Hepatitis B Virus Genotype C Prevails Among Chronic Carriers of the Virus in Korea

Hepatitis B virus (HBV) is one of the major causative agents of chronic liver diseases in Korea. HBV has been classified into 8 genotypes by a divergence of >8% in the entire genomic sequence, and have distinct geographic distributions. There are limited data on the relevance between HBV genotypes and clinical outcomes in Korea. To investigate the clinical feature relating to HBV genotype in Korea, a total 120 serum samples with HBsAg (65 from Seoul and 55 from the other city in Korea) were obtained from each 30 chronic HBV carriers with asymptomatic carrier (ASC), chronic hepatitis (CH), liver cirrhosis (LC) and hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). HBV genotype was determined by either enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) using monoclonal antibodies against genotype-specific epitopes in the preS2-region or the direct sequencing of small S gene. HBV genotypes were determined in 105 (87.5%) of 120 samples. HBV genotype C was identified in all HBV carriers with ASC, CH, LC, and HCC. Genotypes A, B, D, E, F and G were not detected in any of them. Genotype C HBV prevails predominantly among chronic carriers of the virus in Korea, irrespective of their clinical stages of liver disease and geographic origin

The identification of the B S breakpoint and of two possible Bar genes

Two coding regions were identified within a 110 kb region which includes all mapped Bar breakpoints. Both lie proximal to the identified Bar breakpoints. The first coding region, designated BarA , is 5 kb from the most proximal Bar mutation, B 581 , and 66 kb from the B S breakpoint. It encodes a 1.3 kb transcript, which is found in late third instar larvae but is absent in 1–3-day-old pupae. B i , R(B) hd3 , B 85c1s and B S result in overproduction of this transcript in late third instar larvae. A second coding region, which was previously identified as BarH1 , maps 18 kb from B 581 and 79 kb from the B S breakpoint. In third instar larvae, the abundance of the BarH1 transcript is very low in both wild type and various Bar mutatants, with the exception of R(B) hd3 . In 1–3-day-old pupae, the level of the BarH1 transcript is higher. BarH1 was previously identified as the Bar gene. However, this report raises the possibility that BarA rather than BarH1 is the Bar gene or that more than one gene may be involved in Bar position effects.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47582/1/438_2004_Article_BF00587567.pd

Noninvasive optical inhibition with a red-shifted microbial rhodopsin

Optogenetic inhibition of the electrical activity of neurons enables the causal assessment of their contributions to brain functions. Red light penetrates deeper into tissue than other visible wavelengths. We present a red-shifted cruxhalorhodopsin, Jaws, derived from Haloarcula (Halobacterium) salinarum (strain Shark) and engineered to result in red light–induced photocurrents three times those of earlier silencers. Jaws exhibits robust inhibition of sensory-evoked neural activity in the cortex and results in strong light responses when used in retinas of retinitis pigmentosa model mice. We also demonstrate that Jaws can noninvasively mediate transcranial optical inhibition of neurons deep in the brains of awake mice. The noninvasive optogenetic inhibition opened up by Jaws enables a variety of important neuroscience experiments and offers a powerful general-use chloride pump for basic and applied neuroscience.McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT (Razin Fellowship)United States. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency. Living Foundries Program (HR0011-12-C-0068)Harvard-MIT Joint Research Grants Program in Basic NeuroscienceHuman Frontier Science Program (Strasbourg, France)Institution of Engineering and Technology (A. F. Harvey Prize)McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. Neurotechnology (MINT) ProgramNew York Stem Cell Foundation (Robertson Investigator Award)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (New Innovator Award 1DP2OD002002)National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U.S.) (EUREKA Award 1R01NS075421)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1R01DA029639)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1RC1MH088182)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant 1R01NS067199)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Career Award CBET 1053233)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant EFRI0835878)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMS0848804)Society for Neuroscience (Research Award for Innovation in Neuroscience)Wallace H. Coulter FoundationNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (RO1 MH091220-01)Whitehall FoundationEsther A. & Joseph Klingenstein Fund, Inc.JPB FoundationPIIF FundingNational Institute of Mental Health (U.S.) (R01-MH102441-01)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (DP2-OD-017366-01)Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Simons Center for the Social Brai

Effect of visible light and electrode wetting on the capacitive performance of S- and N-doped nanoporous carbons: importance of surface chemistry

Abstract not availableMykola Seredych, Enrique Rodríguez-Castellón, Mark J. Biggs, William Skinner, Teresa J. Bandos