Skyrmion Lattice in Two-Dimensional Chiral Magnet

We develop a theory of the magnetic field-induced formation of Skyrmion crystal state in chiral magnets in two spatial dimensions, motivated by the recent discovery of the Skyrmionic phase of magnetization in thin film of Fe$_{0.5}$Co$_{0.5}$Si and in the A-phase of MnSi. Ginzburg-Landau functional of the chiral magnet re-written in the CP$^1$ representation is shown to be a convenient framework for the analysis of the Skyrmion states. Phase diagram of the model at zero temperature gives a sequence of ground states, helical spin $\rightarrow$ Skyrme crystal $\rightarrow$ ferromagnet, as the external field $B$ increases, in good accord with the thin-film experiment. In close analogy with Abrikosov's derivation of the vortex lattice solution in type-II superconductor, the CP$^1$ mean-field equation is solved and shown to reproduce the Skyrmion crystal state.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Maternal Thermal Effects on Female Reproduction and Hatchling Phenotype in the Chinese Skink (Plestiodon chinensis)</i>

We maintained gravid Chinese skinks (Plestiodon chinensis) at three constant temperatures (25, 28 and 31 °C) during gestation, and randomly assigned eggs from each female to one of the same three temperatures for incubation to determine maternal thermal effects on female reproduction and hatchling phenotype. Maternal temperature affected egg-laying date, hatching success and hatchling linear size (snout-vent length, SVL) but not clutch size, egg size, egg component, and embryonic stage at laying. More specifically, females at higher temperatures laid eggs earlier than did those at low temperatures, eggs laid at 31 °C were less likely to hatch than those laid at 25 °C or 28 °C, and hatchlings from eggs laid at 31 °C were smaller in SVL. Our finding that maternal temperature (pre-ovipositional thermal condition) rather than incubation temperature (post-ovipositional thermal condition) affected hatching success indicated that embryos at early stages were more vulnerable to temperature than those at late stages. Our data provide an inference that moderate maternal temperatures enhance reproductive fitness in P. chinensis

Training certified detectives to track down the intrinsic shortcuts in COVID-19 chest x-ray data sets

Deep learning faces a significant challenge wherein the trained models often underperform when used with external test data sets. This issue has been attributed to spurious correlations between irrelevant features in the input data and corresponding labels. This study uses the classification of COVID-19 from chest x-ray radiographs as an example to demonstrate that the image contrast and sharpness, which are characteristics of a chest radiograph dependent on data acquisition systems and imaging parameters, can be intrinsic shortcuts that impair the model\u27s generalizability. The study proposes training certified shortcut detective models that meet a set of qualification criteria which can then identify these intrinsic shortcuts in a curated data set

A Pseudo DNA Cryptography Method

The DNA cryptography is a new and very promising direction in cryptography research. DNA can be used in cryptography for storing and transmitting the information, as well as for computation. Although in its primitive stage, DNA cryptography is shown to be very effective. Currently, several DNA computing algorithms are proposed for quite some cryptography, cryptanalysis and steganography problems, and they are very powerful in these areas. However, the use of the DNA as a means of cryptography has high tech lab requirements and computational limitations, as well as the labor intensive extrapolation means so far. These make the efficient use of DNA cryptography difficult in the security world now. Therefore, more theoretical analysis should be performed before its real applications. In this project, We do not intended to utilize real DNA to perform the cryptography process; rather, We will introduce a new cryptography method based on central dogma of molecular biology. Since this method simulates some critical processes in central dogma, it is a pseudo DNA cryptography method. The theoretical analysis and experiments show this method to be efficient in computation, storage and transmission; and it is very powerful against certain attacks. Thus, this method can be of many uses in cryptography, such as an enhancement insecurity and speed to the other cryptography methods. There are also extensions and variations to this method, which have enhanced security, effectiveness and applicability.Comment: A small work that quite some people asked abou

Peritumoral administration of DRibbles-pulsed antigen-presenting cells enhances the antitumor efficacy of anti-GITR and anti-PD-1 antibodies via an antigen presenting independent mechanism.

BACKGROUND: TNF receptor family agonists and checkpoint blockade combination therapies lead to minimal tumor clearance of poorly immunogenic tumors. Therefore, a need to enhance the efficacy of this combination therapy arises. Antigen-presenting cells (APCs) present antigen to T cells and steer the immune response through chemokine and cytokine secretion. DRibbles (DR) are tumor-derived autophagosomes containing tumor antigens and innate inflammatory adjuvants. METHODS: Using preclinical murine lung and pancreatic cancer models, we assessed the triple combination therapy of GITR agonist and PD-1 blocking antibodies with peritumoral injections of DRibbles-pulsed-bone marrow cells (BMCs), which consisted mainly of APCs, or CD103+ cross-presenting dendritic cells (DCs). Immune responses were assessed by flow cytometry. FTY720 was used to prevent T-cell egress from lymph nodes to assess lymph node involvement, and MHC-mismatched-BMCs were used to assess the necessity of antigen presentation by the peritumorally-injected DR-APCs. RESULTS: Tritherapy increased survival and cures in tumor-bearing mice compared to combined antibody therapy or peritumoral DR-BMCs alone. Peritumorally-injected BMCs remained within the tumor for at least 14 days and tritherapy efficacy was dependent on both CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Although the overall percent of tumor-infiltrating T cells remained similar, tritherapy increased the ratio of effector CD4+ T cells-to-regulatory T cells, CD4+ T-cell cytokine production and proliferation, and CD8+ T-cell cytolytic activity in the tumor. Despite tritherapy-induced T-cell activation and cytolytic activity in lymph nodes, this T-cell activation was not required for tumor regression and enhanced survival. Replacement of DR-BMCs with DR-pulsed-DCs in the tritherapy led to similar antitumor effects, whereas replacement with DRibbles was less effective but delayed tumor growth. Interestingly, peritumoral administration of DR-pulsed MHC-mismatched-APCs in the tritherapy led to similar antitumor effects as MHC-matched-APCs, indicating that the observed enhanced antitumor effect was mediated independently of antigen presentation by the administered APCs. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, these results demonstrate that peritumoral DR-pulsed-BMC/DC administration synergizes with GITR agonist and PD-1 blockade to locally modulate and sustain tumor effector T-cell responses independently of T cell priming and perhaps through innate inflammatory modulations mediated by the DRibbles adjuvant. We offer a unique approach to modify the tumor microenvironment to benefit T-cell-targeted immunotherapies

Anomalous scaling law for noise variance and spatial resolution in differential phase contrast computed tomography

In conventional absorption based x-ray computed tomography (CT), the noise variance in reconstructed CT images scales with spatial resolution following an inverse cubic relationship. Without reconstruction, in x-ray absorption radiography, the noise variance scales as an inverse square with spatial resolution. In this letter we report that while the inverse square relationship holds for differential phase contrast projection imaging, there exists an anomalous scaling law in differential phase contrast CT, where the noise variance scales with spatial resolution following an inverse linear relationship. The anomalous scaling law is theoretically derived and subsequently validated with phantom results from an experimental Talbot-Lau interferometer system

Non-monotonic compositional dependence of isothermal bulk modulus of the (Mg1–xMnx)Cr2O4 spinel solid solutions, and its origin and implication

AbstractThe compressibility of the spinel solid solutions, (Mg1−xMnx)Cr2O4 with x = 0.00 (0), 0.20 (0), 0.44 (2), 0.61 (2), 0.77 (2) and 1.00 (0), has been investigated by using a diamond-anvil cell coupled with synchrotron X-ray radiation up to ∼10 GPa (ambient T). The second-order Birch–Murnaghan equation of state was used to fit the PV data, yielding the following values for the isothermal bulk moduli (KT), 198.2 (36), 187.8 (87), 176.1 (32), 168.7 (52), 192.9 (61) and 199.2 (61) GPa, for the spinel solid solutions with x = 0.00 (0), 0.20 (0), 0.44 (2), 0.61 (2), 0.77 (2) and 1.00 (0), respectively (KT′ fixed as 4). The KT value of the MgCr2O4 spinel is in good agreement with existing experimental determinations and theoretical calculations. The correlation between the KT and x is not monotonic, with the KT values similar at both ends of the binary MgCr2O4MnCr2O4, but decreasing towards the middle. This non-monotonic correlation can be described by two equations, KT = −49.2 (11)x + 198.0 (4) (x ≤ ∼0.6) and KT = 92 (41)x + 115 (30) (x ≥ ∼0.6), and can be explained by the evolution of the average bond lengths of the tetrahedra and octahedra of the spinel solid solutions. Additionally, the relationship between the thermal expansion coefficient and composition is correspondingly reinterpreted, the continuous deformation of the oxygen array is demonstrated, and the evolution of the component polyhedra is discussed for this series of spinel solid solutions. Our results suggest that the correlation between the KT and composition of a solid solution series may be complicated, and great care should be paid while estimating the KT of some intermediate compositions from the KT of the end-members

An H5N1 M2e-based multiple antigenic peptide vaccine confers heterosubtypic protection from lethal infection with pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus

Background. A 2009 global influenza pandemic caused by a novel swine-origin H1N1 influenza A virus has posted an increasing threat of a potential pandemic by the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) H5N1 virus, driving us to develop an influenza vaccine which confers cross-protection against both H5N1 and H1N1 viruses. Previously, we have shown that a tetra-branched multiple antigenic peptide (MAP) vaccine based on the extracellular domain of M2 protein (M2e) from H5N1 virus (H5N1-M2e-MAP) induced strong immune responses and cross-protection against different clades of HPAI H5N1 viruses. In this report, we investigated whether such M2e-MAP presenting the H5N1-M2e consensus sequence can afford heterosubtypic protection from lethal challenge with the pandemic 2009 H1N1 virus. Results. Our results demonstrated that H5N1-M2e-MAP plus Freund's or aluminum adjuvant induced strong cross-reactive IgG antibody responses against M2e of the pandemic H1N1 virus which contains one amino acid variation with M2e of H5N1 at position 13. These cross-reactive antibodies may maintain for 6 months and bounced back quickly to the previous high level after the 2nd boost administered 2 weeks before virus challenge. H5N1-M2e-MAP could afford heterosubtypic protection against lethal challenge with pandemic H1N1 virus, showing significant decrease of viral replications and obvious alleviation of histopathological damages in the challenged mouse lungs. 100% and 80% of the H5N1-M2e-MAP-vaccinated mice with Freund's and aluminum adjuvant, respectively, survived the lethal challenge with pandemic H1N1 virus. Conclusions. Our results suggest that H5N1-M2e-MAP has a great potential to prevent the threat from re-emergence of pandemic H1N1 influenza and possible novel influenza pandemic due to the reassortment of HPAI H5N1 virus with the 2009 swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus. © 2010 Zhao et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.published_or_final_versio

Differential Temporal Evolution Patterns in Brain Temperature in Different Ischemic Tissues in a Monkey Model of Middle Cerebral Artery Occlusion

Brain temperature is elevated in acute ischemic stroke, especially in the ischemic penumbra (IP). We attempted to investigate the dynamic evolution of brain temperature in different ischemic regions in a monkey model of middle cerebral artery occlusion. The brain temperature of different ischemic regions was measured with proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), and the evolution processes of brain temperature were compared among different ischemic regions. We found that the normal (baseline) brain temperature of the monkey brain was 37.16°C. In the artery occlusion stage, the mean brain temperature of ischemic tissue was 1.16°C higher than the baseline; however, this increase was region dependent, with 1.72°C in the IP, 1.08°C in the infarct core, and 0.62°C in the oligemic region. After recanalization, the brain temperature of the infarct core showed a pattern of an initial decrease accompanied by a subsequent increase. However, the brain temperature of the IP and oligemic region showed a monotonously and slowly decreased pattern. Our study suggests that in vivo measurement of brain temperature could help to identify whether ischemic tissue survives