Biomarkers for Aging

A statistical and functional correlation strategy to identify changes in cellular pathways specifically linked to impaired cognitive function with aging. Analyses using the strategy identified multiple groups of genes expressed in the hippocampi of mammals, where the genes were expressed at different levels for several ages. The aging changes in expression began before mid-life. Many of the genes were involved in specific neuronal and glial pathways with previously unrecognized relationships to aging and/or cognitive decline. These identified genes and the proteins they encode can be used as novel biomarkers of brain aging and as targets for developing treatment methods against age-related cognitive decline, Alzheimer\u27s Disease and Parkinson\u27s Disease

Boilerplate and Party Intent

In this work we examined optical and defect properties of as-grown and Ni-coated ZnO nanowires (NWs) grown by rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition by means of optically detected magnetic resonance (ODMR). Several grown-in defects are revealed by monitoring visible photoluminescence (PL) emissions and are attributed to Zn vacancies, O vacancies, a shallow (but not effective mass) donor and exchange-coupled pairs of a Zn vacancy and a Zn interstitial. It is also found that the same ODMR signals are detected in the as-grown and Ni-coated NWs, indicating that metal coatings does not significantly affect formation of the aforementioned defects and that the observed defects are located in the bulk of the NWs

Coulomb interactions at quantum Hall critical points of systems in a periodic potential

We study the consequences of long-range Coulomb interactions at the critical points between integer/fractional quantum Hall states and an insulator. We use low energy theories for such transitions in anyon gases in the presence of an external periodic potential. We find that Coulomb interactions are marginally irrelevant for the integer quantum Hall case. For the fractional case, depending upon the anyon statistics parameter, we find behavior similar to the integer case, or flow to a novel line of fixed points with exponents $z=1$, $\nu > 1$ stable against weak disorder in the position of the critical point, or run-away flow to strong coupling.Comment: 12 pages, REVTEX, 1 figur

Ferromagnetism in Diluted Magnetic Semiconductor Heterojunction Systems

Diluted magnetic semiconductors (DMSs), in which magnetic elements are substituted for a small fraction of host elements in a semiconductor lattice, can become ferromagnetic when doped. In this article we discuss the physics of DMS ferromagnetism in systems with semiconductor heterojunctions. We focus on the mechanism that cause magnetic and magnetoresistive properties to depend on doping profiles, defect distributions, gate voltage, and other system parameters that can in principle be engineered to yield desired results.Comment: 12 pages, 7 figures, review, special issue of Semicon. Sci. Technol. on semiconductor spintronic

The effects of weak disorders on Quantum Hall critical points

We study the consequences of random mass, random scalar potential and random vector potential on the line of clean fixed points between integer/fractional quantum Hall states and an insulator. This line of fixed points was first identified in a clean Dirac fermion system with both Chern-Simon coupling and Coulomb interaction in Phys. Rev. Lett. {\bf 80}, 5409 (1998). By performing a Renormalization Group analysis in 1/N (N is the No. of species of Dirac fermions) and the variances of three disorders $\Delta_{M}, \Delta_{V}, \Delta_{A}$, we find that $\Delta_{M}$ is irrelevant along this line, both $\Delta_{A}$ and $\Delta_{V}$ are marginal. With the presence of all the three disorders, the pure fixed line is unstable. Setting Chern-Simon interaction to zero, we find one non-trivial line of fixed points in $(\Delta_{A}, w)$ plane with dynamic exponent z=1 and continuously changing $\nu$, it is stable against small $(\Delta_{M},\Delta_{V})$ in a small range of the line $1< w < 1.31$, therefore it may be relevant to integer quantum Hall transition. Setting $\Delta_{M} =0$, we find a fixed plane with z=1, the part of this plane with $\nu > 1$ is stable against small $\Delta_{M}$, therefore it may be relevant to fractional quantum Hall transition.Comment: 16 pages, 19 figure

Spin- and charge-density waves in the Hartree-Fock ground state of the two-dimensional Hubbard model

The ground states of the two-dimensional repulsive Hubbard model are studied within the unrestricted Hartree-Fock (UHF) theory. Magnetic and charge properties are determined by systematic, large-scale, exact numerical calculations, and quantified as a function of electron doping $h$. In the solution of the self-consistent UHF equations, multiple initial configurations and simulated annealing are used to facilitate convergence to the global minimum. New approaches are employed to minimize finite-size effects in order to reach the thermodynamic limit. At low to moderate interacting strengths and low doping, the UHF ground state is a linear spin-density wave (l-SDW), with antiferromagnetic order and a modulating wave. The wavelength of the modulating wave is $2/h$. Corresponding charge order exists but is substantially weaker than the spin order, hence holes are mobile. As the interaction is increased, the l-SDW states evolves into several different phases, with the holes eventually becoming localized. A simple pairing model is presented with analytic calculations for low interaction strength and small doping, to help understand the numerical results and provide a physical picture for the properties of the SDW ground state. By comparison with recent many-body calculations, it is shown that, for intermediate interactions, the UHF solution provides a good description of the magnetic correlations in the true ground state of the Hubbard model.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figure, 0 table

Selective production of hydrogen peroxide and oxidation of hydrogen sulfide in an unbiased solar photoelectrochemical cell

A solar-to-chemical conversion process is demonstrated using a photoelectrochemical cell without external bias for selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) to produce hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and sulfur (S). The process integrates two redox couples anthraquinone/anthrahydroquinone and I−/I3−, and conceptually illustrates the remediation of a waste product for producing valuable chemicals

Gene Essentiality Profiling Reveals Gene Networks and Synthetic Lethal Interactions with Oncogenic Ras

The genetic dependencies of human cancers widely vary. Here, we catalog this heterogeneity and use it to identify functional gene interactions and genotype-dependent liabilities in cancer. By using genome-wide CRISPR-based screens, we generate a gene essentiality dataset across 14 human acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cell lines. Sets of genes with correlated patterns of essentiality across the lines reveal new gene relationships, the essential substrates of enzymes, and the molecular functions of uncharacterized proteins. Comparisons of differentially essential genes between Ras-dependent and -independent lines uncover synthetic lethal partners of oncogenic Ras. Screens in both human AML and engineered mouse pro-B cells converge on a surprisingly small number of genes in the Ras processing and MAPK pathways and pinpoint PREX1 as an AML-specific activator of MAPK signaling. Our findings suggest general strategies for defining mammalian gene networks and synthetic lethal interactions by exploiting the natural genetic and epigenetic diversity of human cancer cells. Keywords: CRISPR; AML; synthetic lethality; gene networks; RAS; genetic screensNational Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant CA103866)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant F31CA189437

Ectopy on a single 12‐lead ECG, incident cardiac myopathy, and death in the community

BackgroundAtrial fibrillation and heart failure are 2 of the most common diseases, yet ready means to identify individuals at risk are lacking. The 12-lead ECG is one of the most accessible tests in medicine. Our objective was to determine whether a premature atrial contraction observed on a standard 12-lead ECG would predict atrial fibrillation and mortality and whether a premature ventricular contraction would predict heart failure and mortality.Methods and resultsWe utilized the CHS (Cardiovascular Health) Study, which followed 5577 participants for a median of 12&nbsp;years, as the primary cohort. The ARIC (Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study), the replication cohort, captured data from 15&nbsp;792 participants over a median of 22&nbsp;years. In the CHS, multivariable analyses revealed that a baseline 12-lead ECG premature atrial contraction predicted a 60% increased risk of atrial fibrillation (hazard ratio, 1.6; 95% CI, 1.3-2.0; P&lt;0.001) and a premature ventricular contraction predicted a 30% increased risk of heart failure (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.0-1.6; P=0.021). In the negative control analyses, neither predicted incident myocardial infarction. A premature atrial contraction was associated with a 30% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.3; 95% CI, 1.1-1.5; P=0.008) and a premature ventricular contraction was associated with a 20% increased risk of death (hazard ratio, 1.2; 95% CI, 1.0-1.3; P=0.044). Similarly statistically significant results for each analysis were also observed in ARIC.ConclusionsBased on a single standard ECG, a premature atrial contraction predicted incident atrial fibrillation and death and a premature ventricular contraction predicted incident heart failure and death, suggesting that this commonly used test may predict future disease