Role of quark-interchange processes in evolution of mesonic matter

We divide the cross section for a meson-meson reaction into three parts. The first part is for the quark-interchange process, the second for quark-antiquark annihilation processes and the third for resonant processes. Master rate equations are established to yield time dependence of fugacities of pions, rhos, kaons and vetor kaons. The equations include cross sections for inelastic scattering of pions, rhos, kaons and vector kaons. Cross sections for quark-interchange-induced reactions, that were obtained in a potential model, are parametrized for convenient use. The number densities of pion and rho (kaon and vector kaon) are altered by quark-interchange processes in equal magnitudes but opposite signs. The master rate equations combined with the hydrodynamic equations for longitudinal and transverse expansion are solved with many sets of initial meson fugacities. Quark-interchange processes are shown to be important in the contribution of the inelastic meson-meson scattering to evolution of mesonic matter.Comment: 28 pages, 1 figure, 8 table

Cardiac Computed Tomography Methods and Systems Using Fast Exact / Quasi Exact Filtered Back Projection Algorithms

The present invention provides systems, methods, and devices for improved computed tomography. More specifically, the present invention includes methods for improved cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) resolution using improved filtered back projection (FBP) algorithms, which can be used for cardiac tomography and across other tomographic modalities. Embodiments provide methods, systems, and devices for reconstructing an image from projection data provided by a computed tomography scanner using the algorithms disclosed herein to generate an image with improved temporal resolution

A gene catalogue for post-diapause development of an anhydrobiotic arthropod Artemia franciscana

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Diapause is a reversible state of developmental suspension and found among diverse taxa, from plants to animals, including marsupials and some other mammals. Although previous work has accumulated ample data, the molecular mechanism underlying diapause and reactivation from it remain elusive.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Using <it>Artemia franciscana</it>, a model organism to study the development of post-diapause embryos in Arthropod, we sequenced random clones up to a total of 28,039 ESTs from four cDNA libraries made from dehydrated cysts and three time points after rehydration/reactivation, which were assembled into 8,018 unigene clusters. We identified 324 differentially-expressed genes (DEGs, <it>P </it>< 0.05) based on pairwise comparisons of the four cDNA libraries. We identified a group of genes that are involved in an anti-water-deficit system, including proteases, protease inhibitors, heat shock proteins, and several novel members of the late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) protein family. In addition, we classified most of the up-regulated genes after cyst reactivation into metabolism, biosynthesis, transcription, and translation, and this result is consistent with the rapid development of the embryo. Some of the specific expressions of DEGs were confirmed experimentally based on quantitative real-time PCR.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We found that the first 5-hour period after rehydration is most important for embryonic reactivation of <it>Artemia</it>. As the total number of expressed genes increases significantly, the majority of DEGs were also identified in this period, including a group of water-deficient-induced genes. A group of genes with similar functions have been described in plant seeds; for instance, one of the novel LEA members shares ~70% amino-acid identity with an <it>Arabidopsis </it>EM (embryonic abundant) protein, the closest animal relative to plant LEA families identified thus far. Our findings also suggested that not only nutrition, but also mRNAs are produced and stored during cyst formation to support rapid development after reactivation.</p

Comparative transcriptome analysis and marker development of two closely related Primrose species (Primula poissonii and Primula wilsonii)

BACKGROUND: Primula species are important early spring garden plants with a centre of diversity and speciation in the East Himalaya-Hengduan Mountains in Western China. Studies on population genetics, speciation and phylogeny of Primula have been impeded by a lack of genomic resources. In the present study, we sequenced the transcriptomes of two closely related primrose species, Primula poissonii and Primula wilsonii, using short reads on the Illumina Genome Analyzer platform. RESULTS: We obtained 55,284 and 55,011 contigs with N50 values of 938 and 1,085 for P. poissonii and P. wilsonii, respectively, and 6,654 pairs of putative orthologs were identified between the two species. Estimations of non-synonymous/synonymous substitution rate ratios for these orthologs indicated that 877 of the pairs may be under positive selection (Ka/Ks > 0.5), and functional enrichment analysis revealed that significant proportions of the orthologs were in the categories DNA repair, stress resistance, which may provide some hints as to how the two closely related Primula species adapted differentially to extreme environments, such as habitats characterized by aridity, high altitude and high levels of ionizing radiation. It was possible for the first time to estimate the divergence time between the radiated species pair, P. poissonii and P. wilsonii; this was found to be approximately 0.90 ± 0.57 Mya, which falls between the Donau and Gunz glaciation in the Middle Pleistocene. Primers based on 54 pairs of orthologous SSR-containing sequences between the two Primula species were designed and verified. About half of these pairs successfully amplified for both species. Of the 959 single copy nuclear genes shared by four model plants (known as APVO genes), 111 single copy nuclear genes were verified as being present in both Primula species and exon-anchored and intron-spanned primers were designed for use. CONCLUSION: We characterized the transcriptomes for the two Primula species, and produced an unprecedented amount of genomic resources for these important garden plants. Evolutionary analysis of these two Primula species not only revealed a more precise divergence time, but also provided some novel insights into how differential adaptations occurred in extreme habitats. Furthermore, we developed two sets of genetic markers, single copy nuclear genes and nuclear microsatellites (EST-SSR). Both these sets of markers will facilitate studies on the genetic improvement, population genetics and phylogenetics of this rapidly adapting taxon

Page Curve and Phase Transition in deformed Jackiw-Teitelboim Gravity

We consider the entanglement island in a deformed Jackiw-Teitelboim black hole in the presence of the phase transition. This black hole has the van der Waals-Maxwell-like phase structure as it is coupled with a Maxwell field. We study the behavior of the Page curve of this black hole by using the island paradigm. In the fixed charge ensemble, we discuss different situations with different charges that influence the system's phase structure. There is only a Hawking-Page phase transition in the absence of charges, which leads to an unstable small black hole. Hence, the related Page curve does not exist. However, a van der Waals-Maxwell-like phase transition occurs in the presence of charges. This yields three black hole solutions. The Page curve of the middle size black hole does not exist. For the extremal black hole, the Page time approaches zero in the phase transition situation but becomes divergent without the phase transition. In a word, we study the Page curve and the island paradigm for different black hole phases and in different phase transition situations.Comment: 28 pages, 13 figures, references added, published versio

Transcriptomic profiling of mature embryo from an elite super-hybrid rice LYP9 and its parental lines

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The mature embryo of rice (<it>Oryza sativa, L</it>.) is a synchronized and integrated tissue mass laying the foundation at molecular level for its growth, development, and differentiation toward a developing and ultimately a mature plant. We carried out an EST (expressed-sequence-tags)-based transcriptomic study, aiming at gaining molecular insights into embryonic development of a rice hybrid triad–an elite hybrid rice <it>LYP</it>9 and its parental lines (<it>93-11 </it>and <it>PA64s</it>)–and possible relatedness to heterosis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We generated 27,566 high-quality ESTs from cDNA libraries made from mature rice embryos. We classified these ESTs into 7,557 unigenes (2,511 contigs and 5,046 singletons) and 7,250 (95.9%) of them were annotated. We noticed that the high-abundance genes in mature rice embryos belong to two major functional categories, stress-tolerance and preparation-for-development, and we also identified 191 differentially-expressed genes (General Chi-squared test, <it>P</it>-value <= 0.05) between <it>LYP9 </it>and its parental lines, representing typical expression patterns including over-dominance, high- and low-parent dominance, additivity, and under-dominance. In <it>LYP9</it>, the majority of embryo-associated genes were found not only abundantly and specifically enriched but also significantly up-regulated.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Our results suggested that massively strengthening tissue-(or stage-) characteristic functions may contribute to heterosis rather than a few simple mechanistic explanations at the individual gene level. In addition, the large collection of rice embryonic ESTs provides significant amount of data for future comparative analyses on plant development, especially for the important crops of the grass family.</p

Effects of methylphenidate on attentional set-shifting in a genetic model of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder

Abstract Background Although deficits of attentional set-shifting have been reported in individuals with attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), it is rarely examined in animal models. Methods This study compared spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHRs; a genetic animal model of ADHD) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) and Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats (normoactive control strains), on attentional set-shifting task (ASST) performance. Furthermore, the dose-effects of methylphenidate (MPH) on attentional set-shifting of SHR were investigated. In experiment 1, ASST procedures were conducted in SHR, WKY and SD rats of 8 each at the age of 5 weeks. Mean latencies at the initial phase, error types and numbers, and trials to criteria at each stage were recorded. In experiment 2, 24 SHR rats were randomly assigned to 3 groups of 8 each-- MPH-L (lower dose), MPH-H (higher dose), and SHR-vehicle groups. From 3 weeks, they were administered 2.5 mg/kg or 5 mg/kg MPH or saline respectively for 14 consecutive days. All rats were tested in the ASST at the age of 5 weeks. Results The SHRs generally exhibited poorer performance on ASST than the control WKY and SD rats. Significant strain effects on mean latency [F (2, 21) = 639.636, p p p p p Conclusions The SHR may be impaired in discrimination learning, reversal learning and attentional set-shifting. Our study provides evidence that MPH may improve the SHR's performance on attentional set-shifting and lower dose is more effective than higher dose.</p

HIF-1α effects on angiogenic potential in human small cell lung carcinoma

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Hypoxia-inducible factor-1 alpha (HIF-1α) maybe an important regulatory factor for angiogenesis of small cell lung cancer (SCLC). Our study aimed to investigate the effect of HIF-1α on angiogenic potential of SCLC including two points: One is the effect of HIF-1α on the angiogenesis of SCLC <it>in vivo</it>. The other is the regulation of angiogenic genes by HIF-1α <it>in vitro </it>and <it>in vivo</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p><it>In vivo </it>we used an alternative method to study the effect of HIF-1a on angiogenic potential of SCLC by buliding NCI-H446 cell transplantation tumor on the chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) surface. <it>In vitro </it>we used microarray to screen out the angiogenic genes regulated by HIF-1a and tested their expression level in CAM transplantation tumor by RT-PCR and Western-blot analysis.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In vivo </it>angiogenic response surrounding the SCLC transplantation tumors in chick embryo chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) was promoted after exogenous HIF-1α transduction (p < 0.05). <it>In vitro </it>the changes of angiogenic genes expression induced by HIF-1α in NCI-H446 cells were analyzed by cDNA microarray experiments. HIF-1α upregulated the expression of angiogenic genes VEGF-A, TNFAIP6, PDGFC, FN1, MMP28, MMP14 to 6.76-, 6.69-, 2.26-, 2.31-, 4.39-, 2.97- fold respectively and glycolytic genes GLUT1, GLUT2 to2.98-, 3.74- fold respectively. In addition, the expression of these angiogenic factors were also upregulated by HIF-1α in the transplantion tumors in CAM as RT-PCR and Western-blot analysis indicated.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>These results indicated that HIF-1α may enhance the angiogenic potential of SCLC by regulating some angiogenic genes such as VEGF-A, MMP28 etc. Therefore, HIF-1α may be a potential target for the gene targeted therapy of SCLC.</p