[Study of nondestructive and fast identification of fabric fibers using near infrared spectroscopy].

A fast and nondestructive identification method to distinguish different types of fabric fibers is proposed in the present paper. A total of 214 fabric fiber samples, including wool, cashmere, terylene, polyamide, polyurethane, silk, flax, linen, cotton, viscose, cotton-flax blending, terylene-cotton blending, and wool-cashmere blending, were collected from Beijing Textile Fibre Inspection Institute. They contain yarns, raw wool or cashmere, and various fabric straps with different colors and different braid patterns. Sample presentation for measuring near infrared spectra of various textile fibers was tried to reduce the impact from the ununiformity of polymorphous fabric structure. Spectral data were pretreated using multiplicative signal correction (MSC) to reduce the influence of spectral noise and baseline shift. Classification of 12 kinds of fabric fibers in various braid patterns was studied using minimum spanning tree method and soft independent modeling of class analogy (SIMCA) classification based on principal component analysis of NIR spectra. The minimum spanning tree for the spectra of total samples shows that the samples in the same type fall almost into one cluster, but there are overlaps between some two different clusters of fabric fibers with very similar chemical compositions, such as wool and cashmere. Complete discrimination between cashmere and wool has been achieved using SIMCA. The results show that nondestructive and fast identification of fabric fibers using near infrared spectral technique is potentially feasible.

Phylogenetic analysis of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors in the genome of a typical human-disease vector.

Ixodes scapularis, the black-legged tick, is one of the most common human-disease vectors and transmits Borrelia species, such as B. burgdorferi, as well as Theileria microti, Anaplasma phagocytophilum, etc. As basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors have been recognized for many years as important regulators of various developmental processes, we performed phylogenetic analysis of the black-legged tick genome in order to identify the number and family of bHLH transcription factors. Because bHLH family members have been identified in many organisms, including silkworm and fruit fly, we were able to conduct this survey and identify 58 putative bHLH transcription factors. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the black-legged tick has 26, 10, 9, 1, 9, and 1 member in groups A, B, C, D, E, and F, respectively, whereas two were orphan genes. This analysis also revealed that unlike silkworm and fruit fly, the black-legged tick has no Mesp, Mlx, or TF4 family members, but has one more MyoRb family member. The present study provides useful background information for future studies of the black-legged tick as a disease vector with the goal of prevention and treatment.

Identification of a missense variant in LNPEP that confers psoriasis risk.

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease with a complex genetic architecture. To further advance gene discovery, we extended our genome-wide association study data set of 1,139 cases and 2,234 controls and replicated two independent cohorts of 7,200 cases and 10,491 controls. We identified the missense variant rs2303138 (p.Ala763Thr) within the LNPEP gene associated with psoriasis (Pcombined=1.83 × 10(-13), odds ratio=1.16) and validated four previously reported genes: IL28RA, NFKBIA, TRAF3IP2, and CARD14 (9.74 × 10(-11)P9.37 × 10(-5)), which confirmed the involvement of the nuclear factor-κB signaling pathway in psoriasis pathogenesis. LNPEP, also named insulin-responsive aminopeptidase, was identified as an angiotensin IV receptor. Protein function prediction suggested that this missense variant of LNPEP was most likely deleterious. Expression analysis showed that LNPEP was significantly downregulated in psoriatic lesions compared with the control skin (P=1.44 × 10(-6)) and uninvolved patient skin (P=2.95 × 10(-4)). Pathway analysis indicated that LNPEP was involved in the renin-angiotensin system, which also has a key role in cardiovascular disease and diabetes. These results provided genetic evidence that psoriasis might share common mechanisms with hypertension and diabetes, which was consistent with clinical observations. Our study identified a genetic susceptibility factor and provided genetic evidence of insight into psoriasis pathogenesis with the involvement of the renin-angiotensin system pathway.