As part of an international consortium, case-parent trios were collected for a genome wide association study of isolated, non-syndromic oral clefts, including cleft lip (CL), cleft palate (CP) and cleft lip and palate (CLP). Non-syndromic oral clefts have a complex and heterogeneous etiology. Risk is influenced by genes, environmental factors, and differs markedly by gender. Family based association tests (FBAT) were used on 14,486 SNPs spanning the X chromosome, stratified by type of cleft and racial group. Significant results even after multiple comparisons correction were obtained for the Duchene’s muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene, the largest single gene in the human genome, among CL/P trios (both CL and CLP combined). When stratified into groups of European and Asian ancestry, stronger signals were obtained for Asians. Although conventional sliding window haplotype analysis showed no increase in significance, analysis selected combinations of the 25 most significant SNPs in DMD identified four SNPs together that attained genome-wide significance among Asian CL/P trios, raising the possibility of interaction between distant SNPs within DMD.

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Passive structures are augmented with actuators, sensors and control to implement the task of active noise or vibration reduction. Such systems are considered smart because they have advanced functionalities compared to conventional structures. A smart aircraft lining is able to reduce the lowfrequency cabin noise induced by tonal or multi-tonal external noise sources. Such noise sources are for example fuel-efficient rotor engines like counter-rotating open rotors. Research on smart systems starts on a laboratory scale by using low-noise sensors and high-performance rapid control prototyping systems. The replacement of such costly and bulky laboratory hardware is one important precondition for the commercialization of smart structures. The increased internal noise, the reduced computational performance and other restrictions of low-cost hardware must be taken into account during the design of a smart system. Experimental results on the noise reduction of a smart lining with low-cost hardware show that a replacement of laboratory hardware will not lead to a loss of performance. The smart lining achieves tonal interior sound pressure level reductions of up to 25 dB with a mass increase of only 2 percent. Even a mass neutral implementation seems possible, if conventional loudspeaker-driven passenger announcements are realized with smart linings. Index Terms-active noise control; smart structures; low-cost hardware; aircraft; lining This project was funded by the Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie (BMWi) under grant number 20K1301D.

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Simple SummaryThe issues of openness, transparency and public engagement about animal research have taken focus in several different countries in recent years. This paper gives an account of a two-day-long expert forum that brought together policy experts and academics from Australia, Canada, Germany, New Zealand, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. The aim was to share current governance practices regarding openness and transparency of animal research and to brainstorm ideas for better public engagement. The facilitated conversations were transcribed and analysed to create this report and recommendations that encourage international policy-makers and other stakeholders to engage in genuine dialogue about the use of animals in research.AbstractIn November 2013, a group of international experts in animal research policy (n = 11) gathered in Vancouver, Canada, to discuss openness and accountability in animal research. The primary objective was to bring together participants from various jurisdictions (United States, Sweden, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Canada and the United Kingdom) to share practices regarding the governance of animals used in research, testing and education, with emphasis on the governance process followed, the methods of community engagement, and the balance of openness versus confidentiality. During the forum, participants came to a broad consensus on the need for: (a) evidence-based metrics to allow a “virtuous feedback” system for evaluation and quality assurance of animal research, (b) the need for increased public access to information, together with opportunities for stakeholder dialogue about animal research, (c) a greater diversity of views to be represented on decision-making committees to allow for greater balance and (d) a standardized and robust ethical decision-making process that incorporates some sort of societal input. These recommendations encourage aspirations beyond merely imparting information and towards a genuine dialogue that represents a shared agenda surrounding laboratory animal use.