ATP-dependent chromatosome remodeling

Chromatin serves to package, protect and organize the complex eukaryotic genomes to assure their stable inheritance over many cell generations. At the same time, chromatin must be dynamic to allow continued use of DNA during a cell's lifetime. One important principle that endows chromatin with flexibility involves ATP-dependent `remodeling' factors, which alter DNA-histone interactions to form, disrupt or move nucleosomes. Remodeling is well documented at the nucleosomal level, but little is known about the action of remodeling factors in a more physiological chromatin environment. Recent findings suggest that some remodeling machines can reorganize even folded chromatin fibers containing the linker histone H1, extending the potential scope of remodeling reactions to the bulk of euchromatin

The enzymes LSD1 and Set1A cooperate with the viral protein HBx to establish an active hepatitis B viral chromatin state

Indexación: Web of ScienceWith about 350 million people chronically infected around the world hepatitis B is a major health problem. Template for progeny HBV synthesis is the viral genome, organized as a minichromosome (cccDNA) inside the hepatocyte nucleus. How viral cccDNA gene expression is regulated by its chromatin structure; more importantly, how the modulation of this structure impacts on viral gene expression remains elusive. Here, we found that the enzyme SetDB1 contributes to setting up a repressed cccDNA chromatin state. This repressive state is activated by the histone lysine demethylase-1 (LSD1). Consistently, inhibiting or reducing LSD1 levels led to repression of viral gene expression. This correlates with the transcriptionally repressive mark H3K9 methylation and reduction on the activating marks H3 acetylation and H3K4 methylation on viral promoters. Investigating the importance of viral proteins we found that LSD1 recruitment to viral promoters was dependent on the viral transactivator protein HBx. Moreover, the histone methyltransferase Set1A and HBx are simultaneously bound to the core promoter, and Set1A expression correlates with cccDNA H3K4 methylation. Our results shed light on the mechanisms of HBV regulation mediated by the cccDNA chromatin structure, offering new therapeutic targets to develop drugs for the treatment of chronically infected HBV patients.http://www.nature.com/articles/srep2590

Estudio farmacológico y fitoquímico de dos especies de salandra nativas de México

A pharmacological and phytochemical sreening study of two species of Solandra native of Mexico is reported due to their indigenous use in traditional medicine. Water extracts of flowers of S. nítida and barks of S. guerrerense have marked anticholinergic effectis inhibiting acetiylicholine induced contraction of the smooth muscle of isolated ileum of guinea pig and depressing EEG activity in rats after intraperitoneal injection. By gas chromatography and NMR spectrometry the prodomine is abundant in S. nítida flowers, vhile Hyoscyamine is the mayin alkaloid in S. guerrerense bark. The presence of these tropane alkaloids in Solandra extracts and popular use of the plants for ceremonial and medicinal procedures is discussed.Se realizó un screening farmacológico y fitoquírnico de dos especies de Solandra que se usan en México con propósitos medicinales y rituales. Los extractos de flores de S. nítida y de cortezas de S. guerrerense contienen escopolamina e hiosciamina respectivamente como alcaloides predominantes. El efecto anticolinérgico de los extractos acuosos de estas plantas se estudió en el íleon aislado del cobayo y su efecto sedante del sistema nervioso central en la rata implantada con electrodos y sometida a estímulos dolorosos. El uso como psicotrópico que se hace de estas especies se explica como una consecuencia de la intoxicación que producen los extractos administrados por vía oral. Se discute el papel de la acetilcolina y los alcaloides del tropano en la acción anestésica local atribuida a estas plantas

Effects of ripening stages and of plant vegetative vigor on the phenolic composition of grapes (Vitis vinifera L.) cv. Cabernet Sauvignon in the Maipo Valley (Chile)

Quantitative changes in the composition of phenolic compounds in skins and seeds were determined during ripening of grape of Cabernet Sauvignon vines growing with low, medium or high vigor. Compounds in the skins were gallic and syringic acid, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, quercetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-3-rutinoside, quercetin-3-arabinglucoside, quercetin-3-glucoside, and quercetin-3-rhamnoside, kaempferol-3-rutinoside and kaempferol-3-glucoside. The following compounds were identified in seeds: gallic acid, (+)-catechin, (-)-epicatechin, and procyanidins B1, B2, B3 and B4. The composition of compounds depended on the stage of ripening and vigor. No clear relationship was found between groups of compounds.

Bayesian additive regression trees for probabilistic programming

Bayesian additive regression trees (BART) is a non-parametric method to approximate functions. It is a black-box method based on the sum of many trees where priors are used to regularize inference, mainly by restricting trees' learning capacity so that no individual tree is able to explain the data, but rather the sum of trees. We discuss BART in the context of probabilistic programming languages (PPL), i.e., we present BART as a primitive that can be used as a component of a probabilistic model rather than as a standalone model. Specifically, we introduce the Python library PyMC-BART, which works by extending PyMC, a library for probabilistic programming. We showcase a few examples of models that can be built using PyMC-BART, discuss recommendations for the selection of hyperparameters, and finally, we close with limitations of our implementation and future directions for improvement.Comment: 22 pages, 17 figure

Policy conflict analysis for diffserv quality of service management

Policy-based management provides the ability to (re-)configure differentiated services networks so that desired Quality of Service (QoS) goals are achieved. This requires implementing network provisioning decisions, performing admission control, and adapting bandwidth allocation to emerging traffic demands. A policy-based approach facilitates flexibility and adaptability as policies can be dynamically changed without modifying the underlying implementation. However, inconsistencies may arise in the policy specification. In this paper we provide a comprehensive set of QoS policies for managing Differentiated Services (DiffServ) networks, and classify the possible conflicts that can arise between them. We demonstrate the use of Event Calculus and formal reasoning for the analysis of both static and dynamic conflicts in a semi-automated fashion. In addition, we present a conflict analysis tool that provides network administrators with a user-friendly environment for determining and resolving potential inconsistencies. The tool has been extensively tested with large numbers of policies over a range of conflict types

Medidas morfométricas da carcaça de cordeiros de diferentes genótipos submetidos a dois sistemas de produção.

Resumo: Objetivou-se avaliar a influência do sistema de produção, bem como de diferentes grupos genéticos sobre as características morfométricas da carcaça de cordeiros. Foram observados 24 animais, machos não castrados, das raças ½Dorper x ½SPRD, ½Santa Inês x ½SPRD e ½Somalis x ½SPRD, submetidos à terminação a pasto e em confinamento. Os animais foram abatidos com peso vivo médio de 30 kg. As carcaças foram pesadas e refrigeradas a 4ºC por 24h, quando então foram mensuradas as seguintes medidas morfométricas: comprimento corporal, perímetro torácico, perímetro da perna, comprimento da perna e comprimento interno. O sistema de produção interferiu nas medidas de perímetro da perna e comprimento interno, não havendo diferença significativa (P>0,05) para as demais medidas. Os genótipos estudados não influenciaram na medida de perímetro. As medidas de comprimento da carcaça, perímetro da perna e comprimento interno não diferiram estatisticamente para os mestiços ½Dorper x ½SPRD e ½Santa Inês x ½SPRD, no entanto esses genótipos apresentaram diferença significativa para a raça ½Somalis x ½SPRD nesses parâmetros. O sistema de produção não acarretou mudanças importantes para as medidas morfométricas de comprimento de carcaça, perímetro torácico e comprimento da perna. O mestiço ½Dorper x ½SPRD apresentou as melhores médias para as medidas estudadas. [Morphometric carcass characteristics of lambs of different genotypes under two production systems]. Abstract: Objectified to evaluate the influence of production system, well as of different genetic groups on the morphometric characteristics of the carcass of lambs. 24 animals had been observed, males not castrated, of breeds ½ Dorper x ½ SPRD, ½ Santa Inês x ½ SPRD and ½ Somalis x ½ SPRD, submitted to termination grass and confinement. The animals had been abated with average alive weight 30 kg. The carcasses had been weighed and cooled 4ºC for 24h, when then following morphometric measures had been measured: corporal length, thoracic perimeter, perimeter of leg, length of leg and internal length. The production system intervened with the measures of perimeter of leg and internal length, not having significant difference (P>0.05) for excessively measures. Studied genotypes had not influenced in measure of perimeter. Measures of length of carcass, perimeter of leg and internal length hanot statistical differed for the mestizos ½ Dorper x ½ SPRD and ½ Santa Inês x ½ SPRD, however these genotypes had presented significant difference for the breed ½ Somalis x ½ SPRD in these parameters. The production system does not cause important changes for morphometric measures of carcass length, thoracic perimeter and length of the leg. The mestizo ½ Dorper x ½ SPRD presented best averages for studied measures

Global long-term monitoring of the ozone layer - a prerequisite for predictions

Although the Montreal Protocol now controls the production and emission of ozone depleting substances, the timing of ozone recovery is unclear. There are many other factors affecting the ozone layer, in particular climate change is expected to modify the speed of re-creation of the ozone layer. Therefore, long-term observations are needed to monitor the further evolution of the stratospheric ozone layer. Measurements from satellite instruments provide global coverage and are supplementary to selective ground-based observations. The combination of data derived from different space-borne instruments is needed to produce homogeneous and consistent long-term data records. They are required for robust investigations including trend analysis. For the first time global total ozone columns from three European satellite sensors GOME (ERS-2), SCIAMACHY (ENVISAT), and GOME-2 (METOP-A) are combined and added up to a continuous time series starting in June 1995. On the one hand it is important to monitor the consequences of the Montreal Protocol and its amendments; on the other hand multi-year observations provide the basis for the evaluation of numerical models describing atmospheric processes, which are also used for prognostic studies to assess the future development. This paper gives some examples of how to use satellite data products to evaluate model results with respective data derived from observations, and to disclose the abilities and deficiencies of atmospheric models. In particular, multi-year mean values derived from the Chemistry-Climate Model E39C-A are used to check climatological values and the respective standard deviations