Common Genetic Variants of the Human Steroid 21-Hydroxylase Gene (CYP21A2) Are Related to Differences in Circulating Hormone Levels

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.Hungarian Scientific Research Fund (OTKA, PD100648 (AP)) Technology Innovation Fund, National Developmental Agency (KTIA-AIK-2012-12-1-0010). AP is the recipient of a “Lendület” grant from the Hungarian Academy of Sciences

Etched track detector methods for the identification of target nuclear fragments in cosmic radiation and accelerator proton beams

In this article, two etched track detector methods for measuring short-range particles are presented and compared. The primary method employs observations of the evolution of the track geometry in intermittent etching, with the use of the appropriate track scanning procedures. The alternative method requires one-step etching and a specific analysis of the track parameters. Both methods proved to be effective in identifying target nuclear fragments amongst a high background from primary cosmic radiation. Additionally, the linear energy transfer (LET) spectrum of the target nuclear fragments, obtained onboard the International Space Station, was found to be consistent with the results from high-energy proton beams in ground-based experiments

DOSIS & DOSIS 3D: radiation measurements with the DOSTEL instruments onboard the Columbus Laboratory of the ISS in the years 2009–2016

The natural radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) differs significantly in composition and energy from that found on Earth. The space radiation field consists of high energetic protons and heavier ions from Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR), as well as of protons and electrons trapped in the Earth’s radiation belts (Van Allen belts). Protons and some heavier particles ejected in occasional Solar Particle Events (SPEs) might in addition contribute to the radiation exposure in LEO. All sources of radiation are modulated by the solar cycle. During solar maximum conditions SPEs occur more frequently with higher particle intensities. Since the radiation exposure in LEO exceeds exposure limits for radiation workers on Earth, the radiation exposure in space has been recognized as a main health concern for humans in space missions from the beginning of the space age on. Monitoring of the radiation environment is therefore an inevitable task in human spaceflight. Since mission profiles are always different and each spacecraft provides different shielding distributions, modifying the radiation environment measurements needs to be done for each mission. The experiments “Dose Distribution within the ISS (DOSIS)” (2009–2011) and “Dose Distribution within the ISS 3D (DOSIS 3D)” (2012–onwards) onboard the Columbus Laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS) use a detector suite consisting of two silicon detector telescopes (DOSimetry TELescope = DOSTEL) and passive radiation detector packages (PDP) and are designed for the determination of the temporal and spatial variation of the radiation environment. With the DOSTEL instruments’ changes of the radiation composition and the related exposure levels in dependence of the solar cycle, the altitude of the ISS and the influence of attitude changes of the ISS during Space Shuttle dockings inside the Columbus Laboratory have been monitored. The absorbed doses measured at the end of May 2016 reached up to 286 μGy/day with dose equivalent values of 647 μSv/day

A versatile method to design stem-loop primer-based quantitative PCR assays for detecting small regulatory RNA molecules.

Short regulatory RNA-s have been identified as key regulators of gene expression in eukaryotes. They have been involved in the regulation of both physiological and pathological processes such as embryonal development, immunoregulation and cancer. One of their relevant characteristics is their high stability, which makes them excellent candidates for use as biomarkers. Their number is constantly increasing as next generation sequencing methods reveal more and more details of their synthesis. These novel findings aim for new detection methods for the individual short regulatory RNA-s in order to be able to confirm the primary data and characterize newly identified subtypes in different biological conditions. We have developed a flexible method to design RT-qPCR assays that are very sensitive and robust. The newly designed assays were tested extensively in samples from plant, mouse and even human formalin fixed paraffin embedded tissues. Moreover, we have shown that these assays are able to quantify endogenously generated shRNA molecules. The assay design method is freely available for anyone who wishes to use a robust and flexible system for the quantitative analysis of matured regulatory RNA-s

DOSIS & DOSIS 3D: long-term dose monitoring onboard the Columbus Laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS)

The radiation environment encountered in space differs in nature from that on Earth, consisting mostly of highly energetic ions from protons up to iron, resulting in radiation levels far exceeding the ones present on Earth for occupational radiation workers. Since the beginning of the space era, the radiation exposure during space missions has been monitored with various active and passive radiation instruments. Also onboard the International Space Station (ISS), a number of area monitoring devices provide data related to the spatial and temporal variation of the radiation field in and outside the ISS. The aim of the DOSIS (2009–2011) and the DOSIS 3D (2012–ongoing) experiments was and is to measure the radiation environment within the European Columbus Laboratory of the ISS. These measurements are, on the one hand, performed with passive radiation detectors mounted at 11 locations within Columbus for the determination of the spatial distribution of the radiation field parameters and, on the other, with two active radiation detectors mounted at a fixed position inside Columbus for the determination of the temporal variation of the radiation field parameters. Data measured with passive radiation detectors showed that the absorbed dose values inside the Columbus Laboratory follow a pattern, based on the local shielding configuration of the radiation detectors, with minimum dose values observed in the year 2010 of 195–270 lGy/day and maximum values observed in the year 2012 with values ranging from 260 to 360 lGy/day. The absorbed dose is modulated by (a) the variation in solar activity and (b) the changes in ISS altitude

DOSIS & DOSIS 3D: radiation measurements with the DOSTEL instruments onboard the Columbus Laboratory of the ISS in the years 2009–2016

The natural radiation environment in Low Earth Orbit (LEO) differs significantly in composition and energy from that found on Earth. The space radiation field consists of high energetic protons and heavier ions from Galactic Cosmic Radiation (GCR), as well as of protons and electrons trapped in the Earth’s radiation belts (Van Allen belts). Protons and some heavier particles ejected in occasional Solar Particle Events (SPEs) might in addition contribute to the radiation exposure in LEO. All sources of radiation are modulated by the solar cycle. During solar maximum conditions SPEs occur more frequently with higher particle intensities. Since the radiation exposure in LEO exceeds exposure limits for radiation workers on Earth, the radiation exposure in space has been recognized as a main health concern for humans in space missions from the beginning of the space age on. Monitoring of the radiation environment is therefore an inevitable task in human spaceflight. Since mission profiles are always different and each spacecraft provides different shielding distributions, modifying the radiation environment measurements needs to be done for each mission. The experiments “Dose Distribution within the ISS (DOSIS)” (2009–2011) and “Dose Distribution within the ISS 3D (DOSIS 3D)” (2012–onwards) onboard the Columbus Laboratory of the International Space Station (ISS) use a detector suite consisting of two silicon detector telescopes (DOSimetry TELescope = DOSTEL) and passive radiation detector packages (PDP) and are designed for the determination of the temporal and spatial variation of the radiation environment. With the DOSTEL instruments’ changes of the radiation composition and the related exposure levels in dependence of the solar cycle, the altitude of the ISS and the influence of attitude changes of the ISS during Space Shuttle dockings inside the Columbus Laboratory have been monitored. The absorbed doses measured at the end of May 2016 reached up to 286 μGy/day with dose equivalent values of 647 μSv/day

Sensitivity and specificity of miRNA specific UPL-based quantitative PCR system.

<p>Amplification plot of mmu-mir-1 in range from 10 ng to 10^–3 ng input mouse heart total RNA (A). Sequence similarities and differences between mir-181a, b, and c (B). Amplification plot of synthetic mir-181a miRNA ranging from 10 pM to 10^–4 pM input mir-181a amplicon (C). Standard curve of synthetic mir-181a miRNA (D). Specificity and relative detection capacity of mir-181 specific UPL-based qPCR assays. Numbers represent the percentage of the signals measured on the synthetic amplicons. 100% is always the signal measured by an assay on its specific synthetic amplicon, like mir-180a assay on the mir-181a synthetic amplicon. In brackets the corresponding Cp values are shown.(E).</p

Schematic description of small RNA specific UPL-based quantitative PCR assay and our oligo design system.

<p>Two steps small RNA specific UPL-based quantitative PCR assay relies on reverse transcription using small RNA specific stem-loop RT primer and real-time quantitative PCR reaction using small RNA specific forward primer, UPL21 probe and universal reverse primer (A). Workflow of our oligo design system (B). Primers and probe for the designed hsa-mir-181a specific UPL-based quantitative PCR assay (C).</p

Sequences of oligonucleotides used for qPCR measurements. UPL probe number 21 was used for the measurements.

<p>Universal reverse primer in all cases was: GTGCAGGGTCCGAGGT. All sequences are in written in 5′-3′ direction.</p