58 research outputs found

    Sporadic imprinting defects in Prader-Willi-Syndrome and Angelman-Syndrome - implications for imprint-switch models, genetic counseling, and prenatal diagnosis

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    Karin Buiting, Bärbel Dittrich, Stephanie Groß, Christina Lich, Claudia Färber, Tina Buchholz, Ellie Smith, André Reis, Joachim Bürger, Markus M. Nöthen, Ulli Barth-Witte, Bart Janssen, Dvorah Abeliovich, Israela Lerer, Ans M.W. van den Ouweland, Dicky J.J. Halley, Connie Schrander-Stumpel, Hubert Smeets, Peter Meinecke, Sue Malcolm, Anne Gardner, Marc Lalande, Robert D. Nicholls, Kathie Friend, Astrid Schulze, Gert Matthijs, Hannaleena Kokkonen, Pascale Hilbert, Lionel Van Maldergem, Guillermo Glover, Pablo Carbonell, Patrick Willems, Gabriele Gillessen-Kaesbach, Bernhard Horsthemk

    The 28-kb Deletion Spanning D15S63 Is a Polymorphic Variant in the Ashkenazi Jewish Population

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    D15S63 is one of the loci, on chromosome 15q11-q13, that exhibit parent-of-origin dependent methylation and that is commonly used in the diagnosis of Prader-Willi or Angelman syndromes (PWS/AS). A 28-kb deletion spanning the D15S63 locus was identified in five unrelated patients; in each of them the deletion was inherited from a normal parent. Three of the five families segregating the deletion were reported to be of Jewish Ashkenazi ancestry, and in the other two families the ancestral origin was unknown. To determine whether the 28-kb deletion is a benign variant, we screened for the deletion in 137 unselected Ashkenazi individuals and in 268 patients who were referred for molecular diagnosis of PWS/AS, of whom 89 were Ashkenazi and 47 were of mixed origin (Ashkenazi and non-Ashkenazi Jews). In the control group, three individuals were carriers of the deletion; among the patients, three were carriers, all of whom were Ashkenazi Jews. There was no significant difference between the control group and the Ashkenazi patients, indicating that the deletion is not a cause of PWS- and AS-like syndromes. The frequency of the 28-kb deletion in the Ashkenazi population was 1/75. Since methylation analysis at the D15S63 locus may lead to misdiagnosis, we suggest the use of SNRPN, either in a PCR-based assay or as a probe in Southern hybridization, as the method of choice in the diagnosis of PWS/AS

    Retelling Tales: Patience Agbabi\u27s Queering of Chaucer\u27s The Man of Law\u27s Tale

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    Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is recognized as a formative text within the canon of English literature. Because of his widely known status, Chaucer and his writings have become the central focus of many medievalists; this does not simply mean the increased presence of critical writings, but also creative works that are inspired by The Canterbury Tales. Patience Agbabi’s Telling Tales is a contemporary poetic retelling of The Canterbury Tales in which she explores the origins of ideas such as diaspora, colonization, racialized thinking, social hierarchy, and binary thinking, only to question these ideas in her own writing. Author Seth Lerer argues, “Constructing literary systems entails positing not just a present of performance but a past of cultural identity. It necessitates the self-conscious invention of a history to literature and, in turn, a definition of the poet’s self-appointed role in mediating that history to a present reading, commissioning, or judging community” (Lerer 4). Although Lerer is discussing the ratification of Chaucer into the modern canon of English literature, he is creating a clear line of historical foundations for the practice of rewriting. Agbabi is continuing Chaucer’s practice of drawing on his own surroundings to create a tale of the present. Patience Agbabi rewrites “The Man of Law’s Tale” into a queer and transnational tale by extracting points of origin from the Middle Ages and rewriting them from a contemporary point of view

    An Exploratory Study on Conversational Agents Using Dynamic Conversation Styles

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    This study aims to examine the effect of dynamically aligning the conversation style to the user’s preference in a conversational agent environment. We suggest a technique to identify the user’s preferred conversation style, by scoring statements based on their writing style. We designed a within-subject experiment intended to measure the user engagement and satisfaction (with style alignment × without style alignment). We found an increase in self reported satisfaction ratings and reflect on how familiarity with the entity behind the chatbot may affect the preference of the conversational style. We finish this study with concrete suggestions to designers and developers of future chatbots and how should the alignment of conversation style be assigned and adaptedCSE3000 Research ProjectComputer Science and Engineerin

    Detection of aberrant DNA methylation in unique Prader — Willi syndrome patients and its diagnostic implications

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    Most patients with Prader - Willi syndrome have a deletion of 15q11 - 13 or maternal uniparental disomy for chromosome 15. The shortest region of deletion overlap is presently defined by the gene for the small nuclear ribonucleoprotein N (SNRPN). We have investigated the integrity of SNRPN as well as the methylation status of D15S63 (PW71) in two patients with apparently normal chromosomes 15 of biparental origin. SNRPN is normal in one patient and deleted in the other one. Both patients are intact at the D15S63 locus, but have an abnormal methylation pattern. These results suggest that a DNA sequence close to SNRPN determines the methylation status of D15S63 and that the methylation test does not only detect the common deletions and uniparental disomy, but other rare lesions as wel
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