Prospective Evaluation of Fetal Hemoglobin Expression in Maternal Erythrocytes: An Analysis of a Cohort of 345 Parturients.

It is believed that fetal hemoglobin (HbF) expression in adults is largely genetically regulated. The increased expression of HbF in pregnancy has been reported in a small number of articles. Different mechanisms have been proposed, but the description of HbF expression during pregnancy remains unclear.

MicroRNAs in graft-versus-host disease: a review of the latest data.

Detectable in biopsies and body fluids, the measurement of a single or panels of microRNAs have been reported to be quite sensitive and specific for the prediction, diagnosis, and prognosis of many diseases. Interest in the use of microRNAs as biomarkers and eventual therapeutic targets has increased exponentially in the last decade. However, in the field of graft-versus-host disease (GVHD), the discovery of their involvement in biological processes and their predictive value is only emerging.

The peptidyl prolyl isomerase Rrd1 regulates the elongation of RNA polymerase II during transcriptional stresses.

Rapamycin is an anticancer agent and immunosuppressant that acts by inhibiting the TOR signaling pathway. In yeast, rapamycin mediates a profound transcriptional response for which the RRD1 gene is required. To further investigate this connection, we performed genome-wide location analysis of RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) and Rrd1 in response to rapamycin and found that Rrd1 colocalizes with RNAPII on actively transcribed genes and that both are recruited to rapamycin responsive genes.

Evaluation of selected South African ethnomedicinal plants as mosquito repellents against the Anopheles arabiensis mosquito in a rodent model.

Background: This study was initiated to establish whether any South African ethnomedicinal plants (indigenous or exotic), that have been reported to be used traditionally to repel or kill mosquitoes, exhibit effective mosquito repellent properties.

Methods: Extracts of a selection of South African taxa were tested for repellency properties in an applicable mosquito feeding-probing assay using unfed female Anopheles arabiensis.

Results: Although a water extract of the roots of Chenopodium opulifolium was found to be 97% as effective as DEET after 2 mins, time lag studies revealed a substantial reduction in efficacy (to 30%) within two hours.