Association scan of 14,500 nonsynonymous SNPs in four diseases identifies autoimmunity variants

We have genotyped 14,436 nonsynonymous SNPs (nsSNPs) and 897 major histocompatibility complex (MHC) tag SNPs from 1,000 independent cases of ankylosing spondylitis (AS), autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD), multiple sclerosis (MS) and breast cancer (BC). Comparing these data against a common control dataset derived from 1,500 randomly selected healthy British individuals, we report initial association and independent replication in a North American sample of two new loci related to ankylosing spondylitis, ARTS1 and IL23R, and confirmation of the previously reported association of AITD with TSHR and FCRL3. These findings, enabled in part by increased statistical power resulting from the expansion of the control reference group to include individuals from the other disease groups, highlight notable new possibilities for autoimmune regulation and suggest that IL23R may be a common susceptibility factor for the major 'seronegative' diseases.     

Prof. Zhu Zuoyan Met with the INRA Delegation

Prof. Zhu Zuoyan, Vice President of NSFC, met with the National Institute of Agricultural Research (INRA) delegation led by its Deputy Director General, Prof. Guy Riba on Jan. 18, 2007.     

Novel Fluorene-thiophene Copolymers and Polymer Blends for Photonic Devices

1 Results In this contribution we deal with photophysical and photoelectrical study of novel fluorene-thiophene copolymers, and thiophene-based oligomers and polymers, the syntheses of which are reported in our other contributions. Information about electronic structure of the polymers was obtained from cyclic voltammetry and absorption spectroscopy. The absorption of the polymers under study covers the whole visible region; the low band-gap polymer (Eg=1.35 eV) exhibited the long-wavelength absorption ...     

灰铸铁的应力屈服曲面及其三维热弹塑性应力解析

对原有的灰铸铁件应力屈服曲面进行了合理的简化,使其在理论上合理,工程应用上更为方便。建立了灰铸铁件三维非稳态热弹塑性应力场的有限元方法。以灰铸铁哑铃件为对象,用新屈服曲面对其应力发展过程进行了模拟,且比较了用新旧屈服面计算得到的结果。     

德国将彻底改造原民主德国的科研体系

科学顾问委员会花了一年的时间对原民主德国遗留下来的科学与研究体系进行了摸底、评价和鉴定。它提出的重新布局的建议将影响深远。     

One modified method of characteristics used to analyze the multiconductor transmission lines

1.INTRODUCTIONThe analysis of electromagnetic compatibility becomesmorei mportant in the analysis of the multiconductortransmissionlines(MTLs).It provides the effectivemethod for designing the MTLs.Several methodsbased on frequency domain and ti me domain tech-niques have beenrecently proposed[1,2].Thefrequen-cy method should performthe inverse Fourier trans-formation,so it is not more accurate than ti memethod to some degree.The method of characteris-ticsis based ontheti me domain met…     

集成光学——理论和工艺学

本书为施普林格出版社出版的《物理学先进教材丛书》中的一卷。这套丛书包含物理学流行和广泛关注的多种专题，也包含对现代物理学研究前沿的介绍。本书介绍光电子学器件及其在集成光学和纤维光学系统中的应用，特别强调这些应用中的物理学及相关的数学等。本书初版于1982年，分别在1984年、1991年和1995年出版第2、3、4版。本书为2002年出版的第5版。     

How do Shp2 mutations that oppositely influence its biochemical activity result in syndromes with overlapping symptoms?

Activating and inactivating mutations of SHP-2 are responsible, respectively, for the Noonan (NS) and the LEOPARD (LS) syndromes. Clinically, these developmental disorders overlap greatly, resulting in the apparent paradox of similar diseases caused by mutations that oppositely influence SHP-2 phosphatase activity. While the mechanisms remain unclear, recent functional analysis of SHP-2, along with the identification of other genes involved in NS and in other related syndromes (neurofibromatosis-1, Costello and cardio-facio-cutaneous syndromes), strongly suggest that Ras/MAPK represents the major signaling pathway deregulated by SHP-2 mutants. We discuss the idea that, with the exception of LS mutations that have been shown to exert a dominant negative effect, all disease-causing mutations involved in Ras/MAPK-mediated signaling, including SHP-2, might lead to enhanced MAPK activation. This suggests that a narrow range of MAPK signaling is required for appropriate development. We also discuss the possibility that LS mutations may not simply exhibit dominant negative activity. Received 30 November 2006; received after revision 8 February 2007; accepted 13 March 2007