Discovery of 342 putative new genes from the analysis of 5'-end-sequenced full-length-enriched cDNA human transcripts.

In this work we describe the process that, starting with the production of human full-length-enriched cDNA libraries using the CAP-Trapper method, led us to the discovery of 342 putative new human genes. Twenty-three thousand full-length-enriched clones, obtained from various cell lines and tissues in different developmental stages, were 5'-end sequenced, allowing the identification of a pool of 5300 unique cDNAs. By comparing these sequences to various human and vertebrate nucleotide databases we found that about 40% of our clones extended previously annotated 5' ends, 662 clones were likely to represent splice variants of known genes, and finally 342 clones remained unknown, with no or poor functional annotation. cDNA-microarray gene expression analysis showed that 260 of 342 unknown clones are expressed in at least one cell line and/or tissue. Further analysis of their sequences and the corresponding genomic locations allowed us to conclude that most of them represent potential novel genes, with only a small fraction having protein-coding potential.

Mortality of the German linguistic isolates of the western Italian Alps (Walser).

For five localities of Western Alps (Val d'Aosta and Piemonte) inhabited by Walser populations (Gressoney-la-Trinité, Gressoney St. Jean, Issime, Macugnaga and Rima) the main features of mortality are described, namely raw death rate, seasonality of deaths, distribution of deaths according to age classes and infant mortality. Death rate is higher than the Italian average value; seasonality of deaths shows some statistically significative differences only in a few decades and does not reach a high significativity. Distribution in age classes shows a rather low mortality at lower ages (0 and 1-4 years) with small changes between the two halves of the 20th century. An exception is constituted by Macugnaga, where an elevated mortality at lower age classes is present in both halves of the century, though higher in the first one. The picture can be considered as not typical of Walser populations. Infant mortality shows great variations in the investigated isolates, but an explication today is impossible. The degree of illiteracy, one of the causes of infant mortality, is rather elevated only at Macugnaga (until 1931). A comparison is made with other German linguistic islands studied so far by one of the two authors (G.M.).

Seasonality of death in the period 1889-1988 in the Val di Scalve (Bergamo Pre-Alps, Lombardia, Italy).

We present results on the seasonality of death in four communes of the Val di Scalve (Bergamo Pre-Alps, Lombardia, Italy). The seasonality is remarkable in all four localities and also in both halves of the century examined (1889-1988). In particular, the mortality peaks during the cold season.

[Further observations on the demo-ecology of German-speaking isolates in Italy. Mortality in the isolates of Giazza and Selva di Progno (Lessinia)]. / Ulteriori osservazioni sulla demo-ecologia delle isole linguistiche tedesche d'Italia. La mortalita nelle due isole di Giazza e Selva di Progno (Lessinia).

PIP: Age differentials in mortality are studied in two German-speaking subpopulations of Italy and compared with mortality trends throughout Italy. (SUMMARY IN ENG AND FRE)^ieng