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Expanded Set (expanded + set)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Life Sciences	40%

Selected Abstracts

Using BiowinÔ, Bayes, and batteries to predict ready biodegradability

ENVIRONMENTAL TOXICOLOGY & CHEMISTRY, Issue 4 2004
Robert S. Boethling
Abstract Wether or not a given chemical substance is readily biodegradable is an important piece of information in risk screening for both new and existing chemicals. Despite the relatively low cost of Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development tests, data are often unavailable and biodegradability must be estimated. In this paper, we focus on the predictive value of selected BiowinÔ models and model batteries using Bayesian analysis. Posterior probabilities, calculated based on performance with the model training sets using Bayes' theorem, were closely matched by actual performance with an expanded set of 374 premanufacture notice (PMN) substances. Further analysis suggested that a simple battery consisting of Biowin3 (survey ultimate biodegradation model) and Biowin5 (Ministry of International Trade and Industry [MITI] linear model) would have enhanced predictive power in comparison to individual models. Application of the battery to PMN substances showed that performance matched expectation. This approach significantly reduced both false positives for ready biodegradability and the overall misclassification rate. Similar results were obtained for a set of 63 pharmaceuticals using a battery consisting of Biowin3 and Biowin6 (MITI nonlinear model). Biodegradation data for PMNs tested in multiple ready tests or both inherent and ready biodegradation tests yielded additional insights that may be useful in risk screening. [source]

On Models and Mickey Mouse

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ART & DESIGN EDUCATION, Issue 2 2005
Deanna Petherbridge
The re-issue of a nineteenth-century French Drawing Course is the occasion for an examination of issues of ,models of good practice' in current art teaching. These are listed as an expanded set of student-centred pedagogical paradigms, which embrace the forceful popular imagery of electronic games and comic strips. The formalist adaptations of comic-strip imagery by artists in the 1970s which challenged traditional divisions between high and popular art, are contrasted with the scathing Marxist analysis by Dorfman and Matterlart, Imperialist Ideology in the Disney Comic, which still has political resonance. The darkly ambivalent, if much theorised, appropriations of popular imagery by contemporary artists Pettibon and Murakami are adduced as part of an on-going problematic, where ideological readings are glossed over for fear of jeopardising the liberal consensus in art and education. [source]

Quantification of monomeric and polymeric wheat proteins and the relationship of protein fractions to wheat quality,

JOURNAL OF THE SCIENCE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, Issue 10 2003
Jerry Suchy
Abstract Wheat protein composition is important for understanding the biochemical basis of wheat quality. The objective of this study was to design a simple protein fractionation protocol with low cross-contamination and to show that these protein fractions were associated with wheat quality. The protocol consists of three sequential extractions from 100 mg of flour with 7.5% propan-1-ol and 0.3 M sodium iodide (monomeric-rich protein), 50% propan-1-ol (soluble glutenin-rich protein) and 40% propan-1-ol and 0.2% dithiothreitol (insoluble glutenin-rich protein). Nitrogen content of protein solubility groups was determined from dry residues using an automated combustion nitrogen analyser. About 90% of the total protein in the flour was solubilised. Cross-contamination of protein fractions was evaluated by SDS-PAGE, SE-HPLC and RP-HPLC. Variation in nitrogen content of the protein solubility fractions was lowest for monomeric-rich protein (<2%) and insoluble glutenin-rich protein (<4%). Three wheats with similar high-molecular-weight (HMW) glutenin subunit composition, Alpha 16, Glenlea and Roblin, varied significantly (P , 0.05) in the proportion of monomeric-rich and insoluble glutenin-rich protein in the flour. Dough rheological properties were directly related to the proportion of insoluble glutenin-rich protein and inversely related to the proportion of monomeric-rich protein. The protocol was validated using an expanded set of 11 wheats which also showed that inter-cultivar differences in the proportion of monomeric-rich, insoluble glutenin-rich protein and glutenin-to-gliadin ratio in the flour governed dough rheological properties such as mixograph, farinograph and microextension tests. The protocol has merit for quality screening in wheat-breeding programmes when the sample size is too small or when time constraints limit the ability to perform traditional rheological tests. For the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food, Government of Canada, Copyright © Minister of Public Works and Government Services Canada 2003. Published for SCI by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Characterization of single nucleotide polymorphism markers for the green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas)

MOLECULAR ECOLOGY RESOURCES, Issue 3 2009
SUZANNE E. RODEN
Abstract We present data on 29 new single nucleotide polymorphism assays for the green sea turtle, Chelonia mydas. DNA extracts from 39 green turtles were used for two methods of single nucleotide polymorphism discovery. The first approach employed an amplified fragment length polymorphism technique. The second technique screened a microsatellite library. Allele-specific amplification assays were developed for high-throughput single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping and tested on two Pacific C. mydas nesting populations. Observed heterozygosities ranged from 0 to 0.95 for a Hawaiian population and from 0 to 0.85 for a Galapagos population. Each of the populations had one locus out of Hardy,Weinberg equilibrium, SSCM2b and SSCM5 for Hawaii and Galapagos, respectively. No loci showed significant genotypic linkage disequilibrium across an expanded set of four Pacific nesting populations. However, two loci, SSCM4 and SSCM10b showed linkage disequilibrium across three populations indicating possible association. [source]

Law and Finance in Transition Economies

THE ECONOMICS OF TRANSITION, Issue 2 2000
Katharina Pistor
This paper offers the first comprehensive analysis of legal change in the protection of shareholder and creditor rights in transition economies and its impact on the propensity of firms to raise external finance. Following La Porta et al. (1998), the paper constructs an expanded set of legal indices to capture a range of potential conflicts between different stakeholders of the firm. It supplements the analysis of the law on the books with an analysis of the effectiveness of legal institutions. Our main finding is that the effectiveness of legal institutions has a much stronger impact on external finance than does the law on the books, despite legal change that has substantially improved shareholder and creditor rights. This finding supports the proposition that legal transplants and extensive legal reforms are not sufficient for the evolution of effective legal and market institutions. [source]