Engel Series and Cohen-Egyptian Fraction Expansions

Two kinds of series representations, referred to as the Engel series and the Cohen-Egyptian fraction expansions, of elements in two different fields, namely, the real number and the discrete-valued non-archimedean fields are constructed. Both representations are shown to be identical in all cases except the case of real rational numbers

Characterizations of rational numbers by SEL series and alternating SEL series expansions

We establish characterizations of rational numbers by using SEL series expansions, which yield generalized versions of characterizing rational numbers by Sylvester series, Engel series and Lüroth series expansions. Characterizations of rational numbers via alternating SEL series expansions yield generalized versions of characterizing rational numbers by alternating Sylvester series, alternating Engel series and alternating Lüroth series expansions

Molecular genetic investigation of autosomal dominant muscular dystrophy

This thesis contributes to the Human Genome Project by adding detail to the physical and genetic maps of the human genome, and by identifying a strong candidate gene for a form of distal myopathy. Genomic clones for the human skeletal muscle genes slow troponin (TNN/1), alpha actin (ACTA1), and (3-tropomyosin (TPM2) were isolated for use in the fluorescent in situ hybridisation localisation of these genes on the cytogenetic map of the human genome. The localisation of these genes made them potential candidates for inherited skeletal muscle diseases, including the muscular dystrophies investigated here. Microsatellite, VNTR and RFLP markers were used in a search for linkage to a novel form of distal myopathy segregating in a Western Australian family. The decadic logarithm of the likelihood ratio, or \u27lod score\u27 method, was used to determine linkage between markers and this distal myopathy gene. A 22.4 cM candidate region was identified at 14q11.2. This was the first localisation of a distal myopathy gene. The Human Genome Organisation Nomenclature Committee reserved MPD1, \u27myopathy, distal 1 \u27, for this form of distal myopathy, now known as Laing myopathy. The MPD1 candidate region was excluded as the disease gene location for two other forms of distal myopathy. Silburn myopathy in 1994, which established the genetic heterogeneity of distal myopathy, and Felice myopathy in 1996. The exclusion of the MPD1 and French-Canadian OPMD candidate regions as disease gene locations for a putative-OPMD segregating in a Western Australian family, proved that this disease gene did not lie at 14q11.2. Testing an MPD1 muscle-specific candidate gene for the Laing myopathy mutation, the myosin heavy polypeptide 7 gene (MYH7), identified seven base changes between the MPD1 proband sequence and the published MYH7 eDNA sequence. All of these base changes were found in eight unrelated, unaffected Western Australians, therefore none of them were the Laing myopathy mutation. Two further differences to the published MYH7 sequence segregated exclusively with the MPD1 proband. One of these, the MYH7 G5073C (cDNA)/G23628C (gDNA) base change, caused a critical change to the MYH7 13-myosin heavy chain polypeptide product (13-MyHC). An A 1663P 13-MyHC substitution. G23628/C 23628 segregated with Laing myopathy in the Western Australian distal myopathy family. This segregation was confirmed by a single-strand conformation polymorphism test, then used to test 256 unaffected chromosomes. None possessed MYH7C23628. Two patients from European distal myopathy families phenotypically similar to Laing myopathy, the Voit and Scoppetta families, were tested for the presence of MYH7 gDNA G23628/C23628 heterozygosity. Both were homozygous MYH7 G23628. One of these patients (Voit) was also tested for MYH7 eDNA G5073/C5073 heterozygosity. She was homozygous MYH7 G5073. An analysis of the effect of the 13-MyHC A 1663P substitution at various levels of protein structure strengthened the candidature of MYH7 G5073C as the Laing myopathy mutation. It demonstrated the extreme rarity of the 13-MyHC A 1663P substitution; it showed that this substitution did have a detrimental effect on coiled-coil formation; and it identified ways in which the 13-MyHC A 1663P substitution could disrupt myofibrillogenesis or contractility. Future research directions are identified and the contribution of this work to evolving concepts in muscular dystrophy is evaluated

Molecular Identification And Analysis Of Treponematosis (Syphilis, Bejel, Yaws, Or Pinta) In Ancient Mummified Remains From Northern Chile And Southern Peru

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2008The sequencing of Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum, the bacterium that causes syphilis, and the identification of a family of 12 genes with sequence similarity that allows scientists to distinguish between treponemal subtypes has opened up a new line of inquiry for biological anthropologists. This research contributes genetic evidence of pre-contact treponematosis in the Americas; by combining osteological and molecular evidence with data on environment and cultural practices, it also furthers our knowledge of human-pathogen interaction. This research assessed the presence of treponematosis, a bacterial spirochete, in the DNA of skeletal and mummified human remains from northern Chilean cemeteries dating from 5000 BC to AD 1100. The objectives were to: (1) determine whether treponemal DNA could be successfully recovered, amplified, and identified by subspecies from ancient bone and tissue, (2) compare any ancient sequences generated to the modern strains present in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) GenBank database, (3) test the null hypothesis that treponematosis was not present in the New World before European contact, and (4) explore which cultural factors may have contributed to the spread of treponematosis in these groups. This research established a foundation for future treponemal studies through the development of primers and protocols for the analysis of ancient treponemes. The results of this study suggest that the inhabitants of this region suffered from a systemic bacterial infection, likely a chronic form of non-venereal treponematosis: yaws or bejel. Potential treponemal DNA was recovered from bone in an individual dated 202 cal BC--cal AD 3 from the Azapa valley. An investigation of Chinchorro artificial mummification suggests that their mortuary practice likely did not result in a higher frequency of treponematosis, as compared to later and inland groups. Rather, status and socioeconomic factors may have played a role in differential infection rates between those mummified in complex styles and those in natural or less complex styles. Further analysis of human remains with suspected treponemal lesions is necessary to reconstruct the history of treponematosis, improve our understanding of their pathogenesis, and guide scientists in developing preventative measures

Errata and Addenda to Mathematical Constants

We humbly and briefly offer corrections and supplements to Mathematical Constants (2003) and Mathematical Constants II (2019), both published by Cambridge University Press. Comments are always welcome.Comment: 162 page

The Challenges of ISIS and the Modern Nation-State

This essay examines the challenges that the so-called Islamic State, or ISIS, pose to the contemporary state system. The rise of ISIS in the territories of Iraq and Syria raises two fundamental questions, one conceptual the other directly political: First, ISIS’s claim to be a state and world powers’ resistance to this claim raises the question of what constitutes a state in today’s international system. Second, as a unique form of political organization that has become successful in the Middle East in a relatively short time, ISIS raises a number of practical political questions such as, what it takes to defeat ISIS or, at least, to prevent it from spreading further around the region and world. The essay outlines the specific inner workings of ISIS and attempts to offer possible long-term solutions to the problems that ISIS has given rise to. I argue that a political organization can be considered a state only if it has territorial sovereignty, legitimacy, and international recognition. With this template, ISIS is much closer to being a state than any other terror network before it, but falls short of meeting all the necessary requirements for statehood. Because of this, the international community must deal with ISIS in a new and different manner compared to past strategies with groups such as al-Qaeda

The Entangled Enoch : 2 Enoch and the Cultures of Late Antiquity

This monograph is the principal output of a British Academy Mid-Career Fellowship, which ran through the academic year 2021–2022. I am deeply grateful to the British Academy for this award and for all that it has made possible

Complex Ecologies: Micro-Evidence for Storage Landscapes in Early Bronze Age Lebanon

This dissertation presents the results of an archaeological investigation into the environmental strategies of emergent aggregated societies in coastal Lebanon over the course of the Early Bronze Age (c. 3200-2400 BCE). The Early Bronze Age marked not only the rise of large-scale urbanized polities in neighboring regions of Mesopotamia and, to a lesser extent, the Southern Levant, but it took place during the dramatic climate variability of the Middle Holocene. This dissertation uses the analysis of microbotanical and ground stone tool data to assess agricultural strategies, land use, and plant processing technologies at two settlements along the Lebanese littoral during this time of political and climatic upheaval. By comparing phytolith data, stone tool use-wear and microbotanical residues from grinding tools from the sites of Sidon and Tell Fadous-Kfarabida, this project reconstructs local plant and stone environments and the choices that populations were making about those resources over time. It concludes that selectivity between conservative and innovative plant management technologies allowed these settlements to maintain small-scale local networks built into the landscape and to participate with, while resisting incorporation into, growing urban and state economies nearby

Experience-dependent structural rearrangements of synaptic connectivity in the adult central nervous system

The functioning of the brain critically relies on its capacity to adapt and respond to its environment. The brain’s ability to change in response to experience is called plasticity and underlies principal brain functions, such as learning and memory. My thesis work investigated the ability of the brain to structurally remodel upon altered experiences, and changes that occur during normal aging. Furthermore, I addressed what might be the molecular mechanisms regulating such remodeling. I will therefore start by introducing the term of experience-dependent plasticity and exemplify the brain’s capacity to adapt to changes in experience and usage. I will then attempt to describe mechanisms of experience-dependent plasticity on the functional, molecular and structural level. Furthermore, I will discuss the impact of age and life-style on the brain’s capacity for plasticity. Finally, I will close the introduction by outlining the function and anatomy of the brain region that was the main subject of our investigations, namely the hippocampus, and specifically the mossy fiber pathwa