A study of errors in predicting arrival fix times in air traffic control

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 1993.by Ming-Cheng Chiang.M.S

Brd4 engagement from chromatin targeting to transcriptional regulation: selective contact with acetylated histone H3 and H4

Bromodomain-containing protein 4 (Brd4) contains two tandem bromodomains (BD1 and BD2) that bind preferentially to acetylated lysine residues found in histones and nonhistone proteins. This molecular recognition allows Brd4 to associate with acetylated chromatin throughout the cell cycle and regulates transcription at targeted loci. Recruitment of positive transcription elongation factor b, and possibly the general initiation cofactor Mediator as well, plays an important role in Brd4-regulated transcription. Selective contacts with acetyl-lysines in nucleosomal histones and chromatin-binding factors likely provide a molecular switch modulating the steps from chromatin targeting to transcriptional regulation, thus further expanding the ‘acetylation code’ for combinatorial regulation in eukaryotes

Biological and Preclinical Evaluations of Designed Optically Guided Medical Devices with Light Scattering Modules for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome Treatment and Surgical Procedure

A novel technique and product applied to carpal tunnel microscopic surgical procedures through the designed medical devices were prepared and studied. The novel design of the medical device could be developed and applied for new carpal tunnel microscopic surgical procedures instead of the traditional carpal tunnel surgical procedures. Also, a new medical device with optical LLLT module was designed for wound healing in carpal tunnel syndrome treatments. Furthermore, assistive surgical healing dressings for carpal tunnel syndrome treatments via minimally invasive surgery (MIS) such as air-foam soft cleaning sponges and hydrogel surgical dressings with polymeric films were designed for more comfortable treatments. Biological and clinical evaluations of carpal tunnel surgical procedure using the new designed medical devices are studied. For commercialized reasons, guidance such as ISO 10993-1:2009(E) for biological evaluation of medical devices must be considered. Furthermore, the clinical evaluation of modified medical devices would be carried out

The Impact of Social Constructs on Continuance Intention in Online Auction: Community Prespective VS Transaction Perspective

This study analyzes social constructs from different types of actor behavior (i.e. transaction-oriented and community-oriented) to understand the influencing factors of their intention to use with online auction. We introduce social influence process and social capital theory to conceptualize research model, and a survey-based study was conducted. The simultaneous analysis of several groups was applied to test the research hypotheses. Our results verified that varied social constructs promote continuance intention for different types of online auction behavior, which are believed to contribute to the online auction development and management. We also conclude with a consideration of academic implication of the findings

New primers for methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction enhance specificity of detecting STAT1 methylation

AbstractObjectiveSignal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT)1 is a key tumor suppressor, which is always methylated in a variety of human cancers. However, nonspecific primers for the detection of specific promoter hypermethylation of STAT1 gene can lead to false-positive or false-negative results for gene methylation.Materials and MethodsWe designed new primers for the detection of STAT1 methylation and compared the sensitivities and specificities of these new primers with prior published primers by methylation-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR) from ovarian clear cell carcinomas. The mRNA expression levels of STAT1 in these cancerous tissues were also evaluated by reverse-transcriptase PCR and correlated with the results of promoter methylation of STAT1 gene.ResultsNine (39%) of the 23 samples detected by the new primers and 13 samples (56%) detected by prior published primers showed STAT1 methylation. A direct DNA sequencing test revealed that four of the 13 samples (30.8%) showed false positivity for STAT1 methylation using the prior published primers. In contrast, none of the nine samples was false-positive for the detection of STAT1 methylation using the new primers. The new primers for the detection of STAT1 methylation showed 100% specificity and 100% sensitivity without false positivity.ConclusionSpecific primers for methylation-specific PCR are mandatory for the accurate detection of STAT1 gene methylation. Besides, specific primers can generate correct interpretation of STAT1 gene methylation, and its correlation with the clinicopathological characteristics and outcome of cancer patients

Aging-Induced Dynamics for Statically Indeterminate System

Statically indeterminate systems are experimentally demonstrated to be in fact dynamical at the microscopic scale. Take the classic ladder-wall problem, for instance. Depending on the Young's modulus of the wall, it may take up to twenty minutes before its weight saturates. This finding is shown to be shared by other statically indeterminate systems, such as a granule silo and a beam with three support points. We believe that the aging effect is responsible for this surprising phenomenon because it can be correlated with the evolution of microscopic contact area with the wall and floor. Finally, a heuristic and simple method is introduced that can uniquely determine and analytically solve the saturated weight without invoking detailed material properties.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure

A simplified explanation for the frameshift mutation that created a novel C-terminal motif in the APETALA3 gene lineage

BACKGROUND: The evolution of type II MADS box genes has been extensively studied in angiosperms. One of the best-understood subfamilies is that of the Arabidopsis gene APETALA3 (AP3). Previous work has demonstrated that the ancestral paleoAP3 lineage was duplicated at some point within the basal eudicots to give rise to the paralogous TM6 and euAP3 lineages. This event was followed in euAP3 orthologs by the replacement of the C-terminal paleoAP3 motif with the derived euAP3 motif. It has been suggested that the new motif was created by an eight-nucleotide insertion that produced a translational frameshift. RESULTS: The addition of 25 eudicot AP3 homologs to the existing dataset has allowed us to clarify the process by which the euAP3 motif evolved. Phylogenetic analysis indicates that the euAP3/TM6 duplication maps very close to the base of the core eudicots, associated with the families Trochodendraceae and Buxaceae. We demonstrate that although the transformation of paleoAP3 into euAP3 was due to a frameshift mutation, this was the result of a single nucleotide deletion. The use of ancestral character state reconstructions has allowed us to demonstrate that the frameshift was accompanied by few other nucleotide changes. We further confirm that the sequence is evolving as coding region. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the simplest of genetic changes can result in the remodeling of protein sequence to produce a kind of molecular 'hopeful monster.' Moreover, such a novel protein motif can become conserved almost immediately on the basis of what appears to be a rapidly generated new function. Given that the existing data on the function of such C-terminal motifs are somewhat disparate and contradictory, we have sought to synthesize previous findings within the context of the current analysis and thereby highlight specific hypotheses that require further investigation before the significance of the euAP3 frameshift event can be fully understood

Estimating Probable Maximum Precipitation and Probable Maximum Flood by Considering the Combined Effect of Typhoon and Monsoon Weather System under Climate Change

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchive

Antagonism between abscisic acid and ethylene in Arabidopsis acts in parallel with the reciprocal regulation of their metabolism and signaling pathways

Although abscisic acid (ABA) and ethylene have antagonistic functions in the control of plant growth and development, including seed germination and early seedling development, it remains unknown whether a convergent point exists between these two signaling pathways or whether they operate in parallel in Arabidopsis thaliana. To elucidate this issue, four ethylene mutants, ctr1, ein2, ein3, and ein6, were crossed with aba2 (also known as gin1-3) to generate double mutants. Genetic epistasis analysis revealed that all of the resulting double mutants displayed aba2 mutant phenotypes with a small plant size and wiltiness when grown in soil or on agar plates. Further ethylene sensitivity or triple response analyses demonstrated that these double mutants also retained the ctr1 or ein mutant phenotypes, showing ethylene constitutive triple and insensitive responses, respectively. Our current data therefore demonstrate that ABA and ethylene act in parallel, at least in primary signal transduction pathways. Moreover, by microarray analysis we found that an ACC oxidase (ACO) was significantly upregulated in the aba2 mutant, whereas the 9-CIS-EPOXYCAROTENOID DIOXYGENASE 3 (NCED3) gene in ein2 was upregulated, and both the ABSCISIC ACID INSENSITIVE1 (ABI1) and cytochromeP450, family 707, subfamily A, polypeptide 2 (CYP707A2) genes in etr1-1 were downregulated. These data further suggest that ABA and ethylene may control the hormonal biosynthesis, catabolism, or signaling of each other to enhance their antagonistic effects upon seed germination and early seedling growth