We describe a simple database search engine "dbEngine" which may be used to quickly create a searchable database on a World Wide Web (WWW) server. Data may be prepared from spreadsheet programs (such as Excel, etc.) or from tables exported from relationship database systems. This Common Gateway Interface (CGI-BIN) program is used with a WWW server such as available commercially, or from National Center for Supercomputer Algorithms (NCSA) or CERN. Its capabilities include: (i) searching records by combinations of terms connected with ANDs or ORs; (ii) returning search results as hypertext links to other WWW database servers; (iii) mapping lists of literature reference identifiers to the full references; (iv) creating bidirectional hypertext links between pictures and the database. DbEngine has been used to support the MitoDat database (Mendelian and non-Mendelian inheritance associated with the Mitochondrion) on the WWW.
The chironomid population of an acid (pH 3) strip-mine lake was studied by taking pairs of Ekman dredge samples from five stations along one transect at fortnightly to monthly intervals for 1 year; only two species were found. For Chironomus near maturus the range (and annual mean) of larval numbers in the transect were 3055 to 14,137 (X =3,936) m2, and maximum station density was 49,972 m2. Range (and annual mean) of larval biomass in the transect were 4.15 to 19.78 g m2 (X = 4.23) and maximum station biomass was 44.46 g m2 preserved wet weight. In 1977 at the deepest (8 m) station, C. nr. maturus was usually abundant, but in 1978 it was scarce or absent. Chironomus nr. maturus was univoltine, but with part of the population emerging in the autumn and part in the spring and summer. The respective numbers for Tanytarsus dendyi Sublette were 0-17,352 (2,360) and 50,105 m2; and respective weights were 0-1.20 (0.16) and 2.99 g m2. Tanytarsus dendyi was almost always scarce or absent at the deepest station. It was trivoltine; each summer generation lasted ca. 2 months. It overwintered in the egg stage or as first instar larvae. Abundance of both species was higher than for species in the same genera in most other acid and circumneutral lakes. The sparser populations in deep water in 1978 may be related to a strong stratification in which oxygen supersaturation persisted for several weeks at intermediate depths.
AbstractWe have developed an in situ polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay for the elucidation of the human mitochondrial DNA4977 deletion (common mtDNA deletion), which occurs between two 13-bp direct repeats situated 4977 bp apart (1). Although the origin of the common mtDNA deletion is unknown, its presence in a muscle sample is associated with reduced energy capacity (2). My colleagues and I have demonstrated in age-matched putamen and frontal gyrus of the brain that levels of the common mtDNA deletion are statistically related to medical conditions associated with chronic hypoxia (3). No other factors we considered (age, sex, ethnicity, drug use, postmortem interval [PMI]) carried any statistical significance. This analysis strongly suggests that aging is not a factor (a factor investigated in many other studies with smaller sample sizes, see two paragraphs below, also refs. 4 and 5), inferring that there could be genetic regulation of the common mtDNA deletion. Likewise, it has been reported that the common mtDNA deletion levels induced by γ-radiation are directly related to radiosensitivity of the cells (6), again implicating regulation. Of note, a nuclear-encoded protein, a mitochondrial helicase, has recently been associated with multiple mtDNA deletions. However, it is apparently not associated with the common mtDNA deletion (7).KeywordsPolymerase Chain ReactionPolymerase Chain Reaction ReactionChronic Progressive External OphthalmoplegiaPolymerase Chain Reaction MachineChronic Progressive External OphthalmoplegiaThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.