The inactive X chromosome in the human female is enriched in 5-methylcytosine to an unusual degree and appears to contain more of this modified nucleotide than the remainder of the genome

By employing a procedure that combines ELISA and photoacoustic spectroscopy, we have examined the content of 5-methylcytosine (m5C) in DNA of individuals who differed from one another in the number of X chromosomes in their genomes. The results show that the human inactive X chromosome (Xi) contains very high amounts of this modified nucleotide. We estimate that in the 46,XX female there is more m5C in Xi (~3.6 × 107) than in all the remaining chromosomes put together (~2.1 × 107). Our results also suggest that nearly one-fifth of all cytosines in Xi are methylated and that, in addition to CpG methylation, there is extensive non-CpG methylation as well

Wireless Multichannel Multipoint Broadcast Service for Mobile Stations

In wireless Multicast Broadcast Service (MBS), the common channel is used to multicast the MBS content to the Mobile Stations (MSs) on the MBS calls within the coverage area of a Base Station (BS), which causes interference to the dedicated channels serving the traditional calls, and degrades the system capacity. The MBS zone technology is proposed in Mobile Communications Network (MCN) standards to improve system capacity and reduce the handoff delay for the wireless MBS calls. In the MBS zone technology, a group of BSs form an MBS zone, where the macro diversity is applied in the MS, the BSs synchronize to transmit the MBS content on the same common channel, interference caused by the common channel is reduced, and the MBS MSs need not perform handoff while moving between the BSs in the same MBS zone. However, when there is no MBS MS in a BS with the MBS zone technology, the transmission on the common channel wastes the bandwidth of the BS. It is an important issue to determine the condition for the MBS Controller (MBSC) to enable the MBS zone technology by considering the Quality of Services (QoS) for traditional calls and MBS calls are used to reduce the dependency over the common channel and also it is going to reduce the delay over the network. By enabling Dynamic Channel Allocation (DCA) and Enhance Dynamic Channel Allocation (EDCA) we are going to overcome these problems

Oxidative Stress Induced Lipid Peroxidation And DNA Adduct Formation In The Pathogenesis Of Multiple Myeloma And Lymphoma

Objective: To access the oxidative stress status by quantification of byproducts generated during lipid peroxidation and DNA breakdown products generated during DNA damage in the blood serum of multiple myeloma and lymphoma patients.Material & Methods: Case control study comprised of 40 patients of multiple myeloma and 20 patients of lymphoma along with 20 age and sex-matched healthy subjects as controls. Levels of Malondialdehyde and 8-hydroxy-2-deoxy-Guanosine were measured to study the oxidative stress status in the study subjects.Results: The level of markers of DNA damage and lipid peroxidation were found to be raised significantly in the study subjects in comparison to healthy controls. The results indicate oxidative stress and DNA damage activity increase progressively with the progression of disease.Conclusion: Oxidative stress causes DNA damage and Lipid peroxidation which results in the formation of DNA adducts leading to mutations thereby indicate the role of oxidative stress in the pathogenesis of multiple myeloma and lymphoma

In search of the right literature search engine(s)

*Background*
Collecting scientific publications related to a specific topic is crucial for different phases of research, health care and ‘effective text mining’. Available bio-literature search engines vary in their ability to scan different sections of articles, for the user-provided search terms and/or phrases. Since a thorough scientific analysis of all major bibliographic tools has not been done, their selection has often remained subjective. We have considered most of the existing bio-literature search engines (http://www.shodhaka.com/startbioinfo/LitSearch.html) and performed an extensive analysis of 18 literature search engines, over a period of about 3 years. Eight different topics were taken and about 50 searches were performed using the selected search engines. The relevance of retrieved citations was carefully assessed after every search, to estimate the citation retrieval efficiency. Different other features of the search tools were also compared using a semi-quantitative method.
*Results*
The study provides the first tangible comparative account of relative retrieval efficiency, input and output features, resource coverage and a few other utilities of the bio-literature search tools. The results show that using a single search tool can lead to loss of up to 75% relevant citations in some cases. Hence, use of multiple search tools is recommended. But, it would also not be practical to use all or too many search engines. The detailed observations made in the study can assist researchers and health professionals in making a more objective selection among the search engines. A corollary study revealed relative advantages and disadvantages of the full-text scanning tools.
*Conclusion*
While many studies have attempted to compare literature search engines, important questions remained unanswered till date. Following are some of those questions, along with answers provided by the current study:
a)	Which tools should be used to get the maximum number of relevant citations with a reasonable effort? ANSWER: _Using PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar and HighWire Press individually, and then compiling the hits into a union list is the best option. Citation-Compiler (http://www.shodhaka.com/compiler) can help to compile the results from each of the recommended tool._
b)	What is the approximate percentage of relevant citations expected to be lost if only one search engine is used? ANSWER: _About 39% of the total relevant citations were lost in searches across 4 topics; 49% hits were lost while using PubMed or HighWire Press, while 37% and 20% loss was noticed while using Google Scholar and Scopus, respectively._ 
c)	Which full text search engines can be recommended in general? ANSWER: _HighWire Press and Google Scholar._
d)	Among the mostly used search engines, which one can be recommended for best precision? ANSWER: _EBIMed._
e)	Among the mostly used search engines, which one can be recommended for best recall? ANSWER: _Depending on the type of query used, best recall could be obtained by HighWire Press or Scopus.

Effect of antenatal corticosteroids on neonatal outcome in term elective caesarean section: a randomised controlled trial

Background: Infants born at term by elective caesarean section are more likely to develop respiratory morbidity than infants born vaginally. Prophylactic corticosteroids in singleton preterm pregnancies accelerate lung maturation and reduce the incidence of respiratory complications. Thus, the aim of this randomized controlled trial was to assess the effect of antenatal corticosteroids on neonatal outcome among term pregnant women undergoing elective caesarean section.Methods: It was an open labelled randomized controlled trial conducted among women with term pregnancy of 37-38+6 weeks and planned for caesarean section at term and who were willing to participate in the study. We randomized 50 pregnant women into intervention group which received antenatal corticosteroids in the form of injection dexamethasone 12 mg IM, 4 doses at 12 hourly intervals before term elective caesarean section and 50 pregnant women into control group which did not receive antenatal corticosteroid. Fetal outcomes were compared in both groups after caesarean section. Data were analysed using SPSS vs.20.Results: Nearly half (54%) of pregnant women belonged age group of 21-25 years and majority (58%) of pregnant women belonged to 38-39 weeks of gestation. Out of 50 pregnant women in intervention group, only two percent neonates developed RDS, four percent neonates developed transient tachypnea of neonate (TTN) and six percent neonates required NICU admission which was lower than control group. However, difference between fetal outcomes in intervention and control group was not statistically significant (p>0.05).Conclusions: Administration of prophylactic antenatal corticosteroids before 48 hours of elective term caesarean section does not have impact on fetal outcome in our study

Mechanistic Insight into the Enzymatic Reduction of Truncated Hemoglobin N of Mycobacterium tuberculosis: role of the CD loop and pre-A Motif in electron cycling

Background: The HbN of Mycobacterium tuberculosis carries a potent nitric-oxide dioxygenase activity despite lacking a reductase domain. Results: The NADH-ferredoxin reductase system acts as an efficient partner for the reduction of HbN. Conclusion: The interactions of HbN with the reductase are modulated by its CD loop and the Pre-A region. Significance: The present study provides new insights into the mechanism of electron transfer during nitric oxide detoxification by HbN.Fil: Singh, Sandeep. Institute of Microbial Technology; IndiaFil: Thakur, Naveen. Institute of Microbial Technology; IndiaFil: Oliveira, Ana. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Petruk, Ariel Alcides. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Hade, Mangesh Dattu. Institute of Microbial Technology; IndiaFil: Sethi, Deepti. Institute of Microbial Technology; IndiaFil: Bidon Chanal, Axel. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Marti, Marcelo Adrian. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Datta, H.. Institute of Microbial Technology; IndiaFil: Parkesh, R.. Institute of Microbial Technology; IndiaFil: Estrin, Dario Ariel. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Luque, F. Javier. Universidad de Barcelona; EspañaFil: Dikshit, Kanak L.. Institute of Microbial Technology; Indi

Critical roles of arginine in growth and biofilm development by Streptococcus gordonii

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112199/1/mmi13023.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/112199/2/mmi13023-sup-0001-si.pd

A novel tissue-specific meta-analysis approach for gene expression predictions, initiated with a mammalian gene expression testis database

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In the recent years, there has been a rise in gene expression profiling reports. Unfortunately, it has not been possible to make maximum use of available gene expression data. Many databases and programs can be used to derive the possible expression patterns of mammalian genes, based on existing data. However, these available resources have limitations. For example, it is not possible to obtain a list of genes that are expressed in certain conditions. To overcome such limitations, we have taken up a new strategy to predict gene expression patterns using available information, for one tissue at a time.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The first step of this approach involved manual collection of maximum data derived from large-scale (genome-wide) gene expression studies, pertaining to mammalian testis. These data have been compiled into a Mammalian Gene Expression Testis-database (MGEx-Tdb). This process resulted in a richer collection of gene expression data compared to other databases/resources, for multiple testicular conditions. The gene-lists collected this way in turn were exploited to derive a 'consensus' expression status for each gene, across studies. The expression information obtained from the newly developed database mostly agreed with results from multiple small-scale studies on selected genes. A comparative analysis showed that MGEx-Tdb can retrieve the gene expression information more efficiently than other commonly used databases. It has the ability to provide a clear expression status (transcribed or dormant) for most genes, in the testis tissue, under several specific physiological/experimental conditions and/or cell-types.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Manual compilation of gene expression data, which can be a painstaking process, followed by a consensus expression status determination for specific locations and conditions, can be a reliable way of making use of the existing data to predict gene expression patterns. MGEx-Tdb provides expression information for 14 different combinations of specific locations and conditions in humans (25,158 genes), 79 in mice (22,919 genes) and 23 in rats (14,108 genes). It is also the first system that can predict expression of genes with a 'reliability-score', which is calculated based on the extent of agreements and contradictions across gene-sets/studies. This new platform is publicly available at the following web address: <url>http://resource.ibab.ac.in/MGEx-Tdb/</url></p

Use of \u3e100,000 NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) Consortium whole genome sequences improves imputation quality and detection of rare variant associations in admixed African and Hispanic/Latino populations

Most genome-wide association and fine-mapping studies to date have been conducted in individuals of European descent, and genetic studies of populations of Hispanic/Latino and African ancestry are limited. In addition, these populations have more complex linkage disequilibrium structure. In order to better define the genetic architecture of these understudied populations, we leveraged \u3e100,000 phased sequences available from deep-coverage whole genome sequencing through the multi-ethnic NHLBI Trans-Omics for Precision Medicine (TOPMed) program to impute genotypes into admixed African and Hispanic/Latino samples with genome-wide genotyping array data. We demonstrated that using TOPMed sequencing data as the imputation reference panel improves genotype imputation quality in these populations, which subsequently enhanced gene-mapping power for complex traits. For rare variants with minor allele frequency (MAF) \u3c 0.5%, we observed a 2.3- to 6.1-fold increase in the number of well-imputed variants, with 11–34% improvement in average imputation quality, compared to the state-of-the-art 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 and Haplotype Reference Consortium reference panels. Impressively, even for extremely rare variants with minor allele count 86%. Subsequent association analyses of TOPMed reference panel-imputed genotype data with hematological traits (hemoglobin (HGB), hematocrit (HCT), and white blood cell count (WBC)) in ~21,600 African-ancestry and ~21,700 Hispanic/Latino individuals identified associations with two rare variants in the HBB gene (rs33930165 with higher WBC [p = 8.8x10-15] in African populations, rs11549407 with lower HGB [p = 1.5x10-12] and HCT [p = 8.8x10-10] in Hispanics/Latinos). By comparison, neither variant would have been genome-wide significant if either 1000 Genomes Project Phase 3 or Haplotype Reference Consortium reference panels had been used for imputation. Our findings highlight the utility of the TOPMed imputation reference panel for identification of novel rare variant associations not previously detected in similarly sized genome-wide studies of under-represented African and Hispanic/Latino populations

Association between early life antibiotic use and childhood overweight and obesity: a narrative review.

Background: Recent research implicates antibiotic use as a potential contributor to child obesity risk. In this narrative review, we examine current observational evidence on the relation between antibiotic use in early childhood and subsequent measures of child body mass. Methods: We searched PubMed, Web of Science and the Cochrane Library to identify studies that assessed antibiotic exposure before 3 years of age and subsequent measures of body mass or risk of overweight or obesity in childhood. Results: We identified 13 studies published before October 2017, based on a total of 6 81 332 individuals, which examined the relation between early life antibiotic exposure and measures of child body mass. Most studies did not appropriately account for confounding by indication for antibiotic use. Overall, we found no consistent and conclusive evidence of associations between early life antibiotic use and later child body mass [minimum overall adjusted odds ratio (aOR) reported: 1.01, 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.98-1.04, N = 2 60 556; maximum overall aOR reported: 2.56, 95% CI 1.36-4.79, N = 616], with no clinically meaningful increases in weight reported (maximum increase: 1.50 kg at 15 years of age). Notable methodological differences between studies, including variable measures of association and inclusion of confounders, limited more comprehensive interpretations. Conclusions: Evidence to date is insufficient to indicate that antibiotic use is an important risk factor for child obesity, or leads to clinically important differences in weight. Further comparable studies using routine clinical data may help clarify this association.This work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant number 206194), the African Partnership for Chronic Disease Research (Medical Research Council UK partnership grant number MR/K013491/1) and the National Institute for Health Research Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre (UK). EP is supported by the Gates Cambridge Trust