The frequent use of non-representative, time-consuming and low hit rate sampling methods in the study of minority cultures is of concern. Given the increasing cultural diversity of the Canadian population and the growing Chinese population, a sampling method using phonological rules to distinguish Chinese surnames from non-Chinese ones was developed. Chinese surnames, transcribed according to t...

Background: Classical bacteriological detection of Brucella species from food, and environment is routinely carried out based on morphological and biochemical characteristics. However, for increasing specificity and sensitivity of species identification methods, development of a molecular assay is necessary that was main aim of this study. Methods: Panel of some reference strains belonging to ...

Genotype imputation from low-density to high-density (SNP) chips is an important step before applying genomic selection, because denser chips can provide more reliable genomic predictions. In the current research, the accuracy of genotype imputation from low and moderate-density panels (5K and 50K) to high-density panels in the purebred and crossbred populations was assessed. The simulated popu...

Cord blood is widely used as surrogate tissue in epigenome-wide association studies of prenatal conditions. Cell type composition variation across samples can be an important confounder of epigenome-wide association studies in blood that constitute a mixture of cells. We evaluated a newly developed cord blood reference panel to impute cell type composition from DNA methylation levels, including...

We examine the effects of reference income on the behavior of young male physicians. Using a unique panel of data, we relate each physician’s reference and actual incomes to their subsequent income growth. Reference income has a strong positive effect on subsequent income for physicians who are below their reference points, but not for physicians who are at or above their reference points. Loss...

Background Microscopic analysis of stained blood smear is the most suitable method of malaria diagnosis. However, gaps were observed among clinical laboratory professionals in microscopic diagnosis of malaria. Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted in December 2015 among 46 laboratory professionals. Data was collected via on-site assessment and panel testing. The slide panel testing wa...

The genome-wide association study (GWAS) has become a routine approach for mapping disease risk loci with the advent of large-scale genotyping technologies. Multi-allelic haplotype markers can provide superior power compared with single-SNP markers in mapping disease loci. However, the application of haplotype-based analysis to GWAS is usually bottlenecked by prohibitive time cost for haplotype...

In a Z-core sandwich panel, the shear stiffness of the sandwich panel in the weak direction which is perpendicular to the placement of the Z-cores is much smaller than the bending stiffness because the hollow section between the two facing plates cannot sustain shear action. Because of this fact, the shear deformation of a Z-core sandwich panel under bending in the weak direction cannot be igno...

OBJECTIVE Pediatric Acute Neuropsychiatric Syndrome (PANS) and pediatric autoimmune neuropsychiatric disorders associated with streptococcal infections (PANDAS) are conditions marked by sudden onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics, or avoidant/restrictive food intake in combination with multiple psychiatric symptoms. A diagnosis of PANS or PANDAS may be supported by the Cunningham ...