Quantum thermodynamics at critical points during melting and solidification processes

We systematically explore and show the existence of finite-temperature continuous quantum phase transition (CTQPT) at a critical point, namely, during solidification or melting such that the first-order thermal phase transition is a special case within CTQPT. Infact, CTQPT is related to chemical reaction where quantum fluctuation (due to wavefunction transformation) is caused by thermal energy and it can occur maximally for temperatures much higher than zero Kelvin. To extract the quantity related to CTQPT, we use the ionization energy theory and the energy-level spacing renormalization group method to derive the energy-level spacing entropy, renormalized Bose-Einstein distribution and the time-dependent specific heat capacity. This work unambiguously shows that the quantum phase transition applies for any finite temperatures.Comment: To be published in Indian Journal of Physics (Kolkata

Transcriptomic analysis reveals Toxoplasma gondii strain-specific differences in host cell response to dense granule protein GRA15

Growth and replication of the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii within host cell entail the production of several effector proteins, which the parasite exploits for counteracting the host’s immune response. Despite considerable research to define the host signaling pathways manipulated by T. gondii and their effectors, there has been limited progress into understanding how individual members of the dense granule proteins (GRAs) modulate gene expression within host cells. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether T. gondii GRA15 protein plays any role in regulating host gene expression. Baby Hamster Kidney cells (BHK-21) were transfected with plasmids encoding GRA15 genes of either type I GT1 strain (GRA15I) or type II PRU strain (GRA15II). Gene expression patterns of transfected and nontransfected BHK-21 cells were investigated using RNA-sequencing analysis. GRA15I and GRA15II induced both known and novel transcriptional changes in the transfected BHK-21 cells compared with nontransfected cells. Pathway analysis revealed that GRA15II was mainly involved in the regulation of Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF), NF-κB, HTLV-I infection and NOD-like receptor signaling pathways. GRA15I preferentially influenced the synthesis of unsaturated fatty acids in host cells. Our findings support the hypothesis that certain functions of GRA15 protein are strain-dependent; and that GRA15 modulates the expression of signaling pathways and genes with important roles in T. gondii pathophysiology. A greater understanding of host signaling pathways influenced by T. gondii effectors, would allow the development of more efficient anti-T. gondii therapeutic schemes, capitalizing on disrupting parasite virulence factors to advance the treatment of toxoplasmosis

Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes

Cancer is driven by genetic change, and the advent of massively parallel sequencing has enabled systematic documentation of this variation at the whole-genome scale(1-3). Here we report the integrative analysis of 2,658 whole-cancer genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types from the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) and The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA). We describe the generation of the PCAWG resource, facilitated by international data sharing using compute clouds. On average, cancer genomes contained 4-5 driver mutations when combining coding and non-coding genomic elements; however, in around 5% of cases no drivers were identified, suggesting that cancer driver discovery is not yet complete. Chromothripsis, in which many clustered structural variants arise in a single catastrophic event, is frequently an early event in tumour evolution; in acral melanoma, for example, these events precede most somatic point mutations and affect several cancer-associated genes simultaneously. Cancers with abnormal telomere maintenance often originate from tissues with low replicative activity and show several mechanisms of preventing telomere attrition to critical levels. Common and rare germline variants affect patterns of somatic mutation, including point mutations, structural variants and somatic retrotransposition. A collection of papers from the PCAWG Consortium describes non-coding mutations that drive cancer beyond those in the TERT promoter(4); identifies new signatures of mutational processes that cause base substitutions, small insertions and deletions and structural variation(5,6); analyses timings and patterns of tumour evolution(7); describes the diverse transcriptional consequences of somatic mutation on splicing, expression levels, fusion genes and promoter activity(8,9); and evaluates a range of more-specialized features of cancer genomes(8,10-18).Peer reviewe

Effect of Blend Ration of Quality Characteristics of Bamboo/Cotton Blended Ring Spun Yarn

The present study reveals the comparison of physical properties of the bamboo/cotton blended yarn with similar 100 % cotton yarn. The bamboo-cotton blend ratios of each category of yarn (30s, 40s and 50s) were 67:33, 50:50, and 33:67, respectively. For each individual count of yarn, it was observed from the test result that the properties of 50:50/bamboo: cotton blended yarn showed very nearer property to the 100% cotton yarn. For Count (30s), 67:33/bamboo: cotton showed very closer property to the 50:50/bamboo: cotton blended yarn. It was also observed that for each count of yarns, which showed decreasing property with the increase of bamboo in the blend. The quality characters depend upon the ratio of bamboo and cotton in the blend. Keywords: Blending; Yarns; Bamboo/Cotton ratio; Ring spun yarn; Physical Properties DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3329/diujst.v7i1.9645   Daffodil International University Journal of Science and Technology Vol.7(1) 2012 34-37 </jats:p

Anomalous quadrupole feature in the mixed state of YNi2B2C

We demonstrate the observation of paramagnetic-like anomaly in the mixed state of YNi2B2C crystal from the magnetization measurements for H similar to 20 kOe. In the LuNi2B2C borocarbide superconductor, observation of such an anomaly was explained on the basis of symmetry reorientation transition of the flux line lattice; i.e., transition from square to triangular lattice due to non-local effects. However, a detailed magnetization study on YNi2B2C sample reveals that such a type of paramagnetic anomaly can arise in the magnetization measurements due to the admixture of a signal from quadrupolar moment with that from dipole moment of the mixed state, if the sample is not positioned precisely at the central position in a VSM coil. When we intentionally shifted the sample position from the centering position to preferentially record the quadrupole moment only, we noted that the merging of the forward and the reverse legs of the loop near the superconductor-normal boundary is much better defined in the Q-H measurements, rather than in the M-H measurements. The Q-H plots, thus, provide a more accurate recipe to determine the H-c2 values. We have also examined the timescale disorder experienced by the flux line lattice (FLL) during the field ramping process in isothermal M-H measurements. Our study revealed the existence of non-monotonic dependence of spatial disorder within FLL due to the change in the ramp rate. The field ramp rate acts as an additional source of disorder in the formation of the FLL. (C) 2012 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved

Vortex phase diagrams in R3Rh4Sn13 (R = Yb,Ca)

A comparative study of vortex phase diagrams in two weakly pinned low Tc superconductors, Ca3Rh4Sn13 (CaRhSn) and Yb3Rh4Sn13 (YbRhSn), is presented. In CaRhSn, we can witness a disorder-driven transition via the phenomenon of second magnetization peak whose field-temperature dependence is analogous to that often discussed in the context of a Bragg glass (BG) to vortex glass (VG) transition.© Elsevie

Comparison of thermomagnetic history effects in weakly pinned single crystals of R3Rh4Sn13 (R = Yb, Ca)

A comparative study of the thermomagnetic memory effects of J(c) in two weakly pinned low T-c superconductors, Ca3Rh4Sn13 (CaRhSn) and Yb3Rh4Sn13 (YbRhSn), is presented. In both the systems, the peak effect (PE) phenomenon appears as an order-disorder transformation through stepwise amorphization of the flux line lattice (FLL). However, in CaRhSn, we can witness another disorder-driven transition (Bragg glass (BG) to a vortex glass (VG)) in a distinct manner as in a single crystal of high T, YBa2Cu3O7-delta for Hparallel toc