Detecting similarities among distant homologous proteins by comparison of domain flexibilities

Aim of this work is to assess the informativeness of protein dynamics in the detection of similarities among distant homologous proteins. To this end, an approach to perform large-scale comparisons of protein domain flexibilities is proposed. CONCOORD is confirmed as a reliable method for fast conformational sampling. The root mean square fluctuation of alpha carbon positions in the essential dynamics subspace is employed as a measure of local flexibility and a synthetic index of similarity is presented. The dynamics of a large collection of protein domains from ASTRAL/SCOP40 is analyzed and the possibility to identify relationships, at both the family and the superfamily levels, on the basis of the dynamical features is discussed. The obtained picture is in agreement with the SCOP classification, and furthermore suggests the presence of a distinguishable familiar trend in the flexibility profiles. The results support the complementarity of the dynamical and the structural information, suggesting that information from dynamics analysis can arise from functional similarities, often partially hidden by a static comparison. On the basis of this first test, flexibility annotation can be expected to help in automatically detecting functional similarities otherwise unrecoverable. © 2007 The Author(s)

First Year Metabolic and Hormonal Behavior Define two Different Populations of SGA Newborn for Weight or Height

Context: Small-for-gestational-age (SGA) children have a particular metabolic and hormonal pattern at birth that changes rapidly.Objective: To evaluate the linear and weight growth in the first year of life in SGA children.Design: Prospective, monocentric cohort study.Setting: Real-world data collected from April 2012 to January 2016.Patients: SGA newborns uniformly defined by either growth or length lower than -2 SDs for gestational age.Interventions: All children were evaluated for 1 year after birth, at 3 days of life, then 3, 6, and 12 months after birth.Main outcome measures: Anthropometric parameters and biochemical variables, such as blood glucose, insulin, leptin, IGF-1, IGF binding protein-3 (IGFBP-3), and homeostasis model assessment - insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) index.Results: A total of 133 SGA children were enrolled. Length significantly improved 1 month after birth, whereas weight significantly increased only at 3 months after birth. Biochemical variables increased during the first year of life, showing a prediction by IGFBP-3 and HOMA-IR index. Then, the variables were divided considering either weight, length, or both, showing a different incidence. The biochemical variable changes recorded in the first step were maintained considering SGA children for weight or length, whereas they disappeared when weight and length were considered together.Conclusions: Our study shows a specific catchup growth for weight and length in SGA children. Moreover, we highlight that weight and length should be considered as independent parameters in SGA children, defining 2 different metabolic-hormonal populations with different conceivable predictive role in early catchup growth and in later growth and metabolic status

E. Canetti en I. Murdoch: las relaciones de poderen The Flight from the Enchanter

Los títulos de las novelas de Iris Murdoch sugieren, de forma indirecta, el contenido conceptual de las obras. The Flight from the Enchanter1 (1956) plantea, desde el primer momento, con la referencia a la huida y al hechicero, los elementos que serán clave para comprender y desentrañar la aparente disparidad de personajes y situaciones que se desarrollan en la novela. El objetivo de este artículo es desglosar algunos de los elementos simbólicos que son esenciales en la producción de Iris Murdoch, como por ejemplo la figura del hechicero, y tratar de poner al descubierto su significado. En un segundo momento, se analizarán las relaciones de poder tal como aparecen en The Flight from the Enchanter (FFE)

'Love, love was the key: A Fairly Honourable Defeat' de Iris Murdoch

La novela de Iris Murdoch, A Fairly Honourable Defeat (Un derrota bastante honrosa), publicada en 1970, muestra una complejidad, tanto temática como argumental, propia de la autora, con una serie de personajes y situaciones simbólicas que sugieren más de una aproximación

Vitamin D

PòsterJun

The role of attachment in recovery after a school-shooting trauma (vol 4, 22728, 2014)

Peer reviewe

Adolescent psychiatric outpatient care rapidly switched to remote visits during the COVID-19 pandemic

Background The COVID-19-pandemic and especially the physical distancing measures drastically changed the conditions for providing outpatient care in adolescent psychiatry. Methods We investigated the outpatient services of adolescent psychiatry in the Helsinki University Hospital (HUH) from 1/1/2015 until 12/31/2020. We retrieved data from the in-house data software on the number of visits in total and categorized as in-person or remote visits, and analysed the data on a weekly basis. We further analysed these variables grouped according to the psychiatric diagnoses coded for visits. Data on the number of patients and on referrals from other health care providers were available on a monthly basis. We investigated the data descriptively and with a time-series analysis comparing the pre-pandemic period to the period of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results The total number of visits decreased slightly at the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic in Spring 2020. Remote visits sharply increased starting in 3/2020 and remained at a high level compared with previous years. In-person visits decreased in Spring 2020, but gradually increased afterwards. The number of patients transiently fell in Spring 2020. Conclusions Rapid switch to remote visits in outpatient care of adolescent psychiatry made it possible to avoid a drastic drop in the number of visits despite the physical distancing measures during the COVID-19 pandemic.Peer reviewe

Preparation of deacetyl-, lyso-, and deacetyl-lyso-GM3 by selective alkaline hydrolysis of GM3 ganglioside

Abstract Three methods (using GM3 quantities ranging from a few milligrams to grams) have been developed to prepare, in high yield, the three derivatives of ganglioside GM3 [α-Neu5Ac-(2-3)-β-Gal-(1-4)-β-Glc-(1-1)-ceramide]: deacetyl-GM3 [α-Neu-(2-3)-β-Gal-(1-4)-β-Glc-(1-1)-ceramide], lyso-GM3 [α-Neu5Ac-(2-3)-β-Gal-(1-4)-β-Glc-(1-1)-sphingosine], and deacetyl-lyso-GM3 [α-Neu-(2-3)-β-Gal-(1-4)-β-Glc-(1-1)-sphingosine]. This is the first report of the preparation of lyso-GM3 by a one-pot reaction. We can now define the optimal conditions for the different preparations. Preparation of deacetyl-GM3: alkaline reagent, 2 M KOH in water; GM3 concentration, 33 mg/ml; reaction temperature, 90 °C; reaction time, 3.5 h; nitrogen atmosphere. Preparation of deacetyl-lyso-GM3: alkaline reagent, 8 M KOH in water; GM3 concentration, 10 mg/ml; reaction temperature, 90 °C; reaction time, 18 h; nitrogen atmosphere. Preparation of lyso-GM3: alkaline reagent, 1 M sodium tert-butoxide in methanol; GM3 concentration, 10 mg/ml; reaction temperature, 80 °C; reaction time, 18 h; anhydrous conditions. The percentage yield of deacetyl-GM3 was 70–75%, that of deacetyl-lyso-GM3 100%, and of lyso-GM3 36–40%. Deacetyl-GM3, deacetyl-lyso-GM3, and lyso-GM3 were purified by column chromatography, and chemical structures were confirmed by electron spray-mass spectrometry. —Valiente, O., L. Mauri, R. Casellato, L. E. Fernandez, and S. Sonnino. Preparation of deacetyl-, lyso-, and deacetyl-lyso-GM3 by selective alkaline hydrolysis of GM3 ganglioside