Diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori

The different invasive and noninvasive diagnostic tests for Helicobacter pylori have been applied mainly in emerging countries. Molecular methods have been developed, especially a test for detection of H. pylori and its clarithromycin resistance directly from stools. The long-term effects of eradication on histologic lesions have been studied in a meta-analysis and the prognostic value of post-treatment in gastric mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue lymphoma has been assessed. An operating link for gastritis assessment (the OLGA staging) has also been published. Attempts to simplify the urea breath test protocol have been made, and new stool antigen tests have been proposed and compared to those previously available.     

Phage display in pharmaceutical biotechnology

Over the past year, methods for the construction of M13 phage-display libraries have been significantly improved and new display formats have been developed. Phage-displayed peptide libraries have been used to isolate specific ligands for numerous protein targets. New phage antibody libraries have further expanded the practical applications of the technology and phage cDNA libraries have proven useful in defining natural binding interactions. In addition, phage-display methods have been developed for the rapid determination of binding energetics at protein-protein interfaces.     

Development of a gas chromatography mass spectrometry assay for the two eosinophil chemotactic factors of anaphylaxis

Gas chromatography mass spectrometry has been used for over a decade for the determination of the amino acid sequences of fragment peptides derived from larger parent molecules. The majority of these fragments have from four to seven residues and several different methods of derivatization have been devised. Few reports have been published in which similar techniques have been used for the quantification of such peptides, but there is a growing list of small peptides which have been shown to have biological activity in their own right. This report is concerned with the development of a gas chromatographic mass spectrometric assay for the two eosinophil chemotactic peptides, Val-Gly-Ser-Glu and Ala-Gly-Ser-Glu, which appear to have a role to play in the course of the inflammatory process in skin disorders.     

Degradation of chlorinated nitroaromatic compounds

Chlorinated nitroaromatic compounds (CNAs) are persistent environmental pollutants that have been introduced into the environment due to the anthropogenic activities. Bacteria that utilize CNAs as the sole sources of carbon and energy have been isolated from different contaminated and non-contaminated sites. Microbial metabolism of CNAs has been studied, and several metabolic pathways for degradation of CNAs have been proposed. Detoxification and biotransformation of CNAs have also been studied in various fungi, actinomycetes and bacteria. Several physicochemical methods have been used for treatment of wastewater containing CNAs; however, these methods are not suitable for in situ bioremediation. This review describes the current scenario of the degradation of CNAs.     

Sedimentation equilibrium of proteins in density gradients.

The technique of sedimentation equilibrium in density gradients in the analytical ultracentrifuge has been applied to the study of proteins. A variety of effects and procedures including the use of density marker beads, the effects of pressure on buoyant density and pH, and the calculation of compositional density gradient proportionality constants and density--refractive index relations have been developed. The buoyant densities of twenty-four proteins have been measured and hydration values computed. The buoyant titrations of six proteins have been measured. These data have been interpreted in terms of the buoyant titrations which have been obtained for six ionizable homopolypeptides, five copolypeptides, two non-ionizable homopolypeptides and three chemically modified proteins. Spectropolarimetry and potentiometric titrations were employed to further interpret these data. Approximate values for dissociation constants, numbers of ionizable residues, and the nature of ions bound or dissociated upon ionization have been obtained. The relation between potentiometric and buoyant titrations and the use of density gradient centrifugation as a probe for protein structure have been explored.     

Chromosome counts in the genus Festuca L. section Festuca (Poaceae) in the Iberian Peninsula

Chromosome numbers have been counted in 102 populations belonging to 34 taxa of Festuca L. section Festuca from the Iberian Peninsula. Four of these taxa have been counted for the first time and another three for the first time from the Iberian Peninsula. Furthermore, the levels of ploidy for another three taxa have been obtained for new populations within their distribution area, and for another 18 taxa the ploidy levels have been confirmed. Five levels of ploidy have been established for this section: diploid, tetraploid, hexaploid, octoploid and decaploid. There are 17 diploid taxa, eight tetraploid, three octoploid, two octoploid and one decaploid. The three remaining taxa represent polyploid complexes (one tetra-hexa-octoploid and two hexa-octoploids).     

The compounds in Aloë leaf exudates: a review

The drug Bitter Aloes has been used for several thousands of years because of its purgative properties and later several species of the plant have been cultivated for horticultural interest. In addition, many more local therapeutic properties have been recorded. Research has been largely directed towards the physiologically active components during the 50s and 60s. Extensions to this work in the last decade have been made in Germany, Japan and South Africa. Compounds have been characterized from the dried exudate prepared for drug purposes and from a few species. A number of anthraquinones have been recognized both in the free state and as glycosides. Other compounds with phenolic groups include chromones and a phenyl-pyranone. Chromatographic methods have been developed for recognizing some of these compounds and estimating the levels of those of pharmacological interest. Distribution of some of the compounds among a number of species is described showing that among some groups it has taxonomic significance. The biology of secretion and exudation from Aloë leaves remains largely unknown although fragmentary evidence points to interesting and potentially useful activity in some of the components.     

Melatonin and clinical application.

A review of the different publications dealing with melatonin in humans shows that this field has been very active in the last few years. Normative melatonin values have been defined. Various relationships between melatonin and other traits have been studied, such as sleep, circadian rhythm, surgical stress and anaesthesia. Age-related melatonin studies and melatonin during depression and other psychiatric disorders have been reviewed. Finally, some studies have been performed to use melatonin as a medication for sleep disturbance in depression, for jet-lag and as a skin protector for ultraviolet light.     

On the spider population of the area adjacent to Teletskoe Lake (Northeast Altai)

Investigations have been carried out in the area adjacent to Teletskoe Lake in the Altai Nature Reserve. Checklists of species for the studied habitats and their comparative analysis are given. Previous data on the fauna of spiders in the Altai Nature Reserve have been supplemented by 39 species. Three species have been recorded for the first time in the fauna of the Altai Mountains. The complexes of dominant species have been revealed. Peculiarities of the seasonal dynamics of the population for order as a whole and for separate herpetobiont spiders groups have been considered.     

The white race is shrinking: Perceptions of race in Canada and some speculations on the political economy of race classification

Movements for the recognition and official establishment of particular languages in India, among the many hundreds that have been identified and classified by linguists, grammarians, and census takers, have been prominent and recurring features of politics in the subcontinent for a century-and-a-half. These movements have invariably been competitive in character, demanding preference for one, and displacement of other, actual or potential rivals. Further, they have sometimes been associated with hostile and venomous characterizations of both a rival language and its speakers, leading to intercommunal/interethnic violence. Despite the turbulent history of such movements in modern India, viable compromises have been reached concerning the status of the multiplicity of Indian languages and their hierarchical ordering for various purposes. These compromises, however, have profound consequences for the life chances, including the empowerment and disempowerment, of all India’s citizens. These consequences have only recently begun to attract scholarly attention.     

Human QTL linkage mapping

Human quantitative trait locus (QTL) linkage mapping, although based on classical statistical genetic methods that have been around for many years, has been employed for genome-wide screening for only the last 10–15 years. In this time, there have been many success stories, ranging from QTLs that have been replicated in independent studies to those for which one or more genes underlying the linkage peak have been identified to a few with specific functional variants that have been confirmed in in vitro laboratory assays. Despite these successes, there is a general perception that linkage approaches do not work for complex traits, possibly because many human QTL linkage studies have been limited in sample size and have not employed the family configurations that maximize the power to detect linkage. We predict that human QTL linkage studies will continue to be productive for the next several years, particularly in combination with RNA expression level traits that are showing evidence of regulatory QTLs of large effect sizes and in combination with high-density genome-wide SNP panels. These SNP panels are being used to identify QTLs previously localized by linkage and linkage results are being used to place informative priors on genome-wide association studies.     

Host defense mechanisms of cephalopods

Humoral and cellular mechanisms of defense have been described for cephalopods, a relatively advanced group of mollusks. Typical of other mollusks, cephalopod agglutinins are the most documented component of humoral immunity. Lectins, which have agglutinating properties, have been described and characterized from octopuses. Agglutinins from cephalopod hemolymph have also been shown to agglutinate a variety of vertebrate red blood cells, as well as potential bacterial pathogens. Hemocytes are the primary component of cellular immunity. Although the hemocyte role in phagocytosis has been extensively studied in other mollusks, the mechanisms of phagocytosis have not been described extensively for cephalopods. Cephalopod hemocytes have phagocytic capabilities and may function in encapsulation and neutralization of foreign substances; however, the effects of environmental factors and the full extent of phagocytic capabilities of cephalopod hemocytes have not been reported. Hemocytes from cephalopods have a role in wound healing and inflammation which have been reported in detail by several investigators.     

Using artificially generated spectral data to improve protein secondary structure prediction from Fourier transform infrared spectra of proteins

Secondary structures of proteins have been predicted using neural networks from their Fourier transform infrared spectra. To improve the generalization ability of the neural networks, the training data set has been artificially increased by linear interpolation. The leave-one-out approach has been used to demonstrate the applicability of the method. Bayesian regularization has been used to train the neural networks and the predictions have been further improved by the maximum-likelihood estimation method. The networks have been tested and standard error of prediction (SEP) of 4.19% for alpha helix, 3.49% for beta sheet, and 3.15% for turns have been achieved. The results indicate that there is a significant decrease in the SEP for each type of structure parameter compared to previous works.     

Hair analysis for abused and therapeutic drugs

This review focuses on basic aspects and recent studies of hair analysis for abused and therapeutic drugs and is discussed with 164 references. Firstly, biology of hair and sampling of hair specimens have been commented for the sake of correct interpretation of the results from hair analysis. Then the usual washing methods of hair samples and the extraction methods for drugs in hair have been shown and commented on. Analytical methods for each drug have been discussed by the grouping of three analytical methods, namely immunoassay, HPLC–CE and GC–MS. The outcomes of hair analysis studies have been reviewed by dividing into six groups; morphine and related, cocaine and related, amphetamines, cannabinoids, the other abused drugs and therapeutic drugs. In addition, reports on stability of drugs in the living hair and studies on drug incorporation into hair and dose–hair concentration relationships have been reviewed. Applications of hair analysis to the estimation of drug history, discrimination between OTC drug use and illegal drug use, drug testing for acute poisoning, gestational drug exposure and drug compliance have also been reviewed. Finally, the promising prospects of hair analysis have been described.     

Inulinase-expressing microorganisms and applications of inulinases

In this review article, inulinase-expressing microorganisms and its potential applications in transformation of inulin into very-high-fructose syrup, bioethanol, and inulooligosaccharides are overviewed. In the past 10 years, many new inulinase producers have been obtained and many genes encoding inulinases from different microorganisms have been cloned and characterized. Some novel processes for exoinulinase overproduction have been developed for bioethanol production and ultra-high-fructose syrup. The endoinulinases have also been used for production of inulooligosaccharides from inulin and inulin-containing materials.     

Loop flexibility in human telomeric quadruplex small-molecule complexes

Quadruplex nucleic acids can be formed at the ends of eukaryotic chromosomes. Their formation and stabilisation by appropriate small molecules can be used as a means of inhibiting the telomere maintenance functions of telomerase in human cancer cells. The crystal structures have been determined for a number of complexes between these small molecules and human telomeric DNA and RNA quadruplexes. The detailed structural characteristics of these complexes have been surveyed here and the variations in conformation for the TTA and UUA loops have been explored. Loop conformations have been classified in terms of a number of discrete types and their distribution among the crystal structures. Sugar conformation and backbone angles have also been examined and trends highlighted. One particular loop class has been found to be most prevalent. Implications for in particular, rational drug design, are discussed.     

Anisotropic analysis of bone — Some two-dimensional problems

The solutions of the two-dimensional problems of concentrated forces, double forces and stresses due to a pressurized cavity in bone have been reported, treating bone as an anisotropic material. Using analytic functions of several complex variables, and starting from Lekhnitskii's solution for a concentrated force in an infinite plane, expressions for stresses for various cases have been obtained. Numerical results of stress distributions for various material axis orientations have been presented and compared with isotropy. The stress distributions for double forces in a semi-infinite plane, for various degrees of anisotropy, have also been included.     

Molecular biology of fruit ripening and its manipulation with antisense genes

Considerable progress in tomato molecular biology has been made over the past five years. At least 19 different mRNAs which increase in amount during tomato fruit ripening have been cloned and genes for enzymes involved in cell wall degradation (polygalacturonase and pectinesterase) and ethylene synthesis (ACC synthase) have been identified by conventional procedures. Transgenic plants have been used to identify regions of DNA flanking fruit-specific, ripening-related and ethylene-regulated genes and trans-acting factors which bind to these promoters have also been identified.Antisense genes expressed in transgenic plants have proved to be highly effective for inhibiting the specific expression of ripening-related genes. These experiments have changed our understanding of how softening occurs in tomato fruit. Antisense techniques have also been used to identify genes encoding enzymes for carotenoid biosynthesis (phytoene synthase) and ethylene biosynthesis (the ethylene-forming enzyme). The altered characteristics of fruit transformed with specific antisense genes, such as retarded ripening and resistance to splitting, may prove to be of value to fruit growers, processors and ultimately the consumer.