An iterative and regenerative method for DNA sequencing

This paper presents, to our knowledge, the first iterative DNA sequencing method that regenerates the product of interest during each iterative cycle, allowing it to overcome the critical obstacles that impede alternative iterative approaches to DNA sequencing: loss of product and the accumulation of background signal due to incomplete reactions. It can sequence numerous double-stranded (ds) DNA segments in parallel without gel resolution of DNA fragments and can sequence DNA that is almost entirely double-stranded, preventing the secondary structures that impede sequencing by hybridization. This method uses ligation of an adaptor containing the recognition domain for a class-IIS restriction endonuclease and digestion with a class-IIS restriction endonuclease that recognizes the adaptor's recognition domain. This generates a set of DNA templates that are each composed of a short overhang positioned at a fixed interval with respect to one end of the original dsDNA fragment. Adaptor ligation also appends a unique sequence during each iterative cycle, so that the polymerase chain reaction can be used to regenerate the desired template-precursor before class-IIS restriction endonuclease digestion. Following class-IIS restriction endonuclease digestion, sequencing of a nucleotide in each overhang occurs by template-directed ligation during adaptor ligation or through a separate template-directed polymerization step with labeled ddNTPs. DNA sequencing occurs in strides determined by the number of nucleotides separating the recognition and cleavage domains for the class-IIS restriction endonuclease encoded in the ligated adaptor, maximizing the span of DNA sequenced for a given number of iterative cycles. This method allows the concurrent sequencing of numerous dsDNA segments in a microplate format, and in the future it can be adapted to biochip format.     

应用变频器后电动机发热问题的解决办法

本文叙述了平果铝业公司氧化铝厂3＃中间泵应用为频器后，出现电动机发热、变频器跳停问题的判断、分析及解决方案，实践证明方案是可行的，并提出了应用变频器时应注意的一些问题。     

A new methodology to solve the problem of characterizing 2-D biomedical shapes

In this paper, a new approach to solve the problem of characterizing 2-D biomedical shapes is introduced. Two-dimensional biomedical contours are described through a 'degrees of smoothing' vector in which each component determines the proper degree of detail for representing each curve part isolating a single structure. A segmentation process is designed based on a clustering procedure applied to vectors of texture measures which are obtained from the graph of curvatures. To solve the problem of characterizing biomedical shapes, a suitable interpolation procedure between the most outstanding perceptual points from the smoothed contours is given.     

A general numerical method to solve for dislocation configurations

The shape of a mechanically equilibrated dislocation line is of considerable interest in the study of plastic deformation of metals and alloys. A general numerical method for finding such configurations in arbitrary stress fields has been developed. Analogous to the finite-element method (FEM), a general dislocation line is approximated by a series of straight segments (elements) bounded by nodes. The equilibrium configuration is found by minimizing the system energy with respect to nodal positions using a Newton-Raphson procedure. This approach, termed the finite-segment method (FSM), confers several advantages relative to segment-based, explicit formulations. The utility, generality, and robustness of the FSM is demonstrated by analyzing the Orowan bypass mechanism and a model of dislocation generation and equilibration at misfitting particles. Energy differences from previous analytical methods based on simple loop shapes are significant, up to 80 pct. Explicit expressions for the coordinate transformations, energies, and forces required for numerical implementation are presented.     

An iterative approach to executive coaching.

Provides consulting psychologists with an overview of an approach to executive coaching that took place over 3 yrs with a troubled leader. An ongoing 360-degree assessment together with numerous "loops" of feedback and developmental counseling sessions served as the baseline for coaching an autocratic and coercive but valued executive. This case study (of a male executive in his mid-forties) explores a process that was iterative and interlaced and that resulted in significantly different and more positive and functional leadership behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Optimizing potentials for the inverse protein folding problem

Autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) is one of the most frequent genetically transmitted disorders among Europeans with an attributed frequency of 0.1%. The two most common genetic determinants for ADPKD are the PKD1 and PKD2 genes. In this study we report the genomic structure and pattern of expression of the Pkd2 gene, the murine homolog of the human PKD2 gene. Pkd2 is localized on mouse Chromosome (Chr) 5 proximal to anchor marker D5Mit175, spans at least 35 kb of the mouse genome, and consists of 15 exons. Its translation product consists of 966 amino acids, and the peptide shows a 95% homology to human polycystin2. Functional domains are particularly well conserved in the mouse homolog. The expression of mouse polycystin2 in the developing embryo at day 12.5 post conception is localized in mesenchymally derived structures. In the adult mouse, the protein is mostly expressed in kidney, which suggests its functional relevance for this organ.     

Computation of gas phase equilibria—a general algorithm using the Newton-Raphson method

A general algorithm is proposed that calculates complex gaseous equilibria using the Newton-Raphson method. The algorithm was tested on the C-H-O-S-N system and its sub-systems H-O, C-H-O, C-O-S, C-H-O-N, C-H-O-S and H-O-S-N. It converged in all regions of these systems when there were no condensed phases present. It was found that the algorithm was insensitive to initial estimates usually required when using the Newton-Raphson method.     

Interpretation of questionnaires. An translation method problem

For use in a different cultural background, translated questionnaires need to be validated in the new context. International guidelines are needed for such validation, as precision in translation is an important methodological issue. The article consists in a review of the issue and recommended guidelines for the translation and validation of questionnaires, based on the authors' experience and international literature in the field. The authors participate in a European research programme (EU/BIOMED-Europep), set up to develop a questionnaire for exploring patients' priorities and their evaluations of important aspects of general practice.     

An inverse computational method for determining the constitutive parameters using the hot torsion test results

Recently a number of inverse computational methods were presented for determining constitutive parameters from the results of mechanical tests. These are based on minimization of the least square errors of the measured and calculated load-displacement results of the given test. Uniqueness of the minimum obtained from these methods has not been investigated properly. This paper presents an approximate solution for the minimum error in the inverse computational determination of constitutive parameters using the hot torsion test. The approximation is based on an analytical solution for the torsion test. It shows that for the hot torsion test, the existing inverse computational methods based on a load-displacement objective function fail to predict a unique set of constitutive parameters for an assumed rigid-viscoplastic constitutive relationship. A new objective function was developed to ensure the uniqueness of the solution for the constitutive parameters. An algorithm is presented for applying the new method to the hot torsion test results.     

Chimpanzees solve the trap problem when the confound of tool-use is removed.

The trap-tube problem is difficult for chimpanzees to solve; in several studies only 1 to 2 subjects learn the solution. The authors tested eight chimpanzees on a non-tool-using version of the problem to investigate whether the inclusion of a tool in previous tests of the trap problem may have masked the ability of chimpanzees to solve it. All eight learned to avoid the trap, in 40 to 100 trials. One transferred to two tasks that had no visual cue in common. The authors examined the performance of 15 chimpanzees on a new task in a 2 × 2 design: seven had experience on the two-trap box, eight had not; half of each group was tested with a tool, half without one. An ANOVA revealed a significant effect of tool-inclusion and experience (p     

Generalized eigensystem techniques for the inverse problem of electrocardiography applied to a realistic heart-torso geometry

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is known to exert a mitogenic effect in different tissues, including the digestive tract. The aim of the present study was to evaluate whether long-term infusion of EGF causes trophic effects in the gastrointestinal tract of female mice. The animals were infused subcutaneously in the neck with human recombinant EGF in a dose of 10 micrograms/kg/h (1.6 nmol/kg/h) using an osmotic minipump for 1, 3 and 7 days, respectively. Tritiated thymidine was continuously infused intraperitoneally during the same period, except in the 7-day group, where it was infused during the last 3 days. The mucosal thickness was measured microscopically. As a measurement of DNA synthesis, the amount of thymidine retained in the mucosa was registered using a scintillation counter. After 1 day of EGF infusion, the mucosal thickness was increased in the antrum and, after 3 days, in the fundus. In the proximal duodenum, an increased depth of the crypts was seen after 1 day, followed by increased villi height after 3 and 7 days; in the distal duodenum, EGF evoked increased villi height after 3 and 7 days. The height of villi was increased after 7 days in the jejunum and ileum in the EGF-treated animals. The tritium incorporation was increased in the fundus of the stomach and the proximal duodenum in the EGF-treated animals after 3 days, whereas no significant increase in tritiated thymidine incorporation could be detected in the EGF-treated animals after 1 and 7 days compared to the controls. In conclusion, continuous infusion of EGF evoked increased mucosal thickness in the small intestine, while the trophic effects were only of a short duration in the stomach and absent in the colon.     

An inverse analysis of the hot uniaxial compression test by means of the finite element method

A computer simulation using the finite element method is carried out in the present work to model a hot compression test. Real constitutive equations of the hot flow behaviour of a medium carbon microalloyed steel, experimentally determined, are implemented in a commercial computer code and an inverse analysis is performed to determine under which conditions the experimental test can be considered as valid. In other words, the degree of strain and strain rate heterogeneity as well as the isothermatility of the test, for the given material, are verified. The effect of the friction coefficient is also included in the current analysis.     

Linearized inverse Monte Carlo method applied to Ni3Fe

Atomic interaction potentials in f.c.c. ordering systems are deduced from short range order measurements above the ordering temperature T_c. This “Linearized Inverse Monte Carlo Method” is applied to the Ni₃Fe system. In this case, it is shown that 4 potentials can explain the short range order measured at a given temperature. The precision of the results is discussed and it is shown that the four determined potentials are strongly correlated.