MOTIVATION De novo transcriptome assemblies of RNA-Seq data are important for genomics applications of unsequenced organisms. Owing to the complexity and often incomplete representation of transcripts in sequencing libraries, the assembly of high-quality transcriptomes can be challenging. However, with the rapidly growing number of sequenced genomes, it is now feasible to improve RNA-Seq assemb...

Chronic wasting disease (CWD) is a contagious, fatal prion disease of deer and elk that continues to emerge in new locations. To explore the means by which prions are transmitted with high efficiency among cervids, we examined prion infectivity in the apical skin layer covering the growing antler (antler velvet) by using CWD-susceptible transgenic mice and protein misfolding cyclic amplificatio...

Allelopathy between Mucuna pruriens (velvet bean) and Lactuca sativa (lettuce) was studied under 3D-clinorotation. Growth of both roots and shoots of lettuce seedlings was suppressed by the presence of velvet bean. The degree of suppression was less on the clinostat compared to the normal static earth gravity. L-DOPA (L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine) is known to be a major substance in allelopath...

A detailed investigation has been made of the unusual characteristics of the angular distribution of surface scattering from velvet in the visual region. We present a novel method in which samples of velvet fabric are wrapped around a right-circular cylinder so that reemitted radiance can be measured by a digital CCD camera. This setup makes it relatively simple to acquire a large set of bidire...

In this paper, we propose an image-based approach to synthesize a novel view image for mixed reality (MR) systems. Theoretically, the imagebased method is good for synthesizing realistic images, but it is difficult to achieve interactive handling of the object. As a solution, we propose a new method based on the “surface light field rendering” technique . With this method, we can synthesize the...

UNLABELLED Stuttering can affect many aspects of a person's life. People who stutter report that they experience negative reactions to stuttering, difficulty communicating in key situations, diminished satisfaction with life, and a reduced ability to achieve their goals in life. Unfortunately, most treatment outcomes studies have focused on changes in the observable characteristics of stutterin...

Filamentous fungi produce a number of small bioactive molecules as part of their secondary metabolism ranging from benign antibiotics such as penicillin to threatening mycotoxins such as aflatoxin. Secondary metabolism can be linked to fungal developmental programs in response to various abiotic or biotic external triggers. The velvet family of regulatory proteins plays a key role in coordinati...

This research was conducted at the Department of Soil Science, University of Nigeria Teaching and Research Farm in 2008 and 2009 growing seasons. The objective was to evaluate the effects of edible grain legumes (cowpea and soybean) and velvet-bean/maize rotations on soil chemical properties and the contribution of these chemical properties to rotation benefit conferred on the maize by velvet-b...

The growth and mineralization of antlers correlate with the seasonal variation of serum androgens. Whereas seasonal levels of testosterone (T) in plasma are well established, steroid concentrations have not yet been determined in the tissues of growing antlers. Therefore, RIA was used to determine T and 17beta estradiol (E2) in serum, and three areas (tip, middle, and base) of the antler bone a...

Antler velvet polypeptide (VAP) is a prominent bioactive component of antler velvet. Whereas uncharacterized crude extracts have typically been used in pharmacological studies, in this study, the velvet polypeptide was isolated and purified by acid water extraction, ethanol precipitation, ammonium sulfate fractionation and precipitation, and chromatography, progressively. Human umbilical vein e...