Cloning and expression of a human kinesin heavy chain gene: interaction of the COOH-terminal domain with cytoplasmic microtubules in transfected CV-1 cells.

To understand the interactions between the microtubule-based motor protein kinesin and intracellular components, we have expressed the kinesin heavy chain and its different domains in CV-1 monkey kidney epithelial cells and examined their distributions by immunofluorescence microscopy. For this study, we cloned and sequenced cDNAs encoding a kinesin heavy chain from a human placental library. The human kinesin heavy chain exhibits a high level of sequence identity to the previously cloned invertebrate kinesin heavy chains; homologies between the COOH-terminal domain of human and invertebrate kinesins and the nonmotor domain of the Aspergillus kinesin-like protein bimC were also found. The gene encoding the human kinesin heavy chain also contains a small upstream open reading frame in a G-C rich 5' untranslated region, features that are associated with translational regulation in certain mRNAs. After transient expression in CV-1 cells, the kinesin heavy chain showed both a diffuse distribution and a filamentous staining pattern that coaligned with microtubules but not vimentin intermediate filaments. Altering the number and distribution of microtubules with taxol or nocodazole produced corresponding changes in the localization of the expressed kinesin heavy chain. The expressed NH2-terminal motor and the COOH-terminal tail domains, but not the alpha-helical coiled coil rod domain, also colocalized with microtubules. The finding that both the kinesin motor and tail domains can interact with cytoplasmic microtubules raises the possibility that kinesin could crossbridge and induce sliding between microtubules under certain circumstances

Analysis of Yield Attributing Characters of Different Genotypes of Wheat in Rupandehi, Nepal

Field experiment was conducted at National Wheat Research Program, Bhairahawa, Rupandehi with the objective to identify high yielding superior wheat genotypes for Rupandehi district of Nepalduring 2014. Experiment was laid out in one factorial Randomized completely block design with ten wheat genotypes including both released and promising; Annapurna 1, Annapurna 3, Pasang Lahmu, Bijaya, BL 3623, Bhirkuti, NL 297, BL 4316, BL 3978 and BL 4347with three replications. The results showed that the grain yield of BL 3978 was found higher (4.03 t ha-1) than other genotypes followed by BL 4347 (3.93t ha-1). BL 3978 have also higher number of effective tillers m-2 and test weight. Among release varieties, NL 297 show higher yield (4 t ha-1) followed by Bhirkuti (3.43 t ha-1)and Bijaya (3.37 t ha-1). From this experiment it can be concluded that BL 3978 was found promising among all genotypes however should be tested at on-farms before promoted for general cultivation in Rupandehi district of Nepal

The Chlamydomonas genome project: A decade on

The green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a popular unicellular organism for studying photosynthesis, cilia biogenesis, and micronutrient homeostasis. Ten years since its genome project was initiated an iterative process of improvements to the genome and gene predictions has propelled this organism to the forefront of the omics era. Housed at Phytozome, the plant genomics portal of the Joint Genome Institute (JGI), the most up-to-date genomic data include a genome arranged on chromosomes and high-quality gene models with alternative splice forms supported by an abundance of whole transcriptome sequencing (RNA-Seq) data. We present here the past, present, and future of Chlamydomonas genomics. Specifically, we detail progress on genome assembly and gene model refinement, discuss resources for gene annotations, functional predictions, and locus ID mapping between versions and, importantly, outline a standardized framework for naming genes

Where is the jet quenching in Pb+Pb collisions at 158 AGeV?

Because of the rapidly falling particle spectrum at large $p_T$ from jet fragmentation at the CERN SPS energy, the high-$p_T$ hadron distribution should be highly sensitive to parton energy loss inside a dense medium as predicted by recent perturbative QCD (pQCD) studies. A careful analysis of recent data from CERN SPS experiments via pQCD calculation shows little evidence of energy loss. This implies that either the life-time of the dense partonic matter is very short or one has to re-think about the problem of parton energy loss in dense matter. The hadronic matter does not seem to cause jet quenching in $Pb+Pb$ collisions at the CERN SPS. High-$p_T$ two particle correlation in the azimuthal angle is proposed to further clarify this issue.Comment: 4 pages with 2 ps figures. Minors changes are made in the text with updated references. Revised version to appear in Phys. Rev. Letter

Abrasive water jet drilling of advanced sustainable bio-fibre-reinforced polymer/hybrid composites : a comprehensive analysis of machining-induced damage responses

This paper aims at investigating the effects of variable traverse speeds on machining-induced damage of fibre-reinforced composites, using the abrasive water jet (AWJ) drilling. Three different types of epoxy-based composites laminates fabricated by vacuum bagging technique containing unidirectional (UD) flax, hybrid carbon-flax and carbon fibre-reinforced composite were used. The drilling parameters used were traverse speeds of 20, 40, 60 and 80 mm/min, constant water jet pressure of 300 MPa and a hole diameter of 10 mm. The results obtained depict that the traverse speed had a significant effect with respect to both surface roughness and delamination drilling-induced damage responses. Evidently, an increase in water jet traverse speed caused an increase in both damage responses of the three samples. Significantly, the CFRP composite sample recorded the lowest surface roughness damage response, followed by C-FFRP, while FFRP exhibited the highest. However, samples of FFRP and hybrid C-FFRP recorded lowest and highest delamination damage responses, respectively. The discrepancy in both damage responses, as further validated with micrographs of colour video microscopy (CVM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray micro-computed tomography (X-ray μCT), is attributed to the different mechanical properties of the reinforced fibres, fibre orientation/ply stacking and hybridisation of the samples.Peer reviewe

Systematic Study of High p_T Hadron Spectra in pp, pA and AA Collisions from SPS to RHIC Energies

High-$p_T$ particle spectra in $p+p$ ($\bar p + p$), $p+A$ and $A+B$ collisions are calculated within a QCD parton model in which intrinsic transverse momentum, its broadening due to initial multiple parton scattering, and jet quenching due to parton energy loss inside a dense medium are included phenomenologically. The intrinsic $k_T$ and its broadening in $p+A$ and $A+B$ collisions due to initial multiple parton scattering are found to be very important at low energies ($\sqrt{s}<50$ GeV). Comparisons with $S+S$, $S+Au$ and $Pb+Pb$ data with different centrality cuts show that the differential cross sections of large transverse momentum pion production ($p_T>1$ GeV/$c$) in $A+B$ collisions scale very well with the number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions (modulo effects of multiple initial scattering). This indicates that semi-hard parton scattering is the dominant particle production mechanism underlying the hadron spectra at moderate $p_T \stackrel{>}{\sim} 1$ GeV/$c$. However, there is no evidence of jet quenching or parton energy loss. Within the parton model, one can exclude an effective parton energy loss $dE_q/dx>0.01$ GeV/fm and a mean free path $\lambda_q< 7$ fm from the experimental data of $A+B$ collisions at the SPS energies. Predictions for high $p_T$ particle spectra in $p+A$ and $A+A$ collisions with and without jet quenching at the RHIC energy are also given. Uncertainties due to initial multiple scattering and nuclear shadowing of parton distributions are also discussed.Comment: 13 pages in RevTex with 14 figures, the final published version (with some typos corrected

Is there a gender difference in anatomic features of incisive canal and maxillary environmental bone?

Objectives The effect of gender on anatomic structures and various body systems were illustrated in the literature. The purpose of this study was to identify the influence of gender and tooth loss on incisive canal characteristics and buccal bone dimensions in the anterior maxilla. Materials and methods Computed tomographies ( CTs ) of 417 male and 516 female patients in four dental clinics were included in this study. The diameter and the length of the incisive canal; width and the length of the bone anterior to the canal; palatal bone length, root length, and root width of the central incisor teeth were measured and recorded from CT sections. Results Mean incisive canal length was 11.96 ± 2.73 mm and 10.39 ± 2.47 mm in men and women, respectively, ( P  < 0.05). In men, mean canal diameter was 2.79 ± 0.94 mm whereas in women it was 2.43 ± 0.85 mm and this difference was statistically significant ( P  < 0.05). Men had significant higher buccal bone dimensions (length and width of the bone anterior to the canal) than women. Absence of teeth in the anterior maxilla decreased incisive canal length and buccal bone dimensions; however, canal diameter remain unchanged. Conclusions Present results suggested a gender related differences in anatomic features of incisive canal and surrounding buccal bone. In addition, crestal canal diameter, buccal bone length, and thickness parameters might be different in distinct countries.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/99051/1/clr2493.pd

Effect of intra-ply hybrid patches and hydrothermal aging on local bending response of repaired GFRP composite laminates

This study investigates the influence of intra-ply hybrid patches and hydrothermal aging on the indentation properties of patch repaired GFRP composites. Fabrics with various proportions of glass and Kevlar fibers were employed as the patches to achieve enhanced mechanical properties by hybridizing Kevlar and glass fibers together. Hydrothermal aging behavior of repaired composite laminates modified with water-resistant glass fibers in the outer layers was further investigated. Specimens were immersed in an environmental chamber containing seawater at temperatures of 30 (ambient), 50, and 70 &deg;C until up to saturation. Damage mechanisms of repaired laminates were monitored using real-time acoustic emission (AE) technique. The experimental results showed that specimens repaired with 50G:50K patches offered superior performance than the virgin specimens. The hydrothermal aging effect on indentation behavior of the modified repaired specimens showed a considerable reduction in indentation properties, with higher strength retention exhibited by the repaired specimens modified with chopped glass fibers compared to the particulate fibers

Review on natural plant fibres and their hybrid composites for structural applications: Recent trends and future perspectives

© 2022 Published by Elsevier B.V. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).Sustainability and environmental protection have given rise to the use of renewable and biobased materials in several application areas. Fibre reinforced composites are currently gaining a high market value in both structural and semi-structural applications. Making these materials environmentally friendly, renewable and lighter will protect the environment and increase resource use efficiency. Opposed to synthetic fibres such as carbon and glass, natural plant fibres are less expensive, lighter, degradable, easy to produce, non-toxic and environmentally friendly. However, natural plant fibres are inferior to their synthetic counterparts in both mechanical performance and tolerance to harsh environmental conditions. One method of compensating for these disadvantages is to combine natural and synthetic fibres in a single matrix forming a hybrid composite where the disadvantages of one are compensated by the other. In this way, sustainability and cost minimisation are achieved with acceptable mechanical and physical responses. However, successful implementation and advancement in the development of natural plant fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) hybrid composites require the development of workable conceptual design, suitable manufacturing techniques and understanding of the strengthening mechanisms. The main objectives of this review are to critically review the current state of knowledge in the development of natural FRP hybrid composites, outlining their properties and enhancing them while reducing environmental impact of the product through the hybridisation approach.Peer reviewe

TH1.1: Beyond Household Headship: Examining the Intra-household Decision-Making Process Among Wheat Growers in Bihar, India

Agricultural decisions among smallholders are made within the households where in most cases husband and wife discuss, contest, negotiate, or consent to the decisions they make. Comparing male and female-headed households misses these important dynamics of decision-making that are happening inside the households. Likewise, comparing household heads does not consider the role of women who live in male-headed households. This study looks beyond who makes which decisions and the binaries of yes and no responses as a measure for gender dynamics. It disentangles the intra-household aspect of the decision-making process itself and helps understand the "why" behind decisions among wheat growers in two districts of Bihar- Madhepura and Darbhanga. It uses vignettes, or stories, to survey 420 women and men farmers (210 households) to identify the decision patterns across six key activities of wheat farming covering strategic, operational, and financial decisions. The vignettes describe five possible household scenarios by narrating five short stories to individual respondents and showing corresponding graphics for visual aid. Preliminary analysis indicates that patterns between households and gender are not uniform. There are divergent patterns across five vignettes amongst households for women and men's roles. Further, they are found to have different patterns of responses to the same agricultural activities, adding more complexity in the mix. Understanding these dynamics will help design more comprehensive, effective and actionable approaches to gender-intentional interventions in the wheat crop management, including breeding and inclusive seed system development, as it feeds to identify entry points for women's role in agricultural decisions