5,332 research outputs found
Evaluation of the Graduate Leader Fund: Factors relating to quality: findings from the baseline study
This is the final version of the report. Available from the Department for Education via the link in this record.
Reinterpretation and Long-Term Preservation of Data and Code
Careful preservation of experimental data, simulations, analysis products,
and theoretical work maximizes their long-term scientific return on investment
by enabling new analyses and reinterpretation of the results in the future. Key
infrastructure and technical developments needed for some high-value science
targets are not in scope for the operations program of the large experiments
and are often not effectively funded. Increasingly, the science goals of our
projects require contributions that span the boundaries between individual
experiments and surveys, and between the theoretical and experimental
communities. Furthermore, the computational requirements and technical
sophistication of this work is increasing. As a result, it is imperative that
the funding agencies create programs that can devote significant resources to
these efforts outside of the context of the operations of individual major
experiments, including smaller experiments and theory/simulation work. In this
Snowmass 2021 Computational Frontier topical group report (CompF7:
Reinterpretation and long-term preservation of data and code), we summarize the
current state of the field and make recommendations for the future.Comment: Snowmass 2021 Computational Frontier CompF7 Reinterpretation and
long-term preservation of data and code topical group repor
High-Throughput Molecular Cancer Cell Line Characterization Using Digital Multiplex Ligation-Dependent Probe Amplification for Improved Standardization of in Vitro Research.
Tumor cell lines are widely used for cancer research, but challenges regarding quality control of cell line identity, cross contamination, and tumor somatic molecular stability remain, demanding novel approaches beyond conventional short tandem repeat profiling. A total of 21 commonly used multiple myeloma cell lines obtained from public repositories were analyzed by digital multiplex ligation-dependent probe amplification (digitalMLPA) to characterize germline single-nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions/deletions, and somatic copy number aberrations (CNAs). Using generated profiles and an in-house developed analytical pipeline, blinded experiments were performed to determine capability of digitalMLPA to predict cell line identity and potential spike-in DNA contamination in 41 anonymized cell line samples. The dominant cell line was correctly identified in all cases, and cross contamination was correctly detected in 33 of 37 samples with spike-in DNA; there were no false-positive predictions. The four samples in which spike in was not detected all carried low levels of contamination (1%), whereas levels of contamination ≥5% were correctly identified in all cases. Unsupervised clustering of CNA profiles identified shared commonalities that correlated with initiating Ig heavy locus translocation events. Longitudinal CNA assessment of nine cell lines revealed changes under standard culturing conditions not detected by insertion/deletion profiling alone. Results suggest that digitalMLPA can be utilized as a high-throughput tool for advanced quality assurance for in vitro cancer research
Role of Asian summer monsoon subsystems in the inter-hemispheric progression of deglaciation
The responses of Asian monsoon subsystems to both hemispheric climate forcing and external orbital forcing are currently issues of vigorous debate. The Indian summer monsoon is the dominant monsoon subsystem in terms of energy flux, constituting one of Earth’s most dynamic expressions of ocean–atmosphere interactions. Yet, the Indian summer monsoon is grossly under-represented in Asian monsoon palaeoclimate records. Here, we present high-resolution records of Indian summer monsoon- induced rainfall and fluvial runoff recovered in a sediment core from the Bay of Bengal across Termination II, 139–127 thousand years ago, including coupled measurements of the oxygen isotopic composition and Mg/Ca, Mn/Ca, Nd/Ca and U/Ca ratios in surface-ocean-dwelling foraminifera. Our data reveal a millennial-scale transient strengthening of the Asian monsoon that punctuates Termination II associated with an oscillation of the bipolar seesaw. The progression of deglacial warming across Termination II emerges first in the Southern Hemisphere, then the tropics in tandem with Indian summer monsoon strengthening, and finally the Northern Hemisphere. We therefore suggest that the Indian summer monsoon was a conduit for conveying Southern Hemisphere latent heat northwards, thereby promoting subsequent Northern Hemisphere deglaciation
Seasonal variation in hospital encounters with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia
Aim To assess whether rates of hospital encounters with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia display seasonal variation.
Methods Time series analyses of the monthly rates of hospital encounters (emergency room visits or inpatient admissions) with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia from 2003 to 2012 using linked healthcare databases in Ontario, Canada.
Results Over the study period, there were 129 887 hypoglycaemia and 79 773 hyperglycaemia encounters. The characteristics of people at the time of their encounters were similar across the seasons in 2008 (median age 68 years for hypoglycaemia encounters and 53 years for hyperglycaemia encounters; 50% female; 90% with diabetes). We observed moderate seasonality in both types of encounters (R2 autoregression coefficient 0.58 for hypoglycaemia; 0.59 for hyperglycaemia). The rate of hypoglycaemia encounters appeared to peak between April and June, when on average, there was an additional 49 encounters per month (0.36 encounters per 100 000 persons per month) compared with the other calendar months (5% increase). The rate of hyperglycaemia encounters appeared to peak in January, when on average, there was an additional 69 encounters per month (0.50 encounters per 100 000 persons per month) compared with the other calendar months (11% increase).
Conclusions In our region, there is seasonal variation in the rate of hospital encounters with hypoglycaemia and hyperglycaemia. Our findings may help to highlight periods of vulnerability for people, may inform future epidemiological studies and may aid in the appropriate planning of healthcare resources
A label-free, quantitative assay of amyloid fibril growth based on intrinsic fluorescence.
Kinetic assay of seeded growth: The graph shows the variation in intrinsic fluorescence intensity of amyloid fibrils. Fluorescence increases during the seeded aggregation of α-synuclein seeds with α-synuclein monomeric protein (blue curve) but not when α-synuclein seeds are incubated with β-synuclein monomeric protein (black curve), thus showing that no seeded growth occurred in this case
The stellar population histories of early-type galaxies. III. The Coma Cluster
We present stellar population parameters of twelve early-type galaxies (ETGs)
in the Coma Cluster based on spectra obtained using the Low Resolution Imaging
Spectrograph on the Keck II Telescope. Our data allow us to examine in detail
the zero-point and scatter in their stellar population properties. Our ETGs
have SSP-equivalent ages of on average 5-8 Gyr with the models used here, with
the oldest galaxies having ages of ~10 Gyr old. This average age is identical
to the mean age of field ETGs. Our ETGs span a large range in velocity
dispersion but are consistent with being drawn from a population with a single
age. Specifically, ten of the twelve ETGs are consistent within their formal
errors of having the same age, 5.2+/-0.2 Gyr, over a factor of more than 750 in
mass. We therefore find no evidence for downsizing of the stellar populations
of ETGs in the core of the Coma Cluster. We suggest that Coma Cluster ETGs may
have formed the majority of their mass at high redshifts but suffered small but
detectable star formation events at z~0.1-0.3. Previous detections of
'downsizing' from stellar populations of local ETGs may not reflect the same
downsizing seen in lookback studies of RSGs, as the young ages of the local
ETGs represent only a small fraction of their total masses. (abridged)Comment: 49 pages, 20 figures (19 EPS, 1 JPEG). MNRAS, in press. For version
with full resolution of Fig. 1 see
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~sctrager/coma.pdf; for Table 2, see
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~sctrager/coma_table2.pdf; for Table B3, see
http://www.astro.rug.nl/~sctrager/coma_tableB3.pd
Paramagnetic GaN:Fe and ferromagnetic (Ga,Fe)N - relation between structural, electronic, and magnetic properties
We report on the metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) of GaN:Fe and
(Ga,Fe)N layers on c-sapphire substrates and their thorough characterization
via high-resolution x-ray diffraction (HRXRD), transmission electron microscopy
(TEM), spatially-resolved energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS),
secondary-ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS), photoluminescence (PL), Hall-effect,
electron-paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and magnetometry employing a
superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID). A combination of TEM and
EDS reveals the presence of coherent nanocrystals presumably FexN with the
composition and lattice parameter imposed by the host. From both TEM and SIMS
studies, it is stated that the density of nanocrystals and, thus the Fe
concentration increases towards the surface. In layers with iron content x<0.4%
the presence of ferromagnetic signatures, such as magnetization hysteresis and
spontaneous magnetization, have been detected. We link the presence of
ferromagnetic signatures to the formation of Fe-rich nanocrystals, as evidenced
by TEM and EDS studies. This interpretation is supported by magnetization
measurements after cooling in- and without an external magnetic field, pointing
to superparamagnetic properties of the system. It is argued that the high
temperature ferromagnetic response due to spinodal decomposition into regions
with small and large concentration of the magnetic component is a generic
property of diluted magnetic semiconductors and diluted magnetic oxides showing
high apparent Curie temperature.Comment: 21 pages, 30 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.
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