19 research outputs found
Steiner t-designs for large t
One of the most central and long-standing open questions in combinatorial
design theory concerns the existence of Steiner t-designs for large values of
t. Although in his classical 1987 paper, L. Teirlinck has shown that
non-trivial t-designs exist for all values of t, no non-trivial Steiner
t-design with t > 5 has been constructed until now. Understandingly, the case t
= 6 has received considerable attention. There has been recent progress
concerning the existence of highly symmetric Steiner 6-designs: It is shown in
[M. Huber, J. Algebr. Comb. 26 (2007), pp. 453-476] that no non-trivial
flag-transitive Steiner 6-design can exist. In this paper, we announce that
essentially also no block-transitive Steiner 6-design can exist.Comment: 9 pages; to appear in: Mathematical Methods in Computer Science 2008,
ed. by J.Calmet, W.Geiselmann, J.Mueller-Quade, Springer Lecture Notes in
Computer Scienc
Fungal planet description sheets : 371–399
Novel species of fungi described in the present study include the following from Australia: Neoseptorioides
eucalypti gen. & sp. nov. from Eucalyptus radiata leaves, Phytophthora gondwanensis from soil, Diaporthe
tulliensis from rotted stem ends of Theobroma cacao fruit, Diaporthe vawdreyi from fruit rot of Psidium guajava,
Magnaporthiopsis agrostidis from rotted roots of Agrostis stolonifera and Semifissispora natalis from Eucalyptus
leaf litter. Furthermore, Neopestalotiopsis egyptiaca is described from Mangifera indica leaves (Egypt), Roussoella
mexicana from Coffea arabica leaves (Mexico), Calonectria monticola from soil (Thailand), Hygrocybe jackmanii
from littoral sand dunes (Canada), Lindgomyces madisonensis from submerged decorticated wood (USA), Neofabraea
brasiliensis from Malus domestica (Brazil), Geastrum diosiae from litter (Argentina), Ganoderma wiiroense
on angiosperms (Ghana), Arthrinium gutiae from the gut of a grasshopper (India), Pyrenochaeta telephoni from the
screen of a mobile phone (India) and Xenoleptographium phialoconidium gen. & sp. nov. on exposed xylem tissues
of Gmelina arborea (Indonesia). Several novelties are introduced from Spain, namely Psathyrella complutensis on
loamy soil, Chlorophyllum lusitanicum on nitrified grasslands (incl. Chlorophyllum arizonicum comb. nov.), Aspergillus
citocrescens from cave sediment and Lotinia verna gen. & sp. nov. from muddy soil. Novel foliicolous taxa from South
Africa include Phyllosticta carissicola from Carissa macrocarpa, Pseudopyricularia hagahagae from Cyperaceae
and Zeloasperisporium searsiae from Searsia chirindensis. Furthermore, Neophaeococcomyces is introduced as
a novel genus, with two new combinations, N. aloes and N. catenatus. Several foliicolous novelties are recorded
from La Réunion, France, namely Ochroconis pandanicola from Pandanus utilis, Neosulcatispora agaves gen. &
sp. nov. from Agave vera-cruz, Pilidium eucalyptorum from Eucalyptus robusta, Strelitziana syzygii from Syzygium
jambos (incl. Strelitzianaceae fam. nov.) and Pseudobeltrania ocoteae from Ocotea obtusata (Beltraniaceae emend.).
Morphological and culture characteristics along with ITS DNA barcodes are provided for all taxa.http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/nhn/pimjam2016Forestry and Agricultural Biotechnology Institute (FABI)Microbiology and Plant Patholog
Leptin and interleukin-1β levels associated with osteoarthritis in Vietnamese patients: a cross-sectional analysis
Leptin and interleukin-1 beta (IL-1β) are two extensively studied biomarkers associated with metabolic syndrome (MetS) and osteoarthritis (OA). Previous studies have mostly focused on either MetS or OA alone, with no available data on Vietnamese patients. This study aimed to investigate the levels of leptin and IL-1β in this patient population and explore their association with clinical parameters of MetS and OA. The study included 164 patients with primary knee OA, who were classified into two categories based on the presence of MetS, and 78 healthy controls. The plasma leptin and IL-1β levels were quantified by ELISA and correlated with clinical parameters. Leptin levels were higher in patients with OA (11.50±10.04 ng/mL) than in healthy controls (0.54±0.37 ng/mL) and increased in patients with MetS compared to those without MetS. IL-1β levels were also significantly higher in OA patients (14.63±15.87 pg/mL) than in controls (7.79±5.11 pg/mL), but were not significantly different between the MetS and non-MetS groups. Leptin levels were positively correlated with body mass index, waist-to-hip ratio, visual analogue scale scores, HbA1c and insulin levels, and HOMA-IR index, whereas IL-1β levels were only correlated with insulin levels and HOMA-IR index. ROC curve analysis revealed that leptin and IL-1β levels could distinguish individuals with and without OA (AUC=0.96; 0.88, respectively), and individuals with and without MetS (AUC=0.82; 0.71, respectively). Our findings suggested that both leptin and IL-1β levels were associated with both MetS and OA and may play a critical role in the pathogenesis of MetS-related OA
Assessing evidence for avian-to-human transmission of influenza A/H9N2 virus in rural farming communities in northern Vietnam
Rural farming communities in northern Vietnam do not routinely practice vaccination for influenza A viruses (IAV) for either humans or poultry, which enables us to study transmission intensity via seroepidemiology. Using samples from a longitudinal cohort of farming households, we determined the number of symptomatic and asymptomatic human infections for seasonal IAV and avian A/H9 over 2 years. As expected, we detected virologically confirmed acute cases of seasonal IAV in humans, as well as large numbers of subclinical seroconversions to A/H1pdm [55/265 (21 %)], A/H3 [95/265 (36 %)] and A/H9 [24/265 (9 %)]. Five of the A/H9 human seroconverters likely represented true infections rather than heterosubtypic immunity, because the individuals seroconverted solely to A/H9. Among co-located poultry, we found significantly higher seroprevalance for A/H5 compared to A/H9 in both chickens and ducks [for northern study sites overall, 337/1105 (30.5 %) seropositive for A/H5 and 123/1105 (11.1 %) seropositive for A/H9]