Hypothalamic Α 2 -Noradrenergic Receptor System Relation to Dietary, Genetic, and Hormonally Induced Obesity

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/73970/1/j.1749-6632.1989.tb53313.x.pd

Acute myeloid leukemia arising from a donor derived premalignant hematopoietic clone: A possible mechanism for the origin of leukemia in donor cells

AbstractDuring recent years, it has become increasingly evident that donor leukemia following allogeneic transplant may be more common then realized in the past. We identified five cases of potential donor leukemia cases during past five years. The precise mechanism of the origin of such leukemias, however, remains poorly defined. In this short communication, we report a well documented case of donor-derived de novo acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that developed fourteen years after allogeneic stem cell transplantation for treatment induced AML for his primary malignancy Immunoblastic lymphoma. This case allows us to postulate a possible mechanism of the origin of donor leukemia. The de novo AML clone contained a distinct cytogenetic abnormality, trisomy 11, which was simultaneously detected in preserved peripheral blood obtained at the time of transplantation as well as in the current bone marrow from an otherwise clinically and phenotypically normal donor. The findings from this unique case, provides insight into the process of leukemogenesis, and suggests that the sequence of events leading to leukemogenesis in this patient involved the senescence/apoptosis of normal donor hematopoietic cells due to telomere shortening resulting in the selective proliferation and transformation of this clone with MLL (mixed-lineage leukemia) gene amplification

On the security of Jhanwar-Barua Identity-Based Encryption Scheme

In 2008, Jhanwar and Barua presented an improvement of the Boneh-Gentry-Hamburg (BGH) scheme. In addition to reducing the time complexity of the algorithm to find a solution of the equation $ax^2+Sy^2\equiv 1 \bmod n$, their scheme reduces the number of equations to be solved by combining existing solutions. Susilo et al. extended the Jhanwar-Barua scheme, reducing more the number of equations to be solved. This paper presents a security flaw that appears in both schemes and shows that they are not IND-ID-CPA secure

Transplantation in Remission Improves the Disease-Free Survival of Patients with Advanced Myelodysplastic Syndromes Treated with Myeloablative T Cell-Depleted Stem Cell Transplants from HLA-Identical Siblings

AbstractFrom 1985 to 2004, 49 patients with advanced myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS) (≥5% blasts) or acute myeloid leukemia (AML) transformed from MDS underwent T cell depleted bone marrow or peripheral blood hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) from HLA-identical siblings following conditioning with a myeloablative regimen that included total body irradiation (44 patients) or busulfan (5 patients). Thirty-six patients received chemotherapy (3 low dose and 33 induction doses) before conditioning, and 13 patients did not receive any chemotherapy. Prior to transplantation, 22 of the 36 treated patients were in hematologic remission; 4 were in a second refractory cytopenia phase (26 responders); 8 had failed to achieve remission; and 2 of the responders had progression or relapse of their MDS (10 failures). No post-transplantation pharmacologic prophylaxis for graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) was given. The median age was 48 yrs (range 13-61). Forty-five of the 49 patients engrafted; 2 had primary graft failure; and 2 died before engraftment. Only 3 patients developed acute GVHD (aGVHD) (grades I and III) and 1 chronic GVHD (cGVHD). At 3 yrs post-transplantation, the overall survival (OS) was 54% in the responders; 31% in the untreated group; and 0% in the failure group (P=.0004). The disease free survival (DFS) was 50%, 15% and 0% in each group respectively (P=.0008). In multivariate analysis, disease status before cytoreduction remained highly correlated with DFS (P<.001). The cumulative incidence (CI) of relapse at 2-yrs post-transplantation for the responders was 23%; for the untreated group was 38%; and for the failures was 50%. The CI of non-relapse mortality at 2-yrs post-transplantation, for the responders was 23%; for the untreated group was 38%; and for the failures was 40%. All survivors achieved a Karnofsky Performance Status (KPS) of ≥90. These results indicate that patients with advanced MDS who achieve and remain in remission or a second refractory cytopenia phase with chemotherapy before conditioning can achieve successful long-term remissions following a myeloablative T cell depleted allogeneic HSCT

Spatial regulation by multiple Gremlin1 enhancers provides digit development with cis-regulatory robustness and evolutionary plasticity.

Precise cis-regulatory control of gene expression is essential for normal embryogenesis and tissue development. The BMP antagonist Gremlin1 (Grem1) is a key node in the signalling system that coordinately controls limb bud development. Here, we use mouse reverse genetics to identify the enhancers in the Grem1 genomic landscape and the underlying cis-regulatory logics that orchestrate the spatio-temporal Grem1 expression dynamics during limb bud development. We establish that transcript levels are controlled in an additive manner while spatial regulation requires synergistic interactions among multiple enhancers. Disrupting these interactions shows that altered spatial regulation rather than reduced Grem1 transcript levels prefigures digit fusions and loss. Two of the enhancers are evolutionary ancient and highly conserved from basal fishes to mammals. Analysing these enhancers from different species reveal the substantial spatial plasticity in Grem1 regulation in tetrapods and basal fishes, which provides insights into the fin-to-limb transition and evolutionary diversification of pentadactyl limbs

Genome-Wide Survey and Expression Analysis Suggest Diverse Roles of Glutaredoxin Gene Family Members During Development and Response to Various Stimuli in Rice

Glutaredoxins (GRXs) are glutathione-dependent oxidoreductase enzymes involved in a variety of cellular processes. In this study, our analysis revealed the presence of 48 genes encoding GRX proteins in the rice genome. GRX proteins could be classified into four classes, namely CC-, CGFS-, CPYC- and GRL-type, based on phylogenetic analysis. The classification was supported with organization of predicted conserved putative motifs in GRX proteins. We found that expansion of this gene family has occurred largely via whole genome duplication events in a species-specific manner. We explored rice oligonucleotide array data to gain insights into the function of GRX gene family members during various stages of development and in response to environmental stimuli. The comprehensive expression analysis suggested diverse roles of GRX genes during growth and development in rice. Some of the GRX genes were expressed in specific organs/developmental stages only. The expression of many of rice GRX genes was influenced by various phytohormones, abiotic and biotic stress conditions, suggesting an important role of GRX proteins in response to these stimuli. The identification of GRX genes showing differential expression in specific tissues or in response to environmental stimuli provide a new avenue for in-depth characterization of selected genes of importance

Essentially Optimal Robust Secret Sharing with Maximal Corruptions

In a $t$-out-of-$n$ robust secret sharing scheme, a secret message is shared among $n$ parties who can reconstruct the message by combining their shares. An adversary can adaptively corrupt up to $t$ of the parties, get their shares, and modify them arbitrarily. The scheme should satisfy privacy, meaning that the adversary cannot learn anything about the shared message, and robustness, meaning that the adversary cannot cause the reconstruction procedure to output an incorrect message. Such schemes are only possible in the case of an honest majority, and here we focus on unconditional security in the maximal corruption setting where $n = 2t+1$. In this scenario, to share an $m$-bit message with a reconstruction failure probability of at most $2^{-k}$, a known lower-bound shows that the share size must be at least $m + k$ bits. On the other hand, all prior constructions have share size that scales linearly with the number of parties $n$, and the prior state-of-the-art scheme due to Cevallos et al. (EUROCRYPT \u2712) achieves $m + \widetilde{O}(k + n)$. In this work, we construct the first robust secret sharing scheme in the maximal corruption setting with $n=2t+1$, that avoids the linear dependence between share size and the number of parties $n$. In particular, we get a share size of only $m + \widetilde{O}(k)$ bits. Our scheme is computationally efficient and relies on approximation algorithms for the minimum graph bisection problem

The surged faradic stimulation to the pelvic floor muscles as an adjunct to the medical management in children with rectal prolapse

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>To assess the role of the surged faradic stimulation to the pelvic floor muscles as an adjunct to the conservative management in the children of idiopathic rectal prolapse</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>Study design</it>: Prospective</p> <p><it>Setting</it>: Pediatric Surgery Department, Pt BD Sharma, Post Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Rohtak</p> <p><it>Subjects</it>: 47 consecutive children with idiopathic rectal prolapse attending the Pediatric Surgery out patient department from July 2005 to June 2006</p> <p><it>Methodology</it>: The information pertaining to duration and the extent of rectal prolapse, predisposing or associated medical conditions, results of local clinical examination were noted. Surged faradic stimulation using modified intraluminal rectal probe, was given on the alternate days. The conventional conservative medical management was also continued. The extent of relief and the number of the sittings of faradic stimulation required were noted at various stages of follow-ups</p> <p><it>Statistical Methods</it>: Mean values between those completely cured and others; poor responders and others were compared with t-test and proportions were compared with Chi square test. The p-value < 0.05 was considered statistically significant.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The mean number of sittings in the completely cured group (n = <b>28</b>(64%)) was (12.4 ± 7.8) and was comparable with very poor responder (n = 6(13%). There was higher percentage of relief (76%) at the first follow up (at 15 days) in completely cured Vs other (37%) and also the poor responders showed (20%) Vs other (68%) and was statistically significant.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>With use of faradic stimulation, even the long-standing rectal prolapse can be fully cured. The follow up visit at 2 weeks is very important to gauge the likely success of this modality in treatment of the patients with rectal prolapse. Those showing poor response at this stage may require alternative treatment or take a long time to get cured</p