The goal of the study reported in the paper was to determine whether rendering style (non-photorealistic versus realistic) has an effect on perception of American Sign Language (ASL) finger spelling animations. Sixty-nine (69) subjects participated in the experiment; all subjects were ASL users. The participants were asked to watch forty (40) sign language animation clips representing twenty (2...

BACKGROUND We have previously identified Semaphorin 6a (Sema6A) as an upregulated gene product in a gene expression screen in cortical ischemia [1]. Semaphorin 6a was regulated during the recovery phase following ischemia in the cortex. Semaphorin 6a is a member of the superfamily of semaphorins involved in axon guidance and other functions. We hypothesized that the upregulation indicates a cru...

Primary effusion lymphomas (PEL) are associated with human herpesvirus-8 (HHV-8) and usually occur in immunocompromised individuals. However, there are numerous reports of HHV-8-unrelated PEL-like lymphomas with unknown aetiology. Here we characterize an HHV-8-unrelated PEL-like lymphoma in an elderly woman who was negative for human immunodeficiency viruses 1 and 2, and hepatitis B and C. The ...

Aim. Our aim is to survey the treatment effect of PEG-IFN plus ribavirin in patients infected with HCV genotype 6a in Guangdong and Guangxi province of China and investigate best course of antiviral treatment for patients with HCV-6a infection. Methods. 515 eligible patients received subcutaneous 180 μg PEG-IFNα-2a or 1.5 μg/kg PEG-IFNα-2b once weekly plus oral ribavirin. Primary outcome was SV...

The human angiotensinogen (hAGT) gene has polymorphisms in its 2.5-kb promoter that form two haplotype (Hap) blocks: -6A/G (-1670A/G, -1562C/T, and -1561T/C) and -217A/G (-532T/C, -793A/G, -1074T/C, and -1178G/A). Hap -6A/-217A is associated with human hypertension, whereas Hap -6G/-217G reduces cardiovascular risk. Hap -6A/-217A has increased promoter activity with enhanced transcription facto...

5H-benzo[h]thiazolo[2,3-b]quinazoline scaffold is known to have an antitumor effect on certain types of malignancies; however, its effect on hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) remains unclear. Previously, we reported p-toluenesulfonic acid-promoted syntheses, molecular modeling and in vitro antitumor activity of 5H-benzo[h]thiazolo[2,3-b]quinazoline against human hepatoma (Hep-G2) cells where compo...

Background: We have recently reported the presence of Human herpesvirus-6A (HHV-6A) DNA in the 43% of endometrial epithelial cells from primary idiopathic infertile women, with no positivity in fertile women. To investigate the possible effect of HHV-6A infection in endometrial (e)NK cells functions, we examined activating/inhibitory receptors expressed by eNK cells and the corresponding ligand...

U24 is a protein found in both roseoloviruses Human Herpes Virus type 6 and 7 (HHV-6 and HHV-7), with an N-terminus that is rich in prolines (PY motif in both HHV-6A and 7; PxxP motif in HHV-6A). Previous work has shown that the interaction between U24 and WW domains is important for endocytic recycling of T-cell receptors, but a cognate ligand was never identified. In this contribution, data w...

In wheat, coding region allelic variants of TaGW2-6A are closely associated with grain width and weight, but the genetic mechanisms involved remain unclear. Thus, to obtain insights into the key functions regulated by TaGW2-6A during wheat grain development, we performed transcriptional and proteomic analyses of TaGW2-6A allelic variants. The transcription results showed that the TaGW2-6A allel...

Selective splicing is a feature of luteinizing hormone receptor (LHCGR). A cryptic exon (LHCGR-exon 6A) was found to be derived from alternative splicing in intron 6 of the LHCGR gene, which including two transcripts LHCGR-exon 6A-long and LHCGR-exon 6A-short. We addressed the functional consequences of SNP rs68073206, located at the +5 position of an alternative 5' splice donor site, and obser...