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At least 343 records · Page 19Linked to original sources
PubMed2000

Joint effects of natural selection and recombination on gene flow between Drosophila ananassae populations.

We estimated DNA sequence variation in a 5.7-kb fragment of the furrowed (fw) gene region within and between four populations of Drosophila ananassae; fw is located in a chromosomal region of very low recombination. We analyzed gene flow between these four populations along a latitudinal transect on the Indian subcontinent: two populations from southern, subtropical areas (Hyderabad, India, and Sri Lanka) and two from more temperate zones in the north (Nepal and Burma). Furthermore, we compared the pattern of differentiation at fw with published data from Om(1D), a gene located in a region of normal recombination. While differentiation at Om(1D) shows an isolation-by-distance effect, at fw the pattern of differentiation is quite different such that the frequencies of single nucleotide polymorphisms are homogenized over extended geographic regions (i.e., among the two populations of the northern species range from Burma and Nepal as well as among the two southern populations from India and Sri Lanka), but strongly differentiated between the northern and southern populations. To examine these differences in the patterns of variation and differentiation between the Om(1D) and fw gene regions, we determine the critical values of our previously proposed test of the background selection hypothesis (henceforth called F(ST) test). Using these results, we show that the pattern of differentiation at fw may be inconsistent with the background selection model. The data depart from this model in a direction that is compatible with the occurrence of recent selective sweeps in the northern as well as southern populations.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

Risk factors for the development of persistent diarrhoea and malnutrition in Burmese children.

To identify socioeconomic and behavioural risk factors for development of persistent diarrhoea and malnutrition in children, a case-control study was carried out in Burma. Cases were 67 children 1-59 months old hospitalized for diarrhoea lasting > 14 days and complicated by severe malnutrition; for each case, a healthy control child was selected who was age- and sex-matched from the same neighbourhood. Homes of cases and controls were visited for interviews and for direct observation of household child-care practices. Risk factors were catalogued and calculations made for relative risk and etiologic fractions. Risk factors that were associated with persistent diarrhoea and malnutrition included low family income, low education of mothers, unhygienic latrines, flies in the house and on the child, dirty appearance of child and mother, mother not using soap and water when washing child's hands, defaecation of child on floor, breastfeeding on demand, child eating food from floor, not feeding recommended weaning foods, and lack of knowledge by mother about causes of diarrhoea and about foods that prevent malnutrition. These results indicated that persistent diarrhoea and malnutrition in Burma is caused by a complex of several interrelated socioeconomic factors, unsanitary behaviour pertaining to personal hygiene, the practice of demand breastfeeding and lack of certain weaning foods, and low education of mothers who showed less knowledge about causes of diarrhoea and prevention of malnutrition.

Case-Control Studies↗
PubMed2005

Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense surveys in Asia and Africa.

I suppose I should establish my bonafides for participation in this symposium. I did participate in 3 Interdepartmental Committee on Nutrition for National Defense (ICNND) surveys as far separated as one on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation (1) in Montana and 2 in Asia-Burma (2) and East Pakistan (3). In fact, the Blackfeet Reservation and Burma surveys were my training grounds for becoming the clinical chief for the East Pakistan survey and later the codirector. More importantly, in 1962, I followed Alan Forbes, who is much missed at this symposium, as the deputy to Arnie Schaefer at ICNND and NIH, and did have experience of an office in the Stone House on the NIH campus. There I participated in the transmutation of the ICNND to the Interdepartmental Committee on National Development and its alignment with the Office of International Research at the NIH and a repositioning within the Department of Health and Human Services. It was from this position that ICNND went on to organize some civilian surveys in the mid-1960s, including those in Central America and Panama (4), and it was from this position that the groundwork was laid for the application of ICNND techniques to the first U.S. domestic survey outside of an Indian reservation, culminating in the Ten State Nutrition Survey (5), which documented that there was hunger in America, as well as abroad.

Africa↗
PubMed1990

Enterically-transmitted non-A, non-B hepatitis.

More than 50% of acute viral hepatitis occurring in some developing countries appears to be unrelated to infection by HAV or HBV and accumulating evidence suggests that a high proportion of this non-A, non-B hepatitis (NANB) is enterically transmitted. Epidemics or outbreaks of enterically-transmitted NANB (ET-NANB) have been documented in the Soviet Union, Nepal, Burma, Pakistan, India, Borneo, Somalia, Sudan, Ivory Coast, Algeria, and Mexico. These outbreaks primarily affect young to middle-age adults and are often associated with a high mortality rate in infected pregnant women, approaching 20% in most reported epidemics. Several investigators have reported finding 27 to 34 nm virus-like particles (VLPs) in stools of acutely infected cases. Stools containing these small, non-enveloped VLPs have been shown to cause NANB in experimentally infected cynomolgus macaques, African green monkeys, chimpanzees, rhesus monkeys, and Saguinus mystax monkeys (tamarins). Infected primates have been shown to seroconvert to 27-34 nm VLPs recovered from stools of cases occurring in the Soviet Union, India, Nepal, Burma, Pakistan and/or Mexico, suggesting that ET-NANB is caused by one virus or class of serologically related viruses. The morphological features and physicochemical properties of one candidate virus are very similar to those of some human caliciviruses, a group of viruses that is normally associated with outbreaks of severe diarrhoea.

Animals↗
PubMed1989

Molecular genetic variation in the centromeric region of the X chromosome in three Drosophila ananassae populations. II. The Om(1D) locus.

Restriction-site and sequence-length polymorphism in the Om(1D) locus region on the X chromosome in Drosophila ananassae was investigated for three natural populations (from Burma, India, and Brazil), by using hexanucleotide-recognizing restriction enzymes. The estimates of average heterozygosity per nucleotide (pi) were 0.0085, 0.0043, and 0.0004 for the Burma, India, and Brazil populations, respectively, and the average frequencies of insertions/deletions were 0.078, 0.054, and 0.007/chromosome/kb. While the pi values at this locus are similar to the estimates obtained from other euchromatic loci in D. ananassae or in other Drosophila species, the frequencies of insertions/deletions are much higher than those previously reported from Drosophila. The exceptionally high frequencies of length polymorphisms in the Burmese sample and, to a lesser extent, in the Indian sample indicate that the hypermutability of Om(1D), caused by the frequent insertion of the transposable element tom, may be due to locus-specific rather than to tom element-specific properties. The low level of nucleotide variation in the Brazilian population seems to be due to a recent bottleneck of population size. This population was apparently founded in recent years by a small number of individuals and has been relatively isolated ever since.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

A 30-kDa host protein binds to two very-late baculovirus promoters.

A 30-kDa host factor (polyhedrin-promoter-binding protein; PPBP) specifically binds to sequences critical for transcription from the baculovirus polyhedrin (p29) gene initiator promoter [Burma, S., Mukherjee, B., Jain, A., Habib, S. & Hasnain, S. E. (1994) J. Biol. Chem. 269, 2750-2757; Mukherjee, B., Burma, S. & Hasnain, S. E. (1995) J. Biol. Chem. 270, 4405-4411]. A host factor also binds, in gel shift assays, to the very-late p10 gene promoter through DNA sequence motifs similar to the PPBP.p29 interaction. The p10 host factor complex was specifically competed out with oligonucleotides containing p29 cognate sequence motifs AATAAA and TAAGTATT, but this did not occur when these motifs were replaced with random sequences. From ultraviolet cross-linking analysis, the molecular mass of this host factor was estimated to be approximately 30 kDa. Experiments were performed to investigate if this host factor displayed any differences in affinity and turnover with respect to the p29 and p10 untranslated leader sequences known to be important for temporal fine tuning and the late burst of transcription. Half-life determination of the p10-binding protein revealed similar binding affinities for the initiator elements of both the promoters, but higher affinity for the p10 5'-untranslated region (approximately 30 min versus approximately 10 min). The involvement of a similar host factor binding to both the p10 and p29 promoters indicates the possibility of a similar mode of transcription initiation from these two very-late promoters.

Animals↗
PubMed1998

The host factor polyhedrin promoter binding protein (PPBP) is involved in transcription from the baculovirus polyhedrin gene promoter.

Hypertranscription and temporal expression from the Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis (AcNPV) baculovirus polyhedrin promoter involves an alpha-amanitin-resistant RNA polymerase and requires a trans-acting viral factor(s). We previously reported that a 30-kDa host factor, polyhedrin promoter binding protein (PPBP), binds with unusual affinity, specificity, and stability to the transcriptionally important motif AATAAATAAGTATT within the polyhedrin (polh) initiator promoter and also displays coding strand-specific single-stranded DNA (ssDNA)-binding activity (S. Burma, B. Mukherjee, A. Jain, S. Habib, and S. E. Hasnain, J. Biol. Chem. 269:2750-2757, 1994; B. Mukherjee, S. Burma, and S. E. Hasnain, J. Biol. Chem. 270:4405-4411, 1995). We now present evidence which indicates that an additional factor(s) is involved in stabilizing PPBP-duplex promoter and PPBP-ssDNA interactions. TBP (TATA box binding protein) present in Spodoptera frugiperda (Sf9) cells is characteristically distinct from PPBP and does not interact directly with the polh promoter. Replacement of PPBP cognate sequences within the polh promoter with random nucleotides abolished PPBP binding in vitro and also failed to express the luciferase reporter gene in vivo. Phosphocellulose fractions of total nuclear extract from virus-infected cells which support in vitro transcription from the polh promoter contain PPBP activity. When PPBP was sequestered by the presence of oligonucleotides containing PPBP cognate sequence motifs, in vitro transcription of a C-free reporter cassette was affected but was restored by the exogenous addition of nuclear extract containing PPBP. When PPBP was mopped out in vivo by a plasmid carrying PPBP cognate sequence present in trans, polh promoter-driven expression of the luciferase reporter was abolished, demonstrating that binding of PPBP to the polh promoter is essential for transcription.

Animals↗
PubMed1978

Certification of smallpox eradication.

The world's last known case of smallpox resulting from human-to-human transmission in an endemic focus occurred in Somalia in October 1977, and there remains the task of documenting the global eradication of the disease and establishing the safety of vaccination. Those countries as yet uncertified have been grouped into four categories according to the procedures recommended for their certification. An important criterion for deciding the type of procedure is how recently smallpox was endemic in a particular country. This paper is concerned with those countries in which the disease has been nonendemic for some years but which have not yet received certification of eradication. One such country is Burma, which was certified free of smallpox in 1977, some 8 years after its last reported case but 2 years after the last case in Bangladesh, with which it shares a long frontier. The procedures used in Burma and the lessons that were learnt therefrom are described.

Adolescent↗
PubMed1990

Measles-associated diarrhoea in the Infectious Diseases Hospital, Rangoon.

A study was conducted in the Infectious Diseases Hospital in Rangoon (Burma) to determine the magnitude of measles-associated diarrhoea morbidity and mortality in children under 6 years of age contributing to the overall diarrhoeal morbidity and mortality, and to determine the bacterial pathogens of measles-associated diarrhoea cases. Measles-associated diarrhoea cases occur most frequently in younger age groups (12-23 and 0-11 months). Although not directly comparable, their contribution to the total diarrhoeal cases (8%) was high but the proportion of measles-associated diarrhoeal deaths contributing to total diarrhoeal deaths was lower than the theoretical estimates. A low fatality rate (2%) among the measles-associated diarrhoea cases was found and this suggests a much lower rate in the community. This implies that measles-associated diarrhoeal mortality is probably not a major public health problem in Burma. Chest infection was the most common complication (32%) and was found in the majority of deaths resulting from complicated measles. A definite seasonal distribution of measles and measles-associated diarrhoea cases was found. Only 10% of the stool samples examined were positive for bacterial pathogens and all were shigellae. We found that a significant number of measles-associated diarrhoeal cases were malnourished.

Acute Disease↗
PubMed1990

[Strongyloidiasis in former prisoners of war and internees in Southeast Asia during World War II].

A survey was performed to estimate the prevalence of chronic strongyloidiasis among 145 Dutch ex-prisoners of war who had been working on the Burma-Thailand railway in 1943-1945, and 56 ex-internees in civil camps in the former Dutch East Indies. No infections were found in the latter group while in the Burma group 26 men (17.9%) had S. stercoralis larvae in their stools. Many of them suffered from larva currens, an urticarial skin disorder, cured by treatment. Examination of fresh stool specimens with the Baermann concentration technique gave better results than faecal cultures and microscopy of duodenal aspirate. Mean IgE level and eosinophil count were significantly higher in infected persons but the ranges are too wide to use these tests in diagnosing individual cases.

Aged↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Computer-assisted rapid surveys in developing countries.

Health surveys are an important source of population-based data in much of the developing world. Unfortunately, sample surveys often take more time to plan, process, and analyze than is practical, given the information needs of the local decision-makers. Rapid survey methodology (RSM) has been developed to permit health professionals to answer quickly questions about the health status and activities of people at the community level. These answers may be necessary for determining program priorities or for monitoring program activities. Rapid surveys are meant to supplement, rather than replace, information derived from existing sources of vital and health statistics data. RSM combines sample survey methods with contemporary software used in portable, battery-powered microcomputers. The ability to do rapid surveys in developing countries also requires knowledge of how to use appropriate computer hardware and software and how to apply cluster sampling theory in the local environment. RSM was used for the first time in Hlegu Township, Burma, to conduct a health survey of young children. The survey team started the field work on May 4, 1987. Four days later, while still in the field, the data were processed and rapidly analyzed by portable microcomputers for presentation to the local township medical officer and his staff. Within 10 days of starting the field work, we issued a detailed 50-page report of the study findings. This paper provides (a) a description of the components of rapid survey methodology, including the sample survey method, computer hardware, and computer software; (b) the general requirements for portable computer hardware in less developed regions of the world; (c) the procedures for doing a rapid survey; and (d) a summary of our experiences with RSM in Burma.

Developing Countries↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Simple analytic procedures for rapid microcomputer-assisted cluster surveys in developing countries.

Surveys are often deemed necessary in developing countries when routine sources of data are not considered adequate to answer important policy-related questions. Although field work often goes smoothly, many surveys become bogged down in the analysis stage. With the availability of microcomputers and contemporary software, investigators in developing countries can use rapid survey methodology (RSM) to process, analyze, and report survey findings more quickly than ever before. Presented in this paper are three simple analytic procedures for planning and doing two-stage, rapid cluster surveys. All were successfully used in three rapid surveys in rural regions of Burma and Thailand. By use of a spreadsheet and graphics software package, the three procedures (a) derive the first-stage selection of 30 cluster sites with probability proportionate to size, (b) calculate variance estimates and confidence limits for the parameters of interest and graphically present the findings as 90, 95, and 99 percent confidence intervals, and (c) estimate the necessary sample size for planning two-stage, rapid cluster surveys. The procedures can be used both in the field and in teaching workshops or courses on survey methods. Examples are given from three rapid surveys conducted in Hlegu Township, Burma, and Sisaket Province, Thailand. In both countries, local health professionals were first taught the methods in a 1-week workshop before they used the procedure for conducting the rapid computer-assisted surveys.

Analysis of Variance↗
PubMed1988

Distribution and chromosomal polymorphism of the malaria vector Anopheles dirus species D.

Preliminary results indicate that species D of the Anopheles dirus complex is widespread west of the Thai-Burma border in Burma and Bangladesh. A chromosomal study of An. dirus species D in these areas has revealed that this malaria vector is highly polymorphic for chromosomal rearrangements in salivary gland polytene chromosomes. The data from the limited number of wild-caught samples suggest that different geographically isolated populations may occur with respect to the frequency of inversions 2La, 3Ra and 3La. The distribution of chromosomal polymorphisms may be associated with the geography and epidemiology of human malaria in this region.

Animals↗
PubMed1997

[Partial nucleotide sequencing of 7 hepatitis E virus strains isolated from sera of patients with acute sporadic hepatitis E in China].

OBJECTIVE: To compare partial nucleotide and amino acid sequences between epidemic and sporadic hepatitis E viruses (HEV) in China and their relation to the frequency of hepatitis E (HE). METHODS: A reverse transcription nested polymerase chain reaction (RT-nPCR) was used for the amplication of HEV open reading frame 2 (ORF2) cDNA from sera of patients with acute sporadic HE. The RT-nPCR products of HEV ORF2 cDNA were directly sequenced using a sequenase version 2.0 kit with the dideoxy sequencing method. RESULTS: 28 of 41 sera of patients with acute sporadic HE obtained from Shenzhen, Changchun, Hangzhou, Xian and Beijing by RT-nPCR were HEV ORF2 cDNA positive, and 7 of them were sequenced. The nucleotide homology of the seven HEV ORF2 cDNA was 78.9%-80.2%, as compared with the Mexico strain of HEV (M); 93.1%-95.1% with the Burma epidemic strain of HEV (B) (Ep); 92.3%-94.2% with the Burma sporadic strain of HEV (B) (Sp); 96.5%-98.9% with the Xinjiang epidemic strain of HEV CH 1.1; and 95.7%-100.0% between them. CONCLUSIONS: The seven strains of HEV ORF2 cDNA isolated from sera of acute sporadic HE cases have a higher degree of homology with the HEV CH 1.1 and the HEV (B), and may belong to HEV (B) subtype, as the HEV CH1.1 does.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1995

The 30-kDa protein binding to the "initiator" of the baculovirus polyhedrin promoter also binds specifically to the coding strand.

We previously reported the purification and characterization of the polyhedrin promoter-binding protein (PPBP), an unusual DNA-binding protein that interacts with transcriptionally important motifs of the baculovirus polyhedrin gene promoter (S. Burma, B. Mukherjee, A. Jain, S. Habib, and S.E. Hasnain, J. Biol. Chem. (1994) 269, 2750-2757. PPBP also exhibits a sequence-specific single-stranded DNA-binding activity. Gel retardations and competition analyses with double- and single-stranded oligonucleotides indicated that PPBP binds the coding strand and not the noncoding strand of the promoter. This was further confirmed by UV cross-linking and Southwestern blotting experiments. Gel retardations with mutated oligonucleotides indicated that both dsDNA and ssDNA binding involve common AATA-AATAAGTATT motifs. However, ssDNA binding is dependent upon ionic interactions unlike dsDNA binding, which is mainly through nonionic interactions. The affinity of PPBP for the coding strand appears to be higher than that for duplex promoter DNA. Interestingly, the PPBP-coding strand complex has a longer half-life (approximately 60 min) than the PPBP-duplex promoter complex (approximately 15 min). PPBP represents a unique example of an "initiator" promoter-binding protein with dual dsDNA and ssDNA binding activities, and this reconciles very well with the unusual binding characteristics displayed by it. The formation of the PPBP-coding strand complex in vivo may be a crucial step for the exceptionally high and repeated rounds of transcriptional activity of the baculovirus polyhedrin gene promoter.

Base Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Sites of ribosomal RNAs involved in the subunit association of tight and loose couple ribosomes.

It was demonstrated previously by kethoxal treatment studies that tight (TC) and loose (LC) couple ribosomes use different sites of the 16 S and 23 S RNAs for subunit association (Burma, D. P., Srivastava, A. K., Srivastava, S., and Dash, D. (1985) J. Biol. Chem. 260, 10517-10525). To localize these sites, a number of oligodeoxynucleotides complementary to the suspected sites of the 16 S and 23 S RNAs were synthesized, and their binding to ribosomes and effects on subunit association were studied. Some of the probes inhibit the association of both TC and LC ribosomes, some inhibit the association of TC but not LC ribosomes, and some inhibit the association of LC but not TC ribosomes. It appears that both TC and LC ribosomes use one common site of association, bases 818-823 of the 16 S and 2308-2313 of the 23 S RNA. The second site, 788-793 of the 16 S RNA and 2753-2758 of the 23 S RNA for TC ribosomes, and 783-791 of the 16 S RNA and 2295-2303 of the 23 S RNA for LC ribosomes, is not shared. This suggests a spatial movement of the ribosomal subunits with respect to one another and lends further support to the model of translocation based on the interconversion of TC and LC ribosomes.

Base Sequence↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Polyclonal antibodies as probes to distinguish between tight and loose couple 50S ribosomes of Escherichia coli.

Antibody has been raised in rabbit against L7/L12 protein of E. coli 50S ribosomes and purified, finally through affinity column. A sensitive assay method using ELISA technique has also been standardised. LC 50S ribosomes react more with the antibody than TC 50S ribosomes. This supports the earlier physical data [Burma D P, Srivastava A K, Srivastava S, Tewari D S, Dash D & Sengupta S K, (1984), Biochem Biophys Res Commun, 124, 970] indicating that L7/L12 stalk region is protruded in medium in LC ribosomes and folded towards the body in TC ribosomes.

Antibodies, Bacterial↗
PubMed1999

Phylogenetic analysis of hepatitis E virus isolates from Egypt.

Hepatitis E virus (HEV) genome was detected by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) in fecal samples of two sporadic cases of hepatitis E in Cairo Egypt. Sequence of the complete putative structural region [open reading frame (ORF)-2] and complete region of unknown function (ORF-3) was determined for the two HEV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis of the nucleotide sequences was performed using neighbor joining or maximum parsimony methods of tree reconstruction. Direct correspondence between the HEV evolutionary trees and geographic origin of the HEV isolates was observed. Three genotypes of HEV were identified: genotype I (Asia-Africa), genotype II (US), and genotype III (Mexico). Genotype I was further divided into two subgenotypes (Asia and Africa). In the Asian subgenotype, three smaller genetic clusters were observed (China-like sequences, Burma-like sequences, and sequence from a fulminant case of HEV). The segregation of all these genetic clusters was supported by the high level of bootstrap probabilities. Four regions of the HEV genome were used for phylogenetic analysis. In all four regions, Egyptian HEV isolates were grouped in a separate African clade.

Adult↗