Expression of Green Fluorescence Protein (GFP) in Zebrafish Muscle through Injection: A Gene Therapy Model

Expression of the target gene is important for gene therapy. Presently, localized transgenesis is used for gene therapy which can be achieved by a target gene expression. Here, we have reported the plasmid mediated gene therapy to zebrafish model. For this purpose, we have chosen green fluorescent protein (GFP) as a target gene because the expression can be detected easily. GFP was inserted in a plasmid vector, pQE30 to develop the vector pQE30GFP. The plasmid pQE30GFP was constructed form plasmid, pQE30 and pEGFPC2. pQE30GFP injected directly in one group of fish into the muscle where luciferase expression was noted. In another group, after injection electroporation was performed where we have also noted luciferase expression; but, electroporation cause muscle injury to the zebrafish. In our case, the expression was very strong at the site of injection in first group in compare to electroporation group and in both the cases expression was stable more than two weeks

Nd-142/Nd-144 in SNCs and early differentiation of a heterogeneous Martian mantle

Sm/Nd correlated variations in Nd-142/Nd-144 have been observed for mineral phases of achondrites from decay of live Sm-146 in the early solar system. Crystallization ages of shergottites-nakhlites-Chassigny (SNC) meteorites are less than or = 1.3 Ga, so variations of Nd-142/Nd-144 among mineral phases of the SNC's are not expected. However, if SNC's were derived from source reservoirs of differing Sm/Nd ratios, established while Sm-146 was still alive, and which remained isolated except for magma extraction, then variations in Nd-142/Nd-144 would exist among individual SNC meteorites. Rb-Sr and U-Pb isotopic data for the shergottites imply differentiation of their parent planet approximately 4.6 Ga ago. The confirmation of the conclusion that the nakhlites and shergottites were derived from different source regions, and that, consequently, the shergottite parent body (SPB) mantle was heterogeneous is presented

Decision Analysis on Water Resources Planning and Management for an Arid Metropolitan Center in West Texas

The demand by consumers for public-owned low-priced natural resources is essentially insatiable. When natural resources become scarce the public is agonized by the problem of making an optimum choice or choices from feasible alternatives, preferably from a large number of feasible alternatives. In order to determine the best solutions in terms of satisfying constrained requirements, systematic procedures must be adopted for resources planning and management processes. The Need for a Comprehensive Systems Approach to Urban Water Resources Planning In the past, management and planning programs for water resources have been based primarily on one attribute--money. Sharp criticism has been directed to this type of single-minded planning approach as exemplified in the following speech by Senator Stephen Youngs[38], For a large segment of our water resources program, both the Executive Branch and Congress now scrutinize each project as though it were a narrow commercial undertaking. We concentrate attention on those direct prospective benefits which are strictly measurable in dollars and cents such as the dollar value of property saved from floods, or the amount by which river navigation saves freight charges. We then compare these narrowly construed monetary benefits to cost. In almost every instance, the benefits, human and social values, and vital objectives of national policy which cannot be measured in direct monetary terms often receive only supplementary attention, or none at all. It has become the policy, as stated by Clayton[11], of the National Water Commission, that water resource projects should not be evaluated merely on a pure benefit-cost ratio, but that intangible benefits should also be considered. This prevailing attitude has catalyzed the application of decision analysis embedded with multiattribute characteristics for water resources development decision-making procedures. Decision analysis is a systematic solution procedure which can be used to crystalize a complicated decision problem into manageable subproblems by ranking the decision alternatives in accordance with cardinal values attached to their consequences based on the principles outlines in utility theory. Recent advances in multiattribute utility theory allow the decision maker to assess utilities over intangible benefits such as social acceptance or recreation potential. The relative importance of both intangible and tangible benefits such as cost or quality will all be weighted accordingly in the total utility evaluation. In this manner, the intangible benefits will receive due consideration in the final decision making process

A Critical Examination of Hypernova Remnant Candidates in M101. II. NGC 5471B

NGC 5471B has been suggested to contain a hypernova remnant because of its extraordinarily bright X-ray emission. To assess its true nature, we have obtained high-resolution images in continuum bands and nebular lines with the Hubble Space Telescope, and high-dispersion long-slit spectra with the Kitt Peak National Observatory 4-m echelle spectrograph. The images reveal three supernova remnant (SNR) candidates in the giant HII region NGC 5471, with the brightest one being the 77x60 pc shell in NGC 5471B. The Ha velocity profile of NGC 5471B can be decomposed into a narrow component (FWHM = 41 km/s) from the background HII region and a broad component (FWHM = 148 km/s) from the SNR shell. Using the brightness ratio of the broad to narrow components and the Ha flux measured from the WFPC2 Ha image, we derive an Ha luminosity of (1.4+-0.1)x10^39 ergs/s for the SNR shell. The [SII]6716,6731 doublet ratio of the broad velocity component is used to derive an electron density of ~700 cm^-3 in the SNR shell. The mass of the SNR shell is thus 4600+-500 Mo. With a \~330 km/s expansion velocity implied by the extreme velocity extent of the broad component, the kinetic energy of the SNR shell is determined to be 5x10^51 ergs. This requires an explosion energy greater than 10^52 ergs, which can be provided by one hypernova or multiple supernovae. Comparing to SNRs in nearby active star formation regions, the SNR shell in NGC 5471B appears truly unique and energetic. We conclude that the optical observations support the existence of a hypernova remnant in NGC 5471B.Comment: 27 pages, 9 figures, to appear in May 2002 issue of The Astronomical Journa

New high-efficiency source of photon pairs for engineering quantum entanglement

We have constructed an efficient source of photon pairs using a waveguide-type nonlinear device and performed a two-photon interference experiment with an unbalanced Michelson interferometer. Parametric down-converted photons from the nonlinear device are detected by two detectors located at the output ports of the interferometer. Because the interferometer is constructed with two optical paths of different length, photons from the shorter path arrive at the detector earlier than those from the longer path. We find that the difference of arrival time and the time window of the coincidence counter are important parameters which determine the boundary between the classical and quantum regime. When the time window of the coincidence counter is smaller than the arrival time difference, fringes of high visibility (80$\pm$ 10%) were observed. This result is only explained by quantum theory and is clear evidence for quantum entanglement of the interferometer's optical paths.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, IQEC200

Two-photon interference with thermal light

The study of entangled states has greatly improved the basic understanding about two-photon interferometry. Two-photon interference is not the interference of two photons but the result of superposition among indistinguishable two-photon amplitudes. The concept of two-photon amplitude, however, has generally been restricted to the case of entangled photons. In this letter we report an experimental study that may extend this concept to the general case of independent photons. The experiment also shows interesting practical applications regarding the possibility of obtaining high resolution interference patterns with thermal sources.Comment: Added reference 1

Additive Expression of Consolidated Memory through Drosophila Mushroom Body Subsets

Associative olfactory memory in Drosophila has two components called labile anesthesia-sensitive memory and consolidated anesthesia-resistant memory (ARM). Mushroom body (MB) is a brain region critical for the olfactory memory and comprised of 2000 neurons that can be classified into alphabeta, alpha'beta', and gamma neurons. Previously we demonstrated that two parallel pathways mediated ARM consolidation: the serotonergic dorsal paired medial (DPM)-alphabeta neurons and the octopaminergic anterior paired lateral (APL)-alpha'beta' neurons. This finding prompted us to ask how this composite ARM is retrieved. Here, we showed that blocking the output of alphabeta neurons and that of alpha'beta' neurons each impaired ARM retrieval, and blocking both simultaneously had an additive effect. Knockdown of radish and octbeta2R in alphabeta and alpha'beta' neurons, respectively, impaired ARM. A combinatorial assay of radish mutant background rsh1 and neurotransmission blockade confirmed that ARM retrieved from alpha'beta' neuron output is independent of radish. We identified MBON-beta2beta'2a and MBON-beta'2mp as the MB output neurons downstream of alphabeta and alpha'beta' neurons, respectively, whose glutamatergic transmissions also additively contribute to ARM retrieval. Finally, we showed that alpha'beta' neurons could be functionally subdivided into alpha'beta'm neurons required for ARM retrieval, and alpha'beta'ap neurons required for ARM consolidation. Our work demonstrated that two parallel neural pathways mediating ARM consolidation in Drosophila MB additively contribute to ARM expression during retrieval