Detection of 549 new HLA alleles in potential stem cell donors from the United States, Poland and Germany

We characterized 549 new human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I and class II alleles found in newly registered stem cell donors as a result of high‐throughput HLA typing. New alleles include 101 HLA‐A, 132 HLA‐B, 105 HLA‐C, 2 HLA‐DRB1, 89 HLA‐DQB1 and 120 HLA‐DPB1 alleles. Mainly, new alleles comprised single nucleotide variations when compared with homologous sequences. We identified nonsynonymous nucleotide mutations in 70.7% of all new alleles, synonymous variations in 26.4% and nonsense substitutions in 2.9% (null alleles). Some new alleles (55, 10.0%) were found multiple times, HLA‐DPB1 alleles being the most frequent among these. Furthermore, as several new alleles were identified in individuals from ethnic minority groups, the relevance of recruiting donors belonging to such groups and the importance of ethnicity data collection in donor centers and registries is highlighted.

[Property analysis of the finals mispronunciation in Chinese-speaking children with functional articulation disorder]

Objective: To characterize the finals mispronunciation in Chinese-speaking children with functional articulation disorder (FAD), in order to promote the standardized diagnosis. Method: A retrospective study was conducted. From January to December 2013, 90 FAD children, diagnosed by Dysarthria Rating Scale and Mandarin Finals scale, were included in this study. Among them, 22 were found to have finals mispronunciation; the average age was (6.56±0.26) years. According to the finals classification, six different finals (simple finals, front vowel compound finals, central vowel compound finals, back vowel compound finals, anterior nasal finals, and posterior nasal finals) were defined; the produced sound samples of those subjects were analyzed. Result: In all these children, 22 of 90 (24%) were found having finals mispronunciation, the occurring rates of which with omission and substitution errors were: 3% (4/132) for simple finals, 30% (26/88) for front vowel compound finals, 26% (23/88) for central vowel compound finals, 7% (8/110) for back vowel compound finals, 73%(128/176) for anterior nasal finals and 73% (112/154) for posterior nasal finals, respectively. In omission and substitution errors, the ratios of the finals above were 50% (150/301), 3% (10/301), 5% (14/301), 36% (107/301), 2% (5/301) and 5% (15/301), respectively. The most frequently occurred mispronunciation were omission, substitution and distortion, with rates of 37% (273/748), 4% (28/748) and 8% (61/748), respectively. Conclusion: The FAD children have remarkable mispronunciation of finals. Omission is the main error. The nasal finals are the most commonly involved, followed by front vowel and central vowel compound finals. The simple finals and the back vowel compound finals are most commonly produced in omission and substitution. These finals production features should be considered when making and implementing rehabilitation programs.

Transcriptome analysis of potential simple sequence repeat markers in Ammopiptanthus mongolicus

Ammopiptanthus mongolicus, an evergreen broadleaf legume shrub, can survive under conditions of high and low temperature, extreme salinity, and drought. This attribute makes it an ideal model for studying mechanisms of stress tolerance in plants. However, simple sequence repeat (SSR) resources for this species are insufficient in public databases. In this study, a total of 44,959 unigenes identified from the A. mongolicus transcriptome were used for SSR analysis by MIcroSAtellite (MISA). A total of 13,859 SSRs were found to be distributed within 10,409 unigenes, with an average length of 15 bp and an average density of one SSR per 4.4 kb. There were 222 different motif types in the A. mongolicus transcriptome, and mononucleotide repeats represented the main type, accounting for 44.2% of all SSRs. The (A/T)n repeat was the most frequent motif, accounting for 42.37% of all SSRs. We also performed Gene Ontology functional analysis, Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes database pathway analysis, and eggNOG analysis, and identified 6157, 2301, and 9845 unigenes containing SSRs in these three databases, respectively. The functional categorization of A. mongolicus unigenes containing SSRs revealed that these unigenes represent many transcribed genes with different functions. These data provide sequence information that may be used to improve molecular-assisted markers for the study A. mongolicus genetic diversity.

Prescribing Pattern of Antidepressants in Children and Adolescents: Findings from the Research on Asia Psychotropic Prescription Pattern

OBJECTIVE

Pharmacotherapy of depression in children and adolescents is complex. In the absence of research into the efficacy and safety of antidepressants in this group of patients, their off-label prescription is common. This paper aimed to illustrate the prescription pattern of antidepressants in children and adolescents from major psychiatric centres in Asia.

METHODS

The Research on Asia Psychotropic Prescription Pattern on Antidepressants worked collaboratively in 2013 to study the prescription pattern of antidepressants in Asia using a unified research protocol and questionnaire. Forty psychiatric centres from 10 Asian countries / regions participated and 2321 antidepressant prescriptions were analysed.

RESULTS

A total of 4.7% antidepressant prescriptions were for children and adolescents. Fluoxetine, sertraline, and escitalopram were the most common antidepressants prescribed for children and adolescents. Almost one-third (30.3%) of prescriptions were for diagnoses other than depressive and anxiety disorders. There was less antidepressant polypharmacy and concomitant use of benzodiazepine, but more concomitant use of antipsychotics in children and adolescents compared with adults.

CONCLUSION

Off-label use of antidepressants in children and adolescents was reported by 40 Asian psychiatric institutions that participated in the study. In-service education and regulatory mechanisms should be reinforced to ensure efficacy and safety of antidepressants in children and adolescents.

Mutational analysis of BRCA1/2 gene and pathologic characteristics from Kazakh population with sporadic breast cancer in northwestern China

Mutations in the BRCA1/2 genes are associated with an increased risk of breast cancer, but no large-scale research have examined the BRCA1/2 mutations in Chinese Kazakh women. We evaluated the frequency and distributions of BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations in Kazakh sporadic breast cancer patients and healthy women in China. The association between the clinical-pathologic features of Kazakh breast cancer patients and BRCA1/2 mutations were also investigated. Two unclassified variants (T539M and T1915M) and 16 polymorphisms were detected in this study, 4 of which (G356A, His743, Asn991Asp, Val1269) were detected more frequently in breast cancer patients than in healthy controls. We observed a higher prevalence of BRCA1/2 common sequence alterations and a large number of Kazakh women carrying multiple co-existing BRCA1/2 mutations. The prevalence of BRCA1 mutations was similar to that of BRCA2 mutations. Although no significant differences were observed, BRCA1/2 carriers were generally younger at diagnosis of wild-type breast cancer patients. BRCA1-associated Kazakh sporadic breast cancers present with high tumor grade, early stage, negative lymph node status, absence of estrogen receptor expression and progesterone-positive status. Estrogen receptor expression was the only predominant histological type in BRCA2 carriers. In this study, we determined the BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutation status and determined the association with clinical-pathologic characteristics in a Chinese Kazakh population. Larger population-based screening studies screening the entire coding region of BRCA1/2 are required to evaluate the breast cancer risk induced by the sequence alterations detected in this study.

Effects of feeding birdsfoot trefoil hay on neutral detergent fiber digestion, nitrogen utilization efficiency, and lactational performance by dairy cows

This experiment was conducted to determine effects of feeding birdsfoot trefoil hay-based diets in comparison with an alfalfa hay-based diet on N utilization efficiency, ruminal fermentation, and lactational performance by mid-lactation dairy cows. Nine multiparous lactating Holstein cows (131 ± 22.6 d in milk), 3 of which were rumen fistulated, were fed 3 experimental diets in a replicated 3 × 3 Latin square design with 3 periods of 14 d of adaptation and 7 d of data and sample collection. Within squares, cows were randomly assigned to diets as follows: alfalfa hay-based diet (AHT), alfalfa and birdsfoot trefoil hay-based diet (ABT), and birdsfoot trefoil hay-based diet (BT). Intakes of dry matter and crude protein were similar across treatments, whereas ABT and BT diets resulted in decreased fiber intake compared with AHT. Feeding BT tended to increase neutral detergent fiber digestibility compared with AHT and ABT. Milk yield tended to increase for cows consuming ABT or BT diets. Milk true protein concentration and yield were greater for cows consuming ABT relative to those fed AHT. Concentration of total volatile fatty acids tended to increase by cows fed BT compared with those fed AHT and ABT. Feeding birdsfoot trefoil hay in a total mixed ration resulted in a tendency to decrease acetate proportion, but it tended to increase propionate proportion, leading to a tendency to decrease acetate-to-propionate ratio. Whereas concentration of ammonia-N was similar across treatments, cows offered BT exhibited greater microbial protein yield relative to those fed AHT and ABT. Cows offered birdsfoot trefoil hay diets secreted more milk N than AHT, resulting in improved N utilization efficiency for milk N. The positive effects due to feeding birdsfoot trefoil hay were attributed to enhanced neutral detergent fiber digestion, and thus it could replace alfalfa hay in high-forage dairy diets while improving N utilization efficiencies and maintaining lactational performance compared with alfalfa hay.

Antidepressant Prescription Pattern in the Presence of Medical Co-morbidity: REAP-AD 2013 Study

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the prescription pattern of antidepressants in patients with medical co-morbidity from major psychiatric centres in Asia.

METHODS

The Research on Asian Psychotropic Prescription Pattern for Antidepressants (REAP-AD 2013) collected data from 42 psychiatric centres in 10 Asian countries and regions. Antidepressant prescriptions of 2320 patients with various psychiatric disorders were evaluated. Of these, 370 patients who had specified medical co-morbidities formed the study cohort.

RESULTS

Escitalopram (20%) and mirtazapine (20%) were the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in patients with medical co-morbidity followed by sertraline (16%), trazodone (15%), and paroxetine (12%). Overall, more than half (52%; 247/476) of prescriptions comprised selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. Slightly less than two-thirds (63%; n = 233) of patients received at least 1 selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. In addition, 79% of patients were prescribed only 1 antidepressant. The mean number of antidepressants used per patient was 1.25 (standard deviation, 0.56). There were subtle differences in the most preferred antidepressant across medical illnesses such as diabetes mellitus, liver dysfunction, acid peptic disease, and cerebrovascular disease. Differences were also seen in prescription patterns across different countries.

CONCLUSION

Although selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors formed the bulk of antidepressant prescriptions in the presence of medical co-morbidity, mirtazapine was also commonly used in the presence of medical co-morbidities. Specified medical morbidities do influence the selection of antidepressants.

CLOSED FEMORAL NAILING WITH THE TECHNIQUE OF USING A NEW FEMORAL DISTRACTOR: A PRELIMINARY REPORT

This study introduces the application of a new femoral distractor in the treatment of femoral fracture restoration with internal fixation of intramedullary nail. Sixty-three patients with femoral fracture from the Affiliated Hospital of Binzhou Medical University underwent femoral facture restoration with the new femoral distractor in combination with internal fixation of an intramedullary nail from June 2011 to March 2014. There were 18 cases of proximal femur fractures, 44 cases of middle femoral shaft fractures and 1 case of distal femur fracture. Follow-up was on the 4th, 6th, 8th, 12th, 16th and 24th week after operation. All 63 patients successfully underwent the surgery and the steel needles used did not cause injury to the adjacent vessels or nerves. Five cases had to have steel needles reinserted, as they had failed in the distraction reduction due to being unsteadily fixed because of an improper position. Patients were followed up for 10~24 months (mean 16 months), and the total healing rate was 100%. Operative time was 93.5 minutes averagely. Average time of patients’ exposure to X-ray was 26.8 seconds. Bleeding volume was averagely 219.1 ml. There were no complications either during the operations or after them. All cases healed within 12 weeks (average 7.6 weeks). This study proves that, the new femoral distractor can help the closed reduction of fractures in treating femoral fractures with intramedullary nails to avoid the inconvenience of applying traction tables and the occurrence of potential complications.

Intracranial aneurysm risk factor genes: relationship with intracranial aneurysm risk in a Chinese Han population

Few studies have examined the genes related to risk fac-tors that may contribute to intracranial aneurysms (IAs). This study in Chinese patients aimed to explore the relationship between IA and 28 gene loci, proven to be associated with risk factors for IA. We recruited 119 patients with aneurysms and 257 controls. Single factor and logistic regression models were used to analyze the association of IA and IA rup-ture with risk factors. Twenty-eight single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 22 genes were genotyped for the patient and control groups. SNP genotypes and allele frequencies were analyzed by the chi-square test. Logistic regression analysis identified hypertension as a factor that increased IA risk (P = 1.0 x 10(-4); OR, 2.500; 95%CI, 1.573-3.972); IA was associated with two SNPs in the TSLC2A9 gene: rs7660895 (P = 0.007; OR, 1.541; 95%CI, 1.126-2.110); and in the TOX gene: rs11777927 (P = 0.013; OR, 1.511; 95%CI, 1.088-2.098). Subsequent removal of the influence of family relationship identified between 12 of 119 patients enhanced the significant association of these SNPs with IA (P = 0.001; OR, 1.691; 95%CI, 1.226-2.332; and P = 0.006; OR, 1.587; 95%CI, 1.137-2.213 for rs7660895 and rs11777927, respectively). Fur-thermore, the minor allele of rs7660895 (A) was also associated with IA rupture (P = 0.007; OR, 2.196; 95%CI, 1.230-3.921). Therefore, hypertension is an independent risk factor for IA. Importantly, the TSL-C2A9 (rs7660895) and TOX (rs11777927) gene polymorphisms may be associated with formation of IAs, and rs7660895 may be associated with IA rupture.

Mechanical force-induced specific MicroRNA expression in human periodontal ligament stem cells

It remains unclear how the expression of microRNAs (miRNAs) in human periodontal ligament stem cells (PDLSCs) might respond to mechanical stretch. To investigate specific miRNA expression in stretched PDLSCs, we used a Flexcell® FX-5000™ tension system to achieve external mechanical stimulation. Then, a custom-designed microarray assay was performed to investigate and describe the genome-wide differential expression of miRNAs in normal and stretched PDLSCs. Finally, we implemented integrative miRNA target prediction and network analysis approaches to construct an interaction network of the key miRNAs and their putative targets. We found that stretching induced morphological changes and increased alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity, runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), osteocalcin (OCN), and bone sialoprotein (BSP) expression in PDLSCs. The microarray data showed that 53 miRNAs were differentially expressed with stretching. With an interaction network, we examined the connections between 10 selected key miRNAs and their putative target genes, which were related to mechanical force. The results from the interaction network provided a basis for postulating the functional roles of miRNAs in PDLSCs.

Meta-analysis on postoperative complications of wristband acupoint pressure therapy

Through searching database such as MEDLINE, CNKI, etc., this paper assesses the effect of wristband acupoint pressure, acting on the neiguan acupoint, to relieve postoperative complications of adults (mainly nausea and vomiting) using nine randomized controlled trials (RCT) and RevMan5.0. In the experimental group, acupoint pressure wristband effectively reduced the incidence rate of postoperative vomiting by acting on the neiguan point, compared to the placebo control group (RR=0.50, 95% CI: 0.37~0.66, P < 0.01). As to the incidence rate of postoperative nausea, there was no statistical significance between the experimental group and the placebo control group (RR=0.85, 95% CI: 0.72~1.00, P < 0.05). It was revealed that the application of acupoint pressure wristband on neiguan point in postoperative care could effectively relieve postoperative vomiting; while postoperative vomiting was not relieved distinctly. Therefore, researchers are required to carry out more reliable RCT test for further study and discussion, and nurses can bring in acupoint pressure wristband for researches on its effectiveness and adaptability.

Identification of 2127 new HLA class I alleles in potential stem cell donors from Germany, the United States and Poland

We describe 2127 new human leukocyte antigen (HLA) class I alleles found in registered stem cell donors. These alleles represent 28.9% of the currently known class I alleles. Comparing new allele sequences to homologous sequences, we found 68.1% nonsynonymous nucleotide substitutions, 28.9% silent mutations and 3.0% nonsense mutations. Many substitutions occurred at positions that have not been known to be polymorphic before. A large number of HLA alleles and nucleotide variations underline the extreme diversity of the HLA system. Strikingly, 156 new alleles were found not only multiple times, but also in carriers of various parentage, suggesting that some new alleles are not necessarily rare. Moreover, new alleles were found especially often in minority donors. This emphasizes the benefits of specifically recruiting such groups of individuals.

Maintenance Crude Protein Requirement of Penned Female Korean Spotted Deer (Cervus nippon)

This study was conducted to evaluate the protein requirement for maintenance of 2-year-old female Korean spotted deer. In the course of the experiment, each of three hand-reared female spotted deer was fed three diets that were iso-calorically formulated to contain low (approximately 7%), medium (12%), and high (17%) levels of crude protein (CP). Each of six trials included a 5-day transition, a 10-day preliminary, and a 7-day collection period. Dietary protein levels affected the apparent digestibility of CP (p<0.05) but not the apparent digestibility of dry matter, organic matter, or acid detergent fiber. All of the deer showed a positive CP balance on all of the diets. The maintenance CP requirement estimated by regression analysis was 4.17 g/kg metabolic body weight (W^0.75)·d. The maintenance digestible CP requirement was 1.42 g/kg W^0.75·d. The metabolic fecal CP was 1.95 g/kg W^0.75·d. The blood urea nitrogen of spotted deer increased (p<0.05) as the dietary protein levels increased.

Screening of the residual normal ovarian tissue adjacent to orthotopic epithelial ovarian carcinomas in nude mice

The objective of this study was to explore the feasibility and methods of screening the residual normal ovarian tissue adjacent to orthotopic ovarian carcinomas in nude mice. Human epithelial ovarian cancer cells (OVCAR3) were subcutaneously implanted for a tumor source and ovarian orthotopic transplantation. The cancer tissue, proximal paraneoplastic tissue, middle paraneoplastic tissue, remote paraneoplastic tissue, and normal ovarian tissue were removed. CK-7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 expression was detected by reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. We obtained 35 paraneoplastic residual ovarian tissues with normal biopsies from 40 cases of an orthotopic epithelial ovarian carcinoma model (87.5%). CK-7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 expression was lower in proximal paraneoplastic tissue than in cancer tissue (P < 0.05) and higher than in middle and remote paraneoplastic tissue (P < 0.01). There was no statistically significant difference between the expression of these genes in middle and proximal paraneoplastic tissue as well as among residual normal ovarian tissues with different severity (P > 0.05). In ovarian tissues of 20 normal nude mice, the expression of CK- 7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, and TIMP-2 was negative. Overall, the expression levels of CK-7, CA125, p53, survivin, MMP-2, TIMP-2, and other molecular markers showed a decreasing trend in the non-cancer tissue direction. The expression levels can be used as standards to screen residual normal ovarian tissue. We can obtain relatively safe normal ovarian tissues adjacent to epithelial ovarian cancer.

Predicting targeted polypharmacology for drug repositioning and multi- target drug discovery

Prediction of polypharmacology of known drugs and new molecules against selected multiple targets is highly useful for finding new therapeutic applications of existing drugs (drug repositioning) and for discovering multi-target drugs with improved therapeutic efficacies by collective regulations of primary therapeutic targets, compensatory signalling and drug resistance mechanisms. In this review, we describe recent progresses in exploration of in-silico methods for predicting polypharmacology of known drugs and new molecules by means of structure-based (molecular docking, binding- site structural similarity, receptor-based pharmacophore searching), expression-based (expression profile/signature similarity disease-drug and drug-drug networks), ligand-based (similarity searching, side-effect similarity, QSAR, machine learning), and fragment-based approaches that have shown promising potential in facilitating drug repositioning and the discovery of multi-target drugs.

Virtual screening methods as tools for drug lead discovery from large chemical libraries

Virtual screening methods have been developed and explored as useful tools for searching drug lead compounds from chemical libraries, including large libraries that have become publically available. In this review, we discussed the new developments in exploring virtual screening methods for enhanced performance in searching large chemical libraries, their applications in screening libraries of ~ 1 million or more compounds in the last five years, the difficulties in their applications, and the strategies for further improving these methods.

Effect of ketamine as an adjunct to intravenous patient-controlled analgesia, in patients at high risk of postoperative nausea and vomiting undergoing lumbar spinal surgery

BACKGROUND

We evaluated the effect of ketamine as an adjunct to a fentanyl-based i.v. patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) on postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) in patients at high risk of PONV undergoing lumbar spinal surgery.

METHODS

Fifty non-smoking female patients were evenly randomized to either the control or ketamine group. According to randomization, patients received either ketamine 0.3 mg kg(-1) i.v. or normal saline after anaesthetic induction with fentanyl-based IV-PCA either with or without ketamine mixture (3 mg kg(-1) in 180 ml). The incidence and severity of PONV, volume of IV-PCA consumed, and pain intensity were assessed in the postanaesthesia care unit, and at postoperative 6, 12, 24, 36, and 48 h.

RESULTS

The overall incidence of PONV during the first 48 h after surgery was similar between the two groups (68 vs 56%, ketamine and control group, P=0.382). The total dose of fentanyl used during the first 48 h after operation was lower in the ketamine group than in the control group [mean (SD), 773 (202) μg vs 957 (308) μg, P=0.035]. The intensity of nausea (11-point verbal numerical rating scale) was higher in the ketamine group during the first 6 h after operation [median (interquartile range), 6 (3-7) vs 2 (1.5-3.5), P=0.039], postoperative 12-24 h [5 (4-7) vs 2 (1-3), P=0.014], and postoperative 36-48 h [5 (4-7) vs 2 (1-3), P=0.036]. Pain intensities were similar between the groups.

CONCLUSIONS

Ketamine did not reduce the incidence of PONV and exerted a negative influence on the severity of nausea. It was, however, able to reduce postoperative fentanyl consumption in patients at high-risk of PONV.

Lipopolysaccharide-induced indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase expression in the periodontal ligament

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE

Indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO) is a tryptophan-oxidizing enzyme with immune-inhibitory effects. The aim of this study was to investigate the expression of IDO by lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of gram-negative bacteria, in human periodontal ligament (PDL) cells.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

Human PDL cells and gingival fibroblasts (GFs) were prepared from explants of human PDLs and from gingival tissues of clinically healthy donors, respectively. Real-time RT-PCR, western blotting and the IDO enzyme assay were performed to determine the expression of IDO following LPS treatment of cells. LPS was injected into mice tail veins to evaluate the effects of LPS in vivo in the maxillary first molar. Immunofluorescence staining and histological analysis were followed to localize IDO in mouse PDL.

RESULTS

The level of expression of IDO mRNA in primary human PDL cells after LPS treatment was increased in a dose-dependent manner, reaching a peak 8 h after LPS treatment. The expression and activities of IDO protein were significantly increased in comparison with those of the control. In addition, the increased production of kynurenine in culture medium was observed 72 h after LPS treatment. In the immunofluorescence findings, stronger immunoreactivities were shown in PDL than in gingival tissues in the maxillae. In accordance with the immunofluorescence findings, LPS treatment induced a strong up-regulation of IDO mRNA in human PDL cells, whereas human GFs showed only a weak response to LPS.

CONCLUSION

These results clearly show that IDO was induced by LPS in primary human PDL cells, suggesting that PDL might be involved in the regulation of oral inflammatory disease.

Experimental study on low-detection limit for immunomagnetic reduction assays by manipulating reagent entities

The low limit of detection (LLD) plays an important role in biomolecular assays, especially for early-stage assays. Biomolecular detections usually involve the use of two main elements: a reagent and an analyzer, which both greatly contribute to the LLD. In this work, the relationships among the LLD and reagent-related factors are investigated. The to-be-detected biomolecule is c-reactive protein (CRP) as an example. The assay method is immunomagnetic reduction (IMR). The components of reagent are Fe(3)O(4) magnetic nanoparticles bio-functionalized with antibodies against CRP, dispersed in pH-7.4 phosphate buffered saline solution. Several key factors of the reagent, such as particle concentration, volume ratio of reagent to sample, and particle size, are manipulated to optimize the LLD of detecting CRP.

Structure and polymorphism of 16 novel Y-STRs in Chinese Han population

Y-chromosome short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) are useful tools for identifying paternity origin and male-female mixed samples because of their male-specificity, haploid inheritance and relatively simplicity. We focused on novel Y-STRs deposited in the human Genome database from DYS708 to DYS726. We typed 16 male-specific Y-STRs from males of a Chinese Han population residing in Shanxi Province (north China), including DYS708-719, DYS721-723, and DYS726, but failed in typing DYS720, DYS724 and DYS725. The 16 Y-STRs, with mean gene diversity (GD) of 0.79, included three trinucleotide Y-STRs (711, 718, 719), nine tetranucleotide STRs (708, 709, 710, 712, 713, 715, 722, 723, 726) and four pentanucleotide repeat STRs (714, 716, 717, 721). DYS712, consisting of eight alleles, was the most informative STR in our population, with a GD of 0.843. The STRs were classified as simple STRs and complex STRs, according to their structures based on sequencing. Genetic indexes, including allele frequencies, haplotype distribution and male-specificity were determined. The Y-STRs, especially those male-specific, tetra- and penta-nucleotide, with only one copy on Y-chromosome, and relative simple structures, such as DYS709, DYS714, DYS715, DYS716, DYS718, DYS719, and DYS726, were suggested for the future forensic DNA analysis, while DYS724 and DYS725 were not recommended for their multi-copy distribution. The population data provided putative Y-STRs for future genetic and forensic applications.

Discovery of HLA-DRB1*03:20 allele in a Taiwanese volunteer hematopoietic stem cell donor and the probable HLA-A, -B, -C and -DRB1 haplotype in association with DRB1*03:20

The allele HLA-DRB1*03:20, a variant of DRB1*03, was first reported to the IMGT HLA database in April 2001 without indication on the ethnicity of the blood donor (Cell ID: HC 125775). We found a Taiwanese volunteer hematopoietic stem cell donor carries DRB1*03:20 by a sequence-based typing (SBT) method. The DNA sequence of DRB1*03:20 is identical to the sequence of DRB1*03:01:01 in exon 2, except a nucleotide substitution at position 341(T→C) (GTT→GCT at codon 85). The nucleotide replacement produced an amino acid variation at residue 85 (V→A). We hypothesize that DRB1*03:20 was probably derived from DRB1*03:01:01 via a nucleotide point mutation event. The probable HLA haplotype in association with DRB1*03:20 was deduced as A*11:02-B*58:01-C*07:02-DRB1*03:20. We here report the Taiwanese/Chinese ethnicity of DRB1*03:20.

Evidence of sharp and diffuse domain walls in BiFeO3 by means of unit-cell-wise strain and polarization maps obtained with high resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy

Domain walls (DWs) substantially influence a large number of applications involving ferroelectric materials due to their limited mobility when shifted during polarization switching. The discovery of greatly enhanced conduction at BiFeO(3) DWs has highlighted yet another role of DWs as a local material state with unique properties. However, the lack of precise information on the local atomic structure is still hampering microscopical understanding of DW properties. Here, we examine the atomic structure of BiFeO(3) 109° DWs with pm precision by a combination of high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy and a dedicated structural analysis. By measuring simultaneously local polarization and strain, we provide direct experimental proof for the straight DW structure predicted by ab initio calculations as well as the recently proposed theory of diffuse DWs, thus resolving a long-standing discrepancy between experimentally measured and theoretically predicted DW mobilities.

Interface control of bulk ferroelectric polarization

The control of material interfaces at the atomic level has led to novel interfacial properties and functionalities. In particular, the study of polar discontinuities at interfaces between complex oxides lies at the frontier of modern condensed matter research. Here we employ a combination of experimental measurements and theoretical calculations to demonstrate the control of a bulk property, namely ferroelectric polarization, of a heteroepitaxial bilayer by precise atomic-scale interface engineering. More specifically, the control is achieved by exploiting the interfacial valence mismatch to influence the electrostatic potential step across the interface, which manifests itself as the biased-voltage in ferroelectric hysteresis loops and determines the ferroelectric state. A broad study of diverse systems comprising different ferroelectrics and conducting perovskite underlayers extends the generality of this phenomenon.