2,057 research outputs found
Point Mutation of Hoxd12 in Mice
Purpose: Genes of the HoxD cluster play a major role in vertebrate limb development, and changes that modify the Hoxd12 locus affect other genes also, suggesting that HoxD function is coordinated by a control mechanism involving multiple genes during limb morphogenesis. In this study, mutant phenotypes were produced by treatment of mice with chemical mutagen, N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU). We analyzed mutant mice exhibiting the specific microdactyly phenotype and examined the genes affected. Materials and Methods: We focused on phenotype characteristics including size, bone formation, and digit morphology of ENU-induced microdactyly mice. The expressions of several molecules were analyzed by genome-wide screening and quantitative real-time PCR to define the affected genes. Results: We report on limb phenotypes of an ENU-induced A-to-C mutation in the Hoxd12 gene, resulting in alanine-to-serine conversion. Microdactyly mice exhibited growth defects in the zeugopod and autopod, shortening of digits, a missing tip of digit I, limb growth affected, and dramatic increases in the expressions of Fgf4 and Lmx1b. However, the expression level of Shh was not changed Hoxd12 point mutated mice. Conclusion: These results suggest that point mutation rather than the entire deletion of Hoxd12, such as in knockout and transgenic mice, causes the abnormal limb phenotype in microdactyly mice. The precise nature of the spectrum of differences requires further investigation.link_to_subscribed_fulltex
Comparative analysis of multiple classification models to improve PM10 prediction performance
With the increasing requirement of high accuracy for particulate matter prediction, various attempts have been made to improve prediction accuracy by applying machine learning algorithms. However, the characteristics of particulate matter and the problem of the occurrence rate by concentration make it difficult to train prediction models, resulting in poor prediction. In order to solve this problem, in this paper, we proposed multiple classification models for predicting particulate matter concentrations required for prediction by dividing them into AQI-based classes. We designed multiple classification models using logistic regression, decision tree, SVM and ensemble among the various machine learning algorithms. The comparison results of the performance of the four classification models through error matrices confirmed the f-score of 0.82 or higher for all the models other than the logistic regression model
Observation and Numerical Prediction of 2011 East Japan Tsunami Inpacific Ocean
Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv
Tau functions as Widom constants
We define a tau function for a generic Riemann-Hilbert problem posed on a
union of non-intersecting smooth closed curves with jump matrices analytic in
their neighborhood. The tau function depends on parameters of the jumps and is
expressed as the Fredholm determinant of an integral operator with block
integrable kernel constructed in terms of elementary parametrices. Its
logarithmic derivatives with respect to parameters are given by contour
integrals involving these parametrices and the solution of the Riemann-Hilbert
problem. In the case of one circle, the tau function coincides with Widom's
determinant arising in the asymptotics of block Toeplitz matrices. Our
construction gives the Jimbo-Miwa-Ueno tau function for Riemann-Hilbert
problems of isomonodromic origin (Painlev\'e VI, V, III, Garnier system, etc)
and the Sato-Segal-Wilson tau function for integrable hierarchies such as
Gelfand-Dickey and Drinfeld-Sokolov.Comment: 26 pages, 6 figure
Staphylococcal enterotoxin sensitization in a community-based population : a potential role in adult-onset asthma
Background: Recent studies suggest that Staphylococcus aureus enterotoxin sensitization is a risk factor for asthma. However, there is a paucity of epidemiologic evidence on adult-onset asthma in community-based populations.
Objective: We sought to evaluate the epidemiology and the clinical significance of staphylococcal enterotoxin sensitization in community-based adult populations.
Methods: The present analyses were performed using the baseline data set of Korean adult population surveys, consisting of 1080 adults (mean age=60.2years) recruited from an urban and a rural community. Questionnaires, methacholine challenge tests, and allergen skin tests were performed for defining clinical phenotypes. Sera were analysed for total IgE and enterotoxin-specific IgE using ImmunoCAP.
Results: Staphylococcal enterotoxin sensitization (0.35kU/L) had a prevalence of 27.0%. Risk factors were identified as male sex, current smoking, advanced age (61years), and inhalant allergen sensitization. Current asthma was mostly adult onset (18years old) and showed independent associations with high enterotoxin-specific IgE levels in multivariate logistic regression tests. In multivariate linear regressions, staphylococcal enterotoxin-specific IgE level was identified as the major determinant factor for total IgE level.
Conclusions and Clinical Relevance: Staphylococcal enterotoxin sensitization was independently associated with adult-onset asthma in adult community populations. Strong correlations between the enterotoxin-specific IgE and total IgE levels support the clinical significance. The present findings warrant further studies for the precise roles of staphylococcal enterotoxin sensitization in the asthma pathogenesis
Nematic topological superconducting phase in Nb-doped Bi2Se3
A nematic topological superconductor has an order parameter symmetry, which
spontaneously breaks the crystalline symmetry in its superconducting state.
This state can be observed, for example, by thermodynamic or upper critical
field experiments in which a magnetic field is rotated with respect to the
crystalline axes. The corresponding physical quantity then directly reflects
the symmetry of the order parameter. We present a study on the superconducting
upper critical field of the Nb-doped topological insulator NbxBi2Se3 for
various magnetic field orientations parallel and perpendicular to the basal
plane of the Bi2Se3 layers. The data were obtained by two complementary
experimental techniques, magnetoresistance and DC magnetization, on three
different single crystalline samples of the same batch. Both methods and all
samples show with perfect agreement that the in-plane upper critical fields
clearly demonstrate a two-fold symmetry that breaks the three-fold crystal
symmetry. The two-fold symmetry is also found in the absolute value of the
magnetization of the initial zero-field-cooled branch of the hysteresis loop
and in the value of the thermodynamic contribution above the irreversibility
field, but also in the irreversible properties such as the value of the
characteristic irreversibility field and in the width of the hysteresis loop.
This provides strong experimental evidence that Nb-doped Bi2Se3 is a nematic
topological superconductor similar to the Cu- and Sr-doped Bi2Se3
Microspinning: Local Surface Mixing via Rotation of Magnetic Microparticles for Efficient Small-Volume Bioassays
The need for high-throughput screening has led to the miniaturization of the reaction volume of the chamber in bioassays. As the reactor gets smaller, surface tension dominates the gravitational or inertial force, and mixing efficiency decreases in small-scale reactions. Because passive mixing by simple diffusion in tens of microliter-scale volumes takes a long time, active mixing is needed. Here, we report an efficient micromixing method using magnetically rotating microparticles with patterned magnetization induced by magnetic nanoparticle chains. Because the microparticles have magnetization patterning due to fabrication with magnetic nanoparticle chains, the microparticles can rotate along the external rotating magnetic field, causing micromixing. We validated the reaction efficiency by comparing this micromixing method with other mixing methods such as simple diffusion and the use of a rocking shaker at various working volumes. This method has the potential to be widely utilized in suspension assay technology as an efficient mixing strategy
Observation of a thermoelectric Hall plateau in the extreme quantum limit
The thermoelectric Hall effect is the generation of a transverse heat current
upon applying an electric field in the presence of a magnetic field. Here we
demonstrate that the thermoelectric Hall conductivity in the
three-dimensional Dirac semimetal ZrTe acquires a robust plateau in the
extreme quantum limit of magnetic field. The plateau value is independent of
the field strength, disorder strength, carrier concentration, or carrier sign.
We explain this plateau theoretically and show that it is a unique signature of
three-dimensional Dirac or Weyl electrons in the extreme quantum limit. We
further find that other thermoelectric coefficients, such as the thermopower
and Nernst coefficient, are greatly enhanced over their zero-field values even
at relatively low fields.Comment: 17+21 pages, 3+14 figures; published versio
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