Obsidian: Development of a Multiplayer Game with Adaptive Enemy Intelligence

The project is a game in which allied players use their speed, skills, and teamwork to defeat a single boss enemy in a multiplayer environment. The players also traverse a landscape that encourages exploration and discovery of new strategies. The boss has unique goals and desires, formed by an artificial intelligence system, capable of learning and adapting

MP758: East Regional Potato Trials 2006: Summary of NE1014 Regional Project Field Testing of New Potato Clones

The objectives of this regional potato trial are (1) to develop pest-resistant, early-maturing, long-dormant potato varieties that will process from cold storage; (2) to evaluate new and specialty variet­ies developed in the Northeast; (3) to determine climatic effects on performance to develop pre­dictive models for potato improvement; and (4) determine heritability/linkage relationships and improve the genetic base of tetraploid cultivated varieties. The results presented in this report reflect a portion of the activity directed toward objectives 1, 2 and 3.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_miscpubs/1017/thumbnail.jp

MP760: East Regional Potato Trials 2007: Summary of NE1014 Regional Project Field Testing of New Potato Clones

The objectives of this regional potato trial are (1) to develop pest-resistant, early-maturing, long-dormant potato varieties that will process from cold storage; (2) to evaluate new and specialty variet­ies developed in the Northeast; (3) to determine climatic effects on performance to develop pre­dictive models for potato improvement; and (4) determine heritability/linkage relationships and improve the genetic base of tetraploid cultivated varieties. The results presented in this report reflect a portion of the activity directed toward objectives 1, 2 and 3.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_miscpubs/1016/thumbnail.jp

Substantially improved pharmacokinetics of recombinant human butyrylcholinesterase by fusion to human serum albumin

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Human butyrylcholinesterase (huBChE) has been shown to be an effective antidote against multiple LD₅₀of organophosphorus compounds. A prerequisite for such use of huBChE is a prolonged circulatory half-life. This study was undertaken to produce recombinant huBChE fused to human serum albumin (hSA) and characterize the fusion protein.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Secretion level of the fusion protein produced <it>in vitro </it>in BHK cells was ~30 mg/liter. Transgenic mice and goats generated with the fusion constructs expressed in their milk a bioactive protein at concentrations of 0.04–1.1 g/liter. BChE activity gel staining and a size exclusion chromatography (SEC)-HPLC revealed that the fusion protein consisted of predominant dimers and some monomers. The protein was confirmed to have expected molecular mass of ~150 kDa by Western blot. The purified fusion protein produced <it>in vitro </it>was injected intravenously into juvenile pigs for pharmacokinetic study. Analysis of a series of blood samples using the Ellman assay revealed a substantial enhancement of the plasma half-life of the fusion protein (~32 h) when compared with a transgenically produced huBChE preparation containing >70% tetramer (~3 h). <it>In vitro </it>nerve agent binding and inhibition experiments indicated that the fusion protein in the milk of transgenic mice had similar inhibition characteristics compared to human plasma BChE against the nerve agents tested.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Both the pharmacokinetic study and the <it>in vitro </it>nerve agent binding and inhibition assay suggested that a fusion protein retaining both properties of huBChE and hSA is produced <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>. The production of the fusion protein in the milk of transgenic goats provided further evidence that sufficient quantities of BChE/hSA can be produced to serve as a cost-effective and reliable source of BChE for prophylaxis and post-exposure treatment.</p

Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition)

In 2008, we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, this topic has received increasing attention, and many scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Thus, it is important to formulate on a regular basis updated guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Despite numerous reviews, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to evaluate autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. Here, we present a set of guidelines for investigators to select and interpret methods to examine autophagy and related processes, and for reviewers to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of reports that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a dogmatic set of rules, because the appropriateness of any assay largely depends on the question being asked and the system being used. Moreover, no individual assay is perfect for every situation, calling for the use of multiple techniques to properly monitor autophagy in each experimental setting. Finally, several core components of the autophagy machinery have been implicated in distinct autophagic processes (canonical and noncanonical autophagy), implying that genetic approaches to block autophagy should rely on targeting two or more autophagy-related genes that ideally participate in distinct steps of the pathway. Along similar lines, because multiple proteins involved in autophagy also regulate other cellular pathways including apoptosis, not all of them can be used as a specific marker for bona fide autophagic responses. Here, we critically discuss current methods of assessing autophagy and the information they can, or cannot, provide. Our ultimate goal is to encourage intellectual and technical innovation in the field