1. |
- Harley, John B., et al.
(author)
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Genome-wide association scan in women with systemic lupus erythematosus identifies susceptibility variants in ITGAM, PXK, KIAA1542 and other loci
- 2008
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In: Nature Genetics. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 1061-4036 .- 1546-1718. ; 40:2, s. 204-10
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a common systemic autoimmune disease with complex etiology but strong clustering in families (lambda(S) = approximately 30). We performed a genome-wide association scan using 317,501 SNPs in 720 women of European ancestry with SLE and in 2,337 controls, and we genotyped consistently associated SNPs in two additional independent sample sets totaling 1,846 affected women and 1,825 controls. Aside from the expected strong association between SLE and the HLA region on chromosome 6p21 and the previously confirmed non-HLA locus IRF5 on chromosome 7q32, we found evidence of association with replication (1.1 x 10(-7) < P(overall) < 1.6 x 10(-23); odds ratio = 0.82-1.62) in four regions: 16p11.2 (ITGAM), 11p15.5 (KIAA1542), 3p14.3 (PXK) and 1q25.1 (rs10798269). We also found evidence for association (P < 1 x 10(-5)) at FCGR2A, PTPN22 and STAT4, regions previously associated with SLE and other autoimmune diseases, as well as at > or =9 other loci (P < 2 x 10(-7)). Our results show that numerous genes, some with known immune-related functions, predispose to SLE.
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2. |
- Saccone, L, et al.
(author)
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Assessing the extraction and quantification of amorphous silica in soils of forest and grassland ecosystems
- 2007
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In: European Journal of Soil Science. - : Wiley. - 1365-2389 .- 1351-0754. ; 58, s. 1446-1459
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Journal article (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The objective of this study was to evaluate different methodologies with regard to their ability to extract the amorphous silica (ASi) content of soils from diverse geochemical settings. The methods used in this work included three acid extraction techniques (oxalate, citrate and acetate) and two alkaline extraction techniques (sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide) which are more commonly used for the measurement of ASi in aquatic sediments. Our results indicate that the amount of Si extracted from phytolith samples with the acid methods was an order of magnitude lower than the amount of Si extracted using alkaline extractions. When applied to natural soil samples, these extractions show that the acid techniques are only able to extract loosely bound components such as adsorbed Si and Si bound in amorphous matrices with Al and Fe. While sodium carbonate or sodium hydroxide extracted the same amount of ASi in Podzols, sodium carbonate was able to extract only part of the ASi extracted with sodium hydroxide in Chernozems. Pre-treatment of the samples with hydrochloric acid before the sodium carbonate extraction did not increase amounts of ASi extracted. The present work suggests that alkaline methods used commonly for ASi on aquatic sediment samples can be used on a wide variety of soils, even if in some cases a stronger base is required to completely dissolve ASi from certain soil types where older and less reactive ASi fractions are present.
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3. |
- Wolever, Thomas M S, et al.
(author)
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Measuring the glycemic index of foods: interlaboratory study.
- 2008
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In: The American journal of clinical nutrition. - 0002-9165 .- 1938-3207. ; 87:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Many laboratories offer glycemic index (GI) services. OBJECTIVE: We assessed the performance of the method used to measure GI. DESIGN: The GI of cheese-puffs and fruit-leather (centrally provided) was measured in 28 laboratories (n=311 subjects) by using the FAO/WHO method. The laboratories reported the results of their calculations and sent the raw data for recalculation centrally. RESULTS: Values for the incremental area under the curve (AUC) reported by 54% of the laboratories differed from central calculations. Because of this and other differences in data analysis, 19% of reported food GI values differed by >5 units from those calculated centrally. GI values in individual subjects were unrelated to age, sex, ethnicity, body mass index, or AUC but were negatively related to within-individual variation (P=0.033) expressed as the CV of the AUC for repeated reference food tests (refCV). The between-laboratory GI values (mean+/-SD) for cheese-puffs and fruit-leather were 74.3+/-10.5 and 33.2+/-7.2, respectively. The mean laboratory GI was related to refCV (P=0.003) and the type of restrictions on alcohol consumption before the test (P=0.006, r2=0.509 for model). The within-laboratory SD of GI was related to refCV (P<0.001), the glucose analysis method (P=0.010), whether glucose measures were duplicated (P=0.008), and restrictions on dinner the night before (P=0.013, r2=0.810 for model). CONCLUSIONS: The between-laboratory SD of the GI values is approximately 9. Standardized data analysis and low within-subject variation (refCV<30%) are required for accuracy. The results suggest that common misconceptions exist about which factors do and do not need to be controlled to improve precision. Controlled studies and cost-benefit analyses are needed to optimize GI methodology. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov as NCT00260858.
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4. |
- Zhang, Bo, et al.
(author)
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Spatially and Temporally Resolved Single-Cell Exocytosis Utilizing Individually Addressable Carbon Microelectrode Arrays
- 2008
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In: Anal.Chem.. - : American Chemical Society (ACS). ; 80:5, s. 1394-1400
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report the fabrication and characterization of carbon microelectrode arrays (MEAs) and their application to spatially and temporally resolve neurotransmitter release from single pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells. The carbon MEAs are composed of individually addressable 2.5-m-radius microdisks embedded in glass. The fabrication involves pulling a multibarrel glass capillary containing a single carbon fiber in each barrel into a sharp tip, followed by beveling the electrode tip to form an array (10-20 m) of carbon microdisks. This simple fabrication procedure eliminates the need for complicated wiring of the independent electrodes, thus allowing preparation of high-density individually addressable microelectrodes. The carbon MEAs have been characterized using scanning electron microscopy, steady-state and fast-scan voltammetry, and numerical simulations. Amperometric results show that subcellular heterogeneity in single-cell exocytosis can be electrochemically detected with MEAs. These ultrasmall electrochemical probes are suitable for detecting fast chemical events in tight spaces, as well as for developing multifunctional electrochemical microsensors.
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