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At the center of the Department of Energy's (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Production Genomics Facility (PGF), lies a highly efficient and automated production line devoted to the generation of high-quality genomic DNA sequence. The JGI utilizes a dual platform of DNA sequence analyzers within its Production Capillaries group: seventy Applied Biosystems 3730xl and thirty-six GE Healthcare MegaBACE 4500 instruments. The Capillaries group is comprised of eleven employees that are responsible for operating and maintaining both platforms; the group is also involved in the daily monitoring of performance stats and the troubleshooting of DNA sample and instrument related issues. The operation of these high-throughput fluorescence-based DNA sequence analyzers will be assessed on the strengths and benefits of each platform, including instrument overviews of operational parameters and mechanical/component specifications. In addition, instrument setups for production operation, operation schedules, loading, and maintenance strategies as well as the various sequencing strategies for each platform will be compared. Throughput numbers and sequencing quality results will be presented.

The Joining of Competitors: The Dual Operation of the ABI 3730xl & GE MegaBACE4500 DNA Sequence Analyzers at the DOE Joint Genome InstituteChristopher Daum, Damon Tighe, Lena Philips, Danielle Mihalkanin, Cailyn Spurrell, Don Miller, Alex Copeland, Susan M. Lucas, JGI Sequencing Team U.S. DOE Joint Genome Institute, Walnut Creek, CA 94598At the center of the Department of Energy s (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) Production Genomics Facility (PGF), lies a highly efficient and automated production line devoted to the generation of high-quality genomic DNA sequence. The JGI utilizes a dual platform of DNA sequence analyzers: Applied Biosystems 3730xl and GE Healthcare s MegaBACE 4500. The operation of these high-throughput fluorescence-based DNA sequence analyzers at the JGI will be assessed on the strengths and benefits of each platform, instrument overviews of operation parameters and mechanical/component specifications. In addition, instrument setups for production operation, operation schedules, loading, and maintenance strategies as well as the various sequencing strategies for each platform. Throughput numbers and sequencing quality results will be presented. UCRL ABS-217110 LBNL-59101 Abs.

Developing reading skills in a second language presents learners with many challenges, including lexico-grammatical decoding. An additional challenge is posed by the different registers of written text and the associated lexico-grammatical features with which learners must contend. Questioning the efficacy of using non-academic reading texts in university-based intensive English programs in the United States, the present study is a comparative analysis between the language in texts commonly used in reading skill development classes (e.g., biographies, newspaper or news magazine articles) and the language in texts more commonly encountered in introductory undergraduate university classes, represented by a corpus of lower-division university textbook excerpts. Features compared include Academic Word List (AWL) vocabulary (Coxhead, 2000), nominal modification features, and surface features associated with readability. Findings suggest significant differences in percentage of AWL vocabulary and use of nominal modification, but no significant difference in features traditionally associated with readability. The paper proposes that the sentence internal language in the ESL textbook texts is not representative of language in university textbooks, neither introductory university textbooks in general nor introductory university textbooks by macro discipline, and that further consideration must be given to text selection and inclusion of supplemental texts and activities to account for lexico-grammatical differences. (Contains 4 tables and 3 figures.)

This study explored college students' perceptions regarding their use of search engines. The main objective was to determine how frequently students used various search engines, whether advanced search features were used, and how many search engines were used. Various factors that might influence student responses were examined. Results showed that 94% of the students used search engines for class-related activities. Almost 61% of them used search engines one to two times per day and 28% used them three to four times per day. Males were more likely than females to use search engines for news, weather, and sports activities; females were more likely to use them for travel information. Yahoo and Google received the highest overall ratings. Business majors were more likely than non-business majors to use search engines for class-related activities and to use advanced search techniques. (Contains 2 tables.)

This article is based on field research that we conducted in a north Bali school (SLB Bagian B) for deaf students. The study involves documentation of the linguistic environments within which deaf people operate, focusing on the use of sign languages by deaf and hearing people. The following material on policies and practices oriented toward the development of communicative competence in deaf students will help readers understand the changing linguistic ecology of the Buleleng region, of Bali, and of Indonesia as a whole. Here we examine the impact of teaching strategies and of so-called total communication, in particular, on the communicative competence and occupational potential of students. We report on how these methods are interpreted within the Balinese and Indonesian contexts, especially in relation to the linguistic and cultural environments the students come from, experience at school, and reenter when they leave school.

A survey of 164 accounting departments found that more of those accredited by American Association of Colleges and Schools of Business used assessment for planning purposes. More of those accredited by Association of Collegiate Business Schools and Programs used assessment results for instructional changes. (SK)

Examines the impact of nationalism on the linguistic rights of Deaf communities. Explores the subtle hegemony of nationalism in relation to linguistic minorities, and discusses the impact of nationalism on sign languages from two perspectives in two contrasting situations. (Author/VWL)

A study of the relationship between the deaf, their native sign languages, and the encompassing hearing societies and their cultures, within the context of schooling, demonstrates how the discourse on sign language within education is a vital ingredient in the assertion of symbolic power by the hearing establishment over the deaf community. The case of Australia is cited. (Author/LB)