piRNA-like small RNAs are responsible for the maternal-specific knockdown in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis Type A

The mRNAs stored in eggs are crucial for embryogenesis. To address functions of maternal mRNAs, we recently reported the novel method MASK (maternal mRNA-specific knockdown), which we used to specifically knockdown maternal transcripts in the ascidian Ciona intestinalis Type A. In MASK, the cis element of a maternal gene is fused with eGFP or Kaede reporter gene, and the cassette is introduced into Ciona genome by transposon-mediated transgenesis. In eggs of the transgenic lines, the maternal expression of the gene whose cis element is used for driving the reporter gene is suppressed. The zygotic expression of the gene is not suppressed, suggesting that the MASK method can distinguish between maternal and zygotic functions of a gene. Here we investigated the cis and trans factors responsible for MASK results. In the ovaries in which knockdown of a maternal gene occurs, a number of antisense small RNAs are expressed that are complementary to the sequence of the knocked-down genes. We suspect that these antisense small RNAs are the factor responsible for MASK results. The antisense small RNAs have several features that are seen in PIWI-interacting RNAs (piRNAs), suggesting that MASK is likely to use a piRNA-mediated mechanism to knock down maternal mRNAs

Total Hip Arthroplasty Using the S-ROM-A Prosthesis for Anatomically Difficult Asian Patients

Background. The S-ROM-A prosthesis has been designed for the Asian proximal femur with a small deformed shape and narrow canal. In this study, the clinical and radiological results using the S-ROM-A prosthesis for Japanese patients with severe deformity due to dysplasia and excessive posterior pelvic tilt were examined. Methods. 94 hips were followed up for a mean of 55 months, with a mean age at surgery of 61 years. The primary diagnoses were 94 coxarthritis cases, including 51 dysplasia and 37 primary OA, 1 avascular necrosis, 2 traumatic arthritis, and 3 Perthes disease. Thirty-one hips had been treated with osteotomy of the hip joints. Preoperative intramedullary canal shapes were stovepipe in 23 hips, normal in 51 hips, and champagne-flute in 5 hips. The maximum pelvic inclination angle was 56°. Results. The mean JOA score improved from 46 points preoperatively to 80 points at final follow-up. On radiological evaluation of the fixation of the implants according to the Engh classification, 92 (97%) hips were classified as "bone ingrown fixation." Conclusion. In primary THA, using the S-ROM-A prosthesis for Asian patients with proximal femoral deformity, even after osteotomy and with posterior pelvic tilt, provided good short- to midterm results

Bone structural and metabolic response of caloric restriction in Wistar rats and a GH-IGF-1 axis-suppressed transgenic rat model.

The growth hormone?insulin-like growth factor-1 (GH?IGF-1) axis plays an important role in the effects of caloric restriction(CR) on lifespan extension and may elicit effects on bone metabolism in CR animals. We compared the effects of the GH?IGF-1 axis suppression and CR on bone metabolism. We used Wistar rats fed ad libitum (control group) or fed a 30% calorierestricted diet in CR group and heterozygous transgenic (F1) rats whose GH-IGF-1 axis is moderately suppressed. There was no significant difference in serum IGF-1 concentration between control and CR rats; however, IGF-1 was significantly lower inF1 rats than in other groups. The bone volume fraction (BV/TV) was significantly lower in CR than in the control. The mean SMI value in CR rats was marginally significant difference from that in control rats, Although there was no difference in serum IGF-1 concentrations between CR and control rats, bone volume was lower, and higher SMI was observed in the former. The serum IGF-1 levels in F1 rats were lower than those of controls, but the bone volume and SMI in F1 were not different. Therefore, the effects of bone metabolism in CR rats may be different from those in the GH-IGF-1 suppression rats

RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PROGRESSION OF AORTIC STENOSIS AND INFLAMMATORY CHANGE IN AORTIC VALVE IN HEMODIALYSIS PATIENTS

The entire manuscript is available for download as a single PDF file. Higher-resolution images are unavailable. For assistance, please contact [email protected]. Fieldwork Team: Philippe Beaujard (Director of Research, French National Centre for Scientific Research). Technical Team: Dr. Vika Zafrin (Digital Scholarship Librarian, BU Libraries), Eleni Castro (OpenBU and Electronic Theses & Dissertations Librarian, BU Libraries), Dr. Fallou Ngom (Director of the African Studies Center), Dr. Peter Quella (Assistant Director, African Studies Center), Mustapha Hashim Kurfi (PhD Candidate, Department of Political Science), and Zachary Gersten (Research Assistant, African Studies Center). This collection of Malagasy Ajami materials is copied as part of the African Studies Center’s African Ajami Library. This project is partly funded by the BU African Studies Center. We thank Dr. Tim Longman, past Director of the African Studies Center, and the entire African Studies team for their support. For Inquiries: Please contact Professor Fallou Ngom ([email protected]).The material is the second part of the sixth of eleven texts (the fourth text and the second and third parts of the eleventh were not digitized) owned by Iaban’i Totôry, a diviner-healer (called ombiasy in Malagasy). Iaban’i Totôry belonged to the Anakara Clan and lived in a village called Vatomasina in the Antemoro region (in the valley of the Matatàña River). He was known to be the grandson of a famous religious chief in his village, and was close with the French colonial administration in his region, with whom he also shared the material. The original author of the material is unknown. The material was photographed between 1983 and 1990. The pages were made out of a local plant called harandrànto in Malagasy, likely of the genus Afzelia. The material was bound in zebu skin and sinew. While the exact content of material is unknown, it is believed to contain guidance for charms, divination, and healing through prayers, geomancy, and astrology

Cysteinyl-tRNA synthetase governs cysteine polysulfidation and mitochondrial bioenergetics

Cysteine hydropersulfide (CysSSH) occurs in abundant quantities in various organisms, yet little is known about its biosynthesis and physiological functions. Extensive persulfide formation is apparent in cysteine-containing proteins in Escherichia coli and mammalian cells and is believed to result from post-translational processes involving hydrogen sulfide-related chemistry. Here we demonstrate effective CysSSH synthesis from the substrate l-cysteine, a reaction catalyzed by prokaryotic and mammalian cysteinyl-tRNA synthetases (CARSs). Targeted disruption of the genes encoding mitochondrial CARSs in mice and human cells shows that CARSs have a crucial role in endogenous CysSSH production and suggests that these enzymes serve as the principal cysteine persulfide synthases in vivo. CARSs also catalyze co-translational cysteine polysulfidation and are involved in the regulation of mitochondrial biogenesis and bioenergetics. Investigating CARS-dependent persulfide production may thus clarify aberrant redox signaling in physiological and pathophysiological conditions, and suggest therapeutic targets based on oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction

Fine-grained Incremental and Interactive Elaboration in Explanatory Dialogue

. The human explanation provider in an explanatory dialogue gives the recipient a chance to present feedback based on more fine-grained levels of the utterance than any existing explanatory dialogue system does. Allowing the recipient to give frequent feedback improves the efficiency of communication. To realize such fine-grained interaction in explanatory dialogue, we need to consider two issues: how to interpret the recipient's fine-grained feedbacks and how to incrementally generate explanations. This paper discuss these two issues based on a corpus analysis, and suggests a planbased computational framework for fine-grained incremental and interactive explanatory dialogue. 1 Introduction As many researchers have pointed out, explanation should be incremental and interactive (e.g. [10, 3]). These two requirements come from an important aspect of explanation: the explanation provider does not know beforehand precisely what information will help the recipient to attain the knowledge ..

Clinical Outcomes Evaluation of Combined Valgus and Chiari Osteotomy Inconsistent with Patient Satisfaction

The Japanese Orthopaedic Association Hip-Disease Evaluation Questionnaire, which is tailored to Japanese lifestyles, has recently been developed in Japan as a patient-reported outcome measure. In this study, combined valgus and Chiari osteotomy were evaluated using the JHEQ and JOA scores. The subjects were 42 hips of 39 patients with a mean age at surgery of 45.3 years. The mean follow-up period was 95.3 months. Radiological osteoarthritis stage, preoperative and postoperative JOA scores, JHEQ score at final follow-up, and patient dissatisfaction with hip joint status rated on a visual analog scale were evaluated. The factors that affected patient dissatisfaction were also identified using multiple regression analysis. Radiological osteoarthritis stage at final follow-up was either maintained or improved in 85.7%. The mean JOA score improved from 57.2 preoperatively to 78.7 at final follow-up. The JHEQ score at final follow-up, however, was low, at 43.3 points. Patients who were comparatively satisfied accounted for 47.6%. Of the JHEQ subscales, movement had the lowest scores, and this was the subscale that had the greatest effect on patient dissatisfaction. The present results suggest that the results of JOA score are inconsistent for postoperative patients\u27 satisfaction after CVCO, and patient-based evaluation tool must also be used