A questionnaire survey was conducted by the Epidemiology Working Group of the European Cervical Cancer Screening Network, and the International Agency for Research on Cancer, IARC, between August and ...December 2003 in 35 centres in 20 European countries with reliable cervical cancer incidence and/or mortality data in databanks held at IARC and WHO. The questionnaire was completed by 28 centres from 20 countries. The final tables included information on 25 centres from 18 countries. Six countries had started screening in the 1960s, whereas 10 countries or regions had started at least a pilot programme by 2003. There were six invitational and nine partially invitational programmes, the rest employing opportunistic screening only. Recommended lifetime number of smears varied from seven to more than 50. Coverage of smear test within the recommended screening interval (usually 3 or 5 years) was above 80% in three countries. Screening registration took place in 13 programmes. Eight programmes reported the rates of screen-detected cervical cancers and precursor lesions. There was wide variation in the CIN3 detection rates. International guidelines and quality assurance protocols are useful for monitoring and evaluating screening programmes systematically. Our survey indicated that the recommendations as currently given are met in only few European countries. Health authorities need to consider stronger measures and incentives than those laid out in the current set of recommendations.
Recent evidence suggests that belatacept reduces the durability of preexisting antibodies to class I and class II human leukocyte antigens (HLAs). In this case series of 163 highly sensitized kidney ...transplant candidates whose calculated panel‐reactive antibody (cPRA) activity was ≥98% to 100%, the impact of belatacept on preexisting HLA antibodies was assessed. Of the 163 candidates, 72 underwent transplantation between December 4, 2014 and April 15, 2017; 60 of these transplanted patients remained on belatacept consecutively for at least 6 months. We observed a decrease in the breadth and/or strength of HLA class I antibodies as assessed by FlowPRA in belatacept‐treated patients compared to controls who did not receive belatacept. Specifically, significant HLA antibody reduction was evident for class I (P < .0009). Posttransplant belatacept‐treated patients also had a clinically significant reduction in their cPRA compared to controls (P < .01). Collectively, these findings suggest belatacept can reduce HLA class I antibodies in a significant proportion of highly sensitized recipients and could be an option to improve pretransplant compatibility with organ donors.
This study suggests that belatacept reduces third‐party HLA class I antibodies in a significant proportion of highly sensitized kidney transplant recipients and may be another pretransplant option for patient desensitization.
Ribosomes isolated from either dry viable or non-viable pea embryonic axis tissue were equally effective in the support of polyphenylalanine synthesis in a poly(U)-directed cell-free ...protein-synthesising system. Ribosomes isolated from imbibed non-viable axis tissue were impaired in their ability to support polyphenylalanine synthesis in the cell-free system. RNA isolated from ribosomes and 40-S ribosomal subunits of dry or imbibed viable axis tissue was found not to be degraded, whereas the equivalent RNA species isolated from non-viable axis tissue showed an increased degree of breakdown as imbibition proceeded. Even though rRNA of imbibed non-viable axis tissue was degraded, the ribosomes and ribosomal subunits of these embryos appeared intact. In viable embryonic axis tissue the percentage of ribosomes present in the cell in the form of polysomes increased during imbibition whereas no polysomes could be detected in ribosomal preparations from dry or imbibed non-viable axis tissue. The breakdown of rRNA in ribosomal particles from non-viable axis tissue may be a contributory factor to senescence and loss of viability in Pisum arvense.
DNA ligase--a means to an end joining Bray, Clifford M; Sunderland, Paul A; Waterworth, Wanda M ...
SEB experimental biology series,
2008, Volume:
59
Journal Article
At an optimal germination temperature loss of viability in wheat seed is reflected in reduced levels of nucleoside triphosphates and nucleotide sugars in the embryo compared to the levels found in ...high viability embryos during the early hours of imbibition. These differences are magnified on germination at 10° C and are accompanied by a greatly reduced rate of protein synthesis in embryos of low viability compared with the corresponding rate in embryos of high viability. Loss of vigour precedes loss of viability in seed but differences in biochemical parameters between high and medium vigour seed do not become apparent unless germination under stress conditions, e. g. low temperature, occurs. Under these stress conditions, wheat seed of reduced vigour can be distinguished from high vigour seed lots of similar viability by the decreased levels of nucleotides and nucleotide sugars found in embryos from reduced vigour seed lots during the early hours of imbibition and by reduced rates of protein synthesis in these embryos during this same period. Nucleotide analysis is a potentially useful method for rapid assessment of the viability or vigour of a seed lot.
The human X chromosome has a unique biology that was shaped by its evolution as the sex chromosome shared by males and females. We have determined 99.3% of the euchromatic sequence of the X ...chromosome. Our analysis illustrates the autosomal origin of the mammalian sex chromosomes, the stepwise process that led to the progressive loss of recombination between X and Y, and the extent of subsequent degradation of the Y chromosome. LINE1 repeat elements cover one-third of the X chromosome, with a distribution that is consistent with their proposed role as way stations in the process of X-chromosome inactivation. We found 1,098 genes in the sequence, of which 99 encode proteins expressed in testis and in various tumour types. A disproportionately high number of mendelian diseases are documented for the X chromosome. Of this number, 168 have been explained by mutations in 113 X-linked genes, which in many cases were characterized with the aid of the DNA sequence.
The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing ...Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers approximately 99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of approximately 1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human genome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead.
A study has been made of the RNA and protein synthesising systems of wheat embryos isolated from seed lots having high viability but differing in vigour. The rate of RNA and protein synthesis in ...wheat embryos during the early hours of germination is related to the vigour of the seed lot. The imposition of a stress factor, in the nature of a sub-optimal germination temperature, during germination of isolated wheat embryos magnifies the differences in rates of protein and RNA synthesis between high and low vigour seed. Using cell-free protein synthesising systems it has been demonstrated that an important difference between high and low vigour embryos lies in the relative levels of messenger RNA in the embryo. High vigour embryos contain relatively higher levels of poly A+-RNA (i.e. potential mRNA species) than lower vigour embryos and furthermore the level of poly A+-RNA in high vigour embryos increases during early germination whilst in lower vigour embryos the level decreases. The difference in poly A+-RNA levels accounts, at least partially, for the differences in rates of protein synthesis observed between embryos from high and low vigour wheat seed during early germination at both optimal and sub-optimal germination temperatures.
Polyadenylated-RNA (Poly(A)+RNA) levels have been studied during the germination of wheat embryos of high viability but differing vigour. In high-vigour embryos imbibed at 20° C the level of ...poly(A)+RNA falls dramatically over the first hour of imbibition, then remains constant up to 3 h of imbibition before increasing rapidly to a level similar to that found in the quiescent state by 7 h of imbibition. Median-vigour embryos imbibed at 20° C show similar changes in poly(A)+RNA content but the initial decrease and subsequent increase in poly(A)+RNA levels are less marked. On imbibition at 10° C, the poly(A)+RNA content in high-vigour embryos decreases to a lesser extent during the first hour than at 20° C and the level increases more slowly over the next 6 h than during the same time period at 20° C. The level of poly(A)+RNA in median-vigour embryos remains constant over the first 4 h of germination and then falls to a level of about half that found in quiescent high-vigour embryos. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of total-RNA samples shows that the polyadenylic acid (poly(A)) sequences occur in RNA species ranging in size from 35—7S. Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of isolated poly(A) sequences demonstrates the presence of two size classes of poly(A) in quiescent embryos, but at 20° C a more heterodisperse pattern appears by 2 h of imbibition. At 10° C, two size classes of poly(A) persist throughout the period studied in both high- and median-vigour embryos, although in median-vigour embryos the ratio of larger:smaller poly(A)-tail sizes decreases more rapidly than in high-vigour embryos.
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