Publications by authors named "Levi Diggins"

A pancreatic fistula is defined as the leakage of pancreatic fluid into another organ or compartment because of pancreatic duct disruption or pseudocyst formation. It is most often seen in middle-aged men between 40 and 50, particularly in patients who have a history of chronic alcoholism and pancreatitis. The tract may fistulae into the pleura, creating a pancreaticopleural fistula, an exceedingly rare condition presenting as a recurrent pleural effusion and extremely high amylase levels, a key distinguishing factor in diagnosis.

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The B-DNA of the genome contains numerous sequences that can form various noncanonical structures including G-quadruplex (G4), formed by two or more stacks of four guanine residues in a plane, and intercalating motif (i-motif [iM]) formed by alternately arranged C-C pairs. One of the easy yet sensitive methods to study G4s and iMs is circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, which generates characteristic G4 and iM peaks. We have analyzed and compared the effects of various environmental factors including pH, buffer composition, temperature, flanking sequences, complimentary DNA strands, and single-stranded DNA binding protein (SSB) on the CD patterns of G4s and iMs generated by two groups of DNA molecules, one containing tandem repeats of GGGGCC and CCCCGG from the C9ORF72 gene associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and frontotemporal dementia, and the second containing polyG/polyC clusters from oncogene promoter-proximal regions without such tandem repeats.

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