Methods in molecular biology
-
Avian influenza (AI) viruses have been isolated from a wide diversity of free-living avian species representing several orders. Isolations are most frequently reported from aquatic birds in the Orders Anseriformes and Charadriiformes, which are believed to be the reservoirs for all AI viruses. Since their first recognition in the late 1800 s, AI viruses have been an important agent of disease in poultry and, occasionally, of nongallinaceous birds and humans. ⋯ In response to the spread of HPAI H5N1 viruses to Europe and Africa in 2005-2006, many countries developed surveillance plans to detect AI viruses; a large portion of these sampling efforts was targeted at migratory avian species. This chapter is intended to give general concepts and guidelines for surveillance of the AI virus in wild birds. Separate sections are included for low pathogenicity avian influenza (LPAI) and HPAI H5N1 viruses because the unique biological characteristics of HPAI H5N1 require a modified surveillance plan tailored to these viruses.
-
In this chapter, we discuss the concept of statistical power and show how the sample size can be chosen to ensure a desired power. Power is the probability of rejecting the null hypothesis when the null hypothesis is false, that is the probability of saying there is a difference when a difference actually exists. ⋯ An overpowered study has too large a sample size and wastes resources. We will show how the power and required sample size can be calculated for several common types of studies, mention software that can be used for the necessary calculations, and discuss additional considerations.
-
The insufficiency of terminological standards in neuroscience is increasingly recognized as a serious obstacle to interoperability. Adoption of a controlled vocabulary is a successful solution for small numbers of groups that work closely together but is impractical for large numbers of groups who represent diverse areas of research, index information by various legitimate nomenclatures, or publish in different languages. Interoperability among such disparate databases requires a translation mechanism, or "mediator," to enable communication and data sharing among databases. ⋯ We have created in NeuroNames an ontology of 2500 neuroanatomical concepts referenced by 15,000 terms in seven languages. NeuroNames is the mediator for BrainInfo, a portal to neuroanatomy on the Web. We hope that a description of our experience in establishing interoperability between BrainInfo and other neuroscience Web sites may be useful to others engaged in the development of ontologies for neuroscience.
-
Statistics is defined by the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus as the science and art of collecting, summarizing, and analyzing data that are subject to random variation. The two broad categories of summarizing and analyzing data are referred to as descriptive and inferential statistics. This chapter considers the science and art of summarizing data where descriptive statistics and graphics are used to display data. ⋯ For describing quantitative variables, measures of location and spread, for example the standard deviation, are presented along with graphical presentations. We also discuss distributions of statistics, for example the variance, as well as the use of transformations. The concepts in this chapter are useful for uncovering patterns within the data and for effectively presenting the results of a project.
-
Antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) against specific molecular targets (e.g., Bcl-2 and Raf-1) are important reagents in cancer biology and therapy. Phosphorothioate modification of the ASO backbone has resulted in an increased stability of ASO in vivo without compromising, in general, their target selectivity. Although the power of antisense technology remains unsurpassed, dose-limiting side effects of modified ASO and inadequate penetration into the tumor tissue have necessitated further improvements in ASO chemistry and delivery systems. ⋯ Raf-1 expression is decreased in normal and tumor tissues of LErafAON-treated mice. Therapeutic benefit of a combination of LErafAON and radiation or an anticancer drug exceeds radiation or drug alone against human prostate, breast, and pancreatic tumors grown in athymic mice. Further improvements in ASO chemistry and nanoparticles are promising avenues in antisense therapy of cancer.