Is the Broad-Line Region Clumped or Smooth? Constraints from the H alpha Profile in NGC 4395, the Least Luminous Seyfert 1 Galaxy

The origin and configuration of the gas which emits broad lines in Type I active galactic nuclei is not established yet. The lack of small-scale structure in the broad emission-line profiles is consistent with a smooth gas flow, or a clumped flow with many small clouds. An attractive possibility for the origin of many small clouds is the atmospheres of bloated stars, an origin which also provides a natural mechanism for the cloud confinement. Earlier studies of the broad-line profiles have already put strong lower limits on the minimum number of such stars, but these limits are sensitive to the assumed width of the lines produced by each cloud. Here we revisit this problem using high-resolution Keck spectra of the H alpha line in NGC 4395, which has the smallest known broad-line region (~10^14 cm). Only a handful of the required bloated stars (each having r~10^14 cm) could fit into the broad-line region of NGC 4395, yet the observed smoothness of the H alpha line implies a lower limit of ~10^4-10^5 on the number of discrete clouds. This rules out conclusively the bloated-stars scenario, regardless of any plausible line-broadening mechanisms. The upper limit on the size of the clouds is ~10^12 cm, which is comparable to the size implied by photoionization models. This strongly suggests that gas in the broad-line region is structured as a smooth rather than a clumped flow, most likely in a rotationally dominated thick disk-like configuration. However, it remains to be clarified why such a smooth, gravity-dominated flow generates double-peaked emission lines only in a small fraction of active galactic nuclei.Comment: 12 pages, including 3 figures, accepted for publication in The Astrophysical Journa

Molecular Genetic Influences on Normative and Problematic Alcohol Use in a Population-Based Sample of College Students

Background: Genetic factors impact alcohol use behaviors and these factors may become increasingly evident during emerging adulthood. Examination of the effects of individual variants as well as aggregate genetic variation can clarify mechanisms underlying risk. Methods: We conducted genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in an ethnically diverse sample of college students for three quantitative outcomes including typical monthly alcohol consumption, alcohol problems, and maximum number of drinks in 24 h. Heritability based on common genetic variants (h2SNP) was assessed. We also evaluated whether risk variants in aggregate were associated with alcohol use outcomes in an independent sample of young adults. Results: Two genome-wide significant markers were observed: rs11201929 in GRID1 for maximum drinks in 24 h, with supportive evidence across all ancestry groups; and rs73317305 in SAMD12 (alcohol problems), tested only in the African ancestry group. The h2SNP estimate was 0.19 (SE = 0.11) for consumption, and was non-significant for other outcomes. Genome-wide polygenic scores were significantly associated with alcohol outcomes in an independent sample. Conclusions: These results robustly identify genetic risk for alcohol use outcomes at the variant level and in aggregate. We confirm prior evidence that genetic variation in GRID1impacts alcohol use, and identify novel loci of interest for multiple alcohol outcomes in emerging adults. These findings indicate that genetic variation influencing normative and problematic alcohol use is, to some extent, convergent across ancestry groups. Studying college populations represents a promising avenue by which to obtain large, diverse samples for gene identification

Episodic population fragmentation and gene flow reveal a trade-off between heterozygosity and allelic richness

In episodic environments like deserts, populations of some animal species exhibit irregular fluctuations such that populations are alternately large and connected or small and isolated. Such dynamics are typically driven by periodic resource pulses due, for example, to large but infrequent rainfall events. The repeated population bottlenecks resulting from fragmentation should lower genetic diversity over time, yet species undergoing these fluctuations appear to maintain high levels of genetic diversity. To resolve this apparent paradox, we simulated a metapopulation of constant size undergoing repeat episodes of fragmentation and change in gene flow to mimic outcomes experienced by mammals in an Australian desert. We show that episodic fragmentation and gene flow have contrasting effects on two measures of genetic diversity: heterozygosity and allelic richness. Specifically, fragmentation into many, small subpopulations, coupled with periods of infrequent gene flow, preserves allelic richness at the expense of heterozygosity. In contrast, fragmentation into a few, large subpopulations maintains heterozygosity at the expense of allelic richness. The strength of the trade-off between heterozygosity and allelic richness depends on the amount of gene flow and the frequency of gene flow events. Our results imply that the type of genetic diversity maintained among species living in strongly fluctuating environments will depend on the way populations fragment, with our results highlighting different mechanisms for maintaining allelic richness and heterozygosity in small, fragmented populations

Maximizing information : a machine learning approach for analysis of complex nanoscale electromechanical behavior in defect-rich PZT films

F.Z. and B.J.R. gratefully acknowledge support from the China Scholarship Council and Science Foundation Ireland (US-Ireland R&D Partnership Programme (SFI/14/US/I3113) and Career Development Award (SFI/17/CDA/4637) with support from the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland). A.N. gratefully acknowledges support from the Engineering and Physics Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) through grants EP/R023751/1 and EP/L017008/1. A.K. gratefully acknowledges support from Department of Education and Learning NI through grant USI-082 and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council via grant EP/S037179/1. K.W., Y.Y., and N.B.G. gratefully acknowledge support from the US National Science Foundation through grant CMMI-1537262 and DMR-1255379. K.W. and N.B.G. also acknowledge support through DMR-2026976. This publication has emanated from research supported in part by a grant from Science Foundation Ireland under Grant numbers SFI/14/US/I3113 and SFI/17/CDA/4637.Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) based techniques probe material properties over microscale regions with nanoscale resolution, ultimately resulting in investigation of mesoscale functionalities. Among SPM techniques, piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) is a highly effective tool in exploring polarization switching in ferroelectric materials. However, its signal is also sensitive to sample-dependent electrostatic and chemo-electromechanical changes. Literature reports have often concentrated on the evaluation of the Off-field piezoresponse, compared to On-field piezoresponse, based on the latter's increased sensitivity to non-ferroelectric contributions. Using machine learning approaches incorporating both Off- and On-field piezoresponse response as well as Off-field resonance frequency to maximize information, switching piezoresponse in a defect-rich Pb(Zr,Ti)O3 thin film is investigated. As expected, one major contributor to the piezoresponse is mostly ferroelectric, coupled with electrostatic phenomena during On-field measurements. A second component is electrostatic in nature, while a third component is likely due to a superposition of multiple non-ferroelectric processes. The proposed approach will enable deeper understanding of switching phenomena in weakly ferroelectric samples and materials with large chemo-electromechanical response.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Deterministic dual control of phase competition in strained BiFeO3 : a multiparametric structural lithography approach

UK Research and Innovation, MR/T043172/1, Raymond G. P. McQuaid; Department for Employment and Learning, Northern Ireland, USI-082, Amit Kumar; Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EP/S037179/1, Amit Kumar; EP/L015323/01, Nathan Black.The realization of a mixed-phase microstructure in strained BiFeO3 (BFO) thin films has led to numerous novel effects derived from the coexistence of the tetragonal-like monoclinic phase (T phase) and rhombohedral-like monoclinic phase (R phase). Strong strain and polarization differences between the phases should result in a high level of transformation plasticity, which enables the continuous alteration of the relative proportion of R and T states in response to external forces. Although the potential for utilizing such plasticity to control mixed-phase populations under external stimuli is evident, direct experimental evidence backed by equilibrium predictions has not yet been fully demonstrated. Here we demonstrate deterministic control of mixed-phase populations in an epitaxially strained BFO thin film through the application of localized stresses and electric fields in a reversible manner. The results illustrate and rationalize deterministic control of mixed phases in strained BFO films, which could be crucial in tuning their functional properties. The findings also highlight a new multiparametric technique in the scanning probe lithography toolbox based on tip-assisted electric and strain field manipulation of functional properties that might find application beyond the ferroelectric domain and structural phase lithography.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Barriers to Infectious Disease Care among Lesbians1

Despite the considerable number of women in the United States who identify as lesbian, few data exist that address lesbians' health needs. The Institute of Medicine emphasized that data on sexually transmitted infections, Pap smear screening, and cervical dysplasia among lesbians were needed to guide clinical practice, policy development, and patient education. Use of surveillance data for this purpose is limited because risk classifications exclude same-gender sex among women or subsume it under behavior considered as higher risk. However, sexual transmission of human papillomavirus, HIV, Treponema pallidum, and Trichomonas vaginalis between women has been reported. Data indicate that lesbians receive routine Pap smear screening less frequently than is optimal. Moreover, lesbians commonly report previous pregnancy, induced abortion, and hormonal contraceptive use. Education of lesbians and their care providers should counter assumptions that sex between women confers no risk for transmission of sexually transmitted infections, and lesbians should receive Pap smears according to current guidelines

Maximizing CRISPR/Cas9 phenotype penetrance applying predictive modeling of editing outcomes in Xenopus and zebrafish embryos

© The Author(s), 2020. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License. The definitive version was published in Naert, T., Tulkens, D., Edwards, N. A., Carron, M., Shaidani, N. I., Wlizla, M., Boel, A., Demuynck, S., Horb, M. E., Coucke, P., Willaert, A., Zorn, A. M., & Vleminckx, K. Maximizing CRISPR/Cas9 phenotype penetrance applying predictive modeling of editing outcomes in Xenopus and zebrafish embryos. Scientific Reports, 10(1), (2020): 14662, doi:10.1038/s41598-020-71412-0.CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing has revolutionized functional genomics in vertebrates. However, CRISPR/Cas9 edited F0 animals too often demonstrate variable phenotypic penetrance due to the mosaic nature of editing outcomes after double strand break (DSB) repair. Even with high efficiency levels of genome editing, phenotypes may be obscured by proportional presence of in-frame mutations that still produce functional protein. Recently, studies in cell culture systems have shown that the nature of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated mutations can be dependent on local sequence context and can be predicted by computational methods. Here, we demonstrate that similar approaches can be used to forecast CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing outcomes in Xenopus tropicalis, Xenopus laevis, and zebrafish. We show that a publicly available neural network previously trained in mouse embryonic stem cell cultures (InDelphi-mESC) is able to accurately predict CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing outcomes in early vertebrate embryos. Our observations can have direct implications for experiment design, allowing the selection of guide RNAs with predicted repair outcome signatures enriched towards frameshift mutations, allowing maximization of CRISPR/Cas9 phenotype penetrance in the F0 generation.Research in the Vleminckx laboratory is supported by the Research Foundation—Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen) (Grants G0A1515N and G029413N), by the Belgian Science Policy (Interuniversity Attraction Poles—IAP7/07) and by the Concerted Research Actions from Ghent University (BOF15/GOA/011). Further support was obtained by the Hercules Foundation, Flanders (Grant AUGE/11/14) and the Desmoid Tumor Research Foundation and the Desmoid Tumour Foundation Canada. T.N. is funded by “Kom op tegen Kanker” (Stand up to Cancer), the Flemish cancer society and previously held PhD fellowship with VLAIO-HERMES during the course of this work. D.T. and M. C. hold a PhD fellowship from the Research Foundation-Flanders (FWO-Vlaanderen). The Zorn Lab is supported by Funding from NIH National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) P01 HD093363. A.W. and A.B. are supported by the Ghent University (Universiteit Gent) Methusalem grant BOFMET2015000401 to Anne De Paepe. The National Xenopus Resource and Horb lab is supported by funding from the National Institutes of Health (P40 OD010997 and R01 HD084409)

Race differences in pain and pain-related risk factors among former professional American-style football players

The burden of pain is unequal across demographic groups, with broad and persisting race differences in pain-related outcomes in the United States. Members of racial and ethnic minorities frequently report more pervasive and severe pain compared with those in the majority, with at least some disparity attributable to differences in socioeconomic status. Whether race disparities in pain-related health outcomes exist among former professional football players is unknown. We examined the association of race with pain outcomes among 3995 former professional American-style football players who self-identified as either Black or White. Black players reported more intense pain and higher levels of pain interference relative to White players, even after controlling for age, football history, comorbidities, and psychosocial factors. Race moderated associations between several biopsychosocial factors and pain; higher body mass index was associated with more pain among White but not among Black players. Fatigue and psychosocial factors were more strongly related to pain among Black players relative to White players. Collectively, the substantial social and economic advantages of working as a professional athlete did not seem to erase race-related disparities in pain. We highlight an increased burden of pain among elite Black professional football players and identify race-specific patterns of association between pain and biopsychosocial pain risk factors. These findings illuminate potential future targets of interventions that may serve to reduce persistent disparities in the experience and impact of pain.</p

From Too Much to Too Little: How the central U.S. drought of 2012 evolved out of one of the most devastating floods on record in 2011

Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction....................................................................... 1 Section 2: Regional Drought Perspective................................. 2 Section 3: State Drought Perspectives........................................ 3 Section 3.1: Colorado........................................................................... 20 Section 3.2: Illinois.................................................................. 25 Section 3.3: Indiana................................................. 29 Section 3.4: Iowa...................... 36 Section 3.5: Kansas............................................................... 42 Section 3.6: Kentucky............................................................................ 46 Section 3.7: Michigan.............................. 52 Section 3.8: Minnesota............................................................ 58 Section 3.9: Missouri..................................................... 63 Section 3.10: Nebraska................................................. 67 Section 3.11: North Dakota............................................ 73 Section 3.12: Ohio................................................... 79 Section 3.13: South Dakota..................................... 85 Section 3.14: Wyoming........................................... 96 Section 4: Conclusions.............................................................. 9