The hereditary breast cancer gene BRCA2 was recently cloned and is believed to account for almost half of site-specific breast cancer families and the majority of male breast cancer families. We screened 49 site-specific breast cancer families for mutations in the BRCA2 gene using single strand conformation analysis (SSCA) followed by direct sequencing. We found mutations in eight families, including all four families with male breast cancer. The eight mutations were small deletions with the exception of a single nonsense mutation, an all were predicted to interrupt the BRCA2 coding sequence and to lead to a truncated protein product. Other factors which predicted the presence of a BRCA2 mutation included a case of breast cancer diagnosed at age 35 or below (P = 0.01) and a family history of pancreatic cancer (P = 0.03). Two mutations were seen twice, including a 8535delAG, which was detected in two French Canadian families. Our results suggest the possibility that the proportion of site-specific breast cancer families attributable to BRCA2 may be overestimated.

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This paper discusses the design, implementation, experimental validation and performances of a FPGA-based real time power converter failure diagnosis for three-leg fault tolerant converter topologies used in Wind Energy Conversion Systems (WECS). The developed approach minimizes the time interval between the fault occurrence and its diagnosis. We demonstrated the possibility to detect a faulty switch in less than 10 µs by using a diagnosis simultaneously based on a "time criterion" and a "voltage criterion". To attain such a short detection time, a FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array) fully digital implementation is used. The performances of the proposed FPGA-based fault detection method are evaluated for a new fault tolerant back to back converter topology suited for WECS with Doubly Fed Induction Generator (DFIG). We examine the failure diagnosis method and the response of the WECS when one of the power switches of the fault tolerant back to back converter is faulty. The experimental failure diagnosis implementation based on "FPGA in the loop" hardware prototyping verifies the performances of the fault tolerant WECS with DFIG.

The proton exchange membrane fuel cell offers an exceptional potential for a clean, efficient, and reliable power source. The bipolar plate is a key component in this device, as it connects each cell electrically, supplies reactant gases to both anode and cathode, and removes reaction products from the cell. Bipolar plates have been fabricated primarily from high-density graphite, but in recent years, much attention has been paid to developing cost-effective and feasible alternative materials. Two different classes of materials have attracted attention: metals and composites. This paper offers a comprehensive review of the current research being carried out on metallic bipolar plates, covering materials and fabrication methods.

Although acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer, factors governing susceptibility to this disease have not yet been identified. As such, ALL offers a useful opportunity to examine the glutathione S-transferase and cytochrome P450 genes in determining susceptibility to pediatric cancers. Both enzymes are involved in carcinogen metabolism and have been shown to influence the risk a variety of solid tumors in adults. To determine whether these genes played a similar role in childhood leukemogenesis, we compared the allele frequencies of 177 childhood ALL patients and 304 controls for the CYP1A1, CYP2D6, GSTM1, and GSTT1 genes. We chose the French population of Quebec as our study population because of its relative genetic homogeneity. The GSTM1 null and CYP1A1*2A genotypes were both found to be significant predictors of ALL risk (odds ratio [OR] = 1.8). Those possessing both genotypes were at an even greater risk of developing the disease (OR = 3.3). None of the other alleles tested for proved to be significant indicators of ALL risk. Unexpectedly, girls carrying the CYP1A1∗4 were significantly underrepresented in the ALL group (OR = 0.2), suggesting that a gender-specific protective role exists for this allele. These results suggest that the risk of ALL may indeed be associated with xenobiotics-metabolism, and thus with environmental exposures. Our findings may also explain, in part, why ALL is more prevalent among males than females.

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