Stepwise replication identifies a low-producing lymphotoxin-alpha allele as a major risk factor for early-onset leprosy

Host genetics has an important role in leprosy, and variants in the shared promoter region of PARK2 and PACRG were the first major susceptibility factors identified by positional cloning. Here we report the linkage disequilibrium mapping of the second linkage peak of our previous genome-wide scan, located close to the HLA complex. In both a Vietnamese familial sample and an Indian case-control sample, the low-producing lymphotoxin-alpha (LTA)+80 A allele was significantly associated with an increase in leprosy risk (P = 0.007 and P = 0.01, respectively). Analysis of an additional case-control sample from Brazil and an additional familial sample from Vietnam showed that the LTA+80 effect was much stronger in young individuals. In the combined sample of 298 Vietnamese familial trios, the odds ratio of leprosy for LTA+80 AA/AC versus CC subjects was 2.11 (P = 0.000024), which increased to 5.63 (P = 0.0000004) in the subsample of 121 trios of affected individuals diagnosed before 16 years of age. In addition to identifying LTA as a major gene associated with early-onset leprosy, our study highlights the critical role of case- and population-specific factors in the dissection of susceptibility variants in complex diseases.     

星型高苯乙烯橡胶反应动力学研究

用阴离子聚合的方法合成了星型结构的高苯乙烯橡胶,并对高苯乙烯橡胶的聚合反应动力学过程进行了研究,求得不同聚合温度、不同引发剂浓度下假一级表观增长反应速度常数kp’’,并根据不同温度下的kp’’求取了高苯乙烯橡胶聚合表观增长活化能Ep’=56.7 kJ.mol-1,高苯乙烯橡胶聚合反应动力学方程表明,聚合反应速率与单体浓度一次方、引发剂浓度1/2次方成正比关系。     

Novel Criteria for Exponential Stability of Linear Non-Autonomous Functional Differential Equations

General linear non-autonomous functional differential equations are considered. Explicit criteria for exponential stability are given. Furthermore, the authors present an explicit robust stability bound for systems subject to time-varying perturbations. Two examples are given to illustrate the obtained results.     

自组织Fuzzy控制在炼油生产作业计算机控制系统中的应用

炼油厂生产属于连续性生产，生产作业控制一般采用流量控制模式，然而，影响生产的因素，如故障、原油供应、门牌号销售等多具有随机性，而且在生产作业中，许多是经验性的东西，本文首次将Fuzzy控制方法引入石化企业炼油生产作业计算机控制系统中。     

Serum proteins of mice with splenomegaly.

Our earlier serum electrophoretic study in 'lethargic' mutant mice showed that the quantity of protein in 1 band is inversely related to the size of the spleen. In this study, we demonstrate that this protein band almost entirely disappears in mice with splenomegaly following spontaneous skin infection. The results suggest that this serum protein may play a role in regulating growth of lymphoid tissue.     

Facile synthesis of FeFe2O4 magnetic nanomaterial for removing methylene blue from aqueous solution

A facile and simple chemical precipitation method was utilized to synthesize FeFe_2O_4 magnetic nanomaterial for removing methylene blue(MB) from aqueous solution. Characterizations of this material were examined by using XRD, SEM, FT-IR, TGA-DTG and BET methods. Factors affecting the uptake of methylene blue, including p H, adsorption time, and MB initial concentration were also studied. The measured data were fitted by using four isotherm models including Langmuir, Freundlich, Sips and Temkin. Results showed that the Sips model offers the best fit to the data. In addition, the monolayer MB adsorption capacity obtained from the Langmuir model was 42.35 mg g~(-1) under the optimal conditions of p H = 10 and adsorption time = 80 min. In particular, the uptake of MB onto FeFe_2O_4 magnetic nanomaterial obtained from the kinetic and mechanism studies of the adsorption was in good agreement with prediction of the pseudo-first-order model, whereas the electrostatic interaction was found to play a primary mechanism.     

Surface PEGylation of hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles via aminated intermediate

A hybrid of organic/inorganic system, hollow mesoporous silica nanoparticles functionalized with poly(ethylene glycol), was synthesized in the presence of coupling agent and aminated ends. Doxorubicin (DOX) was used as a model drug to evaluate the effect of PEGylation on the loading capacity and release pattern of the system. Characterization with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), nitrogen adsorption-desorption, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and Fourier transformed infrared (FTIR) confirmed the PEG conjugation, as well as the amorphous mesoporous nature of the synthesized particles. Due to the capping effect of PEG molecules over the pores in the silica structure, the synthesized system was able to retain higher amount of cargo and establish a controlled manner when releasing.     

利用磁场处理水提高混凝土强度的试验研究

总结了利用磁场处理水提高混凝土强度和减少水泥用量的试验研究结果。在室温下，以某一流动速度的水通过某一强度的磁场时垂直切割磁力线，这种磁场处理水用于搅拌混凝土，可使混凝土的强度提高５％￣１２％，减少水泥用量５％￣１０％，这一成果若推广到生产中，必将产生较大的经济效益。     

Serum proteins of mice with splenomegaly

Summary Our earlier serum electrophoretic study in lethargic mutant mice showed that the quantity of protein in 1 band is inversely related to the size of the spleen. In this study, we demonstrate that this protein band almost entirely disappears in mice with splenomegaly following spontaneous skin infection. The results suggest that this serum protein may play a role in regulating growth of lymphoid tissue.This study is made possible through support of Medical Research Service of the US Veterans Administration. We thank Dr Thomas B. Pool, Department of Anatomy, The University of Texas Health Science Center, for editorial assistance.     

抗生素S—921菌株的特性研究

通过对抗苹果树皮腐烂病抗生素S—921菌株特性的研究,发现其特性基本属于不吸水链霉菌类群但与不吸水链霉菌又不完全相同,因此,我们认为它是一个新的变种。