Methods. Twenty women with normal pregnancy and 17 women with pre-eclampisa were studied. 3D power Doppler ultrasound was used to acquire individual placental volumes. Rotational measurements of placental volumes were acquired using virtual organ computer aided

analysis (VOCAL (TM)). The power Doppler signals were then semi-quantified within ‘histogram facility’, which generates three vascularity and flow intensity parameters: flow index (FI), vascular index (VI) and vascularisation flow index (VFI).

Results. Entrectinib FI, VI and VFI were lower in pre-eclampsia compared to normal pregnancy in all regions of the placenta. This difference was statistically significant in most regions of the placenta BKM120 datasheet after accounting for gestational age, body mass index and placental site. We were not able to demonstrate a decreasing gradient of these parameters from basal plate to chorionic plate.

Conclusion. 3D ultrasound to assess placental

vascularity and flow intensity appears to be an interesting research tool. However, other indices derived from Power Doppler may be more relevant to obstetric practice.”
“Characterization of tissue-specific plant gene promoters will benefit genetic improvement in crops. Here, we isolated a novel rice anther-specific plant lipid transfer protein (OsLTP6) gene through high through-put expressional profiling. The promoter of OsLTP6 was introduced to the upstream of the uidA gene, which encodes beta-glucuronidase (GUS), and transformed into rice plants for functional analysis. Histochemical and fluorometric GUS assay showed that GUS was specifically

expressed in the anthers and pollens in OsLTP6 promoter::uidA transgenic plants. Transverse section of the rice anther further indicated that the OsLTP6 promoter directed the reporter gene specifically expressed in anther tapetum. To identify regulatory elements within OsLTP6 promoter region, four progressive deletions of the OsLTP6 promoter were constructed. MS-275 The results indicated that the OsLTP6 promoter achieved anther-specific expression through a combination of positive and negative regulatory elements. A 26-bp motif upstream of TATA box was a key transcriptional activator for OsLTP6 gene. CAAT box and GTGA box were the putative motifs to increase the transcription level to full expression. Two negative regulatory elements were also found in two distinct regions within this promoter. They repressed the expression in leaf and stem, respectively. These results revealed the regulating complexity of anther-specific expression.”
“In the past decade, a large body of evidence has accumulated in support of the critical role of dysregulation of the alternative complement pathway in atypical haemolytic uraemic syndrome (aHUS) and C3 glomerulopathies.