NFAT5 genes are part of the osmotic regulatory system in Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar)

Acknowledgements This study was supported by a grant from the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC, BB/H008063/1), UK to DGH and SAM. Funding also came from Research Council Norway for project number 241016 for DGH and EJ. This work was carried out as part of a PhD thesis funded by the Marine Alliance of Science and Technology Scotland (MASTS).Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Bifurcated polarization rotation in bismuth-based piezoelectrics

ABO3 perovskite-type solid solutions display a large variety of structural and physical properties, which can be tuned by chemical composition or external parameters such as temperature, pressure, strain, electric, or magnetic fields. Some solid solutions show remarkably enhanced physical properties including colossal magnetoresistance or giant piezoelectricity. It has been recognized that structural distortions, competing on the local level, are key to understanding and tuning these remarkable properties, yet, it remains a challenge to experimentally observe such local structural details. Here, from neutron pair-distribution analysis, a temperature-dependent 3D atomic-level model of the lead-free piezoelectric perovskite Na0.5Bi0.5TiO3 (NBT) is reported. The statistical analysis of this model shows how local distortions compete, how this competition develops with temperature, and, in particular, how different polar displacements of Bi3+ cations coexist as a bifurcated polarization, highlighting the interest of Bi-based materials in the search for new lead-free piezoelectrics

Analysis of photothermal release of Oligonucleotides from hollow Gold nanospheres by surface enhanced raman scattering (SERS)

The photothermal release of single stranded DNA (ssDNA) from the surface of gold nanoparticles of different shapes and sizes is a promising mode of delivering DNA for gene-therapy applications. Here, we demonstrate the first targeted photothermal release of ssDNA from hollow gold nanospheres (HGNs) and analyse the release of the ssDNA using quantitative surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). The HGNs used demonstrate a tunable localized surface plasmon resonance (LSPR) frequency while maintaining size consistency, allowing for selective ssDNA release based on matching the excitation frequency to the plasmon resonance. It is shown that HGNs with resonances at 760 and HGN 670 nm release significant amounts of ssDNA when excited via 785 nm and 640 nm lasers respectively. When excited with a wavelength far from the LSPR of the particles, the ssDNA release is negligible. This is the first demonstration of SERS to analyze the amount of ssDNA photothermally released from the surface of HGNs. In contrast to traditional fluorescence measurements, this SERS based approach provides quantitatively robust data for analysis of ssDNA release and lays a strong foundation for future studies exploiting plasmonically induced ssDNA release

The Persistent Southern Disadvantage in Us Early Life Mortality, 1965‒2014

Background: Recent studies of US adult mortality demonstrate a growing disadvantage among southern states. Few studies have examined long-term trends and geographic patterns in US early life (ages 1 to 24) mortality, ages at which key risk factors and causes of death are quite different than among adults. Objective: This article examines trends and variations in early life mortality rates across US states and census divisions. We assess whether those variations have changed over a 50-year time period and which causes of death contribute to contemporary geographic disparities. Methods: We calculate all-cause and cause-specific death rates using death certificate data from the Multiple Cause of Death files, combining public-use files from 1965‒2004 and restricted data with state geographic identifiers from 2005‒2014. State population (denominator) data come from US decennial censuses or intercensal estimates. Results: Results demonstrate a persistent mortality disadvantage for young people (ages 1 to 24) living in southern states over the last 50 years, particularly those located in the East South Central and West South Central divisions. Motor vehicle accidents and homicide by firearm account for most of the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality. Contribution: Our results illustrate that US children and youth living in the southern United States have long suffered from higher levels of mortality than children and youth living in other parts of the country. Our findings also suggest the contemporary southern disadvantage in US early life mortality could potentially be reduced with state-level policies designed to prevent deaths involving motor vehicles and firearms

Distinct Volume Subsets

Suppose that a and d are positive integers with a ≥ 2. Let h[subscript a,d](n) be the largest integer t such that any set of n points in R[superscript d] contains a subset of t points for which all the nonzero volumes of the ([t over a]) subsets of order a are distinct. Beginning with Erdos in 1957, the function h[subscript 2,d](n) has been closely studied and is known to be at least a power of n. We improve the best known bound for h[subscript 2,d](n) and show that h[subscript a,d](n) is at least a power of n for all a and d.David & Lucile Packard Foundation (Fellowship)Simons Foundation (Fellowship)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (Grant DMS-1069197)Alfred P. Sloan Foundation (Fellowship)NEC Corporation (MIT Award