Short Sequence Aligner Benchmarking for Chromatin Research.

Much of today's molecular science revolves around next-generation sequencing. Frequently, the first step in analyzing such data is aligning sequencing reads to a reference genome. This step is often taken for granted, but any analysis downstream of the alignment will be affected by the aligner's ability to correctly map sequences.

Manipulating chromatin architecture in C. elegans.

Background: Nucleosome-mediated chromatin compaction has a direct effect on the accessibility of trans-acting activators and repressors to DNA targets and serves as a primary regulatory agent of genetic expression. Understanding the nature and dynamics of chromatin is fundamental to elucidating the mechanisms and factors that epigenetically regulate gene expression. Previous work has shown that there are three types of canonical sequences that strongly regulate nucleosome positioning and thus chromatin accessibility: putative nucleosome-positioning elements, putative nucleosome-repelling sequences, and homopolymeric runs of A/T.

Characterization of two related Erwinia myoviruses that are distant relatives of the PhiKZ-like Jumbo phages.

Bacteriophages are a major force in the evolution of bacteria due to their sheer abundance as well as their ability to infect and kill their hosts and to transfer genetic material. Bacteriophages that infect the Enterobacteriaceae family are of particular interest because this bacterial family contains dangerous animal and plant pathogens. Herein we report the isolation and characterization of two jumbo myovirus Erwinia phages, RisingSun and Joad, collected from apple trees.

Thyroid gland visualization with 3D/4D ultrasound: integrated hands-on imaging in anatomical dissection laboratory.

Purpose: In teaching anatomy, clinical imaging has been utilized to supplement the traditional dissection laboratory promoting education through visualization of spatial relationships of anatomical structures. Viewing the thyroid gland using 3D/4D ultrasound can be valuable to physicians as well as students learning anatomy. The objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions of first-year medical students regarding the integration of 3D/4D ultrasound visualization of spatial anatomy during anatomical education.