Intracomplex general acid/base catalyzed cleavage of RNA phosphodiester bonds: the leaving group effect

The general acid/base catalyzed cleavage of a number of alkyl esters of uridine-3'-(and -5'-) phosphate has been studied by utilizing a cleaving agent, in which the catalytic moiety (a substituted 1,3,5-triazine) is tethered to an anchoring Zn-II: cyclen moiety. Around pH 7, formation of a strong ternary complex between uracil, Zn-II and cyclen brings the general acid/base catalyst close to the scissile phosphodiester linkage, resulting in rate acceleration of 1-2 orders of magnitude with the uridine-3'-phosphodiesters. Curiously, no acceleration was observed with their 5'-counterparts. A beta(lg) value of -0.7 has been determined for the general acid/base catalyzed cleavage, consistent with a proton transfer to the leaving group in the rate-limiting step

Terror from the Sky: Unconventional Linguistic Clues to the Negrito Past

Within recorded history. most Southeast Asian peoples have been of southern Mongoloid physical type, whether they speak Austroasiatic, Tibeto-Burman, Austronesian, Tai-Kadai, or Hmong-Mien languages. However, population distributions suggest that this is a post-Pleistocene phenomenon and that for tens of millennia before the last glaciation ended Greater Mainland Southeast Asia, which included the currently insular world that rests on the Sunda Shelf, was peopled by short, dark-skinned, frizzy-haired foragers whose descendants in the Philippines came to be labeled by the sixteenth-century Spanish colonizers as negritos, a term that has since been extended to similar groups throughout the region. There are three areas in which these populations survived into the present so as to become part of written history: the Philippines, the Malay Peninsula, and the Andaman Islands. All Philippine negritos speak Austronesian languages, and all Malayan negritos speak languages in the nuclear Mon-Khmer branch of Austroasiatic, but the linguistic situation in the Andamans is a world apart. Given prehistoric language shifts among both Philippine and Malayan negritos, the prospects of determining whether disparate negrito populations were once a linguistically or culturally unified community would appear hopeless. Surprisingly, however, some clues to a common negrito past do survive in a most unexpected way

Laboratory-based surveillance of COVID-19 in the Greater Helsinki area, Finland, February-June 2020

Objectives: The aim was to characterise age-and sex-specific severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus disease-2 (SARS-CoV-2) RT-PCR sampling frequency and positivity rate in Greater Helsinki area in Finland during February & ndash;June 2020. We also describe the laboratory capacity building for these diagnostics. Methods: Laboratory registry data for altogether 80,791 specimens from 70,517 individuals was analysed. The data included the date of sampling, sex, age and the SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR test result on specimens collected between 1 February and 15 June 2020. Results: Altogether, 4057/80,791 (5.0%) of the specimens were positive and 3915/70,517 (5.6%) of the individuals were found positive. In all, 37% of specimens were from male and 67% from female subjects. While the number of positive cases was similar in male and female subjects, the positivity rate was significantly higher in male subjects: 7.5% of male and 4.4% of female subjects tested positive. The highest incidence/100,000 was observed in those aged >80 years. The proportion of young adults in positive cases increased in late May 2020. Large dips in testing frequency were observed during every weekend and also during public holidays. Conclusions: Our data suggest that men pursue SARS-CoV-2 testing less frequently than women. Consequently, a subset of coronavirus disease-2019 infections in men may have gone undetected. People sought testing less frequently on weekends and public holidays, and this may also lead to missing of positive cases. The proportion of young adults in positive cases increased towards the end of the study period, which may suggest their returning back to social behaviour with an increased risk of infection. (c) 2020 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd on behalf of International Society for Infectious Diseases. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-ncnd/4.0/).Peer reviewe

Association of Epstein-Barr virus antibody titers with a human IL-10 promoter polymorphism in Japanese women

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Licens

Endurance performance is influenced by perceptions of pain and temperature: Theory, applications and safety considerations.

Models of endurance performance now recognise input from the brain, including an athlete’s ability to cope with various non-pleasurable perceptions during exercise, such as pain and temperature. Exercise training can reduce perceptions of both pain and temperature over time, partly explaining why athletes generally have a higher pain tolerance, despite a similar pain threshold, compared with active controls. Several strategies with varying efficacy may ameliorate the perceptions of pain (e.g. acetaminophen, transcranial direct current stimulation and transcutaneous electrical stimulation) and temperature (e.g. menthol beverages, topical menthol products and other cooling strategies, especially those targeting the head) during exercise to improve athletic performance. This review describes both the theory and practical applications of these interventions in the endurance sport setting, as well as the potentially harmful health consequences of their use

Musiikki merkitsee kaikkea:musiikin merkitys henkilöhahmojen identiteetin rakentumiselle Juha Itkosen romaanissa Anna minun rakastaa enemmän

Pro graduni käsittelee musiikin merkitystä henkilöhahmojen identiteetin rakentumiselle Juha Itkosen romaanissa Anna minun rakastaa enemmän (2005). Populaarimusiikki on romaanissa hyvin keskeisessä roolissa, ja tutkin, miten musiikki näkyy henkilöhahmojen elämässä ja minkälaisiin tarkoituksiin sitä käytetään. Romaanissa kuvataan suomalaista rocktähteä, Summer Maplea, jota tutkimuksessani tarkastelen erityisesti rocktähteyden näkökulmasta. Pohdin, minkälainen kuva rocktähdestä muodostuu ja miten naiseus vaikuttaa rocktähteyteen. Tarkastelen, miten rocktähden imagoa luodaan ja miten se eroaa tähden yksityisestä identiteetistä. Identiteettiä voidaan ajatella kertomuksena, ja pohdin myös kertomuksen ja identiteetin välistä suhdetta. Tutkimukseni liittyy henkilöhahmotutkimukseen, mutta sen teoriapohja tulee vahvasti kulttuurintutkimuksesta. Hyödynnän Stuart Hallin ajatuksia identiteetistä sekä Lawrence Grossbergin ja Simon Frithin kirjoituksia populaarimusiikin ja identiteetin välisestä suhteesta. Hallin mukaan ihmisellä ei ole pysyvää identiteettiä, vaan sitä rakennetaan aktiivisesti. Grossberg on tutkimuksessaan tarkastellut rockfaneja ja pohtinut, miten musiikista tehdään tärkeää siihen panostamalla. Rocktähteyttä tarkastelen Laura Ahosen ja Janne Mäkelän tutkimusten pohjalta. Ahonen on erotellut artistin imagosta kolme kategoriaa, joita hyödynnän tutkimuksessani. Kertomuksen ja identiteetin välisen suhteen tarkastelussa käytän narratologian piirissä tehtyä tutkimusta. Henkilöhahmot käyttävät romaanissa musiikkia moniin eri tarkoituksiin. Populaarikulttuuri ja siihen olennaisesti kuuluva musiikki muodostaa henkilöhahmoille tärkeän paikan identiteetin rakentamiselle. Erityisesti toinen kertoja, Antti, käyttää musiikkia tietoisesti identiteettinsä luomiseen. Hänelle musiikki toimii myös eräänlaisena todellisuuspakona vankilaksi muodostuneesta elämästä. Romaanissa kuvataan kahta sukupolvea, joiden välille musiikki luo yhteyden mutta joita musiikki toisaalta myös erottaa. Rocktähden imagon luominen on teoksessa hyvin tietoista ja harkittua, ja rocktähden imago ja toisaalta yksityinen identiteetti erottuivat toisistaan selvästi. Rockmaailman miehisyys näkyy naisrokkarin kuvauksessa, mutta perinteisiä naisille varattuja rooleja myös rikotaan romaanissa