Accurate identification of small tea buds is a key technology for tea harvesting robots, which directly affects tea quality and yield. However, due to the complexity of the tea plantation environment and the diversity of tea buds, accurate identification remains an enormous challenge. Current methods based on traditional image processing and machine learning fail to effectively extract subtle features and morphology of small tea buds, resulting in low accuracy and robustness.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA base-mediated cascade reaction of CF-imidoyl sulfoxonium ylides and azo compounds has been achieved, allowing for facile access to trifluoromethyl-substituted 1,2-dihydroquinoxalines and diimines in moderate to excellent yields. Noteworthy is that the unusual N-N bond cleavage and rearrangement of azo compounds are involved in the transformations.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe synthesis of diverse products from the same starting materials is always attractive in organic chemistry. Here, a palladium-catalyzed substrate-controlled regioselective functionalization of unactivated alkenes with trifluoroacetimidoyl chlorides has been developed, which provides a direct but controllable access to a variety of structurally diverse trifluoromethyl-containing indoles and indolines. In more detail, with respect to γ,δ-alkenes, 1,1-geminal difunctionalization of unactivated alkenes with trifluoroacetimidoyl chloride enables the [4 + 1] annulation to produce indoles; as for β,γ-alkenes, a [3 + 2] heteroannulation with the hydrolysis product of trifluoroacetimidoyl chloride through 1,2-vicinal difunctionalization of alkenes occurs to deliver indoline products.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAims: Kv7.4, a voltage-dependent potassium channel expressed throughout the vasculature, controls arterial contraction and is compromised in hypertension by an unknown mechanism. MicroRNAs (miRs) are post-transcriptional regulators of protein production and are altered in disease states such as hypertension.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr
December 2016
Objectives: Coagulopathy and mesenteric thrombosis are common in premature neonates with necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC). This pilot study aimed to investigate the hypothesis that there are changes in the gene expression related to the coagulation and anticoagulation systems in NEC.
Methods: Consecutive neonates (n = 11) with NEC (Bell stages 2-3) were recruited.
Much remains to be understood about systemic regulation of zinc uptake in vertebrates, and adequate zinc status is far from always achieved in animals or human. In addition to absorbing zinc from the diet, fish are able to take up zinc directly from the water with the gills. This provides an elegant system to study zinc uptake, how it relates to zinc status, and the expression of genes for proteins involved in zinc acquisition.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe MAPK/ERK signalling pathway has been described to mediate IL-1 induction of target genes and is known to be regulated by microRNAs (miRNA). We describe a novel miRNA regulating the expression of the MEK1 gene and how it impacts IL-1 induced IL-6 transcription. miR-497 was predicted to target MEK1 3'UTR using bioinformatic tools.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: This study sought to determine whether variations in NOS1AP affect drug-induced long QT syndrome (LQTS).
Background: Use of antiarrhythmic drugs is limited by the high incidence of serious adverse events including QT prolongation and torsades de pointes. NOS1AP gene variants play a role in modulating QT intervals in healthy subjects and severity of presentation in LQTS.
Unlabelled: Previous epidemiologic studies have evaluated the use of immunological markers as possible tools for measuring ageing and predicting age-related pathology. The importance of both genetic and environmental influences in regulation of these markers has been emphasized. In order to further evaluate this relationship, the present study aims to investigate the relative influence of genetic and environmental factors on four key cytokines involved in the human immune response (Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF)-α).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHeight is a classic complex trait with common variants in a growing list of genes known to contribute to the phenotype. Using a genecentric genotyping array targeted toward cardiovascular-related loci, comprising 49,320 SNPs across approximately 2000 loci, we evaluated the association of common and uncommon SNPs with adult height in 114,223 individuals from 47 studies and six ethnicities. A total of 64 loci contained a SNP associated with height at array-wide significance (p < 2.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Dietary zinc supplementation may help to promote growth, boost the immune system, protect against diabetes, and aid recovery from diarrhoea. We exploited the zebrafish (Danio rerio) gill as a unique vertebrate ion transporting epithelium model to study the time-dependent regulatory networks of gene-expression leading to homeostatic control during zinc supplementation. This organ forms a conduit for zinc uptake whilst exhibiting conservation of zinc trafficking components.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Zinc deficiency is detrimental to organisms, highlighting its role as an essential micronutrient contributing to numerous biological processes. To investigate the underlying molecular events invoked by zinc depletion we performed a temporal analysis of transcriptome changes observed within the zebrafish gill. This tissue represents a model system for studying ion absorption across polarised epithelial cells as it provides a major pathway for fish to acquire zinc directly from water whilst sharing a conserved zinc transporting system with mammals.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFTo identify loci affecting the electrocardiographic QT interval, a measure of cardiac repolarisation associated with risk of ventricular arrhythmias and sudden cardiac death, we conducted a meta-analysis of three genome-wide association studies (GWAS) including 3,558 subjects from the TwinsUK and BRIGHT cohorts in the UK and the DCCT/EDIC cohort from North America. Five loci were significantly associated with QT interval at P<1x10(-6). To validate these findings we performed an in silico comparison with data from two QT consortia: QTSCD (n = 15,842) and QTGEN (n = 13,685).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe greatest source of human exposure to methylmercury (MeHg) is the diet, in particular the consumption of seafood. To investigate the importance of dietary MeHg speciation on neurotoxicity, balb/c mice dams were exposed to MeHgCys (the naturally-occurring salt) and MeHgCl (the laboratory salt), at concentrations up to 4.5 mg/kg, for 11 weeks (inclusive of 3 weeks gestational and 2 weeks post-partum exposure).
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThere is a growing appreciation for the diverse roles of zinc as a signalling substance in biological systems. Zinc signalling is brought about by changes in intracellular concentrations of labile Zn(2+), resulting in both genomic and non-genomic effects. The genomic responses are largely mediated by MTF1 (metal-regulatory transcription factor 1), which binds to MREs (metal-response elements) in the 5' regulatory region of genes in response to zinc.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFResolving the mechanisms underlying the temporal and spatial profile of zinc transporter expression in response to zinc availability is key to understanding zinc homeostasis. The mRNA expression of seven zinc transporters was studied in zebrafish gills when treated with zinc deficiency/excess over a 14-day period. Of these, ZnT1, ZnT5, ZIP3, and ZIP10 were differentially expressed in response to changed zinc status.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFIn contrast to mammals, zinc transporter genes remain largely uncharacterised in teleosts. Teleost zinc transporter genes were data-mined and phylogenetically assigned to mammalian orthologues. For the first time in animals, the tissue-distribution and mRNA expression response to zinc for most zinc transporter genes was tested in zebrafish.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe Escherichia coli cyclic AMP receptor protein (CRP) is a global regulator that controls transcription initiation from more than 100 promoters by binding to a specific DNA sequence within cognate promoters. Many genes in the CRP regulon have been predicted simply based on the presence of DNA-binding sites within gene promoters. In this study, we have exploited a newly developed technique, run-off transcription/microarray analysis (ROMA) to define CRP-regulated promoters.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have compiled and aligned the DNA sequences of 554 promoter regions from Escherichia coli and analysed the alignment for sequence similarities. We have focused on the similarities and differences between promoters that either do or do not contain an extended -10 element. The distribution of -10 and -35 hexamer element sequences, the range of spacer lengths between these elements and the frequencies of occurrence of different nucleotides, dinucleotides and trinucleotides were investigated.
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