A multiple probe approach of implanting microdialysis probes into each separate tissue layer would better represent sampling from the stomach. Presently, microdialysis sampling experiments are...Full Text Available
chipD is a web server that facilitates design of DNA oligonucleotide probes for high-density tiling arrays, which can be used in a number of genomic applications such as ChIP-chip or gene-expression...Full Text Available
BackgroundGenomes store information for building and maintaining organisms. Complete sequencing of many genomes provides the opportunity to study and compare global information properties...Full Text Available
As part of efforts to develop improved methods for NMR protein sample preparation and structure determination, the Northeast Structural Genomics Consortium (NESG) has implemented an NMR screening pipeline for protein target selection, construct optimization, and buffer optimization, incorporating efficient microscale NMR screening of proteins using a micro-cryoprobe. The process is feasible because the newest generation probe requires only small amounts of protein, typically 30-200 ?g in 8-35 ?l volume. Extensive automation has been made possible by the combination of database tools, mechanization of key process steps, and the use of a micro-cryoprobe that gives excellent data while requiring little optimization and manual setup. In this perspective, we describe the overall process used by the NESG for screening NMR samples as part of a sample optimization process, assessing optimal ...
This paper described the application of an AC surface probe, similar to presently used eddy current probes, to the measurement of DC transport critical currents and critical state dissipation in high {Tc} superconductors. It has been shown that the probe can provide quantitative measurement of the full field penetration in superconducting samples by measuring the response of AC induced screening currents for superconducting materials in the form of tapes with overlayers of silver. In this manner, the AC probe can be used to replace the contact DC probe for determining critical currents in a noncontacting and local manner suitable for scanning over or along the sample.
This paper described the application of an AC surface probe, similar to presently used eddy current probes, to the measurement of DC transport critical currents and critical state dissipation in high T_c superconductors. It has been shown that the probe can provide quantitative measurement of the full field penetration in superconducting samples by measuring the response of AC induced screening currents for superconducting materials in the form of tapes with overlayers of silver. In this manner, the AC probe can be used to replace the contact DC probe for determining critical currents in a noncontacting and local manner suitable for scanning over or along the sample.
This paper described the application of an AC surface probe, similar to presently used eddy current probes, to the measurement of DC transport critical currents and critical state dissipation in high [Tc] superconductors. It has been shown that the probe can provide quantitative measurement of the full field penetration in superconducting samples by measuring the response of AC induced screening currents for superconducting materials in the form of tapes with overlayers of silver. In this manner, the AC probe can be used to replace the contact DC probe for determining critical currents in a noncontacting and local manner suitable for scanning over or along the sample.
Oligonucleotide DNA probes complementary to the hypervariable region of the 16S rRNA of Bacteroides forsythus were tested for their specificity and sensitivity against reference and clinical isolates...Full Text Available
The introduction of prenatal screening requires rapid high-throughput diagnosis of common aneuploidies. Multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (MLPA) allows for quick, easily automated multiplex...Full Text Available
DNA methylation is an important event in epigenetic changes in cells, and a fundamental regulator of gene transcription. Bisulfite genomic sequencing is a powerful technique used in studies of DNA methylation. However, the established procedures often require relatively large amounts of DNA. In everyday practice, samples submitted for analysis might contain very small amounts of poor quality material, as is often the case with forensic stain samples. In this study, we assess a modified, more efficient method of bisulfite genomic sequencing. Genomic DNA extracted from 3-mm dried blood spots using QIAamp micro kit was treated with sodium bisulfite (using EpiTect kit). Subsequent methylation-specific PCR (MSP) followed by DNA sequencing displayed the differentially methylated region of imprinted gene SNRPN. Our results show that this new combination of efficient DNA extraction and ...
A new generation of transmit-receive single-pass probes, denoted as C6 or X probe, was field tested during the Gentilly II, 2000 steam generator tube inspection. This probe has a performance equivalent to rotating probes and can be used for tubesheet and full-length inspection at an inspection speed equivalent to that of bobbin probes. Existing C3 transmit-receive probes have been demonstrated to be effective in detecting circumferential cracks. The C5 probe can detect both circumferential and axial cracks and volumetric defects but cannot discriminate between them. The C6 probe expands on the capabilities of both probes in a single probe head. It can simultaneously detect and discriminate between circumferential and axial cracks to satisfy different plugging criteria. It has ...
Two sequences with homology to a thioredoxin oligonucleotide probe were detected by Southern blot analysis of Anabaena sp. strain PCC 7120 genomic DNA. One of the sequences was shown to code for a protein...Full Text Available
Pork identification in four types of food products, which are sausages and the casings, bread and biscuits, using species-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) detection of a conserved region in the mitochondrial (mt) 12S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene was developed. Genomic DNA of the food products were successfully extracted except for the casing samples, where no genomic DNA was detected. The extracted genomic DNA was then subjected to PCR amplification targeting the specific regions of the 12S rRNA gene. The genomic DNA from the food products were found to be of good quality and produced clear PCR products on the amplification of 12S rRNA gene of 387 base pairs (bp) from pork species. The species-specific PCR identification yielded excellent results for identification of pork derivatives...
Caries is a multifactorial disease, and studies aiming to unravel the factors modulating its etiology must consider all known predisposing factors. One major factor is bacterial colonization,...Full Text Available
High molecular weight DNA from pleroceroid larvae of the tapeworm Spirometra mansonoides was purified from isolated nuclei by conventional techniques. The DNA so isolated has a melting temperature (Tm) of 87 degrees C and a guanine plus cytosine (G/C) content of 44%. 5-Methyl cytosine could not be detected in plerocercoid DNA by HPLC analysis of DNA hydrolysates, by radiolabeling 5'-termini of MspI digests with polynucleotide kinase, or by comparing restriction patterns generated by MspI and HpaII. Renaturation kinetics demonstrated that the genome of S. mansonoides contains repetitive as well as single copy sequences and has a genome size estimated at approx. 1.6 X 10(9) bp. Hybridization was carried out between plerocercoid DNA and cDNAs for human beta-actin, alpha-tubulin and growth hormone (hGH). Rationale for this analysis was based on known homologies among actin and tubulin genes in numerous species and on apparent similarities between ...
Signal-to-noise-ratio (SNR) thresholds for microarray data analysis were experimentally determined with an oligonucleotide array that contained perfect match (PM) and mismatch (MM) probes based upon four genes from Shewanella oneidensis MR-1. A new SNR calculation, called signal to both standard deviations ratio (SSDR) was developed, and evaluated along with other two methods, signal to standard deviation ratio (SSR), and signal to background ratio (SBR). At a low stringency, the thresholds of SSR, SBR, and SSDR were 2.5, 1.60 and 0.80 with oligonucleotide and PCR amplicon as target templates, and 2.0, 1.60 and 0.70 with genomic DNA as target templates. Slightly higher thresholds were obtained at the high stringency condition. The thresholds of SSR and SSDR decreased with an increase in the complexity of targets (e.g., target types), and the presence of background DNA, and a decrease in the composition of targets, while SBR remained unchanged ...
We have isolated a genomic clone containing 'Lupinus luteus' 5S ribosomal RNA genes by screening with 5S rDNA probe clones that were hybridized previously with the initiator methionine tRNA preparation (contaminated) with traces of rRNA or its degradation products). The clone isolated contains ten repeat units of 342 bp with 119 bp fragment showing 100% homology to the 5S rRNA from yellow lupine. Sequence analysis indicates only point heterogeneities among the flanking regions of the genes. (author). 6 refs, 3 figs.
pD10 is a 0.85 kb fragment with BamHI ends cloned in pSP64. It was sub-cloned from {lambda}D10 which was isolated from a genomic library constructed in {lambda}EMBL3 from a rodent human somatic cell hybrid. The probe was localized to 19q13.2-19qter on a panel of rodent human somatic cell hybrids. Co-dominant segregation was shown in 32 families of 280 individuals.
Mutations in the mouse formin (Fmn) gene, formerly known as the limb deformity (ld) gene, give rise to recessively inherited limb deformities and renal malformations or aplasia. The Fmn gene encodes many differentially processed transcripts that are expressed in both adult and embryonic tissues. To study the genomic organization of the Fmn locus, we have used Fmn probes to isolate and characterize genomic clones spanning 500 kb. Our analysis of these clones shows that the Fmn gene is composed of at least 24 exons and spans 400 kb. We have identified two novel exons that are expressed in the developing embryonic limb bud as well as adult tissues such as brain and kidney. We have also used a microsatellite polymorphism from within the Fmn gene to map it genetically to a 2.2-cM interval between D2Mit58 and D2Mit103. 36 refs., 6 figs., 1 tab.
The ability to directly compare gastric ulcerated and healthy tissue would aid in the understanding of the physiological differences between these tissue types. Presently, these comparisons...Full Text Available
Improved NMR detection of mass limited samples can be obtained by taking advantage of the mass sensitivity of microcoil NMR, while throughput issues can be addressed using multiple, parallel...Full Text Available
Computer programs have been written to allow the analysis of different types of eddy-current probes and their performance under different steam generators test conditions. The probe types include the differential bobbin probe, the absolute bobbin probe, the pancake probe and the reflection probe. The generator test conditions include tube supports, copper deposits, magnetite deposits, denting, wastage, pitting, cracking, and intergranular attack. These studies are based mostly on computed values, with the limited number of test specimens available used to verify the computed results. The instrument readings were computed for a complete matrix of the different test conditions, and then the test conditions determined as a function of the readings by a least-squares technique. A comparison was made of the errors in fit and instrument drift for the different ...
The information reported is for the period October I to December 31, 1993. During this quarter, activities were undertaken in Task 2. Oxygen concentrations were measured in the post-flame region of the entrained flow reactor. The samplingprobe was used for the hot gas tests to sample the gas stream. Samples were injected into a gas chromatograph to determine the oxygen concentration. Results agreed with thermoequilibrium calculations that yield equilibrium compositions based on the stoichiometry of the feed gases. The axial temperature distribution along the reactor centerline was measured using a silica-coated platinum-rhodium thermocouple. Two coating techniques were tested and it was found that flame-plating silica to the thermocouple wires produced a thinner coating than a ceramic adhesive technique and therefore a smaller radiation correction. Other activities this quarter included the fabrication ...
Currently, over 30,000 mapped STSs and 27,000 mapped Unigenes (non-redundant, unigene sets of cDNA representing EST clusters) are available for human alone. A total of 44,000 Unigene cDNA clones have been supplied by Research Genetics. Unigenes, or cDNAs are excellent resource for map building for two reasons. Firstly, they exist in two alternative forms -- as both sequence information for PCR primer pairs, and cDNA clones -- thus making library screening by colony hybridization as well as pooled library PCR possible. The authors have developed an efficient and robust procedure to screen genomic libraries with large number of DNA probes. Secondly, the linkage and order of expressed sequences, or genes are highly conserved among human, mouse and other mammalian species. Therefore, mapping with cDNA markers rather than random anonymous STSs will greatly facilitate comparative, evolutionary studies as well as physical map building. They have ...
Secondary-electron emission (SEE) spectra have been obtained with the Scanning Probe Energy Loss Spectrometer at a tip-sample distance of only 50 nm. Such short working distances are required for the best theoretical spatial resolution (<10 nm). The SEE spectra of graphite, obtained as a function of tip bias voltage, are shown to correspond to unoccupied states in the electronic band structure. The SEE spectra of thin gold films demonstrate the capability of identifying (carbonaceous) surface contamination with this technique.
The product of the human GRO gene is a cytokine with inflammatory and growth-regulatory properties; GRO is also called MGSA for melanoma growth-stimulatory activity. The authors have identified two additional genes, GRO#beta# and GRO#gamma#, that share 90% and 86% identity at the deduced amino acid level with the original GRO#alpha# isolate. One amino acid substitution of proline in GRO#alpha# by leucine in GRO#beta# and GRO#gamma# leads to a large predicted change in protein conformation. Significant differences also exist in the 3' untranslated region, including different numbers of ATTTA repeats associated with mRNA instability. A 122-base-pair region in the 3' region is conserved among the three GRO genes, and a part of it is also conserved in the Chinese hamster genome, suggesting a role in regulation. DNA hybridization with oligonucleotide probes and partial sequence analysis of the genomic clones confirm that the ...
The heat-shock gene, Hsp90, was targeted as a new variable genomic region to supplement other DNA-based tests for identification and discrimination of Globodera pallida, G. rostochiensis and G. tabacum tabacum. Populations of the potato cyst nematodes, G. pallida and G. rostochiensis (PCN), originating from Canada, France, Belgium and USA, together with two populations of G. tabacum tabacum from the USA and France were used for the amplification of a fragment of the Hsp90 gene. General and specific primers and probes for each species were derived from the consensus and non-consensus regions of the aligned sequences, respectively. A triplex conventional PCR assay, using a general forward and reverse or three specific reverse primers, as well as a real-time PCR using general primers and spec...
The human smooth muscle myosin heavy chain locus (MYH11) was mapped by fluorescence in situ hybridization to the middle of the p arm of chromosome 16 using a genomic cosmid clone containing coding sequences of the gene as probe. Probe from coding sequence, when applied to Southern blots of a panel of hybrids containing different portions of human chromosome 16, localized the gene to 16p13.13-13.12. Coding sequence PCR primers, when used on the DNA from a CHO-mouse hybrid clone mapping panel informative for mouse chromosomes, showed that the gene was located on mouse chromosome 16. These results correct a recent assignment of MYH11 from 16q12.2 to the region of the 16p-arm inversion breakpoint seen in acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AMML) M4Eo and demonstrate that the conflicting data do not result from the presence of additional MYH genes on the q arm of the chromosome. Also, a new region of conserved synteny between human ...
Two overlapping cDNA clones encoding human DNA topoisomerase II were identified by two independent methods. In one, a human cDNA library in phage {lambda} was screened by hybridization with a mixed oligonucleotide probe encoding a stretch of seven amino acids found in yeast and Drosophila DNA topoisomerase II; in the other, a different human cDNA library in a {lambda}gt11 expression vector was screened for the expression of antigenic determinants that are recognized by rabbit antibodies specific to human DNA topoisomerase II. The entire coding sequences of the human DNA topoisomerase II gene were determined from these and several additional clones, identified through the use of the cloned human TOP2 gene sequences as probes. Hybridization between the cloned sequences and mRNA and genomic DNA indicates that the human enzyme is encoded by a single-copy gene. The location of the gene was mapped to chromosome 17q21-22 by in ...
Focus Ion Beam (FIB) milling has greatly extended the utility of atom probe and TEM because it enables sample preparation with a level of dimensional control never before possible. Using FIB it is possible to extract the samples from desired and very specific locations. The artifacts associated with this sample preparation method must also be fully understood. In this work issues specifically relevant to the FIB milling of aluminum alloys are presented. After using the FIB as a sample preparation technique it is evident that gallium will concentrate in three areas of the sample: on the surface, on grain boundaries and at interphase boundaries. This work also shows that low energy Ar ion nanomilling is potentially quite effective for removing gallium implantation layers and gallium from the internal surfaces of aluminum thin foils.
We have developed a liquid jet injector system that can be used for hydrated sample delivery at X-ray Free Electron Laser (XFEL) sources and 3rd generation synchrotron sources. The injector is based on the Gas Dynamic Virtual Nozzle (GDVN), which generates a liquid jet with diameter ranging from 300 nm to 20 {\\mu}m without the clogging problems associated with conventional Rayleigh jets. An improved nozzle design is presented here. A differential pumping system protects the vacuum chamber and an in-vacuum microscope allows observation of the liquid jet for diagnostics while it is being exposed to the X-ray beam. A fiber optically coupled pump laser illuminating the jet is incorporated for pump-probe experiments. First results with this injector system have been obtained at the LCLS.
Maintaining uniformity of properties over long distances is one of the fabrication problems encountered with the new high {Tc} superconductors. Uniform properties are crucial in long tapes or wires with high critical current since local nonuniformities can limit the current carrying capacity of the whole piece. Transport critical currents in high {Tc} superconductors are conventionally measured with the contact 4-point probe DC current-voltage technique. This technique requires contact with the sample and and spatially averages over the region between the two voltage contacts. Two techniques have been used to infer the critical state model. The first uses the net magnetization of a suitably shaped sample in an external magnetic field. The second combines a DC magnetic field with AC induced currents to infer spatial flux profiles. The AC magnetization technique offers an advantage in that it is noncontacting; however, it ...
Detection of fatigue damage cracks in aircraft skin structures is an ongoing NDT challenge. Cracks growing rate is difficult to predict, and for this reason, it is important to detect them as soon as possible to avoid a catastrophic break. Eddy current methods are known and well-accepted techniques which are relatively simple to carry out. However, with conventional inspection of airframe structures using standard driver-pickup eddy current probes, it is difficult to detect small fatigue cracks initiated in the second layer of the skin and in the shadow region at fastener holes. Such difficulty is related to fasteners length and their spacing which reduces test sensitivity. This report explains the development of improved eddy current probe/technique to detect and visualize fatigue cracks in fasteners. In this study, an eddy current array probe was evaluated and new coil design was suggested. Several tests were conducted on ...
We present a sample preparation method for measuring magnesium in individual whole lymphocytes by electron probe X-ray microanalysis. We use Burkitt's lymphoma cells in culture as the test sample and compare X-ray microanalysis of individual cells with atomic absorption analysis of pooled cell populations. We determine the magnesium peak-to-local continuum X-ray intensity ratio by electron probe X-ray microanalysis and calculate a mean cell magnesium concentration of 39 +/- 19 mmol/kg dry weight from analysis of 100 cells. We determine a mean cell magnesium concentration of 34 +/- 4 mmol/kg dry weight by atomic absorption analysis of pooled cells in three cell cultures. The mean cell magnesium concentrations determined by the two methods are not significantly different. We find a 10% coefficient of variation for both methods of analysis and a 30% coefficient of variation in magnesium concentration among ...
We present a sample preparation method for measuring magnesium in individual whole lymphocytes by electron probe X-ray microanalysis. We use Burkitt's lymphoma cells in culture as the test sample and compare X-ray microanalysis of individual cells with atomic absorption analysis of pooled cell populations. We determine the magnesium peak-to-local continuum X-ray intensity ratio by electron probe X-ray microanalysis and calculate a mean cell magnesium concentration of 39 +- 19 mmol/kg dry weight from analysis of 100 cells. We determine a mean cell magnesium concentration of 34 +- 4 mmol/kg dry weight by atomic absorption analysis of pooled cells in three cell cultures. The mean cell magnesium concentrations determined by the two methods are not significantly different. We find a 10% coefficient of variation for both methods of analysis and a 30% coefficient of variation in magnesium concentration among ...
Prokaryotic genomes can be annotated based on their structural, operational, and functional properties. These annotations provide the pivotal scaffold for understanding cellular functions on a genome-scale,...Full Text Available
Background and AimsIt is well known that genome size differs among species. However, information on the variation and dynamics of genome size in wild populations and on the early...Full Text Available
A new experimental technique to measure material shear strength at high pressures has been developed for use on magneto-hydrodynamic (MHD) drive pulsed power platforms. By applying an external static magnetic field to the sample region, the MHD drive directly induces a shear stress wave in addition to the usual longitudinal stress wave. Strength is probed by passing this shear wave through a sample material where the transmissible shear stress is limited to the sample strength. The magnitude of the transmitted shear wave is measured via a transverse VISAR system from which the sample strength is determined.
The sampling is described for radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analysis. Aerosols are captured with various filter materials whose properties are summed up in the table. Fine dispersed solid and liquid particles and gaseous admixtures may be captured by bubbling air through a suitable absorption solution. The concentration of small amounts of impurities from large volumes of air is done by adsorbing impurities on surfactants, e.g., activated charcoal, silica gel, etc. Aerosols may be captured using an electrostatic precipitator and aerosol fractions may be separated with a cascade impactor. Water sampling differs by the water source, i.e., ground water, surface water, rain or waste water. Soil samples are taken by probes. (ES).
This paper is a quarterly report describing the use of a new soil gas collection device which allows the collection of soil gas in the field for later analysis in the laboratory. It describes the installation of this sampling device and the procedure for setting the probe, extraction of soil gas beneath the surface, and sealing of the soil gas for transport. The sites used for initial testing was the top of Yucca Mountain and Crystal Spring in Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge. The results from this initial test showed no volatile matter present in the soil at these locations.
Moisture profiles from neutron probe data provide valuable information in site characterization and to supplement ground water monitoring efforts. The neutron probe precision error (reproducibility) is found to be about 0.2 vol% under in situ field conditions where the slope in moisture content with depth is varying slowly. This error is about 2 times larger near moisture spikes (e.g., at the vapor phase notch), due to the sensitivity of the probe response to vertical position errors on the order of 0.5 inches. Calibrations were performed to correct the downhole probe response to the volumetric moisture content determined on core samples. Calibration is sensitive to borehole diameter and casing type, requiring 3 separate calibration relations for the boreholes surveyed here. Power law fits were used for calibration in this study to assure moisture content results greater than zero. ...
We report a whole-genome shotgun assembly (called WGSA) of the human genome generated at Celera in 2001. The Celera-generated shotgun data set consisted of 27 million sequencing reads organized in pairs...Full Text Available
BackgroundAnimal mitochondrial genomes are physically separate from the much larger nuclear genomes and have proven useful both for phylogenetic studies and for understanding genome...Full Text Available
Density is useful in deducing the spatial structure of coals. In this paper, nitrogen has been used instead of the commonly employed helium, for the gas displacement pycnometer based density determination of a number of coals of Indian origin. The results show that the nitrogen-based densities are always higher than the helium-based ones. Also, empirical relationships between the helium-based and nitrogen-based coal densities have been developed by two modeling methods, namely, multi-variable regression and artificial neural networks. Although the two models have fared well, the neural network model exhibits a relatively better prediction accuracy and generalization performance than the regression model. This study thus demonstrates that nitrogen, which is cheaper and easily available, can be used gainfully as the probe gas for estimating the true density of coals. 23 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs.
We have developed an ion probe technique for the in situ measurement of oxygen isotope ratios, {sup 18}O/{sup 16}O and {sup 17}O/{sup 16}O, with high spatial resolution in polished thin sections of silicate minerals. This technique allows the isotopic analysis of samples as small as picomoles of material which represents only 10{sup -7} of the sample size required by conventional fluorination oxygen isotope measurement methods and thus has wide application to the study of many terrestrial and extra-terrestrial samples that have heterogeneous oxygen isotope compositions on a scale of tens of micrometres. To illustrate the breadth of studies that are made possible by the ion probe, we report here oxygen isotope measurements from an authigenic quartz overgrowth obtained from the Penrith sandstone, UK, and measurements of magnetite grains from the Orgueil and Yamato 82162 carbonaceous ...
To gain insight into the changes in the transcriptome of soybean roots during soybean cyst nematode (SCN) infection, we conducted genome-wide gene expression profiling using serial analysis of gene expression (SAGE) combined with Solexa sequencing. More than 3 million tags were generated from the SCN-infected and uninfected roots, and 366941 and 314591 clean UniTags were obtained from SCN-infected and uninfected samples, respectively. In the SCN-infected sample, 48249 UniTags represented 18114 reference genes. In the uninfected control, 46290 UniTags represented 19323 reference genes. Comparison of tag frequencies identified 1405 genes that were expressed at greater levels in SCN-infected roots than in uninfected roots, and 1191 genes that were expressed at lower levels. Quantitative real-...
One of the stiffest challenges in structural studies of proteins using NMR is the assignment of sidechain resonances. Typically, a panel of lengthy 3D experiments are acquired in order to establish connectivities and resolve ambiguities due to overlap. We demonstrate that these experiments can be replaced by a single 4D experiment that is time-efficient, yields excellent resolution, and captures unique carbon-proton connectivity information. The approach is made practical by the use of non-uniform sampling in the three indirect time dimensions and maximum entropy reconstruction of the corresponding 3D frequency spectrum. This 4D method will facilitate automated resonance assignment procedures and it should be particularly beneficial for increasing throughput in NMR-based structural genomics initiatives.
A new implementation of a shear-force microscope is described that uses a shear-force detection system to perform topographical imaging of large areas (#approx#1x1 mm"2). This implementation finds very interesting application in the study of archeological or artistic samples. Three dc motors are used to move a sample during a scan, allowing the probe tip to follow the surface and to face height differences of several tens of micrometers. This large-area topographical imaging mode exploits new subroutines that were added to the existing homemade software; these subroutines were created in Microsoft VISUAL BASIC 6.0 programming language. With this new feature our shear-force microscope can be used to study topographical details over large areas of archaeological samples in a nondestructive way. We show results detecting worn reliefs over a coin.
The possibility of smoothening aspherical X-ray mirrors by irradiation of the surface with a low-energy ion beam is investigated. Nanofocusing being the primary application of these mirrors the ion beam conditions must be optimized to achieve a surface roughness of the order of 0.1-0.2 nm. To address this issue a first study was performed on silicon flat substrates etched using ion energies ranging from 400 to 1200 eV. A second study consisted of eroding the silicon surface while varying the ion grazing incidence angle between 10 deg. and 90 deg. for a fixed value of the ion energy. The surface topography of the samples was characterized at various scales using atomic force microscopy (probed area: 1-10 ?m2), interferential optical microscopy (probed area: 1 mm2) and X-ray scattering (probed area: 100 mm2). Finally, a study by AFM of the evolution of the surface finish level of a silicon mirror after ...
Measuring gene expression using microarrays is relevant to many areas of biology and medicine, such as follow up of developmental stages and diseases onset, and treatment study. Since there can be tens of thousands of distinct probes on an array, each micro array experiment can accomplish the equivalent number of genetic tests in parallel. Arrays have therefore dramatically accelerated many types of investigations. For example, microarrays can be used to identify stress response genes by comparing gene expression in challenged versus normal cells. In the Molecular and Cellular Biology lab (MCB), the micro array experiments are performed within the Genomic Platform, fully equipped to analyse either the behaviour of bacteria during long space flight, the effect of low dose ionising radiation on the developing organism in mice, or the human individual radiation sensitivity. For the low dose effect, two main stages of development are of interest; ...
This work describes the radon in soil gas measurements performed during the last two years in cooperation between the Laboratory of Applied Nuclear Physics of the Federal University of Technology (UTFPR), the Nuclear Technology Development Center (CDTN) and the Institute of Radiation Protection and Dosimetry (IRD) from the Brazilian Nuclear Energy Commission (CNEN). Following previously concluded measurements of radon concentration in dwellings and the measurements of 222Rn activity in drinking water collected at artesian bores of Curitiba urban area, present step of activities has been dedicated to measurements of radon concentration in soil gas. Experimental setup was based on the Professional Radon Monitor (ALPHA GUARD) connected to specially developed for such measurements Soil Gas Probe through the air pump and filter system. After the Probe was inserted, the ground has been tamped down around the probe, to prevent air ...
A one-nanometer scale transmission electron microscope electron probe X-ray microanalysis characterization of as-deposited and annealed aluminum--11.5 at.% zirconium multilayer samples in cross-section synthesized by magnetron sputtering is reported on here. Composition line profiles were acquired across Zr layers in as-deposited material and samples isochronally annealed in a differential scanning calorimeter to temperatures of 290 C and 485 C. A spatial resolution of approximately 1.5 to 2.0 nm was achieved in these experiments and will be improved by deconvolution of the instrumental electron probe function from the data. The as-deposited structure consisted of crystalline Al and Zr layers with thin amorphous layers at the Al/Zr interfaces. The amorphous interface layers increased in thickness upon annealing to 290 C. Additionally, at 290 C a metastable cubic alloy forms at the Zr deposited on Al ...
A rapid extraction procedure has been developed for speciation of arsenic in chicken tissue. Water, methanol-water (1:1), and methanol-chloroform (1:1) were tested as extraction media. Individual use of an ultrasonic bath, a microwave oven, or an ultrasonic probe was not sufficient for quantitative recovery of As(III), dimethylarsinate, monomethylarsonate, As(V), and arsenobetaine in spiked samples of chicken tissue. A new extraction procedure using a methanol-water mixture and a microwave oven then an ultrasonic probe enabled extraction of the arsenic species in 7 min with efficiencies ranging from 80 to 100%. HPLC-UV-HG-AFS was used for the determinations. The extraction procedure was 100% efficient when applied to real samples of chicken tissue. AsB (48{+-}5 {mu}g As kg {sup -1}) and one containing-arsenic feed additive, Nitarsone (227{+-}5 {mu}g As kg {sup -1}) were detected. (orig.)
Rice is a very important food staple that feeds more than half the world's population. Two major Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L.) subspecies, japonica and indica, show significant phenotypic variation in their stress responses. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying this phenotypic variation are still largely unknown. A common link among different stresses is that they produce an oxidative burst and result in an increase of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In this study, methyl viologen (MV) as a ROS agent was applied to investigate the rice oxidative stress response. We observed that 93-11 (indica) seedlings exhibited leaf senescence with severe lesions under MV treatment compared to Nipponbare (japonica). Whole-genome microarray experiments were conducted, and 1,062 probe sets were identified with gene expression level polymorphisms between the two rice cultivars in addition to differential expression under MV treatment, which were ...
Atmospheric pressure plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition system is built. The electrical and optical characteristics of the APPECVD system is given. The system is used to deposit conductive polymers and nano composites onto glass and metal surfaces. The morphological, optical, chemical and electrical characteristics of deposited surfaces are investigated using SEM, AFM four probe deposition purposes. The photovoltaic applications of plasma deposited polymers and nonconsumption are compared with deposited with electrochemical methods show different results. The electrical, chemical and morphological structures of the samples will be given.
Conduction properties of Rb"+ ion in Rb-Al-priderite and K"+ ion and Rb"+ ion in (K,Rb)-Al-priderite, were investigated by NMR using "2"7Al in the framework as a probe. Size effect was observed remarkably in the activation energies. Frequency dependence of T_1 in Rb-Al-priderite at a low temperature indicates that the relaxation behavior of "2"7Al in Rb-Al-priderite can be described by the continuum model. Barrier height distributions and 'attempt frequencies' in both samples obtained by a curve-fitting method are discussed in comparison with those of K-Al-priderite. (orig.).
To expand the information base on molecular accessibility in solvent swelled coal, Argonne Premium Coal Samples (APCS) were swelled in polar, basic solvents before and after moisture loss and upon air oxidation. So far studies have been reported on the changes in pore size distribution as a function of temperature when polar basic swelling solvents are used. Additional studies employing EPR spin probe techniques performed on the breaking up of the hydrogen bonding between bedding planes were later confirmed by magnetic resonance imaging at Argonne National Lab and the University of Illinois.
In order to understand the physical processes concerned with the selective heating by ion cyclotron resonance and with the subsequent collection of heated particles, experiments were carried out with the extraction of lithium samples, enriched with "6Li isotopes. Probe and integral extractors allow to collect enriched Li at the end of the selective heating region. Surface density distribution on the collector and local isotopic content of lithium are measured, as a function of the screen height and the retarding potential. Dependence of the collected amount of lithium and of its isotopic content on the value of the magnetic field is also measured. 4 figs., 2 tabs., 5 refs.
The role of robotics and remote handling equipment in future nuclear power plant maintenance activities is discussed in the context of artificial intelligence applications. Special requirements manipulators, control systems, and man-machine interfaces for nuclear applications are noted. Tasks might include inspection with cameras, eddy current probes, and leak detectors; the collection of material samples; radiation monitoring; and the disassembly, repair and reassembly of a variety of system components. A robot with vision and force sensing and an intelligent control system that can access a knowledge base is schematically described. Recent advances in image interpretation systems are also discussed.
The role of robotics and remote handling equipment in future nuclear power plant maintenance activities is discussed in the context of artificial intelligence applications. Special requirements manipulators, control systems, and man-machine interfaces for nuclear applications are noted. Tasks might include inspection with cameras, eddy current probes, and leak detectors; the collection of material samples; radiation monitoring; and the disassembly, repair and reassembly of a variety of system components. A robot with vision and force sensing and an intelligent control system that can access a knowledge base is schematically described. Recent advances in image interpretation systems are also discussed.
Screening of a human placenta lambdagt11 library has led to the isolation of the cDNA for the human ..beta../sub 1/-adrenergic receptor (..beta../sub 1/AR). Used as the probe was the human genomic clone termed G-21. This clone, which contains an intronless gene for a putative receptor, was previously isolated by virtue of its cross hybridization with the human ..beta../sub 2/-adrenergic receptor (..beta../sub 2/AR). The 2.4-kilobase cDNA for the human ..beta../sub 1/AR encodes a protein of 477 amino acid residues that is 69% homologous with the avian ..beta..AR but only 54% homologous with the human ..beta../sub 2/AR. This suggests that the avian gene encoding ..beta..AR and the human gene encoding ..beta../sub 1/AR evolved from a common ancestral gene. RNA blot analysis indicates a message of 2.5 kilobases in rat tissues, with a pattern of tissue distribution consistent with ..beta../sub 1/AR binding. This pattern is quite distinct from the ...
The microstructure evolution of nine samples from three Ir-base ternary systems, Ir-Nb-Hf, Ir-Nb-Ta, and Ir-Nb-Ti, was investigated by microstructure observation using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), composition map-analysis using electron probe microscopy analysis (EPMA), and phase determination using X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns. The fcc/L1{sub 2} two-phase structure was detected in all the samples. Lattice misfits between fcc and L1{sub 2} phases were calculated. Ir-Nb-Ta and Ir-Nb-Ti alloys exhibited a microstructure quite similar to that of Ni-base superalloys, and the cuboidal L1{sub 2} precipitates in Ir-Nb-Ta and Ir-Nb-Ti alloys could maintain up to 1900 {sup o}C.
Details of the interaction of photons with tissue phantoms are elucidated using Monte Carlo simulations. In particular, photon sampling volumes and photon pathlengths are determined for a variety of scattering and absorption parameters. The Monte Carlo simulations are specifically designed to model light delivery and collection geometries relevant to clinical applications of optical biopsy techniques. The Monte Carlo simulations assume that light is delivered and collected by two, nearly-adjacent optical fibers and take into account the numerical aperture of the fibers as well as reflectance and refraction at interfaces between different media. To determine the validity of the Monte Carlo simulations for modeling the interactions between the photons and the tissue phantom in these geometries, the simulations were compared to measurements of aqueous suspensions of polystyrene microspheres in the wavelength range 450-750 nm.
Scanning thermal microscopy (SThM) was used to map thermal conductivity images in an ultrafine-grained copper surface layer produced by surface mechanical attrition treatment (SMAT). It is found that the deformed surface layer shows different thermal conductivities that strongly depend on the grain size of the microstructure: the thermal conductivity of the nanostructured surface layer decreases obviously when compared with that of the coarse-grained matrix of the sample. The role of the grain boundaries in thermal conduction is analyzed in correlation with the heat conduction mechanism in pure metal. A theoretical approach, based on this investigation, was used to calculate the heat flow from the probe tip to the sample and then estimate the thermal conductivities at different scanning positions. Experimental results and theoretical calculation demonstrate that SThM can be used as a tool for the thermal property and ...
To more accurately measure fluorescent signals from microarrays, we calibrated our acquisition and analysis systems by using groundtruth samples comprised of known quantities of red and green gene-specific DNA probes hybridized to cDNA targets. We imaged the slides with a full-field, white light CCD imager and analyzed them with our custom analysis software. Here we compare, for multiple genes, results obtained with and without preprocessing (alignment, color crosstalk compensation, dark field subtraction, and integration time). We also evaluate the accuracy of various image processing and analysis techniques (background subtraction, segmentation, quantitation and normalization). This methodology calibrates and validates our system for accurate quantitative measurement of microarrays. Specifically, we show that preprocessing the images produces results significantly closer to the known ground-truth for these samples.
The detection of foot-and-mouth disease (FMD) virus from various kinds of field samples (tissue extract and cell culture isolate) was studied using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) technique. The gene selected for diagnosis was the polymerase gene and an amplification target product of 454 bp in length was produced using AP5/AP6 primer sets. The PCR product was further examined by NcoI endonuclease digestion. The presence of the internal restriction site was confirmed by demonstration of two small fragments of 330 bp and 124 bp in length. Forty-nine samples that gave positive and negative results by ELISA typing and were positive by the PCR test were tested by NcoI digestion to confirm the results. About 10% of PCR products could not be confirmed by the method. Furthermore the FMD RNA polymerase gene could be detected by the PCR method in samples negative in both ELISA typing and the virus isolation test. A total of 23 ...
Eukaryotic genome size varies over five orders of magnitude; however, the distribution is strongly skewed toward small values. Genome size is highly correlated to a number of phenotypic traits, suggesting...Full Text Available
Despite the availability of dozens of animal genome sequences, two key questions remain unanswered: First, what fraction of any species' genome confers biological function, and second, are apparent...Full Text Available
The spliced alignment of expressed sequence data to genomic sequence has proven a key tool in the comprehensive annotation of genes in eukaryotic genomes. A novel algorithm was developed to assemble...Full Text Available
The genome sequence of the solvent-producing bacterium Clostridium acetobutylicum ATCC 824 has been determined by the shotgun approach. The genome consists of a 3.94-Mb chromosome and...Full Text Available
The availability of full genome sequences has allowed the construction of microarrays, with which screening of the full genome for changes in gene expression is possible. This method can provide a wealth...Full Text Available
The recent assembly of the silkworm Bombyx mori genome with 432 Mb on 28 holocentric chromosomes has become a reference in the genomic analysis of the very diverse Order of Lepidoptera....Full Text Available
Large-scale cancer genome projects will soon be able to sequence many cancer genomes to comprehensively identify genetic changes in human cancer. Genome-wide association studies have also identified...Full Text Available
Structural variants which cause changes in copy numbers constitute an important component of genomic variability. They account for 0.7% of genomic differences in two individual genomes, of which...Full Text Available
Complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) is the largest enzyme of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Compared to its bacterial counterpart which encompasses 14-17 subunits, mitochondrial complex I has almost tripled its subunit composition during evolution of eukaryotes, by recruitment of so-called accessory subunits, part of them being specific to distinct evolutionary lineages. The increasing availability of numerous broadly sampled eukaryotic genomes now enables the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of this large protein complex. Here, a combination of profile-based sequence comparisons and basic structural properties analyses at the protein level enabled to pinpoint homology relationships between complex I subunits from fungi, mammals or green plants, previously identified...
Abstract Plant metabolomics has been well established and applied across multiple fields including medicine, biotechnology, and environmental sciences in the post-genomic era. The Chenopodiaceae C3 halophyte Suaeda salsa is the most important plant species in the vegetation of saline soil and even intertidal zone in the Yellow River Delta, which is economically consumed as food, widely used as a bioindicator of environmental stresses (salinity, drought, and pollution) and typically applied for the phyto-remediation of degraded wetland. However, no global studies have been focused on the metabolic profile of this halophyte which is widely applied in environment related research areas. In metabolomics, the first crucial step is the preparation of plant samples. In this work, several strategi...
Acca sellowiana has commercial potential because of the quality and the unique flavor of its fruit. Conservation of natural populations and management of breeding programmes would benefit from the availability of molecular markers that could be used to characterize levels and distribution of genetic variability. Thus, 13 microsatellite markers were developed from an enriched genomic library of A. sellowiana. They were characterized using 40 samples. The expected and observed heterozygosities ranged from 0.513 to 0.913 and from 0.200 to 0.889, respectively. These are the first microsatellite loci characterized from A. sellowiana that will contribute to improve researches on the genetic conservation, characterization and breeding. PMID:21586063
Radio frequency (RF) plasma nitriding using different input plasma processing powers (250-600 W) improves the surface of titanium by forming hard phases of TiN, Ti{sub 2}N, and Ti (N) into the surface. The characteristics of the compound layer have been investigated by optical microscopy, microhardness measurements, and X-ray diffraction. The effect of plasma power on the sample temperature, electron temperature, and plasma density was studied using Langmuir double probe. The measured surface hardness value of the compound layer is 2190 HV 0.1 for treated sample at plasma power 500 W. The compound thickness continuously increases as the plasma power increases. The highest nitriding rate of 5.88 {mu}m{sup 2}/s was recorded when the input plasma power was adjusted at 550 W. This high nitriding rate of treated titanium samples is ascribed to the high concentration of active nitrogen species in the plasma ...
Radio frequency (RF) plasma nitriding using different input plasma processing powers (250-600 W) improves the surface of titanium by forming hard phases of TiN, Ti_2N, and Ti (N) into the surface. The characteristics of the compound layer have been investigated by optical microscopy, microhardness measurements, and X-ray diffraction. The effect of plasma power on the sample temperature, electron temperature, and plasma density was studied using Langmuir double probe. The measured surface hardness value of the compound layer is 2190 HV 0.1 for treated sample at plasma power 500 W. The compound thickness continuously increases as the plasma power increases. The highest nitriding rate of 5.88 #mu#m"2/s was recorded when the input plasma power was adjusted at 550 W. This high nitriding rate of treated titanium samples is ascribed to the high concentration of active nitrogen species in the plasma atmosphere ...
BackgroundDuplications of stretches of the genome are an important source of individual genetic variation, but their unrecognized presence in laboratory organisms would be a confounding...Full Text Available
BackgroundOver the past decade, many investigators have used sophisticated time series tools for the analysis of genomic sequences. Specifically, the correlation of the nucleotide...Full Text Available
Metastable and somatically heritable patterns of DNA methylation provide an important level of genomic regulation. In this article, we review methods for analyzing these genome-wide epigenetic...Full Text Available
In animal models, single-gene mutations in genes involved in insulin/IGF and target of rapamycin signalling pathways extend lifespan to a considerable extent. The genetic, genomic and epigenetic influences...Full Text Available
The recent accumulation of genomic information of many representative animals has made it possible to trace the evolution of the complement system based on the presence or absence of each complement...Full Text Available
Genomic imprinting refers to the parent-of-origin-specific epigenetic marking of a number of genes. This epigenetic mark leads to a bias in expression between maternally and paternally inherited imprinted...Full Text Available
Genetics, Genomics, and Molecular Biology USGS scientists develop and integrate new genetic and molecular techniques into systematic analyses to describe individuals and populations of fish .....
BackgroundSwine is an important agricultural commodity and biomedical model. Manipulation of the pig genome provides opportunity to improve production efficiency, enhance disease...Full Text Available
BackgroundNucleotide sequences and the gene arrangements of mitochondrial genomes are effective tools for resolving phylogenetic problems. Hemipteroid insects are known to possess...Full Text Available
AbstractThe elucidation of the human and mouse genome sequence and developments in high-throughput genome analysis, and in computational tools, have made it possible to profile entire...Full Text Available
IntroductionBreast cancer is the most diagnosed and second leading cause of cancer deaths in the U.S. female population. An estimated 5 to 10 percent of all breast cancers are inherited, caused by mutations in the breast cancer susceptibility genes (BRCA1/2). As many as 90% of all mutations are nonsense mutations, causing a truncated polypeptide product. A popular and low cost method of mutation detection has been the protein truncation test (PTT), where target regions of BRCA1/2 are PCR amplified, transcribed/translated in a cell-free protein synthesis system and analyzed for truncated polypeptides by sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and autoradiography. We previously reported a novel High Throughput Solid-Phase PTT (HTS-PTT) based on an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) format that eliminates the need for radioactivity, SDS-PAGE and subjective interpretation of the results. Here, we report the next generation HTS-PTT using ...
High salinity is one of the main factors limiting cotton growth and productivity. The genes that regulate salt stress in TM-1 upland cotton were monitored using microarray and real-time PCR (RT-PCR) with samples taken from roots. Microarray analysis showed that 1503 probe sets were up-regulated and 1490 probe sets were down-regulated in plants exposed for 3h to 100mM NaCl, and RT-PCR analysis validated 42 relevant/related genes. The distribution of enriched gene ontology terms showed such important processes as the response to water stress and pathways of hormone metabolism and signal transduction were induced by the NaCl treatment. Some key regulatory gene families involved in abiotic and biotic sources of stress such as WRKY, ERF, and JAZ were differentially expressed. Our transcriptome analysis might provide some useful insights into salt-mediated signal transduction pathways in cotton and offer a number of candidate ...
The coherent interaction of femtosecond laser pulses and a thin CdSe sample is investigated both experimentally and theoretically. Observation of coherent phenomena in semiconductors is very rare because the incoherent processes occur in the femtosecond time domain in these materials. One example of such a phenomena is the so called optical Stark effect of exciton where a blue shift of the exciton resonance occurs as a result of pumping below the bandgap. The coherent effects involving band-to-band and also exciton transitions. Using femtosecond transmission measurements clear evidence was observed for coherent interference effects of the light field and the driven material polarization. These interferences manifest themselves as oscillatory structures in the differential transmission spectra. The oscillatory features are explained by comparison with a semiclassical theory. Examples of the computed results are presented for different time delays between ...
Electron probe microanalysis (EPMA) offers high sensitivity and high accuracy in quantitative measurements of chemical compositions and mass coverages. Owing to the low detection limits of the wavelength-dispersive technique, monolayers with mass coverages of about 0.05 pg cm z can be detected. Assuming a density of 5 g cm--3 this corresponds to a thickness of 0.1 nm. With these advantages in mind, EPMA was extended to depth profile analysis in the sub-micron range using a surface removal technique. The present paper shows how depth profile analysis can be improved by combining EPMA and the focused ion beam (FIB) technique. The focused ion beam system uses a Ga+ ion beam. The ion beam allows the milling of defined geometries on the nanometer scale, so that very shallow bevels with exactly defined angles in relation to the surface can be obtained. Low surface damage is expected due to low sputtering effects. Calibrated WDX measurements along the bevel deliver ...
A beta microprobe was successfully applied to monitor arterial input function for quantification of regional cerebral blood flow (rCBF) in the monkey brain with {sup 15}O-water and positron emission tomography (PET). The sensitivity of the probe was approximately 0.83 to 1.67 cps/kBq/ml depending on the studies. A preliminary study was performed to find a suitable use and to evaluate the performance of the system and data analysis procedure. The results showed that dispersion correction of measured input function was unnecessary if microprobes were connected directly to the arterial catheter. Then multiple CBF measurements were done in three monkeys under anesthesia. Identical regions of interest were placed with the aid of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of each monkey and rCBF values were estimated. Estimated rCBFs were reproducible for several measurements. The mean CBF value for a pentobarbital anesthetized monkey was 46.0 ml/min/100 g (PaCO{sub 2}=46.3 mmHg). ...
By using a plasma nitriding procedure at the PUPR Mirror Cusp Plasma machine, surface hardness is increased in 302/304-type stainless steel samples by exposing them to high-ion-density plasma at high vacuum. This method successfully dopes the surface of the material with strengthening nitrogen ions, without the use of chemical procedures that sacrifice the resistance to corrosion of the given material. A 500 V negative bias is placed on the sample exposed to the nitrogen plasma, where high-energy ions are therefore attracted and immersed into the metallic matrix microns into the surface of the stainless steel. This potential maintains a constant surface temperature at approximately 800 deg. C. The plasma parameters including ion density and plasma temperature were diagnosed using single Langmuir probes. The stainless steel samples were then tested using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Vickers ...
By using a plasma nitriding procedure at the PUPR Mirror Cusp Plasma machine, surface hardness is increased in 302/304-type stainless steel samples by exposing them to high-ion-density plasma at high vacuum. This method successfully dopes the surface of the material with strengthening nitrogen ions, without the use of chemical procedures that sacrifice the resistance to corrosion of the given material. A 500 V negative bias is placed on the sample exposed to the nitrogen plasma, where high-energy ions are therefore attracted and immersed into the metallic matrix microns into the surface of the stainless steel. This potential maintains a constant surface temperature at approximately 800 deg. C. The plasma parameters including ion density and plasma temperature were diagnosed using single Langmuir probes. The stainless steel samples were then tested using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Vickers ...
New industrial Non Destructive Testing requires the development of new probes: technologies such as high spatial resolution probes for small breaking flaws detection or flexible probes for complex curved surfaces inspection. The CEA/LIST has designed and integrated 2 probes to answer industrial's constraints. The first one is based on Giant Magneto-Resistance and is able to detect 50 ?m3 flaws. The second one is based on micro-coils etched on kapton and its flexibility is adapted to curved surfaces inspection. Both are multi-elements probes, allowing fast inspection. This paper presents those new probes, their design and their performances.
Most of the essays gathered in this volume were first presented at a conference, Justice and the Human Genome, in Chicago in early November, 1991. The goal of the, conference was to consider questions of justice as they are and will be raised by the Human Genome Project. To achieve its goal of identifying and elucidating the challenges of justice inherent in genomic research and its social applications the conference drew together in one forum members from academia, medicine, and industry with interests divergent as rate-setting for insurance, the care of newborns, and the history of ethics. The essays in this volume address a number of theoretical and practical concerns relative to the meaning of genomic research.
Comparative sequence analysis of the human and the pufferfish Fugu rubripes (fugu) genomes has revealed several novel functional coding and noncoding regions in the human genome. In particular, the fugu genome has been extremely valuable for identifying transcriptional regulatory elements in human loci harboring unusually high levels of evolutionary conservation to rodent genomes. In such regions, the large evolutionary distance between human and fishes provides an additional filter through which functional noncoding elements can be detected with high efficiency.
Gravitational lenses are rare in the known samples of quasars, indicating that the conditions involved in their formation are unusual. In particular, the distribution of matter along the light rays from the observer through the deflector to the quasar may be very different from mean conditions. We show that reasonable deviations in the density of matter along the beams can significantly alter the relationship between time delays and the Hubble constant (H/sub 0/) and conclude that gravitational lenses are not promising estimators of H/sub 0/. However, should an independent, precise determination of H/sub 0/ become available, gravitational lenses could be used to probe long-range density fluctuations.
The oxidation of n-butylbenzene was studied in a jet-stirred reactor (JSR) at 10atm in dilute conditions providing new experimental results over the low- and high-temperature range 550-1180K, and variable equivalence ratio (0.25ϕ1.5). They consisted of concentration profiles of the reactants, stable intermediates and final products, measured as a function of temperature, at a constant residence time of 1s, by sonic probesampling followed by on-line GC-MS and off-line GC-TCD-FID and GC-MS analyses. The oxidation of n-butylbenzene in these conditions was modeled using a detailed chemical kinetic reaction mechanism (404 species and 2210 reactions, most of them reversible) deriving from a previous scheme proposed for the ignition, oxidation, and combustion of simple aromatics (benzene,...
A concentric reducer tube, which was a part of the top exit roughing hydraulic descaler in a hot strip mill failed prematurely under working pressure. A detailed metallurgical investigation comprising physical examination, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and electron probe microanalysis was carried out to find out the genesis of the failure. Physical examination revealed cracks located symmetrically around the circumference of the tube that ran along its full length, up to the weld beads at both ends. Optical microscopy of etched samples revealed a banded ferrite-pearlite structure and the existence of forging folds near the change-in-section(160? fillets). Cracks were found to initiate from these forging folds. No structural abnormalities were found in the weld beads and...
Eddy current testing is one of the most widely used methods in non-destructive testing for the inspection of conductive materials. Numerical modelling of eddy current testing has emerged as an important approach alongside experimental studies. This paper investigates an application of numerical modelling and experimental study as a means of the quantitative non-destructive evaluation (QNDE) of defects in conductive samples. There are two methods of measuring eddy current response, more commonly by measuring the change in impedance of the eddy current probe coil, or as used in this work, by measuring the change in magnetic field directly using magnetic field sensors such as superconducting quantum interference devices, giant magneto resistance, or as in this case Hall sensors. Specifically,...
Nuclear steam generator tubes have become flawed in ways that challenge conventional eddy current probes. In response to the shortcomings of conventional probes, array probes have been developed to improve measurement capabilities. However, the commercially available array probes have exhibited several weaknesses that offset the advantages and limit the applications in steam generator inspections. A primary weakness is the relatively high rate of probe failure coupled with the high unit cost for each probe. This can be costly for a utility in the time lost for probe replacement and increased radiation exposure in addition to the probe costs. Other weaknesses which make array probes undesirable for routine use are: poor mechanical and electrical characteristics; difficulty in operation and ...
PCR detection of genetic material of the parasites present in faeces may be an alternative for microscopic and serological tests routinely used for diagnosing parasitic enteral infections. However, small amount of target DNA combined with low efficiency of total DNA extraction, and presence of PCR inhibitors in the samples to be amplified, may cause false negative detection results. The aim of this work was to evaluate the impact of DNA isolation procedure used on the amplification of DNA fragments from the genomes of protozoan Cryptosporidium parvum and the nematode Trichinella spiralis. Two methods based on different principles of biological material lysis were evaluated; NucliSENS miniMAG employing simultaneously applied chemical lysis and mechanical disruption or mechanical disruption followed by enzymatic lysis in case of QIAamp DNA Stool Mini Kit. Both of the analyzed systems for nucleic acids purification allowed isolation of DNA from ...
Nucleotide sequence analysis of a genomic clone from an Ashkenazic Jewish patient with type 1 Gaucher disease revealed a single-base mutation (adenosine to guanosine transition) in exon 9 of the glucocerebrosidase gene. This change results in the amino acid substitution of serine for asparagine. Transient expression studies following oligonucleotide-directed mutagenesis of the normal cDNA confirmed that the mutation results in loss of glucocerebrosidase activity. Allele-specific hybridization with oligonucleotide probes demonstrated that this mutation was found exclusively in type 1 phenotype. None of the 6 type 2 patients, 11 type 3 patients, or 12 normal controls had this allele. In contrast, 15 of 24 type 1 patients had one allele with this mutation, and 3 others were homozygous for the mutation. Furthermore, some of the Ashkenazic Jewish type 1 patients had only one allele with this mutation, suggesting that even in this population there is ...
Rapid detection and characterization of food borne pathogens such as Escherichia coli O157:H7 is crucial for epidemiological investigations and food safety surveillance. As an alternative to conventional technologies, we examined the sensitivity and specificity of nucleic acid microarrays for detecting and genotyping E. coli O157:H7. The array was composed of oligonucleotide probes (25-30 mer) complementary to four virulence loci (intimin, Shiga-like toxins I and II, and hemolysin A). Target DNA was amplified from whole cells or from purified DNA via single or multiplexed polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and PCR products were hybridized to the array without further modification or purification. The array was 32-fold more sensitive than gel electrophoresis and capable of detecting amplification products from < 1 cell equivalent of genomic DNA (1 fg). Immunomagnetic capture, PCR and a microarray were subsequently used to detect 55 CFU ml-1 ...
The Drosophila sequence-specific DNA binding protein, Adf-1, is capable of activating transcription of the alcohol dehydrogenase gene, Adh, and is implicated in the transcriptional control of other developmentally regulated genes. We have cloned the cDNA encoding Adf-1 by generating specific DNA probes deduced from partial amino acid sequence of the protein. Several cDNA clones encoding an extended open reading frame were isolated from a phage lambda library. The complete amino acid sequence of Adf-1 deduced from the longest cDNA reveals structural similarities to the putative helix-turn-helix DNA binding motif of Myb and Myb-related proteins. DNA sequence analysis of genomic clones and Northern blot analysis of mRNA suggest that Adf-1 is a single-copy gene encoding a 1.9-kb transcript. Purified recombinant Adf-1 expressed in Escherichia coli binds specifically to Adf-1 recognition sites and activates transcription of a synthetic Adh promoter ...
The DNA sequence motif ATTTGCAT (octamer) or its inverse complement has been identified as an evolutionarily conserved element in the promoter region of immunoglobulin genes. Two major DNA-binding proteins that bind in a sequence-specific manner to the octamer DNA sequence have been identified in mammalian species--a ubiquitously expressed protein (Oct-1) and a lymphoid-specific protein (Oct-2). During characterization of the promoter region of the chicken immunoglobulin light chain gene, the authors identified two homologous octamer-binding proteins in chicken B cells. when the cloning of the human gene for Oct-2 revealed it to be a member of a distinct family of homeobox genes, they sought to determine if the human Oct-2 cDNA could be used to identify homologous chicken homeobox genes. Using a human Oct-2 homeobox-specific DNA probe, they were able to identify 6-10 homeobox-containing genes in the chicken genome, demonstrating that the ...
Evolutionary conservation of DNA sequences provides a tool for the identification of functional elements in genomes. We have created a database of evolutionary conserved regions (ECRs) in vertebrate genomes entitled ECRbase that is constructed from a collection of pairwise vertebrate genome alignments produced by the ECR Browser database. ECRbase features a database of syntenic blocks that recapitulate the evolution of rearrangements in vertebrates and a collection of promoters in all vertebrate genomes presented in the database. The database also contains a collection of annotated transcription factor binding sites (TFBS) in all ECRs and promoter elements. ECRbase currently includes human, rhesus macaque, dog, opossum, rat, mouse, chicken, frog, zebrafish, and two pufferfish genomes. It is freely accessible at http://ECRbase.dcode.org.
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA integration has been shown to occur frequently in human hepatocellular carcinomas. The authors have investigated whether common cellular DNA domains might be rearranged, possibly by HBV integration, in human primary liver tumors. Unique cellular DNA sequences adjacent to an HBV integration site were isolated from a patient with hepatitis B surface antigen-positive hepatocellular carcinoma. These probes detected rearrangement of this cellular region of chromosomal DNA in 3 of 50 additional primary liver tumors studied. Of these three tumor samples, two contained HBV DNA, without an apparent link between the viral DNA and the rearranged allele; HBV DNA sequences were not detected in the third tumor sample. By use of a panel of somatic cell hybrids, these unique cellular DNA sequences were shown to be located on chromosome 4. Therefore, this region of chromosomal DNA might be implicated in the ...
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) DNA integration has been shown to occur frequently in human hepatocellular carcinomas. The authors have investigated whether common cellular DNA domains might be rearranged, possibly by HBV integration, in human primary liver tumors. Unique cellular DNA sequences adjacent to an HBV integration site were isolated from a patient with hepatitis B surface antigen-positive hepatocellular carcinoma. These probes detected rearrangement of this cellular region of chromosomal DNA in 3 of 50 additional primary liver tumors studied. Of these three tumor samples, two contained HBV DNA, without an apparent link between the viral DNA and the rearranged allele; HBV DNA sequences were not detected in the third tumor sample. By use of a panel of somatic cell hybrids, these unique cellular DNA sequences were shown to be located on chromosome 4. Therefore, this region of chromosomal DNA might be implicated in the ...
A new spectrofluorimetric method was developed for the determination of trace amount of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP). Using europium (Eu{sup 3+})-tetracycline (TC) complex as a fluorescent probe, in the buffer solution of pH 7.60. NADP can remarkably enhance the fluorescence intensity of the Eu{sup 3+}-TC complex at {lambda} = 612 nm and the enhanced fluorescence intensity of Eu{sup 3+} ion is in proportion to the concentration of NADP. Optimum conditions for the determination of NADP were also investigated. The dynamic range for the determination of NADP is 4.4 x 10{sup -7} to 2.2 x 10{sup -6} mol l{sup -1} with detection limit of 6.9 x 10{sup -8} mol l{sup -1}. This method is simple, practical and relatively free interference from coexisting substances and can be successfully applied to determination of NADP in synthetic water samples and in serum samples. Moreover, the enhancement mechanisms of the ...
Contents The aim of this study was a cytogenetic analysis of stallions semen to find sex chromosome aberrations and to determine if there was an association between stallion-s age and aberration frequency for the sex chromosomes. Sperm samples were collected from 22 stallions of various age from 3 to 23-years. Multicolour FISH was performed on each sample, using probes for the sex chromosomes and EGFR gene, localized on 4p12 in domestic horse. A total of 26199 sperm cells were analysed (from 1 070 to 1 532 per animal). Among the analysed cells, there were 50.318% with X chromosome, 48.543% with Y chromosome and 1.139% with aberrant chromosomes. The frequency of aberrations was: sex chromosomes nullisomy (0.466%), XY aneuploidy (0.454%), XX disomy (0.146%), YY disomy (0.041%), diploidy (0.0...
The iron hormone hepcidin is inhibited by matriptase-2, a liver serine-protease encoded by TMPRSS6 gene. Cleaving the BMP-coreceptor hemojuvelin, matriptase-2 impairs the BMP/SMAD signaling pathway, downregulates hepcidin and facilitates iron absorption. TMPRSS6 inactivation causes iron-deficiency-anemia refractory to iron administration both in humans and mice. Genome wide association studies have shown that the SNP rs855791, which causes the matriptase-2 V736A amino acid substitution, is associated with variations of serum iron, transferrin saturation, hemoglobin and erythrocyte traits. Here we show that in vitro matriptase-2 736(A) inhibits hepcidin more efficiently than 736(V). Moreover, in a genotyped population, after exclusion of samples with iron deficiency and inflammation, hepcidin, hepcidin/transferrin saturation and hepcidin/ferritin ratios were significantly lower and iron parameters were consistently higher in homozygotes 736(A) ...
Recent technological developments have facilitated intensified searches for genetic markers under selection in nonmodel species. Here, we present an approach for the identification of candidate gene variation in nonmodel organisms. We report on the characterization of 82 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and on the development of a specific genotyping assay for 30 SNPs in 18 candidate genes for growth and reproduction in Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua). These markers can be used for scanning natural populations for signatures of selection in both contemporary and archived historical samples, for example in retrospective studies assessing the effects of environmental changes, such as increasing temperatures, and selection imposed by high fishing pressure. Furthermore, these gene markers may be of interest to aquaculture, serving as a starting point for linking phenotypic traits important for productivity with genotypes and potentially be of use for marker-assisted ...
Begomoviruses are phytopathogens that threaten food security [18]. Sida spp. are ubiquitous weed species found in Jamaica. Sida samples were collected island-wide, DNA was extracted via a modified Dellaporta method, and the viral genome was amplified using degenerate and sequence-specific primers [2, 11]. The amplicons were cloned and sequenced. Sequence analysis revealed that a DNA-A molecule isolated from a plant in Liguanea, St. Andrew, was 90.9% similar to Sida golden yellow vein virus-[United States of America:Homestead:A11], making it a strain of SiGYVV. It was named Sida golden yellow vein virus-[Jamaica:Liguanea 2:2008] (SiGYVV-[JM:Lig2:08]). The cognate DNA-B, previously unreported, was successfully cloned and was most similar to that of Malvastrum yellow mosaic Jamaica virus (MaYMJV). Phylogenetic analysis suggested that this virus was most closely related to begomoviruses that infect malvaceous hosts in Jamaica, Cuba and Florida in ...
Cervical cancer is emerging as a leading cause of morbidity and mortality in women worldwide. Toll-like Receptor (TLR) gene polymorphisms may contribute to subsequent inter-individual variability in cancer susceptibility. The present study aimed to identify the role of TLR 3 (c.1377C/T) [rs3775290] and TLR 9 (G2848A) [rs352140] gene polymorphisms in the risk of developing cervical cancer in North India. Peripheral blood samples were collected from 200 histopathologically confirmed cervical cancer patients from North India and 200 unrelated, cancer-free, age-matched healthy female controls of similar ethnicity. Genomic DNA was extracted using the salting-out method, and genotyped for TLR 3 and TLR 9 using polymerase chain reaction-based restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP). O...
It has recently been found that many buildings in Taiwan were constructed with radioactively contaminated rebar, which raised great concern among the residents as well as governmental officials. In order to investigate the possible cytogenetic damage to the residents of contaminated buildings, a G-banding method was carried out on the lymphocytes of 30 radiation-exposed individuals from four families and one office building, as well as 15 control individuals from laboratory personnel. The estimated cumulative radiation doses for the exposed people range from 19.63 to 280.50 mSv. Altogether, 13 females and 17 males belonging to the radiation-exposed group, and 7 females and 8 males in the control group, were included in this study. With the exception of one sample, at least 500 metaphase spreads were scored and analyzed for each individual. All the recognizable structural aberrations of chromosomes or chromatids were recorded and statistically analyzed. Comparison ...
It has recently been found that many buildings in Taiwan were constructed with radioactively contaminated rebar, which raised great concern among the residents as well as governmental officials. In order to investigate the possible cytogenetic damage to the residents of contaminated buildings, a G-banding method was carried out on the lymphocytes of 30 radiation-exposed individuals from four families and one office building, as well as 15 control individuals from laboratory personnel. The estimated cumulative radiation doses for the exposed people range from 19.63 to 280.50 mSv. Altogether, 13 females and 17 males belonging to the radiation-exposed group, and 7 females and 8 males in the control group, were included in this study. With the exception of one sample, at least 500 metaphase spreads were scored and analyzed for each individual. All the recognizable structural aberrations of chromosomes or chromatids were recorded and statistically analyzed. Comparison ...
Recent advances in DNA sequencing technology are providing unprecedented opportunities for comprehensive analysis of cancer genomes, exomes, transcriptomes, as well as epigenomic components. The integration...Full Text Available
Extending genome wide association analysis by the inclusion of gene expression data may assist in the dissection of complex traits. We examined piebald, a pigmentation phenotype in both human and Merino...Full Text Available
The bovine syncytial virus, a member of the retroviral subfamily Spumavirinae, causes a persistent, asymptomatic infection in cattle. Nucleotide sequence analysis of the viral genome revealed two overlapping...Full Text Available
BackgroundFood supply from the ocean is constrained by the shortage of domesticated and selected fish. Development of genomic models of economically important fishes should assist...Full Text Available
The development of new methods for gene addition to mammalian genomes is necessary to overcome the limitations of conventional genetic engineering strategies. Although a variety of DNA-modifying enzymes...Full Text Available
In many dinoflagellate species, the plastid genome has been proposed to exist as a limited number of single-gene minicircles, and many genes normally found in the plastid genome are nuclear-encoded....Full Text Available
Copy number variants (CNVs) are an important component of genomic variation in humans and other mammals. Similar de novo deletions and duplications, or copy number changes (CNCs), are now known to be...Full Text Available
Polyploidy is an important force in the evolution of flowering plants. Genomic merger and doubling induce an extensive array of genomic effects, including immediate and long-term alterations in the...Full Text Available
Genomic disorders are conditions that result from DNA rearrangements, such as deletions or duplications. The identification of the dosage-sensitive gene(s) within the rearranged genomic interval is...Full Text Available
Spectacular increases in the quantity of sequence data genome have facilitated major advances in eukaryotic comparative genomics. By exploiting homology with classical model organisms, this makes possible...Full Text Available
Mapping the restriction fragments of the Brucella melitensis 16M genome with a new restriction endonuclease, PacI, which cut the DNA into only eight fragments, indicated that this species contains two...Full Text Available
Plastid genome content and arrangement are highly conserved across most land plants and their closest relatives, streptophyte algae, with nearly all plastid introns having invaded the genome in their...Full Text Available
The nucleocapsid protein (NC) of retroviruses plays a major role in genomic RNA packaging, and some evidence has implicated the matrix protein (MA) of certain retroviruses in viral RNA binding. To further...Full Text Available
SUMMARYTwo abundant classes of mobile elements, namely Alu and L1 elements, continue to generate new retrotransposon insertions in human genomes. Estimates suggest that these...Full Text Available
The entire genome of rabies virus vaccine strain Flury-LEP-C, a Chinese variant of the rabies virus vaccine strain Flury-LEP, was sequenced. The overall length of the genome of Flury-LEP-C strain was...Full Text Available
Transposable elements (TEs) comprise a large fraction of mammalian genomes. A number of these elements are actively jumping in our genomes today. As a consequence, these insertions provide a source...Full Text Available
While genomic alterations identified in human tumors using techniques such as comparative genomic hybridisation (CGH) may be recurrent, they frequently encompass large regions, in some cases...Full Text Available
Lepidoptera, butterflies and moths, is the second largest animal order and includes numerous agricultural pests. To facilitate comparative genomics in Lepidoptera, we isolated BAC clones containing...Full Text Available
BackgroundGenome-scale metabolic reconstructions have been recognised as a valuable tool for a variety of applications ranging from metabolic engineering to evolutionary studies....Full Text Available
The gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria is the causative agent of bacterial spot disease in pepper and tomato plants, which leads to economically...Full Text Available
The cottontail rabbit papillomavirus (CRPV)/rabbit model has been used to study oncogenicity and immunogenicity of different antigens from the papillomavirus genome and has therefore served...Full Text Available
BackgroundA large fraction of the human genome is attributable to L1 retrotransposon sequences. Not only do L1s themselves make up a significant portion of the genome, but L1-encoded...Full Text Available
A genomic clone that specifies a single polypeptide precursor for ricin, a toxic lectin of Ricinus communis (castor bean), was isolated, sequenced and Sl mapped. The gene encodes a 64 kDa precursor...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe genomes of prokaryotes and lower eukaryotes display a very strong 11 bp periodic bias in the distribution of their nucleotides. This bias is present throughout a given...Full Text Available
With the advent of dense maps of human genetic variation, it is now possible to detect positive natural selection across the human genome. Here we report an analysis of over 3 million polymorphisms...Full Text Available
BackgroundCucumber, Cucumis sativus L. is an important vegetable crop worldwide. Until very recently, cucumber genetic and genomic resources, especially molecular...Full Text Available
The ETS proteins are a family of transcription factors (TFs) that regulate a variety of biological processes. We made genome-wide analyses to explore the classification of the ETS gene family. We identified...Full Text Available
Despite their status as the most speciose group of terrestrial vertebrates, birds exhibit the smallest and least variable genome sizes among tetrapods. It has been suggested that this is because powered...Full Text Available
Our understanding of the genetic basis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) has been rapidly advanced using large-scale, case–control, candidate gene studies as well as genome-wide...Full Text Available
Genome-wide association studies are designed to discover SNPs that are associated with a complex trait. Employing strict significance thresholds when testing individual SNPs avoids false positives at...Full Text Available
The development of chromatin immunoprecipitation methods coupled with DNA microarray (ChIP-chip) technology has enabled genome-wide identification of cis-DNA regulatory elements to which transcription...Full Text Available
Soybean (Glycine max) is a paleopolyploid whose genome has gone through at least two rounds of polyploidy and subsequent diploidization events. Several studies have investigated the...Full Text Available
The two haploid genome sequences that a person inherits from the two parents represent the most fundamentally useful type of genetic information for the study of heritable diseases and the development...Full Text Available
BackgroundPlastid genome content and protein sequence are highly conserved across land plants and their closest algal relatives. Parasitic plants, which obtain some or all of their...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe bacterial genus Listeria contains pathogenic and non-pathogenic species, including the pathogens L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii,...Full Text Available
The genomic termini of RNA viruses contain essential cis-acting signals for such diverse functions as packaging, genome translation, mRNA transcription, and RNA replication, and thus...Full Text Available
Hundreds of genomes have been successfully sequenced to date, and the data are publicly available. At the same time, the advances in large-scale expression and purification of recombinant proteins have...Full Text Available
The honeybee has been the most important insect species for study of social behavior. The recently released draft genomic sequence for the bee will accelerate honeybee behavioral genetics. Although...Full Text Available
The complete RNA genome of the avian nephritis virus (ANV) associated with acute nephritis in chickens has been molecularly cloned and sequenced. Excluding the poly(A) tail, the genome comprises 6,927...Full Text Available
BackgroundFormation of site specific genomic double strand breaks (DSBs), induced by the expression of a pair of engineered zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs), dramatically increases the...Full Text Available
Here we develop an argument in support of sequencing a garter snake (Thamnophis sirtalis) genome, and outline a plan to accomplish this. This snake is a common, widespread, nonvenomous...Full Text Available
Inherited genetic variation has a critical but as yet largely uncharacterized role in human disease. Here we report a public database of common variation in the human genome: more than one million...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe genomic organisation of the Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) varies greatly between different vertebrates. In mammals, the classical MHC consists of a large number...Full Text Available
Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones are effective mapping and sequencing reagents for use with a wide variety of small and large genomes. This report describes the development of a physical...Full Text Available
Metagenomics projects based on shotgun sequencing of populations of micro-organisms yield insight into protein families. We used sequence similarity clustering to explore proteins with a comprehensive dataset consisting of sequences from available databases together with 6.12 million proteins predicted from an assembly of 7.7 million Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) sequences. The GOS dataset covers nearly all known prokaryotic protein families. A total of 3,995 medium- and large-sized clusters consisting of only GOS sequences are identified, out of which 1,700 have no detectable homology to known families. The GOS-only clusters contain a higher than expected proportion of sequences of viral origin, thus reflecting a poor sampling of viral diversity until now. Protein domain distributions in the GOS dataset and current protein databases show distinct biases. Several protein domains that were previously categorized as kingdom specific are shown to ...
This book presents in simple terms the basis of molecular genetics and how it is used to obtain an understanding of the human genome. The author's central focus is the transistion of genetics from statistics to experimental manipulations, and he offers analogies that help readers visualize the genome, thereby avoiding conventional scientific presentations. He illustrates how genetics is used in scientific laboratories, in courtrooms, and in hospitals. Little is presented about the complex social and ethical issues raised by the Human Genome project.
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have identified more than 2,000 trait-SNP associations, and the number continues to increase. GWAS have focused on traits with potential consequences for human...Full Text Available
BackgroundCotton, with a large genome, is an important crop throughout the world. A high-density genetic linkage map is the prerequisite for cotton genetics and breeding. A genetic...Full Text Available
A potentially new use for Illinois coal is as a fuel injected into a blast furnace to produce molten iron as the first step in steel production. Because of its increasing cost and decreasing availability, metallurgical coke is now being replaced by coal injected at the tuyere area of the furnace where the blast air enters. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the combustion of coal during the blast furnace injection process and to delineate the optimum properties of the feed coal. This investigation is significant to the use of Illinois coal in that the limited research to date suggests that coals of low fluidity and moderate to high sulfur and chlorine contents are suitable feedstocks for blast furnace injection. During the first phase of this project a number of the objectives were realized, specifically: (1) a blast furnace sampling system was developed and used successfully to collect samples inside an active furnace; (2) two sets of ...
This paper describes various eddy current probes, and their performance, which were developed at the Chalk River Laboratories of Atomic Energy of Canada. Included are probes for detecting defects at tubesheet regions in heat exchanger tubes, defects at expansion-transition regions in finned tubes, and defects in ferromagnetic tubes. All of these probes can be used with conventional commercially available instruments. (author).
Described herein is an optical probe (120) for use in characterizing surface defects in wafers, such as semiconductor wafers. The optical probe (120) detects laser light reflected from the surface (124) of the wafer (106) within various ranges of angles. Characteristics of defects in the surface (124) of the wafer (106) are determined based on the amount of reflected laser light detected in each of the ranges of angles. Additionally, a wafer characterization system (100) is described that includes the described optical probe (120).
The chain of eddy current probes and a film cassette probe, which responds to radiation from a radio-active source in one of the heat exchanger pipes is examined. The probes are moved by nylon pipes on both ends of the chain through the pipe to be examined. The nylon pipes are bent off load. In this way the probes on the chain will adjust near to the plane of bending of the pipes to be tested.
It is becoming clear that simple sequence repeats (SSRs) play a significant role in fungal genome organization, and they are a large source of genetic markers for population genetics and meiotic maps. We identified SSRs in the Laccaria bicolor genome by in silico survey and analyzed their distribution in the different genomic regions. We also compared the abundance and distribution of SSRs in L. bicolor with those of the following fungal genomes: Phanerochaete chrysosporium, Coprinopsis cinerea, Ustilago maydis, Cryptococcus neoformans, Aspergillus nidulans, Magnaporthe grisea, Neurospora crassa and Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Using the MISA computer program, we detected 277,062 SSRs in the L. bicolor genome representing 8% of the assembled genomic sequence. Among the analyzed basidiomycetes, L. bicolor exhibited the highest SSR density although no correlation ...
It is both experimentally and theoretically demonstrated that ion flow velocity at an arbitrary angle with respect to the magnetic field can be measured with a directional Langmuir probe. Based on the symmetry argument, we show that the effect of magnetic field on directional probe current is exactly canceled in determining the ion flow velocity, and obtain the generalized relation between flow velocity and directional probe currents valid for any flowing direction. The absolute value of the flow velocity is determined by an in situ calibration method of the probe. The applicability limit of the present method to a strongly ion-magnetized plasma is experimentally examined. (author)
This thesis details the first direct ultrafast measurements of the dynamic thermal expansion of a surface and the temperature dependent surface thermal diffusivity using a two-color reflection transient grating technique. Studies were performed on p-type, n-type, and undoped GaAs(100) samples over a wide range of temperatures. By utilizing a 90 fs ultraviolet probe with visible excitation beams, the effects of interband saturation and carrier dynamics become negligible; thus lattice expansion due to heating and subsequent contraction caused by cooling provided the dominant influence on the probe. At room temperature a rise due to thermal expansion was observed, corresponding to a maximum net displacement of {approximately} 1 {Angstrom} at 32 ps. The diffracted signal was composed of two components, thermal expansion of the surface and heat flow away from the surface, thus allowing a determination of the rate of expansion as ...
We present and characterize an experimental system in which we achieve the integration of an ultrahigh finesse optical cavity with a Bose-Einstein condensate (BEC). The conceptually novel design of the apparatus for the production of BECs features nested vacuum chambers and an in vacuo magnetic transport configuration. It grants large scale spatial access to the BEC for samples and probes via a modular and exchangeable ''science platform.'' We are able to produce 87Rb condensates of 5x106 atoms and to output couple continuous atom lasers. The cavity is mounted on the science platform on top of a vibration isolation system. The optical cavity works in the strong coupling regime of cavity quantum electrodynamics and serves as a quantum optical detector for single atoms. This system enables us to study atom optics on a single particle level and to further develop the field of quantum atom optics. We describe the technological modules and the ...
Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a model environmental organism that possesses diverse respiratory capacities, including the ability to reduce soluble Cr(VI) to sparingly soluble, less toxic Cr(III). Effective bioremediation of Cr-contaminated sites requires knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and regulation of heavy metal resistance and biotransformation by dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria. Towards this goal, our ERSP-funded work is focused on the identification and functional analysis of genes/proteins comprising the response pathways for chromate detoxification and/or reduction. Previous transcriptomic profiling and whole-cell proteomic analyses implicated the involvement of a functionally undefined DNA-binding response regulator (SO2426) and a putative azoreductase (SO3585) in the chromate stress response of MR-1. Here we describe a detailed functional analysis of SO2426 and SO3585 in order to begin to understand the role of these proteins in the cellular response to chromate. ...
Thermal conductivity is an important property that governs the behaviour of leaf compost biofilters used in treating gaseous pollutants. Measurements were carried out for the thermal conductivity (K) of 44 samples of leaf compost, covering wide ranges of the volume fractions of water (#xi#_w), solids (#xi#_s) and air (#xi#_a), at 20 deg. C using an unsteady state thermal probe. The results indicated that the compost thermal conductivity increased with an increase in #xi#_w, with a decrease in #xi#_a, and with an increase in the degree of saturation (defined as the volumetric fraction of water in the total void space). The predictions from the Woodside-Messmer quadratic parallel (QP) model for the thermal conductivity of leaf compost were higher than the experimental values. A simple linear relationship was developed between the thermal conductivity and the degree of saturation, which provided a satisfactory correlation for the data measured in ...
In this study, free electron laser (FEL) with selective wavelength was used to induce structure changes of biomolecules, which were characterized by FTIR spectroscopy. For understanding of the interactions between FEL and biomolecules as well as biological tissues, the biomolecules investigated are ATP, ADP, AMP, t-RNA, D-ribose and the complex of SmCl_3-D-ribose. Their FTIR spectra before and after irradiation of FEL show molecular structure variations of the samples after irradiation of FEL, especially the rearrangement of their hydrogen bond networks. Along with the various irradiation wavelengths, irradiation time and molecular structures, the changes after irradiation are different for these molecules. In the FTIR spectra after irradiation, the phenomenon that the bands split into several peaks indicates the existence of several structures, conformations and configurations, which may be prompted by multiple photons process induced by FEL. After irradiation, ...
The use of n-alkanethiolate self-assembled monolayers on gold has blossomed in the past few years. These systems have functioned as models for common interfaces. Thiolate monolayers are ideal because they are easily modified before or after deposition. The works contained within this dissertation include interfacial characterization (inbred reflection absorption spectroscopy, ellipsometry, contact angle, scanning probe microscopy, and heterogeneous electron-transfer kinetics) and various modeling scenarios. The results of these characterizations present ground-breaking insights into the structure, function, and reproducible preparation of these monolayers. Surprisingly, three interfacial properties (electron-transfer, contact angle, and ellipsometry) were discovered to depend directly on the odd-even character of the monolayer components. Molecular modeling was utilized to investigate adlayer orientation, and suggests that these effects are adlayer structure ...
We present maps of the cosmic large-scale structure around the twelve most distant galaxy clusters from the Massive Cluster Survey (MACS) as traced by the projected surface density of galaxies on the cluster red sequence. Taken with the Suprime-Cam wide-field camera on the Subaru telescope, the images used in this study cover a 27x27 arcmin^2 area around each cluster, corresponding to 10 x 10 Mpc^2 at the median redshift of z = 0.55 of our sample. We directly detect satellite clusters and filaments extending over the full size of our imaging data in the majority of the clusters studied, supporting the picture of mass accretion via infall along filaments suggested by numerical simulations of the growth of clusters and the evolution of large-scale structure. A comparison of the galaxy distribution near the cluster cores with the X-ray surface brightness as observed with Chandra reveals, in several cases, significant offsets between the gas and galaxy distribution, ...
The X-ray spectra of {approx}200 AGN collected from Swift-BAT were analyzed to test the Unified Model for AGN. Specifically, the photon indices, high energy cutoffs, and reflection components of Sy1 and Sy2 were compared. Under the Unified Model, the photon indices and reflection components for Sy1 should be larger than Sy2 and the high energy cutoffs should be the same. Fitting a simple power law model to the sample spectra proved to be insufficient. The PEXRAV model fit the spectra of the Sy1 and Sy2 significantly better, indicating that a reflection component and/or high energy cutoff exists as the Unified Model expects. Using both the simple power law and PEXRAV models it was concluded that in the population studied, Sy1 had a larger photon index than Sy2, as expected by the Unified Model. For Sy1 and Sy2, the reflection components were found to be compatible, but given the large errors, this finding cannot be said to be evidence against the Unified Model. ...
We report ab initio calculations of positron wave functions in the high-T/sub c/ superconductors YBa_2Cu_3O_7, Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8, and Tl_2Ba_2CaCu_2O_8 using the general potential linearized augmented plane-wave method. The calculated positron wave functions are fairly insensitive to whether or not electron-positron correlation is included in the calculation for YBa_2Cu_3O_7 and Tl_2Ba_2CaCu_2O_8, but the calculated positron density is quite sensitive to correlation in Bi_2Sr_2CaCu_2O_8. While the positron wave function samples primarily the chain region in YBa_2Cu_3O_7, the results indicate that positrons should be good probes of the Cu-O layer-derived electronic states near the Fermi energy in Tl_2Ba_2CaCu_2O_8 since a large overlap with these states is predicted.
Continuous metallic glass ribbons were produced by mejans of liquid-quenching at rates >10/sup 50/C/s. The ribbons, typically 30 ..mu..m thick and 1 to 2 mm wide, were determined to be glassy by X-ray diffraction (XRD) employing CuK..cap alpha.. and MoK..cap alpha.. radiation. Mechanical properties of the as-quenched product were determined by measurements of hardness, tensile strength and Young's modulus. The Vicker's diamond pyramid microhardness (H/sub V/) was measured on epoxy mounted samples using a Lietz Miniload instrument with a 100 g load. Tensile tests were conducted in an Instron machine using specimens which were hand-polished to produce smooth, parallel sides. Young's modulus (E) is given by the relationship rho V/sub E/sup 2//. V/sub E/, the velocity of extensional mode waves, was measured by the pulse-echo technique using a Panametrics Intervalometer and glass density, rho, was obtained by the liquid immersion method. ...
Newly commercialized Fourier transform Raman spectroscopic instrumentation provides a simpler alternative for vibrational spectroscopic analysis. Instrument vendors currently design for laboratory use, but there are many potential process applications of these stable, easy to use instruments. Raman spectroscopy is highly suited to analysis of aqueous samples. Near infrared excitation minimized fluorescence interference and allows for remote operation via fiber optic probes. The Department of Energy has funded research at the Measurement and Control Center to establish the utility of this method for on-line composition analysis in distillation columns. Laboratory evaluation and instrument employs an air-cooled laser and a thermoelectrically cooled detector. The device is mounted on a three by foot cart for convenient location in control rooms. Current fiber optic extension cables allow for analysis in a cell thirty five meters from the ...
A new method, near-infrared laser desorption/ionization aerosol mass spectrometry (NIR-LDI-AMS), is described for the real time analysis of organic aerosols at atmospherically relevant mass loadings. Use of a single NIR laser pulse to vaporize and ionize particle components deposited on an aluminum probe results in minimal fragmentation to produce exclusively intact pseudomolecular anions at [M-H](-). Limits of detection (total particulate mass sampled) for oxidized compounds of relevance to atmospheric primary and secondary organic aerosol range from 89 fg for pinic acid to 8.8 pg for cholesterol. NIR-LDI-AMS was used in conjunction with the University of Vermont Environmental Chamber to study secondary organic aerosol (SOA) formation from ozonolysis of limonene at total aerosol mass loadings ranging from 3.2 to 25.0 ?g m(-3) and with a time resolution of several minutes. NIR-LDI-AMS permitted direct delineation between gas-phase, homogeneous ...
The design of a gaging head for a portable radionuclide X-ray fluorescence analyzer is described. The gaging head is designed as a construction unit system which enables the application of lateral reflexion geometry as well as of coaxial geometry. It is designed so that adjustment from one geometry to the other is labour and time saving. The selection of characteristic radiation is performed by a couple of Ross' differential filters. These filters are prepared by a novel technique developed by our laboratory. The filter exchange is effected by the longitudinal move of the couple of filters encapsulated in a holder. The shift of the filters is controlled by means of a triggering mechanism situated in the body of the gaging head handle. This design makes is possible to handle the gaging head during measurements with one hand. A simple interchange of the absorption filter for the transmissive filter allows the operator to avoid any unwanted shift of the head during measurement and thus to ...
NGC 1407 is the central elliptical in a nearby evolved galaxy group apparently destined to become a cluster core. We use the kinematics of globular clusters to probe the dynamics and mass profile of the group's center, out to 60 kpc (~10 R_eff) -- the most extended data set to date around an early-type galaxy. This sample consists of 172 GC velocities, most of them newly obtained using Keck/DEIMOS, with a few additional objects identified as DGTOs or as IGCs. We find weak rotation in the GC system's outer parts, with the metal-poor and metal-rich GCs misaligned. The RMS velocity profile declines rapidly to a radius of ~20 kpc, and then becomes flat or rising to ~60 kpc. There is evidence that the GC orbits have a tangential bias that is strongest for the metal-poor GCs -- possibly contradicting theoretical expectations. We construct cosmologically-motivated galaxy+dark halo dynamical models and infer a mass within 60 kpc of ~3x10^12 M_Sun, ...
This quarterly report for the period April through June 1984 summarizes activities in Sandia National Laboratories' continuing program of coal liquefaction research. The primary goals are to: explore novel catalytic concepts and materials for conversion of coal to liquid fuels; determine the effects of process variables on catalyst deactivation; determine the effects of coal structure and solvent properties on low temperature dissolution; study the kinetics and catalysis of hydrogen transfer reactions; develop an understanding of slurry gelling phenomena; and provide a technical assessment of coal liquefaction processes. During this period, work was performed on: analysis of catalyst samples from Wilsonville Run 246; catalyst presulfiding; catalyst activity testing using pyrene as a chemical probe; catalyst deactivation using a high-pressure model compound test reactor; dissolution chemistry of Wyodak coal; slurry gelling utilizing the ...
The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential of low-resolution Raman spectroscopy for monitoring the oxidation status of olive oil. Primary and secondary oxidation parameters such as peroxide value, K"2"3"2 and K"2"7"0 were studied. Low-resolution Raman spectra ranging from 200 to 2700 cm^-^1 in a set of 126 oxidized and virgin olive oil samples were collected directly using a probe. Partial Least Squares was used to calibrate the Raman instrument for the different targeted parameters. The performance of the models was determined by using validation sets, and the best results obtained were: R^2 = 0.91, RMSEP = 2.57 for the peroxide value content; R^2 = 0.88, RMSEP = 0.37 for K"2"3"2; and R^2 = 0.90, RMSEP = 0.08 for K"2"7"0. These results demonstrated that low-resolution Raman spect...
A multicusp magnetic field plasma surface ion source, normally used for H/sup /minus//ion beam formation, has been modified for the generation of high-intensity, pulsed, heavy negative ion beams suitable for a variety of uses. To date, the source has been utilized to produce mA intensity pulsed beams of more than 24 species. A brief description of the source, and basic pulsed-mode operational data, (e.g., intensity versus cesium oven temperature, sputter probe voltage, and discharge pressure), are given. In addition, illustrative examples of intensity versus time and the mass distributions of ion beams extracted from a number of samples along with emittance data, are also presented. Preliminary results obtained during dc operation of the source under low discharge power conditions suggest that sources of this type may also be used to produce high-intensity (mA) dc beams. The results of these investigations are given, as well, and the technical ...
Based on the first part of this report the molybdenum loadings of the red mud were varied and the activity of the catalytic additives was tested in a batch autoclave with TJP VR. The 30% Molybdenum loading (sample Nr. 6) was found to be optimum. Further testing with two vacuum residues (TJP VR and ARH VR) and sample Nr. 6, indicates the influences of the process parameters for hydrogen pressures of 9-15 MPa, temperatures of 440-475 C and residence times of 0-60 min. Obviously 440 C, 12 MPa and a residence time of 30 min are best conditions for hydrocracking of both vacuum residues with sample Nr. 6. (orig.) [Deutsch] Beruhend auf dem ersten Teil des Berichtes wird der Belegungsgrad der Rotmasse mit Molybdaen variiert und die resultierenden katalytischen Zusaetze werden in einem Autoklaven mit TJR VR getestet. Ein Belegungsgrad mit 30% Molybdaen (Probe 6) scheint optimal zu sein. Mit diesem Zusatz werden ...
The interdiffusion behaviour of MCrAlY-coats on polycrystalline and single-crystalline materials of a similar composition (IN 738 LC/SC 16)shows similar interdiffusion characteristics. TCF-tests, where stress is generated by temperature and sample geometry at the edges of a disk-shaped sample, show that it is possible to differentiate betwee crack resistance of coated and uncoated samples. This method is also suitable for screening tests with different coat thicknesses. Coating of the edge area must, however, be done with great diligence in order to prevent coat thickness variation as results would then not be reproducable. Contrary to TCF (thermal cycle fatigue) TMF-tests (thermal mechanical fatigue)allow to set the stress states that one wishes to test. This method is therefore well suited for testing under operating conditions.(orig.) [German] Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit wurde gezeigt, dass das Interdiffusionsverhalten von ...
This paper reports that grinding and polishing affected the orientation of 90[degrees] domains at the surface of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics. This was quantified by using changes in the intensity ratio of the (002) and (200) X-ray reflections. Grinding unpoled PZT with 600-grit SiC paper gave X-ray intensity ratios similar to those of poled material. This implies that 90[degrees] domain realignments had occurred in the near surface region probed by the X-rays. Grinding poled samples with 600-grit SiC further increased the X-ray intensity ratio beyond that caused by poling, indicating that additional surface reorientation of 90[degrees] domains had occurred. The effects of diamond polishing depended on the size of the diamond particles. The use of 6-[mu]m diamond had no effect on the (002)/(200) intensity ratio of either poled or unpoled samples, while polishing with 15- or 45-[mu]m diamond significantly enhanced ...
This paper reports that grinding and polishing affected the orientation of 90 degrees domains at the surface of lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ceramics. This was quantified by using changes in the intensity ratio of the (002) and (200) X-ray reflections. Grinding unpoled PZT with 600-grit SiC paper gave X-ray intensity ratios similar to those of poled material. This implies that 90 degrees domain realignments had occurred in the near surface region probed by the X-rays. Grinding poled samples with 600-grit SiC further increased the X-ray intensity ratio beyond that caused by poling, indicating that additional surface reorientation of 90 degrees domains had occurred. The effects of diamond polishing depended on the size of the diamond particles. The use of 6-#mu#m diamond had no effect on the (002)/(200) intensity ratio of either poled or unpoled samples, while polishing with 15- or 45-#mu#m diamond significantly enhanced the ...
An attempt to gain an understanding of the formation mechanism of these 'soot-like' materials has been made by means of tracing the changes in the molecular-mass distribution and molecular structure of the NMP-extractable materials from an injectant coal as well as its partially gasified chars and its pyrolytic tars. Variations in the SEC chromatograms provide clues about changes in the apparent molecular-mass distributions of these NMP extracts. Results suggest that the build-up of 'soot-like' materials follows from the secondary reactions of tars evolved from the injectant coal. The likely secondary-reaction pathways have been probed by collating structural information on these NMP extracts. The time-resolved 13-16 and 22-25 min elution fractions from the SEC column have been characterized using UV fluorescence (UV F) spectroscopy. Greater concentrations of larger aromatic ring systems are found present in ...
Nuclear Reaction Analysis (NRA) with deuteron ion beams has been used to probe for ion implanted nitrogen and carbon with high sensitivity in zinc oxide and silicon single crystals. The ion implanted N was measured using 1.4 MeV deuteron ion beams and was found to be in agreement with calculated values. The limit of detection for N in ZnO is 8x1014 ions cm-2. Raman measurements of the ion implanted samples showed three additional modes at 275, 504, and 644 cm-1 compared to the un-implanted ZnO crystals. The NRA and Raman results provided information on the N concentration, depth distribution, and structural changes that occur in dependence on the nitrogen ion fluences. The deuterium induced 12C(d,p)13C reaction was used to measure the carbon impurity/dose in ion implanted silicon. It was found that the use of a large cold shield (liquid nitrogen trap) in the ion implanter chamber greatly reduces the amount of carbon impurity on the surface of ...
This paper reports the results of a fine-probe EDS microanalytical study of cellular precipitation in a Cu-Ti binary alloy. Compositional profiles across the solute depleted Cu-rich FCC lamellae and the Cu_4Ti lamellae within isothermally formed cellular colonies were measured in a FEG-TEM from thin-foil specimens prepared by conventional electropolishing and by a technique using a Ga"+ focused ion-beam (FIB). The Cliff-Lorimer ratio method, with an absorption correction, was employed to quantify the compositions. Two FIB samples were prepared with different orientations of the lamellae with respect to the ion-milling direction. The compositional profiles across the Cu-rich FCC lamellae and the Cu_4Ti compound lamellae in both the FIB-prepared samples and the electropolished sample were, within experimental error, numerically equivalent. The composition of the Cu_4Ti compound phase lamellae was very ...
Computer programs have been developed for modelling impedance and transmit-receive eddy current probes in two-dimensional axis-symmetric configurations. These programs, which are based on analytic equations, simulate bobbin probes in infinitely long tubes and surface probes on plates. They calculate probe signal due to uniform variations in conductor thickness, resistivity and permeability. These signals depend on probe design and frequency. A finite element numerical program has been procured to calculate magnetic permeability in non-linear ferromagnetic materials. Permeability values from these calculations can be incorporated into the above analytic programs to predict signals from eddy current probes with permanent magnets in ferromagnetic tubes. These programs were used to test various probe designs for new testing applications. ...
Complete text of publication follows. Baikal is an ancient unique lake. The sweet water of Baikal is crystal clean; it concentrates oxygen and contains scarce silicon. This feature is provoked very particular interest for scientists and poses some awkward questions concerning the preservation of Baikal's ecosystem. A profound investigation of fish otholiths, animal teeth, sponges, valves of mollusks and diatom algae provides chronological information, possibility to reconstruct the events proceeding in the environment based on variations of their chemical composition. Because these study objects are small-sized, and some of them are micron-size, application of the electron-probe microanalysis turns to be quite productive. The goal of this study is to disclose performance capabilities of this method while investigating the Baikal flora and fauna. Investigations were performed by devices JCXA-733 and JXA-8200 using the electron microscope and x-ray microprobe modes. ...
Sentinel node (SN) scintigraphy for cervical and vulvar cancer guides the gynaecological oncologist in finding the metastatic lymph nodes during lymphadenectomy. The role of the surgical gamma probe in the sentinel node concept in gynaecological oncology is to localise (SN) both intra-operatively and transcutaneously. Intra-operative hand-held collimated gamma probes are increasingly used for detection of the sentinel lymph node. A comparative evaluation of handheld gamma probes: Neoprobe 1500, Europrobe, Gamma Finder, Gamma Ray Prospector GRP1 and GPR2 was performed using different detection methods. Laboratory tests were performed in which sensitivity, spatial resolution and angular sensitivity were evaluated. The results for each gamma probe were summarised and discussed. Awareness of a gamma probes capabilities and limitations should be considered in the appropriate selection of ...
Conventional eddy current bobbin probes are known to be ineffectual in detecting circumferential cracks in tubing. Multi-pancake and/or rotating pancake probes are required to detect circumferential cracks. It has recently been demonstrated in CANDU steam generator tubes, with deformation, ferromagnetic deposits, and copper deposits, that multi-channel probes with transmit-receive (T/R) coils are superior to those using surface impedance coils. Unlike rotating probes, the design of a new probe denoted as C3 permits fast, single-scan inspection of a full-length tube at inspection speeds comparable to conventional bobbin probes. Since 1992, the probe has been used routinely for steam generator in-service inspection at 4 CANDU plants. Defective tubes have been plugged and the units returned to service, and they continue to operate without ...
Conventional eddy current bobbin probes are known to be ineffectual in detecting circumferential cracks in tubing. Multi-pancake and/or rotating pancake probes are required to detect circumferential cracks. It has recently been demonstrated in CANDU steam generator tubes, with deformation, ferromagnetic deposits, and copper deposits, that multi-channel probes with transmit-receive (T/R) coils are superior to those using surface impedance coils. Unlike rotating probes, the design of a new probe denoted as C3 permits fast, single-scan inspection of a full-length tube at inspection speeds comparable to conventional bobbin probes. Since 1992, the probe has been used routinely for steam generator in-service inspection at 4 CANDU plants. Defective tubes have been plugged and the units returned to service, and they continue to operate without ...
Technology progress in DNA sequencing boosts the genomic database growth at faster and faster rate. Compression, accompanied with random access capabilities, is the key to maintain those huge amounts of data. In this paper we present an LZ77-style compression scheme for relative compression of multiple genomes of the same species. While the solution bears similarity to known algorithms, it offers significantly higher compression ratios at compression speed over a order of magnitude greater. One of the new successful ideas is augmenting the reference sequence with phrases from the other sequences, making more LZ-matches available.
Ultraconserved elements (UCEs) are sequences that are identical between reference genomes of distantly related species. As they are under negative selection and enriched near or in specific classes...Full Text Available
Mitochondrial dysfunction has been implicated in premature aging, age-related diseases, and tumor initiation and progression. Alterations of the mitochondrial genome accumulate both in aging tissue...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe availability of multiple, essentially complete genome sequences of prokaryotes and eukaryotes spurred both the demand and the opportunity for the construction of an...Full Text Available
High-throughput technologies for DNA sequencing and for analyses of transcriptomes, proteomes and metabolomes have provided the foundations for deciphering the structure, variation and function of the...Full Text Available
BackgroundOrthology analysis is an important part of data analysis in many areas of bioinformatics such as comparative genomics and molecular phylogenetics. The ever-increasing flood...Full Text Available
Synthetic polymers and nanomaterials display selective phenotypic effects in cells and in the body that affect signal transduction mechanisms involved in inflammation, differentiation, proliferation,...Full Text Available
Eukaryotic genomes are packaged in two basic forms, euchromatin and heterochromatin. We have examined the composition and organization of Drosophila melanogaster heterochromatin in...Full Text Available
ABSTRACT. Chlorarachniophytes are enigmatic marine unicellular algae that acquired photosynthesis by secondary endosymbiosis. Chlorarachniophytes are unusual in that the nucleus of the engulfed algal cell (a green alga) persists in a miniaturized form, termed a nucleomorph. The nucleomorph genome of the model chlorarachniophyte, Bigelowiella natans CCMP621, is 373 kilobase pairs (kbp) in size, the smallest nuclear genome characterized to date. The B. natans nucleomorph genome is composed of three chromosomes, each with canonical eukaryotic telomeres and sub telomeric ribosomal DNA (rDNA) operons transcribed away from the chromosome end. Here we present the complete rDNA operon and telomeric region from the nucleomorph genome of Lotharella oceanica CCMP622, a newly characterized chlorarachn...
The study of amphibian embryogenesis has provided important insight into the mechanisms of vertebrate development. The frog Xenopus laevis has been an important model of vertebrate...Full Text Available
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are a significant component of a wider family of retroelements that constitute part of the human genome. These viruses, perhaps representative of previous exogenous...Full Text Available
The ultimate goal of this research is to generate and apply novel technologies to speed completion and integration of the human genome map and sequence with biomedical problems. To do this, techniques were developed and genome-wide resources generated. This includes a genome-wide Mapped and Integrated BAC/PAC Resource that has been used for gene finding, map completion and anchoring, breakpoint definition and sequencing. In the last period of the grant, the Human Mapped BAC/PAC Resource was also applied to determine regions of human variation and to develop a novel paradigm of primate evolution through to humans. Further, in order to more rapidly evaluate animal models of human disease, a BAC Map of the mouse was generated in collaboration with the MTI Genome Center, Dr. Bruce Birren.
Motivation: DNA sequences can be represented by sequences of four symbols, but it is often useful to convert the symbols into real or complex numbers for further analysis. Several mapping...Full Text Available
... Extracellular Signaling through the Microenvironment: A Hypothesis Relating Carcinogenesis, Bystander Effects, and Genomic InstabilityMary Helen Barcellos-Hoff1a ... ...
Congruence is a broadly applied notion in evolutionary biology used to justify multigene phylogeny or phylogenomics, as well as in studies of coevolution, lateral gene transfer, and as evidence for...Full Text Available
Development of a fertilized egg into an adult human requires trillions of cell divisions, the vast majority of which duplicate their genome once and only once. Nevertheless, trophoblast giant...Full Text Available
High-throughput genomic and proteomic technologies have generated a wealth of publicly available data on ageing. Easy access to these data, and their computational analysis, is of great importance in...Full Text Available
The study of genetic variability within natural populations of pathogens may provide insight into their evolution and pathogenesis. We used a Mycobacterium tuberculosis high-density...Full Text Available
The biosynthesis of insect juvenile hormone (JH) and its neuroendocrine control are attractive targets for chemical control of insect pests and vectors of disease. To facilitate the molecular...Full Text Available
Acquisition of detailed knowledge of the structure and evolution of Trypanosoma cruzi populations is essential for control of Chagas disease....Full Text Available
BackgroundMany difficult problems in evolutionary genomics are related to mutations that have weak effects on fitness, as the consequences of mutations with large effects are often...Full Text Available
We present an abundance analysis based on high-resolution spectra of 10 stars selected to span the full range in metallicity in the Ursa Minor (UMi) dwarf spheroidal (dSph) galaxy. We find that [Fe/H] for the sample stars ranges from -1.35 to -3.10 dex. Combining our sample with previously published work for a total of 16 luminous UMi giants, we establish the trends of abundance ratios [X/Fe] as functions of [Fe/H] for 15 elements. In key cases, particularly for the #alpha#-elements, these trends resemble those for stars in the outer part of the Galactic halo, especially at the lowest metallicities probed. The neutron-capture elements show an r-process distribution over the full range of Fe metallicity reached in this dSph galaxy. This suggests that the duration of star formation in the UMi dSph was shorter than in other dSph galaxies. The derived ages for a larger sample of UMi stars with more ...
Synthetic oligoribonucleotides have been used to probe the interaction of MS2 coat protein with the translational operator of the MS2 replicase gene. We have investigated the possible formation of a...Full Text Available
A commercially available synthetic nucleic acid probe (SNAP) conjugated to alkaline phosphatase was compared with standard culture techniques for detecting Campylobacter species. The SNAP was able to...Full Text Available
A new gadolinium chelating NIR fluorescent molecular probe increases T1 relaxivity of water protons, facilitating combined optical and magnetic resonance imaging.
Computer programs have been written to allow the analysis of different types of eddy-current probes and their performance under different steam generator test conditions. The probe types include the differential bobbin probe, the absolute bobbin probe, the pancake probe and the reflection probe. The generator test conditions include tube supports, copper deposits, magnetite deposits, denting, wastage, pitting, cracking and IGA. These studies are based mostly on computed values, with the limited number of test specimens available used to verify the computed results. The instrument readings were computed for a complete matrix of the different test conditions, and then the test conditions determined as a function of the readings by a least-squares technique. A comparison was made of the errors in fit and instrument drift for the different probe ...
CANDU steam generators and heat exchangers have been afflicted with a significant variety of degradation mechanisms. Until recently, detection and characterization of most of the varieties of flaws required usage of several different eddy current techniques. Tubes needed to be scanned multiple times to ensure they were inspected for all possible degradation mechanisms. The time required to deploy so many different types of techniques to inspect the steam generator tubes has had a significant impact on the inspection schedules. The X-Probe was designed with an array of eddy current coils capable of detecting, characterizing and sizing axial, circumferential and volumetric flaws. The X-Probe is a fast-scanning probe with scanning speed equivalent to speeds typically used for simple bobbin coil probes. With its capability of fulfilling most if not all of the functions of the other tube-testing eddy current ...
CANDU steam generators and heat exchangers have been afflicted with a significant variety of degradation mechanisms. Until recently, detection and characterization of most of the varieties of flaws required usage of several different eddy current techniques. Tubes needed to be scanned multiple times to ensure they were inspected for all possible degradation mechanisms. The time required to deploy so many different types of techniques to inspect the steam generator tubes has had a significant impact on the inspection schedules. The X-Probe was designed with an array of eddy current coils capable of detecting, characterizing and sizing axial, circumferential and volumetric flaws. The X-Probe is a fast-scanning probe with scanning speed equivalent to speeds typically used for simple bobbin coil probes. With its capability of fulfilling most if not all of the functions of the other tube-testing eddy current ...
This paper describes the technical design and performance of the diagnostic system installed in the tokamak TCABR to measure parameters of the plasma edge. The system consists of four Langmuir probes under remote control. (author)
The past decade has seen the development of eddy current probes for inspection of the mildly ferro-magnetic alloy Monel 400. Due to the rapid advances in permanent magnet technology similar probes have been upgraded to magnetically saturate, and hence ins...
The utility of a two-photon optical fiber fluorescence probe (TPOFF) for sensing and quantifying tumor fluorescent signals was tested in vivo. Xenograft tumors were developed in athymic mice using MCA207...Full Text Available
Synthetic complementary oligonucleotides are useful hybridization probes for the detection of mRNAs and genes encoding proteins for which only a partial amino acid sequence is known. Usually this involves...Full Text Available
... The rounds were initiated by an exploding bridgewire detonator (EBW) and the ionisation probes were progressively cloud by the detonation front. ...
This paper describes a signal simulator which is designed to calibrate eddy current probes. By using simultaneously an excitation coil and an electrically conducting plane, the simulator can emulate signals which correspond to spot welds with different flaws. The presence of a conducting plane allows a wide variation of the amplitude and phase of the excitation coil voltage during the calibration of a probe. A mathematical model for the simulator is derived and used to study the variation of the impedance change upon the parameters of the probe. Numerical computation shows that the impedance change depends in an important way on the frequency of the excitation coil current.
Here the authors try to dissolve some commonly held misconceptions about the operation of eddy current probes used for inspecting heat exchanger tubes. With the help of computer model results, the authors demonstrate that, for optimized operation, absolute/differential probes should be operated with coil current flowing in phase with another. This month's feature should be of interest to researchers as well as for NDT field personnel.
Phased array provides many advantages over conventional ultrasonic testing method, but phased array has also limitations. This paper describes typical results of the experimental sound field analysis generated from the array probe. A photo-elastic ultrasonic visualization technique was applied in this study. The sound fields of shear wave generated from the array probe was equivalent to that from the fixed angle probe. (author)
To overcome the limitations of conventional bobbin style eddy-current probes, it has become common practice to perform some portion of a steam generator tube inspection program with array coil probes. Typically, eight surface-riding pancake coils are utilized in a probe head, either as eight independent coils (8 x 1) or in a parallel combination of four serially connected coils (4 x 4). The advantages of the array coils are improved sensitivity to intergranular attack (IGA), reduced interference from tube denting, and improved sensitivity to circumferential cracking. The current status of commercially available probes is such that several weaknesses in array coils have limited the widespread application of this technology. Task S 301-6 was conceived to address each of the weaknesses in order to produce a more reliable and cost-effective probe. The emphasis was on reliability, since ...
Sulfur K-edge X-ray absorption spectroscopy is a powerful in situ probe of sulfur biochemistry in intact cells and tissues. Under favorable circumstances the technique can provide quantitative information on the chemical identify of the sulfur species that are present in a sample. Prange et al. have recently reported an X-ray absorption spectroscopic study of bacterial sulfur storage globules. Unfortunately there are substantial problems with the experimental technique employed that, they contend, lead to completely erroneous conclusions. In the more recent of their two papers Prange et al. employed a curve-fitting method similar to that used by us (for more than 10 years). In essence, the method employs simply fitting a linear combination of the spectra of standard compounds to that of the unknown, in this case cultures of bacterial cells. This type of analysis can provide quantitative estimates of the individual sulfur types in the ...
This report is a summary of the Steam Generator Group Project progress for 1985. Statistical analyses are presented of data from nondestructive examination (NDE) round robin tests that were performed on the Surry generator in 1984. In the first round robin, teams acquired and analyzed their own data on a selected 10% subset of tubes. In the second round robin, analysts from each participating team analyzed identical sets of data which were provided to them by the Project. Results from several examinations utilizing advanced/alternate NDE technologies including alternate eddy current probes and techniques, ultrasonics, and profilometry are also reported. Criteria are listed for selecting tube specimens that will be removed from the generator. A sampling plan based on these criteria is detailed graphically in the report. The initial steps that have been taken to carry out the plan are described; tooling fabricated for the ...
This report is a summary of the Steam Generator Group Project progress for 1985. Statistical analyses are presented of data from nondestructive examination (NDE) round robin tests that were performed on the Surry generator in 1984. In the first round robin, teams acquired and analyzed their own data on a selected 10% subset of tubes. In the second round robin, analysts from each participating team analyzed identical sets of data which were provided to them by the Project. Results from several examinations utilizing advanced/alternate NDE technologies including alternate eddy current probes and techniques, ultrasonics, and profilometry are also reported. Criteria are listed for selecting tube specimens that will be removed from the generator. A sampling plan based on these criteria is detailed graphically in the report. The initial steps that have been taken to carry out the plan are described; tooling fabricated for the ...
The penetrance of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) in families with primary mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations is very complex. Matrilineal and nuclear genetic background, as well as environmental factors, have been reported to be involved in different affected pedigrees. Here we describe two large Chinese families that show a striking difference in the penetrance of LHON, in which 53.3% and 15.0% of members were affected (P < 0.02), respectively. Analysis of the complete mtDNA genome of the two families revealed the presence of the primary mutation G11778A and several other variants suggesting the same haplogroup status G2a. The family with higher penetrance contained a previously described secondary mutation G13708A, which presents a polymorphism in normal Chinese samples and does not affect in vivo mitochondrial oxidative metabolism as described in a previous study. Evolutionary analysis failed to indicate any ...
The penetrance of Leber's hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) in families with primary mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations is very complex. Matrilineal and nuclear genetic background, as well as environmental factors, have been reported to be involved in different affected pedigrees. Here we describe two large Chinese families that show a striking difference in the penetrance of LHON, in which 53.3% and 15.0% of members were affected (P < 0.02), respectively. Analysis of the complete mtDNA genome of the two families revealed the presence of the primary mutation G11778A and several other variants suggesting the same haplogroup status G2a. The family with higher penetrance contained a previously described secondary mutation G13708A, which presents a polymorphism in normal Chinese samples and does not affect in vivo mitochondrial oxidative metabolism as described in a previous study. Evolutionary analysis failed to indicate any putatively ...
PURPOSE: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is a highly virulent malignancy with no effective treatment thus requiring innovative and effective targeted therapies. The oncogene Astrocyte elevated gene-1 (AEG-1) plays a seminal role in hepatocarcinogenesis and profoundly downregulates insulin-like growth factor binding protein-7 (IGFBP7). The present study focuses on analyzing potential tumor suppressor functions of IGFBP7 in HCC and the relevance of IGFBP7 downregulation in mediating AEG-1 function.EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: IGFBP7 expression was detected by immunohistochemistry in HCC tissue microarray and real-time PCR and ELISA in human HCC cell lines. Dual Fluorescence in situ hybridization was performed to detect loss of heterozygosity at IGFBP7 locus. Stable IGFBP7-overexpressing clones were established in the background of AEG-1-overexpressing human HCC cells and were analyzed for in vitro proliferation and senescence and in vivo tumorigenesis and angiogenesis.RESULTS: IGFBP7 expression ...
Until a decade ago, only the differential bobbin type eddy current probe was considered necessary for reliable heat exchanger tube inspection. The introduction of different tube materials, manufacturing processes and a variety of service induced failures has greatly increased the demands of eddy current testing. Optimized probe designs enhanced by improved instrumentation can help satisfy some of these demands. Some of the more difficult inspection problems are detection of circumferential cracks, fretting wear under non-ferromagnetic support plates and shallow internal defects. Reliable detection and sizing of such defects is often made more difficult by the fact they frequently occur in defect prone regions such as under tubesheets or support plates and in transition regions of finned tubes. Probe designs effective in overcoming these difficulties exist. This paper describes a number of such probes ...
Targeted genome capture combined with next-generation sequencing was used to analyze 2.9 Mb of the DFNB79 interval on chromosome 9q34.3, which includes 108 candidate genes. Genomic...Full Text Available
We conducted a genome-wide association study of gastric cancer (GC) and esophageal squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) in ethnic Chinese subjects in which we genotyped 551,152 single nucleotide polymorphisms...Full Text Available
The dissimilatory metal reducing bacterium Shewanella sp. strain HN-41 was first reported to produce novel photoactive As-S nanotubes via reduction of As(V) and S(2)O(3)(2-) under anaerobic conditions. Here we report the draft genome sequence and annotation of strain HN-41. PMID:21868804
BackgroundThe mitochondrial genome of the Octocorallia has several characteristics atypical for metazoans, including a novel gene suggested to function in DNA repair. This mtMutS...Full Text Available
Case-parent trios were used in a genome wide association study of cleft lip with/without cleft palate (CL/P). SNPs near two genes not previously associated with CL/P [MAFB:...Full Text Available
This paper presents a mathematical model that calculates eddy current signals from laterally spaced transmit-receive pancake coils. This model was validated by comparing calculations with laboratory measurements and it has been applied to evaluating design variations in X-Probe eddy current array coils. This model was used to quantify detection capabilities of probe designs with different numbers of coils. The current standard X-Probe design for 13 mm (0.5 inch) diameter steam generator tubes uses 3 rows of coils with 8 coils per row. This design is commonly referred to as the '8 coil X-Probe'. A significant improvement in detection capability was predicted for an X-Probe with 12 coils per row (called the '12 coil X-Probe') detecting short circumferential crack-like flaws. Based on these calculations, a prototype 12 coil ...
The bobbin probe technique is basically one of the important ECT methods for the steam generator tube integrity assessment that is practiced during each plant outage. The bobbin probe also is the essential component which consists of the whole ECT examination system, and provides a decisive data for the evaluation of tube integrity in compliance with acceptance criteria described in specific procedures. The selection of probe is especially important because the quality of acquired ECT data is determined by the probe design characteristics, such as geometry and operation frequency, and has an important effect on examination results. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has recently defined the procedures for the qualification of eddy current hardware and technique. These procedures provide two basic methods for qualification. Flawed tube removed from operation, or artificial flaw is required for ...
The bobbin probe technique is basically one of the important ECT methods for the steam generator tube integrity assessment that is practiced during each plant outage. The bobbin probe also is the essential component which consists of the whole ECT examination system, and provides a decisive data for the evaluation of tube integrity in compliance with acceptance criteria described in specific procedures. The selection of probe is especially important because the quality of acquired ECT data is determined by the probe design characteristics, such as geometry and operation frequency, and has an important effect on examination results. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) has recently defined the procedures for the qualification of eddy current hardware and technique. These procedures provide two basic methods for qualification. Flawed tube removed from operation, or artificial flaw is required for ...
Helically coiled tubes of steam generators (SG) in FBR are boundaries between sodium and water/steam. Therefore, to assure the integrity of tubes, it is necessary to inspect the tubes nondestructively for in service or after a sodium-water reaction accident. In order to make it possible to conduct in-service inspection of SG tubes, we have studied on eddy current probes and probe inserting methods. As for the probe inserting method, IHI designed a fluid driving type which consists of a model probe and signal cable with float balls and driven by air pressure force. Presented in this paper is the authors' report, which describes the fluid driving type as an effective method to insert an eddy current probe into helically coiled tubes. The outline of the test results is as follows: 1. It was possible to insert the probe into 65 meter length helically coiled tubes. ...
Five corrosion probes were received from West Valley Nuclear Services for evaluation in simulated tank 8D-2 3rd-stage sludge wash slurry. The same waste slurry simulated was also used in a series of ongoing corrosion studies assessing the effects of in-tank sludge washing on the integrity of tank 8D-2. Two of the corrosion probes were installed in the coupon corrosion test vessels operating at {approximately}150{degrees}F to compare performance of the probes with that observed by coupon tests conducted in the same vessels. Corrosion rate data calculated from electrical resistance measurements of the corrosion probes were evaluated for this study using two slightly different approaches. One approach uses the total length of exposure of the probe to give a ``time-averaged`` value of the corrosion rate. The other approach uses a shorter period of time (relative to the length of the ...
Steam Generator (SG) tubes in PWR plant are periodically inspected using eddy current testing (ECT) method. In Japan, bobbin coil type dual function probe is used for full length inspection, but the detectability for circumferential crack is very poor, and to improve detectability for circumferential crack and supplement regular ECT, various kinds of multi segment eddy current probes and multi transducer ultrasonic testing (UT) method have been developed. ECT probes are constructed of multiple surfaceriding special winding differential type coils and UT probe consists of 16 transducers which are spaced equally around the probe circumference for 360deg wall coverage. Both of those EC and UT probes are designed effective to detect circumferential crack. On the other hand, various kinds of laboratory induced circumferential cracks have been made and destroyed to ...
The Electromagnetic Fluctuations (EMF) diagnostic will be used to monitor ion fluctuations which could be unstable in MFTF-B. Each probe assembly includes a high impedance electrostatic probe to measure potential fluctuations, and a group of nested, single turn loops to measure magnetic fluctuations in three directions. Eventually, more probes and loops will be added to each probe assembly for making more detailed measurements. The sensors must lie physically close to the plasma edge and are radially positionable. Also, probes at separate axial locations can be positioned to connect along the same magnetic field line. These probes are similar in concept to the rf probes used on TMX, but the high thermal load for 30-second shots on MFTF-B requires a water-cooled design along with temperature monitors. Each signal channel has a bandwidth of ...
Actinosynnema mirum Hasegawa et al. 1978 is the type species of the genus, and is of phylogenetic interest because of its central phylogenetic location in the Actino-synnemataceae, a rapidly growing family within the actinobacterial suborder Pseudo-nocardineae. A. mirum is characterized by its motile spores borne on synnemata and as a producer of nocardicin antibiotics. It is capable of growing aerobically and under a moderate CO2 atmosphere. The strain is a Gram-positive, aerial and substrate mycelium producing bacterium, originally isolated from a grass blade collected from the Raritan River, New Jersey. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. This is the first complete genome sequence of a member of the family Actinosynnemataceae, and only the second sequence from the actinobacterial suborder Pseudonocardineae. The 8,248,144 bp long single replicon genome ...
In the last two decades, due to increased inspection demands, eddy current instrumentation has advanced from single-frequency, single-output instruments to multifrequency, computer-aided systems. This has significantly increased the scope of eddy current testing, but, unfortunately, it has also increased the cost and complexity of inspections. In addition, this approach has not always improved defect detectability or signal-to-noise. Most eddy current testing applications are still performed with impedance probes, which have well known limitations. However, recent research at AECL has led to improved eddy current inspections through the design and development of transmit-receive (T/R) probes. T/R eddy current probes, with laterally displaced transmit and receive coils, present a number of advantages over impedance probes. They have improved signal-to-noise ratio in the presence of variable lift-off ...
Genomic instability can be produced by ionising radiation, so-called radiation-induced genomic instability, and chemical mutagens. Radiation-induced genomic instability occurs in both germinal and somatic cells and also in the offspring of irradiated individuals, and it is characterised by genetic changes including chromosomal rearrangements. The majority of studies of trans-generational, radiation-induced genomic instability have been described in the male germ line, whereas the authors who have chosen the female as a model are scarce. The aim of this work is to find out the radiation-induced effects in the foetal offspring of X-ray-treated female rats and, at the same time, the possible impact of this radiation-induced genomic instability on the action of a chemical mutagen. In order to achieve both goals, the quantity and quality of chromosomal damage were analysed. In order to ...
The sequencing and detailed comparative functional analysis of genomes of a number of select botanical models open new doors into comparative genomics among the angiosperms, with potential benefits for improvement of many orphan crops that feed large populations. In this study, a set of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers was developed by mining the expressed sequence tag (EST) database of sorghum. Among the SSR-containing sequences, only those sharing considerable homology with rice genomic sequences across the lengths of the 12 rice chromosomes were selected. Thus, 600 SSR-containing sorghum EST sequences (50 homologous sequences on each of the 12 rice chromosomes) were selected, with the intention of providing coverage for corresponding homologous regions of the sorghum genome. Primer pairs were designed and polymorphism detection ability was assessed using parental pairs of two existing sorghum ...
Abstract Septins are highly conserved cytoskeletal GTP-binding proteins implicated in numerous cellular processes from apoptosis to vesicle trafficking. Septins have been associated with leukemia and solid tumor malignancies, including breast, ovarian, and prostate. We previously reported that high SEPT9_i1 expression in human mammary epithelial cell lines (HMECs) led to malignant cellular phenotypes such as increased cell proliferation, invasiveness, motility, and genomic instability. Our goal here was to better understand how SEPT9_i1 expression might contribute to genomic instability and malignant progression. First, we confirmed that even transient expression of SEPT9_i1 was sufficient to increase aneuploidy in HMECs. We then analyzed SEPT9_i1 by immunoprecipitation and immunofluoresce...
As with other areas of biomedical research, the expectation is that the results of genome research will yield commercially valuable products of benefits to human health. The report, analyzes universities`, companies`, and researchers` experiences and perspectives since enactment of federal laws to enhance technology transfer--especially as it pertains to research funded by the National Institutes of Health and the Department of Energy, the agencies funding U.S. efforts in the Human Genome Project. OTA prepared this background paper with the assistance of a panel of advisors and reviewers selected for their expertise and diverse points of view. Additionally, hundreds of individuals cooperated with OTA staff through interviews or by providing written material. These authorities were drawn from government, academia, industry, and professional societies worldwide.
Evidence suggests that insertion of the IS6110 element is not without consequence to the biology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis complex strains. Thus, mapping of multiple IS6110 insertion sites in the genome of biomedically relevant clinical isolates would result in a better understanding of the role of this mobile element, particularly with regard to transmission, adaptability and virulence. In the present paper, we describe a versatile strategy, referred to as GL-PCR, that amplifies IS6110-flanking sequences based on the construction of a genomic library. M. tuberculosis chromosomal DNA is fully digested with HincII and then ligated into a plasmid vector between T7 and T3 promoter sequences. The ligation reaction product is transformed into Escherichia coli and selective PCR amplification...
Bobbin-coil-type eddy current probes, which are conventionally used for nondestructive inspection of steam generator tubes in pressurized-water-type nuclear power plants, have poor detectability for circumferential flaws. Hence a new type of eddy current probe was proposed to detect effectively the magnetic flux component disturbed by a flaw and thus to eliminate the flaw direction dependency on the flaw detectability. In the course of development of the proposed method, structures of the probe were investigated based on the measurement of magnetic fields induced by exciting flat coils with several shapes. The new type of probe proposed here consists of differential pick-up coils detecting magnetic flux and exciting coils having a parallelogrammic shape, and its structure was fabricated experimentally in order to detect flaws independently of their directions. Nondestructive flaw detection tests was ...
Electrochemical corrosion rate probes were constructed and tested along with mass loss coupons in a N2/O2/CO2 plus water vapor environment. Temperatures ranged from 450 to 600 C. Corrosion rates for ash-covered mild steel, 304L SS, and 316L SS probes using electrochemical techniques were a function of time, temperature, and process environment. Correlation between electrochemical and mass loss corrosion rates was good.
This paper reports on the electron current to a Langmuir probe in a moving high-pressure plasma. The plasma is an atmospheric-pressure propane flame, and the probe's speed relative to the plasma is varied from 10 to 30 ms"-"1. The current is linearly dependent on the speed and appears to be comprised of two components - one driven by diffusion and the other by convection. A model is devised which can be used to measure the electron density. By comparing the density computed from this model to that measured from the ion current, it has been possible to measure the electron mobility in the flame gases. The value obtained here is in good agreement with theoretical calculations found in the literature.
The paper is concerned with the simulation of practical testing situations which are too difficult and/or expensive to replicate in a laboratory environment. Numerical experiments are described which simulate the differential eddy current probe response to the build-up and chemical flushing of magnetite in the crevice gap of a PWR steam generator unit. The simulation results agree well with the only experimental data available to the authors and lead to the conclusion that conventional differential eddy current probes should be capable of characterizing crevice gap conditions with respect to the presence of magnetite. (author).
We consider a D-brane probe in the unstable string background associated with flux branes. The twist in the spacetime metric reponsible for supersymmetry breaking is shown to manifest itself in the mixing of open Wilson lines with the phases of some adjoint matter fields, resulting in a nonlocal and nonsupersymmetric form of Yang-Mills theory as the probe dynamics. This provides a setup where one can study the fate of a large class of unstable closed string theories that includes as a limit type 0 theories and various orbifolds of type II and type 0 theories. We discuss the limit of C/Z_n orbifold in some detail and speculate on the couplings with closed string tachyons.
Measurements of the relaxation of the D{sub 2}O stretch mode in vitreous As{sub 2}S{sub 3} are presented. Because the bending mode of the molecule offers an intra-molecular decay channel for the stretch mode, the decay scheme of the D{sub 2}O molecule is more complex than that of diatomic molecules. The asymmetric stretch mode of D{sub 2}O has a frequency of 2680 cm{sup -1}. To study the relaxation of this mode we applied a pump-probe technique, using intense psec; pulses of the Stanford Free Electron Laser. Due to the small cross-section of the vibrational mode, successful efforts were made to improve the signal to noise ratio by using a laser stabilization system and a tightly focused beam to increase the intensity, by averaging the signal with a kHz repetition rate and by using samples with an optimized D{sub 2}O concentration. A rapid relaxation rate on the order of 5 x 10{sup 9} sec{sup -1} at low temperature is found that increases with ...
Classical beam line ion implantation is limited to low energies and cannot achieve P+/N junctions requested for <45nm ITRS node. RTA (rapid thermal annealing) needs to be improved for dopants activation and damage reductions. Spike annealing process also induces a large diffusion mainly due to TED (transient enhanced diffusion). Compared to conventional beam line ion implantation limited to a minimum energy implantation of 200eV, plasma immersion ion implantation (PIII) is an emerging technique to get ultimate shallow profiles (as-implanted) due to no lower limitation of energy and high dose rate. On the another hand, laser thermal processing (LTP) allows to obtain very shallow junction with no TED, abrupt profile and activated depth control. In this paper, we show the implementation of the BF_3 PIII associated with the LTP. Ions from BF_3"+ plasma have been implanted in 200mm n-type silicon wafers with energies from 100eV to 1keV and doses from 3E14 to 5E15at/cm"2 using PULSION"(R) ...
The effects of dilute impurity doping on charge-density wave (CDW) structures and gaps in NbSe{sub 3} 1T-TaS{sub 2} and 2H-NbSe{sub 2} have been studied by using a scanning tunneling microscope (STM) operating at 4.2 K. In Fe doped samples of NbSe{sub 3} the STM spectroscopy measurements indicate that the added impurities can significantly shift the CDW energy gaps. In NbSe{sub 3}, Fe reduces both CDW gaps by 25-30%, and produces changes in the conductance structure relative to the pure material. The images of Fe{sub 0.01}NbSe{sub 3} show that all three surface chains in the unit cell still carry a strong CDW modulation with no evident disorder. However, a change in the relative amplitudes of the high and low temperature CDWs is detected. The effects of Co and Ni impurities on the gaps in NbSe{sub 3} have also been studied. While Co increases both by 25-30%, Ni increases only the high temperature gap with the low temperature gap remaining essentially unchanged. In ...
We use UV/optical and X-ray observations of 272 radio-quiet Type 1 active galactic nuclei and quasars to investigate the C IV Baldwin Effect (BEff). The UV/optical spectra are drawn from the Hubble Space Telescope, International Ultraviolet Explorer and Sloan Digital Sky Survey archives. The X-ray spectra are from the Chandra and XMM-Newton archives. We apply correlation and partial-correlation analyses to the equivalent widths (EWs), continuum monochromatic luminosities, and ?ox, which characterizes the relative X-ray to UV brightness. The EW of the C IV ?1549 emission line is correlated with both ?ox and luminosity. We find that by regressing l?(2500 A) with EW(C IV) and ?ox, we can obtain tighter correlations than by regressing l?(2500 A) with only EW(C IV). Both correlation and regression analyses imply that l?(2500 A) is not the only factor controlling the changes of EW(C IV); ?ox (or, equivalently, the soft X-ray emission) plays a fundamental role in the formation and variation ...
A non-invasive diagnostic tool that could identify malignancy in situ and in real time would have a major impact on the detection and treatment of cancer. We have developed and are testing early prototypes of an optical biopsy system (OBS) for detection of cancer and other tissue pathologies. The OBS invokes a unique approach to optical diagnosis of tissue pathologies based on the elastic scattering properties, over a wide range of wavelengths, of the microscopic structure of the tissue. The use of elastic scattering as the key to optical tissue diagnostics in the OBS is based on the fact that many tissue pathologies, including a majority of cancer forms, manifest significant architectural changes at the cellular and sub-cellular level. Since the cellular components that cause elastic scattering have dimensions typically on the order of visible to near-IR wavelengths, the elastic (Mie) scattering properties will be strongly wavelength dependent. Thus, morphology and size changes can be ...
Here we report normal-state conductance measurements of three different types of superconducting tunnel junctions that are being used or proposed for quantum computing applications: p-Al/a-AlO/p-Al, e-Re/e-AlO/p-Al, and e-V/e-MgO/p-V, where p stands for polycrystalline, e for epitaxial, and a for amorphous. All three junctions exhibited significant deviations from the parabolic behavior predicted by the WKB approximation models. In the p-Al/a-AlO/p-Al junction, we observed enhancement of tunneling conductances at voltages matching harmonics of Al-O stretching modes. On the other hand, such Al-O vibration modes were missing in the epitaxial e-Re/e-AlO/p-Al junction. This suggests that absence or existence of the Al-O stretching mode might be related to the crystallinity of the AlO tunnel barrier and the interface between the electrode and the barrier. In the e-V/e-MgO/p-V junction, which is one of the candidate systems for future superconducting qubits, we observed suppression of the ...
The compound semiconductor system InGaAsN exhibits many intriguing properties which are particularly useful for the development of innovative high efficiency thin film solar cells and long wavelength lasers. The bandgap in these semiconductors can be varied by controlling the content of N and In and the thin films can yet be lattice-matched to GaAs. In the present work, x-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) and grazing incidence x-ray scattering (GIXS) techniques have been employed to probe the local environment surrounding both N and In atoms as well as the interface morphology of InGaAsN thin films epitaxially grown on GaAs. The soft x-ray XAFS results around nitrogen K-edge reveal that N is in the sp{sup 3} hybridized bonding configuration in InGaAsN and GaAsN, suggesting that N impurities most likely substitute for As sites in these two compounds. The results of In K-edge XAFS suggest a possible trend of a slightly larger coordination number of As nearest ...
Lithium Ceramics offer tremendous potential as a source for the production of tritium ("3H) for fusion power reactors. Their successful application will depend to a great extent upon the diffusion properties of the "6Li within the matrix. Consequently knowledge of "6Li concentration gradients in the ceramic matrices is an important requirement in the continued development of the technology. In this investigation, the neutron depth profile (NDP) technique has been applied to the study of concentration profiles of "6Li in lithium aluminate ceramics, doped with 1.8%, 50% and 95% "6Li isotopic concentrations. Specimen for analysis were prepared at Battelle (PNL) as pellet discs. Samples for diffusion studies were arranged as diffusion couples in the following manner: 1.8% "6Li discs/85% "6Li powder. Experiments were performed at the Texas A and M Nuclear Science Center Reactor Building, utilizing 1 MW equivalent thermal neutron fluxes 3x10"1"1 n/m"2 s. The depth ...
The crystal structure of borophosphates ABPO{sub 5} (A = alkaline earth or Pb) was resolved on a polycrystalline sample using the Rietveld method. The x-ray diffraction patterns data show that ABPO{sub 5} crystallize in a centrosymmetric space group P3{sub 1}21 and their structure is related to the borogermanates REBGeO{sub 5} with a stillwellite-type structure. Pr{sup 3+} ion was used as a local structural probe to corroborate the structural resolution results. Absorption and fluorescence spectra of A{sub 1-x}Pr{sub x}BP{sub 1-x}Ge{sub x}O{sub 5} (A alkaline earth or Pb; x = 0.05) have been investigated at different temperatures. At 9 K the 3{sup H}{sub 4}{yields}{sup 3}P{sub 0} transition of trivalent praseodymium ion (4f{sup 2} configuration) is observed as a single line. This indicates a unique crystallographic site for the rare earth ion in these compounds replacing the divalent cation. Energy level schemes were deduced from the ...
The crystal structure of borophosphates ABPO_5 (A = alkaline earth or Pb) was resolved on a polycrystalline sample using the Rietveld method. The x-ray diffraction patterns data show that ABPO_5 crystallize in a centrosymmetric space group P3_121 and their structure is related to the borogermanates REBGeO_5 with a stillwellite-type structure. Pr"3"+ ion was used as a local structural probe to corroborate the structural resolution results. Absorption and fluorescence spectra of A_1_-_xPr_xBP_1_-_xGe_xO_5 (A alkaline earth or Pb; x = 0.05) have been investigated at different temperatures. At 9 K the 3"H_4#->#"3P_0 transition of trivalent praseodymium ion (4f"2 configuration) is observed as a single line. This indicates a unique crystallographic site for the rare earth ion in these compounds replacing the divalent cation. Energy level schemes were deduced from the low-temperature spectroscopic measurements. Comparing the electronic level ...
Samples of alloy 800 H (LJNS N08810) and alloy 617 (UNS N06617) were oxidized in a simulated process gas atmosphere. The principal elements of the gaseous environment were 50% H{sub 2}O, 35% H{sub 2} and 5% of CO{sub 2}, CO, and CH{sub 4}, respectively. The experiments were carried out at temperatures from 850 C to 950 C for exposures ranging from 600 to 5,000 hours. After the exposure, the alloy surfaces showed compact oxide layers, which resulted in a depleted zone of oxidizing elements in the substrate layer. Using Electron Probe Microanalysis (EPMA), concentration profiles and the extension of the depleted zone were measured. Calculated theoretical profiles were then fitted to the EPMA-measured profiles, using Fick`s second law of diffusion and resolved by a finite difference method and diffusion coefficients as fitting parameters. The diffusion coefficients for chromium may be represented as D = Do exp.(-Q/RT) with the values Do = 11.4 ...
Full text of publication follows: Large-scale problems such as nuclear waste disposal are increasingly recognized to be interconnected to small scale-mechanisms. Thus, synchrotron-based high-resolution analytical X-ray probes become important tools for exploring the micro-scale chemical reactivity of heterogeneous barrier materials used in nuclear waste repositories. In this study the layout of the micro-XAS beamline at the Swiss Light Source (SLS) will be presented. The beamline is optimized towards micro beam experiments ({approx}1 x 1 {mu}m{sup 2}) in the hard-X-ray regime (4 - {approx}22 keV) and allows to combine micro X-ray fluorescence (micro-XRF), micro X-ray absorption spectroscopy (micro- XAS), and micro X-ray diffraction (micro-XRD) investigations with radioactive samples. Furthermore, the potential of micro-XRF/XAS/XRD for acquiring spatially resolved molecular level information on the speciation and structural coordination ...
We present the 24 #mu#m rest-frame luminosity function (LF) of star-forming galaxies in the redshift range 0.0 #<=# z #<=# 0.6 constructed from 4047 spectroscopic redshifts from the AGN and Galaxy Evolution Survey of 24 #mu#m selected sources in the Booetes field of the NOAO Deep Wide-Field Survey. This sample provides the best available combination of large area (9 deg"2), depth, and statistically complete spectroscopic observations, allowing us to probe the evolution of the 24 #mu#m LF of galaxies at low and intermediate redshifts while minimizing the effects of cosmic variance. In order to use the observed 24 #mu#m luminosity as a tracer for star formation, active galactic nuclei (AGNs) that could contribute significantly at 24 #mu#m are identified and excluded from our star-forming galaxy sample based on their mid-IR spectral energy distributions or the detection of X-ray emission. Optical emission line ...
"ID# ","Measurement ID Number " "DATE ","Date " "JDATE ","Julian Date " "TIME ", "Local Time " "GMT ","Greenwich Mean Time " "BAND ","Dielectric Probe Band ...
... hypersonic aerodynamic force, or the space-equivalent region. Some of these experiments change the X-15 from a research airplane to a kind of space probe, ...
In this paper, four different types of pulsed eddy current (PEC) probe are designed and their performance of detecting wall thickness reduction is compared. By using the backward difference method in time and the finite element method in space, PEC signals from various thickness and materials are numerically calculated and three features of the signal are selected. Since PEC signals and features are obtained by various types and sizes of probe, the comparison is made through the normalized features which reflect the sensitivity of the feature to thickness reduction. The normalized features indicate that the shielded reflection probe provides the best sensitivity to wall thickness reduction for all three signal features. Results show that the best sensitivity to thickness reduction is achieved by the peak value, but also suggest that the time to peak can be a good candidate because of its linear relationship with the ...
With the improvements accomplished during the past 15 years in detection techniques and instrumentation and with the opening of space exploration, molecular spectroscopy has become a very efficient way to probe planetary atmospheres.
... A second hydrometeor sampler (MRI Model 1220 ... The cloud particle probe normally installed in ... to the northeast showed no significant movement. ...
Integration of Eddy Current probes with MAUS scanning system has been demonstrated to produce scan rates of 36 sqft/hour. System will be designed to ...
Briefly, 48 MOS microparticle sensors (essentially the same as those flown on .... at the Naval Research Lab to interpret the polarization of the incoming radio .... Adapter Satellite, to be published in Journal of Spacecraft and Rockets, 1994. ...
... perform the inspection in the extremely limited space between adjacent blades and at the blade root, miniature eddy current probes were developed ...
There is a well-known story about the blind man examining the elephant: the part of the elephant examined determines his perception of the whole beast. Perhaps bioinformatics--the shotgun marriage between biology and mathematics, computer science, and engineering--is like an elephant that occupies a large chair in the scientific living room. Given the demand for and shortage of researchers with the computer skills to handle large volumes of biological data, where exactly does the bioinformatics elephant sit? There are probably many biologists who feel that a major product of this bioinformatics elephant is large piles of waste material. If you have tried to plow through Web sites and software packages in search of a specific tool for analyzing and collating large amounts of research data, you may well feel the same way. But there has been progress with major initiatives to develop more computing power, educate biologists about computers, increase funding, and set standards. For our ...
BackgroundA common approach to understanding the genetic basis of complex traits is through identification of associated quantitative trait loci (QTL). Fine mapping QTLs requires...Full Text Available
A nonviral vector for highly efficient site-specific integration would be desirable for many applications in transgenesis, including gene therapy. In this study we directly compared the genomic integration...Full Text Available
The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma cruzi is the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, a neglected tropical infection that affects millions of people in the Americas. Current chemotherapy...Full Text Available
The genome sequence of the Mamavirus, a new Acanthamoeba polyphaga mimivirus strain, is reported. With 1,191,693 nt in length and 1,023 predicted protein-coding genes, the Mamavirus...Full Text Available
Molecular Misreading (MM) is the inaccurate conversion of genomic information into aberrant proteins. For example, when RNA polymerase II transcribes a GAGAG motif it synthesizes at low frequency RNA...Full Text Available
The structural phosphoprotein NS of vesicular stomatitis virus, in association with the virion-associated RNA polymerase L protein, transcribes the genome ribonucleoprotein template in vitro. It contains...Full Text Available
The lesion bypass pathway, which is regulated by monoubiquitination of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA), is essential for resolving replication stalling due to DNA lesions. This process is...Full Text Available
Materials and MethodsThe genomic effects of tumor-endothelial interactions in cancer are not yet well characterized. To study this interaction in breast...Full Text Available
DNA transposons are efficient tools in transgenesis and have therefore become popular in the analysis of the regulatory genome in vertebrates via enhancer trap screens. Here, I discuss recent progress...Full Text Available
Significant emphasis has recently been placed on the characterization of the human cancer genome. This effort has been assisted by the development of new DNA sequencing technologies that allow...Full Text Available
The recent introduction of several transposable elements in zebrafish opens new frontiers for genetic manipulation in this important vertebrate model. This review discusses transposable elements as...Full Text Available
BackgroundTransposons, i.e. transposable elements (TEs), are the major internal spontaneous mutation agents for the variability of eukaryotic genomes. To address the general issue...Full Text Available
A detailed map of the transcriptional organization of the CELO virus genome was produced. Recent computer analysis of CELO virus has indicated the presence of 38 putative open reading frames (ORFs)....Full Text Available
Current genome-wide association studies (GWAS) are moving towards the use of large cohorts of primary cell lines to study a disease of interest and to assign biological relevance to the genetic signals...Full Text Available
Transposable elements (TEs) were first discovered more than 50 years ago, but were totally ignored for a long time. Over the last few decades they have gradually attracted increasing interest from research...Full Text Available
Mouse genetic resources include inbred strains, recombinant inbred lines, chromosome substitution strains, heterogeneous stocks, and the Collaborative Cross (CC). These resources were generated through...Full Text Available
AbstractThe Galaxy package empowers regular users to perform rich DNA sequence analysis through a much-needed and user-friendly graphical web interface.See research article...Full Text Available
In this study, the complete sequence of the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) of Atelura formicaria (Hexapoda: Zygentoma) is described. The molecule is 15.205 bp in length and it is the third complete mt genome sequenced from the Zygentoma. The genome organization conforms with the putative ancestral insect gene arrangement. All protein coding genes use standard initiation codons (methionine and isoleucine). The exception is nad4 that starts with GTG, a codon used for this purpose in other insect species. A peculiar strand skew bias is observed, given that the PCGs encoded on the J-strand contain more thymines than adenines and more cytosines than guanines. This trend in nucleotide composition has been observed also in the "firebrat" Thermobia domestica (Zygentoma, Lepismatidae), but differs from that of the majority of hexapod species, including Tricholepidion gertschi (Zygentoma, Lepidotrichidae), where adenines and cytosines outnumber thymines and ...
BackgroundChromatin insulators or boundary elements are a class of functional elements in the eukaryotic genome. They regulate gene transcription by interfering with promoter-enhancer...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas aeruginosa, a common inhabitant of soil and water, is an opportunistic pathogen of growing clinical relevance. Its genome, one of the largest among bacteria [5570 open reading...Full Text Available
SummaryAgeing is a complex, challenging phenomenon that will require multiple, interdisciplinary approaches to unravel its puzzles. To assist basic research on ageing, we developed...Full Text Available
An outbreak of acute respiratory disease in Hendra, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, in September 1994 resulted in the deaths of 14 racing horses and a horse trainer. The causative agent was a new member...Full Text Available
BackgroundTwenty-eight genes putatively encoding cytosolic glutathione transferases have been identified in the Anopheles gambiae genome. We manually annotated these...Full Text Available
Assembly of infectious adenovirus particles requires seven functionally redundant elements at the left end of the genome, termed A repeats, that direct packaging of the DNA. Previous studies revealed...Full Text Available
Genome-wide studies of bacterial gene expression are shifting from microarray technology to second generation sequencing platforms. RNA-seq has a number of advantages over hybridization-based techniques,...Full Text Available
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is clearly a factor in the development of hepatocellular carcinoma, but its mechanism of action remains obscure. One possibility is that the HBV integration event alters the...Full Text Available
Recognition of acetylated chromatin by the bromodomains and extra-terminal domain (BET) family proteins is a hallmark for transcriptional activation and anchoring viral genomes to mitotic chromosomes...Full Text Available
Using the complete genome of Plasmodium falciparum 3D7 which has 14 chromosomes as an example, we have examined the distribution functions for the amount of C or G and A or T consecutively...Full Text Available
BackgroundRNA turnover plays an important role in the gene regulation of microorganisms and influences their speed of acclimation to environmental changes. We investigated whole-genome...Full Text Available
BackgroundFertilization, cell division and embryo development depend on genomic contributions from male and female gametes. We hypothesize that teratozoospermic sperm influences...Full Text Available
We have used restriction endonuclease analysis (REA) of genomic DNA to classify porcine Pasteurella multocida isolates with similar capsular and somatic serotypes, and to monitor the distribution of...Full Text Available
We use high-density single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping microarrays to demonstrate the ability to accurately and robustly determine whether individuals are in a complex genomic DNA mixture....Full Text Available
BackgroundEukaryotic DNA replication is regulated at the level of large chromosomal domains (0.5–5 megabases in mammals) within which replicons are activated relatively synchronously....Full Text Available
BackgroundThe Class II DNA transposons are mobile genetic elements that move DNA sequence from one position in the genome to another. We have previously demonstrated that the naturally...Full Text Available
The evolution of the human mitochondrial genome is characterized by the emergence of ethnically distinct lineages or haplogroups. Nine European, seven Asian (including Native American), and three African...Full Text Available
Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) in clinical material cannot replicate efficiently in vitro until it has adapted by mutation. Consequently, wild-type HCMV differ fundamentally from the passaged strains...Full Text Available
Orthologous positions of 55 genes associated with height in four human populations were located on the bovine genome. Single nucleotide polymorphisms close to eight of these genes were significantly...Full Text Available
The retroviral RNA genome is dimeric, consisting of two identical strands of RNA linked near their 5′ ends by a dimer linkage structure. Previously it was shown that human foamy virus (HFV)...Full Text Available
Normal cells, both in vivo and in vitro, become quiescent after serial cell proliferation. During this process, cells can develop immortality with genomic instability,...Full Text Available
In a follow-up to our previously reported genome-wide association study of cutaneous basal cell carcinoma (BCC)1, we describe here several new susceptibility...Full Text Available
Comparison of gastric carcinoma and gastritis isolates showed the presence of genes, probably carcinoma associated (JHP947 and JHP940), that are situated in a Helicobacter...Full Text Available
We performed genome-wide homozygosity mapping in a large consanguineous family from Morocco and mapped the autosomal-recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) in this family to the DFNB79...Full Text Available
The genomic viral RNA (vRNA) segments of influenza A virus contain specific packaging signals at their termini that overlap the coding regions. To further characterize cis-acting signals...Full Text Available
BackgroundFor more than a decade there has been increasing interest in the use of nanotechnology and microarray platforms for diagnostic applications. In this report, we describe...Full Text Available
Our inability to associate distant regulatory elements with the genes that they regulate has largely precluded their examination for sequence alterations contributing to human disease. One major obstacle is the large genomic space surrounding targeted genes in which such elements could potentially reside. In order to delineate gene regulatory boundaries we used whole-genome human-mouse-chicken (HMC) and human-mouse-frog (HMF) multiple alignments to compile conserved blocks of synteny (CBS), under the hypothesis that these blocks have been kept intact throughout evolution at least in part by the requirement of regulatory elements to stay linked to the genes that they regulate. A total of 2,116 and 1,942 CBS>200 kb were assembled for HMC and HMF respectively, encompassing 1.53 and 0.86 Gb of human sequence. To support the existence of complex long-range regulatory domains within these CBS we analyzed the prevalence and distribution of ...
Purpose: Small animal micro-CT imaging is being used increasingly in preclinical biomedical research to provide phenotypic descriptions of genomic models. Most of this imaging is coincident...Full Text Available
We have characterized the kinetic response of gene targets throughout the murine genome to transcriptional modulation by the glucocorticoid receptor (GR). In contrast to a model in which multiple genes...Full Text Available
The RNA packaging process for retroviruses involves a recognition event of the genome-length viral RNA by the viral Gag polyprotein precursor (PrGag), an important step in particle morphogenesis. The...Full Text Available
BackgroundGenetic interactions within hybrids influence their overall fitness. Understanding the details of these interactions can improve our understanding of speciation. One experimental...Full Text Available
Large population sizes, rapid growth and 3.8 billion years of evolution firmly establish microorganisms as a major source of the planet's biological and genetic diversity. However, up to 99% of the...Full Text Available
Marine sediments are frequently covered by mats of the filamentous Beggiatoa and other large nitrate-storing bacteria that oxidize hydrogen sulfide using either oxygen or nitrate, which...Full Text Available
Chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-seq) allows researchers to determine the genome-wide binding locations of individual transcription factors (TFs) at high resolution....Full Text Available
The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) packages its genomic RNA as a dimer of homologous RNA molecules that has to be selected among a multitude of cellular and viral RNAs. Interestingly, spliced...Full Text Available
Chromosomal common fragile sites (CFSs) are genetically unstable regions of the genome that are induced by conditions that impair DNA replication. In this report, we show that treatment with the DNA...Full Text Available
The plasmid pE194 (3.7 kilobases) is capable of integrating into the genome of the bacterial host Bacillus subtilis in the absence of the major homology-dependent RecE recombination system. Multiple...Full Text Available
BackgroundRecently, the discovery of copy number variation (CNV) led researchers to think that there are more variations of genomic DNA than initially believed. Moreover, a certain...Full Text Available
A duplication of the polypurine tract (PPT) at the center of the human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) genome (the cPPT) has been shown to prime a separate plus-strand initiation and to result...Full Text Available
Bortezomib/PS-341/Velcade, a proteasome inhibitor, is widely used to treat multiple myeloma. While several mechanisms of the cytotoxicity of the drug were proposed, the actual mechanism remains elusive....Full Text Available
BackgroundIn recent years, the sea anemone Nematostella vectensis has emerged as a critical model organism for comparative genomics and developmental biology. Although...Full Text Available
BackgroundHIV-1 reverse transcriptase (RT) is a heterodimer composed of p66 and p51 subunits and is responsible for reverse transcription of the viral RNA genome into DNA. RT can...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe Gram-negative bacterium Burkholderia pseudomallei (Bp) is the causative agent of the human disease melioidosis. To understand the evolutionary mechanisms...Full Text Available
Hepatitis delta virus (HDV) contains a viroid-like circular RNA that replicates via a double rolling circle replication mechanism. It is generally assumed that HDV RNA is synthesized and remains exclusively...Full Text Available
Harmful algal blooms, caused by rapid growth and accumulation of certain microalgae in the ocean, pose considerable impacts on marine environments, aquatic industries and even public health. Here, we...Full Text Available
Increasing numbers of human cowpox virus infections that are being observed and that particularly affect young non-vaccinated persons have renewed interest in this zoonotic disease. Usually causing...Full Text Available
The continued evolution of bacterial pathogens has major implications for both human and animal disease, but the exchange of genetic material between host-restricted pathogens is rarely considered....Full Text Available
Mycobacterium ulcerans is the causative agent of Buruli ulcer, the third most common mycobacterial disease after tuberculosis and leprosy. It is an emerging infectious disease that...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe objective of the study was to analyse the evolution of Bordetella pertussis population and the influence of herd immunity in different areas of the...Full Text Available
Forum domains are stretches of chromosomal DNA that are excised from eukaryotic chromosomes during their spontaneous non-random fragmentation. Most forum domains are 50–200 kb in length....Full Text Available
The torque-velocity relationship is known to be affected by ageing, decreasing its protective role in the prevention of falls. Interindividual variability in this torque-velocity relationship is partly...Full Text Available
Bovine embryos can be generated by in vitro fertilization or somatic nuclear transfer; however, these differ from their in vivo counterparts in many aspects and exhibit a higher proportion of developmental...Full Text Available
Neurons in the hippocampal CA1 region are particularly sensitive to oxidative stress (OS), whereas those in CA3 are resistant. To uncover mechanisms for selective CA1 vulnerability to OS, we...Full Text Available
Zinc is an essential trace metal ion for growth, but an excess of Zn is toxic and microorganisms express diverse resistance mechanisms. To understand global bacterial responses to excess Zn, we conducted...Full Text Available
Transcription factors drive organogenesis, from the initiation of cell fate decisions to the maintenance and implementation of these decisions. The Drosophila embryonic salivary gland...Full Text Available
Campylobacter is one of the leading causes of food-borne gastroenteritis and has a high prevalence in poultry. Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni 327 is a subspecies...Full Text Available
The accelerating development of biochemical and DNA-based diagnostic tests for human genetic conditions in the last decade has engendered a revolution in genetic diagnosis. Both genetic testing and...Full Text Available
Over the past two decades, combined advances in genetics, developmental biology and biochemistry have transformed the study of human birth defects. This review describes the importance of genome architecture,...Full Text Available
BackgroundDeveloping lepidopteran microsatellite DNA markers can be problematical, as markers often exhibit multiple banding patterns and high frequencies of non-amplifying "null"...Full Text Available
BackgroundCucumis melo (melon) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, whose economic importance among horticulture crops is second only to Solanaceae. Melon has high...Full Text Available
Despite the recent success of genome-wide association studies (GWASs) in identifying loci consistently associated with coronary artery disease (CAD), a large proportion of the genetic components of...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe decline noticed in several fertility traits of dairy cattle over the past few decades is of major concern. Understanding of the genomic factors underlying fertility,...Full Text Available
Werner Syndrome (WS) is an inherited disease characterized by premature onset of aging, increased cancer incidence, and genomic instability. The WS gene encodes a 1,432-amino acid polypeptide (WRN)...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe western African clawed frog Xenopus tropicalis is an anuran amphibian species now used as model in vertebrate comparative genomics. It provides the...Full Text Available
In Staphylococcus aureus, a pronounced shift in position of the acriflavin resistance locus was observed when gene order was determined by marker frequency analysis of cells of various ages. In young cells (2-hour culture), acriflavin resistance was mappe...
Many pathogens colonize different anatomical sites, but the selective pressures contributing to survival in the diverse niches are poorly understood. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is...Full Text Available
Genome endoreduplication during mammalian development is a rare event for which the mechanism is unknown. It first appears when fibroblast growth factor 4 (FGF4) deprivation induces differentiation...Full Text Available
The objectives of this study were to examine the association between dietary factors and underweight and overweight adult Vietnamese living in the rural areas of Vietnam. A cross-sectional study of...Full Text Available
DNA damage is a threat to genomic integrity in all living organisms. Plants and green algae are particularly susceptible to DNA damage especially that caused by UV light, due to their light dependency...Full Text Available
Cyteogenetic maps of sorghum chromosomes 3-7, 9, and 10 were constructed on the basis of the fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) of ~ ... regions of heterchromatin were delimited for all 10 sorghum chrom...
BackgroundOncidium spp. produce commercially important orchid cut flowers. However, they are amenable to intergeneric and inter-specific crossing making phylogenetic...Full Text Available
RNAs transcribed from the mitochondrial genome of Physarum polycephalum are heavily edited. The most prevalent editing event is the insertion of single Cs, with Us and dinucleotides...Full Text Available
BackgroundStructured noncoding RNAs perform many functions that are essential for protein synthesis, RNA processing, and gene regulation. Structured RNAs can be detected by comparative...Full Text Available
Mechanisms for differential regulation of gene expression may underlie much of the phenotypic variation and adaptability of malaria parasites. Here we describe transcriptional variation among culture-adapted...Full Text Available
Partial epilepsies have a substantial heritability. However, the actual genetic causes are largely unknown. In contrast to many other common diseases for which genetic association-studies have successfully...Full Text Available
Present investigations suggest that approximately 30% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases arise on the basis of inherited factors. We hypothesize that the majority of inherited factors are moderately...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe rate of emergence of human pathogens is steadily increasing; most of these novel agents originate in wildlife. Bats, remarkably, are the natural reservoirs of many...Full Text Available
It is well known that DNA strands bind to silica surfaces in the presence of high concentrations of chaotropic salts. We developed simple methods to evaluate binding and recovery of DNA on flat...Full Text Available
BackgroundMimivirus, a giant dsDNA virus infecting Acanthamoeba, is the prototype of the mimiviridae family, the latest addition to the family of the nucleocytoplasmic...Full Text Available
Global hypomethylation has been shown to increase genome instability potentially leading to increased cancer risk. We determined whether global methylation in blood leukocyte DNA was associated...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe Gram-negative, xylem-limited phytopathogenic bacterium Xylella fastidiosa is responsible for causing economically important diseases in grapevine,...Full Text Available
BackgroundType A1 Clostridium botulinum strains are a group of Gram-positive, spore-forming anaerobic bacteria that produce a genetically, biochemically, and biophysically...Full Text Available
The standard paradigm postulates that the human mitochondrial genome (mtDNA) is strictly maternally inherited and that, consequently, mtDNA lineages are clonal. As a result of mtDNA clonality, phylogenetic...Full Text Available
BackgroundGenomics has substantially changed our approach to cancer research. Gene expression profiling, for example, has been utilized to delineate subtypes of cancer, and facilitated...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe goat (Capra hircus) represents one of the most important farm animal species. It is reared in all continents with an estimated world population of...Full Text Available
Signatures of natural selection occur throughout the human genome and can be detected at the sequence level. We have re-sequenced ABCE1, a host candidate gene essential for...Full Text Available
Rhodococcus fascians is a Gram-positive phytopathogen that induces shooty hyperplasia on its hosts through the secretion of cytokinins. Global transcriptomics using microarrays combined...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe production of high yields of recombinant proteins is an enduring bottleneck in the post-genomic sciences that has yet to be addressed in a truly rational manner. Typically...Full Text Available
The human genome contains greater than 20 actin-related sequences, six of which at least are expressed as protein. We have shown by blot hybridization the presence of actin-like sequences on both the...Full Text Available
Rapid development in genomics in recent years has allowed the simultaneous measurement of the expression levels of thousands of genes using DNA microarrays. This has offered tremendous potential...Full Text Available
Cultured mouse or human embryonic stem (ES) cells provide access to all of the genes required to elaborate the fundamental components and physiological systems of a mammalian cell. Chemical or insertional...Full Text Available
BackgroundCentrosome aberrations can cause genomic instability and correlate with malignant progression in common human malignancies such as breast and prostate cancer. Deregulation...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe commonest pathogenic DMD changes are intragenic deletions/duplications which make up to 78% of all cases and point mutations (roughly 20%) detectable...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe order Tetraodontiformes consists of approximately 429 species of fishes in nine families. Members of the order exhibit striking morphological diversity and radiated...Full Text Available
The distribution of 20 variable regions resulting from insertion-deletion events in the genomes of the tubercle bacilli has been evaluated in a total of 100 strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis,...Full Text Available
Arabidopsis and rice are the only two model plants whose finished phase genome sequence has been completed. Here we report the construction of an oligomer microarray based on the presently...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVEPreimplantation factor (PIF) is a novel, 15 amino acid peptide, secreted by viable embryos. This study aims to elucidate PIF’s effects in human endometrial...Full Text Available
BackgroundProteins may evolve through the recruitment and modification of discrete domains, and in many cases, protein action can be dissected at the domain level. PDZ domains are...Full Text Available
A search for homologs of the Bacillus subtilis PhoP response regulator in the group A streptococcus (GAS) genome revealed three good candidates. Inactivation of one of these, recently...Full Text Available
In this era of complete genomes, our knowledge of neuroanatomical circuitry remains surprisingly sparse. Such knowledge is critical, however, for both basic and clinical research into brain function....Full Text Available
A DNA fragment located on the 3' side of the Coxiella burnetii htpAB operon was determined by Southern blotting to exist in approximately 19 copies in the Nine Mile I genome. The DNA sequences of this...Full Text Available
In nuclear fuel, in approximately one quarter of the fissions, one of the two formed fission products is gaseous. These are mainly the noble gases xenon and krypton with isotopes of xenon contributing up to 90% of the product gases. These noble fission gases do not combine with other species, and have a low solubility in the normally used uranium oxide matrix. They can be dissolved in the fuel matrix or precipitate in nanometer-sized bubbles within the fuel grain, in micrometer-sized bubbles at the grain boundaries, and a fraction also precipitates in fuel pores, coming from fuel fabrication. A fraction of the gas can also be released into the plenum of the fuel rod. With increasing fission, and therefore burn-up, the ceramic fuel material experiences a transformation of its structure in the 'cooler' rim region of the fuel. A subdivision occurs of the original fuel grains of few microns size into thousands of small grains of sub-micron sizes. Additionally, larger ...
The origin of life is a long-standing mystery puzzling many people. This mystery possesses not only philosophical but also important biological significance. To unveil this mystery, the searches for the root of life, or the last universal common ancestor (LUCA), based on comparative-genomic analysis have been intensively performed on rRNAs, tRNAs and proteins sequences. The current search pointed to a Methanopyrus-proximal LUCA, which opens up the reconstruction of Lucan biology and helps to delineate the evolutionary pathways.
Outbreaks of disease attributable to human error or natural causes can provide unique opportunities to gain new information about host-pathogen interactions and new leads for pathogenesis research. Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN), a sequela of infection with pathogenic streptococci, is a common cause of preventable kidney disease worldwide. Although PSGN usually occurs after infection with group A streptococci, organisms of Lancefield group C and G also can be responsible. Despite decades of study, the molecular pathogenesis of PSGN is poorly understood. As a first step toward gaining new information about PSGN pathogenesis, we sequenced the genome of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus strain MGCS10565, a group C organism that caused a very large and unusually severe epidemic of nephritis in Brazil. The genome is a circular chromosome of 2,024,171 bp. The genome shares extensive gene content, including many ...
Complete text of publication follows. In order to extend the capabilities of the electron cyclotron resonance (ECR) ion source (ECRIS) of ATOMKI it has been transformed into a special plasma facility [1,2]. The transformation is reversible and was simply done by changing several main components of the ion source by new ones, namely: the hexapole magnet, the plasma chamber and the microwave source. The basic requirements of the transformation were: (1) most parts of the present ECRIS should be used in the new assembly in the same way and (2) the transformation time between the two operation modes should not be more than 2-3 days (in both directions). The following sub-systems are used identically in both configurations: solenoid coils, vacuum system, gas dosing system, ovens, probes. The extraction optics and beam transport system can also be used in the new configuration to check the components and charge-state of the plasma. A new, large, but unusually thin ...
The use of europium as a local structural probe allows the various phases appearing in the NaCaPO_4-Na_3Eu(PO_4)_2 and NaSrPO_4-Na_3Eu(PO_4)_2 systems to be detected. The broadening of the europium emission lines in going from the calcium to the strontium phases illustrates the ease of displacement of the PO_4 groups. (Auth.).
1. The fluorescent fatty acid probe 11-(dansylamino)undecanoic acid (DAUDA) binds with high affinity to bovine and human serum albumin (BSA and HSA) at three sites. 2. The Kd of the primary binding...Full Text Available
Surface deposition probe techniques have been shown to be an effective means of determining the characteristics of the plasma edge region of magnetic confinement devices. Experimental results on ISX-B and EBT-S have led to a consistent picture of the edge plasma and the dominant impurity introduction mechanisms. This picture is supported by numerous other measurements and emphasizes the importance of concentrating several techniques on the complex problems of plasma fusion.
Non-destructive methods for measuring the remaining anticorrosive or antioxidative ability of coatings are investigated. For anticorrosive chromium coatings the increasing ferromagnetism caused by loss of chromium is measured by a permeability probe. Measured values on blades after operation are correlated with the progress of corrosion as determined by metallographic methods. For antioxidative aluminum coatings the diminishing layer thickness is taken as indication for the exhaustion of their protection ability. The layer thickness is measured eddy current probes, especially developed for this application.
Procedures are described for the use of synthetic oligonucleotides for Southern blot experiments and gene bank screening, and the effect of various mismatches on the efficiency of hybridization is demonstrated. The following topics are discussed: sensitivity vs. specificity, hybridization of a 12-mer to the lambda endolysin gene; hybridization of oligonucleotide probes to the E. coli lac operator; hybridization of synthetic probes to the CYC1 gene of yeast; and cloning eucaryotic genes. (HLW)
The results show that the SQUID device eddy current testing system is a suitable tool for NDE. Due to the high low-frequency sensitivity of the SQUID sensor, the SQUID device eddy current testing system permits lower examination frequencies than the conventional eddy current probe system. The SQUID system enhances fault detection in even deeper materials layers. (orig./MM).
Nondestructive inspection of carbon fibre-reinforced plastics (CRFP) using eddy current methods is based not only on the conductivity of the fibres. High frequencies (up to 10 MHz) give access to capacitive effects reflecting properties of the matrix. The paper presents a method using rotating eddy current probes to measure the anisotropic electrical properties. Potential applications of this method are the structural identification of laminates and the estimating of its degradation. (orig.)
We determined the Na/K x-ray intensity ratio in frozen sections of myocardial tissues obtained at autopsy from patients who died from various causes, using electron probe analysis. We have been able to distinguish between the ischemically injured and normal cells. The method is simple, fast, and dependable even when the duration of ischemia is only 30 minutes.
In in-service inspection of steam-generator tubes, the need for reproducibility of the measurement results and for comparison of these results over two successive inspections has led EDF to specify the main characteristics of the eddy-current probes and to design equipment to measure them. This equipment is presented here and the electrical and magnetic results are correlated with those obtained by testing tubes with reference defects.
In in-service inspection of steam-generator tubes, the need for reproducibility of the measurement results and for comparison of these results over two successive inspections has led EDF to specify the main characteristics of the Eddy-Current probes and to design equipment to measure them. This equipment is presented here and the electrical and magnetic results are correlated with those obtained by testing tubes with reference defects. 5 refs.
An eddy current probe of the level of molten metal is considered for a sectional machine of continuous casting of steel. The advantages of electromagnetic probes of the level over radiometric ones lie in their insensitivity to the layer of dross and high speed. The results and directions of further studies are given.
Specific {sup 32}P-labeled DNA probes were prepared and used to evaluate the distribution of tetracycline resistance determinants carried by gram-negative enteric bacteria isolated from pigs in 3 swine herds with different histories of antibiotic exposure. Plasmid DNA, ranging in size from 2.1 to 186 Kb, was observed in over 84% of 114 isolates studied. Two of 78 tetracycline resistant strains did not harbor plasmids. The DNA probes were isolated from plasmids pSL18, pRT29/Tn10, pBR322 and pSL106, respectively, and they represented class A, B, C and D tetracycline resistance determinants. Hybridization conditions using 0.5X SSPE at 65{degrees}C minimize cross-hybridization between the different class of tetracycline resistance genes. Cross-hybridization between class A and class C determinants could be distinguished by simultaneous comparison of the intensity of their hybridization signals. Plasmids from over 44% of the tetracycline resistant ...
Geometrically anisotropic eddy current probes are a type of separate function probes especially fit to the detection of defects showing a preferential direction. This kind of flaw induces a coupling between the transmitter and the receiver by guiding eddy currents from the one to the other. On the other hand, this coupling will be almost non-existent in the presence of defects or spurious effects not displaying this geometrical particularity. Basic studies on an elementary two-coil set-up allow the acknowledgment of the intrinsic qualities of such probes: good signal-to-noise ratio, influence field practically constant on the whole defect length, ability to detect bridged defects, insensitivity to lift off. These results can be improved by achieving multicoils probes adapted to different kinds of problems. An application to continuous casting slabs testing yields very interesting results in the ...
Scanning electrochemical microscopy (SECM) was applied to evaluate the heterogeneity of a passive film formed on a pure iron electrode in deaerated pH 8.4 borate solution. A probe current image of SECM was measured with a tip-generation/sub-strate-collection (TO/SC) mode in deaerated pH 8.4 borate solution containing 0.03 moldm{sup -3} Fe(CN){sub 6}{sup 4-} as a mediator. The difference in thickness of passive films formed on two iron plates at different potentials could be evaluated from the probe current image. The probe current image of the passivated iron surface with distinctive crystal grains was composed of the patch patterns, the shapes of which coincided completely with the shapes of the substrate crystal grains. The probe current flowed above the grain surface oriented to {l_brace}100{r_brace} plane was less than that above the grain surface oriented to {l_brace}110{r_brace} or ...
The need for a Combustion and Melting Research Facility focused on the solution of glass manufacturing problems common to all segments of the glass industry was given high priority in the earliest version of the Glass Industry Technology Roadmap (Eisenhauer et al., 1997). Visteon Glass Systems and, later, PPG Industries proposed to meet this requirement, in partnership with the DOE/OIT Glass Program and Sandia National Laboratories, by designing and building a research furnace equipped with state-of-the-art diagnostics in the DOE Combustion Research Facility located at the Sandia site in Livermore, CA. Input on the configuration and objectives of the facility was sought from the entire industry by a variety of routes: (1) through a survey distributed to industry leaders by GMIC, (2) by conducting an open workshop following the OIT Glass Industry Project Review in September 1999, (3) from discussions with numerous glass engineers, scientists, and executives, and (4) during visits to ...
An historic Strontianite-type specimen from Strontian, Scotland, UK, was characterized to broaden our knowledge on luminescence properties of common carbonates. These fibrous aggregates are Strontianite (Sr{sub x}Ca{sub 1-x}CO{sub 3}) with circa 6% of CaO, interfacial water, hydrosilicate anions and substitutional divalent cations, e.g., Ca{sup 2+}, Mn{sup 2+}, Fe{sup 2+} in structural Sr{sup 2+} positions. The specimen was analyzed by X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry (XRF), Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy coupled with an Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (ESEM-EDS) probe, Spatially-resolved Cathodoluminescence under the Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM-CL), Differential-Thermal Analyses (DTA), Thermogravimetry (TG), Thermoluminescence (TL), Radioluminescence (RL) and High Resolution Spectra Thermoluminescence (3DTL), to gain an overview of the spectral emissions, the defect linkages were modified by heating from room temperature (RT) up to 500 deg. ...
Full text of publication follows: Understanding the dynamic irradiation effects on silica glasses is important for developing the diagnostic systems used in fusion and fission environments. While fundamental defects having an un-pared electron such as the E' center have been extensively studied, the neutral oxygen deficiency defects have been insufficiently clarified for lack of the detection methods. The ion induced luminescence is one of the probes that can be used to detect non-paramagnetic defects, and to observe creation and annihilation behavior dynamically. In the present study, we examined the characteristics of the ion induced luminescence such as energy, fluence flux and temperature dependence of the luminescence efficiency to analyze damage process quantitatively. Samples of SiO2 glasses were commercially available fused and synthesized silica glasses, produced by Toshiba Ceramics, Co. Ltd.. A thin films of SiO2 deposited on a Si ...
The basis of assessment for particulate exhaust emissions is the gravimetric analysis of the particle concentration of diluted exhaust gases at temperatures below 52 C. This is very time consuming and takes sufficient sensitivity at low particulate emission rates like downstream of particle filters. For this reason the C/S-method, based on the thermographic analysis of carbon and sulfur, has been developed as an alternative to the gravimetric anallysis. This method yields particle mass as well as the main particle compounds. Comparisons between both methods have been carried out for heavy duty and automobile diesel engines as well as road vehicles and large diesel engines. The tests were conducted with commercial diesel fuel and also with other fuels, such as heavy oils. It could be shown that the C/S-procedure yields the same results as the gravimetric procedure independent of engine, engine mode and kind of fuel. The analysis of all important particulate compounds - elemental carbon ...
A new eddy current array probe has been implemented as a straightforward and promising technique for detection of outer diameter (OD) surface-breaking cracks on the extrados of feeder bends. The design is based on previous work performed at AECL, which had demonstrated that eddy current probes with laterally displaced transmit-receive coils can overcome some of the limitations of inspecting ferritic steel components for surface-breaking cracks. The Feeder Integrity Joint Program-CANDU Owners Group Inc. (FIJP-COG) Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Team members commissioned AECL to work in collaboration with the probe manufacturer ZETEC, to develop a field usable eddy current array probe. The objective was to acquire a technique with the following capabilities: fast scanning non-contact inspection technique for surface breaking discontinuities; full inspection of the bend extrados OD surface in a single ...
A new eddy current array probe has been implemented as a straightforward and promising technique for detection of outer diameter (OD) surface-breaking cracks on the extrados of feeder bends. The design is based on previous work performed at AECL, which had demonstrated that eddy current probes with laterally displaced transmit-receive coils can overcome some of the limitations of inspecting ferritic steel components for surface-breaking cracks. The Feeder Integrity Joint Program-CANDU Owners Group Inc. (FIJP-COG) Non-Destructive Evaluation (NDE) Team members commissioned AECL to work in collaboration with the probe manufacturer ZETEC, to develop a field usable eddy current array probe. The objective was to acquire a technique with the following capabilities: fast scanning non-contact inspection technique for surface breaking discontinuities; full inspection of the bend extrados OD surface in a single ...
Customized reference tubes reduced sensitivity discrepancies able to be observed from one probe to the other, due to the gain setting adjustment required for a pre-definite level in amplitude response of the artificial notch. The use of a reference circuit in place of a reference part, makes characterization of the probe matched to its generator more accurate: - the material dependence is cancelled during the compensation process, - the reference signal can be adjusted more accurately in amplitude and phase response, - the manufacturing cost is reduced compared to the one necessary for machining the reference part, - the amplitude and phase response of the reference circuit can be simply modelled by using the transformer relations, such as one can appreciate the variations of the probe definition parameters and its connexion to the generator, and makes them optimal for use. The method proposed by ALSTOM for the ...
Although low-energy ion radiation has been proven to have a wide range of biological effects and led to fruitful achievements as a new mutagenic source for genetic modification, there still exist some disputes about its mutagenic mechanisms because of its short-penetrating property. In present research, Arabidopsis thaliana transgenic for GUS recombination substrate was used to evaluate the genomic instability induced by irradiations of alpha particle (3.3MeV) and Low-energy-Argon ion (30 KeV). A pronounced effects of alpha particle irradiation to Arabidopsis thaliana seedlings and Argon ion irradiation to seeds on the somatic homologous recombination frequency (sHRF) were reported. The sHRFs increased 1.88-fold and 2.42-fold, respectively, which indicated that the short-penetrating radiation could effectively induce the plant genomic instability in either dry seeds or seedlings with active metabolism. The local alpha particle irradiation of ...
Crenarchaea are ubiquitous and abundant microbial constituents of soils, sediments, lakes and ocean waters, yet relatively little is known about their fundamental evolutionary, ecological, and physiological properties. To better describe the ubiquitous nonthermophilic Crenarchaea, we analyzed the genome sequence of one representative, the uncultivated sponge symbiont, Cenarchaeum symbiosum. C. symbiosum genotypes coinhabiting the same host partitioned into two dominant populations, corresponding to previously described a- and b-type ribosomal RNA variants. Although synthetic, overlapping a- and b-type ribotypes harbored significant genetic variability. A single tiling path comprising the dominant a-type genotype was assembled, and used to explore the biological properties of C. symbiosum and its planktonic relatives. Out of a total of 2,066 predicted open reading frames, 36% were more highly conserved with other Archaea. The remainder partitioned between bacteria ...
This work reports the development of an automatic methodology based on the use of 1-anilinonaphthalene-8-sulfonate (ANS) as an interfacial fluorescent probe for detecting the hydrophobic environment shift around the probe, caused by the hydrolytic action of PLA2 on the liposomes. The implementation of this reaction in a sequential injection analysis (SIA) system along with the use of the mixing chambers permitted the evaluation of PLA2 activity and assessment of the inhibitory effect of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) on PLA2 activity. Several studies were performed with the aim of establishing the appropriate flow system configuration: the liposome substrate; PLA2 and ANS optimum concentrations and incubation times before and after the enzyme addition. Based on these st...
We analyze the potential of the e{sup +}e{sup -} linear colliders, operating in the e{gamma} and {gamma}{gamma} modes, to probe anomalous quartic vector-boson interactions through the multiple production of W's and Z's. We examine all SU(2){sub L}(circle times)U(1){sub Y} chiral operators of order p{sup 4} that lead to new four-gauge-boson interactions but do not alter trilinear vertices. We show that the e{gamma} and {gamma}{gamma} modes are able not only to establish the existence of a strongly interacting symmetry breaking sector but also to probe for anomalous quartic couplings of the order of 10{sup -2} at 90% C.L. Moreover, the information gathered in the e{gamma} mode can be used to reduce the ambiguities of the e{sup +}e{sup -} mode.
We analyze the potential of the e"+e"- linear colliders, operating in the e#gamma# and #gamma##gamma# modes, to probe anomalous quartic vector-boson interactions through the multiple production of W's and Z's. We examine all SU(2)_L(circle times)U(1)_Y chiral operators of order p"4 that lead to new four-gauge-boson interactions but do not alter trilinear vertices. We show that the e#gamma# and #gamma##gamma# modes are able not only to establish the existence of a strongly interacting symmetry breaking sector but also to probe for anomalous quartic couplings of the order of 10"-"2 at 90% C.L. Moreover, the information gathered in the e#gamma# mode can be used to reduce the ambiguities of the e"+e"- mode.
A new luminescent europium probe is presented for the determination of phosphate (P) in microtiter plate format. The assay is based on the quenching of the luminescence of the europium-tetracycline (EuTc) 1:1 complex by phosphate using a reagent concentration of 20.8 {mu}mol/L. The probe is excited at 400 nm and displays a large Stokes' shift of 210 nm. The emission maximum is located at 616 nm. The system works best at neutral pH 7 and is therefore suitable for phosphate determination in biological and biochemical systems. The linear range of the calibration plot is from 5 x 10{sup -6} mol/L to 7.5 x 10{sup -4} mol/L of phosphate, and the limit of detection is 3 {mu}mol/L.
In this Brief Report, we consider dijet production at {gamma}{gamma} colliders as a probe of recently proposed, large extra-dimensional gravity models. The exchange of virtual, spin-2 graviton towers (Kaluza-Klein excitations) significantly modifies the cross section, as compared to the standard model predictions. We find that, in order to maximize the value of the effective scale that can be probed at a given center-of-mass energy, a very severe p{sub T} cut should be applied; in general, a p{sub T} equal to approximately 46% of the e{sup +}e{sup -} beam energy gives the highest reach. We find that we can probe the effective mass scale from about 2.7 TeV to 11.1 TeV, depending on the center-of-mass energy and assumptions about the model. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society.
In this Brief Report, we consider dijet production at #gamma##gamma# colliders as a probe of recently proposed, large extra-dimensional gravity models. The exchange of virtual, spin-2 graviton towers (Kaluza-Klein excitations) significantly modifies the cross section, as compared to the standard model predictions. We find that, in order to maximize the value of the effective scale that can be probed at a given center-of-mass energy, a very severe p_T cut should be applied; in general, a p_T equal to approximately 46% of the e"+e"- beam energy gives the highest reach. We find that we can probe the effective mass scale from about 2.7 TeV to 11.1 TeV, depending on the center-of-mass energy and assumptions about the model. (c) 2000 The American Physical Society
This research deals with in the study of the use of innovating magnetic sensors in eddy current non destructive inspection. The author reports an analysis survey of magnetic sensor performances. This survey enables the selection of magnetic sensor technologies used in non destructive inspection. He presents the state-of-the-art of eddy current probes exploiting the qualities of innovating magnetic sensors, and describes the methods enabling the use of these magnetic sensors in non destructive testing. Two main applications of innovating magnetic sensors are identified: the detection of very small defects by means of magneto-resistive sensors, and the detection of deep defects by means of giant magneto-impedances. Based on the use of modelling, optimization, signal processing tools, probes are manufactured for these both applications.
The ISI (In-Service Inspection) system has been developed so as to maintain the structural integrity of heat transfer tubes in the primary pressurized water cooler in the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor). This system consists of eddy current probes, ultra-sonic probes, insertion and extraction units, positioning unit and so on. Verification and performance tests of the developed ISI system were carried out using mock-up heat transfer tubes in the primary pressurized water cooler. The constitution of the system, R and D results of the inspection probes, and verification and performance test results of the ISI system for heat transfer tubes are described in this paper. (author)
The ISI (In-Service Inspection) system has been developed so as to maintain the structural integrity of heat transfer tubes in the primary pressurized water cooler in the HTTR (High Temperature Engineering Test Reactor). This system consists of eddy current probes, ultra-sonic probes, insertion and extraction units, positioning unit and so on. Verification and performance tests of the developed ISI system were carried out using mock-up heat transfer tubes in the primary pressurized water cooler. The constitution of the system, R and D results of the inspection probes, and verification and performance test results of the ISI system for heat transfer tubes are described in this paper. (author)
Acquisition of three-alternative simultaneous matching-to-sample and oddity-from-sample was investigated. Five goldfish were trained on matching and five on oddity for a minimum of 70 days. Subsequently,...Full Text Available
Boat sampling technique (BST) is a surface sampling technique, which has been developed for obtaining, in-situ, metal samples from the surface of an operating component without affecting its operating service life. The BST is non-destructive in nature and the sample is obtained without plastic deformation or without thermal degradation of the parent material. The shape and size of the sample depends upon the shape of the cutter and the surface geometry of the parent material. Miniature test specimens are generated from the sample and the specimens are subjected to various tests, viz. Metallurgical Evaluation, Metallographic Evaluation, Micro-hardness Evaluation, sensitisation test, small punch test etc. to confirm the integrity and assessment of safe operating life of the component. This paper highlights design objective of boat sampling ...
The germplasm with exotic genomic components especially from Sea Island cotton (Gossypium barbadense L. Gb) is the dominant genetic resources to enhance fiber quality of upland cotton (G. hirsutum L., Gh). Due to low efficiency of phenotypic evaluation and selection on fiber quality, genetic dissection of favorable alleles using molecular markers is essential. Genetic dissection on putative Gb introgressions related to fiber traits were conducted by SSR markers with mapping populations derived from a cross between Luyuan343 (LY343), a superior fiber quality introgression line (IL) with genomic components from Gb, and an elite Upland cotton cv. Lumianyan#22 (LMY22). Among 82 polymorphic loci screened out from 4050 SSRs, 42 were identified as putative introgression alleles. A total of 29 fib...
Acanthamoeba castellanii is a free-living amoeba found in soil, freshwater, and marine environments and an important predator of bacteria. Acanthamoeba castellanii is also an opportunistic pathogen of clinical interest, responsible for several distinct diseases in humans. In order to provide a genomic platform for the study of this ubiquitous and important protist, we generated a sequence survey of approximately 0.5 x coverage of the genome. The data predict that A. castellanii exhibits a greater biosynthetic capacity than the free-living Dictyostelium discoideum and the parasite Entamoeba histolytica, providing an explanation for the ability of A. castellanii to inhabit adversity of environments. Alginate lyase may provide access to bacteria within biofilms by breaking down the biofilm matrix, and polyhydroxybutyrate depolymerase may facilitate utilization of the bacterial storage compound polyhydroxybutyrate as a food source. Enzymes for the ...
This report describes the fiscal 1998 result on development of genome informatics technology. As comparative analysis technique of genes, the combination of electrophoresis and PCR was used. For improvement of the throughput and reproducibility of the technique, module- shuffling primers were used, and the multi(96)-arrayed capillary fragment analyzer was devised. The system detecting SNPs rapidly was also developed successfully. As analysis technology of DNA sequence by use of triple- stranded DNA formation, study was made on construction of long cDNA libraries, selective subtraction of specific sequences from libraries, and the basic technology of homologous cloning. Study was also made on each reaction step of IGCR technique for fast analysis, and specifications of a fluorescence transfer monitor. As modeling technique of genetic sequence information, the simulation model was developed for gene expression regulatory networks during muscle differentiation, and ...
A comprehensive dataset of NDV genome sequences was evaluated using bioinformatics to characterize the evolutionary forces affecting NDV genomes. Despite evidence of recombination in most genes, only one event in the fusion gene of genotype V viruses produced evolutionarily viable progenies. The codon-associated rate of change for the six NDV proteins revealed that the highest rate of change occurred at the fusion protein. All proteins were under strong purifying (negative) selection; the fusion protein displayed the highest number of amino acids under positive selection. Regardless of the phylogenetic grouping or the level of virulence, the cleavage site motif was highly conserved implying that mutations at this site that result in changes of virulence may not be favored. The coding sequence of the fusion gene and the genomes of viruses from wild birds displayed higher yearly rates of change in virulent viruses than in ...
The genus Conexibacter (Monciardini et al. 2003) represents the type genus of the family Conexibacteraceae (Stackebrandt 2005, emend. Zhi et al. 2009) with Conexibacter woesei as the type species of the genus. C. woesei is a representative of a deep evolutionary line of des-cent within the class Actinobacteria. Strain ID131577T was originally isolated from temperate forest soil in Gerenzano (Italy). Cells are small, short rods that are motile by peritrichous fla-gella. They may form aggregates after a longer period of growth and, then as a typical charac-teristic, an undulate structure is formed by self-aggregation of flagella with entangled bacteri-al cells. Here we describe the features of the organism, together with the complete sequence and annotation. The 6,359,369 bp long genome of C. woesei contains 5,950 protein-coding and 48 RNA genes and is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.
ABSTRACT: BACKGROUND: The capacity to maintain internal ion homeostasis amidst changing conditions is particularly important for teleost fishes whose reproductive cycle is dependent upon movement from freshwater to seawater. Although the physiology of seawater osmoregulation in mitochondria-rich cells of fish gill epithelium is well understood, less is known about the underlying causes of inter- and intraspecific variation in salinity tolerance. We used a genome-scan approach in Arctic charr (Salvelinus alpinus) to map quantitative trait loci (QTL) correlated with variation in four salinity tolerance performance traits and six body size traits. Comparative genomics approaches allowed us to infer whether allelic variation at candidate gene loci (e.g., ATP1alpha1b, NKCC1, CFTR, and cldn10e) could have underlain observed variation. RESULTS: Combined parental analyses yielded genome-wide significant QTL on linkage groups 8, 14 ...
We survey a new area of parameter-free similarity distance measures useful in data-mining, pattern recognition, learning and automatic semantics extraction. Given a family of distances on a set of objects, a distance is universal up to a certain precision for that family if it minorizes every distance in the family between every two objects in the set, up to the stated precision (we do not require the universal distance to be an element of the family). We consider similarity distances for two types of objects: literal objects that as such contain all of their meaning, like genomes or books, and names for objects. meaning, like genomes or books, and names for objects. The latter may have literal embodyments like the first type, but may also be abstract like ``red'' or ``christianity.'' For the first type we consider a family of computable distance measures corresponding to parameters expressing similarity according to particular features between ...
On November fourth and fifth 2010 a group of more than 100 international investigators gathered in Atlanta for the second Osteoarthritis (OA) Biomarkers Global Initiative workshop titled ''Genetics and Genomics: New Targets in OA''. The first workshop took place in April 2009 and focused on in vitro (soluble) biomarkers whilst the third and final workshop will take place in 2012 and will focus on imaging biomarkers. The OA Research Society International (OARSI) has organized the workshops. In addition to OARSI, the National Institute of Arthritis, Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, the Arthritis Foundation, Amgen, Genzyme, the American Orthopaedic Society for Sports Medicine and Pfizer sponsored the second meeting. It was clear from this meeting that experiments in the genetics, epigenetic...
Abstract Copy number variants (CNVs) are known to be associated with complex neuropsychiatric disorders (e.g., schizophrenia and autism) but have not been explored in the isolated features of aggressive behaviors such as intermittent explosive disorder (IED). IED is characterized by recurrent episodes of aggression in which individuals act impulsively and grossly out of proportion from the involved stressors. Previous studies have identified genetic variants in the serotonergic pathway that play a role in susceptibility to this behavior, but additional contributors have not been identified. Therefore, to further delineate possible genetic influences, we investigated CNVs in individuals diagnosed with IED and/or personality disorder (PD). We carried out array comparative genomic hybridizati...
Meningococcal disease is an infection caused by Neisseria meningitidis. Genetic factors contribute to host susceptibility and progression to disease, but the genes responsible for disease development are largely unknown. We report here a genome-wide association study for host susceptibility to meningococcal disease using 475 individuals with meningococcal disease (cases) and 4,703 population controls from the UK. We performed, in Western European and South European cohorts (consisting of 968 cases and 1,376 controls), two replication studies for the most significant SNPs. A cluster of complement factor SNPs replicated independently in both cohorts, including SNPs within complement factor H (CFH) (rs1065489 (p.936D
Brucella melitensis is a Gram-negative coccobacillus bacteria belonging to the Alphaproteobacteria subclass. It is an important zoonotic pathogen that causes brucellosis, a disease affecting sheep, cattle, and sometimes humans. The B. melitensis strain M5-90, a live attenuated vaccine cultured from the B. melitensis virulent strain M28, has been an effective tool to control brucellosis in goats and sheep in China. Here we report the complete genome sequences of B. melitensis M28 and M5-90, strains with different virulence backgrounds, which will serve as a valuable reference for future studies. PMID:21478357
Abstract Alcohol drinking is highly prevalent in many cultures and contributes to the global burden of disease. In fact, it was shown that alcohol constitutes 3.2% of all worldwide deaths in the year 2006 and is linked to more than 60 diseases, including cancers, cardiovascular diseases, liver cirrhosis, neuropsychiatric disorders, injuries and foetal alcohol syndrome. Alcoholism, which has been proven to have a high genetic load, is one potentially fatal consequence of chronic heavy alcohol consumption, and may be regarded as one of the most prevalent neuropsychiatric diseases afflicting our society today. The aim of the integrated genome research network -Genetics of Alcohol Addiction--which is a German inter-/trans-disciplinary life science consortium consisting of molecular biologists,...