Onsite data processing and monitoring for the Daya Bay Experiment

The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment started running on September 23, 2011. The offline computing environment, consisting of 11 servers at Daya Bay, was built to process onsite data. With current computing ability, onsite data processing is running smoothly. The Performance Quality Monitoring system (PQM) has been developed to monitor the detector performance and data quality. Its main feature is the ability to efficiently process multi-data-stream from three experimental halls. The PQM processes raw data files from the Daya Bay data acquisition system, generates and publishes histograms via a graphical web interface by executing the user-defined algorithm modules, and saves the histograms for permanent storage. The fact that the whole process takes only around 40 minutes makes it valuable for the shift crew to monitor the running status of all the sub-detectors and the data quality

3-Hy­droxy-1,2-dimeth­oxyxanthone

The title compound (systematic name: 3-hy­droxy-1,2-dimeth­oxy-9H-xanthen-9-one), C15H12O5, was isolated from Polygala arillata. The tricyclic unit is essentially planar (r.m.s. deviation = 0.039 Å). In the crystal, the mol­ecules form stacks along the a axis. Inter­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds link the mol­ecules into chains parallel to [010]

Application of short hairpin RNAs (shRNAs) to study gene function in mammalian systems

Over the past decade, RNA interference (RNAi) plays an important role in biology, especially for silencing gene expression. RNA interference (RNAi) is a natural process through which expression of a targeted gene can be knocked down with high specificity and selectivity. Methods of mediating the RNAi effect involve small interfering RNA (siRNA) and short hairpin RNA (shRNA). In various applications, RNAi has been used to create model systems, to identify novel molecular targets, to study gene function in a genome-wide fashion, and to create new avenues for clinical therapeutics. This article reviews the current knowledge on the mechanism and applications of shRNA in mammalian and human cells.Keyword: shRNA, siRNA, RNAi, dicer, gene silencin

HCCS1-armed, quadruple-regulated oncolytic adenovirus specific for liver cancer as a cancer targeting gene-viro-therapy strategy

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In previously published studies, oncolytic adenovirus-mediated gene therapy has produced good results in targeting cancer cells. However, safety and efficacy, the two most important aspects in cancer therapy, remain serious challenges. The specific expression or deletion of replication related genes in an adenovirus has been frequently utilized to regulate the cancer cell specificity of a virus. Accordingly, in this study, we deleted 24 bp in E1A (bp924-bp947) and the entirety of E1B, including those genes encoding E1B 55kDa and E1B19kDa. We used the survivin promoter (SP) to control E1A in order to construct a new adenovirus vector named Ad.SP.E1A(Δ24).ΔE1B (briefly Ad.SPDD). HCCS1 (hepatocellular carcinoma suppressor 1) is a novel tumor suppressor gene that is able to specifically induce apoptosis in cancer cells. The expression cassette AFP-HCCS1-WPRE-SV40 was inserted into Ad.SPDD to form Ad.SPDD-HCCS1, enabling us to improve the safety and efficacy of oncolytic-mediated gene therapy for liver cancer.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Ad.SPDD showed a decreased viral yield and less toxicity in normal cells but enhanced toxicity in liver cancer cells, compared with the cancer-specific adenovirus ZD55 (E1B55K deletion). Ad.SPDD-HCCS1 exhibited a potent anti-liver-cancer ability and decreased toxicity in vitro. Ad.SPDD-HCCS1 also showed a measurable capacity to inhibit Huh-7 xenograft tumor growth on nude mice. The underlying mechanism of Ad.SPDD-HCCS1-induced liver cancer cell death was found to be via the mitochondrial apoptosis pathway.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results demonstrate that Ad.SPDD-HCCS1 was able to elicit reduced toxicity and enhanced efficacy both in vitro and in vivo compared to a previously constructed oncolytic adenovirus. Ad.SPDD-HCCS1 could be a promising candidate for liver cancer therapy.</p

Pressure dependence of superconductivity in low- and high-T-c phases of (NH3)(y)NaxFeSe

We prepared two superconducting phases, which are called “low-Tc phase” and “high-Tc phase” of (NH3)yNaxFeSe showing Tc’s of 35 and 44 K, respectively, at ambient pressure, and studied the superconducting behavior and structure of each phase under pressure. The Tc of the 35 K at ambient pressure rapidly decreases with increasing pressure up to 10 GPa, and it remains unchanged up to 22 GPa. Finally, superconductivity was not observed down to 1.4 K at 29 GPa, i.e., Tc < 1.4K. The Tc of the 44 K phase also shows a monotonic decrease up to 15 GPa and it weakly decreases up to 25 GPa. These behaviors suggest no pressure-driven high-Tc phase (called “SC-II”) between 0 and 25 GPa for the low-Tc and high-Tc phases of (NH3)yNaxFeSe, differing from the behavior of (NH3)yCsxFeSe,which has a pressure-driven high-Tc phase (SC-II) in addition to the superconducting phase (SC-I) observed at ambient and low pressures. The Tc-c phase diagram for both low-Tc and high-Tc phases shows that the Tc can be linearly scaled with c (or FeSe plane spacing), where c is a lattice constant. The reason why a pressure-driven high-Tc phase (SC-II) was found for neither low-Tc nor high-Tc phases of (NH3)yNaxFeSe is fully discussed, suggesting a critical c value as the key to forming the pressure-driven high-Tc phase (SC-II). Finally, the precise Tc-c phase diagram is depicted using the data obtained thus far from FeSe codoped with a metal and NH3 or amine, indicating two distinct Tc-c lines below c = 17.5A°

The Electron Pairing of Kx_xFe2−y_{2-y}Se2_2

We studied the pairing instabilities in K$_x$Fe$_{2-y}$Se$_2$ using a two stage functional renormalization group (FRG) method. Our results suggest the leading and subleading pairing symmetries are nodeless $d_{x^2-y^2}$ and nodal extended $s$ respectively. In addition, despite having no Fermi surfaces we find the buried hole bands make important contributions to the final effective interaction. From the bandstructure, spin susceptibility and the FRG results we conclude that the low energy effective interaction in K$_x$Fe$_{2-y}$Se$_2$ is well described by a $J_1-J_2$ model with dominant nearest-neighbor antiferromagnetic interaction $J_1$ (at least as far as the superconducting pairing is concerned). In the end we briefly mention several obvious experiments to test whether the pairing symmetry is indeed $d_{x^2-y^2}$.Comment: typo in Eq.(7) corrected on top of published version, 15 pages, 7 figures, double line spacin