Spin transfer torques in nonlocal lateral spin valve

We report a theoretical study on the spin and electron transport in the nonlocal lateral spin valve with non-collinear magnetic configuration. The nonlocal magnetoresistance, defined as the voltage difference on the detection lead over the injected current, is derived analytically. The spin transfer torques on the detection lead are calculated. It is found that spin transfer torques are symmetrical for parallel and antiparallel magnetic configurations, which is different from that in conventional sandwiched spin valve.Comment: 7 papges, 5 figure

A combination of mutations enhances the neurotropism of AAV-2

AbstractThere is strong interest in developing practical strategies for gene delivery to the central nervous system (CNS). Direct delivery into the brain or spinal cord is highly invasive as well as inefficient or hazardous using most current vector systems. Our objective was to generate innocuous gene vehicles that would be effectively taken up by axons and then home to the neuron cell bodies. Vectors derived from Adeno-Associated Virus (AAV), a harmless human parvovirus, offer strong starting candidates for deriving such vehicles. Enhancing the axonal uptake of AAV, and conferring more efficient retrograde transport capabilities upon the virus, should produce near ideal gene transfer vehicles for the CNS. To enhance retrograde transport of the virus, peptides mimicking binding domains for cytoplasmic dynein were inserted in the capsid by directed mutagenesis. In separate clones, peptides derived from an NMDA receptor antagonist were also introduced to provide a specific affinity for this receptor. When combined, these two functionally distinct classes of mutation enabled efficient gene transfer into neurons under conditions not permissive for standard AAV-2 vectors prepared under the same conditions. These results hold strong promise for the development of safe, convenient vehicles to target genes and other sequences to neurons, enabling new and novel approaches for the treatment of multiple neurological disorders

Ancestry of motor innervation to pectoral fin and forelimb

© Macmillan Publishers Limited, 2010. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported License. The definitive version was published in Nature Communications 1 (2010): 49, doi:10.1038/ncomms1045.Motor innervation to the tetrapod forelimb and fish pectoral fin is assumed to share a conserved spinal cord origin, despite major structural and functional innovations of the appendage during the vertebrate water-to-land transition. In this paper, we present anatomical and embryological evidence showing that pectoral motoneurons also originate in the hindbrain among ray-finned fish. New and previous data for lobe-finned fish, a group that includes tetrapods, and more basal cartilaginous fish showed pectoral innervation that was consistent with a hindbrain-spinal origin of motoneurons. Together, these findings support a hindbrain–spinal phenotype as the ancestral vertebrate condition that originated as a postural adaptation for pectoral control of head orientation. A phylogenetic analysis indicated that Hox gene modules were shared in fish and tetrapod pectoral systems. We propose that evolutionary shifts in Hox gene expression along the body axis provided a transcriptional mechanism allowing eventual decoupling of pectoral motoneurons from the hindbrain much like their target appendage gained independence from the head.Th is work was supported by the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation

Digital literacy linked to engagement and psychological benefits among breast cancer survivors in Internet-based peer support groups

© 2019 John Wiley & Sons Ltd Objective: Internet-based peer support groups (ISGs) represent an innovative, scalable approach to addressing information and support needs of cancer survivors. However, this innovation may not benefit survivors equally due to population variance in digital literacy. This study examined how digital literacy influences level of engagement in and psychological benefits from participating in ISGs for breast cancer (N = 183). Methods: Secondary analysis of data from a randomised trial of ISGs that included behavioural measures of engagement, subjective ratings and psychological distress symptoms. Results: Digital literacy was positively related to education level (p =.005). Relative to women with high digital literacy, those with lower digital literacy were more likely to report difficulties using the ISG and to value the user's guide and facilitator assistance (all p's <.05). Digital literacy was negatively correlated with computer anxiety pre-intervention, distress before and after online chat during the intervention and post-intervention depressive symptoms (all p's <.05). Conclusion: Low digital literacy is associated with computer anxiety and barriers to ISG use, as well as distress during and after ISG use. Digital literacy must be taken into account when designing or delivering innovative digital interventions for cancer survivors

Circadian Timing of Food Intake Contributes to Weight Gain

Studies of body weight regulation have focused almost entirely on caloric intake and energy expenditure. However, a number of recent studies in animals linking energy regulation and the circadian clock at the molecular, physiological, and behavioral levels raise the possibility that the timing of food intake itself may play a significant role in weight gain. The present study focused on the role of the circadian phase of food consumption in weight gain. We provide evidence that nocturnal mice fed a high‐fat diet only during the 12‐h light phase gain significantly more weight than mice fed only during the 12‐h dark phase. A better understanding of the role of the circadian system for weight gain could have important implications for developing new therapeutic strategies for combating the obesity epidemic facing the human population today

Δ\Delta-scaling and Information Entropy in Ultra-Relativistic Nucleus-Nucleus Collisions

The $\Delta$-scaling method has been applied to ultra-relativistic p+p, C+C and Pb+Pb collision data simulated using a high energy Monte Carlo package, LUCIAE 3.0. The $\Delta$-scaling is found to be valid for some physical variables, such as charged particle multiplicity, strange particle multiplicity and number of binary nucleon-nucleon collisions from these simulated nucleus-nucleus collisions over an extended energy ranging from $E_{lab}$ = 20 to 200 A GeV. In addition we derived information entropy from the multiplicity distribution as a function of beam energy for these collisions.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figures, 1 table; to appear in the July Issue of Chin. Phys. Lett.. Web Page: http://www.iop.org/EJ/journal/CP

Site-specific associations of muscle thickness with bone mineral density in middle-aged and older men and women

It is unknown whether age-related site-specific muscle loss is associated with areal bone mineral density (aBMD) in older adults. To examine the relationships between aBMD and whole-body muscle thickness distribution, 97 healthy adults (46 women and 51 men) aged 50–78 years volunteered. Total and appendicular lean soft tissue mass, aBMD of the lumbar spine (LS-aBMD) and femoral neck (FN-aBMD) were determined using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry. Muscle thickness (MT) was measured by ultrasound at nine sites of the body (forearm, upper arm, trunk, upper leg, and lower leg). Relationships of each co-variate with aBMD were tested partialling out the effect of age. aBMD was not correlated with either MT of the trunk or anterior lower leg in either sex. In men, significant and relatively strong correlations were observed between anterior and posterior upper arms, posterior lower leg, and anterior upper leg MT and LS-aBMD or FN-aBMD. In women, significant correlations were observed between anterior and posterior upper legs, posterior lower leg, and anterior upper arm MT and FN-aBMD. LS-aBMD was only correlated with forearm and posterior upper leg MT in women. In conclusion, the site-specific association of MT and aBMD differs between sexes and may be associated with the participants’ daily physical activity profile

Invariant, super and quasi-martingale functions of a Markov process

We identify the linear space spanned by the real-valued excessive functions of a Markov process with the set of those functions which are quasimartingales when we compose them with the process. Applications to semi-Dirichlet forms are given. We provide a unifying result which clarifies the relations between harmonic, co-harmonic, invariant, co-invariant, martingale and co-martingale functions, showing that in the conservative case they are all the same. Finally, using the co-excessive functions, we present a two-step approach to the existence of invariant probability measures

Flavour and Spin of the Proton and the Meson Cloud

We present a complete set of formulas for longitudinal momentum distribution functions (splitting functions) of mesons in the nucleon. It can be applied in the framework of convolution formalism to the deep-inelastic structure functions (quark distributions) of the nucleon viewed as a system composed of virtual 'mesons' and 'baryons'. Pseudoscalar and vector mesons as well as octet and decuplet baryons are included. In contrast to many approaches in the literature the present approach ensures charge and momentum conservation by the construction. We present not only spin averaged splitting functions but also helicity dependent ones, which can be used to study the spin content of the nucleon. The cut-off parameters of the underlying form factors for different vertices are determined from high-energy particle production data. This information allows one to calculate the flavour and spin content of the nucleon. The value of the Gottfried Sum Rule obtained from our model (S_G = 0.224) nicely agrees with that obtained by the NMC. In addition, we calculate the x-dependence of the \bar d - \bar u asymmetry and get an impressive agreement with a recent fit of Martin-Stirling-Roberts. The calculated axial coupling constants for semileptonic decays of the octet baryons agree with the experimental data already with SU(6) wave function for the bare nucleon. Although we get improvements for the Ellis-Jaffe Sum Rules for the proton and neutron in comparison to the naive quark model, the MCM is not sufficient to reproduce the experimental data.Comment: written in ReVTex, 53 pages, 11 PS-figure