Effects of rocuronium pretreatment on muscle enzyme levels following succinylcholine.

Succinylcholine revolutionized anaesthetic practice by providing intense neuromuscular blockade of very rapid onset and ultrashort duration, thereby greatly easing the maneuver of tracheal intubation. However the worth of succinylcholine is limited by the frequent occurrence of muscular side effects which manifest biochemically in the form of rise in serum creatine kinase (CK). The administration of small doses of nondepolarizing muscle relaxants before the administration of succinylcholine has been shown to decrease the incidence and severity of muscular side effects experienced by the patients.

Effect of plant nutrition on aphid size, prey consumption, and life history characteristics of green lacewing.

Plant quality can directly and indirectly affect the third trophic level. The predation by all the instars of green lacewing, Chrysoperla carnea (S.) (Neuroptera: Chrysopidae) on the cereal aphids, Rhopalosiphum padi (L.

CDK6 associates with the centrosome during mitosis and is mutated in a large Pakistani family with primary microcephaly.

Autosomal recessive primary microcephaly (MCPH) is characterized by reduced head circumference, reduction in the size of the cerebral cortex with otherwise grossly normal brain structure and variable intellectual disability. MCPH is caused by mutations of 11 different genes which code for proteins implicated in cell division and cell cycle regulation. We studied a consanguineous eight-generation family from Pakistan with ten microcephalic children using homozygosity mapping and found a new MCPH locus at HSA 7q21.

Drought and root herbivory interact to alter the response of above-ground parasitoids to aphid infested plants and associated plant volatile signals.

Multitrophic interactions are likely to be altered by climate change but there is little empirical evidence relating the responses of herbivores and parasitoids to abiotic factors. Here we investigated the effects of drought on an above/below-ground system comprising a generalist and a specialist aphid species (foliar herbivores), their parasitoids, and a dipteran species (root herbivore).We tested the hypotheses that: (1) high levels of drought stress and below-ground herbivory interact to reduce the performance of parasitoids developing in aphids; (2) drought stress and root herbivory change the profile of volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) emitted by the host plant; (3) parasitoids avoid ovipositing in aphids feeding on plants under drought stress and root herbivory.

Subclavian steal syndrome secondary to subclavian artery thrombosis in a patient with homocysteinemia and its successful treatment.

Subclavian steal syndrome (SSS) is a rare condition. It results from subclavian artery (SA) stenosis proximal to the origin of the vertebral artery. It is characterized by cerebral ischaemia with associated symptoms of vertebrobasilar hypoperfusion and/or symptoms of brainstem or arm ischaemia.

Distinctive microRNA expression signatures in proton-irradiated mice.

Proton particles comprise the most abundant ionizing radiation (IR) in outer space. These high energy particles are known to cause frequent double- and single-stranded DNA lesions that can lead to cancer and tumor formation. Understanding the mechanism of cellular response to proton-derived IR is vital for determining health risks to astronauts during space missions.

Frac-seq reveals isoform-specific recruitment to polyribosomes.

Pre-mRNA splicing is required for the accurate expression of virtually all human protein coding genes. However, splicing also plays important roles in coordinating subsequent steps of pre-mRNA processing such as polyadenylation and mRNA export. Here, we test the hypothesis that nuclear pre-mRNA processing influences the polyribosome association of alternative mRNA isoforms.

Convergent antibody signatures in human dengue.

Dengue is the most prevalent mosquito-borne viral disease in humans, and the lack of early prognostics, vaccines, and therapeutics contributes to immense disease burden. To identify patterns that could be used for sequence-based monitoring of the antibody response to dengue, we examined antibody heavy-chain gene rearrangements in longitudinal peripheral blood samples from 60 dengue patients. Comparing signatures between acute dengue, postrecovery, and healthy samples, we found increased expansion of B cell clones in acute dengue patients, with higher overall clonality in secondary infection.

Determination of hepatitis C virus genotypes circulating in different districts of Punjab (Pakistan).

Introduction: Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is a principal cause of severe liver diseases worldwide and a possible source of significant morbidity and fatality in the long term. Information on the genotype is more significant because it has prognostic value in the response to antiviral therapy.

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the frequency of various HCV genotypes circulating in the different districts of Punjab and to show the pattern distribution of HCV genotypes in different age groups and sexes.

Drosophila GAGA factor polyglutamine domains exhibit prion-like behavior.

Background: The Drosophila GAGA factor (GAF) participates in nucleosome remodeling to activate genes, acts as an antirepressor and is associated with heterochromatin, contributing to gene repression. GAF functions are intimately associated to chromatin-based epigenetic control, linking basic transcriptional regulation to heritable long-term maintenance of gene expression. These diverse functions require GAF to interact with different partners in different multiprotein complexes.

Stromal cell derived factor-1alpha protects stem cell derived insulin-producing cells from glucotoxicity under high glucose conditions in-vitro and ameliorates drug induced diabetes in rats.

Background: Diabetes mellitus is affecting more than 300 million people worldwide. Current treatment strategies cannot prevent secondary complications. Stem cells due to their regenerative power have long been the attractive target for the cell-based therapies.

Abdominal lymphadenopathy: an atypical presentation of enteric fever.

This is a case report of a patient who presented to the Aga Khan University Hospital with generalized abdominal lymphadenopathy and high-grade fever. Due to ambiguous clinical findings, which were suggestive of either abdominal tuberculosis, or a lymphoma, the patient was started on empirical anti-tuberculous treatment due to the endemicity of tuberculosis in this region. The blood culture reports, however, were reported to grow colonies of Salmonella paratyphi A; thus the diagnosis of the patient was changed to enteric fever, and the patient improved on the subsequently started therapy of ceftriaxone 2,000 mg bid.

Creutzfeldt Jakob disease.

A case of 50 years of age, male with sporadic Creutzfeldt Jakob Disease (sCJD) is reported. Patient had dementia, behavioural abnormalities, unsteady gait and myoclonic jerks. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain T2 weighted and Fluid Attenuated Inverse Recovery (FLAIR) images showed abnormally increased signal intensity in caudate nucleus and putamen.

Hairy polyp, a clinicopathologic study of four cases.

Hairy polyps (HPs), dermoids or teratoid tumors are rare tumors of naso-oropharyngeal region which commonly present at or shortly after birth. The etiology and classification of these tumors is still debatable and categorized by different authors differently. HPs have female predominance and usually present with respiratory and feeding problems.

Use of whole genome sequencing to determine the microevolution of Mycobacterium tuberculosis during an outbreak.

Rationale: Current tools available to study the molecular epidemiology of tuberculosis do not provide information about the directionality and sequence of transmission for tuberculosis cases occurring over a short period of time, such as during an outbreak. Recently, whole genome sequencing has been used to study molecular epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis over short time periods.

Objective: To describe the microevolution of M.

Identification of radiation-induced microRNA transcriptome by next-generation massively parallel sequencing.

Gene regulation in cells exposed to ionizing radiation (IR) occurs at the transcriptional and post-transcriptional levels. Recent studies have suggested that micro-RNA (miRNA) play a significant role in post-transcriptional gene regulation in irradiated cells. miRNA are RNA molecules 18-24 nucleotides in length that are involved in negatively regulating the stability or translation of target messenger RNA.

Drought alters interactions between root and foliar herbivores.

Drought can alter plant quality and the strength of trophic interactions between herbivore groups, and is likely to increase in occurrence and severity under climate change. We hypothesized that changes in plant chemistry due to root herbivory and drought stress would affect the performance of a generalist and a specialist aphid species feeding on a Brassica plant. High drought stress increased the negative effect of root herbivory on the performance of both aphid species (30% decrease in fecundity and 15% reduction in intrinsic rate of increase).

Novel missense mutation in the RSPO4 gene in congenital hyponychia and evidence for a polymorphic initiation codon (p.M1I).

Background: Anonychia/hyponychia congenita is a rare autosomal recessive developmental disorder characterized by the absence (anonychia) or hypoplasia (hyponuchia) of finger- and/or toenails frequently caused by mutations in the R-spondin 4 (RSPO4) gene.

Methods: Three hypo/anonychia consanguineous Pakistani families were ascertained and genotyped using microsatellite markers spanning the RSPO4 locus on chromosome 20p13. Mutation screening of the RSPO4 gene was carried out by direct sequencing of the entire coding region and all intron-exon boundaries.

Whole exome sequencing identified a novel zinc-finger gene ZNF141 associated with autosomal recessive postaxial polydactyly type A.

Background: Postaxial polydactyly (PAP) type A is characterised by well-formed functionally developed 5th digit duplication in hands and/or feet. It is genetically heterogeneous condition, inherited both in autosomal recessive and dominant manners. To date one autosomal recessive and four autosomal dominant loci have been mapped on human chromosomes.

Problems encountered in bicistronic IRES-GFP expression vectors employed in functional analyses of GC-induced genes.

Our laboratory has developed a series of Gateway(®) compatible lentiviral expression systems for constitutive and conditional gene knock-down and over-expression. For tetracycline-regulated transgenic expression, we constructed a lentiviral "DEST" plasmid (pHR-TetCMV-Dest-IRES-GFP5) containing a tetracycline-responsive minimal CMV promoter, followed by an attP site-flanked DEST cassette (for efficient cloning of cDNAs by "Gateway(®)" recombination cloning) and green fluorescent protein (GFP) driven by an internal ribosomal entry site (IRES).This lentiviral bicistronic plasmid allows immediate FACS identification and characterization of successfully transfected cell lines.

A novel mutation in the Lipase H gene underlies autosomal recessive hypotrichosis and woolly hair.

Mutations in the lipase member H (LIPH) gene cause autosomal recessive hypotrichosis with woolly hair. We report herein on five consanguineous families from Pakistan segregating hypotrichosis and woolly hair. Genetic investigation using polymorphic microsatellite markers revealed homozygosity for a region spanning the HYPT7 locus on chromosome 3 in affected individuals of all five families.

4-Bromo-2-{(E)-[(3,4-dimethyl-phen-yl)imino]-meth-yl}phenol.

In the title compound, C(15)H(14)BrNO, the dihedral angle between the aromatic rings is 4.10 (11)° and the mol-ecule is close to planar (r.m.

N-(2,4-Dichloro-phen-yl)-1,3-thia-zol-2-amine.

In the title mol-ecule, C(9)H(6)Cl(2)N(2)S, the mean planes of the benzene and thia-zole rings make a dihedral angle of 54.18 (8)°. In the crystal, mol-ecules are joined into dimers with an R(2) (2)(8) ring motif by pairs of N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds.

N-(2,4,6-Trimethyl-phen-yl)-1,3-thia-zol-2-amine.

In the title compound, C(12)H(14)N(2)S, the dihedral angle between the 1,3,5-trimethyl-benzene and 1,3-thia-zol-2-amine groups is 73.15 (4)°. In the crystal, inversion dimers linked by pairs of N-H⋯N hydrogen bonds generate R(2) (2)(8) loops.

cyclo-Tetrakis(μ(2)-3-sulfidopropyl-κ(3)C(1),S:S)tetrakis[chloridocobalt(III)]. Retraction.

The paper by Awan et al. [Acta Cryst. (2011), E67, m576-m577] is retracted.