428 research outputs found
Kynurenine 3-Monooxygenase gene associated with Nicotine initiation and addiction: Analysis of novel regulatory features at 5' and 3'-Regions
© 2018 Aziz, Abdel-Salam, Al-Obaide, Alobydi and Al-Humaish. Tobacco smoking is widespread behavior in Qatar and worldwide and is considered one of the major preventable causes of ill health and death. Nicotine is part of tobacco smoke that causes numerous health risks and is incredibly addictive; it binds to the α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) in the brain. Recent studies showed α7nAChR involvement in the initiation and addiction of smoking. Kynurenic acid (KA), a significant tryptophan metabolite, is an antagonist of α7nAChR. Inhibition of kynurenine 3-monooxygenase enzyme encoded by KMO enhances the KA levels. Modulating KMO gene expression could be a useful tactic for the treatment of tobacco initiation and dependence. Since KMO regulation is still poorly understood, we aimed to investigate the 5' and 3'-regulatory factors of KMO gene to advance our knowledge to modulate KMO gene expression. In this study, bioinformatics methods were used to identify the regulatory sequences associated with expression of KMO. The displayed differential expression of KMO mRNA in the same tissue and different tissues suggested the specific usage of the KMO multiple alternative promoters. Eleven KMO alternative promoters identified at 5'-regulatory region contain TATA-Box, lack CpG Island (CGI) and showed dinucleotide base-stacking energy values specific to transcription factor binding sites (TFBSs). The structural features of regulatory sequences can influence the transcription process and cell type-specific expression. The uncharacterized LOC105373233 locus coding for non-coding RNA (ncRNA) located on the reverse strand in a convergent manner at the 3'-side of KMO locus. The two genes likely expressed by a promoter that lacks TATA-Box harbor CGI and two TFBSs linked to the bidirectional transcription, the NRF1, and ZNF14 motifs. We identified two types of microRNA (miR) in the uncharacterized LOC105373233 ncRNA, which are like hsa-miR-5096 and hsa-miR-1285-3p and can target the miR recognition element (MRE) in the KMO mRNA. Pairwise sequence alignment identified 52 nucleotides sequence hosting MRE in the KMO 3' UTR untranslated region complementary to the ncRNA LOC105373233 sequence. We speculate that the identified miRs can modulate the KMO expression and together with alternative promoters at the 5'-regulatory region of KMO might contribute to the development of novel diagnostic and therapeutic algorithm for tobacco smoking
Mirror Inversion of Quantum States in Linear Registers
Transfer of data in linear quantum registers can be significantly simplified
with pre-engineered but not dynamically controlled inter-qubit couplings. We
show how to implement a mirror inversion of the state of the register in each
excitation subspace with respect to the centre of the register. Our
construction is especially appealing as it requires no dynamical control over
individual inter-qubit interactions. If, however, individual control of the
interactions is available then the mirror inversion operation can be performed
on any substring of qubits in the register. In this case a sequence of mirror
inversions can generate any permutation of a quantum state of the involved
qubits.Comment: 4 page
q-Ultraspherical polynomials for q a root of unity
Properties of the -ultraspherical polynomials for being a primitive
root of unity are derived using a formalism of the algebra. The
orthogonality condition for these polynomials provides a new class of
trigonometric identities representing discrete finite-dimensional analogs of
-beta integrals of Ramanujan.Comment: 7 pages, LATE
Criterion for polynomial solutions to a class of linear differential equation of second order
We consider the differential equations y''=\lambda_0(x)y'+s_0(x)y, where
\lambda_0(x), s_0(x) are C^{\infty}-functions. We prove (i) if the differential
equation, has a polynomial solution of degree n >0, then \delta_n=\lambda_n
s_{n-1}-\lambda_{n-1}s_n=0, where \lambda_{n}=
\lambda_{n-1}^\prime+s_{n-1}+\lambda_0\lambda_{n-1}\hbox{and}\quad
s_{n}=s_{n-1}^\prime+s_0\lambda_{k-1},\quad n=1,2,.... Conversely (ii) if
\lambda_n\lambda_{n-1}\ne 0 and \delta_n=0, then the differential equation has
a polynomial solution of degree at most n. We show that the classical
differential equations of Laguerre, Hermite, Legendre, Jacobi, Chebyshev (first
and second kind), Gegenbauer, and the Hypergeometric type, etc, obey this
criterion. Further, we find the polynomial solutions for the generalized
Hermite, Laguerre, Legendre and Chebyshev differential equations.Comment: 12 page
The q-harmonic oscillator and an analog of the Charlier polynomials
A model of a q-harmonic oscillator based on q-Charlier polynomials of
Al-Salam and Carlitz is discussed. Simple explicit realization of q-creation
and q-annihilation operators, q-coherent states and an analog of the Fourier
transformation are found. A connection of the kernel of this transform with
biorthogonal rational functions is observed
The Bivariate Rogers-Szeg\"{o} Polynomials
We present an operator approach to deriving Mehler's formula and the Rogers
formula for the bivariate Rogers-Szeg\"{o} polynomials . The proof
of Mehler's formula can be considered as a new approach to the nonsymmetric
Poisson kernel formula for the continuous big -Hermite polynomials
due to Askey, Rahman and Suslov. Mehler's formula for
involves a sum and the Rogers formula involves a sum.
The proofs of these results are based on parameter augmentation with respect to
the -exponential operator and the homogeneous -shift operator in two
variables. By extending recent results on the Rogers-Szeg\"{o} polynomials
due to Hou, Lascoux and Mu, we obtain another Rogers-type formula
for . Finally, we give a change of base formula for
which can be used to evaluate some integrals by using the Askey-Wilson
integral.Comment: 16 pages, revised version, to appear in J. Phys. A: Math. Theo
Lattice QCD Simulations in External Background Fields
We discuss recent results and future prospects regarding the investigation,
by lattice simulations, of the non-perturbative properties of QCD and of its
phase diagram in presence of magnetic or chromomagnetic background fields.
After a brief introduction to the formulation of lattice QCD in presence of
external fields, we focus on studies regarding the effects of external fields
on chiral symmetry breaking, on its restoration at finite temperature and on
deconfinement. We conclude with a few comments regarding the effects of
electromagnetic background fields on gluodynamics.Comment: 31 pages, 10 figures, minor changes and references added. To appear
in Lect. Notes Phys. "Strongly interacting matter in magnetic fields"
(Springer), edited by D. Kharzeev, K. Landsteiner, A. Schmitt, H.-U. Ye
Random-phase approximation and its applications in computational chemistry and materials science
The random-phase approximation (RPA) as an approach for computing the
electronic correlation energy is reviewed. After a brief account of its basic
concept and historical development, the paper is devoted to the theoretical
formulations of RPA, and its applications to realistic systems. With several
illustrating applications, we discuss the implications of RPA for computational
chemistry and materials science. The computational cost of RPA is also
addressed which is critical for its widespread use in future applications. In
addition, current correction schemes going beyond RPA and directions of further
development will be discussed.Comment: 25 pages, 11 figures, published online in J. Mater. Sci. (2012
Internet of Things for Sustainable Forestry
Forests and grasslands play an important role in water and air purification, prevention of the soil erosion, and in provision of habitat to wildlife. Internet of Things has a tremendous potential to play a vital role in the forest ecosystem management and stability. The conservation of species and habitats, timber production, prevention of forest soil degradation, forest fire prediction, mitigation, and control can be attained through forest management using Internet of Things. The use and adoption of IoT in forest ecosystem management is challenging due to many factors. Vast geographical areas and limited resources in terms of budget and equipment are some of the limiting factors. In digital forestry, IoT deployment offers effective operations, control, and forecasts for soil erosion, fires, and undesirable depositions. In this chapter, IoT sensing and communication applications are presented for digital forestry systems. Different IoT systems for digital forest monitoring applications are also discussed
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