Analysis of aberrantly methylated sequnces in circulating DNA from blood of patients with lung cancer

Malignant cell transformation is accompanied by two processes of DNA methylation changes: promoter hypermethylation of specific genes and hypomethylation of retrotransposons. The composition of circulating DNA (cirDNA) from plasma and cell-surface-bound circulating DNA (csb-cirDNA) was shown earlier to be altered in the blood of cancer patients due to accumulation of tumor-specific aberrantly methylated DNA fragments, which are currently considered valuable cancer markers. The present study compares LINE-1 retrotransposon methylation patterns in plasma cirDNA and csb-cirDNA from untreated lung cancer patients (LC) and healthy donors. Concentrations of methylated LINE-1 region 1 copies (LINE-1met) were assayed by real-time methylation-specific PCR. In order to normalize the LINE-1 methylation level, the LINE-1 region 2 concentration was evaluated, which was independent of the methylation status (LINE-1Ind). We recorded an statistically significant increase of the LINE-1 methylation index determined as (LINE-1met/LINE-1Ind) due to the profound LINE-1Ind decrease (Mann-Whitney test, p = 0.005). Plasma cirDNA demonstrated no difference in the ratio LINE-1met/LINE-1Ind between LC patients and healthy donors (p = 0.40). The data obtained agree with our earlier results, which showed that csb-cirDNA was a highly informative material for lung cancer diagnostics

Entwicklung von Normalen für die Charakterisierung von Asphären-Messgeräten

Zur Charakterisierung optischer und taktiler Asphären-Messgeräte sind Oberflächen notwendig, deren Formen weitestgehend bekannt sind. Dazu werden zum einen Normale mit typischen asphärischen Oberflächenanteilen verwendet. Zur Charakterisierung wichtiger Eigenschaften der Messgeräte werden Normale mit zusätzlichen Formanteilen benötigt

FDG-PET imaging, EEG and sleep phenotypes as translational biomarkers for research in Alzheimer's disease

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Improved annotation with <i>de novo</i> transcriptome assembly in four social amoeba species

Background: Annotation of gene models and transcripts is a fundamental step in genome sequencing projects. Often this is performed with automated prediction pipelines, which can miss complex and atypical genes or transcripts. RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data can aid the annotation with empirical data. Here we present de novo transcriptome assemblies generated from RNA-seq data in four Dictyostelid species: D. discoideum, P. pallidum, D. fasciculatum and D. lacteum. The assemblies were incorporated with existing gene models to determine corrections and improvement on a whole-genome scale. This is the first time this has been performed in these eukaryotic species. Results: An initial de novo transcriptome assembly was generated by Trinity for each species and then refined with Program to Assemble Spliced Alignments (PASA). The completeness and quality were assessed with the Benchmarking Universal Single-Copy Orthologs (BUSCO) and Transrate tools at each stage of the assemblies. The final datasets of 11,315-12,849 transcripts contained 5,610-7,712 updates and corrections to >50% of existing gene models including changes to hundreds or thousands of protein products. Putative novel genes are also identified and alternative splice isoforms were observed for the first time in P. pallidum, D. lacteum and D. fasciculatum. Conclusions: In taking a whole transcriptome approach to genome annotation with empirical data we have been able to enrich the annotations of four existing genome sequencing projects. In doing so we have identified updates to the majority of the gene annotations across all four species under study and found putative novel genes and transcripts which could be worthy for follow-up. The new transcriptome data we present here will be a valuable resource for genome curators in the Dictyostelia and we propose this effective methodology for use in other genome annotation projects

Herramientas para Itálica = Strumenti per Italica

9 páginas.Capítulo incluido en el libro: Itálica : tiempo y paisaje. Antonio Tejedor Cabrera (ed.). Sevilla: Universidad Internacional de Andalucía, 2015. ISBN: 978-84-7993-270-1. Enlace: http://hdl.handle.net/10334/636

Check Character Systems Using Chevalley Groups

We show that the Sylow 2-subgroups of nearly all Chevalley groups in even characteristic allow the definition of a check-character-system which detects all single and the most important double errors. Keywords: check character system, check digit system, error detecting code, Suzuki-2-groups, fixed-point-free automorphisms, p-groups, Chevalley groups 1

Twofold spontaneous otogenic pneumocephalus - Case report

Introduction: Occurrence of spontaneous pneumocephalus, without any determined cause like trauma, infection or surgery, is rare. Case report: A 67-year old female patient was admitted to the outpatient clinic due to acute change in personality and occurrence of expressive aphasia. Imaging showed an intracranial pneumocephalus located in the left temporal lobe. High-resolution CT scan of the temporal bone demonstrated an osteo-dural defect of the floor of the middle cranial fossa. The defect was sealed with a duraplasty via a transmastoid approach following a quick postoperative recovery. Discharge was 10 days after surgery. Six weeks later the patient presented with acute emesis, reported clear rhinorrhea and confusion. CT scan showed recurrence of the pneumocephalus on the left side. MRI scan demonstrated another defect in the left lateral temporal bone. A second surgery was performed in which a new osteo-dural leakage was found. The former duraplasty was unremarkable with no sign of liquorrhea. Another duraplasty was carried out. After operation the patient's clinical condition improved again rapidly. She was discharged on the 7th postoperative day. There has been no recurrence ever since. Discussion: Etiology of these two consecutive osteo-dural defects remains unclear. An arachnoidal cyst as possible cause is under debate. However, a review of the radiological images could not confirm this theory. Conclusion: Occurrence of spontaneous pneumocephalus is a rare event and should be considered in case of acute unspecific neurological symptoms. A diverse range of symptoms is described. Mostly surgical intervention is needed