MuSR method and tomographic probability representation of spin states

Muon spin rotation/relaxation/resonance (MuSR) technique for studying matter structures is considered by means of a recently introduced probability representation of quantum spin states. A relation between experimental MuSR histograms and muon spin tomograms is established. Time evolution of muonium, anomalous muonium, and a muonium-like system is studied in the tomographic representation. Entanglement phenomenon of a bipartite muon-electron system is investigated via tomographic analogues of Bell number and positive partial transpose (PPT) criterion. Reconstruction of the muon-electron spin state as well as the total spin tomography of composed system is discussed.Comment: 20 pages, 4 figures, LaTeX, submitted to Journal of Russian Laser Researc

Pica and refractory iron deficiency anaemia: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Iron deficiency is the most common cause of anaemia worldwide. Pica, the ingestion of substances that are inappropriate for consumption, is associated with iron deficiency and may be under-diagnosed. CASE PRESENTATION: A 34-year-old woman presented with iron deficiency anaemia refractory to treatment for more than a decade. The clinical presentation, endoscopic findings and laboratory investigations were consistent with pica. Subsequent geophysical analysis confirmed that the ingested material was kaolin, a negatively charged silicate. CONCLUSION: Prolonged unexplained iron deficiency anaemia should prompt clinicians to remember and inquire about pica. In our patient, this would have averted numerous unnecessary investigations and prevented a decade-long suffering

Timescales of Massive Human Entrainment

The past two decades have seen an upsurge of interest in the collective behaviors of complex systems composed of many agents entrained to each other and to external events. In this paper, we extend concepts of entrainment to the dynamics of human collective attention. We conducted a detailed investigation of the unfolding of human entrainment - as expressed by the content and patterns of hundreds of thousands of messages on Twitter - during the 2012 US presidential debates. By time locking these data sources, we quantify the impact of the unfolding debate on human attention. We show that collective social behavior covaries second-by-second to the interactional dynamics of the debates: A candidate speaking induces rapid increases in mentions of his name on social media and decreases in mentions of the other candidate. Moreover, interruptions by an interlocutor increase the attention received. We also highlight a distinct time scale for the impact of salient moments in the debate: Mentions in social media start within 5-10 seconds after the moment; peak at approximately one minute; and slowly decay in a consistent fashion across well-known events during the debates. Finally, we show that public attention after an initial burst slowly decays through the course of the debates. Thus we demonstrate that large-scale human entrainment may hold across a number of distinct scales, in an exquisitely time-locked fashion. The methods and results pave the way for careful study of the dynamics and mechanisms of large-scale human entrainment.Comment: 20 pages, 7 figures, 6 tables, 4 supplementary figures. 2nd version revised according to peer reviewers' comments: more detailed explanation of the methods, and grounding of the hypothese

Determining the neurotransmitter concentration profile at active synapses

Establishing the temporal and concentration profiles of neurotransmitters during synaptic release is an essential step towards understanding the basic properties of inter-neuronal communication in the central nervous system. A variety of ingenious attempts has been made to gain insights into this process, but the general inaccessibility of central synapses, intrinsic limitations of the techniques used, and natural variety of different synaptic environments have hindered a comprehensive description of this fundamental phenomenon. Here, we describe a number of experimental and theoretical findings that has been instrumental for advancing our knowledge of various features of neurotransmitter release, as well as newly developed tools that could overcome some limits of traditional pharmacological approaches and bring new impetus to the description of the complex mechanisms of synaptic transmission

AYUMS: an algorithm for completely automatic quantitation based on LC-MS/MS proteome data and its application to the analysis of signal transduction

BACKGROUND: Comprehensive description of the behavior of cellular components in a quantitative manner is essential for systematic understanding of biological events. Recent LC-MS/MS (tandem mass spectrometry coupled with liquid chromatography) technology, in combination with the SILAC (Stable Isotope Labeling by Amino acids in Cell culture) method, has enabled us to make relative quantitation at the proteome level. The recent report by Blagoev et al. (Nat. Biotechnol., 22, 1139–1145, 2004) indicated that this method was also applicable for the time-course analysis of cellular signaling events. Relative quatitation can easily be performed by calculating the ratio of peak intensities corresponding to differentially labeled peptides in the MS spectrum. As currently available software requires some GUI applications and is time-consuming, it is not suitable for processing large-scale proteome data. RESULTS: To resolve this difficulty, we developed an algorithm that automatically detects the peaks in each spectrum. Using this algorithm, we developed a software tool named AYUMS that automatically identifies the peaks corresponding to differentially labeled peptides, compares these peaks, calculates each of the peak ratios in mixed samples, and integrates them into one data sheet. This software has enabled us to dramatically save time for generation of the final report. CONCLUSION: AYUMS is a useful software tool for comprehensive quantitation of the proteome data generated by LC-MS/MS analysis. This software was developed using Java and runs on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. Please contact [email protected] if you are interested in the application. The project web page is

Molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the evolution of form and function in the amniote jaw.

The amniote jaw complex is a remarkable amalgamation of derivatives from distinct embryonic cell lineages. During development, the cells in these lineages experience concerted movements, migrations, and signaling interactions that take them from their initial origins to their final destinations and imbue their derivatives with aspects of form including their axial orientation, anatomical identity, size, and shape. Perturbations along the way can produce defects and disease, but also generate the variation necessary for jaw evolution and adaptation. We focus on molecular and cellular mechanisms that regulate form in the amniote jaw complex, and that enable structural and functional integration. Special emphasis is placed on the role of cranial neural crest mesenchyme (NCM) during the species-specific patterning of bone, cartilage, tendon, muscle, and other jaw tissues. We also address the effects of biomechanical forces during jaw development and discuss ways in which certain molecular and cellular responses add adaptive and evolutionary plasticity to jaw morphology. Overall, we highlight how variation in molecular and cellular programs can promote the phenomenal diversity and functional morphology achieved during amniote jaw evolution or lead to the range of jaw defects and disease that affect the human condition

KIAA0101 Is Overexpressed, and Promotes Growth and Invasion in Adrenal Cancer

Background: KIAA0101 is a proliferating cell nuclear antigen-associated factor that is overexpressed in some human malignancies. Adrenocortical neoplasm is one of the most common human neoplasms for which the molecular causes are poorly understood. Moreover, it is difficult to distinguish between localized benign and malignant adrenocortical tumors. For these reasons, we studied the expression, function and possible mechanism of dysregulation of KIAA0101 in human adrenocortical neoplasm. Methodology/Principal Findings: KIAA0101 mRNA and protein expression levels were determined in 112 adrenocortical tissue samples (21 normal adrenal cortex, 80 benign adrenocortical tumors, and 11 adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC). SiRNA knockdown was used to determine the functional role of KIAA0101 on cell proliferation, cell cycle, apoptosis, soft agar anchorage independent growth and invasion in the ACC cell line, NCI-H295R. In addition, we explored the mechanism of KIAA0101 dysregulation by examining the mutational status. KIAA0101 mRNA (9.7 fold) and protein expression were significantly higher in ACC (p,0.0001). KIAA0101 had sparse protein expression in only a few normal adrenal cortex samples, which was confined to adrenocortical progenitor cells. KIAA0101 expression levels were 84 % accurate for distinguishing between ACC and normal and benign adrenocortical tumor samples. Knockdown of KIAA0101 gene expression significantly decreased anchorage independent growth by 80 % and invasion by 60 % (p = 0.001; p = 0.006). W