In meadow forage _ as grass-dominated plant community or as permanent grassland consisting of various species (grasses, herbs, legumes) _ the growth stage of the plants has predominant impact on the ...feed value. It influences both the ingestibility as well as the digestibility. The growth stage determines the proportion and the composition of the cell wall and also the character of the cell content
Learning experiences for middle school girls are an effective means to steer young women toward secondary engineering curricula that they might not have otherwise considered. Sponsorship of such ...experiences by a collegiate student group is worthwhile, as it gives the group common purpose and places college students in a position to mentor these young women. This paper addresses learning experiences in different areas of bio-medical engineering offered to middle school girls in November 2008 via a day-long workshop entitled ldquoEngineering The Body.rdquo The Kansas State University (KSU) Student Chapter of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine and Biology Society (EMBS) worked with the KSU Women in Engineering and Science Program (WESP) to design and sponsor these experiences, which addressed the areas of joint mechanics, electrocardiograms, membrane transport, computer mouse design, and audio filters for cochlear implants. Fifty five middle-school girls participated in this event, affirming the notion that biomedical engineering appeals to young women and that early education and recruitment efforts have the potential to expand the biomedical engineering talent pool.
Gamma-glutamyl carboxylase is a vitamin K-dependent integral membrane protein that converts specific glutamic acid residues (Glu) into gamma-carboxyglutamic acid residues (Gla). This ...post-translational modification is important in various biological functions such as blood coagulation, bone metabolism, and growth control. The focus of my research was to use analytical techniques to better understand the carboxylase-substrate interaction. My initial project was to determine the extent of Glu to Gla conversion on specific substrates, with the long term goal of determining the order of addition of CO2. The substrates of interest include the pentapeptide Phe-Leu-Glu-Glu-Leu (FLEEL), and FIXQ/S, a substrate modeled after factor IX found in the blood cascade. The substrates were carboxylated in vitro and analyzed using capillary liquid chromatography with detection by a quadrupole-time-of-flight mass spectrometer. My results for this work revealed that FLEEL was carboxylated at either of the glutamic acid residues, not at both sites. The enzyme appears to show preference for the first glutamic acid. Although for FIXQ/S the order could not be elucidated from my data, it could be shown that most prevalent product was carboxylated four times, out of a possible twelve. Products with up to seven carboxylations were detected. My second project focused on the interaction between carboxylase and the substrate recognition site called the propeptide. Fluorescence anisotropy measurements were used to determine the off-rates and binding affinities of twelve human vitamin K-dependent propeptides. In addition, the effect of the required cosubstrates upon the binding of propeptide to enzyme was also studied. My results demonstrate that each propeptide has a characteristic off-rate that corresponds to the measured affinity. The presence of substrate FLEEL and the cosubstrate vitamin K hydroquinone result in tighter binding of the enzyme to the propeptide. The presence of FLEEL also decreases the enzyme's affinity for the propeptide. The affinities of the propeptides appear to be random and independent of the sequence of the propeptide.
IgG and IgM autoantibodies directed against IgE were determined in 95 serum samples from 67 patients with systemic lupus erythematosus, by an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. IgM anti-IgE ...autoantibodies were found in 18 patients (27%) and IgG anti-IgE autoantibodies were detected in 23 patients (34%). The specificity of the immunoassay was confirmed by the ability to inhibit binding with IgE myeloma, but not other immunoglobulin isotypes and the demonstration that the reactivity was directed to the Fc epsilon fragment of IgE. The IgG fraction of certain sera with anti-IgE activity was capable of inducing histamine release from control basophils and cutaneous mast cells. Clinical associations with the presence of anti-IgE activity were sought by retrospective chart analysis of 61 patients. Significant correlation was found with articular involvement, lymphadenopathy, and anti-DNA antibodies (P less than 0.05). Anti-IgE autoantibodies are observed in a significant number of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus and may contribute to the pathogenesis of the vascular and articular lesions characteristic of this disease.
Phys. Rev. D 95, 032003 (2017) The exclusive charmonium production process in $\bar{p}p$ annihilation with
an associated $\pi^0$ meson $\bar{p}p\to J/\psi\pi^0$ is studied in the
framework of QCD ...collinear factorization. The feasibility of measuring this
reaction through the $J/\psi\to e^+e^-$ decay channel with the PANDA
(AntiProton ANnihilation at DArmstadt) experiment is investigated. Simulations
on signal reconstruction efficiency as well as the background rejection from
various sources including the $\bar{p}p\to\pi^+\pi^-\pi^0$ and $\bar{p}p\to
J/\psi\pi^0\pi^0$ reactions are performed with PandaRoot, the simulation and
analysis software framework of the PANDA experiment. It is shown that the
measurement can be done at PANDA with significant constraining power under the
assumption of an integrated luminosity attainable in four to five months of
data taking at the maximum design luminosity.
