The CD1 family of proteins binds self and foreign glycolipids for presentation to CD1-restricted T cells. To identify previously uncharacterized active CD1 ligands, especially those of microbial origin,...Full Text Available
Protein isolated from hen egg-white and functions as a bacteriostatic enzyme by degrading bacterial cell walls. First enzyme ever characterized by protein ...
The genus Conexibacter (Monciardini et al. 2003) represents the type genus of the family Conexibacteraceae (Stackebrandt 2005, emend. Zhi et al. 2009) with Conexibacter woesei as the type species of the genus. C. woesei is a representative of a deep evolutionary line of des-cent within the class Actinobacteria. Strain ID131577T was originally isolated from temperate forest soil in Gerenzano (Italy). Cells are small, short rods that are motile by peritrichous fla-gella. They may form aggregates after a longer period of growth and, then as a typical charac-teristic, an undulate structure is formed by self-aggregation of flagella with entangled bacteri-al cells. Here we describe the features of the organism, together with the complete sequence and annotation. The 6,359,369 bp long genome of C. woesei contains 5,950 protein-coding and 48 RNA genes and is part of the Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea project.
Reversion-induced LIM protein (RIL) is a member of the ALP (actinin-associated LIM protein) subfamily of the PDZ/LIM proteinfamily. RIL serves as an adaptor protein and seems to regulate cytoskeletons....Full Text Available
The ETS proteins are a family of transcription factors (TFs) that regulate a variety of biological processes. We made genome-wide analyses to explore the classification of the ETS gene family. We identified...Full Text Available
Sibling Paenibacillus dendritiformis bacterial colonies grown on low-nutrient agar medium mutually inhibit growth through secretion of a lethal factor. Analysis of secretions reveals...Full Text Available
The genetic systems of bacteria that have the ability to use organic pollutants as carbon and energy sources can be adapted to create bacterial biosensors for the detection of industrial pollution....Full Text Available
In the Archaea only a handful of ribonucleases involved in RNA processing and degradation have been characterized. One potential group of archaeal ribonucleases are homologues of the bacterial RNase...Full Text Available
Genes of the S100 fused-type protein (SFTP) family are clustered within the epidermal differentiation complex and encode essential components that maintain epithelial homeostasis and barrier functions....Full Text Available
The receptor-associated protein (RAP) is a molecular chaperone that binds tightly to certain newly synthesized LDL receptor family members in the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and facilitates their delivery...Full Text Available
Phospholemman (PLM), a member of the FXYD family of regulators of ion transport, is a major sarcolemmal substrate for protein kinases A and C in cardiac and skeletal muscle. In the heart, PLM...Full Text Available
Alpha-toxin, the major cytotoxic agent elaborated by Staphylococcus aureus, was the first bacterial exotoxin to be identified as a pore former. The protein is secreted as a single-chain, water-soluble...Full Text Available
Several independent studies of bacterial degradation of nitrate ester explosives have demonstrated the involvement of flavin-dependent oxidoreductases related to the old yellow enzyme (OYE) of yeast....Full Text Available
The display of proteins such as feed enzymes at the surface of bacterial spore systems has a great potential use for animal feed. Feed enzymes increase the digestibility of nutrients, leading to greater...Full Text Available
Certain pathogenic species of Bacillus and Clostridium have developed unique methods for intoxicating cells that employ the classic enzymatic “A-B” paradigm for protein toxins. The binary...Full Text Available
PknB is a member of the newly discovered eukaryotic-like protein serine/threonine kinase (PSTK) family of proteins. The pknB gene was cloned and expressed in Escherichia coli....Full Text Available
Zipper-interacting protein kinase (ZIPK) is a member of the death-associated protein kinase family associated with apoptosis in nonmuscle cells where it phosphorylates myosin regulatory light chain...Full Text Available
Metagenomics projects based on shotgun sequencing of populations of micro-organisms yield insight into proteinfamilies. We used sequence similarity clustering to explore proteins with a comprehensive dataset consisting of sequences from available databases together with 6.12 million proteins predicted from an assembly of 7.7 million Global Ocean Sampling (GOS) sequences. The GOS dataset covers nearly all known prokaryotic proteinfamilies. A total of 3,995 medium- and large-sized clusters consisting of only GOS sequences are identified, out of which 1,700 have no detectable homology to known families. The GOS-only clusters contain a higher than expected proportion of sequences of viral origin, thus reflecting a poor sampling of viral diversity until now. Protein domain distributions in the GOS dataset and current ...
The Ty transposable elements of Saccharomyces cerevisiae form a heterogeneous family within which two broad structural classes (I and II) exist. The two classes differ by two large substitutions and...Full Text Available
Pseudomonas syringae is a gram-negative bacterial plant pathogen that is dependent on a type III protein secretion system (TTSS) and the effector proteins it translocates into plant...Full Text Available
The synapsin III gene, SYN3, which belongs to the family of synaptic vesicle-associated proteins, has been implicated in the modulation of neurotransmitter...Full Text Available
The Moloney murine leukemia virus (MMLV) belongs to the Retroviridae family of enveloped viruses, which is known to acquire minute amounts of host cellular proteins both on the surface...Full Text Available
FXYD1 (phospholemman) is a member of an evolutionarily conserved family of membrane proteins that regulate the function of the Na,K-ATPase enzyme complex in specific tissues and specific physiological...Full Text Available
To define the import pathway for apoiso-1-cytochrome c in vivo, the coding region for bacterial chloramphenicol acetyltransferase (CAT) or yeast copper metallothionein (CuMT) was fused to the carboxy...Full Text Available
BackgroundBerberine is a plant alkaloid that is widely used as an anti-infective in traditional medicine. Escherichia coli exposed to berberine form filaments, suggesting...Full Text Available
Delayed endolymphatic hydrops (DEH) is a unique disorder characterized by fluctuating otologic symptoms in the setting of preexisting unilateral deafness. The symptoms include aural fullness, fluctuating hearing, and/or episodes of vertigo similar to those observed in Meniere disease and may occur ipsilateral or contralateral to the previously deafened ear. In most reported cases, the unilateral deafness has been a profound sensorineural hearing loss with a sudden onset that has been variously attributed to bacterial or viral labyrinthitis, acoustic or cranial trauma, otosclerosis, and congenital CMV infection. Familial occurrence of the syndrome has not previously been reported in the literature. In this report, we describe two possible familial instances of delayed DEH. These patients ra...
The positive control function of the bacterial enhancer-binding protein NtrC resides in its central domain, which is highly conserved among activators of ς54 holoenzyme. Previous...Full Text Available
Cultures of 3T3-L1 cells were incubated with either 10 ng/ml cholera toxin or 10 ng/ml pertussis toxin from 4 days prior to the initiation of differentiation and throughout the subsequent incubation. Toxin concentrations were sufficient to completely prevent the labelling of alpha-subunits with ["3"2P]NAD"+ and pertussis toxin and to prevent by more than 90% the labelling with ["3"2P]NAD"+ and cholera toxin in membranes prepared from these cells. Neither toxin prevented the differentiation to the adipocyte phenotype. Neither toxin prevented the increases in the relative amounts of G-proteins which occur upon differentiation. Both toxins dramatically decreased the amount of beta-subunits. As measured by quantitative immunoblotting with antisera specific for both the 35 kDa and 36 kDa beta-subunits, levels of beta-subunit were decreased by more than 50% of steady-state level of control cells. Thus, bacterial toxins which modifies ...
The subjects covered in this Symposium range through almost every clinical medical specialty. From an average of one paper in each of the past three Symposiums, the explosive interest in cerebral amyloidosis has led to the presentation of 12 papers on this subject in the present volume. The genetically predisposed familial amyloidotic processes, such as the polyneuropathies and familial Mediterranean fever have also stimulated extensive and intriguing investigations which have revealed the striking effect of a single amino acid substitution in transforming a normal protein into a lethal ''amyloidogenic'' one. This Symposium clearly depicts the advances since the first amyloid fibril protein was definitively identified and defined 14 years ago. Since all amyloid fibril proteins so far described are variants of normal proteins, attention to gene abnormalities now ...
Recognition of acetylated chromatin by the bromodomains and extra-terminal domain (BET) familyproteins is a hallmark for transcriptional activation and anchoring viral genomes to mitotic chromosomes...Full Text Available
alpha-actinins are actin microfilament crosslinking proteins. Vertebrate actinins fall into two classes: the broadly-expressed actinins 1 and 4 (actn1 and actn4)...Full Text Available
To investigate the role of thyroxine-binding globulin (TBG) and albumin in the availability of thyroid hormones to peripheral tissues, comprehensive kinetic studies of thyroxine (T4) and triiodothyronine...Full Text Available
Sirt1 (member of the sirtuin family) is a nicotinamide adenosine dinucleotide (NAD)-dependent deacetylase that removes acetyl groups from various proteins. Sirt1 performs a wide variety of functions...Full Text Available
BackgroundSerine proteinase inhibitors (Serpins) are a large superfamily of structurally related, but functionally diverse proteins that control essential proteolytic pathways in...Full Text Available
The proprotein convertases (PCs) are calcium-dependent proteases responsible for processing precursor proteins into their active forms in eukariotes. The PC1/3 is a pivotal enzyme of this family that...Full Text Available
Heat shock proteins (Hsp) are a family of stress-inducible molecular chaperones that play multiple roles in a wide variety of animals. However, the roles of Hsps in parasitic nematodes remain largely...Full Text Available
Small RAC/ROP-family G proteins regulate development and stress responses in plants. Transient overexpression and RNA interference experiments suggested that the barley (Hordeum vulgare)...Full Text Available
The p21-activated kinases (PAKs), immediate downstream effectors of the small G-proteins of the Rac/cdc42 family, are critical mediators of signaling pathways regulating cellular behaviors and...Full Text Available
E-cadherins belong to a family of membrane-bound, cellular adhesion proteins. Their adhesive properties mainly involve the two N-terminal extracellular domains (EC1 and EC2). The junctions between these...Full Text Available
IntroductionBRAF (v raf murine sarcoma viral oncogene homologue B1) is a serine-threonine kinase involved in the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signalling pathway, known...Full Text Available
BackgroundMutations of the amyloid precursor protein gene (APP) are found in familial forms of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and some lead to the elevated production...Full Text Available
During apoptosis, the pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 familyproteins BAK and BAX form large oligomeric pores in the mitochondrial outer membrane. Apoptotic factors, including cytochrome c, are...Full Text Available
BackgroundLand plant genomes contain multiple members of a eukaryote-specific gene family encoding proteins with pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) motifs. Some PPR proteins were shown...Full Text Available
Among important candidates for babesial vaccines are apical complex proteins, including rhoptry-associated protein 1 (RAP-1) from Babesia bovis and B. bigemina, which...Full Text Available
Clinical questionWhat is the best treatment for bacterial conjunctivitis?ResultsTopical antibiotics expedite recovery from bacterial conjunctivitis....Full Text Available
Apoptosis, or programmed cell death (PCD), is a fundamental process that protects organismal integrity. In earlier work, we demonstrated that over-expression of either of two anti-apoptotic members of the BCL-2 family (BCL-2 or BCL-X L could elevate the frequency of radiation-induced mutations at the autosomal TK1 locus in human TK6 lymphoblasts that express wild-type TP53. Ectopic expression of BCL-X L also elevated the frequencies of double-strand break-induced gene conversion. The purpose of this study is to determine if BCL-2 familyproteins promote radiation mutagenesis indirectly through their suppression of PCD, or whether the 'pro-mutagenic' function of these proteins can be separated from their anti-apoptotic function. We developed stable transfectants of TK6 cells that express a mutated form of BCL-X L with a single amino acid substitution in the BH1 domain that is known to interfere with the ...
Abstract Flavin-containing reductases are involved in a wide variety of physiological reactions such as photosynthesis, nitric oxide synthesis, and detoxification of foreign compounds, including therapeutic drugs. Ferredoxin-NADP(H)-reductase (FNR) is the prototypical enzyme of this family. The fold of this protein is highly conserved and occurs as one domain of several multidomain enzymes such as the members of the diflavin reductase family. The enzymes of this family have emerged as fusion of a FNR and a flavodoxin. Although the active sites of these enzymes are very similar, different enzymes function in opposite directions, that is, some reduce oxidized nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP+) and some oxidize reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH). In t...
TP63, a member of the TP53 gene family, is a nuclear marker of myoepithelial cells. Antibody against p63 is frequently used to aid in the diagnosis of prostate carcinoma, as well as in the identification of myoepithelial cells in other tissues including the breast. p63 is also a marker for squamous cell carcinoma. Recently, it was found that all p53 family members are involved in regulating the process of muscle differentiation through the retinoblastoma (RB) protein. Ablation of these p53 family functions blocks the differentiation program and promotes malignant transformation by enabling cooperating oncogenes to transform myoblasts. We therefore studied p63 expression in a number of neoplasms with myogenic differentiation. Immunohistochemical staining for p63 was performed on paraffin se...
Abstract Plant pathogenic bacteria of the genus Xanthomonas cause a variety of diseases in economically important monocotyledonous and dicotyledonous crop plants worldwide. Successful infection and bacterial multiplication in the host tissue often depend on the virulence factors secreted including adhesins, polysaccharides, LPS and degradative enzymes. One of the key pathogenicity factors is the type III secretion system, which injects effector proteins into the host cell cytosol to manipulate plant cellular processes such as basal defense to the benefit of the pathogen. The coordinated expression of bacterial virulence factors is orchestrated by quorum-sensing pathways, multiple two-component systems and transcriptional regulators such as Clp, Zur, FhrR, HrpX and HpaR. Furthermore, virule...
Complex I (NADH:ubiquinone oxidoreductase) is the largest enzyme of the mitochondrial respiratory chain. Compared to its bacterial counterpart which encompasses 14-17 subunits, mitochondrial complex I has almost tripled its subunit composition during evolution of eukaryotes, by recruitment of so-called accessory subunits, part of them being specific to distinct evolutionary lineages. The increasing availability of numerous broadly sampled eukaryotic genomes now enables the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of this large protein complex. Here, a combination of profile-based sequence comparisons and basic structural properties analyses at the protein level enabled to pinpoint homology relationships between complex I subunits from fungi, mammals or green plants, previously identified...
In previous studies we have demonstrated that prion protein (PrP) interacts with tubulin and disrupts microtubular cytoskeleton by inducing tubulin oligomerization. These observations may explain the molecular mechanism of toxicity of cytoplasmic PrP in transmissible spongiform encephalopathies (TSEs). Here, we check whether microtubule associated proteins (MAPs) that regulate microtubule stability, influence the PrP-induced oligomerization of tubulin. We show that tubulin preparations depleted of MAPs are more prone to oligomerization by PrP than those containing traces of MAPs. Tau protein, a major neuronal member of the MAPs family, reduces the effect of PrP. Importantly, phosphorylation of Tau abolishes its ability to affect the PrP-induced oligomerization of tubulin. We propose that t...
Human heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27, HspB1) is an anti-apoptotic protein characterized for its tumorigenic and metastatic properties, and now referenced as a major therapeutic target in many types of cancer. Hsp27 biochemical properties rely on a structural oligomeric and dynamic organization. Downregulation by small interfering RNA or inhibition with dominant-negative mutant have proven their efficiency to counteract the anti-apoptotic and protective properties of Hsp27. In this study, we report the isolation and characterization of Hsp27-targeted molecules interfering with its structural organization. Using the peptide aptamer (PA) strategy, we isolated PAs that specifically interact with Hsp27 and not with the other members of the small heat shock proteinfamily. In mammalian cell cultur...
The two-compartment radioassay for microbial kinetics based on continuous measurement of the {sup 14}CO{sub 2} released by bacterial metabolism of 14C-labeled substrate offers a valuable approach to testing the potency of antimicrobial drugs. By using a previously validated radioassay with gram-positive and gram-negative bacteria, a group of protein synthesis inhibitors was evaluated for their effect on microbial growth kinetics. All tested drugs induced changes in both the slopes and intercepts of the growth curves. An exponential growth model was applied to quantify the drug effect on the processes of bacterial {sup 14}CO{sub 2} liberation and cell generation. The response was measured in terms of a generation rate constant. A linear dependence of the generation rate constant on the dose of spectinomycin was observed with Escherichia coli. Sigmoidal-shaped curves were found in the assays of chloramphenicol and ...
Expression of Bacterial luciferase enzyme (lux) in mammalian cells would be a powerful bioreporter protein system for in vivo imaging because eukaryotic luciferases need expensive substrates. However, only a few efforts have been made to express bacterial luciferase enzyme in mammalian cells. As the result of this, we attempted to construct bicistronic vector including two bacterial luciferase genes (LuxA and LuxB) for assessing the potential to be visualized in vitro or in vivo by optical imaging system after transfection to mammalian cells. We designed and synthesized luxA and luxB genes from Photorhabdus Luminescens. To co-express both luxA and luxB genes from a single promoter, we cloned as a bicistronic transcript fused with an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES). This bicistronic transcript was transfected by Superfect to HEK 293T cell line. We also transfected lux A and lux B vector to HEK 293T ...
RIN proteins serve as guanine nucleotide exchange factors for Rab5a. They are characterized by the presence of a RIN homology domain and a C-terminal Vps9 domain. Currently three family members have...Full Text Available
Mycoreovirus 1 (MyRV1), a member of the Reoviridae family possessing a genome consisting of 11 dsRNA segments (S1–S11), and the prototype hypovirus (CHV1-EP713)...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe human endogenous retrovirus HERV-K(HML-2) family is associated with testicular germ cell tumors (GCT). Various HML-2 proviruses encode viral proteins such as Env and...Full Text Available
BackgroundTristetraprolin (TTP/ZFP36) familyproteins have anti-inflammatory activity by binding to and destabilizing pro-inflammatory mRNAs such as Tnf mRNA, and represent a potential...Full Text Available
The effect of UV radiation in the wavelength region 230 nm to 302 nm on the ability of an irradiated mammalian cell to reactivate UV-irradiated mammalian virus was tested. An action spectrum for radiation enhanced reactivation (RER) is presented. The shape of the action spectrum points to a combined nucleic acid-protein target for UV radiation effects on this cellular parameter. An analysis of the results of others involving the biochemical and photobiological events involved in RER does not allow us to distinguish which macromolecule is the major contributor to this effect. Studies involving an analogous phenomenon in bacteris (Weigle reactivation) imply that RER and WR amy involve similar mechanisms. (author).
The GTPases comprise a protein superfamily of highly conserved molecular switches adapted to many diverse functions. These proteins are found in all domains of life and often perform essential roles in fundamental cellular processes. Analysis of data from genome sequencing projects demonstrates that bacteria possess a core of 11 universally conserved GTPases (elongation factor G and Tu, initiation factor 2, LepA, Era, Obg, ThdF/TrmE, Ffh, FtsY, EngA and YchF). Investigations aimed at understanding the function of GTPases indicate that a second conserved feature of these proteins is that they elicit their function through interaction with RNA and/or ribosomes. An emerging concept suggests that the 11 universal GTPases are either necessary for ribosome function or transmitting information from the ribosome to downstream targets for the purpose of generating specific cellular responses. Furthermore, it is suggested that ...
The authors characterized nine human actin genes that they isolated from a library of cloned human DNA. Measurements of the thermal stability of hybrids formed between each cloned actin gene and ..cap alpha..-, ..beta..-, and ..gamma..-actin mRNA demonstrated that only one of the clones is most homologous to sarcomeric actin mRNA, whereas the remaining eight clones are most homologous to cytoplasmic actin mRNA. By the following criteria they show that these nine clones represent nine different actin gene loci rather than different alleles or different parts of a single gene: (i) the restriction enzyme maps of the coding regions are dissimilar; (ii) each clone contains sufficient coding region to encode all or most of an entire actin gene; and (iii) each clone contains sequences homologous to both the 5' and 3' ends of the coding region of a cloned chicken ..beta..-actin cDNA. They conclude, therefore, that the human cytoplasmic actin proteins are ...
Abstract SLC9A9 (solute carrier family 9, member 9, also known as Na+/H+ exchanger member (NHE9)) is a membrane protein that regulates the luminal pH of the recycling endosome, an essential organelle for synaptic transmission and plasticity. SLC9A9 has been implicated in human attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and in rat studies of hyperactivity. We examined the SLC9A9 gene sequence and expression profile in prefrontal cortex, dorsal striatum and hippocampus in two genetic rat models of ADHD. We report two mutations in a rat model of inattentive ADHD, the WKY/NCrl rat, which affect the interaction of SLC9A9 with calcineurin homologous protein (CHP). We observed an age-dependent abnormal expression of SLC9A9 in brains of this inattentive model and in the Spontaneous Hypertensi...
Abstract Plant annexins represent a multigene family involved in cellular elongation and development. A cDNA encoding a novel annexin was isolated from a cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) fiber cDNA library and designated-GhAnx1. This gene encodes a 316 amino acid protein with a theoretical molecular mass of 36.06 kDa and a theoretical pI of 6.19. At the amino acid level, it shares high sequence similarity and has evolutionary relationships with annexins from higher plants. The purified recombinant protein expressed in-Escherichia coli-was used to investigate its physicochemical properties. Circular dichroism spectrum analyses showed a positive peak rising to the maximum at 196 nm and a broad negative band rounding 215 nm, suggesting that the GhAnx1 protein was prominently -helical. The fluoresc...
Gamma-aminobutyric acid type A receptor-associated protein (GABARAP) belongs to a family of small ubiquitin-like adaptor proteins implicated in intracellular vesicle trafficking and autophagy. We have used diffusion-ordered nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to study the temperature and concentration dependence of the diffusion properties of GABARAP. Our data suggest the presence of distinct conformational states and provide support for self-association of GABARAP molecules. Assuming a monomer-dimer equilibrium, a temperature-dependent dissociation constant could be derived. Based on a temperature series of {sup 1}H{sup 15}N heteronuclear single quantum coherence nuclear magnetic resonance spectra, we propose residues potentially involved in GABARAP self-interaction. The possible biological significance of these observations is discussed with respect to alternative scenarios of oligomerization.
An azido-"1"2"5iodo-ansamycin (1) in the geldanamycin family was prepared in two steps in one reaction vessel from 17-amino-22-(4'-aminophenacyl)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (3). The title compound was suitable for photoaffinity labeling proteins that interacted with ansamycins. An alternative synthesis is reported for preparation of unlabeled title compound in order to afford practical amounts of (1) for conventional biochemical studies. (Author).
An azido-[sup 125]iodo-ansamycin (1) in the geldanamycin family was prepared in two steps in one reaction vessel from 17-amino-22-(4'-aminophenacyl)-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (3). The title compound was suitable for photoaffinity labeling proteins that interacted with ansamycins. An alternative synthesis is reported for preparation of unlabeled title compound in order to afford practical amounts of (1) for conventional biochemical studies. (Author).
The Na+-driven bacterial flagellar motor is a molecular machine powered by an electrochemical potential gradient of sodium ions across the cytoplasmic membrane. The marine bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus has a single polar flagellum that enables it to swim in liquid. The flagellar motor contains a basal body and a stator complexes, which are composed of several proteins. PomA, PomB, MotX, and MotY are thought to be essential components of the stator that are required to generate the torque of the rotation. Several mutations have been investigated to understand the characteristics and function of the ion channel in the stator and the mechanism of its assembly around the rotor to complete the motor. In this review, we summarize recent results of the Na+-driven motor in the polar flagellum of ...
The use of indigenous bacterial root endophytes with biocontrol activity against soil-borne phytopathogens is an environmentally-friendly and ecologically-efficient action within an integrated disease management framework. The earliest steps of olive root colonization by Pseudomonas fluorescens PICF7 and Pseudomonas putida PICP2, effective biocontrol agents (BCAs) against Verticillium wilt of olive (Olea europaea L.) caused by the fungus Verticillium dahliae Kleb., are here described. A gnotobiotic study system using in vitro propagated olive plants, differential fluorescent-protein tagging of bacteria, and confocal laser scanning microscopy analysis have been successfully used to examine olive roots?Pseudomonas spp. interactions at the single-cell level. In vivo simultaneous visualization...
Several challenges currently exist for rational design of functional tissue engineering constructs within the host, which include appropriate cellular integration, avoidance of bacterial infections, and low inflammatory stimulation. This work describes a novel class of biodegradable, amphiphilic polyanhydrides with many desirable protein-material and cell-material attributes capable of confronting these challenges. The biocompatible amphiphilic polymer films were shown to release laminin in a stable and controlled manner, promote neural cell adhesion and differentiation, and evade inflammatory responses of the immune system. Using high-throughput approaches, it was shown that polymer chemistry plays an integral role in controlling cell?film interactions, which suggests that these polyanhyd...
An on-line cell disruption system for at-line monitoring of the intracellular concentration of recombinant human superoxide dismutase (rhSOD) in a genetically modified Escherichia coli strain, HMS174(DE3) (pET11a/rhSOD), in bioreactor cultivations is described. The sampled bacteria were disrupted on-line by rapid mixing with a nonionic detergent. The recombinant protein content of the lysed bacterial sample was quantitated by a subsequent surface plasmon resonance biosensor with a specific monoclonal antibody. Extraction efficiency of the monitoring system was optimized with respect to the flow rate ratio of the cell suspension and the detergent at relevant cell densities with the aim to attain rapid monitoring. Monitoring was demonstrated for a shake flask culture and a glucose-limited fed-batch cultivation. The results are compared with a traditional enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay method showing a correlation coefficient of R2 = 0.97. ...
The sucrose derivative 6'-deoxy-6'-(2-hydroxy-4-azido)benzamidosucrose (6'-HABS) was prepared from sucrose (via 6'-deoxy-6'-aminosucrose) and 4-amino-salicylic acid. 6'-HABS is a competitive inhibitor of sucrose influx into protoplasts from developing soybean cotyledons and of sucrose binding to membranes from the bacteria P. saccharophila. The Ki for inhibition in the soybean protoplasts was 75..mu..M. 6'-Deoxy-6'-(2-hydroxy-3-/sup 125/Iodo-4-azido)benzamidosucrose was prepared by lactoperoxidase iodination of 6'-HABS. Upon photolysis in the presence of membranes from P saccharophila, label from the photoprobe is incorporated into a sucrose inducible polypeptide of mass 84 KD in SDS-PAGE. The polypeptide is protected from labeling by the inclusion of sucrose in the photolysis mixture. Photolysis conditions which lead to specific labeling of the sucrose protectable polypeptide in ...
We previously reported the identification of a new family of plant methyltransferases (MTs), named the SABATH family, that use S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) to methylate a carboxyl moiety or a nitrogen-containing functional group on a diverse array of plant compounds. The Arabidopsis genome alone contains 24 distinct SABATH genes. To identify the catalytic specificities of members of this proteinfamily in Arabidopsis, we screened recombinantly expressed and purified enzymes with a large number of potential substrates. Here, we report that the Arabidopsis thaliana gene At3g44860 encodes a protein with high catalytic specificity towards farnesoic acid (FA). Under steady-state conditions, this farnesoic acid carboxyl methyltransferase (FAMT) exhibits K{sub M} values of 41 and 71 {mu}M for FA and SAM, respectively. A three-dimensional model of FAMT constructed based upon similarity to ...
Actinosynnema mirum Hasegawa et al. 1978 is the type species of the genus, and is of phylogenetic interest because of its central phylogenetic location in the Actino-synnemataceae, a rapidly growing family within the actinobacterial suborder Pseudo-nocardineae. A. mirum is characterized by its motile spores borne on synnemata and as a producer of nocardicin antibiotics. It is capable of growing aerobically and under a moderate CO2 atmosphere. The strain is a Gram-positive, aerial and substrate mycelium producing bacterium, originally isolated from a grass blade collected from the Raritan River, New Jersey. Here we describe the features of this organism, together with the complete genome sequence and annotation. This is the first complete genome sequence of a member of the family Actinosynnemataceae, and only the second sequence from the actinobacterial suborder Pseudonocardineae. The 8,248,144 bp long single replicon genome with its 7100 ...
The authors report the cloning, sequencing, and mapping of three short sequence repeat polymorphisms due to tetranucleotide (TAAA) repeats from human chromosome 21. These DNA markers (D21S221, D21S225, D21S226) have been cloned from the chromosome 21-specific plasmid library of J. C. Fuscoe, C. C. Collins, D. Pinkel, and J. W. Gray and were shown to be polymorphic by polymerase chain reaction amplification and polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. Genotypes were determined in informative CEPH pedigrees and used in linkage analysis relative to other mapped markers on human chromosome 21. One of these markers, D21S221, is closely linked to the amyloid precursor protein gene (APP), which has been implicated in the etiology of familial Alzheimer disease in some families. 18 refs., 3 figs., 2 tabs.
ObjectiveFamily-centered bedside rounds (FCBR) are recommended to improve trainee education, patient outcomes, and family satisfaction. However, bedside teaching...Full Text Available
Objectives. The purposes of this study were to test the hypothesis that vaginal douching is linked to bacterial vaginosis in both symptomatic and asymptomatic women and to identify...Full Text Available
Chemoreceptors are crucial components in the bacterial sensory systems that mediate chemotaxis. Chemotactic responses exhibit exquisite sensitivity, extensive dynamic range and precise adaptation....Full Text Available
ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs) are small guanine nucleotide-binding proteins that enhance the enzymatic activities of cholera toxin. Two ARF cDNAs, ARF1 and ARF3, were cloned from a human cerebellum library. Based on deduced amino acid sequences and patterns of hybridization of cDNA and oligonucleotide probes with mammalian brain poly(A)"+ RNA, human ARF1 is the homologue of bovine ARF1. Human ARF3, which differs from bovine ARF1 and bovine ARF2, appears to represent a newly identified third type of ARF. Hybridization patterns of human ARF cDNA and clone-specific oligonucleotides with poly(A)"+ RNA are consistent with the presence of at least two, and perhaps four, separate ARF messages in human brain. In vitro translation of ARF1, ARF2, and ARF3 produced proteins that behaved, by SDS/PAGE, similar to a purified soluble brain ARF. Deduced amino acid sequences of human ARF1 and ARF3 contain regions, similar to those in other G ...
The DNA sequence motif ATTTGCAT (octamer) or its inverse complement has been identified as an evolutionarily conserved element in the promoter region of immunoglobulin genes. Two major DNA-binding proteins that bind in a sequence-specific manner to the octamer DNA sequence have been identified in mammalian species--a ubiquitously expressed protein (Oct-1) and a lymphoid-specific protein (Oct-2). During characterization of the promoter region of the chicken immunoglobulin light chain gene, the authors identified two homologous octamer-binding proteins in chicken B cells. when the cloning of the human gene for Oct-2 revealed it to be a member of a distinct family of homeobox genes, they sought to determine if the human Oct-2 cDNA could be used to identify homologous chicken homeobox genes. Using a human Oct-2 homeobox-specific DNA probe, they were able to identify 6-10 ...
The human genome encodes 11 cysteine cathepsins belonging to the papain-like family of cysteine peptidases that are known predominantly as endo-lysosomal enzymes. However, it is now understood that the functions and activities of cysteine cathepsins are not limited to endo-lysosomal compartments, as they are also active in the peri- and extracellular space. The thyroid gland is an endocrine organ where such intra- and extracellular proteolytic activities are required to solubilize the prohormone thyroglobulin from its luminal, covalently cross-linked storage forms for subsequent processing into smaller protein fragments and thyroid hormone liberation. Cathepsin K has been identified as one of the cysteine cathepsins with a crucial role in thyroglobulin processing. However, cathepsin K has ...
Abstract Elevated temperatures resulting from climate change pose a clear threat to reef-building corals; however, the traits that might influence corals- survival and dispersal during climate change remain poorly understood. Global gene expression profiling is a powerful hypothesis-forming tool that can help elucidate these traits. Here, we applied a novel RNA-Seq protocol to study molecular responses to heat and settlement inducers in aposymbiotic larvae of the reef-building coral Acropora millepora. This analysis of a single full-sibling family revealed contrasting responses between short- (4-h) and long-term (5-day) exposures to elevated temperatures. Heat shock proteins were up-regulated only in the short-term treatment, while the long-term treatment induced the down-regulation of rib...
Mimivirus is the prototype of a new family (the Mimiviridae) of nucleocytoplasmic large DNA viruses (NCLDVs), which already include the Poxviridae, Iridoviridae, Phycodnaviridae and Asfarviridae. Mimivirus specifically replicates in cells from the genus Acanthamoeba. Proteomic analysis of purified mimivirus particles revealed the presence of many subunits of the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II complex. A fully functional pre-transcriptional complex appears to be loaded in the virions, allowing mimivirus to initiate transcription within the host cytoplasm immediately upon infection independently of the host nuclear apparatus. To fully understand this process, a systematic study of mimivirus proteins that are predicted (by bioinformatics) or suspected (by proteomic analysis) to be involved in...
This document consist of brief reports prepared by postdoctoral students supported by the project, each describing his accomplishments under the grant. Topics include (1) Malignant Transformation of MSU-1. 1 Cells by Gamma Radiation, (2) Correlation between Levels of ras Expression and Presence of Transformed Phenotypes Including Tumorigenicity, Using a Modulatable Promoter, (3) Relation between Specific rad Oncogene Expression, (4) Correlation of Genetic Changes in Fibroblastic Tumors with Malignancies, (5)Transformation of MSU-1.1 Cells by sis Oncogene, (6) Malignant Transformation of MSU-1.0 Cells, (7) Correlation of Urokinase Plasminogen Activation (mu-PA) with Malignant Phenotype, (8)Two Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis Studies of the Proteins of the Major Cell Strains of the MSU-1 Family of Cells, and (9) Correlation between Proteinase Activity Levels and Malignancy.
Banana bunchy top virus (BBTV), family Nanaviridae, genus Babuvirus, is a single stranded DNA virus (ssDNA) that causes banana bunchy top disease (BBTD) in banana plants. It is the most common and most destructive of all viruses in these plants and is widespread throughout the Asia-Pacific region. In this study we isolated, cloned and sequenced a BBTV sample from Hainan Island, China. The results from sequencing and bioinformatics analysis indicate this isolate represents a satellite DNA component with 12 DNA sequences motifs. We also predicted the physical and chemical properties, structure, signal peptide, phosphorylation, secondary structure, tertiary structure and functional domains of its encoding protein, and compare them with the corresponding quantities in the replication initiatio...
The synapsin III gene, SYN3, which belongs to the family of synaptic vesicle-associated proteins, has been implicated in the modulation of neurotransmitter release and in synaptogenesis, suggesting a potential role in several neuropsychiatric diseases. The human SYN3 gene is located on chromosome 22q12-13, a candidate region implicated in previous linkage studies of schizophrenia. However, association studies of SYN3 and schizophrenia have produced inconsistent results. In this study, four SYN3 SNPs (rs133945 (-631 C>G), rs133946 (-196 G>A), rs9862 and rs1056484) were tested in three sets of totally 3759 samples that comprise 655 affected subjects and 626 controls in the Irish Case-Control Study of Schizophrenia (ICCSS), 1350 samples incorporating 273 pedigrees in the Irish Study of High D...
Escherichia coli spheroplast protein y (EcSpy) is a small periplasmic protein that is homologous with CpxP, an inhibitor of the extracytoplasmic stress response. Stress conditions such as spheroplast formation induce the expression of Spy via the Cpx or the Bae two-component systems in E. coli, though the function of Spy is unknown. Here, we report the crystal structure of EcSpy, which reveals a long kinked hairpin-like structure of four ?-helices that form an antiparallel dimer. The dimer contains a curved oval shape with a highly positively charged concave surface that may function as a ligand binding site. Sequence analysis reveals that Spy is highly conserved over the Enterobacteriaceae family. Notably, three conserved regions that contain identical residues and two LTxxQ motifs are placed at the horizontal end of the dimer structure, stabilizing the overall fold. CpxP also contains the conserved sequence motifs and has ...
The inducible transcription factor NF-#kappa#B regulates divergent signaling pathways including inflammatory response and cancer development. Selective inhibitors for NF-#kappa#B signaling are potentially useful for treatment of inflammation and cancer. NF-#kappa#B is canonically activated by preferential disposal of its inhibitory protein; I#kappa#B, which suppresses the nuclear translocation of NF-#kappa#B. I#kappa#B#alpha# (a major member of I#kappa#B familyproteins) is phosphorylated with an I#kappa#B kinase (IKK) and subsequently polyubiquitylated by SCF"#beta#"T"r"C"P"1 ubiquitin-ligase in the presence of E1 and E2 prior to proteasomal degradation. Here, we describe a novel inhibitor termed GS143, which suppressed I#kappa#B#alpha# ubiquitylation, but not I#kappa#B#alpha# phosphorylation, MDM2-directed p53 ubiquitylation, and proteasome activity in vitro. GS143 markedly suppressed the destruction of I#kappa#B#alpha# ...
Bacterial cellulose was produced by Acetobacter xylinum (strain TISTR 975). Bacterial cellulose is an interesting material for using as a wound dressing since it provides moist environment to a wound resulting in a better wound healing. However, bacterial cellulose itself has no antimicrobial activity to prevent wound infection. To achieve antimicrobial activity, silver nanoparticles were impregnated into bacterial cellulose by immersing bacterial cellulose in silver nitrate solution. Sodium borohydride was then used to reduce the absorbed silver ion (Ag+) inside of bacterial cellulose to the metallic silver nanoparticles (Ag0). Silver nanoparticles displayed the optical absorption band around 420nm. The red-shift and broadening of the optical absorption band was observed when the mole rat...
The synapsin III gene, SYN3, which belongs to the family of synaptic vesicle-associated proteins, has been implicated in the modulation of neurotransmitter release and in synaptogenesis, suggesting a potential role in several neuropsychiatric diseases. The human SYN3 gene is located on chromosome 22q12-13, a candidate region implicated in previous linkage studies of schizophrenia. However, association studies of SYN3 and schizophrenia have produced inconsistent results. In this study, four SYN3 SNPs (rs133945 (-631 C>G), rs133946 (-196 G>A), rs9862 and rs1056484) were tested in three sets of totally 3759 samples that comprise 655 affected subjects and 626 controls in the Irish Case-Control Study of Schizophrenia (ICCSS), 1350 samples incorporating 273 pedigrees in the Irish Study of High Density Schizophrenia Families (ISHDSF), and 564 unrelated schizophrenia patients and 564 healthy individuals in a Chinese ...
The helicase action of the Escherichia coli UvrAB complex on a covalently closed circular DNA template was monitored using bacterial DNA topoisomerase I, which specifically removes negative supercoils. In the presence of E. coli DNA topoisomerase I and ATP, the UvrAB complex gradually introduced positive supercoils into the input relaxed plasmid DNA template. Positive supercoils were not produced when E. coli DNA topoisomerase I was replaced by eukaryotic DNA topoisomerase I or when both E. coli and eukaryotic DNA topoisomerases I were added simultaneously. These results suggest that like other DNA helix-tracking processes, the ATP-dependent action of the UvrAM complex on duplex DNA simultaneously generates both positive and negative supercoils, which are not constrained by protein binding but are torsionally strained. The supercoiling activity of UvrAB on UV-damaged DNA was also studied using UV-damaged plasmid DNA and a mutant UvrA ...
To examine and evaluate the predominant and common etiologic agent(s) of urinary tract infection (UTI) in Sukkur city and to determine their current antibiotic susceptibility/resistance trends. Nine hundred sixty six patients out of 1430 abnormal urine reports (showing significant abnormalities such as protein, pus, red cells) were asked to give second sample. The urine samples were examined by both urine test strip (Combur 10 Test, Roche) and microscopically (wet preparation) followed by culture and sensitivity. The culture sensitivity was done on urine samples of which bacterial numbers were estimated as more than 105CFU. The study was conducted at Safeway Diagnostic and Research Laboratory Sukkur and the Department of Microbiology, Shah Abdul Latif University Khairpur, Sindh from March 2001 to March 2003. Eight hundred fifty-two (88.2%) showed Escherichia spp followed by Klebsiella spp (6.9%) and proteus spp (4.9%). These showed 95%, 90%, ...
Poncirin, flavanone glycoside, isolated from the fruit of Poncirus trifoliata, has anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory activities. In this study, the effects of poncirin on the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells were investigated. The C3H10T1/2 mesenchymal stem cells and primary bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells were studied. In the C3H10T1/2 cells, poncirin prevented adipocyte differentiation, as demonstrated by inhibition of cytoplasm lipid droplet accumulation and peroxisome proliferator-activating receptor-? (PPAR-?) and CCAAT-enhancer-binding protein-? (C/EBP-?) mRNA expression. By contrast, poncirin enhanced the expression of the key osteogenic transcription factors, runt-related transcription factor 2 (Runx2) and transcriptional coactivator with PDZ-binding motif (TAZ). Poncirin also enhanced expression of the osteogenic marker genes including alkaline phosphatase (ALP) and osteocalcin (OC). Poncirin increased mineral nodule ...
Sepsis induced by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has worse outcome because of multiresistance to a large group of antibiotics, which may lead to death from septic shock. In the present study, we firstly found that artesunate in combination with oxacillin was capable of protecting mice challenged with live MRSA WHO-2 (WHO-2) and the protection was related to the reduced TNF-a and IL-6 levels and decreased bacterial load. Based on above results, artesunate was further investigated from two aspects in vitro, anti-inflammation effect and antibacterial enhancement effect on antibiotics. Artesunate not only inhibited TNF-a and IL-6 release but also inhibited mRNA and protein expressions of TLR2 and Nod2, two important receptors, in murine peritoneal macrophages stimulated wit...
Although the p53 tumor suppressor is relatively well characterized, much less is known about the functions of other members of the p53 family, p73 and p63. Here, we present evidence that in specific pathological conditions caused by exposure of normal cells to bile acids in acidic conditions, p73 protein plays the predominant role in the DNA damage response. These pathological conditions frequently occur during gastric reflux in the human esophagus and are associated with progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma. We found that despite strong DNA damage induced by bile acid exposure, only p73 (but not p53 and p63) is selectively activated in a c-Abl kinase-dependent manner. The activated p73 protein induces DNA damage repair. Using a human DNA repair PCR array, we identified multiple DNA repair genes affected by p73. Two glycosylases involved in base excision repair, SMUG1 and MUTYH, were characterized and found to be ...
S100A4, a member of the Ca(2+)-activated S100 proteinfamily, regulates the motility and invasiveness of cancer cells. Moreover, high S100A4 expression levels correlate with poor patient survival in several cancers. Although biochemical, biophysical, and structural data indicate that S100A4 is a noncovalent dimer, it is unknown if two functional S100A4 monomers are required for the productive recognition of protein targets and the promotion of cell invasion. To address this question, we created covalently linked S100A4 dimers using a glycine rich flexible linker. The single-chain S100A4 (sc-S100A4) proteins exhibited wild-type affinities for calcium and nonmuscle myosin-IIA, retained the ability to regulate nonmuscle myosin-IIA assembly, and promoted tumor cell invasion when expressed in S100A4-deficient colon carcinoma cells. Mutation of the two calcium-binding EF-hands in one monomer, while leaving ...
Iguanian lizards form a diverse clade whose members have been the focus of many comparative studies of ecology, behavior, and evolution. Despite the importance of phylogeny to such studies, interrelationships among many iguanian clades remain uncertain. Within the Old World clade Acrodonta, Agamidae is sometimes found to be paraphyletic with respect to Chamaeleonidae, and recent molecular studies have produced conflicting results for many major clades. Within the largely New World clade Pleurodonta, relationships among the 12 currently recognized major subclades (mostly ranked as families) have been largely unresolved or poorly supported in previous studies. To clarify iguanian evolutionary history, we first infer phylogenies using concatenated maximum-likelihood (ML) and Bayesian analyses of DNA sequence data from 29 nuclear protein-coding genes for 47 iguanian and 29 outgroup taxa. We then estimate a relaxed-clock Bayesian chronogram for ...
Abstract Toll-like receptor 2 (TLR2) is an immune sensor for gram-positive bacterial cell wall components. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in the TLR2 gene that impair its function may, therefore, influence the risk and outcomes of gram-positive bacterial infections. In a cohort of 694 liver transplant recipients, we assessed the TLR2 SNP that is translated into an amino acid substitution of arginine for glutamine at position 753 (R753Q), and we found that its presence was associated with the clinical characteristics and outcomes of gram-positive bacterial infections. The proportions of patients with the TLR2 R753Q SNP did not significantly differ between those with gram-positive bacterial infections and those without gram-positive bacterial infections (9.6% versus 9.6%, P = 0.999)....
Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a model environmental organism that possesses diverse respiratory capacities, including the ability to reduce soluble Cr(VI) to sparingly soluble, less toxic Cr(III). Effective bioremediation of Cr-contaminated sites requires knowledge of the molecular mechanisms and regulation of heavy metal resistance and biotransformation by dissimilatory metal-reducing bacteria. Towards this goal, our ERSP-funded work is focused on the identification and functional analysis of genes/proteins comprising the response pathways for chromate detoxification and/or reduction. Previous transcriptomic profiling and whole-cell proteomic analyses implicated the involvement of a functionally undefined DNA-binding response regulator (SO2426) and a putative azoreductase (SO3585) in the chromate stress response of MR-1. Here we describe a detailed functional analysis of SO2426 and SO3585 in order to begin to understand the role of these ...
Using the phasmid vector pSL5, the genomic DNA fragment of T. aquaticus YT1 which contained the thermostable DNA polymerase (Taq-polymerase) gene was cloned. The BglII fragment of this genome locus was subcloned in the BamHI site of the pUC19 plasmid. To optimize the Taq-polymerase gene expression in E. coli cells, the gene was cloned in the correct reading frame regarding the initiation ATG codon of the pPR-TGATG-1 expression vector. The gene expression in this vector was controlled by the phage lambda PR promoter and the temperature-sensitive phage lambda repressor. We used PCR to amplify the short 5'-end fragment of the Taq-polymerase gene coding for the part into which an artificial SacI site was introduced. This site has been used for cloning the PCR product into the pPR-TGATG-1 vector, and the missing gene part was cloned into the KpnI site of the PCR product from the natural cloned gene. The cells of the E. coli PVG-A1 strain, which was obtained in the end, expressed efficiently ...
Insect host/parasitoid interactions are co-evolved systems in which host defenses are balanced by parasitoid mechanisms to disable or hide from host immune effectors. Although there is a rich literature on these systems, parasitoid immune-disabling mechanisms have not been fully elucidated. Here we report on a newly discovered immune-disabling mechanism in the Pieris rapae/Pteromalus puparum host/parasitoid system. Because venom injections and parasitization suppresses host phagocytosis, we turned attention to the P. rapae scavenger receptor (Pr-SR), posing the hypothesis that P. puparum venom suppresses expression of the host Pr-SR gene. To test our hypothesis, we cloned a full-length cDNA of the Pr-SR. Multiple sequences alignment showed the deduced amino acid sequence of Pr-SR is similar to scavenger receptors of other lepidopterans. Bacterial and bead injections induced Pr-SR mRNA and protein expression, which peaked at 4h post-bead ...
Analysis of the use of information sources by family physicians is important for both practical and theoretical reasons. First, analysis of the ways in which family physicians handle information may...Full Text Available
Although research demonstrates many negative family outcomes associated with single-parent households, little is known about processes that lead to positive outcomes for these families. Using...Full Text Available
Individuals from families recruited for the Long Life Family Study (LLFS) (n= 4559) were examined and compared to individuals from other cohorts to determine whether the recruitment targeting longevity...Full Text Available
Inclusion of family members in the assessment of patients with chronic pain can improve outcomes. Family functioning can be assessed in four basic areas: boundaries, power, communication, and intimacy....Full Text Available
This study describes instructions for after-hours care offered by family physicians' offices when patients telephone the practice. Randomly selected (n=1,680) Ontario family physicians and general practitioners...Full Text Available
With the increase in multi-cultural families, Korea is seeing a rapid increase in immigrated housewives, who are closely related to food culture. However, studies for the diet of multi-cultural families,...Full Text Available
Interkingdom signaling is established in the gastrointestinal tract in that human hormones trigger responses in bacteria; here, we show that the corollary is true, that a specific bacterial signal,...Full Text Available
Norepinephrine stimulates the growth of a range of bacterial species in nutritionally poor SAPI minimal salts medium containing 30% serum. Addition of size-fractionated serum components to SAPI...Full Text Available
Genome-wide studies of bacterial gene expression are shifting from microarray technology to second generation sequencing platforms. RNA-seq has a number of advantages over hybridization-based techniques,...Full Text Available
Fatty acid biomarker analysis coupled with gas chromatography-isotope ratio mass spectrometry was used to confirm the presence of methanotrophic and thiotrophic bacterial endosymbionts in the tissues...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe study of bacterial species interactions in a mixed-species community can be facilitated by transcriptome analysis of one species in the community using cDNA microarray...Full Text Available
The results of antibiotic tests on bacterial pathogens freshly isolated from avian tissues and bovine milk are presented. Coliform isolates from the avian species showed an increased resistance to...Full Text Available
We have examined the association between cytokine, chemokine and growth factor concentrations with bacterial vaginosis (BV) in pregnant white and black women. A nested case-control analysis...Full Text Available
The objective of this study was to determine if inflammatory tolerance and enhancement of innate immune function could be induced by the gram-positive cell wall component peptidoglycan (PGN)....Full Text Available
The introduction and survival of zoonotic bacterial pathogens in poultry farming have been linked to bacterial association with free-living protozoa. To date, however, no information is available on...Full Text Available
Severe pericardial effusion is a rare complication of bacterial pneumonia and it usually disappears under medical treatment. Herein we report a case of a girl with a congenital immunodeficient syndrome...Full Text Available
An explicit proposal for experiments leading to abrupt transitions in spatially extended bacterial populations in a Petri dish is presented on the basis of an exact formula obtained through an analytic...Full Text Available
Neonatal bacterial infection in rats alters the responses to a variety of subsequent challenges later in life. Here we explored the effects of neonatal bacterial infection on a subsequent drug...Full Text Available
Infection due to multidrug resistance pathogens is difficult to manage due to bacterial virulence factors and because of a relatively limited choice of antimicrobial agents. Thus, it is imperative to...Full Text Available
The vaginal bacterial microbiota of 19 premenopausal women was examined by PCR-denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and sequencing of the V2-V3 region of the 16S rRNA gene. Ten of the women...Full Text Available
Enteric infections with attaching/effacing lesion-inducing bacterial pathogens are a worldwide health problem. A murine infection model with one such pathogen, Citrobacter rodentium,...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo examine the role of first trimester bacterial vaginosis (BV) and level of BV-associated microorganisms diagnosed using the Nugent’s Gram stain...Full Text Available
Aim:The effect of Tualang honey on wound healing in bacterial contaminated full-thickness burn wounds was evaluated in 36 male Sprague Dawley rats.Materials...Full Text Available
BackgroundBacterial vaginosis (BV) is a common condition that is associated with preterm birth and acquisition of complex communities of vaginal bacteria that include several fastidious...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe bacterial genus Listeria contains pathogenic and non-pathogenic species, including the pathogens L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii,...Full Text Available
Bacterial pathogens use virulence strategies to invade epithelial barriers, but active processes of epithelial cells may also contribute to the endocytosis of microbial particles. To focus on the latter,...Full Text Available
The purpose of the work was to quantitatively characterize temperature effects on the bacterial leaching of sulfide ore material containing several sulfide minerals. The leaching was tested at eight...Full Text Available
We have used a sintered glass bead core to simulate the spaces and surfaces of reservoir rock in studies of the bacterial plugging phenomenon that affects waterflood oil recovery operations. The passage...Full Text Available
We examined the bacterial aerobic nasal flora of 216 healthy volunteers to identify potential competitive interactions among different species, with special emphasis on the influence of staphylococcal...Full Text Available
Gene expression from bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones has been demonstrated to facilitate physiologically relevant levels compared to viral and nonviral cDNA vectors. BACs are large enough...Full Text Available
ObjectivesTo assess whether bacterial vaginosis or chlamydial infection before 10 weeks' gestation is associated with miscarriage before 16 weeks.DesignProspective...Full Text Available
Model systems to study the effects of chemicals of environmental concern on bacterial and parasitic diseases as well as the immunosurveillance and destruction of transplantable tumor cells were described...Full Text Available
To diagnose asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV), self-sampled vaginal smears were collected during a study of risk factors for preterm birth in African American women. More than 90% of those...Full Text Available
Little is known about the conservation of determinants for the identities of tRNAs between organisms. We showed previously that Escherichia coli tyrosine tRNA synthetase can charge the Saccharomyces...Full Text Available
Recent increases in births to unmarried parents, and the instability surrounding these relationships, have raised concerns about the possible health effects associated with changes in family...Full Text Available
This exploratory research paper investigated the coping strategies of families of hospitalized psychiatric patients and identified their positive and negative coping strategies. In this paper, the coping...Full Text Available
Two automated radiometers of RRA family designed for radon concentration measurements are presented. Principal performance specifications and promising applications of the radiometers are presented.
Motivated by recent experiments on KIF1A, a representative member of single-headed kinesin motor proteinsfamily, we develop a theoretical model of intra-cellular transport by mutually interacting molecular motors. The model explicitly accounts not only for the hydrolysis of ATP, but also for the ratchet mechanism which is believed to drive each individual KIF1A motor. We study the model by a combination of analytical and numerical techniques. A remarkable feature of this model is that all the parameters in it can be completely evaluated from experimental data. Our results in the dilute limit are in excellent quantitative agreement with the empirical data from single molecule experiments. In the high density regime the predictions of the model also agree qualitatively with the corresponding experimental observations. We derive a phase diagram that shows the influence of hydrolysis and Langmuir kinetics on the collective spatio-temporal ...
An /alpha//sub 2/-adrenergic receptor subtype has been cloned from a human kidney cDNA library using the gene for the human platelet /alpha//sub 2/-adrenergic receptor as a probe. The deduced amino acid sequence resembles the human platelet /alpha//sub 2/-adrenergic receptor and is consistent with the structure of other members of he family of guanine nucleotide-binding protein-coupled receptors. The cDNA was expressed in a mammalian cell line (COS-7), and the /alpha//sub 2/-adrenergic ligand (/sup 3/H)rauwolscine was bound. Competition curve analysis with a variety of adrenergic ligands suggests that this cDNA clone represents the /alpha//sub 2/B-adrenergic receptor. The gene for this receptor is on human chromosome 4, whereas the gene for the human platelet /alpha//sub 2/-adrenergic receptor (/alpha//sub 2/A) lies on chromosome 10. This ability to express the receptor in mammalian cells, free of other adrenergic receptor subtypes, should help ...
Rats or mice acutely exposed to high concentrations of ozone show an immediate and significant weight loss, even when allowed free access to food and water. The mechanisms underlying this systemic response to ozone have not been previously elucidated. We have applied the technique of global gene expression analysis to the livers of C57BL mice acutely exposed to ozone. Mice lost up to 14% of their original body weight, with a 42% decrease in total food consumption. We previously had found significant up-regulation of genes encoding proliferative enzymes, proteins related to acute phase reactions and cytoskeletal functions, and other biomarkers of a cachexia-like inflammatory state in lungs of mice exposed to ozone. These results are consistent with a general up-regulation of different gene families responsive to NF-#kappa#B in the lungs of the exposed mice. In the present study, we observed significant down-regulation of different ...
A cytochrome P450 that hydroxylates lauric acid at the 12 position (P450LA omega) was isolated from liver microsomes of clofibrate treated rats. P450LA omega was immunologically distinct from P450s a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h,j,PB1, and PCN1. Polyclonal antibody against P450LA omega was utilized to screen a gt11 cDNA library. A clone (pP450LA omega), was isolated and its sequence determined. The P450LA omega mRNA is a minimum 2387 nts in length and codes for a P450 of Mr.58,222 daltons. This protein shares less than 35% amino acid similarity with P450s b,c,d,e,f,PB1, and PCN1; however, it does contain a hydrophobic amino terminal peptide and a conserved sequence surrounding the Cys residue at position 456, which is similar to other microsomal P450s. P450LA omega is present at high levels in untreated rat kidney and is induced by clofibrate in both kidney and liver. This induction is the result of an accumulation of mRNA through a rapid transcriptional activation of the P450LA ...
Chaperones (stress proteins) are essential proteins to help the formation and maintenance of the proper conformation of other proteins and to promote cell survival after a large variety of environmental...Full Text Available
The major purpose of the Police Family Life Education Project (FLEP) is 'to develop and deliver a program that will provide police recruits and their immediate family members with stress management education that focuses on the role and responsibilities o...
The steroidogenic factor 1 (SF-1, also known as NR5A1) is a transcription factor belonging to the nuclear receptor superfamily. Whereas most of the members of this family have been extensively characterized, the therapeutic potential and pharmacology of SF-1 still remains elusive. Described here is the identification and characterization of selective inhibitory chemical probes of SF-1 by a rational ultra-high-throughput screening (uHTS) strategy. A set of 64,908 compounds from the National Institute of Health's Molecular Libraries Small Molecule Repository was screened in a transactivation cell-based assay employing a chimeric SF-1 construct. Two analogous isoquinolinones, ethyl 2-[2-[2-(2,3-dihydro-1,4-benzodioxin-7-ylamino)-2-oxoethyl]-1-oxoisoquinolin-5-yl]oxypropanoate (SID7969543) and ethyl 2-[2-[2-(1,3-benzodioxol-5-ylmethylamino)-2-oxoethyl]-1-oxoisoquinolin-5-yl]oxypropanoate and (SID7970631), were identified as potent submicromolar inhibitors, yielding ...
The natriuretic peptides are considered to be cardioprotective; however, their receptors have not been identified in human myocardium using radiolabeled analogs. Dendroaspis natriuretic peptide (DNP) has been recently identified as a new member of this peptide family and is thought to be less susceptible to enzymatic degradation. Therefore, we have developed the novel radiolabeled analog [125I]-DNP and used this to localize high-affinity (K(D)=0.2 nmol/L), saturable, specific binding sites in adult human heart (n=6) and coronary artery (n=8). In competition binding experiments, atrial natriuretic peptide and brain type natriuretic peptide had greater affinity for [125I]-DNP binding sites than C-type natriuretic peptide and the natriuretic peptide receptor (NPR)-C ligand, cANF. This rank order of potency suggested binding of [125I]-DNP was specific to NPR-A. Messenger RNA encoding NPR-A was identified in left ventricle and coronary artery smooth muscle, and ...
A cDNA library was constructed using RNA isolated from the livers of chickens which had been treated with zinc. This library was screened with a RNA probe complementary to mouse metallothionein-I (MT), and eight chicken MT cDNA clones were obtained. All of the cDNA clones contained nucleotide sequences homologous to regions of the longest (375 bp) cDNA clone. The latter contained an open reading frame of 189 bp, and the deduced amino acid sequence indicates a protein of 63 amino acids of which 20 are cysteine residues. Amino acid composition and partial amino acid sequence analyses of purified chicken MT protein agreed with the amino acid composition and sequence deduced from the cloned cDNA. Amino acid sequence comparison establish that chicken MT shares extensive homology with mammalian MTs. Southern blot analysis of chicken DNA indicates that the chicken MT gene is not a part of a large family of related sequences, but ...
Outbreaks of disease attributable to human error or natural causes can provide unique opportunities to gain new information about host-pathogen interactions and new leads for pathogenesis research. Poststreptococcal glomerulonephritis (PSGN), a sequela of infection with pathogenic streptococci, is a common cause of preventable kidney disease worldwide. Although PSGN usually occurs after infection with group A streptococci, organisms of Lancefield group C and G also can be responsible. Despite decades of study, the molecular pathogenesis of PSGN is poorly understood. As a first step toward gaining new information about PSGN pathogenesis, we sequenced the genome of Streptococcus equi subsp. zooepidemicus strain MGCS10565, a group C organism that caused a very large and unusually severe epidemic of nephritis in Brazil. The genome is a circular chromosome of 2,024,171 bp. The genome shares extensive gene content, including many virulence factors, with genetically related group A ...
A one parameter family of iterative methods for the simultaneous approximation of simple complex zeros of a polynomial, based on a cubically convergent Hansen-Patricks family, is studied. We show that the convergence of the basic family of the fourth order can be increased to five and six using Newtons and Halleys corrections, respectively. Since these corrections use the already calculated values, the computational efficiency of the accelerated methods is significantly increased. Further acceleration is achieved by applying the Gauss-Seidel approach (single-step mode). One of the most important problems in solving nonlinear equations, the construction of initial conditions which provide both the guaranteed and fast convergence, is considered for the proposed accelerated family. These cond...
This paper presents the characteristics of selected parameters of organic matter of the Tertiary coal samples and organic matter of Carboniferous rock samples from the Spitsbergen. The coal samples were taken from Central Coal Basin (the Longyearbyen region) and from the Forlandsundet Basin (Oscar II Land, the Kaffioyra region). Samples of dispersed organic matter were collected from Suffolk Pynten and Sergeijevfjellet area in Sorkapp Land. The optical properties of coal samples are different from properties of dispersed organic matter. Macerals of vitrinite group dominate in all of the samples. The average content of vitrinite group macerals is much lower in dipersed organic matter samples than it is in coals. The average content of liptinite group macerals is a little lower, and inertinite group macerals is much higher. The average content of mineral matter is higher in organic matter samples than in coal samples. The average value of vitrinite reflectance and standard deviation of ...
The intracellular concentration of protein may be as high as 400 mg per ml; thus it seems inevitable that within the cell, numerous protein-protein contacts are constantly occurring. A basic biochemical...Full Text Available
The 2- and 8-azido trimer 5'-triphosphate photoprobes of 2-5A have been enzymatically synthesized from [#gamma#-"3"2P]2-azidoATP and [#alpha#-"3"2P]8-azidoAPT by 2-5A synthetase from rabbit reticulocyte lysates. Identification and structural determination of the 2- and 8-azido adenylate trimer 5'-triphosphates were accomplished by enzymatic hydrolyses with T2 RNase, snake venom phosphodiesterase, and bacterial alkaline phosphatase. Hydrolysis products were identified by HPLC and PEI-cellulose TLC analyses. The 8-azido photoprobe of 2-5A displaces p_3A_4["3"2P]pCp from RNase L with affinity equivalent to p_3A_3. The 8-azido photoprobe also activates RNase L to hydrolyze poly(U)["3"2P]pCp 50% at 7 /times/ 10/sup /minus/9/ M in core-cellulose assays. The 2- and 8-azido photoprobes and authentic p_3A_3 activate RNase L to cleave 28S and 18S rRNA to specific cleavage products at 10/sup /minus/9/ M in rRNA cleavage assays. The nucleotide binding site(s) of RNase L and/or ...
Liver paste or foie gras, which is a French term meaning fatty liver, was produced traditionally from goose and duck. Chickens are also used in the making of foie gras. The present study deals with the properties and quality of raw chicken and duck liver in comparison with manufactured liver paste (foie gras). Raw chicken liver contained 24.60% protein, 6.00% fat, 1.40 % ash, and 66.80% moisture. The average mineral values were 83.65, 50.75, 5.29, 1.15, 0.154, 0.683, 0.317 and 0.066 {mu}g/g of Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Cr, respectively. The processing of liver paste (Foie gras) changed the composition of raw liver due to a loss in moisture, a release of fat and the addition of butter as a fat source. Chicken liver paste contained 27.8% moisture, 10.1% protein, 58.2% fat, and 0.8% ash. Mineral contents were 68.90, 40.50, 1.60, 1.1, 0.08, 0.22, 0.04 and 0.04 {mu}g/g of Fe, Zn, Cu, Mn, Cd, Pb, Ni, and Cr, respectively. The chemical, ...
The effect of X-irradiation on production of MUC1 was studied with human colon carcinoma HT-29 cells. As evaluated by immunocytochemical staining, the percentages or MUC1-positive cells in cells at 4 days after 6 Gy irradiation and in unirradiated control cells were 52#+-#3.5% (n=6) and 26#+-#2.8% (n=6), respectively. Flow-cytometric analysis of living cells showed that MUC1 began to rise from day 1, reaching a plateau by day 4 after 6 Gy irradiation. Western blot analysis with monoclonal antibody MY.1E12 against glycosylated MUC1 (mature form) showed dose-dependent increases of two bands (500 and 390 kDa) corresponding to two polymorphic MUC1 alleles. Premature forms of MUC1 (350 and 240 kDa) were detectable with monoclonal antibody HMFG-2 only in irradiated cells, suggesting that new core protein synthesis had been induced. The transcriptional activity of the MUC1 gene was analyzed in terms of transient expression of MUC1-CAT reporter plasmids containing ...
The aim for deterministic control of the interactions between macroions in aqueous media has motivated widespread experimental and theoretical work. Although it has been well established that like-charged macromolecules can aggregate under the influence of oppositely charged condensing agents, the specific conditions for the stability of such aggregates can only be determined empirically. We examine these conditions, which involve an interplay of electrostatic and osmotic effects, by using a well defined model system composed of F-actin, an anionic rod-like polyelectrolyte, and lysozyme, a cationic globular protein with a charge that can be genetically modified. The structure and stability of actin-lysozyme complexes for different lysozyme charge mutants and salt concentrations are examined by using synchrotron x-ray scattering and molecular dynamics simulations. We provide evidence that supports a structural transition from columnar arrangements of F-actin held ...
The aims of the study were to develop and test the psychometric properties of the Thai Family Health Routines (TFHR) scale, a 70-item self-report questionnaire used to measure the health of Thai families through their routine behaviors in daily life. Development of the TFHR was based on the structural domains of Denham's Family Health Model. The TFHR scale was initially composed of 85 items and tested on 1,040 families living in the central region of Thailand. The confirmatory factor analysis, with an acceptable factor structure model, yielded 70 items aligned with six factors: self-care, safety and prevention, mental health behavior, family care, family caregiving, and illness care routines. The preliminary psychometric properties demonstrated that the TFHR scale had satisfactory internal consistency, criterion validity, and construct validity. The test results ...
The real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) quantification of several vaginal bacterial groups in healthy women and patients developing asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV) and candidiasis (CA) was performed. Statistical analysis revealed that the BV condition is characterised by a great variability among subjects and that it is associated with a significant increase of Prevotella, Atopobium, Veillonella and Gardnerella vaginalis, and a drop in Lactobacillus. On the contrary, the vaginal microflora of healthy women and patients developing CA was found to be homogeneous and stable over time. PMID:18762999
The real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) quantification of several vaginal bacterial groups in healthy women and patients developing asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV) and candidiasis (CA) was performed. Statistical analysis revealed that the BV condition is characterised by a great variability among subjects and that it is associated with a significant increase of Prevotella, Atopobium, Veillonella and Gardnerella vaginalis, and a drop in Lactobacillus. On the contrary, the vaginal microflora of healthy women and patients developing CA was found to be homogeneous and stable over time.
The emergence of bacterial antibiotic resistance is a growing problem, yet the variables that influence the rate of emergence of resistance are not well understood. In a microfluidic device designed to mimic naturally occurring bacterial niches, resistance of Escherichia coli to the antibiotic ciprofloxacin developed within 10 hours. Resistance emerged with as few as 100 bacteria in the initial inoculation. Whole-genome sequencing of the resistant organisms revealed that four functional single-nucleotide polymorphisms attained fixation. Knowledge about the rapid emergence of antibiotic resistance in the heterogeneous conditions within the mammalian body may be helpful in understanding the emergence of drug resistance during cancer chemotherapy. PMID:21940899
Previous family and twin studies have indicated that Graves' disease has a heritable component. Family studies have also shown that some autoimmune disease cluster in families and genetic studies have been able to show shared susceptibility genes. In the present nation-wide study we describe familial risk for Graves' disease among parents and offspring, singleton siblings, twins and spouses with regard to age of onset, gender and number and type of affected family members. Additionally familial association of Graves' disease with any of 33 other autoimmune and related conditions was analyzed. The Swedish Multigeneration Register on 0-75-year-old subjects was linked to the Hospital Discharge Register from years 1987-2007. Standardized incidence ratios (SIRs) were calculated for individuals ...
Legionella pneumophila is a gram-negative bacterial species that is ubiquitous in almost any aqueous environment. It is the agent of Legionnaires’ disease, an acute and often...Full Text Available
BackgroundIt is well established that Legionella pneumophila is a waterborne pathogen; by contrast, the mode of Helicobacter pylori transmission...Full Text Available
Periodontitis is an infectious process characterized by inflammation affecting the supporting structures of the teeth. Porphyromonas gingivalis is a major oral bacterial species implicated...Full Text Available
Examining the relationship between biodiversity and functional stability (resistance and resilience) of activated sludge bacterial communities following disturbance is an important first step towards developing strategies for the design of robust biological wastewater treatment systems. This study investigates the relationship between functional resistance and biodiversity of dominant bacterial taxa by subjecting activated sludge samples, with different levels of biodiversity, to toxic shock loading with cupric sulfate (Cu[II]), 3,5-dichlorophenol (3,5-DCP), or 4-nitrophenol (4-NP). Respirometric batch experiments were performed to determine the functional resistance of activated sludge bacterial community to the three toxicants. Functional resistance was estimated as the 30?min IC50 or th...
... 84. Fields BS, Haupt T, Davis JP, Arduino MJ, Butler JC. Pontiac fever due to Legionella micdadei from a whirlpool spa: Possible role of bacterial endotoxin. ...
BackgroundThe metagenomic analysis of microbial communities holds the potential to improve our understanding of the role of microbes in clinical conditions. Recent, dramatic improvements...Full Text Available
The bacterium Serratia marcescens produces a plethora of multicellular shapes of different colorations on solid substrates, allowing immediate visual detection of varieties. Such a...Full Text Available
Background"Nubiotics" are synthetic oligonucleotides and nucleotides with nuclease-resistant backbones, and are fully protonated for enhanced ability to be taken up by bacterial...Full Text Available
A large group of diseases, termed protein misfolding disorders, share the common feature of the accumulation of misfolded proteins. The possibility of a common mechanism underlying either the pathogenesis...Full Text Available
Many mutations associated with retinal degeneration lead to the production of misfolded proteins by cells of the retina. Emerging evidence suggests that these abnormal proteins cause cell death...Full Text Available
CAAX proteins are widely involved in global cellular functions such as proliferation, differentiation, and carcinogenesis. As an important modulator of biological activity, signal transduction via protein...Full Text Available
This study sought to examine the association between adolescents’ relationship with family and school and depressive symptoms across ethnic/racial groups (White, Black, Hispanic, and...Full Text Available
BackgroundAttention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common condition that often results in child and family functional impairments. Although there are evidence-based treatment...Full Text Available
The "ovalbumin Y" gene, one of three which constitute the ovalbumin gene family in chicken has been completely sequenced. The exact location of exons can be derived from the comparison with the ovalbumin...Full Text Available
By analysis of crossovers in key recombinant families and by homozygosity analysis of inbred families, the Friedreich ataxia (FRDA) locus was localized in a 300-kb interval between the X104 gene and...Full Text Available
BackgroundSupport groups have proved to be effective in reducing the burden on family caregivers of dementia patients. Nevertheless, little is known about the factors that influence...Full Text Available
The official name of this gene is "solute carrier family 25 (mitochondrial carrier; adenine nucleotide translocator), member 4." SLC25A4 is the gene's official symbol. The...
BackgroundFamilial Adenomatous Polyposis (FAP) is caused by germline mutations in the APC (Adenomatous Polyposis Coli) gene. The vast majority of APC mutations...Full Text Available
We performed genome-wide homozygosity mapping in a large consanguineous family from Morocco and mapped the autosomal-recessive nonsyndromic hearing loss (ARNSHL) in this family to the DFNB79...Full Text Available
The full impact of secondary stigma (stigma directed at family) on an HIV-positive individual is unknown. This qualitative research explores perceptions of secondary stigma in the Vietnamese...Full Text Available
The DNA sequences were determined for the lipoprotein lipase (LPL) gene from five unrelated Japanese patients with familial LPL deficiency. The results demonstrated that all five patients are homozygotes...Full Text Available
The article describes the caregiving responsibility to provide food for chronically ill family members and the meanings attached to food and eating when ill created stress for family caregivers. The...Full Text Available
Four cases of unilateral giant breasts from two unrelated families are described. Three of the patients were managed surgically. It is speculated from a review of available published reports that this...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVES: To assess the subjective quality of life (QOL) of family caregivers of Sudanese type-1 and type-2 diabetic outpatients, using the WHO 26-item QOL instrument, compared with a general population...Full Text Available
Despite their ecological and economical importance, fishes of the family Ariidae are still genetically and cytogenetically poorly studied. Among the 133 known species of ariids, only eight have been...Full Text Available
Family stress theory can explain associations between contextual stressors and parenting. However, the theory has not been tested among Mexican Americans or expanded to include cultural-contextual...Full Text Available
Five children from two families presented to a regional neonatal surgical unit between 1959 and 1984 with congenital anal anomalies and other malformations resulting from an autosomal dominant inherited...Full Text Available
BackgroundMost rapidly evolving gene families are involved in immune responses and reproduction, two biological functions which have been assigned to the carcinoembryonic antigen...Full Text Available
BackgroundMimivirus, a giant dsDNA virus infecting Acanthamoeba, is the prototype of the mimiviridae family, the latest addition to the family of the nucleocytoplasmic...Full Text Available
Familial defective apolipoprotein (apo) B-100 is a genetic disease that leads to hypercholesterolemia and to an increased serum concentration of low density lipoproteins that bind defectively to the...Full Text Available
PurposeTo report the clinical, ophthalmic, and genetic characteristics for lattice corneal dystrophy type I (LCDI) in a Chilean family.MethodsSix...Full Text Available
BmpA, BmpB, BmpC, and BmpD are homologous Borrelia burgdorferi lipoproteins of unknown functions, encoded by the bmp genes of paralogous chromosomal gene family 36....Full Text Available
We previously reported the identification of a new family of plant methyltransferases (MTs), named the SABATH family, that use S-adenosyl-l-methionine (SAM) to methylate...Full Text Available
PurposeTo detail the highly variable ocular phenotypes of a French family affected with an autosomal dominantly inherited vitreoretinopathy and to identify the disease gene.MethodsSixteen...Full Text Available
Bacterial plasmids contain specific genes for resistances to toxic heavy metal ions including Ag+, AsO2-, AsO4(3-), Cd2+, Co2+, CrO4(2-), Cu2+, Hg2+, Ni2+, Pb2+, Sb3+, and Zn2+. Recent progress with...Full Text Available
Caffeine and related xanthines were identified as potent stimulators for the bacterial cellulose production in A. xylinum. These compounds are present in several plants whose infusions are useful as culture-medium supplements for this acetobacterium. The proposed target for these native purine-like inhibitory substances is the novel diguanyl nucleotide phosphodiesterase(s) that participates in the bacterial cellulogenic complex.
β-Lactamases are the main cause of bacterial resistance to penicillins and cephalosporins. Class A β-lactamases, the largest group of β-lactamases, have been found in many bacterial...Full Text Available
Resistance (R) protein mediated recognition of pathogen avirulence effectors triggers signaling that induces a very robust form of species-specific immunity in plants. The soybean Rpg1-b protein mediates...Full Text Available
Membrane protein structural biology is still a largely unconquered area, given that approximately 25% of all proteins are membrane proteins and yet less than 150 unique structures are available. Membrane...Full Text Available
A nuclear fuel waste disposal vault would not likely be a sterile environment. Bacterial activity would be expected in those areas of the vault conducive to bacterial life, i.e., where effects of heat, moisture content, radiation and compaction would not prevent or severely restrict bacterial life and where suitable and sufficient nutrients would be present. An inventory of bacterial nutrients that would be emplaced 'intentionally' with vault materials (fuel waste, waste containers, buffer and backfill materials) has been made previously. This report assesses bacterial nutrients that would be added 'inadvertently' to a vault in the form of residues of materials used to excavate and operate a vault. Measurements of blasting material residues in the various water supplies, excavated broken rock (muck) and in cores drilled in old and new tunnel walls were made at AECL's Underground ...
Group B Streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of meningitis in newborn infants. Bacterial cell surface appendages, known as pili, have been recently described in streptococcal pathogens, including GBS. The pilus tip adhesin, PilA, contributes to GBS adherence to blood-brain barrier (BBB) endothelium; however, the host receptor and the contribution of PilA in central nervous system (CNS) disease pathogenesis are unknown. Here we show that PilA binds collagen, which promotes GBS interaction with the ?(2)?(1) integrin resulting in activation of host chemokine expression and neutrophil recruitment during infection. Mice infected with the PilA-deficient mutant exhibit delayed mortality, a decrease in neutrophil infiltration and bacterial CNS dissemination. We find that PilA-mediated virulence is dependent on neutrophil influx as neutrophil depletion results in a decrease in BBB permeability and GBS-BBB penetration. Our results suggest that the ...
Bacterial attachment-effacement (att-eff) is emerging as an important virulence characteristic common to both enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) and enterohemorrhagic E. coli (EHEC). The contribution of the plasmid-encoded EPEC adherence factor to the production of mucosal lesions and diarrhea was investigated in gnotobiotic piglets. Bacterial att-aff in the intestinal mucosa of piglets infected with plasmid-cured EPEC strain E2348/69 (O127) was indistinguishable from that in piglets infected with the parent strain, but the distribution of lesions was different; it occurred in the small intestines of 6 of 7 piglets infected with the parent strain compared with only 2 of 11 (P = 0.006) infected with the plasmid-cured strain. Plasmid-encoded factors in EPEC and EHEC strains did not appear to contribute to bacterial competition with normal gut microflora. Of 13 strains belonging to five EPEC serogroups, O55, O142, O26, ...
In acute liver failure following hepatitis, toxic insults, or after major liver surgery, there is an increased bacterial translocation from the gut. This may explain some of the infectious complications seen in these conditions. To elucidate mechanisms and find possible preventive measures, we investigated the effect of rectal administration of arginine and probiotic bacteria (Lactobacillus spp.) on bacterial translocation and the extent of liver failure. Sprague-Dawley rats were used and five different Lactobacillus strains (Lb. reuteri R2LC, Lb. rhamnosus DSM 6594 (= strain 271), Lb. plantarum DSM 9843 (= strain 299v), Lb. fermentum 8704:3 (= strain 245), and Lb. reuteri (= strain 108) were administered rectally once daily for 8 days with and without 2% arginine. Acute liver injury (ALI) was induced on the eighth day by intraperitoneal injection of D-galactosamine (1.1 g/kg body weight), and samples were collected after 24 and 48 hours. ...
The p75 neurotrophin receptor (p75"N"T"R) is a death receptor which belongs to the tumor necrosis factor receptor super-family of membrane proteins. This study shows that p75"N"T"R retarded cell cycle progression by induced accumulation of cells in G0/G1 and a reduction in the S phase of the cell cycle. The rescue of tumor cells from cell cycle progression by a death domain deleted (#DELTA#DD) dominant-negative antagonist of p75"N"T"R showed that the death domain transduced anti-proliferative activity in a ligand-independent manner. Conversely, addition of NGF ligand rescued retardation of cell cycle progression with commensurate changes in components of the cyclin/cdk holoenzyme complex. In the absence of ligand, p75"N"T"R-dependent cell cycle arrest facilitated an increase in apoptotic nuclear fragmentation of the prostate cancer cells. Apoptosis of p75"N"T"R expressing cells occurred via the intrinsic mitochondrial pathway leading to a ...
Transducin {alpha} subunits are members of a large family of G-proteins and play an important role in phototransduction in rod and cone photoreceptors. We report the localization of the human cone {alpha} transducin (GNAT2) gene using fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) on chromosome 1 in band p13. The recent assignment of a gene for Stargardt`s disease to the same chromosomal region by linkage analysis prompted us to investigate the possible role of GNAT2 in the pathogenesis of this disease. Stargardt`s disease is characterized by degeneration in late childhood or early adulthood of the macula of the retina, a region rich in cones. We screened patients with Stargardt`s disease, with or without peripheral cone involvement as monitored by the full-field ERG, for mutations in this gene. We investigated 66 unrelated patients including 22 with peripheral cone dysfunction for mutations in the coding region of the GNAT2 gene using polymerase ...
The present study was designed to assess the radioprotective effects of amifostine on ovarian follicles. Three week-old female mice with or without pretreatment of amifostine were irradiated with 6.42 Gy of #gamma# -ray. Ovaries were collected 0 and 6h after irradiation. DNA fragmentation pattern and expression of genes and activity of proteins related with apoptosis were investigated by means of RT-PCR and Western blot. Proliferation of granulosa cells was reduced and incidence rate of follicular atresia was increased in ovarian follicles in #gamma# -ray irradiated mice compared to those in control or amifostine-treated group. DNA fragmentation was increased in time-dependent manner in granulosa cells of all irradiated groups. However, no difference between amifostine pre-treated group and irradiated groups was found and the expression of p53 as tumor suppressor gene and Bax as one of pro-apoptotic Bcl-2 family was increased in irradiated mice ...
When preadipocytes differentiate into adipocytes, several differentiation-linked genes are activated. Lipo-protein lipase (LPL) is one of the first genes induced during this process. To investigate early events in adipocyte development, we have focused on the transcriptional activation of the LPL gene. For this purpose, we have cloned and fused different parts of intragenic and flanking sequences with a chloramphenicol acetyltransferase reporter gene. Transient transfection experiments and DNase I hypersensitivity assays indicate that several positive as well as negative elements contribute to transcriptional regulation of the LPL gene. When reporter gene constructs were stably introduced into preadipocytes, we were able to monitor and compare the activation patterns of different promoter deletion mutants at selected time points representing the process of adipocyte development. We could delimit two cis-regulatory elements important for gradual activation of the ...
Sida cordifolia is a plant belonging to the Malvaceae family used in many ayurvedic preparations. This study aimed at assessing the effects of ethanolic extract of Sida cordifolia root on quinolinic acid (QUIN) induced neurotoxicity and to compare its effect with the standard drug deprenyl in rat brain. Rats were divided into six groups: (1) control group (2) QUIN (55 microg/100 g bwt/day) (3) 50% ethanolic plant extract treated group (50 mg/100 g bwt/day) (4) Deprenyl (100 microg/100 g bwt/day) (5) QUIN (55 microg/100 g bwt/day) + 50% ethanolic plant extract treated group (50 mg/100 g bwt/day) (6) QUIN (55 microg/100 g bwt/day) + Deprenyl (100 microg/100 g bwt/day). At the end of the experimental period a status of lipid peroxidation products, protein peroxidation product, activities of the scavenging enzymes and the activities of the inflammatory markers were analyzed. Results revealed that the lipid peroxidation products decreased and the ...
We survey a new area of parameter-free similarity distance measures useful in data-mining, pattern recognition, learning and automatic semantics extraction. Given a family of distances on a set of objects, a distance is universal up to a certain precision for that family if it minorizes every distance in the family between every two objects in the set, up to the stated precision (we do not require the universal distance to be an element of the family). We consider similarity distances for two types of objects: literal objects that as such contain all of their meaning, like genomes or books, and names for objects. meaning, like genomes or books, and names for objects. The latter may have literal embodyments like the first type, but may also be abstract like ``red'' or ``christianity.'' For the first type we consider a family of computable distance measures corresponding to parameters ...
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Norepinephrine stimulates the growth of a range of bacterial species in nutritionally poor SAPI minimal salts medium containing 30% serum. Addition of size-fractionated serum components to SAPI medium indicated that transferrin was required for norepinephrine stimulation of growth of Escherichia coli. Since bacteriostasis by serum is primarily due to the iron-withholding capacity of transferrin, we considered the possibility that norepinephrine can overcome this effect by supplying transferrin-bound iron for growth. Incubation with concentrations of norepinephrine that stimulated bacterial growth in serum-SAPI medium resulted in loss of bound iron from iron-saturated transferrin, as indicated by the appearance of monoferric and apo- isoforms upon electrophoresis in denaturing gels. Norepinephrine also caused the loss of iron from lactoferrin. The pharmacologically inactive metabolite norepinephrine 3-O-sulfate, by contrast, did not result in ...
The growth power-time curves of a strain of petroleum bacteria, B-2, in various kinds of cultures containing different kinds of carbon sources, glucose, n-tetradecane, n-hexadecane and n-octadecane, and different kinds of microemulsions have been determined by using a 2277 Thermal Activity Monitor. The curves showed a single peak for cultures containing a single carbon source, glucose, and two peaks for cultures containing two kinds of carbon sources, glucose and one of the n-alkanes. The first peak indicated that bacteria grew by consuming glucose and the second peak indicated that bacteria grew by consuming n-alkane. The curves were complex when the bacterium grows in a microemulsion culture. According to a kinetic equation of bacterial growth under limited conditions, the rate constants of bacterial growth were obtained. The results showed that the microemulsion culture was more appropriate to bacteria to grow on n-alkanes.
This study investigates the turnover of polysaccharides by heterotrophic bacterioplankton in the northern Bay of Biscay, a productive marine system on the continental margin of the temperate Atlantic Ocean. Bacterial biomass production (BBP) near the surface ranged from 0.5 to 25.7 nmol C L?1 h?1 during small phytoplankton blooms in May and June that occurred after the main spring bloom. A direct relationship between BBP and total polysaccharides strongly suggests the dependence of bacterial growth on the availability of semi-labile organic matter. Concentrations of combined glucose as well as rate constants of extracellular glucosidase activity and glucose uptake were determined to estimate the actual carbon fluxes from bacterial polysaccharide turnover. Results reveal that ...
Preterm birth is a common cause of neonatal morbidity and mortality. Many asymptomatic genital infections have been associated with preterm birth, but attempts to determine a causal relationship between specific infections and preterm birth have been disappointing. Treatment trials of specific infections have generally failed to show a positive effect, and in some trials have shown a deleterious effect. Although there is a strong association between the presence of bacterial vaginosis and Trichomonas vaginalis in pregnancy and preterm birth, randomized treatment trials have failed to show a benefit of treatment of these organisms. Treatment of asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis or T. vaginalis to prevent preterm birth is not warranted. PMID:12112946
The colonization of an implant surface by bacteria is an extremely important medical problem, which often leads to the failure of medical devices. Modern surface modification techniques, such as ion implantation, can confer to the surfaces very different properties from those of the bulk underlying material. In this work, austenitic stainless steel 316 LVM has been superficially modified by Si^+ ion implantation. The effect of surface modification on the biocompatibility and bacterial adhesion to 316 LVM stainless steel has been investigated. To this aim, human mesenchymal stem cells (hMSCs), as precursor of osteoblastic cells, and bacterial strains relevant in infections related to orthopedic implants, i.e., Staphylococcus aureus and Staphylococcus epidermidis, have been assayed. For the ...
Coral populations have precipitously declined on Caribbean reefs while algal abundance has increased, leading to enhanced competitive damage to corals, which likely is mediated by the potent allelochemicals produced by both macroalgae and benthic cyanobacteria. Allelochemicals may affect the composition and abundance of coral-associated microorganisms that control host responses and adaptations to environmental change, including susceptibility to bacterial diseases. Here, we demonstrate that extracts of six Caribbean macroalgae and two benthic cyanobacteria have both inhibitory and stimulatory effects on bacterial taxa cultured from the surfaces of Caribbean corals, macroalgae, and corals exposed to macroalgal extracts. The growth of 54 bacterial isolates was monitored in the presence of l...
Proteins aggregated into spherulite structures of amyloid fibrils have been observed in patients with certain brain diseases such as Alzheimers and Parkinsons. The conditions under which these protein spherulites form and grow are not currently known. In order to illuminate the role of environmental factors on protein spherulites, this research aims to explore the kinetics and mechanisms of spherulite formation and growth, as monitored by optical microscopy, in a range of salt concentrations, and initial protein concentrations for two model proteins: bovine b-lactoglobulin and insulin. These two proteins are significantly different in their size and fibril growth rate, but both of these proteins have been shown previously to form amyloid fibrils and spherulites under low pH conditions. The...
Here we use published 16S rRNA gene sequences to compare the bacterial assemblages associated with humans, other mammals, other metazoa, and free-living microbial communities spanning a range...Full Text Available
BackgroundDinoflagellates are unicellular, often photosynthetic protists that play a major role in the dynamics of the Earth's oceans and climate. Sequencing of dinoflagellate nuclear...Full Text Available
Peri-prosthetic infections are notoriously difficult to treat as the biomaterial implant is ideal for bacterial adhesion and biofilm formation, resulting in decreased antibiotic sensitivity....Full Text Available
BackgroundStreptococcus suis is an emerging zoonotic pathogen and is the leading cause of bacterial meningitis in adults in Vietnam. Systematic data on the antimicrobial...Full Text Available
Many bacterial pathogens produce extracellular proteases that degrade the extracellular matrix of the host and therefore are involved in disease pathogenesis. Dichelobacter nodosus...Full Text Available
Enzymes are versatile catalysts in laboratories and on an industrial scale; improving their immobilization would be beneficial to broadening their applicability and ensuring their (re)use. Lipid-coated...Full Text Available
A previous report of high levels of members of the domain Archaea in Antarctic coastal waters prompted us to investigate the ecology of Antarctic planktonic prokaryotes. rRNA hybridization...Full Text Available
Bacterial hydroxy fatty acids and alpha-hydroxy fatty acids have been demonstrated in complex lipid extracts of subgingival plaque and gingival tissue. However, little is known about the relationship...Full Text Available
The pathogenesis of Pseudomonas aeruginosa disseminated infections depends on bacterial interaction with blood vessels. We have hypothesized that in order to traverse the endothelial barrier, bacteria...Full Text Available
Several commonly occurring freshwater and marine plants and algae were screened for beta-D-galactosidase and beta-D-glucuronidase activities by using a 60-min enzyme assay based on the hydrolysis by...Full Text Available
Adaptive radiation is the rapid origination of multiple species from a single ancestor as the result of concurrent adaptation to disparate environments. This fundamental evolutionary process is considered...Full Text Available
In order to efficiently utilize natural cellulose materials to produce ethylene, three expression vectors containing the ethylene-forming enzyme (efe) gene from Pseudomonas...Full Text Available
Type 1 pilus directs bladder epithelial binding and invasion by uropathogenic Escherichia coli (UPEC) in the initial stage of cystitis, but the bacterial determinants of postinvasion...Full Text Available
Increased construction of residential canal communities along the southern coastline of the United States has led to a concern about their impact on water quality. Pollution of such dead-end canals...Full Text Available
Macrophage activation by the proinflammatory cytokine interferon-γ (IFN-γ) is a critical component of the host innate response to bacterial pathogenesis. However, the precise nature...Full Text Available
Bartonella species are being recognized as important bacterial human and canine pathogens, and are associated with multiple arthropod vectors. Bartonella DNA extracted...Full Text Available
Bacterial processes in soil, including biodegradation, require contact between bacteria and substrates. Knowledge of the three-dimensional spatial distribution of bacteria at the microscale is necessary...Full Text Available
A method of measuring the water potential of stored potato tubers (Solanum tuberosum L.) was needed to investigate the relationship of bacterial soft rot in tubers to water potential....Full Text Available
... were erroneous. The oriental rat flea, Xenopsylla cheopis Rothschild, is considered to be the primary vector of ... laboratory and production of Weigl's exanthematous typhus vaccine. In Maintenance of hum...
BackgroundThe maternally inherited, bacterial symbiont, parthenogenesis inducing (PI) Wolbachia, causes females in some haplodiploid insects to produce daughters...Full Text Available
The gram-negative plant-pathogenic bacterium Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria is the causative agent of bacterial spot disease in pepper and tomato plants, which leads to economically...Full Text Available
Previous experimental data from various laboratories indicate that endotoxin of gram-negative oral microorganisms might be one of the most important bacterial products involved in bone resorption during...Full Text Available
The plasmid pE194 (3.7 kilobases) is capable of integrating into the genome of the bacterial host Bacillus subtilis in the absence of the major homology-dependent RecE recombination system. Multiple...Full Text Available
The electrokinetic patterns of four bacterial species (Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus megaterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Agrobacterium radiobacter), two yeasts (Saccharomyces cerevisiae and Candida...Full Text Available
Clindamycin concentrations in gingival crevicular fluid and in blood were determined over a 7-h period and were related to the minimal inhibitory concentrations of this agent for 340 bacterial strains...Full Text Available
The continued evolution of bacterial pathogens has major implications for both human and animal disease, but the exchange of genetic material between host-restricted pathogens is rarely considered....Full Text Available
Zinc is an essential trace metal ion for growth, but an excess of Zn is toxic and microorganisms express diverse resistance mechanisms. To understand global bacterial responses to excess Zn, we conducted...Full Text Available
Purpose of reviewSevere congenital neutropenia (SCN) is a primary immunodeficiency in which lack of neutrophils causes inadequate innate immune host response to bacterial...Full Text Available
On agar plates, daughter cells of Escherichia coli mutually slide and align side-by-side in parallel during the first round of binary fission. This phenomenon has been previously attributed...Full Text Available
Clostridium perfringens type A food poisoning is the second most commonly identified bacterial food-borne illness. Sporulation contributes to this disease in two ways: (i) most food-poisoning...Full Text Available
This study examines the results of bacterial culture from 159 endometrial biopsy samples from 97 commercial dairy cows and correlations between bacteriological and histological findings. Bacteria were...Full Text Available
Bacterial nitric oxide synthases (bNOS) are present in many Gram-positive species and have been demonstrated to synthesize NO from arginine in vitro and in vivo. However, the physiological role...Full Text Available
We investigated the effects of wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) discharge on the ecology of bacterial communities in the sediment of a small, low-gradient stream in South Australia. The quantification...Full Text Available
Rumen-cannulated cows (n = 4) were fed successively silage made from either conventional or genetically modified (GM) maize. Results revealed no effects of GM maize on the dynamics...Full Text Available
Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is a parasitic disease characterized by single or multiple ulcerations. Secondary bacterial infections are one of the complications that can increase the tissue destruction...Full Text Available
Many pathogens colonize different anatomical sites, but the selective pressures contributing to survival in the diverse niches are poorly understood. Group A Streptococcus (GAS) is...Full Text Available
Caries is a multifactorial disease, and studies aiming to unravel the factors modulating its etiology must consider all known predisposing factors. One major factor is bacterial colonization,...Full Text Available
We sequenced 16S rRNA genes from the vaginal swab contents of a postmenopausal woman with asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV). Sequences from Atopobium vaginae were the most commonly...Full Text Available
In order to identify novel high value antibacterial targets it is desirable to delineate whether the inactivation of the target enzyme will lead to bacterial death or stasis. This knowledge is particularly...Full Text Available
Biodegradation/solubilization of coal is described. The degradation of dibenzothiophene by two bacterial strains is reported. The effects of adding salicylate to the treatments was also investigated. 2 figs., 5 tabs. (CBS)
BackgroundOceans are iron-deficient and nutrient-poor environments. These conditions impart limitations on our understanding of and our ability to identify microorganisms from the...Full Text Available
Escherichia coli infection of the endometrium causes uterine disease after parturition and is associated with prolonged luteal phases of the ovarian cycle in cattle. Termination...Full Text Available
In Iran, microscopic examination of skin scrapings from 2202 individuals with clinically diagnosed cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) lesions revealed the presence of amastigotes in 1123 cases (51.0%). Bacteriological...Full Text Available
Inadequate measures of water quality have been used in many studies of the health effects associated with water supplies in developing countries. The present 1-year epidemiological-microbiological study...Full Text Available
Acute Otitis Media occurs mostly after upper respiratory tract infection; the causative bacteria are those colonized in the nasopharynx. We studied 709 URI episodes and found that children with...Full Text Available
BackgroundSepsis or bacteraemia, however rare, is a significant cause of high mortality and serious complications in children. In previous studies skin disease or skin infections...Full Text Available
A total of 193 bacterial strains were tested for their susceptibilities to 14 antimicrobial agents. Penicillin G was active at 2 U/ml against 98% of the oral isolates. Other antibiotics with good activity...Full Text Available
The distribution and activity of communities of sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) and methanogenic archaea in two contrasting Antarctic sediments were investigated. Methanogenesis dominated in freshwater...Full Text Available
The mechanism by which enzyme IIIglc of the bacterial phosphotransferase system regulates the activity of crystalline glycerol kinase from Escherichia coli has been studied, and the inhibitory effects...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe successful interaction of bacterial pathogens with host tissues requires the sensing of specific chemical and physical cues. The human gut contains a huge number of...Full Text Available
BackgroundBacterial constituents, such as Gram-negative derived lipopolysaccharide (LPS), can initiate inflammatory bone loss through induction of host-derived inflammatory...Full Text Available
Saccharococcus sacchari is the primary colonizer of the developing “sterile” tissue between the leaf sheath and stem of sugar cane. The honeydew secreted by the mealybugs...Full Text Available
The accumulation of α-1,4-polyglucans is an important strategy to cope with transient starvation conditions in the environment. In bacteria and plants, the synthesis of glycogen and starch occurs...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: The efficacy of Toto ointment and soap on common skin disorders was tested. METHODOLOGY: A cohort of Nigerians with common skin conditions such as fungal and bacterial skin infections, scabies,...Full Text Available
Bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones are effective mapping and sequencing reagents for use with a wide variety of small and large genomes. This report describes the development of a physical...Full Text Available
A DNA fragment located on the 3' side of the Coxiella burnetii htpAB operon was determined by Southern blotting to exist in approximately 19 copies in the Nine Mile I genome. The DNA sequences of this...Full Text Available
...The RSPB: Birds by family: Owls E-mail to a friendE-newsletterContact us Home England Northern Ireland Scotland Wales About Overview Awards & recognition Contact ...Birds by family PrintHome Birds and wildlife Bird guide Birds by family Owls Owls Owls are specialised birds with round heads and rather flat ...or dished faces, with forward-facing eyes and a short, hooked bill. Most are nocturnal or crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk)... Owls are found all over the temperate and tropical parts of the world. Barn owl With heart shaped face, buff back ...
In many industrialised societies, women remain underrepresented in the sciences, which can be predicted by the gender gap in math achievement at school. Using PISA 2006 data, we explore the role of family background and single-sex schooling in girls' disadvantage in maths in South Korea and Hong Kong. This disadvantage is found to be associated with single-sex schooling, but not with family background. Attending a girls' school confers a benefit only in South Korea, whereas the gendered curriculum counteracts the selectivity advantage of girls' schools in Hong Kong. We find that a gendered social structure prevalent in both societies.
If fourth family condensates are responsible for electroweak symmetry breaking then they may also break approximate global symmetries. Among the resulting pseudo-Goldstone bosons are those that can have diquark quantum numbers. We describe the variety of diquarks and their decay modes, and we find aspects that are particular to the fourth family framework. Spectacular signatures at the LHC appear and are explored for color sextet diquarks with 600 GeV mass. We consider a simple search strategy which avoids diquark reconstruction. We also consider 350 GeV mass diquarks that are accessible at the Tevatron.
The transfer of fish from field to laboratory facilities or their propagation in closed or restricted systems frequently results in bacterial infection and ultimately large-scale mortality. In attemps to alleviate this problem, we have added tetracycline hydrochloride to the water prophylactically (pretreating tanks before wild fish were added) and therapeutically (treating tanks after bacterial outbreaks were detected.) In the present study, we examined the effect of tetracyline hydrochloride on the critical thermal maximum (CTM) of the common shiner (Notropis cornutus).
The objective of this study was to evaluate how the vehicles of choice affect the pharmacokinetics of orally administered Fluoranthene [FLA] in rats. Fluoranthene is a member of the family of...Full Text Available
The proteolytic activities of a disintegrin and metalloproteinase (ADAM); a disintegrin and metalloproteinase with thrombospondin motifs (ADAMTS), and matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) families play important...Full Text Available
This longitudinal study examined a model of early school achievement in reading and math, as it varies by socioeconomic context, using data from the NICHD Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development. A conceptual model was tested that included features of family stress, early parenting, and school readiness, through both a single-group analysis and also a multiple-group analysis. Latent profile analysis was used to identify subgroups of more advantaged and less advantaged families. Family stress and parenting were shown to operate differently depending on the socioeconomic context, whereas child-based school readiness characteristics were shown to operate similarly across socieodemographic contexts. Implications for intervention are discussed.
The stereocontrolled total synthesis of 4-hydroxydictyolactone (4), a member of the xenicane diterpene family of natural products, is described. These studies feature the development...Full Text Available
The penetrance of Lebers hereditary optic neuropathy (LHON) in families with primary mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations is very complex. Matrilineal and nuclear genetic background, as well as environmental factors, have been reported to be involved in different affected pedigrees. Here we describe two large Chinese families that show a striking difference in the penetrance of LHON, in which 53.3% and 15.0% of members were affected (Pin vivo mitochondrial oxidative metabolism as described in a previous study. Evolutionary analysis failed to indicate any putatively pathogenic mutation that cosegregated with G11778A in these two pedigrees. Our results suggest that the variable penetrance of LHON in the two Chinese families is independent of both their mtDNA haplotype background and a seconda...
The Sirtuins are a family of orthologues of yeast Sir2 found in a wide range of organisms from bacteria to man. They display a high degree of conservation between species, in both sequence and function,...Full Text Available
ObjectiveTo assess familial links in fat stereotypes and predictors of stereotypes among girls and their parents.Research Methods and...Full Text Available
The Model for the Assessment of Psychosocial Problems (MAPP) can help family medicine residents effectively assess patients with psychosocial problems. Following a patient-centred clinical method, MAPP...Full Text Available
News Jobs Grants/Funding Families Prevention Diseases Regulations Preparedness Mental Health and Traumatic Events Find Local Mental Health Services Information for: Parents and...
The present study investigated the association of mothers’ marriage and changes in young adolescents’ cognitive and socioemotional development and changes in family processes....Full Text Available
... elevated blood sugar levels, but not full-blown diabetes. What are the keys to preventing the disease? ... been well studied, in a study called The Diabetes Prevention Program, in several thousand people with this ...
Human endogenous retroviruses (HERVs) are a significant component of a wider family of retroelements that constitute part of the human genome. These viruses, perhaps representative of previous exogenous...Full Text Available
Homocysteine concentrations are a read-out of methionine metabolism and have been related to changes in lifespan in animal models. In humans, high homocysteine concentrations are an important predictor...Full Text Available
The family physician dealing with gynecologic pelvic pain (acute or chronic) enters at the beginning of the problem as diagnostician, refers the patient to a specialist in the interim, and resumes...Full Text Available
Background and AimsAnnonaceae are one of the largest families of Magnoliales. This study investigates the comparative floral development of 15 species to understand the basis for...Full Text Available
A 6-week-old girl with fever, hypernatraemia, dehydration, and polyuria failed to concentrate urine in response to exogenous vasopressin administration. There was no family history of nephrogenic diabetes...Full Text Available
Many family physicians are considering purchasing a computer in the near future. This article explains some of the jargon of the computer industry and describes the various specifications that will...Full Text Available
Summary of recent advancesA family of small molecules called ascarosides act as pheromones to control multiple behaviors in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans....Full Text Available
BackgroundPoliovirus, the causative agent of poliomyelitis, is a human enterovirus and a member of the family of Picornaviridae and among the most rapidly evolving viruses known....Full Text Available
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of a program to improve hypertension control practices in primary care. DESIGN: Retrospective quasi-experimental study. SETTING: Three hospital-based family...Full Text Available
BackgroundWe examined the effects of short-term consumption of whey protein isolate on muscle proteins and force recovery after eccentrically-induced muscle damage in healthy individuals.MethodsSeventeen...Full Text Available
Known vertebrate GATA proteins contain two zinc fingers and are required in development, whereas invertebrates express a class of essential proteins containing one GATA-type zinc finger. We isolated...Full Text Available
Thioredoxin, a small, ubiquitous protein which participates in redox reactions through the reversible oxidation of its active center dithiol to a disulfide, is an essential protein in Bacillus...Full Text Available
Storage proteins are deposited into protein storage vacuoles (PSVs) during plant seed development and maturation and stably accumulate to high levels; subsequently, during germination the storage...Full Text Available
The fusogenic orthoreoviruses express nonstructural fusion-associated small transmembrane (FAST) proteins that induce cell-cell fusion and syncytium formation. It has been speculated that the FAST proteins...Full Text Available
The homologous sequences observed for many calcium binding proteins such as parvalbumin, troponin C, the myosin light chains, and calmodulin has lead to the hypothesis that these proteins have homologous...Full Text Available
The changes in protein species synthesized during early Drosophila embryogenesis were characterized by two-dimensional electrophoresis. Of the 261 proteins scored, 68 (26%) show dramatic changes in...Full Text Available
Serum protein and lipid concentrations as well as the serum protein binding of propranolol, diazepam and phenytoin were measured in normal weight and obese volunteers. Concentrations of alpha 1-acid...Full Text Available
A protein evolution strategy is described by which double-stranded DNA fragments encoding defined E. coli protein secondary structural elements (α-helices, β-strands...Full Text Available
Filamin and Cortexillin are F-actin crosslinking proteins in Dictyostelium discoideum allowing actin filaments to form three-dimensional networks. GAPA, an IQGAP related protein, is...Full Text Available
We have used the two-electrode voltage clamp technique and the patch clamp technique to investigate the regulation of ROMK1 channels by protein-tyrosine phosphatase (PTP) and protein-tyrosine...Full Text Available
The characterization of the single-chain protein in Chinese-cobra (Naja naja atra) blood serum, which yields strong specific protection against the venom of the same snake, is reported. The protein,...Full Text Available
A heterobifunctional reagent, N-succinimidyl 3-(2-pyridyldithio)propionate, was synthesized. Its N-hydroxysuccinimide ester group reacts with amino groups and the 2-pyridyl disulphide structure reacts...Full Text Available
It has been sixty years since the Millers first described the covalent binding of carcinogens to tissue proteins. Protein covalent binding was gradually overshadowed by the emergence of DNA...Full Text Available
Protein modifications such as phosphorylation are often studied by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis since the perturbation in the protein’s pI value is readily detected by this method....Full Text Available
Cd-binding protein was extracted from tomato roots and purified on QAE-Sephadex A-25 and on Sephadex G-75 in 1 molar KCl buffer. The protein preparation was light brown and contained predominantly Cd...Full Text Available
The Protein Data Bank in Europe (PDBe; pdbe.org) is actively involved in managing the international archive of biomacromolecular structure data as one of the partners in the Worldwide Protein Data Bank...Full Text Available
The nucleocapsid protein (NC) of retroviruses plays a major role in genomic RNA packaging, and some evidence has implicated the matrix protein (MA) of certain retroviruses in viral RNA binding. To further...Full Text Available
The activity of Src-related protein-tyrosine kinases is repressed by the phosphorylation of a conserved carboxyl-terminal tyrosine by another cytoplasmic protein-tyrosine kinase termed p50csk. In this...Full Text Available
Large quantity of reliable protein interaction data are available for model organisms in public depositories (e.g., MINT, DIP, HPRD, INTERACT). Most data correspond to experiments with the proteins...Full Text Available
In this study, we investigated on a systems level how complex protein interactions underlying cell polarity in yeast determine the dynamic association of proteins with the polar cortical domain (PCD)...Full Text Available
End binding proteins (EBs) are highly conserved core components of microtubule plus-end tracking protein networks. Here we investigated the roles of the three mammalian EBs in controlling microtubule...Full Text Available
Many genetic processes depend on proteins interacting with specific sequences on DNA. Despite the large excess of nonspecific DNA in the cell, proteins can locate their targets rapidly. After initial...Full Text Available
Ethylene rapidly and transiently up-regulates the activity of several monomeric GTP-binding proteins (monomeric G proteins) in leaves of Arabidopsis as determined by two-dimensional gel electrophoresis...Full Text Available
During antibiotic drug development, media are frequently spiked with either serum/plasma or protein supplements to evaluate the effect of protein binding. Usually, previously reported serum or plasma...Full Text Available
Computer-assisted analysis revealed a striking sequence similarity between the putative 24-kDa protein (p24) encoded by open reading frame (ORF) 5 of beet yellows closterovirus and the coat protein...Full Text Available
Tooth enamel biomineralization is mediated by enamel proteins synthesized by ameloblast cells. Two classes of proteins have been described: enamelins and amelogenins. In lower vertebrates the absence...Full Text Available
The Protein Data Bank contains the description of more than 45,000 three-dimensional protein and nucleic-acid structures today. Started to exist as the computer-readable depository of crystallographic...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe fast growing Protein Data Bank contains the three-dimensional description of more than 45000 protein- and nucleic-acid structures today. The large majority of the data...Full Text Available
Chromatographic and electrophoretic studies have shown that the subunits of the crystalloid protein, isolated from mature castor bean (Ricinus communis L. cv Hale) seed endosperm protein...Full Text Available
Alpha-hemoglobin-stabilizing protein (AHSP) is an erythroid-specific protein that acts as a molecular chaperone for the free α chains of hemoglobin. Evidence strongly suggests...Full Text Available
Several examples of agonist-directed trafficking of receptor signalling at 5-HT2A and 5-HT2C receptors have been reported that involve independent downstream transduction pathways. We now report the functional selectivity of a series of chemically diverse agonists at human (h)5-HT2A, h5-HT2B and h5-HT2C-VSV by examining two related responses, the upstream activation of Gq/11 proteins in comparison with its associated cascade of calcium mobilisation. At the h5-HT2A receptor, d-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) and the antiparkinsonian agents lisuride, bromocriptine and pergolide exhibit a higher potency for Gq/11 activation than calcium release in contrast with all the other tested ligands such as 5-HT, mCPP and BW723C86, that show an opposite preference of signalling pathway. Comparable observations are made at h5-HT2B and h5-HT2C-VSV receptors, suggesting a similar mechanism of functional selectivity for the three serotonin receptors. Interestingly, the ...
Summary: Protein features are often displayed along the linear sequence of amino acids that make up that protein, but in reality these features occupy a position in the folded proteins 3D space. Mapping sequence features to known or predicted protein structures is useful when trying to deduce the function of those features and when evaluating sequence or structural predictions. To facilitate this goal, we developed PDBpaint, a simple tool that displays protein sequence features gathered from bioinformatics resources on top of protein structures, which are displayed in an interactive window (using the Jmol Java viewer). PDBpaint can be used either with existing protein structures or with novel structures provided by the user. The current version of PDBpaint allows the visualization of annot...
Male reproductive proteins (MRPs), associated with sperm and semen, are the moieties responsible for carrying male genes into the next generation. Evolutionary biologists have focused on their...Full Text Available
We identify new organelles associated with the vacuolar system in plant cells. These organelles are defined biochemically by their internal content of three integral membrane proteins: a chimeric reporter...Full Text Available
BackgroundFunction exertion of specific proteins are key factors in disease progression, thus the systematical identification of those specific proteins is a prerequisite to understand...Full Text Available
While prior research has examined family, school, and peer factors as potential predictors of problem behavior, less attention has been given to studying when these factors are most predictive...Full Text Available
In this paper we present a new efficient sixth-order scheme for nonlinear equations. The method is compared to several members of the family of methods developed by Neta (1979) [B. Neta, A sixth-order family of methods for nonlinear equations, Int. J. Comput. Math. 7 (1979) 157-161]. It is shown that the new method is an improvement over this well known scheme.
The complete complementary code (CCC) is a sequence family with ideal correlation sums which was proposed by Suehiro and Hatori. Numerous literatures show its applications to direct-spread code-division multiple access (DS-CDMA) systems for inter-channel interference (ICI)-free communication with improved spectral efficiency. In this paper, we propose a systematic framework for the construction of CCCs based on $N$-shift cross-orthogonal sequence families ($N$-CO-SFs). We show theoretical bounds on the size of $N$-CO-SFs and CCCs, and give a set of four algorithms for their generation and extension. The algorithms are optimal in the sense that the size of resulted sequence families achieves theoretical bounds and, with the algorithms, we can construct an optimal CCC consisting of sequences whose lengths are not only almost arbitrary but even variable between sequence families. We also discuss the ...
Biological cells of the nitrogen fixating bacteria Xanthobacter autotrophicus GZ 29 have been cultivated with 57-Fe, and from the nitrogenase of these cells the 57-Fe marked molybdenum-iron-protein is extracted. The Moessbauer spectra of this enzyme show that the structure of the iron cluster is similar to the structure in the molybdenum-iron-proteins of Azotobacter vinelandii, Klebsiella pneumoniae or Clostridium pasteurianum.
Protein bodies within the endosperm of castor bean (Ricinus communis L. cv. Hale) seeds arise from numerous small vacuoles which progressively become filled with storage protein, of...Full Text Available
In a series of experiments carried out on young and adult rabbits the effect of isocaloric low protein diets containing 4% or 8% protein compared with a diet containing 21% protein on Obeliscoides cuniculi infection was studied. The pathogenesis, resistance and local immunity were assessed after single infections with 10,000 larvae or reinfection with 5000 larvae. Live weight gain was reduced in young and adult rabbits fed the low protein diets, but the establishment of parasites was not substantially influenced by protein deprivation. However, development of worms in the histotrophic phase and parasite fecundity were impaired in association with the low protein diet. Moreover, mild anaemia as well as changes in the mucosal immune response as a result of infection were related to the level of dietary protein. (author). 30 refs, 6 figs, 5 ...
Assembly of icosahedral capsids of proper size and symmetry is not understood. Residue F170 in bacteriophage P22 coat protein is critical for conformational switching during assembly. Substitutions at this site cause assembly of tubes of hexamerically arranged coat protein. Intragenic suppressors of the ts phenotype of F170A and F170K coat protein mutants were isolated. Suppressors were repeatedly found in the coat protein telokin-like domain at position 285, which caused coat protein to assemble into petite procapsids and capsids. Petite capsid assembly strongly correlated to the side chain volume of the substituted amino acid. We hypothesize that larger side chains at position 285 torque the telokin-like domain, changing flexibility of the subunit and intercapsomer contacts. Thus, a sing...
TC inhibits protein synthesis in E. coli by interfering with aminoacyl-tRNA binding to the ribosomal A site, and there is strong evidence that such inhibition results from TC binding to a high affinity site on the 30S subunit. The SPORE approach has been used to define those 30S proteins that are potentially important for high affinity TC binding, measured as the (/sup 3/H)-TC co-sedimenting with the reconstitution particle through a sucrose density gradient. Reverse phase-HPLC has been used both to prepare ribosomal proteins and to analyze the protein content of reconstituted particles. The results obtained so far show that protein S7, as well as some proteins linked to S7 in the 30S assembly map, are important for TC binding, whereas other ribosomal proteins are not. These results are in very good accord with their earlier photoaffinity ...
White spot syndrome virus (WSSV) is the causative agent of the white spot disease of shrimp. Penaeus monodon were captured from Muttukadu Estuary in Chennai, India, transported to the laboratory and maintained in an aerated system with continuous water circulation-biofiltration. WSSV-free P. monodon were challenged by feeding them only once with WSSV-infected tissues of P. monodon. Cumulative mortality (100%) of the infected individuals was determined. Tissues from infected and uninfected shrimp such as muscles, hepatopancreas, heart, gills and eye tissues (100mg of each) and haemolymph (50 microl) were subjected to SDS-PAGE. In infected muscle tissue, six newly expressed proteins were detected. In infected haemolymph, four new proteins and three intensely expressed high molecular weight proteins were observed. Three intensely expressed high molecular weight proteins were detected in infected heart ...
In 18 piglets, weighing 10-15 kg, third-degree burns or full-thickness skin excisions of 4 X 4 cm were inflicted. The effect of five dressing materials on adhesiveness to the wounds, appearance, conformability, wound contraction, bacterial count, and morphology of the wound was studied at the end of the seventh and fourteenth days without dressing changes. In 11 piglets with a burn wound, the most adherent dressing was collagen sponge(CS), followed by polyurethane sponge (PU), pigskin xenograph (PS), and xeroform. CS more effectively debrided the wound from coagulated necrotic tissue than the other dressings. Wound contraction was maximal with CS dressing (52%), followed by PU (44%), xeroform (32%), and PS (27%). In another seven piglets with full-thickness excised wounds, a velour dressing made of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or PU adhered significantly more than CS or PS. Wound contraction was greater with CS (37%) or PTFE (35%) than with PS (23%) or PU (18%). ...
A comprehensive and highly selective method for detecting in bacterial supernatants a modified sulfur nucleoside, S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM), and its metabolites, i.e., S-adenosylhomocysteine (SAH), adenosine (Ado), 5prime-deoxy-5prime-methylthioadenosine (MTA), adenine (Ade), S-adenosyl-methioninamine (dcSAM), homocysteine (Hcy) and methionine (Met), was developed. The method is based on reversed-phase liquid chromatography with positive electrospray ionization (ESI+) coupled to a hybrid linear quadrupole ion trap (LTQ) and 7-T Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (FTICRMS). A gradient elution was employed with a binary solvent of 0.05 M ammonium formate at pH 4 and acetonitrile. The assay involves a simultaneous cleanup of cell-free bacterial broths by solid-pha...
A dialyzable factor(s) in human serum is known to stimulate gonococcal oxygen consumption. Its effect on other human pathogens was investigated. A 10% serum solution increased peak O2 consumption for Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus to 157% (P less than 0.05) and 199% (P less than 0.02), respectively, of their O2 consumption when suspended in Hanks balanced salt solution, compared with a 356% increase for Neisseria gonorrhoeae with serum. Dialyzed serum lacked stimulatory capacity. Bacteria, serum, and neutrophils are often incubated to evaluate neutrophil bactericidal activity. Samples of 10(8) N. gonorrhoeae, S. aureus, and E. coli turned resazurin colorless (anaerobic conditions, Eh less than -42 mV) after 7.4, 13.3, and 15.1 min, respectively. Because neutrophil formation of reactive oxygen intermediates requires ambient O2, the effect of live bacteria and serum on this process was explored. After 5 min of incubation of 10(8) N. gonorrhoeae or S. aureus in 10% normal or ...
Abstract We present a study of the impact of different model groups in the detection of circumstellar debris discs. Almost all previous studies in this field have used kurucz (atlas9) model spectra to predict the stellar contribution to the flux at the wavelength of observation, thus determining the existence of a disc excess. Only recently have other model groups or families like marcs and nextgen (phoenix) become available to the same extent as atlas9. This study aims to determine whether the predicted stellar flux of a disc target can change with the choice of model family can a disc excess be present in the use of one model family whilst being absent from another. A simple comparison of kurucz model spectra with marcs and nextgen model spectra of identical stellar parameters was conduc...
Home economics is a dynamic field that imparts knowledge intended to help people adapt to their environment by making effective use of human and material resources. Hence, the profession values global concerns for the environment, human rights, health, and well-being. In Nigeria, home economics teachers must also consider the role they play in programs such as family life education, poverty alleviation, and universal basic education. In particular, home economics is one of the subjects through which core messages of the country's Population and Family Life Education program are to be integrated at the secondary school level. In this article, the author discusses the outcomes of this program and provides recommendations for teachers teaching this subject. (Contains 1 table and 1 resource.)
This guide accompanies the following article: Gabrielle Poeschl, `What Family Organization Tells Us about Fairness and Power in Marital Relationships', Social and Personality Compass 1/1 (2007): 557-571, 10.1111/j.1751-9004.2007.00026.x Author's Introduction One thing that often strikes me, when I talk with people, is the human capacity to accept and defend surprising aspects of the social life. Thus, we have some feeling that the separation between the domestic and the public spheres has not always existed, but we are ready to assume that in the first human groups, men went out hunting to feed their family, while women stayed in the camp to take care of the children. Even in the face of evidence to the contrary, we are reluctant to question the opinion that men and women differ in persona...
In six dimensions, cancellation of gauge, gravitational, and mixed anomalies strongly constrains the set of quantum field theories which can be coupled consistently to gravity. We show that for some classes of six-dimensional supersymmetric gauge theories coupled to gravity, the anomaly cancellation conditions are equivalent to tadpole cancellation and other constraints on the matter content of heterotic/type I compactifications on K3. In these cases, all consistent 6D supergravity theories have a realization in string theory. We find one example which may arise from a novel string compactification, and we identify a new infinite family of models satisfying anomaly factorization. We find, however, that this infinite family of models, as well as other infinite families of models previously identified by Schwarz are pathological. We suggest that it may be feasible to demonstrate that there is a string theoretic realization of ...
Generalized linear models (GLMs), as defined by J. A. Nelder and R. W. M. Wedderburn (1972), unify a class of regression models for categorical, discrete, and continuous response variables. As an extension of classical linear models, GLMs provide a common body of theory and methodology for some seemingly unrelated models and procedures, such as the logistic, Poisson, and probit models, that are increasingly used in family studies. This article provides an overview of the principle and the key components of GLMs, such as the exponential family of distributions, the linear predictor, and the link function. To illustrate the application of GLMs, this article uses Canadian national survey data to build an example focusing on the number of close friends among older adults. The article concludes with a discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of GLMs.
In accordance with federal legislation, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) has conducted a project to demonstrate use of its Energy Conservation Voluntary Performance Standards for Commercial and Multi-Family High-Rise Residential Buildings; Mandatory for New Federal Buildings; Interim Rule (referred to in this report as DOE-1993). A key requisite of the legislation requires DOE to develop commercial building energy standards that are cost effective. During the demonstration project, DOE specifically addressed this issue by assessing the impacts of the standards on (1) construction costs, (2) builders (and especially small builders) of multi-family, high-rise buildings, and (3) the ability of low-to moderate-income persons to purchase or rent units in such buildings. This document reports on this project.
Salt stress elicits betaine accumulation to high levels in species from several diverse dicot families (Chenopodiaceae, Amaranthaceae, Convolvulaceae, Solanaceae, and Asteraceae). FAM-MS studies with deuterated precursors showed that species from all these families synthesize betaine from choline. Enzyme assays and immunotitration data showed that all accumulating species contained betaine aldehyde dehydrogenase (BADH) enzyme activity recognized by antibodies raised against purified BADH isolated from Spinacia oleracea. Immunoblotting indicated that the BADH monomer was in all cases of Mr {approx} 63,000. The similarity of BADH in the different species is consistent with a single evolutionary origin for the betaine pathway. This was supported by the presence in immunoblots of a cross-reacting band at Mr {approx} 63,000 in Magnolia x Soulangiana, a primitive angiosperm.
Background: As the global population ages, support for family caregivers who provide the bulk of care to community-dwelling older people is becoming ever more important. However, in many countries, homecare-service practitioners currently do not follow a systematic approach to assessing and responding to caregiver needs. Objectives: The aim of this study was to explore the experiences of caregivers and practitioners who took part in a field test of the Family Caregivers Support Agreement (FCSA) tool, a modified version of the Carers Outcome Agreement Tool (COAT) initially developed as the result of an Anglo-Swedish study. Both the COAT and the FCSA are designed to facilitate partnerships between caregivers and practitioners so that needs assessment and subsequent support services are negot...
Objective To compare matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-8 and MMP-9 levels in the vaginal secretions of pregnant women with or without asymptomatic bacterial vaginosis (BV). Methods In this study, vaginal levels and molecular forms of MMP-8 and MMP-9 were studied in 36 pregnant women between 28 and 34 weeks of gestation with asymptomatic BV and 41 pregnant women, matched for gestational age, without BV. Results Vaginal MMP-8 concentrations were significantly higher (P = .023) in BV-positive women. There was no significant difference in MMP-9 levels between healthy pregnant controls and BV-positive pregnant women. The presence of MMP-8 was confirmed by a 38-kd band on Western blots. Conclusions Our findings show that BV is associated with increased levels of MMP-8 in vaginal fluid. Increased pr...
We revisit a recently proposed agent-based model of active biological motion and compare its predictions with own experimental findings for the speed distribution of bacterial cells, Salmonella typhimurium. Agents move according to a stochastic dynamics and use energy stored in an internal depot for metabolism and active motion. We discuss different assumptions of how the conversion from internal to kinetic energy d(v) may depend on the actual speed, to conclude that d 2 v ? with either ? = 2 or 1 ? < 2 are promising hypotheses. To test these, we compare the model?s prediction with the speed distribution of bacteria which were obtained in media of different nutrient concentration and at different times. We find that both hypotheses are in line with the experimental observations, with ? bet...
Eugenol, the principal chemical component of clove oil from Eugenia aromatica has been long known for its analgesic, local anesthetic, anti-inflammatory, and antibacterial effects. The interaction of the eugenol with ten different hydrophobic and hydrophilic antibiotics was studied against five different Gram negative bacteria. The MIC of the combination was found to decrease by a factor of 5-1000 with respect to their individual MIC. This synergy is because of the membrane damaging nature of eugenol, where 1mM of its concentration is able to damage nearly 50% of the bacterial membrane. Eugenol was also able to enhance the activities of lysozyme, Triton X-100 and SDS in damaging the bacterial cell membrane. The hydrophilic antibiotics such as vancomycin and b-lactam antibiotics which have ...
Individuals with sickle cell disease (SCD) demonstrate an increased susceptibility to invasive bacterial infections (IBI). The most common organisms causing IBI are Streptococcus pneumoniae, nontyphi Salmonella species and Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib). IBI are the most common causes of death in children below 5 years of age with SCD. Increased susceptibility to IBI is because of several factors including dysfunctional antibody production and opsonophagocytosis as well as defective splenic clearance. Early diagnosis of Hib and pneumococcal infections combined with antibiotic prophylaxis and immunization programs, could lead to significant improvements in mortality, especially in Africa. Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2010;55:401-406. Copyright 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
For the purpose of nationwide surveillance of the antimicrobial susceptibility of bacterial respiratory pathogens collected from patients in Japan, the Japanese Society of Chemotherapy conducted a third year of nationwide surveillance during the period from January to April 2008. A total of 1,097 strains were collected from clinical specimens obtained from well-diagnosed adult patients with respiratory tract infections. Susceptibility testing was evaluable with 987 strains (189 Staphylococcus aureus, 211 Streptococcus pneumoniae, 6 Streptococcus pyogenes, 187 Haemophilus influenzae, 106 Moraxella catarrhalis, 126 Klebsiella pneumoniae, and 162 Pseudomonas aeruginosa). A total of 44 antibacterial agents, including 26 ?-lactams (four penicillins, three penicillins in combination with ?-lacta...
This paper reports the results of leaching experiments conducted with and without Thiobacillus ferroxidans at the same conditions in solution. The extent of leaching of ZnS with Bacteria is significantly higher than that without bacteria at high concentrations of ferrous ions. A porous layer of elemental sulfur is present on the surfaces of the chemically leached particles, which no sulfur is present on the surfaces of the bacterially leached particles. The analysis of the data using the shrinking-core model shows that the chemical leaching of ZnS is limited by the diffusion of ferrous ions through the sulfur product layer at high concentrations of ferrous ions. The analysis of the data shows that diffusion through the product layer does not limit the rate of dissolution when bacteria are present. This suggests that the action of T.ferroxidans in oxidizing the sulfur formed on the particle surface is to remove the barrier to diffusion by ferrous ions.
In situ synthesis of silver chloride (AgCl) nanoparticles was carried out under ambient conditions in nanoporous bacterial cellulose (BC) membranes as nanoreactors. The growth of the nanoparticles was readily obtained by alternating dipping of BC membranes in the solution of silver nitrate or sodium chloride followed by a rinse step. X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns indicated the existence of AgCl nanoparticles in the BC and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that the AgCl nanoparticles well dispersed on the surface of BC and penetrated into the BC network. The AgCl nanoparticle-impregnated BC membranes exhibited high hydrophilic ability and strong antimicrobial activity against Escherichia coli (Gram-negative) and Staphylococcus aureus (Gram-positive). The preparative proced...
Abstract The efficacy of iodine and glutaraldehyde as fish egg surface disinfectants were assessed in red porgy (Pagrus pagrus) and white sea bream (Diplodus sargus sargus) eggs, two species of interest for Mediterranean aquaculture. Iodine was effective in reducing the bacterial load of the 1-day-old eggs when applied at 50 mg L-1 for 5 min. The same concentration did not cause any significant change in hatching success or survival of the larvae for the first 5 days. Glutaraldehyde failed to reduce the bacterial load of the fish eggs at concentrations that were safe for the eggs (100 mg L-1 for 5 min), as it had a significant effect in preventing hatching of the developed embryo. Disinfecting 0-day-old eggs with iodine resulted in a significant reduction of hatching percentage, while larv...
In this study, bacterial strains were investigated in order to determine their heavy metal tolerance. The bacterial strains were identified as Bacillus cereus and Bacillus pumilus. In the batch system, the effects of operating variables such as solution pH, initial metal concentration, contact time, and adsorbent dosage were investigated. Both isolates were highly resistance to copper and lead in comparison with the control strain examined. The adsorption capacities of B. cereus and B. pumilus were found to be 22.1mg/g and 28.06mg/g, respectively. The biosorption follows pseudo-second order kinetics and the isotherm fits well to the Langmuir isotherm model. In column experiments, the biosorption was fitted well by the Thomas model. The breakthrough and exhaustion capacity of each biosorben...
Bacterial cellulose produced by the gram-negative bacterium Gluconacetobacter xylinum was found to be an excellent native starting material for preparing shaped ultra-lightweight cellulose aerogels. The procedure comprises thorough washing and sterilization of the aquogel, quantitative solvent exchange and subsequent drying with supercritical carbon dioxide at 40 degreeC and 100 bar. The average density of the obtained dry cellulose aerogels is only about 8 mg cm-3 which is comparable to the most lightweight silica aerogels and distinctly lower than all values for cellulosic aerogels obtained from plant cellulose so far. SEM, ESEM and nitrogen adsorption experiments at 77 K reveal an open-porous network structure that consists of a comparatively high percentage of large mesopores and small...
We compared an idealised mathematical model of the lower part of the pelagic food web to experimental data from a mesocosm experiment in which the supplies of mineral nutrients (nitrogen and phosphorous), bioavailable dissolved organic carbon (BDOC, as glucose), and silicate were manipulated. The central hypothesis of the experiment was that bacterial consumption of BDOC depends on whether the growth rate of heterotrophic bacteria is limited by organic-C or by mineral nutrients. In previous work, this hypothesis was examined qualitatively using a conceptual food web model. Here we explore the extent to which a ?simplest possible?? mathematical version of this conceptual model can reproduce the observed dynamics. The model combines algal?bacterial competition for mineral nutrients (phosphor...
The authors investigated the effect of T-2 toxin on rat liver mitochondrial protein synthesis. Isolated rat liver mitochondria were supplemented with an S-100 supernatant from rat liver and an external ATP-generating system. An in-vitro assay employing cycloheximide, and inhibitor of cytoplasmic protein synthesis, and chloramphenicol, and inhibitor of mitochondrial protein synthesis, to distinguish mitochondrial protein synthesis from the cytoplasmic process. Amino acid incorporation into mitochondria was dependent on the concentration of mitochondria and was inhibited by chloramphenicol. The rate of uptake of tritium leucine into mitochondrial protein was unaffected by the addition of T-2 toxin and was not a rate-limiting step in incorporation. However, 0.02 micrograms/ml of T-2 toxin decreased the rate of protein synthesis inhibition correlated with the amount ...
Cell extracts of the thermophile Clostridium thermohydrosulfuricum catalyzed the phosphorylation by (..gamma..-/sup 32/P)ATP of several endogenous proteins with M/sub r/s between 13,000 and 100,000. Serine and tyrosine were the main acceptors. Distinct substrate proteins were found in the soluble (e.g., proteins p66, p63, and p53 of M/sub r/s 66,000, 63,000, and 53,000, respectively) and particulate (p76 and p30) fractions, both of which contained protein kinase and phosphatase activity. The soluble fraction suppressed the phosphorylation of particulate proteins and contained a protein kinase inhibitor. Phosphorylation of p53 was promoted by 10..mu..M fructose 1,6-bisphosphate or glucose 1,6-bisphosphate and suppressed by hexose monophosphates, whereas p30 and p13 were suppressed by 5 ..mu..M brain (but not spinach) calmodulin. Polyamines, including the odd ...
We describe a method for affinity purification of sequence-specific DNA binding proteins that is fast and effective. Complementary chemically synthesized oligodeoxynucleotides that contain a recognition site for a sequence-specific DNA binding protein are annealed and ligated to give oligomers. This DNA is then covalently coupled to Sepharose CL-2B with cyanogen bromide to yield the affinity resin. A partially purified protein fraction is combined with competitor DNA and subsequently passed through the DNA-Sepharose resin. The desired sequence-specific DNA binding protein is purified because it preferentially binds to the recognition sites in the affinity resin rather than to the nonspecific competitor DNA in solution. For example, a protein fraction that is enriched for transcription factor Sp1 can be further purified 500- to 1000-fold by two sequential affinity chromatography ...
A general method for stable-isotope labeling of large proteins is introduced and applied for studies of the E. coli GroE chaperone proteins by solution NMR. In addition to enabling the residue-specific {sup 15}N-labeling of proteins on a highly deuterated background, it is also an efficient approach for uniform labeling. The method meets the requirements of high-level deuteration, minimal cross-labeling and high protein yield, which are crucial for NMR studies of structures with sizes above 150 kDa. The results obtained with the new protocol are compared to other strategies for protein labeling, and evaluated with regard to the influence of external factors on the resulting isotope labeling patterns. Applications with the GroE system show that these strategies are efficient tools for studies of structure, dynamics and intermolecular interactions in large supramolecular complexes, ...
Cocoon sericin plays an important role in the reeling of silk and serves as a valuable biomaterial in the field of biomedicine, skincare, and food industries; however, knowledge about cocoon sericin proteins has been limited. For a comprehensive study on sericin, cocoons of eight varieties of silkworm of different geographic origin and with varied cocoon color were analyzed utilizing proteomics and bioinformatics approaches. The electrophoresis pattern demonstrated some common protein bands for all silkworm varieties and distinctive protein bands for some of those examined in the present study. The Ser2 protein, a new Ser3 protein, and four other novel sericin proteins were identified in cocoons for the first time. Products of both Ser1 and Ser3 genes appear to be ubiquitous in the cocoon ...
Proteins are polymers of amino acids. These macromolecules are synthesized by intracellular machines called {\\it ribosome}. Although, traditionally, the experimental investigation of protein synthesis has been an active area of research in molecular cell biology, important quantitative models of this phenomenon have been reported mostly in the research journals devoted to statistical physics and related interdisciplinary topics. From the perspective of a physicist, protein synthesis is a phenomenon of {\\it classical transport of interacting ribosomes on a messenger RNA (mRNA) template} that dictates the sequence of the amino acids on the protein. Here we bring this frontier area of contemporary research into the classroom by appropriate simplification of the models and methods. In particular, we develope a simple toy model and analyze it by some elementary techniques of non-equilibrium statistical ...
SR proteins are essential splicing factors whose function is controlled by multi-site phosphorylation of a C-terminal domain rich in arginine-serine repeats (RS domain). The protein kinase SRPK1 has been shown to polyphosphorylate the N-terminal portion of the RS domain (RS1) of the SR protein ASF/SF2, a modification that promotes nuclear entry of this splicing factor and engagement in splicing function. Later, dephosphorylation is required for maturation of the spliceosome and other RNA processing steps. While phosphates are attached to RS1 in a sequential manner by SRPK1, little is known about how they are removed. To investigate factors that control dephosphorylation, we monitored region-specific mapping of phosphorylation sites in ASF/SF2 as a function of the protein phosphatase PP1. W...
This study was conducted to investigate the antibacterial effect of BSAP-254 on Bacillus cereus with the induced stress proteins. The BSAP-254 is an antimicrobial peptide isolated from soybean-fermenting bacteria, Bacillus subtilis SC-8. It had a narrow spectrum of activity against B. cereus group. The growth inhibitory effect of BSAP-254 (50??g/mL) reduced the population of B. cereus from >108 to 104 colony-forming units per milliliter within 30?min. In B. cereus exposed to BSAP-254, 14 intracellular proteins were differentially expressed as determined by 2-DE coupled with MS. Of the differentially expressed proteins identified, the stress protein GroEL, which is heat shock protein, was induced in B. cereus exposed to antibacterial peptide.
Xenorhabdus is a major insect pathogen symbiotically associated with nematodes of the family Steinernematidae. This motile bacterium displays swarming behavior on suitable media, but...Full Text Available
BackgroundHow socio-demographic factors influence women's autonomy in decision making on health care including purchasing goods and visiting family and relatives are very poorly...Full Text Available
Growing evidence suggests the Wnt family of secreted glycoproteins and their associated signaling pathways, linked to development, are recapitulated during wound repair and regeneration events. However,...Full Text Available
BackgroundAntioxidant vitamins are often described as having “independent” associations with risk of cancer, cardiovascular disease (CVD) and mortality. We aimed...Full Text Available
During 1968-77, 572 consecutive children with one or more positive urine cultures who were referred by their family doctors to one paediatric surgical outpatient clinic were investigated and prospectively...Full Text Available
BackgroundCongenital microcoria (CMC) is due to a maldevelopment of the dilator pupillae muscle of the iris, with a pupil diameter of less than 2 mm. It is associated with juvenile...Full Text Available
Purpose of ReviewThe vertebrate cap’n’collar family transcription factor Nrf2 and its invertebrate homologs SKN-1 (in worms) and CncC (in flies) function...Full Text Available
OBJECTIVETo determine if ProL1, a member of the opiorphin family of genes, can modulate erectile physiology, as it encodes a peptide which acts as...Full Text Available
BackgroundPrevious studies in Ascomycetes have shown that the function of gene families of which the size is considerably larger in extant pathogens than in non-pathogens could be...Full Text Available
An outbreak of acute respiratory disease in Hendra, a suburb of Brisbane, Australia, in September 1994 resulted in the deaths of 14 racing horses and a horse trainer. The causative agent was a new member...Full Text Available
BackgroundTwenty-eight genes putatively encoding cytosolic glutathione transferases have been identified in the Anopheles gambiae genome. We manually annotated these...Full Text Available
BackgroundHepatitis B (HBV) and C (HCV) infections are a serious global and national public health problem. Earlier studies have reported increasing rates of hepatitis infection...Full Text Available
SummaryTRPV1 is the founding and best-studied member of the family of temperature-activated transient receptor potential ion channels (thermoTRPs). Voltage, chemicals, and heat...Full Text Available
Dal82p binds to the UISALL sites of allophanate-induced genes of the allantoin-degradative pathway and functions synergistically with the GATA family Gln3p and Gat1p transcriptional...Full Text Available
This book chapter discusses sugarcane culture and history, describes arthropod biologies and injury, and identifies sugarcane pest management factors to consider for people interested in commercial sugarcane production. Arthropod groups include 10 orders and 40 families. Sugarcane pest management ...
Somatic embryogenesis (SE) is the developmental restructuring of somatic cells towards the embryogenic pathway and forms the basis of cellular totipotency in angiosperms. With the availability of full-length...Full Text Available
Using longitudinal data from the Youth Development Study (analytic sample N = 712), we investigate how age, adult role acquisition and attainments, family resources, parent-child relationship...Full Text Available
The etiology of major depression remains unknown, but dysfunction of serotonergic signaling has long been implicated in the pathophysiology of this disorder. p11 is an S100 family member recently...Full Text Available
Nuclear hormone receptors comprise a characteristic family of transcription factors found in vertebrates, insects and nematodes. Here we show by cDNA and gene cloning that a Cnidarian, Tripedalia...Full Text Available
Studies were assigned values based on whether they were anecdotal or ... or family income), work experience, birth order, military or civilian ...... observed with submarine personnel and polar expeditioners (Sandal et al., 1996). ...
BACKGROUND: Epidermolysis bullosa (EB) is a group of heritable diseases that manifest as blistering and erosions of the skin and mucous membranes. In the dystrophic forms of EB (DEB), the diagnostic...Full Text Available
Human longevity is in part genetically determined, and the insulin/IGF-1 signal transduction (IIS) pathway has consistently been implicated. In humans, type 2 diabetes is a frequent disease that results...Full Text Available
We examined the physiology of continence in 12 patients at least four months after colectomy, mucosal proctectomy, and endorectal ileo-anal anastomosis for ulcerative colitis and familial polyposis....Full Text Available
About 20% of adults are persistently colonized with S. aureus in the anterior nares. Host genetic factors could contribute susceptibility to this phenotype. The objective of...Full Text Available
Paediatric palliative care is a holistic approach aimed at addressing the complex issues related to the care of children and families facing chronic life limiting illnesses. The needs of children are...Full Text Available
Background:Childhood obesity is increasingly being observed with changing lifestyles of families. The magnitude of overweight ranges from 9% to 27.5% and obesity ranges...Full Text Available
cdc18+ of Schizosaccharomyces pombe is a periodically expressed gene that is required for entry into S phase and for the coordination of S phase with mitosis. cdc18+ is related to the Saccharomyces...Full Text Available
Antagonists for kainate receptors (KARs), a family of glutamate-gated ion channels, are efficacious in a number of animal models of neuropathologies, including epilepsy, migraine pain, and anxiety....Full Text Available
PurposeRetinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a genetically heterogeneous disorder characterized by progressive loss of vision. The aim of this study was to identify the causative mutations...Full Text Available
The ToxRS system in Vibrio cholerae plays a central role in the modulation of virulence gene expression in response to environmental stimuli. An integration of multiple signalling inputs...Full Text Available
Using the Klein-Gordon equation with a box potential, a mass formula describing the family of nonflavored meson states with I = 1 is derived. The energy levels calculated agree with those observed within an accuracy of approx. 5%. In the model discussed quarks behave like tachyons.
BackgroundGrapevine is subjected to numerous pests and diseases resulting in the use of phytochemicals in large quantities. The will to decrease the use of phytochemicals leads to...Full Text Available
Enteropathogenic bacteria was isolated from 131 of 447 (29.4%) neotropical Panamanian lizards belonging to 34 species of seven families. Overall, 147 strains of bacteria were isolated comprising 26...Full Text Available
Chemokine receptors control leukocyte chemotaxis and cell-cell communication but have also been associated with pathogen entry. GPR33, an orphan member of the chemokine-like receptor family,...Full Text Available
Juvenile hormone analog (JHA) insecticides are relatively nontoxic to vertebrates and offer effective control of certain insect pests. Recent reports of resistance in whiteflies and mosquitoes demonstrate...Full Text Available
In a holomorphic family $(X_b)_{b\\in B}$ of non-K\\"ahlerian compact manifolds, the holomorphic curves representing a fixed 2-homology class do not form a proper family in general. The deep source of this fundamental difficulty in non-K\\"ahler geometry is the {\\it explosion of the area} phenomenon: the area of a curve $C_b\\subset X_b$ in a fixed 2-homology class can diverge as $b\\to b_0$. This phenomenon occurs frequently in the deformation theory of class VII surfaces. For instance it is well known that any minimal GSS surface $X_0$ is a degeneration of a 1-parameter family of simply blown up primary Hopf surfaces $(X_z)_{z\\in D\\setminus\\{0\\}}$, so one obtains non-proper families of exceptional divisors $E_z\\subset X_z$ whose area diverge as $z\\to 0$. Our main goal is to study in detail this non-properness phenomenon in the case of class VII surfaces. We will prove that, under certain ...
... Hospital & University Hospital Basel) If I Had - Pre-diabetes - Dr. Venkat Narayan, MD, MSc, MBA, Rollins School ... School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Discusses the Treatment of Diabetes Back to Home Page If I Had - A ...
Over 200 mutations in the retina specific member of the ATP-binding cassette transporter super-family (ABCA4) have been associated with a diverse group of human retinal diseases....Full Text Available
BackgroundDeveloping lepidopteran microsatellite DNA markers can be problematical, as markers often exhibit multiple banding patterns and high frequencies of non-amplifying "null"...Full Text Available
BackgroundCucumis melo (melon) belongs to the Cucurbitaceae family, whose economic importance among horticulture crops is second only to Solanaceae. Melon has high...Full Text Available
Moenomycin A (MmA) belongs to a family of natural products that inhibit peptidoglycan biosynthesis by binding to the peptidoglycan glycosyltransferases (PGTs), the enzymes that make the glycan...Full Text Available
Inactivation of the RB tumor suppressor and activation of the MYC family of oncogenes are frequent events in a large spectrum of human cancers. Loss of RB function and MYC activation are thought to...Full Text Available
Koide's mass formula is an empirical relation among the charged lepton masses which holds with a striking precision. We present a model of charged lepton sector based on U(3)\\times SU(2) family gauge symmetry, which predicts Koide's formula within the present experimental accuracy. Radiative corrections as well as other corrections to Koide's mass formula are kept under control. We adopt a known mechanism, through which the charged lepton spectrum is determined by the vacuum expectation value of a 9-component scalar field \\Phi. On the basis of this mechanism, we implement the following mechanisms into our model: (1) The radiative correction induced by family gauge interaction cancels the QED radiative correction to Koide's mass formula, assuming a scenario in which the U(3) family gauge symmetry and SU(2)_L weak gauge symmetry are unified at 10^2-10^3 TeV scale; (2) A simple potential of \\Phi invariant under U(3)\\times ...
Premature menopause, ovarian failure younger than 40 years of age, is relatively rare but may preclude childbearing for some women who delay attempts at fertility. We present five kindreds in which...Full Text Available
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that play vital roles in plant abiotic stress responses via cleavage or translational inhibition of their target mRNAs. Populus euphratica is a typical stress-resistant sessile organism that grows in desert areas. Here, we identified sequences of 12 miRNA precursors from 11 families and 13 mature miRNAs from 12 families by PCR amplification in P. euphratica. To detect expression differences in mature miRNAs and their precursors under dehydration and high salinity shock in P. euphratica, we examined 14 miRNA precursors from 13 miRNA families and 17 mature miRNAs from 17 miRNA families using the SYBR Green RT?PCR assay. This is the first report of expression profiles for both precursor and mature miRNAs in P. euphratica. By profiling both the matu...
BackgroundLeukotrienes (LTs) belong to the large family of lipid mediators implicated in various inflammatory conditions such as asthma and rheumatoid arthritis. Four distinct types...Full Text Available
Background: CD1d belongs to a family of antigen presenting molecules that are structurally and distantly related to the classic major histocompatibility complex class I (MHC I)...Full Text Available
BackgroundConcerted evolution refers to the pattern in which copies of multigene families show high intraspecific sequence homogeneity but high interspecific sequence diversity....Full Text Available
Forty-one Spanish families with polycystic kidney disease 1 (PKD1) were studied for evidence of linkage disequilibrium between the disease locus and six closely linked markers. Four of these loci--three...Full Text Available
BackgroundBrevican is a member of the lectican family of aggregating extracellular matrix (ECM) proteoglycans that bear chondroitin sulfate (CS) chains. It is highly expressed in...Full Text Available
Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF-1) and tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) are two familial syndromes known as phakomatoses that may be associated with endocrine tumors. These hereditary cutaneous...Full Text Available
Alcohol dependence (AD) is clinically and etiologically heterogeneous. The goal of this study was to explore AD subtypes among a sample of 1, 221 participants in the Irish Affected Sib Pair...Full Text Available
Bistability plays a central role in the gene regulatory networks (GRNs) controlling many essential biological functions, including cellular differentiation and cell cycle control. However, establishing...Full Text Available
The glutathione S-transferases (GSTs) are a family of isoenzymes involved in the detoxication of a variety of electrophilic xenobiotics. The present investigation demonstrates that GST activity and...Full Text Available
Cynodon dactylon (Family: Poaceae) is known to be a tackler in Indian mythology and is offered to Lord Ganesha. It is found everywhere, even on waste land, road side, dry places, and...Full Text Available
Species of the large family Orchidaceae display a spectacular array of adaptations and rapid speciations that are linked to several innovative features, including specialized pollination syndromes,...Full Text Available
Post amputation pain can be debilitating for patients and families. Chronic pain is a common phenomenon after lower extremity amputation, occurring in up to 80% of this population. The purpose of this...Full Text Available
Present investigations suggest that approximately 30% of colorectal cancer (CRC) cases arise on the basis of inherited factors. We hypothesize that the majority of inherited factors are moderately...Full Text Available
BackgroundComplex situations that follow war and natural disasters have a psychosocial impact on not only the individual but also on the family, community and society. Just as the...Full Text Available
The cellular receptor for murine coronavirus mouse hepatitis virus (MHV)-A59 is a member of the carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) family of glycoproteins in the immunoglobulin superfamily. We isolated...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe rate of emergence of human pathogens is steadily increasing; most of these novel agents originate in wildlife. Bats, remarkably, are the natural reservoirs of many...Full Text Available
BackgroundMembers of the Sox gene family isolated from both vertebrates and invertebrates have been proved to participate in a wide variety of developmental processes, including...Full Text Available
The functional gene and three intronless pseudogenes for human triosephosphate isomerase were isolated from a recombinant DNA library and characterized in detail. The functional gene spans 3.5 kilobase...Full Text Available
You receive an annuity if eligible -- requires 18 months service for FERS; and 60 ... You may use up to 104 hours of your accrued sick leave to care for sick family ...
Bhanja virus (BHAV) is pathogenic for young domestic ruminants and also for humans, causing fever and affections of the central nervous system. This generally neglected arbovirus of the family Bunyaviridae...Full Text Available
The complete RNA genome of the avian nephritis virus (ANV) associated with acute nephritis in chickens has been molecularly cloned and sequenced. Excluding the poly(A) tail, the genome comprises 6,927...Full Text Available
During this project we experimentally evaluated the below-ground biomass and carbon allocation and partitioning of four different fast- and slow-growing families of loblolly pine located in Scotland County, NC, in an effort to increase the long-term performance of the crop. The trees were subjected to optimal nutrition and control since planting in 1993. Destructive harvests in 1998 and 2000 were used for whole?plant biomass estimates and to identify possible family differences in carbon acquisition (photosynthesis) and water use efficiency. At regular intervals throughout each year we sampled tissues for carbohydrate analyses to assess differences in whole-tree carbon storage. Mini rhizotron observation tubes were installed to monitor root system production and turnover. Stable isotope analysis was used to examine possible functional differences in water and nutrient acquisition of root systems between the various ...
Background and AimsPlants from the family Lemnaceae are widely used in ecological engineering projects to purify wastewater and eutrophic water bodies. However, the biology of nutrient...Full Text Available
BackgroundSLC19A3 (solute carrier family 19, member 3) is a thiamin transporter with 12 transmembrane domains. Homozygous or compound heterozygous mutations in SLC19A3 cause...Full Text Available
BackgroundThe order Tetraodontiformes consists of approximately 429 species of fishes in nine families. Members of the order exhibit striking morphological diversity and radiated...Full Text Available
Frontotemporal lobar degeneration is a progressive neurodegenerative syndrome that is the second most common cause of early-onset dementia. Mutations in the progranulin gene are a major cause of familial...Full Text Available
A familiar power inverter circuit, combined with a ferroresonant transformer and a simple control circuit, provides the basis for an economically attractive modular family of DC to DC converters. The circuit is readily adaptable to a wide range of input voltages and single or multiple output voltages.
BackgroundThe Emergency Care Summary (ECS) was introduced in 2006 to allow aspects of the general practitioner (GP; family doctor, equivalent to primary care physician) medical record...Full Text Available
We explore the structure of a new family gauge symmetry U(3) and show its experimental signatures to search for. U(3) gauge bosons obviate an unwelcome deviation of the charged lepton mass formula with the running masses from that with the pole masses. The current structure of this model leads to flavor number violations via exchange of extra gauge bosons. We obtain bounds on the masses of the gauge bosons from rare kaon decay searches and muonium-antimuonium oscillation searches. We propose attractive signatures at LHC and lepton colliders and discuss feasibility of their discovery.
It is shown that when a quantum mechanical oscillator is parametrically excited there are special values of the parameters for which the system will pass periodically through a lattice of coherent states associated with the modular group [Gamma]. It is shown that these [Gamma] transits can be used to determine unknown parameters. A method is given for detecting the transits experimentally and is made possible by the existence of three families of states associated with modular forms that are orthogonal to the lattice. For isotropic states the three families occur in [ital D]-mode systems with [ital D][gt]10, 14, and 26.
This article examines the interplay between globalising and localising forces occurring in a child welfare reform project in South Korea. Focusing especially on care and education services for children and families provided by the Korean 'Dream Start' programme, which provides comprehensive health, parental involvement and welfare services to low-income children and their families, I discuss its involvement in the process of 'glocalisation'. Drawing on Foucaultian ideas, I conducted a critical discourse analysis of the policy documents of Dream Start. The article concludes by discussing local resistance to the creation of a cosmopolitan child and the dual qualities of inclusion/exclusion inscribed in the Dream Start project.
I formulate a model in which money coexists with equity shares on a risky aggregate endowment. Agents can use equity as a means of payment, so shocks to equity prices translate into aggregate liquidity shocks that disrupt the mechanism of exchange. I characterize a family of optimal monetary policies and find that the resulting equity prices are independent of monetary considerations. I also study a perturbation of the family of optimal policies that targets a positive constant nominal interest rate and find that in this case the real equity return includes a liquidity return that depends on monetary considerations.