Statistical tools for transgene copy number estimation based on real-time PCR

Background As compared with traditional transgene copy number detection technologies such as Southern blot analysis, real-time PCR provides a fast, inexpensive and high-throughput alternative. However, the real-time PCR based transgene copy number estimation tends to be ambiguous and subjective stemming from the lack of proper statistical analysis and data quality control to render a reliable estimation of copy number with a prediction value. Despite the recent progresses in statistical analysis of real-time PCR, few publications have integrated these advancements in real-time PCR based transgene copy number determination. Results Three experimental designs and four data quality control integrated statistical models are presented. For the first method, external calibration curves are established for the transgene based on serially-diluted templates. The Ct number from a control transgenic event and putative transgenic event are compared to derive the transgene copy number or zygosity estimation. Simple linear regression and two group T-test procedures were combined to model the data from this design. For the second experimental design, standard curves were generated for both an internal reference gene and the transgene, and the copy number of transgene was compared with that of internal reference gene. Multiple regression models and ANOVA models can be employed to analyze the data and perform quality control for this approach. In the third experimental design, transgene copy number is compared with reference gene without a standard curve, but rather, is based directly on fluorescence data. Two different multiple regression models were proposed to analyze the data based on two different approaches of amplification efficiency integration. Our results highlight the importance of proper statistical treatment and quality control integration in real-time PCR-based transgene copy number determination. Conclusion These statistical methods allow the real-time PCR-based transgene copy number estimation to be more reliable and precise with a proper statistical estimation. Proper confidence intervals are necessary for unambiguous prediction of trangene copy number. The four different statistical methods are compared for their advantages and disadvantages. Moreover, the statistical methods can also be applied for other real-time PCR-based quantification assays including transfection efficiency analysis and pathogen quantification

Proof Theory and Ordered Groups

Ordering theorems, characterizing when partial orders of a group extend to total orders, are used to generate hypersequent calculi for varieties of lattice-ordered groups (l-groups). These calculi are then used to provide new proofs of theorems arising in the theory of ordered groups. More precisely: an analytic calculus for abelian l-groups is generated using an ordering theorem for abelian groups; a calculus is generated for l-groups and new decidability proofs are obtained for the equational theory of this variety and extending finite subsets of free groups to right orders; and a calculus for representable l-groups is generated and a new proof is obtained that free groups are orderable

Emerging Strategies for Healthy Urban Governance

Urban health promotion is not simply a matter of the right interventions, or even the necessary resources. Urban (and indeed global) health depends to an important extent on governance, the institutions and processes through which societies manage the course of events. This paper describes the concept of governance, distinguishing between reforms aimed at improving how government works and innovations that more fundamentally reinvent governance by developing new institutions and processes of local stakeholder control. The paper highlights strategies urban governors can use to maximize their influence on the national and international decisions that structure urban life. It concludes with some observations on the limitations of local governance strategies and the importance of establishing a “virtuous circuit” of governance through which urban dwellers play a greater role in the formation and implementation of policy at the national and global levels

A Formalization of the Theorem of Existence of First-Order Most General Unifiers

This work presents a formalization of the theorem of existence of most general unifiers in first-order signatures in the higher-order proof assistant PVS. The distinguishing feature of this formalization is that it remains close to the textbook proofs that are based on proving the correctness of the well-known Robinson's first-order unification algorithm. The formalization was applied inside a PVS development for term rewriting systems that provides a complete formalization of the Knuth-Bendix Critical Pair theorem, among other relevant theorems of the theory of rewriting. In addition, the formalization methodology has been proved of practical use in order to verify the correctness of unification algorithms in the style of the original Robinson's unification algorithm.Comment: In Proceedings LSFA 2011, arXiv:1203.542

Comparative analysis between condom use clusters and risk behaviours among portuguese university students

The research on condom use has been focused on high-risk individuals, paying less attention to those who have moderate risk or safe sexual conducts. In order to design accurate interventions, potential differences among the condom use behavior groups must be considered. The goal was to assess possible differences in individuals presenting different types of risk behavior. 140 heterosexual university students answered a self-reported questionnaire about their sexual history, condom use habits, sexual self-esteem, sexual satisfaction, sexual control, attitudes towards condoms, self-efficacy to condom use, and emotions and feelings during sexual intercourse. A cluster analysis was conducted using the results about condom use and risk behaviors. Three groups with different risk levels emerged, presenting differences over sexual self-efficacy, attitudes towards condoms, socio-demographic variables, and sexual history. The results suggest the condom use inconsistency is highly associated with other risk behaviors but the contrary does not necessarily happens. Condom use consistent users also presented risk behaviors as smoking and drinking. The group differences suggest the risks were more affected by the combination of lack of skills with a negative attitude toward condoms than by contextual or personal variables. These differences sustain the need of an intervention adjusted to the individual's risk levels, since they differ on skills and beliefs that may hinder or promote the adoption of health behaviors.Foundation for Science and Technology/Fundacao para a Ciencia e Tecnologia (Portugal)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Imaging gravity waves in lower stratospheric AMSU-A radiances, Part 2: Validation case study

Two-dimensional radiance maps from Channel 9 (~60&ndash;90 hPa) of the Advanced Microwave Sounding Unit (AMSU-A), acquired over southern Scandinavia on 14 January 2003, show plane-wave-like oscillations with a wavelength &lambda;_<i>h</i> of ~400&ndash;500 km and peak brightness temperature amplitudes of up to 0.9 K. The wave-like pattern is observed in AMSU-A radiances from 8 overpasses of this region by 4 different satellites, revealing a growth in the disturbance amplitude from 00:00 UTC to 12:00 UTC and a change in its horizontal structure between 12:00 UTC and 20:00 UTC. Forecast and hindcast runs for 14 January 2003 using high-resolution global and regional numerical weather prediction (NWP) models generate a lower stratospheric mountain wave over southern Scandinavia with peak 90 hPa temperature amplitudes of ~5&ndash;7 K at 12:00 UTC and a similar horizontal wavelength, packet width, phase structure and time evolution to the disturbance observed in AMSU-A radiances. The wave&apos;s vertical wavelength is ~12 km. These NWP fields are validated against radiosonde wind and temperature profiles and airborne lidar profiles of temperature and aerosol backscatter ratios acquired from the NASA DC-8 during the second SAGE III Ozone Loss and Validation Experiment (SOLVE II). Both the amplitude and phase of the stratospheric mountain wave in the various NWP fields agree well with localized perturbation features in these suborbital measurements. In particular, we show that this wave formed the type II polar stratospheric clouds measured by the DC-8 lidar. To compare directly with the AMSU-A data, we convert these validated NWP temperature fields into swath-scanned brightness temperatures using three-dimensional Channel 9 weighting functions and the actual AMSU-A scan patterns from each of the 8 overpasses of this region. These NWP-based brightness temperatures contain two-dimensional oscillations due to this resolved stratospheric mountain wave that have an amplitude, wavelength, horizontal structure and time evolution that closely match those observed in the AMSU-A data. These comparisons not only verify gravity wave detection and horizontal imaging capabilities for AMSU-A Channel 9, but provide an absolute validation of the anticipated radiance signals for a given three-dimensional gravity wave, based on the modeling of Eckermann and Wu (2006)

Chemical Engineering Division waste management programs. Quarterly report, January--March 1975

Development work on the study of consolidation techniques for Zircaloy fuel-cladding hulls included scouting tests on volatility schemes for separating the zirconium as the volatile tetrachloride and ignition tests on several Zircaloy materials to further characterize the pyrophoric behavior of Zircaloy. All tests were with nonirradiated metal pending acquisition of irradiated samples. Installation is nearly complete of a glovebox facility for studies on the salvage of alpha-contaminated metals by pyrochemical methods. Disposal of a major portion of fission product tritium formed in light water reactor fuels by deep- well injection of the low-level aqueous waste from plants reprocessing such fuels is being evaluated. The question of siting is a very important factor in determining the feasibility of this particular disposal option. A review is given of the status of information for U. S. sedimentary basins, the areas most likely to be generally suitable for siting of waste wells. Work on the reliability of high-level-waste canisters included an examination of creep, shot- peening, and subcooling of the filler canister below storage temperatures, as methods of relieving stresses induced in canisters due to differential contraction of canister and glass during cooling. A method was investigated for relieving stresses in calcine-filled canisters. Properties of fission product oxides were examined to elucidate possible adverse corrosive effects at the canister-waste interface. (LK