Charity begins at home: non-coding RNA functions in DNA repair.

During the past decade, evolutionarily conserved microRNAs (miRNAs) have been characterized as regulators of almost every cellular process and signalling pathway. There is now emerging evidence that this new class of regulators also impinges on the DNA damage response (DDR). Both miRNAs and other small non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are induced at DNA breaks and mediate the repair process.

Stress echocardiography: a useful tool for children with aortic stenosis.

The development of echocardiographic ventricular wall motion abnormalities and ST segment changes with exercise may enhance the detection of myocardial ischemia in children with aortic valve stenosis (AS). This study aimed to assess the relationship between the exercise wall motion index (WMIe), ST segment depression (STd), and overall functionality in asymptomatic children with isolated AS. A prospective interpretation of collected stress echocardiographic images was performed.

Drosophila MOF controls Checkpoint protein2 and regulates genomic stability during early embryogenesis.

Background: In Drosophila embryos, checkpoints maintain genome stability by delaying cell cycle progression that allows time for damage repair or to complete DNA synthesis. Drosophila MOF, a member of MYST histone acetyl transferase is an essential component of male X hyperactivation process. Until recently its involvement in G2/M cell cycle arrest and defects in ionizing radiation induced DNA damage pathways was not well established.

Migration enhances adaptation in bacteriophage populations evolving in ecological sinks.

Migration between populations can be a major evolutionary force. However, some disagreement exists as to precisely how migration affects population adaptation. Some theories emphasize the inhibitory effects of gene flow between locally adapted populations, whereas others propose that migration can enhance adaptation.

High sensitivity differential magneto-optical imaging with a compact Faraday-modulator.

We present here the design of a sensitive compact Faraday-modulator (CFM) based optical magnetometer for imaging the distribution of weak local magnetic fields inside hysteretic magnetic materials. The system developed has a root-mean-square noise level of 50 mG Hz(-1/2) at a full frame rate of 1 fps (frame per second) with each frame being of size 512 × 512 pixels. By measuring the local magnetic field distribution in different superconducting samples we show that our magnetometer provides an order of magnitude improvement in the signal-to-noise ratio at low fields as compared to ordinary magneto-optical imaging technique.

Lipoprotein(a), ferritin, and albumin in acute phase reaction predicts severity and mortality of acute ischemic stroke in North Indian Patients.

Background: Inflammation plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis and prognosis of stroke. We studied the behavior of lipoprotein(a) [Lp(a)], ferritin, and albumin as acute phase reactants and their roles in the severity and mortality of stroke.

Methods: We recruited 100 consecutive patients with acute ischemic stroke and 120 controls.

Tension type headache.

Tension type headaches are common in clinical practice. Earlier known by various names, the diagnosis has had psychological connotations. Recent evidence has helped clarify the neurobiological basis and the disorder is increasingly considered more in the preview of neurologists.

Error correction during DNA replication.

DNA polymerase (DNAP) is a dual-purpose enzyme that plays two opposite roles in two different situations during DNA replication. It plays its a normal role as a polymerase catalyzing the elongation of a new DNA molecule by adding a monomer. However, it can switch to the role of an exonuclease and shorten the same DNA by cleavage of the last incorporated monomer from the nascent DNA.

Experimental demonstration of terahertz metamaterial absorbers with a broad and flat high absorption band.

We present the design, numerical simulations and experimental measurements of terahertz metamaterial absorbers with a broad and flat absorption top over a wide incidence angle range for either transverse electric or transverse magnetic polarization depending on the incident direction. The metamaterial absorber unit cell consists of two sets of structures resonating at different but close frequencies. The overall absorption spectrum is the superposition of individual components and becomes flat at the top over a significant bandwidth.

A primary spinal hydatid cyst.

Hydatid disease occurs in humans as a result of faeco-oral contamination. Spinal hydatid cyst is a rare entity and a serious form of hydatid disease affecting less than 1% of the total cases of hydatid disease. Neural compression is common in vertebral hydatidosis where prognosis is always considered as very poor.

Anterior cervical discectomy and fusion without instrumentation for cervical spondylosis.

This prospective study included 50 patients receiving anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF) was conducted at Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, Mymensingh, Bangladesh. The study period was 1st July 2006 to 30th June 2010. This study was done to see the functional outcome of surgery in relation to duration of symptoms and age of the patient.

The NMDA receptor subunit GluN3A protects against 3-nitroproprionic-induced striatal lesions via inhibition of calpain activation.

Excitotoxicity due to excessive activation of glutamate receptors is a primary mediator of cell death in acute and chronic neurological disorders, and NMDA-type glutamate receptors (NMDARs) are thought to be involved. NMDARs assemble from heteromeric combinations of GluN1, GluN2 and GluN3 subunits, yielding a variety of receptor subtypes that differ in biophysical properties, signaling, and synaptic targeting. Inclusion of inhibitory GluN3 subunits reduces Ca2+ influx via NMDAR channels and alters their synaptic targeting, thus modifying the two hallmarks of NMDARs that are critical for their roles on neuronal death and survival.

Inhibition of non-homologous end joining repair impairs pancreatic cancer growth and enhances radiation response.

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is amongst the deadliest of human cancers, due to its late diagnosis as well as its intense resistance to currently available therapeutics. To identify mechanisms as to why PDAC are refractory to DNA damaging cytoxic chemotherapy and radiation, we performed a global interrogation of the DNA damage response of PDAC. We find that PDAC cells generally harbor high levels of spontaneous DNA damage.

Footprint traversal by adenosine-triphosphate-dependent chromatin remodeler motor.

Adenosine-triphosphate (ATP)-dependent chromatin remodeling enzymes (CREs) are biomolecular motors in eukaryotic cells. These are driven by a chemical fuel, namely, ATP. CREs actively participate in many cellular processes that require accessibility of specific segments of DNA which are packaged as chromatin.

MYC is activated by USP2a-mediated modulation of microRNAs in prostate cancer.

Unlabelled: Ubiquitin-specific protease 2a (USP2a) is overexpressed in almost half of human prostate cancers and c-Myc is amplified in one third of these tumor types. Transgenic MYC expression drives invasive adenocarcinomas in the murine prostate. We show that overexpression of USP2a downregulates a set of microRNAs that collectively increase MYC levels by MDM2 deubiquitination and subsequent p53 inactivation.

Large calcified subdural empyema.

Subdural empyema is a known disease entity; however, calcified subdural empyema is uncommon. The authors present a case of an 11-year-old boy in whom there was diagnosed a chronic calcified subdural empyema 10 years after an attack of meningitis. The patient had suffered from generalized tonic clonic seizures occurring 2-6 times in a month.

Phosphoproteomic analysis reveals that PP4 dephosphorylates KAP-1 impacting the DNA damage response.

Protein phosphatase PP4C has been implicated in the DNA damage response (DDR), but its substrates in DDR remain largely unknown. We devised a novel proteomic strategy for systematic identification of proteins dephosphorylated by PP4C and identified KRAB-domain-associated protein 1 (KAP-1) as a substrate. Ionizing radiation leads to phosphorylation of KAP-1 at S824 (via ATM) and at S473 (via CHK2).

Restless leg syndrome, periodic limb movements, febrile seizures and Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in an Indian family.

Restless leg syndrome (RLS) is a common neurological disorder which can affect individuals of all age groups and incidence increasing with age. It can cause severe sleep disruption and negatively impact quality of life of an individual. Its diagnosis is clinical, based on essential criteria of International RLS Study Group.

Interleukin-6 gene -174 G/C promoter polymorphism predicts severity and outcome in acute ischemic stroke patients from north India.

Background: A guanine/cytosine (G/C) substitution occurring in position -174 of the interleukin-6 (IL-6) gene promoter changes the expression of IL-6 circulating proteins. We evaluated the occurrence of IL-6 -174 G/C polymorphism in patients with acute ischemic stroke and studied its association with stroke severity, outcome, and mortality.

Methods: One hundred patients with acute ischemic stroke and 120 age and sex-matched healthy controls were studied.

Paroxysmal dystonic choreoathetosis with symptomatic seizures secondary to hypoglycemia caused by insulinoma.

Neurological syndromes are not an uncommon presentation with insulinomas. Recurrent hypoglycemia associated with it can present with a variety of neurological symptoms that may include disturbances of consciousness, seizures, stroke-like presentation, movement disorder, dementia and chronic neuropathy. The myriad of presentations, resemblance with other neurological conditions and episodic nature often lead to misdiagnosis and a delay in definitive treatment.

DNA breaks and chromosome pulverization from errors in mitosis.

The involvement of whole-chromosome aneuploidy in tumorigenesis is the subject of debate, in large part because of the lack of insight into underlying mechanisms. Here we identify a mechanism by which errors in mitotic chromosome segregation generate DNA breaks via the formation of structures called micronuclei. Whole-chromosome-containing micronuclei form when mitotic errors produce lagging chromosomes.

Polarization of PAR proteins by advective triggering of a pattern-forming system.

In the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote, a conserved network of partitioning-defective (PAR) polarity proteins segregates into an anterior and a posterior domain, facilitated by flows of the cortical actomyosin meshwork. The physical mechanisms by which stable asymmetric PAR distributions arise from transient cortical flows remain unclear. We present evidence that PAR polarity arises from coupling of advective transport by the flowing cell cortex to a multistable PAR reaction-diffusion system.

A broadband planar terahertz metamaterial with nested structure.

We demonstrate the broadening of fundamental resonance in terahertz metamaterial by successive insertion of metal rings in the original unit cell of a split ring resonator (SRR) forming an inter connected nested structure. With the subsequent addition of each inner ring, the fundamental resonance mode shows gradual broadening and blue shift. For a total of four rings in the structure the resonance linewidth is enhanced by a factor of four and the blue shift is as large as 316 GHz.

What goes on must come off: phosphatases gate-crash the DNA damage response.

DNA-damage-induced phospho-signaling has been studied for decades, with a focus mainly on initiation of the signaling cascade, and the kinases activated by DNA lesions. It is widely accepted that the balance of phosphorylation needs to be restored and/or maintained by phosphatases, yet there have only been sporadic efforts to investigate the impact of phosphatases on DNA repair. Recent advances in phosphoproteomic strategies and implementation of large genetic screens indicate that these enzymes play pivotal roles in these signaling networks.

Stochastic theory of protein synthesis and polysome: ribosome profile on a single mRNA transcript.

The process of polymerizing a protein by a ribosome, using a messenger RNA (mRNA) as the corresponding template, is called translation. Ribosome may be regarded as a molecular motor for which the mRNA template serves also as the track. Often several ribosomes may translate the same (mRNA) simultaneously.