The characterization of the p-type dystrophin transcript and promoter.

Duchenne and Becker muscular dystrophies (DMD/BMD) are caused by mutations in the dystrophin gene. DMD is also associated with a variable degree of mental impairment. Several dystrophin transcripts are expressed in the brain including a novel transcript (P-type dystrophin) expressed specifically in Purkinje cells; its expression is controlled by an alternative promoter. This study shows that the P-type mRNA is also expressed in skeletal and cardiac muscle but not in smooth muscle. Its first exon encodes a specific, short amino terminus that is highly conserved in mammals and to a lesser extent in chicken. The nucleotide sequence of the P-type first exon and putative promoter region is also conserved. In mice, the 5'-end of the P-type transcript was found to be structurally diverse arising from alternative splicing events at the 5'-UTR. This may occur separately or in combination with insertion of a part of intron I resulting in premature termination of translation. There are multiple transcription initiation sites, the predominant one being conserved in human and mouse. Moreover, alternative usage of ATG codons may result in alternative N-termini in rodents or short upstream open reading frames in other species. Several regulatory elements are conserved in different species. The TATA box found in human sequence is not conserved and is outside the region that directed CAT reporter gene expression in differentiated myotubes in culture

Compact Community

Small and compact spaces achieve a certain lightness and “smallness” that large-scale architecture obviously cannot achieve. The contention for my thesis is to explicitly study the obsession with the large in Kuwait and reasons for it, which might include climate, expanses of land, and rapid oil industry development. By doing so, a new typology for small spaces can be introduced in Kuwait City and integrated into Al Sawaber Residential community, the site, by expanding on certain elements unique to the foreign labor communities and formally creating spaces for that community, since they tend to live with so little (space, luxuries, etc)

Exploring strategic planning of family firms in Saudi Arabia

Researchers have called for the studying of strategic planning of family firms, especially in countries such as Saudi Arabia to cater for cultural differences. So far, it is not known how family firms formulate or practice their strategic planning. This research aimed to investigate and evaluate the extent and nature of the strategic planning processes in a sample of family firms in Saudi Arabia. Data from six family firms was collected by semi-structured in-depth interviews using open ended questions. The study employed convenience sampling. A total of 16 interviews were made to collect the data and confirm understanding. Secondary data from company documentation and websites were also utilized. Collected data was analysed (qualitatively) to produce observations on family firms‘ strategic planning process. A pilot study was used to confirm suitability of the methodology and data analysis. The idea for this research came from an actual need of the researcher and many of his friends. The study has many practical implications on family firms both locally and internationally. Therefore, it is hoped that family firms can increase their chances of success and continuation to the following generations. The study found that the businesses tended not to have systematic processes and that analysis was typically unsophisticated and often ignored, while implementation in the sense of resource allocation, setting of sales targets, monitoring of performance, and providing incentives was often approached more systematically. Some interesting strategic patterns across firms were identified such as "Sales is king", "Let‘s do it" and "Just grow". Despite geographical and sample limitations, this study has opened many avenues for further research into the strategy process in family business, both in Saudi Arabia and in other countries and cultures. Therefore, this study contributed by illuminating an under researched part of the world and by addressing a practical problem and knowledge gap

Micro-channel air cooled condenser performance with two-phase flow of zeotropic refrigerant at high ambient temperatures

A study of the thermal performance of an air-cooled micro-channel condenser using zeotropic refrigerant blend R-410A operating at high reduced pressure and at hot climate was conducted. The investigation of the condensation process at high ambient temperature is worth considering because the condensation saturation temperature should be high enough to be cooled by air at high ambient temperature. In this case a high operating pressure corresponding to the high condensation temperature is required; therefore, the condensation process of R-410A occurs at near-critical pressure and the vapour compression cycle operates in hot weather. In order to achieve a successful condensation process operating at hot climate, micro-channel tubes were suitable because of the high heat transfer coefficient associated with tubes of very small hydraulic diameter. The local heat transfer coefficient of R-410A was determined experimentally during the condensation process across the vapour-liquid dome at 0.7 and 0.8 reduced pressures and at 35 and 45℃ ambient air temperatures, in two different rectangular tubes of Dₕ* =1.26 and 0.52 mm, over a mass flux range of 200≤G*≤800 kg/ m²s. Although, the temperature glide of the refrigerant R-410A was sufficiently small, the measurement of the mass flux and the heat transfer during condensation with other measuring parameters were always difficult to achieve with a high level of accuracy. The latest technology of the micro-foil heat flux sensor technique was used with a bespoke facility to accurately determine the heat duty of condensation along the micro-channel tubes. The behaviour of the heat transfer coefficient with the vapour quality was addressed. In addition, the behaviour of heat flux, vapour quality and wall temperature with the thermal length of the channel were intensively studied. The heat transfer coefficient was found to increase with the mass flux and the vapour quality and to decrease with the ambient temperature. Correlations by other researchers mostly disagreed with the present experimental data. Annular flow regime was adopted due to the cross section of tubes at these diameters. A new correlation in annular flow regime that accounted for the effect of near critical pressure of such refrigerant and the high temperature of the coolant air in the geometry of tubes under consideration was proposed to predict the heat transfer coefficient of condensation for which the available models are insubstantial. The resulting correlation successfully computed the experimental data. The physical comprehension and correlation resulting from this research contribute to enhance the existing knowledge for designing and optimising new equipment that utilise R-410A for air-conditioning and refrigeration applications, particularly in hot climates

Cohesive token passing algorithm utilizing software agents

The communications domain has utilized the implementation of protocols for a wide spectrum of applications. This encompasses Medium Access Control (MAC) protocols. MAC protocols have been extensively researched from several angles. This encompasses the implementation in the area of Wave Division Multiplexing (WDM) networks and Mobile Adhoc Networks (MANET). The relevance of intelligence in sustaining the pre-requisites for dynamic reconfiguration has gained an integral attention in MANET. Approach: The implementation of Token Ring in MANET can be correlated to its complementary implementation in IP networks. In this paper, the limitation of Token Ring algorithm for IP networks in the context of intelligent processing has been researched extensively. An enhanced Token Ring protocol governed by intelligent processing has been implemented in this paper. The core of the new protocol is based on the circulation mechanism of the token. As opposed to the traditional circulatory mechanism, a software agent is designed to become an intelligent circulatory agent is this research. The developed software agent is utilized to implement prioritized token access subject to the traffic type. Each station is coupled with a software agent who cohesively collaborates to assign the token. Results: The proposed agent and the enhanced Token Ring implementation have been extensively verified through simulation experiments. A complete circulation of the ring is defined upon all nodes being visited at least once. Discrete-event simulation models were developed and deployed for the purpose of performance analysis. The results acquired validated the improved results of the new software agent based implementation. The performance metrics studied were average delay and average buffer utilization. Conclusion: The proposed algorithm has enabled to derive an ideal balance between the complexity of intelligent processing and the versatility of managing the token ring

Simulation and Study of Multilevel Inverter System Fed By Photovoltaic Source

هذه الورقة تقترح محاكاة استخدام الطاقة الشمسية لتغذية محرك حثي وتقارن عمل نوعين من العاكسات. بصورة عامة, اغلب المحركات المستعملة في المجالات الصناعية والتجارية هي محركات حثية. لتشغيل هكذا نوع من المحركات بأستخدام الطاقة الشمسية, يجب توفر محول dc-dcو عاكس. وبما ان الحلايا الشمسية تمتلك سلوك لاخطي, لذلك يجب توفر محول dc-dc مع متحكم(MPPT)لتحسين كفائة الطاقة الشمسية وعمل توافق مع متطلبات الحمل. لتحويل الفولتية الخارجة المستمرة من مصدر الطاقة الشمسية الى متناوبة تم استعمال نوعان من العاكسات. عاكس فولتية المصدر التقليدي و عاكس متعدد المستويات وتم اخذ النتائج بالنسبة لكلا النوعين والمقارنة بينهما.This paper proposes a simulation of Photovoltaic energy used to supply an induction motor with acomparison of two types of inverters.In general, the greater number of motorswhich"are used incommercial and industrial applicationsare"induction motors. To use PV source to run the induction motor, an interface circuits are used which are a dc-dc"converter and an inverter, the PV cell has nonlinear behavior,"adc-dc converter is used along with Maximum Power Point Tracker controllerto improve theefficiency by boosting the output voltage of the PV module and to match the load demand."The dc output voltage of PV modulethen"converted to AC, two types of inverter are presented, A conventional Voltage Source Inverter system and multilevel inverter system which employselective harmonic eliminationmethod fed three phase induction motor, these two types of inverters are simulated using Matlab/Simulink and their results are presented. The FFT spectrum is presented of the output currents to analyze the harmonics reduction, which shows that the"multilevel inverter is better than VSI system"according to harmonics reduction and increment in output voltage and power

Experimental Investigation of Condensation Heat Transfer Characteristics of R-134a Vapor in Horizontal Heat Exchanger

قدم هذا البحث دراسة تجريبية لمعامل انتقال الحرارة وانحدار الضغط خلال تكثيف مائع ثنائي الطور في حالة جريان لمائع التثليج R-134a في مقطع أنبوب مكثف لمنظومة تبريد تحت ظروف تشغيل مختلفة. الاستقصاء العملي والنظري اعتمد ظروف اختبار تم تحديدها، للفيض الحراري 17-10)) كيلوواط\متر مربع، الفيض الكتلي (63-42) كغم\متر مربع. ثانيه، نسبة الجفاف للبخار (0.03-1) ودرجة حرارة التشبع للمائع من (44 الى (49 درجة مئوية. الاختبارات العملية نفذت باستخدام جهاز فحص يتضمن مقطع فحص لمحاكاة مبادل حراري من نوع الانبوب المتداخل مبرد بالماء والذي صمم ونفذ خلال الدراسة الحالية. أظهرت النتائج العملية وجود تأثير واضح للفيض الحراري والفيض الكتلي على قيم معامل انتقال الحرارة. قيم معامل انتقال الحرارة قد ازدادت مع زيادة الفيض الحراري والفيض الكتلي ضمن ظروف الاختبار المحددة، حيث كانت نسبة التحسين في معامل انتقال الحرارة بحدود 47% و14% لقيم الفيض الحراري والفيض الكتلي الأعلى نسبيا على التوالي. نسبة التحسين في معامل انتقال الحرارة كانت بحدود 51% و43% لقيم درجة حرارة التشبع ونسبة الجفاف للمائع 45.47˚C و0.88   على التوالي مقارنة بالقيم الأخرى عند ظروف تشغيل ثابته. انحدار الضغط كان اعلى بحدود 12% و 49% لقيم الفيض الكتلي والفيض الحراري الأعلى نسبيا على التوالي. تم التثبت من نتائج الدراسة الحالية من خلال المقارنة مع نتائج النماذج النظرية وكذلك مع نتائج دراسة مشابهه وقد أظهرت المقارنة توافق مقبول.An experimental investigation of refrigerant R-134a two-phase flow condensation heat transfer coefficient and pressure drop in condenser tube section of refrigeration system under different operating conditions is presented. The experimental and theoretical investigations are based on test conditions in range of 10 -17 kW/m2 for heat flux, 42-63 kg/m2s for mass flux, vapor quality 1-0.03 and saturation temperature 44 to 49˚C. The experimental tests are conducted on test rig supplied with a test section to simulate the water cooled double pipe heat exchanger, which is designed and constructed in the present work. “The experimental results have revealed that, the heat flux and mass flux have significant impacts on the heat transfer coefficient. “The heat transfer coefficient was increased with increase in heat flux and mass flux at prescribed test conditions, where the enhancement in heat transfer coefficient was about 47% and 14% for relatively higher heat flux and mass flux, respectively. “The enhancement in the heat transfer coefficient was about 51% for relatively lower saturation temperature 45.97˚C and 43% for higher vapor quality 0.88 compared to other values at constant test conditions. “The pressure drop was higher in the range of 12% and 49% for relatively higher mass flux and heat flux respectively. “The present work results have validated by comparison with predictive models and with similar research work results and the comparison has revealed  an acceptable agreement

Comparison of restenosis rates of two coronary stent systems with different active coating

Background: Despite the advances in the interventions, long-term outcome is still limited by restenosis. Angiographic restenosis has been reported in 50% of patients within 6 months after balloon angioplasty. Although stent implantation has been shown to reduce restenosis as compared with PTCA, in-stent restenosis (ISR) still occurs in 10-30% of the patients. Drug-eluting stents containing the immunosuppressive agent (Rapamycin) and the anti-mitotic agent (Paclitaxel) have shown encouraging reductions in restenosis in de novo lesions, and possibly in ISR lesions. Methods: This observational study was conducted in the Cardiology Department at the Essen University Hospital, Germany. A total 106 consecutive patients received either Cypher stents (n=54) or Paclitaxel stents (n=52) to treat either de novo lesions (Cypher, n=40 vs. Paclitaxel, n=30) or restenotic lesions (Cypher, n=14 vs. Paclitaxel, n=22) and underwent angiographic follow-up between Aug 2002 and Feb 2004. The stents were chosen to achieve a stent-to-artery ratio of approximately 1.1:1.0. All the patients received 100 mg Aspirin indefinitely and 300 mg Clopidogrel as loading dose before the intervention and 75 mg for 6 months after the intervention. The primary endpoint was DS% at follow-up. The secondary angiographic endpoints included late loss, binary restenosis, and minimal lumen diameter at follow-up. The clinical secondary endpoints included the incidence of death, the need for bypass surgery or intervention to treat resteonsis of the target lesions, myocardial infarction (Q-wave or non-Q-wave), TVR, and TLR. Results: The Diameter stenosis (DS %) at follow-up was (Cypher, 25.11± 18.24 % vs. Paclitaxel 25.90 ± 21.23 %; P=0.83). Minimal lumen diameter at follow-up was (Cypher, 2.27± 0.62 mm vs. Paclitaxel, 2.34 ± 0.72 mm; P=0.57). Binary restenosis was detected in 7 patients (12.9%) of the Cypher group compared with 8 patients (15.3%) of the Paclitaxel group (P=0.65). Late loss was similar between the two groups. No patients in the both groups suffered from MI either Q-wave or non-Q-wave during follow-up duration. The incidence of death was 0% in the both groups. Coronary bypass surgery was not performed to any patient in the both group. TLR and TVR were similar between the tow groups. Conclusion: In this observational study we did not observe significant differences between the sirolimus-coated Cypher stent and non-polymer paclitaxel-coated Cook stent in terms of angiographic follow-up parameters as well as clinical events

Evaluation the Performance Efficiency of Manufactured, Modified and Assembled Combine Implement and Studying It’s Impact on Some Soil Physical Properties and Total Costs

The experiment was conducted to evaluate the efficiency performance of the combine implement which manufactured and assembled locally and studying it\u27s effect on some soil physical properties and total costs in one of the Agricultural College University of Baghdad Experimental Fields in loamy soil, 2017. Brazilian Massy Ferguson Tractor (MF-650) was used with the combine implement as a machinery unit. Three machinery unit speeds included 3.15, 4.60 and 6.10 km/h and seedling treatments included manufactured combine implement, seedling and fertilizer implement and manual seedling were used in this experiment. Soil bulk density, soil moisture content, amount of added water and total costs were measured. Nested design under randomized complete block design with three replications was used in this experiment. Least significant differences (LSD = 0.05) level under 0.05 probability was used to compare treatment means. The results can be summarized as following: 1. Incrased machinery unit speeds from 3.15 to 4.60 km.h-1 led to significant increase in soil bulk density from 1.30 to 1.36 Mg.mˉ³and significant increase in soil moisture content from 0.18 to 0.20 %. 2. Manufactured combine implement treatment was superior in getting less soil bulk density stood 1.22 Mg.mˉ³ higher soil moisture content stood 0.22%.and less amount of added water during the season stood 1103.43 mm. and less costs stood 796370 Iraqi Dinars. 3. The interaction between 3.15 km.h-1machinery speed and manufactured combine implement got less soil bulk density stood 1.19 Mg.mˉ³, while the interference between 6.1 km.h-1 machinery unit speed and manufactured equipment was superior in obtaining a higher moisture content stood 0.229%. 4. Using the locally manufacturing modified combine implement for primary and secondary tillage, shallow furrow opener, seedling and fertilization in one time was successfully done in this study with high performance efficiency