Telomere length as a predictor of response to Pioglitazone in patients with unremitted depression: a preliminary study.

We studied peripheral leukocyte telomere length (LTL) as a predictor of antidepressant response to PPAR-γ agonist in patients with unremitted depression. In addition we examined correlation between LTL and the insulin resistance (IR) status in these subjects. Forty-two medically stable men and women ages 23-71 with non-remitted depression participated in double-blind placebo-controlled add-on of Pioglitazone to treatment-as-usual. Oral glucose tolerance tests were administered at baseline and at 12 weeks. Diagnostic evaluation of psychiatric disorders was performed at baseline and mood severity was followed weekly throughout the duration of the trial. At baseline, no differences in LTL were detected by depression severity, duration or chronicity. LTL was also not significantly different between insulin-resistant and insulin-sensitive subjects at baseline. Subjects with longer telomeres exhibited greater declines in depression severity in the active arm, but not in a placebo arm, P=0.005, r=-0.63, 95% confidence interval (95% CI)=(-0.84,-0.21). In addition, LTL predicted improvement in insulin sensitivity in the group overall and did not differ between intervention arms, P=0.036, r=-0.44, 95% CI=(-0.74,0.02) for the active arm, and P=0.026, r=-0.50, 95% CI=(-0.78,-0.03) for the placebo arm. LTL may emerge as a viable predictor of antidepressant response. An association between insulin sensitization and LTL regardless of the baseline IR status points to potential role of LTL as a non-specific moderator of metabolic improvement in these patients

WASP-12b as a prolate, inflated and disrupting planet from tidal dissipation

The class of exotic Jupiter-mass planets that orbit very close to their parent stars were not explicitly expected before their discovery. The recently found transiting planet WASP-12b has a mass Mp = 1.4(+/-0.1) Jupiter masses (MJ), a mean orbital distance of only 3.1 stellar radii (meaning it is subject to intense tidal forces), and a period of 1.1 days. Its radius 1.79(+/- 0.09) RJ is unexpectedly large and its orbital eccentricity 0.049(+/-0:015) is even more surprising as such close orbits are in general quickly circularized. Here we report an analysis of its properties, which reveals that the planet is losing mass to its host star at a rate ~ 10^-7 MJ yr^-1. The planets surface is distorted by the stars gravity and the light curve produced by its prolate shape will differ by about ten per cent from that of a spherical planet. We conclude that dissipation of the stars tidal perturbation in the planets convective envelope provides the energy source for its large volume. We predict up to 10mJy CO band-head (2.292 micron) emission from a tenuous disk around the host star, made up of tidally stripped planetary gas. It may also contain a detectable resonant super-Earth, as a hypothetical perturber that continually stirs up WASP-12b's eccentricity.Comment: Accepted to Nature, 14 pages, 1 figur

NMR Measurements of Power-Law Behavior in the Spin-Wave and Critical Regions of Ferromagnetic EuO

Precision continuous-wave NMR measurements have been carried out over the entire magnetization curve of EuO and are presented in tabular form. Two very closely spaced resonances are observed and are attributed to domain and domain-wall signals. Both of the signals are useful for analysis in the spin-wave region. Only the domain signal is measurable above ~50K. The latter is used for fitting Tc and the critical exponent beta. The critical-region fits agree with previous measurements, within experimental error. The low-temperature data exhibit a clear-cut T^2 behavior, at variance with the expectations of conventional spin-wave theory. This result is discussed in relation to two semi-empirical spin-wave schemes, one formulated by N. Bykovetz, and one by U. Koebler. The NMR signal at 4.2K gives no indication of a quadrupole splitting, in contradiction to the interpretation of several previous spin-echo NMR spectra observed in EuO. This issue remains unresolved.Comment: 3 pages, 2 figures, 3 tables. in Proceedings of the 11TH Joint MMM-Intermag Conference, Washington, DC, 201

Eccentricity Evolution of Extrasolar Multiple Planetary Systems due to the Depletion of Nascent Protostellar Disks

Most extrasolar planets are observed to have eccentricities much larger than those in the solar system. Some of these planets have sibling planets, with comparable masses, orbiting around the same host stars. In these multiple planetary systems, eccentricity is modulated by the planets' mutual secular interaction as a consequence of angular momentum exchange between them. For mature planets, the eigenfrequencies of this modulation are determined by their mass and semi-major axis ratios. But, prior to the disk depletion, self gravity of the planets' nascent disks dominates the precession eigenfrequencies. We examine here the initial evolution of young planets' eccentricity due to the apsidal libration or circulation induced by both the secular interaction between them and the self gravity of their nascent disks. We show that as the latter effect declines adiabatically with disk depletion, the modulation amplitude of the planets' relative phase of periapse is approximately invariant despite the time-asymmetrical exchange of angular momentum between planets. However, as the young planets' orbits pass through a state of secular resonance, their mean eccentricities undergo systematic quantitative changes. For applications, we analyze the eccentricity evolution of planets around Upsilon Andromedae and HD168443 during the epoch of protostellar disk depletion. We find that the disk depletion can change the planets' eccentricity ratio. However, the relatively large amplitude of the planets' eccentricity cannot be excited if all the planets had small initial eccentricities.Comment: 50 pages including 11 figures, submitted to Ap

Determination of a set of constitutive equations for an al-li alloy at SPF conditions

© 2015 The Authors.Uniaxial tensile tests of aluminium-lithium alloy AA1420wereconducted at superplastic forming conditions. The mechanical properties of this Al-Li alloy were then modelled by a set of physicallybased constitutive equations. The constitutive equations describe the isotropic work hardening,recovery and damage by dislocation density changes and grain size evolution. Based on a recent upgraded optimisation technique, the material constants for these constitutive equations were determined

Three-region inequalities for the second order elliptic equation with discontinuous coefficients and size estimate

In this paper, we would like to derive a quantitative uniqueness estimate, the three-region inequality, for the second order elliptic equation with jump discontinuous coefficients. The derivation of the inequality relies on the Carleman estimate proved in our previous work. We then apply the three-region inequality to study the size estimate problem with one boundary measurement.Comment: 16 pages, 1 figur

Calibration and Irradiation Study of the BGO Background Monitor for the BEAST II Experiment

Beam commissioning of the SuperKEKB collider began in 2016. The Beam Exorcism for A STable experiment II (BEAST II) project is particularly designed to measure the beam backgrounds around the interaction point of the SuperKEKB collider for the Belle II experiment. We develop a system using bismuth germanium oxide (BGO) crystals with optical fibers connecting to a multianode photomultiplier tube (MAPMT) and a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) embedded readout board for monitoring the real-time beam backgrounds in BEAST II. The overall radiation sensitivity of this system is estimated to be $(2.20\pm0.26)\times10^{-12}$ Gy/ADU (analog-to-digital unit) with the standard 10 m fibers for transmission and the MAPMT operating at 700 V. Our $\gamma$-ray irradiation study of the BGO system shows that the exposure of BGO crystals to $^{60}$Co $\gamma$-ray doses of 1 krad has led to immediate light output reductions of 25--40%, and the light outputs further drop by 30--45% after the crystals receive doses of 2--4 krad. Our findings agree with those of the previous studies on the radiation hard (RH) BGO crystals grown by the low thermal gradient Czochralski (LTG Cz) technology. The absolute dose from the BGO system is also consistent with the simulation, and is estimated to be about 1.18 times the equivalent dose. These results prove that the BGO system is able to monitor the background dose rate in real time under extreme high radiation conditions. This study concludes that the BGO system is reliable for the beam background study in BEAST II

Photon Echoes Produced by Switching Electric Fields

We demonstrate photon echoes in Eu$^{3+}$:Y$_{2}$SiO$_{5}$ by controlling the inhomogeneous broadening of the Eu$^{3+}$ $^{7}$F$_{0}\leftrightarrow^{5}$D$_{0}$ optical transition. This transition has a linear Stark shift and we induce inhomogeneous broadening by applying an external electric field gradient. After optical excitation, reversing the polarity of the field rephases the ensemble, resulting in a photon echo. This is the first demonstration of such a photon echo and its application as a quantum memory is discussed.Comment: improved introduction, including theoretical outline of the relvant quantum memory proposa