The effect of TiO2/SiO2 and SiO2/Al2O3 ratio on the wettability of the TiO2–MnO–SiO2–Al2O3 quaternary welding flux system was studied using the sessile drop method by measuring the contact angle at ...the liquid/solid interface. The contact angle was measured at 1773K to determine the relationship between wettability and flux structure, which is affected by the flux composition. The surface and interfacial tensions of the TiO–MnO–SiO2–Al2O3 flux system were calculated using Boni's equation and Young's equation, respectively, based on the measured contact angle. The adhesion energy, which corresponds to the energy required to separate the flux from a substrate, was calculated using Dupre's equation. The interfacial tension between the liquid flux and Pt-10Rh decreased and the surface tension increased with higher TiO2 and Al2O3. The results of the Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analyses of as-quenched fluxes from 1773K also support the structural relationship with the wettability. It was found that both O− (non-bridged oxygen) and O2− (free oxygen) affect the interfacial tension between the flux and the substrate.
•Compositional effect on wettability properties of silicate based slag system at high temperature using structural analysis•Higher TiO2 content decreased the interfacial tension between the flux and substrate•Higher Al2O3 content decreased the interfacial tension between the flux and substrate•Both the O− and O2− oxygen anions affect the interfacial tension
Psoriasis vulgaris (PsV) risk is strongly associated with variation within the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) region, but its genetic architecture has yet to be fully elucidated. Here, we ...conducted a large-scale fine-mapping study of PsV risk in the MHC region in 9,247 PsV-affected individuals and 13,589 controls of European descent by imputing class I and II human leukocyte antigen (HLA) genes from SNP genotype data. In addition, we imputed sequence variants for MICA, an MHC HLA-like gene that has been associated with PsV, to evaluate association at that locus as well. We observed that HLA-C∗06:02 demonstrated the lowest p value for overall PsV risk (p = 1.7 × 10−364). Stepwise analysis revealed multiple HLA-C∗06:02-independent risk variants in both class I and class II HLA genes for PsV susceptibility (HLA-C∗12:03, HLA-B amino acid positions 67 and 9, HLA-A amino acid position 95, and HLA-DQα1 amino acid position 53; p < 5.0 × 10−8), but no apparent risk conferred by MICA. We further evaluated risk of two major clinical subtypes of PsV, psoriatic arthritis (PsA; n = 3,038) and cutaneous psoriasis (PsC; n = 3,098). We found that risk heterogeneity between PsA and PsC might be driven by HLA-B amino acid position 45 (pomnibus = 2.2 × 10−11), indicating that different genetic factors underlie the overall risk of PsV and the risk of specific PsV subphenotypes. Our study illustrates the value of high-resolution HLA and MICA imputation for fine mapping causal variants in the MHC.
Meta-analysis strategies have become critical to augment power of genome-wide association studies (GWAS). To reduce genotyping or sequencing cost, many studies today utilize shared controls, and ...these individuals can inadvertently overlap among multiple studies. If these overlapping individuals are not taken into account in meta-analysis, they can induce spurious associations. In this article, we propose a general framework for adjusting association statistics to account for overlapping subjects within a meta-analysis. The key idea of our method is to transform the covariance structure of the data, so it can be used in downstream analyses. As a result, the strategy is very flexible and allows a wide range of meta-analysis methods, such as the random effects model, to account for overlapping subjects. Using simulations and real datasets, we demonstrate that our method has utility in meta-analyses of GWAS, as well as in a multi-tissue mouse expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) study where our method increases the number of discovered eQTL by up to 19% compared with existing methods.
We present a fully automated adaptive optics (AO) retinal image montaging algorithm using classic scale invariant feature transform with random sample consensus for outlier removal. Our approach is ...capable of using information from multiple AO modalities (confocal, split detection, and dark field) and can accurately detect discontinuities in the montage. The algorithm output is compared to manual montaging by evaluating the similarity of the overlapping regions after montaging, and calculating the detection rate of discontinuities in the montage. Our results show that the proposed algorithm has high alignment accuracy and a discontinuity detection rate that is comparable (and often superior) to manual montaging. In addition, we analyze and show the benefits of using multiple modalities in the montaging process. We provide the algorithm presented in this paper as open-source and freely available to download.
Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous group of diseases, comprising seven categories. Genetic data could potentially be used to help redefine JIA categories and improve the current ...classification system. The human leucocyte antigen (HLA) region is strongly associated with JIA. Fine-mapping of the region was performed to look for similarities and differences in HLA associations between the JIA categories and define correspondences with adult inflammatory arthritides.
Dense genotype data from the HLA region, from the Immunochip array for 5043 JIA cases and 14 390 controls, were used to impute single-nucleotide polymorphisms, HLA classical alleles and amino acids. Bivariate analysis was performed to investigate genetic correlation between the JIA categories. Conditional analysis was used to identify additional effects within the region. Comparison of the findings with those in adult inflammatory arthritic diseases was performed.
We identified category-specific associations and have demonstrated for the first time that rheumatoid factor (RF)-negative polyarticular JIA and oligoarticular JIA are genetically similar in their HLA associations. We also observe that each JIA category potentially has an adult counterpart. The RF-positive polyarthritis association at HLA-DRB1 amino acid at position 13 mirrors the association in adult seropositive rheumatoid arthritis (RA). Interestingly, the combined oligoarthritis and RF-negative polyarthritis dataset shares the same association with adult seronegative RA.
The findings suggest the value of using genetic data in helping to classify the categories of this heterogeneous disease. Mapping JIA categories to adult counterparts could enable shared knowledge of disease pathogenesis and aetiology and facilitate transition from paediatric to adult services.
To determine the preoperative computed tomography (CT) parameters that predict portal vein/superior mesenteric vein (PV-SMV) invasion in patients with pancreatic head cancer, and to assess whether ...PV-SMV invasion affects patient survival.
Sixty patients with PV-SMV invasion, and 60 randomly selected patients without it, who had undergone preoperative CT and subsequent surgery for pancreatic head cancer were enrolled. The following CT parameters were evaluated using multivariate logistic regression and receiver operating characteristic analyses to predict vessel invasion (tumour size and margin, length of involved vessel, distance from the tumour to the vessel, vessel irregularity, the teardrop sign, and tumour–vein interface TVI). The Cox proportional hazard model was used to evaluate the effects of PV-SMV invasion on survival.
In multivariate analysis, tumour size (odds ratio OR=1.99) and TVI (OR=3.79 ≤90°, 20.66 >90°, ≤180°, and 47.24 >180°) were independent CT predictors of PV-SMV invasion (p<0.05); they achieved a sensitivity of 87%, a specificity of 75%, and an accuracy of 81%; however, PV-SMV invasion did not affect patient survival after surgery (p=0.374).
In patients with pancreatic head cancer, preoperative CT parameters can predict PV-SMV invasion with high accuracy. PV-SMV invasion did not affect treatment outcome after surgery.
•Tumour size and TVI were independent CT predictors of PV-SMV invasion.•These criteria can predict venous invasion pre-operatively with high accuracy.•PV-SMV invasion did not cause any significant difference in overall survival.
Lutein benefits human health significantly, including that of the eyes, skin and heart. Therefore, increasing lutein content in soybean seeds is an important objective for breeding programmes. ...However, no information about soybean lutein-related quantitative trait loci (QTL) has been reported, as of 2016. The aim of the present study was to identify QTLs underlying the lutein content in soybean seeds. A population including 129 recombinant inbred lines was developed from the cross between ‘Dongnong46’ (lutein 13·10 µg/g) and ‘L-100’ (lutein 23·96 µg/g), which significantly differed in seed lutein contents. This population was grown in ten environments including Harbin in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015; Hulan in 2013, 2014 and 2015; and Acheng in 2013, 2014 and 2015. A total of 213 simple sequence repeat markers were used to construct the genetic linkage map, which covered approximately 3623·39 cM, with an average distance of 17·01 cM between markers. In the present study, eight QTLs associated with lutein content were found initially, which could explain 1·01–19·66% of the observed phenotypic variation in ten different tested environments. The phenotypic contribution of qLU-1 (located near BARC-Satt588 on chromosome 9 (Chr 9; linkage group (LG) K)) was >10% across seven tested environments, while qLU-2 (located near Satt192 of Chr 12 (LG H)) and qLU-3 (located near Satt353 of Chr12 (LGH)) could explain 5–10% of the observed phenotypic variation in more than seven environments, respectively. qLU-5, qLU-6, qLU-7 and qLU-8 could be detected in more than four environments. These eight QTLs were novel, and have considerable potential value for marker-assistant selection of higher lutein content in soybean lines.
Enteric fever affects more than 25 million people annually and results from systemic infection with Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi or Paratyphi pathovars A, B or C(1). We conducted a genome-wide ...association study of 432 individuals with blood culture-confirmed enteric fever and 2,011 controls from Vietnam. We observed strong association at rs7765379 (odds ratio (OR) for the minor allele = 0.18, P = 4.5 × 10(-10)), a marker mapping to the HLA class II region, in proximity to HLA-DQB1 and HLA-DRB1. We replicated this association in 595 enteric fever cases and 386 controls from Nepal and also in a second independent collection of 151 cases and 668 controls from Vietnam. Imputation-based fine-mapping across the extended MHC region showed that the classical HLA-DRB1*04:05 allele (OR = 0.14, P = 2.60 × 10(-11)) could entirely explain the association at rs7765379, thus implicating HLA-DRB1 as a major contributor to resistance against enteric fever, presumably through antigen presentation.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IJS, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Purpose
Rapidly changing medical environments may have changed the microbiology of infected bile. The aim of our study was to identify the changing trends in microorganisms in biliary infections and ...examine their susceptibilities against currently recommended antibiotics.
Methods
Bile cultures taken between 1998 and 2010 at Seoul National University Hospital, a tertiary medical center, were retrospectively reviewed. From 1,403 patients, 3,425 microorganisms were isolated from 2,217 cultures. The cultures were then tested to determine the types of microorganisms and their antibiotic susceptibility.
Results
The five most frequently isolated microorganisms were
Enterococcus
(22.7 %) followed by
Escherichia
(13.2 %),
Pseudomonas
(10.9 %),
Klebsiella
(10.3 %), and
Enterobacter
(7.2 %). The trend in annual incidence indicated a growing emergence of
Enterococcus
(
P
< 0.001). Among
Enterococcus
,
E. faecium
acquired a dominant position (50.6 %), showing an increasing trend over the study period (
P
= 0.026). The incidence of vancomycin-resistant
Enterococcus
also showed an increasing trend (
P
< 0.001). Many of the commonly used antibiotics provided inadequate coverage for the more frequently encountered microorganisms. Multiple regression revealed that benign causes of obstruction and non-operative treatment harbor an increased risk for enterococcal growth (
P
= 0.001 and
P
= 0.027, respectively).
Conclusions
In contrast to earlier reports, we found that
Enterococcus
has emerged as the most frequently isolated microorganism from bile. The importance of enterococcal infection should be recognized, and currently recommended antibiotics need to be re-evaluated since in our bile cultures most provided inadequate coverage for the more frequently encountered microorganisms. The changes in the trends of microorganisms isolated from bile should be considered in cases where patients present with biliary obstruction.
Poly(
N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAm) is known to be thermally responsive material and has a lower critical solution temperature (LCST, 32°C) at which a macromolecular transition from a hydrophilic ...to a hydrophobic structure occurs. Chitosan is a useful natural polymeric biomaterial due to its biocompatibility and biodegradable properties. It has good characteristics for cell attachment, proliferation and viability. The aim of this study was to assess the ability to differentiate from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) to chondrocytes and mass formation using a newly developed injectable material, a thermosensitive (water-soluble chitosan-
g-PNIPAAm) gel, and evaluate cartilage formation in vivo after injecting a cell-thermosensitive gel complex.
The MSCs were cultured in the chitosan–PNIPAAm in vitro. Fluorescence-activated cell sort analysis, viability test, collagen type I, II, X formation and the aggrecan levels were examined. These cultured cells can be easily recovered from a copolymer gel by simply lowering the temperature. An animal study was performed to assess cartilage formation in the submucosal layer of the bladder of rabbits. The cartilage formation could be detected. This can be used to treat vesicoureteral reflux or reflux esophagitis by the effective mass effect. This is a simple method (sol–gel technique in LCST), and good cartilage formation occurs in the bladder tissue.
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