Expression of SET Protein in the Ovaries of Patients with Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Background. We previously found that expression of SET gene was up-regulated in polycystic ovaries by using microarray. It suggested that SET may be an attractive candidate regulator involved in the pathophysiology of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). In this study, expression and cellular localization of SET protein were investigated in human polycystic and normal ovaries. Method. Ovarian tissues, six normal ovaries and six polycystic ovaries, were collected during transsexual operation and surgical treatment with the signed consent form. The cellular localization of SET protein was observed by immunohistochemistry. The expression levels of SET protein were analyzed by Western Blot. Result. SET protein was expressed predominantly in the theca cells and oocytes of human ovarian follicles in both PCOS ovarian tissues and normal ovarian tissues. The level of SET protein expression in polycystic ovaries was triple higher than that in normal ovaries (P<0.05). Conclusion. SET was overexpressed in polycystic ovaries more than that in normal ovaries. Combined with its localization in theca cells, SET may participate in regulating ovarian androgen biosynthesis and the pathophysiology of hyperandrogenism in PCOS

NEID Reveals that The Young Warm Neptune TOI-2076 b Has a Low Obliquity

TOI-2076 b is a sub-Neptune-sized planet ($R=2.39 \pm 0.10 \mathrm{R_\oplus}$) that transits a young ($204 \pm 50 \mathrm{MYr}$) bright ($V = 9.2$) K-dwarf hosting a system of three transiting planets. Using spectroscopic observations with the NEID spectrograph on the WIYN 3.5 m Telescope, we model the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect of TOI-2076 b, and derive a sky-projected obliquity of $\lambda=-3_{-15}^{+16\:\circ}$. Using the size of the star ($R=0.775 \pm0.015 \mathrm{R_\odot}$), and the stellar rotation period ($P_{\mathrm{rot}}=7.27\pm0.23$ days), we estimate a true obliquity of $\psi=18_{-9}^{+10\:\circ}$ ($\psi < 34^\circ$ at 95% confidence), demonstrating that TOI-2076 b is on a well-aligned orbit. Simultaneous diffuser-assisted photometry from the 3.5 m Telescope at Apache Point Observatory rules out flares during the transit. TOI-2076 b joins a small but growing sample of young planets in compact multi-planet systems with well-aligned orbits, and is the fourth planet with an age $\lesssim 300$ Myr in a multi-transiting system with an obliquity measurement. The low obliquity of TOI-2076 b and the presence of transit timing variations in the system suggest the TOI-2076 system likely formed via convergent disk migration in an initially well-aligned disk.Comment: Submitted to ApJL, 13 pages, 4 figures, 3 table

Retrospective evaluation of whole exome and genome mutation calls in 746 cancer samples

Funder: NCI U24CA211006Abstract: The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) and International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) curated consensus somatic mutation calls using whole exome sequencing (WES) and whole genome sequencing (WGS), respectively. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, which aggregated whole genome sequencing data from 2,658 cancers across 38 tumour types, we compare WES and WGS side-by-side from 746 TCGA samples, finding that ~80% of mutations overlap in covered exonic regions. We estimate that low variant allele fraction (VAF < 15%) and clonal heterogeneity contribute up to 68% of private WGS mutations and 71% of private WES mutations. We observe that ~30% of private WGS mutations trace to mutations identified by a single variant caller in WES consensus efforts. WGS captures both ~50% more variation in exonic regions and un-observed mutations in loci with variable GC-content. Together, our analysis highlights technological divergences between two reproducible somatic variant detection efforts

Stability Analysis of Multispan Pipeline Embedded in Temperature-Dependent Matrix

In this paper, dynamic stiffness method is used to study the stability of multispan pipelines in temperature-dependent matrix. The effects of temperature changes and different span combinations on the natural frequency, critical velocity, and critical pressure of pipelines are discussed. The main conclusions are obtained and shown as follows. The increase of temperature will lead to the decrease of the first three order natural frequencies. The first two order critical velocities and critical pressure of the system will also decrease with increasing temperature. The change of span combination has no influence on the first-order critical velocity and first-order critical pressure of the system, but it has influence on the second order. The influence of the change of span combination on the first-order natural frequency is regular, but that on the second-order and third-order is not. The increase of the velocity will change the instability form of systems with different span combinations, while the change of the pressure inside the tube will not change the instability form of the system

Singular Weyl's law with Ricci curvature bounded below

We establish two surprising types of Weyl's laws for some compact $\mathrm{RCD}(K, N)$/Ricci limit spaces. The first type could have power growth of any order (bigger than one). The other one has an order corrected by logarithm similar to some fractals even though the space is 2-dimensional. Moreover the limits in both types can be written in terms of the singular sets of null capacities, instead of the regular sets. These are the first examples with such features for $\mathrm{RCD}(K,N)$ spaces. Our results depends crucially on analyzing and developing important properties of the examples constructed by the last two authors, showing them isometric to the $\alpha$-Grushin halfplanes. Of independent interest, this also allows us to provide counterexamples to conjectures by Cheeger-Colding and by Kapovitch-Kell-Ketterer.Comment: Final version. To appear in Trans. AMS Series B. 41 page

PCDD/F; PAH and heavy metals in the sewage sludge from six wastewater treatment plants in Beijing;China

In order to better understand land application of sewage sludge, the characterization of heavy metals, PCDD/F and PAHs in sewage sludge was investigated from six different wastewater treatment plants (WWTP) in Beijing City, China. It was found that the total concentrations of Zn in Wujiacun (WJC) sewage sludge, and Cd and Hg in sewage sludge generated from all of the six different places are higher than Chinese regulation limit of pollutants for sludge to be used for agriculture (GB 18918-2002). The levels of 16 PAHs that have been categorized as priority pollutants by US EPA in the sewage sludge samples varied from 2467 to 25923 mu g/kg (dry weight), the highest values of 25923 pg/kg being found in WJC WWTP. The concentrations of Benzo[a]pyrene were as high as 6.1 mg/kg dry weight in WJC sewage sludge, exceeding the maximum permitted content by GB 18918-2002. Individual PAH content varies considerably with sewage samples. The ratios of anthracene to anthracene plus phenanthrene (An/178), benz[a]anthracene to benz[a]anthracene plus chrysene (BaA/228), indene[1,2,3-cd]pyrene to indene[1,2,3-cd] pyrene plus benzo[g,h,i]perylene (In/In + BP), and fluoranthene to fluoranthene plus pyrene (Fl/Fl + Py) suggest that petroleum and combustion of fossil fuel were the dominant contributions for the PAHs in sewage sludge. The concentrations of total PCDD/F in the sewage sludge ranged from 330 to 4245 pg/g d.w. The toxicity equivalent concentrations is between 3.47-88.24 pg I-TEQ according to NATO/CCMS, which is below Chinese legislation limit value proposed for land application. The PCDD/F congener/homologue profiles found in the Beijing samples indicated that the high chlorinated PCDD/F contamination might originate mainly from PCP-related source and depositional sources while the low chlorinated PCDD/F homologues could be originating from incineration or coal combustion. The major source of PCDD/Fs in Beijing sludge is still unclear. (c) 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved

Nickel(II) Inhibits Tet-Mediated 5‑Methylcytosine Oxidation by High Affinity Displacement of the Cofactor Iron(II)

Ten-eleven translocation (Tet) family proteins are Fe­(II)- and 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenases that regulate the dynamics of DNA methylation by catalyzing the oxidation of DNA 5-methylcytosine (5mC). To exert physiologically important functions, redox-active iron chelated in the catalytic center of Tet proteins directly involves the oxidation of the multiple substrates. To understand the function and interaction network of Tet dioxygenases, it is interesting to obtain high affinity and a specific inhibitor. Surprisingly, here we found that natural Ni­(II) ion can bind to the Fe­(II)-chelating motif (HXD) with an affinity of 7.5-fold as high as Fe­(II). Consistently, we further found that Ni­(II) ion can displace the cofactor Fe­(II) of Tet dioxygenases and inhibit Tet-mediated 5mC oxidation activity with an estimated IC₅₀ of 1.2 μM. Essentially, Ni­(II) can be used as a high affinity and selective inhibitor to explore the function and dynamics of Tet proteins