Mathematical model of the Lux luminescence system in the terrestrial bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens.

A mathematical model of the Lux luminescence system, governed by the operon luxCDABE in the terrestrial bacterium Photorhabdus luminescens, was constructed using a set of coupled ordinary differential equations. This model will have value in the interpretation of Lux data when used as a reporter in time-course gene expression experiments. The system was tested on time series and stationary data from published papers and the model is in good agreement with the published data. Metabolic control analysis demonstrates that control of the system lies mainly with the aldehyde recycling pathway (LuxE and LuxC). The rate at which light is produced in the steady state model shows a low sensitivity to changes in kinetic parameter values to those measured in other species of luminescent bacteria, demonstrating the robustness of the Lux system

Blood Pressure, Glycemia, and Body Habitus among a sample of African Americans in Central Ohio

Chronic degenerative conditions increase as physiological function declines over the life span. Today, coronary artery and cerebrovascular diseases, malignant neoplasms, and noninsulin-dependent diabetes mellitus are leading causes of morbidity and mortality across affluent and underdeveloped societies. Elevated blood pressure, plasma glucose, and body mass index (BMI) are risk factors for these outcomes. In the USA, African Americans show more cardiovascular disease, diabetes, hypertension, and obesity than European Americans. One reason for such disparities may be physiological differences, while others may include sociocultural differences. To explore these influences, we examine blood pressure, glycemia, fat patterning, and body habitus among a sample of 114 older middle-class African Americans residing in Central Ohio during 1995. Our results indicate that BMI and waist/hip ratio positively associated with elevated post-load glucose. Additionally, elevated post-load glucose was significantly associated with upper arm circumference and triceps, subscapular and suprailiac skinfolds. Subscapular skinfolds and abdominal depth were significantly associated with elevated fasting glucose. Abdominal depth predicted both elevated fasting and post-load glucose as well as systolic hypertension. SBP predicted elevated fasting and post-load glucose in our sample. However, no measured variable was significantly related to diastolic hypertension. Our participants represent middle-class African Americans residing in Central Ohio. Their fasting glucose, two-hour post-load glucose, BMI, and wait-hip ratio are above cut-points suggesting diabetes and obesity. These results support the conclusion that such risk factors affect those of higher socioeconomic status as well as the more commonly portrayed poorer classes of African Americans.No embargoAcademic Major: Anthropological Science

Inclusion of neighboring base interdependencies substantially improves genome-wide prokaryotic transcription factor binding site prediction

Prediction of transcription factor binding sites is an important challenge in genome analysis. The advent of next generation genome sequencing technologies makes the development of effective computational approaches particularly imperative. We have developed a novel training-based methodology intended for prokaryotic transcription factor binding site prediction. Our methodology extends existing models by taking into account base interdependencies between neighbouring positions using conditional probabilities and includes genomic background weighting. This has been tested against other existing and novel methodologies including position-specific weight matrices, first-order Hidden Markov Models and joint probability models. We have also tested the use of gapped and ungapped alignments and the inclusion or exclusion of background weighting. We show that our best method enhances binding site prediction for all of the 22 Escherichia coli transcription factors with at least 20 known binding sites, with many showing substantial improvements. We highlight the advantage of using block alignments of binding sites over gapped alignments to capture neighbouring position interdependencies. We also show that combining these methods with ChIP-on-chip data has the potential to further improve binding site prediction. Finally we have developed the ungapped likelihood under positional background platform: a user friendly website that gives access to the prediction method devised in this work

First record of the invasive species Parasaissetia nigra in Greece

Στην παρούσα εργασία γίνεται η πρώτη καταγραφή του είδους Parasaissetia nigra (Nietner) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) επί της ροδιάς στην Ελλάδα. Η παρουσία του είδους αυτού διαπιστώθηκε σε καλλωπιστική ροδιά, τον Ιούνιο του 2014, εντός της Πανεπιστημιούπολης του Γεωπονικού Πανεπιστημίου Αθηνών. Δίδονται πληροφορίες σχετικά με τα μορφολογικά και βιολογικά χαρακτηριστικά, όπως και για την εξάπλωση του εντόμου.In June 2014, the nigra scale Parasaissetia nigra (Nietner) (Hemiptera: Coccidae) was recorded for the first time in Greece on pomegranate, Punica granatum. Its occurrence was observed in an ornamental pomegranate tree in the campus of the Agricultural University of Athens. Information on its morphology, biology and distribution is presented