Soil, wheat, cabbage and drinking water iodine in relation to human iodine status and iodine deficiency disorders in Xinjiang Province, China

Iodine is an essential trace element for humans and animals. A lack in the diet can lead to iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) the most common manifestation being goitre, an enlargement of the thyroid gland in the neck. Infants born to severely Ideficient mothers may suffer cretinism and I-deficiency is the world's most common cause of preventable mental retardation. In many countries this problem has been tackled successfully using medical interventions such as the iodination of table salt. Xinjiang Province in northwest China is a remote desert region where goitre and cretinism have been reported for many years. People in this region do not like the taste of iodised salt and prefer to use local rock-salt with very low concentrations of iodine. As an alternative treatment, previous investigators added potassium-iodate to irrigation waters in an attempt to increase the I-concentrations of crops and animals in the food supply and the I-status of the population. Initial successes were reported but the long-term effectiveness of the method had not been tested. The present study aims to assess environmental controls on iodine uptake into the food chain and in Xinjiang had the opportunity to study three contrasting area

Charged and Pseudoscalar Higgs production at a Muon Collider

We consider single charged Higgs ($H^{\pm}$) and pseudoscalar Higgs ($A^0$) production in association with a gauge boson at $\mu^+\mu^-$ colliders. We find that the tree-level t-channel and s-channel contributions to $\mu^+\mu^-\to H^{\pm}W^{\mp}, A^0Z$ are enhanced for large values of $\tan\beta$, allowing sizeable cross-sections whose analogies at $e^+e^-$ colliders would be very small. These processes provide attractive new ways of producing such particles at $\mu^+\mu^-$ colliders and are superior to the conventional methods in regions of parameter space.Comment: 11 pages Latex, 5 figures, formulae added in sections 2.2 and 2.3, extra discussion in section 2.3, references adde

Starch grains from human teeth reveal the plant consumption of proto-Shang people (c. 2000–1600 BC) from Nancheng site, Hebei, China

Bioarchaeolog

A spatio-temporal description of the abrupt changes in the photospheric magnetic and Lorentz-force vectors during the 2011 February 15 X2.2 flare

The active region NOAA 11158 produced the first X-class flare of Solar Cycle 24, an X2.2 flare at 01:44 UT on 2011 February 15. Here we analyze SDO/HMI magnetograms covering a 12-hour interval centered at the time of this flare. We describe the spatial distributions of the photospheric magnetic changes associated with this flare, including the abrupt changes in the field vector, vertical electric current and Lorentz force vector. We also trace these parameters' temporal evolution. The abrupt magnetic changes were concentrated near the neutral line and in two neighboring sunspots. Near the neutral line, the field vectors became stronger and more horizontal during the flare and the shear increased. This was due to an increase in strength of the horizontal field components near the neutral line, most significant in the horizontal component parallel to the neutral line but the perpendicular component also increased in strength. The vertical component did not show a significant, permanent overall change at the neutral line. The increase in total flux at the neutral line was accompanied by a compensating flux decrease in the surrounding volume. In the two sunspots near the neutral line the azimuthal flux abruptly decreased during the flare but this change was permanent in only one of the spots. There was a large, abrupt, downward vertical Lorentz force change during the flare, consistent with results of past analyses and recent theoretical work. The horizontal Lorentz force acted in opposite directions along each side of neutral line, with the two sunspots at each end subject to abrupt torsional forces. The shearing forces were consistent with field contraction and decrease of shear near the neutral line, whereas the field itself became more sheared as a result of the flux collapsing towards the neutral line from the surrounding volume.Comment: DOI 10.1007/s11207-012-0071-0. Accepted for publication in Solar Physics SDO3 Topical Issue. Some graphics missing due to 15MB limi

Forward genetic screen of human transposase genomic rearrangements

BACKGROUND: Numerous human genes encode potentially active DNA transposases or recombinases, but our understanding of their functions remains limited due to shortage of methods to profile their activities on endogenous genomic substrates. RESULTS: To enable functional analysis of human transposase-derived genes, we combined forward chemical genetic hypoxanthine-guanine phosphoribosyltransferase 1 (HPRT1) screening with massively parallel paired-end DNA sequencing and structural variant genome assembly and analysis. Here, we report the HPRT1 mutational spectrum induced by the human transposase PGBD5, including PGBD5-specific signal sequences (PSS) that serve as potential genomic rearrangement substrates. CONCLUSIONS: The discovered PSS motifs and high-throughput forward chemical genomic screening approach should prove useful for the elucidation of endogenous genome remodeling activities of PGBD5 and other domesticated human DNA transposases and recombinases

The Geminga Fraction

Radio-quiet gamma-ray pulsars like Geminga may account for a number of the unidentified EGRET sources in the Galaxy. The number of Geminga-like pulsars is very sensitive to the geometry of both the gamma-ray and radio beams. Recent studies of the shape and polarization of pulse profiles of young radio pulsars have provided evidence that their radio emission originates in wide cone beams at altitudes that are a significant fraction (1 -10%) of their light cylinder radius. Such wide radio emission beams will be visible at a much larger range of observer angles than the narrow core components thought to originate at lower altitude. Using 3D geometrical modeling that includes relativistic effects from pulsar rotation, we study the visibility of such radio cone beams as well as that of the gamma-ray beams predicted by slot gap and outer gap models. From the results of this study one can obtain revised predictions for the fraction of Geminga-like, radio quiet pulsars present in the gamma-ray pulsar population

Optical realization of universal quantum cloning

Beyond the no-cloning theorem, the universal symmetric quantum cloning machine was first addressed by Buzek and Hillery. Here, we realized the one-to-two qubits Buzek-Hillery cloning machine with linear optical devices. This method relies on the representation of several qubits by a single photon. We showed that, the fidelities between the two output qubits and the original qubit are both 5/6 (which proved to be the optimal fidelity of one-to-two qubits universal cloner) for arbitrary input pure states.Comment: 5 Pages, 2 Figure

Effect of electric load and dual atmosphere on the properties of an alkali containing diopside-based glass sealant for solid oxide cells

© 2019 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.A new alkali-containing diopside based glass-ceramic sealant for solid oxide cells was synthesized, characterized and tested. The composition was designed to match the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of Crofer22APU interconnect. The sealant has a glass transition temperature of 600°C, a crystallization peak temperature of 850°C and a maximum shrinkage temperature of 700°C, thus suggesting effective densification prior to crystallization. The CTE of the glass-ceramic is 11.5 10-6 K-1, a value which is compatible with the CTE for Crofer22APU stainless steel. Crofer22APU/glass-ceramic/Crofer22APU joined samples were tested in simulated real-life operating conditions at 800°C in dual atmosphere under an applied voltage, monitoring the electrical resistivity. The effect of two different applied voltages (0.7V and 1.3V) was evaluated. A voltage of 1.3V led to a rapid decrease in the electrical resistivity during the test;such a drop was due to the formation of Cr2O3 “bridges” that connected the two Crofer22APU plates separated by the sealant. There was no decrease in the resistivity when a voltage of 0.7V was applied. Instead,resistivity value remained stable at around 105 Ω cm for the 100h test duration. The degradation mechanisms, due to both the alkali content and the applied voltage, are investigated and discussed.Peer reviewe

Genomic DNA transposition induced by human PGBD5

Transposons are mobile genetic elements that are found in nearly all organisms, including humans. Mobilization of DNA transposons by transposase enzymes can cause genomic rearrangements, but our knowledge of human genes derived from transposases is limited. In this study, we find that the protein encoded by human PGBD5, the most evolutionarily conserved transposable element-derived gene in vertebrates, can induce stereotypical cut-and-paste DNA transposition in human cells. Genomic integration activity of PGBD5 requires distinct aspartic acid residues in its transposase domain, and specific DNA sequences containing inverted terminal repeats with similarity to piggyBac transposons. DNA transposition catalyzed by PGBD5 in human cells occurs genome-wide, with precise transposon excision and preference for insertion at TTAA sites. The apparent conservation of DNA transposition activity by PGBD5 suggests that genomic remodeling contributes to its biological function

Metallic tube type energy absorbers: a synopsis

This paper presents an overview of energy absorbers in the form of tubes in which the material used is predominantly mild steel and/or aluminium. A brief summary is also made of frusta type energy absorbers. The common modes of deformation such as lateral and axial compression, indentation and inversion are reviewed. Theoretical, numerical and experimental methods which help to understand the behaviour of such devices under various loading conditions are outlined. Although other forms of energy absorbing materials and structures exist such as composites and honeycombs, this is deemed outside the scope of this review. However, a brief description will be given on these materials. It is hoped that this work will provide a useful platform for researchers and design engineers to gain a useful insight into the progress made over the last few decades in the field of tube type energy absorbers