Co-expression of a prophage system and a plasmid system in Bacillus subtilis

A dual expression system for overexpressing two proteins by a single cell strain has been developed in Bacillus subtilis. This dual expression system combines the Φ105MU331 prophage system and a plasmid system within a single cell. Protein expression by the prophage system is heat inducible, while that of the plasmid system is constitutive. Three candidate genes, BPN, BT, and amyE, all of Bacillus origin, were used as test models. Seven strains (BPN, BT, AMY, BS168K, MU331K, BPNK, and BTK) were constructed to investigate the influences of the prophage system and the plasmid system on each other, and to compare the efficiency of the individual expression systems with that of the dual expression system. Individually, the yield of the plasmid system is higher than that of the prophage system, which could be attributed to the constitutive nature of the expression of the plasmid system. Nonetheless, for the dual expression strains, the expression of two enzymes in a single fermentation run can reduce costs in facilities, manpower, and utilities. Fed-batch fermentation of BPNK strains confirmed the feasibility of applying this dual expression system in industrial-scale production. © 2003 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.postprin

Design of multi-plet perfect reconstruction filter banks using frequency-response masking technique

This paper proposes a new design method for a class of two-channel perfect reconstruction (PR) filter banks (FBs) called multi-plet FBs with very sharp cutoff using frequency- response masking (FRM) technique. The multi-plet FBs are PR FBs and their frequency characteristics are controlled by a single subfilter. By recognizing the close relationship between the subfilter and the FRM-based halfband filter, very sharp cutoff PR multi-plet FBs can be realized with reduced implementation complexity. The design procedure is very general and it can be applied to both linear-phase and low-delay PR FBs. Design examples are given to demonstrate the usefulness of the proposed method. © 2008 IEEE.published_or_final_versio

Vibration of open cylindrical shells: A three-dimensional elasticity approach

The three-dimensional elastic analysis of the vibration of open cylindrical shells are presented. Transverse normal stress usually neglected in plate and shell higher-order theories has been considered. The natural frequencies and vibration mode shapes have been obtained via a three-dimensional displacement-based extremum energy principle. Excessive requirements for memory and computational effort have been overcome, without sacrificing numerical accuracy, by (i) decoupling the three-dimensional displacements into the product of a set of beam and shell shape functions; and (ii) classifying the vibration modes. The effects of subtended angle and aspect ratio have been concluded for shells with various boundary conditions. Typical vibration mode shapes demonstrating the dependence of vibration characteristics on boundary constraints are presented. ©1998 Acoustical Society of America.published_or_final_versio

Exposure Definition in Case-Control Studies of Cervical Cancer Screening: A Systematic Literature Review

The first step in evaluating the effectiveness of cervical screening is defining exposure to screening. Our aim was to describe the spectrum of screening exposure definitions used in studies of the effectiveness of cervical screening. This systematic review included case-control studies in a population-based screening setting. Outcome was incidence of cervical cancer. Three electronic databases were searched from 01/January/2012 to 06/December/2018. Articles prior to 2012 were identified from a previous review. The qualitative synthesis focused on describing screening exposure definitions reported in the literature and the methodological differences which could have an impact on the association between screening and cervical cancer. Forty-one case-control studies were included. Six screening exposure definitions were identified. Cervical cancer risk on average decreased by 66% when screening exposure was defined as ever tested, by 77% by time since last negative test and by 79% after two or more previous tests. Methodological differences included composition of the reference group and whether diagnostic and/or symptomatic tests were excluded from the analysis. Consensus guidelines to standardise exposure definitions are needed to ensure evaluations of cervical cancer screening can accurately measure the impact of transitioning from cytology to human papillomavirus-based screening and to allow comparisons between programmes

A importância dos valores numa gestão de recursos humanos socialmente responsável - estudo de caso numa empresa seguradora angolana

A análise dos valores e a importância dos mesmos na organização e na gestão é o ponto de partida do tema em abordagem. Pretende-se entender como a observância de valores é determinante na gestão socialmente responsável. Destacaremos o papel dos modelos de gestão de recursos humanos e da cultura da organização, onde são criados e veiculados os valores organizacionais, enfatizando-se a ética e a responsabilidade social. Nesta Dissertação realizou-se um Estudo de Caso numa grande seguradora angolana, onde através da análise documental, da observação directa e de entrevistas semi-estruturadas a informantes-chave foi possível inventariar os valores organizacionais e caracterizar as principais políticas numa perspectiva de gestão de recursos humanos socialmente responsável; ABSTRACT: The analysis of the values and its importance at organization and management is the starting point of the theme approach. The aim is to understand how the observance of values is crucial in the socially responsible management. Highlight the role of models in human resource management and organizational culture, where they are created and conveyed organizational values, emphasizing ethics and social responsibility. In this thesis we performed a case study in a large insurance company of Angola, where through the document analysis, direct observation and semi-structured interviews with key informants was possible to make an inventory of organizational values and characterize the main policies from the perspective of resource management socially responsible human

Dark-adapted red flash ERGs in healthy adults

Purpose: The x-wave of the dark-adapted (DA) ERG to a red flash reflects DA cone function. This exploratory study of healthy adults aimed to investigate changes in the DA red ERG with flash strength and during dark adaptation to optimise visualisation and therefore quantification of the x-wave. Methods: The effect of altering red flash strength was investigated in four subjects by recording ERGs after 20 minutes dark adaptation to red flashes (0.2–2.0 cd s m-2) using skin electrodes and natural pupils. The effect of dark adaptation duration was investigated in 16 subjects during 20 minutes in the dark, by recording DA 1.5 red ERGs at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 10, 15 and 20 minutes. Results: For a dark adaption period of 20 minutes, the x-wave was more clearly visualised to weaker (< 0.6 cd s m-2) red flash strengths: to stronger flashes it became obscured by the b-wave. For red flashes of 1.5 cd s m-2, the x-wave was most prominent in ERGs recorded after 1–5 minutes of dark adaptation: with longer dark-adaptation, it was subsumed into the b-wave’s rising edge. Conclusions: This small study suggests that x-wave visibility in healthy subjects after 20 minutes dark adaptation is improved by using flashes weaker than around 0.6 cd s m-2; for flash strengths of 1.5 cd s m-2, x-wave visibility is enhanced by recording after only around 5 minutes of dark adaptation. No evidence was found that interim red flash ERGs affecting the dark-adapted state of the normal retina

Differential genetic interactions of yeast stress response MAPK pathways.

Genetic interaction screens have been applied with great success in several organisms to study gene function and the genetic architecture of the cell. However, most studies have been performed under optimal growth conditions even though many functional interactions are known to occur under specific cellular conditions. In this study, we have performed a large-scale genetic interaction analysis in Saccharomyces cerevisiae involving approximately 49 × 1,200 double mutants in the presence of five different stress conditions, including osmotic, oxidative and cell wall-altering stresses. This resulted in the generation of a differential E-MAP (or dE-MAP) comprising over 250,000 measurements of conditional interactions. We found an extensive number of conditional genetic interactions that recapitulate known stress-specific functional associations. Furthermore, we have also uncovered previously unrecognized roles involving the phosphatase regulator Bud14, the histone methylation complex COMPASS and membrane trafficking complexes in modulating the cell wall integrity pathway. Finally, the osmotic stress differential genetic interactions showed enrichment for genes coding for proteins with conditional changes in phosphorylation but not for genes with conditional changes in gene expression. This suggests that conditional genetic interactions are a powerful tool to dissect the functional importance of the different response mechanisms of the cell

Does the aldosterone: renin ratio predict the efficacy of spironolactone over bendroflumethiazide in hypertension? A clinical trial protocol for RENALDO (RENin-ALDOsterone) study

<p>Background: High blood pressure is an important determinant of cardiovascular disease risk. Treated hypertensives do not attain a risk level equivalent to normotensives. This may be a consequence of suboptimal blood pressure control to which indiscriminate use of antihypertensive drugs may contribute. Indeed the recent ALLHAT[1]study suggests that thiazides should be given first to virtually all hypertensives. Whether this is correct or whether different antihypertensive therapies should be targeted towards different patients is a major unresolved issue, which we address in this study.</p> <p>The measurement of the ratio of aldosterone: renin is used to identify hypertensive subjects who may respond well to treatment with the aldosterone antagonist spironolactone. It is not known if subjects with a high ratio have aldosteronism or aldosterone-sensitive hypertension is debated but it is important to know whether spironolactone is superior to other diuretics such as bendroflumethiazide in this setting.</p> <p>Methods/design: The study is a double-blind, randomised, crossover, controlled trial that will randomise 120 hypertensive subjects to 12 weeks treatment with spironolactone 50 mg once daily and 12 weeks treatment with bendroflumethiazide 2.5 mg once daily. The 2 treatment periods are separated by a 2-week washout period. Randomisation is stratified by aldosterone: renin ratio to include equal numbers of subjects with high and low aldosterone: renin ratios.</p> <p>Primary Objective – To test the hypothesis that the aldosterone: renin ratio predicts the antihypertensive response to spironolactone, specifically that the effect of spironolactone 50 mg is greater than that of bendroflumethiazide 2.5 mg in hypertensive subjects with high aldosterone: renin ratios.</p> <p>Secondary Objectives – To determine whether bendroflumethiazide induces adverse metabolic abnormalities, especially in subjects with high aldosterone: renin ratios and if baseline renin measurement predicts the antihypertensive response to spironolactone and/or bendrofluazide.</p> <p>Discussion: The numerous deleterious effects of hypertension dictate the need for a systematic approach for its treatment. In spite of various therapies, resistant hypertension is widely prevalent. Among various factors, primary aldosteronism is an important cause of resistant hypertension and is now more commonly recognised. More significantly, hypertensives with primary aldosteronism are also exposed to various other deleterious effects of excess aldosterone. Hence treating hypertension with specific aldosterone antagonists may be a better approach in this group of patients. It may lead on to better blood pressures with fewer medications.</p&gt

Spotlight on Geminin

In the previous issue of Breast Cancer Research, Gardner and co-workers describe a novel interaction between Geminin, a protein that prevents reinitiation of DNA replication, and Topoisomerase IIα (TopoIIα), an enzyme essential for removing catenated intertwines between sister chromatids. Geminin facilitates the action of TopoIIα, thereby promoting termination of DNA replication at the same time it inhibits initiation. In this manner, Geminin ensures that cells duplicate their genome once, but only once, each time they divide. Remarkably, either depletion of Geminin or over-expression of Geminin inhibits the action of TopoIIα, thereby making Geminin an excellent target for cancer chemotherapy