Studies using haplotypes of multiple tightly linked markers are more informative than those using a single marker. However, studies based on multimarker haplotypes have some difficulties. First, if we consider each haplotype as an allele and use the conventional single-marker transmission/disequilibrium test (TDT), then the rapid increase in the degrees of freedom with an increasing number of markers means that the statistical power of the conventional tests will be low. Second, the parental haplotypes cannot always be unambiguously reconstructed. In the present article, we propose a haplotype-sharing TDT (HS-TDT) for linkage or association between a disease-susceptibility locus and a chromosome region in which several tightly linked markers have been typed. This method is applicable to both quantitative traits and qualitative traits. It is applicable to any size of nuclear family, with or without ambiguous phase information, and it is applicable to any number of alleles at each of the markers. The degrees of freedom (in a broad sense) of the test increase linearly as the number of markers considered increases but do not increase as the number of alleles at the markers increases. Our simulation results show that the HS-TDT has the correct type I error rate in structured populations and that, in most cases, the power of HS-TDT is higher than the power of the existing single-marker TDTs and haplotype-based TDTs.

With the rapid development of renewable energy technologies, there is a growing demand for eco-efficient and low-cost electrochemical batteries for large-scale electric energy storage. Due to their similar redox chemistry but much lower material costs to lithium-ion batteries (LIBs), sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) appear as a promising candidate for grid-scale electric storage applications. [1] However, the much larger radius of Na + (0.102 nm) than that of Li + (0.076 nm) leads to a kinetic restraint that seriously hinders the development of high-performance Na insertion materials, especially anode materials for SIBs. [2] For instance, graphite has acted successfully as a high capacity anode material in LIBs, but fails to serve as a Na storage anode for SIBs because of its thermodynamic limitation for the formation of stable Na-graphite intercalation compounds (GICs). [3] Fortunately, as a class of amorphous carbonaceous materials with larger interlayer spacing and rich chemically active defects, [4] hard carbon can reversibly accommodate Na ions and deliver a quite large capacity of 250-480 mA h g −1 , depending on different microstructures of the materials. [5] Usually, the microstructure of hard carbon can be briefly described as a hybrid of randomly oriented, rumpled, twisted pseudographitic nanodomains and amorphous nanodomains, in which there exist abundant defects and pores with various sizes. Typically, for sodium storage, hard carbon presents a sloping capacity at the high-potential region and a long plateau capacity at the low-potential region, the latter of which plays a decisive role in realizing the high-energy-density SIBs. However, due to the tremendous difference in the microstructure of hard carbon materials, the sodium storage mechanism on hard carbon remains elusive.In 2000, Stevens and Dahn first proposed an "insertionadsorption (filling)" mechanism based on the sodium storage behaviors in glucose-derived hard carbon. [6] The high potential sloping region and the low potential plateau region were attributed to the Na + insertion into carbon layers and Na + adsorption onto nanopores, respectively. Subsequently, this Hard carbon has the potential to serve as a high-capacity anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs), however, its Na + storage mechanism, particularly on the low potential plateau, remains controversial. To overcome this issue, two types of hard carbons with different microstructures are employed and the relationship between the microstructures and Na + storage behaviors is evaluated. By the combination of operando X-ray diffraction, ex situ Raman spectroscopy, NMR, and theoretical calculation, it is found that the sodium storage capacities of the hard carbons in the low potential plateau region contain the concurrent contributions from both interlayer intercalation and micropores filling, and the ratio of the two contributors greatly depends on the microstructure of hard carbon materials. Moreover, an electrochemical pointer (potential inflection point at the end of the disc...

Diffuse correlation spectroscopy (DCS) is an emerging modality for noninvasive deep tissue blood flow monitoring that is becoming increasingly popular; it conducts an autocorrelation analysis of fast fluctuating photon count signals from a single speckle. In this Letter, we show that the same level of deep tissue flow information can be obtained from a much simpler analysis on the spatial distribution of the speckles that is obtained by a CCD camera, which we named diffuse speckle contrast analysis (DSCA). Both the flow phantom experiment and in vivo cuff occlusion data are presented. DSCA can be considered a new optical modality that combines DCS and laser speckle contrast imaging (LSCI), which exploits simple instrumentation and analysis and yet is sensitive to deep tissue flow.

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Chlamydial disease continues to be one of the main factors threatening the long-term survival of the koala (Phascolarctos cinereus). Despite this, large epidemiological studies of chlamydial infection and disease in wild koala populations are lacking. A better understanding of the prevalence, transmission and pathogenesis is needed to improve control measures, such as the development of vaccines. We investigated the prevalence of Chlamydia pecorum infection and disease in 160 koalas in a peri-urban wild population in Queensland, Australia and found that 31% of koalas were Chlamydia PCR positive and 28% had clinically detectable chlamydial disease. Most infections were at the urogenital site (27%; both males and females) with only 14% at the ocular site. Interestingly, we found that 27% (4/15) of koalas considered to be sexually immature (9–13 months) were already infected with C. pecorum, suggesting that a significant percentage of animals are infected directly from their mother. Ocular infection levels were less prevalent with increasing age (8% in koalas older than 4 years), whereas the prevalence of urogenital tract infections remained high into older age (26% in koalas older than 4 years), suggesting that, after mother-to-young transmission, C. pecorum is predominantly a sexually transmitted infection. While 28% of koalas in this population had clinically detectable chlamydial disease (primarily urogenital tract disease), many PCR positive koalas had no detectable disease and importantly, not all diseased animals were PCR positive. We also observed higher chlamydial loads in koalas who were C. pecorum infected without clinical disease than in koalas who were C. pecorum infected with clinical disease. These results shed light on the potential mechanisms of transmission of C. pecorum in koalas and also guide future control measures, such as vaccination.