Motivation: Mining the hereditary disease-genes from human genome is one of the most important tasks in bioinformatics research. A variety of sequence features and functional similarities between ...known human hereditary disease-genes and those not known to be involved in disease have been systematically examined and efficient classifiers have been constructed based on the identified common patterns. The availability of human genome-wide protein–protein interactions (PPIs) provides us with new opportunity for discovering hereditary disease-genes by topological features in PPIs network. Results: This analysis reveals that the hereditary disease-genes ascertained from OMIM in the literature-curated (LC) PPIs network are characterized by a larger degree, tendency to interact with other disease-genes, more common neighbors and quick communication to each other whereas those properties could not be detected from the network identified from high-throughput yeast two-hybrid mapping approach (EXP) and predicted interactions (PDT) PPIs network. KNN classifier based on those features was created and on average gained overall prediction accuracy of 0.76 in cross-validation test. Then the classifier was applied to 5262 genes on human genome and predicted 178 novel disease-genes. Some of the predictions have been validated by biological experiments. Contact:jianzxu@hotmail.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
Motivation: Clinical diseases are characterized by distinct phenotypes. To identify disease genes is to elucidate the gene–phenotype relationships. Mutations in functionally related genes may result ...in similar phenotypes. It is reasonable to predict disease-causing genes by integrating phenotypic data and genomic data. Some genetic diseases are genetically or phenotypically similar. They may share the common pathogenetic mechanisms. Identifying the relationship between diseases will facilitate better understanding of the pathogenetic mechanism of diseases. Results: In this article, we constructed a heterogeneous network by connecting the gene network and phenotype network using the phenotype–gene relationship information from the OMIM database. We extended the random walk with restart algorithm to the heterogeneous network. The algorithm prioritizes the genes and phenotypes simultaneously. We use leave-one-out cross-validation to evaluate the ability of finding the gene–phenotype relationship. Results showed improved performance than previous works. We also used the algorithm to disclose hidden disease associations that cannot be found by gene network or phenotype network alone. We identified 18 hidden disease associations, most of which were supported by literature evidence. Availability: The MATLAB code of the program is available at http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/aspatra/research/Yongjin_BI2010.zip Contact: yongjin.li@gmail.com Supplementary information: Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
In gravity-driven oil/water separation, porous membranes with both micro- and nano-pores, corresponding to high flux, are eagerly desired. The fabrication of them remains as a great challenge. In ...this work, hierarchically porous Poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) fabrics were fabricated by electrospinning PLLA/PEO (Poly ethylene-oxide) blend solution and the subsequent removal of PEO by means of water etching. Micro-pores among electrospun fibers and nano-pores in fibers resulted from the bicontinuous structures due to the segregation of PLLA during the crystallization of PEO account for the excellent gravity-driven separation performance. On one hand, hierarchical roughness owing to the existence of pores in two scales produces superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties of the fabrics, which is the reason for the enhanced driving force for the oil/water separation; on the other hand, the nano-pores provide extra channels for the permeation of filtrate, which contributes 20% improvement of the flux. Our result opens a new avenue for fabricating hierarchically porous separation membranes for ultrafast oil/water separation.
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•Hierarchically porous fabrics, containing micro- and nano-pores, have been fabricated by electrospinning and water etching.•Crystallization-induced-segregation of PLLA/PEO accounts for bicontinuous structures in fibers.•The hierarchical pores produce superhydrophobic and superoleophilic properties and enhanced driving force for the separation.•The interconnected nano-pores in fibers provide extra channels for the permeation, improving flux in oil/water separation.•Both enhanced driving force and extra channels are benefit to the ultrafast separation of water-in-oil emulsion by gravity.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
Poly(
l-lactide) (PLLA) was melt-blended with acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene copolymer (ABS) with the aim of enhancing impact strength and elongation at break of PLLA, but not sacrificing its ...modulus and stiffness significantly. However, PLLA and ABS were found to be thermodynamically immiscible by simply melt blending and the formed blends show deteriorated mechanical properties. The reactive styrene/acrylonitrile/glycidyl methacrylate copolymer (SAN-GMA) by incorporating with ethyltriphenyl phosphonium bromide (ETPB) as the catalyst was used as the in situ compatibilizer for PLLA/ABS blends to improve the compatibility between PLLA and ABS. The reactive process during melt blending was investigated by Fourier transformed infra-red (FTIR). It showed that the epoxide group of SAN-GMA reacted with PLLA end groups under the mixing conditions and that the addition of ETPB accelerated the reaction. Phase structure and physical properties of the compatibilized blends were characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), tensile tests and impact property measurements. It was found that the size of ABS domains in PLLA matrix is significantly decreased by addition of the reactive compatibilizer. The dynamic mechanical analysis revealed markedly shifted glass transition temperatures for both PLLA and ABS, indicating the improved compatibility between PLLA and ABS. The mechanical tests showed the compatibilized PLLA/ABS blends had a very nice stiffness-toughness balance, i.e., the improved impact strength and the elongation at break with a slightly loss in the modulus.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK
A conductive poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF)/polyamide 6 (PA6)/carbon nanotubes (CNTs) composite with a unique hierarchical morphology has been fabricated by the dual formation of cocontinuous and ...nanodispersion structures using high-shear processing. PVDF and PA6 basically forms cocontinuous structure. The CNTs are exclusively located in the PA6 phase, and numerous PA6 domains with the size ranging from 10 to 150 nm are dispersed in the PVDF phase. The relationships between the physical properties (e.g., electrical conductivity and mechanical properties) and morphology of the composite have been investigated. The results indicate that the formation of PA6 nanodomains in PVDF phase by the high-shear processing not only increases the electrical conductivity but also improves the ductility of the obtained blend nanocomposites.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
The aim of the present study is to consider a heroin epidemic model with age-structure only in the active heroin users. The model was formulated with the help of available literature on heroin ...epidemic. Instead of treatment as a class, we incorporated recovered population and considered treatment as a control variable and thus a control problem is presented for further analysis. The techniques of weak derivatives and sensitivities were used for obtaining the adjoint equations. The maximum principle of Pontryagin’ type was used for obtaining the optimal value of the control variable. Sample simulations are presented at the end of the study in order to show the effectiveness of the treatment.
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IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UL, UM, UPUK
Melt blending of polylactide (PLA) and a biodegradable poly(ether)urethane (PU) elastomer has been performed in an effort to toughen the polylactide without compromising its biodegradability and ...biocompatibility. The miscibility, phase morphology, mechanical properties, and toughening mechanism of the blend were investigated. The blend was found by dynamic mechanical analysis to be a partially miscible system with shifted glass transition temperatures. The PU elastomer was dispersed in the PLA matrix with a domain size of sub‐micrometer scale. The addition of PU elastomer not only accelerated the crystallization speed, but also decreased the crystallinity of the PLA. With an increase in PU content, the blend shows decreased tensile strength and modulus; however, the elongation at break and the impact strength were significantly increased, indicating the toughening effects of the PU elastomer on the PLA. The brittle fracture of neat PLA was gradually transformed into ductile fracture by the addition of PU elastomer. It was found that the PLA matrix demonstrates large area, plastic deformation (shear yielding) in the blend upon being subjected the tensile and impact tests, which is an important energy‐dissipation process and leads to a toughened, biodegradable polymer blend.
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BFBNIB, FZAB, GIS, IJS, KILJ, NLZOH, NUK, OILJ, SBCE, SBMB, UL, UM, UPUK
Novel anti-static nanofibers based on blends of poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) and a room-temperature ionic liquid (RTIL), 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate BMIMPF6, were fabricated ...using an electrospinning approach. The effects of the RTIL on the morphology, crystal structure, and physical properties of the PVDF nanofibers were investigated. Incorporation of RTIL leads to an increase in the mean fiber diameter and the rough fiber surface of the PVDF/RTIL composite nanofibers compared with the neat PVDF nanofibers. The PVDF in the PVDF/RTIL nanofibers exhibits an extremely high content (almost 100%) of β crystals, in contrast to the dominance of PVDF γ crystals in bulk melt-blended PVDF/RTIL blends. Nonwoven fabrics produced from the electrospun PVDF/RTIL composite nanofibers show better stretchability and higher electrical conductivity than those made from neat PVDF without RTIL, and are thus excellent antielectrostatic fibrous materials. In addition, RTIL greatly improved the hydrophobicity of the PVDF fibers, enabling them to effectively separate a mixture of tetrachloromethane (CCl4) and water. The extremely high β content, excellent antielectrostatic properties, better stretchability, and hydrophobicity of the present PVDF/RTIL nanofibers make them a promising candidate for micro- and nanoscale electronic device applications.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Nanocomposites based on a thermoplastic elastomer, polystyrene-b-(ethylene-co-butylene)-b-styrene triblock copolymer (SEBS), and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated using a ...high-shear processing technique. The MWCNTs were homogeneously dispersed in the SEBS matrix, even at an MWCNT concentration of 15 wt %. The addition of MWCNTs to the elastomer significantly enhanced its electrical conductivity and mechanical properties, including increased modulus and tensile strength, with only a slight loss of stretchability. The fabricated nanocomposites loaded with 15 wt % MWCNT showed an excellent stretchability of more than 600% and a high strain recovery under mechanical deformation. Moreover, the conductivity of fabricated conductive nanocomposites only slowly decreases with uniaxial stretching. Therefore, a stretchable and elastic conductive polymer nanocomposite was successfully fabricated. In addition, the effect of the uniformly dispersed MWCNTs on the SEBS microphase separation behaviors was also investigated by small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), synchrotron SAXS, and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The results indicate that the homogeneously dispersed MWCNTs not only disturb the microphase-separated structure of SEBS but also decrease its order−disorder transition temperature.
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IJS, KILJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM
Norovirus is one of the most common causes of viral gastroenteritis in the world, causing significant morbidity, deaths, and medical costs. In this work, we look at stochastic modelling methodologies ...for norovirus transmission by water, human to human transmission and food. To begin, the proposed stochastic model is shown to have a single global positive solution. Second, we demonstrate adequate criteria for the existence of a unique ergodic stationary distribution
ℜ
s
0
>
1
by developing a Lyapunov function. Thirdly, we find sufficient criteria
ℜ
s
< 1 for disease extinction. Finally, two simulation examples are used to exemplify the analytical results. We employed optimal control theory and examined stochastic control problems to regulate the spread of the disease using some external measures. Additional graphical solutions have been produced to further verify the acquired analytical results. This research could give a solid theoretical foundation for understanding chronic communicable diseases around the world. Our approach also focuses on offering a way of generating Lyapunov functions that can be utilized to investigate the stationary distribution of epidemic models with nonlinear stochastic disturbances.
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