11 research outputs found
Experimental study of weak antilocalization effect in a high mobility InGaAs/InP quantum well
The magnetoresistance associated with quantum interference corrections in a
high mobility, gated InGaAs/InP quantum well structure is studied as a function
of temperature, gate voltage, and angle of the tilted magnetic field.
Particular attention is paid to the experimental extraction of phase-breaking
and spin-orbit scattering times when weak anti- localization effects are
prominent. Compared with metals and low mobility semiconductors the
characteristic magnetic field in high mobility
samples is very small and the experimental dependencies of the interference
effects extend to fields several hundreds of times larger. Fitting experimental
results under these conditions therefore requires theories valid for arbitrary
magnetic field. It was found, however, that such a theory was unable to fit the
experimental data without introducing an extra, empirical, scale factor of
about 2. Measurements in tilted magnetic fields and as a function of
temperature established that both the weak localization and the weak
anti-localization effects have the same, orbital origin. Fits to the data
confirmed that the width of the low field feature, whether a weak localization
or a weak anti-localization peak, is determined by the phase-breaking time and
also established that the universal (negative) magnetoresistance observed in
the high field limit is associated with a temperature independent spin-orbit
scattering time.Comment: 13 pages including 10 figure
Size-dependent Correlation Effects in Ultrafast Optical Dynamics of Metal Nanoparticles
We study the role of collective surface excitations in the electron
relaxation in small metal particles. We show that the dynamically screened
electron-electron interaction in a nanoparticle contains a size-dependent
correction induced by the surface. This leads to new channels of quasiparticle
scattering accompanied by the emission of surface collective excitations. We
calculate the energy and temperature dependence of the corresponding rates,
which depend strongly on the nanoparticle size. We show that the
surface-plasmon-mediated scattering rate of a conduction electron increases
with energy, in contrast to that mediated by a bulk plasmon. In noble-metal
particles, we find that the dipole collective excitations (surface plasmons)
mediate a resonant scattering of d-holes to the conduction band. We study the
role of the latter effect in the ultrafast optical dynamics of small
nanoparticles and show that, with decreasing nanoparticle size, it leads to a
drastic change in the differential absorption lineshape and a strong frequency
dependence of the relaxation near the surface plasmon resonance. The
experimental implications of our results in ultrafast pump-probe spectroscopy
are also discussed.Comment: 29 pages including 6 figure
Identification and Functional Characterization of G6PC2 Coding Variants Influencing Glycemic Traits Define an Effector Transcript at the G6PC2-ABCB11 Locus
Genome wide association studies (GWAS) for fasting glucose (FG) and insulin (FI) have identified common variant signals which explain 4.8% and 1.2% of trait variance, respectively. It is hypothesized that low-frequency and rare variants could contribute substantially to unexplained genetic variance. To test this, we analyzed exome-array data from up to 33,231 non-diabetic individuals of European ancestry. We found exome-wide significant (P<5×10-7) evidence for two loci not previously highlighted by common variant GWAS: GLP1R (p.Ala316Thr, minor allele frequency (MAF)=1.5%) influencing FG levels, and URB2 (p.Glu594Val, MAF = 0.1%) influencing FI levels. Coding variant associations can highlight potential effector genes at (non-coding) GWAS signals. At the G6PC2/ABCB11 locus, we identified multiple coding variants in G6PC2 (p.Val219Leu, p.His177Tyr, and p.Tyr207Ser) influencing FG levels, conditionally independent of each other and the non-coding GWAS signal. In vitro assays demonstrate that these associated coding alleles result in reduced protein abundance via proteasomal degradation, establishing G6PC2 as an effector gene at this locus. Reconciliation of single-variant associations and functional effects was only possible when haplotype phase was considered. In contrast to earlier reports suggesting that, paradoxically, glucose-raising alleles at this locus are protective against type 2 diabetes (T2D), the p.Val219Leu G6PC2 variant displayed a modest but directionally consistent association with T2D risk. Coding variant associations for glycemic traits in GWAS signals highlight PCSK1, RREB1, and ZHX3 as likely effector transcripts. These coding variant association signals do not have a major impact on the trait variance explained, but they do provide valuable biological insights
A map of human genome variation from population-scale sequencing
The 1000 Genomes Project aims to provide a deep characterization of human genome sequence variation as a foundation for investigating the relationship between genotype and phenotype. Here we present results of the pilot phase of the project, designed to develop and compare different strategies for genome-wide sequencing with high-throughput platforms. We undertook three projects: low-coverage whole-genome sequencing of 179 individuals from four populations; high-coverage sequencing of two mother-father-child trios; and exon-targeted sequencing of 697 individuals from seven populations. We describe the location, allele frequency and local haplotype structure of approximately 15 million single nucleotide polymorphisms, 1 million short insertions and deletions, and 20,000 structural variants, most of which were previously undescribed. We show that, because we have catalogued the vast majority of common variation, over 95% of the currently accessible variants found in any individual are present in this data set. On average, each person is found to carry approximately 250 to 300 loss-of-function variants in annotated genes and 50 to 100 variants previously implicated in inherited disorders. We demonstrate how these results can be used to inform association and functional studies. From the two trios, we directly estimate the rate of de novo germline base substitution mutations to be approximately 10(-8) per base pair per generation. We explore the data with regard to signatures of natural selection, and identify a marked reduction of genetic variation in the neighbourhood of genes, due to selection at linked sites. These methods and public data will support the next phase of human genetic research
Identification and Functional Characterization of G6PC2 Coding Variants Influencing Glycemic Traits Define an Effector Transcript at the G6PC2-ABCB11 Locus
10.1371/journal.pgen.1004876PLoS ONE111e100487