Pulmonary hypertension in infancy: a reversible cause.

A term, healthy infant presented with respiratory distress and severe pulmonary hypertension (PH). With an unclear aetiology and the intent to decrease right ventricular afterload, pulmonary vasodilators were initiated. Follow-up imaging revealed a supravalvular mitral ring as the cause of the PH which resolved after surgical resection of the membrane.

Carbon and nitrogen pools and mobile fractions in surface soils across a mangrove saltmarsh ecotone.

In the subtropics, climate change is pushing woody mangrove forests into herbaceous saltmarshes, altering soil carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) pools, with implications for coastal wetland productivity and C and N exports. We quantified total C and N pools, and mobile fractions including extractable mineral N, extractable organic C and N, and active (aerobically mineralizable) C and N, in surface soils (top 7.6 cm) of adjacent mangrove (primarily Avicennia germinans) and saltmarsh (Juncus roemerianus) vegetation zones in tidal wetlands of west-central Florida (USA).

Ubiquity and functional uniformity in CO2 concentrating mechanisms in multiple phyla of Bacteria is suggested by a diversity and prevalence of genes encoding candidate dissolved inorganic carbon transporters.

Autotrophic microorganisms catalyze the entry of dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC; = CO2 + HCO3- + CO32-) into the biological component of the global carbon cycle, despite dramatic differences in DIC abundance and composition in their sometimes extreme environments. "Cyanobacteria" are known to have CO2 concentrating mechanisms (CCMs) to facilitate growth under low CO2 conditions. These CCMs consist of carboxysomes, containing enzymes ribulose 1,5-bisphosphate oxygenase and carbonic anhydrase, partnered to DIC transporters.

Bone mineralization-dependent craniosynostosis and craniofacial shape abnormalities in the mouse model of infantile hypophosphatasia.

Background: Inactivating mutations in tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNAP) cause hypophosphatasia (HPP), which is commonly characterized by decreased bone mineralization. Infants and mice with HPP can also develop craniosynostosis and craniofacial shape abnormalities, although the mechanism by which TNAP deficiency causes these craniofacial defects is not yet known. Manifestations of HPP are heterogeneous in severity, and evidence from the literature suggests that much of this variability is mutation dependent.

Mg2+-assisted catalysis by B. stearothermophilus TrpRS is promoted by allosteric effects.

Mn(2+)-assisted catalysis by B. stearothermophilus TrpRS parallels that in polymerases and reduces specificity in amino acid activation. As predicted by nonequilibrium molecular dynamics simulations, multivariant thermodynamic cycles with [ATP]-dependent Michaelis-Menten kinetics and Mn(2+) for Mg(2+) substitution demonstrate energetic coupling of ATP affinities to the metal; to lysines K111 and K192, which interact via the PPi leaving group; and to K195, which couples differently to the metal via the alpha-phosphate.

Overexpression of BP1, a homeobox gene, is associated with resistance to all-trans retinoic acid in acute promyelocytic leukemia cells.

BP1, a homeobox gene, is overexpressed in the bone marrow of 63% of acute myeloid leukemia patients. In this study, we compared the growth-inhibitory and cyto-differentiating activities of all-trans retinoic acid (ATRA) in NB4 (ATRA-responsive) and R4 (ATRA-resistant) acute promyelocytic leukemia (APL) cells relative to BP1 levels. Expression of two oncogenes, bcl-2 and c-myc, was also assessed.