Finishing the euchromatic sequence of the human genome

The sequence of the human genome encodes the genetic instructions for human physiology, as well as rich information about human evolution. In 2001, the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium reported a draft sequence of the euchromatic portion of the human genome. Since then, the international collaboration has worked to convert this draft into a genome sequence with high accuracy and nearly complete coverage. Here, we report the result of this finishing process. The current genome sequence (Build 35) contains 2.85 billion nucleotides interrupted by only 341 gaps. It covers ∼99% of the euchromatic genome and is accurate to an error rate of ∼1 event per 100,000 bases. Many of the remaining euchromatic gaps are associated with segmental duplications and will require focused work with new methods. The near-complete sequence, the first for a vertebrate, greatly improves the precision of biological analyses of the human genome including studies of gene number, birth and death. Notably, the human enome seems to encode only 20,000-25,000 protein-coding genes. The genome sequence reported here should serve as a firm foundation for biomedical research in the decades ahead

Impact of opioid-free analgesia on pain severity and patient satisfaction after discharge from surgery: multispecialty, prospective cohort study in 25 countries

Background: Balancing opioid stewardship and the need for adequate analgesia following discharge after surgery is challenging. This study aimed to compare the outcomes for patients discharged with opioid versus opioid-free analgesia after common surgical procedures.Methods: This international, multicentre, prospective cohort study collected data from patients undergoing common acute and elective general surgical, urological, gynaecological, and orthopaedic procedures. The primary outcomes were patient-reported time in severe pain measured on a numerical analogue scale from 0 to 100% and patient-reported satisfaction with pain relief during the first week following discharge. Data were collected by in-hospital chart review and patient telephone interview 1 week after discharge.Results: The study recruited 4273 patients from 144 centres in 25 countries; 1311 patients (30.7%) were prescribed opioid analgesia at discharge. Patients reported being in severe pain for 10 (i.q.r. 1-30)% of the first week after discharge and rated satisfaction with analgesia as 90 (i.q.r. 80-100) of 100. After adjustment for confounders, opioid analgesia on discharge was independently associated with increased pain severity (risk ratio 1.52, 95% c.i. 1.31 to 1.76; P < 0.001) and re-presentation to healthcare providers owing to side-effects of medication (OR 2.38, 95% c.i. 1.36 to 4.17; P = 0.004), but not with satisfaction with analgesia (beta coefficient 0.92, 95% c.i. -1.52 to 3.36; P = 0.468) compared with opioid-free analgesia. Although opioid prescribing varied greatly between high-income and low- and middle-income countries, patient-reported outcomes did not.Conclusion: Opioid analgesia prescription on surgical discharge is associated with a higher risk of re-presentation owing to side-effects of medication and increased patient-reported pain, but not with changes in patient-reported satisfaction. Opioid-free discharge analgesia should be adopted routinely

Diseño de la estructura organizacional de la empresa GE Electrical distribution para la aplicación del sistema de manufactura esbelta en procesos productivos

La investigación definirá el diseño de la estructura organizacional de la empresa GE Electrical Distribution, incluyendo qué tipo de organización es la óptima para la implementación de un sistema de manufactura esbelta, definiendo la estructura, cadenas de mando, tramos de control y características de la mism

Diseño de aleaciones para ánodos de sacrificio sustentables

In this paper we present: a) a design process for manufacturing alloys to be used as sacrificial anodes in marine environments; b) the proposal to replace In with Ag, in search of alloys that could contribute to environmental sustain; and c) the proposal to include the parameters related to anode structure and their manufacturing process in the regulation of sacrificial anodes.Eight Al-Zn 2% alloys were manufactured, tested, and compared in our laboratory. These had a lower content than the one indicated by the alloy standards - 3.5-5% and 4-5% content for In and Sn respectively- looking for a more sustainable environment. Four of them were alloyed with In (from 0.59 to 0.766%), and four with Ag (from 0.23 to 0.428%). In order to modify the structure, two cooling rates were used during solidification, seeking to modify their properties, and hence their behavior against corrosion, i.e. corrosion potential, corrosion rate, anode activation, type of corrosion and current efficiency. It was found that the variation of the cooling rate changes the structure of the alloys, their properties and corrosion behaviors. The overall behavior of some of the Ag alloys is superior to those containing In. The higher efficiencies were obtained for alloys with the lower amount of In (69%) and Ag (71%).Se presenta: un proceso de diseño de aleaciones para fabricar ánodos de sacrificio, usados en ambientes marinos; la propuesta de sustituir al In con Ag, en aleaciones Al-Zn-In, buscando sustentar el medio ambiente; y la proposición de incluir los parámetros de los procesos de fabricación de ánodos y los estructurales en la normatividad sobre ánodos de sacrificio.Se manufacturaron en el laboratorio, se ensayaron y compararon ocho aleaciones Al-Zn 2% (contenido menor al que señala la norma para aleaciones con In (de 3.5 a 5%) y con Sn (de 4 a 5%), buscando mayor sustentabilidad); cuatro se alearon con In (de 0.59 a 0.766%) y cuatro con Ag (de 0.23 a 0.428%). Se usaron dos rapideces de enfriamiento durante la solidificación, buscando modificar la estructura y cambiar propiedades y comportamientos ante la corrosión -el potencial de corrosión, la rapidez de corrosión, la activación del ánodo, el tipo de corrosión y la eficiencia de corriente-. Se evaluaron las estructuras y se midieron sus potenciales; se encontró que la variación de la rapidez de enfriamiento modificó la estructura de las aleaciones, sus propiedades y comportamientos ante la corrosión y que el comportamiento general de algunas de las aleaciones con Ag es superior a las que contienen In. Las mayores eficiencias se dieron en las aleaciones con menor contenido de In (69%) y de Ag (71%)

Diseño de aleaciones para ánodos de sacrificio sustentables

Se presenta: un proceso de diseño de aleaciones para fabricar ánodos de sacrificio, usados en ambientes marinos; la propuesta de sustituir al In con Ag, en aleaciones Al-Zn-In, buscando sustentar el medio ambiente; y la proposición de incluir los parámetros de los procesos de fabricación de ánodos y los estructurales en la normatividad sobre ánodos de sacrificio. Se manufacturaron en el laboratorio, se ensayaron y compararon ocho aleaciones Al-Zn 2% (contenido menor al que señala la norma para aleaciones con In (de 3.5 a 5%) y con Sn (de 4 a 5%), buscando mayor sustentabilidad); cuatro se alearon con In (de 0.59 a 0.766%) y cuatro con Ag (de 0.23 a 0.428%). Se usaron dos rapideces de enfriamiento durante la solidificación, buscando modificar la estructura y cambiar propiedades y comportamientos ante la corrosión -el potencial de corrosión, la rapidez de corrosión, la activación del ánodo, el tipo de corrosión y la eficiencia de corriente-. Se evaluaron las estructuras y se midieron sus potenciales; se encontró que la variación de la rapidez de enfriamiento modificó la estructura de las aleaciones, sus propiedades y comportamientos ante la corrosión y que el comportamiento general de algunas de las aleaciones con Ag es superior a las que contienen In. Las mayores eficiencias se dieron en las aleaciones con menor contenido de In (69%) y de Ag (71%)

Thin film composite polyamide membrane on polydopamine layer containing stabilized particles for reverse osmosis

Ultrathin, crosslinked, aromatic polyamide (PA) thin film composite (TFC) membranes, which are interfacially polymerized onto microporous polysulfone support membranes, are extensively utilized in the state of the art reverse osmosis systems. The dense, ultrathin, crosslinked PA layer enables high water permeability with high selectivity. However, the performance of these membranes in desalination applications is currently limited by an “upper bound”, the permeability/selectivity trade off inherent in polymeric membranes and polyamide membranes are susceptible to damage from biological fouling and free chlorine. Therefore, to break through the performance upper bound of polymeric membranes, a class of mixed matrix membranes called thin film nanocomposite (TFN) membranes has been developed. In these membranes, fillers (typically inorganic nanoparticles) are dispersed in aqueous or organic phase casting solutions during interfacial polymerization process. The addition of nanoparticles to TFC membranes is a promising technology to reduce energy costs and increase the performance in desalination processes. Nevertheless, there may be some “non-ideal effects” in the membrane such as particle aggregation at higher zeolite loadings and void or rigidified polymer formation at the polymer/particle interface. Furthermore, there might be particle loss under high pressure during cross-flow desalination process which may decrease the membrane performance. In addition to the performance improvement efforts, researchers have developed thin film composite membranes functionalized with surface coating to enhance the antifouling resistance of membranes. However, due to addition of transport layer into structure, the membrane may have lower water permeability. To overcome these drawbacks, our overall goal is to develop highly permeable, antifouling thin film composite membranes with polydopamine/molecular sieve layer and anti-fouling surface coatings. The performance of these novel membranes’ will be demonstrated by desalination through reverse osmosis processes. To achieve this goal, our first research objective is to develop highly permeable polydopamine-molecular sieve/polyamide membranes without antifouling coating, which will be added later. Therefore, we developed a method to enhance membrane performance and filler particle stability in TFN membranes. First, we stabilized particles on microporous polysulfone support by thin bio-inspired polydopamine layer, and then we interfacially synthesized polyamide on top of this layer. This method also minimizes the expensive particle usage compared with the common TFN synthesis procedure (particle addition into polyamide casting solution). In this work, we present our results for development of thin film composite polyamide membranes on polydopamine layer with molecular sieves particles on polysulfone support membrane. First, we synthesized dopamine layer with different particle content and different particle size. Then, we synthesized a series of polyamide membranes via interfacial polymerization. For comparison, we also synthesized regular TFC and TFN polyamide membranes. Then we measured the permeability and selectivity performance using dead-end filtration and cross-flow testing system. We report the synthesized membrane surface and morphology result with contact angle, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscopy