Perfect 3-colorings of the Cubic Graphs of Order 10

Perfect coloring is a generalization of the notion of completely regular codes, given by Delsarte. A perfect m-coloring of a graph G with m colors is a partition of the vertex set of G into m parts A_1, A_2, ..., A_m such that, for all $i,j \in \lbrace 1, ... , m \rbrace$, every vertex of A_i is adjacent to the same number of vertices, namely, a_{ij} vertices, of A_j. The matrix $A=(a_{ij})_{i,j\in \lbrace 1,... ,m\rbrace }$, is called the parameter matrix. We study the perfect 3-colorings (also known as the equitable partitions into three parts) of the cubic graphs of order 10. In particular, we classify all the realizable parameter matrices of perfect 3-colorings for the cubic graphs of order 10

Simultaneous measurement of quality factor and wavelength shift by phase shift microcavity ring down spectroscopy

Optical resonant microcavities with ultra high quality factors are widely used for biosensing. Until now, the primary method of detection has been based upon tracking the resonant wavelength shift as a function of biodetection events. One of the sources of noise in all resonant-wavelength shift measurements is the noise due to intensity fluctuations of the laser source. An alternative approach is to track the change in the quality factor of the optical cavity by using phase shift cavity ring down spectroscopy, a technique which is insensitive to the intensity fluctuations of the laser source. Here, using biotinylated microtoroid resonant cavities, we show simultaneous measurement of the quality factor and the wavelength shift by using phase shift cavity ring down spectroscopy. These measurements were performed for disassociation phase of biotin-streptavidin reaction. We found that the disassociation curves are in good agreement with the previously published results. Hence, we demonstrate not only the application of phase shift cavity ring down spectroscopy to microcavities in the liquid phase but also simultaneous measurement of the quality factor and the wavelength shift for the microcavity biosensors in the application of kinetics measurements

The impact of information quantity and strength of relationship between training set and validation set on accuracy of genomic estimated breeding values

Recent advances in genomic selection are a revolution in animal breeding. A genome consisting 10 chromosomes each with 100 cM in length with 100 equally spaced markers (1 cM) were simulated. After 50 generations of random mating in a finite population (Ne = 100) in order to create sufficient linkage disequilibrium, population was expanded to two different population sizes of 500 and 1000. This structure was conserved until generation 59. Only females of generations 51 to 58 had phenotypicrecords and were included in the training set. The generation 59 was assumed as juveniles without any phenotypic records (validation set). Two measures of heritability (h2 = 0.1 and h2 = 0.5) were considered.Each simulation was replicated 10 times and results were averaged across replications. The results showed that using individuals of more recent generations in training set led to higher accuracy of genomic estimated breeding values (GEBVs) than individuals from more distant generations. However, increase in the amount of phenotypic records in training set even from individuals of older generations will increase accuracy of GEBVs. Number of phenotypic records in training set was shown to haveimportant role in accuracy of GEBVs especially for low heritability traits

Effects of upper-body, lower-body, or combined resistance training on the ratio of follistatin and myostatin in middle-aged men.

PURPOSE:Due to the mechanistic role of myostatin and follistatin in modulating muscle mass, shifts in the follistatin to myostatin ratio (F:M) may help explain changes in muscular size in response to resistance training (RT). The present study examined whether differential responses in follistatin and myostatin occur based on the amount of active musculature in a RT program in middle-aged men. METHODS:Forty middle-aged men (age = 46.5 ± 3.1 years) were randomly assigned to 1 of 4 groups, upper-body RT (UB; n = 10), lower-body RT (LB; n = 10), combined RT (UB + LB; n = 10) or control (C; n = 10). The training protocol consisted of three exercise sessions per week for 8 weeks. Blood samples were obtained at baseline and 48 h after the final session of the training program. RESULTS:Muscle mass significantly increased (p < 0.05) following UB = 0.76 ± 0.46 kg, LB = 0.90 ± 0.29 kg, UB + LB = 1.38 ± 0.70 kg, compared to no changes after control. Serum follistatin increased in the LB = 0.24 ± 0.06 ng mL-1, UB = 0.27 ± 0.17 ng mL-1, UB + LB = 0.50 ± 0.18 ng mL-1, while serum myostatin decreased in the LB = - 0.11 ± 0.08 ng mL-1 and UB + LB = - 0.34 ± 0.23 ng mL-1, but not UB = 0.07 ± 0.16 ng mL-1. Further, change in concentration following training was larger between UB + LB and either LB or UB alone for both follistatin and myostatin. CONCLUSIONS:Both UB and LB increase muscle mass and alter the F: M ratio; however, the change in these endocrine markers is approximately twice as large if UB and LB is combined. The endocrine response to RT of myostatin and follistatin may depend on the volume of muscle mass activated during training

Genetic variations between indigenous fat-tailed sheep populations

Blood samples were collected from a total 816 sheep of both sexes in three Iranian fat-tailed breeds (Sangsari, Makoei, indigenous sheep on firoozkouh mountain) serum, plasma and erythrocyte were separated and were frozen at -20°C. Variation in their blood proteins, albumin, haemoglobin and transferrin were examined to characterize the breeds and to obtain genetic relationship among them. Only transferrin was polymorphic in all breeds investigated; while albumin was monomorphic for S allele and haemoglobin was fixed for the B allele in three breeds.Keywords: Sangsari, makoei, firoozkouhi, fat-tailed, albumin, transferrin, haemoglobinAfrican Journal of Biotechnology Vol. 9(36), pp. 5993-5996, 6 September, 201

Deferoxamine preconditioning to restore impaired HIF-1α-mediated angiogenic mechanisms in adipose-derived stem cells from STZ-induced type 1 diabetic rats

Objectives: Both excessive and insufficient angiogenesis are associated with progression of diabetic complications, of which poor angiogenesis is an important feature. Currently, adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) are considered to be a promising source to aid therapeutic neovascularization. However, functionality of these cells is impaired by diabetes which can result from a defect in hypoxia-inducible factor-1 (HIF-1), a key mediator involved in neovascularization. In the current study, we sought to explore effectiveness of pharmacological priming with deferoxamine (DFO) as a hypoxia mimetic agent, to restore the compromised angiogenic pathway, with the aid of ADSCs derived from streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetic rats ('diabetic ADSCs'). Materials and methods: Diabetic ADSCs were treated with DFO and compared to normal and non-treated diabetic ADSCs for expression of HIF-1α, VEGF, FGF-2 and SDF-1, at mRNA and protein levels, using qRT-PCR, western blotting and ELISA assay. Activity of matrix metalloproteinases -2 and -9 were measured using a gelatin zymography assay. Angiogenic potential of conditioned media derived from normal, DFO-treated and non-treated diabetic ADSCs were determined by in vitro (in HUVECs) and in vivo experiments including scratch assay, three-dimensional tube formation testing and surgical wound healing models. Results: DFO remarkably enhanced expression of noted genes by mRNA and protein levels and restored activity of matrix metalloproteinases -2 and -9. Compromised angiogenic potential of conditioned medium derived from diabetic ADSCs was restored by DFO both in vitro and in vivo experiments. Conclusion: DFO preconditioning restored neovascularization potential of ADSCs derived from diabetic rats by affecting the HIF-1α pathway. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd