Multiple-group factor analysis of the Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children

Confirmatory factor analyses were performed on the intercorrelations among the 12 tests of the WISC and WISC-R separately for age levels 7.5, 10.5, and 13.5 to test Wechsler's (1958) hypothesis that verbal and performance factors underlie these tests. At all three age levels, verbal and performance factors that accounted for approximately 50% of the total variance emerged clearly. These results provide strong empirical support for Wechsler's hypothesis.     

Case study: pachyonychia congenita: a mixed type II-type IV presentation

A 52-year-old woman in good health with a family history negative for dermatologic diseases presented to our department with thickening and dystrophy of all her fingernails and toenails that started when she was born. She also had hyperkeratosis on the palms of her hands and soles of her feet that was confined to sites of pressure and recurrent plantar blisters that began appearing at puberty. The patient reported marked pain while walking from such plantar involvement. Her medical history revealed a persistent hoarseness; palmoplantar hyperhidrosis; and the appearance of numerous cysts on her back, neck, and scalp since she was 20 years old. These latter lesions had been diagnosed as multiple steatocystoma on the basis of the histologic features. Upon examination, all of her fingernails and toenails appeared shortened, thickened,and dystrophic (Figures 1-3). In addition, they presented subungual keratosis and a yellowish-gray color. Hyperkeratosis and small ulcerations were present on the perionychium. Palmoplantar keratoderma was evident, especially on the soles,in association with superficial erosions (Figure 4). Keratosis pilaris was evident on the extensor surfaces of the forearms as well as on the anterior surfaces of the legs. Multiple nodules were detected on the patient's neck, trunk, and axillary regions(Figure 5). They consisted of multiplex steatocystoma and were characterized by a hemispheric shape, a normal-appearing skin color, and by an elastic consistency on palpation. Oral and dental changes were not detected, although hair anomalies were evident. Laboratory parameters disclosed eosinophilia and increased total IgE levels. The results of serum protein electrophoresis was normal, as were those concerning hepatic and renal functions. The ophthalmology examination showed neither corneal dyskeratosis nor cataracts. The neurologic-psychiatric visit revealed slight mental retardation.     

Synthesis and biological evaluation of morpholines linked coumarin–triazole hybrids as anticancer agents

A series of novel morpholines linked coumarin–triazole hybrids ( 6a–6v ) has been synthesized and evaluated for their anti‐proliferative potential on a panel of five human cancer cell lines, namely bone (MG‐63), lung (A549), breast (MDA‐MB‐231), colon (HCT‐15) and liver (HepG2), using MTT assay. Among all, the compound 6n {7‐((1‐(2,4‐dichlorobenzyl)‐1H‐1,2,3‐triazol‐4‐yl) methoxy)‐4‐((2,6‐dimethylmorpholino) methyl)‐2H‐chromen‐2‐one} showed significant growth inhibition against MG‐63 cells with an IC₅₀ value of 0.80 ± 0.22 μM. Further, induction of apoptosis by 6n of MG‐63 cells confirmed as a result of morphological changes, the sub‐G1 phase arrest, increased percentage of apoptotic cells, and decrease in mitochondrial membrane potential and increase in reactive oxygen species levels. The in vitro Gal‐1 expression in cell culture supernatant of MG‐63 cells treated with compound 6n showed dose‐dependent reduction. The binding constant (K_a) of 6n with Gal‐1 was calculated from the intercept value which was observed as 3.0 × 10⁵ M^?1 by fluorescence spectroscopy. Surface plasmon resonance showed that 6n binds to Gal‐1 with binding constant (K_a) of 1.29E+04 1/Ms and equilibrium constant KD value of 7.54E?07 M, respectively. Molecular docking studies revealed the binding interactions of 6n with Gal‐1.     

Methylome-wide comparison of human genomic DNA extracted from whole blood and from EBV-transformed lymphocyte cell lines

DNA from Epstein–Barr virus-transformed lymphocyte cell lines (LCLs) has proven useful for studies of genetic sequence polymorphisms. Whether LCL DNA is suitable for methylation studies is less clear. We conduct a genome-wide methylation investigation using an array set with 45 million probes to investigate the methylome of LCL DNA and technical duplicates of WB DNA from the same 10 individuals. We focus specifically on methylation sites that show variation between individuals and, therefore, are potentially useful as biomarkers. The sample correlations for the methylation variable probes ranged from 0.69 to 0.78 for the WB duplicates and from 0.27 to 0.72 for WB vs LCL. To compare the pattern of the methylation signals, we grouped adjacent probes based on their inter-correlations. These analyses showed ∼29 000 and ∼14 000 blocks in WB and LCL, respectively. Merely 31% of the methylated regions detected in WB were detectable in LCLs. Furthermore, we observed significant differences in mean difference between WB and LCL as compared with duplicates of WB (P-value =2.2 × 10⁻¹⁶). Our study shows that there are substantial differences in the DNA methylation patterns between LCL and WB. Thus, LCL DNA should not be used as a proxy for WB DNA in methylome-wide studies.