Report on elevated temperature properties of chromium steels (12-17 per cent) Data compiled by and issued under the auspices of the Data and Publications Panel of the ASTM-ASME Joint Committee on Effect of Temperature on the Properties of Metals.

Mode of access: Internet.

An assessment of population structure in eight breeds of cattle using a whole genome SNP panel

Background: Analyses of population structure and breed diversity have provided insight into the origin and evolution of cattle. Previously, these studies have used a low density of microsatellite markers, however, with the large number of single nucleotide polymorphism markers that are now available, it is possible to perform genome wide population genetic analyses in cattle. In this study, we used a high-density panel of SNP markers to examine population structure and diversity among eight cattle breeds sampled from Bos indicus and Bos taurus. Results: Two thousand six hundred and forty one single nucleotide polymorphisms ( SNPs) spanning all of the bovine autosomal genome were genotyped in Angus, Brahman, Charolais, Dutch Black and White Dairy, Holstein, Japanese Black, Limousin and Nelore cattle. Population structure was examined using the linkage model in the program STRUCTURE and Fst estimates were used to construct a neighbor-joining tree to represent the phylogenetic relationship among these breeds. Conclusion: The whole-genome SNP panel identified several levels of population substructure in the set of examined cattle breeds. The greatest level of genetic differentiation was detected between the Bos taurus and Bos indicus breeds. When the Bos indicus breeds were excluded from the analysis, genetic differences among beef versus dairy and European versus Asian breeds were detected among the Bos taurus breeds. Exploration of the number of SNP loci required to differentiate between breeds showed that for 100 SNP loci, individuals could only be correctly clustered into breeds 50% of the time, thus a large number of SNP markers are required to replace the 30 microsatellite markers that are currently commonly used in genetic diversity studies.

Novel Primate-Specific Genes, RMEL 1, 2 and 3, with Highly Restricted Expression in Melanoma, Assessed by New Data Mining Tool

Melanoma is a highly aggressive and therapy resistant tumor for which the identification of specific markers and therapeutic targets is highly desirable. We describe here the development and use of a bioinformatic pipeline tool, made publicly available under the name of EST2TSE, for the in silico detection of candidate genes with tissue-specific expression. Using this tool we mined the human EST (Expressed Sequence Tag) database for sequences derived exclusively from melanoma. We found 29 UniGene clusters of multiple ESTs with the potential to predict novel genes with melanoma-specific expression. Using a diverse panel of human tissues and cell lines, we validated the expression of a subset of three previously uncharacterized genes (clusters Hs.295012, Hs.518391, and Hs.559350) to be highly restricted to melanoma/melanocytes and named them RMEL1, 2 and 3, respectively. Expression analysis in nevi, primary melanomas, and metastatic melanomas revealed RMEL1 as a novel melanocytic lineage-specific gene up-regulated during melanoma development. RMEL2 expression was restricted to melanoma tissues and glioblastoma. RMEL3 showed strong up-regulation in nevi and was lost in metastatic tumors. Interestingly, we found correlations of RMEL2 and RMEL3 expression with improved patient outcome, suggesting tumor and/or metastasis suppressor functions for these genes. The three genes are composed of multiple exons and map to 2q12.2, 1q25.3, and 5q11.2, respectively. They are well conserved throughout primates, but not other genomes, and were predicted as having no coding potential, although primate-conserved and human-specific short ORFs could be found. Hairpin RNA secondary structures were also predicted. Concluding, this work offers new melanoma-specific genes for future validation as prognostic markers or as targets for the development of therapeutic strategies to treat melanoma.

Estimates of Interethnic Admixture in the Brazilian Population Using a Panel of 24 X-Linked Insertion/Deletion Markers

Objectives. In this study, we aimed to identify ancestry informative haplotypes and make interethnic admixture estimates using X-chromosome markers. Methods. A significant sample (461 individuals) of European, African, and Native American populations was analyzed, and four linkage groups were identified. The data obtained were used to describe the ancestral contribution of populations from four different geographical regions of Brazil (745 individuals). Results. The global interethnic admixture estimates of the four mixed populations under investigation were calculated applying all the 24 insertion/deletion (INDEL) markers. In the North region, a larger Native Americans ancestry was observed (42%). The Northeast and Southeast regions had smaller Native American contribution (27% in both of them). In the South region, there was a large European contribution (46%). Conclusions. The estimates obtained are compatible with expectations for a colonization model with biased admixture between European men (one X chromosome) and Native American and African women (two X chromosomes), so the 24 X-INDEL panel described here can be a useful to make admixture interethnic estimates in Brazilian populations. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 22:849-852,2010. (C) 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Assessing Individual Interethnic Admixture and Population Substructure Using a 48-Insertion-Deletion (INSEL) Ancestry-Informative Marker (AIM) Panel

Estimating the proportions of different ancestries in admixed populations is very important in population genetics studies, and it is particularly important for detecting population substructure effects in case-control association studies. In this work, a set of 48 ancestry, informative insertion, deletion polymorphisms (INDELs) were selected with the goal of efficiently measuring the proportions of three different ancestries (sub-Saharan African, European, and Native American) in mixed populations. All selected markers can be easily analyzed via multiplex PCR and detected with standard capillary electrophoresis. A total of 593 unrelated individuals representative of European, African, and Native American parental populations were typed, as were 380 individuals from three Brazilian populations with known admixture patterns. As expected, the interethnic admixture estimates show that individuals from southern Brazil present an almost exclusively European ancestry; Afro-descendant communities in the Amazon region, apart from the major African contribution, present some degree of admixture with Europeans and Native Americans; and a sample from Belem, in the northeastern Amazon, shows a significant contribution of the three ethnic groups, although with a greater European proportion. In summary, a panel of ancestry-informative INDELs was optimized and proven to be a variable tool for estimating individual and global ancestry proportions in admixed populations. The ability to accurately infer interethnic admixtures highlights the usefulness of this marker set for assessing population substructure in association studies, particularly those conducted in Brazilian and other Latin American populations sharing trihybrid ancestry patterns. Hum Mutat 31:184-190, 2010. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Predictors of non-response to a questionnaire survey of a volunteer twin panel: Findings from the Australian 1989 twin cohort

Questionnaire surveys, while more economical, typically achieve poorer response rates than interview surveys. We used data from a national volunteer cohort of young adult twins, who were scheduled for assessment by questionnaire in 1989 and by interview in 1996-2000, to identify predictors of questionnaire non-response. Out of a total of 8536 twins, 5058 completed the questionnaire survey (59% response rate), and 6255 completed a telephone interview survey conducted a decade later (73% response rate). Multinomial logit models were fitted to the interview data to identify socioeconomic, psychiatric and health behavior correlates of non-response in the earlier questionnaire survey. Male gender, education below University level, and being a dizygotic rather than monozygotic twin, all predicted reduced likelihood of participating in the questionnaire survey. Associations between questionnaire response status and psychiatric history and health behavior variables were modest, with history of alcohol dependence and childhood conduct disorder predicting decreased probability of returning a questionnaire, and history of smoking and heavy drinking more weakly associated with non-response. Body-mass index showed no association with questionnaire non-response. Despite a poor response rate to the self-report questionnaire survey, we found only limited sampling biases for most variables. While not appropriate for studies where socioeconomic variables are critical, it appears that survey by questionnaire, with questionnaire administration by telephone to non-responders, will represent a viable strategy for gene-mapping studies requiring that large numbers of relatives be screened.

Clustering an interval data set : are the main partitions similar to a priori partition?

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

A Spatial Econometrics Analysis for Road Accidents in Lisbon

This paper presents a spatial econometrics analysis for the number of road accidents with victims in the smallest administrative divisions of Lisbon, considering as a baseline a log-Poisson model for environmental factors. Spatial correlation on data is investigated for data alone and for the residuals of the baseline model without and with spatial-autocorrelated and spatial-lagged terms. In all the cases no spatial autocorrelation was detected.

Sobre la fiabilidad de los datos de renta en el Panel de Hogares de la Unión Europea (PHOGUE, 1994)

Este trabajo tiene por objetivo evaluar la fiabilidad de los datos de renta procedentes de la primera Ola del PHOGUE (Panel de Hogares de la Unión Europea) de 1994, versión nacional del Production Data

Harmonization guidelines for HLA-peptide multimer assays derived from results of a large scale international proficiency panel of the Cancer Vaccine Consortium.

PURPOSE: The Cancer Vaccine Consortium of the Cancer Research Institute (CVC-CRI) conducted a multicenter HLA-peptide multimer proficiency panel (MPP) with a group of 27 laboratories to assess the performance of the assay. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Participants used commercially available HLA-peptide multimers and a well characterized common source of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC). The frequency of CD8+ T cells specific for two HLA-A2-restricted model antigens was measured by flow cytometry. The panel design allowed for participants to use their preferred staining reagents and locally established protocols for both cell labeling, data acquisition and analysis. RESULTS: We observed significant differences in both the performance characteristics of the assay and the reported frequencies of specific T cells across laboratories. These results emphasize the need to identify the critical variables important for the observed variability to allow for harmonization of the technique across institutions. CONCLUSIONS: Three key recommendations emerged that would likely reduce assay variability and thus move toward harmonizing of this assay. (1) Use of more than two colors for the staining (2) collect at least 100,000 CD8 T cells, and (3) use of a background control sample to appropriately set the analytical gates. We also provide more insight into the limitations of the assay and identified additional protocol steps that potentially impact the quality of data generated and therefore should serve as primary targets for systematic analysis in future panels. Finally, we propose initial guidelines for harmonizing assay performance which include the introduction of standard operating protocols to allow for adequate training of technical staff and auditing of test analysis procedures.

The long run relationship between stock prices and goods prices: new evidence from panel cointegration

We examine the long run relationship between stock prices and goods prices to gauge whether stock market investment can hedge against inflation. Data from sixteen OECD countries over the period 1970-2006 are used. We account for different inflation regimes with the use of sub-sample regressions, whilst maintaining the power of tests in small sample sizes by combining time-series data across our sample countries in a panel unit root and panel cointegration econometric framework. The evidence supports a positive long-run relationship between goods prices and stock prices with the estimated goods price coefficient being in line with the generalized Fisher hypothesis.

Is the consumption-income ratio stationary? Evidence from linear and nonlinear panel unit root tests for OECD and non-OECD countries

This paper applies recently developed heterogeneous nonlinear and linear panel unit root tests that account for cross-sectional dependence to 24 OECD and 33 non-OECD countries’ consumption-income ratios over the period 1951–2003. We apply a recently developed methodology that facilitates the use of panel tests to identify which individual cross-sectional units are stationary and which are nonstationary. This extends evidence provided in the recent literature to consider both linear and nonlinear adjustment in panel unit root tests, to address the issue of cross-sectional dependence, and to substantially expand both time-series and cross sectional dimensions of the data analysed. We find that the majority (65%) of the series are nonstationary with slightly fewer OECD countries’ (61%) series exhibiting a unit root than non-OECD countries (68%).

International Evidence on the New Keynesian Phillips Curve Using Aggregate and Disaggregate Data

We present a unique empirical analysis of the properties of the New Keynesian Phillips Curve using an international dataset of aggregate and disaggregate sectoral in ation. Our results from panel time-series estimation clearly indicate that sectoral heterogeneity has important consequences for aggregate in ation behaviour. Heterogeneity helps to explain the overestimation of in ation persistence and underestimation of the role of marginal costs in empirical investigations of the NKPC that use aggregate data. We nd that combining disaggregate information with heterogeneous-consistent estimation techniques helps to reconcile, to a large extent, the NKPC with the data.

On decomposing the causes of changes in income-related health inequality with longitudinal data

Regression-based decomposition procedures are used to both standardise the concentration index and to determine the contribution of inequalities in the individual health determinants to the overall value of the index. The main contribution of this paper is to develop analogous procedures to decompose the income-related health mobility and health-related income mobility indices first proposed in Allanson, Gerdtham and Petrie (2010) and subsequently extended in Petrie, Allanson and Gerdtham (2010) to account for deaths. The application of the procedures is illustrated by an empirical study that uses British Household Panel Survey (BHPS) data to analyse the performance of Scotland in tackling income-related health inequalities relative to England & Wales over the five year period 1999 to 2004.