We compared genes at which mutations are known to cause human disease (disease genes) with other human genes (nondisease genes) using a large set of human-rodent alignments to infer evolutionary patterns. Such comparisons may be of use both in predicting disease genes and in understanding the general evolution of human genes. Four features were found to differ significantly between disease and ...

The results from Floquet stability analysis of the flow around nominally two-dimensional long plates with elliptical leading edges and blunt trailing edges are presented, elucidating the early stages of wake transition to turbulent flow. Three modes of instability are found: Mode A, Mode B and a period doubling mode. The first two of these also occur in wake transition for circular cylinders an...

The vibration serviceability of flooring structures has been of concern for decades. To date, design criteria classifying the dynamic behaviour of different types of timber flooring structures to an acceptable degree have not been well established. Parameters commonly used to investigate and assess vibrational performances of timber floors include natural frequencies, damping ratios, dynamic di...

The need for higher power density in today’s electronic systems combined with higher overall efficiency has driven many changes in the Non-isolated Point-of-Load Regulator (niPOL). In an effort to improve overall system efficiency, designers are opting to avoid multiple conversion stages to get to the regulated point-of-load voltage they need. This means that the niPOL is operated at higher inp...

The future of genetic studies of complex human diseases will rely more and more on the epidemiologic association paradigm. The author proposes to scan the genome for disease-susceptibility gene(s) by testing for deviation from Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in a gene bank of affected individuals. A power formula is presented, which is very accurate as revealed by Monte Carlo simulations. If the dis...

This article explores the relationship between kinship institutions and sex ratios in India at the turn of the twentieth century. Because kinship rules vary by caste, language, religion, and region, we construct sex ratios by these categories at the district level by using data from the 1901 Census of India for Punjab (North), Bengal (East), and Madras (South). We find that the male-to-female s...

A genetic model-free method for the meta-analysis of genetic association studies is described that estimates the mode of inheritance from the data rather than assuming that it is known. For a bi-allelic polymorphism, with G as risk allele and g as wild-type, the genetic model depends on the ratio of the two log odds ratios, lambda = log OR(Gg)/log OR(GG), where OR(GG) compares GG with gg and OR...

Previous studies showed an association between the ZNF208 gene and gastric cancer. In this study, we investigated the association between single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in ZNF208 and the risk of esophageal cancer in a Chinese Han population. We conducted a case-control study that included 386 cases and 495 controls. Five SNPs were selected from previous genome-wide association studies a...

Bending performance of the Multi-trench Fibers (MTFs) has been investigated using the Finite Element Method. Numerical investigations show that MTFs can provide low-loss effective single mode operation under bent configuration, thanks to the resonant coupling of the Higher order Modes (HOMs). Large ratio between the HOMs and the Fundamental Mode (FM) losses can be ensured, although the ratio dr...