Cell turnover of the bronchial and alveolar lining in the rat lung in various types of hypertrophy

Imperial Users onl

Ionospheric research - The interaction of an obliquely incident p-polarized plane electromagnetic wave with a hot plasma half- space and plasma slab

Interaction of plane p-polarized electromagnetic wave obliquely incident on hot plasma half space and plasma sla

forall x: Calgary. An Introduction to Formal Logic

forall x: Calgary is a full-featured textbook on formal logic. It covers key notions of logic such as consequence and validity of arguments, the syntax of truth-functional propositional logic TFL and truth-table semantics, the syntax of first-order (predicate) logic FOL with identity (first-order interpretations), translating (formalizing) English in TFL and FOL, and Fitch-style natural deduction proof systems for both TFL and FOL. It also deals with some advanced topics such as truth-functional completeness and modal logic. Exercises with solutions are available. It is provided in PDF (for screen reading, printing, and a special version for dyslexics) and in LaTeX source code

Sea Level at Port Leopold, N.W.T. in 1848

Forty-seven days of hourly sea level and atmospheric pressure data collected in 1848 at Port Leopold, N.W.T., are analyzed using modern time series computation techniques. Tidal analysis reveals a mixed tide but mainly semi-diurnal. A detailed analysis of the tidal data reveals that the time-keeping of the record was as good as today's standard. A high correlation between hourly sea level and atmospheric pressure data demonstrates the inverse barometric effect.Key words: Arctic, sea level, tide, ice cover, free oscillation, lowpass, scatter diagram, time series, Resolute, Port LeopoldMots clés: Arctique, Niveau de la mer, marée, couvert de glace, oscillation libre, goulet, diagramme de dispersion, series chronologiques, Resolute, Port Léopol

Exon-Skipping Oligonucleotides Restore Functional Collagen VI by Correcting a Common COL6A1 Mutation in Ullrich CMD

Collagen VI-related congenital muscular dystrophies (COL6-CMDs) are the second most common form of congenital muscular dystrophy. Currently, there is no effective treatment available. COL6-CMDs are caused by recessive or dominant mutations in one of the three genes encoding for the α chains of collagen type VI (COL6A1, COL6A2, and COL6A3). One of the most common mutations in COL6-CMD patients is a de novo deep intronic c.930+189C > T mutation in COL6A1 gene. This mutation creates a cryptic donor splice site and induces incorporation of a novel in-frame pseudo-exon in the mature transcripts. In this study, we systematically evaluated the splice switching approach using antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) to correct this mutation. Fifteen ASOs were designed using the RNA-tiling approach to target the misspliced pseudo-exon and its flanking sequences. The efficiency of ASOs was evaluated at RNA, protein, and structural levels in skin fibroblasts established from four patients carrying the c.930+189C > T mutation. We identified two additional lead ASO candidates that efficiently induce pseudo-exon exclusion from the mature transcripts, thus allowing for the restoration of a functional collagen VI microfibrillar matrix. Our findings provide further evidence for ASO exon skipping as a therapeutic approach for COL6-CMD patients carrying this common intronic mutation

Present day challenges in understanding the geomagnetic hazard to national power grids

Power grids and pipeline networks at all latitudes are known to be at risk from the natural hazard of geomagnetically induced currents. At a recent workshop in South Africa, UK and South African scientists and engineers discussed the current understanding of this hazard, as it affects major power systems in Europe and Africa. They also summarised, to better inform the public and industry, what can be said with some certainty about the hazard and what research is yet required to develop useful tools for geomagnetic hazard mitigation

An assay for social interaction in Drosophila fragile X mutants

We developed a novel assay to examine social interactions in Drosophila and, as a first attempt, apply it here at examining the behavior of Drosophila Fragile X Mental Retardation gene (dfmr1) mutants. Fragile X syndrome is the most common cause of single gene intellectual disability (ID) and is frequently associated with autism. Our results suggest that dfmr1 mutants are less active than wild-type flies and interact with each other less often. In addition, mutants for one allele of dfmr1, dfmr1B55, are more likely to come in close contact with a wild-type fly than another dfmr1B55 mutant. Our results raise the possibility of defective social expression with preserved receptive abilities. We further suggest that the assay may be applied in a general strategy of examining endophenoypes of complex human neurological disorders in Drosophila, and specifically in order to understand the genetic basis of social interaction defects linked with ID