Average E1 Research Articles

Economic effectiveness of using various methods of care and nutrition of potato plants with the use of biostimulants

The aim of the research was the economic evaluation of five methods of care and nutrition with biostimulants: control object – mechanical care, Avatar 293 ZC (clomazone + metribuzin), Avatar 293 ZC and PlonoStart, Avatar 293 ZC and Aminoplant as well as Avatar 293 ZC and Agro-Sorb Folium in combating weed infestation in food potato plantations. The research material consisted of potato tubers of the Malaga variety coming from a three-year field experiment carried out on medium soil, in a split-plot system, as a two-factorial experiment in three replications. The economic effects of using various methods of care and nutrition of potato plants with the use of biostimulants were determined on the basis of the indicative profitability ratios E1 and E2, and the cost coverage ratio Wpk, which were on average E1 (21.04), E2 (6.88%), Wpk (3.88). The commercial yield increased by 37.4% on average.

Quantitative Analysis of Lower Leg Muscle Enhancement Measured From Dynamic Computed Tomographic Angiography for Diagnosis of Peripheral Arterial Occlusive Disease

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether quantitative analysis of lower leg muscle enhancement measured from dynamic computed tomographic angiography (dyn-CTA) could be used for diagnosis of peripheral arterial occlusive disease. Patients (N = 35) with known peripheral arterial occlusive disease underwent the dyn-CTA of calves first. Five minutes later, standard CTA of the peripheral runoff from the diaphragm to the toes was performed. A runoff score was assigned by radiologists as a reference standard for each of 4 lower leg artery segments. The lower leg muscle enhancement measured from the dyn-CTA was analyzed by using quantitative kinetic parameters, including initial enhancement (E1), peak enhancement (Epeak), and enhancement ratio (ER) calculated from average time attenuation curves. In addition, histogram of lower leg muscle enhancement was evaluated by using the first enhanced phase images. Lower extremities were diagnosed as a normal group (n = 22) with each vessel segment score equals to 1 or lower and runoff score, 7 or lower, and otherwise as an ischemia group (n = 48). Average ± SD E1 is 91.4% ± 8.5% and 82.3% ± 10.7%, Epeak is 122.7% ± 10.4% and 115.6% ± 11.1%, and ER is 0.75 ± 0.05 and 0.72 ± 0.09 for normal and ischemia group, respectively. Statistical analysis showed that average E1 and Epeak for the ischemia group were significantly lower (P < 0.05) than the normal group. The histogram analysis demonstrated that mean and median of muscle enhancement in the ischemia group were significantly smaller (P < 0.05), and coefficient of variation (CV) was significantly larger (P < 0.05) than the normal group. There were weak negative correlations (r = -0.42, P < 0.05) between runoff scores and E1 and Epeak, and weak positive correlation (r = 0.40, P < 0.05) between runoff scores and CV. The receiver operating characteristics analysis between the 2 groups had area under the curve of 0.77 and 0.76 for E1 and CV, respectively. Lower leg muscle enhancement measured from the dyn-CTA could be assessed quantitatively to assist diagnosis of ischemia in clinical practice.

Temperature dependence of acoustic harmonics generated by nonlinear ultrasound beam propagation in ex vivo tissue and tissue-mimicking phantoms

Purpose: Hyperthermia is a cancer treatment technique that could be delivered as a stand-alone modality or in conjunction with chemotherapy or radiation therapy. Noninvasive and real-time temperature monitoring of the heated tissue improves the efficacy and safety of the treatment. A temperature-sensitive acoustic parameter is required for ultrasound-based thermometry. In this paper the amplitude and the energy of the acoustic harmonics of the ultrasound backscattered signal are proposed as suitable parameters for noninvasive ultrasound thermometry.Materials and methods: A commercial high frequency ultrasound imaging system was used to generate and detect acoustic harmonics in tissue-mimicking gel phantoms and ex vivo bovine muscle tissues. The pressure amplitude and the energy content of the backscattered fundamental frequency (p1 and E1), the second (p2 and E2) and the third (p3 and E3) harmonics were detected in pulse-echo mode. Temperature was increased from 26° to 46 °C uniformly through both samples. The amplitude and the energy content of the harmonics and their ratio were measured and analysed as a function of temperature.Results: The average p1, p2 and p3 increased by 69%, 100% and 283%, respectively as the temperature was elevated from 26° to 46 °C in tissue samples. In the same experiment the average E1, E2 and E3 increased by 163%, 281% and 2257%, respectively. A similar trend was observed in tissue-mimicking gel phantoms.Conclusions: The findings suggest that the harmonics generated due to nonlinear ultrasound beam propagation are highly sensitive to temperature and could potentially be used for noninvasive ultrasound tissue thermometry.

Improved Cardiac Tagging Resolution at Ultra-High Magnetic Field Elucidates Transmural Differences in Principal Strain in the Mouse Heart and Reduced Stretch in Dilated Cardiomyopathy

Cardiac tagging resolution for regional principal strains E1 and E2 has been a limiting factor for the study of dilated mouse hearts, in which the left ventricle (LV) wall thickness can drop to below 1 mm. Therefore, high resolution tagging was performed at 14.1 T to enable transmural principal strain measurements across the LV wall of normal mouse hearts and average principal strains in thinned LV walls of a transgenic mouse (PKCepsilon TG) that develops dilated LV. A modified DANTE tagging and fast gradient imaging method produced a tagging grid dimension of 0.33 x 0.33 mm and line thickness under 0.1 mm. In normal mice, average E1 strain in the epicardium was significantly higher than the endocardial E1 (epi = 0.22 +/- 0.10; endo = 0.13 +/- 0.07, p < 0.05), while magnitude of average endocardial E2 was greater than in the epicardium (endo = -0.12 +/- 0.03, epi = -0.08 +/- 0.03; p < 0.001). E1 strain averaged over four segments was reduced in dilated hearts compared to controls (PKCepsilon TG = 0.14 +/- 0.02; control = 0.18 +/- 0.02, p < 0.01), with specific reductions in septal (33%) and lateral (31%, p < 0.01) segments. E2 strain was similar between dilated and control hearts at -0.11 +/- 0.01. Thus, improved tagging resolution demonstrates that stretch (E1), but not compression strains (E2), are reduced as a result of significant LV wall thinning in a mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Principal strain changes precede ventricular wall thinning during transition to heart failure in a mouse model of dilated cardiomyopathy

This study was performed to elucidate the relation between in vivo measurements of two-dimensional principal strains and the progression of left ventricle (LV) wall thinning during development of dilated cardiomyopathy in the protein kinase C-epsilon (PKC-epsilon) transgenic (TG) overexpressing mouse heart. Principal two-dimensional strains, E1 and E2, were determined in the LV wall of the anesthetized mouse using cardiac MRI tagging at 14.1 T. PKC-epsilon TG provided a model of pure dilated cardiomyopathy without evidence of hypertrophy (PKC-epsilon TG, n = 6). Ejection fraction, wall thickness, and principal strains were determined at 1-mo intervals in hearts of PKC-epsilon TG vs. age-matched, nontransgenic mice (NTG, n = 5) from age 6 to 13 mo. Through the study, PKC-epsilon TG displayed lower ejection fraction than NTG. At 7 mo, average principal strain E1 in PKC-epsilon TG hearts was lower compared with NTG (PKC-epsilon TG = 0.14 +/- 0.03, NTG = 0.19 +/- 0.03, P < 0.05). The greatest reductions in regional E1 occurred in the lateral segments. The principal strain E2 did not change significantly in either group. At 9 mo, LV wall thinning occurred in PKC-epsilon TG mice (P < 0.01 vs. 8 mo) to 21% below values in NTG (P < 0.001). Average E1 strain diverged between PKC-epsilon TG and NTG hearts by 25-43%. These E1 changes preceded LV wall thinning and predated the eventual transition from a compensated circumstance to the dilated phenotype. The findings indicate a near step function in E1 depression that precedes the onset of LV wall thinning and suggest E1 as a prognostic indicator of dilated cardiomyopathy.

Hall Mobility and Scattering Mechanism of Holes in Boron-Doped Homoepitaxial Chemical Vapor Deposition Diamond Thin Films

The temperature dependence of the Hall mobility µH has been measured from 140 to 870 K for nine boron-doped homoepitaxial chemical vapor deposition (CVD) diamond thin films. The experimental µH data are compared with their theoretical µH values that are calculated by an iterative technique, assuming scattering by ionized impurities, acoustic deformation potential and nonpolar optical phonons. The donor concentration ND, the acoustic deformation potential constant E1 and the coupling constant of nonpolar optical phonons Dnpo are used as fitting parameters. The experimental data of the hole concentration p are also analyzed by a fitting procedure. The acceptor concentration NA, the donor concentration ND, and the acceptor ionization energy EA are used as fitting parameters. The fitting analyses of µH yielded an average Dnpo=(1.2±0.2)×1012 eV/m. Considerable differences were observed between ND values estimated from the fitting analyses of µH and those from the p-analyses. The average E1 for the samples with little difference between the two types of ND is 14.5 eV, which is in agreement with that of a natural diamond of high quality. The average EA for the samples with a low or medium doping level is 0.365 eV, which is in good agreement with those in the literature. Some indications of the contribution of hopping conduction in the low-temperature range were observed.

Optimization of Acidothermus cellulolyticus Endoglucanase (E1) Production in Transgenic Tobacco Plants by Transcriptional, Post-transcription and Post-translational Modification

An attempt was made to obtain a high-level production of intact Acidothermus cellulolyticus endoglucanase (E1) in transgenic tobacco plants. The E1 expression was examined under the control of the constitutive and strong Mac promoter or light-inducible tomato Rubisco small sub-unit (RbcS-3C) promoter with its original or Alfalfa Mosaic Virus (AMV) RNA4 5'-untranslated leader (UTL) and targeted to different sub-cellular compartments via transit peptides. The transit peptides included native E1, endoplasmic reticulum, vacuole, apoplast, and chloroplast. E1 expression and its stability in transgenic plants were determined via E1 activity, protein immunoblotting, and RNA gel-blotting analyses. Effects of sub-cellular compartments on E1 production and its stability were determined in transgenic tobacco plants carrying one of six transgene expression vectors, where the E1 was under the control of Mac promoter, mannopine synthase transcription terminator, and one of the five transit peptides. Transgenic tobacco plants with an apoplastic transit peptide had the highest average E1 activity and protein accumulation, which was about 0.25% of total leaf soluble proteins estimated via E1 specific activity and protein gel blots. Intercellular fluid analyses confirmed that E1 signal peptide functioned properly in tobacco cells to secret E1 protein into the apoplast. By replacing RbcS-3C UTL with AMV RNA4 UTL E1 production was enhanced more than twofold, while it was less effective than the mannopine synthase UTL. It was observed that RbcS-3C promoter was more favorable for E1 expression in transgenic plants than the Mac promoter. E1 activity in dried tobacco seeds stored one year at room temperature was 45% higher than that observed immediately after harvesting, suggesting that E1 protein can be stored at room temperature for a long period. E1 stability in different sub-cellular compartments and the optimal combination of promoter, 5'-UTL, and sub-cellular compartmentation for heterologous protein production in transgenic plants are discussed.

Improved plant-based production of E1 endoglucanase using potato: expression optimization and tissue targeting.

Optimization of Acidothermus cellulolyticus endoglucanase (E1) gene expression in transgenic potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) was examined in this study, where the E1 coding sequence was transcribed under control of a leaf specific promoter (tomato RbcS-3C) or the Mac promoter (a hybrid promoter of mannopine synthase promoter and cauliflower mosaic virus 35S promoter enhancer region). Average E1 activity in leaf extracts of potato transformants, in which E1 protein was targeted by a chloroplast signal peptide and an apoplast signal peptide were much higher than those by an E1 native signal peptide and a vacuole signal peptide. E1 protein accumulated up to 2.6% of total leaf soluble protein, where E1 gene was under control of the RbcS-3C promoter, alfalfa mosaic virus 5′-untranslated leader, and RbcS-2A signal peptide. E1 protein production, based on average E1 activity and E1 protein accumulation in leaf extracts, is higher in potato than those measured previously in transgenic tobacco bearing the same transgene constructs. Comparisons of E1 activity, protein accumulation, and relative mRNA levels showed that E1 expression under control of tomato RbcS-3C promoter was specifically localized in leaf tissues, while E1 gene was expressed in both leaf and tuber tissues under control of Mac promoter. This suggests dual-crop applications in which potato vines serve as enzyme production `bioreactors' while tubers are preserved for culinary applications.

A test of EcoRI and HindIII restriction fragment length polymorphisms in assessing susceptibility for scrapie in US Suffolk sheep

We investigated the distribution of EcoRI restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) and tested EcoRI and HindIII RFLPs to ascertain the occurrence of scrapie in Suffolk sheep. Genomic DNA samples were collected from 527 animals and typed for EcoRI RFLP by Southern blot analysis using the PrP gene clone probe (pNPU42). The average e1 frequency in Suffolk sheep was 64.4% and ranged from 51.5 to 82.2%, which was significantly higher than the average in Cheviot (32.3%) and Rambouillet sheep (17.7%). The association of histopathologic diagnosis with RFLPs was investigated using 82 animals exposed orally with scrapie inoculum in a double-blind, retrospective experimental design. There was a significant ( P<0.01) association between EcoRI RFLP and scrapie histopathologic diagnosis in Suffolk sheep with the e1e1 genotype. The use of the EcoRI RFLP phenotype for scrapie-diagnosis, however, was inconsistent for some individual cases. HindIII-produced RFLPs was not significantly related to scrapie diagnosis.