Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), a worldwide autoimmune disease with high heritability, shows differences in prevalence, severity and age of onset among different ancestral groups. Previous ...genetic studies have focused more on European populations, which appear to be the least affected. Consequently, the genetic variations that underlie the commonalities, differences and treatment options in SLE among ancestral groups have not been well elucidated. To address this, we undertake a genome-wide association study, increasing the sample size of Chinese populations to the level of existing European studies. Thirty-eight novel SLE-associated loci and incomplete sharing of genetic architecture are identified. In addition to the human leukocyte antigen (HLA) region, nine disease loci show clear ancestral differences and implicate antibody production as a potential mechanism for differences in disease manifestation. Polygenic risk scores perform significantly better when trained on ancestry-matched data sets. These analyses help to reveal the genetic basis for disparities in SLE among ancestral groups.
Self-sampling HPV test and thermal ablation are effective tools to increase screening coverage and treatment compliance for accelerating cervical cancer elimination. We assessed the ...cost-effectiveness of their combined strategies to inform accessible, affordable, and acceptable cervical cancer prevention strategies.
We developed a hybrid model to evaluate costs, health outcomes, and incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICER) of six screen-and-treat strategies combining HPV testing (self-sampling or physician-sampling), triage modalities (HPV genotyping, colposcopy or none) and thermal ablation, from a societal perspective. A designated initial cohort of 100,000 females born in 2015 was considered. Strategies with an ICER less than the Chinese gross domestic product (GDP) per capita ($10,350) were considered highly cost-effective.
Compared with current strategies in China (physician-HPV with genotype or cytology triage), all screen-and-treat strategies are cost-effective and self-HPV without triage is optimal with the most incremental quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained (220 to 440) in rural and urban China. Each screen-and-treat strategy based on self-collected samples is cost-saving compared with current strategies (-$818,430 to -$3540) whereas more costs are incurred using physician-collected samples compared with current physician-HPV with genotype triage (+$20,840 to +$182,840). For screen-and-treat strategies without triage, more costs (+$9404 to +$380,217) would be invested in the screening and treatment of precancerous lesions rather than the cancer treatment compared with the current screening strategies. Notably, however, more than 81.6% of HPV-positive women would be overtreated. If triaged with HPV 7 types or HPV16/18 genotypes, 79.1% or 67.2% (respectively) of HPV-positive women would be overtreated with fewer cancer cases avoided (19 cases or 69 cases).
Screen-and-treat strategy using self-sampling HPV test linked to thermal ablation could be the most cost-effective for cervical cancer prevention in China. Additional triage with quality-assured performance could reduce overtreatment and remains highly cost-effective compared with current strategies.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Organic–inorganic hybrid perovskite materials exhibit a variety of physical properties. Pronounced coupling between phonon, organic cations, and the inorganic framework suggest that these materials ...exhibit strong light–matter interactions. The photoinduced strain of CH3NH3PbBr3 is investigated using high‐resolution and contactless in situ Raman spectroscopy. Under illumination, the material exhibits large blue shifts in its Raman spectra that indicate significant structural deformations (i.e., photostriction). From these shifts, the photostrictive coefficient of CH3NH3PbBr3 is calculated as 2.08 × 10−8 m2 W−1 at room temperature under visible light illumination. The significant photostriction of CH3NH3PbBr3 is attributed to a combination of the photovoltaic effect and translational symmetry loss of the molecular configuration via strong translation–rotation coupling. Unlike CH3NH3PbI3, it is noted that the photostriction of CH3NH3PbBr3 is extremely stable, demonstrating no signs of optical decay for at least 30 d. These results suggest the potential of CH3NH3PbBr3 for applications in next‐generation optical micro‐electromechanical devices.
The photoinduced strain of CH3NH3PbBr3 is investigated using high‐resolution and contactless in situ Raman spectroscopy. Under illumination, the material exhibits large blue shifts in its Raman spectra that indicate significant structural deformations. The significant photostriction of CH3NH3PbBr3 can be attributed to a combination of the photovoltaic effect and translational symmetry loss of the molecular configuration via strong translation–rotation coupling.
Calligraphic counter electrodes: An important photovoltaic application using FeS2 nanocrystal (NC) pyrite ink to fabricate a counter electrode as an alternative to Pt in dye‐sensitized solar cells is ...demonstrated. FeS2 NC ink exhibits excellent electrochemical catalytic activity and remarkable electrochemical stability. ITO=indium‐doped tin oxide.
Iron (Fe) deficiency is common in agricultural crops and affects millions of people worldwide. Translocation of Fe in the xylem is a key step for Fe distribution in plants. The mechanism controlling ...this process remains largely unknown. Here, we report that two Arabidopsis ferroxidases, LPR1 and LPR2, play a crucial and redundant role in controlling Fe translocation in the xylem. LPR1 and LPR2 are mainly localized in the cell walls of xylem vessels and the surrounding cells in roots, leaves, and stems. Knockout of both LPR1 and LPR2 increased the proportion of Fe(II) in the xylem sap, and caused Fe deposition along the vascular bundles especially in the petioles and main veins of leaves, which was alleviated by blocking blue light. The lpr1 lpr2 double mutant displayed constitutive expression of Fe deficiency response genes and overaccumulation of Fe in the roots and mature leaves under Fe-sufficient supply, but Fe deficiency chlorosis in the new leaves and inflorescences under low Fe supply. Moreover, the lpr1 lpr2 double mutant showed lower Fe concentrations in the xylem and phloem saps, and impaired 57Fe translocation along the xylem. In vitro assays showed that Fe(III)-citrate, the main form of Fe in xylem sap, is easily photoreduced to Fe(II)-citrate, which is unstable and prone to adsorption by cell walls. Taken together, these results indicate that LPR1 and LPR2 are required to oxidize Fe(II) and maintain Fe(III)-citrate stability and mobility during xylem translocation against photoreduction. Our study not only uncovers an essential physiological role of LPR1 and LPR2 but also reveals a new mechanism by which plants maintain Fe mobility during long-distance translocation in the xylem.
The ferroxidases LPR1 and LPR2 are localized in the call wall of xylem vessels and the surrounding cells and play a crucial role in iron translocation along the xylem of Arabidopsis plants. The two enzymes oxidize ferrous iron for the formation of ferric-citrate complexes and maintain the stability and mobility of ferric-citrate complexes during xylem translocation against light-induced reduction.
Long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) are a growing focus in cancer research. Deciphering pathways influenced by lncRNAs is important to understand their role in cancer. Although knock-down or ...overexpression of lncRNAs followed by gene expression profiling in cancer cell lines are established approaches to address this problem, these experimental data are not available for a majority of the annotated lncRNAs.
As a surrogate, we present lncGSEA, a convenient tool to predict the lncRNA associated pathways through Gene Set Enrichment Analysis of gene expression profiles from large-scale cancer patient samples. We demonstrate that lncGSEA is able to recapitulate lncRNA associated pathways supported by literature and experimental validations in multiple cancer types.
LncGSEA allows researchers to infer lncRNA regulatory pathways directly from clinical samples in oncology. LncGSEA is written in R, and is freely accessible at https://github.com/ylab-hi/lncGSEA .
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Hole transport layer‐free, carbon‐based, all‐inorganic CsPbI3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs) have exhibited great potential in photovoltaic applications owing to their low cost and excellent thermal ...stability. However, the low power conversion efficiency (PCE) hampers its development, mainly due to the existence of defects inside the CsPbI3 film or at TiO2 electron transport layer/CsPbI3 interface. Herein, these issues were addressed through a facile TiO2 post‐treatment strategy using 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazole hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF6) ionic liquid. First, BMIMPF6 can passivate TiO2/CsPbI3 interface defects by forming strong bond between the electron‐rich N atoms and uncoordinated ions. Second, BMIMPF6‐modified TiO2 shows reduced hydrophilicity, inducing decreased heterogeneous nucleation and is favorable for obtaining high‐quality CsPbI3 film. Thirdly, the non‐volatile BMIMPF6 can diffuse to the perovskite film surface during annealing, further passivating defects located at perovskite grain boundaries and surface. Based on this one‐step ionic liquid interface‐to‐bulk modification, the modified device achieves a champion PCE of 15.09%, which is 14% higher than the control device (13.27%). In addition, the modified device also shows enhanced long‐term stability, which remains 96% of initial PCE after 30 days storage in dry air. The work demonstrates the superiority of multifunctional ionic liquid applied to all‐inorganic carbon‐based PSCs, providing a guidance for its commercialization.
A one‐step interface‐to‐bulk modification with 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazole hexafluorophosphate (BMIMPF6) is reported for high‐performance and stable carbon‐based CsPbI3 perovskite solar cells (PSCs), which boosts the power conversion efficiency of devices from 13.27% to 15.09%. This work provides a simple and effective way to fabricate carbon‐based CsPbI3 PSCs with high efficiency and stability by one‐step ionic liquid interface‐to‐bulk modification.
Interfacial self-assembly of ordered nanostructures at oil-water interfaces towards the fabrication of nanofilms has attracted the interest of plenty of scientists, since its discovery in 2004. ...Herein, further developments have been achieved, and we report a new strategy for the synthesis of a three-dimensional (3D) hierarchical nanostructure, through an interfacial synthesis driven microemulsion process. Thus, the synthesis route has been simplified, with the rigorous experimental conditions of traditional compositing technology. Combined with a two-step seed-mediated growth method for preparing uniform Ag-NPs, a plasmonic 3D MoS2-NS@Ag-NP nanostructure was successfully developed as a Surface-Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) active substrate, with plenty of surface hot spots, leading to an enhancement factor (EF) of 1.2 × 108 derived from both electromagnetic mechanism (EM) and chemical mechanism (CM) effects. The 3D MoS2-NS@Ag-NP nanostructure can be applied to detect trace thiram in apple juice and local lake water, with a detection limit as low as 10 ppb (42 nM), which is much lower than the maximal residue limit (MRL) of 7 ppm in fruit prescribed by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Furthermore, quantitative analysis was achieved in the range of 10 ppb-1 ppm with good homogeneity and selectivity.
Abstract
Summary
Insertion and deletion (indels) have been recognized as an important source generating tumor-specific mutant peptides (neoantigens). The focus of indel-derived neoantigen ...identification has been on leveraging DNA sequencing such as whole exome sequencing, with the effort of using RNA-seq less well explored. Here we present ScanNeo, a fast-streamlined computational pipeline for analyzing RNA-seq to predict neoepitopes derived from small to large-sized indels. We applied ScanNeo in a prostate cancer cell line and validated our predictions with matched mass spectrometry data. Finally, we demonstrated that indel neoantigens predicted from RNA-seq were associated with checkpoint inhibitor response in a cohort of melanoma patients.
Availability and implementation
ScanNeo is implemented in Python. It is freely accessible at the GitHub repository (https://github.com/ylab-hi/ScanNeo).
Supplementary information
Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics online.
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