New BAR tools for mining expression data and exploring Cis-elements in Arabidopsis thaliana.

Identifying sets of genes that are specifically expressed in certain tissues or in response to an environmental stimulus is useful for designing reporter constructs, generating gene expression markers, or for understanding gene regulatory networks. We have developed an easy-to-use online tool for defining a desired expression profile (a modification of our Expression Angler program), which can then be used to identify genes exhibiting patterns of expression that match this profile as closely as possible. Further, we have developed another online tool, Cistome, for predicting or exploring cis-elements in the promoters of sets of co-expressed genes identified by such a method, or by other methods.

BAR expressolog identification: expression profile similarity ranking of homologous genes in plant species.

Large numbers of sequences are now readily available for many plant species, allowing easy identification of homologous genes. However, orthologous gene identification across multiple species is made difficult by evolutionary events such as whole-genome or segmental duplications. Several developmental atlases of gene expression have been produced in the past couple of years, and it may be possible to use these transcript abundance data to refine ortholog predictions.

Next-generation mapping of Arabidopsis genes.

Next-generation genomic sequencing technologies have made it possible to directly map mutations responsible for phenotypes of interest via direct sequencing. However, most mapping strategies proposed to date require some prior genetic analysis, which can be very time-consuming even in genetically tractable organisms. Here we present a de novo method for rapidly and robustly mapping the physical location of EMS mutations by sequencing a small pooled F₂ population.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for postoperative pain relief after total knee arthroplasty.

Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) has been used to treat chronic pain syndromes and has been reported to be of some utility in the treatment of postsurgical pain. A randomized, blinded, placebo-controlled trial was designed to evaluate the utility of TENS after total knee arthroplasty. Patients were randomly enrolled into patient-controlled anesthesia (PCA) alone, PCA plus TENS, or PCA plus sham TENS.