Transgenic Animal Technology: Technique and Its Application to Improve Animal Productivity

Animals with manipulated genetic material (carrying recombinant DNA) are known as transgenic animals. Transgenic technology provides a method to rapidly introduce new genes into animals without cross breeding. It is a powerful technique for studying fundamental problems of mammaliandevelopment. Transgenic technology has been developed and found perfect in the laboratory on mice. The three most common gene transfer techniques namely: DNA microinjection, ES-cell mediated and Retrovirus mediated gene transfer are the most important to have enabled to produce transgenic cattle, sheep, goat, pig and other animals. Transgenic animals have the potential of agricultural applications like improved growth rate and carcass composition, improved resistance to disease, increased milk yield, improved wool production and so on. The scientific outlook of right and wrong opinions about transgenic animals is called ethics of transgenic animals. These ethical and animal welfare issues surround transgenic animal technology and be only minimized or avoided through awareness creation about the merit of this technology. Keywords: Animal productivity, Gene transfer, Recombinant DNA, Technique, Transgeni

Efficient algorithms to solve scheduling problems with a variety of optimization criteria

La programmation par contraintes est une technique puissante pour résoudre, entre autres, des problèmes d'ordonnancement de grande envergure. L'ordonnancement vise à allouer dans le temps des tâches à des ressources. Lors de son exécution, une tâche consomme une ressource à un taux constant. Généralement, on cherche à optimiser une fonction objectif telle la durée totale d'un ordonnancement. Résoudre un problème d'ordonnancement signifie trouver quand chaque tâche doit débuter et quelle ressource doit l'exécuter. La plupart des problèmes d'ordonnancement sont NP-Difficiles. Conséquemment, il n'existe aucun algorithme connu capable de les résoudre en temps polynomial. Cependant, il existe des spécialisations aux problèmes d'ordonnancement qui ne sont pas NP-Complet. Ces problèmes peuvent être résolus en temps polynomial en utilisant des algorithmes qui leur sont propres. Notre objectif est d'explorer ces algorithmes d'ordonnancement dans plusieurs contextes variés. Les techniques de filtrage ont beaucoup évolué dans les dernières années en ordonnancement basé sur les contraintes. La proéminence des algorithmes de filtrage repose sur leur habilité à réduire l'arbre de recherche en excluant les valeurs des domaines qui ne participent pas à des solutions au problème. Nous proposons des améliorations et présentons des algorithmes de filtrage plus efficaces pour résoudre des problèmes classiques d'ordonnancement. De plus, nous présentons des adaptations de techniques de filtrage pour le cas où les tâches peuvent être retardées. Nous considérons aussi différentes propriétés de problèmes industriels et résolvons plus efficacement des problèmes où le critère d'optimisation n'est pas nécessairement le moment où la dernière tâche se termine. Par exemple, nous présentons des algorithmes à temps polynomial pour le cas où la quantité de ressources fluctue dans le temps, ou quand le coût d'exécuter une tâche au temps t dépend de t.Constraint programming is a powerful methodology to solve large scale and practical scheduling problems. Resource-constrained scheduling deals with temporal allocation of a variety of tasks to a set of resources, where the tasks consume a certain amount of resource during their execution. Ordinarily, a desired objective function such as the total length of a feasible schedule, called the makespan, is optimized in scheduling problems. Solving the scheduling problem is equivalent to finding out when each task starts and which resource executes it. In general, the scheduling problems are NP-Hard. Consequently, there exists no known algorithm that can solve the problem by executing a polynomial number of instructions. Nonetheless, there exist specializations for scheduling problems that are not NP-Complete. Such problems can be solved in polynomial time using dedicated algorithms. We tackle such algorithms for scheduling problems in a variety of contexts. Filtering techniques are being developed and improved over the past years in constraint-based scheduling. The prominency of filtering algorithms lies on their power to shrink the search tree by excluding values from the domains which do not yield a feasible solution. We propose improvements and present faster filtering algorithms for classical scheduling problems. Furthermore, we establish the adaptions of filtering techniques to the case that the tasks can be delayed. We also consider distinct properties of industrial scheduling problems and solve more efficiently the scheduling problems whose optimization criteria is not necessarily the makespan. For instance, we present polynomial time algorithms for the case that the amount of available resources fluctuates over time, or when the cost of executing a task at time t is dependent on t

Binary Color-Coded Magic Squares: A Study of Uniqueness Under Rotation/Reflection, PCA, and LDA Analysis

In this paper, we study the concept of "binary color-coded magic squares" by assigning two distinct colors to the even and odd numbers within a magic square. We investigate the uniqueness of patterns within these squares using three different analytical methods, including rotation/reflection, PCA, and LDA. Our investigation covers all 880 magic squares of order 4, all 48,544 associative magic squares of order 5, and all 368,640 Franklin magic squares of order 8. Our investigation reveals striking patterns that were previously unknown in traditional magic squares, shedding light on the potential for binary color-coded magic squares to contribute to the field of mathematics.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, 2 table

ASSESSMENT OF PHYSICIANS' RESPONSE TO TEXT ALERTS IN PATIENTS WITH REDUCED RENAL FUNCTION BY USING A TEXT MESSAGE ALERTING SYSTEM

Introduction: Adverse drug events are mostly dose dependent and preventable. About 50% of these adverse effects are due to inappropriate dosing especially in patients with renal failure. Objective: We aimed to determine the impact of short message alerting on physicians' drug dosing of patients with decreased renal function. Methods: Eighteen physicians accepted to enroll in the study. Their patients who received at least one of the six selected drugs were selected for evaluation. The patients with an estimated glomerular filtration rate of 50 ml/minute or lower were randomly divided into two groups of case and control. An alert was sent to the physician in charge of the intervention (case) group. Physicians' reactions was recorded as "dose adjustment", "discontinuation of medication" or "none" and were compared in both groups. The reaction time of physicians before and after receiving alerts was recorded as well. Results: One hundred and thirty seven patients entered the study. The study results showed a significant difference in overall changes between the two groups (*** P <0.001). The rate of dose adjustment increased significantly after sending alerts to physicians (*** P <0.001). However, there was not a significant difference regarding discontinuation of medication between groups (P= 0.76). On the other hand, prompt reaction of physicians (0-6 hours after sending short message) significantly increased after intervention (* P < 0.05). Nevertheless, physicians' reaction time in 6-24 hours and 24-48 hours was not changed significantly after intervention. Conclusion: The results of this study show that informing physicians about the renal function of the patients leads to appropriate dosing

Natürliche Bildung von halogenierten Essigsäuren und Iodalkanen

ABSTRACT This thesis deals with organohalogen compounds and their formation by natural abiotic soil processes, providing a framework in which a literature survey and a resume of the multitude of laboratory experiments are integrated. In the first chapter the literature on the sources, occurrence and sinks of halogenated acetic acids (HAAs), which are phytotoxic, and probably related to forest dieback, is summarized. They are ubiquitous in precipitations and are accumulated in coniferous needles. Next to anthropogenic sources there have also been indications of a natural biotic formation of HAAs in soil. In the following main segment experiments on the abiotic formation of HAAs in soils are presented. This process is probably due to a coupled oxidation/halogenation of organic matter. Experiments with soils, humic acid and phenolic model compounds show that HAAs are generated abiotically. In the case of ethoxyphenol, this occurs through the oxidation of a C2-unit, and in the case of the other model substances probably through the breakdown of the aromatic ring system. More dichloroacetic acid (DCA) than trichloroacetic acid (TCA) is formed. The addition of iron and H2O2 leads to a further increase in formation of HAAs. Probably a Fenton reaction (Fe(II) + H2O2 -> Fe(III) + OH. + OH-) occurs between the iron and the H2O2, forming OH radicals which oxidize the Cl-, leading to the chlorination of organic matter. In the forth chapter the formation of OH radicals, measured by the 2-deoxy-D-ribose method, in aquatic systems with humic acid or soil is investigated; neither sunlight, nor the addition of H2O2 or iron is required. The in vitro formation of OH radicals increases linearly with the amount of soil or humic acid employed. In the fifth chapter the abiotic formation of alkyl iodides in soil is studied. Soils, humic acid and model substances were employed. Similar to the formation of HAAs, two reaction pathways are possible: either, in the case of guiacol, the splitting off of a methyl group and/or the fragmentation of an aromatic system. Probably an oxidation of organic matter with iron is induced. An addition of iron leads to an increase of the production of homologous alkyl iodides from C1 to C4; this confirms the redox-induced mechanism of this reaction. In summary the results of this study indicate that organohalogen compounds are produced abiotically in soil. Their formation is dependent on environmental conditions, e.g. iron content, pH and organic carbon (Corg)

Miskawayh’s philosophy of history in the light of Tajarib al-Umam

This writing seeks to discuss and interpret Miskawayh’s philosophy of history as may be perceived in the section on contemporary history of the Tajarib al-Umam that tell the history of Buyid era in his work. As a historian of medieval Islam, Miskawayh did not clearly expound his philosophy of history in the works of Tajarib al-Umam. Employing textual interpretation and analysis method comprehensively and partially, this writing seeks to construct Miskawayh’s philosophy of history in the light of Tajarib al-Umam. The results of this analysis and interpretation show that the section on Miskawayh’s contemporary history is considered important for the philosophy of history as constructed by Miskawayh. There are three forms of historical development and stages in the section, i.e. formation and stability, weakness and restoration apart from brilliant achievement. These three forms and stages characterise the semi-cyclical concept history in Miskawayh’s philosophy of history. This concept indicates that Miskawayh was among the earlier Muslim historian who pioneered the cyclical form of philosophy of history and he thus preceded other Muslim historians such as Ibn Khaldun

The behaviours of lighweight foamed concrete beam with different size of square hollow section

Lightweight foamed concrete is one type of concrete that can be a replacement for conventional concrete which is widely used in construction industry nowadays. High density of conventional concrete makes structural elements heavier compare to the lightweight foamed concrete. Using lightweight foamed concrete as other alternatives to replace the conventional concrete will make the concrete more lighter and by addition of making a hollow section along the beam, it can reduce more weight of concrete itself. The main purposes of this study are to examine the behaviour of beam in term of flexural strength, deflection propagated and crack pattern. The size of beam used in this study is 1 5Ox200x3000mm. Four type of sample with different size of square hollow have been used. The sample A with no hollow, sample B with size 45x45rnjn of hollow size, sample C with size 60x6Omm of hollow size and sample D 7Ox7Omm of hollow size and it been placed along the length of beam. The density of lightweight foamed concrete was 1600kg/m3 with 1:2 of water cement ratio and 1:3 for water sand ratio. The testing that involved in this study is four point flexural tests. The result shows that the flexural strength of the samples reduced due to the different size of square hollow section. The flexural was reduced to 21.85% for Beam B, 22.01% for Beam C and 28.78% for Beam D respectively. Result for deflection shows that hollow beam was having more deflection compared to solid beam. As for deflection profile at a constant loading , Beam A, Beam B, Beam C and Beam D show the same profile but with different value of maximum deflection which is 8.96mm, 9.37mm, 10.14nim and 12.13mm. Cracking pattern result shows same behaviour which is crack at shear and in inclined pattern. First crack loading result for Beam A, Beam B, Beam C and Beam D was 16.2kN, 1 l.29kN, 10.24kN, and 8.72kN respectively

The peroxisome: still a mysterious organelle.

More than half a century of research on peroxisomes has revealed unique features of this ubiquitous subcellular organelle, which have often been in disagreement with existing dogmas in cell biology. About 50 peroxisomal enzymes have so far been identified, which contribute to several crucial metabolic processes such as beta-oxidation of fatty acids, biosynthesis of ether phospholipids and metabolism of reactive oxygen species, and render peroxisomes indispensable for human health and development. It became obvious that peroxisomes are highly dynamic organelles that rapidly assemble, multiply and degrade in response to metabolic needs. However, many aspects of peroxisome biology are still mysterious. This review addresses recent exciting discoveries on the biogenesis, formation and degradation of peroxisomes, on peroxisomal dynamics and division, as well as on the interaction and cross talk of peroxisomes with other subcellular compartments. Furthermore, recent advances on the role of peroxisomes in medicine and in the identification of novel peroxisomal proteins are discussed.Supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) (SCHR 518/6-1) and the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT) (PTDC/BIA-BCM/71932/2006)

Dynamic Modeling of Multi-Elastic Body Systems using Kane’s Method and Congruency Transformations

  &nbsp