A comprehensive resource for induced pluripotent stem cells from patients with primary tauopathies

Primary tauopathies are characterized neuropathologically by inclusions containing abnormal forms of the microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT) and clinically by diverse neuropsychiatric, cognitive, and motor impairments. Autosomal dominant mutations in the MAPT gene cause heterogeneous forms of frontotemporal lobar degeneration with tauopathy (FTLD-Tau). Common and rare variants in the MAPT gene increase the risk for sporadic FTLD-Tau, including progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP) and corticobasal degeneration (CBD). We generated a collection of fibroblasts from 140 MAPT mutation/risk variant carriers, PSP, CBD, and cognitively normal controls; 31 induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) lines from MAPT mutation carriers, non-carrier family members, and autopsy-confirmed PSP patients; 33 genome engineered iPSCs that were corrected or mutagenized; and forebrain neural progenitor cells (NPCs). Here, we present a resource of fibroblasts, iPSCs, and NPCs with comprehensive clinical histories that can be accessed by the scientific community for disease modeling and development of novel therapeutics for tauopathies

Measurement of branching fraction and direct CP asymmetry in charmless B+ → K+K−π + decays at Belle

We report a study of the charmless hadronic decay of the charged B meson to the three-body final state K+K−π+. The results are based on a data sample that contains 772×106  B¯B pairs collected at the Υ(4S) resonance with the Belle detector at the KEKB asymmetric-energy e+e− collider. The measured inclusive branching fraction and direct CP asymmetry are (5.38±0.40±0.35)×10−6 and −0.170±0.073±0.017, respectively, where the first uncertainties are statistical and the second are systematic. The K+K− invariant mass distribution of the signal candidates shows an excess in the region below 1.5  GeV/c2, which is consistent with the previous studies from BABAR and LHCb. In addition, strong evidence of a large direct CP asymmetry is found in the low K+K− invariant-mass region

Possible Quantum Spin Liquid States on the Triangular and Kagome Lattices

The frustrated spin-one-half Heisenberg model on triangualr and Kagome Lattices is mapped onto a single specis of fermion carrying statistical flux. The corresponding Chern-Simons gauge theory is analyzed at the Gaussian level and found to be massive. This provides a new motivation for the spin-liquid Kalmeyer-Laughlin wave function. Good overlap of this wave function with the numerical ground state is found for small clusters.Comment: 13 pages, revtex. IUCM-920

Magnetic Reconnection with Sweet-Parker Characteristics in Two-dimensional Laboratory Plasmas

Magnetic reconnection has been experimentally studied in a well-controlled, two-dimensional laboratory magnetohydrodynamic plasma. The observations are found to be both qualitatively and quantitatively consistent with a generalized Sweet-Parker model which incorporates compressibility, downstream pressure, and the effective resistivity. The latter is significantly enhanced over its classical values in the collisionless limit. This generalized Sweet-Parker model also applies to the case in which an unidirectional, sizable third magnetic component is present