Regulatory Noncoding and Predicted Pathogenic Coding Variants of CCR5 Predispose to Severe COVID-19

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) found locus 3p21.31 associated with severe COVID-19. CCR5 resides at the same locus and, given its known biological role in other infection diseases, we investigated if common noncoding and rare coding variants, affecting CCR5, can predispose to severe COVID-19. We combined single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that met the suggestive significance level (P ≤ 1 × 10⁻⁵) at the 3p21.31 locus in public GWAS datasets (6406 COVID-19 hospitalized patients and 902,088 controls) with gene expression data from 208 lung tissues, Hi-C, and Chip-seq data. Through whole exome sequencing (WES), we explored rare coding variants in 147 severe COVID-19 patients. We identified three SNPs (rs9845542, rs12639314, and rs35951367) associated with severe COVID-19 whose risk alleles correlated with low CCR5 expression in lung tissues. The rs35951367 resided in a CTFC binding site that interacts with CCR5 gene in lung tissues and was confirmed to be associated with severe COVID-19 in two independent datasets. We also identified a rare coding variant (rs34418657) associated with the risk of developing severe COVID-19. Our results suggest a biological role of CCR5 in the progression of COVID-19 as common and rare genetic variants can increase the risk of developing severe COVID-19 by affecting the functions of CCR5.     

The Time of Flight electronics for the PAMELA experiment in space

PAMELA, a cosmic ray telescope, was launched into space on 15th June 2006 from the Baikonur cosmodrome aboard of a Soyuz-U and it is in continuous data tacking since 11 July 2006. The Time of Flight system of the PAMELA telescope allows both to distinguish electrons to antiprotons up to about 2 GeV and to measure the absolute charge of the particle. In order to perform these goals the requested time resolution for the whole ToF system is . To fulfill the detector requirements the read out electronics is been required to have a time resolution better than 60 ps with wide dynamic range for charge measurements. The peculiarity of the developed electronics arises from the need to obtain such a time resolution operating in a satellite environment, which implies low-power consumption, radiation hardness, redundancy and high reliability.     

Performance and applications of the UVscope instrument

UVscope is a portable multi-pixels photon detector developed at IASF-Pa to support experimental activities in the high-energy astrophysics and cosmic rays field. The instrument, working in single photon counting mode, is designed to directly measure light flux in the wavelengths range 300-650 nm. Thanks to its features and operational flexibility, the instrument can be used in a wide field of applications where the knowledge of the environmental luminosity is required, as in the characterization of sites for ground-based Cherenkov and fluorescence telescopes, and for cross-calibration of their cameras.The present version of UVscope is based on a Multi Anode Photo Multiplier Tube and it is completed by a motorized mount and a filter wheel which allow to make low-light measurements, at programmed pointing directions and at different filter wavelengths. In this paper, the instrument is firstly presented in all its components; then the procedures adopted for its absolute and relative calibration are detailed. The performance of UVscope is evaluated and, finally, current and planned scientific applications are described.     

The Effect of Support on Sulphur Tolerance of Rh Based Catalysts for Methane Partial Oxidation

The presence of sulphur containing compounds, naturally occurring in natural gas or added as odorants, can adversely affect the performance of noble metals based catalysts for the partial oxidation of methane to syngas. In this paper the effect of SO₂ addition on the catalytic partial oxidation of methane was investigated on Rh (1 wt.%) catalysts prepared by incipient wetness impregnation method on two different commercially available high temperature γ-alumina supports stabilized either with 10% SiO₂ or 3% La₂O₃. Based on the results of catalytic activity measurements and in-situ FT-IR spectroscopic characterisation, as well as TPR/TPD studies, it has been shown that the presence of sulphur can severely suppress the formation of synthesis gas by inhibiting the reforming reactions during the catalytic partial oxidation of methane. The results also demonstrated that the support plays a crucial role in the partial oxidation reaction. In the presence of a sulphating support such as La₂O₃–Al₂O₃ the partial oxidation reaction was much less inhibited than a less sulphating support such as SiO₂–Al₂O₃. The sulphating support acts as a sulphur storage reservoir, which minimises the poison from adsorbing on or near the active Rh sites where reactions take place.     

Evolutionary neural fuzzy systems for noise cancellation in imagedata

A new class of neural fuzzy filters for removing noise from two-dimensional (2-D) measurement data is presented. The proposed approach combines the advantages of the fuzzy and neural paradigms. The network structure is, in fact, specifically designed to exploit the effectiveness of fuzzy reasoning in removing noise without destroying the useful information embedded in the input data. An easy design of new filters is thus obtained because the neuro-fuzzy approach is capable of automatic acquisition of knowledge for a given network structure. The learning method based on genetic algorithms performs an effective training of the network yielding satisfactory results after a few generations. Experimental results show that the proposed approach is very effective also in the presence of data highly corrupted by noise. The neural fuzzy system is largely able to outperform other methods in the literature including state-of-the-art techniques     

Light aversion in mice depends on nonimage-forming irradiance detection.

Detection of light in the eye underlies image-forming vision, but also regulates adaptive responses in physiology and behavior. Typically these adaptive responses do not involve image-forming vision, but depend on a relatively absolute measure of brightness (nonimage-forming irradiance detection). The goal of this study was to further understand how image-forming vision and nonimage-forming irradiance detection contribute to the effects of light on behavior. Three light dependent behaviors were assessed in wild-type, Rpe65-/- and rd1 mice. In Rpe65-/- mice, nonimage-forming irradiance detection is severely attenuated, but rod based visual acuity is relatively preserved. In rd1 mice visual acuity is nonrecordable, but nonimage-forming responses are less severely attenuated than Rpe65-/-. Positive masking, an image-forming vision dependent increase in wheel running, was absent in rd1 and restricted to higher irradiances in Rpe65-/-. Negative masking, a suppression of wheel running sensitivity with nonimage-forming irradiance detection input, was increased in rd1, but reduced in Rpe65-/- mice. By contrast, light aversion, an avoidance of brightly lit areas, was abolished in both Rpe65-/- and rd1. This shows that image-forming vision is not sufficient for light aversion, suggesting nonimage-forming irradiance detection motivates this behavior. Further, the differing effects of disease suggest that negative masking and light aversion are distinct responses with specialized nonimage-forming irradiance detection pathways. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Multiple Tank Explosions in an Edible‐Oil Refinery Plant: A Case Study

Multiple explosions occurred when five workers were acting on a footbridge structure at the top of crude olive pomace oil tanks. Welding on the tank roofs was performed without previously cleaning the tanks stopping their operation. First, one of the several ～ 650‐m³ reservoirs exploded, provoking a pool fire that spread throughout the tank farm. Roughly 1 h later, two other reservoirs exploded causing the launching of missiles to a distance of 60–80 m and a huge fire that extended throughout the entire tank farm. Four workers were killed instantaneously. The explosion was caused by the unusually high content of hexane in the crude olive pomace oil and, hence, by the inefficiency of the desolventization process which creates a flammable and explosive oil from a combustible one.     

Serious conduct problems in the children of adolescent mothers: Disentangling confounded correlations.

Early motherhood (r?=?.33) with the number of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-III) symptoms of conduct disorder in a sample of 253 boys (aged 6–13 yrs) who had been referred to outpatient clinics. The following models were compared using path analysis: (1) Teenage motherhood, parental antisocial personality, and socioeconomic status (SES) each contribute uniquely to the prediction of childhood conduct problems; (2) teenage motherhood mediates the association of SES and parental antisocial personality with child conduct problems; and (3) teenage motherhood is spuriously related with child conduct problems because of common associations with SES and parental antisocial personality. Model (3) best fit the data. Similar results were obtained whether maternal age at the birth of the firstborn child or the proband child was used to define maternal age and when teenage motherhood was defined as giving birth at