Invertebrates rely heavily on immune-like molecules with highly diversified variability so as to counteract infections. However, the mechanisms and the relationship between this variability and functionalities are not well understood. Here, we showed that the C-terminal domain of hemocyanin (HMC) from shrimp Litopenaeus vannamei contained an evolutionary conserved domain with highly variable ge...

Hamiltonian Monte Carlo (HMC) is a recent statistical procedure to sample from complex distributions. Distant proposal draws are taken in a sequence of steps following the Hamiltonian dynamics of the underlying parameter space, often yielding superior mixing properties of the resulting Markov chain. However, its performance can deteriorate sharply with the degree of irregularity of the underlyi...

BACKGROUND Hydrometrocolpos (HMC) develops as a result of vaginal outflow obstruction and the accumulation of secretions. It might be secondary to persistent cloaca, urogenital sinus, some syndromes, presence of the vaginal septum, vaginal atresia, and imperforate hymen. Each of them has different treatment options and follow-up protocols. This study was performed to identify the etiology and t...

Increasing epidemiological evidence has indicated that inherited variations of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) copy number affect the genetic susceptibility of many malignancies in a tumour-specific manner and that DNA methylation also plays an important role in controlling gene expression during the differentiation and development of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Our previous study demonstrated th...

The recent discovery of 5-hydroxymethyl-cytosine (5 hmC) in embryonic stem cells and postmitotic neurons has triggered the need for quantitative measurements of both 5-methyl-cytosine (5 mC) and 5 hmC in the same sample. We have developed a method using liquid chromatography electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry with multiple reaction monitoring (LC-ESI-MS/MS-MRM) to simultaneously m...

Human malignant mesothelioma is an aggressive cancer generally associated with exposure to asbestos, although SV40 virus has been involved as a possible cofactor by a number of studies. Asbestos fibers induce cytotoxicity in human mesothelial cells (HMC), although cell survival activated by key signaling pathways may promote transformation. We and others previously reported that SV40 large T an...

The dulling of cemented carbide cutting tools after milling five African wood species was studied. The wood specimens investigated varied in high temperature corrosivity (HTC), hard mineral contamination (HMC), and density (D). Attempts to replace the combustion method of evaluating the content of natural HMC in wood with spectral mass analysis methods, such as energy dissipative spectrum (EDAX...

Variation in individual kernel moisture content (MC) distributions in rice panicles were measured for rice cultivars Bengal, Cypress, and Drew. Rice panicles were harvested at different stages of maturity from foundation seed fields at two locations with widely varying soils in Arkansas during the autumns of 1998, 1999, and 2000. The objective was to quantify variability of individual rice kern...

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) and PTH-related protein (PTHrP) produce similar biological effects through the PTH/PTHrP receptor. Because PTHrP exhibits vasodilatory properties, we evaluated the hypothesis that this hormone interacts with human mesangial cells (HMC). The PTHrP prevented both the expected reduction in the planar cell surface area and the increase in myosin light-chain phosphorylation...

The fates of hydrophobic zein proteins, which encapsulate corn starch to create vitreous endosperm, have not been investigated in high-moisture corn (HMC). To assess influences of ensiling time and inoculation on zein proteins in HMC, quadruplicate samples of 2 random corn hybrids (A and B), containing 25.7 and 29.3% moisture, were ground, inoculated with (I) or without 600,000 cfu/g of Lactoba...