90 research outputs found
Pseudomembranous colitis in a child
A 7-year-old male child with a history of fever of 1-month duration, treated with ceftriaxone for 10 days, developed foul-smelling bloody loose stools associated with severe abdominal cramps. Colonoscopy revealed yellowish-white pseudomembranes suggestive of pseudomembranous colitis which is uncommon in pediatric age group
Time-Resolved Photometry of the Optical Counterpart of Swift J2319.4+2619
Time-resolved CCD photometry is presented of the V~17 optical counterpart of
the newly-discovered, hard-X-ray-emitting polar Swift J2619.4+2619. A total of
~20 hr of data obtained over five nights in various bandpasses (B, V, R, and I)
reveals a strong quasi-sinusoidal modulation in the light curve at a
best-fitting period of 0.1254 d (3.01 hr), which we associate with the orbital
period of the system (one-day aliases of this period at 0.1114 d and 0.1435 d
are considered, but appear to be ruled out by our analysis). The amplitude of
the modulation increases with wavelength from ~0.8 mag in B to ~1.1 mag in R
and I. The increase in amplitude with wavelength is typical of polar systems
where the modulated radiation comes from cyclotron emission. The combination of
the relatively long orbital period and the emission of hard X-rays suggest that
Swift J2619.4+2619 may be a good candidate for an asynchronous polar system.Comment: 15 pages, 5 figures, Accepted for publication in the April 2008 PAS
A compendium of molecules involved in vector-pathogen interactions pertaining to malaria
Malaria is a vector-borne disease causing extensive morbidity, debility and mortality. Development of resistance to drugs among parasites and to conventional insecticides among vector-mosquitoes necessitates innovative measures to combat this disease. Identification of molecules involved in the maintenance of complex developmental cycles of the parasites within the vector and the host can provide attractive targets to intervene in the disease transmission. In the last decade, several efforts have been made in identifying such molecules involved in mosquito-parasite interactions and, subsequently, validating their role in the development of parasites within the vector. In this study, a list of mosquito proteins, which facilitate or inhibit the development of malaria parasites in the midgut, haemolymph and salivary glands of mosquitoes, is compiled. A total of 94 molecules have been reported and validated for their role in the development of malaria parasites inside the vector. This compendium of molecules will serve as a centralized resource to biomedical researchers investigating vector-pathogen interactions and malaria transmission. © 2013 Sreenivasamurthy et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd
Integrating transcriptomic and proteomic data for accurate assembly and annotation of genomes
© 2017 Wong et al.; Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Complementing genome sequence with deep transcriptome and proteome data could enable more accurate assembly and annotation of newly sequenced genomes. Here, we provide a proof-of-concept of an integrated approach for analysis of the genome and proteome of Anopheles stephensi, which is one of the most important vectors of the malaria parasite. To achieve broad coverage of genes, we carried out transcriptome sequencing and deep proteome profiling of multiple anatomically distinct sites. Based on transcriptomic data alone, we identified and corrected 535 events of incomplete genome assembly involving 1196 scaffolds and 868 protein-coding gene models. This proteogenomic approach enabled us to add 365 genes that were missed during genome annotation and identify 917 gene correction events through discovery of 151 novel exons, 297 protein extensions, 231 exon extensions, 192 novel protein start sites, 19 novel translational frames, 28 events of joining of exons, and 76 events of joining of adjacent genes as a single gene. Incorporation of proteomic evidence allowed us to change the designation of more than 87 predicted noncoding RNAs to conventional mRNAs coded by protein-coding genes. Importantly, extension of the newly corrected genome assemblies and gene models to 15 other newly assembled Anopheline genomes led to the discovery of a large number of apparent discrepancies in assembly and annotation of these genomes. Our data provide a framework for how future genome sequencing efforts should incorporate transcriptomic and proteomic analysis in combination with simultaneous manual curation to achieve near complete assembly and accurate annotation of genomes
Improved functionalization of oleic acid-coated iron oxide nanoparticles for biomedical applications
Superparamagnetic iron oxide nanoparticles
can providemultiple benefits for biomedical applications
in aqueous environments such asmagnetic separation or
magnetic resonance imaging. To increase the colloidal
stability and allow subsequent reactions, the introduction
of hydrophilic functional groups onto the particlesâ
surface is essential. During this process, the original
coating is exchanged by preferably covalently bonded
ligands such as trialkoxysilanes. The duration of the
silane exchange reaction, which commonly takes more
than 24 h, is an important drawback for this approach. In
this paper, we present a novel method, which introduces
ultrasonication as an energy source to dramatically
accelerate this process, resulting in high-quality waterdispersible nanoparticles around 10 nmin size. To prove
the generic character, different functional groups were
introduced on the surface including polyethylene glycol
chains, carboxylic acid, amine, and thiol groups. Their
colloidal stability in various aqueous buffer solutions as
well as human plasma and serum was investigated to
allow implementation in biomedical and sensing
applications.status: publishe
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