Infectious diseases and endogenous fluctuations

10.1007/s00199-010-0553-yEconomic Theory501125-14

Joint effect of obesity and TNFA variability on asthma: two international cohort studies

Obesity is a risk factor for asthma. Adipose tissue expresses pro-inflammatory molecules including tumour necrosis factor (TNF), and levels of TNF are also related to polymorphisms in the TNF-a (TNFA) gene. The current authors examined the joint effect of obesity and TNFA variability on asthma in adults by combining two population-based studies. The European Community Respiratory Health Survey and the Swiss Cohort Study on Air Pollution and Lung and Heart Disease in Adults used comparable protocols, questionnaires and measures of lung function and atopy. DNA samples from 9,167 participants were genotyped for TNFA -308 and lymphotoxin-a (LTA) +252 gene variants. Obesity and TNFA were associated with asthma when mutually adjusting for their independent effects (odds ratio (OR) for obesity 2.4, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.7–3.2; OR for TNFA -308 polymorphism 1.3, 95% CI 1.1–1.6). The association of obesity with asthma was stronger for subjects carrying the G/A and A/A TNFA -308 genotypes compared with the more common G/G genotype, particularly among nonatopics (OR for G/A and A/A genotypes 6.1, 95% CI 2.5–14.4; OR for G/G genotype 1.7, 95% CI 0.8–3.3). The present findings provide, for the first time, evidence for a complex pattern of interaction between obesity, a pro-inflammatory genetic factor and asthma

Thermal and mechanical stability of wurtzite-ZrAlN/cubic-TiN and wurtzite-ZrAlN/cubic-ZrN multilayers

The phase stability and mechanical properties of wurtzite (w)-Zr(0.25)A1(0.75)N/cubic (c)-TiN and w-Zr(0.25)A1(0.75)N/c-ZrN multilayers grown by arc evaporation are studied. Coherent interfaces with an orientation relation of c-TiN (111)[1-10]IIw-ZrAlN (0001)[11-20] form between ZrA1N and TiN sublayers during growth of the w-ZrAIN/c-TiN multilayer. During annealing at 1100 degrees C a c-Ti(Zr)N phase forms at interfaces between ZrA1N and TiN, which reduces the lattice mismatch so that the coherency and the compressive strain are partially retained, resulting in an increased hardness (32 GPa) after annealing. For the w-ZrAIN/c-ZrN multilayer, there is no coherency between sublayers leading to strain relaxation during annealing causing the hardness to drop. The retained coherency between layers and the compressive strain in the w-ZrAIN/c-TiN multilayer results in superior fracture toughness compared to the w-ZrAIN/c-ZrN multilayer as revealed by cross-sectional investigations of damage events under scratch and indentation tests. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Funding Agencies|EUs Erasmus-Mundus Graduate School in Material Science and Engineering (DocMASE); Swedish Research Council VR [621-2012-4401, 2011-6505]; Swedish Government Strategic Research Area Grant AFM - SFO MatLiU [VINNOVA 2009-00971]; Competence center on Functional Nanoscale Materials, FunMat-II [VINNOVA 2016-05156]</p