RESUMO
Given the importance of RNA secondary structures in defining their biological role, it would be convenient for researchers seeking RNA data if both sequence and structural information pertaining to RNA molecules are made available together. Current nucleotide data repositories archive only RNA sequence data. Furthermore, storage formats which can frugally represent RNA sequence as well as structure data in a single file, are currently unavailable. This article proposes a novel storage format, ‘FASTR’, for concomitant representation of RNA sequence and structure. The storage efficiency of the proposed FASTR format has been evaluated using RNA data from various microorganisms. Results indicate that the size of FASTR formatted files (containing both RNA sequence as well as structure information) are equivalent to that of FASTA-format files, which contain only RNA sequence information. RNA secondary structure is typically represented using a combination of a string of nucleotide characters along with the corresponding dot-bracket notation indicating structural attributes. ‘FASTR’ – the novel storage format proposed in the present study enables a frugal representation of both RNA sequence and structural information in the form of a single string. In spite of having a relatively smaller storage footprint, the resultant ‘fastr’ string(s) retain all sequence as well as secondary structural information that could be stored using a dot-bracket notation. An implementation of the ‘FASTR’ methodology is available for download at http://metagenomics.atc.tcs.com/compression/fastr.
RESUMO
The study aimed to assess serum levels of BALP, CA 15-3, TGF-beta 1 and PTHrP in female patients with the stages II and IV of breast cancer in order to evaluate the role of these substances in the development and pathogenesis of bone metastases. This study was performed on 66 female patients with breast cancer, 42 patients with stage II and 24 patients with stage IV breast cancer [12 with bone metastases and 12 with non bone metastases]. Twelve healthy women were used as a control group. Liver function tests, kidney function tests and bone metabolism markers [serum calcium, phosphorus and bone specific alkaline phosphatase levels] were determined. Urinary calcium/creatinine and phosphorus/creatinine ratios and the incidence of proteinuria were calculated. Serum CA 15-3, TGF-beta 1 and PTHrP levels were estimated by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay [ELISA]