TESTING A METHODOLOGY FOR IDENTIFYING CLUSTERED ALLELE LOSS USING SNP ARRAY DATA

HumanHap550 Genotyping BeadChip provides a platform allowing for genotyping of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) greater than 550,000 loci. Such SNPs genotyping array technology makes it possible to identify genetic variation in individuals and across populations, profiling somatic mutations in cancer and loss of heterozygosity (LOH) events, amplifying deletions of regions of DNA, as well as possibly evaluating germline mutations in individuals. This study particularly focuses on analysis of clusters of Mendelian inconsistencies (MIs) in the SNPs array for six Russian radiation worker family trios, in order to identify the type of deletion variants for offspring such as inherited parental deletion variants (PDVs), spontaneous mutations (SMs) and germline mutations (GMs). By adapting the Bayesian theorem combining with the hereditary rule, this study presents an exciting result because 96.15% of genotypes in six selected clusters under the investigation could be identified as either PDVs or SMs/GMs, with two clusters are perfectly identified as SMs/GMs. This opens an avenue for further investigation of whether external environmental exposures (e.g., ionizing radiation) can effect the frequency of deletion variants (i.e., germline mutations) occurring in the offspring of highly exposed nuclear workers. While the applied methodology provides a practical means to recognize the genomic variations within the SNPs array some weaknesses of the study have been observed; particularly, the control group which consists of 112 individuals of Yoruba, Han Chinese, Japanese and Mormons is of deficiency on its sample size, diverse ethnicity and DNA process compared to the case group, and unclean potential hemizygous SNPs (i.e., Mendelian inconsistencies). Further statistical investigation and research needs to be conducted in order to overcome the weaknesses observed in the study; hence, the methodology introduced would be further of enhancement in its reliability and validity and it should be more effective when applied.Public health significance: The development of a reliable method to identify and count germline mutations in radiation workers could be generalized to exposures from any form of environmental mutagen (e.g., chemicals). Such a generalized marker could be used to measure the effects of various toxic environmental exposures on specific individuals and to predict genetically determined illness conditions

Understanding Entrepreneurship Process and Growth in Emerging Business Ventures under Market Socialism in China

Objectives: This paper aims to provide an insightful view of the entrepreneurial process and growth in different types of Chinese entrepreneurial enterprises under market socialism in China. This issue is explored by examining the organisational characteristics of three emerging business ventures under market reforms and institutional changes. It addresses the interactive effect of key contingency factors in entrepreneurship process and explains its impact on growth or failure outcomes in a particular ‘China type’ of market economy. Prior work: China’s hybrid economic system represents a mixed political economy with both socialist and capitalist characteristics (Lichtenstein, 1992; Morphy et al, 1992; Opper, 2001). Despite a growing body of research on Chinese small business practices alongside the economic reforms (Shen, 1994; Child, 1994; Naughton, 1994; Schlevogt, 2001; Warner, 2004; Yang, 2007; Kshetri, 2007; Yang and Li, 2008), more empirical studies are required to provide a critical insight into the emerging business practices. This research adopts a contingency model of entrepreneurship(Wickham, 2006) to examine entrepreneurship process and growth in different types of business venture. It reveals the interactive relationships among key variables such as strategy, ownership, culture and management process. Approaches: This research is undertaken through the empirical analysis of three case study companies in the textile industry. This fieldwork was conducted in 2006 and 2009 respectively. Multiple sources of data were collected including 21 open-ended interviews of owners and key managers in three case study companies. Results: The study offers an explanation on how entrepreneurship takes different forms and features in different organisational contexts. Empirical evidence supports four hypotheses: (1) The type of ownership is a key contingent factor that moderates particular entrepreneurial outcomes. (2) Leadership and knowledge accumulation capability are critical factors in learning process, significantly affecting the strategic choices in either high value or low value added products strategy. (3) The broadening of product portfolios and increased production capacity will improve survival chances and increase the likelihood of firm growth. (4) Management capability and consistency have greater impact on the outcome of entrepreneurship process than the resource and strategy factors. Implications: The findings have significant implications for a conceptual understanding of Chinese entrepreneurship dynamics. It addresses important considerations on government policy making and promotion strategies for entrepreneurship development in different forms of business venture. Value: The textile sector has pioneered the government reforms in restructuring and creating entrepreneurial enterprises. It offers a perfect case for assessing the entrepreneurship processes in a rapidly changing market environment. It emphasizes the important ownership effect on entrepreneurial outcomes. Drawing upon Wickham’s contingency model of entrepreneurship, it provides an improved understanding of this concept under particular circumstance and different contexts

The wavefunction reconstruction effects in calculation of DM-induced electronic transition in semiconductor targets

The physics of the electronic excitation in semiconductors induced by sub-GeV dark matter (DM) have been extensively discussed in literature, under the framework of the standard plane wave (PW) and pseudopotential calculation scheme. In this paper, we investigate the implication of the all-electron (AE) reconstruction on estimation of the DM-induced electronic transition event rates. As a benchmark study, we first calculate the wavefunctions in silicon and germanium bulk crystals based on both the AE and pseudo (PS) schemes within the projector augmented wave (PAW) framework, and then make comparisons between the calculated excitation event rates obtained from these two approaches. It turns out that in process where large momentum transfer is kinetically allowed, the two calculated event rates can differ by a factor of a few. Such discrepancies are found to stem from the high-momentum components neglected in the PS scheme. It is thus implied that the correction from the AE wavefunction in the core region is necessary for an accurate estimate of the DM-induced transition event rate in semiconductors.Comment: A missing factor $64^{-3/2}=1/512$ associated with the Fourier transformation is added to both the AE and PS event rates in this version. The ratio between the AE and PS event rates is not affecte