Karyotyping human chromosomes by optical and X-ray ptychography methods

Sorting and identifying chromosomes, a process known as karyotyping, is widely used to detect changes in chromosome shapes and gene positions. In a karyotype the chromosomes are identified by their size and therefore this process can be performed by measuring macroscopic structural variables. Chromosomes contain a specific number of base pairs that linearly correlate with their size; therefore it is possible to perform a karyotype on chromosomes using their mass as an identifying factor. Here, we obtain the first images of chromosomes using the novel imaging method of ptychography. We can use the images to measure the mass of chromosomes and perform a partial karyotype from the results. We also obtain high spatial resolution using this technique with synchrotron source X-rays

THE APPLICATION OF DETREMDED FLUCTUATION ANALYSIS IN RUNNING AND ITS INTEGRATION INTO A REAL-TIME SYSTEM

Detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) provides valuable information regarding both training and injury when applied to running time series. However, there is limited information when applied to recreational runners, or within a real-time environment. Firstly, DFA was applied to the stride time series of select training runs and competitive runs for recreational runners completing a half marathon and full marathon. Results indicate recreational runners maintain similar stride time dynamics in a half marathon, compared to training, however, stride time variability becomes increasingly deterministic during a marathon, compared to training. Secondly, we explore the implementation of DFA in a real-time system and provide evidence to support the use of DFA in running feedback

The global distribution of Bacillus anthracis and associated anthrax risk to humans, livestock and wildlife.

Bacillus anthracis is a spore-forming, Gram-positive bacterium responsible for anthrax, an acute infection that most significantly affects grazing livestock and wild ungulates, but also poses a threat to human health. The geographic extent of B. anthracis is poorly understood, despite multi-decade research on anthrax epizootic and epidemic dynamics; many countries have limited or inadequate surveillance systems, even within known endemic regions. Here, we compile a global occurrence dataset of human, livestock and wildlife anthrax outbreaks. With these records, we use boosted regression trees to produce a map of the global distribution of B. anthracis as a proxy for anthrax risk. We estimate that 1.83 billion people (95% credible interval (CI): 0.59-4.16 billion) live within regions of anthrax risk, but most of that population faces little occupational exposure. More informatively, a global total of 63.8 million poor livestock keepers (95% CI: 17.5-168.6 million) and 1.1 billion livestock (95% CI: 0.4-2.3 billion) live within vulnerable regions. Human and livestock vulnerability are both concentrated in rural rainfed systems throughout arid and temperate land across Eurasia, Africa and North America. We conclude by mapping where anthrax risk could disrupt sensitive conservation efforts for wild ungulates that coincide with anthrax-prone landscapes

A comparison of oxidative stress in smokers and non-smokers: an in vivo human quantitative study of n-3 lipid peroxidation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Cigarette smoking is believed to cause oxidative stress by several mechanisms, including direct damage by radical species and the inflammatory response induced by smoking, and would therefore be expected to cause increased lipid peroxidation. The aim was to carry out the first study of the relationship of smoking in humans to the level of <it>n</it>-3 lipid peroxidation indexed by the level of ethane in exhaled breath.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Samples of alveolar air were obtained from 11 smokers and 18 non-smokers. The air samples were analyzed for ethane using mass spectrometry.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The two groups of subjects were matched with respect to age and gender. The mean cumulative smoking status of the smokers was 11.8 (standard error 2.5) pack-years. The mean level of ethane in the alveolar breath of the group of smokers (2.53 (0.55) ppb) was not significantly different from that of the group of non-smokers (2.59 (0.29) ppb; <it>p </it>= 0.92). With all 29 subjects included, the Spearman rank correlation coefficient between ethane levels and cumulative smoking status was -0.11 (<it>p </it>= 0.58), while an analysis including only the smokers yielded a corresponding correlation coefficient of 0.11 (<it>p </it>= 0.75).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results show no evidence that cigarette smoking is related to increased <it>n</it>-3 lipid peroxidation as measured by expired ethane.</p

Crops in the woolbelt : current options and emerging prospects

It has traditionally been more profitable to grow sheep for wool in the medium rainfall parts of the south-west of Western Australia than to grow crops . Crop production has been difficult owing to the hilly terrain, the frequency of waterlogging, the high incidence of damaging frosts in some areas, the frequency of losses from diseases, difficulties with wet weather at harvest, and a lack of adapted crop varieties. Advances over the past decade have made cropping on a limited scale potentially profitable in the woo/belt. This article is intended to bring the various options for crop production to the attention of wool growers. Further detailed information will be required for successful production and is available from your local office of the Department of Agriculture

Evidence from in vivo 31-phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy phosphodiesters that exhaled ethane is a biomarker of cerebral n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid peroxidation in humans

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study tested the hypothesis that exhaled ethane is a biomarker of cerebral <it>n</it>-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid peroxidation in humans. Ethane is released specifically following peroxidation of <it>n</it>-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids. We reasoned that the cerebral source of ethane would be the docosahexaenoic acid component of membrane phospholipids. Breakdown of the latter also releases phosphorylated polar head groups, giving rise to glycerophosphorylcholine and glycerophosphorylethanolamine, which can be measured from the 31-phosphorus neurospectroscopy phosphodiester peak. Schizophrenia patients were chosen because of evidence of increased free radical-mediated damage and cerebral lipid peroxidation in this disorder.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Samples of alveolar air were obtained from eight patients and ethane was analyzed and quantified by gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (<it>m</it>/<it>z </it>= 30). Cerebral 31-phosphorus spectra were obtained from the same patients at a magnetic field strength of 1.5 T using an image-selected <it>in vivo </it>spectroscopy sequence (TR = 10 s; 64 signal averages localized on a 70 × 70 × 70 mm³voxel). The quantification of the 31-phosphorus signals using prior knowledge was carried out in the temporal domain after truncating the first 1.92 ms of the signal to remove the broad component present in the 31-phosphorus spectra.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The ethane and phosphodiester levels, expressed as a percentage of the total 31-phosphorus signal, were positively and significantly correlated (<it>r</it>_{<it>s </it>}= 0.714, <it>p </it>< 0.05).</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results support the hypothesis that the measurement of exhaled ethane levels indexes cerebral <it>n</it>-3 lipid peroxidation. From a practical viewpoint, if human cerebral <it>n</it>-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid catabolism can be measured by ethane in expired breath, this would be more convenient than determining the area of the 31-phosphorus neurospectroscopy phosphodiester peak.</p