A powerful and efficient multivariate approach for voxel-level connectome-wide association studies

We describe an approach to multivariate analysis, termed structured kernel principal component regression (sKPCR), to identify associations in voxel-level connectomes using resting-state functional magnetic resonance imaging (rsfMRI) data. This powerful and computationally efficient multivariate method can identify voxel-phenotype associations based on the whole-brain connectivity pattern of voxels, and it can detect linear and non-linear signals in both volume-based and surface-based rsfMRI data. For each voxel, sKPCR first extracts low-dimensional signals from the spatially smoothed connectivities by structured kernel principal component analysis, and then tests the voxel-phenotype associations by an adaptive regression model. The method's power is derived from appropriately modelling the spatial structure of the data when performing dimension reduction, and then adaptively choosing an optimal dimension for association testing using the adaptive regression strategy. Simulations based on real connectome data have shown that sKPCR can accurately control the false-positive rate and that it is more powerful than many state-of-the-art approaches, such as the connectivity-wise generalized linear model (GLM) approach, multivariate distance matrix regression (MDMR), adaptive sum of powered score (aSPU) test, and least-square kernel machine (LSKM). Moreover, since sKPCR can reduce the computational cost of non-parametric permutation tests, its computation speed is much faster. To demonstrate the utility of sKPCR for real data analysis, we have also compared sKPCR with the above methods based on the identification of voxel-wise differences between schizophrenic patients and healthy controls in four independent rsfMRI datasets. The results showed that sKPCR had better between-sites reproducibility and a larger proportion of overlap with existing schizophrenia meta-analysis findings. Code for our approach can be downloaded from https://github.com/weikanggong/sKPCR. [Abstract copyright: Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Acceptor plane expansion enhances horizontal orientation of thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitters.

Manipulating orientation of organic emitters remains a formidable challenge in organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Here, expansion of the acceptor plane of thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters was demonstrated to selectively modulate emitting dipole orientation. Two proof-of-the-concept molecules, PXZPyPM and PXZTAZPM, were prepared by introducing a planar 2-phenylpyridine or 2,4,6-triphenyl-1,3,5-triazine substituent into a prototypical molecule (PXZPM) bearing a pyrimidine core and two phenoxazine donors. This design approach suppressed the influence of substituents on electronic structures and associated optoelectronic properties. Accordingly, PXZPyPM and PXZTAZPM preserved almost the same excited states and similar emission characteristics as PXZPM. The expanded acceptor plane of PXZPyPM and PXZTAZPM resulted in a 15 to 18% increase in horizontal ratios of emitting dipole orientation. PXZPyPM supported its green device exhibiting an external quantum efficiency of 33.9% and a power efficiency of 118.9 lumen per watt, competitive with the most efficient green TADF OLEDs reported so far

P-wave Quarkonium Decays to Meson Pairs

The processes of P-wave Quarkonium exclusive decays to two mesons are investigated, in which the final state vector mesons with various polarizations are considered separately. In the calculation, the initial heavy quarkonia are treated in the framework of non-relativistic quantum chromodynamics, whereas for light mesons, the light cone distribution amplitudes up to twist-3 are employed. It turns out that the higher twist contribution is significant and provides a possible explanation for the observation of the hadron helicity selection rule violated processes $\chi_{c1}\rightarrow \phi\phi,\omega\omega$ by the BESIII collaboration in recently. We also evaluate the $\chi_{b1}\to J/\psi J/\psi$ process and find that its branching ratio is big enough to be measured at the B-factories.Comment: more results and discussions adde

Experimental quantum computational chemistry with optimised unitary coupled cluster ansatz

Simulation of quantum chemistry is one of the most promising applications of quantum computing. While recent experimental works have demonstrated the potential of solving electronic structures with variational quantum eigensolver (VQE), the implementations are either restricted to nonscalable (hardware efficient) or classically simulable (Hartree-Fock) ansatz, or limited to a few qubits with large errors for the more accurate unitary coupled cluster (UCC) ansatz. Here, integrating experimental and theoretical advancements of improved operations and dedicated algorithm optimisations, we demonstrate an implementation of VQE with UCC for H_2, LiH, F_2 from 4 to 12 qubits. Combining error mitigation, we produce high-precision results of the ground-state energy with error suppression by around two orders of magnitude. For the first time, we achieve chemical accuracy for H_2 at all bond distances and LiH at small bond distances in the experiment. Our work demonstrates a feasible path towards a scalable solution to electronic structure calculation, validating the key technological features and identifying future challenges for this goal.Comment: 8 pages, 4 figures in the main text, and 29 pages supplementary materials with 16 figure

Inhibitory effects of inhaled complex traditional Chinese medicine on early and late asthmatic responses induced by ovalbumin in sensitized guinea pigs

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Many formulae of traditional Chinese medicines (TCMs) have been used for antiasthma treatment dating back many centuries. There is evidence to suggest that TCMs are effective as a cure for this allergenic disease administered via gastric tubes in animal studies; however, their efficacy, safety and side effects as an asthmatic therapy are still unclear.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>In this study, guinea pigs sensitized with ovalbumin (OVA) were used as an animal model for asthma challenge, and the sensitization of animals by bronchial reactivity to methacholine (Mch) and the IgE concentration in the serum after OVA challenge were estimated. Complex traditional Chinese herbs (CTCM) were administered to the animals by nebulization, and the leukocytes were evaluated from bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The results showed that inhalation of CTCM could abolish the increased lung resistance (13-fold increase) induced by challenge with OVA in the early asthmatic response (EAR), reducing to as low as baseline (1-fold). Moreover, our results indicated higher IgE levels (range, 78-83 ng/ml) in the serum of sensitized guinea pigs than in the unsensitized controls (0.9 ± 0.256 ng/ml). In addition, increased total leukocytes and higher levels of eosinophils and neutrophils were seen 6 hours after challenge, and the increased inflammatory cells were reduced by treatment with CTCM inhalation. The interleukin-5 (IL-5) level in BALF was also reduced by CTCM.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our findings indicate a novel method of administering traditional Chinese medicines for asthma treatment in an animal model that may be more effective than traditional methods.</p

The Hepatitis B Virus Ribonuclease H Is Sensitive to Inhibitors of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus Ribonuclease H and Integrase Enzymes

Nucleos(t)ide analog therapy blocks DNA synthesis by the hepatitis B virus (HBV) reverse transcriptase and can control the infection, but treatment is life-long and has high costs and unpredictable long-term side effects. The profound suppression of HBV by the nucleos(t)ide analogs and their ability to cure some patients indicates that they can push HBV to the brink of extinction. Consequently, more patients could be cured by suppressing HBV replication further using a new drug in combination with the nucleos(t)ide analogs. The HBV ribonuclease H (RNAseH) is a logical drug target because it is the second of only two viral enzymes that are essential for viral replication, but it has not been exploited, primarily because it is very difficult to produce active enzyme. To address this difficulty, we expressed HBV genotype D and H RNAseHs in E. coli and enriched the enzymes by nickel-affinity chromatography. HBV RNAseH activity in the enriched lysates was characterized in preparation for drug screening. Twenty-one candidate HBV RNAseH inhibitors were identified using chemical structure-activity analyses based on inhibitors of the HIV RNAseH and integrase. Twelve anti-RNAseH and anti-integrase compounds inhibited the HBV RNAseH at 10 μM, the best compounds had low micromolar IC50 values against the RNAseH, and one compound inhibited HBV replication in tissue culture at 10 μM. Recombinant HBV genotype D RNAseH was more sensitive to inhibition than genotype H. This study demonstrates that recombinant HBV RNAseH suitable for low-throughput antiviral drug screening has been produced. The high percentage of compounds developed against the HIV RNAseH and integrase that were active against the HBV RNAseH indicates that the extensive drug design efforts against these HIV enzymes can guide anti-HBV RNAseH drug discovery. Finally, differential inhibition of HBV genotype D and H RNAseHs indicates that viral genetic variability will be a factor during drug development. © 2013 Tavis et al

Heavy quarkonium: progress, puzzles, and opportunities

A golden age for heavy quarkonium physics dawned a decade ago, initiated by the confluence of exciting advances in quantum chromodynamics (QCD) and an explosion of related experimental activity. The early years of this period were chronicled in the Quarkonium Working Group (QWG) CERN Yellow Report (YR) in 2004, which presented a comprehensive review of the status of the field at that time and provided specific recommendations for further progress. However, the broad spectrum of subsequent breakthroughs, surprises, and continuing puzzles could only be partially anticipated. Since the release of the YR, the BESII program concluded only to give birth to BESIII; the $B$-factories and CLEO-c flourished; quarkonium production and polarization measurements at HERA and the Tevatron matured; and heavy-ion collisions at RHIC have opened a window on the deconfinement regime. All these experiments leave legacies of quality, precision, and unsolved mysteries for quarkonium physics, and therefore beg for continuing investigations. The plethora of newly-found quarkonium-like states unleashed a flood of theoretical investigations into new forms of matter such as quark-gluon hybrids, mesonic molecules, and tetraquarks. Measurements of the spectroscopy, decays, production, and in-medium behavior of c\bar{c}, b\bar{b}, and b\bar{c} bound states have been shown to validate some theoretical approaches to QCD and highlight lack of quantitative success for others. The intriguing details of quarkonium suppression in heavy-ion collisions that have emerged from RHIC have elevated the importance of separating hot- and cold-nuclear-matter effects in quark-gluon plasma studies. This review systematically addresses all these matters and concludes by prioritizing directions for ongoing and future efforts.Comment: 182 pages, 112 figures. Editors: N. Brambilla, S. Eidelman, B. K. Heltsley, R. Vogt. Section Coordinators: G. T. Bodwin, E. Eichten, A. D. Frawley, A. B. Meyer, R. E. Mitchell, V. Papadimitriou, P. Petreczky, A. A. Petrov, P. Robbe, A. Vair

A multi-targeted approach to suppress tumor-promoting inflammation

Cancers harbor significant genetic heterogeneity and patterns of relapse following many therapies are due to evolved resistance to treatment. While efforts have been made to combine targeted therapies, significant levels of toxicity have stymied efforts to effectively treat cancer with multi-drug combinations using currently approved therapeutics. We discuss the relationship between tumor-promoting inflammation and cancer as part of a larger effort to develop a broad-spectrum therapeutic approach aimed at a wide range of targets to address this heterogeneity. Specifically, macrophage migration inhibitory factor, cyclooxygenase-2, transcription factor nuclear factor-κB, tumor necrosis factor alpha, inducible nitric oxide synthase, protein kinase B, and CXC chemokines are reviewed as important antiinflammatory targets while curcumin, resveratrol, epigallocatechin gallate, genistein, lycopene, and anthocyanins are reviewed as low-cost, low toxicity means by which these targets might all be reached simultaneously. Future translational work will need to assess the resulting synergies of rationally designed antiinflammatory mixtures (employing low-toxicity constituents), and then combine this with similar approaches targeting the most important pathways across the range of cancer hallmark phenotypes

The Fourteenth Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey: First Spectroscopic Data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey and from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory Galactic Evolution Experiment

The fourth generation of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS-IV) has been in operation since July 2014. This paper describes the second data release from this phase, and the fourteenth from SDSS overall (making this, Data Release Fourteen or DR14). This release makes public data taken by SDSS-IV in its first two years of operation (July 2014-2016). Like all previous SDSS releases, DR14 is cumulative, including the most recent reductions and calibrations of all data taken by SDSS since the first phase began operations in 2000. New in DR14 is the first public release of data from the extended Baryon Oscillation Spectroscopic Survey (eBOSS); the first data from the second phase of the Apache Point Observatory (APO) Galactic Evolution Experiment (APOGEE-2), including stellar parameter estimates from an innovative data driven machine learning algorithm known as "The Cannon"; and almost twice as many data cubes from the Mapping Nearby Galaxies at APO (MaNGA) survey as were in the previous release (N = 2812 in total). This paper describes the location and format of the publicly available data from SDSS-IV surveys. We provide references to the important technical papers describing how these data have been taken (both targeting and observation details) and processed for scientific use. The SDSS website (www.sdss.org) has been updated for this release, and provides links to data downloads, as well as tutorials and examples of data use. SDSS-IV is planning to continue to collect astronomical data until 2020, and will be followed by SDSS-V.Comment: SDSS-IV collaboration alphabetical author data release paper. DR14 happened on 31st July 2017. 19 pages, 5 figures. Accepted by ApJS on 28th Nov 2017 (this is the "post-print" and "post-proofs" version; minor corrections only from v1, and most of errors found in proofs corrected