Neurofibromin knockdown in glioma cell lines is associated with changes in cytokine and chemokine secretion in vitro.

The neurofibromin-1 tumor suppressor gene (NF1) is altered in approximately 20% of sporadic glioblastoma (GBM) cases. NF1 deficient GBM frequently shows a mesenchymal gene expression signature, suggesting a relationship between NF1 status and the tumor microenvironment. To identify changes in the production of secreted cytokines/chemokines in NF1 deficient glioma, we applied cytokine arrays to conditioned media from a panel of three GBM cell lines after siRNA-mediated NF1 knockdown. We identified increased secretion of platelet-derived growth factor AA (PDGF-AA), chitinase-3-like protein 1 (CHI3L1), interleukin-8 (IL-8), and endoglin (ENG) in different subsets of these cell lines. Secretion was associated with induction of the corresponding messenger RNA, suggesting a mechanism involving transcriptional upregulation. By contrast, in non-transformed immortalized normal human astrocytes, PDGF-AA secretion was increased upon NF1 knockdown, while secreted CHI3L1, ENG, and IL-8 were reduced or unchanged. Analysis of The Cancer Genome Atlas confirmed a relationship between glioma NF1 status and ENG and CHI3L1 in tumor samples. Overall, this study identifies candidate changes in secreted proteins from NF1 deficient glioma cells that could influence the tumor microenvironment, and suggests a direct link between NF1 loss and increased tumor cell production of CHI3L1 and endoglin, two factors implicated in mesenchymal identity in glioblastoma

Designing an effective student evaluation of teaching (SET) questionnaire for cadaveric dissection

Recent changes in curriculum have seen a curtailment in the time devoted to the teaching of gross anatomy, one of the most integral components of medical education. This has resulted in the reduction, and in some cases the elimination of cadaveric dissection, most significantly due to the huge amount of resources involved in conducting a cadaveric dissection program. Nevertheless, cadaveric dissection still comprises a significant part of the time devoted to the teaching of gross anatomy. Hence it is of paramount importance that maximum benefit be derived from cadaveric dissections since it offers unique advantages, most significant being the appreciation of the three-dimensional concepts of body organization. The key part of effective anatomy teaching using cadaveric dissection is having the best instructors for this task. While student evaluation of teaching (SET) questionnaires have been used to evaluate instructor proficiency in lecture classes, there is no SET questionnaire that has been specifically designed for the assessment of instructors involved in cadaveric dissection. The aim of this article is to design a questionnaire specifically for the evaluation of the competency of instructors involved in cadaveric dissection, and reinforce the arguments for the continued use of cadaveric dissection in the teaching of anatomy.

Multi-photon signal in supersymmetry comprising non-pointing photon(s) at the LHC

We study a distinct supersymmetric signal of multi-photons in association with jets and missing transverse energy. At least one of these photons has the origin in displaced vertex, thus delayed and non-pointing. We consider a supersymmetric scenario in which the gravitino is the lightest supersymmetric particle (LSP) (with a mass $\sim 1~{keV}$) and the lightest neutralino is the next-to-lightest supersymmetric particle (NLSP). The NLSP decays dominantly into a photon and a gravitino within the detector with a decay length ranging from $c\tau_{\tilde{\chi}}\sim$ 50-100 cm. In addition, we assume that the second lightest neutralino and the lightest neutralino are nearly degenerate and this leads to a prompt radiative decay of the next-to-lightest neutralino into a photon and a lightest neutralino with a large branching ratio. Such degenerate neutralinos can be realised in various representations of the $SU(5)$, $SO(10)$, and $E(6)$ Grand Unified Theories (GUTs). The non-pointing photons can be reconstructed at the electromagnetic calorimeter of the ATLAS inner-detector, which have been designed with good timing and directional resolution. We find that with a centre-of-mass energy $E_{cm}=14 ~{TeV}$ at an integrated luminosity of 100 $fb^{-1}$ one may see evidence of hundreds of tri-photon events and a few four-photons events at the LHC, in addition to several thousands di-photon events. We also predict the event rates even at the early phase of LHC run.Comment: 10 pages; 6 figure

Resonant Leptogenesis with nonholomorphic R-Parity violation and LHC Phenomenology

In R-parity violating supersymmetric models both leptogenesis and the correct neutrino masses are hard to achieve together. The presence of certain soft nonholomorphic R-parity violating terms helps to resolve this problem. We consider a scenario where the lightest and the second-lightest neutralino are nearly degenerate in mass and enough CP-asymmetry can be produced through resonant leptogenesis. In this model, the lighter chargino and the lightest neutralino are highly degenerate. We have relatively lighter gauginos which can be produced at the LHC leading to heavily ionizing charged tracks. At the same time this model can also generate the correct neutrino mass scale. Thus our scenario is phenomenologically rich and testable at colliders.Comment: 17 pages, 7 figures, Numerical results are improved and new plots are added, Journal version. arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:hep-ph/0006173 by other author

Geometric phases and Wannier functions of Bloch electrons in 1-dimension

We present a formal expression for Wannier functions of composite bands of 1-D Bloch electrons in terms of parallel-transported Bloch functions and their non-Abelian geometric phases. Spatial decay properties of these Wannier functions are studied in the case of simple bands of 1-D model insulator and metal. Within first-principles density functional theory, we illustrate the formalism through the construction of Wannier functions of polyethylene and polyacetylene.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure

Search and analysis of giant radio galaxies with associated nuclei (SAGAN) -- I : New sample and multi-wavelength studies

We present the first results of a project called SAGAN, which is dedicated solely to the studies of relatively rare megaparsec-scale radio galaxies in the Universe, called giant radio galaxies (GRGs). We have identified 162 new GRGs primarily from the NVSS with sizes ranging from ~0.71 Mpc to 2.82 Mpc in the redshift range of ~0.03 - 0.95, of which 23 are hosted by quasars (giant radio quasars, GRQs). As part of the project SAGAN, we have created a database of all known GRGs, the GRG catalogue, from the literature (including our new sample); it includes 820 sources. For the first time, we present the multi-wavelength properties of the largest sample of GRGs. Our results establish that the distributions of the radio spectral index and the black hole mass of GRGs do not differ from the corresponding distributions of normal-sized radio galaxies (RGs). However, GRGs have a lower Eddington ratio (ER) than RGs. Using the mid-infrared data, we classified GRGs in terms of their accretion mode: either a high-power radiatively efficient high-excitation state, or a radiatively inefficient low-excitation state. We find that GRGs in high-excitation state statistically have larger sizes, stronger radio power, jet kinetic power, and higher ER than those in low-excitation state. Our analysis reveals a strong correlation between the ER and the scaled jet kinetic power, which suggests a disc-jet coupling. Our environmental study reveals that ~10% of all GRGs may reside at the centres of galaxy clusters, in a denser galactic environment, while the majority appears to reside in a sparse environment. We find that the probability of BCG as a GRG is quite low. We present new results for GRGs that range from black hole mass to large-scale environment properties. We discuss their formation and growth scenarios, highlighting the key physical factors that cause them to reach their gigantic size. Abridged.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 14 figures, 7 tables and 7 montages. Comments are welcome. "SAGAN Project website https://sites.google.com/site/anantasakyatta/sagan

SAGAN -- III: New insights into giant radio quasars

Giant radio quasars (GRQs) are radio-loud active galactic nuclei (AGNs), propelling megaparsec-scale jets. In order to understand GRQs and their properties, we have compiled all known GRQs ("the GRQ catalogue"), and a subset of small (size <700 kpc) radio quasars (SRQs) from the literature. In this process, we have found 10 new FR-II GRQs, in the redshift range of 0.66 < z < 1.72, which we include in the GRQ catalogue. Using the above samples, we have carried out a systematic comparative study of GRQs and SRQs, using optical and radio data. Our results show that the GRQs and SRQs statistically have similar spectral index and black hole mass distributions. However, SRQs have higher radio core power, core dominance factor, total radio power, jet kinetic power and Eddington ratio compared to GRQs. On the other hand, when compared to giant radio galaxies (GRGs), GRQs have higher black hole mass and Eddington ratio. The high core dominance factor of SRQs is an indicator of them lying closer to the line of sight than GRQs. We also find a correlation of the accretion disc luminosity with the radio core and jet power of GRQs, which provides evidence for disc-jet coupling. Lastly, we find the distributions of Eddington ratios of GRGs and GRQs to be bi-modal, similar to that found in small radio galaxies (SRGs) and SRQs, which indicate that size is not strongly dependent on the accretion state. Using all of these, we provide a basic model for the growth of SRQs to GRQs.Comment: Accepted for publication in Astronomy & Astrophysics. 9 figures, and 2 tables. This is the third paper in the series. Comments are welcome. "SAGAN Project website this http https://sites.google.com/site/anantasakyatta/sagan