Muscle atrophy in transgenic mice expressing a human TSC1 transgene

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116374/1/feb2s0014579306010866.pd

Robust stability for stochastic Hopfield neural networks with time delays

This is the post print version of the article. The official published version can be obtained from the link below - Copyright 2006 Elsevier Ltd.In this paper, the asymptotic stability analysis problem is considered for a class of uncertain stochastic neural networks with time delays and parameter uncertainties. The delays are time-invariant, and the uncertainties are norm-bounded that enter into all the network parameters. The aim of this paper is to establish easily verifiable conditions under which the delayed neural network is robustly asymptotically stable in the mean square for all admissible parameter uncertainties. By employing a Lyapunov–Krasovskii functional and conducting the stochastic analysis, a linear matrix inequality (LMI) approach is developed to derive the stability criteria. The proposed criteria can be checked readily by using some standard numerical packages, and no tuning of parameters is required. Examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and applicability of the proposed criteria.This work was supported in part by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) of the UK under Grant GR/S27658/01, the Nuffield Foundation of the UK under Grant NAL/00630/G, and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of German

Construction and Synergistic Effect of Recombinant Yeast Co-expressing Pig IL-2/4/6 on Immunity of Piglets to PRRS Vaccination

AbstractIn order to develop cost-effective immunomodulator, the recombinant Pichia pastoris were firstly constructed to co-express porcine IL-2/4/6 genes, and then fermented to feed 45-days Tibetan piglets at different doses to evaluate its effects on immunity of piglets to PRRS vaccination, which simultaneously received intramuscular injection of inactivated PRRS vaccine. The results were found that the leukocytes, IgG and specific antibody to PRRSV, Th and Tc cells increased significantly in the blood of treated piglets in comparison with those of the control (P<0.05); the mRNA expression of TLRs (TLR-2, 3, 4, 7, 9), IFN-γ, IL-2, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-12 and IL-15 genes were elevated significantly in the immune cells from the blood of treated piglets (P<0.05). Moreover, the growth of the treated piglets also markedly improved whose average net weight gain was significantly higher than the control on 58 days post inoculation (P<0.05). These results suggest that the recombinant yeast can effectively enhance the systematic innate and adaptive immunity of piglets as well as promote the growth of piglet, which could be further developed as cost-effective promising immunomodulator to improve the control of pig PRRS disease

Porcine FcγRIIb Mediates Enhancement of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome Virus (PRRSV) Infection

Antibody-dependent enhancement (ADE) of virus infection caused by the uptake of virus-antibody complexes by FcγRs is a significant obstacle to the development of effective vaccines to control certain human and animal viral diseases. The activation FcγRs, including FcγRI and FcγRIIa have been shown to mediate ADE infection of virus. In the present paper, we showed that pocine FcγRIIb, an inhibitory FcγR, mediates ADE of PRRSV infection. Stable Marc-145 cell lines expressing poFcγRIIb (Marc-poFcγRII) were established. The relative yield of progeny virus was significantly increased in the presence of sub-neutralization anti-PRRSV antibody. The Fab fragment and normal porcine sera had no effect. Anti-poFcγRII antibody inhibited the enhancement of infection when cells were infected in the presence of anti-PRRSV antibody, but not when cells were infected in the absence of antibody. These results indicate that enhancement of infection in these cells by anti-PRRSV virus antibody is FcγRII-mediated. Identification of the inhibitory FcγR mediating ADE infection should expand our understanding of the mechanisms of pathogenesis for a broad range of infectious diseases and may open many approaches for improvements to the treatment and prevention of such diseases

The impact of domestic diversification and top management teams on the international diversification of Chinese firms

Despite increasing research on outward foreign direct investment (OFDI) by firms from emerging economies, our understanding of the relationship between domestic operations and international diversification of these firms is still limited. Using a unique dataset of Chinese listed firms, we examine the impact of domestic diversification on their international diversification. We find that international diversification is positively affected by firms' domestic industrial and domestic regional diversification. We also find that top management team (TMT)'s previous international experience strengthens the impact of domestic diversification on firms' international diversification, whereas TMT's prior political connections weakens the impact of domestic diversification on international diversification

Genome-Wide Association Study of Retinopathy in Individuals without Diabetes

10.1371/journal.pone.0054232PLoS ONE82

SDSS-III: Massive Spectroscopic Surveys of the Distant Universe, the Milky Way Galaxy, and Extra-Solar Planetary Systems

Building on the legacy of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-I and II), SDSS-III is a program of four spectroscopic surveys on three scientific themes: dark energy and cosmological parameters, the history and structure of the Milky Way, and the population of giant planets around other stars. In keeping with SDSS tradition, SDSS-III will provide regular public releases of all its data, beginning with SDSS DR8 (which occurred in Jan 2011). This paper presents an overview of the four SDSS-III surveys. BOSS will measure redshifts of 1.5 million massive galaxies and Lya forest spectra of 150,000 quasars, using the BAO feature of large scale structure to obtain percent-level determinations of the distance scale and Hubble expansion rate at z<0.7 and at z~2.5. SEGUE-2, which is now completed, measured medium-resolution (R=1800) optical spectra of 118,000 stars in a variety of target categories, probing chemical evolution, stellar kinematics and substructure, and the mass profile of the dark matter halo from the solar neighborhood to distances of 100 kpc. APOGEE will obtain high-resolution (R~30,000), high signal-to-noise (S/N>100 per resolution element), H-band (1.51-1.70 micron) spectra of 10^5 evolved, late-type stars, measuring separate abundances for ~15 elements per star and creating the first high-precision spectroscopic survey of all Galactic stellar populations (bulge, bar, disks, halo) with a uniform set of stellar tracers and spectral diagnostics. MARVELS will monitor radial velocities of more than 8000 FGK stars with the sensitivity and cadence (10-40 m/s, ~24 visits per star) needed to detect giant planets with periods up to two years, providing an unprecedented data set for understanding the formation and dynamical evolution of giant planet systems. (Abridged)Comment: Revised to version published in The Astronomical Journa