342 research outputs found
Optical investigations of noncrystalline semiconductors
Three areas of investigation into the properties of amorphous silicon and boron are reported: (1) optical properties of elemental amorphous semiconductors; (2) Mossbauer studies of disordered systems; and (3) theoretical aspects of disordered semiconductors
Attachment and early development of the tetraspores of some coralline red algae
Corallina officinalis L. and Jama rubens (L.) Lamour, are both members
of the Corallinaceae; until fairly recently their similarity led to their being placed
in the same genus, as, for instance by Newton (1932) but the separation is now
accepted and Johansen (1970) has shown that important differences exist,
particularly in the reproductive structures. Ecologically there are additional
differences : CoralUna officinalis is a Uthophyte occurring on a wide range of
shores, both sheltered and exposed, throughout the cooler waters (0°C-20°C
surface temperature) of the Northern Hemisphere. It is common on all coasts
of the British Isles in littoral pools, on lower littoral rock and extends into the
sub-littoral. Jarda rubens is found in warmer waters (10°C-30°C) and in the
British Isles is common .only on the more temperate coasts, including the Channel
Islands, Southern England west of the Isle of Wight, Ireland and northwards
to Anglesey on the coast of Wales
Candidate plasma biomarkers for predicting ascending aortic aneurysm in bicuspid aortic valve disease.
BACKGROUND: Bicuspid aortic valve (BAV) disease is the most common congenital cardiac abnormality affecting 1-2% of the population and is associated with a significantly increased risk of ascending aortic aneurysm. However, predicting which patients will develop aneurysms remains a challenge. This pilot study aimed to identify candidate plasma biomarkers for monitoring ascending aortic diameter and predicting risk of future aneurysm in BAV patients. METHODS: Plasma samples were collected pre-operatively from BAV patients undergoing aortic valve surgery. Maximum ascending aortic diameter was measured on pre-operative transoesophageal echocardiography. Maximum diameter ≥ 45 mm was classified as aneurysmal. Sequential Window Acquisition of all THeoretical Mass Spectra (SWATH-MS), an advanced mass spectrometry technique, was used to identify and quantify all proteins within the samples. Protein abundance and aortic diameter were correlated using logistic regression. Levene's test was used to identify proteins demonstrating low abundance variability in the aneurysmal patients (consistent expression in disease), and high variability in the non-aneurysmal patients (differential expression between 'at risk' and not 'at risk' patients). RESULTS: Fifteen plasma samples were collected (seven non-aneurysmal and 8 aneurysmal BAV patients). The mean age of the patients was 55.5 years and the majority were female (10/15, 67%). Four proteins (haemoglobin subunits alpha, beta and delta and mannan-binding lectin serine protease) correlated significantly with maximal ascending aortic diameter (p < 0.05, r = 0.5-0.6). Five plasma proteins demonstrated significantly lower variability in the aneurysmal group and may indicate increased risk of aneurysm in non-aneurysmal patients (DNA-dependent protein kinase catalytic subunit, lumican, tetranectin, gelsolin and cartilage acidic protein 1). A further 7 proteins were identified only in the aneurysmal group (matrin-3, glucose-6-phosphate isomerase, coactosin-like protein, peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase A, golgin subfamily B member 1, myeloperoxidase and 2'-deoxynucleoside 5'-phosphate N-hydrolase 1). CONCLUSIONS: This study is the first to identify candidate plasma biomarkers for predicting aortic diameter and risk of future aneurysm in BAV patients. It provides valuable pilot data and proof of principle that could be used to design a large-scale prospective investigation. Ultimately, a more affordable 'off-the-shelf' follow-on blood assay could then be developed in place of SWATH-MS, for use in the healthcare setting
Association Between Episodic Memory and Genetic Risk Factors for Alzheimer’s Disease in South Asians from the Longitudinal Aging Study in India–Diagnostic Assessment of Dementia (LASI‐DAD)
Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156473/3/jgs16735-sup-0001-supinfo.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156473/2/jgs16735_am.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/156473/1/jgs16735.pd
Anomalous field-dependent specific heat in charge-ordered PrCaMnO and LaCaMnO
We report low temperature specific heat measurements of
PrCaMnO () and
LaCaMnO with and without applied magnetic field. An
excess specific heat, , of non-magnetic origin associated with
charge ordering is found for all the samples. A magnetic field sufficient to
induce the transition from the charge-ordered state to the ferromagnetic
metallic state does not completely remove the contribution. This
suggests that the charge ordering is not completely destroyed by a "melting"
magnetic field. In addition, the specific heat of the
PrCaMnO compounds exhibit a large contribution linear in
temperature () originating from magnetic and charge disorder.Comment: submitted to PRL 5 pages, 3 figures include
The geography of recent genetic ancestry across Europe
The recent genealogical history of human populations is a complex mosaic
formed by individual migration, large-scale population movements, and other
demographic events. Population genomics datasets can provide a window into this
recent history, as rare traces of recent shared genetic ancestry are detectable
due to long segments of shared genomic material. We make use of genomic data
for 2,257 Europeans (the POPRES dataset) to conduct one of the first surveys of
recent genealogical ancestry over the past three thousand years at a
continental scale. We detected 1.9 million shared genomic segments, and used
the lengths of these to infer the distribution of shared ancestors across time
and geography. We find that a pair of modern Europeans living in neighboring
populations share around 10-50 genetic common ancestors from the last 1500
years, and upwards of 500 genetic ancestors from the previous 1000 years. These
numbers drop off exponentially with geographic distance, but since genetic
ancestry is rare, individuals from opposite ends of Europe are still expected
to share millions of common genealogical ancestors over the last 1000 years.
There is substantial regional variation in the number of shared genetic
ancestors: especially high numbers of common ancestors between many eastern
populations likely date to the Slavic and/or Hunnic expansions, while much
lower levels of common ancestry in the Italian and Iberian peninsulas may
indicate weaker demographic effects of Germanic expansions into these areas
and/or more stably structured populations. Recent shared ancestry in modern
Europeans is ubiquitous, and clearly shows the impact of both small-scale
migration and large historical events. Population genomic datasets have
considerable power to uncover recent demographic history, and will allow a much
fuller picture of the close genealogical kinship of individuals across the
world.Comment: Full size figures available from
http://www.eve.ucdavis.edu/~plralph/research.html; or html version at
http://ralphlab.usc.edu/ibd/ibd-paper/ibd-writeup.xhtm
Reconstructing Roma History from Genome-Wide Data
The Roma people, living throughout Europe and West Asia, are a diverse population linked by the Romani language and culture. Previous linguistic and genetic studies have suggested that the Roma migrated into Europe from South Asia about 1,000–1,500 years ago. Genetic inferences about Roma history have mostly focused on the Y chromosome and mitochondrial DNA. To explore what additional information can be learned from genome-wide data, we analyzed data from six Roma groups that we genotyped at hundreds of thousands of single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We estimate that the Roma harbor about 80% West Eurasian ancestry–derived from a combination of European and South Asian sources–and that the date of admixture of South Asian and European ancestry was about 850 years before present. We provide evidence for Eastern Europe being a major source of European ancestry, and North-west India being a major source of the South Asian ancestry in the Roma. By computing allele sharing as a measure of linkage disequilibrium, we estimate that the migration of Roma out of the Indian subcontinent was accompanied by a severe founder event, which appears to have been followed by a major demographic expansion after the arrival in Europe.Országos Tudományos Kutatási Alapprogramok (OTKA K 103983)Országos Tudományos Kutatási Alapprogramok (OTKA 73430)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (HOMINID grant 1032255)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (grant GM100233
The ETTAA study protocol: a UK-wide observational study of 'Effective Treatments for Thoracic Aortic Aneurysm'.
Introduction Chronic thoracic aortic aneurysm (CTAA) affecting the arch or descending aorta is an indolent but life-threatening condition with a rising prevalence as the UK population ages. Treatment may be in the form of open surgical repair (OSR) surgery, endovascular stent grafting (ESG) or best medical therapy (BMT). Currently, there is no consensus on the best management strategy, and no UK-specific economic studies that assess outcomes beyond the chosen procedure, but this is required in the context of greater demand for treatment and limited National Health Service (NHS) resources. Methods and analysis This is a prospective, multicentre observational study with statistical and economic modelling of patients with CTAA affecting the arch or descending aorta. We aim to gain an understanding of how treatments are currently chosen, and to determine the clinical effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of the three available treatment strategies (BMT, ESG and OSR). This will be achieved by: (1) following consecutive patients who are referred to the teams collaborating in this proposal and collecting data regarding quality of life (QoL), medical events and hospital stays over a maximum of 5 years; (2) statistical analysis of the comparative effectiveness of the three treatments; and (3) economic modelling of the comparative cost-effectiveness of the three treatments. Primary study outcomes are: aneurysm growth, QoL, freedom from reintervention, freedom from death or permanent neurological injury, incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year gained. Ethics and dissemination The study will generate an evidence base to guide patients and clinicians to determine the indications and timing of treatment, as well as informing healthcare decision-makers about which treatments the NHS should provide. The study has achieved ethical approval and will be disseminated primarily in the form of a Health Technology Assessment monograph at its completion
Distinct local electronic structure and magnetism for Mn in amorphous Si and Ge
Transition metals such as Mn generally have large local moments in covalent semiconductors due to their partially filled d shells. However, Mn magnetization in group-IV semiconductors is more complicated than often recognized. Here we report a striking crossover from a quenched Mn moment (<0.1 {mu}{sub B}) in amorphous Si (a-Si) to a large distinct local Mn moment ({ge}3{mu}{sub B}) in amorphous Ge (a-Ge) over a wide range of Mn concentrations (0.005-0.20). Corresponding differences are observed in d-shell electronic structure and the sign of the Hall effect. Density-functional-theory calculations show distinct local structures, consistent with different atomic density measured for a-Si and a-Ge, respectively, and the Mn coordination number N{sub c} is found to be the key factor. Despite the amorphous structure, Mn in a-Si is in a relatively well-defined high coordination interstitial type site with broadened d bands, low moment, and electron (n-type) carriers, while Mn in a-Ge is in a low coordination substitutional type site with large local moment and holes (p-type) carriers. Moreover, the correlation between N{sub c} and the magnitude of the local moment is essentially independent of the matrix; the local Mn moments approach zero when N{sub c} > 7 for both a-Si and a-Ge
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