A linkage map of human chromosome 21:43 PCR markers at average intervals of 2.5 cM

A genetic linkage map of human chromosome 21q (HC21q) containing 43 markers genotyped by the polymerase chain reaction in the CEPH pedigrees is presented. The markers placed on this map are highly polymorphic with an average heterozygosity of 61%. The average interval size of the markers localized at 1000:1 odds is 2.5 cM. The map has a total length of 65.5 cM, with male and female lengths of 47.7 and 83.3 cM, respectively. The genotypes used in the construction of this map were subjected to rigorous error checking, which is reflected in the shorter map length compared to previous maps; the estimated error rate in genotyping is less than 0.04%. As noted in previous linkage maps there is increased recombination in females on proximal HC 21q and in the male in a region near the telomere. This map of HC 21 represents a highly informative and dense meiotic linkage map and will be useful in linking disease phenotypes to loci on this chromosome.     

Incorporation of a Regularization Term to Control Negative Correlation in Mixture of Experts

Combining accurate neural networks (NN) in the ensemble with negative error correlation greatly improves the generalization ability. Mixture of experts (ME) is a popular combining method which employs special error function for the simultaneous training of NN experts to produce negatively correlated NN experts. Although ME can produce negatively correlated experts, it does not include a control parameter like negative correlation learning (NCL) method to adjust this parameter explicitly. In this study, an approach is proposed to introduce this advantage of NCL into the training algorithm of ME, i.e., mixture of negatively correlated experts (MNCE). In this proposed method, the capability of a control parameter for NCL is incorporated in the error function of ME, which enables its training algorithm to establish better balance in bias-variance-covariance trade-off and thus improves the generalization ability. The proposed hybrid ensemble method, MNCE, is compared with their constituent methods, ME and NCL, in solving several benchmark problems. The experimental results show that our proposed ensemble method significantly improves the performance over the original ensemble methods.     

Electro-thermo nonlocal nonlinear vibration in an embedded polymeric piezoelectric micro plate reinforced by DWBNNTs using DQM

In the present paper, electro-thermo nonlinear vibration of a piezo-polymeric rectangular micro plate made from polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) reinforced by zigzag double walled boron nitride nanotubes (DWBNNTs) is studied. This plate is embedded in an elastic medium which is simulated by Winkler and Pasternak foundation models. Using nonlinear strain-displacement relations and nonlocal elasticity plate theory as well as considering charge equation for coupling between electrical and mechanical fields, the motion equations are derived based on energy method and Hamilton??s principle. The differential quadrature method (DQM) is employed to computation of nonlinear frequency for different mechanical and free-free electrical boundary conditions. The results indicate that smart composite and consequently the generated G4 improved sensor and actuator applications in several process industries, because it increases the nonlinear vibration frequency. Furthermore, it can be also found that the nonlinear frequency increases as the values of the elastic medium constants, the geometrical aspect ratios and DWBNNTs volume fraction increase but it decreases as nonlocal parameter increases.     

Experimental seismic evaluation of old concrete columns reinforced by plain bars

Concrete buildings reinforced by plain (smooth) bars are one of the special types of old reinforced concrete buildings that were generally built before the 1970s. As columns are generally the most important structural members of a framed structure, understanding their realistic seismic behavior is very helpful in estimating structural deformations, forces and energy dissipation capacities. Furthermore, in most of old‐framed building structures, columns play a key role in the final behavior because of strong beam–weak column conditions. This article reports the results of experimental monotonic and cyclic tests on four concrete column specimens reinforced by plain bars and with various types of splices. Through the experimental results, it tried to obtain more clarification on the complicated behavior of such old reinforced members as well as the differences compared with relevant results of columns reinforced by deformed bars. It was realized that slip (fixed‐end rotation) contribution is the major source of deformation in all specimens independent from type of splices. Moreover, general mode of behavior was restrained‐rocking action independent of type of splice detailing. A simple theory for the explanation of hysteresis force–displacement response was proposed. The theory assumes a concrete block rocking element that is restrained with plain bars at both ends. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Overcoming Radiation Resistance in Gliomas by Targeting Metabolism and DNA Repair Pathways

Gliomas represent a wide spectrum of brain tumors characterized by their high invasiveness, resistance to chemoradiotherapy, and both intratumoral and intertumoral heterogeneity. Recent advances in transomics studies revealed that enormous abnormalities exist in different biological layers of glioma cells, which include genetic/epigenetic alterations, RNA expressions, protein expression/modifications, and metabolic pathways, which provide opportunities for development of novel targeted therapeutic agents for gliomas. Metabolic reprogramming is one of the hallmarks of cancer cells, as well as one of the oldest fields in cancer biology research. Altered cancer cell metabolism not only provides energy and metabolites to support tumor growth, but also mediates the resistance of tumor cells to antitumor therapies. The interactions between cancer metabolism and DNA repair pathways, and the enhancement of radiotherapy sensitivity and assessment of radiation response by modulation of glioma metabolism are discussed herein.     

Investigation of miscibility and phase structure of a novel blend of poly(lactic acid) (PLA)/acrylic rubber (ACM) and its nanocomposite with nanosilica

In this work, a novel polymer blend containing poly(lactic acid) (PLA) as a biocompatible and biodegradable thermoplastic and acrylic rubber (ACM) is prepared and the miscibility and phase structure of the blend and its nanocomposite (PLA/ACM/nanosilica) are investigated through theoretical and experimental methods. To predict the phase diagram of the blend, a compressible regular solution model was employed, in which an upper critical solution temperature was observed. The model predicted that PLA/ACM blends are immiscible over the whole composition range at temperatures below 260 °C. Performing scanning force microscopy on the blend showed phase separated structures for the blends containing different amounts of the PLA and ACM. This was in accordance with the results of dynamic mechanical analysis, which revealed two distinct glass transition temperatures for the studied blends. The effect of nanometer sized silica particle on morphology and rheological properties of these blends was also investigated. Scanning force microscopy results showed much reduction of droplet size in the blends containing 2 wt % nanosilica. This was attributed to the suppression effect of nanosilica on the droplets coalescences. Rheological measurements confirmed the interaction of both components with the silica nanofiller. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 45499.     

Partial replacement of NR by GTR in thermoplastic elastomer based on LLDPE/NR through using reactive blending: Its effects on morphology,rheological, and mechanical properties

Attempts have been made to use different amount of ground tire rubber (GTR) powder as a partial substitute for natural rubber (NR) in thermoplastic elastomer based on linear low‐density polyethylene (LLDPE, 60 wt%) and NR (40wt%). Maleic anhydride (MA) and dicumyl peroxide (DCP) were used, during melt mixing of the compound, to modify GTR and vulcanize the rubber phases of the blends. Morphology of the blends was studied by scanning electron microscopy and rheological behavior investigated through rheomechanical spectroscopy. Mechanical properties of the blends were also measured, and the effect of GTR concentration on properties was evaluated. Obtained results showed that modification of GTR with MA and using DCP in the blends containing GTR improves the bonding between GTR and matrix. This leads to a distinctive rheological behavior and enhances tensile strength and elongation at break compared to its corresponding simple blend. It can be said that using of MA and DCP during melt mixing of thermoplastic elastomers based on LLDPE/NR containing GTR, concludes to a better dispersion of GTR and formation of morphology similar to that of a dynamic vulcanized thermoplastic elastomer, which improves interfacial bonding between phases and causes a dramatically increase in mechanical properties. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2010