Characterization of SCF Ubiquitin-Ligase Subunits in Arabidopsis

The Arabidopsis thaliana genome encodes several families of polypeptides that are known or predicted to participate in the formation of the SCF-class of E3-ubiquitin ligase complexes. One such gene family encodes the Skp1-like class of polypeptide subunits, where 21 genes have been identified and are known to be expressed in Arabidopsis. The complexity of this family of Arabidopsis Skp1-like--or ASK --genes, together with the close structural similarity among its members, raises the prospect of significant functional redundancy among select paralogs. We have assessed the potential for functional redundancy within the ASK gene family by analyzing an expanded set of criteria that define redundancy with higher resolution. The criteria used include quantitative expression of locus-specific transcripts using qRT-PCR, assessment of the sub-cellular localization of individual ASK:YFP auto-fluorescent fusion proteins expressed in vivo, as well as the in planta assessment of individual ASK-F-box protein interactions using BiFC. The results indicated significant functional divergence of steadystate transcript abundance and protein-protein interaction specificity involving ASK proteins in a pattern that is poorly predicted by sequence-based phylogeny. The information emerging from this and related studies was used to functionally characterize using an RNAi approach complemented by phenotypical analysis. The observation of diverse phenotypes not only argues a high level of sub-functionalization has occurred throughout the ASK gene family, but also underscores the breadth of functions that this gene family plays throughout plant development. Transport Inhibitor Response (TIR1), is a member of a family of five Auxin-signaling F-box proteins (AFBs) and has been shown to act as the receptor for auxin binding and activation of the SCF TIR1 complex, leading to targeted protein degradation events involved in auxin perception. We provide evidence for homo-dimerization of TIR1 protein in planta together with a role for TIR1 homo-dimerization in the degradation of Aux/IAA proteins as part of the auxin-signaling pathway

Site of an Oil Producing Property

An assessment of a 6.78-acre parcel of oil-producing land with one active, seven idle, and two abandoned oil wells was performed. Following the collection and review of site data, an evaluation was made of the toxic properties of on-site soils for the presence of hazardous substances. Soil samples were collected by advancing boreholes at eight locations. These locations were selected on the bas is of the results of an aerial photographs review, a geophysical survey, and statistical sampling design techniques. An analytical program was conducted to test for chemicals that would likely be present from the oil field operations. It was concluded that the on-site soils are not hazardous. However, soils contaminated with petroleum hydrocarbons were identified. A soil gas survey was performed to evaluate the presence of methane and other hazardous gases. Based on the results of the survey, recommendations for reducing the adverse effects of such gases were developed, which were incorporated into the design of the building foundations. A soil remediation plan was developed and approved by the regulatory agencies. The contaminated soils were excavated, blended with clean soils, and recompacted under areas to be paved. The existing oil wells were abandoned, and the previously abandoned wells were re-abandoned in accordance with the applicable standards

A hydraulic flexible joint robot simulator

The objective of this project was to design and implement an experimental hydraulic system that simulates joint flexibility of a single rigid link flexible joint robot manipulator, with the ability of changing the joint flexibility’s parameters. Such a system could facilitate future control studies of robot manipulators by reducing investigation time and implementation cost of research. It could also be used to test the performance of different strategies to control the movement of flexible joint manipulators.A hydraulic rotary servo motor was used to simulate the action of a flexible joint robot manipulator. It was a challenging task, since the control of angular acceleration was required. A single-rigid-link, elastic-joint robot manipulator was mathematically modeled and implemented using Matlab. Joint flexibility parameters such as stiffness and damping, could be easily changed. This simulation was considered as a “function generator” to drive the hydraulic flexible joint robot. In this study the desired angular acceleration of the manipulator was used as the input to the hydraulic rotary motor and the objective was to make the hydraulic system follow the desired acceleration in the frequency range specified. The hydraulic system consisted of a servovalve and rotary motor. A hydraulic actuator robot was built and tested. The results indicated that if the input signal had a frequency in the range of 5 to 15 Hz and damping ratio of 0.1, the experimental setup was able to reproduce the input signal with acceptable accuracy. Because of the inherent noise associated with the measurement of acceleration and some severe non-linearities in the rotary motor, control of the experimental test system using classical methods was not as successful as had been anticipated. This was a first stage in a series of studies and the results provide insight for the future application of more sophisticated control schemes

Evaluation of SAR for Amphotericin B Derivatives by Artificial Neural Network

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the role of several descriptive structure-activity features in the antifungal drug, amphotericin B and analyze them by artificial neural networks. Method: Artificial neural networks (ANN) based on the back-propagation algorithm were applied to a structure-activity relationship (SAR) study for 17 amphotericin B derivatives with antifungal and membrane directed activity. A series of modified ANN architectures was made and the best result provided the ANN model for prediction of antifungal activity using the structural and biologic property descriptors. Results: The best architecture, in terms of cycles of calculation was 12-15-2. Among the most important factors were biological descriptors that correlated best with the model produced by ANN. Among the chemical and structural descriptors, positive charge on Y substitution was found to be the most important, followed by lack of availability of free carboxyl and parachor. Conclusion: This model is found to be useful to elucidate the structural requirements for the antifungal activity and can be applied in the design and activity prediction of the new amphotericin B derivatives. Keywords: Amphotericin B, SAR, Artificial Neural Network. > Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research Vol. 4 (2) 2005: pp. 517-52

Liquefaction Potential of Silty Sand Site

Dynamic properties of subsurface soils at the site of a proposed nuclear power plant were determined through extensive field and laboratory tests. The liquefaction potential of the granular soils underlying the site were obtained by using field data obtained from both standard penetration resistance and cone penetration tests as well as from laboratory data obtained from cyclic triaxial compression tests. The analyses showed that comparable factors of safety may be obtained from both field and laboratory test data

What is the right temperature to cool post-cardiac arrest patients?

Background: Brain ischemia and reperfusion injury leading to tissue degeneration and loss of neurological function following return of spontaneous circulation after cardiac arrest (CA) is a well-known entity. Two landmark trials in 2002 showed improved survival and neurological outcome of comatose survivors of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest (OHCA) of presumed cardiac origin when the patients were subjected to therapeutic hypothermia of 32 to 34°C for 12 to 24hours. However, the optimal target temperature for these cohorts is yet to be established and also it is not clear whether strict fever management and maintaining near normal body temperature are alone sufficient to improve the outcome. Methods: Objective: The objective is to determine whether a hypothermic goal of a near-normal body temperature of 36°C reduces all-cause mortality compared with a moderate hypothermia of 33°C for the unconscious survivors of OHCA of presumed cardiac origin when subjected randomly to these different targeted temperatures. Design: A multicenter, international, open label, randomized controlled trial. Setting: Thirty-six ICUs in Europe and Australia participated in this study. Participants: Unconscious adults (older than 18years of age) who survived (Glasgow coma scale less than 8) OHCA due to presumed cardiac origin with subsequent persistent return of spontaneous circulation (more than 20minutes without chest compressions). Intervention: The above participant cohorts were randomized to targeted body temperature of either 33°C or 36°C for 36hours after the CA with gradual rewarming of both groups to 37°C (hourly increments of 0.5°C) after the initial 28hours. Body temperatures in both the groups were then maintained below 37.5°C for 72hours after the initial 36hours. Outcomes: Primary outcome measure of all-cause mortality in both the groups at the end of the trial with the secondary outcome measure of all-cause mortality, composite neurological function as evaluated by cerebral performance category scale and modified ranking scale at the end of 180days were studied. Results: Out of the 939 participants, all-cause mortality at the end of the trial was 50% in the 33°C group (225 of 466 patients) compared with 48% in the 36°C group (235 of 473 patients); the hazard ratio with a temperature of 33°C was 1.06 (95% confidence interval (CI) 0.89 to 1.28, P = 0.51). At the end of 180days, 54% of patients in the 33°C group versus 52% in the 36°C group had died or had poor neurological outcome according to cerebral performance category (risk ratio 1.02, 95% CI 0.88 to 1.16, P = 0.78) but the modified ranking scale at the end of 180days was unchanged (52%) in both groups (risk ratio 1.01, 95% CI 0.89 to 1.14, P = 0.87). Conclusions: Maintaining targeted lower normothermia of 36°C had similar outcomes compared with induced moderate hypothermia of 33°C for unconscious survivors of OHCA of presumed cardiac cause

DETERMINANTS AND BEHAVIORAL CORRELATES OF STATE-LEVEL ANXIETY IN CLINICAL COUPLE INTERACTIONS

Extant research demonstrated that clinically diagnosable disorders such as depression and anxiety have detrimental effects on dyadic satisfaction in couple relationships, but studies have focused almost exclusively on trait-level emotional responses. Consequently, little is known about state-level emotional responses, including factors influencing negative emotional states during couple interactions, and associations between emotional states and the partners' subsequent communication behavior. This study investigated the associations between: (a) each partner's attachment security and negative attributions about the other's malicious intent for them; (b) the degree of state-level anxiety partners experience immediately before engaging in a discussion about a conflictual relationship issue; and (c) partners' use of constructive and destructive behaviors during the discussion. State-level anxiety mediated the relationship between partners' pre-existing attachment security and negative attributions about the partner and each partner's use of constructive and destructive communication. Implications for clinical assessment and intervention with state-level anxiety responses in distressed couples are discussed

Severe Sepsis: A Science of Uncertainty

An evaluation of a recent study by Kaukonen KM, Bailey M, Suzuki S et al: Mortality related to severe sepsis and septic shock among critically ill patients in Australia and New Zealand, 2000-2012

Alcoholic hepatitis: Yes to prednisolone and no to pentoxifylline [version 1; referees: not peer reviewed]

An evaluation of a recent study by Thursz MR, Richardson P, Allison M et al. " Prednisolone or Pentoxifylline for Alcoholic Hepatitis". N Engl J Med 2015;372:1619-28. PubMed PMID: 25901427. EudraCT number, 2009-013897-42. Current Controlled Trials number ISRCTN88782125