• Title/Summary/Keyword: University of British Columbia

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FORMATION OF THE MILKY WAY

  • HESSER J. E.;STETSON P. B.;HARRISM W. E.;BOLTE M.;SMECKER-HANE T. A.;VANDENBERG D. A.;BELL R. A.;BOND H. E.;BERGH S. VAN DEN;MCCLURE R. D.;FAHLMAN G. G.;RICHER H. B.
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.29 no.spc1
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    • pp.111-118
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    • 1996
  • We review observational evidence bearing on the formation of a prototypical large spiral galaxy, the Milky Way. New ground- and space-based studies of globular star clusters and dwarf spheroidal galaxies provide a wealth of information to constrain theories of galaxy formation. It appears likely that the Milky Way formed by an combination of rapid, dissipative collapse and mergers, but the relative contributions of these two mechanisms remain controversial. New evidence, however, indicates that initial star and star cluster formation occurred simultaneously over a volume that presently extends to twice the distance of the Magellanic Clouds.

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Staurosporine Induced Apoptosis Rapidly Downregulates TDP-43 in Glioma Cells

  • Nan, Yi-Nan;Zhu, Jing-Yan;Tan, Yan;Zhang, Qi;Jia, William;Hua, Qian
    • Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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    • v.15 no.8
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    • pp.3575-3579
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    • 2014
  • TDP-43 is a ubiquitously expressed DNA/RNA binding protein that has recently attracted attention for its involvement in neurodegenerative diseases. While TDP-43 has been found to participate in various important cellular activities including stress and apoptosis, little is known about its role in cancer cells. Here we report that staurosporine (STS) induced apoptosis in U87 glioma cells is associated with rapid downregulation of TDP-43 at both mRNA and protein levels. The latter is dependent on activation of caspase 3. More importantly, we have shown that knockdown of TDP-43 by specific siRNA dramatically enhanced cytotoxicity of STS. These results suggest that normal level of TDP-43 may be protective for cancer cells under apoptotic insult.

Using Enzyme Supplemented, Reduced Protein Diets to Decrease Nitrogen and Phosphorus Excretion of White Leghorn Hens

  • Jacob, Jacqueline P.;Ibrahim, Sami;Blair, Robert;Namkung, Hwan;Paik, In Kee
    • Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
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    • v.13 no.12
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    • pp.1743-1749
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    • 2000
  • An experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of supplementation of commercial phytase and ${\beta}-glucanase$ to wheat-soybean meal based layer diets. Control (17% CP) and reduced protein (13.5% CP) diets were compared with and without phytase and/or ${\beta}-glucanase$. Reducing dietary crude protein levels reduced the amount of N excreted by laying hens with no adverse affect on egg production or overall feed conversion ratio. There was, however, a slight reduction in average egg weight. When phytase was added to the control protein diets it was possible to reduce the level of dicalcium phosphate in the diet without a loss in performance and daily P output was reduced significantly. When phytase was added to the reduced protein diets, however, there was a dramatic loss in performance in the last four weeks of the study. Supplementation of ${\beta}-glucanase$ to wheat based layer diet did not appear to have beneficial affects in terms of laying performance and reducing nitrogen or phosphorus excretion. Combination of phytase and ${\beta}-glucanase$ had no positive effects on laying performance or reduction of DM, N and P.

The first record of Rhabdocoela, Alcha sinensis, Wang & Hu, 2019 (Platyhelminthes: Polycystididae) from Korea

  • Kim, Kimi;Van Steenkiste, Niels W.L.;Leander, Brian S.;Jung, Jongwoo
    • Journal of Species Research
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    • v.9 no.3
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    • pp.269-272
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    • 2020
  • In this study, a species of Rhabdocoela is reported from Korea for the first time. The kalyptorhynch Alcha sinensis Wang & Hu, 2019, was collected from the intertidal zone of Anmyeon Island. Compared to the original study on A. sinensis and previous studies on A. evelinae, we provide additional detail of these two species through pictures of the stylet and a improved description of the prostate stylet type III, which is composed of a bowtie-shaped base and two pairs of heteromorphic plates with fringed or serrated edges. Two plates are also provided with a rounded "blade". Also, we discuss the importance of the prostate stylet type III as a diagnostic character. After a thorough comparison of the descriptions of A. evelinae Marcus, 1949, and A. sinensis, we conclude that the Korean specimens belong to the latter species. Finally, we discuss the difficulties of interpreting diagnostic characters of the small and complex prostate stylet type III within the genus Alcha.

Damage assessment and performance-based seismic design of timber-steel hybrid shear wall systems

  • Li, Zheng;He, Minjuan;Li, Minghao;Lam, Frank
    • Earthquakes and Structures
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    • v.7 no.1
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    • pp.101-117
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    • 2014
  • This paper presents a reliability-based analysis on seismic performance of timber-steel hybrid shear wall systems. Such system is composed of steel moment resisting frame and infill wood frame shear wall. The performance criteria of the hybrid system with respect to different seismic hazard levels were determined through a damage assessment process, and the effectiveness of the infill wood shear walls on improving the seismic performance of the hybrid systems was evaluated. Performance curves were obtained by considering different target non-exceedance probabilities, and design charts were further established as a function of seismic weight. Wall drift responses and shear forces in wood-steel bolted connections were used as performance criteria in establishing the performance curves to illustrate the proposed design procedure. It was found that the presence of the infill wood shear walls significantly reduced the non-performance probabilities of the hybrid wall systems. This study provides performance-based seismic evaluations on the timber-steel hybrid shear walls in support of future applications of such hybrid systems in multi-story buildings.

EBSD studies on microstructure and crystallographic orientation of UO2-Mo composite fuels

  • Tummalapalli, Murali Krishna;Szpunar, Jerzy A.;Prasad, Anil;Bichler, Lukas
    • Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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    • v.53 no.12
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    • pp.4052-4059
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    • 2021
  • The microstructure of the fuel pellet plays an essential role in fission gas buildup and release and is critical for the safe and continued operation of nuclear power stations. Structural analysis of uranium dioxide (UO2)-molybdenum (Mo) composite fuel pellets prepared at a range of sintering temperatures from 1300 to 1800 ℃ was performed. Mo micro and nanoparticles were used in making the composite pellets. A systematic investigation into the influence of processing parameters during Spark Plasma Sintering (SPS) of the pellets on the microstructure, texture, grain size, and grain boundary characters of UO2-Mo is presented. UO2-Mo composite show significant differences in the fraction of general boundaries and also special/coincident site lattice (CSL) boundaries. EBSD orientation maps demonstrated that <111> texturing was observed in the pellets fabricated at 1500 ℃. The experimental investigations suggest that UO2-Mo composite pellets have favorable microstructural features compared to the UO2 pellet.

Drying Characteristics of Large Western Redcedar Timber During Radio Frequency/Vacuum Drying (웨스턴 레드시더 큰 정각재(正角材)의 고주파 진공 건조 특성)

  • Jung, Hee-Suk;Avramidis, Stavros;Cai, Liping
    • Journal of the Korean Wood Science and Technology
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    • v.26 no.3
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    • pp.1-8
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    • 1998
  • Western redcedar timber, 26 by 26cm in cross section and by 200cm long, was dried in a laboratory radio-frequency/vacuum kiln under 65torr of ambient pressure and a fixed frequency of 6.78MHz for the potential rapidly dry large timber. All process data were collected and saved in a computer through a data acquisition system. The temperature in the middle of timber was higher than temperature at the quarter point of timber length and thickness. Temperature gradients developed in the longitudinal and transverse direction of timber. The pressure in the middle of timber was higher than pressure at the quarter point of timber length. The pressure in the middle of timber was lower in the early stage of drying, and higher in the latter stage of drying than pressure at the quarter point of timber thickness. Power density was very highest during heating period and then gradually decreased. The drying curve was approximately linear and the total drying time was 27 hours from an initial moisture content(MC) of 48.6 percent to a final Me of 19.2 percent with only a few mild internal checks in the middle location of timber.

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Properties of reduced and quenched converter slag

  • Ko, In-Yong;Ionescu Denisa;T. R. Meadowcroft
    • Proceedings of the IEEK Conference
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    • 2001.10a
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    • pp.542-546
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    • 2001
  • Converter slag has some compositional similarities to portland cement. But it has no hydration properties due to it's quite high concentrations of FeO(20-35%), MnO(4-6.5%). So it is needed to reduce the concentrations of iron and manganese of converter slag to use as cement additives by enhancing it's hydration properties. In this study, converter slag was modified it's composition by mixing of silica, alumina and quenched BF slag and reduced in induction furnace and quenched in running water. The hydraulic properties and structures of modified and quenched converter slag are significantly changed depend on the amount and kinds of additives. The addition of alumina up to 10% and BFQ slag up to 20% by weight on converter slag was effective to enhance the hydraulic properties of modified and quenched slag. The addition of reduced and quenched converter slag up to 20% by weight in replacement of portland cement in mixing of concrete mortar were shown higher compressive strength than 100% cement concrete mortar.

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Effective Production of N-Acetyl-$\beta$-glucosamine by Serratia marcescens Using Chitinadceous Waste

  • Kim, Kwang;A. Louise Creagh;Charles A. Haynes
    • Biotechnology and Bioprocess Engineering:BBE
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    • v.3 no.2
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    • pp.71-77
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    • 1998
  • The strain of Serratia marcescens QM B1466 produces selectively large amount of chitinolytic enzymes (about 1mg/L medium). Enzymatic hydrolysis of chitin to N-acetyl-${\beta}$-D-glucosamine (NAG) was performed with a system consisting of two hydrolases (chitinase and chitobiase) produced by optimization of a microbial host consuming chitin particles. For the development of Large-scale biological process for the production of NAG from chitinaceous waste, the selection and optimization of a microbial host, particle size of crab/shrimp chitin sources and initial induction time using chitin as a sole carbon source on chitinase/chitobiase production and NAG production were examined. Crab-shell chitin(1.5%) treated by dilute acid and , ball-milled with a normal diameter less than 250m gave the highest chitinase activity over a 7 days culture. Crude chitinase/ chitobiase solution obtained in a 10 L fed-batch fermentation showed a maximum activities of 23.6 U/mL and 5.1 U/mL, respectively with a feeding time of 3 hrs, near pH 8.5 at 30$^{\circ}C$.

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Identification of Knowledge Gaps Regarding Healthcare Workers' Exposure to Antineoplastic Drugs: Review of Literature, North America versus Europe

  • Hon, Chun-Yip;Barzan, Cris;Astrakianakis, George
    • Safety and Health at Work
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    • v.5 no.4
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    • pp.169-174
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    • 2014
  • We have been examining the issue of healthcare workers' exposure to antineoplastic drugs for nearly a decade and have observed that there appears to be more publications on the subject matter originating from Europe than from North America. The concern is that findings from Europe may not be generalizable to North America because of differences in handling practices, regulatory requirements, and training. Our objective was to perform a literature review to confirm our observation and, in turn, identify gaps in knowledge that warrants addressing in North America. Using select keywords, we searched for publications in PubMed and Web of Science. All papers were initially classified according to the originating continent and then categorized into one or more subject categories (analytical methods, biological monitoring, occupational exposure, surface contamination, and probability of risk/exposure). Our review identified 16 papers originating from North America and 55 papers from Europe with surface contamination being the subject matter most often studied overall. Based on our results, we are of the opinion that North American researchers need to further conduct dermal and/or urinary drug contamination studies as well as assess the exposure risk faced by healthcare workers who handle antineoplastic drugs. Trends in exposure levels should also be explored.