Transient ischemic attacks characterized by RNA profiles in blood

OBJECTIVE: Transient ischemic attacks (TIA) are common. Though systemic inflammation and thrombosis are associated with TIA, further study may provide insight into TIA pathophysiology and possibly lead to the development of treatments specifically targeted to TIA. We sought to determine whether gene expression profiles in blood could better characterize the proinflammatory and procoagulant states in TIA patients. METHODS: RNA expression in blood of TIA patients (n = 26) was compared to vascular risk factor control subjects without symptomatic cardiovascular disease (n = 26) using Affymetrix U133 Plus 2.0 microarrays. Differentially expressed genes in TIA were identified by analysis of covariance and evaluated with cross-validation and functional analyses. RESULTS: Patients with TIA had different patterns of gene expression compared to controls. There were 480 probe sets, corresponding to 449 genes, differentially expressed between TIA and controls (false discovery rate correction for multiple comparisons, p ≤ 0.05, absolute fold change ≥1.2). These genes were associated with systemic inflammation, platelet activation, and prothrombin activation. Hierarchical cluster analysis of the identified genes suggested the presence of 2 patterns of RNA expression in patients with TIA. Prediction analysis identified a set of 34 genes that discriminated TIA from controls with 100% sensitivity and 100% specificity. CONCLUSION: Patients with recent TIA have differences of gene expression in blood compared to controls. The 2 gene expression profiles associated with TIA suggests heterogeneous responses between subjects with TIA that may provide insight into cause, risk of stroke, and other TIA pathophysiology.X. Zhan, G.C. Jickling, Y. Tian, B. Stamova, H. Xu, B.P. Ander, R.J. Turner, M. Mesias, P. Verro, C. Bushnell, S.C. Johnston, and F.R. Shar

300 million years of diversification: elucidating the patterns of orthopteran evolution based on comprehensive taxon and gene sampling

Orthoptera is the most diverse order among the polyneopteran groups and includes familiar insects, such as grasshoppers, crickets, katydids, and their kin. Due to a long history of conflicting classification schemes based on different interpretations of morphological characters, the phylogenetic relationships within Orthoptera are poorly understood and its higher classification has remained unstable. In this study, we establish a robust phylogeny of Orthoptera including 36 of 40 families representing all 15 currently recognized superfamilies and based on complete mitochondrial genomes and four nuclear loci, in order to test previous phylogenetic hypotheses and to provide a framework for a natural classification and a reference for studying the pattern of divergence and diversification. We find strong support for monophyletic suborders (Ensifera and Caelifera) as well as major superfamilies. Our results corroborate most of the higher-level relationships previously proposed for Caelifera, but suggest some novel relationships for Ensifera. Using fossil calibrations, we provide divergence time estimates for major orthopteran lineages and show that the current diversity has been shaped by dynamic shifts of diversification rates at different geological times across different lineages. We also show that mitochondrial tRNA gene orders have been relatively stable throughout the evolutionary history of Orthoptera, but a major tRNA gene rearrangement occurred in the common ancestor of Tetrigoidea and Acridomorpha, thereby representing a robust molecular synapomorphy, which has persisted for 250 Myr.Fil: Song, Hojun. Texas A&M University; Estados Unidos. University of Central Florida; Estados UnidosFil: Amédégnato, Christiane. Museum National D; FranciaFil: Cigliano, Maria Marta. Universidad Nacional de La Plata. Facultad de Ciencias Naturales y Museo. División Entomología; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas; ArgentinaFil: Desutter Grandcolas, Laure. Museum National D; FranciaFil: Heads, Sam W.. University Of Illinois At Urbana; Estados UnidosFil: Huang, Yuan. Shaanxi Normal University; ChinaFil: Otte, Daniel. Drexel University; Estados UnidosFil: Whiting, Michael F.. University Brigham Young; Estados Unido

Search for Diphoton Events with Large Missing Transverse Energy in 7 TeV Proton-Proton Collisions with the ATLAS Detector

A search for diphoton events with large missing transverse energy is presented. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector in proton-proton collisions at √s=7  [square root of s=7] TeV at the CERN Large Hadron Collider and correspond to an integrated luminosity of 3.1  pb-1 [pb superscript -1]. No excess of such events is observed above the standard model background prediction. In the context of a specific model with one universal extra dimension with compactification radius R and gravity-induced decays, values of 1/R<729  GeV are excluded at 95% C. L., providing the most sensitive limit on this model to date.United States. Dept. of EnergyNational Science Foundation (U.S.