Ascoviruses, iridoviruses, asfarviruses and poxviruses are all cytoplasmic DNA viruses. The evolutionary origins of cytoplasmic DNA viruses have never been fully addressed. Morphological, genetic and molecular data were used to test if all four cytoplasmic virus families (Ascoviridae, Iridoviridae, Asfarviridae, and Poxvirirdae) evolved from nuclear replicating baculoviruses and how the four virus groups are related. Molecular phylogenetic analyses using DNA polymerase predicted that cytoplasmic DNA viruses might have evolved from nuclear replicating baculoviruses, and that poxviruses and asfarviruses share a common ancestor with iridoviruses. These three cytoplasmic viruses again shared a common ancestor with ascoviruses. Morphological and genetic data predicted the same evolutionary trend as molecular data predicted. A genome sequence comparison showed that ascoviruses have more baculovirus protein homologues than do iridoviruses, which suggested that ascoviruses have evolved from baculoviruses and iridoviruses evolved from ascoviruses. Poxviruses showed genetic and morphological similarity to other cytoplamic viruses, such as ascoviruses, suggesting it has undergone reticulate evolution via hybridization, recombination and lateral gene transfer with other viruses. Within the ascovirus family, we tested if molecular phylogenetic analyses agree with biological inference; that is, ascovirus had an evolutionary trend of increasing genome size, expanding host range and widening tissue tropism for these viruses. Both molecular and biological data predicted this evolutionary trend. The phylogenetic relationship among the four species of ascovirus was predicted to be that TnAV-2 and HvAV-3 shared a common ancestor with SfAV-1 and the three virus species again shared a common ancestor with DpAV-4.

No abstract available.
Diabetes Mellitus/diagnosis/*etiology/prevention & control/therapy ; Humans ; Kidney Transplantation/*adverse effects

OBJECTIVE: Considering the different prevalence rates of diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in Asians relative to other races, Koreans may have unique airway structure and lung function. This study aimed to investigate unique features of airway structure and lung function based on quantitative computed tomography (QCT)-imaging metrics in the Korean Asian population (Koreans) as compared with the White American population (Whites). MATERIALS AND METHODS: QCT data of healthy non-smokers (223 Koreans vs. 70 Whites) were collected, including QCT structural variables of wall thickness (WT) and hydraulic diameter (Dh) and functional variables of air volume, total air volume change in the lung (ΔVair), percent emphysema-like lung (Emph%), and percent functional small airway disease-like lung (fSAD%). Mann-Whitney U tests were performed to compare the two groups. RESULTS: As compared with Whites, Koreans had smaller volume at inspiration, ΔVair between inspiration and expiration (p < 0.001), and Emph% at inspiration (p < 0.001). Especially, Korean females had a decrease of ΔVair in the lower lobes (p < 0.001), associated with fSAD% at the lower lobes (p < 0.05). In addition, Koreans had smaller Dh and WT of the trachea (both, p < 0.05), correlated with the forced expiratory volume in 1 second (R = 0.49, 0.39; all p < 0.001) and forced vital capacity (R = 0.55, 0.45; all p < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Koreans had unique features of airway structure and lung function as compared with Whites, and the difference was clearer in female individuals. Discriminating structural and functional features between Koreans and Whites enables exploration of inter-racial differences of pulmonary disease in terms of severity, distribution, and phenotype.
Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Asthma ; Continental Population Groups ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Diseases ; Phenotype ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Thorax ; Trachea ; Vital Capacity

The USA has a high burden of childhood asthma. Previous studies have observed associations between higher blood lead levels and greater hypersensitivity in children. The objective of the present study was to estimate the association between blood lead concentrations during early childhood and an asthma diagnosis between 48 and 72 months of age amongst a cohort with well-characterized blood lead concentrations. Blood lead concentrations were measured at 6, 12, 18, 24, 36, and 48 months of age in 222 children. The presence of an asthma diagnosis between 48 and 72 months was assessed using a questionnaire which asked parents or guardians whether they had been told by a physician, in the past 12 months, that their child had asthma. Crude and adjusted risk ratios (RR) of an asthma diagnosis were estimated for several parameterizations of blood lead exposure including lifetime average (6 to 48 months) and infancy average (6 to 24 months) concentrations. After adjustment for child sex, birthweight, daycare attendance, maternal race, education, parity, breastfeeding, income, and household smoking, age-specific or composite measures of blood lead were not associated with asthma diagnosis by 72 months of age in this cohort.
Asthma/etiology* ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Cohort Studies ; Environmental Pollutants/blood* ; Female ; Humans ; Infant ; Infant, Newborn ; Lead/blood* ; Male ; New York/epidemiology*

To expand the single-dose duration over which noninvasive clinical and preclinical cancer imaging can be conducted with high sensitivity, and well-defined spatial and temporal resolutions, a facile strategy to prepare ultrasmall nanoparticulate X-ray contrast media (nano-XRCM) as dual-modality imaging agents for positron emission tomography (PET) and computed tomography (CT) has been established. Synthesized from controlled copolymerization of triiodobenzoyl ethyl acrylate and oligo(ethylene oxide) acrylate monomers, the amphiphilic statistical iodocopolymers (ICPs) could directly dissolve in water to afford thermodynamically stable solutions with high aqueous iodine concentrations (>140 mg iodine/mL water) and comparable viscosities to conventional small molecule XRCM. The formation of ultrasmall iodinated nanoparticles with hydrodynamic diameters of ca. 10 nm in water was confirmed by dynamic and static light scattering techniques. In a breast cancer mouse model, in vivo biodistribution studies revealed that the ⁶⁴Cu-chelator-functionalized iodinated nano-XRCM exhibited extended blood residency and higher tumor accumulation compared to typical small molecule imaging agents. PET/CT imaging of tumor over 3 days showed good correlation between PET and CT signals, while CT imaging allowed continuous observation of tumor retention even after 10 days post-injection, enabling longitudinal monitoring of tumor retention for imaging or potentially therapeutic effect after a single administration of nano-XRCM.