Some Constructions of Semi-Regular Group Divisible Designs

Using affine α-resolvable BIB designs, some constructions of semi-regular group divisible designs are given here.     

A model-independent approach to the theory of experimental designs and a special discussion of bib. II. properties and construction of bib

In addition to the first part we prove independently of the model some theorems on properties of balanced block designs. Then we propose nine methods of construction of BIB and prove theorems in connection with these methods. In a table we give a survey on block designs with v$25 and possibilities of their construction with these methods. Further follow theorems with the number of nonisomorphic BIB for some fixed v and k.     

Dual Designs and Their Application in Genetical Experiments

The dual of incomplete block designs has been studied with th́eir applications in genetical experiments. Partial diallel crosses (PDC) of type I have been constructed using balanced incomplete block (BIB) designs, partially balanced incomplete block (PBIB) designs and their dual designs. Simplified analysis of PDC has been presented using the dual property of these designs. List of optimal PDC having simple analysis has been given.     

Application of the Biased Spring Balance Weighing Design Theory to Estimation of Differences of Line Effects for Legume Content

The incidence matrix of a BIB design for v treatments has been used to construct a biased spring balance weighing design. Conditions under which an optimum biased spring balance weighing design exists are given. It is also shown how this theory may be utilized to obtain treatment and experiment designs to estimate differences in legume content between pair of lines in an experiment overseeded with grass species.     

Optimum Biased Spring Balance Weighing Designs Under Equal Correlations of Errors

The paper deals with the problem of estimating the individual weights of objects under a biased spring balance weighing design with equal correlations of errors in the model. A lower bound for the variance of each of the estimated weights resulting from this biased spring balance weighing design is obtained and a necessary and sufficient condition for this lower bound to be attained is given. The incidence matrix of a BIB design has been used to construct optimum biased spring balance weighing designs.     

A Positive Detecting Code and Its Decoding Algorithm for DNA Library Screening

The study of gene functions requires high-quality DNA libraries. However, a large number of tests and screenings are necessary for compiling such libraries. We describe an algorithm for extracting as much information as possible from pooling experiments for library screening. Collections of clones are called pools, and a pooling experiment is a group test for detecting all positive clones. The probability of positiveness for each clone is estimated according to the outcomes of the pooling experiments. Clones with high chance of positiveness are subjected to confirmatory testing. In this paper, we introduce a new positive clone detecting algorithm, called the Bayesian network pool result decoder (BNPD). The performance of BNPD is compared, by simulation, with that of the Markov chain pool result decoder (MCPD) proposed by Knill et al. in 1996. Moreover, the combinatorial properties of pooling designs suitable for the proposed algorithm are discussed in conjunction with combinatorial designs and dhbox{-}{rm disjunct} matrices. We also show the advantage of utilizing packing designs or BIB designs for the BNPD algorithm.     

A novel LLC-PK1 renal epithelial cell mutant impaired in in vivo down-regulation of cAMP-mediated hormonal response.

A novel "cAMP-resistant" variant of LLC-PK1 renal epithelial cells which is impaired in in vivo down-regulation of response following hormonal stimulation of adenylate cyclase (AC) is described. Compared to parental cells, the BIB27 mutant exhibited markedly higher in vivo activation of cAMP-dependent protein kinase (cAMP-PK) in response to the hormones salmon calcitonin (SCT) or [Arg8]-vasopressin (AVP) or the AC activator forskolin. The activation of cAMP-PK subsequent to agonist stimulation also persisted much longer in the mutant than in LLC-PK1 cells, although the cAMP-PK of BIB27 cells was normal in terms of both absolute levels and regulation by cAMP in vitro. Intracellular cAMP accumulation was also much higher in BIB27 than in LLC-PK1 cells following agonist stimulation. Production of cAMP could be detected in BIB27 cells even 12 h after treatment with AVP or SCT, whereas cAMP production in LLC-PK1 had returned to basal within 1 and 8 h, respectively. High levels of free cAMP-PK catalytic (C) subunit in BIB27 persisted even 12 h after hormone addition, meaning that the higher cAMP production in BIB27 did not result in the normal down-regulation of cAMP-PK C subunit levels. In vitro AC activity in BIB27 cell homogenates could be stimulated by hormones or receptor-independent agonists, but to a lesser extent than in LLC-PK1 cell homogenates. The SCT and AVP concentrations promoting half-maximal AC activation in BIB27 cells were about 10- and 3-fold higher than parental, respectively. BIB27 accordingly appeared to possess a mutation in AC responsible for the impairment of both in vitro response to agonists and the normal in vivo down-regulation processes following hormonal stimulation.     

Position of intragastric balloons in global initiative for obesity treatment

Obesity is chronic disease with multiple health consequences and among the most severe health problems worldwide. According to public health records around 65% of population in Croatia are overweight and 20% obese. National physicians chamber with support of Health and Social Welfare Ministry gave recommendations on diagnosing and treating of obesity in form of national consensus. Treatment of obesity is complex and enrolls multiple clinical specialties. Change of life style, strenuous physical activity and pharmacotherapy are part of conservative treatments. Patients are treated more efficiently by minimally invasive endoscopic procedures or bariatric surgery depending on starting body mass index score. Implantation of intragastric balloons is conceptually simple method of obesity treatment. Modern devices as Bio-Enterics intragastric balloons (BIB), (Inamed Health, USA) are gaining wide popularity among both patients and physicians. BIB intragastric offers the best gains with individuals ranging BMI from 35 to 40. Efficiency has relative timeline dependance from 85% at 6 months to 24% at 36 months. BIB offers substantial ameliorative influence on obesity comorbidities, particularly cardiovascular risk. Treatment with BIB is also efficient but transient treatment modality in morbidly and superobese individuals to reduce preoperative risks of general and bariatric surgery. Obesity treatment with BIB is well tolerated and safe, offering better quality of life. Nevertheless, due to relative poor results of conservative obesity treatments on long-term follow up further investigations defining new clinical parameters for solving treatment resistance. In order to provide resourcefully individualized approach modern perspectives are focused on endocrine constitutes of obesity. Hormonal effects of BIB treatment in compare to bariatric surgery are potentially interesting for the prospect studies.     

Block by extracellular divalent cations of Drosophila big brain channels expressed in Xenopus oocytes

Drosophila Big Brain (BIB) is a transmembrane protein encoded by the neurogenic gene big brain (bib), which is important for early development of the fly nervous system. BIB expressed in Xenopus oocytes is a monovalent cation channel modulated by tyrosine kinase signaling. Results here demonstrate that the BIB conductance shows voltage- and dose-dependent block by extracellular divalent cations Ca(2+) and Ba(2+) but not by Mg(2+) in wild-type channels. Site-directed mutagenesis of negatively charged glutamate (Glu(274)) and aspartate (Asp(253)) residues had no effect on divalent cation block. However, mutation of a conserved glutamate at position 71 (Glu(71)) in the first transmembrane domain (M1) altered channel properties. Mutation of Glu(71) to Asp introduced a new sensitivity to block by extracellular Mg(2+); substitutions with asparagine or glutamine decreased whole-cell conductance; and substitution with lysine compromised plasma membrane expression. Block by divalent cations is important in other ion channels for voltage-dependent function, enhanced signal resolution, and feedback regulation. Our data show that the wild-type BIB conductance is attenuated by external Ca(2+), suggesting that endogenous divalent cation block might be relevant for enhancing signal resolution or voltage dependence for the native signaling process in neuronal cell fate determination.     

Partial tetra-allel crosses

Summary The construction of partical tetra-allel crosses (PTAC) is considered using BIB and PBIB designs with blocks of size four. It is shown how this can lead to certain types of balanced designs. An explicit procedure is given for constructing circulant PTAC's. The analysis of PTAC's — estimation of general effects of the lines involved and analysis of variance — is illustrated in terms of an example.

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Zusammenfassung In dieser Arbeit wird die Konstruktion von unvollständigen Tetra-Allelen (PTAC) mit Hilfe von unvollständigen Blockversuchsplänen (BIB- und PBIB-Plänen) betrachtet. Es wird gezeigt, wie dies zu gewissen ausgewogenen Plänen führen kann. Eine Methode zur Konstruktion von zirkularen PTAC's wird explizit angegeben. Die Analyse von PTAC's, d.h. das Schätzen von allgemeinen Effekten der betrachteten Linien und die Varianzanalyse, wird an einem Beispiel erläutert.

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Part of this work was supported by National Science Foundation Grant NSF-16491.

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Journal Paper No. J-5831 of the Iowa Agriculture and Home Economics Experiment Station, Ames, Iowa. Project No. 890.     

Selection Problems in Balanced Block Designs

If we have independent random variables the solution of BECHHOFER's selection problem in special cases is easily applied because we can use tables of a standardized multivariate normal distribution. The aim of this note is to show how such tables are also applicable in a case of correlated random variables like the estimates of treatment effects in BIB and BCB. Formulae for a choice of minimal sample sizes are also given.     

运用BIB-LCJ审美评判法评价棕榈科植物景观

棕榈科植物在园林上的应用已形成多种类型的植物景观。本文运用BIB-LCJ审美评判法评价七种类型的棕榈科植物景观,研究公众对各种棕榈科植物景观的审美趋向,从而讨论如何配置棕榈科植物来营造符合公众审美的植物景观。     

Enhancement and Selective Production of Oligomycin through Inactivation of Avermectin’s Starter Unit in Streptomyces avermitilis

Oligomycin and its analogues, produced by Streptomyces avermitilis and other actinomycetes, are of interest for their potent and selective biological activities. PCR-mediated gene replacement, targeting bkdF, one of avermectin’s starter unit encoding genes in S. avermitilis, was performed to yield an oligomycin producer, BIB0423. The engineered strain produced oligomycin A at 2.3 mg/ml compared to the wild type strain at 0.1 mg/ml. This resulting mutant was genetically stable and should be useful for the industrial production of oligomycin.     

Invertebrate aquaporins: a review

Aquaporins (AQPs) or water channels render the lipid bilayer of cell membranes permeable to water. The numerous AQP subtypes present in any given species, the transport properties of each subtype and the variety of methods of their regulation allows different cell types to be transiently or permanently permeable to water or other solutes that AQPs are capable of transporting (e.g. urea or glycerol). AQPs have been well characterized in all vertebrate classes, other than reptilia. Here we review the current state of knowledge of invertebrate AQPs set in the context of the much more thoroughly studied vertebrate AQPs. By phylogenetic analysis of the total AQP complement of several completed insect genomes, we propose a classification system of insect AQPs including three sub-families (DRIP, BIB and PRIP) that have one representative from all the complete insect genomes. The physiological role of AQPs in invertebrates (insects, ticks and nematodes) is discussed, including their function in common invertebrate phenomena such as high-volume liquid diets, cryoprotection and anhydrobiosis.     

Multiple pathways contribute to nuclear import of core histones

Nuclear import of the four core histones H2A, H2B, H3 and H4 is one of the main nuclear import activities during S-phase of the cell cycle. However, the molecular machinery facilitating nuclear import of core histones has not been elucidated. Here, we investigated the pathways by which histone import can occur. First, we show that core histone import can be competed by the BIB (β-like import receptor binding) domain of ribosomal protein L23a suggesting that histone import is an importin mediated process. Secondly, affinity chromatography on immobilized core histones revealed that several members of the importin β family of transport receptors are able to interact with core histones. Finally, we demonstrate that at least four known and one novel importin, importin 9, can mediate nuclear import of core histones into the nuclei of permeabilized cells. Our results suggest that multiple pathways of import exist to provide efficient nuclear uptake of these abundant, essential proteins.     

Robust and efficient design of experiments for the Monod model

In this paper the problem of designing experiments for the Monod model, which is frequently used in microbiology, is studied. The model is defined implicitly by a differential equation and has numerous applications in microbial growth kinetics, environmental research, pharmacokinetics, and plant physiology. The designs presented so far in the literature are local optimal designs, which depend sensitively on a preliminary guess of the unknown parameters, and are for this reason in many cases not robust with respect to their misspecification. Uniform designs and maximin optimal designs are considered as a strategy to obtain robust and efficient designs for parameter estimation. In particular, standardized maximin D- and E-optimal designs are determined and compared with uniform designs, which are usually applied in these microbiological models. It is demonstrated that maximin optimal designs are substantially more efficient than uniform designs. Parameter variances can be decreased by a factor of two by simply sampling at optimal times during the experiment. Moreover, the maximin optimal designs usually provide the possibility for the experimenter to check the model assumptions, because they have more support points than parameters in the Monod model.     

Robustness and Efficiency of D‐optimal Experimental Designs in a Growth Problem

To assess tree growth, for example in diameter, a forester typically measures the trees at regular time points. We call such designs equidistant. In this paper we look at the robustness and efficiency of several experimental designs, using the D‐optimality criterion, in a case study of diameter growth in cork oaks. We compare D‐optimal designs (unrestricted and replication‐free) with equidistant designs. We further compare designs in different experimental regions. Results indicate that the experimental region should be adequate to the problem, and that D‐optimal designs are substantially more efficient than equidistant designs, even under parameter mis‐specification.     

Conditional Point Estimation in Adaptive Group Sequential Test Designs

It is well known that point estimates in group sequential designs are biased. This also applies to adaptive designs that enable, e.g., data driven reassessments of group sample sizes. For triangular designs, Whitehead (1986) (Biometrika 73 , 573–581) proposed a bias adjusted estimate. But this estimate is not feasible in adaptive designs although it is in group sequential designs. Furthermore, there is a waste of information because it does not use the information at which stage the trial was stopped. We present a modification which does use this information and which is applicable to adaptive designs. The modified estimate achieves an improvement in group sequential designs and shows similar results in adaptive designs.     

Sequentially Generated Designs

Procedures for sequential generation of nearly D-optimal designs are described. Two kinds of designs can be obtained: symmetrical block designs and nonsymmetrical ones. It is shown that in a special case when the number of the support points of a continuous D-optimal design equals to the number of regression coefficients the sequential designs can be constructed very easy without use of a computer. A Catalogue containing 135 designs has been developed by use of these procedures. 34 of them can be used for experiments in cuboidal factor space and the remaining for experiments with mixture and process variables. Comparison with other designs is done.     

Non-Iterative Least Squares Estimation of Missing Values in Hyper-Graeco-Latin Square Designs

In this paper an attempt has been made to obtain explicit expressions for the estimators of the several missing values in hyper-graeco-latin square designs. Further it has been shown that the estimates of the missing values in latin square designs and graeco-latin square designs are obtained as a particular case of the estimates of the missing values in hyper-graeco-latin square designs.