Repository-based plasmid design

There was an explosion in the amount of commercially available DNA in sequence repositories over the last decade. The number of such plasmids increased from 12,000 to over 300,000 among three of the largest repositories: iGEM, Addgene, and DNASU. A challenge in biodesign remains how to use these and other repository-based sequences effectively, correctly, and seamlessly. This work describes an approach to plasmid design where a plasmid is specified as simply a DNA sequence or list of features. The proposed software then finds the most cost-effective combination of synthetic and PCR-prepared repository fragments to build the plasmid via Gibson assembly®. It finds existing DNA sequences in both user-specified and public DNA databases: iGEM, Addgene, and DNASU. Such a software application is introduced and characterized against all post-2005 iGEM composite parts and all Addgene vectors submitted in 2018 and found to reduce costs by 34% versus a purely synthetic plasmid design approach. The described software will improve current plasmid assembly workflows by shortening design times, improving build quality, and reducing costs.Accepted manuscrip

A method for determining nodal arrival times at the moon from precessing near-earth parking orbits having various inclinations

Effect of precession of near-earth orbits on timing of inplane launching for nodal encounter with moo

Can official advice improve mortgage-holders’ perceptions of switching? An experimental investigation. ESRI WP612, February 2019

Encouraging consumers to seek out and switch to lower-rate mortgages is important both for the individual consumer’s finances and for functioning competitive markets, but switching rates are low. We conducted an experiment with mortgage-holders to test whether official advice on how to select good mortgage products and how to navigate the switching process alters perceptions of switching. The experiment shows that the advice made consumers more sensitive to interest rate decreases and more favourable towards switching at longer terms. It also increased consumers’ confidence in their ability to select good offers. The findings imply that advice from policymakers can change perceptions and increase switching rates

Basic principles of public financing

"MP 225, 71 3M""This publication is one of six reference documents prepared for the educational program on Providing Public Services in Missouri-Issues and Alternatives. The educational program of which this publication is a part was developed by a UMC interdepartmental committee co-chaired by Professors Clarence Klingner and Bryan Phifer. ... These basic reference documents supplement the study-discussion leaflets prepared for the educational program. They are intended for use by group discussion leaders and for those who want more information than provided in the discussion leaflets."--Back cover."Two questions basic to the study of public finance at any level of government are: 1. What should the level of government spending be? 2. How should the government obtain its revenue? These two questions can be answered only within the framework of the broad economic and social objectives of society. These objectives in turn are the result of psychological factors and physical environment which will vary both from one community to another and from one generation to another. Each new generation must make itself aware of the requirements of the society and the economy and build upon and change the objectives of the past generation. Because our society is dynamic, there is a need for continual re-evaluation of objectives and the means of attaining those objectives."--Page 3.J.D. Timmons (Department of Agricultural Economics)Introduction -- Level of government spending -- Sources of revenue -- Evaluating a tax system -- Characteristics of taxe

Biomarkers of browning of white adipose tissue and their regulation during exercise- and diet-induced weight loss

Background: A hypothesis exists whereby an exercise- or dietary-induced negative energy balance reduces human subcutaneous white adipose tissue (scWAT) mass through the formation of brown-like adipocyte (brite) cells. However, the validity of biomarkers of brite formation has not been robustly evaluated in humans, and clinical data that link brite formation and weight loss are sparse. Objectives: We used rosiglitazone and primary adipocytes to stringently evaluate a set of biomarkers for brite formation and determined whether the expression of biomarker genes in scWAT could explain the change in body composition in response to exercise training combined with calorie restriction in obese and overweight women (n = 79). Design: Gene expression was derived from exon DNA microarrays and preadipocytes from obesity-resistant and -sensitive mice treated with rosiglitazone to generate candidate brite biomarkers from a microarray. These biomarkers were evaluated against data derived from scWAT RNA from obese and overweight women before and after supervised exercise 5 d/wk for 16 wk combined with modest calorie restriction (∼0.84 MJ/d). Results: Forty percent of commonly used brite gene biomarkers exhibited an exon or strain-specific regulation. No biomarkers were positively related to weight loss in human scWAT. Greater weight loss was significantly associated with less uncoupling protein 1 expression (P = 0.006, R(2) = 0.09). In a follow-up global analysis, there were 161 genes that covaried with weight loss that were linked to greater CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α activity (z = 2.0, P = 6.6 × 10(−7)), liver X receptor α/β agonism (z = 2.1, P = 2.8 × 10(−7)), and inhibition of leptin-like signaling (z = −2.6, P = 3.9 × 10(−5)). Conclusion: We identify a subset of robust RNA biomarkers for brite formation and show that calorie-restriction–mediated weight loss in women dynamically remodels scWAT to take on a more-white rather than a more-brown adipocyte phenotype

Wireless sensed environment for body area networks

In low power wireless body area networks it is envisaged that there will be communication between on-body devices and wireless nodes placed in the environment (sensed environment) to provide a range of applications including health monitoring. However, there remain major challenges to realise this scenario such as decisions on the optimal node location, node orientation, transmit power level, and the number of nodes to cover the area of interest (sensed environment) which if not correct can lead to poor coverage or over-provisioned, oversized networks. In this paper we experiment with a BAN device and nodes deployed in a variety of locations throughout an office environment to represent a sensed environment. Packet loss rates (PLR) were analysed to explore trade-offs between node densities and transmit power levels. We determine that the deployment location, the density, and BAN transmission power level are important factors to be considered in the scenario where a mobile BAN communicates with a sensed environment. We found that deploying the environment nodes at chest height on the surrounding wall yielded the best results in terms of coverage and node density providing an optimal link between the BAN and the sensed environment

Molecular studies of exercise, skeletal muscle, and ageing [version 1; referees: 2 approved]

The purpose of an F1000 review is to reflect on the bigger picture, exploring controversies and new concepts as well as providing opinion as to what is limiting progress in a particular field. We reviewed about 200 titles published in 2015 that included reference to ‘skeletal muscle, exercise, and ageing’ with the aim of identifying key articles that help progress our understanding or research capacity while identifying methodological issues which represent, in our opinion, major barriers to progress. Loss of neuromuscular function with chronological age impacts on both health and quality of life. We prioritised articles that studied human skeletal muscle within the context of age or exercise and identified new molecular observations that may explain how muscle responds to exercise or age. An important aspect of this short review is perspective: providing a view on the likely ‘size effect’ of a potential mechanism on physiological capacity or ageing

Recovery of Point-Injected Labeled Nitrogen by Corn as Affected by Timing, Rate, and Tillage

Point-injection technology is being developed to improve fertilizer management, particularly N management. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of the rate (number) and timing of point-injections of an ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3) solution on N uptake and corn growth and to measure any differences due to tillage. Nitrogen-15 depleted NH4NO3 (AN) was hand-injected beside individual plants at the V1, V5, and/or V9 growth stages at rates of 50, 100, and/or 200 kg N ha−1 with fall moldboard plow (MP), fall chisel plow (CP), and ridge-till (RT) systems. While MP had the highest grain and total dry matter production (but with the lowest N concentrations in those materials), tillage was not a significant factor in either the percentage of the total plant N derived from labeled AN (NF) or its recovery (NR) for any stage sampled. Generally the year (i.e. different environmental conditions) and application timing or a timing-by-year interaction had the greatest influence on NF and NR. Although plants sampled at the V9 stage on the average recovered more N from the V1 application (39%) vs the V5 application (27%), at maturity NR values for grain (35%) and total dry matter (47%) were the same for both V1 or V5 applications (when only two applications were made). However when three applications were made (at the V1, V5, and V9 stages), NR values decreased with time of application for both grain (38, 31, and 26%, respectively) and total dry matter (53, 43, and 33%, respectively). Across application timing, grain NR values were 34 and 31%, respectively, for MP and RT. Compared with preplant knifed-in labeled N for MP and RT systems in an adjacent simultaneous study, grain NRvalues for point-injected N in this study were 16 and 6% greater, respectively, indicating that multiple injections of fertilizer N improved N-use efficiency