819, 0.701 and 0.416,

respectively).

Body mass index and transvaginal cervical length were better predictors compared to the Bishop score in determining the success of labor induction.”
“A study was conducted to validate a constipation questionnaire based on the Rome III criteria.

Women attending outpatient clinics completed a constipation questionnaire based on the Rome III Criteria. The internal reliability, the test-retest as well as the content and construct validity of the questionnaire were evaluated.

Two hundred one women were studied. Of the women, 28% (56/201) reported constipation but only 14% of these (8/56) could be defined as constipated accordingly to the Rome III Criteria. Nine percent of women (13/145) who see more did not report constipation were classified as constipated accordingly to the Rome III Criteria. The questionnaire had good reliability (Cronbach’s alpha of 0.85 and ICC of 0.85). However, the questionnaire did

not have significant construct validity with patients’ self-report of constipation, stool frequency and stool form (Pearson chi-square P > 0.05).

The Rome III Criteria questionnaire is a reliable and reproducible tool but does not appear to be a valid instrument in diagnosing Selleckchem Staurosporine constipation.”
“P>Jasmonates (JAs) are fatty acid-derived signaling compounds that control diverse aspects of plant growth, development and immunity. The F-box protein COI1 functions both as a receptor for jasmonoyl-l-isoleucine (JA-Ile) and as the component of an E3-ubiquitin ligase complex (SCFCOI1) that targets JAZ transcriptional regulators for degradation. A key feature of JAZ proteins is the C-terminal Jas motif that mediates the JA-Ile-dependent interaction with COI1. Here, we show that most JAZ genes from evolutionarily diverse plants contain a conserved

intron that splits the Jas motif into 20 N-terminal and seven C-terminal (X(5)PY) amino acid submotifs. In most members of the Arabidopsis JAZ family, alternative splicing events involving retention of this intron generate proteins that are truncated before the X(5)PY sequence. In vitro pull-down and yeast two-hybrid assays indicate that these splice variants JNJ-26481585 in vivo have reduced capacity to form stable complexes with COI1 in the presence of the bioactive stereoisomer of the hormone (3R,7S)-JA-Ile. cDNA overexpression studies showed that some, but not all, truncated splice variants are dominant repressors of JA signaling. We also show that strong constitutive expression of an intron-containing JAZ10 genomic clone is sufficient to repress JA responses. These findings provide evidence for functional differences between JAZ isoforms, and establish a direct link between the alternative splicing of JAZ pre-mRNA and the dominant repression of JA signal output.