Synthesis and characterization of a new 5-thiol-protected deoxyuridine phosphoramidite for site-specific modification of DNA

A new nucleotide analogue was developed for site-specific incorporation of a reactive thiol group into DNA. This creates a unique site for the post-synthetic modification of that nucleotide with a variety of molecular tags, such as photo-cross-linkers and fluorescent or spin-label moieties. 5'-O-(4,4'-Dimethoxytrityl)-5-[S-(2,4-dinitrophenyl)thio]-2'-deoxyuridin e 3'-O-(2-cyanoethyl N,N'-diisopropylphosphoramidite) was synthesized and incorporated at internal positions in several oligonucleotides using automated DNA synthesis and standard phosphoramidite chemistry. The coupling yield of the analogue was comparable to the coupling yield for a standard phosphoramidite, and no significant differences were observed in the overall yields of the dinitrophenyl-labeled oligonucleotides compared to the corresponding unmodified oligonucleotides. Characterization of the dinitrophenyl-modified oligonucleotides included enzymatic degradation, HPLC chromatography, and gel electrophoresis. Deprotection of the mercaptan group with beta-mercaptoethanol yielded an oligonucleotide containing 5-mercaptodeoxyuridine which was then selectively modified, without purification, by reaction with 5-(iodoacetamido)fluorescein. Incorporation of the dinitrophenyl-modified oligonucleotide into double-stranded DNA was achieved using the polymerase chain reaction. CHaracterization of the dinitrophenyl-labeled product by immunodetection with anti-dinitrophenyl antibodies confirmed the stability of the protecting group to the thermocycling and thus established the use of this thiol-protected mercaptodeoxyuridine phosphoramidite for preparation of site-specifically modified DNA.     

Seasonal patterns of deaths in Matlab, Bangladesh

BACKGROUND: Deaths exhibit a seasonal pattern in most parts of the world. Analyses of deaths for the years 1972-1974 from the vital registration system of Matlab, Bangladesh, published in this journal 17 years ago, showed sinusoidal seasonal patterns. As death rates have declined in other nations, the seasonal pattern is attenuated. Death rates have declined substantially in Bangladesh in the past two decades. Thus, the present study examines monthly counts of deaths from Matlab data for a period 15 years later and tests the hypothesis of a decrease or shift in seasonality over time. METHODS: Trigonometric regression models were fit to monthly data by age and cause of death from the Matlab vital registration system for the years 1982-1990. A total of 20,328 death records were available for analyses. RESULTS: In the recent period significant sinusoidal seasonal patterns are found in all but one of the age and cause of death groups. Total deaths peak in the winter as do neonatal deaths but post-neonatal and child deaths are maximum in April and July respectively. Among cause groups, injury deaths (mostly attributed to drowning) show the greatest seasonal swing. The time of peak has only shifted for one age group--neonates--since the 1972-1974 period. The magnitude of the seasonal swing has declined significantly only for the neonatal age group and injury cause of death group. CONCLUSION: Marked seasonal patterns of deaths persist in the Matlab area of Bangladesh even as the level of mortality has declined.     

Physician-hospital transactions: developing a process for handling valuation-related issues

Hospitals are increasingly attempting to integrate their operations with physician constituents through the development of hospital-physician joint ventures and acquisition of physician practices. This article provides an overview of valuation-related issues that result with respect to such affiliation efforts and guidance to assist the health care financial and legal professional in resolving such issues consistent with the business objectives of the transaction parties.     

Patient education for discharge after coronary bypass surgery in the 1990s: are patients adequately prepared?

Short hospitalizations for patients undergoing coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) require continuous nursing evaluation of patients' discharge education. Six institutions collaborated in surveying 300 postoperative patients with CABG to identify learning priorities and patients' perceptions of the effectiveness of discharge education. Data analysis from the self-administered questionnaire demonstrated consistent patient priorities across institutions. Differences in teaching methods and content did not affect perceived preparedness or importance scores. Regional experience demonstrates that variable teaching efforts meet patients' priorities and provide high overall patient preparedness for discharge. Patients with the shortest hospitalizations had higher preparedness scores.     

Direct sequential evaluation of optimal orthonormal eigenvectors of the discrete Fourier transform matrix by constrained optimization

The recent emergence of the discrete fractional Fourier transform has spurred research activity aiming at generating Hermite–Gaussian-like (HGL) orthonormal eigenvectors of the discrete Fourier transform (DFT) matrix F. By exploiting the unitarity of matrix F – resulting in the orthogonality of its eigenspaces pertaining to the distinct eigenvalues – the problem decouples into finding orthonormal eigenvectors for each eigenspace separately. A Direct Sequential Evaluation by constrained Optimization Algorithm (DSEOA) is contributed for the generation of optimal orthonormal eigenvectors for each eigenspace separately. This technique is direct in the sense that it does not require the generation of initial orthonormal eigenvectors as a prerequisite for obtaining the final optimal ones. The resulting eigenvectors are optimal in the sense of being as close as possible to samples of the Hermite–Gaussian functions. The technique is found to be numerically robust because total pivoting is allowed in performing the QR matrix decomposition step. The DSEOA is proved to be theoretically equivalent to each of the Gram–Schmidt algorithm (GSA) and the sequential orthogonal Procrustes algorithm (SOPA). However the three techniques are algorithmically quite distinct. An extensive comparative simulation study shows that the DSEOA is by far the most numerically robust technique among all sequential algorithms thus paying off for its relatively long computation time.     

Myopathy-Sensitive G-Actin Segment 227-235 Is Involved in Salt-Induced Stabilization of Contacts within the Actin Filament

Formation of stable actin filaments, critically important for actin functions, is determined by the ionic strength of the solution. However, not much is known about the elements of the actin fold involved in ionic-strength-dependent filament stabilization. In this work, F-actin was destabilized by Cu²⁺ binding to Cys374, and the effects of solvent conditions on the dynamic properties of F-actin were correlated with the involvement of Segment 227-235 in filament stabilization. The results of our work show that the presence of Mg²⁺ at the high-affinity cation binding site of Cu-modified actin polymerized with MgCl₂ strongly enhances the rate of filament subunit exchange and promotes the filament instability. In the presence of 0.1 M KCl, the filament subunit exchange was 2–3-fold lower than that in the MgCl₂-polymerized F-actin. This effect correlates with the reduced accessibility of the D-loop and Segment 227-235 on opposite filament strands, consistent with an ionic-strength-dependent conformational change that modulates involvement of Segment 227-235 in stabilization of the intermonomer interface. KCl may restrict the mobility of the α-helix encompassing part of Segment 227-235 and/or be bound to Asp236 at the boundary of Segment 227-235. These results provide experimental evidence for the involvement of Segment 227-235 in salt-induced stabilization of contacts within the actin filament and suggest that they can be weakened by mutations characteristic of actin-associated myopathies.     

Diabetes during Pregnancy: A Maternal Disease Complicating the Course of Pregnancy with Long-Term Deleterious Effects on the Offspring. A Clinical Review

In spite of the huge progress in the treatment of diabetes mellitus, we are still in the situation that both pregestational (PGDM) and gestational diabetes (GDM) impose an additional risk to the embryo, fetus, and course of pregnancy. PGDM may increase the rate of congenital malformations, especially cardiac, nervous system, musculoskeletal system, and limbs. PGDM may interfere with fetal growth, often causing macrosomia, but in the presence of severe maternal complications, especially nephropathy, it may inhibit fetal growth. PGDM may also induce a variety of perinatal complications such as stillbirth and perinatal death, cardiomyopathy, respiratory morbidity, and perinatal asphyxia. GDM that generally develops in the second half of pregnancy induces similar but generally less severe complications. Their severity is higher with earlier onset of GDM and inversely correlated with the degree of glycemic control. Early initiation of GDM might even cause some increase in the rate of congenital malformations. Both PGDM and GDM may cause various motor and behavioral neurodevelopmental problems, including an increased incidence of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Most complications are reduced in incidence and severity with the improvement in diabetic control. Mechanisms of diabetic-induced damage in pregnancy are related to maternal and fetal hyperglycemia, enhanced oxidative stress, epigenetic changes, and other, less defined, pathogenic mechanisms.