Widespread non-coding polymorphism in HLA class II genes of International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshop cell lines.

As the primary genetic determinant of immune recognition of self and non-self, the hyperpolymorphic HLA genes play key roles in disease association and transplantation. The large, variably sized HLA class II genes have historically been less well characterized than the shorter HLA class I genes. Here, we have used Pacific Biosciences Single Molecule Real-Time (SMRT®) DNA sequencing to perform four-field resolution HLA typing of HLA-DRB1/3/4/5, -DQA1, -DQB1, -DPA1 and -DPB1 from a panel of 181 B-lymphoblastoid cell lines from the International HLA and Immunogenetics Workshops.

Fabrication and Qualitative Analysis of an Optical Fibre EFPI-Based Temperature Sensor.

The following presents a comparison of an extrinsic Fabry-Perot interferometer (EFPI)-based temperature sensor, constructed using a novel diaphragm manufacturing technique, with a reference all-glass EFPI temperature sensor. The novel diaphragm was manufactured using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA). The novel sensor fabrication involved fusing a single-mode fibre (SMF) to a length of fused quartz capillary, which has an inner diameter of 132 μm and a 220 μm outer diameter.

The HLA diversity of the Anthony Nolan register.

While the success of allogeneic stem cell transplantation depends on a high degree of HLA compatibility between donor and patient, finding a suitable donor remains challenging due to the hyperpolymorphic nature of HLA genes. We calculated high-resolution allele, haplotype and phenotype frequencies for HLA-A, -C, -B, -DRB1 and -DQB1 for 10 subpopulations of the Anthony Nolan (AN) register using an in-house expectation-maximisation (EM) algorithm run on mixed resolution HLA data, covering 676 155 individuals. Sample sizes range from 599 410 for British/Irish North West European (BINWE) individuals, the largest subpopulation in the United Kingdom to 1105 for the British Bangladeshi population.