The effect of co-ingesting beetroot juice and vitamin C on blood pressure in Hispanic women: a literature review and a proposal

Dietary nitrate supplementation is known for improving blood pressure through vasodilation and may favorably alter oral microbial populations related to cardiovascular health. Co-ingestion with vitamin C (VITC) may further potentiate these benefits but this remains unexplored. Additionally, this field has yet to examine the influence of sex and ethnicity, which is important given that physiological differences exist between populations. The purpose of this study is to assess the effects of combining dietary nitrate, in the form of beetroot juice, and VITC on blood pressure and the oral microbiome in women of Hispanic, African American, and American descent across multiple institutions. In a double-blinded, randomized, crossover design, 12 Hispanic females will arrive to the laboratory at Pepperdine University, while 12 African American and 12 Caucasian women will arrive to the laboratory at Indiana University, for 4 visits over 4 months to receive nitrate-depleted beetroot juice and crystal light (PL+CL), PL and VITC (PL+VITC), nitrate-rich beetroot juice and CL (BR+CL), and BR and VITC (BR+VITC). During each experimental trial, resting blood and buccal cell samples will be obtained followed by body composition. Following this, blood pressure and heart rate will be measured at rest and during a protocol for assessing cardiovascular reactivity. Each visit will take place during the early follicular phase of the menstrual cycle. The data have important implications for increasing the application of dietary interventions for cardiovascular health to benefit a wider population

Balmer Emission Line Profiles and the Complex Properties of Broad Line Regions in Active Galactic Nuclei

In this work we analyze a sample of AGN spectra, selected from the 6th Data Release of the Sloan Digital Sky Survey, exploiting a generalized technique of line profile analysis, designed to take into account the whole profiles of their broad emission lines. We find that the line profile broadening functions result from a complex structure, but we may be able to infer some constraints about the role of the geometrical factor, thus improving our ability to estimate AGN properties and their relation with the host galaxy. Our results suggest that flattening and inclination within the structure of the Broad Line Region (BLR) must be taken into account. We detect low inclinations of the BLR motion plane with respect to our line of sight, typically i < 20 degrees, with a geometrical effect which generally decreases as the line profile becomes broader.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figures, updated reference list. ApJ accepte

Talking in the present, caring for the future: Language and environment

This paper identifies a new source that explains environmental behaviour: the presence of future tense marking in language. We predict that languages that grammatically mark the future affect speakers' intertemporal preferences and thereby reduce their willingness to address environmental problems. We first show that speakers of languages with future tense marking are less likely to adopt environmentally responsible behaviours and to support policies to prevent environmental damage. We then document that this effect holds across countries: future tense marking is an important determinant of climate change policies and global environmental cooperation. The results suggest that there may be deep and surprising obstacles for attempts to address climate change

The AFLOW Fleet for Materials Discovery

The traditional paradigm for materials discovery has been recently expanded to incorporate substantial data driven research. With the intent to accelerate the development and the deployment of new technologies, the AFLOW Fleet for computational materials design automates high-throughput first principles calculations, and provides tools for data verification and dissemination for a broad community of users. AFLOW incorporates different computational modules to robustly determine thermodynamic stability, electronic band structures, vibrational dispersions, thermo-mechanical properties and more. The AFLOW data repository is publicly accessible online at aflow.org, with more than 1.7 million materials entries and a panoply of queryable computed properties. Tools to programmatically search and process the data, as well as to perform online machine learning predictions, are also available.Comment: 14 pages, 8 figure

Integer and half-integer flux-quantum transitions in a niobium/iron-pnictide loop

The recent discovery of iron-based superconductors challenges the existing paradigm of high-temperature superconductivity. Owing to their unusual multi-orbital band structure, magnetism, and electron correlation, theories propose a unique sign reversed s-wave pairing state, with the order parameter changing sign between the electron and hole Fermi pockets. However, because of the complex Fermi surface topology and material related issues, the predicted sign reversal remains unconfirmed. Here we report a novel phase-sensitive technique for probing unconventional pairing symmetry in the polycrystalline iron-pnictides. Through the observation of both integer and half-integer flux-quantum transitions in composite niobium/iron-pnictide loops, we provide the first phase-sensitive evidence of the sign change of the order parameter in NdFeAsO0.88F0.12, lending strong support for microscopic models predicting unconventional s-wave pairing symmetry. These findings have important implications on the mechanism of pnictide superconductivity, and lay the groundwork for future studies of new physics arising from the exotic order in the FeAs-based superconductors.Comment: 23 pages, including 4 figures and supplementary informatio

Integrative analyses identify modulators of response to neoadjuvant aromatase inhibitors in patients with early breast cancer

Introduction Aromatase inhibitors (AIs) are a vital component of estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer treatment. De novo and acquired resistance, however, is common. The aims of this study were to relate patterns of copy number aberrations to molecular and proliferative response to AIs, to study differences in the patterns of copy number aberrations between breast cancer samples pre- and post-AI neoadjuvant therapy, and to identify putative biomarkers for resistance to neoadjuvant AI therapy using an integrative analysis approach. Methods Samples from 84 patients derived from two neoadjuvant AI therapy trials were subjected to copy number profiling by microarray-based comparative genomic hybridisation (aCGH, n = 84), gene expression profiling (n = 47), matched pre- and post-AI aCGH (n = 19 pairs) and Ki67-based AI-response analysis (n = 39). Results Integrative analysis of these datasets identified a set of nine genes that, when amplified, were associated with a poor response to AIs, and were significantly overexpressed when amplified, including CHKA, LRP5 and SAPS3. Functional validation in vitro, using cell lines with and without amplification of these genes (SUM44, MDA-MB134-VI, T47D and MCF7) and a model of acquired AI-resistance (MCF7-LTED) identified CHKA as a gene that when amplified modulates estrogen receptor (ER)-driven proliferation, ER/estrogen response element (ERE) transactivation, expression of ER-regulated genes and phosphorylation of V-AKT murine thymoma viral oncogene homolog 1 (AKT1). Conclusions These data provide a rationale for investigation of the role of CHKA in further models of de novo and acquired resistance to AIs, and provide proof of concept that integrative genomic analyses can identify biologically relevant modulators of AI response

Single photon multiclock lock-in detection by picosecond timestamping

Extracting signals at low single-photon count rates from large backgrounds is a challenge in many optical experiments and technologies. Here, we demonstrate a single-photon lock-in detection scheme based on continuous photon timestamping to improve the SNR by more than two orders of magnitude. Through time-resolving the signal modulation induced by periodic perturbations, 98% of dark counts are filtered out and the &lt; 1 c o u n t / s contributions from several different nonlinear processes identified. As a proof-of-concept, coherent anti-Stokes Raman measurements are used to determine the vibrational lifetime of few molecules in a plasmonic nanocavity. This detection scheme can be applied to all single-photon counting experiments with any number of simultaneous modulation frequencies, greatly increasing SNR and resolving physical processes with picosecond time resolution while keeping the photon dosage small. The open instrumentation package provided here enables low-cost implementation.</jats:p

Public health spending, old-age productivity and economic growth: chaotic cycles under perfect foresight

This paper analyses the dynamics of a double Cobb–Douglas economy with overlapping generations and public health investments that affect the supply of efficient labour of the old-aged. It is shown that the positive steady state of the economy is unique. Moreover, we provide necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence of endogenous deterministic complex cycles when individuals are perfectly foresighted. Interestingly, (i) the equilibrium dynamics shows rather complicated phenomena such as a multiplicity of bubblings depending on the size of the public health system, and (ii) the higher the degree of thriftiness, the likelier an economy is exposed to endogenous fluctuations because the need to save when young to support consumption when old is reduced

The Relation Between Galaxy Morphology and Environment in the Local Universe: An RC3-SDSS Picture

We present an analysis of the z ~ 0 morphology-environment relation for 911 bright (M_B < -19) galaxies, matching classical RC3 morphologies to the SDSS-based group catalog of Yang et al. We study how the relative fractions of spirals, lenticulars, and ellipticals depend on halo mass over a range of 10^11.7-10^14.8 h^-1 Msol. We pay particular attention to how morphology relates to central (most massive) vs satellite galaxy status. The fraction of galaxies which are elliptical is a strong function of stellar mass; it is also a strong function of halo mass, but only for central galaxies. We interpret this in a scenario where elliptical galaxies are formed, probably via mergers, as central galaxies within their halos; satellite ellipticals are previously central galaxies accreted onto larger halos. The overall fraction of S0 galaxies increases strongly with halo mass, from ~10% to ~70%. We find striking differences between the central and satellites: 20+/-2% of central M_* > 10^10.5 Msol galaxies are S0 regardless of halo mass, but satellite S0 galaxies are only found in massive (> 10^13 h^-1 Msol) halos, where they are 69+/-4% of the M_* > 10^10.5 Msol satellite population. This suggests two channels for S0 formation: one for central galaxies, and another which transforms lower mass (M_* <~ 10^11 Msol) accreted spirals into satellite S0 galaxies in massive halos. Analysis of finer morphological structure (bars and rings in disk galaxies) shows some trends with stellar mass, but none with halo mass; this is consistent with other recent studies which indicate that bars are not strongly influenced by galaxy environment. Radio sources in high-mass central galaxies are common, similarly so for elliptical and S0 galaxies, with a frequency that increases with halo mass. Emission-line AGN (mostly LINERs) are more common in S0s, but show no strong environmental trends (abridged).Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal (ApJ