55 research outputs found
Coherence effect in a two-band superconductor: Application to iron pnictides
From a theoretical point of view, we propose an experimental method to
determine the pairing symmetry of iron pnictides. We focus on two kinds of
pairing symmetries, and , which are strong candidates for the
pairing symmetry of iron pnictides. For each of these two symmetries, we
calculate both the density and spin response functions by using the two-band
BCS model within the one-loop approximation. As a result, a clear difference is
found between the - and -wave states in the temperature
dependence of the response functions at nesting vector , which connects
the hole and electron Fermi surfaces. We point out that this difference comes
from the coherence effect in the two-band superconductor. We suggest that the
pairing symmetry could be clarified by observing the temperature dependence of
both the density and spin structure factors at the nesting vector in
neutron scattering measurements.Comment: 15 pages, 7 figures, 1 tabl
The crossover from propagating to strongly scattered acoustic modes of glasses observed in densified silica
Spectroscopic results on low frequency excitations of densified silica are
presented and related to characteristic thermal properties of glasses. The end
of the longitudinal acoustic branch is marked by a rapid increase of the
Brillouin linewidth with the scattering vector. This rapid growth saturates at
a crossover frequency Omega_co which nearly coincides with the center of the
boson peak. The latter is clearly due to additional optic-like excitations
related to nearly rigid SiO_4 librations as indicated by hyper-Raman
scattering. Whether the onset of strong scattering is best described by
hybridization of acoustic modes with these librations, by their elastic
scattering (Rayleigh scattering) on the local excitations, or by soft
potentials remains to be settled.Comment: 14 pages, 6 figures, to be published in a special issue of J. Phys.
Condens. Matte
Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic
X-exome sequencing of 405 unresolved families identifies seven novel intellectual disability genes
X-linked intellectual disability (XLID) is a clinically and genetically heterogeneous disorder. During the past two decades in excess of 100 X-chromosome ID genes have been identified. Yet, a large number of families mapping to the X-chromosome remained unresolved suggesting that more XLID genes or loci are yet to be identified. Here, we have investigated 405 unresolved families with XLID. We employed massively parallel sequencing of all X-chromosome exons in the index males. The majority of these males were previously tested negative for copy number variations and for mutations in a subset of known XLID genes by Sanger sequencing. In total, 745 X-chromosomal genes were screened. After stringent filtering, a total of 1297 non-recurrent exonic variants remained for prioritization. Co-segregation analysis of potential clinically relevant changes revealed that 80 families (20%) carried pathogenic variants in established XLID genes. In 19 families, we detected likely causative protein truncating and missense variants in 7 novel and validated XLID genes (CLCN4, CNKSR2, FRMPD4, KLHL15, LAS1L, RLIM and USP27X) and potentially deleterious variants in 2 novel candidate XLID genes (CDK16 and TAF1). We show that the CLCN4 and CNKSR2 variants impair protein functions as indicated by electrophysiological studies and altered differentiation of cultured primary neurons from Clcn4â/â mice or after mRNA knock-down. The newly identified and candidate XLID proteins belong to pathways and networks with established roles in cognitive function and intellectual disability in particular. We suggest that systematic sequencing of all X-chromosomal genes in a cohort of patients with genetic evidence for X-chromosome locus involvement may resolve up to 58% of Fragile X-negative cases
Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between similar to 10,500 and similar to 400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between similar to 20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for similar to 4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic.Molecular Technology and Informatics for Personalised Medicine and Healt
Ten millennia of hepatitis B virus evolution
Hepatitis B virus (HBV) has been infecting humans for millennia and remains a global health problem, but its past diversity and dispersal routes are largely unknown. We generated HBV genomic data from 137 Eurasians and Native Americans dated between ~10,500 and ~400 years ago. We date the most recent common ancestor of all HBV lineages to between ~20,000 and 12,000 years ago, with the virus present in European and South American hunter-gatherers during the early Holocene. After the European Neolithic transition, Mesolithic HBV strains were replaced by a lineage likely disseminated by early farmers that prevailed throughout western Eurasia for ~4000 years, declining around the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. The only remnant of this prehistoric HBV diversity is the rare genotype G, which appears to have reemerged during the HIV pandemic
Inelastic electron tunneling as vibrational spectroscopy of adsorbed organic molecules after 3 MeV proton irradiation at 4.2 and 293 K
The molecular vibrations of monolayers of formic and benzoic acid adsorbed on Al-oxide were measured by inelastic electron tunneling spectroscopy at 4.2 K in situ after room temperature and low temperature irradiation with 3 MeV protons. As fundamental results of radiation damage a non-uniform reduction of the vibration modes was observed as a function of proton fluence studied up to 2.5 Ă 1016 . Only after low temperature irradiation are some new peaks formed, which disappear after annealing at 293 K. This may be due to the fact that molecular fragments are formed which are only stable at low temperatures. Benzoic acid is found to be significantly less sensitive to radiation damage. While electron microscopy studies of organic materials indicate considerable effects of cryogenic protection, our experiments exhibit similar cross sections for molecular damage at different irradiation temperatures
Agingârelated carcinoembryonic antigenârelated cell adhesion molecule 1 signaling promotes vascular dysfunction
Aging is an independent risk factor for cardiovascular diseases and therefore of particular interest for the prevention of cardiovascular events. However, the mechanisms underlying vascular aging are not well understood. Since carcinoembryonic antigenârelated cell adhesion molecule 1 (CEACAM1) is crucially involved in vascular homeostasis, we sought to identify the role of CEACAM1 in vascular aging. Using human internal thoracic artery and murine aorta, we show that CEACAM1 is upregulated in the course of vascular aging. Further analyses demonstrated that TNFâα is CEACAM1âdependently upregulated in the aging vasculature. Vice versa, TNFâα induces CEACAM1 expression. This results in a feedâforward loop in the aging vasculature that maintains a chronic proâinflammatory milieu. Furthermore, we demonstrate that ageâassociated vascular alterations, that is, increased oxidative stress and vascular fibrosis, due to increased medial collagen deposition crucially depend on the presence of CEACAM1. Additionally, ageâdependent upregulation of vascular CEACAM1 expression contributes to endothelial barrier impairment, putatively via increased VEGF/VEGFRâ2 signaling. Consequently, agingârelated upregulation of vascular CEACAM1 expression results in endothelial dysfunction that may promote atherosclerotic plaque formation in the presence of additional risk factors. Our data suggest that CEACAM1 might represent an attractive target in order to delay physiological aging and therefore the transition to vascular disorders such as atherosclerosis
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