Recent changes of water discharge and sediment load in the Yellow River basin, China

The Yellow River basin contributes approximately 6% of the sediment load from all river systems globally, and the annual runoff directly supports 12% of the Chinese population. As a result, describing and understanding recent variations of water discharge and sediment load under global change scenarios are of considerable importance. The present study considers the annual hydrologic series of the water discharge and sediment load of the Yellow River basin obtained from 15 gauging stations (10 mainstream, 5 tributaries). The Mann-Kendall test method was adopted to detect both gradual and abrupt change of hydrological series since the 1950s. With the exception of the area draining to the Upper Tangnaihai station, results indicate that both water discharge and sediment load have decreased significantly (p<0.05). The declining trend is greater with distance downstream, and drainage area has a significant positive effect on the rate of decline. It is suggested that the abrupt change of the water discharge from the late 1980s to the early 1990s arose from human extraction, and that the abrupt change in sediment load was linked to disturbance from reservoir construction.Geography, PhysicalGeosciences, MultidisciplinarySCI(E)43ARTICLE4541-5613

The sudden change phenomenon of quantum discord

Even if the parameters determining a system's state are varied smoothly, the behavior of quantum correlations alike to quantum discord, and of its classical counterparts, can be very peculiar, with the appearance of non-analyticities in its rate of change. Here we review this sudden change phenomenon (SCP) discussing some important points related to it: Its uncovering, interpretations, and experimental verifications, its use in the context of the emergence of the pointer basis in a quantum measurement process, its appearance and universality under Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics, its theoretical and experimental investigation in some other physical scenarios, and the related phenomenon of double sudden change of trace distance discord. Several open questions are identified, and we envisage that in answering them we will gain significant further insight about the relation between the SCP and the symmetry-geometric aspects of the quantum state space.Comment: Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their Applications, F. F. Fanchini, D. O. Soares Pinto, and G. Adesso (Eds.), Springer (2017), pp 309-33

The NIRS Analysis Package: Noise Reduction and Statistical Inference

Near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) is a non-invasive optical imaging technique that can be used to measure cortical hemodynamic responses to specific stimuli or tasks. While analyses of NIRS data are normally adapted from established fMRI techniques, there are nevertheless substantial differences between the two modalities. Here, we investigate the impact of NIRS-specific noise; e.g., systemic (physiological), motion-related artifacts, and serial autocorrelations, upon the validity of statistical inference within the framework of the general linear model. We present a comprehensive framework for noise reduction and statistical inference, which is custom-tailored to the noise characteristics of NIRS. These methods have been implemented in a public domain Matlab toolbox, the NIRS Analysis Package (NAP). Finally, we validate NAP using both simulated and actual data, showing marked improvement in the detection power and reliability of NIRS

Search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum in pp collisions at √ s = 8 TeV with the ATLAS detector

Results of a search for new phenomena in final states with an energetic jet and large missing transverse momentum are reported. The search uses 20.3 fb−1 of √ s = 8 TeV data collected in 2012 with the ATLAS detector at the LHC. Events are required to have at least one jet with pT > 120 GeV and no leptons. Nine signal regions are considered with increasing missing transverse momentum requirements between Emiss T > 150 GeV and Emiss T > 700 GeV. Good agreement is observed between the number of events in data and Standard Model expectations. The results are translated into exclusion limits on models with either large extra spatial dimensions, pair production of weakly interacting dark matter candidates, or production of very light gravitinos in a gauge-mediated supersymmetric model. In addition, limits on the production of an invisibly decaying Higgs-like boson leading to similar topologies in the final state are presente

miRNAs in Newt Lens Regeneration: Specific Control of Proliferation and Evidence for miRNA Networking

Background: Lens regeneration in adult newts occurs via transdifferentiation of the pigment epithelial cells (PECs) of the dorsal iris. The same source of cells from the ventral iris is not able to undergo this process. In an attempt to understand this restriction we have studied in the past expression patterns of miRNAs. Among several miRNAs we have found that mir-148 shows an up-regulation in the ventral iris, while members of the let-7 family showed down-regulation in dorsal iris during dedifferentiation. Methodology/Principal Findings: We have performed gain- and loss-of–function experiments of mir-148 and let-7b in an attempt to delineate their function. We find that up-regulation of mir-148 caused significant decrease in the proliferation rates of ventral PECs only, while up-regulation of let-7b affected proliferation of both dorsal and ventral PECs. Neither miRNA was able to affect lens morphogenesis or induction. To further understand how this effect of miRNA up-regulation is mediated we examined global expression of miRNAs after up-regulation of mir148 and let-7b. Interestingly, we identified a novel level of mirRNA regulation, which might indicate that miRNAs are regulated as a network. Conclusion/Significance: The major conclusion is that different miRNAs can control proliferation in the dorsal or ventral iris possibly by a different mechanism. Of interest is that down-regulation of the let-7 family members has also been documented in other systems undergoing reprogramming, such as in stem cells or oocytes. This might indicate tha

The gene expression profiles of primary and metastatic melanoma yields a transition point of tumor progression and metastasis

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The process of malignant transformation, progression and metastasis of melanoma is poorly understood. Gene expression profiling of human cancer has allowed for a unique insight into the genes that are involved in these processes. Thus, we have attempted to utilize this approach through the analysis of a series of primary, non-metastatic cutaneous tumors and metastatic melanoma samples.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We have utilized gene microarray analysis and a variety of molecular techniques to compare 40 metastatic melanoma (MM) samples, composed of 22 bulky, macroscopic (replaced) lymph node metastases, 16 subcutaneous and 2 distant metastases (adrenal and brain), to 42 primary cutaneous cancers, comprised of 16 melanoma, 11 squamous cell, 15 basal cell skin cancers. A Human Genome U133 Plus 2.0 array from Affymetrix, Inc. was utilized for each sample. A variety of statistical software, including the Affymetrix MAS 5.0 analysis software, was utilized to compare primary cancers to metastatic melanomas. Separate analyses were performed to directly compare only primary melanoma to metastatic melanoma samples. The expression levels of putative oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes were analyzed by semi- and real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qPCR) and Western blot analysis was performed on select genes.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We find that primary basal cell carcinomas, squamous cell carcinomas and thin melanomas express dramatically higher levels of many genes, including <it>SPRR1A/B</it>, <it>KRT16/17</it>, <it>CD24</it>, <it>LOR</it>, <it>GATA3</it>, <it>MUC15</it>, and <it>TMPRSS4</it>, than metastatic melanoma. In contrast, the metastatic melanomas express higher levels of genes such as <it>MAGE</it>, <it>GPR19</it>, <it>BCL2A1</it>, <it>MMP14</it>, <it>SOX5</it>, <it>BUB1</it>, <it>RGS20</it>, and more. The transition from non-metastatic expression levels to metastatic expression levels occurs as melanoma tumors thicken. We further evaluated primary melanomas of varying Breslow's tumor thickness to determine that the transition in expression occurs at different thicknesses for different genes suggesting that the "transition zone" represents a critical time for the emergence of the metastatic phenotype. Several putative tumor oncogenes (<it>SPP-1</it>, <it>MITF</it>, <it>CITED-1</it>, <it>GDF-15</it>, <it>c-Met</it>, <it>HOX </it>loci) and suppressor genes (<it>PITX-1</it>, <it>CST-6</it>, <it>PDGFRL</it>, <it>DSC-3</it>, <it>POU2F3</it>, <it>CLCA2</it>, <it>ST7L</it>), were identified and validated by quantitative PCR as changing expression during this transition period. These are strong candidates for genes involved in the progression or suppression of the metastatic phenotype.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The gene expression profiling of primary, non-metastatic cutaneous tumors and metastatic melanoma has resulted in the identification of several genes that may be centrally involved in the progression and metastatic potential of melanoma. This has very important implications as we continue to develop an improved understanding of the metastatic process, allowing us to identify specific genes for prognostic markers and possibly for targeted therapeutic approaches.</p

Non-protein coding RNA biomarkers and differential expression in cancers: a review

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In these years a huge number of human transcripts has been found that do not code for proteins, named non-protein coding RNAs. In most cases, small (miRNAs, snoRNAs) and long RNAs (antisense RNA, dsRNA, and long RNA species) have many roles, functioning as regulators of other mRNAs, at transcriptional and post-transcriptional level, and controlling protein ubiquitination and degradation. Various species of npcRNAs have been found differentially expressed in different types of cancer. This review discusses the published data and new results on the expression of a subset of npcRNAs.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>These results underscore the complexity of the RNA world and provide further evidence on the involvement of functional RNAs in cancer cell growth control.</p