Joint Analysis of Phenotypic and Genomic Diversity Sheds Light on the Evolution of Xenobiotic Metabolism in Humans.

Variation in genes involved in the absorption, distribution, metabolism, and excretion of drugs (ADME) can influence individual response to a therapeutic treatment. The study of ADME genetic diversity in human populations has led to evolutionary hypotheses of adaptation to distinct chemical environments. Population differentiation in measured drug metabolism phenotypes is, however, scarcely documented, often indirectly estimated via genotype-predicted phenotypes.

Demographic and Selection Histories of Populations Across the Sahel/Savannah Belt.

The Sahel/Savannah belt harbors diverse populations with different demographic histories and different subsistence patterns. However, populations from this large African region are notably under-represented in genomic research. To investigate the population structure and adaptation history of populations from the Sahel/Savannah space, we generated dense genome-wide genotype data of 327 individuals-comprising 14 ethnolinguistic groups, including 10 previously unsampled populations.

Safety of the Geneva Cocktail, a Cytochrome P450 and P-Glycoprotein Phenotyping Cocktail, in Healthy Volunteers from Three Different Geographic Origins.

Unlabelled: INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Cytochrome P450 enzymes are the major drug-metabolizing enzymes in humans and the importance of drug transport proteins, in particular P-glycoprotein, in the variability of drug response has also been highlighted. Activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes and P-glycoprotein can vary widely between individuals and genotyping and/or phenotyping can help assess their activity. Several phenotyping cocktails have been developed.

Sahelian pastoralism from the perspective of variants associated with lactase persistence.

Objectives: Archeological evidence shows that first nomadic pastoralists came to the African Sahel from northeastern Sahara, where milking is reported by ~7.5 ka. A second wave of pastoralists arrived with the expansion of Arabic tribes in 7th-14th century CE.

Subsistence strategy was the main factor driving population differentiation in the bidirectional corridor of the African Sahel.

Objectives: The Sahel belt is occupied by populations who use two types of subsistence strategy, nomadic pastoralism and sedentary farming, and who belong to three linguistic families, Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic. Little is known, however, about the origins of these two populations and their mutual genetic relationships.

Materials And Methods: We have built a large dataset of mitochondrial DNA sequences and Y chromosomal STR haplotypes of pastoralists and farmers belonging to all three linguistic phyla in the western, central, and eastern parts of the Sahel.

Nomadic pastoralists and sedentary farmers of the Sahel/Savannah Belt of Africa in the light of geometric morphometrics based on facial portraits.

Objectives: The Sahel/Savannah belt is a region where two sympatric human subsistence strategies-nomadic pastoralism and sedentary farming-have been coexisting for millennia. While earlier studies focused on estimating population differentiation and genetic structure of this ecologically remarkable region's inhabitants, less effort has been expended on understanding the morphological variation among local populations.

Materials And Methods: To fill this gap, we used geometric morphometrics to analyze the facial features of three groups of pastoralists and three groups of sedentary farmers belonging to three language families (Niger-Congo, Nilo-Saharan, and Afro-Asiatic) whose mitochondrial DNA sequences have been published previously.

Genetic Structure of the Western and Eastern African Sahel/Savannah Belt and the Role of Nomadic Pastoralists as Inferred from the Variation of D-Loop Mitochondrial DNA Sequences.

The objective of this study was to provide deeper knowledge of the maternal genetic structure and demographic history of the human populations of the Sahel/Savannah belt, the extensive region lying between the Sahara and tropical rainforests, spanning from the Atlantic Ocean to the Red Sea coast. The study aimed to confirm or disconfirm archaeological and linguistic data indicating that the region's populations underwent diversification as a result of the spread of agropastoral food-producing subsistence lifestyles, over time dividing the region into separate areas of nomadic pastoralism, on the one hand, and sedentary farming, on the other. To perform both descriptive and coalescence analyses from the Sahel/Savannah belt's entire region, including western and eastern rather than just central populations studied previously, we generated a new mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) data set not only having almost 2,000 samples (875 of which were newly collected) but also encompassing whole mtDNA D-loop segment rather than only the previously studied hypervariable segment 1.

Alu insertion polymorphisms in the African Sahel and the origin of Fulani pastoralists.

Background: The origin of Western African pastoralism, represented today by the Fulani nomads, has been a highly debated issue for the past decades, and has not yet been conclusively resolved.

Aim: This study focused on Alu polymorphisms in sedentary and nomadic populations across the African Sahel to investigate patterns of diversity that can complement the existing results and contribute to resolving issues concerning the origin of West African pastoralism.

Subjects And Methods: A new dataset of 21 Alu biallelic markers covering a substantial part of the African Sahel has been analysed jointly with several published North African populations.

IR Spectra of n-BuM (M = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb), n-BuAuPPh-d, and "n-Bu" on a Gold Surface.

Observed and DFT-calculated IR spectra of n-BuM (M = Si, Ge, Sn, Pb), (CHCHCHCD)Sn, and n-BuAuPPh-d are reported and assigned. The asymmetric CH stretching vibration of the CH group adjacent to the metal atom appears as a distinct shoulder at ∼2934 cm, whereas for other CH groups it is located at ∼2922 cm. The characteristic peak at ∼2899 cm is attributed to an overtone of a symmetric CH bend at ∼1445 cm.

Mechanism of Surface Alkylation of a Gold Aerogel with Tetra-n-butylstannane-d: Identification of Byproducts.

The formation of self-assembled monolayers on surfaces is often likely to be accompanied by the formation of byproducts, whose identification holds clues to the reaction mechanism but is difficult due to the minute amounts produced. We now report a successful identification of self-assembly byproducts using gold aerogel with a large specific surface area, a procedure likely to be applicable generally. Like a thin gold layer on a flat substrate, the aerogel surface is alkylated with n-butyl-d groups upon treatment with a solution of tetra-n-butylstannane-d under ambient conditions.

The historical spread of Arabian Pastoralists to the eastern African Sahel evidenced by the lactase persistence -13,915*G allele and mitochondrial DNA.

Objectives: Thanks to the ability to digest lactose, Arabian nomads had become less dependent upon their sedentary neighbors and some of these populations spread to Africa. When and by which route they migrated to their current locations have previously been addressed only by historical and archaeological data.

Methods: To address the question of Arab expansion into Africa, we collected samples from several Arabic populations, especially the Baggara in Chad and Sudan.

Linquats: Synthesis, Characterization, and Properties of Linear Extended Diquats.

We report an innovative synthetic route to linear extended diquats (linquats). Our approach is short and efficient and features a highly modular reaction sequence based on two-fold quaternization followed by the key intramolecular [2+2+2] alkyne cycloaddition. The physico-chemical properties of four new linquats were characterized by spectroscopic methods, X-ray crystallography, and electrochemistry complemented by information obtained from DFT calculations.

Comprehensive view of the population history of Arabia as inferred by mtDNA variation.

Objectives: Genetic and archaeological research supports the theory that Arabia was the first region traversed by modern humans as they left Africa and dispersed throughout Eurasia. However, the role of Arabia from the initial migration out of Africa until more recent times is still unclear.

Materials And Methods: We have generated 379 new hypervariable segment 1 (HVS-1) sequences from a range of geographic locations throughout Yemen.

Study of deoxyribonucleic acid-ligand interactions by partial filling affinity capillary electrophoresis.

In this work, a new partial filling affinity capillary electrophoresis (PF-ACE) method has been developed and applied to investigation of non-covalent molecular interactions between double stranded DNA oligonucleotide (Dickerson dodecamer) and classical DNA intercalator ligand-ethidiumbromide (EtBr) or oligophenylene derivatives-based potential new type of DNA ligands. Binding constants of DNA-ligand complexes were determined from the dependence of migration time changes of DNA oligomer (applied as analyte) on the length of ligand zones introduced beforehand as plugs of various lengths (0-75mm with 12.5mm step) in hydroxypropylcellulose coated fused silica capillary of 50/375μm I.

Nitrogen heteroaromatic cations by [2+2+2] cycloaddition.

A modular approach to the construction of monocationic quaternary N-heteroaromatic frameworks was developed capitalizing on a direct pyridine-type nitrogen quaternization followed by metal-catalyzed [2+2+2] cycloaddition with gaseous acetylene. The flexibility of the route is demonstrated on 12 diverse scaffolds based on pyridinium, quinolinium, thiazolium, benzothiazolium, imidazolium, and pyrimidinium. Electrochemical study revealed a quinolinium redox system with two electrochemically distinct forms that are interconverted by a homogeneous chemical reaction triggered by fast electron transfers (reduction at -0.