Gazing Through the World - A 5 Tracks Album about the Sound Around the World

This project aims to combine modern music with various elements to show the new possibilities of musical storytelling of the world we are living in. Within five tracks of pieces written in different styles and themes breaking and blending among genres into one album, this project tests the boundary of the capacity of music and sound, discussing human and nature, light and darkness, philosophy and logic, time and space, all through her lenses of seeing the world. The album is creates with the artist’s skills of songwriting, digital producing, hybrid recordings, and mixing with sampling and live recording, immersive audio mixing. Features genres cross contemporary music, electronic music, futurism, minimalism, pop, rock, and various ethnic and world music styles.https://remix.berklee.edu/graduate-studies-production-technology/1291/thumbnail.jp

Microgeographic Heterogeneity of Border Malaria During Elimination Phase, Yunnan Province, China, 2011–2013

To identify township-level high-risk foci of malaria transmission in Yunnan Province, China, along the international border, we retrospectively reviewed data collected in hospitals and clinics of 58 townships in 4 counties during 2011–2013. We analyzed spatiotemporal distribution, especially hot spots of confirmed malaria, using geographic information systems and Getis-Ord Gi*(d) cluster analysis. Malaria incidence, transmission seasonality, and Plasmodium vivax:P. falciparum ratio remained almost unchanged from 2011 to 2013, but heterogeneity in distribution increased. The number of townships with confirmed malaria decreased significantly during the 3 years; incidence became increasingly concentrated within a few townships. High-/low-incidence clusters of P. falciparum shifted in location and size every year, whereas the locations of high-incidence P. vivax townships remained unchanged. All high-incidence clusters were located along the China–Myanmar border. Because of increasing heterogeneity in malaria distribution, microgeographic analysis of malaria transmission hot spots provided useful information for designing targeted malaria intervention during the elimination phase

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

Research on Construction Method of Micropiles in Transmission Lines

With the development of the national economy, the available land for industrial construction is becoming more and more restricted, and the paths of transmission lines and transformation projects mostly pass through regions with complex geological conditions such as mountains. The drilling micropiles foundation of transmission lines can be widely used in mountainous areas because of its strong adaptability. This paper mainly introduces the characteristics of micropiles foundation construction method and puts forward the construction process and operation points

Polymorphism of CONNEXIN37 gene is a risk factor for ischemic stroke in Han Chinese population

Abstract Background Stroke has a high fatality and disability rate, and is one of the main burdens to human health. It is thus very important to identify biomarkers for the development of effective approaches for the prevention and treatment of stroke. Connexin37 is an anti-inflammatory cytokine and is involved in chronic inflammation and atherosclerosis. Recent studies have found that CONNEXIN37 gene variations are associated with atherosclerosis diseases, such as coronary heart disease and stroke, but its association with stroke in distinct human populations remains to be determined. We report here the analysis of the association of the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of CONNEXIN37 with ischemic stroke in Han Chinese population. Methods Two SNPs of CONNEXIN37 gene were analyzed in 385 ischemic stroke patients and 362 hypertension control patients using ligase detection reaction (LDR) method. Results Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that, AG and GG genotypes of SNP rs1764390 and CC genotype of rs1764391 of CONNEXIN37 were associated with an increased risk of ischemic stroke, and that G allele of rs1764390 is a risk factor for ischemic stroke. Further, we found that SNP rs1764390 and SNP rs1764391 in CONNEXIN37 were associated with ischemic stroke under additive/dominant model, and recessive/dominant model, respectively. Conclusion Our results indicate that CONNEXIN37 gene polymorphism is an ischemic stroke risk factor in Northern Han Chinese

Genetic Variant of Kalirin Gene Is Associated with Ischemic Stroke in a Chinese Han Population

Introduction. Ischemic stroke is a complex disorder resulting from the interplay of genetic and environmental factors. Previous studies showed that kalirin gene variations were associated with cardiovascular disease. However, the association between this gene and ischemic stroke was unknown. We performed this study to confirm if kalirin gene variation was associated with ischemic stroke. Methods. We enrolled 385 ischemic stroke patients and 362 controls from China. Three SNPs of kalirin gene were genotyped by means of ligase detection reaction-PCR method. Data was processed with SPSS and SHEsis platform. Results. SNP rs7620580 (dominant model: OR = 1.590, p = 0.002 and adjusted OR = 1.662, p = 0.014; additive model: OR = 1.490, p = 0.002 and adjusted OR = 1.636, p = 0.005; recessive model: OR = 2.686, p = 0.039) and SNP rs1708303 (dominant model: OR = 1.523, p = 0.007 and adjusted OR = 1.604, p = 0.028; additive model: OR = 1.438, p = 0.01 and adjusted OR = 1.476, p = 0.039) were associated with ischemic stroke. The GG genotype and G allele of SNP rs7620580 were associated with a risk for ischemic stroke with an adjusted OR of 3.195 and an OR of 1.446, respectively. Haplotype analysis revealed that A–T–G,G-T-A, and A-T-A haplotypes were associated with ischemic stroke. Conclusions. Our results provide evidence that kalirin gene variations were associated with ischemic stroke in the Chinese Han population

Identifying Rare Genetic Variants of Immune Mediators as Risk Factors for Autism Spectrum Disorder

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects more than 1% of children, and there is no viable pharmacotherapeutic agent to treat the core symptoms of ASD. Studies have shown that children with ASD show changes in their levels of immune response molecules. Our previous studies have shown that ASD is more common in children with folate receptor autoantibodies. We also found that children with ASD have abnormal gut immune function, which was characterized by a significant increase in the content of immunoglobulin A and an increase in gut-microbiota-associated epitope diversity. These studies suggest that the immune mechanism plays an important role in the occurrence of ASD. The present study aims to systematically assess gene mutations in immune mediators in patients with ASD. We collected genetic samples from 72 children with ASD (2–12 years old) and 107 healthy controls without ASD (20–78 years old). We used our previously-designed immune gene panel, which can capture cytokine and receptor genes, the coding regions of MHC genes, and genes of innate immunity. Target region sequencing (500×) and bioinformatics analytical methods were used to identify variants in immune response genes associated with patients with ASD. A total of 4 rare variants were found to be associated with ASD, including HLA-B: p.A93G, HLA-DQB1: p.S229N, LILRB2: p.R322H, and LILRB2: c.956-4C>T. These variants were present in 44.44% (32/72) of the ASD patients and were detected in 3.74% (4/107) of the healthy controls. We expect these genetic variants will serve as new targets for the clinical genetic assessment of ASD, and our findings suggest that immune abnormalities in children with ASD may have a genetic basis