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High-throughput sequencing enables unbiased profiling of microbial communities, universal pathogen detection, and host response to infectious diseases. However, computation times and algorithmic inaccuracies have hindered adoption. We present Taxonomer, an ultrafast, web-tool for comprehensive metagenomics data analysis and interactive results visualization. Taxonomer is unique in providing integrated nucleotide and protein-based classification and simultaneous host messenger RNA (mRNA) transcript profiling. Using real-world case-studies, we show that Taxonomer detects previously unrecognized infections and reveals antiviral host mRNA expression profiles. To facilitate data-sharing across geographic distances in outbreak settings, Taxonomer is publicly available through a web-based user interface. Taxonomer enables rapid, accurate, and interactive analyses of metagenomics data on personal computers and mobile devices.

Copper bis(4‐ethyl‐3‐thiosemicarbazonato) acenaphthenequinone (1) and copper bis(4‐methyl‐3‐thiosemicarbazonato) acenaphthenequinone (2) are synthesized and characterized in solution, in the solid state, and radiolabeled. Serum‐protein binding radioassays show good stability in solution and about 25 % binding to protein over 1 h, which is comparable with the hypoxia selective tracer [64Cu(ATSM)]. Cyclic voltammetry shows fast and reversible reduction at redox potentials similar to the values known for hypoxia‐selective copper compounds. However, despite this, complex 1does not show any hypoxic‐selective uptake in HeLa cells over 1‐h standard assays. Possible reasons for this are studied by using the intrinsic fluorescence of the CuIIcomplexes to determine the cellular distributions and uptake mechanism by confocal microscopy. The complexes are found to bind to the external cell membrane and disperse evenly in the cytoplasm only after a very slow cell internalization (>1 h). No significant changes in distribution are observed by fluorescence imaging under hypoxic conditions. The rate of localization in the cytoplasm contrasts with their ZnIIanalogues, which are known to have fast cell uptake (up to 20 min) and a clear localization in lysosomes and mitochondria. The cytotoxicity mechanism of 1over 24 h against a number of adherent cell lines is seen to be by membrane disruption and is of a comparable magnitude to that of [Cu(ATSM)], as demonstrated by methyl tetrazolium (MTT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) assays.

The article presents the yellow jersey contenders for the 2008 Tour de France. They include Australian riders Cadel Evans and Michael Rogers, Denis Menchov of Russia, Carlos Sastre, Alejandro Valverde and Oscar Pereiro of Spain, Damiano Cunego of Italy, and Kim Kirchen of Luxembourg. The article assesses the potential of each yellow jersey contenders to win the race.

Although future orbital facilities will have immense scale, details will require intricate operations in restrictive, confined quarters. LEMUR is a small, agile and capable six-legged walking robot that has been built at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory to perform dexterous small-scale assembly, inspection and maintenance. It is intended to expand the operational envelope of robots in its size class (sub-5 kg) through the flexible use of its limbs and effectors, as well as through the modular changeout of those effectors. In short, LEMUR is intended as a robotic instantiation of a six-limbed primate with Swiss Army knife tendencies. LEMUR's layout consists of six independently operated limbs arranged in two rows of three. The front two limbs have four active degrees of freedom while the rear four limbs have three each. Each limb is reconfigurable to allow the integration of a variety of mechanical tools.

CD2 is a surface marker of T cells and NK cells, and is not normally expressed on human myeloid cells, but is found on a significant minority of cases of acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Molecular studies were performed on bone marrow myeloblasts from two patients with CD2 surface positive AML. No abnormality of the CD2 gene was detected on Southern blot analysis. On Northern blots, CD2 mRNA of normal size was present. The CD2 gene contained a site which was unmethylated, consistent with active transcription, in a CD2 positive AML case, and in a CD2 positive T cell line, but methylated in CD2 negative AML cells. The evidence does not support the hypothesis that inappropriate surface expression of lineage markers is due to leukemia-related genetic changes, such as amplification or rearrangement, of the CD2 gene itself. Rather, the results are consistent with the hypothesis that mixed lineage leukaemia arises from rare normal bone marrow progenitors with multilineage phenotypes.

The VAAST pipeline is specifically designed to identify disease‐associated alleles in next‐generation sequencing data. In the protocols presented in this paper, we outline the best practices for variant prioritization using VAAST. Examples and test data are provided for case‐control, small pedigree, and large pedigree analyses. These protocols will teach users the fundamentals of VAAST, VAAST 2.0, and pVAAST analyses. Curr. Protoc. Hum. Genet. 81:6.14.1‐6.14.25. © 2014 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc.