Short Homologous Sequences Are Strongly Associated with the Generation of Chimeric RNAs in Eukaryotes

Chimeric RNAs have been reported in varieties of organisms and are conventionally thought to be produced by trans-splicing of two or more distinct transcripts. Here, we conducted a large-scale search for chimeric RNAs in the budding yeast, fruit fly, mous

Scalar dissipation rate transport in the corrugated flamelets and thin reaction zones regime for turbulent premixed flames

The characteristics of the scalar dissipation rate transport in the corrugated flamelets and the thin reaction zones regimes are studied based on two three-dimensional Direct Numerical Simulation (DNS) databases for freely propagating statistically planar turbulent premixed flames. The turbulent flame parameters are so chosen that the database which represents the corrugated flamelets regime has a global Damköhler number Da>1 whereas the database representing the thin reaction zones regime has Da <1. It is demonstrated that the terms originating from the correlation between fluctuating velocity and scalar gradient T1 shows strong Da dependence. The terms originating from dilatation T2, the scalar inner product of gradients of velocity and scalar fields T3 and the correlation between reaction rate and scalar gradients T4 and the dissipation term D2 remain important for both the flames. However, T3 dissipates scalar dissipation rate in the Da > 1 flame while it produces scalar dissipation rate in the Da < 1 flame. This difference is because of the change in the alignment between scalar and velocity gradients

Homologous feeder cells support undifferentiated growth and pluripotency in monkey embryonic stem cells

In the present study, five homologous feeder cell lines were developed for the culture and maintenance of rhesus monkey embryonic stem cells (rESCs). Monkey ear skin fibroblasts (MESFs), monkey oviductal fibroblasts (MOFs), monkey follicular granulosa fibroblast-like (MFG) cells, monkey follicular granulosa epithelium-like (MFGE) cells, and clonally derived fibroblasts from MESF (CMESFs) were established and compared with the ability of mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) to support rESC growth. MESF, MOF, MFG, and CMESF cells, but not MFGE cells, were as good as or better than MEFs in supporting undifferentiated growth while maintaining the differentiation potential of the rESCs. In an effort to understand the unique properties of supportive feeder cells, expression levels for a number of candidate genes were examined. MOF, MESF, and MEF cells highly expressed leukemia inhibitory factor, ciliary neurotrophic factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, stem cell factor, transforming growth factor PI, bone morphogenetic protein 4, and WNT3A, whereas WNT2, WNT4, and WNT5A were downregulated, compared with MFGE cells. Additionally, all monkey feeder cell lines expressed Dkk1 and LRP6, antagonists of the WNT signaling pathway, but not WNT1, WNT8B, or Dkk2. rESCs grown on homologous feeders maintained normal karyotypes, displayed the characteristics of ESCs, including morphology, alkaline phosphatase, Oct4, the cell surface markers stage-specific embryonic antigen (SSEA)-3, SSEA-4, tumor-related antigen (TRA)-1-60, and TRA-1-81, and formed cystic embryoid bodies in vitro that included differentiated cells representing the three major germ layers. These results indicate that the four homologous feeder cell lines can be used to support the undifferentiated growth and maintenance of pluripotency in rESCs.

Growth performance evaluation of genetically improved silver barb (Barbonymus gonionotus Bleeker) in different agro-ecological zones in Bangladesh

On farm trials of silver barb with other carps were carried out in 40 ponds during May to October 2005 in four agro-ecological zones viz., Trishal, Muktagacha, Parbotipur and Paikgacha in Bangladesh. In Trishal and Muktagacha zones, ponds were stocked with silver barb, silver carp and common carp at the stocking density of 11,500 fish/ha, whereas in Parbotipur and Paikgacha zones, ponds were stocked with silver barb, rohu, catla and mrigal at the stocking density of 10,000/ha. Among the ponds, 50% (20 ponds) were stocked with BFRI improved stock of silver barb (Treatment-1) and rest of the 20 ponds stocked with local silver barb stock (Treatment-2). The harvest weight of BFRI improved silver barb were 149±16.01, 168±18.06, 198±14 and 230±9.25g in Trishal, Muktagacha, Paikgacha and Parbotipur, whereas the data obtained at 113±15.52, 136±20.66, 170±17.0 and 205±12.10g for local stock of silver barb, respectively. In all trials, the harvest weight of BFRI improved stock showed significantly higher growth performance (P<0.05) over the local stocks.

Comparative Analysis of Five Different Homologous Feeder Cell Lines in the Ability to Support Rhesus Embryonic Stem Cells

我们以前的研究建立了五株猕猴饲养层细胞系来支持猕猴胚胎干细胞(rESCs)的生长:一岁猴耳皮肤成纤维细胞(MESFs)、两岁猴输卵管成纤维细胞(MOFs)、成年猴卵泡颗粒成纤维样细胞(MFGs)、成年猴卵泡颗粒上皮样细胞(MFGEs),以及MESFs的克隆成纤维细胞(CMESFs).我们发现MESFs、CMESFs、MOFs和MFGs,而不足MFGEs支持猕猴胚胎干细胞(rESCs,rhesus embryonic stem cells)的生长.通过半定量PCR的方法,我们在支持性的饲养层细胞中检测到了一些基因的高表达.在本研究中,我们运用Affymetrix公司的GeneChip Rhesus Macaque Genome Array芯片来研究这五株同源饲养层的表达谱,希望发现哪些细胞因子和信号通路在维持rESCs中起到重要作用.结果表明,除MFGE外,包括GREM2、bFGF,、KITLG,、DKK3、GREM1、AREG、SERPINF1和LTBF1等八个基因的mRNA在支持性的饲养层细胞中高表达.本研究结果提示,很多信号通路在支持rESCs的未分化生长和多潜能性方面可能起到了冗余的作用.

Wetlands and riparian zones as buffers and critical habitats for biotic communities in Lake Victoria

Despite their ecological and socio-economic importance, Lake Victoria's adjoining "swamps" and lake interface are among the least investigated parts of the lake. The "swamps" a term commonly equated to "wastelands" and the difficult working environment they present in comparison to open water, are major factors for the low level of attention accorded to shoreline wetlands. Moreover, definitions of wetlands highlighted for example in the Ramsar Convention as "areas of marsh, fern, peatland or water, whether natural or artificial, permanent or temporary, with water that is static or flowing, fresh or brackish, or salt, including areas of marine water, the depth of which does not exceed six metres" (Ramsar, 1971) were designed to protect birds (water fowl) of international importance. The Ramsar definition, which also includes oceans, has till recently been of limited use for Lake Victoria, because itdoes not fully recognise wetlands in relation to other public concerns such as water quality, biodiversity and the tisheries that are of higher socioeconomic priority than waterfowl. Prior to 1992, fishery research on Lake Victoria included studies of inshore shallow habitats of the lake without specific reference to distance or the type of vegetation at the shore. Results of these studies also conveniently relied heavily on trawl and gill net data from the 5-10 m depth zones as the defining boundary of shallow inshore habitats. In Lake Victoria, such a depth range can be at least one kilometre from the lake interface and by the 10m depth contour, habitats are in the sub-littoral range. Findings from these studies could thus not be used to make direct inferences on the then assumed importance of Lake Victoria wetlands in general.

Flexoelectric and elastic coefficients of odd and even homologous bimesogens.

It is known that bimesogenic liquid crystals exhibit a marked "odd-even" effect in the flexoelastic ratio (the effective flexoelectric coefficient to the average elastic coefficient), with the ratio being higher for the "odd-spaced" bimesogens (those with an odd number of alkyl groups in the spacer chain) than their neighboring even-spaced counterparts. To determine the contribution of each property to the flexoelastic ratio, we present experimental results on the flexoelectric and elastic coefficients of two homologous nonsymmetric bimesogens which possess odd and even alkyl spacers. Our results show that, although there are differences in the flexoelectric coefficients, there are substantially larger differences in the effective elastic coefficient. Specifically, the odd bimesogen is found to have both a low splay elastic coefficient and a very low bend elastic coefficient which, when combined, results in a significantly lower effective elastic coefficient and consequently a higher flexoelastic ratio.

Flexoelectric and elastic coefficients of odd and even homologous bimesogens.

It is known that bimesogenic liquid crystals exhibit a marked "odd-even" effect in the flexoelastic ratio (the effective flexoelectric coefficient to the average elastic coefficient), with the ratio being higher for the "odd-spaced" bimesogens (those with an odd number of alkyl groups in the spacer chain) than their neighboring even-spaced counterparts. To determine the contribution of each property to the flexoelastic ratio, we present experimental results on the flexoelectric and elastic coefficients of two homologous nonsymmetric bimesogens which possess odd and even alkyl spacers. Our results show that, although there are differences in the flexoelectric coefficients, there are substantially larger differences in the effective elastic coefficient. Specifically, the odd bimesogen is found to have both a low splay elastic coefficient and a very low bend elastic coefficient which, when combined, results in a significantly lower effective elastic coefficient and consequently a higher flexoelastic ratio.

A priori assessment of algebraic flame surface density models in the context of large eddy simulation for nonunity lewis number flames in the thin reaction zones regime

The performance of algebraic flame surface density (FSD) models has been assessed for flames with nonunity Lewis number (Le) in the thin reaction zones regime, using a direct numerical simulation (DNS) database of freely propagating turbulent premixed flames with Le ranging from 0.34 to 1.2. The focus is on algebraic FSD models based on a power-law approach, and the effects of Lewis number on the fractal dimension D and inner cut-off scale η i have been studied in detail. It has been found that D is strongly affected by Lewis number and increases significantly with decreasing Le. By contrast, η i remains close to the laminar flame thermal thickness for all values of Le considered here. A parameterisation of D is proposed such that the effects of Lewis number are explicitly accounted for. The new parameterisation is used to propose a new algebraic model for FSD. The performance of the new model is assessed with respect to results for the generalised FSD obtained from explicitly LES-filtered DNS data. It has been found that the performance of the most existing models deteriorates with decreasing Lewis number, while the newly proposed model is found to perform as well or better than the most existing algebraic models for FSD. © 2012 Mohit Katragadda et al.

Effects of turbulent reynolds number on the performance of algebraic flame surface density models for large eddy simulation in the thin reaction zones regime: A direct numerical simulation analysis

A direct numerical simulation (DNS) database of freely propagating statistically planar turbulent premixed flames with a range of different turbulent Reynolds numbers has been used to assess the performance of algebraic flame surface density (FSD) models based on a fractal representation of the flame wrinkling factor. The turbulent Reynolds number Ret has been varied by modifying the Karlovitz number Ka and the Damköhler number Da independently of each other in such a way that the flames remain within the thin reaction zones regime. It has been found that the turbulent Reynolds number and the Karlovitz number both have a significant influence on the fractal dimension, which is found to increase with increasing Ret and Ka before reaching an asymptotic value for large values of Ret and Ka. A parameterisation of the fractal dimension is presented in which the effects of the Reynolds and the Karlovitz numbers are explicitly taken into account. By contrast, the inner cut-off scale normalised by the Zel'dovich flame thickness ηi/δz does not exhibit any significant dependence on Ret for the cases considered here. The performance of several algebraic FSD models has been assessed based on various criteria. Most of the algebraic models show a deterioration in performance with increasing the LES filter width. © 2012 Mohit Katragadda et al.

Modelling and Fragility Analysis of Non-Ductile Reinforced Concrete Buildings in Low-to-Moderate Seismic Zones

Reinforced concrete buildings in low-to-moderate seismic zones are often designed only for gravity loads in accordance with the non-seismic detailing provisions. Deficient detailing of columns and beam-column joints can lead to unpredictable brittle failures even under moderate earthquakes. Therefore, a reliable estimate of structural response is required for the seismic evaluation of these structures. For this purpose, analytical models for both interior and exterior slab-beam-column subassemblages and for a 1/3 scale model frame were implemented into the nonlinear finite element platform OpenSees. Comparison between the analytical results and experimental data available in the literature is carried out using nonlinear pushover analyses and nonlinear time history analysis for the subassemblages and the model frame, respectively. Furthermore, the seismic fragility assessment of reinforced concrete buildings is performed on a set of non-ductile frames using nonlinear time history analyses. The fragility curves, which are developed for various damage states for the maximum interstory drift ratio are characterized in terms of peak ground acceleration and spectral acceleration using a suite of ground motions representative of the seismic hazard in the region.

Middle holocene soil and migration of climatic zones in the Guanzhong plain of China

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