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This work presents an analytical method for determining vertical dynamic impedance and displacement response factor of a rigid cylindrical foundation embedded in unsaturated poroelastic soils. The foundation is assumed to be perfectly boned to its surrounding soil and its overlying half-space of unsaturated poroelastic soil, subjected to harmonic vertical loadings. The soil surrounding the circumference of the cylinder is modeled as a number of infinitely thin horizontal soil layers. Based on the Biot-type soil constitutive model, the equations governing the interaction of unsaturated soils with the cylindrical foundation are derived. Solutions are obtained by solving ordinary differential equations transformed from partial differential governing equations using the Hankel transform. The proposed solutions are verified against existing solutions of benchmark elastodynamic problems for embedded cylindrical foundations in dry and saturated soils. Using the derived solutions, several influencing parameters defining the stiffness and mass of the foundation system are examined to investigate the dynamics of the foundation interacting with it adjacent soils. It is concluded that the dynamic displacement response factor is sensitive to soil saturation. It is believed that the proposed solution should be beneficial to dynamic design with cylindrical foundations embedded in unsaturated soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To investigate the spectrum and frequency of phenylalanine hydroxylase (PAH) gene mutations in phenylketonuria (PKU) patients in Xinjiang, China. Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), in combination with single-strand conformation polymorphism (SSCP) and DNA sequencing analyses were performed, to screen potential mutations in the PAH gene in 46 individual PKU patients. Direct DNA sequencing was used to analyze the all of the exons in the PAH gene, including the promoter and flanking intron regions, in another 15 PKU patients. Our results indicated that, 30 different mutation types were identified in all 122 PAH alleles, with the mutation detection rate of 78.7% (96/122). Four novel mutations, i.e., 5'-Flanking -626G>A, 5'-Flanking -480DelACT, S196fsX4, and IVS8+1G>C, were identified for the first time. Similar to other regions in North China, R243Q, EX6-96A>G, IVS4-1A>G, R111X, and Y356X were the most prevalent PAH mutations in PKU patients from Xinjiang. Additionally, common mutations showed different frequencies in Xinjiang, when compared to other areas. Furthermore, sixteen different PAH gene mutation types were identified for the first time in the minorities in Xinjiang. Distinctive mutation spectrum of PAH gene in PKU patients from Xinjiang were characterized, which may promote the construction of PAH gene mutation database and serve as valuable tools for genetic diagnosis and counseling, and prognostic evaluation for PKU cases in the local area.

Objective: To study the lineage polymorphism of TCR Vα complementarity determining region 3 (CDR3) in the peripheral blood of uveitis patients., Methods: Thirty-four subfamilies of TCR Vα CDR3 in the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of uveitis patients were amplified by RT-PCR, and then TCR Vα CDR3 lineage polymorphism was analyzed by immunoscope spectratyping., Results: Most spectral type of the 34 subfamilies in 5 normal controls showed Gauss distribution. TCR Vα CDR3 scanning spectrum of 4 uveitis patients showed abnormal distribution peak, including monoclonal, oligoclonal/oligoclonal trend, skewing peak and irregular abnormal peak. The frequencies of abnormal peak type varied in the 34 TCR Vα subfamilies. A higher frequency of abnormal peak type was found in Vα13 and Vα17 subfamilies, while no abnormal peak type was found in Vα1.1, Vα10, Vα20 and Vα28 subfamilies. Abnormal peak was shown in Vα7 subfamily in the HLA-B27-negative patient (U2) , but no abnormal peak was shown in Vα7 subfamily in the 3 HLA-B27-positive patients (U1, U3, U4); Conversely, abnormal peak type of TCR Vα13 was found in all the 3 HLA-B27-positive patients, but normal in HLA-B27-negative patients., Conclusion: TCR Vα CDR3 lineage has significant characteristic polymorphism in the peripheral blood of uveitis patients. Monoclonal/oligoclonal expansion of T cells may be autoreactive T cells in nature and they may be involved in pathogenesis of uveitis.