Effect of film-forming amines on the acidic stress-corrosion cracking resistance of steam turbine steel

This work evaluates the effect of film-forming amines (FFA) on the acidic stress-corrosion cracking (SCC) resistance of NiCrMoV turbine steel. Contact angle measurements show an increased hydrophobicity of the surface when coating the steel with oleyl propylene diamine (OLDA). According to potentiodynamic measurements and post-mortem scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis, anodic dissolution and hydrogen embrittlement still occur when the steel is FFA coated. In situ constant extension rate testing (CERT) in acidic aqueous environment at elevated temperature of FFA-coated steel shows a ductility gain compared to non-coated steel, explained by a decrease in both corrosion rate and hydrogen uptake

Personal Genomes in Practice:Exploring Citizen and Healthcare Professionals’ Perspectives on Personalized Genomic Medicine and Personal Health Data Spaces Using a Mixed-Methods Design

Ongoing health challenges, such as the increased global burden of chronic disease, are increasingly answered by calls for personalized approaches to healthcare. Genomic medicine, a vital component of these personalization strategies, is applied in risk assessment, prevention, prognostication, and therapeutic targeting. However, several practical, ethical, and technological challenges remain. Across Europe, Personal Health Data Space (PHDS) projects are under development aiming to establish patient-centered, interoperable data ecosystems balancing data access, control, and use for individual citizens to complement the research and commercial focus of the European Health Data Space provisions. The current study explores healthcare users’ and health care professionals’ perspectives on personalized genomic medicine and PHDS solutions, in casu the Personal Genetic Locker (PGL). A mixed-methods design was used, including surveys, interviews, and focus groups. Several meta-themes were generated from the data: (i) participants were interested in genomic information; (ii) participants valued data control, robust infrastructure, and sharing data with non-commercial stakeholders; (iii) autonomy was a central concern for all participants; (iv) institutional and interpersonal trust were highly significant for genomic medicine; and (v) participants encouraged the implementation of PHDSs since PHDSs were thought to promote the use of genomic data and enhance patients’ control over their data. To conclude, we formulated several facilitators to implement genomic medicine in healthcare based on the perspectives of a diverse set of stakeholders.</p

No evidence that protein truncating variants in BRIP1 are associated with breast cancer risk: implications for gene panel testing.

BACKGROUND: BRCA1 interacting protein C-terminal helicase 1 (BRIP1) is one of the Fanconi Anaemia Complementation (FANC) group family of DNA repair proteins. Biallelic mutations in BRIP1 are responsible for FANC group J, and previous studies have also suggested that rare protein truncating variants in BRIP1 are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer. These studies have led to inclusion of BRIP1 on targeted sequencing panels for breast cancer risk prediction. METHODS: We evaluated a truncating variant, p.Arg798Ter (rs137852986), and 10 missense variants of BRIP1, in 48 144 cases and 43 607 controls of European origin, drawn from 41 studies participating in the Breast Cancer Association Consortium (BCAC). Additionally, we sequenced the coding regions of BRIP1 in 13 213 cases and 5242 controls from the UK, 1313 cases and 1123 controls from three population-based studies as part of the Breast Cancer Family Registry, and 1853 familial cases and 2001 controls from Australia. RESULTS: The rare truncating allele of rs137852986 was observed in 23 cases and 18 controls in Europeans in BCAC (OR 1.09, 95% CI 0.58 to 2.03, p=0.79). Truncating variants were found in the sequencing studies in 34 cases (0.21%) and 19 controls (0.23%) (combined OR 0.90, 95% CI 0.48 to 1.70, p=0.75). CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that truncating variants in BRIP1, and in particular p.Arg798Ter, are not associated with a substantial increase in breast cancer risk. Such observations have important implications for the reporting of results from breast cancer screening panels.The COGS project is funded through a European Commission's Seventh Framework Programme grant (agreement number 223175 - HEALTH-F2-2009-223175). BCAC is funded by Cancer Research UK [C1287/A10118, C1287/A12014] and by the European Community´s Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement number 223175 (grant number HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS). Funding for the iCOGS infrastructure came from: the European Community's Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement n° 223175 (HEALTH-F2-2009-223175) (COGS), Cancer Research UK (C1287/A10118, C1287/A 10710, C12292/A11174, C1281/A12014, C5047/A8384, C5047/A15007, C5047/A10692, C8197/A16565), the National Institutes of Health (CA128978) and Post-Cancer GWAS initiative (1U19 CA148537, 1U19 16 CA148065 and 1U19 CA148112 - the GAME-ON initiative), the Department of Defense (W81XWH-10-1- 0341), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for the CIHR Team in Familial Risks of Breast Cancer, Komen Foundation for the Cure, the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, and the Ovarian Cancer Research Fund. This study made use of data generated by the Wellcome Trust Case Control consortium. Funding for the project was provided by the Wellcome Trust under award 076113. The results published here are in part based upon data generated by The Cancer Genome Atlas Project established by the National Cancer Institute and National Human Genome Research Institute.This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from BMJ Group at http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jmedgenet-2015-103529

Early-life respiratory tract infections and the risk of school-age lower lung function and asthma: A meta-analysis of 150 000 European children

BACKGROUND: Early-life respiratory tract infections might affect chronic obstructive respiratory diseases, but conclusive studies from general populations are lacking. Our objective was to examine if children with early-life respiratory tract infections had increased risks of lower lung function and asthma at school age. METHODS: We used individual participant data of 150 090 children primarily from the EU Child Cohort Network to examine the associations of upper and lower respiratory tract infections from age 6 months to 5 years with forced expiratory volume in 1 s (FEV1), forced vital capacity (FVC), FEV1/FVC, forced expiratory flow at 75% of FVC (FEF75%) and asthma at a median (range) age of 7 (4-15) years. RESULTS: Children with early-life lower, not upper, respiratory tract infections had a lower school-age FEV1, FEV1/FVC and FEF75% (z-score range: -0.09 (95% CI -0.14- -0.04) to -0.30 (95% CI -0.36- -0.24)). Children with early-life lower respiratory tract infections had a higher increased risk of school-age asthma than those with upper respiratory tract infections (OR range: 2.10 (95% CI 1.98-2.22) to 6.30 (95% CI 5.64-7.04) and 1.25 (95% CI 1.18-1.32) to 1.55 (95% CI 1.47-1.65), respectively). Adjustment for preceding respiratory tract infections slightly decreased the strength of the effects. Observed associations were similar for those with and without early-life wheezing as a proxy for early-life asthma. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that early-life respiratory tract infections affect development of chronic obstructive respiratory diseases in later life, with the strongest effects for lower respiratory tract infections