No evidence of a significant role for CTLA-4 in multiple sclerosis

Variation in the cytotoxic T-lymphocyte-associated protein 4 (CTLA-4) gene plays a significant role in determining susceptibility to autoimmune thyroid disease and type 1 diabetes. Its role in multiple sclerosis is more controversial. In order to explore this logical candidate more thoroughly, we genotyped 771 multiple sclerosis trio families from the United Kingdom for the 3? untranslated region variable number tandem repeat, the CT60 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) and five haplotype-tagging SNPs. No individual marker or common haplotype showed evidence of association with disease. These data suggest that any effect of CTLA-4 on multiple sclerosis susceptibility is likely to be very small

Optimal battery charge/discharge strategies for prosumers and suppliers

We discuss the application of classical variational methods to optimal charging/discharging strategies for a prosumer or storage supplier, where the price of electrical power is known in advance. We outline how a classical calculus of variations approach can be applied to two related problems: (i) how can a prosumer minimise the cost of charging/discharging a battery, when the price of electrical power is known throughout the charging/discharging period? and (ii) how can an electricity supplier incentivise desired prosumer/storage supplier behaviour by adjusting the price

Psychology and pedagogical conditions of the organization of diagnostics of educational achievements of students with testing use

Psychology and pedagogical conditions which need to be considered at the organization and carrying out diagnostics of educational achievements of students with use testing at any grade level are shown in articleВ статье показаны психолого-педагогические условия, которые необходимо учитывать при организации и проведении диагностики учебных достижений студентов с использованием тестирования на любом этапе обучени

Separation of lymphocytes by electrophoresis under terrestrial conditions and at zero gravity, phase 3

Electrophoretic mobilities (EPM) of peripheral lymphocytes were studied from normal subjects, chronic hemodialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients. A technique to separate B lymphocytes and null cells from non-T lymphocyte preparation was developed. The experiments were designed to determine which subpopulation of the non-T lymphocytes is primarily affected and shows a decreased EPM in chronic hemodialysis patients and kidney transplant recipients

TB56: Effects of Differing Abundance Levels of Aphids and of Certain Virus Diseases upon Yield and Virus Disease Spread in Potatoes

In eight years during the period 1944 to 1954, a study was conducted on Aroostook Farm, Presque Isle, Maine, to develop ways of obtaining and maintaining varying levels of aphid abundance on potato plants. Methods for measuring aphid abundance and their effects on yield and virus transmission were devised. These techniques were then used to determine the effects of varying all-season levels of abundance of the aphids and of virus reservoirs of two potat o diseases upon yield of potatoes and the spread of leaf roll and spindle tuber in four varieties of potatoes. The results of that study are reported in this bulletin.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/aes_techbulletin/1129/thumbnail.jp

A first-principles study of superconductivity on RbH by doping without applied pressure

The structural, electronic, lattice dynamics, electron-phonon coupling, and superconducting properties of the alkali-metal hydride RbH, metalized through electron-doping by the construction of the solid-solution Rb$_{1-x}$Sr$_x$H, are systematically analyzed as a function of Sr-content within the framework of density functional perturbation and Migdal-Eliashberg theories, taking into account the effect of zero-point energy contribution by the quasi-harmonic approximation. For the entire studied range of Sr-content, steady increments of the electron-phonon coupling constant and the superconducting critical temperature are found with progressive alkaline-earth metal content through electron-doping, reaching the values of $\lambda=1.92$ and $T_c=51.3(66.1)$~K with $\mu^*$=0.1(0). The steady rise of such quantities as a function of Sr-content is consequence of the metallization of the hydride as an increase of density of states at the Fermi level is observed, as well as the softening of the phonon spectrum, mainly coming from H-optical modes. Our results indicate that electron-doping on metal-hydrides is an encouraging alternative to look for superconductivity without applied pressure.Comment: 8 pages, 6 figure

A Bayesian multivariate factor analysis model for evaluating an intervention by using observational time series data on multiple outcomes

A problem that is frequently encountered in many areas of scientific research is that of estimating the effect of a non-randomized binary intervention on an outcome of interest by using time series data on units that received the intervention (‘treated’) and units that did not (‘controls’). One popular estimation method in this setting is based on the factor analysis (FA) model. The FA model is fitted to the preintervention outcome data on treated units and all the outcome data on control units, and the counterfactual treatment-free post-intervention outcomes of the former are predicted from the fitted model. Intervention effects are estimated as the observed outcomes minus these predicted counterfactual outcomes. We propose a model that extends the FA model for estimating intervention effects by jointly modelling the multiple outcomes to exploit shared variability, and assuming an auto-regressive structure on factors to account for temporal correlations in the outcome. Using simulation studies, we show that the method proposed can improve the precision of the intervention effect estimates and achieve better control of the type I error rate (compared with the FA model), especially when either the number of preintervention measurements or the number of control units is small. We apply our method to estimate the effect of stricter alcohol licensing policies on alcohol-related harms

Nonlinear Band Structure in Bose Einstein Condensates: The Nonlinear Schr\"odinger Equation with a Kronig-Penney Potential

All Bloch states of the mean field of a Bose-Einstein condensate in the presence of a one dimensional lattice of impurities are presented in closed analytic form. The band structure is investigated by analyzing the stationary states of the nonlinear Schr\"odinger, or Gross-Pitaevskii, equation for both repulsive and attractive condensates. The appearance of swallowtails in the bands is examined and interpreted in terms of the condensates superfluid properties. The nonlinear stability properties of the Bloch states are described and the stable regions of the bands and swallowtails are mapped out. We find that the Kronig-Penney potential has the same properties as a sinusoidal potential; Bose-Einstein condensates are trapped in sinusoidal optical lattices. The Kronig-Penney potential has the advantage of being analytically tractable, unlike the sinusoidal potential, and, therefore, serves as a good model for experimental phenomena.Comment: Version 2. Fixed typos, added referenc