OBJECTIVE This study aims to determine whether the genetic polymorphisms of IL-12B gene is a susceptibility factor to Ankylosing spondylitis (AS) in mainland Han Chinese population. METHOD Eight single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) (rs10045431, rs11167764, rs3212227, rs6556412, rs6556416, rs6871626, rs6887695 and rs7709212) in the IL-12B gene were genotyped by iMLDR Assay technology in 400 ...

A new direct method for the measurement of red cell lithium was compared with the indirect method. Good correlation (r = 0.97) was found and the coefficients of variation of the direct and indirect methods were 3.9% and 5.5%, respectively. In the direct method red cells suspended in choline chloride were centrifuged through dibutyl phthalate, which removes plasma adherent to the cells. A haemol...

In the present study, we investigate and compare the efficacy of bone marrow- and adipose tissue-derived mesenchymal stem cell (MSCs) in corneal wound healing. A penetrating injury was created in the right corneas of Wistar rats (n = 40). Ten microliters of phosphate-buffered solution (PBS) containing 2 × 10(5) green fluorescent protein (GFP) labeled bone-marrow-derived MSCs to group 1 (n = 15)...

Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis is shed into the milk and feces of cows with advanced Johne's disease, allowing the transmission of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis between animals. The objective of this study was to formulate an optimized protocol for the isolation of M. avium subsp. paratuberculosis in milk. The parameters investigated included chemical decontamination with N-acet...

This paper presents recent trends in avionics systems development from bespoke systems through to COTS and emerging Integrated Modular Avionics architectures. The advances in Ada and RTOS technologies are explained and the impact of requirements for RTCA/DO-178B and EUROCAE/ED-12B certification and achievements are presented in the context of the GNAT and VxWorks technologies.