Intrinsic backbone conformational preferences of different amino acids are important for understanding the local structure of unfolded protein chains. Recent evidence suggests α-structure is relatively minor among three major backbone conformations for unfolded proteins. The α-helices are the dominant structures in many proteins. For these proteins, how could the α-structures occur from the lea...

BACKGROUND Transfusion dependant patients are at a higher risk of acquiring bloodborne infections even under conditions of safe transfusion. This study was designed to determine sero-prevalence of hepatitis C infection and possible associated risk factors in thalassaemic children. METHODS One hundred and twenty five children with β thalassaemia major (β-TM) were recruited from the Haematology...

Telomere function is essential to maintaining the physical integrity of linear chromosomes and healthy human aging. The probability of forming proper telomere structures depends on the length of the telomeric DNA tract. We attempted to identify common genetic variants associated with log relative telomere length using genome-wide genotyping data on 3,554 individuals from the Nurses' Health Stud...

Cure of type 1 diabetes (T1D) by immune intervention at disease onset depends on the restoration of insulin secretion by endogenous β-cells. However, little is known about the potential of β-cell mass and function to recover after autoimmune attack ablation. Using a longitudinal in vivo imaging approach, we show how functional status and mass of β-cells adapt in response to the onset and remiss...

BACKGROUND The genetic background of Growth Hormone (GH) secretion is not well understood. Mutations giving rise to a stop codon have a high likelihood of affecting protein function. OBJECTIVES To analyze likely functional stop codon mutations that are associated with fasting plasma concentration of Growth Hormone. METHODS We analyzed stop codon mutations in 5451 individuals in the Malmö Di...

OBJECTIVE To assess factors associated with white matter hyperintensity (WMH) change in a large cohort after observing obvious WMH shrinkage 1 year after minor stroke in several participants in a longitudinal study. METHODS We recruited participants with minor ischemic stroke and performed clinical assessments and brain MRI. At 1 year, we assessed recurrent cerebrovascular events and dependen...

Abstract. Elevation in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration (eCO2) affects vegetation water use, with consequent impacts on terrestrial runoff (Q). However, the sign and magnitude of eCO2 effect Q are still contentious. This is partly due to eCO2-induced changes use having opposing responses at leaf scale (i.e., water-saving caused by partially stomatal closure) canopy water-consuming induc...

Autotransporters are bacterial virulence factors that contain an N-terminal extracellular ("passenger") domain and a C-terminal β barrel ("β") domain that anchors the protein to the outer membrane. The β domain is required for passenger domain secretion, but its exact role in autotransporter biogenesis is unclear. Here we describe insights into the function of the β domain that emerged from an ...

conclusions penetrating trauma from wooden fragments provides a diagnostic challenge. a stubborn discharge from a wound must always raise the suspicion of retained fragment. early and appropriate surgical exploration is imperative. introduction in contrast with victims of major trauma, patients who suffer minor injuries receive little specialist input. in most cases, this causes no difficulty, ...

introduction and objective: zinc as the second trace element of the human body plays an important role in numerous functions. a large number of research studies have showed serum zinc deficiency and excess urinary excretion in patients with major beta thalassemia, but few studies revealed excess urinary zinc excretion in minor beta thalassemia and no study investigated serum zinc levels in this...