Multilocus Association Testing of Quantitative Traits Based on Partial Least-Squares Analysis

Because of combining the genetic information of multiple loci, multilocus association studies (MLAS) are expected to be more powerful than single locus association studies (SLAS) in disease genes mapping. However, some researchers found that MLAS had similar or reduced power relative to SLAS, which was partly attributed to the increased degrees of freedom (dfs) in MLAS. Based on partial least-squares (PLS) analysis, we develop a MLAS approach, while avoiding large dfs in MLAS. In this approach, genotypes are first decomposed into the PLS components that not only capture majority of the genetic information of multiple loci, but also are relevant for target traits. The extracted PLS components are then regressed on target traits to detect association under multilinear regression. Simulation study based on real data from the HapMap project were used to assess the performance of our PLS-based MLAS as well as other popular multilinear regression-based MLAS approaches under various scenarios, considering genetic effects and linkage disequilibrium structure of candidate genetic regions. Using PLS-based MLAS approach, we conducted a genome-wide MLAS of lean body mass, and compared it with our previous genome-wide SLAS of lean body mass. Simulations and real data analyses results support the improved power of our PLS-based MLAS in disease genes mapping relative to other three MLAS approaches investigated in this study. We aim to provide an effective and powerful MLAS approach, which may help to overcome the limitations of SLAS in disease genes mapping

Experimental Observation of Classical Sub-Wavelength Interference with Thermal-Like Light

We show the experimental observation of the classical sub-wavelength double-slit interference with a pseudo-thermal light source. The experimental results are in agreement with the recent theoretical prediction shown in quant-ph/0404078 (to be appeared in Phys. Rev. A).Comment: 4 pages, 6 figure

A Study on Expression and Tyrosine 705 phosphorylation of STAT3 in Focal Cerebral Ischemia-Reperfusion Rat Model and its Role in Neuronal Apoptosis

Purpose: To investigate the expression and tyrosine 705 phosphorylation of STAT3 in focal cerebral ischemia-reperfusion rat model and its role in neuronal apoptosis.Methods: Ischemia-reperfusion model was established by thread-occluded method. Tetrazolium red (TTC), H/E and Nissl staining were used to evaluate whether ischemia-reperfusion model was successfully established. TUNEL staining and immunohistochemistry were employed to monitor apoptosis-positive nerve cells as well as STAT3-, p-Tyr705-STAT3-, Bcl-2- and Fas-positive cells in ischemic penumbra (IP) and ischemic core (IC).Results: The results of TTC, HE and Nissl staining indicated that the ischemia reperfusion model was successfully established. After 3 h, ischemia followed by different reperfusion times, the STAT3-, p- Tyr705-STAT3-, Fas- and Bcl-2 positive cells counts and the apoptosis-positive nerve cells count were significantly (p < 0.05 or 0.01) increased to 27.20, 29.20, 15.90, 18.50, and 202.00 in IP and 19.50, 21.20, 12.50, 12.40, and 97.80 in IC, compared with the sham-operated group. As reperfusion times increased, cell counts did not decrease significantly relative to control group. Correlation analysis indicate that there was significant (p < 0.01) positive correlations among STAT3-, p-Tyr705 STAT3-, Fas- and Bcl-2-positive cells counts on the one hand, and apoptosis positive nerve cells count in IP and IC, on the other hand.Conclusion: Regulating expression and tyrosine 705 phosphorylation of STAT3 may be a new and effective strategy for treating cerebral infarction.Keywords: Ischemia-reperfusion, Neuronal apoptosis, STAT3, Phosphorylation, Cerebral infarctio

Effects of Mo on the Microstructure and Hydrogen Sorption Properties of Ti-Mo Getters

AbstractThe effects of Mo on the microstructure evolution, porosity and hydrogen sorption properties of Ti-Mo getters are investigated in this work. The results show that the addition of Mo prolongs the densification process of Ti-Mo getters and results in a significant amount of sintered pores. With the Mo content increasing, the porosity of getters firstly increases reaching the maximum value as it attains about 7.5wt.%, and then drops. At the room temperature, the hydrogen sorption property of getters increases progressively with the Mo content increasing, but the tendency is not very clear before its content lies below 2.5wt.%. When the Mo content achieves about 7.5wt.%, the hydrogen sorption property proves to be the best. The discussion is made about the above mentioned phenomena inclusive of hydrogen sorption properties of getters under different activation conditions (from 500–750 °C)