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Related Concept Videos

What is Variation?01:14

What is Variation?

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Apart from the measures of central tendency, distribution, outliers, and the changing characteristics of data with time, an important characteristic of any data set is its variation or spread. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in others, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean.
The range, standard deviation, standard error, and variance are the different measures of variation.
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Variation: Normal Distribution, Range, and Standard Deviation02:32

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In the field of psychology, there are several ways to organize measurements of a trait, feature, or characteristic (i.e., variables). Qualitative data, such as ethnicity, can be tabulated into a frequency count to provide information about the proportion, as well as the variety of groups in a sample or population. On the other hand, researchers can perform a wider set of calculations on quantitative data. The mean, mode, and median, for instance, are central tendency measures to identify a...
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Variation01:19

Variation

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An important characteristic of any set of data is the variation in the data. In some data sets, the data values are concentrated closely near the mean; in other data sets, the data values are more widely spread out from the mean. The most common measure of variation, or spread, is the standard deviation, which is the square root of variance.
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Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic engineering technique. Flippase and Cyclization recombinases or Flp and Cre, respectively, are two members of the tyrosine recombinase family derived from bacteriophages, that are used to mediate site-specific DNA insertions, deletions, and targeted expression of proteins in mammalian cell lines.
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Change in atmospheric pressure with height is particularly interesting. The decrease in atmospheric pressure with increasing altitude is due to the decreasing gravitational force per unit area as we move away from the surface of the earth.
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Comparing Copy Number Variations and SNPs

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Sequencing of the human genome has opened up several best-kept secrets of the genome. Scientists have identified thousands of genome variations that exist within a population. These variations can be a single nucleotide or a larger chromosomal variation.
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Catching up with Lyme Disease Antigenic Variation Computationally.

Steven J Norris1

  • 1Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Microbiology & Molecular Genetics, McGovern Medical School, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, 6431 Fannin St, Houston, Texas 77584, USA.

Trends in Microbiology
|June 16, 2018
PubMed
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Lyme disease spirochetes evade immune responses using antigenic variation, creating millions of variants. New research uses advanced sequencing and computational methods to understand this bacterial evasion strategy.

Keywords:
Borreliella burgdorferiLyme diseaseVlsEantigenic variationcomputational analysishigh-throughput sequencing

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Area of Science:

  • Microbiology
  • Immunology
  • Genetics

Background:

  • Lyme disease is caused by spirochetes that possess a sophisticated antigenic variation system.
  • This system allows the bacteria to generate numerous variants, facilitating immune evasion.
  • Understanding this mechanism is crucial for developing effective treatments against Lyme disease.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the molecular mechanisms underlying the antigenic variation in Lyme disease spirochetes.
  • To elucidate how these bacteria continuously alter their surface antigens to evade host immune responses.
  • To provide new insights into the evolutionary strategies employed by pathogenic bacteria.

Main Methods:

  • Application of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technologies.
  • Utilizing advanced computational analysis and bioinformatics tools.
  • Comparative genomic analysis of spirochetal populations.

Main Results:

  • Identification of key genes and regulatory pathways involved in antigenic variation.
  • Characterization of the diversity and dynamics of bacterial variants.
  • Uncovering novel strategies used by spirochetes to maintain immune evasion.

Conclusions:

  • The study provides a deeper understanding of the complex antigenic variation system in Lyme disease spirochetes.
  • These findings highlight the adaptability of bacteria in evading host immunity.
  • The research may inform the development of new therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for Lyme disease.