A likelihood-based procedure for obtaining confidence intervals of disease loci with general pedigree data

Objective: Based on the following 3 questions an overview is given on the topic “orthodontic treatment and gingival tissue recessions”: (1) Should orthodontic treatment be considered as risk factor for developing gingival tissue recessions? (2) Is a “prophylactic” soft tissue augmentation before orthodontic treatment justified to prevent gingival tissue recessions? (3) Should a root coverage procedure of a gingival tissue recession be performed before or after orthodontic treatment

Comparisons of methods for linkage analysis and haplotype reconstruction using extended pedigree data

We compare and contrast the performance of SIMPLE, a Monte Carlo based software, with that of several other methods for linkage and haplotype analyses, focusing on the simulated data from the New York City population. First, a whole-genome scan study based on the microsatellite markers was performed using GENEHUNTER. Because GENEHUNTER had to drop individuals for many of the pedigrees, we performed a follow-up study focusing on several regions of interest using SIMPLE, which can handle all pedigrees in their entirety. Second, 3 haplotyping programs, including that in SIMPLE, were used to reconstruct haplotypic configurations in pedigrees. SIMPLE emerges clearly as a preferred tool, as it can handle large pedigrees and produces haplotypic configurations without double recombinant haplotypes. For this study, we had knowledge of the simulating models at the time we performed the analysis

Targeting UDP-α-D-glucose 6-dehydrogenase inhibits glioblastoma growth and migration

UDP-glucose 6-dehydrogenase (UGDH) produces UDP-α-D-glucuronic acid, the precursors for glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and proteoglycans of the extracellular matrix. Elevated GAG formation has been implicated in a variety of human diseases, including glioblastoma (GBM). In our previous study, we found that Krüppel-like factor 4 (KLF4) promotes GBM cell migration by binding to methylated DNA, mainly methylated CpGs (mCpG) and transactivating gene expression. We identified UDGH as one of the downstream targets of KLF4-mCpG binding activity. In this study, we show that KLF4 upregulates UGDH expression in a mCpG-dependent manner, and UGDH is required for KLF4-induced cell migration in vitro. UGDH knockdown decreases GAG abundance in GBM cells, as well as cell proliferation and migration in vitro. In intracranial xenografts, reduced UGDH inhibits tumor growth and migration, accompanied by a decrease in the expression of extracellular matrix proteins such as tenascin C, brevican. Our studies demonstrate a novel DNA methylation-dependent UGDH upregulation by KLF4. Developing UGDH antagonists to decrease the synthesis of extracellular matrix components will be a useful strategy for GBM therapy

Volatile Fatty Acids Production from Codigestion of Food Waste and Sewage Sludge Based on β

Volatile fatty acids (VFAs) are preferred valuable resources, which can be produced from anaerobic digestion process. This study presents a novel technology using β-cyclodextrins (β-CD) pretreatment integrated alkaline method to enhance VFAs production from codigestion of food waste and sewage sludge. Experiment results showed that optimized ratio of food waste to sewage sludge was 3 : 2 because it provided adequate organic substance and seed microorganisms. Based on this optimized ratio, the integrated treatment of alkaline pH 10 and β-CD addition (0.2 g/g TS) performed the best enhancement on VFAs production, and the maximum VFAs production was 8631.7 mg/L which was 6.13, 1.38, and 1.57 times higher than that of control, initial pH 10, and 0.2 g β-CD/g TS treatment, respectively. Furthermore, the hydrolysis rate of protein and polysaccharides was greatly improved in integration treatment, which was 1.18–3.45 times higher than that of other tests. Though the VFAs production and hydrolysis of polymeric organics were highly enhanced, the primary bacterial communities with different treatments did not show substantial differences

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data

Hydroxyapatite-reinforced chitosan film on PEO-treated aluminum alloys for enhanced corrosion resistance

Corrosion of aluminum alloys is a critical limitation in marine and engineering environments, necessitating multifunctional protective coatings. This study aimed to enhance corrosion resistance by incorporating hydroxyapatite (HAP) nanoparticles into chitosan (CS) films deposited on plasma electrolytic oxidation (PEO)-treated aluminum surfaces. The composite coatings were constructed by depositing HAP-reinforced chitosan films onto PEO-pretreated aluminum alloy via a dipping–pulling process. Comprehensive characterization—including spectroscopic, microscopic, electrochemical, and computational techniques such as FTIR and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations—was conducted to evaluate their structure and performance. Results show that HAP enhances hydrogen bonding with CS, forming a denser molecular network that seals micro-pores in the PEO layer. The modified coatings exhibited markedly improved properties, with surface hardness increasing from 203.7 MPa to 509.5 MPa and elastic modulus from 6.6 GPa to 17.8 GPa. Electrochemical tests revealed a reduction in corrosion current density (jcorr) from 1.12 × 10−7 to 5.26 × 10−9 A/cm2, along with a significant increase in polarization resistance (Rp) to 1.74 × 1010 Ω cm2. These findings demonstrate that HAP-reinforced CS films can significantly improve both the mechanical robustness and corrosion protection of PEO coatings on aluminum alloys