Molecular cloning, sequence analysis and structure prediction of the related to b0,+ amino acid transporter (rBAT) in Cyprinus carpio L.

In this study, the full-length cDNA of basic amino acid transporter gene rBAT was cloned from intestinal cells of Cyprinus carpio L. using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and rapid-amplification of cDNA ends (RACE) methods. The amplified product was 2370 bp, including a 42 bp 5'-untranslated region, a 288 bp 3'-untranslated region, and a 2040 bp open reading frame (ORF), which encoded 679 amino acids. The predicted amino acid sequence showed high similarity with that of zebrafish (83.5%), and low similarity with that of rat (50.90%). The 3-D protein models were predicted by the comparative protein modeling program SWISS-MODEL. The prediction result displayed that the Cyprinus carpio L. rBAT had a hydrophilic cytoplasmic N terminus, a single membrane-spanning domain, and an extracellular C terminus. The structural core was a β-sheet at the N terminus. The rBAT associates with the light subunit b0,+AT by a disulfide bridge with conserved cysteine residues (residues 109). A better understanding of the functional roles and regulation mechanism of rBAT would provide unique opportunities to investigate the biochemical processes underlying amino acid metabolism in C. carpio L., and support the foundation for improving aquaculture culture of C. carpio L.Keywords: rBAT gene, cDNA sequence analysis, protein tertiary structure, Cyprinus carpio

Aeromonas veronii, Associated with Skin Ulcerative Syndrome, Isolated from the Goldfish (Carassius auratus) in China

Aeromonas infections are the most common bacterial disease in cultured fish. In April 2013, an epizootic ulcerative syndrome occurred on a goldfish farm in Xuzhou, central China. A gram-negative bacterium was isolated from the ulcerative lesions and internal organs of infected dragon-eye goldfish (Carassius auratus), tentatively named strain CAV-134. The results showed that the isolate was identified as Aeromonas veronii by physiological and biochemical characteristics, furthermore it was confirmed by 16S rRNA, gyrB, mu, asl and aha1 genes sequencing analysis. The pathogenicity of the isolate was confirmed in crucian carp and produced an LD50 of 1.99×106 CFU/ml. Antimicrobial susceptibility pattern of strain CAV-134 showed it was susceptible to most antimicrobial agents tested but resistant to ampicillin, amoxicillin, carbenicillin, vancomycin, teicoplanin, lincomycin and clindamycin. This is the report on the pathogenic A. veronii isolated from the skin ulcerative syndrome of dragon-eye goldfish

ZhangBoPHHSSensitivityAnalysisNon-Inferiority_SupportingInformation.pdf

A major issue in non-inferiority trials is the controversial assumption of constancy, namely that the active control has the same effect relative to placebo as in previous studies comparing the active control with placebo. The constancy assumption is often in doubt, which has motivated various methods that ‘discount’ the control effect estimate from historical data as well as methods that adjust for imbalances in observed covariates. We develop a new approach to deal with residual inconstancy, i.e. possible violations of the constancy assumption due to imbalances in unmeasured covariates after adjusting for the measured covariates. We characterize the extent of residual inconstancy under a generalized linear model framework and use the results to obtain fully adjusted estimates of the control effect in the current study based on plausible assumptions about an unmeasured covariate. Because such assumptions may be difficult to justify, we propose a sensitivity analysis approach that covers a range of situations. This approach is developed for indirect comparison with placebo and effect retention, and implemented through additive and multiplicative adjustments.The approach proposed is applied to two examples concerning benign prostate hyperplasia and human immunodeficiency virus infection, and evaluated in simulation studies.Keywords: Constancy, Effect retention, Conditional effect, Putative placebo, Discounting, Active controlKeywords: Constancy, Effect retention, Conditional effect, Putative placebo, Discounting, Active controlKeywords: Constancy, Effect retention, Conditional effect, Putative placebo, Discounting, Active controlKeywords: Constancy, Effect retention, Conditional effect, Putative placebo, Discounting, Active contro

ZhangBoPHHSSensitivityAnalysisNon-Inferiority.pdf

A major issue in non-inferiority trials is the controversial assumption of constancy, namely that the active control has the same effect relative to placebo as in previous studies comparing the active control with placebo. The constancy assumption is often in doubt, which has motivated various methods that ‘discount’ the control effect estimate from historical data as well as methods that adjust for imbalances in observed covariates. We develop a new approach to deal with residual inconstancy, i.e. possible violations of the constancy assumption due to imbalances in unmeasured covariates after adjusting for the measured covariates. We characterize the extent of residual inconstancy under a generalized linear model framework and use the results to obtain fully adjusted estimates of the control effect in the current study based on plausible assumptions about an unmeasured covariate. Because such assumptions may be difficult to justify, we propose a sensitivity analysis approach that covers a range of situations. This approach is developed for indirect comparison with placebo and effect retention, and implemented through additive and multiplicative adjustments.The approach proposed is applied to two examples concerning benign prostate hyperplasia and human immunodeficiency virus infection, and evaluated in simulation studies.Keywords: Putative placebo, Conditional effect, Discounting, Active control, Effect retention, ConstancyKeywords: Putative placebo, Conditional effect, Discounting, Active control, Effect retention, Constanc

Peptide transporter 1 (PepT1) in fish: A review

The Peptide Transporter 1 (PepT1) plays an important role in animal protein nutrition. This is a low-affinity/high-capacity, stereoselective transmembrane transporter that mediates the uptake of a fraction of dietary amino acids in their di- and tripeptide forms. PepT1 is highly expressed in the intestines of vertebrates and the current studies examining PepT1 function have concentrated mostly on mammals and less emphasis has been placed on protein nutrition in fish. In the gastrointestinal track, amino acids are absorbed more efficiently in the form of small peptides than as free amino acids suggesting a potential role of PepT1 in the optimization of amino acid absorption which is relevant for fish nutrition. Therefore, this review focused on the physiological characteristics, structures, tissue distribution and expression of PepT1 transcripts and regulation of PepT1 protein in fish

Study of cell irregularity effects on the compression of closed-cell foams

Closed-cell aluminum foam is widely used as energy absorbing material. The cell regularity profoundly affects the mechanical behavior of this material. To investigate the influence of irregularity on elastic and plastic behavior of closed-cell foams, the compression behavior of Voronoi foams was simulated using the finite element method. The results show that with the increasing randomness of the foam, the elastic modules decrease a little while the collapse-strength decrease considerably. A theoretical analysis is conducted with the simple springs model. The results match well with simulation which shows theoretical analysis is reasonable. The Voronoi models were also compressed under different loading velocities and with different relative densities in simulation. The results reveal that foams with low regularity are more suitable for application in protective structures.Accepted versio