Advanced lymphoblastic clones detection in T-cell leukemia

T cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL) is an aggressive malignant neoplasm of the lymphocyte precursors that suffered malignant transformation arresting the lymphoid cell differentiation. Clinical studies revealed monoor, more rarely, oligoclonal nature of the disease. A precise identification of malignant clone markers is both the crucial stage of early diagnostics and the essential prognostic factor for therapeutic treatment. Here we present an improved system for unbiased detection of lymphoblastic clones in bone marrow aspirates of T-ALL patients. The system based on multiplex PCR of rearranged T-cell receptor locus (TRB) and straightforward sequencing of the resulted PCR fragments. Testing of the system on genomic DNA from Jurkat cell line and four clinical bone marrow aspirates revealed a set of unique TRB rearrangements that precisely characterize each of tested samples. Therefore, the outcome of the system produces highly informative molecular genetic markers for further monitoring of minimal residual disease in T-ALL patients.     

Transmission of parasites in the coastal waters of the Arctic seas and possible effect of climate change

The review deals with the biodiversity, life cycles, distribution and temperature adaptations of parasites circulating in the coastal waters of northern polar seas. Special attention is given to helminths of marine birds, which are the most common parasites in the coastal waters. Among them, the focus is on trematodes. Factors responsible for the impoverished species composition of parasites in the Arctic are analyzed. It is shown that species without free-living larvae in the life cycle have an advantage in this environment. The abundance of cestodes and acanthocephalans in Arctic seabirds is linked with the high proportion of crustaceans in their diet. The phenomenon of nonspecific parasitism (occurrence of parasites in atypical host species) is analyzed from an evolutionary viewpoint. Characteristic features in the spatial distribution of infection of marine coastal invertebrates with parasite larvae are considered, and factors that determine it are specified. The prevalence of infection in intermediate hosts is closely connected with the abundance of final hosts, which makes it possible to estimate the abundance of final hosts in a given region and reveal trends in its changes. Trematodes have a high potential for temperature acclimation. This facilitates their transmission in the northern seas but, on the other hand, makes it unlikely that the transmission process would be intensified upon an increase in summer temperatures resulting from climate warming. However, intensification of transmission may well occur due to the prolongation of the warm season (“transmission window”), which has been predicted and is already observed. It is suggested that warming in the Arctic promotes both the entry of certain “southern” species into the Arctic and the trans-Arctic interpenetration of the North Atlantic and North Pacific parasitic faunas. A case is made for the necessity to broaden the scope of parasitological research in the Arctic and Subarctic, including parasitological monitoring at the reference sites of the sea coast.     

Mobile Phone Call Data as a Regional Socio-Economic Proxy Indicator

The advent of publishing anonymized call detail records opens the door for temporal and spatial human dynamics studies. Such studies, besides being useful for creating universal models for mobility patterns, could be also used for creating new socio-economic proxy indicators that will not rely only on the local or state institutions. In this paper, from the frequency of calls at different times of the day, in different small regional units (sub-prefectures) in Côte d''Ivoire, we infer users'' home and work sub-prefectures. This division of users enables us to analyze different mobility and calling patterns for the different regions. We then compare how those patterns correlate to the data from other sources, such as: news for particular events in the given period, census data, economic activity, poverty index, power plants and energy grid data. Our results show high correlation in many of the cases revealing the diversity of socio-economic insights that can be inferred using only mobile phone call data. The methods and the results may be particularly relevant to policy-makers engaged in poverty reduction initiatives as they can provide an affordable tool in the context of resource-constrained developing economies, such as Côte d''Ivoire''s.     

Regulatory mutations affecting the synthesis of pectate lyase in Xanthomonas campestris

Four classes of Xanthomonas campestris mutants were identified with respect to pectate lyase. Pectate lyase production in the wild-type and classes I and IIb mutants was partially dependent on the growth-phase whereas in classes IIa and III it was totally dependent. Enzyme activity in some of the mutants was constitutive and resistant to catabolite repression.     

Differential Effects of GM1 Ganglioside Treatment on Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein Content in the Rat Septum and Hippocampus After Partial Interruption of Their Connections

Abstract: The glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) content was investigated using immunoblotting techniques in the septum and hippocampus of the rat after bilateral lateral fimbria transection. Seven days after surgery GFAP content increased significantly both in the septum (140% of control) and hippocampus (120% in dorsal, the less denervated, and 145% in the most denervated ventral part), indicating the occurrence of reactive gliosis. The GM1 treatment caused statistically significant attenuation of GFAP increment in all hippocampal parts. In contrast, GM1 treatment has no influence on the increase of GFAP content in the septum. Results suggest a differential effect of GM1 on the two gliotic reactions formed as a consequence of the lesion at the level of the source of innervation (septum) and the target (hippocampus).