1. |
- Beal, Jacob, et al.
(author)
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Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density
- 2020
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In: Communications Biology. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2399-3642. ; 3:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data.
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3. |
- Sampson, Joshua N., et al.
(author)
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Analysis of Heritability and Shared Heritability Based on Genome-Wide Association Studies for 13 Cancer Types
- 2015
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In: Journal of the National Cancer Institute. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0027-8874 .- 1460-2105. ; 107:12
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Studies of related individuals have consistently demonstrated notable familial aggregation of cancer. We aim to estimate the heritability and genetic correlation attributable to the additive effects of common single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) for cancer at 13 anatomical sites. Methods: Between 2007 and 2014, the US National Cancer Institute has generated data from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) for 49 492 cancer case patients and 34 131 control patients. We apply novel mixed model methodology (GCTA) to this GWAS data to estimate the heritability of individual cancers, as well as the proportion of heritability attributable to cigarette smoking in smoking-related cancers, and the genetic correlation between pairs of cancers. Results: GWAS heritability was statistically significant at nearly all sites, with the estimates of array-based heritability, h(l)(2), on the liability threshold (LT) scale ranging from 0.05 to 0.38. Estimating the combined heritability of multiple smoking characteristics, we calculate that at least 24% (95% confidence interval [CI] = 14% to 37%) and 7% (95% CI = 4% to 11%) of the heritability for lung and bladder cancer, respectively, can be attributed to genetic determinants of smoking. Most pairs of cancers studied did not show evidence of strong genetic correlation. We found only four pairs of cancers with marginally statistically significant correlations, specifically kidney and testes (rho = 0.73, SE = 0.28), diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) and pediatric osteosarcoma (rho = 0.53, SE = 0.21), DLBCL and chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (rho = 0.51, SE = 0.18), and bladder and lung (rho = 0.35, SE = 0.14). Correlation analysis also indicates that the genetic architecture of lung cancer differs between a smoking population of European ancestry and a nonsmoking Asian population, allowing for the possibility that the genetic etiology for the same disease can vary by population and environmental exposures. Conclusion: Our results provide important insights into the genetic architecture of cancers and suggest new avenues for investigation.
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- 2019
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)
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5. |
- Wang, Zhaoming, et al.
(author)
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Imputation and subset-based association analysis across different cancer types identifies multiple independent risk loci in the TERT-CLPTM1L region on chromosome 5p15.33
- 2014
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In: Human Molecular Genetics. - : Oxford University Press (OUP). - 0964-6906 .- 1460-2083. ; 23:24, s. 6616-6633
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have mapped risk alleles for at least 10 distinct cancers to a small region of 63 000 bp on chromosome 5p15.33. This region harbors the TERT and CLPTM1L genes; the former encodes the catalytic subunit of telomerase reverse transcriptase and the latter may play a role in apoptosis. To investigate further the genetic architecture of common susceptibility alleles in this region, we conducted an agnostic subset-based meta-analysis (association analysis based on subsets) across six distinct cancers in 34 248 cases and 45 036 controls. Based on sequential conditional analysis, we identified as many as six independent risk loci marked by common single-nucleotide polymorphisms: five in the TERT gene (Region 1: rs7726159, P = 2.10 × 10(-39); Region 3: rs2853677, P = 3.30 × 10(-36) and PConditional = 2.36 × 10(-8); Region 4: rs2736098, P = 3.87 × 10(-12) and PConditional = 5.19 × 10(-6), Region 5: rs13172201, P = 0.041 and PConditional = 2.04 × 10(-6); and Region 6: rs10069690, P = 7.49 × 10(-15) and PConditional = 5.35 × 10(-7)) and one in the neighboring CLPTM1L gene (Region 2: rs451360; P = 1.90 × 10(-18) and PConditional = 7.06 × 10(-16)). Between three and five cancers mapped to each independent locus with both risk-enhancing and protective effects. Allele-specific effects on DNA methylation were seen for a subset of risk loci, indicating that methylation and subsequent effects on gene expression may contribute to the biology of risk variants on 5p15.33. Our results provide strong support for extensive pleiotropy across this region of 5p15.33, to an extent not previously observed in other cancer susceptibility loci.
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6. |
- Klionsky, Daniel J., et al.
(author)
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Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy
- 2012
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In: Autophagy. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1554-8635 .- 1554-8627. ; 8:4, s. 445-544
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Research review (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In 2008 we published the first set of guidelines for standardizing research in autophagy. Since then, research on this topic has continued to accelerate, and many new scientists have entered the field. Our knowledge base and relevant new technologies have also been expanding. Accordingly, it is important to update these guidelines for monitoring autophagy in different organisms. Various reviews have described the range of assays that have been used for this purpose. Nevertheless, there continues to be confusion regarding acceptable methods to measure autophagy, especially in multicellular eukaryotes. A key point that needs to be emphasized is that there is a difference between measurements that monitor the numbers or volume of autophagic elements (e.g., autophagosomes or autolysosomes) at any stage of the autophagic process vs. those that measure flux through the autophagy pathway (i.e., the complete process); thus, a block in macroautophagy that results in autophagosome accumulation needs to be differentiated from stimuli that result in increased autophagic activity, defined as increased autophagy induction coupled with increased delivery to, and degradation within, lysosomes (in most higher eukaryotes and some protists such as Dictyostelium) or the vacuole (in plants and fungi). In other words, it is especially important that investigators new to the field understand that the appearance of more autophagosomes does not necessarily equate with more autophagy. In fact, in many cases, autophagosomes accumulate because of a block in trafficking to lysosomes without a concomitant change in autophagosome biogenesis, whereas an increase in autolysosomes may reflect a reduction in degradative activity. Here, we present a set of guidelines for the selection and interpretation of methods for use by investigators who aim to examine macroautophagy and related processes, as well as for reviewers who need to provide realistic and reasonable critiques of papers that are focused on these processes. These guidelines are not meant to be a formulaic set of rules, because the appropriate assays depend in part on the question being asked and the system being used. In addition, we emphasize that no individual assay is guaranteed to be the most appropriate one in every situation, and we strongly recommend the use of multiple assays to monitor autophagy. In these guidelines, we consider these various methods of assessing autophagy and what information can, or cannot, be obtained from them. Finally, by discussing the merits and limits of particular autophagy assays, we hope to encourage technical innovation in the field.
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7. |
- Ablikim, M., et al.
(author)
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Measurement of e(+)e(-) -> D(D)over-bar cross sections at the psi(3770) resonance
- 2018
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In: Chinese Physics C. - : IOP PUBLISHING LTD. - 1674-1137 .- 2058-6132. ; 42:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report new measurements of the cross sections for the production of D (D) over bar final states at the psi(3770) resonance. Our data sample consists of an integrated luminosity of 2.93 fb(-1) of e(+)e(-) annihilation data produced by the BEPCII collider and collected and analyzed with the BESIII detector. We exclusively reconstruct three D-0 and six D+ hadronic decay modes and use the ratio of the yield of fully reconstructed D (D) over bar events ("double tags") to the yield of all reconstructed D or (D) over bar mesons ("single tags") to determine the number of D-0(D) over bar (0) and D+D- events, benefiting from the cancellation of many systematic uncertainties. Combining these yields with an independent determination of the integrated luminosity of the data sample, we find the cross sections to be sigma(e(+)e(-) -> D-0(D) over bar (0)(-) )=(3.615 +/- 0.010 +/- 0.038) nb and sigma(e(+)e(-) -> D+D-)=(2.830 +/- 0.011 +/- 0.026) nb, where the uncertainties are statistical and systematic, respectively.
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8. |
- Ablikim, M., et al.
(author)
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Measurement of the integrated Luminosities of cross-section scan data samples around the psi(3770) mass region
- 2018
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In: Chinese Physics C. - : SCIENCE PRESS. - 1674-1137 .- 2058-6132. ; 42:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- To investigate the nature of the psi(3770) resonance and to measure the cross section for e(+)e(-) -> D (D) over bar, a cross-section scan data sample, distributed among 41 center-of-mass energy points from 3.73 to 3.89 GeV, was taken with the BESIII detector operated at the BEPCII collider in the year 2010. By analyzing the large angle Bhabha scattering events, we measure the integrated luminosity of the data sample at each center-of-mass energy point. The total integrated luminosity of the data sample is 76.16 +/- 0.04 +/- 0.61 pb(-1), where the first uncertainty is statistical and the second systematic.
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9. |
- Ablikim, M., et al.
(author)
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Observation of the Semileptonic Decay D-0 -> a(0)(980)(-)e(+)nu(e) and Evidence for D+ -> a(0)(980)(0)e(+)nu(e)
- 2018
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In: Physical Review Letters. - : AMER PHYSICAL SOC. - 0031-9007 .- 1079-7114. ; 121:8
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using an e(+)e(-) collision data sample of 2.93 fb(-1) collected at a center-of-mass energy of 3.773 GeV by the BESIII detector at BEPCII, we report the observation of D-0 -> a(0)(980)(-)e(+)nu(e) and evidence for D+ -> a(0)(980)(0)e(+)nu(e) with significances of 6.4 sigma and 2.9 sigma, respectively. The absolute branching fractions are determined to be B(D-0 -> a(0)(980)(-)e(+)nu(e)) x B(a(0)(980)(-) -> eta pi(-)) = [1.33(-0.29)(+0.33)(stat) +/- 0.09(syst)] x 10(-4) and B(D+ -> a(0)(980)(0)e(+)nu(e)) x B(a(0)(980)(0) -> eta pi(0)) = [1.66(-0.66)(+0.81)(stat) +/- 0.11(syst) x 10(-4). This is the first time the a(0)(980) meson has been measured in a D-0 semileptonic decay, which would open one more interesting page in the investigation of the nature of the puzzling a(0)(980) states.
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10. |
- Ablikim, M., et al.
(author)
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Search for invisible decays of omega and phi with J/psi data at BESIII
- 2018
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In: Physical Review D. - : American Physical Society. - 2470-0010 .- 2470-0029. ; 98:3
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Using a data sample of (1310.6 +/- 7.0) x 10(6) J/psi events collected with the BESIII detector operating at the BEPCII collider, we perform the first experimental search for invisible decays of a light vector meson (V = omega, phi) via J/psi -> V-eta decays. The decay of eta -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0) is utilized to tag the V meson decaying into the invisible final state. No evidence for a significant invisible signal is observed, and the upper limits on the ratio of branching fractions at the 90% confidence level are determined to be B(omega -> invisible)/B(omega -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0)) < 8.1 x 10(-5) and B(phi -> invisible)/B(phi -> K+K-) < 3.4 x 10(-4). By using the world average values of B(omega -> pi(+)pi(-)pi(0) and B(phi -> K+K-,) the upper limits on the decay branching fractions at the 90% confidence level are set as B(omega -> invisible) < 7.3 x 10(-5) and B(phi -> invisible) < 1.7 x 10(-4), respectively.
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