Sources of geogenic arsenic in well water associated with granitic bedrock from Nova Scotia, Canada.

Arsenic toxicity in drinking water is a global issue, with chronic exposure causing cancer and other health concerns. Groundwater from geochemically similar granites from mainland Nova Scotia, Canada, can have high and low levels of arsenic. The origin of this variation is uncertain, but different mineral hosts for arsenic could explain the disparity.

Prevention of post-operative complications by using a HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor in patients undergoing one-lung ventilation for non-cardiac surgery: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial.

Background: Postoperative pulmonary complications (PPC) and peri-operative myocardial infarction (MI) have a significant impact on the long-term mortality of surgical patients. Patients undergoing one-lung ventilation (OLV) for surgery are at a high risk of developing these complications. These complications could be associated with intensive care unit (ICU) admissions and longer hospital stay with associated resource and economic burden.

Gluteus medius coactivation response in field hockey players with and without low back pain.

Objectives: To examine the effect of prolonged standing on gluteus medius coactivation and to observe whether the changes in gluteus medius coactivation over time were related to the development of low back pain in elite female field hockey players.

Design: Prospective cohort design.

Methods: Participants were 39 elite female field hockey players (14 with a history of low back pain).

24 h Accelerometry: impact of sleep-screening methods on estimates of sedentary behaviour and physical activity while awake.

Although accelerometers can assess sleep and activity over 24 h, sleep data must be removed before physical activity and sedentary time can be examined appropriately. We compared the effect of 6 different sleep-scoring rules on physical activity and sedentary time. Activity and sleep were obtained by accelerometry (ActiGraph GT3X) over 7 days in 291 children (51.

Multi-dimensional coordination in cross-country skiing analyzed using self-organizing maps.

This study sought to ascertain how multi-dimensional coordination patterns changed with five poling speeds for 12 National Standard cross-country skiers during roller skiing on a treadmill. Self-organizing maps (SOMs), a type of artificial neural network, were used to map the multi-dimensional time series data on to a two-dimensional output grid. The trajectories of the best-matching nodes of the output were then used as a collective variable to train a second SOM to produce attractor diagrams and attractor surfaces to study coordination stability.

Algorithms for using an activity-based accelerometer for identification of infant sleep-wake states during nap studies.

Objective: To determine the accuracy of using different algorithms on the output from an Actical accelerometer, a device normally used to measure physical activity, to distinguish sleep from wake states.

Methods: Thirty-one infants aged 10-22 weeks wore the accelerometer on the shin for a daytime nap recording in tandem with polysomnography. Sleep-wake epochs were identified using four computations/algorithms: the zero-threshold computation, two common algorithms used for wrist-based devices (Sadeh and Cole), and a new algorithm developed for this study (count-scaled).

Effects of prior heavy exercise on energy supply and 4000-m cycling performance.

Purpose: This study was designed to determine the effects of prior exercise on energy supply and performance in a laboratory-based 4000-m time trial.

Methods: After one familiarization trial, eight well-trained cyclists (mean +/- SD; age = 30 +/- 8 yr, body mass = 78.7 +/- 8.

A diverse set of microRNAs and microRNA-like small RNAs in developing rice grains.

Endogenous small RNAs, including microRNAs (miRNAs) and short-interfering RNAs (siRNAs), function as post-transcriptional or transcriptional regulators in plants. miRNA function is essential for normal plant development and therefore is likely to be important in the growth of the rice grain. To investigate the roles of miRNAs in rice grain development, we carried out deep sequencing of the small RNA populations of rice grains at two developmental stages.

Genes induced during the early developmental stages of the Cane Toad, Bufo (Chaunus) marinus.

Metamorphosis, a critical stage in the development of toads and frogs, involves rapid levels of morphological change. In the current study, we have used microarray analysis to identify shifts in gene expression between tadpole and toadlet stages of the cane toad, Bufo (Chaunus) marinus. Here, we report on nine genes that show the greatest induction during metamorphosis; the gut-associated gastrokine and trefoil factor, blood components haemoglobins alpha/beta, apolipoprotein and serum albumin, a nasal gene olfactomedin, a lens gene gamma-crystallin, and a novel gene with low homology to frog harderin.

Large scale transcriptome analysis of the effects of nitrogen nutrition on accumulation of stem carbohydrate reserves in reproductive stage wheat.

We investigated the molecular basis of the long-term adaptation to nitrogen (N) limitation of wheat plants grown in a simulated crop canopy, with a focus on the stage when carbon (C) reserves are accumulated in stems for later remobilization to grain. A cDNA microarray representing approximately 36,000 unique sequences was used to compare gene expression in a number of above-ground organs at anthesis. Fructan accumulation in stems was accompanied by elevated transcripts for a suite of fructosyltransferases (FTs) and for a fructan 6-exohydrolase (6-FEH) in the low N compared to high N stems.

A mutation in a chromosome condensin II subunit, kleisin beta, specifically disrupts T cell development.

Condensins are ubiquitously expressed multiprotein complexes that are important for chromosome condensation and epigenetic regulation of gene transcription, but whose specific roles in vertebrates are poorly understood. We describe a mouse strain, nessy, isolated during an ethylnitrosourea screen for recessive immunological mutations. The nessy mouse has a defect in T lymphocyte development that decreases circulating T cell numbers, increases their expression of the activation/memory marker CD44, and dramatically decreases the numbers of CD4(+)CD8(+) thymocytes and their immediate DN4 precursors.

Microarray analysis reveals vegetative molecular phenotypes of Arabidopsis flowering-time mutants.

The transition to flowering occurs at the shoot apex; however, most of the characterized genes that affect the timing of floral induction are expressed throughout the plant. To further our understanding of these genes and the flowering process, the vegetative molecular phenotypes of 16 Arabidopsis mutants associated with the major flowering initiation pathways were assayed using a 13,000 clone microarray under two different conditions that affect flowering. All mutants showed at least one change in gene expression other than the mutant flowering gene.

Plant functional genomics: opportunities in microarray databases and data mining.

High-throughput gene expression profiling using microarrays has given plant biologists a powerful new technology to discover gene function and understand cellular processes. Bioinformatics has rapidly developed to deliver the tools necessary to interpret this gene expression data, but opportunities to further exploit the mass of data from hundreds of experiments are becoming dependent upon the use of sophisticated database repositories. Data mining of these resources will allow plant biologists to compare and link expression profiles and experimental factors to uncover functions and processes that would not normally be visible from analysing a small set of microarray experiments.