of the ABC transporter family but, with two distinct putative ATP-binding sites, it would represent an unusual type among the bacterial ABC transporters. ORF2 encoded a putative integral membrane protein also characteristic of the ABC transporter family. The pepI gene was overexpressed in Escherichia coli. Purified PepI hydrolysed only di and tripeptides with proline in the first position. Optimum PepI activity was observed at pH 7.5 and 40 degrees C. A gel filtration analysis indicated that PepI is a dimer of M(r) 53,000. PepI was shown to be a metal-independent serine peptidase having thiol groups at or near the active site. Kinetic studies with proline-p-nitroanilide as substrate revealed Km and Vmax values of 0.8 mM and 350 mmol min-1 mg-1, respectively, and a very high turnover number of 135,000 s-1.

  1. A lower isoelectric point increases signal sequence-mediated secretion of recombinant proteins through a bacterial ABC transporter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Byun, Hyunjong; Park, Jiyeon; Kim, Sun Chang; Ahn, Jung Hoon

    2017-12-01

    Efficient protein production for industrial and academic purposes often involves engineering microorganisms to produce and secrete target proteins into the culture. Pseudomonas fluorescens has a TliDEF ATP-binding cassette transporter, a type I secretion system, which recognizes C-terminal LARD3 signal sequence of thermostable lipase TliA. Many proteins are secreted by TliDEF in vivo when recombined with LARD3, but there are still others that cannot be secreted by TliDEF even when LARD3 is attached. However, the factors that determine whether or not a recombinant protein can be secreted through TliDEF are still unknown. Here, we recombined LARD3 with several proteins and examined their secretion through TliDEF. We found that the proteins secreted via LARD3 are highly negatively charged with highly-acidic isoelectric points (pI) lower than 5.5. Attaching oligo-aspartate to lower the pI of negatively-charged recombinant proteins improved their secretion, and attaching oligo-arginine to negatively-charged proteins blocked their secretion by LARD3. In addition, negatively supercharged green fluorescent protein (GFP) showed improved secretion, whereas positively supercharged GFP did not secrete. These results disclosed that proteins' acidic pI and net negative charge are major factors that determine their secretion through TliDEF. Homology modeling for TliDEF revealed that TliD dimer forms evolutionarily-conserved positively-charged clusters in its pore and substrate entrance site, which also partially explains the pI dependence of the TliDEF-dependent secretions. In conclusion, lowering the isoelectric point improved LARD3-mediated protein secretion, both widening the range of protein targets for efficient production via secretion and signifying an important aspect of ABC transporter-mediated secretions. © 2017 by The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Inc.

  2. Accelerated Blood Clearance (ABC) Phenomenon Favors the Accumulation of Tartar Emetic in Pegylated Liposomes in BALB/c Mice Liver

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lopes, Tamara C. M.; Silva, Débora F.; Costa, Walyson C.; Barichello, José M.; Silva-Barcellos, Neila M.; de Lima, Wanderson G.

    2018-01-01

    Tartar emetic (TE) was the first drug used to treat leishmaniasis. However, its use was discontinued due to high toxicity. Association of TE with liposomes is a strategy to reduce its side effects. Pegylated liposomes (Lpeg) present lower rates of uptake by macrophages and prolonged circulation compared to their nonpegylated counterparts. However, repeated administration of Lpeg can cause an Accelerated Blood Clearance (ABC) phenomenon, whereby recognition of liposomes by antibodies results in faster phagocytosis. This work evaluated the effect of TE administration on histopathological aspects and the effect of the ABC phenomenon on targeting and toxicity in mice. Our results show that treatment with free or liposomal TE had no effect on the erythrocyte count, on liver and spleen weight, and on hepatic, splenic, and cardiac histology in mice. Severe lesions were observed on the kidneys of animals treated with a single dose of free TE. Treatment with TE in Lpeg after induction of ABC phenomenon caused a significant increase in Sb level in the liver without toxicity. Furthermore, mice treated with TE in liposomes showed normal renal histopathology. These results suggest site-specific targeting of Sb to the liver after induction of ABC phenomenon with no toxicity to other organs. PMID:29593857

  3. Accelerated Blood Clearance (ABC Phenomenon Favors the Accumulation of Tartar Emetic in Pegylated Liposomes in BALB/c Mice Liver

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tamara C. M. Lopes

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Tartar emetic (TE was the first drug used to treat leishmaniasis. However, its use was discontinued due to high toxicity. Association of TE with liposomes is a strategy to reduce its side effects. Pegylated liposomes (Lpeg present lower rates of uptake by macrophages and prolonged circulation compared to their nonpegylated counterparts. However, repeated administration of Lpeg can cause an Accelerated Blood Clearance (ABC phenomenon, whereby recognition of liposomes by antibodies results in faster phagocytosis. This work evaluated the effect of TE administration on histopathological aspects and the effect of the ABC phenomenon on targeting and toxicity in mice. Our results show that treatment with free or liposomal TE had no effect on the erythrocyte count, on liver and spleen weight, and on hepatic, splenic, and cardiac histology in mice. Severe lesions were observed on the kidneys of animals treated with a single dose of free TE. Treatment with TE in Lpeg after induction of ABC phenomenon caused a significant increase in Sb level in the liver without toxicity. Furthermore, mice treated with TE in liposomes showed normal renal histopathology. These results suggest site-specific targeting of Sb to the liver after induction of ABC phenomenon with no toxicity to other organs.

  4. Use of the K-ABC with Children in Zaire, Africa: An Evaluation of the Sequential-Simultaneous Processing Distinction within an Intercultural Context.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Giordani, Bruno; And Others

    1996-01-01

    Evaluation of the Kaufman Assessment Battery for Children (K-ABC) with 130 primary school children in Zaire revealed three findings: (1) the distinction between sequential processing and simultaneous processing was valid; (2) the K-ABC discriminated effectively among grade levels, health and family environment variables, and tribal membership; and…

  5. DIRECTIONS OF IMPROVEMENT AND ORGANISATION OF MANAGEMENT ACCOUNTING BASED ON ABC-COSTING METHOD APPLIED IN MOLDOVAN MANUFACTURING ENTITIES

    OpenAIRE

    Svetlana MIHAILA

    2014-01-01

    The purpose of this article is to describe and present the main features of ABC-costing method, as well as the key elements, such as activities, resources and cost drivers. The article enlarges upon the stages of application of such method in the Moldovan manufacturing businesses and brings forth some examples of internal reports used both for a simple analysis and for management decision-making purposes. The article also focuses on a comparison between the traditional costing methods and ABC...

  6. Chondroitin Sulfate Is Indispensable for Pluripotency and Differentiation of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Izumikawa, Tomomi; Sato, Ban; Kitagawa, Hiroshi

    2014-01-01

    Chondroitin sulfate (CS) proteoglycans are present on the surfaces of virtually all cells and in the extracellular matrix and are required for cytokinesis at early developmental stages. Studies have shown that heparan sulfate (HS) is essential for maintaining mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) that are primed for differentiation, whereas the function of CS has not yet been elucidated. To clarify the role of CS, we generated glucuronyltransferase-I-knockout ESCs lacking CS. We found that CS was required to maintain the pluripotency of ESCs and promoted initial ESC commitment to differentiation compared with HS. In addition, CS-A and CS-E polysaccharides, but not CS-C polysaccharides, bound to E-cadherin and enhanced ESC differentiation. Multiple-lineage differentiation was inhibited in chondroitinase ABC-digested wild-type ESCs. Collectively, these results suggest that CS is a novel determinant in controlling the functional integrity of ESCs via binding to E-cadherin.

  7. SU-F-BRB-03: Quantifying Patient Motion During Deep-Inspiration Breath-Hold Using the ABC System with Simultaneous Surface Photogrammetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cheung, Y; Rahimi, A; Sawant, A [UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: Active breathing control (ABC) has been used to reduce treatment margin due to respiratory organ motion by enforcing temporary breath-holds. However, in practice, even if the ABC device indicates constant lung volume during breath-hold, the patient may still exhibit minor chest motion. Consequently, therapists are given a false sense of security that the patient is immobilized. This study aims at quantifying such motion during ABC breath-holds by monitoring the patient chest motion using a surface photogrammetry system, VisionRT. Methods: A female patient with breast cancer was selected to evaluate chest motion during ABC breath-holds. During the entire course of treatment, the patient’s chest surface was monitored by a surface photogrammetry system, VisionRT. Specifically, a user-defined region-of-interest (ROI) on the chest surface was selected for the system to track at a rate of ∼3Hz. The surface motion was estimated by rigid image registration between the current ROI image captured and a reference image. The translational and rotational displacements computed were saved in a log file. Results: A total of 20 fractions of radiation treatment were monitored by VisionRT. After removing noisy data, we obtained chest motion of 79 breath-hold sessions. Mean chest motion in AP direction during breath-holds is 1.31mm with 0.62mm standard deviation. Of the 79 sessions, the patient exhibited motion ranging from 0–1 mm (30 sessions), 1–2 mm (37 sessions), 2–3 mm (11 sessions) and >3 mm (1 session). Conclusion: Contrary to popular assumptions, the patient is not completely still during ABC breath-hold sessions. In this particular case studied, the patient exhibited chest motion over 2mm in 14 out of 79 breath-holds. Underestimating treatment margin for radiation therapy with ABC could reduce treatment effectiveness due to geometric miss or overdose of critical organs. The senior author receives research funding from NIH, VisionRT, Varian Medical Systems

  8. The ABC transporter Tba of Amycolatopsis balhimycina is required for efficient export of the glycopeptide antibiotic balhimycin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Menges, R; Muth, G; Wohlleben, W; Stegmann, E

    2007-11-01

    All known gene clusters for glycopeptide antibiotic biosynthesis contain a conserved gene supposed to encode an ABC-transporter. In the balhimycin-producer Amycolatopsis balhimycina this gene (tba) is localised between the prephenate dehydrogenase gene pdh and the peptide synthetase gene bpsA. Inactivation of tba in A. balhimycina by gene replacement did not interfere with growth and did not affect balhimycin resistance. However, in the supernatant of the tba mutant RM43 less balhimycin was accumulated compared to the wild type; and the intra-cellular balhimycin concentration was ten times higher in the tba mutant RM43 than in the wild type. These data suggest that the ABC transporter encoded in the balhimycin biosynthesis gene cluster is not involved in resistance but is required for the efficient export of the antibiotic. To elucidate the activity of Tba it was heterologously expressed in Escherichia coli with an N-terminal His-tag and purified by nickel chromatography. A photometric assay revealed that His(6)-Tba solubilised in dodecylmaltoside possesses ATPase activity, characteristic for ABC-transporters.

  9. ABC Analysis for Inventory Management: Bridging the Gap between Research and Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ravinder, Handanhal; Misra, Ram B.

    2014-01-01

    ABC analysis is a well-established categorization technique based on the Pareto Principle for determining which items should get priority in the management of a company's inventory. In discussing this topic, today's operations management and supply chain textbooks focus on dollar volume as the sole criterion for performing the categorization. The…

  10. Are lipid rafts involved in ABC transporter-mediated drug resistance of tumor cells?

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Kok, Jan Willem; Klappe, Karin; Hummel, Ina; Kroesen, Bart-Jan; Sietsma, Hannie; Meszaros, Peter

    2008-01-01

    Since their discovery, lipid rafts have been implicated in several cellular functions, including protein transport in polarized cells and signal transduction. Also in multidrug resistance lipid rafts may be important with regard to the localization of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in these

  11. Implementation of activity-based costing (ABC) to drive cost reduction efforts in a semiconductor manufacturing operation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naguib, Hussein; Bol, Igor I.; Lora, J.; Chowdhry, R.

    1994-09-01

    This paper presents a case study on the implementation of ABC to calculate the cost per wafer and to drive cost reduction efforts for a new IC product line. The cost reduction activities were conducted through the efforts of 11 cross-functional teams which included members of the finance, purchasing, technology development, process engineering, equipment engineering, production control, and facility groups. The activities of these cross functional teams were coordinated by a cost council. It will be shown that these activities have resulted in a 57% reduction in the wafer manufacturing cost of the new product line. Factors contributed to successful implementation of an ABC management system are discussed.

  12. Long-term bleeding risk prediction in 'real world' patients with atrial fibrillation: Comparison of the HAS-BLED and ABC-Bleeding risk scores. The Murcia Atrial Fibrillation Project.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Esteve-Pastor, María Asunción; Rivera-Caravaca, José Miguel; Roldan, Vanessa; Vicente, Vicente; Valdés, Mariano; Marín, Francisco; Lip, Gregory Y H

    2017-10-05

    Risk scores in patients with atrial fibrillation (AF) based on clinical factors alone generally have only modest predictive value for predicting high risk patients that sustain events. Biomarkers might be an attractive prognostic tool to improve bleeding risk prediction. The new ABC-Bleeding score performed better than HAS-BLED score in a clinical trial cohort but has not been externally validated. The aim of this study was to analyze the predictive performance of the ABC-Bleeding score compared to HAS-BLED score in an independent "real-world" anticoagulated AF patients with long-term follow-up. We enrolled 1,120 patients stable on vitamin K antagonist treatment. The HAS-BLED and ABC-Bleeding scores were quantified. Predictive values were compared by c-indexes, IDI, NRI, as well as decision curve analysis (DCA). Median HAS-BLED score was 2 (IQR 2-3) and median ABC-Bleeding was 16.5 (IQR 14.3-18.6). After 6.5 years of follow-up, 207 (2.84 %/year) patients had major bleeding events, of which 65 (0.89 %/year) had intracranial haemorrhage (ICH) and 85 (1.17 %/year) had gastrointestinal bleeding events (GIB). The c-index of HAS-BLED was significantly higher than ABC-Bleeding for major bleeding (0.583 vs 0.518; p=0.025), GIB (0.596 vs 0.519; p=0.017) and for the composite of ICH-GIB (0.593 vs 0.527; p=0.030). NRI showed a significant negative reclassification for major bleeding and for the composite of ICH-GIB with the ABC-Bleeding score compared to HAS-BLED. Using DCAs, the use of HAS-BLED score gave an approximate net benefit of 4 % over the ABC-Bleeding score. In conclusion, in the first "real-world" validation of the ABC-Bleeding score, HAS-BLED performed significantly better than the ABC-Bleeding score in predicting major bleeding, GIB and the composite of GIB and ICH.

  13. Functional Diversity of Tandem Substrate-Binding Domains in ABC Transporters from Pathogenic Bacteria

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Fulyani, Faizah; Schuurman-Wolters, Gea K.; Vujicic - Zagar, Andreja; Guskov, Albert; Slotboom, Dirk-Jan; Poolman, Bert

    2013-01-01

    The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter GInPQ is an essential uptake system for amino acids in gram-positive pathogens and related nonpathogenic bacteria. The transporter has tandem substrate-binding domains (SBDs) fused to each transmembrane domain, giving rise to four SBDs per functional

  14. Revisión crítica al ABC y a los "nuevos métodos de costeo"

    OpenAIRE

    Julio Castellanos Elías

    2003-01-01

    En este artículo se presentan los resultados de los trabajos de investigación que sobre ABC se han realizado, así como la reflexión a que me condujo el encontrar algunos textos nacionales que abordan este método de costeo. El método ABC es una herramienta novedosa que permite mayor precisión al determinar costos que el método tradicional. Tiene su aplicación natural en el comercio y en los servicios, aunque también es susceptible de utilizarse en la fabricación; sin embargo, es ne...

  15. Using mass spectrometry for identification of ABC transporters from Xanthomonas citri and mutants expressed in different growth conditions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Faria, J.N.; Balan, A.; Paes Leme, A.F.

    2012-01-01

    Full text: Xanthomonas citri is a phytopathogenic bacterium that infects citrus plants causing significant losses for the economy. In our group, we have focused on the identification and characterization of ABC transport proteins of this bacterium, in order to determinate their function for growth in vitro and in vivo, during infection. ABC transporters represent one of the largest families of proteins, which transport since small molecules as ions up to oligopeptides and sugars. In prokaryotic cells many works have reported the ABC transport function in pathogenesis, resistance, biofilm formation, infectivity and DNA repair, but until our knowledge, there is no data related to these transporters and X. citri. So, In order to determinate which transporters are expressed in X. citri, we started a proteomic analysis based on mono and bi-dimensional gels associated to mass spectrometry analyses. After growing X. citri and two different mutants deleted for ssuA and nitA genes in LB and minimum media, cellular extracts were obtained and used for preparation of mono and bi-dimensional gels. Seven bands covering the expected mass of ABC transporter components (20 kDa to 50 kDa) in SDS-PAGE were cut off the gel, treated with trypsin and submitted to the MS for protein identification. The results of 2D gels were good enough and will serve as a standard for development of similar experiments in large scale. (author)

  16. Cross-site randomized control trial of the Social ABCs caregiver-mediated intervention for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Brian, Jessica A; Smith, Isabel M; Zwaigenbaum, Lonnie; Bryson, Susan E

    2017-10-01

    To evaluate the efficacy of the Social ABCs parent-mediated intervention for toddlers with suspected or confirmed autism spectrum disorder (ASD), through a cross-site randomized control trial, sixty-three parent-toddler dyads (toddler age: 16-30 months) were randomized into treatment (Social ABCs) or control (service-as-usual) conditions. Video data were obtained at three key time-points: Baseline; Post-training (PT; week 12); and Follow-Up (week 24). Analyses included 62 dyads. Treatment allocation significantly accounted for PT gains, all favouring the Treatment group, in (1) child functional vocal responsiveness to parent prompts (R 2  = 0.43, P social orienting (R 2  = 0.06, P = 0.054); gains in parent smiling significantly predicted increases in child smiling and social orienting. Parents in the treatment condition reported significant gains in self-efficacy following the intervention (P = 0.009). No differential effects emerged for performance on standardized measures. The Social ABCs is a relatively low-resource, efficacious intervention, with potential to be a cost-effective means of intervening at the first signs of possible ASD. Autism Res 2017, 10: 1700-1711. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Clinical Trial Title: Social ABCs for Toddlers with Signs of Autism Spectrum Disorder: RCT of a Parent-Mediated Intervention http//ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT02428452. © 2017 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

  17. Class B Gene Expression and the Modified ABC Model in Nongrass Monocots

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Akira Kanno

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available The discovery of the MADS-box genes and the study of model plants such as Arabidopsis thaliana and Antirrhinum majus have greatly improved our understanding of the molecular mechanisms driving the diversity in floral development. The class B genes, which belong to the MADS-box gene family, are important regulators of the development of petals and stamens in flowering plants. Many nongrass monocot flowers have two whorls of petaloid organs, which are called tepals. To explain this floral morphology, the modified ABC model was proposed. This model was exemplified by the tulip, in which expansion and restriction of class B gene expression is linked to the transition of floral morphologies in whorl 1. The expression patterns of class B genes from many monocot species nicely fit this model; however, those from some species, such as asparagus, do not. In this review, we summarize the relationship between class B gene expression and floral morphology in nongrass monocots, such as Liliales (Liliaceae and Asparagales species, and discuss the applicability of the modified ABC model to monocot flowers.

  18. RepA and RepB exert plasmid incompatibility repressing the transcription of the repABC operon.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez-Oseguera, Angeles; Cevallos, Miguel A

    2013-11-01

    Rhizobium etli CFN42 has a multipartite genome composed of one chromosome and six large plasmids with low copy numbers, all belonging to the repABC plasmid family. All elements essential for replication and segregation of these plasmids are encoded within the repABC operon. RepA and RepB direct plasmid segregation and are involved in the transcriptional regulation of the operon, and RepC is the initiator protein of the plasmid. Here we show that in addition to RepA (repressor) and RepB (corepressor), full transcriptional repression of the operon located in the symbiotic plasmid (pRetCFN42d) of this strain requires parS, the centromere-like sequence, and the operator sequence. However, the co-expression of RepA and RepB is sufficient to induce the displacement of the parental plasmid. RepA is a Walker-type ATPase that self associates in vivo and in vitro and binds specifically to the operator region in its RepA-ADP form. In contrast, RepA-ATP is capable of binding to non-specific DNA. RepA and RepB form high molecular weight DNA-protein complexes in the presence of ATP and ADP. RepA carrying ATP-pocket motif mutations induce full repression of the repABC operon without the participation of RepB and parS. These mutants specifically bind the operator sequence in their ATP or ADP bound forms. In addition, their expression in trans exerts plasmid incompatibility against the parental plasmid. RepA and RepB expressed in trans induce plasmid incompatibility because of their ability to repress the repABC operon and not only by their capacity to distort the plasmid segregation process. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. An ABC transporter mutation is correlated with insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac toxin.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linda J Gahan

    2010-12-01

    Full Text Available Transgenic crops producing insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt are commercially successful in reducing pest damage, yet knowledge of resistance mechanisms that threaten their sustainability is incomplete. Insect resistance to the pore-forming Cry1Ac toxin is correlated with the loss of high-affinity, irreversible binding to the mid-gut membrane, but the genetic factors responsible for this change have been elusive. Mutations in a 12-cadherin-domain protein confer some Cry1Ac resistance but do not block this toxin binding in in vitro assays. We sought to identify mutations in other genes that might be responsible for the loss of binding. We employed a map-based cloning approach using a series of backcrosses with 1,060 progeny to identify a resistance gene in the cotton pest Heliothis virescens that segregated independently from the cadherin mutation. We found an inactivating mutation of the ABC transporter ABCC2 that is genetically linked to Cry1Ac resistance and is correlated with loss of Cry1Ac binding to membrane vesicles. ABC proteins are integral membrane proteins with many functions, including export of toxic molecules from the cell, but have not been implicated in the mode of action of Bt toxins before. The reduction in toxin binding due to the inactivating mutation suggests that ABCC2 is involved in membrane integration of the toxin pore. Our findings suggest that ABC proteins may play a key role in the mode of action of Bt toxins and that ABC protein mutations can confer high levels of resistance that could threaten the continued utilization of Bt-expressing crops. However, such mutations may impose a physiological cost on resistant insects, by reducing export of other toxins such as plant secondary compounds from the cell. This weakness could be exploited to manage this mechanism of Bt resistance in the field.

  20. An ABC transporter mutation is correlated with insect resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Cry1Ac toxin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gahan, Linda J; Pauchet, Yannick; Vogel, Heiko; Heckel, David G

    2010-12-16

    Transgenic crops producing insecticidal toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) are commercially successful in reducing pest damage, yet knowledge of resistance mechanisms that threaten their sustainability is incomplete. Insect resistance to the pore-forming Cry1Ac toxin is correlated with the loss of high-affinity, irreversible binding to the mid-gut membrane, but the genetic factors responsible for this change have been elusive. Mutations in a 12-cadherin-domain protein confer some Cry1Ac resistance but do not block this toxin binding in in vitro assays. We sought to identify mutations in other genes that might be responsible for the loss of binding. We employed a map-based cloning approach using a series of backcrosses with 1,060 progeny to identify a resistance gene in the cotton pest Heliothis virescens that segregated independently from the cadherin mutation. We found an inactivating mutation of the ABC transporter ABCC2 that is genetically linked to Cry1Ac resistance and is correlated with loss of Cry1Ac binding to membrane vesicles. ABC proteins are integral membrane proteins with many functions, including export of toxic molecules from the cell, but have not been implicated in the mode of action of Bt toxins before. The reduction in toxin binding due to the inactivating mutation suggests that ABCC2 is involved in membrane integration of the toxin pore. Our findings suggest that ABC proteins may play a key role in the mode of action of Bt toxins and that ABC protein mutations can confer high levels of resistance that could threaten the continued utilization of Bt-expressing crops. However, such mutations may impose a physiological cost on resistant insects, by reducing export of other toxins such as plant secondary compounds from the cell. This weakness could be exploited to manage this mechanism of Bt resistance in the field.

  1. Purification, crystallization and preliminary X-ray diffraction analysis of the putative ABC transporter ATP-binding protein from Thermotoga maritima

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ethayathulla, Abdul S.; Bessho, Yoshitaka; Shinkai, Akeo; Padmanabhan, Balasundaram; Singh, Tej P.; Kaur, Punit; Yokoyama, Shigeyuki

    2008-01-01

    The putative ABC transporter ATP-binding protein TM0222 from T. maritima was cloned, overproduced, purified and crystallized. A complete MAD diffraction data set has been collected to 2.3 Å resolution. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) binding cassette transporters (ABC transporters) are ATP hydrolysis-dependent transmembrane transporters. Here, the overproduction, purification and crystallization of the putative ABC transporter ATP-binding protein TM0222 from Thermotoga maritima are reported. The protein was crystallized in the hexagonal space group P6 4 22, with unit-cell parameters a = b = 148.49, c = 106.96 Å, γ = 120.0°. Assuming the presence of two molecules in the asymmetric unit, the calculated V M is 2.84 Å 3 Da −1 , which corresponds to a solvent content of 56.6%. A three-wavelength MAD data set was collected to 2.3 Å resolution from SeMet-substituted TM0222 crystals. Data sets were collected on the BL38B1 beamline at SPring-8, Japan

  2. Možnosti použitia metódy ABC v systéme nákladového controllingu

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ivan Vereš

    2013-11-01

    Full Text Available The general trend is becoming a growth in overhead costs for the company. If an increasing share of overhead costs, increasing uncertainty timetable by scheduling the cost bases of traditional methods. The article considers the uses and explores the benefits of applying the ABC method for the identification, definition and measurement of costs by type of business activity. ABC method is particularly suitable for companies whose production schedule is diversified if it contains more types of performances, which vary by their size, size of production batches or production technology. The more diversified production program, the greater the uncertainty arising from the use of traditional methods of compiling calculation. When deciding on the introduction of ABC method, an enterprise should also consider their cost structure and especially the share of overhead costs. If an increasing share of overhead costs, increasing uncertainty of allocating costs using bases timetable. This situation is reflected disproportionately high overhead markup used for base courses. The method of compiling costing under sub- activities can significantly reduce this premium, it allows the product to assign a large part of indirect costs through cost determinants in fact as a direct expense. ABC method as a cause of action deemed cost rather than the individual performances. Calculations by this method therefore require expertise in rem over specific activities, practices and processes within the company. After the implementation of ABC methods are detailed and clearly elaborated and described all the activities, operations, processes in the company, their inputs and outputs. Another factor affecting the suitability of applying the method is characteristic of a competitive environment. Strong competition in the sector means that incorrect pricing or mix of business may have very negative consequences. The fierce competition is an increasing need of accurate knowledge of

  3. Hybrid ABC Optimized MARS-Based Modeling of the Milling Tool Wear from Milling Run Experimental Data.

    Science.gov (United States)

    García Nieto, Paulino José; García-Gonzalo, Esperanza; Ordóñez Galán, Celestino; Bernardo Sánchez, Antonio

    2016-01-28

    Milling cutters are important cutting tools used in milling machines to perform milling operations, which are prone to wear and subsequent failure. In this paper, a practical new hybrid model to predict the milling tool wear in a regular cut, as well as entry cut and exit cut, of a milling tool is proposed. The model was based on the optimization tool termed artificial bee colony (ABC) in combination with multivariate adaptive regression splines (MARS) technique. This optimization mechanism involved the parameter setting in the MARS training procedure, which significantly influences the regression accuracy. Therefore, an ABC-MARS-based model was successfully used here to predict the milling tool flank wear (output variable) as a function of the following input variables: the time duration of experiment, depth of cut, feed, type of material, etc . Regression with optimal hyperparameters was performed and a determination coefficient of 0.94 was obtained. The ABC-MARS-based model's goodness of fit to experimental data confirmed the good performance of this model. This new model also allowed us to ascertain the most influential parameters on the milling tool flank wear with a view to proposing milling machine's improvements. Finally, conclusions of this study are exposed.

  4. Heterotopic expression of class B floral homeotic genes supports a modified ABC model for tulip (Tulipa gesneriana).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kanno, Akira; Saeki, Hiroshi; Kameya, Toshiaki; Saedler, Heinz; Theissen, Günter

    2003-07-01

    In higher eudicotyledonous angiosperms the floral organs are typically arranged in four different whorls, containing sepals, petals, stamens and carpels. According to the ABC model, the identity of these organs is specified by floral homeotic genes of class A, A+B, B+C and C, respectively. In contrast to the sepal and petal whorls of eudicots, the perianths of many plants from the Liliaceae family have two outer whorls of almost identical petaloid organs, called tepals. To explain the Liliaceae flower morphology, van Tunen et al. (1993) proposed a modified ABC model, exemplified with tulip. According to this model, class B genes are not only expressed in whorls 2 and 3, but also in whorl 1. Thus the organs of both whorls 1 and 2 express class A plus class B genes and, therefore, get the same petaloid identity. To test this modified ABC model we have cloned and characterized putative class B genes from tulip. Two DEF- and one GLO-like gene were identified, named TGDEFA, TGDEFB and TGGLO. Northern hybridization analysis showed that all of these genes are expressed in whorls 1, 2 and 3 (outer and inner tepals and stamens), thus corroborating the modified ABC model. In addition, these experiments demonstrated that TGGLO is also weakly expressed in carpels, leaves, stems and bracts. Gel retardation assays revealed that TGGLO alone binds to DNA as a homodimer. In contrast, TGDEFA and TGDEFB cannot homodimerize, but make heterodimers with PI. Homodimerization of GLO-like protein has also been reported for lily, suggesting that this phenomenon is conserved within Liliaceae plants or even monocot species.

  5. Psychometric Properties and Norms of the German ABC-Community and PAS-ADD Checklist

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zeilinger, Elisabeth L.; Weber, Germain; Haveman, Meindert J.

    2011-01-01

    Aim: The aim of the present study was to standardize and generate psychometric evidence of the German language versions of two well-established English language mental health instruments: the "Aberrant Behavior Checklist-Community" (ABC-C) and the "Psychiatric Assessment Schedule for Adults with Developmental Disabilities" (PAS-ADD) Checklist. New…

  6. Pre-absorbed immunoproteomics: a novel method for the detection of Streptococcus suis surface proteins.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Zhang

    Full Text Available Streptococcus suis serotype 2 (SS2 is a zoonotic pathogen that can cause infections in pigs and humans. Bacterial surface proteins are often investigated as potential vaccine candidates and biomarkers of virulence. In this study, a novel method for identifying bacterial surface proteins is presented, which combines immunoproteomic and immunoserologic techniques. Critical to the success of this new method is an improved procedure for generating two-dimensional electrophoresis gel profiles of S. suis proteins. The S. suis surface proteins identified in this study include muramidase-released protein precursor (MRP and an ABC transporter protein, while MRP is thought to be one of the main virulence factors in SS2 located on the bacterial surface. Herein, we demonstrate that the ABC transporter protein can bind to HEp-2 cells, which strongly suggests that this protein is located on the bacterial cell surface and may be involved in pathogenesis. An immunofluorescence assay confirmed that the ABC transporter is localized to the bacterial outer surface. This new method may prove to be a useful tool for identifying surface proteins, and aid in the development of new vaccine subunits and disease diagnostics.

  7. Možnosti použitia metódy ABC v systéme nákladového controllingu

    OpenAIRE

    Vereš, Ivan; Bondareva, Irina

    2009-01-01

    The general trend is becoming a growth in overhead costs for the company. If an increasing share of overhead costs, increasing uncertainty timetable by scheduling the cost bases of traditional methods. The article considers the uses and explores the benefits of applying the ABC method for the identification, definition and measurement of costs by type of business activity. ABC method is particularly suitable for companies whose production schedule is diversified if it contains more types of p...

  8. Perineuronal nets increase inhibitory GABAergic currents during the critical period in rats

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zheng-Qin Yin

    2013-04-01

    Full Text Available AIM: To investigate inhibitory γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA ergic postsynaptic currents (IPSCs and postsynaptic currents (PSCs in layer IV of the rat visual cortex during the critical period and when plasticity was extended through dissolution of the perineuronal nets (PNNs.METHODS:We employed 24 normal Long-Evans rats to study GABAA-PSC characteristics of neurons within layer IV of the visual cortex during development. The animals were divided into six groups of four rats according to ages at recording:PW3 (P21-23d, PW4 (P28-30d, PW5 (P35-37d, PW6 (P42-44d, PW7 (P49-51d, and PW8 (56-58d. An additional 24 chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan (CSPG degradation rats (also Long-Evans were generated by making a pattern of injections of chondroitinase ABC (chABC into the visual cortex 1 week prior to recording at PW3, PW4, PW5, PW6, PW7, and PW8. Immunohistochemistry was used to identify the effect of chABC injection on CSPGs. PSCswere detected with whole-cell patch recordings, and GABAA receptor-mediated IPSCs were pharmacologically isolated.RESULTS:IPSC peak current showed a strong rise in the age-matched control group, peaked at PW5 and were maintained at a roughly constant value thereafter. Although there was a small increase in peak current for the chABC group with age, the peak currents continued to decrease with the delayed highest value at PW6, resulting in significantly different week-by-week comparison with normal development. IPSC decay time continued to increase until PW7 in the control group, while those in the chABC group were maintained at a stable level after an initial increase at PW4. Compared with normal rats, the decay times recorded in the chABC rats were always shorter, which differed significantly at each age. We did not observe any differences in IPSC properties between the age-matched control and penicillinase (P-ase group.However, the change in IPSCs after chABC treatment was not reflected in the total PSCs or in basic membrane

  9. Salinomycin overcomes ABC transporter-mediated multidrug and apoptosis resistance in human leukemia stem cell-like KG-1a cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Fuchs, Dominik; Daniel, Volker; Sadeghi, Mahmoud; Opelz, Gerhard; Naujokat, Cord

    2010-01-01

    Leukemia stem cells are known to exhibit multidrug resistance by expression of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters which constitute transmembrane proteins capable of exporting a wide variety of chemotherapeutic drugs from the cytosol. We show here that human promyeloblastic leukemia KG-1a cells exposed to the histone deacetylase inhibitor phenylbutyrate resemble many characteristics of leukemia stem cells, including expression of functional ABC transporters such as P-glycoprotein, BCRP and MRP8. Consequently, KG-1a cells display resistance to the induction of apoptosis by various chemotherapeutic drugs. Resistance to apoptosis induction by chemotherapeutic drugs can be reversed by cyclosporine A, which effectively inhibits the activity of P-glycoprotein and BCRP, thus demonstrating ABC transporter-mediated drug resistance in KG-1a cells. However, KG-1a are highly sensitive to apoptosis induction by salinomycin, a polyether ionophore antibiotic that has recently been shown to kill human breast cancer stem cell-like cells and to induce apoptosis in human cancer cells displaying multiple mechanisms of drug and apoptosis resistance. Whereas KG-1a cells can be adapted to proliferate in the presence of apoptosis-inducing concentrations of bortezomib and doxorubicin, salinomycin does not permit long-term adaptation of the cells to apoptosis-inducing concentrations. Thus, salinomycin should be regarded as a novel and effective agent for the elimination of leukemia stem cells and other tumor cells exhibiting ABC transporter-mediated multidrug resistance.

  10. THE IMPACT OF ACQUISITION ON FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE OF PT. ABC

    OpenAIRE

    Novian Zen; Noer Azam Achsani; Trias Andati

    2016-01-01

    This study aimed to analyze the financial performance of the subsidiary company (PT ABC) before and after acquired by the holding company (PT XYZ). The examined ratios of the financial performance were profitability and capital structure for the period of 2010-2014. This study utilized the t test tool. In the first and second year after the acquisition, the result shows that with the existence of business synergy, there was a change in financial performance although it was insignificant. Furt...

  11. Chemiluminescence Immunoassay for the Detection of Antibodies against the 2C and 3ABC Nonstructural Proteins Induced by Infecting Pigs with Foot-and-Mouth Disease Virus.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Zezhong; Shao, Junjun; Zhao, Furong; Zhou, Guangqing; Gao, Shandian; Liu, Wei; Lv, Jianliang; Li, Xiumei; Li, Yangfan; Chang, Huiyun; Zhang, Yongguang

    2017-08-01

    The potential diagnostic value of chemiluminescence immunoassays (CLIAs) has been accepted in recent years, although their use for foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) diagnostics has not been reported. Full-length 3ABC and 2C proteins were expressed in bacteria and purified by affinity chromatography to develop a rapid and accurate approach to distinguish pigs infected with foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) from vaccinated pigs. The recombinant proteins were then used as antigens to develop two CLIAs for the detection of antibodies against nonstructural viral proteins. The diagnostic performance of the two assays was compared by analyzing serum from pigs (naive pigs, n = 63; vaccinated, uninfected pigs, n = 532; naive, infected pigs, n = 117) with a known infection status. The 3ABC-2C CLIA had a higher accuracy rate, with a diagnostic sensitivity of 100% and a diagnostic specificity of 96.5%, than the 3ABC CLIA, which had a diagnostic sensitivity of 95.7% and a diagnostic specificity of 96.0%. The results of the 3ABC-2C CLIA also had a high rate of concordance with those of two commercial FMDV enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) kits used to assess serum collected from 962 pigs in the field (96.2% and 97.8%, respectively). The 3ABC-2C CLIA detected infection in serum samples from infected pigs earlier than the commercial ELISA kits. In addition, the 3ABC-2C CLIA produced results within 15 min. On the basis of these findings, the 3ABC-2C CLIA could serve as the foundation for the development of penside FMD diagnostics and offers an alternative method to detect FMDV infections. Copyright © 2017 American Society for Microbiology.

  12. Reflexiones sobre 'Abc republicano', a través de su director, Elfidio Alonso Rodríguez

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lic. María Gabino Campos

    1999-01-01

    Full Text Available 'Abc republicano' nació y murió en consonancia con las vicisitudes de la causa que servía y siempre a la hora de citar periódicos de la época de la segunda República surgen con preferencia estas tres primeras letras del abecedario. En este trabajo se pretende dar la visión de su director, don Elfidio Alonso Rodríguez, sobre el cambio de signo ideológico del diario Abc durante la guerra civil en su edición de Madrid. Para ello, se toma en cuenta una entrevista minuciosa realizada a su persona durante el mes de enero de 1999 y la bibliografía de las publicaciones que tratan el tema.

  13. Using single-case experimental design methodology to evaluate the effects of the ABC method for nursing staff on verbal aggressive behaviour after acquired brain injury.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Winkens, Ieke; Ponds, Rudolf; Pouwels, Climmy; Eilander, Henk; van Heugten, Caroline

    2014-01-01

    The ABC method is a basic and simplified form of behavioural modification therapy for use by nurses. ABC refers to the identification of Antecedent events, target Behaviours, and Consequent events. A single-case experimental AB design was used to evaluate the effects of the ABC method on a woman diagnosed with olivo-ponto-cerebellar ataxia. Target behaviour was verbal aggressive behaviour during ADL care, assessed at 9 time points immediately before implementation of the ABC method and at 36 time points after implementation. A randomisation test showed a significant treatment effect between the baseline and intervention phases (t = .58, p = .03; ES [Nonoverlap All Pairs] = .62). Visual analysis, however, showed that the target behaviour was still present after implementation of the method and that on some days the nurses even judged the behaviour to be more severe than at baseline. Although the target behaviour was still present after treatment, the ABC method seems to be a promising tool for decreasing problem behaviour in patients with acquired brain injury. It is worth investigating the effects of this method in future studies. When interpreting single-subject data, both visual inspection and statistical analysis are needed to determine whether treatment is effective and whether the effects lead to clinically desirable results.

  14. The Adc/Lmb System Mediates Zinc Acquisition in Streptococcus agalactiae and Contributes to Bacterial Growth and Survival.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moulin, Pauline; Patron, Kévin; Cano, Camille; Zorgani, Mohamed Amine; Camiade, Emilie; Borezée-Durant, Elise; Rosenau, Agnès; Mereghetti, Laurent; Hiron, Aurélia

    2016-12-15

    The Lmb protein of Streptococcus agalactiae is described as an adhesin that binds laminin, a component of the human extracellular matrix. In this study, we revealed a new role for this protein in zinc uptake. We also identified two Lmb homologs, AdcA and AdcAII, redundant binding proteins that combine with the AdcCB translocon to form a zinc-ABC transporter. Expression of this transporter is controlled by the zinc concentration in the medium through the zinc-dependent regulator AdcR. Triple deletion of lmb, adcA, and adcAII, or that of the adcCB genes, impaired growth and cell separation in a zinc-restricted environment. Moreover, we found that this Adc zinc-ABC transporter promotes S. agalactiae growth and survival in some human biological fluids, suggesting that it contributes to the infection process. These results indicated that zinc has biologically vital functions in S. agalactiae and that, under the conditions tested, the Adc/Lmb transporter constitutes the main zinc acquisition system of the bacterium. A zinc transporter, composed of three redundant binding proteins (Lmb, AdcA, and AdcAII), was characterized in Streptococcus agalactiae This system was shown to be essential for bacterial growth and morphology in zinc-restricted environments, including human biological fluids. Copyright © 2016, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

  15. Polymorphisms in ABC transporter genes and concentrations of mercury in newborns--evidence from two Mediterranean birth cohorts.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Sabrina Llop

    Full Text Available The genetic background may influence methylmercury (MeHg metabolism and neurotoxicity. ATP binding cassette (ABC transporters actively transport various xenobiotics across biological membranes.To investigate the role of ABC polymorphisms as modifiers of prenatal exposure to MeHg.The study population consisted of participants (n = 1651 in two birth cohorts, one in Italy and Greece (PHIME and the other in Spain (INMA. Women were recruited during pregnancy in Italy and Spain, and during the perinatal period in Greece. Total mercury concentrations were measured in cord blood samples by atomic absorption spectrometry. Maternal fish intake during pregnancy was determined from questionnaires. Polymorphisms (n = 5 in the ABC genes ABCA1, ABCB1, ABCC1 and ABCC2 were analysed in both cohorts.ABCB1 rs2032582, ABCC1 rs11075290, and ABCC2 rs2273697 modified the associations between maternal fish intake and cord blood mercury concentrations. The overall interaction coefficient between rs2032582 and log2-transformed fish intake was negative for carriers of GT (β = -0.29, 95%CI -0.47, -0.12 and TT (β = -0.49, 95%CI -0.71, -0.26 versus GG, meaning that for a doubling in fish intake of the mothers, children with the rs2032582 GG genotype accumulated 35% more mercury than children with TT. For rs11075290, the interaction coefficient was negative for carriers of TC (β = -0.12, 95%CI -0.33, 0.09, and TT (β = -0.28, 95%CI -0.51, -0.06 versus CC. For rs2273697, the interaction coefficient was positive when combining GA+AA (β = 0.16, 95%CI 0.01, 0.32 versus GG.The ABC transporters appear to play a role in accumulation of MeHg during early development.

  16. A MULTIPLE TESTING OF THE ABC METHOD AND THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SECOND-GENERATION MODEL. PART II, TEST RESULTS AND AN ANALYSIS OF RECALL RATIO.

    Science.gov (United States)

    ALTMANN, BERTHOLD

    AFTER A BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE TEST PROGRAM (DESCRIBED MORE FULLY IN LI 000 318), THE STATISTICAL RESULTS TABULATED AS OVERALL "ABC (APPROACH BY CONCEPT)-RELEVANCE RATIOS" AND "ABC-RECALL FIGURES" ARE PRESENTED AND REVIEWED. AN ABSTRACT MODEL DEVELOPED IN ACCORDANCE WITH MAX WEBER'S "IDEALTYPUS" ("DIE OBJEKTIVITAET…

  17. Chondroitin sulfate addition to CD44H negatively regulates hyaluronan binding

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ruffell, Brian; Johnson, Pauline

    2005-01-01

    CD44 is a widely expressed cell adhesion molecule that binds hyaluronan, an extracellular matrix glycosaminoglycan, in a tightly regulated manner. This regulated interaction has been implicated in inflammation and tumor metastasis. CD44 exists in the standard form, CD44H, or as higher molecular mass isoforms due to alternative splicing. Here, we identify serine 180 in human CD44H as the site of chondroitin sulfate addition and show that lack of chondroitin sulfate addition at this site enhances hyaluronan binding by CD44. A CD44H-immunoglobulin fusion protein expressed in HEK293 cells, and CD44H expressed in murine L fibroblast cells were modified by chondroitin sulfate, as determined by reduced sulfate incorporation after chondroitinase ABC treatment. Mutation of serine 180 or glycine 181 in CD44H reduced chondroitin sulfate addition and increased hyaluronan binding, indicating that serine 180 is the site for chondroitin sulfate addition in CD44H and that this negatively regulates hyaluronan binding

  18. Rv2477c is an antibiotic-sensitive manganese-dependent ABC-F ATPase in Mycobacterium tuberculosis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Daniel, Jaiyanth; Abraham, Liz; Martin, Amanda; Pablo, Xyryl; Reyes, Shelby

    2018-01-01

    The Rv2477c protein of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) belongs to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) subfamily F that contains proteins with tandem nucleotide-binding domains but lacking transmembrane domains. ABC-F subfamily proteins have been implicated in diverse cellular processes such as translation, antibiotic resistance, cell growth and nutrient sensing. In order to investigate the biochemical characteristics of Rv2477c, we expressed it in Escherichia coli, purified it and characterized its enzymatic functions. We show that Rv2477c displays strong ATPase activity (V max  = 45.5 nmol/mg/min; K m  = 90.5 μM) that is sensitive to orthovanadate. The ATPase activity was maximal in the presence of Mn 2+ at pH 5.2. The Rv2477c protein was also able to hydrolyze GTP, TTP and CTP but at lower rates. Glutamate to glutamine substitutions at amino acid residues 185 and 468 in the two Walker B motifs of Rv2477c severely inhibited its ATPase activity. The antibiotics tetracycline and erythromycin, which target protein translation, were able to inhibit the ATPase activity of Rv2477c. We postulate that Rv2477c could be involved in mycobacterial protein translation and in resistance to tetracyclines and macrolides. This is the first report of the biochemical characterization of an ABC-F subfamily protein in Mtb. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  19. Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of reactor and weapons plutonium

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jensen, R.J.; Trapp, T.J.; Arthur, E.D.; Bowman, C.D.; Davidson, J.W.; Linford, R.K.

    1993-06-01

    An accelerator-based conversion (ABC) system is presented that is capable of rapidly burning plutonium in a low-inventory sub-critical system. The system also returns fission power to the grid and transmutes troublesome long-lived fission products to short lived or stable products. Higher actinides are totally fissioned. The system is suited not only to controlled, rapid burning of excess weapons plutonium, but to the long range application of eliminating or drastically reducing the world total inventory of plutonium. Deployment of the system will require the successful resolution of a broad range of technical issues introduced in the paper.

  20. Accelerator-based conversion (ABC) of reactor and weapons plutonium

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jensen, R.J.; Trapp, T.J.; Arthur, E.D.; Bowman, C.D.; Davidson, J.W.; Linford, R.K.

    1993-01-01

    An accelerator-based conversion (ABC) system is presented that is capable of rapidly burning plutonium in a low-inventory sub-critical system. The system also returns fission power to the grid and transmutes troublesome long-lived fission products to short lived or stable products. Higher actinides are totally fissioned. The system is suited not only to controlled, rapid burning of excess weapons plutonium, but to the long range application of eliminating or drastically reducing the world total inventory of plutonium. Deployment of the system will require the successful resolution of a broad range of technical issues introduced in the paper

  1. Insect Resistance to Bacillus thuringiensis Toxin Cry2Ab Is Conferred by Mutations in an ABC Transporter Subfamily A Protein.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wee Tek Tay

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available The use of conventional chemical insecticides and bacterial toxins to control lepidopteran pests of global agriculture has imposed significant selection pressure leading to the rapid evolution of insecticide resistance. Transgenic crops (e.g., cotton expressing the Bt Cry toxins are now used world wide to control these pests, including the highly polyphagous and invasive cotton bollworm Helicoverpa armigera. Since 2004, the Cry2Ab toxin has become widely used for controlling H. armigera, often used in combination with Cry1Ac to delay resistance evolution. Isolation of H. armigera and H. punctigera individuals heterozygous for Cry2Ab resistance in 2002 and 2004, respectively, allowed aspects of Cry2Ab resistance (level, fitness costs, genetic dominance, complementation tests to be characterised in both species. However, the gene identity and genetic changes conferring this resistance were unknown, as was the detailed Cry2Ab mode of action. No cross-resistance to Cry1Ac was observed in mutant lines. Biphasic linkage analysis of a Cry2Ab-resistant H. armigera family followed by exon-primed intron-crossing (EPIC marker mapping and candidate gene sequencing identified three independent resistance-associated INDEL mutations in an ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC transporter gene we named HaABCA2. A deletion mutation was also identified in the H. punctigera homolog from the resistant line. All mutations truncate the ABCA2 protein. Isolation of further Cry2Ab resistance alleles in the same gene from field H. armigera populations indicates unequal resistance allele frequencies and the potential for Bt resistance evolution. Identification of the gene involved in resistance as an ABC transporter of the A subfamily adds to the body of evidence on the crucial role this gene family plays in the mode of action of the Bt Cry toxins. The structural differences between the ABCA2, and that of the C subfamily required for Cry1Ac toxicity, indicate differences in the

  2. DYNAMIC ABC STORAGE POLICY IN ERRATIC DEMAND ENVIRONMENTS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Benjamin Pierre

    2003-01-01

    Full Text Available The paper describes a dynamic variant of the traditional ABC storage policy. The variant is to be used in manual order picking warehouses where SKUs experience a rather unstable demand. Its objective is to reduce the order picking time. It mainly consists in shifting items between the storage areas A, B and C according to the way their daily number of order lines changes. A few case studies based on computer simulations have shown that this variant can yield interesting time savings if its parameters are chosen with care. One of those case studies is presented in this paper. Because of the pioneering nature of this variant, some ideas for further research are also sketched.

  3. Classificação ABC dos materiais: uma ferramenta gerencial de custos em enfermagem Clasificación ABC de materiales: una herramienta gerencial de costos en enfermería ABC supplies classification: a managment tool of costs in nursing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Karina Gomes Lourenço

    2006-02-01

    Full Text Available A implementação de sistemas que auxiliam no gerenciamento de custos é importante para a área de saúde, quando visa contenção de gastos e melhoria da qualidade do serviço. A classificação ABC dos materiais é uma estratégia aplicada para controle de gastos com estoque. A finalidade deste estudo é conhecer o perfil dos gastos com material de consumo do Hospital Universitário da Universidade de São Paulo no período de um ano. Trata-se de um estudo exploratório-descritivo com análise quantitativa dos dados. Dos 1938 materiais classificados, 67 itens foram Classe A, que correspondem aos materiais com maiores custos para o hospital. 31,3% destes itens correspondem a materiais assistenciais, mais utilizados pela equipe de enfermagem.La implementación de los sistemas que auxilian en la gerencia de costos es importante para la área del servicio médico, por la contención de costos y mejoría de la calida de los servicios. La clasificación ABC de los materiales es una estrategia aplicada para el control de costos del inventario. La finalidad del trabajo es conocer el perfil de costos con materiales de consumo del Hospital Universitario de la Universidad de São Paulo en el periodo de uno año. Consiste en un análisis cuantitativo de exploratorio-descriptivo de los datos. De los 1938 materiales clasificados, 67 ítems fueron Classe A, que corresponden a los materiales de mayores costos para el hospital. 31.3% de los ítems corresponden a los materiales asistenciales, mas utilizados por el equipo de enfermera.The implementation of costs management systems has been extremely helpful to healthcare area owing to their efficacy in cutting expenditures as well as improving service quality. The ABC classification is an applied strategy to stocktaking and control. The research, which consists of an exploratory/descriptive quantitative analysis, has been carried out in order to identify, in a year time period, the demand for supplies at

  4. Design of the storage location based on the ABC analyses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jemelka, Milan; Chramcov, Bronislav; Kříž, Pavel

    2016-06-01

    The paper focuses on process efficiency and saving storage costs. Maintaining inventory through putaway strategy takes personnel time and costs money. The aim is to control inventory in the best way. The ABC classification based on Villefredo Pareto theory is used for a design of warehouse layout. New design of storage location reduces the distance of fork-lifters, total costs and it increases inventory process efficiency. The suggested solutions and evaluation of achieved results are described in detail. Proposed solutions were realized in real warehouse operation.

  5. Activity Based Costing (ABC as an Approach to Optimize Purchasing Performance in Hospitality Industry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Mohamed S. El-Deeb

    2011-07-01

    Full Text Available ABC (Activity Based Costing system has proved success in both products and services. The researchers propose using a new model through the application of ABC approach that can be implemented in purchasing department as one of the most dynamic departments in service sector to optimize purchasing activities performance. The researchers propose purchasing measures, targeting customers’ loyalty ensuring the continuous flow of supplies. The researchers used the questionnaire as a tool of data collection method for verifying the hypothesis of the research. Data obtained was analyzed by using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS. The results of the research based on limited survey that have been distributed to number of hotels in Great Cairo region. Our research was targeting three hundred purchasing manager and staff through five star hotels. It is recognized that further research is necessary to establish the exact nature of the causal linkages between proposed performance measures and strategic intent in order to gain insights into practice elsewhere.

  6. Analysis of an ATP-induced conformational transition of ABC transporter MsbA using a coarse-grained model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arai, Naoki; Furuta, Tadaomi; Sakurai, Minoru

    2017-01-01

    Upon the binding of ATP molecules to nucleotide binding domains (NBDs), ATP-binding cassette (ABC) exporters undergo a conformational transition from an inward-facing (IF) to an outward-facing (OF) state. This molecular event is a typical example of chemo-mechanical coupling. However, the underlying mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we analyzed the IF→OF transition of a representative ABC exporter, MsbA, by solving the equation of motion under an elastic network model (ENM). ATP was represented as a single node in ENM or replaced by external forces. When two ATP nodes were added to the ENM of the IF state protein, the two NBDs dimerized; subsequently, the two transmembrane domains opened toward the extracellular side, resulting in the formation of the OF structure. Such a conformational transition was also reproduced by applying external forces, which caused the rotational motion of the NBDs instead of the addition of ATP nodes. The process of the conformational transition was analyzed in detail using cross-correlation maps for node-node interactions. More importantly, it was revealed that the ATP binding energy is converted into distortion energy of several transmembrane helices. These results are useful for understanding the chemo-mechanical coupling in ABC transporters.

  7. Hybrid artificial bee colony algorithm for parameter optimization of five-parameter bidirectional reflectance distribution function model.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qianqian; Zhao, Jing; Gong, Yong; Hao, Qun; Peng, Zhong

    2017-11-20

    A hybrid artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm inspired by the best-so-far solution and bacterial chemotaxis was introduced to optimize the parameters of the five-parameter bidirectional reflectance distribution function (BRDF) model. To verify the performance of the hybrid ABC algorithm, we measured BRDF of three kinds of samples and simulated the undetermined parameters of the five-parameter BRDF model using the hybrid ABC algorithm and the genetic algorithm, respectively. The experimental results demonstrate that the hybrid ABC algorithm outperforms the genetic algorithm in convergence speed, accuracy, and time efficiency under the same conditions.

  8. El tratamiento de la monarquía española en Internet. Géneros informativos y comentarios en ABC.es y ELPAÍS.com (2009-2011

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daniel Barredo Ibáñez

    2013-05-01

    Full Text Available Los comentarios de los usuarios, según Masip, Ruiz y Micó (2012, son una de las principales formas de participación en los cibermedios. A través de los comentarios el investigador puede medir variable difícilmente cuantificables en la prensa en papel, como por ejemplo los niveles de expectación que suscitan unos contenidos y otros. Pero es que los comentarios asimismo revelan la existencia de una mayor interpretación del concepto habermasiano de opinión pública. Los géneros informativos, por otra parte, tienden a definir los rasgos estructurales a través de los cuales se organiza la información. En este artículo, mediante el análisis de casi cuatro mil contenidos publicados en ABC.es y ELPAIS.com entre 2009 y 2011 alusivos a Juan Carlos I, confirmamos la hipótesis de partida según la cual una estrategia de comunicación de la Corona basada en la persuasión, tiende a generar una menor expectación en el ciberespacio que otra estrategia vinculada a valores informativos. En por ello que se aconseja a la corona, para comunicar en Internet, anclarse a valores informativos, dentro de un eje de responsabilidad, seriedad y transparencia.

  9. ATP-induced conformational changes of nucleotide-binding domains in an ABC transporter. Importance of the water-mediated entropic force.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hayashi, Tomohiko; Chiba, Shuntaro; Kaneta, Yusuke; Furuta, Tadaomi; Sakurai, Minoru

    2014-11-06

    ATP binding cassette (ABC) proteins belong to a superfamily of active transporters. Recent experimental and computational studies have shown that binding of ATP to the nucleotide binding domains (NBDs) of ABC proteins drives the dimerization of NBDs, which, in turn, causes large conformational changes within the transmembrane domains (TMDs). To elucidate the active substrate transport mechanism of ABC proteins, it is first necessary to understand how the NBD dimerization is driven by ATP binding. In this study, we selected MalKs (NBDs of a maltose transporter) as a representative NBD and calculated the free-energy change upon dimerization using molecular mechanics calculations combined with a statistical thermodynamic theory of liquids, as well as a method to calculate the translational, rotational, and vibrational entropy change. This combined method is applied to a large number of snapshot structures obtained from molecular dynamics simulations containing explicit water molecules. The results suggest that the NBD dimerization proceeds with a large gain of water entropy when ATP molecules bind to the NBDs. The energetic gain arising from direct NBD-NBD interactions is canceled by the dehydration penalty and the configurational-entropy loss. ATP hydrolysis induces a loss of the shape complementarity between the NBDs, which leads to the dissociation of the dimer, due to a decrease in the water-entropy gain and an increase in the configurational-entropy loss. This interpretation of the NBD dimerization mechanism in concert with ATP, especially focused on the water-mediated entropy force, is potentially applicable to a wide variety of the ABC transporters.

  10. Elucidation of Operon Structures across Closely Related Bacterial Genomes

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Guojun

    2014-01-01

    About half of the protein-coding genes in prokaryotic genomes are organized into operons to facilitate co-regulation during transcription. With the evolution of genomes, operon structures are undergoing changes which could coordinate diverse gene expression patterns in response to various stimuli during the life cycle of a bacterial cell. Here we developed a graph-based model to elucidate the diversity of operon structures across a set of closely related bacterial genomes. In the constructed graph, each node represents one orthologous gene group (OGG) and a pair of nodes will be connected if any two genes, from the corresponding two OGGs respectively, are located in the same operon as immediate neighbors in any of the considered genomes. Through identifying the connected components in the above graph, we found that genes in a connected component are likely to be functionally related and these identified components tend to form treelike topology, such as paths and stars, corresponding to different biological mechanisms in transcriptional regulation as follows. Specifically, (i) a path-structure component integrates genes encoding a protein complex, such as ribosome; and (ii) a star-structure component not only groups related genes together, but also reflects the key functional roles of the central node of this component, such as the ABC transporter with a transporter permease and substrate-binding proteins surrounding it. Most interestingly, the genes from organisms with highly diverse living environments, i.e., biomass degraders and animal pathogens of clostridia in our study, can be clearly classified into different topological groups on some connected components. PMID:24959722

  11. A description of the apparatus to be used in interaction experiments with the ABC laser system

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Caruso, A.; Strangio, M.; Andreoli, P.L.; Cerioni, I.; Di Paolo, A.; Di Virgilio, L.

    1988-01-01

    This report contains the part of the Frascati Laboratorio Fusione Laser activity related to the Apparatus (target chamber, position and alignement system, diagnostics) to be used in the interaction experiments with the ABC laser system

  12. Análisis de los problemas que genera la implementación del costeo ABC. Caso: empresa BHA S.A.

    OpenAIRE

    Vázquez Páez, Dayana Karina

    2010-01-01

    Esta investigación busca mejorar la gestión de costos analizando la posibilidad de implementar un modelo de costeo ABC en la empresa BHA S.A., e identificar las dificultades que se pueden presentar al implementarlo. A lo largo del desarrollo de esta tesis se relacionan los conceptos teóricos con la realidad de esta Compañía, para descubrir las particularidades que puede presentar una implementación de costeo ABC en una empresa de este tipo. En este proceso se busca también...

  13. A putative ABC transporter is involved in negative regulation of biofilm formation by Listeria monocytogenes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Zhu, Xinna; Long, Fei; Chen, Yonghui

    2008-01-01

    Listeria monocytogenes may persist for long periods in food processing environments. In some instances, this may be due to aggregation or biofilm formation. To investigate the mechanism controlling biofilm formation in the food-borne pathogen L. monocytogenes, we characterized LM-49, a mutant...... with enhanced ability of biofilm-formation generated via transposon Tn917 mutagenesis of L. monocytogenes 4b G. In this mutant, a Tn917 insertion has disrupted the coding region of the gene encoding a putative ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporter permease identical to Lmof2365_1771 (a putative ABC...... the same amount of biofilm biomass as the wild-type strain. Furthermore, transcription of the downstream lm.G_1770 was not influenced by the upstream Tn917 insertion, and the presence of Tn917 has no effect on biofilm formation. These results suggest that lm.G_1771 was solely responsible for the negative...

  14. Potential role of ABC-assisted repositories in U.S. plutonium and high-level waste disposition

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Berwald, D.; Favale, A.; Myers, T. [Grumman Aerospace Corporation, Bethpage, NY (United States)] [and others

    1995-10-01

    This paper characterizes the issues involving deep geologic disposal of LWR spent fuel rods, then presents results of an investigation to quantify the potential role of Accelerator-Based Conversion (ABC) in an integrated national nuclear materials and high level waste disposition strategy. The investigation used the deep geological repository envisioned for Yucca Mt., Nevada as a baseline and considered complementary roles for integrated ABC transmutation systems. The results indicate that although a U.S. geologic waste repository will continue to be required, waste partitioning and accelerator transmutation of plutonium, the minor actinides, and selected long-lived fission products can result in the following substantial benefits: plutonium burndown to near zero levels, a dramatic reduction of the long term hazard associated with geologic repositories, an ability to place several-fold more high level nuclear waste in a single repository, electricity sales to compensate for capital and operating costs.

  15. Pengembangan Strategi PT ABC Niaga di Industri Distribusi Gas

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Auguar Auguar

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to analyze the development strategy of PT ABC Niaga in gas distribution industry. This study uses IFE and EFE Matrix, analysis SWOT matrix and QSPM. Prior to the analysis of the development of the strategy, first performed project feasibility analysis in the development plans of the city gas network from the aspects of company expenditure using capital budgeting. Then analyzed factors internal and external affecting business performance, SWOT analysis and formulated alternatives for the development of business strategies and their order of priority using QSPM. Analysis of internal and external factors each have a score of 2,541 and 3,261. QSPM matrix analysis shows that the strategy of "aggressive market penetration by expanding city gas area into potential region with high commercial activities" has the highest TAS value 10.943.Keywords: gas distribution industry, IFE, EFE, SWOT, QSPMAbstrak: Penelitian ini bertujuan menganalisis pengembangan strategi PT ABC Niaga di industri distribusi gas. Penelitian ini menggunakan Matriks IFE dan EFE, analisis SWOT, dan QSPM. Sebelum dilakukan analisis pengembangan strategi, terlebih dahulu dilakukan analisis kelayakan proyek dalam rencana pengembangan jaringan gas kota dari aspek pembelanjaan perusahaan dengan menggunakan metode capital budgeting. Selanjutnya dianalisis faktor-faktor internal dan eksternal yang memengaruhi kinerja bisnis dengan analisis SWOT dan dirumuskan alternatif-alternatif strategi untuk pengembangan bisnis beserta urutan prioritasnya dengan menggunakan metode QSPM. Analisis faktor internal dan eksternal masing-masing memiliki skor 2,541 dan 3,261. Analisis matriks QSPM menunjukkan bahwa strategi "penetrasi pasar secara agresif dengan memperluas area gas kota di wilayah yang potensial dengan aktivitas komersial yang tinggi" memiliki nilai TAS tertinggi 10.943.Kata kunci: industri distribusi gas, IFE, EFE, SWOT, QSPM

  16. Structural Diversification of Lyngbyatoxin A by Host-Dependent Heterologous Expression of the tleABC Biosynthetic Gene Cluster.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Lihan; Hoshino, Shotaro; Awakawa, Takayoshi; Wakimoto, Toshiyuki; Abe, Ikuro

    2016-08-03

    Natural products have enormous structural diversity, yet little is known about how such diversity is achieved in nature. Here we report the structural diversification of a cyanotoxin-lyngbyatoxin A-and its biosynthetic intermediates by heterologous expression of the Streptomyces-derived tleABC biosynthetic gene cluster in three different Streptomyces hosts: S. lividans, S. albus, and S. avermitilis. Notably, the isolated lyngbyatoxin derivatives, including four new natural products, were biosynthesized by crosstalk between the heterologous tleABC gene cluster and the endogenous host enzymes. The simple strategy described here has expanded the structural diversity of lyngbyatoxin A and its biosynthetic intermediates, and provides opportunities for investigation of the currently underestimated hidden biosynthetic crosstalk. © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  17. Systemic therapy in younger and elderly patients with advanced biliary cancer: sub-analysis of ABC-02 and twelve other prospective trials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McNamara, Mairéad Geraldine; Bridgewater, John; Lopes, Andre; Wasan, Harpreet; Malka, David; Jensen, Lars Henrik; Okusaka, Takuji; Knox, Jennifer J; Wagner, Dorothea; Cunningham, David; Shannon, Jenny; Goldstein, David; Moehler, Markus; Bekaii-Saab, Tanios; Valle, Juan W

    2017-04-12

    Outcomes in younger (ABC) receiving palliative chemotherapy are unclear. This study assessed outcomes in those receiving monotherapy or combination therapy in thirteen prospective systemic-therapy trials. Multivariable analysis explored the impact of therapy on progression-free (PFS) and overall survival (OS) in two separate age cohort groups: ABC, younger patients are rare, and survival in elderly patients in receipt of systemic therapy for advanced disease, whether monotherapy or combination therapy, is similar to that of non-elderly patients, therefore age alone should not influence decisions regarding treatment.

  18. ABC Transporter for Corrinoids in Halobacterium sp. Strain NRC-1†

    OpenAIRE

    Woodson, Jesse D.; Reynolds, April A.; Escalante-Semerena, Jorge C.

    2005-01-01

    We report evidence for the existence of a putative ABC transporter for corrinoid utilization in the extremely halophilic archaeon Halobacterium sp. strain NRC-1. Results from genetic and nutritional analyses of Halobacterium showed that mutants with lesions in open reading frames (ORFs) Vng1370G, Vng1371Gm, and Vng1369G required a 105-fold higher concentration of cobalamin for growth than the wild-type or parent strain. The data support the conclusion that these ORFs encode orthologs of the b...

  19. Genome-wide expression analysis of rice ABC transporter family across spatio-temporal samples and in response to abiotic stresses.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Van Ngoc Tuyet; Moon, Sunok; Jung, Ki-Hong

    2014-09-01

    Although the super family of ATP-binding cassette (ABC) proteins plays key roles in the physiology and development of plants, the functions of members of this interesting family mostly remain to be clarified, especially in crop plants. Thus, systematic analysis of this family in rice (Oryza sativa), a major model crop plant, will be helpful in the design of effective strategies for functional analysis. Phylogenomic analysis that integrates anatomy and stress meta-profiling data based on a large collection of rice Affymetrix array data into the phylogenic context provides useful clues into the functions for each of the ABC transporter family members in rice. Using anatomy data, we identified 17 root-preferred and 16-shoot preferred genes at the vegetative stage, and 3 pollen, 2 embryo, 2 ovary, 2 endosperm, and 1 anther-preferred gene at the reproductive stage. The stress data revealed significant up-regulation or down-regulation of 47 genes under heavy metal treatment, 16 genes under nutrient deficient conditions, and 51 genes under abiotic stress conditions. Of these, we confirmed the differential expression patterns of 14 genes in root samples exposed to drought stress using quantitative real-time PCR. Network analysis using RiceNet suggests a functional gene network involving nine rice ABC transporters that are differentially regulated by drought stress in root, further enhancing the prediction of biological function. Our analysis provides a molecular basis for the study of diverse biological phenomena mediated by the ABC family in rice and will contribute to the enhancement of crop yield and stress tolerance. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier GmbH. All rights reserved.

  20. Design and economic optimization of shell and tube heat exchangers using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sencan Sahin, Arzu; Kilic, Bayram; Kilic, Ulas

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → Artificial Bee Colony for shell and tube heat exchanger optimization is used. → The total cost is minimized by varying design variables. → This new approach can be applied for optimization of heat exchangers. - Abstract: In this study, a new shell and tube heat exchanger optimization design approach is developed. Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) has been applied to minimize the total cost of the equipment including capital investment and the sum of discounted annual energy expenditures related to pumping of shell and tube heat exchanger by varying various design variables such as tube length, tube outer diameter, pitch size, baffle spacing, etc. Finally, the results are compared to those obtained by literature approaches. The obtained results indicate that Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm can be successfully applied for optimal design of shell and tube heat exchangers.

  1. Design and economic optimization of shell and tube heat exchangers using Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sencan Sahin, Arzu, E-mail: sencan@tef.sdu.edu.tr [Department of Mechanical Education, Technical Education Faculty, Sueleyman Demirel University, 32260 Isparta (Turkey); Kilic, Bayram, E-mail: bayramkilic@hotmail.com [Bucak Emin Guelmez Vocational School, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Bucak (Turkey); Kilic, Ulas, E-mail: ulaskilic@mehmetakif.edu.tr [Bucak Emin Guelmez Vocational School, Mehmet Akif Ersoy University, Bucak (Turkey)

    2011-10-15

    Highlights: {yields} Artificial Bee Colony for shell and tube heat exchanger optimization is used. {yields} The total cost is minimized by varying design variables. {yields} This new approach can be applied for optimization of heat exchangers. - Abstract: In this study, a new shell and tube heat exchanger optimization design approach is developed. Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) has been applied to minimize the total cost of the equipment including capital investment and the sum of discounted annual energy expenditures related to pumping of shell and tube heat exchanger by varying various design variables such as tube length, tube outer diameter, pitch size, baffle spacing, etc. Finally, the results are compared to those obtained by literature approaches. The obtained results indicate that Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) algorithm can be successfully applied for optimal design of shell and tube heat exchangers.

  2. ABCE1: A special factor that orchestrates translation at the crossroad between recycling and initiation

    Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

    Mancera-Martínez, E.; Brito Querido, J.; Valášek, Leoš Shivaya; Simonetti, A.; Hashem, Y.

    2017-01-01

    Roč. 14, č. 10 (2017), s. 1279-1285 ISSN 1547-6286 R&D Projects: GA ČR(CZ) GA14-05394S Institutional support: RVO:61388971 Keywords : ABCE1 * cryo-EM * ribosome Subject RIV: EE - Microbiology, Virology OBOR OECD: Microbiology Impact factor: 3.900, year: 2016

  3. Tolfenamic acid degradation by direct photolysis and the UV-ABC/H2O2 process: factorial design, kinetics, identification of intermediates, and toxicity evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    de Melo da Silva, Lucas; Pereira Cavalcante, Rodrigo; Fabbro Cunha, Rebeca; Gozzi, Fábio; Falcao Dantas, Renato; de Oliveira, Silvio Cesar; Machulek, Amilcar

    2016-12-15

    This study employed direct UV-ABC photolysis and the UV-ABC/H 2 O 2 process to investigate the degradation of tolfenamic acid (TA), a common anti-inflammatory drug used in both human and veterinary medicine. A 2 3 factorial design with added center point was used to evaluate the effect of three independent variables-namely, H 2 O 2 concentration ([H 2 O 2 ]), TA concentration ([TA]), and experiment time (time)-on TA degradation and H 2 O 2 photolysis during UV-ABC/H 2 O 2 treatment using a high-pressure mercury vapor lamp (photon flux of 2.6307 × 10 4 J s -1 ) as the UV irradiation source. The responses yielded similar values, revealing a linear behavior, with correlation coefficients R = 0.9968 and R adj = 0.9921 for TA degradation and R = 0.9828 and R adj = 0.9570 for H 2 O 2 photolysis. The most efficient combination of variables was [H 2 O 2 ] = 255 mg L -1 and [TA] = 25 mg L -1 , resulting in 100% TA degradation and 98.87% H 2 O 2 photolysis by 90 min of treatment. Additionally, the second-order kinetic constant of the reaction between TA and HO ● was determined using a competitive kinetic model, employing 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4D) as the reference compound. The kinetic constant was 1.9 × 10 10 M -1 s -1 in alkaline medium. TA degradation by direct photolysis generated quinone imines as by-products, responsible for the formation of a dark red "internal filter" that increased the value of acute toxicity to Artemia salina. The UV-ABC/H 2 O 2 process did not promote formation of quinone imines by 90 min of treatment and therefore did not increase acute toxicity values. Several by-products generated during TA degradation were identified and possible degradation pathways for the UV-ABC and UV-ABC/H 2 O 2 processes were proposed. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  4. CO2 capture from IGCC gas streams using the AC-ABC process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nagar, Anoop [SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States); McLaughlin, Elisabeth [SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States); Hornbostel, Marc [SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States); Krishnan, Gopala [SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States); Jayaweera, Indira [SRI International, Menlo Park, CA (United States)

    2017-02-16

    The objective of this project was to develop a novel, low-cost CO2 capture process from pre-combustion gas streams. The bench-scale work was conducted at the SRI International. A 0.15-MWe integrated pilot plant was constructed and operated for over 700 hours at the National Carbon Capture Center, Wilsonville, AL. The AC-ABC (ammonium carbonate-ammonium bicarbonate) process for capture of CO2 and H2S from the pre-combustion gas stream offers many advantages over Selexol-based technology. The process relies on the simple chemistry of the NH3-CO2-H2O-H2S system and on the ability of the aqueous ammoniated solution to absorb CO2 at near ambient temperatures and to release it as a high-purity, high-pressure gas at a moderately elevated regeneration temperature. It is estimated the increase in cost of electricity (COE) with the AC-ABC process will be ~ 30%, and the cost of CO2 captured is projected to be less than $27/metric ton of CO2 while meeting 90% CO2 capture goal. The Bechtel Pressure Swing Claus (BPSC) is a complementary technology offered by Bechtel Hydrocarbon Technology Solutions, Inc. BPSC is a high-pressure, sub-dew-point Claus process that allows for nearly complete removal of H2S from a gas stream. It operates at gasifier pressures and moderate temperatures and does not affect CO2 content. When coupled with AC-ABC, the combined technologies allow a nearly pure CO2 stream to be captured at high pressure, something which Selexol and other solvent-based technologies cannot achieve.

  5. ABC transporters in Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae and Mycoplasma synoviae: insights into evolution and pathogenicity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Marisa Fabiana Nicolás

    2007-01-01

    Full Text Available ABC transporters represent one of the largest superfamilies of active membrane transport proteins (MTPs with a highly conserved ATPase domain that binds and hydrolyzes ATP, supplying energy for the uptake of a variety of nutrients and for the extrusion of drugs and metabolic wastes. The complete genomes of a non-pathogenic (J and pathogenic (7448 strain of Mycoplasma hyopneumoniae, as well as of a pathogenic (53 strain of Mycoplasma synoviae have been recently sequenced. A detailed study revealed a high percentage of CDSs encoding MTPs in M. hyopneumoniae strains J (13.4%, 7448 (13.8%, and in M. synoviae 53 (11.2%, and the ABC systems represented from 85.0 to 88.6% of those CDSs. Uptake systems are mainly involved in cell nutrition and some might be associated with virulence. Exporter systems include both drug and multidrug resistant systems (MDR, which may represent mechanisms of resistance to toxic molecules. No relation was found between the phylogeny of the ATPase domains and the lifestyle or pathogenicity of Mycoplasma, but several proteins, potentially useful as targets for the control of infections, were identified.

  6. Simulation of the coupling between nucleotide binding and transmembrane domains in the ABC transporter BtuCD

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Sonne, Jacob; Kandt, C.; Peters, Günther H.j.

    2007-01-01

    The nucleotide-induced structural rearrangements in ATP binding cassette (ABC) transporters, leading to substrate translocation, are largely unknown. We have modeled nucleotide binding and release in the vitamin B12 importer BtuCD using perturbed elastic network calculations and biased molecular...

  7. Genome-Wide Identification and Expression Profiling of ATP-Binding Cassette (ABC) Transporter Gene Family in Pineapple (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr.) Reveal the Role of AcABCG38 in Pollen Development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Piaojuan; Li, Yi; Zhao, Lihua; Hou, Zhimin; Yan, Maokai; Hu, Bingyan; Liu, Yanhui; Azam, Syed Muhammad; Zhang, Ziyan; Rahman, Zia Ur; Liu, Liping; Qin, Yuan

    2017-01-01

    Pineapple ( Ananas comosus L .) cultivation commonly relies on asexual reproduction which is easily impeded by many factors in agriculture production. Sexual reproduction might be a novel approach to improve the pineapple planting. However, genes controlling pineapple sexual reproduction are still remain elusive. In different organisms a conserved superfamily proteins known as ATP binding cassette (ABC) participate in various biological processes. Whereas, till today the ABC gene family has not been identified in pineapple. Here 100 ABC genes were identified in the pineapple genome and grouped into eight subfamilies (5 ABCAs , 20 ABCB s, 16 ABCCs , 2 ABCDs , one ABCEs , 5 ABCFs , 42 ABCGs and 9 ABCIs ). Gene expression profiling revealed the dynamic expression pattern of ABC gene family in various tissues and different developmental stages. AcABCA5, AcABCB6, AcABCC4 , AcABCC7 , AcABCC9 , AcABCG26 , AcABCG38 and AcABCG42 exhibited preferential expression in ovule and stamen. Over-expression of AcABCG38 in the Arabidopsis double mutant abcg1-2abcg16-2 partially restored its pollen abortion defects, indicating that AcABCG38 plays important roles in pollen development. Our study on ABC gene family in pineapple provides useful information for developing sexual pineapple plantation which could be utilized to improve pineapple agricultural production.

  8. A Multi-objective PMU Placement Method Considering Observability and Measurement Redundancy using ABC Algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    KULANTHAISAMY, A.

    2014-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a Multi- objective Optimal Placement of Phasor Measurement Units (MOPP method in large electric transmission systems. It is proposed for minimizing the number of Phasor Measurement Units (PMUs for complete system observability and maximizing the measurement redundancy of the system, simultaneously. The measurement redundancy means that number of times a bus is able to monitor more than once by PMUs set. A higher level of measurement redundancy can maximize the total system observability and it is desirable for a reliable power system state estimation. Therefore, simultaneous optimization of the two conflicting objectives are performed using a binary coded Artificial Bee Colony (ABC algorithm. The complete observability of the power system is first prepared and then, single line loss contingency condition is considered to the main model. The efficiency of the proposed method is validated on IEEE 14, 30, 57 and 118 bus test systems. The valuable approach of ABC algorithm is demonstrated in finding the optimal number of PMUs and their locations by comparing the performance with earlier works.

  9. ABA and ABC renewal of conditioned magazine approach are not impaired by dorsal hippocampus inactivation or lesions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Campese, Vincent; Delamater, Andrew R.

    2013-01-01

    Three experiments investigated the role of the dorsal hippocampus (DH) in renewal of conditioned and then extinguished magazine approach responding in rats. Experiments 1 and 2 found no effect of muscimol inactivation of the DH during testing on ABA and ABC renewal, respectively. However, subjects from these studies were subsequently found to be impaired on a delayed non-matching-to-place task following muscimol but not saline infusions. Experiment 3 found no effects of post-training excitotoxic lesions of the DH on ABA and ABC renewal. Lesioned subjects were, however, impaired on the delayed non-matching-to-place task compared to control subjects. These findings suggest that the DH may not play a similar role in Pavlovian extinction in appetitive learning tasks as has previously been reported in aversive learning. PMID:23583520

  10. The Schizosaccharomyces pombe mam1 gene encodes an ABC transporter mediating secretion of M-factor

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Christensen, P U; Davey, William John; Nielsen, O

    1997-01-01

    In the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe, cells of opposite mating type communicate via diffusible peptide pheromones prior to mating. We have cloned the S. pombe mam1 gene, which encodes a 1336-amino acid protein belonging to the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily. The mam1 gene is onl...

  11. Nucleotide-induced conformational dynamics in ABC transporters from structure-based coarse grained modelling.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Flechsig, Holger

    2016-02-01

    ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters are integral membrane proteins which mediate the exchange of diverse substrates across membranes powered by ATP molecules. Our understanding of their activity is still hampered since the conformational dynamics underlying the operation of such proteins cannot yet be resolved in detailed molecular dynamics studies. Here a coarse grained model which allows to mimic binding of nucleotides and follow subsequent conformational motions of full-length transporter structures in computer simulations is proposed and implemented. To justify its explanatory quality, the model is first applied to the maltose transporter system for which multiple conformations are known and we find that the model predictions agree remarkably well with the experimental data. For the MalK subunit the switching from open to the closed dimer configuration upon ATP binding is reproduced and, moreover, for the full-length maltose transporter, progression from inward-facing to the outward-facing state is correctly obtained. For the heme transporter HmuUV, for which only the free structure could yet be determined, the model was then applied to predict nucleotide-induced conformational motions. Upon binding of ATP-mimicking ligands the structure changed from a conformation in which the nucleotide-binding domains formed an open shape, to a conformation in which they were found in tight contact, while, at the same time, a pronounced rotation of the transmembrane domains was observed. This finding is supported by normal mode analysis, and, comparison with structural data of the homologous vitamin B12 transporter BtuCD suggests that the observed rotation mechanism may contribute a common functional aspect for this class of ABC transporters. Although in HmuuV noticeable rearrangement of essential transmembrane helices was detected, there are no indications from our simulations that ATP binding alone may facilitate propagation of substrate molecules in this transporter

  12. Early Observations of the Type Ia Supernova iPTF 16abc: A Case of Interaction with Nearby, Unbound Material and/or Strong Ejecta Mixing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Miller, A. A.; Cao, Y.; Piro, A. L.; Blagorodnova, N.; Bue, B. D.; Cenko, S. B.; Dhawan, S.; Ferretti, R.; Fox, O. D.; Fremling, C.; Goobar, A.; Howell, D. A.; Hosseinzadeh, G.; Kasliwal, M. M.; Laher, R. R.; Lunnan, R.; Masci, F. J.; McCully, C.; Nugent, P. E.; Sollerman, J.; Taddia, F.; Kulkarni, S. R.

    2018-01-01

    Early observations of Type Ia supernovae (SNe Ia) provide a unique probe of their progenitor systems and explosion physics. Here we report the intermediate Palomar Transient Factory (iPTF) discovery of an extraordinarily young SN Ia, iPTF 16abc. By fitting a power law to our early light curve, we infer that first light for the SN, that is, when the SN could have first been detected by our survey, occurred only 0.15{+/- }0.070.15 days before our first detection. In the ∼24 hr after discovery, iPTF 16abc rose by ∼2 mag, featuring a near-linear rise in flux for ≳ 3 days. Early spectra show strong C II absorption, which disappears after ∼7 days. Unlike the extensively observed Type Ia SN 2011fe, the {(B-V)}0 colors of iPTF 16abc are blue and nearly constant in the days after explosion. We show that our early observations of iPTF 16abc cannot be explained by either SN shock breakout and the associated, subsequent cooling or the SN ejecta colliding with a stellar companion. Instead, we argue that the early characteristics of iPTF 16abc, including (i) the rapid, near-linear rise, (ii) the nonevolving blue colors, and (iii) the strong C II absorption, are the result of either ejecta interaction with nearby, unbound material or vigorous mixing of radioactive 56Ni in the SN ejecta, or a combination of the two. In the next few years, dozens of very young normal SNe Ia will be discovered, and observations similar to those presented here will constrain the white dwarf explosion mechanism.

  13. Adaptive protection coordination scheme for distribution network with distributed generation using ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    A.M. Ibrahim

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents an adaptive protection coordination scheme for optimal coordination of DOCRs in interconnected power networks with the impact of DG, the used coordination technique is the Artificial Bee Colony (ABC. The scheme adapts to system changes; new relays settings are obtained as generation-level or system-topology changes. The developed adaptive scheme is applied on the IEEE 30-bus test system for both single- and multi-DG existence where results are shown and discussed.

  14. Ligand Binding and Crystal Structures of the Substrate-Binding Domain of the ABC Transporter OpuA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Wolters, Justina C.; Berntsson, Ronnie P-A.; Gul, Nadia; Karasawa, Akira; Thunnissen, Andy-Mark W. H.; Slotboom, Dirk-Jan; Poolman, Bert

    2010-01-01

    The ABC transporter OpuA from Lactococcus lactis transports glycine betaine upon activation by threshold values of ionic strength. In this study, the ligand binding characteristics of purified OpuA in a detergent-solubilized state and of its substrate-binding domain produced as soluble protein

  15. Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for Modification of Airspace Units R-3008A/B/C from Visual Flight Rules (VFR) to VFR-Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-30

    RULES ( IFR ) AT MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, GEORGIA September 2015 Finding of No Significant Impact Modification of Airspace Units R-3008A/B/C from...Interactions with Federally- Recognized Tribes. These tribal governments were also consulted regarding impacts to Final EA for VFR- IFR in R-3008A/B/C at Moody...analysis would focus on impacts to these Final EA for VFR- IFR in R-3008A/B/C at Moody AFB September 2015 2-5 resources from proposed activities

  16. Structural Data on the Periplasmic Aldehyde Oxidoreductase PaoABC from Escherichia coli: SAXS and Preliminary X-ray Crystallography Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Rita Otrelo-Cardoso

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available The periplasmic aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC from Escherichia coli is a molybdenum enzyme involved in detoxification of aldehydes in the cell. It is an example of an αβγ heterotrimeric enzyme of the xanthine oxidase family of enzymes which does not dimerize via its molybdenum cofactor binding domain. In order to structurally characterize PaoABC, X-ray crystallography and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS have been carried out. The protein crystallizes in the presence of 20% (w/v polyethylene glycol 3350 using the hanging-drop vapour diffusion method. Although crystals were initially twinned, several experiments were done to overcome twinning and lowering the crystallization temperature (293 K to 277 K was the solution to the problem. The non-twinned crystals used to solve the structure diffract X-rays to beyond 1.80 Å and belong to the C2 space group, with cell parameters a = 109.42 Å, b = 78.08 Å, c = 151.77 Å, β = 99.77°, and one molecule in the asymmetric unit. A molecular replacement solution was found for each subunit separately, using several proteins as search models. SAXS data of PaoABC were also collected showing that, in solution, the protein is also an αβγ heterotrimer.

  17. Estimation of the development possibility of the ABC/ATW fuel cycle based on LiF-BeF2 fuel salt. Part 2

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bychkov, A.V.; Naumov, V.S.

    1994-01-01

    The aim of the first chapter was generalization of data on solubility and equilibrium states of fission product and actinide fluorides in fluoride salt melts-solvents and fuel composition melts based on LiF-BeF 2 mixture which was proposed as fuel basis for ABC/ATW facility. The second chapter is devoted to description of processes proposed for the chemical-technological complex of the ABC/ATW facility and their physico-chemical peculiarities. The complex is responsible for the removal of fission products and actinides from irradiated fuel salt

  18. Multicompartment micellar aggregates of linear ABC amphiphiles in solvents selective for the C block: A Monte Carlo simulation

    KAUST Repository

    Zhu, Yutian

    2012-01-01

    In the current study, we applied the Monte Carlo method to study the self-assembly of linear ABC amphiphiles composed of two solvophobic A and B blocks and a solvophilic C block. A great number of multicompartment micelles are discovered from the simulations and the detailed phase diagrams for the ABC amphiphiles with different block lengths are obtained. The simulation results reveal that the micellar structure is largely controlled by block length, solvent quality, and incompatibility between the different block types. When the B block is longer than or as same as the terminal A block, a rich variety of micellar structures can be formed from ABC amphiphiles. By adjusting the solvent quality or incompatibility between the different block types, multiple morphological transitions are observed. These morphological sequences are well explained and consistent with all the previous experimental and theoretical studies. Despite the complexity of the micellar structures and morphological transitions observed for the self-assembly of ABC amphiphiles, two important common features of the phase behavior are obtained. In general, the micellar structures obtained in the current study can be divided into zero-dimensional (sphere-like structures, including bumpy-surfaced spheres and sphere-on-sphere structures), one-dimensional (cylinder-like structures, including rod and ring structures), two-dimensional (layer-like structures, including disk, lamella and worm-like and hamburger structures) and three-dimensional (vesicle) structures. It is found that the micellar structures transform from low- to high- dimensional structures when the solvent quality for the solvophobic blocks is decreased. In contrast, the micellar structures transform from high- to low-dimensional structures as the incompatibility between different block types increases. Furthermore, several novel micellar structures, such as the CBABC five-layer vesicle, hamburger, CBA three-layer ring, wormlike shape with

  19. ABC-Transporter Expression Does Not Correlate with Response to Irinotecan in Patients with Metastatic Colorectal Cancer

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Trumpi, K.; Emmink, B. L.; Prins, A. M.; van Oijen, M. G. H.; van Diest, P. J.; Punt, C. J. A.; Koopman, M.; Kranenburg, O.; Borel Rinkes, I. H. M.

    2015-01-01

    Background: Active efflux of irinotecan by ATP-binding cassette (ABC)-transporters, in particular ABCB1 and ABCG2, is a well-established drug resistance mechanism in vitro and in pre-clinical mouse models, but its relevance in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients is unknown. Therefore, we assessed the

  20. Functional analysis of ABC transporter genes from Botrytis cinerea identifies BcatrB as a transporter of eugenol

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Schoonbeek, H.; Nistelrooy, van J.G.M.; Waard, de M.A.

    2003-01-01

    The role of multiple ATP-binding cassette (ABC) and major facilitator superfamily (MFS) transporter genes from the plant pathogenic fungus Botrytis cinerea in protection against natural fungitoxic compounds was studied by expression analysis and phenotyping of gene-replacement mutants. The

  1. GERENCIAMENTO DE CUSTOS EM PEQUENAS EMPRESAS PRESTADORAS DE SERVIÇO UTILIZANDO O ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    NARA MEDIANEIRA STEFANO

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available El presente estudio tiene como objetivo presentar una propuesta paramanejar y mejorar la gestión de costos con base en el costeo por actividad (ABC en pequeñas empresas prestadoras de servicios. Se aplicó parcialmente un enfoque sistemático a una organización que presta servicios de asistencia y asesoría en informática para la actividad de "entrega de producto" (implementación de sistemas. Con el fin de mejorar los direccionadores de costos y calcular el costo del servicio, era necesario conocer dicho costo y observar los procesos, las actividades y los recursos involucrados. Las conclusiones demuestran que la propuesta basada en el método ABC se puede aplicar a pequeñas empresas prestadoras deservicios, pues conduce a una investigación más exacta de los costos y, por consiguiente, suministra información para tomar decisiones.

  2. On the application of artificial bee colony (ABC algorithm for optimization of well placements in fractured reservoirs; efficiency comparison with the particle swarm optimization (PSO methodology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Behzad Nozohour-leilabady

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The application of a recent optimization technique, the artificial bee colony (ABC, was investigated in the context of finding the optimal well locations. The ABC performance was compared with the corresponding results from the particle swarm optimization (PSO algorithm, under essentially similar conditions. Treatment of out-of-boundary solution vectors was accomplished via the Periodic boundary condition (PBC, which presumably accelerates convergence towards the global optimum. Stochastic searches were initiated from several random staring points, to minimize starting-point dependency in the established results. The optimizations were aimed at maximizing the Net Present Value (NPV objective function over the considered oilfield production durations. To deal with the issue of reservoir heterogeneity, random permeability was applied via normal/uniform distribution functions. In addition, the issue of increased number of optimization parameters was address, by considering scenarios with multiple injector and producer wells, and cases with deviated wells in a real reservoir model. The typical results prove ABC to excel PSO (in the cases studied after relatively short optimization cycles, indicating the great premise of ABC methodology to be used for well-optimization purposes.

  3. Identification of five partial ABC genes in the liver of the Antarctic fish Trematomus bernacchii and sensitivity of ABCB1 and ABCC2 to Cd exposure

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zucchi, Sara, E-mail: zucchi2@unisi.i [Department of Environmental Sciences ' G. Sarfatti' , University of Siena, Via Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena (Italy); Corsi, Ilaria [Department of Environmental Sciences ' G. Sarfatti' , University of Siena, Via Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena (Italy); Luckenbach, Till [UFZ - Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research, Permoserstr. 15, D-04318 Leipzig (Germany); Bard, Shannon Mala [Environmental Programmes, Dalhousie University, 1355 Oxford Street, Life Science Centre, Room 820, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 4J1 (Canada); Regoli, Francesco [Department of Biochemistry, Biology and Genetics, Polytechnic University of Marches, Ancona (Italy); Focardi, Silvano [Department of Environmental Sciences ' G. Sarfatti' , University of Siena, Via Mattioli 4, 53100 Siena (Italy)

    2010-08-15

    Several ABC transporters have been characterized from many aquatic organisms, but no information is yet available for Antarctic fish. The aim of this work was to identify the expression of genes for ABC proteins in Trematomus bernacchii, a bioindicator species of the Southern Ocean. Partial cDNA sequences of ABCB1, ABCC1, ABCC2, ABCC4 and ABCC9 were cloned from liver. Using RACE technology, 3.5 and 2.2 kb contigs were obtained for ABCB1 and ABCC2. Considering the elevated natural bioavailability of cadmium at Terra Nova Bay, responsiveness of ABCB1 and ABCC2 to this element was investigated under laboratory conditions. ABCB1 and ABCC2 mRNA levels were approximately four-fold higher in Cd-exposed fish compared to the controls. Induction of ABCB1 protein was also found by western blot. This study provides the first identification of five ABC genes in the liver of an Antarctic key species, some of which may be involved in cellular detoxification. - The presence of five partial sequences showing homology with ABC transporters and the sensitivity of ABCB1 and ABCC2 toward cadmium were determined in the liver of T. bernacchii.

  4. Alternative protein secretion: The Mam1 ABC transporter supports secretion of M-factor linked GFP in fission yeast

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kjaerulff, Soren; Mueller, Sven; Jensen, Martin Roland

    2005-01-01

    To examine whether the fission yeast Mam1 ABC transporter can be used for secretion of heterologous proteins, thereby bypassing the classical secretion pathway, we have analyzed chimeric forms of the M-factor precursor. It was demonstrated that GFP can be exported when fused to both the amino-terminal prosequence from mfm1 and a CaaX motif. This secretion was dependent on the Mam1 transporter and not the classical secretion pathway. The secretion efficiency of GFP, however, was relatively low and most of the reporter protein was trapped in the vacuolar membranes. Our findings suggest that the Mam1 ABC protein is a promiscuous peptide transporter that can accommodate globular proteins of a relatively large size. Furthermore, our results help in defining the sequences required for processing and secretion of natural M-factor

  5. NFκBP65 transcription factor modulates resistance to doxorubicin through ABC transporters in breast cancer.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Velaei, Kobra; Samadi, Nasser; Soltani, Sina; Barazvan, Balal; Soleimani Rad, Jafar

    2017-07-01

    Shedding light on chemoresistance biology of breast cancer could contribute to enhance the clinical outcome. Intrinsic or acquired resistance to chemotherapy is a major problem in breast cancer treatment. The NFκB pathway by siRNAP65 and JSH-23 as a translocational inhibitor of NFκBP65 in the doxorubicin-resistant MCF-7 (MCF-7/Dox) and MCF-7 cells was blocked. Then, the ABC transporter expression and function were assessed by real-time qRT-PCR and flow cytometry, respectively. Induction of apoptosis was evaluated after inhibition of the NFΚB pathway as well. Our study underlined the upregulation of NFκBP65 and anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 and downregulation of pro-apoptotic Bax in the MCF-7/Dox cells compared with control MCF-7 cells. Here, we showed that interplay between nuclear factor kappa B P65 (NFkBP65) as a transcriptional regulator and ABC transporters in the MCF-7/Dox cancer cells. We found that inhibition of the elevated expression of NFκBP65 in the resistant breast cancer, whether translocational inhibition or silencing by siRNA, decreased the expression and function of MDR1 and MRP1 efflux pumps. Furthermore, the blockade of NFκBP65 promoted apoptosis via modulating Bcl-2 and BAX expression. After inhibition of the NFκBP65 signaling pathway, elevated baseline expression of survival Bcl-2 gene in the resistant breast cells significantly decreased. Suppression of the NFκB pathway has a profound dual impact on promoting the intrinsic apoptotic pathway and reducing ABC transporter function and expression, which are some of the chemoresistance features. It was speculated that the NFκB pathway directly acts on doxorubicin-induced MDR1 and MRP1 expression in MCF-7/Dox cells.

  6. All-optical measurements of carrier dynamics in bulk-GaN LEDs: Beyond the ABC approximation

    Science.gov (United States)

    David, Aurelien; Young, Nathan G.; Hurni, Christophe A.; Craven, Michael D.

    2017-06-01

    An all-optical measurement of differential carrier lifetimes is performed in a specially designed single-quantum-well structure. The measurement reveals the complex carrier-dependence of radiative and non-radiative recombinations, which directly manifest wavefunction-overlap and field-screening effects. This analysis clarifies the range of applicability of the common ABC model and its limitations.

  7. Efficiency Analysis of Financial Management Administration of ABC Hospital using Financial Ratio Analysis Method

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jonny Jonny

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available This paper evaluated the financial performance of ABC hospital within the period of 2012 to 2013. To overcome the problems faced by the hospital related to how to measure and presented its financial performance in which financial ratio analysis was undertaken. These financial ratios were employed to measure the liquidity, assets utilization, long-term solvency and profitability of the hospital. This analysis was conducted in order to prove whether the hospital has been managed efficiently or not in accordance to Indonesian Hospital Quality Accreditation as stated in its clause on Administration Standard No. 5 Parameter No. 3 that the hospital financial management shall be conducted in appropriate way in order to guarantee its operation efficiently. The result showed that overall financial performance of ABC hospital increased considerably in those two years of the analysis. A significant change was occurred on its solvency ratio which was decreased from -2% to -8%, indicating its loose dependency due to its founder’s strong financial support. Therefore, based on this favorable result, the hospital was regarded to have efficient hospital management and thus, together with other standard fulfillment, it was accredited by Indonesian Health Ministry.

  8. Downregulation of eIF4G by microRNA-503 enhances drug sensitivity of MCF-7/ADR cells through suppressing the expression of ABC transport proteins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pan, Xia; Yang, Xiaoyan; Zang, Jinglei; Zhang, Si; Huang, Nan; Guan, Xinxin; Zhang, Jianhua; Wang, Zhihui; Li, Xi; Lei, Xiaoyong

    2017-06-01

    Overexpression of adenosine triphosphate-binding cassette (ABC) transport protein is emerging as a critical contributor to anticancer drug resistance. The eukaryotic translation initiation factor (eIF) 4F complex, the key modulator of mRNA translation, is regulated by the phosphoinositide 3-kinase-AKT-mammalian target of rapamycin pathway in anticancer drug-resistant tumors. The present study demonstrated the roles of ABC translation protein alterations in the acquisition of the Adriamycin (ADM)-resistant phenotype of MCF-7 human breast cells. Quantitative polymerase chain reaction and western blot analysis were applied to examine the differences in mRNA and protein levels, respectively. It was found that the expression of the ABC sub-family B member 1, ABC sub-family C member 1 and ABC sub-family G member 2 transport proteins were upregulated in MCF-7/ADR cells. An MTT assay was used to detect the cell viability, from the results MCF-7/ADR cells were less sensitive to ADM, tamoxifen (TAM) and taxol (TAX) treatment compared with MCF-7 cells. We predicted that the 3'-untranslated region of eukaryotic translation initiation factor 4-γ 1 (eIF4G) contains a potential miRNA binding site for microRNA (miR)-503 through using computational programs. These binding sites were confirmed by luciferase reporter assays. eIF4G mRNA degradation was accelerated in cells transfected with miR-503 mimics. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that eIF4G and ABC translation proteins were significantly downregulated in MCF-7/ADR cells after transfection with miR-503. It was found that miR-503 mimics could sensitize the cells to treatment with ADM, TAM and TAX. These findings demonstrated for the first time that eIF4G acted as a key factor in MCF-7/ADR cells, and may be an efficient agent for preventing and reversing multi-drug resistance in breast cancer.

  9. Engineering of Ion Sensing by the Cystathionine beta-Synthase Module of the ABC Transporter OpuA

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mahmood, Nik A. B. N.; Biemans-Oldehinkel, Esther; Poolman, Bert

    2009-01-01

    We have previously shown that the C-terminal cystathionine beta-synthase (CBS) domains of the nucleotide-binding domains of the ABC transporter OpuA, in conjunction with an anionic membrane surface function, act as sensor of internal ionic strength (I(in)). Here, we show that a surface-exposed

  10. Multicompartment micellar aggregates of linear ABC amphiphiles in solvents selective for the C block: A Monte Carlo simulation

    KAUST Repository

    Zhu, Yutian; Yu, Haizhou; Wang, Yongmei; Cui, Jie; Kong, Weixin; Jiang, Wei

    2012-01-01

    the simulations and the detailed phase diagrams for the ABC amphiphiles with different block lengths are obtained. The simulation results reveal that the micellar structure is largely controlled by block length, solvent quality, and incompatibility between

  11. Characterization of SiaA, a streptococcal heme-binding protein associated with a heme ABC transport system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sook, Brian R; Block, Darci R; Sumithran, Suganya; Montañez, Griselle E; Rodgers, Kenton R; Dawson, John H; Eichenbaum, Zehava; Dixon, Dabney W

    2008-02-26

    Many pathogenic bacteria require heme and obtain it from their environment. Heme transverses the cytoplasmic membrane via an ATP binding cassette (ABC) pathway. Although a number of heme ABC transport systems have been described in pathogenic bacteria, there is as yet little biophysical characterization of the proteins in these systems. The sia (hts) gene cluster encodes a heme ABC transporter in the Gram positive Streptococcus pyogenes. The lipoprotein-anchored heme binding protein (HBP) of this transporter is SiaA (HtsA). In the current study, resonance Raman (rR), magnetic circular dichroism (MCD), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies were used to determine the coordination state and spin state of both the ferric and ferrous forms of this protein. Identifiers from these techniques suggest that the heme is six-coordinate and low-spin in both oxidation states of the protein, with methionine and histidine as axial ligands. SiaA has a pKa of 9.7 +/- 0.1, attributed to deprotonation of the axial histidine. Guanidinium titration studies show that the ferric state is less stable than the ferrous state, with DeltaG(H2O) values for the oxidized and reduced proteins of 7.3 +/- 0.8 and 16.0 +/- 3.6 kcal mol-1, respectively. The reductive and oxidative midpoint potentials determined via spectroelectrochemistry are 83 +/- 3 and 64 +/- 3 mV, respectively; the irreversibility of heme reduction suggests that redox cycling of the heme is coupled to a kinetically sluggish change in structure or conformation. The biophysical characterization described herein will significantly advance our understanding of structure-function relationships in HBP.

  12. Aerosol and Cloud Properties during the Cloud Cheju ABC Plume -Asian Monsoon Experiment (CAPMEX) 2008: Linking between Ground-based and UAV Measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, S.; Yoon, S.; Venkata Ramana, M.; Ramanathan, V.; Nguyen, H.; Park, S.; Kim, M.

    2009-12-01

    Cheju Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) Plume-Monsoon Experiment (CAPMEX), comprehsensive ground-based measurements and a series of data-gathering flights by specially equipped autonomous unmanned aerial vehicles (AUAVs) for aerosol and cloud, had conducted at Jeju (formerly, Cheju), South Korea during August-September 2008, to improve our understanding of how the reduction of anthropogenic emissions in China (so-called “great shutdown” ) during and after the Summer Beijing Olympic Games 2008 effcts on the air quliaty and radiation budgets and how atmospheric brown clouds (ABCs) influences solar radiation budget off Asian continent. Large numbers of in-situ and remote sensing instruments at the Gosan ABC observatory and miniaturized instruments on the aircraft measure a range of properties such as the quantity of soot, size-segregated aerosol particle numbers, total particle numbers, size-segregated cloud droplet numbers (only AUAV), aerosol scattering properties (only ground), aerosol vertical distribution, column-integrated aerosol properties, and meteorological variables. By integrating ground-level and high-elevation AUAV measurements with NASA-satellite observations (e.g., MODIS, CALIPSO), we investigate the long range transport of aerosols, the impact of ABCs on clouds, and the role of biogenic and anthropogenic aerosols on cloud condensation nuclei (CCN). In this talk, we will present the results from CAPMEX focusing on: (1) the characteristics of aerosol optical, physical and chemical properties at Gosan observatory, (2) aerosol solar heating calculated from the ground-based micro-pulse lidar and AERONET sun/sky radiometer synergy, and comparison with direct measurements from UAV, and (3) aerosol-cloud interactions in conjunction with measurements by satellites and Gosan observatory.

  13. Cost Analysis of Selected Patient Categories within a Dermatology Department Using an ABC Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papadaki, Šárka; Popesko, Boris

    2016-01-01

    Background: Present trends in hospital management are facilitating the utilization of more accurate costing methods, which potentially results in superior cost-related information and improved managerial decision-making. However, the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC), which was designed for cost allocation purposes in the 1980s, is not widely used by healthcare organizations. This study analyzes costs related to selected categories of patients, those suffering from psoriasis, varicose ulcers, eczema and other conditions, within a dermatology department at a Czech regional hospital. Methods: The study was conducted in a hospital department where both inpatient and outpatient care are offered. Firstly, the diseases treated at the department were identified. Further costs were determined for each activity using ABC. The study utilized data from managerial and financial accounting, as well as data obtained through interviews with departmental staff. Using a defined cost-allocation procedure makes it possible to determine the cost of an individual patient with a given disease more accurately than via traditional costing procedures. Results: The cost analysis focused on the differences between the costs related to individual patients within the selected diagnoses, variations between inpatient and outpatient treatments and the costs of activities performed by the dermatology department. Furthermore, comparing the costs identified through this approach and the revenue stemming from the health insurance system is an option. Conclusions: Activity-Based Costing is more accurate and relevant than the traditional costing method. The outputs of ABC provide an abundance of additional information for managers. The benefits of this research lie in its practically-tested outputs, resulting from calculating the costs of hospitalization, which could prove invaluable to persons involved in hospital management and decision-making. The study also defines the managerial implications of

  14. Cost Analysis of Selected Patient Categories Within A Dermatology Department Using an ABC Approach.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Papadaki, Šárka; Popesko, Boris

    2015-11-17

    Present trends in hospital management are facilitating the utilization of more accurate costing methods, which potentially results in superior cost-related information and improved managerial decision-making. However, the Activity-Based Costing method (ABC), which was designed for cost allocation purposes in the 1980s, is not widely used by healthcare organizations. This study analyzes costs related to selected categories of patients, those suffering from psoriasis, varicose ulcers, eczema and other conditions, within a dermatology department at a Czech regional hospital. The study was conducted in a hospital department where both inpatient and outpatient care are offered. Firstly, the diseases treated at the department were identified. Further costs were determined for each activity using ABC. The study utilized data from managerial and financial accounting, as well as data obtained through interviews with departmental staff. Using a defined cost-allocation procedure makes it possible to determine the cost of an individual patient with a given disease more accurately than via traditional costing procedures. The cost analysis focused on the differences between the costs related to individual patients within the selected diagnoses, variations between inpatient and outpatient treatments and the costs of activities performed by the dermatology department. Furthermore, comparing the costs identified through this approach and the revenue stemming from the health insurance system is an option. Activity-Based Costing is more accurate and relevant than the traditional costing method. The outputs of ABC provide an abundance of additional information for managers. The benefits of this research lie in its practically-tested outputs, resulting from calculating the costs of hospitalization, which could prove invaluable to persons involved in hospital management and decision-making. The study also defines the managerial implications of the performed cost analysis for the

  15. Survey of ABC transporter and metallothionein genes expressions in tall fescue inoculated with Funneliformis intraradices under Nickel toxicity

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Massomeh Rafiei-Demneh

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available In plants, there are complex network of transport, chelation, and sequestration processes that functions in maintaining concentrations of essential metal ions in different cellular compartments, thus minimizing the damage caused by entry of non-essential metal ions into the cytosol. In the presence of toxic ones, arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM fungi are able to alleviate metal toxicity in the plant. In this study the effect of an arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi Funneliformis intraradices on growth, Nickel tolerance, and ABC transporter and metallothionein expression in leaves and roots of tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea plants cultivated in Ni polluted soil were evaluated. The fungi infected (M+ and uninfected (M- fescue plants were cultivated in soil under different Ni concentrations (0, 30, 90 and 180 ppm for 3 months. Results demonstrated the positive effect of fungi colonization on the increase in growth and reduction in Ni uptake (90 and 180 ppm and Ni translocation from roots to shoot of tall fescue under Ni stress. The results also demonstrated that the level of ABC transporterand metallothionein transcripts accumulation in roots was considerably higher for both M- and M+ plants compared to the control. Also, M+ plants showed less ABC and MET expression compared to the M- plants. These results demonstrated the importance of mycorrhizal colonization of F. intraradices in reduction of Ni transport from root to shoot of tall fescue which alleviates Ni-induced stress.

  16. Low Defect Density Substrates and High-Quality Epi-Substrate Interfaces for ABCS Devices and Progress Toward Phonon-Mediated THz Lasers

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Goodhue, William; Bliss, David; Krishnaswami, Kannan; Vangala, Shivashankar; Li, Jin; Zhu, Beihong

    2005-01-01

    ... has been developing technology for producing low defect density substrates and high-quality epi-substrate interfaces for ABCS device applications as well as developing fabrication and device concepts...

  17. Re-engineering the mission life cycle with ABC and IDEF

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mandl, Daniel; Rackley, Michael; Karlin, Jay

    1994-01-01

    The theory behind re-engineering a business process is to remove the non-value added activities thereby lowering the process cost. In order to achieve this, one must be able to identify where the non-value added elements are located which is not a trivial task. This is because the non-value added elements are often hidden in the form of overhead and/or pooled resources. In order to be able to isolate these non-value added processes from among the other processes, one must first decompose the overall top level process into lower layers of sub-processes. In addition, costing data must be assigned to each sub-process along with the value the sub-process adds towards the final product. IDEF0 is a Federal Information Processing Standard (FIPS) process-modeling tool that allows for this functional decomposition through structured analysis. In addition, it illustrates the relationship of the process and the value added to the product or service. The value added portion is further defined in IDEF1X which is an entity relationship diagramming tool. The entity relationship model is the blueprint of the product as it moves along the 'assembly line' and therefore relates all of the parts to each other and the final product. It also relates the parts to the tools that produce the product and all of the paper work that is used in their acquisition. The use of IDEF therefore facilitates the use of Activity Based Costing (ABC). ABC is an essential method in a high variety, product-customizing environment, to facilitate rapid response to externally caused change. This paper describes the work being done in the Mission Operations Division to re-engineer the development and operation life cycle of Mission Operations Centers using these tools.

  18. Deepwater marine litter densities and compsoition from submersible video-gransects around the ABC-islands, Dutch Caribbean

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Debrot, A.O.; Vinke, E.; Wende, van der G.; Hylkema, A.; Reed, J.K.

    2014-01-01

    Baseline data on anthropogenic seafloor debris contamination in the year 2000 is provided for 24 submersible video transects at depths of 80–900 m, off the Dutch ABC-islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao), in the southeastern Caribbean Sea. In total, 202 objects were documented from a combined 21,184 m

  19. Tissue-specific expression of type IX collagen

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nishimura, I.; Muragaki, Y.; Ninomiya, Y.; Olsen, B.R.; Hayashi, M.

    1990-01-01

    This paper reports on the tissue-specific expression of type IX collagen, a major component of cartilage fibrils. It contains molecules with three genetically distinct subunits. The subunits form three triple-helical (CO) domains separated by non-triple-helical (NC) sequences. One of the subunits in cartilage, α1(IX), contains a large amino-terminal globular domain, NC4, while a second subunit, α2(IX), contains a covalently attached chondroitin sulfate chain. The site of attachment for this chain is located within the non-triple-helical sequence NC3, which separates the amino-terminal and central triple-helical domains of the type IX molecules. The NC3 region is 5 amino acid residues longer in the α2(IX) chain than in the α1(IX) and α3(IX) chains. This may explain why type IX molecules tend to show a sharp angle in the NC3 region, and why monoclonal antibody molecules that are specific for the stub left after chondroitinase ABC digestion of the chondroitin sulfate side chain always are located on the outside of the angle

  20. Easy XMM-Newton Data Analysis with the Streamlined ABC Guide!

    Science.gov (United States)

    Valencic, Lynne A.; Snowden, Steven L.; Pence, William D.

    2016-01-01

    The US XMM-Newton GOF has streamlined the time-honored XMM-Newton ABC Guide, making it easier to find and use what users may need to analyze their data. It takes into account what type of data a user might have, if they want to reduce the data on their own machine or over the internet with Web Hera, and if they prefer to use the command window or a GUI. The GOF has also included an introduction to analyzing EPIC and RGS spectra, and PN Timing mode data. The guide is provided for free to students, educators, and researchers for educational and research purposes. Try it out at: http://heasarc.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/xmm/sl/intro.html

  1. Double-Pionic Fusion of Nuclear Systems and the ''ABC'' Effect: Approaching a Puzzle by Exclusive and Kinematically Complete Measurements

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bashkanov, M.; Clement, H.; Doroshkevich, E.; Khakimova, O.; Kren, F.; Meier, R.; Pricking, A.; Skorodko, T.; Wagner, G. J.; Bargholtz, C.; Geren, L.; Lindberg, K.; Tegner, P.-E.; Zartova, I.; Berlowski, M.; Stepaniak, J.; Bogoslawsky, D.; Ivanov, G.; Jiganov, E.; Morosov, B.

    2009-01-01

    The ABC effect--a puzzling low-mass enhancement in the ππ invariant mass spectrum, first observed by Abashian, Booth, and Crowe--is well known from inclusive measurements of two-pion production in nuclear fusion reactions. Here we report on the first exclusive and kinematically complete measurements of the most basic double-pionic fusion reaction pn→dπ 0 π 0 at beam energies of 1.03 and 1.35 GeV. The measurements, which have been carried out at CELSIUS-WASA, reveal the ABC effect to be a (ππ) I=L=0 channel phenomenon associated with both a resonancelike energy dependence in the integral cross section and the formation of a ΔΔ system in the intermediate state. A corresponding simple s-channel resonance ansatz provides a surprisingly good description of the data

  2. Transmembrane Domain Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms Impair Expression and Transport Activity of ABC Transporter ABCG2

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sjostedt, N.; Heuvel, J.J.M.W. van den; Koenderink, J.B.; Kidron, H.

    2017-01-01

    PURPOSE: To study the function and expression of nine naturally occurring single-nucleotide polymorphisms (G406R, F431L, S441N, P480L, F489L, M515R, L525R, A528T and T542A) that are predicted to reside in the transmembrane regions of the ABC transporter ABCG2. METHODS: The transport activity of the

  3. ABC Algorithm based Fuzzy Modeling of Optical Glucose Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    SARACOGLU, O. G.

    2016-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a modeling approach based on the use of fuzzy reasoning mechanism to define a measured data set obtained from an optical sensing circuit. For this purpose, we implemented a simple but effective an in vitro optical sensor to measure glucose content of an aqueous solution. Measured data contain analog voltages representing the absorbance values of three wavelengths measured from an RGB LED in different glucose concentrations. To achieve a desired model performance, the parameters of the fuzzy models are optimized by using the artificial bee colony (ABC algorithm. The modeling results presented in this paper indicate that the fuzzy model optimized by the algorithm provide a successful modeling performance having the minimum mean squared error (MSE of 0.0013 which are in clearly good agreement with the measurements.

  4. A função da comunicação na autoavaliação das Instituições de Ensino Superior do ABC Paulista The role of communication in self-evaluation of Higher Education establishments of ABC Paulista region

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Claudemir Martins da Silva

    2013-03-01

    Full Text Available O artigo discorre sobre o papel que a comunicação apresenta no compartilhamento e na socialização dos resultados apurados no processo de autoavaliação junto à comunidade acadêmica de Instituições de Ensino Superior. O estudo fundamenta-se em referenciais bibliográficos que tratam da avaliação institucional e pesquisa de campo exploratória desenvolvida em quatro instituições de ensino superior localizadas na região do ABC Paulista.The article discusses the role that the communication presents in sharing and socialization of the results obtained in the process of self-evaluation along the academic community of higher education institutions. The study is based on bibliographic references which deals with the institutional evaluation and exploratory field research developed in four higher education institutions located in the region of ABC Paulista.

  5. A Political Radio Poetics: Ouyang Yu’s Poetry and its Adaptation on ABC Radio National’s Poetica

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Prithvi Varatharajan

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available ‘Ouyang Yu’ was an episode that aired on ABC Radio National’s 'Poetica', a weekly program broadcast across Australia from 1997 to 2014. The episode featured readings of poetry by the contemporary Chinese-Australian poet Ouyang Yu, read by the poet and by the actor Brant Eustace. These readings were embedded in rich soundscapes, and framed by interviews with the poet on the thematic contexts for the poems. In this article I treat ‘Ouyang Yu’ as an adaptation of Ouyang’s work, in Linda Hutcheon’s sense of the term. I examine how Ouyang’s poetry has been adapted for a national audience, and pay particular attention to how contemporary political discourses of nationhood have influenced the episode’s adaptations. For Poetica existed within an institution—the ABC—whose culture had a bearing on its programming, and the ABC was in turn influenced by, and sought to influence, the wider social and political culture in Australia.

  6. Benzene-derived N2-(4-hydroxyphenyl)-deoxyguanosine adduct: UvrABC incision and its conformation in DNA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Hang, Bo; Rodriguez, Ben; Yang, Yanu; Guliaev, Anton B.; Chenna, Ahmed

    2010-06-14

    Benzene, a ubiquitous human carcinogen, forms DNA adducts through its metabolites such as p-benzoquinone (p-BQ) and hydroquinone (HQ). N(2)-(4-Hydroxyphenyl)-2'-deoxyguanosine (N(2)-4-HOPh-dG) is the principal adduct identified in vivo by (32)P-postlabeling in cells or animals treated with p-BQ or HQ. To study its effect on repair specificity and replication fidelity, we recently synthesized defined oligonucleotides containing a site-specific adduct using phosphoramidite chemistry. We here report the repair of this adduct by Escherichia coli UvrABC complex, which performs the initial damage recognition and incision steps in the nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway. We first showed that the p-BQ-treated plasmid was efficiently cleaved by the complex, indicating the formation of DNA lesions that are substrates for NER. Using a 40-mer substrate, we found that UvrABC incises the DNA strand containing N(2)-4-HOPh-dG in a dose- and time-dependent manner. The specificity of such repair was also compared with that of DNA glycosylases and damage-specific endonucleases of E. coli, both of which were found to have no detectable activity toward N(2)-4-HOPh-dG. To understand why this adduct is specifically recognized and processed by UvrABC, molecular modeling studies were performed. Analysis of molecular dynamics trajectories showed that stable G:C-like hydrogen bonding patterns of all three Watson-Crick hydrogen bonds are present within the N(2)-4-HOPh-G:C base pair, with the hydroxyphenyl ring at an almost planar position. In addition, N(2)-4-HOPh-dG has a tendency to form more stable stacking interactions than a normal G in B-type DNA. These conformational properties may be critical in differential recognition of this adduct by specific repair enzymes.

  7. The application methods of ABC/XYZ-analysis for the inventory management purposes within the ERP-system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    O. V. Zhukov

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Inventory management for a trading company is a vital task, which requires processing significant amounts of information. Through the application of ABC/XYZ-analysis of the nomenclature within the enterprise ERP-system, it is possible to increase significantly the efficiency of inventory management, in accordance with Pareto principle concentrating on managing the most important categories of goods. Various researchers dealt with the methods of ABC/XYZ-analysis itself but its usage as a part of the inventory management and procurement subsystem has a number of essential features, ignoring of which can lead to tangible negative consequences. The article discusses the methods and key problems of application of ABC/XYZ-analysis within the enterprise management accounting information system. For each of the factors that can affect the reliability of sales and procurement statistics and distort the results of the classification of goods, we have formulated the proposals to minimize the negative impact of that specific factor. Proposed methods allow reducing the impact of the following factors: availability of conditions for duplicate nomenclature to appear within the enterprise accounting software, the lack of a unified approach to the formation of names for newly created items of nomenclature, frequent changes in the products range of the suppliers, excessive detailing of information about a product in its name. The results of successfully implemented analysis and classification of goods can be used for a wide range of tasks varying from implementing effective inventory control to general planning and forecasting commodity flows as a part of the enterprise budgeting model. Solving these problems will harmoniously fit the inventory management in the managerial accounting system making it an effective tool in achieving strategic business goals.

  8. ABC crescent. Energy concept with active storage system for a Hamburg office building; ABC - Bogen. Energiekonzept mit Aktivspeichersystem fuer ein Buerohaus in Hamburg

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Stoll, J. [HL-Technik AG, Muenchen (Germany). Bereich Future Building Designs, Thermische Bauphysik-Bauklimatik

    1999-07-01

    This new multifunctional building will house a shopping mall and offices. Natural ventilation is favoured as far as possible. Technical facilities were minimised in order to save resources and reduce the operating cost. The architectural design was to be as functional as possible. [German] Mit dem ABC-Bogen in Hamburg entsteht in unmittelbarer Naehe zum Gaensemarkt ein multifunktionales Gebaeude mit Passagen, Laeden und Bueros - ein neuer Akzent in der Hamburger Innenstadt. Das grosszuegig verglaste Gebaeude sollte nach den Zielen der Hamburger Architekten BRT - Bothe, Richter, Teherani und der Projektentwicklung (SF-Bau Projektentwicklung GmbH, NL Hamburg) soweit wie moeglich natuerlich gelueftet werden. Die gebaeudetechnische Ausruestung der Bueros war zur Ressourcenschonung und Begrenzung der Betriebskosten auf ein Mindestmass zu beschraenken. Bei der Fassadengestaltung sollten funktionelle Aspekte absoluten Vorrang haben. (orig.)

  9. Heteronuclear multidimensional NMR and homology modelling studies of the C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain of the human mitochondrial ABC transporter ABCB6

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kurashima-Ito, Kaori [RIKEN, Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory (Japan); Ikeya, Teppei [National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), (Japan); Senbongi, Hiroshi [Mitochondrial Diseases Group, MRC Dunn Human NutritionUnit (United Kingdom); Tochio, Hidehito [International Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, Supramolecular Biology, Yokohama City University, Molecular Biophysics Laboratory (Japan); Mikawa, Tsutomu [RIKEN, Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory (Japan); Shibata, Takehiko [RIKEN, Shibata Distinguished Senior Scientist Laboratory (Japan); Ito, Yutaka [RIKEN, Cellular and Molecular Biology Laboratory (Japan)], E-mail: ito-yutaka@center.tmu.ac.jp

    2006-05-15

    Human ATP-binding cassette, sub-family B, member 6 (ABCB6) is a mitochondrial ABC transporter, and presumably contributes to iron homeostasis. Aimed at understanding the structural basis for the conformational changes accompanying the substrate-transportation cycle, we have studied the C-terminal nucleotide-binding domain of ABCB6 (ABCB6-C) in both the nucleotide-free and ADP-bound states by heteronuclear multidimensional NMR and homology modelling. A non-linear sampling scheme was utilised for indirectly acquired {sup 13}C and {sup 15}N dimensions of all 3D triple-resonance NMR experiments, in order to overcome the instability and the low solubility of ABCB6-C. The backbone resonances for approximately 25% of non-proline residues, which are mostly distributed around the functionally important loops and in the Helical domain, were not observed for nucleotide-free form of ABCB6-C. From the pH, temperature and magnetic field strength dependencies of the resonance intensities, we concluded that this incompleteness in the assignments is mainly due to the exchange between multiple conformations at an intermediate rate on the NMR timescale. These localised conformational dynamics remained in ADP-bound ABCB6-C except for the loops responsible for adenine base and {alpha}/{beta}-phosphate binding. These results revealed that the localised dynamic cooperativity, which was recently proposed for a prokaryotic ABC MJ1267, also exists in a higher eukaryotic ABC, and is presumably shared by all members of the ABC family. Since the Helical domain is the putative interface to the transmembrane domain, this cooperativity may explain the coupled functions between domains in the substrate-transportation cycle.

  10. ABC Assay: Method Development and Application to Quantify the Role of Three DWV Master Variants in Overwinter Colony Losses of European Honey Bees

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica L. Kevill

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Deformed wing virus (DWV is one of the most prevalent honey bee viral pathogens in the world. Typical of many RNA viruses, DWV is a quasi-species, which is comprised of a large number of different variants, currently consisting of three master variants: Type A, B, and C. Little is known about the impact of each variant or combinations of variants upon the biology of individual hosts. Therefore, we have developed a new set of master variant-specific DWV primers and a set of standards that allow for the quantification of each of the master variants. Competitive reverse transcriptase polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR experimental design confirms that each new DWV primer set is specific to the retrospective master variant. The sensitivity of the ABC assay is dependent on whether DNA or RNA is used as the template and whether other master variants are present in the sample. Comparison of the overall proportions of each master variant within a sample of known diversity, as confirmed by next-generation sequence (NGS data, validates the efficiency of the ABC assay. The ABC assay was used on archived material from a Devon overwintering colony loss (OCL 2006–2007 study; further implicating DWV type A and, for the first time, possibly C in the untimely collapse of honey bee colonies. Moreover, in this study DWV type B was not associated with OCL. The use of the ABC assay will allow researchers to quickly and cost effectively pre-screen for the presence of DWV master variants in honey bees.

  11. Desenvolvimento Regional Sustentável no Grande ABC: análise das contribuições de uma instituição financeira brasileira

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nelson Correa Oliveira Junior

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This work provided a reflection on the contributions of regional sustainable development plans (DRS of Banco do Brasil (BB to the region known as Grande ABC through the analysis of the plans offered by the institution in documents and website, as well as by interviews conducted with the plan's stakeholders. A bibliographic research has been made, where the concepts of development, regional development, sustainable development and sustainable regional development are discussed and detailed. Then, a document research has been made, which allowed the verifying of the data of the plans in the country and in the region of Grande ABC, also providing subsidies to the definition of the stakeholders interviewed in the survey. The methodology used was the exploratory research which focuses on better understanding and familiarization of the researcher and the matter being considered. It was found that the DRS plans at the Grande ABC still require new partnerships and actions that can boost their development, the need for bigger monitoring, control and dissemination of the concepts of DRS by Banco do Brasil; the concern in establishing strategic partnerships has been noticed, but still without the participation of the academy in a more constant way, finally, it is understood that the Regional Sustainable Development of Banco do Brasil at Grande ABC, according to their social, environmental, cultural and economic contributions, can not be considered an initiative that has significant impacts yet, but it is a way to search for funds and partnerships for the formulation of local and regional development initiatives.

  12. Specificity of the second binding protein of the peptide ABC-transporter (Dpp) of Lactococcus lactis IL1403

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Sanz, Y; Toldra, F; Renault, P; Poolman, B

    2003-01-01

    The genome sequence of Lactococcus lactis IL1403 revealed the presence of a putative peptide-binding protein-dependent ABC-transporter (Dpp). The genes for two peptide-binding proteins (dppA and dppP) precede the membrane components, which include two transmembrane protein genes (dppB and dppC) and

  13. NILAI-NILAI MORAL DALAM PEMBELAJARAN ANAK USIA DINI DENGAN GAME EDUKASI CULLEN ABC?óÔé¼Ôäós BAGI GURU-GURU PAUD DI KECAMATAN TEMBALANG SEMARANG

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Subur Laksmono Wardoyo

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Science and technology?é?á transferred to the?é?á teachers of early childhood education in?é?á Tembalang Semarang?é?á are the training how to apply the moral values ?óÔé¼ÔÇ??óÔé¼ÔÇ?in the learning for early childhood and?é?á the?é?á use of software Cullen ABC 's as teaching aids for developing creativity and intellectual power of early childhood where the material delivered in training is , " Bringing Books in the Life of Early Childhood : Teaching Character Education Through Children's Literature " , " Moral Values ?óÔé¼ÔÇ??óÔé¼ÔÇ?of Early Childhood Education and Cullen ABC 's " , "the?é?á Use of story For Development of Moral Education for Early Childhood " , and " ABC 's Cullen as Educational Games and Teaching Aids " . With the IBM moral values ?óÔé¼ÔÇ??óÔé¼ÔÇ?in the learning of Cullen ABC 's as an educational game as well teaching aids it is hoped that the workshop will contribute to teachers early childhood to develop more creative ideas in teaching so that the learning environment will be more enjoyable while also fostering moral values ?óÔé¼ÔÇ??óÔé¼ÔÇ?since the early life . Keywords: Moral Values ?óÔé¼ÔÇ??óÔé¼ÔÇ?, Early Childhood Education , Cullen ABC 's .

  14. Rooting and Other Characteristics of a Transgenic Walnut Hybrid (Juglans hindsii x J. regia) Rootstock Expressing rolABC

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kourosh Vahdati; James R. McKenna; Abhaya M. Dandekar; Charles A. Leslie; Sandie L. Uratsu; Wesley P. Hackett; Paola Negri; Gale H. McGranahan

    2002-01-01

    Walnuts (Juglans spp.) are difficult-to-root woody plants. The rolABC genes (rolA + rolB + rolC), derived from the bacteria Agrobacterium rhizogenes, have been shown to increase the rooting potential of other difficult-to-root woody plants. We inserted the...

  15. Neurosteroid Transport in the Brain: Role of ABC and SLC Transporters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Markus Grube

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Neurosteroids, comprising pregnane, androstane, and sulfated steroids can alter neuronal excitability through interaction with ligand-gated ion channels and other receptors and have therefore a therapeutic potential in several brain disorders. They can be formed in brain cells or are synthesized by an endocrine gland and reach the brain by penetrating the blood–brain barrier (BBB. Especially sulfated steroids such as pregnenolone sulfate (PregS and dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate (DHEAS depend on transporter proteins to cross membranes. In this review, we discuss the involvement of ATP-binding cassette (ABC- and solute carrier (SLC-type membrane proteins in the transport of these compounds at the BBB and in the choroid plexus (CP, but also in the secretion from neurons and glial cells. Among the ABC transporters, especially BCRP (ABCG2 and several MRP/ABCC subfamily members (MRP1, MRP4, MRP8 are expressed in the brain and known to efflux conjugated steroids. Furthermore, several SLC transporters have been shown to mediate cellular uptake of steroid sulfates. These include members of the OATP/SLCO subfamily, namely OATP1A2 and OATP2B1, as well as OAT3 (SLC22A3, which have been reported to be expressed at the BBB, in the CP and in part in neurons. Furthermore, a role of the organic solute transporter OSTα-OSTβ (SLC51A/B in brain DHEAS/PregS homeostasis has been proposed. This transporter was reported to be localized especially in steroidogenic cells of the cerebellum and hippocampus. To date, the impact of transporters on neurosteroid homeostasis is still poorly understood. Further insights are desirable also with regard to the therapeutic potential of these compounds.

  16. IMPLANTAÇÃO DO CUSTEIO ABC EM UMA EMPRESA DO RAMO DE PRESTAÇÃO DE SERVIÇOS

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Luiz Ricardo Aguena Jacintho Gil de Castro

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available This paper describes the implementation of the Activity-Based Cost (ABC method in a company of taxes and accounting services and outlines the positive and negative aspects encountered during implementation. It should be taken into account that this work has been developed in the fiscal area of cost verification. Bibliographical references, internal company documents and interviews with industry officials and the administrator responsible for the company were used. In the evolving of operations, the costs of the fiscal area and their main activities have been described monthly and through this information, drivers have been developed and the ABC (Activity-Based Costing method has been adopted. With the implementation it became clear that the system provides better visualization for the decision making process, it also provided learning for the company, so that the method should be used for an undetermined period of time.

  17. Studying of the function of expected ABC transporter Rv1458c-Rv1457c-Rv1456c in mycobacteria; Studium funkcie predpokladaneho ABC transportera Rv1458c-Rv1457c-Rv1456c v mykobakteriach

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sarkan, M; Mikusova, K; Kordulakova, J [Univerzita Komenskeho v Bratislave, Prirodovedecka fakulta, Katedra biochemie, 84215 Bratislava (Slovakia)

    2012-04-25

    The bacterium Mycobacterium tuberculosis - the originator of tuberculosis in humans - is characterized by a complex cell wall, which is responsible for a high bacteria resistant to adverse external environmental conditions, as well as to the common antibiotics. The structure of the cell wall components and enzymes involved into its biosynthesis are relatively well described, but there is no information on the transfer of intermediate products of its biosynthetic across the plasmatic membrane. Orthologues of genes rv1459c-rv1458c-rv1457c-rv1456c of M. tuberculosis are in the same configuration in genomes of all previously sequenced mycobacterial strains. Rv1459c gene encodes a probable glycosyltransferases and genes rv1458c, rv1457c rv1456c code nucleotide binding and transmembrane subunits of expected ABC transporter. In our work we focused on the study of the function of expected ABC transporter Rv1458c-Rv1457c-Rv1456c, through analysis of phenotypes of strains M. Smegmatis. They have orthologues of genes encoding the transmembrane subunits of this transporter suspended by fragment encoding resistance to kanamycin. (authors)

  18. Obstacles to Brain Tumor Therapy: Key ABC Transporters

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juwina Wijaya

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available The delivery of cancer chemotherapy to treat brain tumors remains a challenge, in part, because of the inherent biological barrier, the blood–brain barrier. While its presence and role as a protector of the normal brain parenchyma has been acknowledged for decades, it is only recently that the important transporter components, expressed in the tightly knit capillary endothelial cells, have been deciphered. These transporters are ATP-binding cassette (ABC transporters and, so far, the major clinically important ones that functionally contribute to the blood–brain barrier are ABCG2 and ABCB1. A further limitation to cancer therapy of brain tumors or brain metastases is the blood–tumor barrier, where tumors erect a barrier of transporters that further impede drug entry. The expression and regulation of these two transporters at these barriers, as well as tumor derived alteration in expression and/or mutation, are likely obstacles to effective therapy.

  19. The ABC7 regimen: a new approach to metastatic breast cancer using seven common drugs to inhibit epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition and augment capecitabine efficacy

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kast RE

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available Richard E Kast,1 Nicolas Skuli,2 Samuel Cos,3 Georg Karpel-Massler,4 Yusuke Shiozawa,5 Ran Goshen,6 Marc-Eric Halatsch4 1IIAIGC Study Center, Burlington, VT, USA; 2INSERM, Centre de Recherches en Cancérologie de Toulouse – CRCT, UMR1037 Inserm/Université Toulouse III – Paul Sabatier, Toulouse, France; 3Department of Physiology and Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of Cantabria and Valdecilla Research Institute (IDIVAL, Santander, Spain; 4Department of Neurosurgery, Ulm University Hospital, Ulm, Germany; 5Department of Cancer Biology, Comprehensive Cancer Center, Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA; 6Eliaso Consulting Ltd., Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel Abstract: Breast cancer metastatic to bone has a poor prognosis despite recent advances in our understanding of the biology of both bone and breast cancer. This article presents a new approach, the ABC7 regimen (Adjuvant for Breast Cancer treatment using seven repurposed drugs, to metastatic breast cancer. ABC7 aims to defeat aspects of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT that lead to dissemination of breast cancer to bone. As add-on to current standard treatment with capecitabine, ABC7 uses ancillary attributes of seven already-marketed noncancer treatment drugs to stop both the natural EMT process inherent to breast cancer and the added EMT occurring as a response to current treatment modalities. Chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery provoke EMT in cancer generally and in breast cancer specifically. ABC7 uses standard doses of capecitabine as used in treating breast cancer today. In addition, ABC7 uses 1 an older psychiatric drug, quetiapine, to block RANK signaling; 2 pirfenidone, an anti-fibrosis drug to block TGF-beta signaling; 3 rifabutin, an antibiotic to block beta-catenin signaling; 4 metformin, a first-line antidiabetic drug to stimulate AMPK and inhibit mammalian target of rapamycin, (mTOR; 5 propranolol, a beta-blocker to block beta

  20. abc the aspectBench compiler for aspectJ a workbench for aspect-oriented programming language and compilers research

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Allan, Chris; Avgustinov, Pavel; Christensen, Aske Simon

    2005-01-01

    Aspect-oriented programming (AOP) is gaining popularity as a new way of modularising cross-cutting concerns. The aspectbench compiler (abc) is a new workbench for AOP research which provides an extensible research framework for both new language features and new compiler optimisations. This poste...

  1. Classification of a Haemophilus influenzae ABC Transporter HI1470/71 through Its Cognate Molybdate Periplasmic Binding Protein, MolA

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tirado-Lee, Leidamarie; Lee, Allen; Rees, Douglas C.; Pinkett, Heather W. (CIT); (NWU)

    2014-10-02

    molA (HI1472) from H. influenzae encodes a periplasmic binding protein (PBP) that delivers substrate to the ABC transporter MolB{sub 2}C{sub 2} (formerly HI1470/71). The structures of MolA with molybdate and tungstate in the binding pocket were solved to 1.6 and 1.7 {angstrom} resolution, respectively. The MolA-binding protein binds molybdate and tungstate, but not other oxyanions such as sulfate and phosphate, making it the first class III molybdate-binding protein structurally solved. The {approx}100 {mu}M binding affinity for tungstate and molybdate is significantly lower than observed for the class II ModA molybdate-binding proteins that have nanomolar to low micromolar affinity for molybdate. The presence of two molybdate loci in H. influenzae suggests multiple transport systems for one substrate, with molABC constituting a low-affinity molybdate locus.

  2. The impact of ColRS two-component system and TtgABC efflux pump on phenol tolerance of Pseudomonas putida becomes evident only in growing bacteria

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kivisaar Maia

    2010-04-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background We have recently found that Pseudomonas putida deficient in ColRS two-component system is sensitive to phenol and displays a serious defect on solid glucose medium where subpopulation of bacteria lyses. The latter phenotype is significantly enhanced by the presence of phenol in growth medium. Here, we focused on identification of factors affecting phenol tolerance of the colR-deficient P. putida. Results By using transposon mutagenesis approach we identified a set of phenol-tolerant derivatives of colR-deficient strain. Surprisingly, half of independent phenol tolerant clones possessed miniTn5 insertion in the ttgABC operon. However, though inactivation of TtgABC efflux pump significantly enhanced phenol tolerance, it did not affect phenol-enhanced autolysis of the colR mutant on glucose medium indicating that phenol- and glucose-caused stresses experienced by the colR-deficient P. putida are not coupled. Inactivation of TtgABC pump significantly increased the phenol tolerance of the wild-type P. putida as well. Comparison of phenol tolerance of growing versus starving bacteria revealed that both ColRS and TtgABC systems affect phenol tolerance only under growth conditions and not under starvation. Flow cytometry analysis showed that phenol strongly inhibited cell division and to some extent also caused cell membrane permeabilization to propidium iodide. Single cell analysis of populations of the ttgC- and colRttgC-deficient strains revealed that their membrane permeabilization by phenol resembles that of the wild-type and the colR mutant, respectively. However, cell division of P. putida with inactivated TtgABC pump seemed to be less sensitive to phenol than that of the parental strain. At the same time, cell division appeared to be more inhibited in the colR-mutant strain than in the wild-type P. putida. Conclusions ColRS signal system and TtgABC efflux pump are involved in the phenol tolerance of P. putida. However, as

  3. An update-tissue engineered nerve grafts for the repair of peripheral nerve injuries.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Nitesh P; Lyon, Kristopher A; Huang, Jason H

    2018-05-01

    Peripheral nerve injuries (PNI) are caused by a range of etiologies and result in a broad spectrum of disability. While nerve autografts are the current gold standard for the reconstruction of extensive nerve damage, the limited supply of autologous nerve and complications associated with harvesting nerve from a second surgical site has driven groups from multiple disciplines, including biomedical engineering, neurosurgery, plastic surgery, and orthopedic surgery, to develop a suitable or superior alternative to autografting. Over the last couple of decades, various types of scaffolds, such as acellular nerve grafts (ANGs), nerve guidance conduits, and non-nervous tissues, have been filled with Schwann cells, stem cells, and/or neurotrophic factors to develop tissue engineered nerve grafts (TENGs). Although these have shown promising effects on peripheral nerve regeneration in experimental models, the autograft has remained the gold standard for large nerve gaps. This review provides a discussion of recent advances in the development of TENGs and their efficacy in experimental models. Specifically, TENGs have been enhanced via incorporation of genetically engineered cells, methods to improve stem cell survival and differentiation, optimized delivery of neurotrophic factors via drug delivery systems (DDS), co-administration of platelet-rich plasma (PRP), and pretreatment with chondroitinase ABC (Ch-ABC). Other notable advancements include conduits that have been bioengineered to mimic native nerve structure via cell-derived extracellular matrix (ECM) deposition, and the development of transplantable living nervous tissue constructs from rat and human dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons. Grafts composed of non-nervous tissues, such as vein, artery, and muscle, will be briefly discussed.

  4. ABC transporters P-gp and Bcrp do not limit the brain uptake of the novel antipsychotic and anticonvulsant drug cannabidiol in mice

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Natalia Brzozowska

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Cannabidiol (CBD is currently being investigated as a novel therapeutic for the treatment of CNS disorders like schizophrenia and epilepsy. ABC transporters such as P-glycoprotein (P-gp and breast cancer resistance protein (Bcrp mediate pharmacoresistance in these disorders. P-gp and Bcrp are expressed at the blood brain barrier (BBB and reduce the brain uptake of substrate drugs including various antipsychotics and anticonvulsants. It is therefore important to assess whether CBD is prone to treatment resistance mediated by P-gp and Bcrp. Moreover, it has become common practice in the drug development of CNS agents to screen against ABC transporters to help isolate lead compounds with optimal pharmacokinetic properties. The current study aimed to assess whether P-gp and Bcrp impacts the brain transport of CBD by comparing CBD tissue concentrations in wild-type (WT mice versus mice devoid of ABC transporter genes. P-gp knockout (Abcb1a/b−∕−, Bcrp knockout (Abcg2−∕−, combined P-gp/Bcrp knockout (Abcb1a/b−∕−Abcg2−∕− and WT mice were injected with CBD, before brain and plasma samples were collected at various time-points. CBD results were compared with the positive control risperidone and 9-hydroxy risperidone, antipsychotic drugs that are established ABC transporter substrates. Brain and plasma concentrations of CBD were not greater in P-gp, Bcrp or P-gp/Bcrp knockout mice than WT mice. In comparison, the brain/plasma concentration ratios of risperidone and 9-hydroxy risperidone were profoundly higher in P-gp knockout mice than WT mice. These results suggest that CBD is not a substrate of P-gp or Bcrp and may be free from the complication of reduced brain uptake by these transporters. Such findings provide favorable evidence for the therapeutic development of CBD in the treatment of various CNS disorders.

  5. Therapeutic potential of inhibiting ABCE1 and eRF3 genes via siRNA strategy using chitosan nanoparticles in breast cancer cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Cengiz, Bagdat Burcu; Asik, Mehmet Dogan [Hacettepe University, Nanotechnology and Nanomedicine Division (Turkey); Kara, Goknur [Hacettepe University, Biochemistry Division, Chemistry Department (Turkey); Turk, Mustafa [Kirikkale University, Bioengineering Department (Turkey); Denkbas, Emir Baki, E-mail: denkbas@hacettepe.edu.tr [Hacettepe University, Biochemistry Division, Chemistry Department (Turkey)

    2015-04-15

    In recent years, targeted cancer therapy strategies have begun to take the place of the conventional treatments. Inhibition of the specific genes, involved in cancer progress, via small interfering RNA (siRNA) has become one of the promising therapeutic approaches for cancer therapy. However, due to rapid nuclease degradation and poor cellular uptake of siRNA, a suitable carrier for siRNA penetration inside the cells is required. We used chitosan nanoparticles (CS-NPs) to efficiently deliver ATP-binding casette E1 (ABCE1) and eukaryotic release factor 3 (eRF3)-targeting siRNAs, individually and together, to reduce the proliferation and induce the apoptosis of breast cancer cells. The CS-NPs were generated by ionic gelation method using tripolyphosphate (TPP) as a crosslinker. Nanoparticles (NPs) were obtained with diameters ranging between 110 and 230 nm and the zeta potential of approximately 27 mV optimizing the solution pH to 4.5 and CS/TPP mass ratio to 3:1. Loading efficiencies of 98.69 % ± 0.051 and 98.83 % ± 0.047 were achieved when ABCE1 siRNA and eRF3 siRNA were entrapped into the NPs, respectively. Cell proliferation assay demonstrated that siRNA-loaded CS-NPs were more effective on cancer cells when compared to siRNAs without CS-NPs. Parallel results were also obtained by apoptosis/necrosis, double-staining analysis. Within our study, the potency of ABCE1 and eRF3 siRNAs were shown for the first time with this kind of polymeric delivery system. The results also indicated that ABCE1 and eRF3, important molecules in protein synthesis, could serve as effective targets to inhibit the cancer cells.

  6. O método das trajectórias clássicas: colisões coplanares do tipo A+BC Classical trajectory method: A+BC coplanar collisions

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jorge M. C. Marques

    2003-10-01

    Full Text Available The general methodology of classical trajectories as applied to elementary chemical reactions of the A+BC type is presented. The goal is to elucidate students about the main theoretical features and potentialities in applying this versatile method to calculate the dynamical properties of reactive systems. Only the methodology for two-dimensional (2D case is described, from which the general theory for 3D follows straightforwardly. The adopted point of view is, as much as possible, that of allowing a direct translation of the concepts into a working program. An application to the reaction O(¹D+H2->O+OH with relevance in atmospheric chemistry is also presented. The FORTRAN codes used are available through the web page www.qqesc.qui.uc.pt.

  7. Functional expression and characterization of plant ABC transporters in Xenopus laevis oocytes for transport engineering purposes

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Xu, Deyang; Veres, Dorottya; Belew, Zeinu Mussa

    2016-01-01

    the question whether the oocytes system is suitable to express and characterize ABC transporters. Thus we have selected AtABCG25, previously characterized in insect cells as the exporter of commercially valuable abscisic acid—as case study for optimizing of characterization in Xenopus oocytes. The tools...

  8. Asiakastyytyväisyys päivittäistavaroihin, Case: ABC Särkisalmi

    OpenAIRE

    Naukkarinen, Henna

    2010-01-01

    Opinnäytetyön tarkoitus on tutkia uuden Särkisalmen ABC-liikennemyymälän Salessa asioivien asiakkaiden tyytyväisyyttä tuotteisiin ja palveluun. Tavoitteena on selvittää Salen asiakkaiden mielipiteitä ja tyytyväisyyttä palvelusta, tuotteista ja myymälästä sekä selvittää asiakkuuden arvoa yrityksen näkökulmasta. Teoriaosuudessa käsitellään asiakkaan tärkeyttä yrityksen näkökulmasta. Lisäksi tarkastellaan kaupan tuote- ja palvelutarjontaa sekä ostopäätöksiin vaikuttavia asioita. Lähteinä on ...

  9. ABC-VED analysis of expendable medical stores at a tertiary care hospital.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kumar, Sushil; Chakravarty, A

    2015-01-01

    The modern system of medicine has evolved into a complex, sophisticated and expensive treatment modality in terms of cost of medicines and consumables. In any hospital, approximately 33% of total annual budget is spent on buying materials and supplies including medicines. ABC (Always, Better Control)-VED (Vital, Essential, Desirable) analysis of medical stores of a large teaching, tertiary care hospital of the Armed Forces was carried out to identify the categories of drugs needing focused managerial control. Annual consumption and expenditure data of expendable medical stores for one year was extracted from the drug expense book, followed by classification on its annual usage value. Subsequently, the factor of criticality was applied to arrive at a decision matrix for understanding the need for selective managerial control. The study revealed that out of 1536 items considered for the study, 6.77% (104), 19.27% (296) and 73.95% (1136) items were found to be A, B and C category items respectively. VED analysis revealed that vital items (V) accounted for 13.14% (201), essential items (E) for 56.37% (866) and desirable accounted for 30.49% items (469). ABC-VED matrix analysis of the inventory reveals that only 322 (21%) items out of an inventory of 1536 drugs belonging to category I will require maximum attention. Scientific inventory management tools need to be applied routinely for efficient management of medical stores, as it contributes to judicious use of limited resources and resultant improvement in patient care.

  10. Evidence for polar porphyrins of bacterial and algal origin in oil shale

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ocampo, R.; Callot, H.J.; Albrecht, P.

    1986-04-01

    The major part of the porphyrins of the immature Messel oil shale is composed of monocarboxylic acids (C/sub 30/-C/sub 36/) essentially complexed with nickel. These acids were separated as methyl esters by reverse phase h.p.l.c. and nine components characterized by mass and NMR spectroscopy. Structural assignments were supported by synthesis of several members and nuclear Overhauser effect experiments. Besides a major component of the DPEP series, this fraction contained other members belonging to the phyllo- and etioporphyrin series, as well as to a novel chlorophyll C derived series typical of algae. Furthermore the identification of several higher homologues (C/sub 34/-C/sub 36/) of the DPEP series, structurally related to the bacteriochlorophylls, reflects the bacterial input. The characterization of a series of petroporphyrinic acids from the polar fraction of the Messel oil shale confirms the chlorophyllic (a+b,c) origin of these porphyrins. It furthermore implies that most of the characterized petroporphyrins and the survival of carboxylic functions in this class of compounds under mild diagenetic conditions. It furthermore implies that most of the characterized petroporphyrins in Messel shale originate from photosynthetic bacteria and microscopic algae.

  11. UV mutagenesis in E. coli with excision repair initiated by uvrABC or denV gene products

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bockrath, R; Hodes, M Z; Mosbaugh, P; Valerie, K; de Riel, J K

    1988-03-01

    Mutation frequency responses produced by ultraviolet light are compared in 4 closely related strains of E.coli B/r having the same tyr(Oc) allele and different excision-repair capabilities. The production of Tyr/sup +/ prototrophic mutants is classified into back-mutations and de novo or converted glutamine tRNA suppressor mutations to indicate different mutation events. Cells transformed with the plasmid pdenV-7 require larger exposures than the parent strains to produce comparable mutation frequency responses, indicating that DenV activity can repair mutatagenic photoproducts. When damage reduction by UvrABC or DenV is compared for each of the specific categories of mutation, the results are consistent with the idea that pyrimidine dimers infrequently or never target back-mutations of this allele, frequently target the de novo suppressor mutations, and extensively or exclusively target the converted suppressor mutations. This analysis is based on the distinction that UvrABC-initiated excision repair recognizes dimer and non-dimer photoproducts but that DenV-initiated repair recognizes only pyrimidine dimers. 44 refs.; 3 figs.; 2 tabs.

  12. Bacterial prostatitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gill, Bradley C; Shoskes, Daniel A

    2016-02-01

    The review provides the infectious disease community with a urologic perspective on bacterial prostatitis. Specifically, the article briefly reviews the categorization of prostatitis by type and provides a distillation of new findings published on bacterial prostatitis over the past year. It also highlights key points from the established literature. Cross-sectional prostate imaging is becoming more common and may lead to more incidental diagnoses of acute bacterial prostatitis. As drug resistance remains problematic in this condition, the reemergence of older antibiotics such as fosfomycin, has proven beneficial. With regard to chronic bacterial prostatitis, no clear clinical risk factors emerged in a large epidemiological study. However, bacterial biofilm formation has been associated with more severe cases. Surgery has a limited role in bacterial prostatitis and should be reserved for draining of a prostatic abscess or the removal of infected prostatic stones. Prostatitis remains a common and bothersome clinical condition. Antibiotic therapy remains the basis of treatment for both acute and chronic bacterial prostatitis. Further research into improving prostatitis treatment is indicated.

  13. Proposta de Custeamento das Atividades de Armazenagem Paletizada pelo Sistema ABC em uma Cooperativa de Plantadores de Cana de Açúcar

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adriano Marcelo Litcanov

    2011-05-01

    Full Text Available Este trabalho apresenta um estudo do uso da formulação de custeio de armazenagem, substituindo o sistema tradicional chamado de “Custeio por Absorção”, pela utilização do sistema ABC, demonstrando maneiras eficazes em suas alocações de custos, a produtos e clientes, demonstrando sua superioridade em informações do processo, onde os custos são apurados de acordo com atividades consumidas por produtos ou clientes. Foi realizado um estudo, na Cooperativa de Plantadores de Cana do Oeste do Estado de São Paulo, onde foi possível analisar aspectos entre o sistema de custeio ABC, assim possibilitando uma melhor visão e uma tomada de decisão precisa. Deste modo, o sistema ABC aplicado em armazenagem mostra-se importante, ao demonstrar todas as posições de custo do sistema, proporcionando assim um ganho no posicionamento em relação à tomada de decisão, pelo fato de o sistema de absorção ser prejudicado pela falta de informações, tornando a administração lenta e com posicionamentos incorretos, prejudicando o bom desenvolvimento empresarial em um ambiente totalmente globalizado e competitivo, deixando à organização a margem de erros em suas tomadas de decisões.

  14. Estimating synchronous demographic changes across populations using hABC and its application for a herpetological community from northeastern Brazil.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gehara, Marcelo; Garda, Adrian A; Werneck, Fernanda P; Oliveira, Eliana F; da Fonseca, Emanuel M; Camurugi, Felipe; Magalhães, Felipe de M; Lanna, Flávia M; Sites, Jack W; Marques, Ricardo; Silveira-Filho, Ricardo; São Pedro, Vinícius A; Colli, Guarino R; Costa, Gabriel C; Burbrink, Frank T

    2017-09-01

    Many studies propose that Quaternary climatic cycles contracted and/or expanded the ranges of species and biomes. Strong expansion-contraction dynamics of biomes presume concerted demographic changes of associated fauna. The analysis of temporal concordance of demographic changes can be used to test the influence of Quaternary climate on diversification processes. Hierarchical approximate Bayesian computation (hABC) is a powerful and flexible approach that models genetic data from multiple species, and can be used to estimate the temporal concordance of demographic processes. Using available single-locus data, we can now perform large-scale analyses, both in terms of number of species and geographic scope. Here, we first compared the power of four alternative hABC models for a collection of single-locus data. We found that the model incorporating an a priori hypothesis about the timing of simultaneous demographic change had the best performance. Second, we applied the hABC models to a data set of seven squamate and four amphibian species occurring in the Seasonally Dry Tropical Forests (Caatinga) in northeastern Brazil, which, according to paleoclimatic evidence, experienced an increase in aridity during the Pleistocene. If this increase was important for the diversification of associated xeric-adapted species, simultaneous population expansions should be evident at the community level. We found a strong signal of synchronous population expansion in the Late Pleistocene, supporting the increase of the Caatinga during this time. This expansion likely enhanced the formation of communities adapted to high aridity and seasonality and caused regional extirpation of taxa adapted to wet forest. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  15. An ABC of Drumming: Children's Narratives about Beat, Rhythm and Groove in a Primary Classroom

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mackinlay, Elizabeth

    2014-01-01

    In this paper, I use a bricolage of arts-based research and writing practices to explore narratives by Grade 4 children about their experiences in a drumming circle called "Bam Bam" as represented in a text they created with me called An ABC of drumming. The term "narrative" is used here in a contemporary sense to…

  16. YehZYXW of Escherichia coli Is a Low-Affinity, Non-Osmoregulatory Betaine-Specific ABC Transporter.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lang, Shenhui; Cressatti, Marisa; Mendoza, Kris E; Coumoundouros, Chelsea N; Plater, Samantha M; Culham, Doreen E; Kimber, Matthew S; Wood, Janet M

    2015-09-22

    Transporter-mediated osmolyte accumulation stimulates the growth of Escherichia coli in high-osmolality environments. YehZYXW was predicted to be an osmoregulatory transporter because (1) osmotic and stationary phase induction of yehZYXW is mediated by RpoS, (2) the Yeh proteins are homologous to the components of known osmoregulatory ABC transporters (e.g., ProU of E. coli), and (3) YehZ models based on the structures of periplasmic betaine-binding proteins suggested that YehZ retains key betaine-binding residues. The betaines choline-O-sulfate, glycine betaine, and dimethylsulfoniopropionate bound YehZ and ProX with millimolar and micromolar affinities, respectively, as determined by equilibrium dialysis and isothermal titration calorimetry. The crystal structure of the YehZ apoprotein, determined at 1.5 Å resolution (PDB ID: 4WEP ), confirmed its similarity to other betaine-binding proteins. Small and nonpolar residues in the hinge region of YehZ (e.g., Gly223) pack more closely than the corresponding residues in ProX, stabilizing the apoprotein. Betaines bound YehZ-Gly223Ser an order of magnitude more tightly than YehZ, suggesting that weak substrate binding in YehZ is at least partially due to apo state stabilization. Neither ProX nor YehZ bound proline. Assays based on osmoprotection or proline auxotrophy failed to detect YehZYXW-mediated uptake of proline, betaines, or other osmolytes. However, transport assays revealed low-affinity glycine betaine uptake, mediated by YehZYXW, that was inhibited at high salinity. Thus, YehZYXW is a betaine transporter that shares substrate specificity, but not an osmoregulatory function, with homologues like E. coli ProU. Other work suggests that yehZYXW may be an antivirulence locus whose expression promotes persistent, asymptomatic bacterial infection.

  17. Social Experiences of Beginning Braille Readers in Literacy Activities: Qualitative and Quantitative Findings of the ABC Braille Study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sacks, Sharon Z.; Kamei-Hannan, Cheryl; Erin, Jane N.; Barclay, Lizbeth; Sitar, Debbie

    2009-01-01

    This mixed-design investigation examined the social experiences of beginning braille readers who were initially taught contracted or alphabetic braille in literacy activities as part of the ABC Braille Study. No differences in the quality or quantity of social experiences were found between the two groups over time. (Contains 4 tables.)

  18. Drainage percutané de l'abcès du psoas: Notre expérience et revue ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    M. Asseban

    et al. Les abcès pyogènes secondaires du psoas: à propos de six cas et revue de la littérature. Rev Med Interne 2006;27:828–35. [3] Muttarak M, Peh WC. CT of unusual iliopsoas compartment lesions. Radiographics 2000. Oct; 20 Spec No: S53-S66. [4] Zissin R, Gayer G, Kots E, Werner M, Shapiro-Feinberg M, Hertz M.

  19. Novel understanding of ABC transporters ABCB1/MDR/P-glycoprotein, ABCC2/MRP2, and ABCG2/BCRP in colorectal pathophysiology

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Andersen, Vibeke; Svenningsen, Katrine; Almind Knudsen, Lina

    2015-01-01

    AIM: To evaluate ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters in colonic pathophysiology as they had recently been related to colorectal cancer (CRC) development. METHODS: Literature search was conducted on PubMed using combinations of the following terms: ABC transporters, ATP binding cassette...... with glucocorticoids. The evidence for the involvement of ABCC2 and ABCG2 in colonic pathophysiology was weak. CONCLUSION: ABCB1, diet, and gut microbes mutually interact in colonic inflammation, a well-known risk factor for CRC. Further insight may be translated into preventive and treatment strategies....... transporter proteins, inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative, colitis, Crohns disease, colorectal cancer, colitis, intestinal inflammation, intestinal carcinogenesis, ABCB1/P-glycoprotein (P-gp/CD243/MDR1), ABCC2/multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2) and ABCG2/breast cancer resistance protein (BCRP), Abcb1...

  20. Characterization of a novel domain ‘GATE’ in the ABC protein DrrA and its role in drug efflux by the DrrAB complex

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhang, Han; Rahman, Sadia; Li, Wen; Fu, Guoxing; Kaur, Parjit

    2015-01-01

    A novel domain, GATE (Glycine-loop And Transducer Element), is identified in the ABC protein DrrA. This domain shows sequence and structural conservation among close homologs of DrrA as well as distantly-related ABC proteins. Among the highly conserved residues in this domain are three glycines, G215, G221 and G231, of which G215 was found to be critical for stable expression of the DrrAB complex. Other conserved residues, including E201, G221, K227 and G231, were found to be critical for the catalytic and transport functions of the DrrAB transporter. Structural analysis of both the previously published crystal structure of the DrrA homolog MalK and the modeled structure of DrrA showed that G215 makes close contacts with residues in and around the Walker A motif, suggesting that these interactions may be critical for maintaining the integrity of the ATP binding pocket as well as the complex. It is also shown that G215A or K227R mutation diminishes some of the atomic interactions essential for ATP catalysis and overall transport function. Therefore, based on both the biochemical and structural analyses, it is proposed that the GATE domain, located outside of the previously identified ATP binding and hydrolysis motifs, is an additional element involved in ATP catalysis. - Highlights: • A novel domain ‘GATE’ is identified in the ABC protein DrrA. • GATE shows high sequence and structural conservation among diverse ABC proteins. • GATE is located outside of the previously studied ATP binding and hydrolysis motifs. • Conserved GATE residues are critical for stability of DrrAB and for ATP catalysis

  1. The Preschool Activity, Technology, Health, Adiposity, Behaviour and Cognition (PATH-ABC) cohort study: rationale and design.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cliff, Dylan P; McNeill, Jade; Vella, Stewart; Howard, Steven J; Kelly, Megan A; Angus, Douglas J; Wright, Ian M; Santos, Rute; Batterham, Marijka; Melhuish, Edward; Okely, Anthony D; de Rosnay, Marc

    2017-04-04

    Prevalence estimates internationally suggest that many preschool-aged children (3-5 years) are insufficiently physically active and engage in high levels of screen-based entertainment. Early childhood is the developmental period for which we know the least about the effects of physical activity on development and health. Likewise, rapid technological advancements in mobile electronic media have made screen-based forms of entertainment for young children ubiquitous, and research demonstrating the impacts on cognition, psychosocial well-being, and health has lagged behind the rate of adoption of these technologies. The purpose of the Preschool Activity, Technology, Health, Adiposity, Behaviour and Cognition (PATH-ABC) study is to investigate if physical activity and screen-based entertainment are independently associated with cognitive and psychosocial development, and health outcomes in young children, and if so, how much and which types of these behaviours might be most influential. The PATH-ABC study is a prospective cohort, aiming to recruit 430 3-5 year-old children. Children are recruited through and complete initial assessments at their Early Childhood Education and Care (ECEC) centre, and then 12-months later at their centre or school. Direct assessments are made of children's habitual physical activity using accelerometry, cognitive (executive function) and language development (expressive vocabulary), psychosocial development (emotional understanding, Theory of Mind, empathy, and heart rate variability), adiposity (body mass index and waist circumference), and cardiovascular health (blood pressure and retinal micro- vasculature). Educators report on children's psychological strengths and difficulties and self-regulation. Parents report on children's habitual use of electronic media and other child, parent and household characteristics. The PATH-ABC study aims to provide evidence to enhance understanding of how much and which types of physical activity and

  2. The Assessment of Burden of COPD (ABC) tool : a shared decision-making instrument that is predictive of healthcare costs

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Rutten-vanMolken, Maureen P. H. M.; Goossens, Lucas M A; Boland, Melinde R. S.; Donkers, Bas; Jonker, Marcel F.; Slok, Annerika H. M.; Salome, Philippe L.; van Schayck, Constant; In 't Veen, Johannes C C M; Stolk, Elly A.

    2017-01-01

    Background: The Assessment of Burden of COPD (ABC) tool is an instrument that supports shared decision making between patients and physicians. It includes a coloured balloon diagram to visualize a patient’s scores on a questionnaire about the experienced burden of COPD and several objective severity

  3. Bacterial Adhesion & Blocking Bacterial Adhesion

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Vejborg, Rebecca Munk

    2008-01-01

    , which influence the transition from a planktonic lifestyle to a sessile lifestyle, have been studied. Protein conditioning film formation was found to influence bacterial adhesion and subsequent biofilm formation considerable, and an aqueous extract of fish muscle tissue was shown to significantly...... tract to the microbial flocs in waste water treatment facilities. Microbial biofilms may however also cause a wide range of industrial and medical problems, and have been implicated in a wide range of persistent infectious diseases, including implantassociated microbial infections. Bacterial adhesion...... is the first committing step in biofilm formation, and has therefore been intensely scrutinized. Much however, still remains elusive. Bacterial adhesion is a highly complex process, which is influenced by a variety of factors. In this thesis, a range of physico-chemical, molecular and environmental parameters...

  4. Conservation of targeting but divergence in function and quality control of peroxisomal ABC transporters: an analysis using cross-kingdom expression

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Zhang, Xuebin; de Marcos Lousa, Carine; Schutte-Lensink, Nellie; Ofman, Rob; Wanders, Ronald J.; Baldwin, Stephen A.; Baker, Alison; Kemp, Stephan; Theodoulou, Frederica L.

    2011-01-01

    ABC (ATP-binding cassette) subfamily D transporters are found in all eukaryotic kingdoms and are known to play essential roles in mammals and plants; however, their number, organization and physiological contexts differ. Via cross-kingdom expression experiments, we have explored the conservation of

  5. What daily activities increase the risk of falling in Parkinson patients? An analysis of the utility of the ABC-16 scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Foongsathaporn, Chayanin; Panyakaew, Pattamon; Jitkritsadakul, Onanong; Bhidayasiri, Roongroj

    2016-05-15

    Although the strongest predictor of falling in Parkinson's disease is the number of falls in the preceding year, little information is available on what types of daily activities (ADLs) that are associated with a significant fall risk in this population. To determine balance confidence (FOF) in PD patients by utilizing the 16-item Activities-Specific Balance Confidence Scale (ABC-16), and identifying specific activities from this scale that are predictors of future falls. 160 patients with PD, and 52 age-matched healthy controls completed the Thai-validated version of the ABC-16. The number of falls during the past month was obtained from both groups. PD patients reported lower confidence in their ability to maintain balance during ADLs compared to controls (pABC-16 score (r=-0.387, panalysis identified the strongest predictor of fall in PD patients was item 9 (getting in/out of car; OR=4.8), followed by item 6 (standing on chair to reach; OR=3.4), and item 3 (picking up slippers from floor; OR=2.6). All of these high-risk activities involve movement in the vertical orientation. FOF was more common in PD patients than controls. In patients with postural instability and visual impairment, high-risk activities should be minimized, avoided, or performed only under supervision. It is recommended that fall prevention strategies include physical therapy interventions that are targeted at these activities. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Electrical Wiring of the Aldehyde Oxidoreductase PaoABC with a Polymer Containing Osmium Redox Centers: Biosensors for Benzaldehyde and GABA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Artavazd Badalyan

    2014-11-01

    Full Text Available Biosensors for the detection of benzaldehyde and g-aminobutyric acid (GABA are reported using aldehyde oxidoreductase PaoABC from Escherichia coli immobilized in a polymer containing bound low potential osmium redox complexes. The electrically connected enzyme already electrooxidizes benzaldehyde at potentials below −0.15 V (vs. Ag|AgCl, 1 M KCl. The pH-dependence of benzaldehyde oxidation can be strongly influenced by the ionic strength. The effect is similar with the soluble osmium redox complex and therefore indicates a clear electrostatic effect on the bioelectrocatalytic efficiency of PaoABC in the osmium containing redox polymer. At lower ionic strength, the pH-optimum is high and can be switched to low pH-values at high ionic strength. This offers biosensing at high and low pH-values. A “reagentless” biosensor has been formed with enzyme wired onto a screen-printed electrode in a flow cell device. The response time to addition of benzaldehyde is 30 s, and the measuring range is between 10–150 µM and the detection limit of 5 µM (signal to noise ratio 3:1 of benzaldehyde. The relative standard deviation in a series (n = 13 for 200 µM benzaldehyde is 1.9%. For the biosensor, a response to succinic semialdehyde was also identified. Based on this response and the ability to work at high pH a biosensor for GABA is proposed by coimmobilizing GABA-aminotransferase (GABA-T and PaoABC in the osmium containing redox polymer.

  7. Investigating the effects of ABC transporter-based acquired drug resistance mechanisms at the cellular and tissue scale.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, Cong; Krishnan, J; Xu, Xiao Yun

    2013-03-01

    In this paper we systematically investigate the effects of acquired drug resistance at the cellular and tissue scale, with a specific focus on ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter-based mechanisms and contrast this with other representative intracellular resistance mechanisms. This is done by developing in silico models wherein the drug resistance mechanism is overlaid on a coarse-grained description of apoptosis; these cellular models are coupled with interstitial drug transport, allowing for a transparent examination of the effect of acquired drug resistances at the tissue level. While ABC transporter-mediated resistance mechanisms counteract drug effect at the cellular level, its tissue-level effect is more complicated, revealing unexpected trends in tissue response as drug stimuli are systematically varied. Qualitatively different behaviour is observed in other drug resistance mechanisms. Overall the paper (i) provides insight into the tissue level functioning of a particular resistance mechanism, (ii) shows that this is very different from other resistance mechanisms of an apparently similar type, and (iii) demonstrates a concrete instance of how the functioning of a negative feedback based cellular adaptive mechanism can have unexpected higher scale effects.

  8. Secretion of Bacterial Lipoproteins: Through the Cytoplasmic Membrane, the Periplasm and Beyond

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zückert, Wolfram R.

    2014-01-01

    Bacterial lipoproteins are peripherally anchored membrane proteins that play a variety of roles in bacterial physiology and virulence in monoderm (single membrane-enveloped, e.g., grampositive) and diderm (double membrane-enveloped, e.g., gram-negative) bacteria. After export of prolipoproteins through the cytoplasmic membrane, which occurs predominantly but not exclusively via the general secretory or Sec pathway, the proteins are lipid-modified at the cytoplasmic membrane in a multistep process that involves sequential modification of a cysteine residue and cleavage of the signal peptide by the signal II peptidase Lsp. In both monoderms and diderms, signal peptide processing is preceded by acylation with a diacylglycerol through preprolipoprotein diacylglycerol transferase (Lgt). In diderms but also some monoderms, lipoproteins are further modified with a third acyl chain through lipoprotein N-acyl transferase (Lnt). Fully modified lipoproteins that are destined to be anchored in the inner leaflet of the outer membrane (OM) are selected, transported and inserted by the Lol (lipoprotein outer membrane localization) pathway machinery, which consists of the inner-membrane (IM) ABC transporterlike LolCDE complex, the periplasmic LolA chaperone and the OM LolB lipoprotein receptor. Retention of lipoproteins in the cytoplasmic membrane results from Lol avoidance signals that were originally described as the “+2 rule”. Surface localization of lipoproteins in diderms is rare in most bacteria, with the exception of several spirochetal species. Type 2 (T2SS) and type 5 (T5SS) secretion systems are involved in secretion of specific surface lipoproteins of γ-proteobacteria. In the model spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, surface lipoprotein secretion does not follow established sorting rules, but remains dependent on N-terminal peptide sequences. Secretion through the outer membrane requires maintenance of lipoproteins in a translocation-competent unfolded conformation

  9. Movement rehabilitation after spinal cord injuries: emerging concepts and future directions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Marsh, Barnaby C; Astill, Sarah L; Utley, Andrea; Ichiyama, Ronaldo M

    2011-03-10

    Considerable inroads are being made into developing new treatments for spinal cord injury (SCI) which aim to facilitate functional recovery, including locomotion. Research on rehabilitative strategies following SCI using animal models has demonstrated that regaining and maintaining motor function, such as standing or stepping, is governed by principles of skill acquisition. Mechanisms key to learning motor tasks, including retention and transfer of skill, feedback and conditions of practice, all have examples in the SCI animal literature, although the importance of many concepts may often be overlooked. Combinatorial strategies which include physical rehabilitation are beginning to yield promising results. However, the effects of molecular-cellular interventions including chondroitinaseABC, anti-NogoA, foetal stem cell transplantation, etc., are still poorly understood with reference to the changes made to spinal plasticity by training and exercise. Studies that investigate the interplay between rehabilitation and other treatments have had mixed results; it appears likely that precise timings of different interventions will help to maximize recovery of function. Understanding how the time-course of injury and different rehabilitative and treatment modalities might factor into spinal plasticity will be critical in future therapeutic interventions. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  10. Glycosaminoglycans from earthworms (Eisenia andrei).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Im, A-Rang; Park, Youmie; Sim, Joon-Soo; Zhang, Zhenqing; Liu, Zhenling; Linhardt, Robert J; Kim, Yeong Shik

    2010-02-01

    The whole tissue of the earthworm (Eisenia andrei) was lyophilized and extracted to purify glycosaminoglycans. Fractions, eluting from an anion-exchange column at 1.0 M and 2.0 M NaCl, showed the presence of acidic polysaccharides on agarose gel electrophoresis. Monosaccharide compositional analysis showed that galactose and glucose were most abundant monosaccharides in both fractions. Depolymerization of the polysaccharide mixture with glycosaminoglycan-degrading enzymes confirmed the presence of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate and heparan sulfate in the 2.0 M NaCl fraction. The content of GAGs (uronic acid containing polysaccharide) in the 2.0 M NaCl fraction determined by carbazole assay was 2%. Disaccharide compositional analysis using liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (LC-ESI-MS) analysis after chondroitinase digestion (ABC and ACII), showed that the chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate contained a 4-O-sulfo (76%), 2,4-di-O-sulfo (15%), 6-O-sulfo (6%), and unsulfated (4%) uronic acid linked N-acetylgalactosamine residues. LC-ESI-MS analysis of heparin lyase I/II/III digests demonstrated the presence of N-sulfo (69%), N-sulfo-6-O-sulfo (25%) and 2-O-sulfo-N-sulfo-6-O-sulfo (5%) uronic acid linked N-acetylglucosamine residues.

  11. N-acetylgalactosamine positive perineuronal nets in the saccade-related-part of the cerebellar fastigial nucleus do not maintain saccade gain.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Adrienne Mueller

    Full Text Available Perineuronal nets (PNNs accumulate around neurons near the end of developmental critical periods. PNNs are structures of the extracellular matrix which surround synaptic contacts and contain chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans. Previous studies suggest that the chondroitin sulfate chains of PNNs inhibit synaptic plasticity and thereby help end critical periods. PNNs surround a high proportion of neurons in the cerebellar nuclei. These PNNs form during approximately the same time that movements achieve normal accuracy. It is possible that PNNs in the cerebellar nuclei inhibit plasticity to maintain the synaptic organization that produces those accurate movements. We tested whether or not PNNs in a saccade-related part of the cerebellar nuclei maintain accurate saccade size by digesting a part of them in an adult monkey performing a task that changes saccade size (long term saccade adaptation. We use the enzyme Chondroitinase ABC to digest the glycosaminoglycan side chains of proteoglycans present in the majority of PNNs. We show that this manipulation does not result in faster, larger, or more persistent adaptation. Our result indicates that intact perineuronal nets around saccade-related neurons in the cerebellar nuclei are not important for maintaining long-term saccade gain.

  12. Mast Cells Produce a Unique Chondroitin Sulfate Epitope.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Farrugia, Brooke L; Whitelock, John M; O'Grady, Robert; Caterson, Bruce; Lord, Megan S

    2016-02-01

    The granules of mast cells contain a myriad of mediators that are stored and protected by the sulfated glycosaminoglycan (GAG) chains that decorate proteoglycans. Whereas heparin is the GAG predominantly associated with mast cells, mast cell proteoglycans are also decorated with heparan sulfate and chondroitin sulfate (CS). This study investigated a unique CS structure produced by mast cells that was detected with the antibody clone 2B6 in the absence of chondroitinase ABC digestion. Mast cells in rodent tissue sections were characterized using toluidine blue, Leder stain and the presence of mast cell tryptase. The novel CS epitope was identified in rodent tissue sections and localized to cells that were morphologically similar to cells chemically identified as mast cells. The rodent mast cell-like line RBL-2H3 was also shown to express the novel CS epitope. This epitope co-localized with multiple CS proteoglycans in both rodent tissue and RBL-2H3 cultured cells. These findings suggest that the novel CS epitope that decorates mast cell proteoglycans may play a role in the way these chains are structured in mast cells. © 2016 The Histochemical Society.

  13. Purification, structural characterization and antiproliferative properties of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate from tunisian fish skins.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Krichen, Fatma; Volpi, Nicola; Sila, Assaâd; Maccari, Francesca; Mantovani, Veronica; Galeotti, Fabio; Ellouz-Chaabouni, Semia; Bougatef, Ali

    2017-02-01

    Chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate GAGs were extracted and purified from the skins of grey triggerfish (GTSG) and smooth hound (SHSG). The disaccharide composition produced by chondroitinase ABC treatment showed the presence of nonsulfated disaccharide, monosulfated disaccharides ΔDi6S and ΔDi4S, and disulfated disaccharides in different percentages. In particular, the nonsulfated disaccharide ΔDi0S of GTSG and SHSG were 3.5% and 5.5%, respectively, while monosulfated disaccharides ΔDi6S and ΔDi4S were evaluated to be 18.2%, 59% and 14.6%, 47.0%, respectively. Capillary elecrophoresis analysis of GTSG and SHSG contained 99.2% and 95.4% of chondroitin sulfate/dermatan sulfate, respectively. PAGE analysis showed a GTSG and SHSG having molecular masses with average values of 41.72KDa and 23.8KDa, respectively. HCT116 cell proliferation was inhibited (p<0.05) by 70.6% and 72.65% at 200μg/mL of GTSG and SHSG respectively. Both GTSG and SHSG demonstrated promising antiproliferative potential, which may be used as a novel, effective agent. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  14. COST ANALYSIS OF CLINICAL PRACTICE NURSING PROFESSION STUDENTS WITH ACTIVITY BASED COSTING (ABC METHOD IN Dr. SOEWANDHI HOSPITAL SURABAYA EAST JAVA

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M Hasinuddin

    2017-02-01

    Research result. The results using the ABC method showed that the unit cost to the cost of professional practice nurses in the hospital Dr. Soewandhi Surabaya is Rp. 460,000, - / month / person, while the cost of practice set by the RS Dr. Soewandhi is Rp. 1.200.000, - / month / person. There is a practice of the profession excess costs Rp. 740,000, -. RS Dr. Surabaya Soewandhi practice fees apply without using a standard based on the unit cost accordingly. Some educational institutions felt the cost was very heavy so the impact to the cancellation of the filing of the professional nurses student practice. Conclusions and recommendations. The hospital used a professional students practice nurses should use the standard fees in accordance with needs through precise calculations that the fees charged to students through educational institutions in accordance with the appropriate calculations. Keyword: ABC system - Profession nurses - Fee Practices

  15. SU-E-T-426: Feasibility of Stereotactic Body Radiation Therapy (SBRT) Treatment of Pancreatic Cancer Using Volumetric Modulated Arc Therapy (VMAT) with Active Breathing Control (ABC)

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zhang, Y; Jackson, J; Davies, G; Herman, J; Forbang, R Teboh [John Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD (United States)

    2015-06-15

    Purpose: SBRT shows excellent tumor control and toxicity rates for patients with locally advanced pancreatic cancer (PCA). Herein, we evaluate the feasibility of using VMAT with ABC for PCA SBRT. Methods: Nine PCA patients previously treated via SBRT utilizing 11-beam step-and-shoot IMRT technique in our center were retrospectively identified, among whom eight patients received 3300cGy in 5 fractions while one received 3000cGy in 5 fractions. A VMAT plan was generated on each patient’s planning CT in Pinnacle v9.8 on Elekta Synergy following the same PCA SBRT clinical protocol. Three partial arcs (182°–300°, 300°-60°, and 60°-180°) with 2°/4° control-point spacing were used. The dosimetric difference between the VMAT and the original IMRT plans was analyzed. IMRT QA was performed for the VMAT plans using MapCheck2 in MapPHAN and the total delivery time was recorded. To mimic the treatment situation with ABC, where patients hold their breath for 20–30 seconds, the delivery was intentionally interrupted every 20–30 seconds. For each plan, the QA was performed with and without beam interruption. Gamma analysis (2%/2mm) was used to compare the planned and measured doses. Results: All VMAT plans with 2mm dose grid passed the clinic protocol with similar PTV coverage and OARs sparing, where PTV V-RxDose was 92.7±2.1% (VMAT) vs. 92.1±2.6% (IMRT), and proximal stomach V15Gy was 3.60±2.69 cc (VMAT) vs. 4.80±3.13 cc (IMRT). The mean total MU and delivery time of the VMAT plans were 2453.8±531.1 MU and 282.1±56.0 seconds. The gamma passing rates of absolute dose were 94.9±3.4% and 94.5±4.0% for delivery without and with interruption respectively, suggesting the dosimetry of VMAT delivery with ABC for SBRT won’t be compromised. Conclusion: This study suggests that PCA SBRT using VMAT with ABC is a feasible technique without compromising plan dosimetry. The combination of VMAT with ABC will potentially reduce the SBRT treatment time.

  16. Enhanced expression in vivo of HLA-ABC antigens and beta 2-microglobulin on human lymphoid cells induced by human interferon-alpha in patients with lung cancer. Enhanced expression of class I major histocompatibility antigens prior to treatment

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nissen, Mogens Holst; Plesner, T; Larsen, J K

    1985-01-01

    than 0.5, respectively) by day-to-day analysis of an untreated healthy control group. An increased expression of both HLA-ABC (mean 55%, P less than 0.0005) and beta 2m (mean 23%, P less than 0.01) was also observed prior to treatment in the lung cancer patients when compared to a group of age matched......The effect of cloned human interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) on the expression of HLA-ABC antigens (HLA-ABC) and beta 2-microglobulin (beta 2m) on human peripheral lymphoid cells in vivo was studied by cytofluorometry using monoclonal antibodies and fluorescein-labelled rabbit anti-mouse immunoglobulin....... A significant increase in the mean fluorescence intensity of HLA-ABC (median 59%, P less than 0.001) and beta 2m (median 57%, P less than 0.001) on small lymphoid cells was observed 24 h after initiation of IFN-alpha treatment (50 X 10(6) units IFN-alpha/m2 three times a week). The enhanced expression...

  17. Profiling of ABC transporters ABCB5, ABCF2 and nestin-positive stem cells in nevi, in situ and invasive melanoma.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Setia, Namrata; Abbas, Ossama; Sousa, Yessica; Garb, Jane L; Mahalingam, Meera

    2012-08-01

    Distinct ABCB5 forms and ABCF2, members of the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) superfamily of transporters, are normally expressed in various tissues and cells, and enhanced expression of both has been demonstrated in select cancers. In melanoma cell lines, gene expression profiling of ABC transporters has revealed enhanced expression of melanocyte-specific ABCB5 and ABCF2 proteins. Given this, our primary aim was to ascertain immunohistochemical expression of the ABC transporters ABCB5 and ABCF2 and, the stem cell marker, nestin in a spectrum of benign and malignant nevomelanocytic proliferations, including nevi (n=30), in situ (n=31) and invasive (n=24) primary cutaneous melanomas to assess their role in the stepwise development of malignancy. In addition, their expression was compared with established melanoma prognosticators to ascertain their utility as independent prognosticators. A semiquantitative scoring system was utilized by deriving a cumulative score (based on percentage positivity cells and intensity of expression) and statistical analyses was carried out using analysis of variance with linear contrasts. Mean cumulative score in nevi, in situ and invasive melanoma were as follows: 3.8, 4.4 and 5.3 for ABCB5, respectively (P1, after controlling for the presence of ulceration and mitotic activity, the expression of both proteins did not significantly correlate with known melanoma prognosticators. The gradual increase in the expression of ABCB5 from benign nevus to in situ to invasive melanoma suggests that it plays a role in melanomagenesis. On the basis of our findings, a prospective study with follow-up data is required to ascertain the utility of ABCB5 as a therapeutic target.

  18. Contribución del modelo ABC en la toma de decisiones: el caso universidades

    OpenAIRE

    da Costa Marques, Maria da Conceição

    2012-01-01

    Con los rápidos avances tecnológicos, la creciente competencia y la liberalización de las últimas décadas, ha habido cambios en la producción y gestión de las organizaciones (Johnson & Kaplan, 1987). Estos cambios ponen en cuestión la utilidad y la validez de la información proporcionada por los sistemas tradicionales de costeo (Ahmed & Scapens, 2003), lo que condujo a la aparición de nuevos enfoques. Este artículo tiene el ámbito esencial del sistema ABC (Activity Based Costing) y tr...

  19. Contribución del modelo ABC en la toma de decisiones: el caso universidades

    OpenAIRE

    da Costa Marques, Maria da Conceição

    2012-01-01

    Con los rápidos avances tecnológicos, la creciente competencia y la liberalización de las últimas décadas, ha habido cambios en la producción y gestión de las organizaciones (Johnson & Kaplan, 1987). Estos cambios ponen en cuestión la utilidad y la validez de la información proporcionada por los sistemas tradicionales de costeo (Ahmed & Scapens, 2003), lo que condujo a la aparición de nuevos enfoques. Este artículo tiene el ámbito esencial del sistema ABC (Activity Based Costing) y trata de d...

  20. Pharmacogenomics of the human ABC transporter ABCG2: from functional evaluation to drug molecular design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ishikawa, Toshihisa; Tamura, Ai; Saito, Hikaru; Wakabayashi, Kanako; Nakagawa, Hiroshi

    2005-10-01

    In the post-genome-sequencing era, emerging genomic technologies are shifting the paradigm for drug discovery and development. Nevertheless, drug discovery and development still remain high-risk and high-stakes ventures with long and costly timelines. Indeed, the attrition of drug candidates in preclinical and development stages is a major problem in drug design. For at least 30% of the candidates, this attrition is due to poor pharmacokinetics and toxicity. Thus, pharmaceutical companies have begun to seriously re-evaluate their current strategies of drug discovery and development. In that light, we propose that a transport mechanism-based design might help to create new, pharmacokinetically advantageous drugs, and as such should be considered an important component of drug design strategy. Performing enzyme- and/or cell-based drug transporter, interaction tests may greatly facilitate drug development and allow the prediction of drug-drug interactions. We recently developed methods for high-speed functional screening and quantitative structure-activity relationship analysis to study the substrate specificity of ABC transporters and to evaluate the effect of genetic polymorphisms on their function. These methods would provide a practical tool to screen synthetic and natural compounds, and these data can be applied to the molecular design of new drugs. In this review article, we present an overview on the genetic polymorphisms of human ABC transporter ABCG2 and new camptothecin analogues that can circumvent AGCG2-associated multidrug resistance of cancer.