8,322 research outputs found
The association of HBV core promoter double mutations (A1762T and G1764A) with viral load differs between HBeAg positive and anti-HBe positive individuals: A longitudinal analysis
Background/Aims: Although there have been a few reports regarding the effect of basal core promoter (BCP) double mutations (A1762T and G1764A) on hepatitis B viral loads, the association remains uncertain. We aim to determine the association after controlling for HBeAg - a strong confounding factor.Methods: We selected randomly 190 individuals from a Chinese cohort of 2258 subjects for cross-sectional analysis and 56 of the 190 for longitudinal analysis of viral loads.Results: In multivariable analysis of the cross-sectional data, BCP double mutations are significantly associated with lower viral loads in HBeAg positive subjects but no difference was found in anti-HBe positive subjects. Triple mutations at nucleotide (nt) 1753, 1762 and 1764 and mutations between nt 1809 and 1817, precore stop mutation (nt 1896) and genotype are not associated with viral loads in either HBeAg or anti-HBe positive subjects. Analysis of the longitudinal data yielded similar results to the cross-sectional data. Viral loads differ significantly between individuals infected with wild-type and BCP double mutations prior to HBeAg seroconversion but this difference is lost after seroconversion.Conclusions: BCP double mutations are associated with lower viral loads in HBeAg positive individuals but have no effect on the viral loads of anti-HBe positive individuals. (C) 2008 European Association for the Study of the Liver. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Solving multiple-criteria R&D project selection problems with a data-driven evidential reasoning rule
In this paper, a likelihood based evidence acquisition approach is proposed
to acquire evidence from experts'assessments as recorded in historical
datasets. Then a data-driven evidential reasoning rule based model is
introduced to R&D project selection process by combining multiple pieces of
evidence with different weights and reliabilities. As a result, the total
belief degrees and the overall performance can be generated for ranking and
selecting projects. Finally, a case study on the R&D project selection for the
National Science Foundation of China is conducted to show the effectiveness of
the proposed model. The data-driven evidential reasoning rule based model for
project evaluation and selection (1) utilizes experimental data to represent
experts' assessments by using belief distributions over the set of final
funding outcomes, and through this historic statistics it helps experts and
applicants to understand the funding probability to a given assessment grade,
(2) implies the mapping relationships between the evaluation grades and the
final funding outcomes by using historical data, and (3) provides a way to make
fair decisions by taking experts' reliabilities into account. In the
data-driven evidential reasoning rule based model, experts play different roles
in accordance with their reliabilities which are determined by their previous
review track records, and the selection process is made interpretable and
fairer. The newly proposed model reduces the time-consuming panel review work
for both managers and experts, and significantly improves the efficiency and
quality of project selection process. Although the model is demonstrated for
project selection in the NSFC, it can be generalized to other funding agencies
or industries.Comment: 20 pages, forthcoming in International Journal of Project Management
(2019
Synthesis, characterization, and antifungal evaluation of novel 1,2,3-triazolium-functionalized starch derivative
1,2,3-Triazolium-functionalized starch derivative was obtained by straightforward quaternization of the synthesized starch derivative bearing 1,2,3-triazole with benzyl bromide by combining the robust attributes of cuprous-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition. These novel starch derivatives were characterized by FTIR, UV-vis, H-1 NMR, C-13 NMR, and elemental analysis. Their antifungal activities against Colletotrichum lagenarium, Watermelon fusarium, and Phomopsis asparagi were investigated by hypha measurement in vitro. The fungicidal assessment revealed that compared with starch and starch derivative bearing 1,2,3-triazole with inhibitory indices of below 15% at 1.0 mg/mL, 1,2,3-triazolium-functionalized starch derivative had superior antifungal activity with inhibitory rates of over 60%. Especially, the best inhibitory index of 1,2,3-triazolium-functionalized starch derivative against Colletotrichum lagenarium attained 90% above at 1.0mg/mL. The results obviously showed that quaternization of 1,2,3-triazole with benzyl bromide could effectively enhance antifungal activity of the synthesized starch derivatives. The synthetic strategy described here could be utilized for the development of starch as novel antifungal biomaterial. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Block Antiferromagnetism and Checkerboard Charge Ordering in Alkali-doped Iron Selenides FeSe
By performing first-principles electronic structure calculations and
analyzing effective magnetic model of alkali-doped iron selenides, we show that
the materials without iron vacancies should approach a novel checkerboard phase
in which each four Fe sites group together in tetragonal structure. The
checkerboard phase is the ground state with a block antiferromagnetic (AFM)
order and a small charge density wave order in the absence of
superconductivity. Both of them can also coexist with superconductivity. The
results explain mysterious ordered patterns and hidden orders
observed in various different experiments, clarify the missing link between AFM
and superconducting phases, suggest that the block-AFM state is the parent
state, and unify the understanding of various observed phases in alkali-doped
iron selenides.Comment: 5 page
Isospin dependence of projectile-like fragment production at intermediate energies
The cross sections of fragments produced in 140 MeV Ca + Be
and Ni + Be reactions are calculated by the statistical
abration-ablation(SAA) model and compared to the experimental results measured
at the National Superconducting Cyclotron Laboratory (NSCL) at Michigan State
University. The fragment isotopic and isotonic cross section distributions of
Ca and Ca, Ni and Ni, Ca and Ni, and
Ca and Ni are compared and the isospin dependence of the
projectile fragmentation is studied. It is found that the isospin dependence
decreases and disappears in the central collisions. The shapes of the fragment
isotopic and isotonic cross section distributions are found to be very similar
for symmetric projectile nuclei. The shapes of the fragment isotopic and
isotonic distributions of different asymmetric projectiles produced in
peripheral reactions are found very similar. The similarity of the
distributions are related to the similar proton and neutron density
distributions inside the nucleus in framework of the SAA model.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figures; to be published in Phys Rev
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