Nonpathological Extracellular Amyloid Is Present during Normal Epididymal Sperm Maturation

Amyloids are aggregated proteins characterized by a specific cross-β-sheet structure and are typically associated with neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer's disease. Recently, however, several nonpathological amyloids have been found in intracellular organelles of normal mammalian tissues suggesting that amyloid may also carry out biological functions. We previously have shown that the epididymal cystatin CRES (cystatin-related epididymal spermatogenic), cst8, a reproductive-specific member of the cystatin superfamily of cysteine protease inhibitors, forms amyloid in vitro suggesting that CRES amyloid may also form in vivo within the epididymal lumen. Here we show that amyloid structures containing CRES are a component of the normal mouse epididymal lumen without any apparent cytotoxic effects on spermatozoa and that these structures change along the length of the tubule. These studies suggest the presence of a functional amyloid structure that may carry out roles in sperm maturation or maintenance of the luminal milieu and which itself may undergo maturational changes along the epididymis. In contrast to previous examples of functional amyloid which were intracellular, our studies now show that nonpathological/functional amyloid can also be extracellular. The presence of an extracellular and nonpathological amyloid in the epididymis suggests that similar amyloid structures may be present in other organ systems and may carry out distinctive tissue-specific functions

Figure 4. Apoptotic sperm cells are efficiently phagocytosed in the presence of fibrils.

Unlike other human biological fluids, semen contains multiple types of amyloid fibrils in the absence of disease. These fibrils enhance HIV infection by promoting viral fusion to cellular targets, but their natural function remained unknown. The similarities shared between HIV fusion to host cell and sperm fusion to oocyte led us to examine whether these fibrils promote fertilization. Surprisingly, the fibrils inhibited fertilization by immobilizing sperm. Interestingly, however, this immobilization facilitated uptake and clearance of sperm by macrophages, which are known to infiltrate the female reproductive tract (FRT) following semen exposure. In the presence of semen fibrils, damaged and apoptotic sperm were more rapidly phagocytosed than healthy ones, suggesting that deposition of semen fibrils in the lower FRT facilitates clearance of poor-quality sperm. Our findings suggest that amyloid fibrils in semen may play a role in reproduction by participating in sperm selection and facilitating the rapid removal of sperm antigens

Aquatic invertebrates in wetlands of the oil sands region of northeast Alberta, Canada, with emphasis on Chironomidae (Diptera).

This thesis describes the effects of oil sands process waters (OSPW) on the benthic macroinvertebrate component of wetland ecosystems through assessment of biological responses at various levels of organization. Comparison of the macroinvertebrate communities among OSPW-affected wetlands and environmentally-similar reference wetlands indicated an insignificant trend of reduced taxonomic richness and abundance. Also, the general benthic macroinvertebrate community and specifically the chironomid community showed differences in community composition between OSPW and reference wetlands, in terms of the presence and relative abundances of dominant taxa. The incidence of chironomid mouthpart deformities, a biomarker of teratogenicity, was low at three pairs of reference and OSPW wetlands. Similarly, there was no evidence to show that OSPW induces mouthpart deformities. However, growth and survival were significantly reduced in both lab and field-derived C. tentans larvae exposed to higher concentrations of OSPW. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Biological Sciences. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1999 .W54. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0445. Adviser: Jan Ciborowski. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2000

Menentukan jarak terdekat hotel dengan metode Haversine formula

INDONESIA: Dewasa ini, perkembangan pariwisata di kota Malang semakin pesat. Dikarenakan letak kota Malang yang strategis ditengah-tengah wilayah kabupaten Malang dan berada di dataran tinggi sangat menarik untuk para wisatawan. Kota Malang bukannya sebagai tempat pariwisata, namun juga tempat untuk keperluan kerja, bisnis dan lain sebagainya. Terkadang untuk mengunjungi sebuah kota misalkan kota Malang bisa memakan waktu yang tidak sebentar dan perlu tempat untuk menginap. Untuk beberapa keadaan terkadang seseorang sudah dipersiapkan tempat untuk menginap oleh perusahaan atau kantornya yang berupa penginapan atau Hotel. Namun ada juga yang berencana untuk berpergian satu hari namun ternyata kegiatan yang dilakukan tidak bisa diselesaikan dalam satu hari sehingga membutuhkan tempat untuk menginap. Menanggapi adanya permasalahan diatas perlu membangun suatu sistem yang dapat melakukan pencarian hotel yang merekomendasikan jarak terdekat dengan lokasi pengguna(current location). Tujuan dari penelitian ini adalah membuat aplikasi yang dapat mencari hotel dengan jarak terdekat dengan posisi pengguna menggunakan Haversine Formula serta Google Maps sebagai pendukung. Haversine Formula merupakan sebuah persamaan yang memberikan jarak lingkaran besar (radius) antara dua titik pada permukaan bola (bumi) berdasarkan garis bujur dan lintang. Dari hasil penelitian ini, tercipta aplikasi pencarian hotel untuk menetukan jarak terdekat hotel dengan lokasi pengguna. Dalam pencarian hotel, data yang digunakan berasal dari database server. Device yang digunakan harus memiliki GPS dan koneksi internet. Berdasarkan uji coba kecepatan dalam memberikan rekomendasi lokasi berdasarkan jarak tempuh terdekat, lingkungan dan cuaca dapat mempengaruhi kecepatan dalam memberikan rekomendasi lokasi hotel terdekat dengan lokasi user. ENGLISH: Nowadays, the development of tourism in the city of Malang growing rapidly, this is due to the geographical location of the city of Malang is located in the center of Malang and location on a plateau is very attractive for tourists. In addition to tourism destination, Malang is also a place for the purposes of work, business and so forth. Sometimes to visit a city like Malang could take a long time and need a place to stay, therefore companies and offices need to prepare a place for employees to stay as an inn or hotel. Usually ,the main purpose of the hotel guests are visiting the city of Malang in one day, but then for some reason need to extend the time of his visit, so that the guests decided to stay at the hotel. With these problems, we need a hotel search system which can give recommendations to the distance of the closest location to the user's location (current location). The purpose of this research is to create an application that can look for a Hotel with the shortest distance to the user's position using Haversine Formula and Google Maps as supporters. Haversine Formula is an equation that gives great circle distance (radius) between two points on the surface of the sphere (the earth) by longitude and latitude. From these results, it created a search application for determining the shortest distance with the user's location, data that used in this application comes from database in the server. Device used must have a GPS and an internet connection. Based on the test speed in giving recommendations based on the distance of the nearest location, environment and weather can affect the speed in delivering on the location of the nearest hotel to the location of the user

Aquatic invertebrates in wetlands of the oil sands region of northeast Alberta, Canada, with emphasis on Chironomidae (Diptera).

This thesis describes the effects of oil sands process waters (OSPW) on the benthic macroinvertebrate component of wetland ecosystems through assessment of biological responses at various levels of organization. Comparison of the macroinvertebrate communities among OSPW-affected wetlands and environmentally-similar reference wetlands indicated an insignificant trend of reduced taxonomic richness and abundance. Also, the general benthic macroinvertebrate community and specifically the chironomid community showed differences in community composition between OSPW and reference wetlands, in terms of the presence and relative abundances of dominant taxa. The incidence of chironomid mouthpart deformities, a biomarker of teratogenicity, was low at three pairs of reference and OSPW wetlands. Similarly, there was no evidence to show that OSPW induces mouthpart deformities. However, growth and survival were significantly reduced in both lab and field-derived C. tentans larvae exposed to higher concentrations of OSPW. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)Dept. of Biological Sciences. Paper copy at Leddy Library: Theses & Major Papers - Basement, West Bldg. / Call Number: Thesis1999 .W54. Source: Masters Abstracts International, Volume: 39-02, page: 0445. Adviser: Jan Ciborowski. Thesis (M.Sc.)--University of Windsor (Canada), 2000

Pembuatan Sistem Informasi Pemasarn pada PT. X

PT. X yang berlokasi di Surabaya, Jawa Timur merupakan perusahaan yang bergerak di bidang jasa telekomunikasi. Perusahaan telekomunikasi ini mengukur nilai kesuksesan salah satunya berdasarkan banyaknya jumlah pelanggan yang didapat. Untuk mendapatkan pelanggan dalam jumlah banyak tentunya tidak mudah karena persaingan yang semakin ketat. Untuk itu diperlukan pemasaran yang bagus untuk dapat memenangkan persaingan. Untuk dapat melakukan pemasaran suatu produk secara optimal dipengaruhi oleh empat hal yaitu strategi penentuan produk, penetapan harga, distribusi, dan promosi. Empat hal ini paling berpengaruh dalam menetapkan strategi pemasaran. Kemungkinan terburuk dari kesalahan dalam menetapkan strategi pemasaran adalah perusahaan dapat mengalami kerugian. Untuk menghindari terjadinya berbagai kesalahan dalam menetapkan strategi pemasaran, maka dibuatlah sebuah program aplikasi sistem informasi pemasaran. Produk yang dipasarkan adalah flexi dan speedy. Sistem informasi pemasaran ini hanya ditinjau dari segi promosi saja