The region of the clock gene period (per) that encodes a repetitive tract
of threonine-glycine (Thr-Gly) pairs has been compared between Dipteran
species both within and outside the Drosophilidae. All the non-
Drosophilidae sequences in this region are short and present a remarkably
stable picture compared to the Drosophilidae, in which the region is much
larger and extremely variable, both in size and composition. The
accelerated evolution in the repetitive region of the Drosophilidae appears
to be mainly due to an expansion of two ancestral repeats, one encoding a
Thr-Gly dipeptide and the other a pentapeptide rich in serine, glycine, and
asparagine or threonine. In some drosophilids the expansion involves a
duplication of the pentapeptide sequence, but in Drosophila pseudoobscura
both the dipeptide and the pentapeptide repeats are present in larger
numbers. In the nondrosophilids, however, the pentapeptide sequence is
represented by one copy and the dipeptide by two copies. These observations
fulfill some of the predictions of recent theoretical models that have
simulated the evolution of repetitive sequences.
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We have analyzed the conserved regions of the gene coding for the
circumsporozoite protein (CSP) in 12 species of Plasmodium, the malaria
parasite. The closest evolutionary relative of P. falciparum, the agent of
malignant human malaria, is P. reichenowi, a chimpanzee parasite. This is
consistent with the hypothesis that P. falciparum is an ancient human
parasite, associated with humans since the divergence of the hominids from
their closest hominoid relatives. Three other human Plasmodium species are
each genetically indistinguishable from species parasitic to nonhuman
primates; that is, for the DNA sequences included in our analysis, the
differences between species are not greater than the differences between
strains of the human species. The human P. malariae is indistinguishable
from P. brasilianum, and P. vivax is indistinguishable from P. simium; P.
brasilianum and P. simium are parasitic to New World monkeys. The human P.
vivax-like is indistinguishable from P. simiovale, a parasite of Old World
macaques. We conjecture that P. malariae, P. vivax, and P. vivax-like are
evolutionarily recent human parasites, the first two at least acquired only
within the last several thousand years, and perhaps within the last few
hundred years, after the expansion of human populations in South America
following the European colonizations. We estimate the rate of evolution of
the conserved regions of the CSP gene as 2.46 x 10(-9) per site per year.
The divergence between the P. falciparum and P. reichenowi lineages is
accordingly dated 8.9 Myr ago. The divergence between the three lineages
leading to the human parasites is very ancient, about 100 Myr old between
P. malariae and P. vivax (and P. vivax-like) and about 165 Myr old between
P. falciparum and the other two.
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Photosynthetic enhancement studies performed at 619 nm (excitation of Systems I and II) and at 446 nm (mainly excitation of System I) revealed an 18% photosynthetic enhancement simultaneously with a 31% reduction in glycolate excretion. This observation supports the hypothesis that some glycolate may be consumed in an oxidation process associated with System I when System II is poorly excited and the supply of electrons from the water splitting process of photosynthesis is low. 相似文献
MicroRNAs (miRNAs) play important roles in liver pathologies and they are potential biomarkers for diagnosis of liver diseases progression. Changes in miRNA sera expression can be used as non-invasive biomarkers for hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). The aim of the study was to identify the miRNome profiling of HCC and its diagnostic value in distinguishing HCC from healthy individuals. Expression profiles of miRNAs in serum samples of 20 HCC patients and 10 healthy controls were detected. Whole miRNome profiling was done using next generation sequencing. Receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis was performed to assess the diagnostic performance of the deregulated miRNAs for discriminating HCC cases from healthy controls. MiRNA 142 was highly expressed in HCC (P value?=?0.023) while miRNAs 191, 22, and 126 were higher in the controls (P value?=?0.005, 0.034, 0.010 respectively). We have identified 5 novel miRNAs and they were highly expressed in HCC than controls. Analysis of ROC curve demonstrated that these deregulated miRNAs can be used as a reliable biomarker for detection of HCC with high diagnostic accuracy (AUC?=?0.93). We have detected a panel of serum miRNAs that can be used as a reliable noninvasive screening biomarker of HCC. The study recommends further research to shed light on a possible role of the newly discovered novel miRNAs in HCC pathogenesis.
One can determine the best dilution of a primary antibody for immunohistochemistry that uses horseradish peroxidase conjugated to a secondary antibody by testing increasing concentrations sequentially on the same tissue section. When the same tissue section is incubated repeatedly with increasing concentrations of primary antibodies to epithelial membrane antigen, smooth muscle α-actin, or vimentin using alkaline phosphatase conjugated to a secondary antibody as the reporter, the best staining was obtained with a less concentrated primary antibody than was optimal for a single staining test. The best concentration of primary antibody for single run staining using an alkaline phosphatase reporting system is usually four times the best concentration for staining with multiple runs. The optimal concentration can be determined by denaturing the residual alkaline phosphatase and extracting residual stain by incubating the section in 4:1 diglyme:phosphate buffered saline for 20 min at 80o C between tests of primary antibody concentrations. I tested the method for four chromogens from one supplier and one chromogen from a different supplier. 相似文献
Increased environmental pollution and unhealthy lifestyle are blamed for escalated chronic diseases. Exposure to aflatoxins was recently suggested to have a role in the increased incidence of type 2 diabetes mellitus. Diet modification and consumption of different functional food are now gaining attention, especially in diabetes management. This study investigates the effect of a diet containing barley microgreen against diabetes induced by streptozotocin with or without aflatoxin administration in rats. Barley microgreen was rich in 3′-Benzyloxy-5,6,7,4′-tetramethoxyflavone (48.8% of total) followed by 5β,7βH,10α-Eudesm-11-en-1α-ol (18.46%). Streptozotocin injection and/or aflatoxin administration significantly elevated glucose level, decreased insulin level, decreased β-cell function, deteriorated liver and kidney function parameters, and induced oxidative stress in the liver. Histopathology revealed irregular small-sized islets and decreased area % of insulin-positive beta cells in the pancreas, hepatic degeneration, nephropathy, and neuropathy in diabetic and/or aflatoxin administered rats compared to control. Barley microgreen diet fed to diabetic rats with or without aflatoxin alleviated all evaluated parameters. Barley microgreen diet also ameliorated the toxic effect of aflatoxin. In conclusion, exposure to aflatoxin aggravated diabetes and its complication. The incorporation of barley microgreen in the diet was able to control type 2 diabetes mellitus and the improved outcomes observed with barley microgreen treatments involved or occurred in conjunction with improved biomarkers of oxidative stress. 相似文献
Loss of arm-hand performance due to a hemiparesis as a result of stroke or cerebral palsy (CP), leads to large problems in daily life of these patients. Assessment of arm-hand performance is important in both clinical practice and research. To gain more insight in e.g. effectiveness of common therapies for different patient populations with similar clinical characteristics, consensus regarding the choice and use of outcome measures is paramount. To guide this choice, an overview of available instruments is necessary. The aim of this systematic review is to identify, evaluate and categorize instruments, reported to be valid and reliable, assessing arm-hand performance at the ICF activity level in patients with stroke or cerebral palsy.
Methods
A systematic literature search was performed to identify articles containing instruments assessing arm-hand skilled performance in patients with stroke or cerebral palsy. Instruments were identified and divided into the categories capacity, perceived performance and actual performance. A second search was performed to obtain information on their content and psychometrics.
Results
Regarding capacity, perceived performance and actual performance, 18, 9 and 3 instruments were included respectively. Only 3 of all included instruments were used and tested in both patient populations. The content of the instruments differed widely regarding the ICF levels measured, assessment of the amount of use versus the quality of use, the inclusion of unimanual and/or bimanual tasks and the inclusion of basic and/or extended tasks.
Conclusions
Although many instruments assess capacity and perceived performance, a dearth exists of instruments assessing actual performance. In addition, instruments appropriate for more than one patient population are sparse. For actual performance, new instruments have to be developed, with specific focus on the usability in different patient populations and the assessment of quality of use as well as amount of use. Also, consensus about the choice and use of instruments within and across populations is needed. 相似文献