Ultrahigh dimensional time course feature selection

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107512/1/biom12137-sm-0001-SuppData.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/107512/2/biom12137.pd

Behavioural and emotional problems in children with sickle cell disease and healthy siblings: Multiple informants, multiple measures

Background. Behavioral and emotional problems in children with sickle cell disease (SCD) may be related to disease factors, or to socio-demographic factors. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence of behavioral and emotional problems in children with SCD living in a Western European country, compared to healthy siblings (who were comparable in age, gender, ethnicity, and socio-economic status - SES), and to a Dutch norm population. Methods. The Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL), Teacher Report Form (TRF) and Disruptive Behavior Disorders rating scale (DBD) were distributed among caregivers and teachers of 119 children with SCD aged 6-18 years and among caregivers and teachers of 38 healthy siblings. Results. Questionnaires were returned by caregivers and/or teachers of 106 children with SCD and 37 healthy siblings. According to caregivers and teachers, children with SCD had more severe internalizing problems than healthy siblings and the norm population. According to teachers, subgroups of both children with SCD and healthy siblings had more severe externalizing problems than the norm population. Children with SCD had more difficulties than healthy siblings in terms of school functioning, showed less competent social behavior and tended to have more attention deficits. Conclusions. Children with SCD are at increased risk of developing internalizing problems as a result of their disease. Subgroups of children with SCD are at increased risk of developing severe externalizing problems, which may either be related to socio-demographic factors, or to disease factors, such as neurocognitive deficits associated with cerebral infarction. © 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc

MicroRNA-192 targeting retinoblastoma 1 inhibits cell proliferation and induces cell apoptosis in lung cancer cells

microRNAs play an important roles in cell growth, differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis. They can function either as tumor suppressors or oncogenes. We found that the overexpression of miR-192 inhibited cell proliferation in A549, H460 and 95D cells, and inhibited tumorigenesis in a nude mouse model. Both caspase-7 and the PARP protein were activated by the overexpression of miR-192, thus suggesting that miR-192 induces cell apoptosis through the caspase pathway. Further studies showed that retinoblastoma 1 (RB1) is a direct target of miR-192. Over-expression of miR-192 decreased RB1 mRNA and protein levels and repressed RB1-3′-UTR reporter activity. Knockdown of RB1 using siRNA resulted in a similar cell morphology as that observed for overexpression of miR-192. Additionally, RB1-siRNA treatment inhibited cell proliferation and induced cell apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Analysis of miRNA expression in clinical samples showed that miR-192 is significantly downregulated in lung cancer tissues compared to adjacent non-cancerous lung tissues. In conclusion, our results demonstrate that miR-192 is a tumor suppressor that can target the RB1 gene to inhibit cell proliferation and induce cell apoptosis in lung cancer cells. Furthermore, miR-192 was expressed at low levels in lung cancer samples, indicating that it might be a promising therapeutic target for lung cancer treatment

Leadership, management, quality, and innovation in organ donation: 2019 Kunming recommendations for One Belt & One Road countries

The findings and recommendations of the 2019 consensus conference in organ donation, held in Kunming, China, are here reported. The main objective of the conference was to gather relevant information from experts involved in the field. The data and opinions provided allowed to propose a series of recommendations for 'One Belt & One Road Countries' on how to achieve self-sufficiency in organ donation. Leadership in organ donation should be results-oriented and goal-driven based on the principles of excellence, empowerment, and engagement, providing the means, resources, and strategies necessary to reach the goal in earnest. Management includes good governance and transparency of a national registry of patients in the waiting list, donors, transplants, transplant teams, quality, and safety programs with continuous educational training of health care professionals. Mandatory monitoring, auditing and evaluation of quality must be incorporated into donation practices as relevant points in innovation, as well as the adoption of already established and novel processes and technologies. Achievement of self-sufficiency in organ donation is a crucial step to fight against transplant tourism and to prevent organ trafficking. Based on recommendations arising from the conference, each country could review and develop individualized action plans adjusted to its own circumstances and reality

Constraints on dark energy from H II starburst galaxy apparent magnitude versus redshift data

In this paper we use H II starburst galaxy apparent magnitude versus redshift data from Siegel et al. (2005) to constrain dark energy cosmological model parameters. These constraints are generally consistent with those derived using other data sets, but are not as restrictive as the tightest currently available constraints.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl

Hubble parameter data constraints on dark energy

We use Hubble parameter versus redshift data from Stern, et al(2010) and Gazta\~{n}aga, et al (2009) to place constraints on model parameters of constant and time-evolving dark energy cosmological models. These constraints are consistent with (through not as restrictive as) those derived from supernova Type Ia magnitude-redshift data. However, they are more restrictive than those derived from galaxy cluster angular diameter distance, and comparable with those from gamma-ray burst and lookback time data. A joint analysis of the Hubble parameter data with more restrictive baryon acoustic oscillation peak length scale and supernova Type Ia apparent magnitude data favors a spatially-flat cosmological model currently dominated by a time-independent cosmological constant but does not exclude time-varying dark energy.Comment: 7 pages, 9 figures, 2 tables, Accepted for publication in PL

Dynamic analysis of Ca2+ level during bovine oocytes maturation and early embryonic development

Mammalian oocyte maturation and early embryo development processes are Ca2+-dependent. In this study, we used confocal microscopy to investigate the distribution pattern of Ca2+ and its dynamic changes in the processes of bovine oocytes maturation, in vitro fertilization (IVF), parthenogenetic activation (PA) and somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) embryo development. During the germinal vesicle (GV) and GV breakdown stage, Ca2+ was distributed in the cortical ooplasm and throughout the oocytes from the MI to MII stage. In IVF embryos, Ca2+ was distributed in the cortical ooplasm before the formation of the pronucleus. In 4-8 cell embryos and morulas, Ca2+ was present throughout the blastomere. In PA embryos, Ca2+ was distributed throughout the blastomere at 48 h, similar to in the 4-cell and 8-cell phase and the morula. At 6 h after activation, there was almost no distribution of Ca2+ in the SCNT embryos. However, Ca2+ was distributed in the donor nucleus at 10 h and it was distributed throughout the blastomere in the 2-8 cell embryos. In this study, Ca2+ showed significant fluctuations with regularity of IVF and SCNT groups, but PA did not. Systematic investigation of the Ca2+ location and distribution changes during oocyte maturation and early embryo development processes should facilitate a better understanding of the mechanisms involved in oocyte maturation, reconstructed embryo activation and development, ultimately improving the reconstructed embryo development rate