Inherited defects in pedigree dogs. Part 1: Disorders related to breed standards

The United Kingdom pedigree-dog industry has faced criticism because certain aspects of dog conformation Stipulated in the UK Kennel Club breed standards have a detrimental impact oil dog welfare. A review of conformation-related disorders was carried out in the top 50 UK Kennel Club registered breeds using systematic searches of existing information A novel index to score severity of disorders along a single-scale was also developed and used to conduct statistical analyses to determine the factors affecting reported breed predisposition to defects According to the literature searched, each of the top 50 breeds was found to have at least one aspect of its conformation predisposing it to a disorder. and 84 disorders were either directly or indirectly associated with conformation. The Miniature poodle, Bulldog. Pug and Basset hound had most associations with conformation-related disorders. Further research oil prevalence and severity is required to assess the impact of different disorders oil the welfare of affected breeds (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Meta-analysis of 32 genome-wide linkage studies of schizophrenia

A genome scan meta-analysis (GSMA) was carried out on 32 independent genome-wide linkage scan analyses that included 3255 pedigrees with 7413 genotyped cases affected with schizophrenia (SCZ) or related disorders. The primary GSMA divided the autosomes into 120 bins, rank-ordered the bins within each study according to the most positive linkage result in each bin, summed these ranks (weighted for study size) for each bin across studies and determined the empirical probability of a given summed rank (P-SR) by simulation. Suggestive evidence for linkage was observed in two single bins, on chromosomes 5q (142-168 Mb) and 2q (103-134 Mb). Genome-wide evidence for linkage was detected on chromosome 2q (119-152 Mb) when bin boundaries were shifted to the middle of the previous bins. The primary analysis met empirical criteria for 'aggregate' genome-wide significance, indicating that some or all of 10 bins are likely to contain loci linked to SCZ, including regions of chromosomes 1, 2q, 3q, 4q, 5q, 8p and 10q. In a secondary analysis of 22 studies of European-ancestry samples, suggestive evidence for linkage was observed on chromosome 8p (16-33 Mb). Although the newer genome-wide association methodology has greater power to detect weak associations to single common DNA sequence variants, linkage analysis can detect diverse genetic effects that segregate in families, including multiple rare variants within one locus or several weakly associated loci in the same region. Therefore, the regions supported by this meta-analysis deserve close attention in future studies. Molecular Psychiatry (2009) 14, 774-785; doi:10.1038/mp.2008.135; published online 30 December 2008

A review of the equations used to predict the velocity distribution within a ship’s propeller jet

Predicting the velocity within the ship’s propeller jet is the initial step to investigate the scouring made by the propeller jet. Albertson et al. (1950) suggested the investigation of a submerged jet can be undertaken through observation of the plain water jet from an orifice. The plain water jet investigation of Albertson et al. (1950) was based on the axial momentum theory. This has been the basis of all subsequent work with propeller jets. In reality, the velocity characteristic of a ship’s propeller jet is more complicated than a plain water jet. Fuehrer and Römisch (1977), Blaauw and van de Kaa (1978), Berger et al. (1981), Verhey (1983) and Hamill (1987) have carried out investigations using physical model. This paper reviews the state-of-art of the equations used to predict the time-averaged axial, tangential and radial components of velocity within the zone of flow establishment and the zone of established flow of a ship’s propeller jet.

The anomaly in the candidate microlensing event PA-99-N2

The light curve of PA-99-N2, one of the recently announced microlensing candidates toward M31, shows small deviations from the standard Paczynski form. We explore a number of possible explanations, including correlations with the seeing, the parallax effect, and a binary lens. We find that the observations are consistent with an unresolved red giant branch or asymptotic giant branch star in M31 being microlensed by a binary lens. We find that the best-fit binary lens mass ratio is similar to1.2x10(-2), which is one of the most extreme values found for a binary lens so far. If both the source and lens lie in the M31 disk, then the standard M31 model predicts the probable mass range of the system to be 0.02-3.6 M-circle dot (95% confidence limit). In this scenario, the mass of the secondary component is therefore likely to be below the hydrogen-burning limit. On the other hand, if a compact halo object in M31 is lensing a disk or spheroid source, then the total lens mass is likely to lie between 0.09 and 32 M-circle dot, which is consistent with the primary being a stellar remnant and the secondary being a low-mass star or brown dwarf. The optical depth (or, alternatively, the differential rate) along the line of sight toward the event indicates that a halo lens is more likely than a stellar lens, provided that dark compact objects comprise no less than 15% (or 5%) of halos.

Theory of pixel lensing toward M31. II. The velocity anisotropy and flattening of the MACHO distribution

The POINT-AGAPE collaboration is currently searching for massive compact halo objects (MACHOs) toward the Andromeda galaxy (M31). The survey aims to exploit the high inclination of the M31 disk, which causes an asymmetry in the spatial distribution of M31 MACHOs. Here, we investigate the effects of halo velocity anisotropy and flattening on the asymmetry signal using simple halo models. For a spherically symmetric and isotropic halo, we find that the underlying pixel lensing rate in far-disk M31 MACHOs is more than 5 times the rate of near-disk events. We find that the asymmetry is further increased by about 30% if the MACHOs occupy radial orbits rather than tangential orbits, but it is substantially reduced if the MACHOs lie in a flattened halo. However, even for halos with a minor- to major-axis ratio of q = 0.3, the number of M31 MACHOs in the far side outnumber those in the near side by a factor of similar to2. There is also a distance asymmetry, in that the events on the far side are typically farther from the major axis. We show that, if this positional information is exploited in addition to number counts, then the number of candidate events required to confirm asymmetry for a range of flattened and anisotropic halo models is achievable, even with significant contamination by variable stars and foreground microlensing events. For pixel lensing surveys that probe a representative portion of the M31 disk, a sample of around 50 candidates is likely to be sufficient to detect asymmetry within spherical halos, even if half the sample is contaminated, or to detect asymmetry in halos as flat as q = 0.3, provided less than a third of the sample comprises contaminants. We also argue that, provided its mass-to-light ratio is less than 100, the recently observed stellar stream around M31 is not problematic for the detection of asymmetry.

Diagnostic of laser contrast using target reflectivity

Using three different laser systems, we demonstrate a convenient and simple plasma based diagnostic of the contrast of high-power short-pulse lasers. The technique is based on measuring the specular reflectivity from a solid target. The reflectivity remains high even at relativistic intensities above 10(19) W/cm(2) in the case of a high-contrast prepulse-free laser. On the contrary, the specular reflectivity drops with increasing intensities in the case of systems with insufficient contrast due to beam breakup and increased absorption caused by preplasma.

Selective Hydrogenation of alpha,beta-Unsaturated Aldehydes and Ketones using Novel Manganese Oxide and Platinum Supported on Manganese Oxide Octahedral Molecular Sieves as Catalysts

<p>The selective hydrogenation of ,-unsaturated aldehydes and ketones has been studied using ketoisophorone and cinnamaldehyde as model substrates using manganese oxide octahedral molecular sieve (OMS-2) based catalysts. For the first time, OMS-2 has been shown to be an efficient and selective hydrogenation catalyst. High selectivities for either the CC or CO double bond at approximate to 100% conversion were achieved by using OMS-2 and platinum supported on OMS-2 catalysts. Density functional theory (DFT) calculations showed that the dissociation of H2 on OMS-2 was water assisted and occurred on the surface Mn of OMS-2(001) that had been modified by an adsorbed H2O molecule. The theoretically calculated activation barrier was in good agreement with the experimentally determined value for the hydrogenation reactions, indicating that H2 dissociation on OMS-2 is likely to be the rate-determining step. A significant increase in the rate of reaction was observed in the presence of Pt as a result of the enhancement of H2 dissociative adsorption and subsequent reaction on the Pt or spillover of the hydrogen to the OMS-2 support. The relative adsorption strengths of ketoisophorone and cinnamaldehyde on the OMS-2 support compared with the Pt were found to determine the product selectivity.</p>

Human aflatoxin albumin adducts quantitatively compared by ELISA, HPLC with fluorescence detection, and HPLC with isotope dilution mass spectrometry

<p>Essential to the conduct of epidemiologic studies examining aflatoxin exposure and the risk of heptocellular carcinoma, impaired growth, and acute toxicity has been the development of quantitative biomarkers of exposure to aflatoxins, particularly aflatoxin B-1. In this study, identical serum sample sets were analyzed for aflatoxin-albumin adducts by ELISA, high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) with fluorescence detection (HPLC-f), and HPLC with isotope dilution mass spectrometry (IDMS). The human samples analyzed were from an acute aflatoxicosis outbreak in Kenya in 2004 (n = 102) and the measured values ranged from 0.018 to 67.0, nondetectable to 13.6, and 0.002 to 17.7 ng/mg albumin for the respective methods. The Deming regression slopes for the HPLC-f and ELISA concentrations as a function of the IDMS concentrations were 0.71 (r(2) = 0.95) and 3.3 (r(2) = 0.96), respectively. When the samples were classified as cases or controls, based on clinical diagnosis, all methods were predictive of outcome (P &lt; 0.01). Further, to evaluate assay precision, duplicate samples were prepared at three levels by dilution of an exposed human sample and were analyzed on three separate days. Excluding one assay value by ELISA and one assay by HPLC-f, the overall relative SD were 8.7%, 10.5%, and 9.4% for IDMS, HPLC-f, and ELISA, respectively. IDMS was the most sensitive technique and HPLC-f was the least sensitive method. Overall, this study shows an excellent correlation between three independent methodologies conducted in different laboratories and supports the validation of these technologies for assessment of human exposure to this environmental toxin and carcinogen.</p>