Mechanical response of

The mechanical behavior of few-layered borophene (η-LB), at different temperatures ranging from 10 to 800 K in conjunction with a variant strain-rate, is studied by employing molecular dynamics simulations based on the Stillinger-Weber potential. The uniaxial tensile deformations along the zigzag- and armchair-direction of the hexagonal lattice are considered for η-LB, with η = 1, 2, 3, 4. We find an extremely anisotropic mechanical response. Parameters such as Young’s modulus and fracture strength are higher along the armchair-traction than the zigzag one due to the corrugated structure along the zigzag-axis. The fracture resistances of η-LB are strongly sensitive to temperature, while their dependence on the strain-rate is relatively low. The influence of nitrogen intercalation as well as vacancy defects on elastic behavior is also determined and discussed. The results are significantly affected by the defect’s type, concentration, and location. Our findings provide useful insights for the design of LB for many applications requiring a practical large magnitude strain engineering

HLA-C Genotyping Reveals Haplotype C*07 as a Potential Biomarker of Late Psoriasis Onset in Moroccan Patients

Psoriasis still has an unknown etiology. Genetic predisposition shows the association between HLA-Cw6 allele and psoriasis. Although biotherapies have been proven effective in psoriasis treatment, methotrexate (MTX) is still used as a first-line systemic therapy due to its efficacy/affordability, but the differential response to MTX is mostly related to interindividual genetic variability and remains an issue. Our study aimed to analyze HLA-C allele frequencies in a sample of Moroccan psoriatic patients and assess the therapeutic response to MTX. Whole blood of 54 Moroccan psoriatic patients was collected and DNA was extracted. Patients’ HLA-C locus was genotyped by PCR-SSO. Results were analyzed with Luminex xMAP Technology and Match-it DNA Evolution 3.4. HLA-C typing results of 77 sex- and age-matched unrelated non-psoriatic healthy subjects were included. We observed no difference in the allelic distribution of HLA-C between patients and healthy controls, suggesting that none of the HLA-C alleles were significantly associated with psoriasis. Moreover, the HLA-C*07 allele was associated with a late age at disease onset (>30 years old) (p = 0.007). No statistically significant association was found between HLA-C allele expression and response to MTX, despite a higher frequency of HLA-C*06 in responders compared to non-responders. Thus, HLA-C*07 could be a biomarker of late psoriasis onset in the Moroccan population