Analyses of genome reduction in obligate bacterial symbionts typically focus on the removal and retention of protein-coding regions, which are subject to ongoing inactivation and deletion. However, these same forces operate on intergenic spacers (IGSs) and affect their contents, maintenance, and rates of evolution. IGSs comprise both non-coding, non-functional regions, including decaying pseudo...

A matrix developed from N,N,N',N'-ethylenediaminetetramethylenephosphonic acid-modified zirconia beads (further referred to as r_PEZ); 25-38 microm in diameter and with a pore size of 22+/-3 nm, was utilized for the separation of immunoglobulins (Igs). r_PEZ has been shown to bind to various Igs originating from a wide variety of species. To understand the mechanisms controlling the uptake of I...

Abstract: Urban residents’ health depends on green infrastructure to cope with climate change. Shrinking cities could utilize vacant land to provide more green space, but declining tax revenues preclude new park development—a situation pronounced in Japan, where some cities are projected to shrink by over ten percent, but lack green space. Could informal urban green spaces (IGS; vacant lots, st...

Image-guided surgery (IGS) has allowed for more minimally invasive procedures, leading to better patient outcomes, reduced risk of infection, less pain, shorter hospital stays and faster recoveries. One drawback that has emerged with IGS is that the surgeon must shift their attention from the patient to the monitor for guidance. Yet both cognitive and motor tasks are negatively affected with at...

While 16S rRNA sequence-based identification of Nocardia species has become the gold standard, it is not without its limitations. We evaluated a novel approach encompassing the amplification of the Nocardia 16S-23S rRNA intergenic spacer (IGS) region followed by fragment analysis by capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) of the amplified product for species identification of Nocardia. One hundred ...

This research is motivated by the recent IGS Ionosphere Working Group recommendation issued at the IGS 2010Workshop held inNewcastle, UK. This recommendation encourages studies on the evaluation of the application of COSMIC radio occultation profiles for additional IGS global ionosphere map (GIM) validation. This is because the reliability of GIMs is crucial to many geodetic applications. On th...

Over the last decade, immunogenetic analysis of B-cell receptor immunoglobulins (BcR IGs) has proved to be a particularly fruitful field in chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), not only for understanding disease pathogenesis but also for discriminating clinical subgroups with markedly distinct course and outcome. Of utmost importance was the identification of quasi-identical BcR IGs among unrela...

OBJECT This retrospective review was conducted to determine the surgical treatment principle for rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with atlantoaxial instability (AAI). METHODS Thirteen patients with AAI, including 5 RA patients, received preoperative computed tomography- (CT-) based image-guided navigation system (IGS) in C1 lateral mass-C2 pedicle screw-rod system fixation (LC1-PC2 fixation...

The light chains of mouse Igs have been classified into two isotypes, K and X. In contrast to the x chains, the A chains were shown to display restricted heterogeneity . Two V.1 gene segments and four J.1-CA gene pairs have been described (1) . The three X subtypes (X1, X2, and a3) are respectively encoded by the combination of VA1J.11-C.11, VA2J.12-CA2, and V.11JA3-C.13 gene segments . The J.1...

Antimicrobial compounds have critical roles in plant immunity; for example, Arabidopsis thaliana and other crucifers deploy phytoalexins and glucosinolate derivatives in defense against pathogens. The pathogen-responsive MITOGEN-ACTIVATED PROTEIN KINASE3 (MPK3) and MPK6 have essential functions in the induction of camalexin, the major phytoalexin in Arabidopsis. In search of cyanide, a coproduc...